Italy Has Work To Do On The Economic Freedom Front

While this blog explores one side of the Italian economic universe, one in which essentially captures its greatest creative qualities, it's not oblivious to its problems in a larger context. It's not all 'dolce vita" you know.

For example, Heritage Foundation published its annual Economic Freedom Index. Canada and the U.S. rank 7th and 8th respectively, but Italy (a member of the G8) is way down in 74th spot; tied with Greece. Leaving Russia aside for obvious reasons (I'm not so sure it even belongs in the G7), Italy is the lowest ranked G7 country.

I would think this is something the Italians will make a priority to rectify.

Not sure how realistic this objective is though.

Breda Machine Gun

U.S. intelligence report from 1943 describing an Italian 8-mm Breda machine gun.

Palladio Genius

Last year, I offered a criminally short post about Andrea Palladio.

Zeus is Watching offers this.

Panerai Watches

I regret not buying that Panerai years ago - around 1990 - in New York City.

Wait a second.

What's stopping me from buying one soon in the future?

Panerai - the supplier of the Italian Navy and Commando - was founded in Florence in 1860 and is currently manufactured in Switzerland.

Maserati Gran Turismo

She's a sweet ride I say:



A little background. Maserati was founded in Bologna in 1914 by five brothers. The Orsi family bought the company in 1937 and moved it to Modena with the original brothers maintaining an engineering role thus assuring the evolution of the Maserati name and brand. Maserati then passed into French hands when in 1968 Citroen became owners of the company and seven years after that, Alessandro de Tomaso assumed control.

It didn't end there. In 1993 FIAT (you knew it was a matter of time) bought Maserati eventually selling 50% of it to Ferrari itself a related partner to FIAT. After a flirtatious stint with Volkswagen (owners of Bugatti and Lamborghini), Maserati was back in the FIAT universe teaming up with the Alfa-Romeo division.

High End Furniture Innovation

Founded in 1927, Cassina has been home to some of the most important furniture designers in the 20th and 21st centuries. Cassina USA's website offers a brief history and biography of the company and talent.

Vintage Posters

Looking for Italian vintage posters? Try this spot.

Fly Standing

Italian company Aviointeriors has made the so-called "stand-up" seat on airplanes a reality.

Aviointeriors specializes in aircraft and railway seats and furniture.

Murano Glass

I'm happy to say I've seen Venetians in action while making glass art.

Beretta Factory

Hey, what can I say? Visuals are sometimes better than words!

Pinarello Factory

Ferrari V12 Engine

A First For Astronaut

Roberto Vittori will become the first Italian astronaut flown to the International Space Station on a Russian spacecraft.

The Big Three

Cinelli still at it

Reading up on Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx - the greatest cyclist of all-time - and naturally it lead me into the remarkably diverse world of Italian bicycles. The list of bike manufacturers are too numerous to name in one post (Gianni Motta is one example), but I'd like to mention three who happen to be widely regarded as the top makes of lightweight racing bikes: Masi, Cinelli and De Rosa.

No nation on the planet do bikes like Italy.

Merckx, who rode for Italian teams Faema and Molteni (now involved with Salmilano), produced a bike line bearing his name usually built on Italian frames (as well as British, Japanese and of course Belgian) built by Masi, Cinelli and Colnago.

The bike used by Merckx to inhumanely shatter the hour record in 1972 (later broken by Italian rider Francesco Moser in 1984)  was a combination of Columbus (frame), Cinelli (handlebars), Clement Seta Pista (tires), and Campagnolo (hubs, crank, seat post, pedals).

Image from Mad Motion.

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Incidentally, Belgian and Italian riders have dominated the UCI Road World Champions list. Belgium has won 25 gold medals to Italy's 19. The next best is France at eight. Italy has 55 total medals to Belgium's 47. Again, France is third with 34.

Fangio And Alfa Romeo

Argentine F1 driver Juan Manuel Fangio is one of the greatest drivers in history. Fangio won his first Drivers' Championship in 1951 while driving an Alfa Romeo. The Alfetta 158/159 to be specific. The Alfetta was the child of automobile engineer Giacchino Colombo who played a role in Fangio's success. Later on, Fangio reach the pinnacle of world racing in a Ferrari and a Maserati.

Here's a neat look at Fangio in 1957 - the year of his fifth and final title this time in a Maserati 4CL.