A New Economic View of American History

A New Economic View of American History
Author: Jeremy Atack
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Total Pages: 744
Release: 1994
Genre: United States
ISBN:

New sources of data, together with advances in theory, offer the opportunity for a fresh look at old and new questions.

The Rise and Fall of American Growth

The Rise and Fall of American Growth
Author: Robert J. Gordon
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 785
Release: 2017-08-29
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1400888956

How America's high standard of living came to be and why future growth is under threat In the century after the Civil War, an economic revolution improved the American standard of living in ways previously unimaginable. Electric lighting, indoor plumbing, motor vehicles, air travel, and television transformed households and workplaces. But has that era of unprecedented growth come to an end? Weaving together a vivid narrative, historical anecdotes, and economic analysis, The Rise and Fall of American Growth challenges the view that economic growth will continue unabated, and demonstrates that the life-altering scale of innovations between 1870 and 1970 cannot be repeated. Gordon contends that the nation's productivity growth will be further held back by the headwinds of rising inequality, stagnating education, an aging population, and the rising debt of college students and the federal government, and that we must find new solutions. A critical voice in the most pressing debates of our time, The Rise and Fall of American Growth is at once a tribute to a century of radical change and a harbinger of tougher times to come.

Ages of American Capitalism

Ages of American Capitalism
Author: Jonathan Levy
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 945
Release: 2021-04-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0812995023

A leading economic historian traces the evolution of American capitalism from the colonial era to the present—and argues that we’ve reached a turning point that will define the era ahead. “A monumental achievement, sure to become a classic.”—Zachary D. Carter, author of The Price of Peace In this ambitious single-volume history of the United States, economic historian Jonathan Levy reveals how capitalism in America has evolved through four distinct ages and how the country’s economic evolution is inseparable from the nature of American life itself. The Age of Commerce spans the colonial era through the outbreak of the Civil War, and the Age of Capital traces the lasting impact of the industrial revolution. The volatility of the Age of Capital ultimately led to the Great Depression, which sparked the Age of Control, during which the government took on a more active role in the economy, and finally, in the Age of Chaos, deregulation and the growth of the finance industry created a booming economy for some but also striking inequalities and a lack of oversight that led directly to the crash of 2008. In Ages of American Capitalism, Levy proves that capitalism in the United States has never been just one thing. Instead, it has morphed through the country’s history—and it’s likely changing again right now. “A stunning accomplishment . . . an indispensable guide to understanding American history—and what’s happening in today’s economy.”—Christian Science Monitor “The best one-volume history of American capitalism.”—Sven Beckert, author of Empire of Cotton

Land of Promise

Land of Promise
Author: Michael Lind
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 554
Release: 2012-04-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0062097725

"[An] ambitious economic history of the united States...rich with details." ?—David Leonhardt, New York Times Book Review How did a weak collection of former British colonies become an industrial, financial, and military colossus? From the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries, the American economy has been transformed by wave after wave of emerging technology: the steam engine, electricity, the internal combustion engine, computer technology. Yet technology-driven change leads to growing misalignment between an innovative economy and anachronistic legal and political structures until the gap is closed by the modernization of America's institutions—often amid upheavals such as the Civil War and Reconstruction and the Great Depression and World War II. When the U.S. economy has flourished, government and business, labor and universities, have worked together in a never-ending project of economic nation building. As the United States struggles to emerge from the Great Recession, Michael Lind clearly demonstrates that Americans, since the earliest days of the republic, have reinvented the American economy - and have the power to do so again.

The Cambridge Economic History of the United States

The Cambridge Economic History of the United States
Author: Stanley L. Engerman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 1046
Release: 1996
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780521553070

This three volume work offers a comprehensive survey of the history of economic activity and economic change in the United States, and in those regions whose economies have at certain times been closely allied to that of the US.

The Economy of Early America

The Economy of Early America
Author: Cathy D. Matson
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2006
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780271027111

In recent years, scholars in a number of disciplines have focused their attention on understanding the early American economy. This text enters the resurgent discussion by showcasing the work of leading scholars who represent a spectrum of historiographical and methodological viewpoints.

An Empire of Wealth

An Empire of Wealth
Author: John Steele Gordon
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 674
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 006184764X

“Superb . . . the best one-volume economic history of the United States in a long time and, perhaps, ever.” —Newsweek In this illuminating history, John Steele Gordon tells the extraordinary story of the world’s first economic superpower. He shows how the American economy became not only the world’s largest, but also its most dynamic and innovative. Combining its English political inheritance with its diverse, ambitious population, the nation was able to develop more wealth for more and more people as it grew. Far from a guaranteed success, America’s economy suffered near constant adversity. It survived a profound recession after the Revolution, an unwise decision by Andrew Jackson that left the country without a central bank for nearly eighty years, and the disastrous Great Depression of the 1930s. Yet, having weathered those trials, the economy became vital enough to Americanize the world in recent decades. Virtually every major development in technology in the twentieth century originated in the United States, and as the products of those technologies traveled around the globe, the result was a subtle, peaceful, and pervasive spread of American culture and perspective.

American Economic Growth and Standards of Living before the Civil War

American Economic Growth and Standards of Living before the Civil War
Author: Robert E. Gallman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2007-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0226279472

This benchmark volume addresses the debate over the effects of early industrialization on standards of living during the decades before the Civil War. Its contributors demonstrate that the aggregate antebellum economy was growing faster than any other large economy had grown before. Despite the dramatic economic growth and rise in income levels, questions remain as to the general quality of life during this era. Was the improvement in income widely shared? How did economic growth affect the nature of work? Did higher levels of income lead to improved health and longevity? The authors address these questions by analyzing new estimates of labor force participation, real wages, and productivity, as well as of the distribution of income, height, and nutrition.

Modernizing a Slave Economy

Modernizing a Slave Economy
Author: John Majewski
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2011-04-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0807882372

What would separate Union and Confederate countries look like if the South had won the Civil War? In fact, this was something that southern secessionists actively debated. Imagining themselves as nation builders, they understood the importance of a plan for the economic structure of the Confederacy. The traditional view assumes that Confederate slave-based agrarianism went hand in hand with a natural hostility toward industry and commerce. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, John Majewski's analysis finds that secessionists strongly believed in industrial development and state-led modernization. They blamed the South's lack of development on Union policies of discriminatory taxes on southern commerce and unfair subsidies for northern industry. Majewski argues that Confederates' opposition to a strong central government was politically tied to their struggle against northern legislative dominance. Once the Confederacy was formed, those who had advocated states' rights in the national legislature in order to defend against northern political dominance quickly came to support centralized power and a strong executive for war making and nation building.