Economic thought and institutional change in france and italy

Economics and “Civilization” in GianDomenico Romagnosi Edoardo Ciech and Riccardo Soliani Abstract Gian Domenico Romagnosi 1761–1835 contends that the classicalpolitical economists took

Riccardo Soliani Editor

Economic Thought and Institutional Change in France and Italy,

1789–1914

A Comparative Study

Economic Thought and Institutional Change

in France and Italy, 1789 –1914

Riccardo Soliani

Editor

Economic Thought

and Institutional Change

in France and Italy,

A Comparative Study

123

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The book you are about to read examines the relations between economic thought,proposals of reform of political institutions and civil society in the Italian andFrench tradition during the“long” nineteenth century, from the ascent to power ofNapoleone Bonaparte to the eve of the First World War In Italy, this time spancovers the long process of setting the foundations for the Italian state(Risorgimento, with the considerable French support provided to Italy during thisprocess), its subsequent rise on the international stage leading up to the role played

by the state in the Great War 1914–1918 At the same time, in France, we have thelong-lasting post-revolutionary struggle of republican, progressive social forcesagainst the conservative monarchism, with the ascent of the bourgeoisie in the era

of Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III, the dramatic events that accompanied the waragainst Prussia and the birth of the Third Republic Together with the institutionalestablishment, or evolution, of the two States, we have the budding development ofeconomic thought: namely, liberalism, socialism, industrial utopia, egalitarianism inFrance; and, in Italy, considerations on the link between liberalism, publicadministration and republicanism, and the evolution of the Catholic social doctrine.Italian Liberalism developed alongside the pursuit of independence and theestablishment of the new State At the same time, the nineteenth century marks therise of Socialism in Italy, from the humanitarian solidarity of the republicaninstances to the birth of organized groups of workers following the unity and theend of the State of the Church When Rome became capital of Italy (1870–71), theCatholic Church exerted a strong opposition to the new State, as expressed in the

official decree Non expedit, which prohibited Catholics from participating inpolitical life However, the Church continued to be deeply involved in civil societythrough the provision of education and social care in favour of the poor Popularclaims for equity and justice were addressed through the gradual establishment

of the new Catholic social doctrine, which would give rise to Catholic Corporatism

In France, the first half of the period sees the transition from monarchy torepublic We have the monarchy censitaire of Louis XVIII and Charles X duringthe Restauration, which «restored» public finances, and the July constitutionalmonarchy between 1830 and 1848, with its policy aimed at economic development,

v

transport infrastructure and education (railways, schools) and colonial expansion;however the public balance remained in surplus for most of the period The tran-sition to the Second Republic (1848) places Paris at the centre of European revo-lutionary forces, followed by the Second Empire (1852), with its financialprosperity owing to the fast growth of the economy, when the utopian thought ofSaint-Simon seems definitely closer to being achieved, as proved by de Lesseps’realization of the Suez Canal, and the signature of the free trade agreement with the

UK (1860), important result of the liberalism of Louis-Napoléon An institutionalchange of paramount importance is the Constitution of the Third Republic of 1875,established sanséclat : the very peculiar case of a Republican Constitution written

by an assembly with a monarchist majority, following the revolution of 1871,repressed by Thiers, and the catastrophic war against Prussia The Republic will lastand grow as a major regional power, with vast colonial domains French society isbecoming more democratic, secular, educated and egalitarian, and the great bour-geoisie offinance and industry is now republican The mission of Saint-Simon, i.e.,the successful outcome of a French Revolution, isfinally achieved with the help ofGambetta, who understands the position and interests of the emerging middle classand is able to obtain the consensus of farmers and peasants From 1876, workers’organizations are reinstated, after the repression of the Commune There are veryfew of these outside of Paris; however, in the country, workers and artisans mostlysupport republicans and radicals Ten years later, these organizations would becomewidespread and juxtaposed to the moderate majority

The book expounds several key points of the processes just mentioned.Thefirst section examines the issues of identity, justice and liberty, which wereprominent both in the establishment of the Italian state and in the complex insti-tutional evolution of France, from monarchy to republic At the same time, they lie

at the root of the debate on Italian and French political economy Italian and Frenchauthors involved in the Risorgimento and in the mid-century social turmoils arediscussed Romagnosi was the inspiration for generations of Italian politicians andeconomists, amongst whom Cattaneo, who coupled political action with intellectual

reflection on the national identity of Italy and on the influence of the publicadministration on growth and social justice An alternative perspective is given inthe paper on slavery, which denies human identity, justice and liberty

Thefive papers of the second section are devoted to the relationship betweenpolitical and economic freedom and its effect on equity A few classical Italian andFrench authors who discuss these issues, and their reception in Italy and France, are

at the core of the papers Economic freedom and equity are examined in Sismondi,

a francophone author who spent an important period of his life in Tuscany, and onepaper deals with the reception of List in Italy and France for the purposes of freetrade, protectionism and social fairness The section provides fresh insight, whicheven puts a new perspective on the reflections of well-known scholars, likeJean-Baptiste Say, according to whom economic freedom and social justice arestrictly connected, and Pellegrino Rossi, his successor as professor of politicaleconomy in Paris The last paper highlights the relationship between the

aforementioned concepts from the point of view of the pursuit of social equitythrough the reforms propounded during the unification of Italy.

The intellectual and political conflict between the social vision of Liberalism andSocialism in some of their various forms is the main topic of the four papers of thethird section, in which different streams of Socialism are discussed Particularreference is made to Saint-Simon and his followers An alternative approach to theFrench utopian socialism is examined in a paper that modifies the interpretationprovided by Sombart and Durkheim Finally, the almost unknown economicthought of a group of prominent French intellectuals between the end of thenineteenth century and the First World War is examined, highlighting the linkbetween the attitude towards economy and the political choices of Halévy, Alainand Maurois

Part I Fighting for Identity, Justice and Liberty

Economics and“Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 3Edoardo Ciech and Riccardo Soliani

Carlo Cattaneo (1801–1869), Lombard Philosopher

and Economist, Liberal Beyond Federalism 37Enrico Ivaldi, Riccardo Soliani and Andrea Repetto

Liberty, Labour and Human Rights: Institutional Change

and the Intellectual Debate on Slavery in France from Condorcet

to the Mid-19th Century 51Simona Pisanelli

Part II Economic Freedom, Free Trade and Equity

Whose Sismondi? Which Italy? The Reception Italy Gave

Sismondi’s Economic Thought 77Letizia Pagliai

A Comparative Analysis of the Relationship Between

Friedrich List and French and Italian Culture 99Stefano Spalletti

J.-B Say: Political Economy and Social Justice 115Riccardo Soliani

Pellegrino Rossi: A New Approach to Liberalism 129

Joël-Thomas Ravix

Part III Liberalism and Its Alternatives in Various Declinations

From the People to the Industrialists: Saint-Simon

and the Eclipse of Sovereignty 149Simona Gregori

ix

Institutions and Development in Saint-Simonian Political Economy 167Abdallah Zouache

An Economic Philosophy for the Republic: Elie Halévy,

Alain, André Maurois 177Ludovic Frobert

Economics and Sociology Meet Socialism: Sombart, Durkheim

and Pareto 199Vitantonio Gioia

Part I

Fighting for Identity, Justice and Liberty

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian

Domenico Romagnosi

Edoardo Ciech and Riccardo Soliani

Abstract Gian Domenico Romagnosi (1761–1835) contends that the classicalpolitical economists took the wrong road: they believed that economics should onlystudy the indefinite production and reproduction of wealth and that their task waslimited to the study “of purely economic events isolated from practical theory”.Then the narrow-minded self-interest of a speculator wishing to become enrichedwas considered and calculated in its various movements for the production, dis-tribution and consumption of wealth, without considering actual social relations at ahigher level Whilst Romagnosi possibly misunderstood the very essence of clas-sical doctrine, by not separating it from moral philosophy, the reasons behind hisintendedly polemic attitude towards it are rather clear: on the one hand, the attempt

to investigate the laws governing the production and distribution of wealth; on theother hand, the deliberate intention to be guided by the“views of the family man,longing to see all his children employed” and to contribute to this end

1 Introduction

Romagnosi’s faithful pupil and biographer, Giuseppe Sacchi, documented cant evidence of the difficulties faced by the publishers of the Annali Universali diStatistica [Universal Statistical Annals] to persuade the then-elderly Romagnosi tocontribute to the review, founded in Milan in July 1824 What worried Romagnosiwas not his rather uncertain and precarious state of health, but rather the task ahead

signifi-He knew that in the Annali he was supposed to write about economic issues withwhich he had dealt only“tentatively” until then He also believed that writing about

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

R Soliani (ed.), Economic Thought and Institutional Change

in France and Italy, 1789 –1914, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-25354-1_1

3

economics would have meant for him to“step into a field where almost everythinghad to be redone”, to get into “a task that he described as enormous.”1

Sacchi’s testimony has twofold significance: on the one hand, as confirmationthat Romagnosi began to professionally deal with political economy only around

1827, when hefirst contributed to the Annali; on the other, as anticipation of hisjudgment of prior and contemporary economic doctrines

For Romagnosi, political economy as a discipline had emerged in such recenttimes that it could be considered still in its“infancy.”2

It was still in that particular period that characterises the evolution of any ence, where the focus is on“details”, before rising to the “governing principles”.One of the mistakes made by“current economists” lies indeed in their attempt toreduce“economics to serve blind emulations, and to demand privileged protectionfor their sector of preference, to the detriment of the others and the Public.” In itsevolution, political economy hasfirst theorised a prominent position for commercialactivities, then agricultural activities, and finally industrial activities Romagnosiviews it as proof that“the doctrine is not accomplished and demonstrated”, as hebelieves that any economic activity fulfils its unique function in a well organisedsociety

sci-Individuals, or groups with a common interest, are dominated by“the individualinstinct, which tends to absorb everything in itself, thus sacrificing the utility andrights of others” In the manifestation of this instinct lies the “driving force” ofhuman society, but its dominance over the rights of others carries the seed of itsdisruption Romagnosi openly condemns any doctrine, past or present, that ended

up being an expression of this particular instinct, including classical theory, which

he blamed for relying on this very“individual selfishness” and theorising the effects

of its manifestation In view of this, there is no doubt that “the reasonings anddeductions are consistent” However, this is not the point: “the question is whetherthis individual selfishness may be assumed as governing principle in the socialorder of wealth”.3

In his own words, “one thing is the material history of theconsumption goods produced and used in a general sense by man, and another is itspolitical economy.” Economists took the wrong road: they believed that economicsshould only study the“naked and indefinite production and reproduction of wealth”and that their task was limited to the study“of purely economic events isolated frompractical theory.”

