In 1823 and 1824, the newly independent government of Mexico
entered the international capital market, raising two loans in
London totaling ?6.4 million. Intended to cover a variety of
expenses, the loans fell into default by 1827 and remained in
default until 1887. This case study explores how the loan process
worked in Mexico in the early nineteenth century, when foreign
lending was still a novelty, and the unexpected ways in which
international debt could influence politics and policy. The history
of the loans, the efforts of successive governments in Mexico to
resume repayment, and the efforts of the foreign lenders to recover
their investment became one of the most significant, persistent,
and contentious, if largely misunderstood, issues in the political
and financial history of nineteenth-century Mexico. The loans
themselves became entangled in partisan politics in Mexico and
abroad, especially in Great Britain and France, and were a fertile
source of speculation for a wide range of legitimate - and
not-so-legitimate - international financiers, including Baring
Brothers and the House of Lizardi.
目錄:
Introduction
1. A Crazy Contrivance
2. Default
3. Blood From a Stone
4. A Monstrous Enterprise
Conclusions
Lessons for the Past
The London debt in a Modern Mirror