AMERICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY (ECO/HIS 518)
(Writing and Speaking Intensive for Undergraduates)
Professor Ken Snowden
Office: 450 Bryan, 334-5463
Email: SNOWDEN@UNCG.EDU
Spring 2014
Office Hours: TR 4-5PM
Economic history is one of the most interesting and important sub disciplines in economics. The field
examines historical issues that cut across a diverse range of topics including macroeconomics,
microeconomics, government policy, industrial organization, transportation, agriculture, labor markets,
and financial markets. The prerequisite for the course is a one-semester introduction to economics (ECO
101 at UNCG). After completing this course students should understand the factors that have influenced
American economic growth and development since the Civil War and be aware of the considerations that
will affect growth in the future.
Students in the course will be required to read, learn and think beyond textbook discussions. Our focus
will be on a body of original research articles that have shaped the important debates within economic
history over the past four decades. You will learn how to read, summarize and evaluate these
contributions through a series of writing assignments and class presentations; you will then apply these
skills in two in-class essay examinations, two independent papers and in a team-based presentation.
Throughout the course the emphasis is on learning to become a critical reader, writer, speaker and thinker
-- we still do not have definite “answers” to many of the important issues that we will address this
semester, and you will be asked to draw your own conclusions concerning debates in areas such as:
A. The Impact of the Civil War on Regional Economic Development.
B. "Real" Sources of Growth: Labor, Natural Resources, Transportation, Technology.
C. "Institutional" Sources of Growth: Policy, Big Business, Regulation.
D. The Impacts of Education, Discrimination and Gender in the labor market.
E. Macroeconomic Instability and the Great Depression.
Textbooks and Readings
The primary required text for the course is A New Economic History of American History by Jeremy
Atack and Peter Passell (2nd ed., WW Norton, 1994). The text provides an excellent treatment of nearly
all of the issues that we will cover in more depth in lecture. In lectures we will focus on the discussion in
the text and a set of required readings that are shown in the course calendar. Most are original academic
journal articles that are available in hard copy in Jackson Library, electronically through J-STOR, and on
blackboard. Secure your own copy of each article and read them carefully prior to the lecture for which
they are assigned. You should also have access to The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B.
White (4th ed., Longman, 2000) and I recommend you actually purchase the book as a classic,
authoritative and concise guide to good writing.
Course Requirements
This course meets both the Writing and Speaking Intensive requirements for undergraduate students. The
course involves significant amounts of reading, writing and class discussion; the WI and SI designation
simply means that these activities are formally structured. The course also draws students with a wide
variety of academic backgrounds and economic and statistical training. Course requirements are designed
to accommodate this diversity while maintaining the expectation that all students develop and use critical
thinking.
ECO-HIS 518/Page 2
Course Requirements (continued)
Your course grade will be determined by four activities:
1.
2.
2.
3.
In-Class Examination I
Class Paper & Presentation I
Class Paper & Presentation II
In-Class Examination II 5/1
30%
25%
20%
25%
1. In-Class Examinations (55% of Course Grade)
There will be two exams. The first, on February 27, will be worth 30% of your final grade. The
second, during the final examination period on May 1, will be worth 25% of your final grade. You
will be given study questions (both short answer and essays) at least one week before each
examination, so you will know in advance the general questions and essays that could be on the
exams, but you will not know which ones will actually be on the exam. The required readings and
class notes are both important in preparing your answers. The final will not be cumulative.
2. Two Paper & Presentation Assignments (45% of Course Grade)
Each undergraduate student will submit two 5 page papers. The first is a critical summary of a
research article on a specific topic of your choice in American economic history. This assignment
has four “due dates”:
1. Wednesday, January 22, 2014: requests for Paper topics.
2. Monday, February 17, 2014: Short, 750 word summaries due (5% of course grade).
3. Monday, March 3, 2014: final draft of paper due (20% of course grade).
4. Tuesday/Thursday March 4-6, 2014: Group presentations of papers (5% of course grade).
The assignment for the second paper will be distributed on March 24, 2014. This assignment will
involve original research on a local economy during the Great Depression that will be summarized
in a second 5 page paper (20% of course grade). These papers will be presented in group
presentations on April 22 and 24 (5% of course grade).
3. Reading,Thinking and Class Participation
I will provide an extensive set of “Course study questions” that will help your work through the
text and required readings before each class so that you will be prepared for lectures. These
“Course study questions” serve two purposes:
1. They will prepare you to be an active listener and participant during in class discussions. To
do so, of course, you must attend class.
2. They will anticipate and set up the study questions for the in-class examinations. As a result,
by preparing these questions you will be in excellent shape to prepare the study questions for
the in-class examination when I hand these out one week ahead of the exam.
