Filippo Gaddo, Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, SPE Councillor and host of the Econ Thoughts SPE Podcast, spoke with Alejandro Chafuen, Distinguished Executive Fellow at the Acton Institute and former President and CEO of the Atlas Network (see https://www.chafuen.com/), about the rediscovery of the School of Salamanca and its relevance for both the history of economic thought and contemporary policy debates.

The discussion focused on the School of Salamanca as a remarkably innovative intellectual movement of the 16th and early 17th centuries, predating and in many ways anticipating later developments in economics. Alejandro highlighted how scholars such as Francisco de Vitoria and Juan de Mariana built a rich framework grounded in natural law and a deep understanding of the human person, arriving at insights on subjective value, private property, free trade, and sound money centuries before classical economics. Rather than abstract theorising, their work emerged from practical moral and commercial questions—often debated in the confessional—leading to early forms of economic analysis recognised even by Joseph Schumpeter. The conversation emphasised how this rediscovery reshapes the narrative of economic thought, showing continuity between scholastic reasoning and later traditions, including elements that resonate with the Austrian School of Economics.

Looking forward, Chafuen argued that the relevance of the Salamanca tradition lies less in technical economics and more in political economy—particularly its emphasis on the moral foundations of markets, the centrality of the human person, and the importance of institutions such as the rule of law. In a modern context where economics can appear overly mechanical, the School of Salamanca offers a more integrated framework linking ethics, institutions, and economic outcomes. Its renewed study, he suggested, reflects a broader search for meaning and purpose in economics, and provides valuable guidance for contemporary debates on monetary policy, state power, and the conditions for a flourishing free society .

Alejandro Chafuen is a Distinguished Executive Fellow at the Acton Institute and Chairman of the Chase Foundation of Virginia. He previously served as President and CEO of the Atlas Network and has devoted much of his work to promoting the principles of a free and virtuous society, with a particular focus on the intellectual legacy of the School of Salamanca and its contribution to modern economic thought. See his book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faith-Liberty-Scholastics-Economics-2003-07-01/dp/B01A0BCHZE

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