Search results for "Storia del Pensiero Economico"
showing 10 items of 188 documents
From the great depression to bretton woods: Jacob Viner and international monetary stabilization (1930-1945)
2009
This paper examines Jacob Viner's contribution to the debate and the policy decision-making concerning international monetary policy from the Great Depression to the Bretton Woods agreements. An outstanding member of the so-called 'early Chicago School of Political Economy', Viner was actively engaged in the debate over the causes and cures of the Depression, emphasizing the important role international economic problems played in producing its onset and in reinforcing its duration. During the 1930s Viner was an outspoken supporter of international monetary cooperation, set up to secure exchange rates stability, which he regarded as a paramount factor in restoring business confidence and fo…
Adam Smith and the family
2008
This paper examines Adam Smith’s vision of family life and the role of the family in society as it stems from the Theory of Moral Sentiments. We first discuss textual evidences of Smith’s vision of gender differences and of the relationships between the sexes. Then we turn to TMS’s analysis of marriage and family life, exploring the importance of sentiments in strengthening family bonds and in fostering individuals’ moral education. Then we enlarge our perspective, considering Smith’s view on the role of the family within society, especially as market and non market relationships are concerned. Finally, we focus on Smith’s vision of the possible threats which life in Commercial societies ma…
Il programma del liberalismo siciliano prima del ‘48 attraverso i manoscritti di Emerico Amari
2011
After studying Emerico Amari’s manuscripts, kept in the Biblioteca Comunale di Palermo, in this paper the author observes the contribution of Sicilian liberalism to the economic debate carried out in the years prior to the Revolution of ‘48. The unpublished papers enhance our knowledge and describe more clearly the reformist program that liberal Palermitans, among which Francesco Ferrara is numbered, stated and sustained for about ten years in the main administrative institutions of the island. Particular attention is paid to the most debated administrative and economic issues of that period: public works and conditions of Sicilian industry.
Smith, Marshall and Young on division of labour and economic growth
2003
The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the theory of division of labour and economic growth proposed by Adam Smith and developed by Alfred Marshall and Allyn Young. In their approach division of labour is the main engine of growth and plays a central role in capital accumulation and technological progress. We suggest that, according to their theory: 1) economic growth is endogenous; 2) it has the nature of a cumulative, pathdependent process; and 3) it can be described as a disequilibrium process, supported by competitive forces. We argue that these aspects make the contributions of Smith, Marshall and Young still insightful for the development of growth theory, even in the light of the mo…
EUGENICS AND SOCIALIST THOUGHT IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERA: THE CASE OF JAMES MEDBERY MACKAYE
2018
The aim of this essay is to assess James Medbery MacKaye’s contribution to socialist thought during the Progressive Era. Largely forgotten today, MacKaye proposed a special version of socialism, which he called “Pantocracy,” based on a peculiar blend of utilitarian and eugenic assumptions. Specifically, MacKaye held that biological fitness mapped to the capacity for happiness—biologically superior individuals possess a greater capacity for happiness—and saw the eugenic breeding of “a being or race of beings capable in the first place of happiness” as a possibility open by the advent of Pantocracy. Incidentally, this essay provides further evidence that the influence of eugenic and racialist…
“Generalist” Journals between Dissemination of Economics and Regime Propaganda
2019
Early in the 20th, generalist journals – a kind of press which had its major diffusion in the nineteenth century – continue to accommodate the contributions of economists offering a specific debating space. However, with the affirmation of fascist ideology, generalist periodicals progressively ceased to exist or to host economists’ articles. Thus, the main object of this research consists in clarifying what could be intended by “generalism” and in relation to which events and ideological pressures it disappeared as a different way to do journalism in a dialectic interplay with specialization. The paper reviews the panorama of generalist journals focusing on the impact of the Fascist regime …
Banks, Firms and Economic Culture: Economists and Research Centres in Interwar Italy
2020
In the interwar years, Italy experimented a strong growth of applied economic research. The foundation of research centers can be read and placed in a much wider international trend that emerged during the Great War. In this essay, we offer a map of the most important research centers, exploring the extensive web of relationships between the academia and the productive world. We then focus on a set of case studies, selected for their relevance. Section 2 is devoted to the banking sector, with reference to four important cases (Banca Commerciale Italiana, Banca d’Italia, Associazione Bancaria Italiana and Banco di Sicilia); section 3 to the industrial sector (IRI, Finsider, Ansaldo, Edison, …
Reshaping Monetary Policy after the Great Crash: John H. Williams at the NY FED
2020
John H. Williams was an influential economist and central banker in the interwar years. A Harvard University professor since 1929 specialized in international trade and monetary economics, he joined the NY Fed in 1933 and became its vice-President in 1936. This paper aims to provide a general assessment of Williams’ contributions to monetary and fiscal policy during his tenure at the NY FED. We shall try to do so by following a twofold perspective: i. establish connections between Williams’ more theoretical works, his interpretations of the great depression and some policy decisions enacted by the FED in the 1930s; ii. provide new archival evidence on what was the part Williams played in th…
Francesco Ferrara
2010
voce biografica su Francesco Ferrara