The Double Taxation of Savings: The Italian Debate Revisited

In the first half of the 20th century, Italian scholars of public finance debated J. S. Mill's theorem on the double taxation of savings. Building on I. Fisher's contribution, L. Einaudi started the discussion, which lasted for some 30 years, involving a significant number of scholars. This paper critically discusses the crucial aspects of this debate, with the aim, firstly, to highlight its peculiarity and specificity with respect to the previous Anglo-Saxon literature. A second aim is to discuss critically, from a historiographical perspective, the main reasoning put forward in the debate.