ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the public sector of the steel industry in Britain and Italy and focuses on the post-1945 period. In Italy the public sector of industry was created as a result of the Great Depression, when the State stepped in to salvage the large ‘mixed’ banks, particularly the Banca Commerciale and the Credito Italiano, taking them over together with all their industrial assets. The completion of Cornigliano brought with it a vast rationalisation, with many plants either closing down, or refocusing to process coil made in Cornigliano. The emphasis shifted towards recapturing profitability, by enhancing product quality and by better marketing. The steel industry has long since ceased to be a leading, strategic sector. The workforce was represented by a multiplicity of trade unions. The politicians also enjoyed a stake: they could trumpet millions of tonnes and thousands of jobs for under-developed or under-achieving regions, and shore up their electorates.
