author
active 1613 Antonio Serra
Best known for a 1613 treatise on why some states grow rich even without gold or silver mines, this early Italian economic thinker tackled the problems of Naples with unusual clarity. Though little is known about his life, his ideas later earned him a place in the history of political economy.
1 Audiobook
Economisti del cinque e seicento
by Geminiano Montanari, Gasparo Scaruffi, active 1613 Antonio Serra
About the author
Little is known for certain about this Italian writer and economist beyond a few striking facts. He was from Cosenza in the Kingdom of Naples, worked in Naples, and was already in prison there in July 1613, when he dedicated his best-known book to the Spanish viceroy.
That book, Breve trattato delle cause che possono fare abbondare li regni d’oro e d’argento dove non sono miniere, asks a bold question: how can a country become prosperous even without precious-metal mines? In answering it, he argued that industry, trade, population, and good policy mattered more than simple access to gold and silver. Because of that, he is often remembered as one of the earliest important voices in Italian political economy and as a notable figure in mercantilist thought.
His life remains shadowy, but his reputation comes from the sharpness of that single surviving work. Readers interested in the roots of economic thinking often encounter him as a writer who looked past treasure itself and focused on the wider forces that make a kingdom thrive.