AISPE makes the contributions of Piero Barucci available to the scientific community. The hope is that his thought and his work will continue to circulate, nourishing reflection and inspiring new paths of research.
Piero Barucci’s essays cover almost half a century of intensive research about the themes of Italian economic thought. Underlying this line of research is the civic passion that largely animated intellectual circles in the early 1960s; at the time, a sort of Enlightenment-style optimism pervaded the field of political economy, and there was a widespread conviction that economic science was capable of improving living conditions and promoting social progress; a widely shared vision that inspired Marxist, Catholic and liberal circles alike. In this context, writing a history of economic thought meant, above all, identifying the links between economic analysis and the implications for economic policy and social philosophy that stem from it – links which, until then, had been little explored or deemed irrelevant by historians of economic thought. This is the path of research that Barucci follows, building on and developing in new directions the scientific legacy of his mentor, Alberto Bertolino. Thanks to Barucci’s contribution, the history of economic thought has become an inexhaustible source of inspiration for economic analysis, fully reclaiming its contemporary relevance. These writings are not only the foundation of a historiographical approach, that is now firmly established, but also represent the testimony of a generation of intellectuals who have always regarded culture as a civic commitment and passion. For Piero Barucci’s generation, economic analysis has always been a means of emancipation and progress, a tool for transforming the world and never for justifying it.
Click on the book covers to view their contents.
Video contributions
Presentation of his book Unicredit. Una Storia dell'Economia Italiana, (AISPE, 13 January 2023)
The Valtellinese economists, at the Società Economica Valtellinese (6 April 2019)
Economists and economic science in Italy during fascism, at the CIPEI – Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca per la Storia del Pensiero Economico Italiano (15 June 2018)
Economists and economic science in Italy during fascism, at the CIPEI – Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca per la Storia del Pensiero Economico Italiano (13–14 December 2018) (intervention at 1h 59m)
Media Eventi Unipi: First CIPEI Conference (December 13–14, 2018) (intervention at 1h 45m)
Piero Barucci on Quelli che il calcio (at minute 28)