Resumen de National and International Private Bankers and the Building of the Italian Credit and Financial System during Italian Unification
The Italian credit and financial system was the result of progressive developments that accelerated during the process of Italian unifica- tion. Our essay analyses the role of local private bankers in mod- ernizing the economic and financial system of the country and the way in which the gradual increase of social capital – an asset con- sisting of interpersonal relations – fostered cooperation among Ital- ian bankers in a period in which it was easier to create trust in people rather than in institutions. Using documents from the Archives General du Travail (Roubaix) we have sought to demon- strate that the close relationship between Italian private bankers and the international haute banque permitted both easier placement of Italian public bonds on the local market and the progressive inte- gration of the national financial market. Italian public debt thus be- came one of the means to create the national state.
