Piero Sraffa

the long version

This is a lively, intellectual biography of a leading protagonist of 20th century culture and his relations with other protagonists, such as Gramsci, Keynes and Wittgenstein. The book includes an authoritative interpretation of his main work Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, a survey of the debates which followed its publication, and hence of the subsequent research strategies undertaken by different 'Sraffian schools' Piero Sraffa is not only one of the greatest economists of the 20th century, he also exerted important influences on politics and philosophy through his friendship with Italian communist leader Gramsci and Austrian philosopher Wittgenstein. This book documents Sraffa's intellectual biography, his economic thought and post-Sraffian developments.