The Department of Economic Studies was established in 1983. Although quite small, it has reached precise identity very soon.

On the one hand, the life of the Department has always been characterised by the pluralism and the debate between different approaches. This can be witnessed by the participation of the Department to different Ph.D programmes. On the other hand, the activities of the Department have been progressively interacting with local institutions and social agents. Particularly, in the last decade, the Department has been engaged in lively and qualified conference activities. At the same time, the Department has been the center of a large scientific production of papers and journal articles.

Since 1988, the Department has been named after Hyman P. Minsky, who was a profound expert of both the economic history and the economic theories and author of a striking interpretation of Keynes' theories. Minsky was Visiting Professor in this Department for many years. He was a good friend for some of us and a master for everybody. His legacy is his strong interest in the institutional and historical aspects of the economy as well as his focus on the monetary and cyclical aspects of the capitalistic system.