Finanza locale e rapporti intergovernativi nel pensiero di Luigi Einaudi (Luigi Einaudi's thought on local finance and intergovernmental financial relationships)

Luigi Einaudi did not develop a theory of intergovernmental ?nancial relationships. But he was always interested in the problems connected with these relations, above all with respect to the local ?nance reform proposals, elaborated both at the central and local level. He also studied the proposals for the creation of new levels of government, like the Regions and the European Federation. This work aims at reconstructing his thought on this subject, stressing the coherence of his contributions, which could be overlooked when his works are not thoroughly considered. Einaudi’s thought is generally in line with the theory of intergovernmental relations, which was developing in his days. His thought, however, reveals several original contributions, anticipating some future theoretical developments. In this work, his ideas have been organized according to the main themes discussed in the literature, ?rst of all the assignment of public functions, the number of jurisdictions and the systems of representation. It follows an analysis of Einaudi’s thought on the ?scal autonomy of local governments and its limits; then, the work deals with the problems related to the taxes of di?erent levels of government and their coordination. Finally, local public services and local debt are considered