Current work on Bourbon Mexico presents a divided, not to say schizophrenic image of the age. The traditional view, propounded by Lucas Alamán largely on the basis of Alexander von Humboldt's Essai Politique, and subject to certain qualifications, supported by our own work on the export economy, emphasized both the new quality in government and the remarkable pace of economic growth. Crown revenue, silver output, overseas trade, and the ecclesiastical tithes levied on agricultural production, all experienced a substantial and rapid increase in the years following the Gàlvez Visitation, 1765–71.