We share below the second chapter of the essay "Financial intelligence and economic security. An unknown Italian glory" edited by Pierluigi Granata and Francesco Sidoti.

The essay regards economic and financial intelligence in Italy, and it collects contributions written by several experts in the field. With these words the authors introduce their work:

"We are very far from recommending the whole of the Italian institutional system as a model. There have been disasters, and there is still so much to change. However, extraordinary competence (technical and moral) has been accumulated in Italy. The conceptual and practical domain that will later on be called "intelligence" contributed to the birth of Venetian supremacy in the trade between the Fertile Crescent and Europe. Integrated with the Machiavellian profiles, the Italian Renaissance was taken as a prototype in Shakespearean and Elizabethan England. For the on, economic intelligence became something pivotal in the Atlantic world. The Italian political science school has been well known and appreciated also outside Italy, starting with J. Schumpeter. According to J. M. Buchanan, Italian economic theorists can be considered the forefathers of the modern public choice theory, maybe more then the glorious Austrian school. It is not the tale of the distant past but of a risky present thet we have recollected. Today, the most prominent public position in Italy see people who have distinguished themselves fot their commitment to the fight against mafias, corruption, and fraud. The most obvious example is the current president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella. Prime Minister Mario Draghi continues an indisputable Italian account of commendable public service. New cooperation in economic and financial intelligence between the public and private sectors is possible and indispensable. Such new cooperation can allow the State and private sector to protect communities and economies adequately. Among the improvements that are necessary and urgent, two areas are indicated in the conclusion of this volume: business intelligence and civic education. In this book, each author speaks for her/himself. However, there is a shared recognition about something good that has been done in Itlay regarding economic and financial intelligence. This recognition is only one side of the coin. All the prestigious national memories are now confronting acute and urgent problems as never before."

In the chapter "Italy: the home of crime or the cradle of economic and financial crime enforcement?" Alessandro Butticé tries to answer the title question.

Enjoy the reading!