Serious consequences have resulted from this mistake “The narrow-mindedself-interest of a speculator wishing to become enriched was considered and cal-culated in its various movements for the production, distribution and consumption

of wealth, without considering actual social relations at a higher level The whole

1 G Sacchi, “Gian Domenico Romagnosi”, in Annali Universali di Statistica, Milano, 1835, Vol XLV See on these points (Barucci 2009 ).

2 “Definizioni in economia politica, ecc.” (1827) In Opere edite ed inedite, riordinate ed illustrate

da A De Giorgi, Milano, 1845, vol VI, p 18.

3 “Criterio di verità col quale si deve ragionare in politica economica” (1831), Opere, VI,

pp 87 –88.

moral aspect and that of the eminent common interest that redounds to the greateradvantage of individuals were forgotten; so much so that such material, cold anddull selfishness breathes from the bottom of those modern doctrines.” Economistshad only studied “the abstract mechanism of the production, distribution, andconsumption of wealth”, without wondering whether their role should be differentthan that of the observer and resemble more that of the edifier.

No foreign economist has avoided these mistakes Smith is undoubtedly a goodreference point, though only for the“mechanical part of economics”.4Only Italianeconomists have“seized on the good party”: they did not “dictate the philosophy ofgreed, teaching the few to become enriched by abusing and subjugating the many,

as in English doctrines,” but rather “proclaimed the doctrine and the art of theequitable distribution of consumption goods whence come the common propertyand the increased power of both the rich and the poor”

Whilst Romagnosi possibly misunderstood the very essence of classical trine, by not separating it from moral philosophy, the reasons behind his intendedlypolemic attitude towards it are rather clear: on the one hand, the attempt toinvestigate the laws governing the production and distribution of wealth; on theother hand, the deliberate intention to be guided by the“views of the family man,longing to see all his children employed” and to contribute to this end

doc-2 Romagnosi ’s Main Economic Concept

How did Romagnosi become preoccupied with such concerns? Is it the result of awider philosophical concept, or rather of a method that primarily learns from his-torical experience? In the author’s view, it is the result of both

Romagnosi states that man is characterised by an“absolutely peculiar quality”,that is“perfectibility” As a result, “man becomes civilized, inventor of the arts, andextends his empire over nature” However, human perfectibility may not be real-ized, unless “by means of the whole society and in society itself” Romagnosiargues, that “philosophy and experience demonstrate [this] in such irrefutablemanner, that the existence of no other phenomenon in natural history is betterproven”.5

Romagnosifinds confirmation of his theses in the period of “feudal dissolution”:when human contacts and the “certainty of expectations” vanished, the spirit ofemulation disappeared and all economic activities languished At that time, societyhad almost disappeared, but not the spirit of sociality, which is an attribute of manand is always realised in a social form, possibly in the mere“pairing of the sexes, infamily”, which is the “first and true state provided by nature alone in a manner

4 “Della necessità di unire lo studio della politica economia con quello della civile giurisprudenza” (1832), Opere, VI, p 79.

5 “Introduzione allo studio del Diritto pubblico universale”, in Opere, III, pp 182–183 Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 5

common to the brutes” Society, meant as the organic tissue of human relations, is

in fact a“phenomenon produced by nature itself” Man as an individual exists nomore: he is born, grows and works within a community, becomes a“social man”,both a constitutive element and by-product of civil society He creates and developshis work not only by reason of his intellectual abilities, but also in respect of theideal heritage rooted in his own generation (with which he is in contact throughlanguage, which is another by-product of society) and inherited from past gener-ations As result of the spirit of sociality so rooted in man, society is man’s “naturalcondition”, a “necessary” condition since it represents the possibility for human

“perfectibility” to become true However, if the emergence of the activity of theindividual is strictly conditioned by the existence of society, then the problem arisesthat the“doing” of the individual be in accordance with the existence of society,rather than lead to its dissolution

“The principle of love of wealth, the sole mainspring of human actions”, whichman seeks to“enjoy as much as he can with as little inconvenience and trouble aspossible,” may occur under any condition However,

every single human being is unable to reach a certain point of comfort solely with his own strength, nor to generally and constantly defend his possession or to overcome a disaster without the aid of his peers; still, the improvement of the economic state of the individual must be considered as the cumulative result of the work of both the individual and the whole society.6

This“improvement of the economic state” of the individual is thus not only due

to his individual work, but is rather the result of a complex set of human activitiesand social institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to attaining this result,thus acquiring a specific economic meaning This consideration might pose ethical

or moral problems about the distribution of the wealth produced; nonetheless, suchproblems assume a different meaning in consideration of the fact that the“sociality

of wealth” is a necessary condition for the existence of civil society

Though thus far neglected, this is a particularly significant concept in thethinking of Romagnosi: the survival of the human attribute of sociality is linked tothe actual emergence of sociality itself in legal and economic terms It implies both

a fair recognition of the individual’s rights and a particular condition of equality, to

be seen in a concrete sense rather than abstract, as will be discussed below

“Everybody knows—Romagnosi argues—that when the laws of that moralbalance that can fairly satisfy the parties are violated, no human habit or institutionusually survives”.7

From this comes Romagnosi’s attempt to demonstrate that any effort to pursuethe individual interest is meant to damage the whole society in the long-term Onlythe achievement of the“true social interest” may lead to the “maximum possiblepersonal benefit”

6 “Introduzione”, in Opere, III, p 344.

7 “Sui contratti di assicurazione” (1832), Opere, VI, p 986.

As usual, his position is grounded in his philosophical conviction and historicalexperience, and results in a fundamental principle: economics must be the doctrine

of edification rather than disruption of society, to be considered “as an edifyingphysiology, rather than a dissolving chemistry”.8

Hence the obvious need for a new “governing principle to serve as guide ineconomic matters” and which is entailed “in the very definition of this science.”

In general, the very term“economics” designates “the orderly distribution of anyone thing”, that is to say “an order that man seeks to attain” Within a “civilconsortium”, i.e society, economics—which historically had already “designatedthe administration of domestic goods”—thus concerns “the social order of materialgoods”, and is termed “political economy”, thus referring to “civil society under acivil regime” “Political” is to be understood in the meaning that Cicero attaches tothe city (from whose Greek etymology the adjective derives), defined as a “coetusmultitudinis iuris consensu et utilitatis communione sociatus” [assembly of a largenumber associated by agreement in regard to justice and by common utility].9With regard to this communio utilitatis, economics seeks to “provide for thepossession of consumption goods in an amount proportionate to the needs of life, to

be distributed as fairly and easily to the maximum number of social individuals”; itultimately is “the total of notions and rules” concerning the ways to attain the

“social order of wealth”

Economics thus has two specific characters: firstly, it concerns the “order” ofmaterial goods, i.e those goods that, as Romagnosi said on another occasion, cansatisfy the need of individuals for food, shelter, and clothing; secondly, it has thetask to specify the“notions and rules” that enable to attain a fair distribution of suchgoods among individuals

It“thus constitutes some sort of hygienics or salutary art of the life of States”and, in this sense, together with jurisprudence and the science of administration,becomes part of“civil philosophy”10; it is some sort of general“doctrine of publicaffairs”, which it addresses and regulates all aspects of

As stated by Cattaneo, civil philosophy is“the whole set of doctrines on whichthis civil society rests”; despite their different methods and content, these doctrinesfind common ground in their ultimate research object, that is indeed the goodgovernment of civilised society Only within such confluence lie the ways toovercome the“individual self-interest” as ultimate aim of economics, which shouldrather be the achievement of the communio utilitatis Much has been written onjurisprudence, statistics and economics; however, Romagnosi notes that there exists

no“unified and demonstrated system” of these branches yet, “nor a connection withthe great tree of public affairs”; conversely, economics and jurisprudence have

8 “Quesito: Il modo usato da alcuni scrittori d’oggidi nel trattare le dottrine economiche è forse plausibile? ” (1827), Opere, VI pp 12–13.

