This book tells the story of how the monarchy aimed at creating a new capital city in a remote and forgotten area of the empire. It also shows how the local Creole bourgeoisie rapidly assumed the role of urban developers, and enhanced their economic status by investing in and controlling the...

Introduction : money, credit, and value -- New world gold -- Selling the Indies : Columbus and the economy of the marvelous -- Gold : a problematic standard -- The new world of money -- Writing about debt -- The Indies, value, and wealth -- Conclusion : a remote and exotic geography