The Capital Order: How Economists invented austerity and paved the way for fascism

Commentary: Pavlos Roufos

In The Capital Order, political economist Clara E. Mattei uncovers the intellectual roots of austerity, revealing its original purpose: protecting capital, and capitalism itself, during moments of social upheaval from below. Tracing its emergence in interwar Britain and Italy, Mattei shows how the rise of working-class power after World War I prompted a set of top-down economic policies designed to elevate owners, suppress workers, and impose rigid economic hierarchies. Where austerity “succeeded,” it did so by enriching employers and foreign-trade interests, consolidating power and capital at labor’s expense. Its true function, she argues, lies in safeguarding entrenched privilege and foreclosing alternatives to capitalism.

Join us for a discussion of the book, where Clara Mattei and Pavlos Roufos will further explore the origins of liberalism and its entanglements with fascism, particularly in Italy and Germany during the 1920s and 30s.

Clara E. Mattei is a professor of the Department of Economics at The University of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Pavlos Roufos is an independent researcher working on historical and contemporary neoliberalism, its relationship with authoritarianism, and the intersection between political economy, constitutional law and monetary policy.

The event is open to the public and will be held in English.