A learned account reconstructs the political, economic, and cultural development of Milan and its institutions across key reforming decades, interweaving biographical sketches of the author and his circle with analysis of taxation, trade barriers, public administration, and intellectual life. It traces the origins of economic stagnation, examines reforms such as census taking and administrative reorganization, and highlights collaborative activities of an influential literary and reformist society and its periodical. Essays and documents probe coinage, commerce, luxury, and obstacles to agricultural and industrial revitalization, combining archival research with practical proposals aimed at restoring prosperity and public welfare.