Alberto de' Stefani (6 October 1879 – 15 January 1969) was an Italian politician and economist. Coming from a background in liberalism to

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

Italian fascism Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

, De Stefani was in charge of Italian economics from 1922 to 1925. His time in charge was characterized by ''

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...

'' ideals.

Minister of treasury

De Stefani was appointed by Mussolini as Italy's minister of treasury in December 1922 when Vincenzo Tangorra suddenly died. He was a liberal economist and a former stalwart leader in the Centre Party who favoured policies such as

free-trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist political parties general ...

tax cut A tax cut typically represents a decrease in the amount of money taken from taxpayers to go towards government revenue. This decreases the revenue of the government and increases the disposable income of taxpayers. Tax rate cuts usually refer ...

s without too much government interference, and

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of businesses such as the communications industry.Nicholas Farrell, ''Mussolini: A New Life'', Phoenix, 2004, p. 185 He also undertook a thorough reform of the taxation system in Italy, which was adjudged a success at the time, although it has been noted that the reforms he enacted had been laid out by his predecessor

Filippo Meda Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "horse lover".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Filippa. The ...

but not enacted. De Stefani took advantage of the dictatorial powers afforded to Mussolini's regime to enact these reforms, which had previously been blocked by parliament, but in exchange he was among the acolytes who continued to serve Mussolini despite being aware of his responsibilities in the Matteotti crime. The economy prospered under de Stefani's direction, as part of a Europe-wide growth. Both

wages A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', '' prevailing wage'', and ''yearly bonuses,'' and remune ...

and the

cost of living The cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living for an individual or a household. Changes in the cost of living over time can be measured in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare t ...

fell under his direction. He accomplished his goal of a

balanced budget A balanced budget (particularly that of a government) is a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures. Thus, neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists (the accounts "balance"). More generally, it is a budget that has no budge ...

for the financial year 1924–25. By mid-1925, the economy was heading towards crisis and Mussolini dismissed de Stefani, replacing him with

Giuseppe Volpi Giuseppe Volpi, 1st Count of Misurata (19 November 1877 – 16 November 1947) was an Italian businessman and politician. Count Volpi developed utilities, which had brought electricity to Venice, northeastern Italy and the Balkans by 1903. Thi ...

, a

corporatist Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come together and negotiate contracts ...

Later political career

Although removed from his position as minister de Stefani remained a member of the Grand Council of Fascism until the collapse of Mussolini's regime. From this position, de Stefani often criticised some of the actions of Mussolini's government. He was

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

and in 1928 launched an attack on what he felt was the "abundantly liberal" legislation being passed on marriage, arguing that those who chose not to procreate should be denied the same legal rights as parents. He would later become associated with a tendency that included fellow movement veterans

Emilio De Bono Emilio De Bono (19 March 1866 – 11 January 1944) was an Italian general, fascist activist, marshal, war criminal, and member of the Fascist Grand Council (''Gran Consiglio del Fascismo''). De Bono fought in the Italo-Turkish War, the First Wo ...

Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (6 June 1896 – 28 June 1940) was an Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italian fascist politician and Blackshirts' leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Italian Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian ...

, and

Luigi Federzoni Luigi Federzoni (27 September 1878 – 24 January 1967) was an Italian nationalist and later Fascist politician. Biography Federzoni was born in Bologna. Educated at the university there, he took to journalism and literature, and for several ye ...

that was highly critical of the introduction of

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

-influenced racial laws into Italy.

Academic career

Away from politics, de Stefani served as a lecturer in economics at the

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

Institute of Technology. He later was appointed a professor at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

.Paul B. Trescott, ''Jingji Xue: The History of the Introduction of Western Economic Ideas into China, 1850–1950'', Chinese University Press, 2007, p. 96

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefani, Alberto 1879 births 1969 deaths Ministers of finance of Italy Italian economists Italian fascists Mussolini Cabinet Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome People sentenced to death in absentia at the Verona trial