00995 - Economic History

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide students with adequate knowledge of the main factors and stages of European and Italian economic development The course is divided in two sections: the first part outlines the key transformations of the European economy in a global perspective from the Middle Ages to the XXI century. The second part is devoted to the evolution of the Italian economy from the unification of the country to the present. At the end of the course the student is able to: - to grasp the complexity of historical processes, - to understand concepts, principles and issues drawn from the social and economic sciences, - to appreciate the constant interplay of economic systems, institutions, social and cultural dimensions.

Course contents

Module I – Markets, Institutions, and Transformations of Capitalism

“The road to the free market was opened and kept open by an enormous increase in continuous, centrally organized and controlled interventionism.”
Karl Polanyi

Introduction – What Is Economic History For?

• Understanding the present through a historical perspective.
• The relative decline of Western economic hegemony in the global context.

I. The Formation of the European Market Economy

1. Trade and Finance in Medieval Europe

• Public and private markets.
• European fairs and commercial networks.
• Commenda contracts and merchant partnerships.
• Accounting innovations and the development of double-entry bookkeeping.
• Money, credit, and bills of exchange.
• Deposit and transfer banks (banchi di scripta).

2. The Fourteenth-Century Crisis and the Formation of the Modern State

• The demographic and economic crisis of the fourteenth century.
• The emergence of territorial states.
• War, taxation, and public finance.
• Money and political sovereignty.

3. European Expansion and Commercial Capitalism

• Post-Columbian globalization.
• The sixteenth-century Price Revolution.
• Pauperism and poor relief policies.
• Mercantilist doctrines and practices.
• Trading companies, stock exchanges, and public banks.
• The emergence of fiduciary money.

II. The Industrial Revolution and Industrialization 1. The Origins of the British Industrial Revolution

• Agricultural transformation and the enclosure movement.
• The liberalization of the factors of production.
• The “Industrious Revolution.”

2. Technology, Factory, and Market

• Technological innovation and the diffusion of steam power.
• The textile industry and the factory system.
• International markets and Atlantic trade.
• The City of London and the British financial system.

3. Industrialization and Social Transformation

• The formation of the industrial proletariat.
• Urbanization and the development of labor markets.
• The social question and the labor movement.

4. Paths to Industrialization

• Late industrialization and “substitute factors.”
• State intervention and investment banking.
• The development of national banking systems.

5. National Case Studies

• Germany.
• France.
• United States.
• Russia.
• Japan.

III. The Great Depression, Big Business, and State Intervention 1. The Second Industrial Revolution and the Great Depression

• Steel, electricity, and the chemical industry.
• Agrarian crisis and falling prices.
• The Great Depression of 1873–1896.
• Protectionism, market reorganization, and imperialism.

2. Industrial Concentration and Big Business

• Trusts, cartels, and oligopolies.
• Economies of scale.
• The separation of ownership and control.
• Management and business schools.

3. Finance and Organized Capitalism

• Securities markets and universal banking.
• The gold standard as an international monetary system.
• The Belle Époque of the world economy.

4. War, Crisis, and Economic Regulation

• War economies and economic planning.
• The Great Crash of 1929 and the ensuing crisis.
• The New Deal and the origins of the Welfare State.

IV. From Postwar Reconstruction to Globalization 1. Reconstructing the International Economy

• The Bretton Woods system and the dollar standard.
• The Marshall Plan.

2. The Golden Age of Capitalism

• Fordism and mass production.
• The development of the Welfare State.
• The postwar “economic miracles.”

3. Crisis and Transformation in Contemporary Capitalism

• The collapse of the Bretton Woods system.
• Oil shocks and stagflation.
• From the Fordist corporation to the networked firm.

4. Globalization and Financialization

• Liberalization of financial markets.
• New global production networks.
• Financialization and global money.
• The global financial crisis of 2007–2008.

Module II – The State, Industry, and Capitalism in Italy

“The Italian economy cannot be understood without the State.”
Rosario Romeo

Introduction – Interpretative Perspectives

• The “six turning points” in Italian economic history.

