The subject of needs is the centre of attention of Italian public finance scholars. The financial activity of the State is justified by the existence of collective or public needs to whose satisfaction collective or public goods and services are linked. Italian economists have studied the...

The present paper examines the theories of progressive taxation debated in the Italian public finance literature between the end of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. The survey presents only the main arguments, stressing their connection with the...

This paper examines public expenditure in the Italian public finance literature between the end of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century. Three aspects are considered: the factors that determine the growth of public expenditure; integration of the tax and...