Business Statistics of the United States is a comprehensive and practical collection of data from as early as 1913 that reflects the nation's economic performance. It provides several years of annual, quarterly, and monthly data in industrial and demographic detail including key indicators such as: gross domestic product, personal income, spending, saving, employment, unemployment, the capital stock, and more. Business Statistics of the United States is the best place to find historical perspectives on the U.S. economy. Of equal importance to the data are the introductory highlights, extensive notes, and figures for each chapter that help users to understand the data, use them appropriately, and, if desired, seek additional information from the source agencies. Business Statistics of the United States provides a rich and deep picture of the American economy and contains approximately 3,500 time series in all. The data are predominately from federal government sources including: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Bureau of Economic Analysis Bureau of Labor Statistics Census Bureau Employment and Training Administration Energy Information Administration Federal Housing Finance Agency U.S. Department of the Treasury

The search for the pioneers of financial economics contained in this volume places the origins of financial economics well outside the conventional boundaries of the history of economic thought. Under the editorship of Geoffrey Poitras, a leading authority on the history of financial economics, these specially commissioned essays comprise contributions on the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries, and include the work of both well-known and less familiar historical figures. The subjects studied display a variety of philosophical foundations and include: Jacob Bernoulli, Joseph de la Vega, Edmond Halley, Abraham de Moivre, Duvillard de Durand, Jules Regnault, Henri Lefevre, Louis Bachelier, and Vincenz Bronzin. Life annuity valuation, the modified internal rate of return, the nineteenth-century science of financial investments, and the early development of option pricing models are just some of the issues dealt with by these early thinkers and explored in depth within these pages. An outstanding volume of original analysis, Pioneers of Financial Economics is an essential reference source of seminal contributions on the early history of financial economics.

This book comprehensively investigates the position of China's working class between the 1980s and 2010s and considers the consequences of economic reforms in historical perspective. It argues the case that, far from the illusion during the Maoist period that a new society had been established where the working classes held greater political and economic autonomy, economic reforms in the post-Mao era have led to the return of traditional Marxist proletariats in China. The book demonstrates how the reforms of Deng Xiaoping have led to increased economic efficiency at the expense of economic equality through an extensive case study of an SOE (state-owned enterprise) in Sichuan Province as well as wider discussions of the emergence of state capitalism on both a micro and macroeconomic level. The book also discusses workers' protests during these periods of economic reform to reflect the reformation of class consciousness in post-Mao China, drawing on Marx's concept of a transition from a 'class-in-itself' to a 'class-for-itself'. It will be valuable reading for students and scholars of Chinese economic and social history, as well as political economy, sociology, and politics.

"State, Economy and the Great Divergence" provides a new analysis of what has become the central debate in global economic history: the 'great divergence' between European and Asian growth. Focusing on early modern China and Western Europe, this book offers a new level of detail on comparative state formation that has wide-reaching implications for European, Eurasian and global history.Beginning with a comprehensive overview of the historiography, Peer Vries goes on to extend and develop the debate, critically engaging with the huge volume of literature published on the topic to date. Incorporating new insights into the case of Europe, he offers a compelling alternative to the exaggerated claims to East-West equivalence, or Asian superiority, which have come to dominate discourse surrounding this issue.This is a vital update to a key issue in global economic history and, as such, is essential reading for students and scholars interested in keeping up to speed with the on-going debates.

The literature of monetary economics has been characterised by controversy and changes in the received wisdom throughout its history. The controversies have related not merely to the effects on incomes and prices of changes in the money supply, but even to the question of whether causality runs from money to incomes and prices or vice versa. This book begins with the pioneering work of the sixteenth century French writer Jean Bodin, followed by the celebrated John Law, and John Locke (and his eighteenth century critics). It considers both the theory and the evidence involved in the controversy between the Currency and Banking schools. Closely related to this was the work of two writers, Thomas Joplin and Walter Bagehot, both of whom provided perspectives strikingly different from those of the main controversialists and, in so doing, advanced the subject of monetary economics. The book seeks, through the examination of monetary controversies, to provide an historical perspective on modern understanding of monetary policy. It will be essential reading for economists with an interest in monetary economics and the history of economic thought.

