Introduction -- Sovereign borrowing and imperial dept policy -- Tropical credibility on Lombard Street -- Borrowing on Rua Direita -- Turning points: default risk on two sides of the Atlantic -- Controlling capital: institutional obstacles to incorporation -- Concentration and cronyism: commercial banking in Rio de Janeiro -- Fall from grace
Summary
Nineteenth-century Brazil's constitutional monarchy credibly committed to repay sovereign debt, borrowing repeatedly in international and domestic capital markets without default. Yet it failed to lay the institutional foundations that private financial markets needed to thrive. This study shows why sovereign creditworthiness did not necessarily translate into financial development.-- Provided by publisher
