Beneficios y costes fiscales del colonialismo: las remesas americanas a España, 1760–18141

The essay measures the fiscal costs and benefits of colonialism both for die Spanish American colonies and for Spain in the period 1760–1814 using new estimates of die annual transfers from die colonies to the metropolitan treasury. The various components of die fiscal benefits for die metropolis are analyzed, including not only die transfer of silver but also large shipments of tobacco leaf from Cuba. It is argued that die American contribution to the ordinary income of the Spanish government increased in absolute and relative terms in die period 1790–1810.