9 “Memoria riguardante il punto di vista degli articoli economici e statistici” (1834), Opere, VI,

“divorced”, which is fatal for the construction of a system of knowledge able toachieve the desired purpose.11

Serious consequences have resulted from this“divorce”, whereby nowadays wehave“economics with no brakes, and jurisprudence with no real sanctions” On theone hand,“lawyers with their rigid and blurred abstractions plunder in the field ofeconomics”; on the other, economists, “by calculating a merely optional profit,make public and private justice contingent”

Romagnosi holds that lawyers and legislators have not properly understood thedirect incidence of their work also on the economicfield The law regulates humanrelations, and thus leads to the activities of individuals, which are full of economicsignificance The regulation of any and all juridical institutions has in fact eitherpositive or negative economic effects Property, possession, and inheritance arelegal institutions that have thus far been studied in their legal essence; however,they incorporate a force able to break any formality and order all economic relations

in a different manner An economics“without brakes” may for example arise from amisunderstanding of the concept of freedom, while a privileged position may arisefrom a particular discipline related to inheritance law The legislator in particularmust be aware of the effects of his actions, so as to realise that his task is to build alegal architecture that may prevent the emergence of the principle of self-interestfrom turning into the exclusive achievement of a merely selfish purpose

Jurisprudence and economics might appear to be in an instrumental relation,since a wise legal system is prerequisite for the attainment of the goal of economics.However, as will be discussed below, this is not the case, because while thelawyer has the task to attain“fair justice”, it is up to the economist that this justice isnurtured by and solidifies through concrete actions

“Justice—remarks Romagnosi—is but a logical relationship of compliance with

a given norm”; the problem is thus finding a norm that is not expressed in religious

or philosophical terms only, without any “real sanctions” “When justice is notlinked to the expectation of a good, and injustice to the threat of an unavoidableevil, the idea of justice confronted with these passions usually downgrades to ameaningless word” By contrast, “the real formula of civil and political justice holds

in its essence the whole social order of goods”.12

That is to say, the purpose ofeconomics is only a moment of the realisation of the purpose of jurisprudence;however, it is the moment in which this purpose becomes most effective Hence, therelation between economics and jurisprudence are not of an instrumental nature, butrather of cooperation and convergence; cooperation towards a common purpose andconvergence of the legal aspect and the economic aspect realised in Romagnosi’sconcept of justice

11 C Cattaneo “Statua marmorea per pubblica soscrizione di Giovanni Locke Alcune parole ai nuovi Scettici Calunniatori di Locke e di Romagnosi (1836) ”, in C Cattaneo, Scritti filosofici letterari e vari, F Alessio (ed.), Firenze 1957, p 19.

12 “Memoria”, Opere, VI, pp 9–10.

The need to“balance wealth among individuals, through the inviolate and safeoperation of common freedom” creates the “governing and practical rule ofjurisprudence”, which is by now embodied “in all the articles of the good Codes oftruly civilised nations”.

Then, if economics is a moment of the realisation of“fair justice”, does it belong

to jurisprudence? When comparing their “respective conclusions”, Romagnosistates that the science of“law eminently encloses that of political economy”, since,

“if in the relations of mere fairness no interesting sanction was seen thus far, besidesthat of the religious conscience”, “it now turns out that the dictates of the Law arerecommended and sanctioned by the force of material and well-ordered interests”.However, it is so only in this sense, because whilst the Law seeks“the fairness ofthe action, without worrying about the reasons, objectives, and needs of the actor,

by contrast economics teaches how in civil consortium the means to satisfy theneeds of life may be procured, ensured and distributed by way of cooperationbetween the efforts of the individual and those of his fellows” Hence, while the task

of economics is different, the social order of wealth is the ultimate goal for botheconomics and jurisprudence, the real “essence” of a problem that can beapproached from difference perspectives

Based on these considerations, it is thus clear that“economics, considered as ascience, influences the efforts of men in the production, distribution, and con-sumption of wealth”, and seeks to identify the ways in which human activities mayattain such“social order of wealth” Even in the more general definition of “eco-nomics” as “orderly distribution of any one thing”, Romagnosi had noted that “inthis sense economics is part of the art”, where by ‘art’ he means “the way to reach acertain purpose”

Against this background, we can easily understand the reason behind thepolemic pages that Romagnosi wrote against Dunoyer, who had denied the “op-erating” character of economics By censoring Sismondi, the French economist hadobserved that

governing is not up to sciences Rather, they observe phenomena without governing them They study the nature of things without any claim to regulate them True economics should not claim in any way to preside over the production of wealth It should be limited to the investigation of how such wealth is produced and which circumstances are favourable or unfavourable to its increase and fair distribution.13

First of all, Romagnosi notes that,“if Dunoyer’s arguments were correct”, thensciences would shrink to the “search for a spectacle of mere curiosity” and “itwould not be worthwhile to engage so much in them, as man would not be able tomake nature work to his advantage”

This is not the case, though: actually, quoting Bacon’s line that “a man can do asmuch as he knows how to do”, the human ability to reach the desired purpose inrelation to the existing natural forces is the result of the knowledge of the laws ofsuch forces Hence,“governing is the immediate or mediated subject of sciences It

13 “Principes d’organisation industrielle de J Fazy” (1830), Opere, VI, p 239.

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 9

is immediate, like in medicine, morals, arts of all kinds; it is mediated, like inmathematics, physics, etc.” The former are “operational” sciences, while the latterare“contemplative” Economics, like arts, belongs to the former and is aimed todirectly influence, modify and order society following a pre-set model.

3 “Order of Fact” and “Order of Reason”

The “operational” character of economics is connected to Romagnosi’s typicaldistinction between“order of fact” and “order of reason”

In general, the former is the result of the complex of actions and reactions that

“naturally” and “spontaneously” occur, thereby determining natural laws; the latter

is to be meant as the“determination by which, through our rational activity, webuild the ideal model, that is to say the image of this order”

Also with reference to consumption goods, Romagnosi identifies “a part of factwhich must be studied in order to grasp the laws of the natural impulse of economicaffairs” and an order of reason, which must be built as “artificial order, where theforces and trends of the inner and outer nature of man living in a civil society must

be used to attain the most equitable and beneficial participation in the means ofsubsistence”.14

The part of“fact” is to be seen as the complex of economic laws resulting fromthe natural relations between causes and effects; it is to be investigated, since“thepart of reason is essentially but a complex of purposes and means, in which thepower of nature must be made to serve the intentions of man” However, economics

is not limited to this part, as it has rather to do with the“order of reason” of wealth.The transition from one order to the other brings about two activities, i.e the art

of observing (part of fact) and that of constructing (part of reason) The latter isorganised through “three subsequent logical positions” The first position, i.e the

“final order or reason”, corresponds to the identification of the “desired purpose”and the“general possible means required by the very nature of the purpose” In thesecond position, i.e the “potential order”, the issue is to “explore and test thephysical and moral powers at our disposal” The third, i.e the “governing order ofreason”, consists in the identification of “what must be done to achieve the desiredpurpose” Romagnosi holds that these “three positions” enclose the “entire logicalprocess of economic doctrine” The adjective ‘logical’, though, is seemingly useless

in this case, if the determination of the“final order of reason” precedes the fication of the “potential order”

veri-As a matter of fact, in other occasions Romagnosi talks about “assuming aspurpose the highest point of attainable perfection” in relation to “all the powers atour disposal, contributing and leading to this purpose” He also speaks with great

14 “Ordinamento della economica dottrina” (1853), Opere, VI, pp 27–28.

insistence of a “law of opportunity” which must guide the statesman and theeconomist in the choice of measures.

Romagnosi is deeply and consistently convinced of the great significance ofnature and history in man’s actions As discussed above, perfectibility is a char-acteristic of human society, but the pinnacle towards which it strives is related toboth the natural abilities that society can utilize, and time, which is understood as aninstrument for measuring the evolution of a State Nature and time: two greatpowers to which, in this occasion, Romagnosi attaches great importance Man isaffected by them: he may not hope to industrialize a society without resources, norcivilize a society in“barbaric” conditions The road to civilisation must be walkedstep by step, slowly, and be promoted by way of organic measures, historicallysuited to the State’s current stage

In view of this, Romagnosi criticizes the universality of economic choices Thesecannot in fact be universal, as they cannot be equally valid in both a civil anduncivilized society Rather, their ability to attain the desired purpose is rooted in theactual conditions that differ from people to people Hence, economic choices must

be subject to the so-called“law of opportunity”, which is “the law of necessity intime and for time”

Hence, considering a complicated art like economics as being“without space,without time and without an actual position is the same as assuming an abstract,completely speculative profile of a doctrine which requires the knowledge of all thepowers and driving forces contributing to the composite phenomena of civil life”

In economics, any“absolutism” is a contradiction

Since the regime of the child, the expert, the old necessarily differ, just like the habitual system of a good economic temperament differs from that of a faulty one, it appears that economic dictates must necessarily vary according to the different stages of the moral and political economic civilization of peoples 15

4 The Theory of “Civilization”

What does Romagnosi mean by‘civilization’, which he so often discusses in hiseconomic writings?

It is the “economic, moral and political improvement” of a state, consisting in “providing the entirety of a given people with men able to procure and distribute adequate subsistence, men engaged in useful activities who give and demand due respect and reciprocate loving kindness; lastly, men who enjoy maximum security with regard to goods, persons and actions, both inside and outside the State ” 16

15 “Se sia più saggio il sistema degli antichi di avere un tesoro ovvero quello dei moderni di fare degl ’imprestiti per sovvenire ai pubblici bisogni” (1829), Opere, VI, p 516.

16 “Questioni sopra l’ordinamento delle statistiche civili” (1827–1830), Opere, VI, p 1157 Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 11

Romagnosi observes civilization from two different perspectives:“in the sense

of gradual progress towards a satisfactory and cultivated civil life”, and as session of the best and most cultivated coexistence attained by a given State”

“pos-As for the former, once the laws of this“progress” are discovered, the ways topromote it must be identified; civilization is thus an “art” or, better, “humanity’shighest art, general and perpetual” In the latter sense, the characteristic features of

an “ideal state” must be defined in relation to the environmental and culturalconditions of a people, so as to make this“state”—to be meant as a situation of fact

—the “normative and theoretical criterion” against which to contrast the realconditions of that people Civilization corresponds here to this ideal state, thusbecoming a unit of measure, an abstract term of comparison and, at the same time, agoal to be achieved In this case, civilization is a synonym for“civilized state”.This second aspect is of particular interest in reconstructing Romagnosi’s eco-nomic thought, because economics seeks to achieve a purpose that is necessarilyconsistent with the state of civilization Civilization as economic, moral andpolitical improvement is indeed a complex and composite state, where all theconditions for a“satisfactory, cultivated and regulated” coexistence must emerge atthe same time If any of these is missing, there is no civilization

Besides the economic“part”, which Romagnosi identifies in the implementation

of the “fair distribution” of wealth, there are “two further branches, one of whichconcerns moral education, and the other the fair regime of the State”.17

Which of the two is more important, then? Without a doubt, Romagnosi givesthe leading role to the“economic part”, not as functional primacy, but because it is

a prerequisite for moral and political improvement In his writings, he never tires ofrepeating that“from orderly material interests arises the possibility to order moraland political interests”, and that when the former are “ill-posed or diverted, moralinterests are either stifled or corrupt” The individual’s need for education—which

is also crucial to the establishment of the“moral order” and to prevent that “theignorant is forced to place his trust in the deceiver”—may not “work in generalunless after having satisfied the order of subsistence, just like that of friendlinesstowards others may not develop until after having met the needs of theindividual”.18

In order to promote the“process” of civilization—which ultimately is the maineffect of the “state” of civilization—the first problem to be solved consists in

“spreading wealth to as many as possible, so that thieves and slaves disappear or atleast are reduced to a minimum”

Complexity of issues and prominence of the“economic part” are therefore thetwo main characteristics of civilization It is not a“native, but rather dative” state,which does not sprout spontaneously, but is achieved by man through proper use ofthe means available

17 “Abbozzo storico delle dottrine alle quali fu dato il nome di Industrialismo, vale a dire delle dottrine che fondano la societ à su l’industria” (1827), Opere, VI, p 144.

