Antonio Serra

Antonio Serra (* mid-16th century in Cosenza ; † after 1613) was an Italian mercantilist .

Life

Antonio Serra was born in Cosenza around the middle of the 16th century . Nothing is known about the year of death. It is very likely that he died in prison, where he was presumably incarcerated because of his alleged involvement in the conspiracy of Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639), philosopher and author of "The Sun State".

Mercantilist Philosophy Antonio Serras

Serra was a typical representative of mercantilism. The mercantilist writers and princes were convinced that the abundance of gold and silver made a country rich. This is why they envied the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, because these countries brought shiploads of gold and silver to Europe from their overseas colonies. They didn't seem to mind that the enormous gold and silver money in circulation drove up prices. Her credo was: Make your own country rich by exporting goods and thereby damage other countries; according to the mercantilist principle that in every trade, profit on one side is a loss on the other.

Since the Italian states did not have gold and silver mines, Serra considered various ways of how they could still be supplied with ample money. He made an apt analysis of the economic situation in Italy in the 16th and 17th centuries and was convinced that the goal of an ample supply of money also through the promotion of industry, trade and transport, through a high level of education of the population and through additional measures Government could be achieved.

Importance and achievement

Ferdinando Galiani (1728–1787), a classic of economics, wrote in his treatise Della Moneta that anyone who reads this treatise is sure to be surprised and amazed at the many clear and correct ideas that the author had on the subject which he wrote in a century of complete ignorance of the economic sciences; and how much common sense he uses to judge the causes of other ills and the only effective remedies. Galiani did not doubt that Serra would be called the first and oldest writer of political and economic science and that Calabria would grant this previously unknown fame, since this region had produced Serra. Galiani dared to compare this man with the French Malun and the English John Locke ; after him he even surpassed these two, because Serra had lived much earlier and in a century of darkness and errors in economic science. This man, of such a keen intellect and such sound judgment, was despised throughout his life. After his death, he and his book were forgotten.

Works

• Breve trattato delle cause che possono far abbondare li regni d'oro e d'argento, dove non sono miniere, con applicazione al Regno di Napoli , Napoli 1613. (Brief treatise on the reasons for how states with no mines can be supplied in abundance with gold and silver, with special reference to the Kingdom of Naples.)

literature

• Luca Addante:  SERRA, Antonio. In: Raffaele Romanelli (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 92:  Semino – Sisto IV. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2018.
• Anna Maria Ratti: Serra, Antonio . In Enciclopedia Italiana , Volume 31, Rome 1936 ( online at treccani.it )
• Furio Diaz (Ed.): Opere di Ferdinando Galiani , Milano / Napoli 1975. (Illuministi Italiani, 6)
• Alessandro Roncaglia: Serra, Antonio . In: Il Contributo italiano alla storia del Pensiero - Economia , Rome 2012 ( online at treccani.it )
• Theodore A. Sumberg: Antonio Serra: A Neglected Herald of the Acquisitive System . In: American Journal of Economics and Sociology , Volume 50 Issue 3, Pages 365 - 373. doi : 10.1111 / j.1536-7150.1991.tb02304.x

Web links

• Antonio Serra Brief biography in Italian.