Born in Berlin in 1915, Albert O. Hirschman emigrated to Paris after the rise of Hitler. He studied at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (France), the London School of Economics (U.K.) and the Trieste University (Italy). Shortly afterwards, he took part in the Spanish Civil War; collaborated actively with his brother-inlaw, the socialist, federalist philosopher Eugenio Colorni, and a group of Italian antifascists in Trieste; joined the French Army at the beginning of the World War; helped Varian Fry in Marseilles to rescue European intellectuals and artist in hundreds; and then sailed off to the US. His 1937-1939 papers in the present exhaustive collection were written for private and public purposes (including a meeting of the Société des Nations) and have been mostly unpublished so far. They reflect the gradual blossom and the early professional exploits of one of the greatest economists and social scientists of our time. They encompass a considerable spectrum of themes – demographic statistics; French monetary and budgetary policy; Italian economy; monetary, fiscal and foreign trade policies under Italian fascism and bilateralism in international trade.
The cultural and political European up-bringing of Albert Hirschman, troublesome and non-homogeneous as it was, turned out to be also an asset. His 1937-39 mostly unpublished papers of the present exhaustive collection have a great value in themselves and explaining how he became one of the greatest economists and social scientists of our time.
Introduction – "Fertility of Italian Women by Age and Number of Children Born: Some Observations", mimeo, March 1937 – "Note on Two Recent Tables of Marriage Rates in the Italian Population", Giornale degli economisti, January 1938 – "Les finances et l’economie italienne. Situation actuelle et perspectives", Societe d’etudes et d’informations economiques, Supplément au bulletin quotidien, 1 juin 1938 – The Poincaré Franc and Its Devaluation, Tesi di Laurea, mimeo, June 27, 1938 – "Histoire de la Lire de la rivalorisation au controle des changes", mimeo, 1938 – Italie, L’activité économique, n. 16, 17 and 18, 1939 – Mémoire sur le contrôle des changes en Italie, Societe des Nations, mimeo, Juin 1939 – "Etude statistique sur la tendance du commerce exterieur vers l’equilibre et le bilateralisme", Societe des Nations, mimeo, 1939 – Index of Names – Index of Content.
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Biografisk notat
Luca Meldolesi, full professor of economic policy, University of Naples Italy (emeritus). Advisor: the Minister of Defense (1992-93); the Ministry of Finance (1995-8). President, Comitato emersione: Prime Minister’s Office (1999-2004) and Ministry of Labour (2004-2008). President, A Colorni-Hirschman International Institute (2016 to the present). Author: Discovering the Possible. The Surprising World of Albert O. Hirschman, Notre Dame Univ. Press, 1995). Series Editor: "Albert Hirschman’s Legacy: Works and Discussions": Peter Lang Publisher, since 2019.