HET course for AEEE

• Mercantilism  by C. Sunna
  

  The term Mercantilism refers to a set of heterogeneous economic theories, aimed at defining state economic policies, that developed in Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. The primary goal of the mercantilist approach was to increase the wealth accumulated and, consequently, the power of nation-states. Among the economic policies promoted for this purpose were protectionism—in order to maintain a positive balance of trade—and demographic policies.
  
  Keywords: bullionism, mercantilism, Thomas Mun, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, colonialism, protectionism.
  
  

• Physiocracy and the Origin of Wealth by M. Mosca
  
  Physiocracy, founded by François Quesnay in 18th-century France, was the first school of economic thought. The physiocrats conceived of the economy as an integrated system governed by positive laws inspired by natural law, schematically represented in the Tableau économique. The physiocrats identified agriculture as the sole source of surplus (produit net), classified social classes according to their economic functions and developed the first theories on capital and the circulation of social income. Their main policy recommendations — laissez-faire and a single tax on land rent — aimed to promote the development of the agricultural sector.
  
  Keywords: François Quesnay, natural order, productive and unproductive classes, net product, laissez-faire, single tax.

• Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations by S. Fiori

  Adam Smith is generally recognised as the founder of political economy as an independent discipline and as a systematic science. In his An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776), the author identifies the division of labour as the primary source of a nation’s wealth and develops the first objective theory of value. To understand Smith’s overall view of society, it is necessary to complement a reading of the Wealth of Nations with a reading of his philosophical work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759).
  
  Keywords: classical political economy, division of labour, labour theory of value, sympathy, impartial spectator.

• Ricardo and Say: the conditions for a balanced development of capitalism by A. Magliulo

  After Adam Smith, the leading exponents of the classical school of economics included J.B. Say in France and Ricardo in England. Say proposed a harmonious view of capitalist development based on the law of markets and the free circulation of goods and factors of production. He regarded government intervention as a potential obstacle to growth. Ricardo built on Smith's idea of development driven by the accumulation of capital. He focused on the laws of income distribution, identifying a conflict between capitalists and landowners. Ricardo also reworked the labour theory of value and advocated free trade in international markets.
  
  Keywords: law of markets, utility, free market, distribution of income, labour theory of value, falling rate of profit, differential rent, comparative costs.

• Karl Marx by A. Le Donne

  Karl Marx devoted himself to understanding the capitalist economy. Starting from a critique of the work of classical economists such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo, he made his own contribution to the formulation of fundamental concepts in political economy. According to his labour theory of value, capital appropriates the surplus value generated by unpaid social labour (surplus labour), thereby exploiting the working class. He analysed alienation, cyclical crises of overproduction, and the tendency for the rate of profit to fall. This foreshadowed the inevitable overthrow of the capitalist system through class struggle and revolution, and the subsequent transition to socialism.
  
  Keywords: critique of classical political economy, labour theory of value, surplus value, exploitation, alienation, overthrow of capitalism.

• Marginalism by M. Mosca 

  Marginalist economic theory gained prominence from the 1870s onwards thanks to its three founding fathers: the Englishman William Stanley Jevons, the Austrian Carl Menger and the Frenchman Léon Walras, who independently arrived at similar conclusions and converging methodologies. They reworked the science of economics along the lines of the natural sciences, shifting the focus from social aggregates and the objective theory of value (based on labour) to the behaviour of individuals and the subjective theory of value (based on marginal utility).

  Keywords: Marginalist Revolution, economics, subjective theory of value, marginal utility, theory of income distribution.

• Neoclassical Alfred Marshall by F. Masini 

  By synthesising classical and marginalist thought, Alfred Marshall employed the method of partial equilibrium to analyse market function, thereby laying the foundations for the neoclassical approach. Building upon and innovating the classical tradition, he introduced a temporal dimension to the supply side by distinguishing between the very short, short, long, and very long run. However, on the demand side, he drew on the theory of marginal utility, giving rise to the representation of equilibrium through the Marshallian cross of supply and demand. Through his studies of consumer and producer surplus, the elasticity of demand, and returns to scale, he provided the fundamental analytical tools of modern microeconomics.
  
  Keywords: supply and demand, market equilibrium, partial equilibrium, elasticity of demand, consumer surplus, producer surplus.
  
  

• Keynes and the birth of modern macroeconomics by A. Magliulo

  John Maynard Keynes, the founder of modern macroeconomics, was a pupil of Marshall's and an economic adviser to the British government. Keynesian analysis evolved through three main periods: the 1920s, during which he critiqued the fixed-exchange-rate monetary system based on the gold standard, proposing that monetary policy should be oriented towards domestic price stability; the early 1930s, during which he reflected on the Great Depression, developing a theory of the business cycle based on the relationship between saving and investment; the decade from 1936 to 1946, during which he analysed the equilibrium of underemployment, proposing that aggregate demand should be supported by expansionary economic policies in order to achieve and maintain full employment.
  
  Keywords: Great Depression, business cycle, aggregate demand, monetary policy, fiscal policy, macroeconomics.

Eventi

19th AISPE Conference. University of Florence. October 8-10, 2026

New cycle of "Colloquia doctoralia 2026". From 13 October 2026, 6 pm