History of the American Economy

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
CONTENTS......Page 10
PREFACE......Page 20
Americans 1900–2009......Page 26
Nation Building......Page 31
Policy Analysis for Better Choices......Page 34
Critical Skills for Personal Development......Page 35
The Long Road out of Poverty......Page 36
An Institutional Road Map to Plenty......Page 40
PART 1 The Colonial Era: 1607–1776......Page 45
European Background to the Voyages of Discovery......Page 47
Portugal and the First Discoveries......Page 48
Portugal and Spain: Expanding Empires......Page 49
The Latecomers: Holland, France, and England......Page 51
First British Settlements in North America......Page 52
Early Reforms......Page 54
Demographic Change......Page 59
Land and Natural Resource Abundance, Labor Scarcity......Page 67
Agriculture and Regional Specializations......Page 69
The Extractive Industries......Page 74
The Manufacturing Industries......Page 77
Occupational Groups......Page 81
English Mercantilism and the Colonies......Page 83
Exports, Imports, and Markets......Page 85
Overseas Shipping and Trade......Page 86
Intercolonial Commerce......Page 90
Money and Trade......Page 91
Trade Deficits with England......Page 94
Growth and Change in the Colonial Economy......Page 100
Technological Change and Productivity......Page 108
Speculations on Early Growth Rates......Page 111
The Distribution of Income and Wealth......Page 113
The Old Colonial Policy......Page 118
The New Colonial Policy and the First Crisis......Page 121
More Changes and the Second Crisis......Page 123
The Third Crisis and Rebellion......Page 124
PART 2 The Revolutionary, Early National, and Antebellum Eras: 1776–1860......Page 133
The War and the Economy......Page 135
The Constitution......Page 138
American Independence and Economic Change......Page 140
A Quantitative Analysis of Economic Change......Page 142
War, Neutrality, and Economic Resurgence......Page 144
The Acquisition of the Public Domain......Page 150
The Migrations to the West......Page 157
The Southwestern Migration and Cotton......Page 163
The Far Western Migration......Page 166
The Antebellum Transportation Revolution......Page 170
The Routes of Western Commerce......Page 172
Steamboats and the Natural Waterways......Page 173
Public Versus Private Initiative on the Natural Waterways......Page 177
The Canal Era......Page 178
The Iron Horse......Page 181
Roads......Page 183
The Antebellum Interregional Growth Hypothesis......Page 185
Ocean Transport......Page 186
Early Changes in U.S. Manufacturing......Page 191
Prerequisites to Factory Production......Page 198
Productivity Advances in Manufactures......Page 203
Protection from Foreign Competition......Page 204
The Growth of the Population and the Labor Force......Page 208
The Changing Labor Force Distribution and Composition......Page 209
The Impact of Immigration......Page 213
The Wages of Male Labor in Manufacturing......Page 214
Growing Inequality of Income......Page 217
The Early Union Movement......Page 220
Political Gains for Common Working People......Page 222
The American Monetary Unit......Page 226
The Bimetallic Standard......Page 227
Bank Notes as Paper Money......Page 229
The First Bank of the United States......Page 230
The Second Bank of the United States......Page 233
Economic Fluctuations and the Second Bank......Page 237
Experiments in State Banking Controls......Page 240
The Economic Consequences of the Gold Rush......Page 242
African Slavery in the Western Hemisphere......Page 244
First U.S. Constraints on Slavery......Page 245
Plantation Efficiency......Page 249
Economic Exploitation......Page 256
Economic Entrenchment and Regional Incomes......Page 257
Political Compromises and Regional Conflict......Page 259
PART 3 The Reunification Era: 1860–1920......Page 265
The Economics of War......Page 267
The Civil War and Northern Industrialization......Page 271
Economic Retardation in the South......Page 272
The Legacy of Slavery......Page 277
The Expansion of Land under Cultivation......Page 286
Federal Land Policy......Page 287
The Impact of Federal Land Policy......Page 289
Growth and Change in Agriculture......Page 291
Hard Times on the Farm, 1864–1896......Page 293
Agrarian Political Organizations......Page 297
The Beginnings of Federal Assistance to Agriculture......Page 300
