Luigi Einaudi et le pouvoir de la parole

This essay engages with Luigi Einaudi’s thought from a perspective that has not been fully explored in scholarly literature, even though significant works have been devoted to his journalistic activity and his linguistic style. These pages aim to analyze as comprehensively as possible the place that the power of the word – that is, its ability to concretely impact reality, changing it – has had in his reflections and in his work as a scholar and columnist. The first paragraph explains where Einaudi’s non-merely instrumental interest in the word comes from. The second and third paragraphs focus on his reflections about the connection between words and politics and the potential implications of public communication on the dynamics of consensus formation. Finally, the fourth paragraph, drawing conclusions from what has been discussed in the previous ones, outlines the deeper meaning of Luigi Einaudi’s activity as an opinion maker.