Emptying the Coffers: Old Money to Build New Railways, Spain 1850-1874

This paper analyzes the evolution of the Spanish economy during the third quarter of the 19th century, the critical initial phase of its modern development. The specific aim of the paper is to discuss the role to be awarded to foreign and domestic capital in financing the investment boom in those ye...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Author: Sudrià, Carles, 1953-
Format: article
Status:Versión aceptada para publicación
Publication Date:2018
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/122138
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/122138
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Infraestructures (Transport)
Ferrocarrils
Història econòmica
Macroeconomia
Transportation buildings
Railroads
Economic history
Macroeconomics
Description
Summary:This paper analyzes the evolution of the Spanish economy during the third quarter of the 19th century, the critical initial phase of its modern development. The specific aim of the paper is to discuss the role to be awarded to foreign and domestic capital in financing the investment boom in those years. The main hypothesis stresses that the mobilization of savings previously accumulated and hoarded in gold was a distinctive and important origin of resources. This result challenges older assumptions about the economic changes of the period, and provides a vision somewhat different of the first steps of Spain's economic modernization.