New Data on an Old Issue: The Evolution of Prices in Eighteenth-Century Buenos Aires

Abstract

Almost twenty years ago, historian John Coatsworth called for the collection and publication of a reliable and dependable series of prices and salaries in Latin America in order to compile a critical set of data that would enable the comparison of the economic histories of different regions.1 Since then, little has been written about prices and salaries in Latin America, in particular concerning the colonial period. For the first time, accurate price data for the city of Buenos Aires during the eighteenth century are now available. The evolution of prices in Buenos Aires is analyzed by comparing the price of local and imported products. The general price index for the eighteenth century included herein demonstrate price trends over the long term, revealing that one of the peculiarities of Buenos Aires' economy was the fact that the rise in production grew parallel to the rise in population. Consequently, prices remained steady throughout the century. The new price data that has emerged places the current historiographical debates started in the 1980s in opposition to the classical historiography. Classical historians have stated that the policies applied in the last quarter of the eighteenth century marked a turning point in the region's economy.2 In this perspective, the creation of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (1776), which turned the city into the viceregal capital city, and the opening to Spanish imperial trade (1778) proved crucial. According to classical historians, both policies "released" the economic forces which had been restrained until then and thus fostered the region's growth. The data analyzed herein suggests a new interpretation of economic development of Buenos Aires in the eighteenth century, thus providing further evidence that the region's economic growth in terms of population and production started in the first half of the eighteenth century.