We must invest in educating people on the characteristics of the most common financial instruments, on fundamental concepts such as the notion that a higher return corresponds to a higher risk and that the failure to diversify investments is always a gamble.
For years, the Bank of Italy has supported financial education programmes in schools, with the voluntary cooperation of many teachers, and it is currently seeking to coordinate with additional private and public initiatives. But financial education must involve everyone as a matter of priority. BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  The flow of bad debts, which swelled during the crisis, is gradually ebbing.