This essay focuses on the nexus between economic theory and social legislation, as dealt with by Luigi Einaudi in his Lezioni di politica sociale (1942). For this purpose, the conceptual and analytical model used in Einaudi's book is identified, which is based on three main premises: 1) the liberal worldview; 2) the pragmatist epistemology, as derived from his friend Giovanni Vailati; 3) the Paretian economic theory which later on would give rise to the new welfare economics.
In Einaudi's view, production and distribution belong to two different spheres. A market based economic system leads to an efficient equilibrium, once an initial distribution of resources is provided. If such a distribution does not satisfy some specified criteria of social justice, State intervention (i.e. social policy) can be justified. Social justice according to Einaudi means equality of opportunity. Liberty is not a metaphysical engine of history, and liberals cannot separate their political and moral objectives from the techniques by which they can be pursued. Social legislation is nothing else than the toolset by which the liberal idea can actually be realized. On this background, economic theory plays a central role as a useful abstraction which sheds light on the complex reality in which social policies are to be implemented.
Published in 2011 in: A. Gigliobianco (ed.), Luigi Einaudi: libertà economica e coesione sociale, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2011, pp. 48-89
