Piero Sraffa - Unorthodox Economist, 1898-1983: A Biographical Essay.

• Author: Fontaine, Philippe

This short book is an attempt at a personal biography of Piero Sraffa, the Italian economist, born on 5 August 1898. A revised version of the French original, the English text is not the most complete one. Indeed, students of Sraffa should note that the forthcoming Spanish edition includes additions. However, the latter do not disrupt either the plan or the main argument of this highly instructive essay.

The book under review consists of four chapters which, although each one cohesive in itself, present variable interest for economists. Thus chapters 1 and 2 deal respectively with Sraffa's formative years in Italy and the long-lasting friendship with Gramsci, while the two following chapters focused respectively on the years spent in Cambridge and the work of Sraffa, both as an editor and scholar. In a sense, this biographical essay depicts the double life of Piero Sraffa, his being equally committed to Italy and Britain, to political causes and economic issues. Nonetheless, it is not Potier's intention to suggest that Sraffa had a dual personality or that he errs on the side of irresolution. Nor is it his contention that Sraffa's unorthodoxy amounts to eclecticism.

Although many economists may know Sraffa by repute, few probably have had the opportunity to study his works. He seems to belong to this group of scholars who, though they take place in the front rank of economists, stand there as enigmatic figures. Furthermore, when they know about the works of Sraffa, economists still tend to consider his intellectual achievements with skepticism (Keynes, by contrast, was quick to notice the qualities of the young Sraffa. He even asked him to write for the Manchester Guardian Commercial; and, once the article completed, realized he would better have it published in the Economic Journal [p. 9]).

This skepticism comes as no surprise: it goes back several years or, to be more precise, to the time when Sraffa applied for a chair at the University of Cagliari, in Sardinia. In this respect, the comments of the competition commission which examined his application is worth recalling: "It [the above commission] also noted the obvious concern of the author [Sraffa] to appear succint and concise, which has at times led him to complex constructions and to a sobriety verging on obscurity" [p. 18]. This was the first time one underscored Sraffa's legendary conciseness. Moreover, the allusion to obscurity did not disappear from subsequent appraisals of...