Th e historian Jon S. Cohen concludes his classic article on the battle of the lira with the following remarks: "When the [Fascist] government became directly involved in the private sector in the 1920s and 1930s, the motivation was to protect and support private interests, not to usurp their control. Th ere was no confl ict of interest between Italian fascism and Italian capitalism" (Cohen 1972, 654).

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 1713