Economics 110: American Economic History
Spring 2009
Lafayette 311 MWF 1:55 – 2:45
Prof Woolf
339 Old Mill 656-0190 arthur.woolf@uvm.edu
Office Hours: MWF 3:00 – 4:30 and by appointment
class syllabus available at www.uvm.edu/~awoolf
and follow the links or go directly to www.uvm.edu/~awoolf/classes/spring2009/ec110/ec110syllabus.html
Useful Links for this class
For relative prices through
history:
Measures of Worth
Topical encyclopedia for economic
history: http://eh.net/encyclopedia/
Historical Statistics of the United States: http://hsus.cambridge.org/HSUSWeb/HSUSEntryServlet
Course Overview
American Economic History is a survey course that will explore the American economy from its beginnings through the mid 20th century. The class will cover a variety of macro and micro economic issues, including the development of labor markets, government policy, the organization of industry, productivity growth, and agriculture, to name a few. We will always be looking at one major issue: How did the United States go from being a small isolated colony on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the largest and most prosperous economy on the planet? We’ll look at how that happened and use history as a way to explore how the economy may grow in the future. Along the way, we’ll see if the American experience can help illuminate why other countries have not become wealthy and whether our shared experiences are transferable.
You should have a basic understanding and knowledge of economics as a prerequisite for this course. Some basic knowledge of U.S. (non-economic) history is desirable. We will be using basic economic theory and concepts to examine some of the causal factors underlying U.S. economic growth. By the end of the semester you will, I hope, have a much better understanding of how we as a nation arrived at where we are today.
The required text for the course is History of the American Economy History (10th ed.) by Walton and Rockoff (referred to as WR below). This course encourages discussion on the economic and historical topics that we cover. I therefore expect all students to do all the readings before class. If I find students are not doing the readings, I may give unannounced quizzes. Outside readings are available and are on the internet. I advise you to download the readings on the internet (most are not that long) and read them that way.
The class will be a mix of lecture and discussion. I expect you to pose questions on the readings (both text and others) and to be able to answer questions posed by me.
Grading
Grades will be based on two midterm exams (25% each), a cumulative final (35%),
and a combination of homeworks, quizzes, and class participation (15%).
Timetable and Readings:
You should read the chapters and readings before coming to lecture. The
question listed for each section will be the basis for lecture and discussion.
Jan 12, 14
Why are we interested in American Economic History? How did
the U.S. become so rich?
WR Ch 1
Jan 16, 21
The Colonial Economy
Why did the colonies follow different development paths? What economic
forces influenced those paths?
WR Ch 2, Ch 3, pp 68-75 Ch 5
Jan 23, 26
The American Revolution and Constitution
How did British economic policy lead to the Revolution? How did the U.S.
Constitution promote American economic growth?
WR Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8
The
Declaration of Independence < http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/bdsdcc:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28bdsdcc02101%29%29>
The
Constitution
< http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/bdsdcc:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28bdsdccc0802%29%29>
Homework assignment: Write a 2-3 page essay discussing the main economic features of the U.S. Constitution and how you think they help to establish the institutional basis of a market economy.
Jan 28, 30
Westward Expansion and Population Growth
Why was land policy an important issue for the U.S.? How did it differ
regionally? How did land affect population and wages? How and why did the
U.S. population grow and and at what rate?
WR Ch 8, Ch 11
Nicholas Eberstadt, World Depopulation, Milken Institute Review, Q1 2000, pp 37-48
<http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/review/2000_3/mir5_30_depop.pdf>
Feb 2, 4
Market Integration
How does Adam Smith's idea that the division of labor is limited by the extent
of the market apply to transportation improvements in the antebellum U.S.? What did he mean by the title of his chapter?
WR Ch 9
Adam
Smith: That the Division of Labour is Limited by the Extent of the Market
<http://geolib.com/smith.adam/won1-03.html>
Feb 6, 9
The Growth of Manufacturing
How did market size, productivity, and relative prices affect manufacturing in
the antebellum U.S.?
WR Ch 10
Feb 11 Exam 1
Feb 13, 16
Money and Banks
Why were there conflicts between an unregulated monetary system and the need
for some sort of system to regulate money and banks?
WR Ch 12
The Bank that Hamilton Built, Minneapolis Fed, The Region, September 2007
<
http://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications_papers/pub_display.cfm?id=1141>
Feb 18, 20
Slavery and the Civil War
How does the economic way of thinking about slavery help us to understand the
coming of the Civil War? Was slavery doomed or a viable economic institution?
WR Ch 13, Ch 14 pp. 264-274
Slavery
< http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/wahl.slavery.us>
Who Benefited
from Slavery? Brad DeLong
< http://delong.typepad.com/113_F07/20070910_cuibono.pdf>
Feb 23
Economic Impacts of the Civil War
Did the Civil War enhance or hurt the economy and the economic growth potential
of the U.S.?
WR Ch 14 pp 275-282
Economics of
the Civil War <http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/ransom.civil.war.us>
Feb 25, 27
Northern Agriculture: Successes and Problems
WR Ch 15
What was the impact of increased U.S. agricultural production on the U.S. and on the world? Why were farmers unhappy in the late 19th century?
Mar 2, 4, 6
Transcontinental Railroads and Land Policy
How much did railroads help the U.S. post bellum economy? Were they indispensable?
WR Ch 16
Mar 16, 18
Rise of Big Business and U.S. Ascendancy
How and why did the U.S. become the world's economic superpower?
WR Ch 17
Mar 20, 23
Labor, Population, and Immigration
How did the post bellum economic and demographic changes affect the standard of
living?
WR Ch 18
Mar 25, 27
The Problem with Money
WR 19
Hugh Rockoff, The
Wizard of Oz As Monetary Allegory, Journal of Political Economy (Vol 98,
No.4), August, 1990, pp. 739-760
Panic
of 1907, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston <http://www.bos.frb.org/about/pubs/panicof1.pdf>
Mar 30
EXAM 2
Apr 1
World War I
What problems did the nation face organizing its economy to fight WWI?
WR 21
Apr 3, 6
Roaring 20s: Prelude to the Depression
Was the boom in the 1920s an indication that a major bust would follow?
WR Ch 22
Apr 8, 10, 13, 15
The Great Depression and the New Deal
Why did the Great Depression Happen? How bad was it? What did the
New Deal Do?
WR Ch 23, 24
Price Fishback, What do the New Deal and World War II Tell us About The Prospects for a Stimulus Package (2008)
< http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/price-fishback-what-do-the-new-deal-and-world-war-ii-tell-us-about-the-prospects-for-a-stimulus-package/#more-3329>
Amity Shlaes The Chicken v. The Eagle, Bradley Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute <http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.490,filter.all/event_detail.asp#> (click on video under Event Materials)
Apr 17, 20
World War II
How did the economy mobilize to fight WWII? Did the War End the Depression?
WR Ch 25
Robert Higgs Wartime Prosperity?
A Reassessment of U.S. Policy in the 1940s. Journal of Economic History,
March 1992, pp. 41-60
<http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-0507%28199203%2952%3A1%3C41%3AWPAROT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A>
Apr 22, 24
Post War America
How good was it? What economic problems were created? What were
solved? Why did government get so big?
WR Ch 26-28
Apr 27, 29
The 21st Century Economy
What will your economic future be?
WR Ch 29
Robert Fogel, Changes
in the Process of Aging in the Twentieth Century, Lecture at Cornell University, October 18, 2004.
< http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/FogelVisit2004/Lecture.pdf
Final Exam Date not yet specified