Abstract

The proposal to buy back ownership of Italy’s railways, and especially the idea of having them managed directly by the state, led to the crisis of the political majority that had ruled Italy for sixteen years since unification. The real problem was to define the dimensions, limits and methods of state intervention in a fundamental sector of the economy that was then in full expansion. In the end, the solution that prevailed was to concede the management of the railroads to private companies. This solution was strongly supported by the newly emerged left-wing political parliamentary majority led by Agostino Depretis. In this essay, we argue that it was to Silvio Spaventa’s credit that, well before his time, he recognized the arguments in favor of state management of the railroads that led to their nationalization thirty years later