The Italian Economists as Legislators and Policymakers During the Fascist Regime

This chapter examines the role played by Italian economists in Parliament and as members of the government during fascism, a period in which the relationship between the legislative and the executive changed substantially. On the one hand, the regime acted to shift the balance of power from the legislative to the executive, led by a charismatic duce. On the other hand, the elections were transformed into a plebiscite in which voters were called upon to approve a single list drawn up by the regime until, in 1939, the lower Chamber itself was transformed into a “Chamber of Fasces and Corporations”. Also, the Senate, which traditionally included members of the political, judiciary and academic élite appointed by royal decree, was increasingly “fascistised”. In this framework, a limited group of economists performed a significant and, until recently, largely neglected activity as builders of the “new” fascist state but also, in a few cases, as bearers of insightful and “dialectical” views, to the extent that these could be expressed. Anti-fascist economists in the Lower House (Antonio Graziadei; Arturo Labriola; Angelo Mauri) were stripped of office already in 1926, while Agostino Lanzillo, Gaetano Zingali, Gino Arias, Luigi Lojacono, Vincenzo Ricchioni, Attilio da Empoli and Zeno Vignati were to various degrees supporters of the regime. Some fascist economists became members of the cabinet during the “Ventennio”, among whom Alberto De’ Stefani, Giacomo Acerbo, Arrigo Serpieri and Giuseppe Tassinari are the leading figures. The majority of the legislators and policymakers selected by the regime were applied economists and acted primarily as field experts, providing a relevant contribution to the building of the fascist state. The presence of “pure” ideologists and/or theorists of corporatism is also significant but, nevertheless, circumscribed and of less practical impact. This does not mean that the economists analysed in this chapter limited themselves to provide “technical” advice. Most of them were strongly committed to fascist ideology, albeit often advocating different policies. Mussolini, in any case, did not hesitate to put them aside whenever his strategic priorities changed.