Fascists allied themselves with the economic elites, promising to protect their social status and to suppress any potential socialist revolution. In exchange, the elites were asked to subordinate their interests to a broader nationalist project, and thus fascist economic policies generally protect inequality and privilege while also featuring an important role for state intervention in the economy. An important aspect of fascist economies was economic
dirigism, meaning an economy where the government often subsidizes favorable companies and exerts strong directive influence over investment, as opposed to having a merely regulatory role. In general, fascist economies were based on private property and private initiative, but these were contingent upon service to the state.
Hitler called his political party "National Socialist", but he was clear to point out that his interpretation of socialism "has nothing to do with
Marxian Socialism", saying that "Marxism is anti-property; true Socialism is not". At a later time, Hitler said: "Socialism! That is an unfortunate word altogether. ... What does socialism really mean? If people have something to eat and their pleasures, then they have their socialism". He also expressed a wish that he had called his party "social revolutionary" instead.
"[O]nce Mussolini acquired a firmer hold of power ...
laissez-faire was progressively abandoned in favour of government intervention, free trade was replaced by protection[ism] and economic objectives were increasingly couched in exhortations and military terminology". De Stefani was forced to resign in 1925 because his policy of free trade was opposed by many Italian business leaders, who favored
protectionism and subsidies to insulate domestic business from international competition. In 1926, Mussolini gave an impassioned speech demanding monetary policies to halt inflation and stabilize the Italian currency (the
lira). He also took the final step of officially banning any kind of strike action. From 1927 to 1929, under the leadership of the new Finance Minister Alberto Beneduce, the Italian economy experienced a period of
deflation, driven by the government's monetary policies
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