Due to the pandemic and family commitments I have unfortunately not been able to return to Latin America for research since 2019. However, I continue to work on developing and completing a number of projects that have been ongoing for some time ...

​

1. Economic History of Chile. Manuel Llorca and I are working on a translation into English of the Historia económica de Chile, which we co-edited together and which was published in Santiago by RIL Editores.

​

2. The Decline of the Nitrate Industry in Chile, 1919-33. My long-time colleague and research collaborator, Robert Greenhill, and I have been investigating the decline of the nitrate industry in Chile after the First World War, trying to analyse the perceptions and decision-making of those involved, in particular those who invested in an industry facing unprecedented international competition from multinational chemicals firms. This has involved research in a number of archives, including the wonderful Fondo Salitre in the Archivo Nacional in Santiago, as well as the resources of the Biblioteca Nacional there. In Britain we have used the archives of the Anglo-South American Bank, Antofagasta Holdings, Antony Gibbs & Sons, the annual reports of nitrate companies, and press reports in The Economist, the Financial Times, and The Times. We both contributed chapters arising from the project to a book on the business history of Chile edited by Manuel Llorca-Jana and Diego Barría listed under my recent publications. An unpublished paper in progress on the Guggenheims' role in the collapse of the industry is available on request, and we are currently analysing the networks of companies and directors in the City of London that promoted investment in Chile during the nitrate period as a whole (1880-1930).

​

3. British Business in Twentieth-Century Latin America. This is a long-standing project attempting to analyse various aspects of the decline of Britain's business relations with Latin America from the First World War onwards, using business archives as well as government papers. The main archives in which I have worked are those of the Bank of England, Barclays Bank, Barings, the Federation of British Industries, Glaxo Smith Kline, HSBC, J. & P. Coats (later Coats Viyella), Lloyds Bank (Bank of London and South America), Reckitt & Colman, Standard Triumph, Unilever, and Wilson Sons & Co, as well as British chambers of commerce in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo. This project has also involved some oral history with retired and current business executives and politicians. Some of the published work from this project, in the form of chapters and articles, is listed elsewhere on this website.