Issue 139 (2018)

M. Mykhailenko, PhD Student

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2018.139.09

THE ECONOMIC POLICY PECULIARITIES OF THE “HISTORICAL RIGHT” GOVERNMENTS OF THE KINGDOM OF ITALY (1861-1876)

This research analyses the economic policies peculiarities of the “historical right” governments of the Kingdom of Italy from the first stage of the unification of this country into a single nation state and rise of the “historical right” governments to power till the transfer of power to the “historical left”. It also specifies the main directions of economic reforms in a certain period of time and their impact on the further development of the state. The research establishes that the liberal economic model for country’s development chosen by its leadership at the very beginning allowed to quickly create the domestic market of goods and services, establish fruitful foreign economic relations with the greatest economic powers of that time and attract foreign investments into the Kingdom, promoting the development of the Kingdom’s agricultural sector and accumulating a substantial capital within the country. However, given the significant economic backwardness of the states of the Apennine peninsula before the unification and the actual abolition of customs barriers in trade with more powerful European countries after 1861, it had a negative impact on the country’s weak industry and deepened the distortion of development along the north-south line. The undeniable achievement of the "historical right" governments in the fiscal policy was the overcoming of the huge deficit of the state budget before 1876.

Keywords: Kingdom of Italy, liberal economic policy, the “historical right” governments, customs barriers, tax policy, protectionism.