The case describes the growth of the Guggenheim brothers, as one of the largest mining companies in the world in the early twentieth century. Global expansion has led the company in Chile, the first copper and then in natural nitrates. Economic growth in Chile was due to profits from mining, especially in the world monopoly of nitrates. Guggenheims invested in Chilean nitrates after synthetics was developed by German chemists. Their strategy to modernize the industry collapsed with the onset of the Great Depression, during which Chile experienced the largest drop in income of any country. Case serves as a tool to study the devastating economic and political consequences of the Great Depression in the South, such as Chile, which specializes in commodities, as well as in mining and financial capitalists, such as the Guggenheims. "Hide
by Jeffrey J. Jones, Felipe Fernandez Tamega Source: Harvard Business School 23 pages. Publication Date: June 17, 2010. Prod. #: 810141-PDF-ENG
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