Historical Perspectives on the American Economy: Selected Readings

by Edited by Robert Whaples , Dianne C. Betts

• ISBN13: 9780521461078
• ISBN10: 0521461073
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1995-05-26
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

A student reader of the key topics in American economic history. The readings are organised chronologically and thematically, covering such topics as: the colonial and early national economy, slavery and indentured servitude, the South since the Civil War, the origins of American industrial success, the causes of farm protest in the late nineteenth century, the role of women in the economy, and the Great Depression. Introductions add context, provide critical questions about the arguments and evidence, note important subsequent works, and suggest additional readings. Also included are a glossary and an appendix that provides a clear, simple introduction to regression analysis, needed to read the increasingly technical 'cliometric' articles in the field.

Table of Contents

Introduction: 1. Editors' introduction

2. Does the past have useful economics? Donald McCloskey

Part I. Colonial and Early National Economy: 3. An economic interpretation of the American Revolution Mark Egnal and Joseph Ernst

4. The market and Massachusetts farmers 1750-1855 Winifred Rothenberg

Part III. Slavery and Servitude: 5. The rise and fall of indentured servitude in the Americas: an economic analysis David Galenson

6. The anatomy of exploitation Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman

7. Slavery: the progressive institution?Paul David and Peter Temin

8. Explaining the relative efficiency of slave agriculture in the antebellum South Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman

Part IV. The South Since the Civil War: 9. The trap of debt peonage Roger Ranso and Richard Sutch

10. The economic revolution in the American South Gavin Wright

Part V. The Rise of American Industrial Might: 11. The railroads: the first modern business enterprises, 1850s-1860s Alfed Chandler

12. Notes on the social savings controversy Robert Fogel

13. Industrial structure and the emergence of the modern industrial corporation Jeremy Atack

14. The origins of American industrial success, 1879-1940Gavin Wright

15. Federal policy, banking market structure, and capital mobilization in the United States, 1863-1913 Richard Sylla

Part VI. Populism and Postbellum Banking: 16. A reappraisal of the causes of farm protest in the United States, 1870-1900 Anne Mayhew

17. The 'Wizard of Oz' as a monetary allegory Hugh Rockoff

Part VII. Women in the Economy: 18. The changing economic role of women: a quantitative approach Claudia Goldin

Part VIII. The Great Depression: 19. Factors accounting for changes in the stock of money Milton Friedman and Anna Schwarz

20. The fall in the demand for money Peter Temin

Appendix: basics of regression

Glossary.