ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter aims to provide a broad overview of the role played in the current economic debate by the contributions by Piero Sraffa and those contemporary economists who share his proposal of a return to the approach of the classical economists, from William Petty to François Quesnay, from Adam Smith to David Ricardo, up to Karl Marx. It must be stressed immediately that our discussion of the different positions will not be neutral, because of the direct participation of the present writer in the debate to be surveyed in the following pages.
