Abstract

We republish here an article written by Cesare De Michelis in 2013 when French President Holland proposed the introduction of a «hypothecated tax» dedicated to culture. De Michelis was a refined scholar and a skilled entrepreneur. He was the first editor of Economia della Cultura and the Editorial board decided to republish this article, in his memory, because it is still current and shows the profound knowledge of the sector by the author. De Michelis is not in favor of introducing in Italy a dedicated «tax for culture» for the reason that he believes that the increase in spending in culture would be useless if, before, the State did not carry out «a radical reform» of the existing system, which invests theaters, museums, libraries and archives, giving each of them a management autonomy that obliges them to measure costs and benefits, to take into account user demand and involving in their activities the territory, schools and firms.