El comercio ultramarino y la economía local en el complejo portuario rioplatense, siglo XVIII

Abstract

The successful insertion of a port-complex in a given commercial network is linked to its capacity to provide goods and services needed for navigation. By describing the potential demand generated by 386 sbips in the Ríver Plate between 1720 and 1778, as well as concrete data about the satisfaction of such demand, tbis article expects to show certain economic and social realities so far unexplored. First, it bighlights the demand for food - including elaborated food - that underlied both rural and urban economy. Second, it examines the services provided lo keep ships afloat, in arder lo illuminate the world of trades. Both anal y ses suggest that the majority ofthe local population enjoyed a relative prosperity. Along with evidence of a regular supply of food, these elements confirm the absence of typical "Old Regime crisis" in the context of the Ríver Plate space, Jeading to a review of further questions about the socio-economic structure during tbis perlad.