Le scienze umane in Italia: il caso dell’economia politica

[Autom. eng. transl.] Outlining a picture of research in the field of political economy in today's Italy is an extremely arduous, if not impossible, task. Every year over a hundred books are published, the result of research on economic subjects, and the magazines that publish results of economic research also touch the hundred; moreover many works are published - generally in English - with foreign publishing houses or in international journals. In this context the authors describe the concept of economics, the economist, and the development of the economy as a subject of human sciences. They lay down requirements on the need to approve the evaluation process, discuss its advantages and dangers, and assess whether political economy can still be considered a social science and conclude with some considerations on desirability, on the quality of research and teaching, to move towards the homologation of research. The article was first presented as a Report to the Conference "Human sciences in Italy: perspectives for research and higher education" held in Rome on 26-28 October 2006 and organized by the Italian Institute of Human Sciences in Florence and from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.