The new edition of the book "Money and Mediterranean Civilization" by Carlo M. Cipolla (Il Mulino) is certainly to be welcomed, which comes 20 years after the death of one of the greatest Italian economic historians of the last century and more than 60 after his first appearance, containing gods essays deriving from the lectures given by the author in the early 50s at the University of Cincinnati in the United States of America.
Charles Cipolla, known to the general public also for some of his books with certainly original and highly successful titles "Allegro ma non molto" and "The fundamental laws of human stupidity", offers in this booklet aA far-reaching and surprisingly timely topic.
An aspect that does not escape the careful analysis carried out in thewritten introduction by the Governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, in which, recalling the randomness of the author's approach to economic history studies, the reference made by Cipolla to two characteristics that are manifesting themselves concurrently with the health emergency of the Covid'19 pandemic: the risks of deflation and the presence of innovations and technological and institutional changes, which characterize the history of the currency. A useful opportunity for the Governor to reiterate with determination the crucial role of Central Banks and the patrimony of trust, which they enjoy within the payment system. And also to reiterate the real value of the saying historia magistra vitae, which translates, quoting Cipolla himself, into “seeing the current problems we will have to deal with in their correct historical dimension”.
In the 5 agile chapters that make up this publication, the common characteristic of a discussion enriched by a solid bibliography emerges, testimony to the profound research work carried out by the author and useful for those wishing to deepen the individual aspects. Complete the work an interesting methodological appendix, dedicated to the themes of prices, their comparability over time and the construction of index numbers capable of helping economic scholars and experts to better investigate and interpret economic phenomena.
The narration, supported by an agile style, is made even more enjoyable by the presence of anecdotes and historical episodes which, on the one hand dilute the potential heaviness of the arguments, on the other they entice and fascinate the reader to continue this interesting journey into the currency and civilization of the Middle Ages.
Among the topics addressed are: the role ofimportance of primitive money in barbarian Europe, with a nod to those coins that spread throughout the Middle Ages, the so-called dollars of the Middle Ages; the coexistence between large coins and small coins marked by their shift in value and by the difficulty of establishing a sure and lasting exchange relationship with the former; and finally i significant features of medieval civilization seen through the lens of the student of economic history. In the latter area, among others, the aspects of cost emerge: in particular, the cost of transport and its dynamics over the centuries and the cost of money, with the connected profiles of interest rates and usury. And at the end of the path outlined by the author they are identified the two most significant characters of medieval civilization: the particularistic and the aristocratic character. Two characteristics that recall and confirm the weight and influence of economic factors on the historical evolution of Mediterranean civilization.
