Italian war spending expanded state economic control at an unprecedented scale

Evidence

It was the unprecedented scale of this practice during the war that shocked contemporaries. Prior to the war the country’s real expenditures were 17 percent of nominal GDP; they shot up to 40 percent in 1918 (Ciocca 2007, 172). While private consumption grew by 6 percent from 1913 to 1918, the numbers for public consumption were unheard of: rising by almost 500 percent. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 131

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the book’s argument that wartime mobilization created the institutional infrastructure later weaponized as austerity — state capacity built for war became the tool for postwar deflation. — connects to: Italy’s military defeat at Caporetto triggered a new state welfare role — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 259; Italy’s war economy grew through massive state subsidies and directed industrial intervention. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1653; Fascist social spending stagnated until the Ethiopian war raised total outlays — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 1709 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• War forced comprehensive state economic control that outperformed laissez-faire. #corroborates (0.85) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 168
• WWI’s state economic control revealed the economy’s inherent political nature #expands (0.80)
• Italian industry profited enormously from the First World War #expands (0.78)
• Wartime state control proved economies are politically moldable #qualifies (0.75) — Gary Mongiovi, Austerity Is an Antidemocratic Strategy…, 29
• Italian state expropriated industrial patents and plants during wartime #exemplifies (0.75) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 136