LIBRI DI ANTONIO PEDONE

In his analysis of Italian post-war economic growth, Augusto Graziani has pointed out the main shortcomings of Italy’s economic policy, particularly after the end of the so-called "economic miracle". He was very critical of Italian short-term stabilization policy founded mainly on deflationary monetary policy with negative consequences on employment and investment. He was in favour of a short-term stabilization policy strictly linked to policies designed to boost growth and to mitigate the many "dualisms" affecting the Italian economy. To this end, he proposed a large programme of public investment, not only of public works but also of industrial investment from state-owned enterprises.

The most important tax reform in Italian history is based on the Cosciani Report published in 1964. It contained an analysis of the drawbacks of the tax system existing at that time and of the aims assigned to a modern tax system. It contained also detailed proposals on the two taxes that were to become the main sources of revenue: the progressive individual income tax and the value added tax. Many factors have influenced and distorted the implementation of the reform that changed dramatically the level, structure and distribution of the tax burden. Such factors are analysed in this paper with reference to Cosciani’s opinions, criticism and suggestions which are still relevant for the many problems met by modern tax systems in contemporary globalized and ever-changing economies.

La rilevanza dei temi dell’organizzazione e della gestione dei sistemi tributari, e degli effetti delle imposte sugli incentivi e sulla crescita economica, hanno indotto la Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica a dedicare la sua XX riunione scientifica all’Economia della tassazione – la ricerca sui modelli impositivi, sulle ragioni, le funzioni e gli effetti dei tributi. Questa raccolta offre una selezione di contributi, rappresentativa di alcuni dei filoni di studio oggi più importanti e fecondi.