The social encyclical Rerum Novarum closely links the question of poverty with that of property, and invokes Thomas Aquinas. But on closer examination, the reasoning developed in favour of property departs from the scholastic thinker, since it maintains more affinities with the liberal tradition...

This article studies the role of the businessmen in Marshall’s views on the progress towards the social ideal. The analysis is grounded on a perfectionist reappraisal of the Marshallian principle of justice supported by an historical perspective and some of Marshall’s unpublished papers. It...

The Italian economist Enrico Barone (1859- 1924) is best known for his contributions to marginal productivity theory and the socialist planning debate. This paper analyzes Barone’s contributions to the theory of perfect competition which are largely ignored in the secondary literature. It...

Character is commonly recognised as a crucial notion in Alfred Marshall’s thought, and more broadly in Victorian thought. However, this concept is never intrinsically defined. This paper offers an intellectual reconstruction of the notion of character in Marshall’s thought. While not denying...