18 “Sopra lo stato odierno delle scienze in Inghilterra” (1831), Opere, VI, pp 617–618.

To achieve this ideal state, thefirst problem encountered is to identify the stagethat a State has reached in the“curve” of the process of civilization This is the duty

of statistics

For Romagnosi,‘statistics’ arises from the word ‘State’, not meant as a “meresituation, but rather as the very collective person of a given society which inhabits agiven territory and primarily lives on agriculture and trade”.19

Since this “collective person” knows the threefold “improvement”, statisticsmust be able to detect every aspect of this improvement, thus becoming, in a verygeneral definition, the “exposition of the ways of being and of the interestingproductions of goods and persons within a given people” At least at first glance, themeaning of‘ways of being’ is rather obscure In his seminal essay on Romagnosi asstatistician, Ferrara views them as“the permanent circumstances that constitute anation in such and such a way”, thus seeing in Romagnosi the intention to moveaway from Say’s attempts to limit statistics to the recognition of “variable data”only However, this might not be the case Romagnosi himself explains that “thephrase‘ways of being’ includes the absolute and relative state, that is an abstractionmade up of both the single positive actions and their causes” In line with his moregeneral efforts, Romagnosi’s intention was thus to designate all the complexinter-individual, social and economic characteristics which—together with theobjective situation of a people moving towards an ideal state of civilization—determine the distance from this very ideal state

In the history of statistics, Romagnosi’s is undoubtedly a vigorous attempt atmoving away from the discussions of the statisticians of his time, and ratherassuming a completely personal position While amidst controversy, Say, Dupin,Gioia and Padovani had eventually agreed on one point: statistics was to identifyfacts which can be assessed“objectively and quantitatively” Their opinions onlydiffered with regard to the identification of a criterion to choose the phenomena to

be identified, in relation to the different purposes assigned to statistics

According to Romagnosi, the purpose of statistics is no longer the identification

of an objective fact, but rather, as mentioned before, a state of fact with a greatvariety of characteristics The task is just as different, as it consists in assessing therelative condition of this “state” and evaluating it in the context of the entirepotential process of civilization

Statistical investigation thus becomes historical investigation Like the historianfocusing on a moment or a problem should research its origins in previous yearsand its consequences in the following, the statistician must extend his investigation

to the factors that determine the evolution or involution of the present moment, so

as to project his conclusions in a future perspective However, statistics does notcorrespond to the“positive history” of a people, at least not at the same time as itunfolds While “positive history” is the reconstruction of the “particular eventsoccurred around a given moment”, statistics is the knowledge of the “circumstances

of fact characterising both man and the productions which lead to the well-being or

19 The following citations can be found in “Questioni”, Opere, VI, pp 1148–1153.

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 13

distress” of a nation Hence, there is a difference of scope, which is more extensiveand almost undetermined in positive history, while limited to the three aspectsabove in the case of statistics Furthermore, while statistics seeks to investigate thecurrent state of fact (though still researching into its causes in the recent past),positive history examines past events within their context.

Hence, they are two different disciplines; however, being statistics the“present”model of historical interpretation, it belongs to positive history, of which it forms a

“temporary position” Its investigation is limited to a moment in time, in the middle

of the slow, almost motionless unfolding of the history of a people When kindfinally evolves and produces a long series of statistics expressed in just as manyhistorical judgments, the history of a people will also be able to “embrace thesuccession of many statistics, whence this history of the positive state should come”.Romagnosi is driven here by a static concept, that it the fact that the historicaljudgment of past events results from the analysis of many investigations temporallylimited to a single moment Between one investigation and the other is a time

human-“devoid” of events Actually, our criticism risks being extrinsic to Romagnosi’sentire thought In its most genuine conception, statistics was not to consist of a series

of numerical data arranged in tables, but rather to be a“historical judgment” and, assuch, a summary of prior events and forecast of new times This can never bestressed enough: nowadays, when talking about statistics in succession at regularintervals, a general census or something similar comes to mind, some sort of verydetailed photograph investigating the tiniest details of the social body

Without a doubt, though, Romagnosi considers statistics as a historical pline In his own words, it is midway“between the history of the actual events ofthe world of nations and the philosophical history of the civilization of thesenations” It belongs to the former, as it detects the events occurred to a people, and

disci-to the latter, as it seeks disci-to emphasize all the elements that show its degree ofcivilization

As for its distinctive features, statistics as seen by Romagnosi is both an

“evaluative” and “instrumental” discipline at the same time It is evaluative, as itimplicitly expresses value judgments in identifying and showing the distancebetween the real condition of a State and the ideal one; it is instrumental, as it formsthe fundamental basis to propose measures aimed at eliminating such distance.Thus, it is“the first logical instrument of administration” and must serve as “im-mediately source of enlightenment to know fully and act confidently in every part ofpublic administration”

In order to“act”, though, knowledge is not enough unless we “find out what ismissing, both on the part of nature and the institution” A “specified ideal model” isneeded, an “archetype” by which it is possible to “know at the same time whichstage of civilization a given people has reached, and by way of which means it canprogress to be improved orfinally preserved” Hence, that of the “ideal state” must

be “the guiding notion for good research and good judgment” or, ultimately, to

his work; however, he failed.“One cannot resist the eloquence of facts, and there is

no answer to the expression of digits”, he loved to say, as if to indicate his idealambition to translate abstract, imprecise constructs, easily criticized and misun-derstood, into something unquestionable and unassailable His ambition and histaste for philosophical speculation, though, remained very much apart In this way,the notion of“ideal state” ended up corresponding to that of “state of civilization”

in the sense explained above, i.e a logical instrument of comparison, thoughinsufficient for operational purposes

Nevertheless, Romagnosi tried to make a few steps forward and, in the author’sview, quite successfully, by identifying in the order of the“universal and free socialcompetition” the first and irreplaceable condition for the construction of the “order

of subsistence” seen as the first aspect of this “ideal model”

Imagine a good economic system with free and legitimate competition; you will see, growing and springing like branches from a single trunk, morality, hard work and friendliness on the one side; sciences, literature and all arts on the other; dignity and power

on the one side, honour and glory on the other Enlightened minds, good hearts, powerful actions emerge spontaneously, uni fied, connected, inseparable, as long as no protections, interferences, nor arti ficial stimuli occur 20

This extract embodies much of Romagnosi’s social philosophy: a healthy nomic system results from universal free competition, which is thefirst foundationand origin of each civil society Romagnosi himself confirms the universal value offree competition: it is “the constant principle, harmonious and beneficial, of theeconomic life of society” It is a “dogma” or, better, the fundamental dogma of sociallife; it is the natural result of human actions, emerging in the absence of externalevents disrupting the order that is in the events.“Economic and moral improvementneeds no artificial boosts, but only the conditions of free competition”

eco-Why is competition “generally accepted and defended”? Romagnosi does notsee it only as an unprovable dogma Actually, competition is

proclaimed, defended and supported in view of the medium effect of the actions of free competitors This effect lies in the fair equalization of utility by way of the inviolate exercise

of common freedom, which is the only formula of any reasonable civil legislation Every day on the main square and in the little shops, the seller asks for ten, the buyer offers five, and both agree on seven This arrangement makes everyone happy, and wealth is exchanged and distributed.21

The perennial problem of any human society is to reconcile “the indefiniteyearning of the individual to become enriched” with “social participation andequity” This reconciliation may only occur by way of the “conflict of the clashingindividual forces”, which results in a situation of free competition, whereself-interests dissolve under their own overwhelming desire to emerge Romagnosihere makes reference to Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” Common interest is the

20 “Sopra lo stato”, Opere, VI, p 622.

21 “Della libera”, Opere, VI, p 39.

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 15

unexpected result of the opposite behaviours of individuals; it is a natural result,transcending both the will and power of individuals.

