From the highs to the lows, Italy’s economic history
A contemporary guide to better navigate the events that the country has experienced and is continuing to experience
The advice is familiar: by understanding the past you can live better in the present and prepare more effectively for the future. This is also true in complex and volatile times such as these, for everyone, including businesses. This sage advice can be put into practice by reading Emanuele Felice’s latest literary offering. Felice, who teaches Economic History at IULM University in Milan, has updated his book ‘Ascesa e declino. Una storia dell’economia italiana’ (Rise and fall: A history of the Italian economy), first published ten years ago. This new edition is an opportunity to understand the fundamental milestones of the country’s recent and distant history. It is a story of alternating periods of prosperity and decline that few other countries have experienced. After its economic and social successes following World War II, Italy now seems to be trapped in decades of stagnation. Felice attempts to answer one question: how could such a decline have occurred? The reasons are numerous and can be found in the political and institutional systems, the role of the elite, and the decisions — or lack of decisions — that have had a profound influence on development trajectories.
In this new, updated and expanded edition of his book, Felice provides a critical analysis of the dynamics that have shaped Italian history. He provides the necessary detail while placing the entire narrative in ‘a millenary perspective’, as the first chapter puts it, before outlining liberal Italy, the twenty-year period and the war. He then moves on to ‘the golden age’, as another chapter describes it, before ending with the era of globalisation and today’s decline.
Emanuele Felice’s book is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the roots of Italy’s successes and failures, and to reflect on its future prospects.
Ascesa e declino. Una storia dell’economia italiana
Emanuele Felice
il Mulino, 2025
A contemporary guide to better navigate the events that the country has experienced and is continuing to experience
The advice is familiar: by understanding the past you can live better in the present and prepare more effectively for the future. This is also true in complex and volatile times such as these, for everyone, including businesses. This sage advice can be put into practice by reading Emanuele Felice’s latest literary offering. Felice, who teaches Economic History at IULM University in Milan, has updated his book ‘Ascesa e declino. Una storia dell’economia italiana’ (Rise and fall: A history of the Italian economy), first published ten years ago. This new edition is an opportunity to understand the fundamental milestones of the country’s recent and distant history. It is a story of alternating periods of prosperity and decline that few other countries have experienced. After its economic and social successes following World War II, Italy now seems to be trapped in decades of stagnation. Felice attempts to answer one question: how could such a decline have occurred? The reasons are numerous and can be found in the political and institutional systems, the role of the elite, and the decisions — or lack of decisions — that have had a profound influence on development trajectories.
In this new, updated and expanded edition of his book, Felice provides a critical analysis of the dynamics that have shaped Italian history. He provides the necessary detail while placing the entire narrative in ‘a millenary perspective’, as the first chapter puts it, before outlining liberal Italy, the twenty-year period and the war. He then moves on to ‘the golden age’, as another chapter describes it, before ending with the era of globalisation and today’s decline.
Emanuele Felice’s book is an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the roots of Italy’s successes and failures, and to reflect on its future prospects.
Ascesa e declino. Una storia dell’economia italiana
Emanuele Felice
il Mulino, 2025