Real annual wages reached their historical minimum in 1936 due to the infl ationary wave sparked by the war against Ethiopia and the international sanctions that followed. In 1936 real wages dropped by almost 20 percent from 1921 levels— decreasing from 17.34 lire in 1921 to 13.98 lire in 1936 (daily real wages at lira 1938; Zamagni 1975, Table 1 and 3).

Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, loc. 1714