What Is Wrong with the History of Wages: Or the Divide in Economic History - A Reappraisal Suggested by Eighteenth-Century Milan

In recent years, the debate about standards of living, which has become an international issue, has summed up the results of a history of prices and wages founded on a series of historic works covering long or extremely long periods, which were destined to be of only comparative importance within a theoretical framework oriented towards the perfect market, which is and will continue to be an ideal and idealised concept. So attempts have been made to develop large scale comparisons in time and space. In many cases, however, such efforts have led only to the construction of giants, which, although imposing, have feet of clay. The paper shall seek to demonstrate this referring to eighteenth century Milan, a case study worthy of note since a large part of comparative studies on living standards in Europe which include Italy, have almost always built with the data on Milan, showing the weakness of data usually adopted and proposing a new methodological approach.