Competition thus becomes the emergence of the principle of a real justice andthe need for progress, a reconciliation of individual powers and negation of anydominance presaging hindrances to social development and, consequently, leading

to social decline

However, competition only pursues these intended purposes if it is truly free.Romagnosi wonders whether there actually exists a “fully free competition ifcontractors are allowed to do as they wish, or rather by promoting and protectingthe exercise of a full and reciprocal knowledge of things and of a mutual moral andphysical freedom of the respective actions”

In economic affairs, one thing is to“leave man on his own, whence to abuse byfraud or dominance of his personal superiority”; another is to “establish full and freecompetition” The first scenario leads to the triumph of the “unbridled power in theeconomic functions”, while the second to the implementation of a competitive orderwhich, as antonym to the“unbridled power”, must contain in itself the notion oflimit and regulation

5 “Unbridled Competition” and Free Competition

The distinction between “unbridled competition” and free competition arose inRomagnosi parallel to another distinction, i.e between independence and freedom.More precisely, the former is the“economic” projection of this philosophical-legaldistinction

Romagnosi defines ‘independence’ as the “state of a thing which is exempt fromthe need to occur as a result of a cause extrinsic to itself”; it might thus be theunlimited emergence of will outside any“influence of an empire external” to thesubject However, the emergence of one’s will is not sufficient in itself to achievethe intended purpose of the individual Human actions are an“exercise of force”against various obstacles, which may be overcome only if there exist organisationalfacts These facts, though, are always the result of the use of force, leading to alimitation of independence; however, to overcome obstacles, the use of force ulti-mately brings about freedom In fact, freedom is simply the“exemption from anyobstacles in the use of force” Real, long-lasting freedom thus comes from theself-limitation of the individual’s actions; freedom is subject to an “extrinsic cause”and realizes the individual’s action in a permanent condition of society At a closerlook, freedom is independence freed from any external obstacles, though limited bythe absolute necessity of protecting the conditions of human society Hence, it is notjust“any” realisation of human will; it is rather its realisation aimed to achieve apurpose directly external, but indirectly connected, to the individual as a member ofsociety Freedom is therefore will’s manifestation subject to the realisation of theprinciple of sociality; as Cattaneo puts it, it is the realisation of will by virtue of theachievement of“real” interests

Real economic freedom, then, may not arise in a state of “unbridled tion”, but rather in that of “universal free competition”, which can be achievedunder specific “conditions” typical of civil societies.

competi-Thefirst of these conditions has a political nature, which Romagnosi observesfrom a dual perspective, i.e as principle and as need for a legal system guaranteeingsuch principle It is the condition of the“equalization of legal powers”, meant first

of all as guarantee of perfect equality of each individual before the law, and then asprotection of“said equalization” by way of enactment of an organic body of lawand fair administration of justice

As fundamental as it is, this condition may only exert its fullest effect if it isconcretely realised, thus also concerning consumption goods

Romagnosi notes that“in economic life it is always better to compute all powers,functions and effects” and that such “effects are nothing but the result of these verypowers exerted by all encouraging and disheartening causes” The study of eco-nomic problems shall start from these very“powers producing wealth”

What does Romagnosi mean by this phrase? For him, these“powers” are to befound in two different areas, i.e one natural and one human Nature is the funda-mental source of“powers”, meant both as set of elements capable of affecting man,and as set of resources aimed at drawing his attention.“Active” powers are howeverwithin man, who is thus placed at the centre of each productive phenomenon andwhose ability is connected to his “knowledge, will, and strength” In order tocontribute to achieving a “perfectible conservation”, these powers must be sur-rounded by a certain social and institutional context A sound economic activityneeds, for example,“certainty of expectations” The presence of an organic body oflaws and a balanced atmosphere of coexistence among individuals thus becomenecessary, which can only be the result of a wise government Romagnosi arguesthat economic powers“are created and exerted by the simultaneous concurrence ofthe individual, society and the government, so as to be in agreement with suchconcurrence”

Having defined the complex nature of “powers”, an ever more complicatedremains, since Romagnosi identifies the “order of powers” as the “first” conditionfor the emergence of universal free competition

What does Romagnosi mean by ‘order of powers’? A clear answer to thisquestion is not to be found in his entire body of work It is certain, though, that forthe “equalization of legal powers” to become a concretely working condition, itmust result in equality of all before the law, but also in a fair distribution of

“material powers”

A political and legal order envisaging serfdom, considering the Prince as soleowner of all the land, following the principle of“territorial pretension”, or main-taining primogeniture would constitute an insurmountable obstacle to the smoothfunctioning of the principle of free competition For example, in the last exampleland would be in the hands of “too few”, with too many “competitors” holdingnone Universal free competition is not to be meant only as“the right to operateunhindered over a given good”, but also as situation of “order of reason”, which

“involves the supposed existence of powers and their respective freedom”

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 17

Both conditions must therefore exist for there to be universal free competition.

“Imagine the spectacle of competing in a horse race If a jockey is deprived of hisstrength or is restrained with violence—notes Romagnosi—would he ever be able

to compete against the others?” Further, lacking this equality of “forces” amongindividuals, free competition becomes detrimental to the State, and a“sanctification

of deprivation” perpetrated against those who lack such forces

Hence, our understanding of Romagnosi’s imperative for the “order of powers”

is confirmed in his constant battle against any hereditary entails and in his theory of

a natural cycle preventing the accumulation of“material means”—i.e the tal”—or the establishment of large estates

“capi-A sound legal and political system thus gives rise to a natural cycle of rotation ofindividuals in the different economic activities, where“agriculture is the basis fromwhich individuals and generations start, to which they return, and on which theyrest”

Industrial and“trading profits” do not accumulate in the branches where they areproduced; rather, they are“used by universal, spontaneous, and unfailing instinct toanimate and advance agriculture”

Agriculture thus represents an investment that may bring about peace and tainty for those who led“a painful industrial life of any kind”

cer-The individual, or some generations following him, fully know“the great nomic curve, travelled under the law of the encouraging necessity or the brakinginertia”; that very law pushes the individual to give up agriculture on a propertywhich has become divided and insufficient following a series of hereditary divi-sions, while inertia induces industrial or commercial entrepreneurs to return to“rest

eco-on a stable property” The “wheel of fortune”, as Romagnosi calls it, is thusalternating: while at a given time it leads to “division and subdivision, impover-ishment of petty landowners, it also leads to the rise of traders, who gain as long asthey can and then rest”

“Order of powers” as first condition of universal free competition thus means

“equal distribution”, as natural result of a legal order which allows for the principle

of hereditary division and of a political order which both ensures the individual’sfair security towards things and actions, and recognizes no territorial privileges toany caste Romagnosi’s eurhythmic scheme is thus grounded on a traditional legalprinciple conceived as capable of dynamically influencing land property, which isfor Romagnosi at the basis of each economic organization.“Dynamically”, becausethe subdivision of land property is the reason for the impoverishment of certainclasses, which explains their abandoning agriculture and, ultimately, the rotation ofthe cycle This cycle is almost biological, as individuals and generations succeedone another, experiencing the same evolutions and involutions Time passeswithout leaving any “remainder” for these individuals, who are reduced to mereinstruments, all alike, of a complex mechanism They have no intelligence or soul,

no ambition or fault; Siamese twins from a big mother who knows no differences

At a precise moment, some are at the top, others at the bottom of the curve; it is just

a matter of time and space, though, before their positions reverse

Besides the condition of the“order of powers”, Romagnosi identifies another asfundamental for the emergence of free competition, namely the “regulation offunctions”.

Romagnosi distinguishesfive different functions of economic life, i.e that “ofpossessions, of industry, of trade, of use and of public contributions” “Regulatingfunctions” certainly does not mean “establishing them or governing them” by force,but rather ensuring that they may be exerted freely and with security

If in trade the one side or the other lied on quality, weight, measure, etc., would there be freedom? If one or more individuals with false credits or counterfeit documents recounted

an event that never occurred to raise or lower the price of any one good, would the resulting contracts be free? If some others diverted with violence or false threats the traders on their way to the market square, and then consumers ’ purchases were a disaster, would free competition be exerted? Finally, if someone promised to or paid the other by credit card and was disappointed with impunity, would there be free competition? 22

Clearly, the answer is no Hence, Romagnosi’s regulation of functions isessentially“realised in ascertaining at the beginning, middle and end of the entiresystem of economic functions the full and equal freedom, both physical and moral,and the security towards all things, individuals and actions for each component ofgiven society”

In short, regulating functions means providing the individual will with “equaland safe freedom in the present and in the future”; it simply means limiting “em-ulations”, to be meant as the “tendency of each social class to absorb and appro-priate insofar as possible all utilities, services and benefits”

The concept of freedom discussed above does not seemingly lead to relevantconsequences here and the regulation of functions appears to be reduced to aconcern of purely legal nature, which had been taken for granted by economistsprior and contemporaneous to Romagnosi It is limited to pointing out a set of lawsenabling to perform the functions and preventing the triumph of trickery and vio-lence Not only is an“active” presence of the government not necessary, rather it iscondemned; given the “natural wave of profit”, which man should not “dare” tocommand, then“the regulatory craze is the plague of the economic world”.The task of the government is limited to “establishing and authenticatingweights, measures, coins, insurance stamps, signals, and means of authenticity”,and to promoting“good civil and trading laws, both decrees and judicial, in order toprotect the freedom of intelligence and action in economic affairs and ensure itsexpectations”

This activity of “public protection of economic affairs” is part of the wider

“enabling” task of the government, which also includes the fulfilment of thoseneeds—e.g the construction of schools, roads and canals—of common interest,capable of facilitating the free activity of individuals

In addition to this, the government has another task, namely a“relieving” one,which consists in the“direct administration of benefits to the innocent powerless”

22 “Ordinamento”, Opere, VI, p 31.

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 19

“Opening shelters for the sick or the exposed children; fighting famines andestablishing workhouses and home delivery” are examples of this “public andnecessary relief”.

