Marchetti, the arbiter of high finance: 'Capitalism is becoming less and less social'

There are few names that Piergaetano Marchetti mentions in this interview, mostly institutional figures or lifelong friends such as Tommaso Padoa Schioppa. "He told me you are the closest thing to a brother. Our mothers had been dating since high school, he was a few months younger than me, we grew up together. He had an extraordinary moral rigour'. The one that would lead him to say that 'paying taxes is nice'. It is the contribution of individuals to the removal of obstacles, as required by the Constitution, for the full development of each person. Like the children in the suburbs, where his wife, Ada Gigli, taught for a while. "I fully agree with that sentence and I am scandalised when it is mocked. It is an example of secular morality: paying taxes means shorter waiting lists in hospitals, more teachers, more security. A concept that is little rooted in Italia'. Rigour and morality are also recognised traits of Marchetti: in half a century face to face with finance, never a shadow. There are no endorsements either for the future mayor of Milan or for the next Consob chairman, the institution whose birth he accompanied after the days of Michele Sindona and other 'sellers of blue skies', to borrow an expression of his. "There were ups and downs, but it worked. As for transparency, it has changed radically for the better'.

From his studio, Via Filodrammarici is just a stone's throw away. It was another Italia that Marchetti was at home in the Mediobanca of Enrico Cuccia where Gianni Agnelli, Leopoldo Pirelli, Vincenzo Maranghi or the Pesenti and others sat. In 2014 an Economist cover story on 'Capitalism Italian Style' started from that address. Today, the piazzetta is named after Cuccia and Mps has climbed to the top of the business bank. On the latest events, the former Mediobanca consultant of the past does not give his opinion. He only adds that 'back then there were big companies linked to single names, which referred to common meeting points. Now this plurality has disappeared and it is also logical that those who had this role in the past have faded away. Probably today the reference points are others: emerging or resurgent banks and state enterprises. There is a very significant return of public entrepreneurship. It doesn't necessarily go wrong: listed companies with the Treasury in a relative majority position have very good returns as things stand'.

In the latest capital markets reform, he acknowledges 'efforts to make listing more attractive also for small and medium-sized companies', but in his opinion 'a single market would be desirable, to overcome fragmentation, different regulations of stock exchanges and company schemes'. His proposal is to follow the path indicated in the reports by Draghi and Letta: 'A supranational regulation adopted by companies and allow migration throughout the EU market'. An urgency 'in the current geopolitical situation, where European compactness is fundamental'. A concept that returns because 'there are challenges, including that of market attractiveness, that transcend individual states. So reform is welcome, but we need to move forward on the European level'.

A staunch champion of a united Europe and its enlargement, Marchetti professes his belief in the project of a federalism of states. "He was very dear to Ciampi, of whom I have a memory of great admiration. I used to go to the Bank of Italy to see Padoa Schioppa or to advise him and sometimes, even over coffee, Europe was a recurring theme. Ciampi was fond of repeating: I love my city, I am proud to be Italian and European. One has multiple affections and ties. Father Enzo Bianchi said: 'think how bad it is to be all the same. An expanse of poplars: it is so beautiful instead the forest with so many diversities'. The value of diversity. Rare reflections in times of sovereignism. And of a power that at the international level resides more and more in the big tech. 'They have changed orientation on sustainable development, suddenly they are siding with the US Presidency, even if there are signs of perplexity'. The right distance.

But what is power today? "Big deal," sighs the man who has always refused to be counted among the powerful. He takes a pause, then the sketch: 'Power resides in people and centres with a strong economic position and a dense network of relationships including those with those who, from time to time, are in government'. As for capitalism, it remains 'relational', but 'the social component, which we used to be proud of in Europe, is diminishing. We must hold on to this Europe that is still a bastion of a capitalism with a strong dose of sociality'.

In the financial business world in Italia, not a few companies struggle with generational change: 'There is little tendency to understand that after the foundation era, you need someone who knows how to manage the business. It is not necessarily the case that the second and third generations have the same skills, and then it happens that an American fund arrives and they sell. But it also depends on the upbringing: some make their children do the apprenticeship, others send them straight into the jet set'.

Marchetti uses 'a few words, always punctual and decisive, without showing off', as he himself said of his Bocconi colleague Luigi Guatri. And when asked about his main regret, his answer is also countercurrent: 'Not having been able to delve into many fields of knowledge caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life'. Nostalgia for the good old days does not belong to him, as does the snobbery of those who 'are moved by listening to classical music, but then ignore or make fun of contemporary productions: the father of the Verri criticised his sons who no longer wore wigs and pigtails'. He also certainly does not accept that those who are called upon today to 'programme the AI, capable, among other things, of profiling users, have not read the classics that allow you to get to know the man. You have to understand what is behind, but be curious about what is ahead of us'. The future has an ancient heart.

At 86, the thoughts of someone who has been at the crossroads of a Milan that from up here offers all its thousand different faces 'are not troubled by the fear of dying, but by the regret of not being able to plan. So I go to see Giovanni Bazoli: at 93 years old, he has ideas all the time'. The future has an ancient heart.