Dialogues 'manqués' between Antonio Gramsci and Piero Sraffa on Ricardo, Classical Political Economy and 'Pure Economics'

Jean-Pierre Potier (1)

1 TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique

This chapter deals with Gramsci's remarks and some potential subjects of discussion with Sraffa about Ricardo, classical political economy and `pure economics'. For him, the importance of Ricardo in the formation of Marx's ideas must be reassessed from the point of view of the world's conception and history; in 1932, he asked the opinion of Sraffa who was very sceptical about a Ricardian historicism, sending him bibliographical indications. Unfortunately, Gramsci did not receive any element of this bibliography and will not be able to react to Sraffa's remarks. Otherwise, he commented Pantaleoni's Principii di economia pura (2nd ed., 1931) and gave an opinion about An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science by Robbins, through an indirect source. About the questions raised in these books, Gramsci would have appreciated a dialogue with Sraffa, a critic of marginalism. But unfortunately it was not the case.

Mots clés: Antonio Gramsci; Classical political economy; Marxism; Marginalism; Ricardo; Piero Sraffa

Domaines: Economies et finances; Histoire, Philosophie et Sociologie des sciences

Jean-Pierre Potier. Dialogues 'manqués' between Antonio Gramsci and Piero Sraffa on Ricardo, Classical Political Economy and 'Pure Economics'. Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina; Deleplace, Ghislain; Paesani, Paolo. New Perspectives on Political Economy and Its History, Springer International Publishing, pp.261-277, 2020, Palgrave Studies in the History of Economic Thought, ⟨10.1007/978-3-030-42925-6⟩. ⟨halshs-02874711⟩