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The Republic of Wealth and Liberty: The Politics of Antonio Serra

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Antonio Serra and the Economics of Good Government

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance ((PSHF))

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Abstract

It is the text itself of the Breve trattato that calls out for analysis from the political perspective, not only because the book advanced various proposals in economic policy, but also because it postulated the primacy of politics over economics, suggesting “between the line” proposals for reform that were decidedly radical given the institutional organization of the Kingdom of Naples.1 Serra’s political argument is developed — or, better, dissimulated2 — in particular in the Proem and then in chapters VI and X of the first of the three parts into which the Breve trattato is divided. As the reader of this book may know, he formulated a complex typology of causes which he held to promote a country’s wealth, applying a method that already foreshadowed the modern scientific approaches and which still surprises even today. Over a century before the development of political economy, this Italian economist, perfectly aware that he was presenting “a subject that is both great and new”,3 did not limit his scope to analysis of the practical aspects of economic and financial issues — in which he had been preceded by other Italians — locating them within a theoretical setting by means of a method that based rational investigation on empirical foundations, and in particular on comparison.4 Of this, Serra was fully aware: in criticizing Marc’Antonio de Santis, (the main target of his polemics) he observed that the latter had not proceeded “with scholarly rigour, and … he does not discuss all the causes in general, but only presents one particular, practical notion of his own” which things, “as the Philosopher says, can never generate scientific knowledge”.5

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Notes

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  1. Luca Addante
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  1. University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy

    Rosario Patalano (Professor of the History of Economic Thought) (Professor of the History of Economic Thought)

  2. Harvard Business School, USA

    Sophus A. Reinert (Assistant Professor of Business Administration) (Assistant Professor of Business Administration)

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Addante, L. (2016). The Republic of Wealth and Liberty: The Politics of Antonio Serra. In: Patalano, R., Reinert, S.A. (eds) Antonio Serra and the Economics of Good Government. Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137539960_8

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