The article focuses on an analysis of the evolution of tax burden in the Peruvian region between 1691 and 1790 and its relationship with local revolts. Tax income and tax burden have been calculated on the basis of data collected from Cajas Reales (colonial tax revenue offices) and an estimate of the product. XVIII Century revolts appear to be consequence of the continuous increase in the tax burden.

This article studies the proceedings used by the Spanish public finances to deal with the unpaid taxes during the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The connections between the concerned public institutions, and between these and the taxpayers, are analysed using the statements of tax collectors. The great amount of land seized by the State, as a consequence of unpaid taxes, are a sign of the changes that the Spanish rural areas were suffering. This phenomenon became a serious source of conflict and it made evident the important structural problems of the Restauration Administration.

Researchers in Economic History have traditionally used income per person as a measure of welfare. Due to the limitations of this indicator, recent investigations have extended the measurement of welfare to alternative indicators. Following this Une of investigation, this article compares four welfare indicators for Spain (income per person, Human Development Index, Physical Quality of Life Index and stature). Two of these indicators (HDI and PQLI) have been novelty constructed for Spain. The overall evidence suggests some hypothesis to be contrasted by future research, as some unresolved puzzles remain.

In the first decades of the 20th century, several processes modify the Spanish insurance market from the inherited characteristics of the past century. Moreover, the increment of competition promotes the diversification and setting up cartels for control of market. The first process drives the specialised companies to general companies and the second one leads to agreements between them to control the competition. Both parallel procedures originate later on the leadership of particular companies.

The Soviet Union experienced two very pronounced changes of direction in 1921 and 1929. At the beginning of the decade, the strategy of «War Communism» was abandoned, substituted by the completely different «New Economic Policy» (NEP); and changed again, at the end of those years, towards a strategy of forced industrialization based on the collectivisation of the agricultural sector. In recent years, some specialists have argued that this second change was unnecessary: i.e., rapid industrialization could have been achieved within the framework of NEP and the Law of Value. The purpose of this paper is to argue, from a theoretical point of view, and with the help of the model that best summarizes the strategy of rapid industrialization, that this new interpretation cannot be sustained, and that those authors that defended the incompatibility of NEP and rapid industrialization were correct.

This paper studies the process of economic development in Venezuela from a regional perspective. Oil wealth has given the country a unique opportunity to expand its productive capacity and improve the living standards. However, the country has experienced a drastic deterioration of its economy and institutions in recent times. The paper begins with a comparison based on welfare indicators. Then, it explores the economic implications of commodities and establishes parallels with the export booms of copper and nitrate in Chile and rubber in the Amazon region. Next, it analyses the impact of the Great Depression and the industrialisation strategy. Finally, a set of conclusions is presented.