| Birth Place: | Frascati, Papal States |
| Birth Date: | 2 July 1857 |
| Death Place: | Milan, Italy |
| Death Date: | 29 October 1924 |
| Influences: | David Ricardo · Léon Walras |
| Notable Students: | Antonio de Viti de Marco · Vilfredo Pareto |
| School Tradition: | Economic liberalism |
Maffeo Pantaleoni (pronounced as /it/; Frascati, 2 July 1857Milan, 29 October 1924) was an Italian economist. At first he was a notable proponent of neoclassical economics. Later in his life, before and during World War I, he became an ardent nationalist and syndicalist, with close ties to the Fascist movement.[1] He was Minister of Finance in the Carnaro government of Gabriele D'Annunzio at Fiume, which lasted for fifteen months between 1919 and 1920. Shortly before his death, he was elected to the Italian Senate.
Pantaleoni was a major contributor to the Italian school of economics known as 'La Scienza delle Finanze'. His book Teoria della Traslazione dei Tributi (theory of tax shifting) is a pioneering study of tax incidence. According to Nobel prize winner James M. Buchanan, Pantaleoni and his followers (such as Antonio De Viti De Marco and Vilfredo Pareto) can be considered the intellectual forefathers of the modern public choice theory.[2]
Maffeo's great grandniece is American actress Téa Leoni.