“Public” intervention in the economy should not go beyond these limits;Romagnosi thus reminds us that “public assistance, be it enabling or relieving”should not in any way include any“interference in the legitimate exercise of theoperations related to agriculture, industry, trade and consumption of goods”.Having fulfilled these general requirements, “industry and trade must be left free

to operate, as if it were none of our business” “Excellent is the state of a country—Romagnosi continues—where in proportion the government has fewer businessesand the population more”

Once “the powers are ordered” and “functions regulated”, the social order ofwealth arises spontaneously, automatically

While the“indefinite yearning of the individual to become enriched is temperedwithout being weakened by the incessant action of a civil society” well organized,the “conflict of the clashing individual forces” produces “social equity” and fairparticipation of all in wealth

It is“nature” that rather seeks to order “social economy”; it is the universal andeternal forces guiding man that manage to achieve a goal that not only meets the

“views of the shopkeeper or banker, but those of the family man longing to see allhis children employed” Nature’s doing is not marked by sectoral purposes, butrather general; if the will of the individual can be realized freely, this “naturally”leads to the composition of the interests of the individual and the achievement of anend that transcends them

It should not come as a surprise that Romagnosi blindly trusts this“providentnature”, as this trust is the result of a matured philosophical belief that the “careers”

of a society are marked by “Providence” and makes him say “God is with us!”whenever he witnesses a“properly designed” system

This belief has great consequences on Romagnosi’s economic thought If it istrue—he thinks—that “in nature things are balanced spontaneously with freecompetition and highly protected justice”, then it is also true that the “averagetransaction” that results from the conflict of demand and supply is “impossible forany positive law to foresee and establish and amend conveniently”

In other words, economic functions follow such a complex course of actions andreactions with such a great, mutual influence that they do not lend themselves to beobserved and reconstructed analytically Nature is thus an “inscrutable teaching”;

“it is a mistake to believe that exhausting studies are necessary for the order ofmaterial interests Nature’s supreme Providence only demands but protection andjustice, thus bringing about goodness, security, wealth and power”

Trying to reproduce reality by way of “fictions” is therefore impossible, asnature is so jealous of its doing that it does not allow man to study its underlyinglaws Hence, theorizing economy is impossible and“the only good result of goodtheories consists and will consist eternally” in showing that “the whole thing withcivil life is in the hands of a not upset nature”

As previously mentioned, if any possibility to reconstruct analytically the laws

by which wealth is produced, distributed and consumed is dissolved, then the scope

of the choices of political economy is also reduced If the“good doing is particular

to nature” and the only possibility to propose economic measures is to advise rulersagainst taking any, then it is clear that the basis to create any principle for a realpolitical economy are missing Human reason should not say“in detail what wehave to do”, but rather “that from which we must refrain”, Romagnosi cautionssternly!

Rather, he calls upon some sort of “contemplative” politics; the governmentshould not make decisive choices, as it holds a position of control and absolutenon-interference

6 “Normal State” and “Unsettled Powers”

This is the case, though, of a “normal state”, where “powers are ordered” Whatabout a regime with“unsettled powers”, marked by anarchy of functions?

In this case, Romagnosi is rather explicit: the tasks of the government mustchange and become“active” Still, they must “never” affect the economic sphere,but only the legal, by restoring the general conditions of universal free competition

“The imperative interference—Romagnosi clearly states—lies in introducing fairlegal reforms, rather than in the great economic circulation”

This is the very heart of Romagnosi’s economic thought Having discussed most

of his complex system of notions, we can now grasp the inner contradictions of aphilosophy—trained and exercised for a long time in philosophical speculations,legal discussions and juridical efforts—which he tried to reconvert at an old age toeconomic problems, though without detaching not so much from a well-establishedthought (which would be impossible), but rather from a certain way of interpretingsocial reality, where the legal organization of a civil society was alone in theforeground

It is the lawyer’s mentality that leads Romagnosi to engage in economic cussions He is deeply convinced that every human action is limited by the net of awise legal order, a safety factor and thus incentive for each individual Romagnosi’seconomic ideas are populated by equal individuals, stripped of any discriminatingpower of hereditary origin or acquired illegally, moving within a sphere of actionthat the law can easily regulate

dis-However, there is no room for economic problems in this system—they have noair nor lifeblood The economic problem is rooted in the quicksand of afideisticnaturalism that not only leaves no alternatives to economic choices, but is realised

“inscrutably”, so that not even these economic laws, natural and immutable, can beknown In addition, if the need for a political economy going beyond pure“con-templation” is recognised, then the “imperative interference” is reduced to the legalsphere only

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 21

The operational character of economics is then only a recognizable attribute in aspeculative sense; economics may only advise man not to upset nature The order ofreason is a“product” of human reason only because it is the result of the nature’swork grafted on to the background of an adequate legal system.

Yet, in the years when Romagnosi wrote his articles of a more directly economicinterest, discussions around the opportunity of a political economy overcoming thequalms of an absolute liberalism were vivid and pressing For example, both in Italyand abroad, a huge controversy surrounded the need to propose a political economycapable of reviving most of the European countries in the exhausting process ofreconverting from a predominantly agricultural activity to an industrial Mosteconomists had however noted the social difficulties that troubled England, as well

as the military and economic power that this country had reached Concerns onwhich measures could promote the introduction and strengthening of the industrialactivity were seen by many authors as useless and idle, considering the historicalurgency with which the problem was recognised

Romagnosi’s diagnosis of the international economic situation has a differentnature, though On the one hand, it tends to emphasize the difficulties that theBritish economy was facing during such delicate phase of adjustment; on the other,

it tends to present the Italian situation as the “champion” of an economy firmlyorganized, wisely balanced, enlighteningly ordered: no strikes or riots disturbItaly’s atmosphere, where everything occurs in the most serene balance

According to Romagnosi, the different conditions of these two countries are to betraced back to the different political economy they followed and, particularly, to the

“unnatural” efforts made in England to develop industrial activities “In England,industry and trade are not only a useful social function”, but rather the consequence

of an abnormal situation that drives the English people tofind in both of them “asurrogate to the fair distribution of economic powers that is missing in the BritishIsles” The many constraints of hereditary succession and the complex system of realestates, for the most part accumulated in few fands, made the“middle class” nec-essarily move towards industrial and commercial activities A wrongful legal systemthus gives rise to disturbance of the normal order of economic activities, which thenresults in precise measures of political economy in favour of certain sectors The

“industrial and commercial system did not in fact emerge in England as a neous and natural result of the progressive evolution of agricultural life”, but rather

sponta-“through the work of the British government, which constantly promoted, supportedand governed it” A large amount of privileges facilitated its rise, which then lead tothe“genius of exclusive dominance” and the habit of incentives for certain classes.Interests thus clashed, and any argument on the fair“sociality of wealth” appearedand still appears to be destined to fall on deaf ears

In fact, the exclusive privilege is in itself ground for political—more than nomic—discrimination, thus making normal coexistence increasingly difficult andprecarious

eco-Not only that, but such politics in favour of industrialisation has producedserious consequences also at the purely economic level, since the system of pro-hibitions and excessive levies to promote manufactures resulted in the convergence

of “too much capital to the manufacturing industry: insomuch that the price ofproducts falling every day led to a decrease in value of the capital in the sameproportion” A further consequence of this policy was at the social level, because

“the smallest political and economic event or change”, either within the country orabroad, negatively affected the English industry, which, having emerged “artifi-cially and forcibly”, provoked “serious embarrassment to the State, whose armshold the persons involved in the industry”, who were let go by the entrepreneurs atthefirst sign of crisis

One should never forget, as Romagnosi puts it, that“in the same proportion inwhich the number of individuals independent from agriculture multiplies, a class ofpersons in precarious conditions grows, and their conditions lead, either by chance

or necessity, to the crimes of deprivation”

7 Industry, Agriculture, Pauperism

Is Romagnosi explicitly against any industrial activity, then? It is hard to say,because he always criticized the way industrialization developed in England, ratherthan industrialization itself He is against any attempt to create an“encyclopaedicindustry”, which he defines as the fruit of “greed” Admittedly, he is convinced that

if a breach of the industry in a State is underdeveloped, then to address the sumers’ demand for that product that branch will “spontaneously rise, either bynational or foreign efforts, provided that these are not discouraged”

con-This is also the only condition under which the normal process of civilizationmay occur, which “may not be achieved unless by letting the industry adjustautonomously to the needs of the population and to the very demand, not dis-couraged by huge levies or ill-thought obstacles” For the industry to be welcome, itmust emerge spontaneously

This is undoubtedly the position repeatedly expressed by Romagnosi However,

at a closer look, in many occasions his aversion to an industrial economy does notinvest the concrete way in which it can be achieved, but rather some of theingrainedflaws of this process Not to mention the sense of romantic admirationthat pervades Romagnosi’s thought for a society based on agriculture (as is that ofTuscany) or, in general, for the“sound” agricultural activity First of all, agriculture

is the“first and perennial source of wealth”, ensuring no matter what the “economicdestiny of a people”; above all, it is the balancing factor of society, contributing toits peaceful and orderly life

Indeed,

in agricultural life the destiny of the farmer makes this the most harmless and religious of all social classes Each busy in his lonely field, back home at the end of a tiring day, and back to the solitude of the field the following morning, praying providence above for a prosperous harvest, the farmer is not hit by the corruption of the worker in the factory, who Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 23

in the company of many others is only concerned with his wage and rarely thinks about the future, and sees with no repulsion the idea of being taken to the hospital if sick ” 23The“man” who shapes up in the field is thus different from that which is formed

in the factory; in short, he is better suited to promote the process of civilization in itsthree aspects

One may wonder what kind of agriculture Romagnosi prefers Maybe the italistic, advocated by Gioia, for example, who addresses the old question ofwhether to prefer small or large estates exclusively in terms of productivity?

cap-As has been briefly mentioned, Romagnosi is against big landed estates andrather prefers smaller estates, cultivated directly by the owners.“It is highly in theinterest of the State that the number of small land owners multiplies”, he notes,without any concern for possible excessive“land fragmentation”

His ideal society is made of many small farming properties, where, as stated byone of his pupils,“the sense of property rehabilitates the soul, the delectable surge

of expectations that make a painful present bearable in view of a future of rest, itwarms and improves the mind and heart of the farmer” In this society, a moreevident“equalization of powers” is achieved; further, the process of civilization isfully realized, unlike in the case of industrial societies subject to constant turmoil.Romagnosi’s arguments in favour of agriculture and small estates in particularprimarily concern the social condition of the individual rather than the productivecapacity of the sector or the economic efficiency resulting from the size of the farm

He is impressed by agriculture’s ability to mix people, teach them to wait trustingly,make them used to solitary hard work in the open and to the direct and purifyingcontact with nature Besides being one of the causes of the critical situation inEngland, the industry appears to him too impersonal an activity, capable ofinducing violence in the masses of workers; ultimately, he sees it as a bad real-ization of that moral order that he envisioned as the constitutive“part” of the state

of civilization of a people

Without any doubt, Romagnosi’s preference for agriculture was daily reinforced

by the continuousflow of statistics showing higher rates of indigence, mortality andcrime reported in industrial cities and countries compared to those predominantlyagricultural

Romagnosi was certainly influenced by these reports, where he deluded himself

he wouldfind an empirical confirmation of his firm belief that industrial ment is more precarious and uncertain for the worker than agriculture Pauperism isindeed a typical problem of industrialized economies, that is to say the situationarising from high unemployment, whereby it becomes impossible for large sections

employ-of the population to have the necessary means employ-of subsistence Pauperism is thus amass phenomenon, which arises from the evident imbalance between demand andsupply of labour, characterised by the presence of economic subjects“willing andcapable” but unable to work because of the lack of demand It differs from the state

23 “Osservazioni economiche”, in Opere VI, p 245.

of poverty that might hit old or physically unable men; rather, it is a pathologicalcondition of society that needs to be cured at its roots.