Natural Resource Conservation: The First Stages......Page 301
The Transcontinentals......Page 305
Total Construction: Pace and Patterns......Page 307
Building Ahead of Demand?......Page 310
Land Grants, Financial Assistance, and Private Capital......Page 311
Unscrupulous Financial Practices......Page 312
Government Regulation of the Railroads......Page 313
Railroads and Economic Growth......Page 318
Structural Change and Industry Composition......Page 323
Mass Production......Page 331
Economies of Scale and Industry Concentration......Page 332
The Two Phases of the Concentration Movement......Page 334
The Sherman Antitrust Act......Page 339
Demographic Change and the Supply of Labor......Page 344
Immigration: Politics and Economics......Page 347
Gains for Workers in the Postbellum Period......Page 349
Unions, Employers, and Conflict, 1860–1914......Page 355
Labor's Gains and the Unions......Page 360
CHAPTER 19 Money, Prices, and Finance in the Postbellum Era......Page 363
New Forms of Currency......Page 364
Gold, Greenbacks, or Bimetallism?......Page 368
The Rise of Investment Banking......Page 377
Bank Panics and the Establishment of the Federal Reserve System......Page 379
Urbanization......Page 383
Marketing and Selling......Page 384
Product Differentiation and Advertising......Page 388
The First Steps toward Consumer Protection......Page 391
Foreign Trade......Page 393
The Acceptance of Protectionist Doctrines......Page 396
The Income Tax......Page 398
The United States in an Imperialist World......Page 399
PART 4 War, Depression, and War Again: 1914–1946......Page 403
The Origins of the War......Page 405
The United States goes to War......Page 406
Replacement of the Market with a Command System......Page 409
Labor during the War......Page 412
The Legacies of the War......Page 415
Social Changes in the Aftermath of War......Page 419
New Goods and the Rise of the Middle Class......Page 420
The Labor Force in the Twenties......Page 425
On the Land......Page 429
Macroeconomic Policies......Page 432
International Developments......Page 435
The Great Bull Market......Page 436
Dimensions of the Depression......Page 443
Causes of the Great Depression......Page 445
The Role of the Financial Crisis......Page 451
Why Didn't the Federal Reserve Save the Banking System?......Page 454
Fiscal Policy in the 1930s......Page 456
Partial Recovery and then a New Downturn......Page 457
Why Did the Depression Last So Long?......Page 459
Can It Happen Again?......Page 461
What Does the Depression Tell Us about Capitalism?......Page 462
The First New Deal......Page 465
Reform of the Financial System......Page 470
Reform of the Agricultural Sector......Page 472
Labor and the New Deal......Page 477
The Second New Deal: The Welfare State......Page 481
The Critics of the New Deal......Page 482
The Legacy of the New Deal......Page 484
Mobilizing for War......Page 487
Fiscal and Monetary Policy......Page 493
Wage and Price Controls......Page 495
Wartime Prosperity?......Page 498
Labor during the War......Page 499
Wartime Minority Experiences......Page 501
Agriculture during the War......Page 504
Demobilization and Reconversion......Page 505
PART 5 The Postwar Era: 1946 to the Present......Page 509
The Size of Government in the Postwar Era......Page 511
The Liberal Era, 1945–1976: Continued Expansion of Government......Page 515
The Conservative Era: 1976–2000, Deregulation and Reaganomics......Page 520
The Cold (and Sometimes Hot) War Against Communism......Page 521
Agriculture......Page 523
The Environment......Page 528
Changing Ideological Tides......Page 531
Wagner's Law......Page 532
The Keynesian Era......Page 535
Was the Economy More Stable During the Keynesian Era than before the Depression?......Page 547
The Monetarist Era......Page 548
Gales of Creative Destruction......Page 558
Changes in the Organization of Industry......Page 565
Antitrust Policy......Page 567
The Rise of the Service Sector......Page 568
The Changing Role of Women in the Labor Force......Page 569
Minorities......Page 572
The New Immigration......Page 577
Unions......Page 579
Real Wages......Page 580
Achievements of the Past......Page 584
Challenges for the Future......Page 592
Prophets of Decline......Page 596
Subject Index......Page 600
Name Index......Page 618