This book is a collection of articles by eminent economic historians from five European colonial powers and from six New World countries. The articles focus on the legacy of the Old World fiscal institutions (taxes and expenditures) and monetary institutions (currency and banking) for the New World from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. Did the success or failure of the New World's institutions in the independent countries reflect the foundations and the flaws of the former colonial masters or adaptation to the new environment?