I. Building the National Economy

• The economic unification of Italy.
• Infrastructure, taxation, and the creation of a national market.
• The financial and monetary policies della Destra Storica.
• Protectionism and the tariff war with France.
• The formation of the national banking system.
• From regulated monetary pluralism to the establishment of the Bank of Italy.

II. Industrialization and Economic Dualism

• “Substitute factors” in Italian economic development.
• The emergence of the Industrial Triangle.
• The banking crisis of the early 1890s.
• Universal banks and the industrial take-off.
• The Giolittian era.
• Regional dualism and the Southern Question.

III. War, Fascism, and the Mixed Economy

• The wartime economy and the crisis of the immediate post-war years.
• Fascism and De Stefani’s economic policies.
• Quota 90 and the revaluation of the lira.
• The Great Depression of 1929.
• IMI, IRI, and the emergence of the mixed economy.
• The nationalization of the banking system.

IV. Reconstruction and the Economic Miracle

• The Einaudi stabilization strategy and the Marshall Plan.
• Reconstruction and European integration.
• The Italian “Economic Miracle.”
• An export-led model of growth.
• Public enterprise and private enterprise.
• Large firms, small firms, and industrial districts.

V. Crisis and Transformation in the Contemporary Italian Economy

• The turbulent 1970s.
• The crisis of the mixed economy.
• Inflation and public debt.
• European integration and the single currency.
• The Italian economy between globalization and European constraints.
• The 2007–08 financial crisis and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conclusion – Structural Constraints and Transformations of the Italian Model

• Long-term structural weaknesses of the Italian economy.
• Institutional and productive transformations in contemporary Italy.
• Continuities and discontinuities in the Italian development model.

Readings/Bibliography

The topics covered in Module I are further developed in the following texts:

• M. Fornasari, La banca, la borsa e lo Stato. Una storia della finanza. Torino, 2019.
• M. Fornasari, Puzzle. Una storia del denaro, Giappichelli, 2024 (students are required in particular to read Chapters IV; VI, sections 2 and 3; VII, sections 2, 3, and 4; VIII, sections 1 and 2; IX; X; and the Conclusions).

Course notes are also available online. Should students choose to use these materials in preparation for the examination, they must first obtain the instructor’s approval.

The topics covered in Module II are examined in greater depth in:

• P. Pecorari (ed.), L’Italia economica. Tempi e fenomeni del cambiamento dall’Unità ad oggi, 5th ed., CEDAM, Padua, 2018.

As with Module I, course notes are available online; however, any such materials used for examination preparation must be approved by the instructor.

Students are also strongly encouraged to study the lecture slides available for download from the course website (https://virtuale.unibo.it). Although these materials are not intended to replace the recommended readings, they provide the essential framework for understanding the historical development of the European and Italian economies.

 

Teaching methods

Slides provided by the teacher, included in the platform

https://virtuale.unibo.it

 

Assessment methods

It is expected that the exams, both partial and total, will be conducted in written form in an online mode (on the EOL platform).

The exam consists of a quiz made up of

- 25 questions (with 4 possible answers) and 2 "essays" related to the topics of the first module and

- 25 questions (with 4 possible answers) and 2 "essays" related to the topics of the II module.

The "essays" are open-ended questions.

Each correct answer of the quiz will receive 0,4 points; the essays will receive up to a maximum of 4 points each.

The final grade will result from the sum of the scores obtained in the answers of the I and II modules (max 36 points per module); the insufficiency in the answers to the questions/compositions of one of the two modules will determine the insufficiency of the whole test.

An exame partial that scores less than or equal to 9 points is insufficient.

Regarding the evaluation of the exam, the following correspondence between descriptors and marks in thirtieths is noted

- <18 insufficient

- 18-23 sufficient

- 24-27 good

- 28-30 excellent

- 30 e lode excellent

Regarding assessment, the use of AI is prohibited. Any use constitutes a violation of academic integrity.

Teaching tools

Classroom equipped with a projector

Links to further information

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/massimo.fornasari

Office hours

See the website of Massimo Fornasari