Susan Ariel Aaronson, National Policy Association Historical Roots of GATT and the Failure of the ITO While the United States has always participated in international trade, it did not take a leadership role in global trade policy making until the Great Depression. One reason for this is that under the US Constitution, Congress has responsibility […]
David R. Stead, University of York Arthur Young (1741-1820) was widely regarded by his contemporaries as the leading agricultural writer of the time. Born in London, he was the youngest child of the Suffolk gentry landowners Anne and the Reverend Arthur. Young was educated at Lavenham Grammar School, and after abortive attempts to become a […]
Christopher J. Tassava For the United States, World War II and the Great Depression constituted the most important economic event of the twentieth century. The war’s effects were varied and far-reaching. The war decisively ended the depression itself. The federal government emerged from the war as a potent economic actor, able to regulate economic activity […]
Hugh Rockoff, Rutgers University Although the United States was actively involved in World War I for only nineteen months, from April 1917 to November 1918, the mobilization of the economy was extraordinary. (See the chronology at the end for key dates). Over four million Americans served in the armed forces, and the U.S. economy turned […]
Jim Couch, University of North Alabama Introduction: The Great Depression and the New Deal The Great Depression stands as an event unique in American history due to both its length and severity. With the unprecedented economic collapse, the nation faced “an emergency more serious than war” (Higgs 1987, p. 159). The Depression was a time […]
Price V. Fishback, University of Arizona Workers’ compensation was one of the first social insurance programs adopted broadly throughout the United States. Under workers’ compensation employers are required to make provisions such that workers who are injured in accidents arising “out of or in the course of employment” receive medical treatment and receive payments ranging […]
Erik D. Craft, University of Richmond Introduction The United States Congress established a national weather organization in 1870 when it instructed the Secretary of War to organize the collection of meteorological observations and forecasting of storms on the Great Lakes and Atlantic Seaboard. Large shipping losses on the Great Lakes during the 1868 and 1869 […]
Norman Jones, Utah State University The question of when and if money can be lent at interest for a guaranteed return is one of the oldest moral and economic problems in Western Civilization. The Greeks argued about usury, Hebrews denounced it, Roman law controlled it, and Christians began pondering it in the late Roman Empire. […]
Luis Bértola, Universidad de la República — Uruguay Uruguay’s Early History Without silver or gold, without valuable species, scarcely peopled by gatherers and fishers, the Eastern Strand of the Uruguay River (Banda Oriental was the colonial name; República Oriental del Uruguay is the official name today) was, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, distant and […]
Fred Smith and Sarah Allen, Davidson College Introduction Any discussion of urban decline must begin with a difficult task – defining what is meant by urban decline. Urban decline (or “urban decay”) is a term that evokes images of abandoned homes, vacant storefronts, and crumbling infrastructure, and if asked to name a city that has […]
ECONOMICS HISTORY ASSOCIATION
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MICHAEL HAUPERT
EMAIL: MHAUPERT@UWLAX.EDU
MEETINGS COORDINATOR
JEREMY LAND
JEREMY.LAND@GU.SE
ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR
TAYLOR LAND
TAYLORLAND@EH.NET