Luigi Einaudi made an outstanding contribution to economics during his long career as economist, historian and policy-maker. This book makes an important selection of his works available in English for the first time. Topics covered include: taxation of consumption rather than income; European unity; and political and economic liberalism.

Luigi Einaudi (1874-1961) was a leading liberal Italian economist, economic historian and political figure: Governor of the Bank of Italy, Minister for the Budget and President of the Italian Republic. He was a prolific writer in all fields and his writings testify to his outstanding contribution to economics during his long career.

Luigi Einaudi produced an extensive series of writings dedicated to European federation spanning from 1897 to 1959. In these works, he designs the policies and the institutions of European federation, anticipating the future developments of the European integration process. Several of his proposals are now embedded in the various treaties which have landmarked the history of uniting Europe. However, a number of other proposals have yet to be realised, and could represent a source of inspiration in designing the future of the EU. Einaudi is shown here to be the architect of what we call today the European Union, however no historian, economist or politician has previously recognised the fundamental role of Einaudi. This lack of recognition can be extended to Eurotower bankers, whose unconventional monetary policy has drawn so much from Einaudi’s theory of financial stability.

This is a selective and innovative biography of Luigi Einaudi, the most outstanding scientific and political Italian personality of the first sixty decades of the 20th century. This biography highlights some lesser-known and largely unrecognized, original contributions to theories and policies that were developed and applied even many years after his death. His European writings span more than sixty-two years (1987-1959), and his proposals for a European federation have inspired 30% of the articles of the Treaty on the functioning of the EU. As a thinker, he inspired Jean Monnet, and as President of Italy, he influenced, discretely but substantially, the Italian government’s stance on the European Coal and Steel Community Treaty. Today’s “forward guidance” of the European Central Bank (ECB) is quite similar to the way he enforced his monetary policy action in 1947, after becoming governor of the Bank of Italy in 1945. Even the “unconventional” monetary policy of the ECB has clear Einaudian bases. He posited the bases of the so-called “social market economy”, as well as the ‘time inconsistency’ theory and the section of migration theory that placed emphasis on pull factors.

Luigi Einaudi (1874-1961) was a leading liberal Italian economist, economic historian and political figure: Governor of the Bank of Italy, Minister for the Budget and President of the Italian Republic. He was a prolific writer in all fields and his writings testify to his outstanding contribution to economics during his long career.

Luigi Einaudi (1874-1961) was a leading liberal Italian economist, economic historian and political figure: Governor of the Bank of Italy, Minister for the Budget and President of the Italian Republic. He was a prolific writer in all fields and his writings testify to his outstanding contribution to economics during his long career.