Monopsony power can negatively affect workers' wages as well as inflating inequalities in wage levels across firms and employees. For this reason, the widespread presence of noncompete clauses that reduce the occupational mobility of workers should come under the scrutiny of the Italian antitrust authority

Ten comments to look at the challenges of the new year. Ninth chapter: sovereignist trends. The most recent crises have changed the rhetoric of these forces, but also the dynamics within the European Union. The temptation is to think that these movements have turned into light sovereignists, but this is not the case

Ten comments to look at the challenges of the new year. Chapter eight: human rights. The situation in Ukraine brings up again the issue of war crimes and their prosecution. However, legal action and political will show different faces when it comes to protection

Ten comments to look at the challenges of the new year. Chapter Seven: gender equality. Europe has adopted a 2020/25 strategy to demand minimum standards from member states, but gender equality is also seen as strategic for national recovery plans. The year 2023 will have to be decisive to provide new momentum

Ten comments to look at the challenges of the new year. Chapter Six: Energy. Gas prices in the Dutch TTF market have shown to obey fundamentals rather than phantom speculators, and the price has fallen in reaction to a contraction in demand, driven by the completion of storage filling, mild weather, and a slowdown in final demand. For the foreseeable future, it will therefore be necessary to look at the dynamics of supply and demand

Ten comments to look ahead to the challenges of the new year. Fifth chapter: monetary policy. Even more than interest rates, we need to think about its transparency. The reason is that the effectiveness of monetary policy depends on its ability to influence the expectations of households, businesses and markets. And that ability is in turn linked to central bank announcements.