An Economic History of Twentieth-Century Latin America
Volume 1 The Export Age: The Latin American Economies in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Editors: Enrique Cárdenas, José Antonio Ocampo, Rosemary Thorp



This book explores the impact on Latin America of the extraordinary transformation of the international economy that took place in the half century or so that preceded the world depression of the 1930s. The authors show how the response varied in terms of both growth and distribution, shaped by varying preconditions, and by natural resources and geography. The interplay of economic developments with political and social structures had profound and varied effects on policy-making and on institutions that were of great significance for later decades.

Table of contents

Front Matter

Introduction The Export Age: The Latin American Economies in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Brazil as an Export Economy, 1880–1930

Coffee and the Origins of Modern Economic Development in Colombia

The Economies of Central America, 1860–1940

Export-led Growth in Mexico, c. 1900–30

Peru, 1884–1930: A Beggar Sitting on a Bench of Gold?

Bolivia, 1900–39: Mining, Railways and Education

Trying to ‘Tax and Spend’ Oneself out of the ‘Dutch Disease’: The Chilean Economy from the War of the Pacific to the Great Depression

The Vicissitudes of an Exporting Economy: Argentina (1875–1930)

Alteration, Crisis and Adjustment in the Cuban Export Economy, 1898–1939

Back Matter