Fiscal Innovation Gone Bad

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ID: 317864
2026
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Abstract
Abstract Renaissance Florence was innovative in fiscal policy—especially the 1427 catasto—as in many other organizational areas. While spectacularly successful in raising money for wars, what is less known is its destructive impact on large portions of the Florentine economy. While innovative and inventive as fiscal policy, it was a failure as macroeconomic policy. We document this through business censuses coded from the 1427, 1433, and 1458 Florentine catasti and show how business decline, especially in banking, was caused not only by the exorbitant tax rates of these catasti but also by bankruptcy contagion rooted in high leverage of companies linked through mutual credit. In addition, we document an important political consequence of this macroeconomic decline: the rise of the Medici Bank to almost monopolist position in banking, due not to brilliant strategy of its own, but to the collapse of its previously vibrant competition.
Reference Key
openalex_W7165197132 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Francesco Bettarini, John F. Padgett
Journal Oxford University Press eBooks
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/oso/9780197789216.003.0008
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197789216.003.0008
Keywords Keywords not found

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