VIRTÙ E VIZI DELLE BANCHE E DEI BANCHIERI. UNA NOTA INTRODUTTIVA

Banks and bankers are often the subject of controversial appreciations: politicians, economists, biographers and commentators have put it out the potentially negative consequences of their behavior on the welfare of the people and the prosperity of the economies. The consequences of the failures of Florentine bankers in the fourteenth century on the real economy are a significant example of such a negative connection. The ideas of Marx, Schumpeter and Keynes on the function of banks and bankers are then examined. The arguments developed by Keynes in its "Treatise on Money" appear, in this regard, of particular significance. At the present time, finally, and with reference to the Italian economy, the European Union's regulatory arrangements give rise to further problems, owing to the differences that still exist among the financial systems of the EU countries and their institutional settings.