Introduction: The new meanings of innovation

Abstract

Things almost never go as planned. This proposition is true in life at least as much as it is true in economics, politics and any time we are asked to make hard choices. Even this book did not land exactly where we had planned: a constant state of flux meant that our original plans had to be adapted to constantly changing situations. We wrote this book in the middle of a perfect storm that hit financial and economic markets in the whole Eurozone and beyond. National economies are under attack by speculators and even the overall project of a united Europe is today at risk, which has never occurred before since the foundation of the European Union. The truth is that our economies are so vulnerable that we are compelled to ask whether something should have been done or whether something wrong was actually done. As a matter of fact, as the pendulum swings between unsustainable national public debts and fears of an unprecedented economic recession, the financial crisis is uncovering how national economies in Europe are far from competitive, sound and integrated. And how getting back to growth is essential for the future of the European Union