Government Giant

When Wartime Partisan Leader Aldo Fascetti was named by the Italian government last summer to boss the state holding company that runs about one-quarter of Italy's industry, private businessmen saw Red. Fascetti, 56, was an outspoken left-winger, and no sooner did he take over the huge Istituto per la Recostruzione Industriale (assets: $3 billion), than he-ordered "an aggressive advance in every sector of the economy." Businessmen feared that I.R.I., which has holdings in 86 companies and dominates most of them, would socialize even more of the Italian economy. Last week, in announcing I.R.I.'s biggest postwar expansion, Fascetti tried to soothe those fears. I.R.I., he said, must never become a stepping-stone to nationalization, "which has proved to be a failure throughout history in country after country."

Fascetti also promised that I.R.I, will liquidate the losers among its companies, let the rest battle private enterprise on the basis of free competition. While giving this assurance, Fascetti also plans to be a tougher competitor, spend $1.5 billion to expand. I.R.I.'s five steel works, which now produce half of Italian steel, will step up capacity by 60%. In transport, I.R.I, will add 56,000 tons of new shipping to its Italian Lines, and I.R.I. will merge the two airlines it controls to form a major international air carrier.

Surprisingly, many businessmen applauded the expansion since it will be financed largely by private capital. Said Rome's IL Popolo last week: "I.R.I, now fills an irreplaceable function in the nation's economic life."

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