The economic societies in the Spanish world 1763-1821
R.J. Shafer

The eighty-odd economic societies of friends of the country formed in the Spanish world (in Europe and America) were private bodies organized to combat the lagging economy of the Spanish empire. Among the many developed to inject new life in the economy were: the introduction of new industrial and agricultural techniques, and educational stimulants such as schools, programs of publication, and public libraries. This meticulously documented work is the first systematic attempt to examine and analyze the beliefs and labors of all the Spanish economic societies. In addition to Latin-American specialists, this study, which covers a wide range of history-economic, social, intellectual and political, will interest historians of education, economics, and literature, and even philosophers and sociologists as well.