In late 1807, Brazil was still a part of the Portuguese empire. As a consequence of the outbreak of the Peninsular War, the Prince Regent and the court moved to Brazil, an amazing voyage planned as a way of safeguarding Portugal's sovereignty over her vast territories. When the royal ships arrived in Brazil, the first measure to be taken was the decree which opened up Brazilian ports to British commercial vessels, thus putting an end to the old system of exclusive colonial trading between Brazil and Portugal. This was indeed the very first sign of a much larger process of economic liberalisation that was shortly to follow. In this process, a special role was to be played by the science of political economy used as a rationale for economic change and ultimately serving as an instrument for political independence.

Between 1900 and 1935, the Argentine economy experienced important changes. Strongly specialized at first in the exportation of primary goods to European markets, the economy gradually turned to import substitution for the internal market. This transition was accompanied by increases in the number and scope of the functions performed by the State. In this paper we approach this evolution with an analysis of public investment in two critical areas: railways and water and drainage works, both of which resulted in the formation of the first public enterprises. Other aspects of public finances are also examined here: the evolution and structure of tax collection and public debt, both of which experienced an ever increasing complexity and scope.

Upon gaining independence, most Spanish American countries had accumulated a substantial external debt, and by 1829 each defaulted. It took decades for these countries to settle their debts and even longer for them to access new loans. We argue that a major factor influencing the pattern of debt service was the incidence of war. War created incentives for governments to channel scarce resources to «emergency» spending and domestic debt service, rather than to the repayment of the foreign debt. Interestingly, we detect an asymmetry between countries long in good standing with creditors and those that had only recently settled. Countries that had established a longer record of continuous debt service were far less likely to default in times of war. We also find that international wars were responsible for the largest effects.

This article analyses the impact of market forces and regulation in the Spanish telephone sector. It aims to explore the combined effects of the intersection between regulation of the monopoly, economic policy and entrepreneurial strategies, and hypothesizes that the regulation had a decisive influence on the development of the networks and services. Chronologically, the study covers the two decades of the transition from autarky to the Stabilization and Development Plans. In its double supply-demand approach, the article quantifies investment as an expression of supply and reviews the ground rules within which these two market forces developed. Finally, it examines the situation of shortages that the intervention created, and explains the intervention in prices from the perspective of the trade-off between its use as an element of stabilization and the bargaining power of the sector. The conclusions reflect the impact of the regulation and highlight its more complex aspects.

The degree of development of Spanish agriculture at the end of the XIX century and the beginning of XX is a controversial issue. In this respect the study of the integration of the domestic market could provide new evidence since the degree of the market integration can be considered an indicator of economic development. By using regional wheat prices this paper analyzes the Spanish market integration between 1891 and 1905. With this aim in mind we employ the usual cointegration approach as well as an alternative method based on spectral analysis that allows taking into consideration the existence of no synchronized cycles.