Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale

The Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (English: "Institute for Industrial Reconstruction"), best known by its acronym IRI, was an Italian public holding estabilished in 1933 by the Fascist regime with the objective to rescue, restructure and finance banks and private companies that went bankrupt during the Great Depression. After the Second World War, IRI played a pivotal role in the Italian economic miracle of the 1950-1960s, eventually being dissolved in 2002.

History

In 1930, the Great Depression started to badly affect the Italian financial sector, notably disrupting credit lines and making difficult for companies to obtain loans. The Fascist regime led by Benito Mussolini, worried about a credit crunch with subsequent mass dismissals and a wave of social unrest, started to take over banks' stakes in large industrial companies (such as steel, weapons and chemicals) and at the same time to inject capitals in failing businesses. Although initially conceived as a temporary measure, IRI continued to be operated throughout the duration of Fascist regime and well beyond. In addition, it should be noticed that, even if IRI was not meant to carry out real nationalizations, it came to de facto own and operate a growing number of companies. By 1934 IRI controlled 16.7% of Italian GDP through government-linked companies (GLCs), including Alfa Romeo, Italsider steel company integrated to IRI's Finsider's holding; 75% of pig iron production and 90% of the shipbuilding industry. By the end of 1930s, the activities IRI led to the Italian state to own a bigger share in the national economy than in any other country except the USSR.

After World War II, IRI became one of the largest state conglomerates in the world, owning many diverse businesses such as the highway system, the flag carrier Alitalia and many banks, steel, food, chemicals and telecom companies. It was dismembered and privatized during the 1980s-1990s, and eventually dissolved in 2002.

Sources

• Vera Lutz, Italy: A Study in Economic Development, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1962.
• Pasquale Saraceno, Il sistema delle imprese a partecipazione statale nell'esperienza italiana, Milano, Giuffrè, 1975.
• Bruno Amoroso - O.J. Olsen, Lo stato imprenditore, Bari, Laterza, 1978.
• Nico Perrone, Il dissesto programmato. Le partecipazioni statali nel sistema di consenso democristiano, Bari, Dedalo, 1992, ISBN 8-82206-115-2

See also

• Economics of Fascist Italy
• Autostrade per l'Italia (highways)
• Fincantieri (naval construction)
• Finmeccanica (mechanics and automobiles)
• STET (telephone company owned by IRI and founded by it in 1933; merged with Telecom Italia in 1997)