of the Divine Comedy di Dante Alighieri it is customary to examine the profiles of excellence in terms of poetic-literary expression, also reflecting on the numerous socio-political messages contained therein; messages, which go beyond the historical context in which the Supreme Poet lived, to reach us intact in their validity and current application.
Some are less well known and generally less underlined economic aspects, of which Dante's extraordinary work is certainly not devoid. And it is precisely because of the condition of lesser attention towards these aspects and, consequently, less frequent critical reflection on them that those who focus on them in a documented and non-trivial way are particularly meritorious.
The most recent occasion was last week in Ravenna a debate, held as part of the XII edition of the Dante Festival, whose Director, Domenico Demartino, had identified "law, money, office and custom" as the area of discussion, evoking them from the verses of the VI Canto of Purgatory; “4 elements and their economic and social aspects, which should be the foundations of civil coexistence”.
Dialogue between Luigi Federico Signorini and Antonio Patuelli
The interesting and effective introduction of Agnese Pini, Director of QN-Il Resto del Carlino, La Nazione, Il Giorno, acted as a prologue to the considerations of Luigi Federico Signorini, Director General of the Bank of Italy and of Antonio Patuelli, President of Cassa di Ravenna and of ABI (the Italian Banking Association).
Ideas on Dante and the coin: Signorini's thoughts
Starting from the references on the subject of currency value and plurality of its functions - unit of account, means of exchange and reserve of value - contained in the two works of Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics and Politics, Signorini provided a vivid and composite representation of what he himself defined as "the gold standard Italian of the Middle Ages”; a system made up of the genoino or genovino, the florin and the ducat, a monetary expression of as many economic powers consolidated in that historical era and also present in the context of life of the Supreme Poet, Genoa, Florence and Venice.
The numerous quotes taken from the three Canticles then allowed the Director General of the Bank of Italy to evoke some downsides linked to the theme of money (the condemnation of greed, avarice, corruption, widespread among lay people, but also within the Church), without neglecting, however, the positive ones (the intrinsic and metaphorical beauty of the two metals nobles, gold and silver, the generosity he experienced from some historical figures, such as the Malaspinas and Cangrande della Scala). A review, which represented the logical premise for the reflection on money, as a social construct, with the indispensable corollaries of its stability and the trust to be placed in it.
A social construct, which turns out to be particularly delicate in the case of a fiat currency, and which can rightly be transferred to the present day, evaluating the crucial function of the Central Banks and, more specifically in Europe, of the European Central Bank and the system of National Central Banks. A role which, to be carried out in full operational effectiveness, requires, for Signorini, total independence (often, but not always, constitutionally guaranteed) corroborated by the virtue of prudence of the central bankers, who must draw upon it in the exercise of their activity to three precious raw materials: technical competence, rigor and humility.
Ideas on Dante and the coin: Patuelli's thoughts
For his part, the President patuellic, in commenting on Luigi Federico Signorini's considerations, first of all, appropriately underlined the characteristic of the Divine Comedy as a fourteenth-century ethical manual, both secular and religious, with a universal and timeless value.
Coming then to the merits of the specific theme of the debate, Patuelli, also citing some incisive examples relating to our current situation, fully illustrated the message conveyed to us by Alighieri on the subject of instability of the 4 elements evoked in the already mentioned verses of Purgatory.
The instability of the law, which is contrasted with the solidity represented by Justinian's work of legal codification, the uncertainty on the value of the currency and on the related monetary policies, the oscillations, if not the total inertia in the operational applications of the central administrations and local, the habituation to ephemeral fashions represent as many evils of the civil society of Dante's era, promptly identified and severely condemned by him; evils, which, unfortunately, are still frequently found in our world, even in Italy.
Countering these forms of instability, ultimately, not only constitutes, for President Patuelli, a correct and coherent interpretation of Dante's thought, but, above all, it indicates, unequivocally, the main path traced by him, to be followed for a solid and long-lasting socioeconomic development of civil society of any era and therefore also of ours.
