Few economists choose to write memoirs, and of those who do most adopt the "logic of my contributions£ approach. Tibor Scitovsky, Hungarian-born theorist who spent most of his career at Stanford and Berkeley, instead left us unpublished recollections, many of his childhood, others bearing on...

In his work Arbeit und Boden (Labor and Land) (1889) Otto Effertz outlined the foundations of a "Ponophysiocracy". This book which in its final, strongly modified version Les Antagonismes économiques was published in 1906, had a stronger impact on Adolphe Landry, who praises as well as...

This paper documents Richard Kahn’s role as an unofficial advisor to the Israeli Government, using archival and published sources. In 1957, Kahn predicted that the European Economic Community (EEC) customs union would harm Israel’s trade and that the EEC would reject Israel’s application...

Antonio Serra wrote in 1613 an outstanding analysis, on the economy of the Reign of Naples, which is still very little known out of Italy; where he is largely recognized as the founder of the "Southern question". This article proposes a larger view of Serra’s pioneering achievements, by...

Harriet Taylor has been long forgotten as an economist and political philosopher, while merely remembered as John Stuart Mill’s friend and belatedly wife. Never was fate more unjust: we only need to recall that Taylor - whose liberal background soon led her to be fascinated by socialist...

This paper considers the question of what influence J.M. Keynes had on the evolution of the welfare state after the Second World War. First it weighs whether his non-utilitarian approach to economic theory and welfare measurement had an impact on the growth of the welfare state. Then it...

James Meade described himself as a liberal and used the term neo-classical to describe his economic theory but unlike many liberals he sought to improve the market economy. This paper explores Meade’s liberalism through analyzing his writings on planning, the market, justice and income...

The first 1947 meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society is considered the date of birth of neoliberalism. But the neoliberal thought after WWII is the result of fervent intellectual efforts in the previous decades. The paper aims at highlighting the role of Luigi Einaudi to the making of the...

<em>Il pensiero di Kenneth Boulding, economista irenico. Relazioni sociali tra scambio, dono e coercizione</em> - The aim of this essay is the ‘triangular theory of social interactions as expounded by Kenneth Boulding. Rediscovering the theoretical reflections of Kenneth Boulding about social...

The modern labour market policy of flexicurity has been adopted as a leitmotiv of the European employment strategy and the revised Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs. This paper examines the two main influences behind the concept of flexicurity, namely the New Keynesian active labour market...