"The state needs to enable the markets, but - contrary to the dreams of planners and technocrats - development cannot be ‘state-managed’. For the bus… - Alessandro Magnoli Bocchi

"When designed and implemented correctly, ‘conditional financing’ can: 1) steer resources towards the strategic objectives; 2) avoid speculative capture, by ensuring the productive use of public resources; and 3) push the private sector towards inclusive, sustainable growth".

"[In Italy,] continuing to do 'what has always been done' is not convenient: living on rents and clinging to the past would equate to a slow suicide, because in the meanwhile risks would rise and the economy would get exposed to potential adverse shocks. If not challenged, the “I hope I get through” mentality will lead to shipwreck or irrelevance – which is the same". Original quote: "[In Italia,] continuare a fare ‘ciò che si è sempre fatto’ non conviene; vivere di rendita, aggrappati al passato, sarebbe un lento suicidio, perché nel frattempo i rischi aumentano e l’economia viene esposta a potenziali shock avversi. Se elevata a sistema, la mentalità dell’“io speriamo che me la cavo” porterà al naufragio o all’irrilevanza – che è lo stesso".

"Largely unnoticed, megatrends transform the way we live and work. Preoccupied by our daily worries, we tend to overlook the irreversible forces that shape our life. In the past, the printing-press and the telephone forever changed human communication. Combustion and electricity revolutionized energy management. Going forward, the unfolding of similar ‘transformative, disruptive shifts’ will reshape society, business and the global economy".