Chapter Il fascismo ‘liberista’ e la ‘quasi abolizione’ dell’imposta di successione del 1923

In summer 1923, in the midst of the ‘fight’ to balance the budget, Minister Alberto De Stefani announced the abolition of inheritance tax, pursuant to the ‘full powers’ granted to the government by the Parliament. This abolition – possibly the most iconic act of the ‘financial restauration’ carried on by De Stefani – provoked surprise and interest in the country and abroad but was substantially overlooked by historians. This chapter – first outcome of a research in progress – offers a first historical reconstruction of this episode of early 1920s Italian economic history, by documenting both the positions of an influent advisor of De Stefani, the economist Maffeo Pantaleoni, and even more, the lobbying activity carried on by pressure groups such as the bankers’ association, an influential businessman linked to Mussolini such as Cesare Goldmann, and a young, very proactive association of notaries. Moreover, the chapter surveys the way in which both Italian and international media reported on this case of politics of inequality, offering a different perspective on a crucial period in the consolidation of Fascist power

La lutte des ouvriers de GKN Florence, entre auto-organisation ouvrière et mobilisation sociale

Cette chronique décrit la lutte des travailleurs de l’usine GKN de Florence contre sa fermeture et sa délocalisation. Après avoir rendu compte des principales étapes du conflit, l’article se penche sur trois aspects fondamentaux : l’organisation syndicale interne à l’usine et sa capacité à renforcer les ressources militantes autonomes des travailleurs, l’habileté de ces derniers à mobiliser le tissu social environnant et à nouer des alliances avec d’autres mouvements sociaux et, enfin, la contribution apportée par le monde de l’université et de la recherche dans l’élaboration d’un plan de reconversion du site

The polymorphism L412F in TLR3 inhibits autophagy and is a marker of severe COVID-19 in males

The polymorphism L412F in TLR3 has been associated with several infectious diseases. However, the mechanism underlying this association is still unexplored. Here, we show that the L412F polymorphism in TLR3 is a marker of severity in COVID-19. This association increases in the sub-cohort of males. Impaired macroautophagy/autophagy and reduced TNF/TNFα production was demonstrated in HEK293 cells transfected with TLR3L412F-encoding plasmid and stimulated with specific agonist poly(I:C). A statistically significant reduced survival at 28 days was shown in L412F COVID-19 patients treated with the autophagy-inhibitor hydroxychloroquine (p = 0.038). An increased frequency of autoimmune disorders such as co-morbidity was found in L412F COVID-19 males with specific class II HLA haplotypes prone to autoantigen presentation. Our analyses indicate that L412F polymorphism makes males at risk of severe COVID-19 and provides a rationale for reinterpreting clinical trials considering autophagy pathways. Abbreviations: AP: autophagosome; AUC: area under the curve; BafA1: bafilomycin A1; COVID-19: coronavirus disease-2019; HCQ: hydroxychloroquine; RAP: rapamycin; ROC: receiver operating characteristic; SARS-CoV-2: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; TLR: toll like receptor; TNF/TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor

Wealth and ideology in Italy: The 1923 "quasi abolition" of inheritance tax and Fascists' "middle class politics"

In summer 1923, pursuant to the 'full powers' granted him by the Parliament to balance the budget, Alberto De Stefani - appointed in October 1922 as Mussolini's Treasury Minister - announced the abolition of inheritance tax. The most iconic act of Fascist 'financial restauration' of 1922-25, the abolition was never proposed before its sudden implementation. Admittedly against 'the universal tendencies of the times,' it provoked surprise and interest, in the country and abroad, but was overlooked by historians. By combining surviving archival evidence, international and Italian media, and a wide survey of other printed sources, the paper offers the first historical reconstruction of this episode - one that clarifies better than other the 'laissez-faire' nature of early Fascism. This new evidence reveals the lobbying activity carried on by pressure groups such as the bankers' association, and a young, proactive association of notaries. The debate surrounding the abolition, and the relevance attributed to it by Fascists before the 1924 election, qualify the episode as an early case of 'middle-class politics'. Indeed, within the recent historiographical revaluation of the early phase of Mussolini's power, the paper argues for the importance of 1920s fiscal policies in coalizing economic elites with the middle classes

"Non-competing social groups"? The long debate on social mobility in Italy (c. 1890-1960)

In the light of the recent literature on the intellectual history of inequality, this paper offers the first survey and a tentative classification of the Italian literature addressing issues related to social mobility, from late-19th century to the 'Economic Miracle' of the 1950s. During these decades, the foremost Italian economists and statisticians (among others, Pareto, Gini, Einaudi and Pantaleoni) worked on issues, from the role of inheritance to the intergenerational transmission of status, which are very related to the modern understanding of social mobility. While reflecting the evolution and debates in Italian society, these authors participated to a broader international debate, that should lead us to reconsider the lack of interest for inequality by economists in this period

When the Leopard meets Gatsby. Inheritance, inequality, and social mobility in liberal and fascist Italy

This dissertation studies the evolution of income and wealth inequality, the intergenerational transmission of economic status, as well as the intellectual and political history of inequality, in the decades between Italy’s unification and World War II, with a particular focus on the Fascist period. In its different chapters, it presents and critically assess new sources for investigating the wealth and incomes of Italians in this period, mostly of fiscal nature. Building on these sources, it documents the estimation of new national series of inheritance flows, wealth-to-income ratio, wealth composition, top wealth shares, top income shares, within-labour and overall income inequality, gender and skill gaps, intergenerational mobility, as well as regional and provincial figures for a number of these indicators. These indicators are contextualised in the socio-economic developments of the period, and especially, the economic and fiscal policies enacted in the Fascist period. At the same time, the dissertation offers the first historical reconstruction of a crucial episode in the history of inequality in interwar Italy, that is, the abolition of inheritance tax, abruptly announced by Mussolini’s government few months after the March on Rome, within a broader discussion of the economic thought on inheritance, the transmission of status, and more broadly, social mobility, by Italian economists and statisticians between the end of the 19th century and the 1950s. While enriching our understanding of distributive trends in Italy, the results highlight the regressive nature of the Fascist regime: during this period, both income inequality and intergenerational transmission of status increased, reverting a long-run declining trend

Those who were better off: Capital and top incomes in Fascist Italy

In the centennial of the March on Rome, this paper contributes to the political economy of Italian Fascism by addressing in quantitative terms the fortunes of Italian economic elites during the interwar period. Macro-economic indicators indicate capital accumulation and high profits, in a period characterised by international economic turmoil, alongside increasing concentration. New fiscal evidence is adopted to show the increasing relative position of the rich, including new series of top income shares. A discussion of taxation at the top and its evasion makes it possible to place these developments within the regressive economic policies of the Fascist regime