Volrico Travaglini, Orlando D’Alauro e la rivista ‘Economia Internazionale’: la ricostruzione del pensiero economico libero-scambista nell’Italia del dopoguerra / Volrico Travaglini, Orlando D’Alauro and “Economia Internazionale”:rebuilding free-market economic thinking in post-war Italy

This work illustrates the theoretical and economic policy view that lay behind the creation of the Institute of International Economics (Istituto di Economia Internazionale) at the Genoa Chamber of Commerce and the later foundation of the scientific review Economia Internazionale (the Review’s founding committee members were L. Einaudi, L. Amoroso, C. Bresciani- Turroni, E. Corbino, G. Del Vecchio, M. Fasiani, P. Jannaccone, V. Travaglini, O. D’Alauro, F. Manzitti, B. Minoletti). The article describes the Institute’s mission as one of building a strong reference point for scientific research in the field of international economics rather than acting as solely a centre for the production of ‘useful’ research. This objective was part of a broader, farsighted strategy for a country – Italy – that accepted international free trade as a conduit for economic development. Today all economic historians agree firstly, that the growth of the Italian economy, including the so-called Italian economic miracle, stemmed from opening up the economy to international trade and, secondly, that the first and most robust phase of growth was essentially export-led. Such a position appears obligatory today, but in those days it was by no means obvious that the most effective strategic choice for an economy in ruins after the Second World War would be to face the challenge of international competition. It is above all Manzitti, Minoletti, Travaglini and D’Alauro who should be recognised for conceiving this strategy and using also the creation of a research institute to promote internationalisation in a country that had been for too long isolated by the culture of autarchy and belligerence.