In social economy, he notes, there exists first of all a part with which the causes of pauperism can be eliminated as much as possible with the fundamental arrangement of the State Secondly, there is another part where, given the preventable causes of pauperism, social power intervenes and acts by way of means, both enabling and relieving, to over- come helplessness and alleviate the private injury, bringing about security, laboriousness and morality of the class less favoured by the inevitable origin of humanity.24

The causes can be easily reversed, by creating the conditions for universal freecompetition “Blameless and inevitable indigence” will instead be cured by theState, by virtue of the law of sociality, which transforms“alms into a public debt”.This is the case in any situation, even in a “well-ordered consortium there arealways going to be poor persons”, though “to a limited extent” The problem is toreduce the number of poor persons to the lowest possible level, by directly attackingthe causes of these“social evils”

In this light, it is clear that certain measures, e.g the“tax of the poor” or possiblerestrictive measures against procreation, could not be justified, despite being sup-ported by economists and politicians at the time Such measures would not in factaddress the causes of the phenomenon directly, but rather aim to either limit itsnegative effects or identify a remote and indecisive cause

Pauperism emerges indeed as disturbance of the natural order, where present,that would have led to the harmonious and progressive development of any eco-nomic activity and wealth

8 Romagnosi and the Natural Order

In discussing Romagnosi’s preference for agriculture over industry, besides certainconcerns of a political and sociological nature that nevertheless permeate his entireeconomic thought and prevent interesting developments in a specifically theoreticalcontext, the concept of a natural order dominating the universality of economicevents stands out Only upon violation of this order arise the problems of humansociety; when the order is respected, the different indicators of the economic systemmay regularly grow together

Convinced of the existence of an order of fact regulating the universe of thingsand dominating every (economic) phenomenon, Romagnosi finds an appropriatesolution to all social problems in this conviction

He observes the main economic problems of his time through this unique, slowcriticism: they emerge because this natural order has been violated; hence, theirsolution is in the restoration of the conditions necessary for the establishment of the

24 “Osservazioni incorno al pauperismo e alla beneficenza” (1835), Opere, VI, pp 924–25 Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 25

order The order is animated by the “provident nature”, whose actions are, by

definition, “good doing”

Pauperism results in fact from a violation of nature’s doing, in the same way as,for example, the imbalance between surplus population and limited means ofsubsistence occurs

In his well-known critique of Malthus, one of the first Italian critiques to thetheories of the English author, the single observations are of minor importancecompared to his belief in the“existence of an order of fact that governs the universeand to which people must be subject”

He argues that: the problem of the imbalance between population and means ofsubsistence does not arise as long as there are virgin lands to be cultivated; thatMalthus’s is a “hypothetical” principle, because the fact that the population actuallygrows in the way that he alleges still remains to be demonstrated; that it is anabsolute principle, because it is independent of the“social state of civilization” of apeople Besides all of these, though, Romagnosi’s real criticism is another: “Icannot seem to see how nature could be so improvident not to balance human lifewith the means of subsistence” In his view, the occurrence of overpopulation in a

“normal state” still needs to be proved, while “the assumed excess can certainly becaused by the poor work of man in given places and under certain circumstances”.The problem of overpopulation requires the analysis of two different issues, i.e.the increase in population and the variation of the means of subsistence, the latterbeing a direct result of the economic system of a country, that is the (non-)reali-zation of free and“safe competition” The problem is thus to be analysed in the case

of a“normal social state” where nature is not “upset” However, in this case thisproblem will not arise, because when natural order is realized, the population grows

in proportion to the means of subsistence

Any imbalance in the “social body” is always the effect of the work of a

“bungler”

Against this more general premise, the reasons behind Romagnosi’s criticismtowards the “new sect” of Saint-Simonianism can be easily deduced Saint-Simonianists had indeed a“boorish instinct to propagandize”, which results in anunjustified “industrial pedagogy” limited to “small and isolated views” This is,however, Romagnosi’s usual criticism against any attempt to favour industrialactivity regardless of the political and social organization of a people Nonetheless,Saint-Simonianism inspired Romagnosi to make other more significant criticisms,e.g against the theocratic order and utopian view of this new ideology

What man of sound mind would ever really believe there will come a man to overturn the whole social order, thus wiping out any form of greed and ambition from the earth, and transforming the human race into a choir of impeccable Angels and Saints so devoted to him to obey all of his will with blind hilarity?25

For the purposes of the present study, though, the most significant criticism iswithout a doubt the accusation that Saint-Simonianists considered the abolition of

25 “Dei reati”, in Opere VI, p 276.

the right to property as a“means for gradual perfecting and improving” man Thisgave Romagnosi the opportunity to present his conceptualization of the functionand limitations of individual property.

9 Romagnosi and the Right of Property

In his opinion, “with no expectations of his own, [man] may not accomplish anyimprovement or progress”; though a social being convinced of the irreplaceableneed for certain rules imposed by civil coexistence, in his soul“the me cannot beabolished to be replaced by a not me” At the centre of Romagnosi’s system of

“individual life” is indeed the active manifestation of the individual, which is thedriving force behind every human activity

Since this individual life is not limited to itsfirst realization, but is projected into

a future full of unknown events, the main human concern is naturally to ensure acertain future for themselves and their children What better way than through theinstitution of property and inheritance? Romagnosi remarked that all utopiansalways made a mistake, i.e they abolished property and inheritance “But naturealways laughed at and averted this quirk” The failure of the colony of NewHarmony is a convincing confirmation thereof Owen spent “huge sums of money,all his solicitude, all his hard work”, but could not prevent the failure of hisorganization, not having understood that“the principle of individual property is sopowerful and a necessary condition to establish any system that is to stand on itsown” All his efforts could have been avoided, by simply reminiscing “about theprofound love for the little land that the mountaineer possesses, and the excellentmoral effects that follow” Property constitutes in fact man’s highest aspiration; it is

a tangible realization of the activity of man, who in property seeks and findstranquillity and security

Any one attempting to organize a society without individual property is bound tofail, as it would be like

expecting the branches of a tree to grow, having destroyed its trunk Property feeds industry, which feeds trade, which revitalizes agriculture The whole wheel turns around private property, fair is the great law whereby the human spirit wishes to rest on a certain finite and that human heart wishes to wander within a free indefinite 26

For the individual, property is thus a factor of security and freedom; but for this

to be the case, it must be protected, defended and understood fully and absolutely.Every limitation is a factor of uncertainty and, as a result, a brake on individualactivity

Despite the efforts of some scholars, we believe that in Romagnosi’s thoughtremains a purely individualistic concept of property, as he criticizes and opposesany degradation of this right After all, Romagnosi himself corroborates our

26 “Dei reati”, in Opere VI, p 277.

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 27

interpretation:“It should be noted that the dominant principle of property of thingsentails inviolability and freedom, both in their enjoyment and increase” He arguesthat this right should include“restrictions necessary for coexistence”, but these aretraditional restrictions that were universally accepted even then, e.g eminentdomain, a discipline for deforestation, derivation of private waters, and construction

of new houses In fact, in one of his writings he discusses eminent domain as thepossibility to either reduce or eliminate the burden of damage for the owner;therefore, not in a general dimension, but a rather individual one

From an economic perspective, property may not be placed under any straints: Romagnosi’s aversion to any kind of public intervention in economicaffairs emerges from his attempt to ensure that the right of property be fully real-ized, in the same way as he views the protectionist system as a violation of thisright, because it“also violates that of free trade”

con-10 Romagnosi and the Free Trade

Therefore, with regard to international trade, Romagnosi was in favour of free trade.However, the issue of freedom of trade takes a different meaning in his thought, ascompared to many other economists, as it is conceived not only as a “source ofmaterial utility”, but also as a “mighty drive of civilization”

Romagnosi does not really address thefirst meaning Only on one occasion heseemingly conceived the issue of international trade as the result of the special-ization of the production of individual States; in general, though, he either resorts tomere assertions (e.g through international trade“each country is affected for better

or worse by the benefits of the other”) or to the usual

provident nature, which prevents any people in contact with another from being left behind with impunity.27

However, these are not the main advantages that Romagnosi identifies in aregime of free trade Rather, he believes that with the establishment of trade rela-tions under a liberal regime and the development of internal economic activities,

“combative enterprise is naturally reinvigorated”, “idleness, fraud and trickery areexpelled”, “inventions are promoted and the discoveries of others are secured”.The benefits of free international trade are thus twofold On the one hand, sinceits realization needs“truth and fairness”, it accustoms even those traders who couldperhaps survive in the internal market not to resort to frauds for a position ofoccasional benefit On the other hand, as a means of contact between countries, itrepresents the realization of the will of“Providence”, which “with the very force ofinterest, daily weaves new ties of union, harmony and peace in the great family” ofnations

27 “Della libertà commerciale”, in Opere III, p 52.

