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have arrived anyway. Then there was the housing bubble with the
subprime mortgages and the collapse of Lehman. The markets lost
50% and then took off again. Now the reasons are different, petrol
and China. The markets bend and then take off again. The law that
says the bigger the fall the bigger the recovery has no exceptions
and not in this case either. So, for the saver prepared to accept
volatility in investment returns there are many opportunities today.
The lower the fall, the greater the opportunity. This is all good news
for the shrewd or well-advised saver.
5.Isthe European banking system solid?
The European banking system is solid. We have to take into account
that after the collapse of Lehman, state hand-outs were heavily used
in order to restore those banks in the world that had over-stretched
themselves with very risky financial operations and therefore had
brought the solidity of the systems into discussion. Increases in
capital were carried out throughout the world at the expense of the
taxpayer. In America they spent 350/400 billion dollars to reinforce
bank assets. The American state then made money by selling those
stocks. Then there were all the increases in capital at the expense
of the shareholders, so basically the majority of banks in the system
are now solid. Today, due to the new “Bail-in” law the states can no
longer intervene in a possible rescue, the bank is a company like any
other: it measures up to market forces and therefore if it is weak, it is
destined to fail. Nowadays the customer must learn to evaluate the
bank with which it wants to work in order to understand which are
the ones that will not make it in the market place, not only because
they are not well-organised or because they don’t have the best
products or because they don’t follow their customers properly,
but also on the basis of their solidity index. Watching these solidity
indices, which must be made public by the banks, is fundamental
when trying to understand if the bank is solid or if it is one which
runs the risk of being expelled from the market.
6.Weare manufacturers of tractors for specialised agriculture,
in particular producers of fruit, vegetable and wine. We are
part of a very real economy and far from financial games.
Many of your bank’s savers come from our world: maybe they
are inspired by the Veneto countryside origins. Do you think
agriculture will continue to play a primary role in the world
economy?
Agriculture has been, is and always will be a main player in this new
world, and it is enough to consider how much more protectionism
there is in this sector than in any other. Let’s take Japan where it is
not possible to import rice. The production costs of their rice are
high and they could get it cheaper if they opened up the frontiers
but Japan prefers to pay a little more and consume its own rice.
When I can produce the foodstuffs for my population, no matter
what else happens I know that I am able to avoid famine. If instead
I am conditioned by importation, I expose myself to a situation
of weakness. This explains the policies that tend to guarantee
foodstuffs. Therefore I think that agriculture will always play a
fundamental role because the primary need of all people is to feed
themselves.
7.What advice would you give to a young person facing the
world of employment for the first time?
Whatever you find yourself doing, do it as if you had dreamt of
doing it all your life. This is my advice. Always. When we say about
a painter, a writer or a composer that we have seen his soul in his
work we are capturing the essential part of him that he has put
into the work of art, novel or poem. But this is true of all human
endeavour. Every one of us puts something of ourselves in the
work we do. Even in the compilation of a simple register you can
see the humanity that can be made up of neatness or untidiness. It
is characterised by the person who compiled it. In that task there
is the person. If you remember that whatever you do, you are
drawing yourself and therefore if you want to have a good image
you have to aim for perfection. When I was a 6 year old child I used
to feed the cows and clean the barn and even if it wasn’t my dream
job I only stopped when no matter who passed would have had
to say “Great job!”Whatever you are called to do, if you do it in this
spirit the world will meet you half way because your work will have
created you the fame of giving your all, of being reliable. Therefore
before looking for your ideal job do whatever the circumstances
allow you to do and do it with passion. Everything else will come
with time.
Silvia Carraro