Description
Book SynopsisIn this new volume of
Research in Economic History, editors Christopher Hanes and Susan Wolcott bring together a cast of expert contributors to vigorously interrogate and analyze historic economics questions. The volume looks across a range of issues. Two papers address the political economy of the US: one explores how editorials in Business Week encouraged the acceptance of Keynesian policies among US business elites; and one quantifies the role of economics in the political support of William Jennings Bryan. Two papers bring new insight into longstanding debates, looking at the “antebellum puzzle” and why medieval peasants had scattered fields. Finally, two papers explore topics in European history, including the effect of deflation on the distribution of income in Denmark, 1930-1935, and the influence of shareholders on policy at the Banque de France. For researchers and students of economic history, this volume pulls together the latest research on a variety of unanswered questions.
Trade ReviewThe six essays in this volume address topics in economic history. They explore the effect of changes in relative prices on the distribution of real household income in Denmark during the Great Depression; the importance of expository editorials in Business Week in spreading awareness of and gaining acceptance for Keynesian policies among US business elites; how the decision to join the military under changing economic conditions may lead to biased height measurements; the relationship between county-level votes for William Jennings Bryan vs. William McKinley in the 1896 election and county-level data of economic and demographic factors; the relationship between the Banque de France's policies and the interests of its shareholders and the myth that the bank was controlled by its large shareholders; and whether open fields reduced the risk faced by farmers in Sweden due to issues like heavy rains and droughts between 1715 and 1860. -- Annotation ©2019 * (protoview.com) *
Table of Contents1. Household-level Deflation Inequality in Denmark During the Great Depression;
Kim Abildgren 2. Business Week, The Great Depression, and the Coming of Keynesianism to America;
Ranjit S. Dighe 3. Theory and Diagnostics for Selection Biases in Historical Height Samples;
Howard Bodenhorn, Timothy W. Guinnane, and Thomas A. Mroz 4. Populists at the Polls: Economic Factors in the U.S. Presidential Election of 1896;
Barry Eichengreen, Michael Haines, Matthew Jaremski, and David Leblang 5. Banque de France's Shareholders (1800-1945);
Arnaud Manas 6. Scattered Land, Scattered Risks? An empirical approach to the question of the open field system as a strategy for mitigating risk: the case of Scania, Sweden, c. 1750-1850;
Lars Nyström