The course calendar follows on the next page. Keep in mind that you are expected to complete all reading
assignments before the scheduled lecture.
Page 3
ECO 518 Course Calendar – First Half
PART I. Measuring and Accounting for Growth in the Long-Run
Dates
Topic
Readings
1/14-16
Intro & Growth
A&P, Chapter 1. S. Kuznets, "Two Centuries
Of American Growth"
1/21-23
Population & Well-being
A&P, Chap 8, 212-30
R. Steckel, “The Standard of Living” EH.Net
A. Deaton, “ Income, Health, and Well-Being round
the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll”
Wednesday 1/22 Turn in Paper Topic Requests
1/28-30
Civil War & Railroads
A&P, Chap 13, 16
2/04-06
Manufacturing &
Big Business
A&P, Chap 17
2/11-13
Education &
Innovation
C. Goldin, “The Human Capital Century and
American Leadership: Virtues of the Past"
Robert J. Gordon, Does the "New Economy"
Measure up to the Great Inventions of the Past?
Wednesday 2/18 Turn in Paper Summaries
2/18-25
African Americans
Immigrants
Women
A&P, Chap 14, 8 (229-45)
R. Ransom and R. Sutch, “Debt Peonage in the
Cotton South”
W. Collins, " When the Tide Turned: Immigration
and the Delay of the Great Black Migration"
D. Costa, “From Mill Town to Board Room: The
Rise of Women’s Paid Labor”
Thursday 2/27 In-Class Examination I
Monday 3/3 PAPER I Due
Tuesday/Thursday 3/4-3/6 PRESENTATIONS OF PAPER I
Page 4
ECO 518 Course Calendar – Second Half
PART III. The Depression
Dates
Topic
Readings/Presentations
3/18
1920s
A&P, Chapter 20
3/20
1920s
A&P, Chap 20
D. Wheelock, “The Federal Response to Home
Mortgage Distress…,” Review of St. Louis Fed,
May/June, 2008, 133-48.
3/24
PAPER II ASSIGNED
3/25
Contraction
A&P, Chap 21
Christina Romer, "The Nation in Depression"
3/27
Contraction
A&P, Chap 21
4/ 1
Contraction
A&P, Chap 21
4/ 3
Depression
A&P, Chap 22 (625-34)
Chap 23 (648-56)
New Deal Monetary
D. Wheelock, “The Federal Response to Home
Mortgage Distress…,”
W. Silber, “Why Did FDR’s Bank Holiday Succeed?”
4/10
New Deal Fiscal
A&P, Chap 22 (634-47)
4/15
Macro Policy
C. Romer, “Changes in Business Cycles: Evidence
and Explanations,” JEP, Spring 1999.
4/ 8
4/17
Conclusion
Monday 4/21 PAPER II Due
Tuesday/Thursday 4/22-4/24 PRESENTATIONS OF PAPER I
Thursday 5/1 3:30-6:30 PM In-Class Exam II
Page 5
ECO 518
Required Class Readings List
All are Available on the Course Blackboard Page
1
S. Kuznets, "Two Centuries of American Growth," AER, 1977.
2
Steckel, Richard. "A History of the Standard of Living in the United States". EH.Net
Encyclopedia (ed) R. Whaples. 2002.
3
A. Deaton, “Income, Health, and Well-Being around the World: Evidence from the
Gallup World Poll,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 22:2, Spring 2008, 53–72.
4
C. Goldin, “The Human Capital Century and American Leadership: Virtues of the Past,"
JEH, June, 2001, 263-92
5
R. J. Gordon, “Does the "New Economy" Measure up to the Great Inventions of the
Past?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14:4 (Autumn, 2000), 49-74.
6
Roger Ransom and Richard Sutch, "The Impact of the Civil War and of Emancipation on
Southern Agriculture", EEH, 1975.
7
W. Collins, " When the Tide Turned: Immigration and the Delay of the Great Black
Migration," JEH, 1997, 607-32.
8
D. Costa, “From Mill Town to Board Room: The Rise of Women’s Paid Labor,” JEP,
2000.
9
Christine Romer, “The Nation in Depression,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives,
Spring 1993, 7:2, 19-39.
10
D. Wheelock, “The Federal Response to Home Mortgage Distress: Lessons from the
Great Depression,” Review of St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, May/June, 2008, 133-48.
11
W. Silber, “Why Did FDR’s Bank Holiday Succeed?” FRBNY Economic Policy Review
July 2009, 19-30.
12
Christine Romer, “Changes in Business Cycles: Evidence and Explanations,”JEP, 13:2,
Spring 1999, 23–44.
Note: AER
JEH
JEP
American Economic Review
Journal of Economic History
Journal of Economic Perspectives