Chile (1828–1832): An Economic Development Model for the Hispanic-American Republics

Mora arrived in Santiago de Chile to work in the service of President Pinto. His first service of note for Pinto was the drafting of a new liberal Constitution approved on 6 August 1828, but he also put into practice his educational projects, like the influential Liceo de Chile where the Chilean liberal elites were educated. He also became the founder and co-editor of El mercurio chileno. It is precisely through the economic articles published in this journal that Mora completed his model of economic growth for the Republic of Chile, which he considered was the benchmark for the new Hispanic-American republics. The very structure of the model and the role played by the accumulation of capital and the division of labour were deeply indebted to the Smith-McCulloch approach to economic development. However, again following the guidelines set out by these two authors, according to his criteria, economic development demanded a series of institutional requirements: an adequate legal framework, a tax system capable of financing the structure and functions of the liberal state, a banking system that would guarantee the necessary liquidity for economic activity and, finally, free foreign trade.