Government & the American Economy

by Fishback, Price

• ISBN13: 9780226251288
• ISBN10: 0226251284
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-05-15
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

The American economy has provided a level of well-being that has consistently ranked at or near the top of the international ladder. A key source of this success has been widespread participation in political and economic processes. In The Government and the American Economy, leading economic historians chronicle the significance of America's open-access society and the roles played by government in its unrivaled success story. America's democratic experiment, the authors show, allowed individuals and interest groups to shape the structure and policies of government, which, in turn, have fostered economic success and innovation by emphasizing private property rights, the rule of law, and protections of individual freedom. In response to new demands for infrastructure, America's federal structure hastened development by promoting the primacy of states, cities, and national governments. More recently, the economic reach of American government expanded dramatically as the populace accepted stronger limits on its economic freedoms in exchange for the increased security provided by regulation, an expanded welfare state, and a stronger national defense.

Author Biography

Price V. Fishback is the Frank and Clara Kramer Professor of Economics at the University of Arizona and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is the author of A Prelude to the Welfare State: The Origins of Workers' Compensation.

Table of Contents

Dedication	p. v
Price Fishback
List of Tables and Figures	p. xiii
About the Authors	p. xv
Foreword	p. xvii
Government and the Economy
Goverment in Colonial America
The Founding Era, 1774-1791
Property Rights and Federal Land Policy
Reversing Financial Reversals: Government and the Financial System since 1789
The National Era
The Civil War and Reconstruction
Government and the American Dilemma
The Gilded Age
The Progressive Era
Government and the People: Labor, Education, and Health
The Federal Bureaucracy: From Patronage to Civil Service
The New Deal
The World Wars
The Growth of U.S. Farm Programs
Shaping Welfare Policy: The Role of the South
Seeking Security in the Postwar Era
Key Indicators of Economic and Government Activity
The Articles of the Confederation
The Constitution of the United States
The Bill of Rights
Index
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