Needs, the Principle of Minimum Means, and Public Goods in de Viti de Marco

Abstract

Antonio De Viti de Marco is perhaps the most representative scholar at the origin of the Italian tradition in Public Finance, and his main work has been at the disposal of English-speaking economists since 1936 (De Viti de Marco 1936). However, at the time he was not particularly appreciated: his book had at the time one good and one bad review, but certainly left no mark on mainstream economic analysis. The fact is that De Viti's message was too far beyond the range of interests of Anglo-Saxon writers of the time.