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"This book presents an innovative history of the first Portuguese public bank, by exploring the relationship between banking activities and the political context. It provides an overview of the origins of the banking system in Portugal, and also in Brazil, and explores new archive materials related to the first years of activity of the Bank of Lisbon and to the public debates on monetary and public finance topics. It discusses the main features of the Bank of Lisbon: a private bank with a mandate to issue banknotes for the purposes of regulating monetary circulation, and with the function of financing the State for current payments, as well as for the amortisation of public debt and the creation of new debt. The aim of contributing to the re-establishment of public trust and credit conferred upon the Bank of Lisbon the status of a quasi-central bank with the obligations of lending and issuing money. This historical case study offers new insights for a better understanding of the role of banks on the regulation of monetary circulation and on the management of sovereign debt. By stressing the relevance of the political context, it also illustrates the key issues of trust, independence and rules associated to decision-making processes in the study of European banking history. The main focus is the link between banking practices and the political environment. However, the reader will also engage in discussions on theoretical and economic policy issues on the main economic topics under survey: money, paper-money, public debt, credit system"--

Attending the annual HES conferences is a fantastic learning experience. In this personal testimony I try to explain the reasons for this enthusiasm, around three fundamental aspects: the innovations and changes in the historiographical field of the history of economics, the informal governance of a dynamic community, and the relevance of methodological pluralism as a guide for research development.

RESUMO Este artigo discute as condições econômicas que ditaram o fim do regime de exclusivo colonial que caracterizou o relacionamento entre Portugal e o Brasil até 1808, ano em que foi decretada a abertura dos portos brasileiros ao comércio internacional. Tais condições ajudam a compreender a impossibilidade de reconstrução do Império após a Revolução Liberal de 1820, conforme claramente intuíram alguns deputados às Cortes Constituintes. A miragem de uma recolonização impraticável constituiu, no entanto, importante estímulo para a construção da independência política da nação brasileira.

This chapter seeks to describe the successive stages in the training and recruitment of economists at the service of the political regime that ruled over Portugal between 1926 and 1974. This chapter presents the main institutional settings for the education and practices of those who served the government in economic functions throughout this period. Its main aim is to show the changes that occurred in the understanding of the problems related with the development of the Portuguese economy, seeking to elucidate the processes of legitimation of an authoritarian regime, but also to show the signs of a critical break with a model of economic and social organization and a political regime that had reached the point of exhaustion. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In late 1807, Brazil was still a part of the Portuguese empire. As a consequence of the outbreak of the Peninsular War, the Prince Regent and the court moved to Brazil, an amazing voyage planned as a way of safeguarding Portugal's sovereignty over her vast territories. When the royal ships arrived in Brazil, the first measure to be taken was the decree which opened up Brazilian ports to British commercial vessels, thus putting an end to the old system of exclusive colonial trading between Brazil and Portugal. This was indeed the very first sign of a much larger process of economic liberalisation that was shortly to follow. In this process, a special role was to be played by the science of political economy used as a rationale for economic change and ultimately serving as an instrument for political independence. ; Al final de 1807, Brasil era la joya del imperio portugués. Ante la amenaza de invasión del territorio por parte del ejército napoleónico, y con el objetivo de garantizar el pleno ejercicio de la soberanía política, la corte portuguesa se trasladó a Brasil. La primera acción del Príncipe Regente Don Juan fue decretar la apertura de los puertos brasileños al comercio de las naciones amigas, poniendo fin a un largo periodo de comercio exclusivo colonial entre Brasil y la metrópoli. Gran Bretaña fue la principal beneficiaria de la apertura del comercio brasileño, así como de otras medidas de liberalización económica inspiradas en los principios y doctrinas de la economía política. De esta forma, esta ciencia asumió un papel decisivo en la cimentación de la autonomía económica de la nación brasileña, lo que vendría a afianzar su independencia política en 1822.

An earlier version of this article was presented at the History of Economics Society meetings, University of California at Davis, 5-8 July 2002. I would like to thank Rui Pedro Esteves, Marc Flandreau, David Laidler, Jorge Braga de Macedo, Perry Mehrling, Jaime Reis, and two anonymous referees of this journal for their useful and insightful comments and suggestions. I am responsible for any remaining errors and omissions. Unless otherwise stated,all translations are mine.