190 Chapter 8
WhenreviewingFDR’s bookLookingForward, Mussoliniwrote,“The appeal... with
whichRooseveltherecallshis readersto battle,is reminiscentof the waysand meansby
whichFascismawakenedthe Italianpeople.” He alsowasgladthat FDRrealizedthat the
economycouldnot “be left to its owndevices.. .,”^94 and thereforepraisedthe NewDeal
for being“boldly... interventionistin the fieldof economics.”^95 Althoughthe Italian
dictatorfelt that the NewDealcouldnot be judgedas full-fledgedfascism,as it did not go
far enough,^96 he still judged,“Withoutquestion,the moodaccompanyingthis sea change
resemblesthatof Fascism,”^97 as the NewDeal’s elevationof the collectiveabovethe
individualcan definitely“recallthe basesof fascistCorporatism.”^98 Recallfromchapter 6
thatMussolinialsowantedfascismto be calledcorporatism,andthathe identifiedthe
NewDeal’s policiesas “corporatism.” At this junctureit appearsthatMussolini’s system
of governmentmoreresemblesthe one that progressiveRobertF. Kennedy,Jr., advocates
thanthe laissez-faireistsort that he impugns.
Yale’s HenryAshbyTurner,Jr., explicatesthat Hitlerabidedby a traditionof the Nazi
Partythatwentbackto the 1920s.TheNazisin the Reichstagintroduced“severalbills
callingfor the confiscationof ‘the fortunesof the princesof bankandstockmarket’...
Similarly,the Nazideputiesgenerallysupportedproposalsby the partiesof the left for
increasesin the levelof expenditureson statewelfareand socialprograms.” The NSDAP
indeedexhibiteda “generaltendencyto sidewiththe left on socioeconomicissues,” but it
wentfartherthanthat.In numerouscircumstancesin the Reichstag,NSDAPdiehards
werethe soleloyaliststo endorseradicalbillsthatthe communistsintroduced,including
highertaxeson the rich.Oneinstanceof a Nazi/communistalliancepertainsto an inci-
dentin Ruhrin 1928,whenworkersin the steeland ironindustrywenton strikeagainst
theiremployers.Thecommunistsintroduceda bill in the Reichstagto providefinancial
reliefto the strikingworkers—at a mucha higherratethanwhatthe otherpartiessup-
ported.Thissamebill demandedthatthe steelandironcompaniesbeingstruckagainst
be madeto providethis monetaryassistance.It happensthatno otherparliamentmem-
bersexceptthoseof the NSDAPsupportedthat bill.^99
Tolandobservesthatthe Reichchancelloradditionallypracticeda substantialamount
of “cityplanning.. .”^100 TheU.C.BerkeleypoliticalscientistsAaronWildavskyand
CarolynWebber,too, writethatthe ThirdReich“initiateda largepublic-worksprogram
to buildwaterways,railroads,publicbuildings,andsuperhighways,stipulatingthat
whenpossibleworkwasto be doneby handratherthanmachine”—whichwouldosten-
siblyreduceunemployment— “andthatnewemployeeswereto be hiredfromrelief
rolls.”^101
On this matter,governistapologistJohnKennethGalbraithacknowledgesthatHitler
initiatedmassivepublicworksprojectsin line withKeynesianfiscalpolicy,and thatthis
waspriorto LordKeynes’s specificrecommendationsgainingfavoramongheadsof
state.^102 Later,whenKeynesianfiscalpolicyhad beenbroughtto his attention,Mussolini
concededits similaritieswithhis owncentralplanningof the Italianeconomy.“Fascism,”
saidMussolini,“entirelyagreeswithMr. MaynardKeynes,despitethe latter’s prominent
positionas a Liberal.In fact,Mr. Keynes’ excellentlittlebook,The Endof Laissez-Faire
might,so far as it goes,serveas a usefulintroductionto fascisteconomics.”^103
In the prefaceto the German-languageeditionof his classicGeneralTheoryof Employ-
ment,Interest,and Money, LordKeyneshimselfconceded,“... the theoryof outputas a
whole,whichis whatthe following bookpurportsto provide,is muchmoreeasily
adaptedto the conditionsof a totalitarianstatethanis the theoryof productionand
distributionof a givenoutputproductproducedunderconditionsof free competitionand
a largemeasureoflaissez-faire.”^104 Andwe recallfromchapter4 thatLordKeynestook
pronouncedinterestin government-enforcedeugenics.