Il dibattito teorico sulla “Congiuntura del Trecento”

The Theoretical Debate over the “Economic trend in the Trecento” Since the middle of the 20th century the evaluation of the economy of the 14th century and of the periods immediately preceding it and following it has attracted a staggering number of discussions. The changes which took place during the Trecento have often been considered the beginning of or, at least, a crucial point, along the road to modern industrialization. For this reason, the period is often cited in the theoretical models used to interpret the events which gave rise to European superiority. Whether it is the transition from feudalism to capitalism, the birth of a market economy, proto-industrialization, the consumer devolution, the transformation which tended to accentuate the investment in human capital and lead toward a Knowledge Economy, everything that occurred in the 14th century is considered crucial. In this paper first of all we present the opposing models (Malthusiana, Marxista and neo-Smithian) elaborated during the second half of the 20th century; subsequently, we discuss the interpretations proposed in the last twenty years (especially the New Institutional Economics and the Endogenous Growth Theory); in conclusion, we describe the evaluations of the 14th century economic cycle proposed by the current prevailing theories and some possible contributions offered by archaeology.