A DRAFT Syllabus for Econ 113: American Economic History :: Spring 2025 :: UC Berkeley
Late to the party am I, but at least I think I have brought plenty of refreshments...
Late to the party am I, but at least I think I have brought plenty of refreshments...
What I see as the big questions of American economic history: How is America “exceptional”? What about its comparative & historical situation primed it to become “exceptional”? How did the conquest-expansion economy of the 1700s & 1800s work? How did a country that ought to have been a gigantic resource-exporting Australia become a manufacturing powerhouse instead, or as well? & how did it become THE technological leader & the pioneer of the mass-production mode too? & how did it become the most effective civilization at expanding its citizen base since the Romans? & how did it become a feminist-friendly economy—or did it? Was the New Deal Order a design or an accident, & was it a success or a failure, & was its 1970s end a mercy or a mistake? Where and how and what Silicon Valley? What happened to equality of opportunity as an ideal? & why could the Neoliberal Order not apply the standard Bagehot-Minsky-Kindleberger playbook to deal with the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis? And Attention Info-Bio Tech economy what?
Econ 113: American Economic History
Birge 50 :: 09:00 PST MWF
WEEK 1: Intro: American Exceptionalism? -10000? to 2025:
[NO SECTIONS WEEK 1]
2025-01-22 We
2025-01-24 Fr
Trotsky, Leon. 1930. My Life: An Attempt at an Autobiography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. <https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.175689>. Forward & ch. 22 (“New York”).
Luce, Henry. 1941. “The American Century”. Life. February 17. <https://archive.org/details/americancentury0000unse>
Allen, Robert C. 2014. “American Exceptionalism as a Problem in Global History”. The Journal of Economic History. 74:2 (June), pp. 309-350. <https://doi.org/10.1017/S002205071400028X>.
WEEK 2: Background: America’s Economy Today in Historical-Comparative Perspective, -10000 to 2025”
[SECTION WEEK 2]
2025-01-27 Mo
2025-01-29 We
[2025-01-31 Fr]
Allen, Robert C. 2011. Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <https://archive.org/details/globaleconomichi0000alle>. Chs. 1-4, 6, & Epilogue (“The Great Divergence”, “The Rise of the West”, “The Industrial Revolution”, “The Ascent of the Rich”, & “The Americas”)
Boyer, Paul S. 2012. American History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://books.google.com/books/about/American_History.html?id=C6B13ky6vkQC>. Entire.
Friedman, Walter A. 2020. American Business History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://academic.oup.com/book/28380>, Introduction & Conclusion (“A Business Civilization” & “Sustainability”)
WEEK 3: Settlements, Colonizations, & the Conquest-Expansion Economy, -10000? to 1900:
[SECTION WEEK 3]
2025-02-03 Mo
2025-02-05 We
[2025-02-07 Fr]
Nunn, Nathan, & Nancy Qian. 2010. "The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas.” Journal of Economic Perspectives. 24 (2): 163--88. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.24.2.163>.
Allen, Robert C. 2011. Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <https://archive.org/details/globaleconomichi0000alle>. Chs. 1 & 2 (“The Great Divergence” & “The Rise of the West”).
Boyer, Paul S. 2012. American History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://books.google.com/books/about/American_History.html?id=C6B13ky6vkQC>. Chs. 1-3 (“Beginnings”, “Revolution, Constitution, a New Nation”, & “The Promise & Perils of Nationhood”).
Friedman, Walter A. 2020. American Business History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://academic.oup.com/book/28380>. Ch. 2 (“Commerce in the New Nation”).
WEEK 4: Slavery, Civil War, & After, 1800 to 1900
[SECTION WEEK 4]
2025-02-10 Mo
2025-02-12 We
[2025-02-14 Fr]
Boyer, Paul S. 2012. American History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://books.google.com/books/about/American_History.html?id=C6B13ky6vkQC>. Ch. 4 (“Slavery & Civil War”)
Halliday, E. H. 2001. Understanding Thomas Jefferson. New York: Harper-Collins. <https://archive.org/details/understandingtho00hall>. Chs. 0, 7, 8, 9, & 11 (“Introduction”, “A Big Surprise: Sally Hemings”, “Eros on the Champs-Élyseés”, “Return of the Natives”, & “Slave Master—& Racist”)
WEEK 5: American Exceptionalism, 1789-2025
[SECTION WEEK 5]
2025-02-19 We
2025-02-21 Fr
Allen, Robert C. 2011. Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <https://archive.org/details/globaleconomichi0000alle>. Ch. 3 (“The Industrial Revolution”).
