Origine e struttura dell’economia politica

The article discusses the main trends in the formation and evolution of political economy as a scientific discipline. By proposing to include under such label all studies of the organisation of human societies for what concerns the activities of exchange and production, the article deals with the main aspects and problems of these studies. Also the evaluation of the social organisation is taken into account. The article updates and extends a lectio brevis held at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome in March 2012.