Economics of fascism

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Historians and other scholars disagree on the question of whether a specifically fascist type of economic policy can be said to exist. David Baker argues that there is an identifiable economic system in fascism that is distinct from those advocated by other ideologies, comprising essential characteristics that fascist nations shared.[1] Payne, Paxton, Sternhell et al. argue that while fascist economies share some similarities, there is no distinctive form of fascist economic organization.[2][3][4] Gerald Feldman and Timothy Mason argue that fascism is distinguished by an absence of coherent economic ideology and an absence of serious economic thinking. They state that the decisions taken by fascist leaders cannot be explained within a logical economic framework.[5]

Fascist movements tended to not have any fixed economic principles other than a general desire that the economy should help build a strong nation.[6] As such, scholars argue that fascists had no economic ideology, but they did follow popular opinion, the interests of their donors and the necessities of World War II. In general, fascist governments exercised control over private property but they did not nationalize it.[7] Scholars also noted that big business developed an increasingly close partnership with the Italian Fascist and German Nazi governments after they took power. Business leaders supported the government's political and military goals. In exchange, the government pursued economic policies that maximized the profits of its business allies.[8]

Fascism had a complex relationship with capitalism, both supporting and opposing different aspects of it at different times and in different countries. In general, fascists held an instrumental view of capitalism, regarding it as a tool that may be useful or not, depending on circumstances.[9][10] Fascists aimed to promote what they considered the national interests of their countries; they supported the right to own private property and the profit motive because they believed that they were beneficial to the economic development of a nation,[11] but they commonly sought to eliminate the autonomy of large-scale capitalism from the state[12] and opposed the perceived decadence, hedonism, and cosmopolitanism of the wealthy in contrast to the idealized discipline, patriotism and moral virtue of the members of the middle classes.[13]

While other Western capitalist countries strove for increased state ownership of industry during the same period, Nazi Germany transferred public ownership into the private sector and handed over some public services to private organizations, mostly those affiliated with the Nazi Party.[14] According to historian Richard Overy, the Nazi war economy was a mixed economy that combined free markets with central planning and described the economy as being somewhere in between the command economy of the Soviet Union and the capitalist system of the United States.[15] Others have described Nazi Germany as being corporatist, authoritarian capitalist, or totalitarian capitalist.[14][16][17][18] Fascist Italy has been described as corporatist.[19][20][21]

  1. ^ Baker, David (June 2006). "The political economy of fascism: Myth or reality, or myth and reality?" New Political Economy 11 (2): 227–250. doi:10.1080/13563460600655581.
  2. ^ Asheri, Maia; Sznajder; Mario; Zeev, Sternhell (1994) [1985]. The Birth of Fascist Ideology. Translated by Maisel, David. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691044866.
  3. ^ Payne, Stanley G. (1995). A History of Fascism, 1914–1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 9780299148744.
  4. ^ Paxton, Robert O. (2004). The Anatomy of Fascism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9781400040940.
  5. ^ Woodley, Daniel (2009). Fascism and Political Theory: Critical Perspectives on Fascist Ideology. London: Routledge. p. 161. ISBN 9781135248802.
  6. ^ Cyprian Blamires (ed.) with Paul Jackson, "World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1", ABC-CLIO, 2006, pp. 188.
  7. ^ Pauley, Bruce (2003). Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century. European History Series. Harlan Davidson. pp. 72, 84. ISBN 9780882959931.
  8. ^ Schweitzer, Arthur (1964). Big Business in the Third Reich. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 288. ISBN 9780835735995.
  9. ^ Laqueur, Walter (1978). Fascism: A Reader's Guide: Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography. University of California Press. p. 357. ISBN 978-0-520-03642-0
  10. ^ Overy, Richard (1994). War and Economy in the Third Reich. Oxford University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-19-820290-5
  11. ^ Laqueur, Walter (1978). Fascism: A Reader's Guide: Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography. University of California Press. p. 20, 357. ISBN 978-0-520-03642-0
  12. ^ Payne, Stanley G. (1995). A history of fascism, 1914-1945. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-299-14870-6. Retrieved 7 February 2022. What fascist movements had in common was the aim of a new functional relationship for the social and economic systems, eliminating the autonomy (or, in some proposals, the existence) of large-scale capitalism and major industry, and creating a new communal or reciprocal productive relationship through new priorities, ideals, and extensive government control and regulation.
  13. ^ Laqueur, Walter (1978). Fascism: A Reader's Guide: Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520036420. p. 19-20.
  14. ^ a b Bel, Germà (April 2006). "Against the mainstream: Nazi privatization in 1930s Germany" (PDF). Economic History Review. 63 (1). University of Barcelona: 34–55. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.2009.00473.x. hdl:2445/11716. S2CID 154486694. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  15. ^ Overy, Richard (2006). Why The Allies Won. London: Random House. ISBN 978-1-84595-065-1.
  16. ^ Gat, Azar (August 2007). "The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers". Foreign Affairs. 86 (4). Council on Foreign Relations: 59–69. JSTOR 20032415.
  17. ^ Fuchs, Christian (29 June 2017). "The Relevance of Franz L. Neumann's Critical Theory in 2017: Anxiety and Politics in the New Age of Authoritarian Capitalism" (PDF). Media, Culture & Society. 40 (5): 779–791. doi:10.1177/0163443718772147. S2CID 149705789. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  18. ^ "The Economic System of Corporatism". San José University Department of Economics. Archived from the original on 2020-07-12. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  19. ^ Kardam, Nukhet (1980). A comparative analysis of corporatism in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (Thesis). University of British Columbia.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).