Economics 135
Economic History of the U.S.
University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill
Spring 1999
Tuesday 2-4:30

Visiting Assoc. Prof. Robert Whaples
Phone: 910-758-4916 (MWThF)
Phone: 966-5335 (Tuesday 12-2:30)
Office Hours: Tuesday 1-2 PM
Office: 208C Gardner
Email: whaples@wfu.edu

Objective:  Our complementary goals are to become more adept at economic
analysis by using economic theory with statistical and historical evidence
in examining the past and 2) to gain a greater understanding of today's
economy by studying the past.

Grades:
1. Midterm Exam (35 percent of course grade)
2. Four Quizzes (each 12.5 percent of course grade)
3. Term Paper (10 percent of course grade)
4. Class Discussion (5 percent of course grade)

Books:
Jeremy Atack and Peter Passell, A New Economic View of American
     History, Second Edition.
Claudia Goldin, Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History
     of American Women.
Thomas E. Hall and J. David Ferguson, The Great Depression: An
     International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies.
Sanford M. Jacoby, Modern Manors: Welfare Capitalism since the New
     Deal.
Gavin Wright, Old South, New South: Revolutions in the Southern
     Economy since the Civil War.

I look forward to your success in this class.



Robert Whaples

* = on reserve

January 12: American Economic Growth; Measurement and Causes
*Robert Whaples, "Where Is There Consensus among American Economic
     Historians?" Journal of Economic History, Mar. 1995.
Atack & Passell, Chap. 1

January 19: The Colonial Period
Atack & Passell, Chaps. 2 and 3.

January 26: The Nineteenth Century
Atack & Passell, Chaps. 5-10, 16, and 17.

February 2 and February 9: The Great Depression
Thomas E. Hall and J. David Ferguson, The Great Depression: An
     International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies.
Atack & Passell, Chaps. 20-22

February 16: The Rise of Big Government
Atack and Passell, Chap. 23
*Peter Lindert, "The Rise of Social Spending, 1880-1930,"
     Explorations in Economic History, 1994.
*Peter Lindert, "What Limits Social Spending?" Explorations in
     Economic History, 1996.
*Robert Higgs "The Sources of Big Government: A Critical Survey of
     Hypotheses," "How Much Has Government Grown?" and "Crisis,
     Bigger Government, and Ideological Change: Toward
     Understanding the Ratchet," from Crisis and Leviathan:
     Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government.

February 23: Banking
Midterm Exam
Atack & Passell, Chaps. 4 and 18

March 2: Old Age and Social Security
Quiz I
*Brian Gratton, "The Poverty of Impoverishment Theory: The
     Economic Well-Being of the Elderly, 1890-1950," Journal of
     Economic History, 1996.
*Dora Costa, "Health and Labor Force Participation of Older Men,
     1900-1991," Journal of Economic History, 1996.
*Peter Ferrara and Michael Tanner, "A Short History of Social
     Security," from A New Deal for Social Security.

March 9: Spring Break

March 16: Slavery
*Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman, "Explaining the Relative
     Efficiency of Slave Agriculture in the Antebellum South,"
     American Economic Review, 1977 (in Robert Whaples and Dianne
     Betts, eds, Historical Perspectives on the American Economy).
*Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman, "The Anatomy of Exploitation,"
     from Time on the Cross (in Whaples and Betts).
*Paul David and Peter Temin, "Slavery: The Progressive
     Institution?" Journal of Economic History, 1974 (in Whaples
     and Betts).
*Richard Steckel, "A Peculiar Population: The Nutrition, Health,
     and Mortality of American Slaves from Childhood to Maturity,"
     Journal of Economic History, 1986.

March 23: Open Date

March 30: The South since the Civil War
Quiz II
Gavin Wright, Old South, New South: Revolutions in the Southern
     Economy since the Civil War.

April 6: Immigration and Immigrants
Atack & Passell, Chap. 8
Claudia Goldin, "The Political Economy of Immigration Restriction
     in the United States, 1890-1921," from The Regulated Economy,
     1994.
David Buffum and Robert Whaples, "Fear and Lathing in the Michigan
     Furniture Industry," Economic Inquiry, 1995.
George Borjas, "The Economics of Immigration," Journal of Economic
     Literature, 1994.
First Draft of Term Paper Due

April 13: Women in the Labor Market
Quiz III
Claudia Goldin, Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History
     of American Women.

April 20: The Workweek
Robert Whaples, "Winning the Eight-Hour Day," Journal of Economic
     History, 1990.
Juliet Schor, "The Insidious Cycle of Work and Spend," from The
     Overworked American.

April 27: Organized Labor and Industrial Relations
Quiz IV
Sanford M. Jacoby, Modern Manors: Welfare Capitalism since the New
     Deal.
Final Draft of Term Paper Due