The story of banking in twentieth-century Oklahoma is also the story of the Sooner State's first hundred years, as Michael J. Hightower's new book demonstrates. Oklahoma statehood coincided with the Panic of 1907, and both events signaled seismic shifts in state banking practices. Much as Oklahoma banks shed their frontier persona to become more tightly integrated in the national economy, so too was decentralized banking revealed as an anachronism, utterly unsuited to an increasingly global economy. With creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913 and subsequent choice of Oklahoma City as the location for a branch bank, frontier banking began yielding to systems commensurate with the needs of the new century.
Through meticulous research and personal interviews with bankers statewide, Hightower has crafted a compelling narrative of Oklahoma banking in the twentieth century. One of the first acts of the new state legislature was to guarantee that depositors in state-chartered banks would never lose a penny. Meanwhile, land and oil speculators and the bankers who funded their dreams were elevating get-rich-quick (and often get-poor-quick) schemes to an art form. In defense of country banks, the Oklahoma Bankers Association dispatched armed vigilantes to stop robbers in their tracks.
Subsequent developments in Oklahoma banking include adaptation to regulations spawned by the Great Depression, the post-World War II boom, the 1980s depression in the oil patch, and changes fostered by rapid-fire advances in technology and communication. The demise of Penn Square Bank offers one of history's few unambiguous lessons, and it warrants two chapters--one on the rise, and one on the fall. Increasing regulation of the banking industry, the survival of family banks, and the resilience of community banking are consistent themes in a state that is only a few generations removed from the frontier.

A wide-ranging and original history of globalization, examining how it has developed and what it means for the future Since humans migrated from Africa and dispersed throughout the world, they have found countless ways and reasons to reconnect with each other. In this entertaining book, Nayan Chanda follows the exploits of traders, preachers, adventurers, and warriors throughout history as they have shaped and reshaped the world. For Chanda, globalization is a process of ever-growing interconnectedness and interdependence that began thousands of years ago and continues to this day with increasing speed and ease. In the end, globalization-from the lone adventurer carving out a new trade route to the expanding ambitions of great empires-is the product of myriad aspirations and apprehensions that define just about every aspect of our lives: what we eat, wear, ride, or possess is the product of thousands of years of human endeavor and suffering across the globe. Chanda reviews and illustrates the economic and technological forces at play in globalization today and concludes with a thought-provoking discussion of how we can and should embrace an inevitably global world.

This book investigates perceptions, modes, and techniques of Venetian rule in the early modern Eastern Mediterranean (1400-1700) between colonial empire, negotiated and pragmatic rule; between soft touch and exploitation; in contexts of former and continuous imperial belongings; and with a focus on representations and modes of rule as well as on colonial daily realities and connectivities.

Through this book's roughly 50 reference entries, readers will gain a better appreciation of what life during the Industrial Revolution was like and see how the United States and Europe rapidly changed as societies transitioned from an agrarian economy to one based on machines and mass production. The Industrial Revolution remains one of the most transformative events in world history. It forever changed the economic landscape and gave birth to the modern world as we know it. The content and primary documents within The Industrial Revolution: History, Documents, and Key Questions provide key historical background of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the United States, enable students to gain unique insights into life during the period, and allow readers to perceive the similarities to developments in society today with ongoing advances in current science and technology. Roughly 50 reference entries provide essential information about the most important people and developments related to the Industrial Revolution, including Richard Arkwright, coal, colonialism, cotton, the factory system, pollution, railroads, and the steam engine. Each entry provides information that gives readers a sense of the importance of the topic within a historical and societal perspective. For example, the coverage of movements during the Industrial Revolution explains the origin of each, including when it was established, and by whom; its significance; and the social context in which the movement was formed. Each entry cites works for further reading to help users learn more about specific topics. Provides entries on a wide range of ideas, individuals, events, places, movements, organizations, and objects and artifacts of the Industrial Revolution that allow readers to better grasp the lasting significance of the period Offers a historical overview essay that presents a narrative summary of the causes of the Industrial Revolution and a timeline of the most important events related to the Industrial Revolution Includes primary sources-each introduced by a headnote-that supply contemporary perspectives on vital elements of social history, especially the actions and conditions of laborers during the Industrial Revolution, providing insights into people's actions and motivations during this time of transition

