Second edition of this fundamental work for the history of economics. The treatise in five books anticipates some utilitarian theses, enunciating a theory on the economic value of goods and identifying a close relationship between quantity and quality of work, production times, utility and rarity of the product. Galiani is particularly critical of the treatment offered by the English philosopher John Locke in his Some considerations of the consequences of the lowering of interest and raising the value of money (London 1692), of which the Italian economist himself had provided a translation, which however remained unpublished. The second edition contains from page 373 the "Notes" not present in the original edition of 1750 (1751).