The "bluff" in the common sense is a deliberately organized strategy to hide reality and influence the actions of others in various ways. The sense with which Francesco Maggio, professor of economics at the Bicocca University of Milan, uses the term with reference to the functioning of the economy is unfortunately much less metaphorical than one might hope. In his new book "Bluff Economy" Maggio illustrates how the action of individuals and institutions is fully assimilable to the concept of bluff, understood in two senses: deliberate behavior aimed at deceiving, for example in the case of subprime mortgages, but also with reference to theoretical basis of the actions of economic operators. In this regard, we recall the idea of falsehood inherent in bluffing, as in the case of the dominant liberal thought according to which if the market is left to act without interference in the end everything will be fine. The leitmotif of the book is therefore unique: do not tell the truth, some with more responsibility, some with less.
However, as Cristina Marcuzzo of Rome's La Sapienza University points out, whether bluffing is a moral behavior or not depends on the "rules of the game". Both Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes, respectively the inventor and defender of the market, despite their diversity conceived the market as the place of rules, the latter in particular, a lot has been spent to contrast the equation: individual interest = well-being collective. The rationality of economic agents must therefore be replaced by Keynesian reasonableness, the basic idea is that one cannot ignore the systemic aspect of one's actions, under penalty of the possibility of damaging feedback effects. In fact, economic relations are relations both of choice and of dependence, and implicitly Maggio's book, denouncing the depersonalization and separation of the economy from society and the diffusion of behavior marked by selfishness, seems to accept this thesis.
The text develops into an extensive examination of the various types of bluff, without technicalities and with a popular language. Furthermore, Francesco Maggio does not limit himself to denouncing, but turns to public opinion so that he supports him and becomes the driving force for change. The idea that certain individuals get rich after having impoverished the community is a question that goes beyond the economic sphere, and in the event of betrayal of the duties of the ruling class, a fundamental rule of representative democracy is broken, warns Guido Rossi, former president of Consob . Maggio takes note of the declaration and adheres to the idea of professor Luigi Zingales of the University of Chicago, intent on turning the anger of the people against the elites and crony capitalism. Metaphor aside, "discovering the cards", as the subtitle of the book states, means increasing the demand for transparency, going to see what is behind certain proclamations and behind certain decisions. He concerns the need to carry forward an instance of cleanliness, of ethics understood not as a recipe but as a research, which calls everyone to their responsibilities, including the non-profit world.
