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Both Fascist and liberal economists sought to exempt economic institutions from democratic control

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tagsja-picks, xref, causal_relationships, trade, singleton, category/causal-relationships
aliases@mattei_capital_2022, loc. 71

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Both Fascist and liberal economists sought to exempt economic institutions from democratic control

Evidence

While the Italian economists’ antidemocratic views were more explicit— Pantaleoni called democracy “the management of the state and its functions by the most ignorant, the most incapable” (Pantaleoni 1922, 269)— the British technocrats also recognized that, even in Britain, economic institutions required exemption from democratic control in order to proceed optimally. Indeed, the Brussels and Genoa conferences formalized central bank independence as a crucial step to this end. Th e famed British economist Ralph Hawtrey described the advantage of situating a central bank free from “criticism and pressure,” noting that the bank could follow the precept “Never explain; never regret; never apologise” (Hawtrey 1925a, 243). — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 71

Categorization

  • XREF: Central-bank independence as technocratic insulation connects to the modern Federal Reserve independence debates and to the later ‘never explain’ ethos of institutions like the ECB. — connects to: Economists served fascism by reestablishing the economics-politics divide — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 193; Fascist and liberal economists both endorsed rule by apolitical experts — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1171; Fascist Italy let pure-economics theorists apply austerity free of democratic constraint — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 53 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

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