FIRST SPANISH-ITALIAN MEETING ON FINANCIAL MATHEMATICS

A variety of approaches are possible when working in Financial Mathematics. One of them is oriented in building theories up to be cast within some general economic paradigm; another, although sensitive to general theories, consists in developing models embodying relevant details of reality. We show a clear propensity towards the latter and are convinced that a synthesis between the two lines of thinking are acceptable with the reasonable warnig that general paradigms are welcomed as long as they do not need to be fully respected when falsified in the reality.
In our mind a Spanisth-Italian meeting could provide a sort of incipit for a manifesto of a European way fort thinking of Finance. European banks, insurance companies and other financial intermediaries are expected in the next decade of beeing able to bet more and more efficiently over two partially distinct gaming-tables: on the wide and efficient world financial markets, but also on the non-necessarily wide, inefficient, and thin local markets. For the first gaming-table the standard theory of Finance provides a robust guide to the decision maker. Too often the problems common in the second gaming-table are (im) pudically hidden under the familiar categories of "imperfections", "irrationalities" and "noises" and the task to cope with them is blindy committed to the otherwise powerful use of some standard brownian motion. A European way to Finance should take these points into account. A gap between standard Finance theory and the common financial reality must be covered with a bridge. The bricks of the bridge could be (at least partially) provided by a Spanish-Italian Meeting on Financial Mathematics.