Th e Italian infl ation crisis of the country’s “red years” of 1919 and 1920 was marked by protests against the high cost of living and the predatory behaviors of “i pescecani” [literally, “sharks”]— a nickname for profi teers and speculators who embodied the iniquitous eff ects of infl ation. Beginning on June 11, 1919, and continuing for almost a month, hungry and exasperated crowds dashed into stores throughout the country, taking food, clothing, and all manner of merchandise. Looting and chaotic riots began in the town of La Spezia, and then spread everywhere— from the northern towns of Liguria, Piedmont, Lombardy, and Veneto, to the central towns of Tuscany and Romagna, all the way to Rome and Palermo.

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 261