Improvement was a new concept in seventeenth-century England; only then did it become usual for people to think that the most effective way to change things for the better was not a revolution or a return to the past, but the persistent application of human ingenuity to the challenge of increasing the country's wealth and general wellbeing. Improvements in agriculture and industry, commerce and social welfare, would bring infinite prosperity and happiness. The word improvement was itself a recent coinage. It was useful as a slogan summarising all these goals, and since it had no equivalent in other languages, it gave the English a distinctive culture of improvement that they took with them to Ireland and Scotland, and to their possessions overseas. It made them different from everyone else. The Invention of Improvement explains how this culture of improvement came about. Paul Slack explores the political and economic circumstances which allowed notions of improvement to take root, and the changes in habits of mind which improvement accelerated. It encouraged innovation, industriousness, and the acquisition of consumer goods which delivered comfort and pleasure. There was a new appreciation of material progress as a process that could be measured, and its impact was publicised by the circulation of information about it. It had made the country richer and many of its citizens more prosperous, if not always happier. Drawing on a rich variety of contemporary literature, The Invention of Improvement situates improvement at the centre of momentous changes in how people thought and behaved, how they conceived of their environment and their collective prospects, and how they cooperated in order to change them.

The period between the close of the Kennedy Round and the opening of the Uruguay Round replaced a decade of fast growth in world output and trade - and of prevailing harmony in trade relations across the Atlantic - with twenty years of currency and trade turmoil and strains between the US and the EC. Giuseppe La Barca provides a comprehensive account of these trade developments and the measures adopted by the US and the EC to cope with them; in doing so, he draws a wider picture of international trade policy-making during the period. The aftermath of the Kennedy Round witnessed the undoing of the Bretton Woods regime, but the consequent overheating of the world economy resulted in an acceleration of international trade while settlement in the currency area contributed to the launching of the Tokyo Round negotiations. The first oil shock heralded an unprecedented slump along with a jump in unemployment and inflation rates. The Tokyo Round resulted only in a first step in eliminating non-tariff barriers, leaving contentious issues between the two transatlantic trading partners unsettled. The second oil shock led to growing calls for protectionism and unilateralism particularly in the US, and the Reagan administration pressed for the launch of the Uruguay Round only partially supported by the EC. Providing an in-depth analysis of trade developments involving the two most important economic actors, and placing these developments in a multilateral, international context, this book offers new insights to scholars of economic history and international political economy.

This influential volume, which has been revised and updated for the twenty-first century, includes both new material and more detailed expositions of existing arguments. Although so-called 'real' theories of business cycles and growth are prevalent in contemporary mainstream economics, Controversies in Monetary Economics suggests that those economists who have instinctively focused on monetary factors in explaining macroeconomic behaviour are more genuinely 'realistic'. The author combines an explanation of past and present monetary controversy with practical proposals for the conduct of monetary policy in the contemporary global economy. Several alternative approaches are discussed, ranging from the traditional quantity theory to post Keynesian theories of endogenous money. This insightful book will be of interest to all those concerned with monetary economics and macroeconomics, including academic researchers, graduate and senior undergraduate students - particularly those looking for an alternative to current economic orthodoxy - and historians of economic thought. Practitioners in central banks, international financial institutions, the financial markets and finance ministries will also find this work invaluable.

