Abstract

The paper aims to shed new light on the evolution of the Italian industrial finance system in the interwar period. It focuses specifically on the role of the Bank of Italy in the launch and management of Consorzio per sovvenzioni su valori industriali (Csvi) in 1914 and the Special Section of Csvi in the early 1920s. In so doing, it explores the relationship between the Bank of Italy and interest groups, a theme that has received comparatively less attention in the extensive literature on the Italian central banks. Examining specific case studies, such as the Csvi’s financing of Fiat in the early 1920s or the financial support to Acna (Aziende chimiche nazionali associate) between the 1920s and 1930s, it provides an unusual vantage point on the power dynamics and lobbying activities between the Bank of Italy, the Treasury, industrialists, and most Italian economists, who consistently maintained clear and opposing stances on industrial intervention.