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.Baker, David (June 2006). "The political economy of fascism: Myth or reality, or myth and reality?" New Political Economy 11 (2): 227–250. . Payne, Paxton, Sternhell et al. argue that while fascist economies share some similarities, there is no distinctive form of fascist economic organization.Asheri, Maia; Sznajder; Mario; Zeev, Sternhell (1994) . The Birth of Fascist Ideology. Translated by Maisel, David. Princeton: Princeton University Press. .Payne, Stanley G. (1995). A History of Fascism, 1914–1945. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. .Paxton, Robert O. (2004). The Anatomy of Fascism. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. . 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.Woodley, Daniel (2009). Fascism and Political Theory: Critical Perspectives on Fascist Ideology. London: Routledge. p. 161. .
Fascist movements tended to not have any fixed economic principles, other than a general desire that the economy should help build a strong nation.Cyprian Blamires (ed.) with Paul Jackson, "World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1", ABC-CLIO, 2006, pp. 188. 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.Pauley, Bruce (2003). Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini: Totalitarianism in the Twentieth Century. European History Series. Harlan Davidson. pp. 72, 84. . 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.Schweitzer, Arthur (1964). Big Business in the Third Reich. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 288. .
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.Laqueur, Walter (1978). Fascism: A Reader's Guide: Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography. University of California Press. p. 357. Overy, Richard (1994). War and Economy in the Third Reich. Oxford University Press. p. 1. Fascists aimed to promote what they considered the national interests of their countries; they supported private property and the profit motive because they considered them beneficial to the economic development of a nation,Laqueur, Walter (1978). Fascism: A Reader's Guide: Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography. University of California Press. p. 20, 357. and because they held social Darwinist beliefs that the success of the wealthy proved their superiority and that interfering with natural selection in the economy would burden the nation by preserving weak individuals. However, fascists also commonly sought to eliminate the autonomy of large-scale capitalism from the state, and they opposed the perceived decadence, hedonism, and cosmopolitanism of the wealthy in contrast to the idealized discipline, patriotism and moral virtue of the middle classes.Laqueur, Walter (1978). Fascism: A Reader's Guide: Analyses, Interpretations, Bibliography. University of California Press. . p. 19-20.
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. 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. Others have described Nazi Germany as being corporatist, authoritarian capitalist, or totalitarian capitalist. Fascist Italy has been described as corporatist.
Overview The first fascist movements arose in the last years of World War I. They were a form of radical nationalism carrying a promise of national rebirth; they blamed liberalism, socialism, and materialism for the decadence they perceived in society and culture, and they expressed an appreciation for violence and the role of leadership and willpower in shaping society.Alexander J. De Grand, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, Routledge, 1995, , pp. 57
One significant fascist economic belief was that prosperity would naturally follow once the nation has achieved a cultural and spiritual re-awakening.William G. Welk, Fascist Economic Policy, Harvard University Press, 1938. pp. 38-39 Different members of a fascist party would often make completely opposite statements about the economic policies they supported.Henry A. Turner, "German Big Business and the Rise of Hitler", 1985, pp. 61-68 Once in power, fascists usually adopted whatever economic program they believed to be most suitable for their political goals. Long-lasting fascist regimes (such as that of Benito Mussolini in Italy) made drastic changes to their economic policy from time to time.
Fascism rose to power by taking advantage of the political and economic climate of the 1920s and 1930s, particularly the deep polarization of some European societies (such as the Kingdom of Italy and Weimar Germany), which were democracies with elected parliaments dominated by supporters of laissez-faire capitalism and Marxist socialism, whose intense opposition to each other made it difficult for stable governments to be formed.Alexander J. De Grand, "Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany", Routledge, 1995, , pp. 15-16 Fascists used this situation as an argument against democracy, which they viewed as ineffective and weak.John Weiss, "The Fascist Tradition", Harper & Row, New York, 1967. pp. 15 Fascist regimes generally came into existence in times of crisis, when economic elites, landowners and business owners feared that a revolution or uprising was imminent.Joseph A. Leighton, "Social Philosophies in Conflict", D. Appleton-Century Company, 1937. pp. 10-11 Fascists allied themselves with the economic elites, promising to protect their social status and to suppress any potential socialist revolution.Alexander J. De Grand, "Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany", Routledge, 1995, , pp. 16-17 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.Alexander J. De Grand, "Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany", Routledge, 1995, , pp. 47
Fascist rhetoric often opposed both international socialism and free-market capitalism, arguing that their views represented a third position. They claimed to provide a realistic economic alternative that was neither laissez-faire capitalism nor communism.Philip Morgan, Fascism in Europe, 1919-1945, New York, Taylor & Francis, 2003, p. 168. They favored corporatism and class collaboration, believing that the existence of inequality and social hierarchy was beneficial (contrary to the views of socialists), "[Fascism] affirms the irremediable, fruitful and beneficent inequality of men"John Weiss, "The Fascist Tradition", Harper & Row, New York, 1967. pp. 14 while also arguing that the state had a role in mediating relations between classes (contrary to the views of liberal capitalists).Calvin B. Hoover, The Paths of Economic Change: Contrasting Tendencies in the Modern World, The American Economic Review, Vol. 25, No. 1, Supplement, Papers and Proceedings of the Forty-Seventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association. (March, 1935), pp. 13-20. An important aspect of fascist economies was economic dirigism,Tibor Ivan Berend, An Economic History of Twentieth-Century Europe, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p. 93 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.James A. Gregor, The Search for Neofascism: The Use and Abuse of Social Science, Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 7
Fascist governments encouraged the pursuit of private profit and offered many benefits to large businesses, but they demanded in return that all economic activity should serve the national interest. Anti-fascist historian Gaetano Salvemini argued in 1936 that fascism makes taxpayers responsible to private enterprise because "the State pays for the blunders of private enterprise. ... Profit is private and individual. Loss is public and social".Salvemini, Gaetano. Under the Axe of Fascism 1936. Stanley Payne argues that fascist movements defended the principle of private property because they held it to be "inherent to the freedom and spontaneity of the individual personality", but that they also aimed to eliminate the autonomy or in some cases the existence of large-scale capitalism.Payne, Stanley (1996). A History of Fascism. Routledge. p.10 Jürgen Kuczynski characterizes a fascist economy as a type of "monopoly capitalism", which preserves the "fundamental traits of capitalist production", such as the fact that production is carried out for the market by privately owned firms which employ workers for a certain wage.Kuczynski, Jurgen, "Germany: Economic and Labour Conditions under Fascism", Greenwood Press, New York, 1968. Routledge, , pp. 30-31 He argues that fascism is "nothing but a particular form of government within capitalist society",Kuczynski, Jurgen, "Germany: Economic and Labour Conditions under Fascism", Greenwood Press, New York, 1968. Routledge, , pp. 34 which features a major role for the state, as was also the case in some early capitalist societies of previous centuries.Kuczynski, Jurgen, "Germany: Economic and Labour Conditions under Fascism", Greenwood Press, New York, 1968. Routledge, , pp. 29