Alberto De Stefani

Alberto De Stefani (1879-1969) was an Italian politician.

Coming from a background in liberalism to Benito Mussolini's fascism, De Stefani was in charge of Italian economics from 1922 to 1925. His time in charge was characterized by laissez-faire ideals.

Economic policy

He was appointed by Mussolini in 1922 as the finance minister. Mussolini himself was not particularly interested in politics and had no set policy and therefore needed someone with a bit more knowledge.

De Stefani was not a Fascist supporter (though he had Fascist connections) but he was happy to help them. He was a liberal econonmist and so favoured policies such as free-trade, lowering taxes without too much government interference and privatisation of businesses such as the communications industry. He managed to get Italy back on track economically by 1925 and he was able to balance the budget within three years.

Dismissal

Mussolini, as he had shown in the past, did not like people being unpopular or too successful and popular, and he feared in 1925 that De Stefani was doing too well and so he sacked him. He also felt that he had to appease the radical Ras. But it is widely believed that opposition to subsidies and protectionism forced his resignation. [Sheldon Richman, [http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Fascism.html 'Fascism'] ]

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