In the heyday of foreign bond speculations in the '20s, Latin American governments floated ever larger issues at interest as high as 8% on the U.S. market, and many banks turned to cajolery and a few even to bribes to handle the business. With the Depression, Latin countries defaulted to the tune of $1.3 billion. Last week the dance of the millions came to a slow-beat and reasonably happy end.
In 1933 a nonprofit corporation, the Foreign Bondholders Protective Council, began working out agreements with the Latin Americans, cutting interest rates drastically and accepting token settlements on back interest. Bolivia,...
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