An Economic History of Colombia 1845–1930

Between 1850 and 1930 the local economies of several major primary-producing countries in Latin America became increasingly dependent on foreign trade.

William Paul McGreevey (Author)

9780521102049, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 December 2008

348 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.44 kg

Between 1850 and 1930 the local economies of several major primary-producing countries in Latin America became increasingly dependent on foreign trade. Professor McGreevey examines the relations between the external sector and the domestic economy by analysing the history of economic development in Colombia in this period. Part I traces the development of the economy from the period of exploitation under Spanish rule until 1845. In Part II the author makes an overall assessment of the movement of per capita product between 1845 and 1885. In order to assess the impact of trade on Colombian economic development Professor McGreevey has assembled a new and more reliable set of estimates of Colombian foreign trade between 1845 and 1930. He pays particular attention to the reasons for economic decline in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Part III examines the economic development of Colombia between 1890 and 1930 from a subsistence economy with little specialisation and exchange to a market-oriented agricultural economy with greater division of labour and a more extensive trade network. Professor McGreevey analyses the spectacular development of the Antioqueno region and the way in which coffee cultivation and transport improvements facilitated regional and national economic transformation.

1. Introduction
Part I. The Economic Setting: 2. Bourbon and republican policies, 1763–1845
3. Continuities in agrarian social policy, 1760–1845
Part II. The Liberal Period: 4. The politics and economics of colonial reform, 1845–85
5. Trade expansion under the Liberal reforms, 1845–85
6. Liberalism and agrarian change, 1845–90
7. The anatomy of economic decline in nineteenth-century Colombia
Part III. The Expansion of Coffee: 8. Antioqueno colonisation and the expansion of coffee
9. Agriculture, exports and economic development: a Colombian counterpoint
10. The development of transportation
11. A theory of the transition.

Subject Areas: General & world history [HBG]