Abstract

GIL, Tiago Luís. Credit in Old Regime economies: some theoretical questions and reflections on the historiography of Portuguese America. Rev. hist. am. argent. [online]. 2021, vol.56, n.1, pp.103-132.  Epub July 05, 2021. ISSN 2314-1549.  http://dx.doi.org/10.48162/rev.44.003.

This article addresses some theoretical issues related to credit taking into account the debate conducted in Brazilian historiography in recent years. Credit has been extensively studied recently, not only in works exclusively dedicated to this topic, but in publications about the colonial economy in general. The article highlights the little theoretical debate in Brazilian historiography, stressing four themes. The first concerns the social hierarchy, extremely important in Old Regime societies. The second is on the so-called microcredit, with reference to small borrowers and lenders who handled small amounts. I believe this activity may reveal the capital elements of old type economies. The topics of trust and information will also be discussed, since they were analyzed with little depth in the historiography. Finally, I propose reflecting on the opaque character of credit as an object of study, since it is a very visible and evident phenomenon if only available sources are considered, ignoring oral arrangements.

Keywords : old Regime Economy; credit; trust; information.

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