The Italian Cultural Institute Berlin hosts the second meeting of the "Mezzogiornno" (Noon) cycle on November 14th. At the start of the debate will be a lesson entrusted to the economic historian Emanuele Felice, former professor at the University of Barcelona and now professor of Economics at the University Gabriele D'Annunzio of Pescara, who will explain the reasons why the North-South divide is sometimes reduced, as in the post-war decades, and at other times accentuated. GDP per capita, living conditions, social rights, civil liberties highlight that the South is lagging behind Italy and Europe. Various explanations, ranging from a presumed "genetic diversity" of the southern to the unfavorable geographical location. According to the author, it was the southern ruling classes that delayed development, diverting resources towards income rather than productive uses. To begin to close the gap in the South it is therefore necessary to change society, breaking the socio-institutional chains that condemn it to backwardness.