Gives permanence and context to Gallman's influential economic research on growth theory. When we think about history, we often think about people, events, ideas, and revolutions, but what about the numbers? What do the data tell us about what was, what is, and how things changed over time? Economist Robert E. Gallman (1926-98) gathered extensive data on US capital stock and created a legacy that has, until now, been difficult for researchers to access and appraise in its entirety. Gallman measured American capital stock from a range of perspectives, viewing it as the accumulation of income saved and invested, and as an input into the production process. He used the level and change in the capital stock as proxy measures for long-run economic performance. Analyzing data in this way from the end of the US colonial period to the turn of the twentieth century, Gallman placed our knowledge of the long nineteenth century-the period during which the United States began to experience per capita income growth and became a global economic leader-on a strong empirical foundation. Gallman's research was painstaking and his analysis meticulous, but he did not publish the material backing to his findings in his lifetime. Here Paul W. Rhode completes this project, giving permanence to a great economist's insights and craftsmanship. Gallman's data speak to the role of capital in the economy, which lies at the heart of many of the most pressing issues today.

When we think about history, we often think about people, events, ideas, and revolutions, but what about the numbers? What do the data tell us about what was, what is, and how things changed over time? Economist Robert E. Gallman (1926-98) gathered extensive data on US capital stock and created a legacy that has, until now, been difficult for researchers to access and appraise in its entirety. Gallman measured American capital stock from a range of perspectives, viewing it as the accumulation of income saved and invested, and as an input into the production process. He used the level and change in the capital stock as proxy measures for long-run economic performance. Analyzing data in this way from the end of the US colonial period to the turn of the twentieth century, Gallman placed our knowledge of the long nineteenth century--the period during which the United States began to experience per capita income growth and became a global economic leader--on a strong empirical foundation. Gallman's research was painstaking and his analysis meticulous, but he did not publish the material backing to his findings in his lifetime. Here Paul W. Rhode completes this project, giving permanence to a great economist's insights and craftsmanship. Gallman's data speak to the role of capital in the economy, which lies at the heart of many of the most pressing issues today.

These classic studies of the history of economic change in 19th- and 20th-century United States, Canada, and British West Indies examine national product; capital stock and wealth; and fertility, health, and mortality. "A 'must have' in the library of the serious economic historian."--Samuel Bostaph, "Southern Economic Journal"

This study examines the impact of British capital flows on the evolution of capital markets in four countries - Argentina, Australia, Canada, and the United States - over the years 1870 to 1914. In substantive chapters on each country it offers parallel histories of the evolution of their financial infrastructures - commercial banks, non-bank intermediaries, primary security markets, formal secondary security markets, and the institutions that provide the international financial links connecting the frontier country with the British capital market. At one level, the work constitutes a quantitative history of the development of the capital markets of five countries in the late nineteenth century. At a second level, it provides the basis for a useable taxonomy for the study of institutional invention and innovation. At a third, it suggests some lessons from the past about modern policy issues.

This study examines the impact of British capital flows on the evolution of capital markets in four countries--Argentina, Australia, Canada, and the United States--over the years 1865 to 1914. In substantive chapters on each of the countries it offers parallel histories of the evolution of their financial infrastructures--commercial banks, nonbank intermediaries, primary security markets, formal secondary security markets, and the institutions that provide the international financial links connecting the frontier country with the British capital market.

Volume 2 surveys the economic history of the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean during the nineteenth century. Five main themes frame the economic changes described in the volume: the migration of labor and capital from Europe, Asia, and Africa to the Americas; westward expansion; slavery and its aftermath; the process of industrialization; and the social consequences of economic growth that led to fundamental changes in the role of government. Other topics include inequality, population, labor, agriculture, entrepreneurship, transportation, banking and finance, business law, and international trade.

Volume 3 surveys the economic history of the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean during the twentieth century. Its chapters trace the century's major events, notably the Great Depression and the two world wars, as well as its long-term trends, such as changing technology, the rise of the corporate economy, and the development of labor law. The book also discusses agriculture, population, labor markets, and urban and regional structural changes.

This volume surveys the economic history of British North America, including Canada and the Caribbean, and of the early United States, from early settlement by Europeans to the end of the eighteenth century. The book includes chapters on the economic history of Native Americans (to 1860), and also on the European and African backgrounds to colonization. Subsequent chapters cover the settlement and growth of the colonies; British mercantilist policies and the American colonies; and the American Revolution, the Constitution, and economic developments through 1800.

Between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, the American economy began its dramatic transformation to a modern industrial system. Scholars have long speculated about the pace and pattern of economic growth curing this period and the effects of growth on standards of living. In this volume, leading economic historians bring together a generation of research on these central issues. The contributors survey a variety of sources - including censuses, tax lists, farm day books, military records, U.S. Treasury reports, and patent records - to assemble data on the labor force, wage rates, national income, the capital stock, prices, technical changes, and productivity improvements. The quantitative data reveal that there was a significant and sustained improvement in economic performance between 1790 and 1860. Moreover, rates of growth accelerated over the whole period, despite several temporary setbacks. Looking beyond traditional measures and answer, additional important questions: Was the improvement in income widely shared? What happened to the quality of life? Were there important human costs to industrialization? How was the nature of work affected? What happened to health and longevity? The preponderance of evidence shows that living standards improved across a wide spectrum of society. However, there are gaps in our knowledge of how the poorest Americans fared. Even though many enjoyed better incomes, there are indications that the disease environment deteriorated, with unfavorable consequences for morbidity and mortality. With these important findings, the contributors set the agenda for further research on standards of living during a critical period in American history.