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the 20th century's most accomplished and controversial economists, scholars from around the world reflect on the legacy of Joan Robinson's work. Addressing Robinsonian themes in growth, money, trade and methodology, their essays provide fresh perspectives on old questions. Joan Robinson's first priority was not theoretical perfection or abstract rigor. The arcane debates of the profession had little practical relevance and became increasingly tedious to her. Ironically, much of current economic theory embraces the realism she was striving toward. Indeed, as the essays in this volume show, she was in many ways ahead of her time. The volume begins by tracing the intellectual contours of her work and discussing the people and events that shaped her thinking. The succeeding chapters address her theories on accumulation, capital, and equilibrium, her interpretation of Marx, as well as the influence of Piero Sraffa. Several chapters analyze and extend her theory of growth, illustrating the wide applicability of her approach. A compelling exploration of Joan Robinson's contributions, this volume will be of great interest to scholars interested in growth, income distribution, post-Keynesian economics, macroeconomics, history of thought, money, capital theory, international trade and finance.

This book is unique in providing the first full English translation of Menger's seminal article Geld - one of the most influential papers on the origin of money. The editors aim to facilitate a broader and more detailed discussion of Menger's method, theory and findings with this translation and in depth analysis. Menger's institutional approach is applied and extended to the analysis of the evolution of payments systems, focusing in particular on electronic money, on its institutional character, and on monetary policy as well as predictions of likely future developments. Carl Menger and the Evolution of Payments Systems will be of great interest to financial economists and Austrian economists as well as historians of economic thought.

In light of the recent and ongoing surge of interest in Alfred Marshall's work, this new and original reference volume fills a gap in the literature through a detailed examination of his thought and of his contributions to economics and social science. The Companion places Alfred Marshall's ideas in their historical context, highlighting the many streams of social research originating from them. The contributors form a remarkable cast of leading experts, covering a spectrum of Marshallian themes and issues, including: * his life and work * background and influences * scope and methodology of economics * economic analysis - including distribution theory, industrial economics and money * social and political issues * relations with his contemporaries * the Marshallian tradition * relevance to contemporary economics. This comprehensive and multidisciplinary Companion illustrates the relevance of Marshall to present-day economic reality and as such will prove an invaluable reference tool for general economists and a wide ranging audience: historians of economic thought; economic, political and cultural historians; industrial, regional and development economists; economists interested in institutional, cognitive and evolutionary economics.

From professional team sports to international events such as the Olympics and Tour de France, the modern sports industry continues to attract a large number of spectators and participants. This book, edited by John K. Wilson and Richard Pomfret, analyzes the economic evolution of sports over the last 150 years, from a pastime activity to a big business enterprise. It begins at a time when entrepreneurs and players first started making money from professional sports leagues, through to the impact of radio and TV in the twentieth century, and on to the present day. Using examples from sports across the world, the chapters cover such important issues as player migration, labor market restrictions, stadium arrangements and the rise and fall of workplace provisions. Unlike most sports economic texts, the contributors featured here provide insights into the historical origins of many practices and policies peculiar to the industry. This historical perspective casts light onto the development of practices, such as labor market regulations and public policies, which have become more prevalent in the modern age. The non-technical, user-friendly nature of this book will appeal to many students, particularly those enrolled in sports economics courses - a field of study which is increasingly common. Academics will also find this book to be a timely reference for their research and teaching. Contributors include: L. Borrowman, A. Carter, J. Cranfield, L. Frost, A.K. Halabi, K. Inwood, A. Kawaura, S. La Croix, M. Lightbody, J.-F. Mignot, R. Pomfret, J.A. Ross, W. Vamplew, J.K. Wilson

In Tales of the Iron Bloomery Bernt Rundberget examines the ironmaking in southern Hedmark in Norway in the period AD 700-1300. Excavations show that this method is distinctive and geographically limited; this is expressed by the technology, organization, development and large-scale production. The ironmaking practice had its origins in increasing demands for iron, due to growth in urbanization, church power, kingship and mercantile networks. Rundberget's main hypothesis is that iron became the economic basis for political developments, from chiefdom to kingdom. Iron extraction activity grew from the late Viking Age, throughout the early medieval period, before it came to a sudden collapse around AD 1300. This trend correlates with the rise and fall of the kingdom.