British observers blamed state-run enterprise deficits on union wage gains

Evidence

Capel- Cure expressed deep dissatisfaction with the country’s lack of resolve: “Th e Italian government has to cope with a number of white elephants. Th eir railways, posts, and telegraphs present a continuously increasing defi cit to be met sooner or later by the taxpayer” (July 21, 1922, FO 371/7656, fol. 283). Capel- Cure argued that wage increases were a central part of the problem: “government offi cials and employees who are organized under trade unions have been able to exact from the state a considerable amount of salaries and wages.” Th e British commercial counselor warned that this trend could spread to nonunionized workers and further deplete state fi nances (ibid.). — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1352

Categorization

• DEFINE: ‘White elephants’ as deployed here — loss-making state enterprises whose deficits fall on the taxpayer — is worth flagging as a recurring anti-nationalization trope.