2 - Latin America and the international economy, 1914–1929

Summary

This essay concentrates on material concerning Latin America as a whole, and on certain works of particular use from a comparative point of view. The period is one of increasing integration with the world economy, particularly in the 1920s. It is therefore no surprise to find that most of the richest contemporary material is foreign in origin, and produced in English. It is also, typically, only the foreigner who perceived ‘Latin America’ as a whole. Both factors are reflected in this review of the secondary literature; the material of foreign origin is exceptionally valuable as long as its context is borne in mind.

The outstanding modern book on U.S. expansion in this period is Barbara Stallings, Banker to the Third World: U.S. Portfolio Investment in Latin America, 1900–1986 (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1987). The ‘classic’ and still invaluable sources are Cleona Lewis, America’s Stake in International Investments (Washington, D.C., 1938), M. Winkler, Investments of U.S. Capital in Latin America (Boston, 1929), J. F. Normano, The Struggle for South America (Boston, 1931), H. Feis, The Diplomacy of the Dollar (Baltimore, 1950) and M. Wilkins, The Maturing of Multinational Enterprise: American Business Abroad from 1914 to 1970 (Cambridge, Mass., 1974). An excellent comparative study is ECLA, Foreign Capital in Latin America (New York, 1955). On the expansion of banking, C. W. Phelps, The Foreign Expansion of American Banks (New York, 1927) and David Joslin, A Century of Banking in Latin America (London, 1963) are the key secondary sources. A brilliant more recent study is Carlos Marichal, A Century of Debt Crisis in Latin America: From Independence to the Great Depression 1820–1930 (Princeton, N.J., 1989).