¿‘Buenas inversiones para personas discretas’?: Los bonos municipales de Buenos Aires y São Paulo en los mercados de capitales globales entre 1887 y 1927

Abstract

This paper examines the relatively unexplored topic of Latin American municipal bonds in the international market, comparing the performance of Buenos Aires and São Paulo bonds with their national counterparts between 1887 and 1927. The study also provides insights into how these bonds contributed to establishing investor confidence and promoted economic and urban growth in Latin America suggesting that municipal bonds were as safe (or safer) as sovereign ones, and that the status of a political capital did not played a central role on the bonds performance. The study highlights the more stable and less volatile nature of municipal securities, making them a “good investment for quiet folks.” The article concludes demonstrating the importance of municipal bonds in Latin America urban development.