A significant portion of this author's life was closely tied to the Junta dos Juros dos Reais Empréstimos [Debt Management Office for New Loans], which was established in 1796 during Portugal's involvement in the War of the Pyrenees. Macedo was likely one of the key figures who built a career within the public boards and commissions established during the various wartime conflicts that Portugal experienced in the first third of the 19th century. His success was not only attributed to the technical precision and accuracy of the records, calculations, and collections he managed but also to his ability to organise his ideas into a coherent written and spoken discourse on a range of political and cultural topics, including public finances, traditional and Vintist courts, geography, and Arab navigation.

After joining the treasury of the Junta dos Juros in 1800, Macedo advanced to the position of chief officer of a second department under the Royal Treasury — specifically, the tax section of the Tesouraria Geral das Tropas (General Treasury of the Troops) — before the age of forty. He achieved this role in 1816, just two years after the end of the Peninsular War. Twelve years later, during the final stages of the first Chartist experiment, he served as vice-president, as evidenced by a survey conducted on 10 March 1828 with the members of the Junta dos Juros ( Diário das Cortes , 1828, pp. 799-800). Following the restoration of liberalism, Macedo returned in 1833 as vice-president of the Junta , now renamed the Junta dos Juros dos Novos Empréstimos [Debt Management Office for New Loans]. His technical expertise, combined with his love for literature and the belles-lettres , erudition, and historical knowledge, enabled him to join the Academia das Ciências [Academy of Sciences], where he became a full member of the Literature class in 1814. This was somewhat surprising, considering that no written works from that period have survived to justify his admission.

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