Piero Sraffa's early views on classical political economy

The present paper outlines the building blocks for a reconstruction of Piero Sraffa’s early views on Classical Political Economy. Besides discussing some of the basic conjectures for a plausible reconstruction (in the context of the current debate on the issues involved), the paper focuses on evidence gathered from a selection of documents concerning the preparation of Sraffa’s Lectures on value delivered in the second half of the 1920s. Whilst full discussion of Sraffa’s early scientific and intellectual development would fall outside the scope of this paper, the treatment directs the reader’s attention to some elements of potential interest, and it supports the interpretation advanced by Pasinetti, 2001. It is hoped that the present analysis will contribute to a discussion on new perspectives concerning the scientific work of Piero Sraffa