Fascism’s founding political program was framed in austerity terms.

Evidence

In his fi rst speech in Parliament as the newly nominated prime minister, Mussolini spoke the language of austerity: “thrift , work, discipline,” he said, pledging to depoliticize the nation’s economy by putting an end to all “state interferences.” — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1037

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the contemporary ‘depoliticization’ rhetoric of central banks and fiscal rules — connects to the reader’s modern austerity work. — connects to: Fascist austerity dismantled social reforms to rebuild capital accumulation. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1038; Austerity needed strong government, which Fascism supplied — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1329; Austerity unified Fascism’s laissez-faire and corporatist economic periods. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1045 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Austerity needed strong government, which Fascism supplied #expands (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1329
• Austerity unified Fascism’s laissez-faire and corporatist economic periods. #expands (0.88) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1045
• Austerity, not corporativism, was the thread uniting Fascism’s laissez-faire and corporativist phases. #expands (0.88) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1620
• Austerity served as proof of creditworthiness to international finance for the Fascist regime #expands (0.86) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1435
• Liberal austerity and fascist repression converged in a shared coercive project #expands (0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1070
• Democratic and Fascist austerity achieved the same compliance through different coercive means #expands (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1474
• IMF austerity economists reused the fascist playbook of labor discipline #expands (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 231