ABSTRACT
Introduction Economist Federico Caffè, born 1914, mysteriously disappeared between 14 and 15 April 1987. This dramatic decision to escape from the world leaving no trace inspired a fine book by E. Rea, L’ultima lezione, the last lecture, published in 1992, as well as a movie by F. Rosi with the same title (2001). Independently from this event, a huge mass of reprints of articles by Caffè as well as critical essays on his work have been provided by disciples and estimators. Indeed, it can justifiably be claimed that no other Italian contemporary economist has raised such enduring interest.1