Romagnosi sees protectionism as a regime of economic war when it attempts toaccomplish independently a particular result, by adopting a policy that will certainlyprovoke the reactions of other countries From its failure comes“the great truth,whereby nature powerfully tends to approach and connect nations with the ties offraternal utility, while at the same time producing probity in line with materialinterests” Governments are reluctant, but the force of circumstances “leads nations

to a peaceful federation of interests, enlightenment and morality, under the soleguard of God”

Romagnosi does not explain how the profits of international trade should bedistributed among countries, though Actually, he is not at all concerned: free tradebetween States is also a result imposed by nature and is therefore indisputable.Neither is he concerned about the protection of new enterprises in countries notyet industrialized After all, he does not advocate“unlimited freedom”, which is just

a dream, but a customs duty “never exceeding 10 % of the value of the goodsimported”; such burden, together with that of transport, will defend rising domesticproducers in any case That ten percent is determined experimentally: a higherpercentage would encourage smuggling, a lower one would not grant sufficientprofit to the State

Reasons of various kinds are here interwoven Imposed by nature, this generalprinciple is subject to a small duty fixed by virtue of an abnormal problem assmuggling and a concern of afinancial nature The economic problem is not seen inclear terms: from Romagnosi’s writings emerges an unshakable faith in naturalorder, as well as the effort to enable the flow of human knowledge among thevarious peoples, in order to favour their process of civilization

After all, the latter is the main characteristics of Romagnosi’s entire philosophy,where the economic problem never acquires a life of its own, but rather is alwayspart of the more complex problem of favouring the “process” or maintaining the

“state” of civilization His more general concern is indeed to investigate the plexity of the human world, the causes of the development of human civilization,the interdependence of human needs The laws that regulate this development andthe measures that favour it must be investigated; all of these needs must be given

com-“full and harmonious satisfaction”

“Satisfactory coexistence” is but one of the aspects of civilization; it relates to ahuman need (i.e the need for goods), whose satisfaction may not be separated fromthe consequences it has on others

Economic, moral and political improvement are bound together by a dualrelationship, i.e of complementarity, because their simultaneous realization is anecessary condition for civilization; and of dependence, because the modes ofrealization of each are subject to the non-interference in the realization of the othertwo

The relations between industry and agriculture and the preference for eithersmall or large estates are viewed in light of these premises and never in terms of agreater production capacity of one solution over the other It could only be so,because since the“economic” is one of the aspects of the “state” (or “process”) ofcivilization, meant as compresence of solutions for human problems of any kind,

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 29

the achievement of this end is subject to the achievement of a more general end,which includes, reconciles and moves it.

Accordingly, at the heart of Romagnosi’s thought is not the problem of thecreation of private or national“wealth”, but rather to ensure, for example, that theproduction of goods occurs in a social and economic political system, able to forge

a man who possesses all the conditions for any kind of improvement

Moreover, Romagnosi justified his own entrance in economic discussions withthe very intention to“emancipate them from the jargon of banks and mills”, and toremind that these discussions concern the “main branch”—but just one of thebranches—of the art of civilization His intention was not to “instruct economists”,but only to warn those who wanted to talk about economics about the “full andconnected tenor of the doctrine”; in other words, he wanted to teach a lesson inmethod, in order to avoid partial and contradictory solutions to human problems

In truth, his late approach to economic studies also implied the need to introduce

a new conceptualisation of economy, to be understood as the “social order ofwealth” Romagnosi could not arrive at a different definition, since he had viewedthe“sociality of wealth” as the first condition for the existence of society and hadclaimed the“operational” character of economics

After all, in his thought civilization is but a way of being and growing for humansociety, which needs the orderly development of all its parts to guarantee continuity

in the future to society itself The economic improvement of a civilized society isthus the purpose of economics

How can it be achieved?

11 The Main Causes of Economic Growth

and Civilisation: Self-interest and Institutions

Romagnosi’s reasoning is, as we have seen, very simple: he recognises that themainspring of all human activities lies in “individual self-interest”, but he alsoadmits that, in the presence of a legal system, from opposing individual interestscomes their reconciliation and their dissolution into an order that transcends them.The foundation of this basic theory lies in the notion that free competition equalssociality of wealth, and that free competition as a manifestation of individualfreedom is limited by the presence of the public authority Conceptually speaking,the task of the State is of primary importance, as attested by the distinction between

“unbridled competition” and free competition Romagnosi argues—and rightly so

—that “combining individuality with sociality results in the absolutely mainfunction of the supreme direction of the State, that is the function of a pendulummoderating the social machine”

In concrete terms, this moderating activity of the State is reduced to few dictable laws that by then had already been introduced into all Codes of Europeancountries

This point must be stressed in order to better understand the real economicimplications of the distinction between independence and freedom, which wasthought to be the cause of significant consequences In Romagnosi’s philosophy,freedom is a way of being of the will, subject to the achievement of a purposecompatible with the conditions for a social organization It implies the existence of

a legal order that limits and converges human independence towards a purposedifferent from that of the short-sighted individual

Clearly, the problem acquires specific economic significance only when theselimitations to the realization of freedom must be further defined As has been said,though, Romagnosi assigns very modest importance to these limitations, which aredue to the need to give“certainty” to the activity of the individual, to prevent fraudsand deceit in negotiations, and to prevent violence in decisions All of these lim-itations concern the protection of the rights of the individual, and seek to liberateand secure the activity of the individual, which they want to realize better andeffectively Hence, these limitations raise no obligation for the individual as pre-requisite for the achievement of an external interest Many relevant examples havealready been mentioned here, e.g the limits to the action of the State in the“reg-ulation of functions” and the concept of the right to property; at the very centre ofthis approach is the individual, in his ability to project himself into the world aroundhim and to appropriate any part thereof The function of the State becomes eco-nomically significant only when switching from a defensive action—therefore, anaction of consolidation of individual rights—to one implementing an effectivelimitation to the concrete ways of realization of these rights in view of theaccomplishment of an end that exceeds and absorbs them This switch, though,does not occur in Romagnosi’s system, where the fundamental tenet is his belief in

a legal order based on natural law, able to translate the individual attempt to reachhis purpose into benefits of common interest

Moving to Romagnosi’s critique to post-Smithian classical economics, hebelieves it should be started afresh British economics has reduced to a series ofindisputable logical corollaries based on the principle of“dull selfishness” as soleindividual goal; its study is thus limited to the knowledge of the“natural laws offact of the origin and course of wealth” The task of political economy should bedifferent: because it is part of“civil philosophy”, it should help to determine theconditions for a sound social organization; because it deals with consumptiongoods, it should provide for the“dispensation imposed by the fundamental law ofsociety in the sphere of wealth”; finally, because it seeks to attain an “order ofreason”, it is an operational science

These were thus the premises for the development of a theoretical system inopposition to the recently and successfully emerged one

However, the results were modest: “individual selfishness” remained thecornerstone of the whole system, while universal free competition, meant as con-vergence and clash of opposing individual interests, was its miraculous sublimation;private property was still considered an inviolable institution of human society andthe State was reduced to being guardian of traditional individual rights Economicswas only operational in word: it is nature that dominates the unfolding of economic

Economics and “Civilization” in Gian Domenico Romagnosi 31

events in a mysterious and unknown way; man must only try not to upset it andeverything will befine.

Interestingly, the task of economics was reduced to demanding a wise legalorder

Was Romagnosi’s philosophy thus marked by a contradiction between what hewanted and what actually happened? In other words, was his critique but a prin-ciple, that of free competition, expressed by a body of science to overcome?Not entirely, because while it is true that Romagnosi understands the“regulation

of functions” in a very traditional way, the question of the “order of powers”—as

we have interpreted it—is in itself capable of qualifying the same principle in adifferent way

It should be noted that the order of powers is not seen as a condition of sistence of a logical system, but rather as indispensable prerequisite for the real-ization of a social situation that was historically emerging Free competition is not

sub-an interpretative scheme of economic reality, but a concrete sub-and stable way (orrather“the” way) in which society is to be organized The order of powers is not apremise that may or may not exist in practice, but rather the actual occurrence of anequal distribution of those powers, without which the desired purpose may not bereached

Free competition is an instrument; more precisely, it is a“neutral” instrument tofilter an economic activity destined to reproduce unchanged over time If thecondition for the realization of free competition is that of the order of powers (which

is in fact a situation of sociality of wealth), free competition is only a way of being

of social life, capable of maintaining unchanged the economic positions of viduals over time

indi-It is now possible to grasp the characteristic feature of Romagnosi’s system,whose foundations consist in a static and ahistorical conception of human life

As a confirmation, consider his idea of progress: “An indefinite progress is achimera, on the very ground that human nature is limited by the body, the soil, theclimate, and the stimuli, and that it intrinsically aspires to rest”

Natural facts—considered insurmountable constraints of rigidity—hinder humandevelopment; however, even in the absence of such facts, human nature wouldfind

in itself a limit to its indefinite expansion

Why is it so? Because at the heart of the historical process idealized byRomagnosi is an automaton, destined to reproduce indefinitely with the samecharacteristics, with unchanged psyche, intelligence, and ambitions, insensitive tothe passing of time This idea of progress is outside of history, with human lifeoccurring insensitive to time In other words, Romagnosi sees time as“devoid” ofmeaning, unable to influence in any way the individual man and the social man.Once the“finite pinnacle” is reached, there is no longer a progressive evolution ofcivilization, which is replaced by an alternative movement within the individual andthe State