​Orsola Costantini

Involvement

Orsola Costantini is currently an Economic Affairs Officer at UNCTAD was previously Senior Economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking. An alumna of Ghislieri college, she graduated from the University of Pavia in Italy and in 2013 received her Ph.D. in Economics from the same institution.

She is associate editor of the International Journal of Political Economy. In 2013 she was awarded an INET research grant for the study of the dynamics of household incomes and finances, and in 2014, her work on the cyclically adjusted budget estimate was awarded a prize by the Italian Association for the History of Political Economy (STOREP).

Selected publications:

  • “Invented in America: the birth and evolution of the cyclically adjusted budget rules 1933-1961,” History of Political Economy, vol. 50 (1), 83-117
  • “The Political Economy of the Stability and Growth Pact,” European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies - Intervention, vol. 14 (3), 333-350
  • “The Cyclically Adjusted Budget: The History and Exegesis of a Fateful Estimate,” INET Working Paper n. 24: https://www.ineteconomics.org/uploads/papers/WP24_Costantini_1.pdf

By this expert

Fighting for Gender Equality in Economics Is Not Nearly Enough

Article | Mar 1, 2019

The field of economics is aggressively sexist and biased against new and unconventional ideas. Revelations about gender and ethnic discrimination show the need to reorient the whole system toward more freedom, respect, openness, and pluralism. But how?

Why Hysteria Over the Italian Budget Is Wrong-Headed

Article | Oct 10, 2018

Reactions to the size of the proposed plan rely on discredited assumptions and betray a fundamental misunderstanding of economic growth—and austerity 

Italy Holds A Mirror to a Broken Europe

Article | Jun 14, 2018

The election of Italy’s right-wing, populist government exposes the economic and democratic shortcomings of the European project and its nationalist rivals

INET Research in a Stressful Year

Article | Feb 23, 2018

In the face of  laissez-faire capitalism at home and resurgent nationalism across the globe, INET offers an innovative look at the causes of—and solutions for—the problems that ail a fissuring world economy.

Featuring this expert

Reawakening

From the Origins of Economic Ideas to the Challenges of Our Time

Event Plenary | Oct 21–23, 2017

INET gathered hundreds of new economic thinkers in Edinburgh to discuss the past, present, and future of the economics profession.

INET Guide to the 2017 EEA Meeting

Event Conference | Feb 23–26, 2017

A reference guide to all Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) community presentations at the Eastern Economic Association’s (EEA) 2017 annual meeting

In EU budget debates, ‘technocratic’ veil hides political choices

Article Apr 8, 2016

As the European Union Commission readies itself for a new round of budgetary recommendations, INET senior economist Orsola Costantini warns that that the debate over how those harsh fiscal constraints are to be determined is based on a formula that masks political choices as technocratic imperatives.

The Sneaky Way Austerity Got Sold to the Public Like Snake Oil

Article | Dec 22, 2015

A budget approach cloaked in the aura of science and technical jargon became a tool of manipulation.