Del estatismo a la regulación: medio siglo de polí­tica económica. La economí­a uruguaya 1900-1955 (III)

In this paper we study the economic policies between 1900 and 1955. We divide the analysis in two periods considering 1931 as a benchmark between two different policies. After this year, we identify important changes in the economic policies in terms of the role of the state and the regulation of the economy. Our statement is that during the first decades of the 20th century there was not a general regulation framework of the economic activity. This will change after the thirties. During the first batllismo, the principal objective was the expansion of the public sector and this will remain an important characteristic of the following years: the increasing role of the State in the industrial and commercial activities. Since 1931, with the establishment of the "Exchange Control" the economic policy adopts another modality based on the creation of institutions that increase the government regulation over the economy. This new cycle of economic policies will finish in 1959 with the "Monetary and Exchange Reform" that will represent a first important attempt to change the path of the economy since the thirties.