El fracaso del “Estado empresario”. La Dirección General de Fabricaciones Militares y el desarrollo de la metalurgia del cobre, 1941-1955

Abstract

The article explores the activities of the Dirección General de Fabricaciones Militares, a government agency which promoted industrial activities in the 1940s but failed to develop the metal production, particularly copper, a key resource for the military industry and other industrial activities. Based on primary sources, the study shows the structural difficulties of the metal industries and manufacturing of industrial inputs in Argentina, and the conflicts between the state agency and private companies, who prevented from the competition of state-owned firms. The study also analyzes the military initiatives to promote a national industry in the early forties and later -during the Peronist government-, identifying a tense relationship between government policies and the state agencies which promoted the military industry.