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Argentina’s creditworthiness achievements and problems, 1955–1962: the role of institutions, policymakers, and external agents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2025

Raul Garcia Heras
Raul Garcia Heras*
Affiliation:
Instituto Torcuato Di Tella and IIEP-BAIRES, Buenos Aires, Argentina
*
Email: manchaitus@hotmail.com
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Abstract

This article examines sovereign creditworthiness concerns and policies in a Latin American country that needed economic development and stabilization financing from bankers, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank during the early years of the Bretton Woods era. It underlines the significance for developing country foreign financing breakthroughs of applying sound, coherent, and sustainable macroeconomic policies; of credible and professionalized state institutions; of adhering to formal and informal rules of mainstream international finance; and the policymaking role of trustworthy economic teams coming from the local establishment who endorsed foreign financiers’ ideas and recipes. While written from the perspective of economic history, the analysis incorporates recent insights from earlier historical periods and worldwide case-studies, and of specialists in international political economy and credit rating studies.

Resumen

Resumen

Este artículo examina las preocupaciones que dieron a lugar a políticas de confiabilidad crediticia externa en un país latinoamericano que necesitaba asistencia económica oficial, de los banqueros y los organismos multilaterales de crédito para resolver problemas de estabilización y desarrollo económicos durante los primeros años de la era de Bretton Woods. Subraya la importancia para obtener logros significativos de la aplicación de políticas macroeconómicas coherentes y sustentables; la existencia de instituciones estatales confiables y profesionalizadas; la adhesión a reglas formales e informales vigentes en los lazos financieros internacionales; y de equipos económicos con figuras confiables de corte liberal que compartieran las ideas y recetas de los financistas externos. Si bien está escrito desde la perspectiva de la historia económica, el análisis incorpora recientes perspectivas de otros estudios históricos, de economía política internacional, y confiabilidad crediticia externa.

Keywords

foreign creditworthinessLatin AmericaInternational Monetary FundWorld BankPalabras ClaveConfiabilidad Crediticia ExternaAmerica LatinaFondo Monetario InternacionalBanco MundialF34F3N26O19

Information

Type
Articles/Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , First View , pp. 1 - 21
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Instituto Figuerola de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

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References

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