Sergio Steve e Duncan Black: gli studi e l'amicizia

Steve includes Black among his friends and masters. However, his views on Black’s contributions to the two most important subjects where they were published are not without criticism, sometimes quite profound: on the impact of income taxes, which Black studied for a short time, and on the theory of collective decisions, to which Black dedicated his entire life in the search for the formulation of a pure science of politics. In the present note I touch briefly on Steve’s criticism (discussed at length in my contribution in the Angeli volume), and on two instances of their scientific collaboration and friendship: Black’s 1962 paper in Rivista di diritto finanziario e scienza delle finanze, and Steve’s long-lasting affection during the late years of his friend’s life.