Archives of Italian Economic and Business History starts publication with this issue made up of research on some specifically Italian topics. The first piece provides a detailed overview of consumption (Paola Lanaro). It's followed by essays exploring the experiences of small Italian entrepreneurs in Toronto (Stefano Agnoletto) and the movie industry in Italy (Daniela Manetti). Another original research focuses on the beginning of a banking crisis (Giuseppe Telesca) that was eventually resolved via the creation of a system of state-owned enterprises under Iri which, in turn, gave birth to some special cases of managerial capitalism (Marina Comei). A very important phase of the Italian economy - the so called "economic miracle" - is analyzed through the perspective of Federico Caffè, an important economist of the 20th century (Monika Poettinger). The final essay offers a general survey of Italian economic history (Francesco Boldizzoni).