Italian Fascists privatized on a large scale before neoliberalism existed

Evidence

One indication that it is short-sighted to restrict neoliberal movements strictly to the sphere of the “governmental” is the historical fact that “privatization” movements preceded the birthdate of neoliberalism: the Italian Fascist government instituted a broad program of large-scale privatization in 1922–25 (Bel, “The First Privatisation”). — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 1937

Categorization

• CANDY: Great cocktail-tabloid fact — fascists invented privatization, which challenges the common equation of privatization with democratic free markets.
• XREF: Directly complicates the Foucault-inspired governmentality reading of neoliberalism that Mirowski pushes back against here. — connects to: Fascist state intervention in the private sector served capitalist interests, not state power — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1713; Privatization, tax breaks, and bank rescues inflated financial share prices in interwar Italy — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1731

Broader Connections

• Fascist state intervention in the private sector served capitalist interests, not state power #qualifies (0.80) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 1713