The Quota 90 ( it, Quota novanta) was a controversial

revaluation Revaluation is a change in a price of a good or product, or especially of a currency, in which case it is specifically an official rise of the value of the currency in relation to a foreign currency in a fixed exchange rate system. In contrast, ...

of the lira undertaken by

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

, announced on August 18, 1926, at a speech in Pesaro, pegging the exchange rate to Lit. 92.46 to £1 stg (19 lire against the

US Dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

)Peter Neville. 2003. ''Mussolini''. Routledge. . p. 77. by December 1927, which had been the prevailing market rate when Mussolini took power in 1922. George Holmes. 2001. ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Italy''. Oxford University Press. . p. 275. The Quota has been described as the "most controversial measure undertaken by ussolini'sgovernment before 1929", despite the general consensus that some revaluation was necessary among Italian bankers and industrialists.Alexander De Grand. 2000. ''Italian Fascism: Its Origins and Development''. University of Nebraska Press. . p. 60-62. Minister of Finance

Giuseppe Volpi Giuseppe Volpi, 1st Count of Misrata (19 November 1877 – 16 November 1947) was an Italian businessman and politician. Count Volpi developed utilities which brought electricity to Venice, northeast Italy, and the Balkans by 1903. In 1911� ...

—who preferred a rate of 120 or 125Franklin Hugh Adler. 1995. ''Italian Industrialists from Liberalism to Fascism''. Cambridge University Press. . p. 353. against the pound—considered the quota a drastic overvaluation. Many historians regard the Quota as motivated by Mussolini's desire to "exert his will" rather than economic rationality, as a "political decision", or as a "proof of force" against industrialists.De Felice. ''Mussolini il fascista''. 2:223, 239-243, 282. In response to requests from Volpi and industrialists to reconsider the Quota, Mussolini threatened even lower rates. An August 8, 1926, letter from Mussolini to Volpi claimed that "the fate of the regime is tied to the lira."De Felice. "I lineamenti politici della 'quanta novanta.'" p. 379. The revaluation led to a massive increase in mergers in 1928 and 1929, beginning a process of industrial consolidation which culminated in 1932 with .88% of corporations (144) controlling 51.7% of corporate capital. The Quota was accompanied by industrial and agricultural wage reductions in 1927, which overcompensated for the reduction in prices, decreasing the

real wage Real wages are wages adjusted for inflation, or, equivalently, wages in terms of the amount of goods and services that can be bought. This term is used in contrast to nominal wages or unadjusted wages. Because it has been adjusted to account ...

and thus the

purchasing power Purchasing power is the amount of goods and services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if one had taken one unit of currency to a store in the 1950s, it would have been possible to buy a greater number of items than would ...

of most Italians;

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

also rose, especially in the agricultural South.

References

{{Reflist Economic history of Italy Italian Fascism

See also

References