La pensée monétaire en Italie depuis 1945

Abstract

Monetary writings in Italy since 1945 This is an exhaustive survey of recent publications on monetary subjects by Italian economists. A detailed, historical introduction enables the reader to situate post-war monetary writings in relation to earlier economic traditions in Italy. The author considers first of all general monetary theories and then goes on to examine a number of specific problems dealt with by Italian economists : post-war reconstruction ; economic fluctuations and development ; monetary and financial policy ; international monetary problems. In his opinion, the major characteristics of Italian writings on money since 1945 are, in the first place, that Italian economists refect the concepts of the «veil of money» and of «neutral money». They accept the idea that the introduction of monetary factors necessarily changes the situation of equilibrium which is supposed to exist in a non-monetary economy and also the nature of departures from that equilibrium. Secondly, a purely mechanical interpretation of the quantity theory has no adepts. Finally, economists in Italy tend to stress the importance of real economic factors and therefore, despite their rejection of monetary neutrality, have only a limited faith in the potency of monetary policy.