 In the part of Italy under the control of the ACC, which issued orders to the Italian civil servants, a free press was allowed together with freedom of association and expression.During the years 1943–45, the Italian economy collapsed with much of the infrastructure destroyed, inflation rampant, the black market becoming the dominant form of economic activity, and food shortages reducing much of the population to the brink of starvation in both northern and southern Italy.In 1943–44, the cost of living in southern Italy skyrocketed by 321% while it was estimated that people in Naples needed 2, 000 calories per day to survive while the average Neapolitan was doing well if they consumed 500 calories a day in 1943–44.