Federico Caffè (born 6 January 1914; disappeared 15 April 1987; declared dead 30 October 1998) was a notable

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

from the Keynesian School.

Early life

Caffè graduated in Business Sciences from the

University of Rome La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

in 1936. After World War II, he spent one year in the

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studying at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. During that period, he came in contact with the

Keynesian Economics Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomics, macroeconomic theories and Economic model, models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongl ...

and saw up close the policies implemented by the then Labour government. Back in Italy, he started his career working at the

Bank of Italy The Bank of Italy (Italian language, Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', , informally referred to as ''Bankitalia'') is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Italy within the Eurosystem. It was the Italian central bank from ...

, later becoming a teacher at the

University of Messina The University of Messina (; Latin: ''Studiorum Universitas Messanae''), known colloquially as UniME, is a state university located in Messina, Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1548 by Pope Paul III, it was the world's first Jesuit college, and today it ...

. From 1959 he taught Economic and Financial Policy at the

, forming several generations of economists in what is the largest university in Italy.

Career

Caffè mentored several generations of Italian economists, many of whom rose to senior positions in academia, political life and public administration. In different capacities he mentored the former Governor of the

, and of the ECB President, and Italian incumbent Prime Minister Professor

Mario Draghi Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, banker, statesman, and civil servant, who served as the prime minister of Italy from 13 February 2021 to 22 October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime mi ...

, the current Governor of the

, Ignazio Visco, the planning theorist Franco Archibugi, the welfare economist Bruno Amoroso, the labour economist Ezio Tarantelli, killed by the

Red Brigades The Red Brigades ( , often abbreviated BR) were an Italian far-left Marxist–Leninist militant group. It was responsible for numerous violent incidents during Italy's Years of Lead, including the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro in 1978, ...

in 1985 in the courtyard of the Faculty of Economics in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where they taught, the former President of the Italian Statistical Office Guido M. Rey, the former President of the Italian Statistical Office and incumbent Minister for Infrastructures Enrico Giovannini, the Economic policy's theorist

Nicola Acocella Nicola Acocella (born 3 July 1939) is an Italians, Italian economist and academic, Emeritus Professor of Economic Policy since 2014. In 1963 he graduated in Economics from the “Sapienza University of Rome” with a thesis on ‘''Time lags in ...

, the neo-ricardian economist

Fernando Vianello Fernando Vianello (17 August 1939 – 10 August 2009) was an Italian economist and academic. Together with Michele Salvati, Sebastiano Brusco, Andrea Ginzburg and Salvatore Biasco, he founded the Faculty of Economics of the University of Modena ...

and economist of innovation

Daniele Archibugi Daniele Archibugi (born 17 July 1958 in Rome, Italy) is an Italian economic and political theorist. He works on the economics and policy of innovation and technological change, on the political theory of international relations and on political ...

Views

Caffè was particularly interested in

economic policy ''Economic Policy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press, Oxford Academic on behalf of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, the Center for Economic Studies (University of Munich), and the Paris Scho ...

and welfare, especially in their social dimensions. One of his books, ''Lezioni di politica economica'' (Lectures on Economic Policy), is widely regarded as the complete summary of his ideas. He was a strong critic of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

, avowedly

Keynesian Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output an ...

in inspiration, and also very interested in the Scandinavian welfare model.

Disappearance

On 15 April 1987 Caffè suddenly disappeared, shortly after having quit university teaching. He was "officially declared dead" on 30 October 1998. The mystery involved in his death has not been revealed. He may have committed suicide, but he may also have decided to disappear to an unknown location.

Memorials

Several institutions have been named after him, including the Faculty of Economics of the University of Rome III, the Roskilde University Centre for Southern European Studies and the Library of the Department of Economics of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the Sapienza University of Rome. The Aula Magna of Pescara University is called Federico Caffè also. The

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

also organizes annual conference that have been held by some of the most significant economists of our age. Many of the lectures have been published in a series of the

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

.Cambridge University Press Federico Caffè Lectures, edited by Nicola Acocella and Mario Tiberi
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Bibliography

Main works published by Federico Caffè

* ''Saggi sulla moderna "economia del benessere"'', (editor), Boringhieri, Torino (1956) * ''Economisti moderni'', (editor), Garzanti, Milano (1962); reprinted, Laterza, Bari, (1971). * ''Politica economica'', Boringhieri, Torino (1966 e 1970 - two volumes) * ''Teorie e problemi di politica sociale'', Laterza, Bari (1970) * ''Un'economia in ritardo'', Boringhieri, Torino (1976) * ''Lezioni di politica economica'', Bollati Boringhieri, Torino (1978) * ''L'economia contemporanea. I protagonisti e altri saggi'', Edizioni Studium, Roma (1981) * ''In difesa del welfare state'', Rosenberg & Sellier, Torino (1986). New and augmented version, 2014, edited by Paolo Ramazzotti,

Works published after his disappearance

* ''La solitudine del riformista'', Bollati Boringhieri, Torino (1990), Edited by

and Maurizio Franzini, * ''Scritti quotidiani'', Manifestolibri, Roma (2007), ; which collects the writings he published on the newspaper

il manifesto (; English: "the manifesto") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Rome, Italy. While calling itself " communist" and broadly left-wing, it is not connected to any political party A political party is an organization that coordin ...

from 1976 to 1985. * ''Contro gli incappucciati della finanza. Tutti gli scritti: Il Messaggero 1974-1986, L'Ora, 1983-1987'', Edited by Giuseppe Amari, Castelvecchi, Roma, 2013. * ''La dignità del lavoro'', a cura di Giuseppe Amari, Castelvecchi, Roma, 2014,

Notes

Sources

* Acocella, N. (5th edition ed.), ''"F. Caffé, Lezioni di politica economica"'', Bollati Boringhieri, Torino, 1990, . * Acocella, N., ''"In difesa del welfare state, dieci anni dopo"'', in: Acocella, N. & Rey, G. M. & Tiberi, M. (eds), ''"Saggi di politica economica in onore di Federico Caffè"'', vol. III, Franco Angeli, Milano, 1999. *

''Federico Caffè, solitario maestro''
Micromega, n. 2, (1991) * Ermanno Rea, ''L'ultima lezione'', Einaudi, Turin (1992) * Riccardo Faucci, "L'economia per frammenti di Federico Caffè", ''Rivista italiana degli economisti'', n. 3 (2002) * Bruno Amoroso, ''La stanza rossa - Riflessioni scandinave di Federico Caffè'', Edizioni Città Aperta, Troina (Enna), (2004) * Giuseppe Amari (editor), ''Federico Caffè: un economista per il nostro tempo'', Roma, Ediesse, 2009.

External links

* Profile of Federico Caffè at the Department of Public Economics of

br>

A biography of Federico Caffè (from the Roskilde University website)
* http://giuseppecapograssi.wordpress.com/2012/11/13/federico-caffe-un-economista-per-gli-uomini-comuni-audio/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Caffe, Federico 1914 births 1987 deaths 1980s missing person cases 20th-century Italian economists Keynesian economics Missing person cases in Italy Missing Italian people People from Pescara Sapienza University of Rome alumni Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Academic staff of the University of Messina People declared dead in absentia