The first complete account of the rise and fall of the rubber economy in Brazil provides a dramatic example of one of the boom and bust cycles traditionally associated with Brazilian economic history. The Amazon rubber trade was one of the most important export booms in the history of Latin America, dominating the economic life of the Amazon for 70 years until the successful cultivation of rubber trees by the British in Southeast Asia. Yet this long period of vigorous economic activity left the basic structure of Amazonian society relatively unchanged. One of the author's main concerns is to explore why rubber exports did not generate substantial growth in either the industrial or the agricultural sector, and she finds the answers primarily in the relations of production and exchange that characterized the Amazon's extractive economy. The study also considers the impact of political decentralization and regionalism on the Amazonian economy, draws comparisons with the coffee boom in Sao Paulo that induced sustained industrial growth in that area, and traces the consequences of the rubber economy's collapse on the social, political, and economic life in the Amazon.

And conclusions. pp. 66.

Presenting fascinating information about one of the largest rivers in the world, this guide also contains insight on the countries through which it flows. Readers will discover more about the first Amazonians and the European conquest. They will also find out about the people and wildlife that live in the rainforest along its banks, and learn more about the threats to their way of life and to the rainforest itself.