Librería Portfolio

This reinterpretation of the history of modern Spain from the Enlightenment to the threshold of the twenty-first century explains the surprising changes that took Spain from a backward and impoverished nation, with decades of stagnation, civil disorder, and military rule, to one of the ten most developed economies in the world. The culmination of twenty years´ work by the dean of economic history in Spain, founder of the Revista de Historia Economica and recipient of the Premio Rey Juan Carlos, Spain´s highest honor for an academic, the book is rigorously analytical and quantitative, but eminently accessible. It reveals views and approaches little explored until now, showing how the main stages of Spanish political history have been largely determined by economic developments and by a seldom mentioned factor: human capital formation. It is comparative throughout, and concludes by applying the lessons of Spanish history to the plight of today´s developing nations.



Table of Contents:

Preface Abbreviations

1. Introduction: An Overview 2. The Nineteenth Century: Politics, Population, and Human Capital 3. Agriculture: Persistent Underdevelopment 4. Industry: A Long Infancy 5. Transportation and Commerce 6. Money and Banking 7. The Role of the State 8. The Entrepreneurial Factor 9. The Twentieth Century 10. Demographic Modernization 11. Agricultural Transformation: From Underdevelopment to Backwardness 12. Industrial Takeoff 13. The Foreign Sector 14. The Evolution of Money and Banking 15. The Changing Role of the State 16. Conclusions

Chronology Notes Works Cited Index