José Luis Ramos Gorostiza

Las ideas económicas de los ingenieros de caminos: la "Revista de Obras Públicas" (1853-1936)

The Revista de Obras Publicas was born as a mean of expression of the Civil Engineer Corps. It was not only one of the most important Spanish technical publications of the second half of the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century, but also a privileged forum for debating about two fundamental public policies in which engineers played a leading role: the hydraulic and the railway policies. Moreover, the Revista contributed —direct or indirectly— to the spread of ideas linked to the “escuela economista” and the Paretian Microeconomics. It gave even the opportunity to discuss certain questions concerned with Applied Economics, such as the economic crisis of the thirties. KEY Classification-JEL: B00

La imagen económica de la España de Carlos III: Joseph Townsend, Alexander Jardine y los economistas españoles

espanolDe entre todos los viajeros britanicos que visitaron Espana en el siglo XVIII, Alexander Jardine y Joseph Townsend fueron los que realizaron los itinerarios mas completos y los que mas atencion prestaron al analisis de la realidad socioeconomica. En su identificacion de los problemas economicos especificos coinciden esencialmente con los ilustrados espanoles, y particularmente con Campomanes, cuya obra toman como referente basico. Sin embargo, a la hora de enjuiciar la situacion economica general, el sistema politico y ciertas actitudes gubernamentales basadas aun en planteamientos mercantilistas, surgen discrepancias entre los viajeros y los ilustrados. El gradualismo reformista de estos ultimos choca entonces con los planteamientos de transformacion profunda del orden politico y social que hacian los viajeros. Asimismo, el optimismo de los ilustrados respecto a las posibilidades de crecimiento de la economia espanola contrastaba con la negativa vision global de los viajeros EnglishAmong the British travellers who travelled across Spain in the eighteenth century, Alexander Jardine and Joseph Townsend were those whose itineraries were the most complete and who paid more attention to socioeconomic analysis. Their identification of the specific economic problems coincides broadly with those of Spanish economists, and particularly with those of Campomanes, whose work is considered by them as a basic point of reference. However, there are discrepancies between the travellers and Spanish economists in respect to the general economic situation, the political system and certain government attitudes still based on a mercantilist approach. The reformist gradualism of Spanish economists clashed then with the proposals of the more profound socioeconomic reforms recommended by our travellers. Moreover, the optimism of Spanish economists about growth possibilities of the Spanish economy faced up to the negative overall view of British travellers.

La imagen económica de la España del siglo XVII: la mirada extranjera frente a la visión de los arbitristas

Abstract Este trabajo compara la imagen económica de la España del siglo XVII que nos transmitieron los viajeros extranjeros con la ofrecida por los arbitristas, examinando las principales similitudes y diferencias. En concreto, se detiene en las siguientes cuestiones: la consideración del medio natural, la visión del carácter nacional y de su relación con las actividades productivas, y la percepción de la situación económica y de las causas del atraso. Se trata de contrastar la opinión de aquellos que estaban reflexionando ‘desde dentro’ sobre las causas de la llamativa decadencia del país, con la mirada libre y sin censuras del visitante extranjero, que ― pese a sus condicionantes y limitaciones ― tendía a fijarse en los aspectos más llamativos y diferentes respecto a la realidad de su propio país de origen. Abstract This paper compares the economic image of seventeenth-century Spain given by foreign travellers with that offered by the arbitristas, examining the principal similarities and differences. Specifically, it analyses the following issues: the consideration of the natural resources base, the vision of national character and its relation to productive activities, and the perception of the economic situation and the causes of backwardness. The aim is to contrast the views of those who were thinking ‘from the inside’ about the causes of the evident decline of the country, with the free and uncensored gaze of foreign visitors, who, despite the obvious constraints and limitations, tended to focus on the most striking and different aspects they found compared to the reality of their own countries.