The Spanish socialists in power: thirteen years of economic policy

This article analyses the economic policy in Spain during thegovernments of the Spanish Socialist Party, the PSOE (1982-96).It considers the different areas of economic policy such asmonetary, exchange-rate, and industrial policy, with specialemphasis on labour policy and welfare state issues. Taking intoaccount the difficult economic situation in 1982, there weresome important advances in social policy and progressive taxationduring the 1980s. However, the main economic objective of the1982 electoral programme, to reduce unemployment, failed: whenthe PSOE came to power, the unemployment rate was 16 per cent,and when it left government the rate was over 22 per cent. Moreover,in the opinion of the authors, the most negative element wasthe push to change the labour market, promoting the causalizationof labour relations, eroding the trade unions and strengtheningthe power of employers.     

Lawyers' Contribution to Business Development in Early Twentieth-Century Mexico

The Mexican Revolution (1910) brought important changes to thesocial, political and economic spheres of Mexico. New legislationwas passed to protect workers and redistribute land. The stateacquired rights to petroleum, water, and subsoil minerals. Forentrepreneurs this was an abrupt change from the previous regime.They had to adapt to the new policies and administrative statestructure. Business lawyers aided companies in a country wherethe government had circumscribed the private sector's participationin the economy. Lawyers offered their clients important services,such as lobbying and aid in corporate restructuring. This articleexplores how in the midst of these new revolutionary regimesan important investment group used the services of businesslawyer Manuel Gómez Morin to create Mexico's first holdingcompany and to issue the first mortgage bonds in the country.     

The Indispensable Service of Banks: Commercial Transactions, Industry, and Banking in Revolutionary Mexico

Revolutions have important social, political, and economic consequenceswith which entrepreneurs have to cope to keep their businessesgoing. This may involve high transaction costs due to the violencethat emerges as a result of armed conflicts. In this articlewe examine the effect that the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)had on the banking sector and ultimately on bank clients, sincerevolutionary policies forced most banks to close their doorsfrom 1915 to 1921. By focusing on a major textile firm, theCompañía Industrial Veracruzana, S.A., we observethat companies used nonchartered banks, which spread in theabsence of government regulation, and foreign financial institutions,so that daily business operations could continue amidst therevolutionary upheavals.