Journal of Economic Literature - Book Review

Economic Evolution and Revolution in Historical Time by Paul W. Rhode, Joshua L. Rosenbloom and David F. Weiman

Published By: Stanford: Stanford University Press, Stanford Economics and Finance
ISBN: 978-0-8047-7185-6
Date of Publication: 2011

Richard Steckel of Ohio State University reviews "Economic Evolution and Revolution in Historical Time" by Paul W. Rhod e, Joshua L. Rosenbloom and David F. Weiman. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins: Sixteen papers, originally presented at a conference sponsored by Stanford University's Institute for Economic Policy Research in September 2008, address evolutionary economic change, regional development, and revolutions in labor markets. Papers discuss the Stanford tradition in economic history; natural resources and economic outcomes; the institutionalization of science in Europe, 1650–1850; the fundamental impact of the slave trade on African economies; the U.S. Indian policy in light of Australian policy toward Aboriginal peoples; financial market and industry structure—a comparison of the banking and textile industries in Boston and Philadelphia in the early nineteenth century; railroads and the rise of the factory—evidence for the United States, 1850–70; productivity growth and the regional dynamics of Antebellum Southern development; banking on the periphery—the cotton South, systemic seasonality, and the limits of national banking reform; rural credit and mobility in India; labor-market regimes in U.S. economic history; the political economy of progress—lessons from the causes and consequences of the New Deal; teachers and tipping points—historical origins of the teacher quality crisis; inequality and institutions in twentieth-century America; the unexpected long-run impact of the minimum wage—an educational cascade; and America's first culinary revolution. Rhode is Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan. Rosenbloom is Professor of Economics and Associate Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies at the University of Kansas. Weiman is Alena Wels Hirschorn '58 Professor of Economics at Barnard College and an affiliated member of Columbia University's History Department. Index.

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Richard Steckel of Ohio State University

D02: Institutions: Design, Formation, and Operations
N00: Economic History: General