Allen, Robert C. 2014. “American Exceptionalism as a Problem in Global History”. The Journal of Economic History. 74:2 (June), pp. 309-350. <https://doi.org/10.1017/S002205071400028X>.
Boyer, Paul S. 2012. American History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://books.google.com/books/about/American_History.html?id=C6B13ky6vkQC>. Ch. 7 (“From conflict to global power”)
Friedman, Walter A. 2020. American Business History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://academic.oup.com/book/28380>. Ch. 3 (“Early Manufacturers, 1820-1850”).
Hamilton, Alexander. 1791. Report on Manufactures. Philadelphia: Childs & Swaine. <https://archive.org/details/reportonmanufac00hamigoog>.
WEEK 6: The Second Industrial Revolution, 1850-1910
[SECTIONS: EXAM REVIEW]
2025-02-24 Mo
2025-02-26 We
2025-02-28 Fr: MIDTERM 1
Friedman, Walter A. 2020. American Business History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://academic.oup.com/book/28380>. Chs. 4, 5, & 6 (“Railroads & mass distribution, 1850–1880”, “An industrial country, 1880–1910”, & “Modern companies, 1910–1930”).
Chandler, Alfred D. 1992. "Organizational Capabilities and the Economic History of the Industrial Enterprise." Journal of Economic Perspectives. 6 (3): 79--100. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.6.3.79>.
Boyer, Paul S. 2012. American History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://books.google.com/books/about/American_History.html?id=C6B13ky6vkQC>. Chs. 5 & 6 (“Industrialization & its consequences” & “Reform & War”)
Allen, Robert C. 2011. Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <https://archive.org/details/globaleconomichi0000alle>. Ch. 4 (“The Ascent of the Rich”)
WEEK 7: Immigration, 1609 to Present
[SECTION WEEK 7]
2025-03-03 Mo
2025-03-05 We
[2025-03-07 Fr]
Abramitzky, Ran, & Leah Boustan. 2017. “Immigration in American Economic History”. Journal of Economic Literature. 55(4)vDecember: 1311-45. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fjel.20151189>.
Abramitzky, Ran, Leah Boustan, & Katherine Eriksson. 2020. “Do Immigrants Assimilate More Slowly Today Than in the Past?” American Economic Review: Insights. 2(1) (March): 125–41. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Faeri.20190079>.
Lodge, Henry Cabot. 1891. “Lynch Law & Unrestricted Immigration”. The North American Review. 152:1 (May), pp. 602-612. <https://www.jstor.org/stable/25102181>.
WEEK 8: Feminism, 1776 to Present
[SECTION WEEK 8]
2025-03-10 Mo
2025-03-12 We
[2025-03-14 Fr]
Adams, Abigail Smith. 1963 [1776]. "Abigail Adams to John Adams, 31 March 1776." In Adams Family Correspondence. Vol. 1, December 1761 – May 1776. Ed. Lyman H. Butterfield. Pp. 369–371. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. <https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/04-01-02-0241>.
Costa, Dora L. 2000. "From Mill Town to Board Room: The Rise of Women's Paid Labor." Journal of Economic Perspectives. 14 (4): 101--22. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.14.4.101>.
WEEK 9: The Mass Production Economy, 1908 to 1980
[SECTION WEEK 9]
2025-03-17 Mo
2025-03-19 We
Friedman, Walter A. 2020. American Business History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://academic.oup.com/book/28380>. Ch. 7 (“Crisis & War, 1930-1945”)
Gordon, Robert J. 2000. "Does the 'New Economy' Measure Up to the Great Inventions of the Past?" Journal of Economic Perspectives. 14 (4): 49-74. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.14.4.49>.
WEEK 10: The Social-Democratic New Deal Order
[SECTIONS: EXAM REVIEW]
2025-03-31 Mo
2025-04-02 We
2025-04-04 Fr: MIDTERM 2
Romer, Christina D. 1993. "The Nation in Depression." Journal of Economic Perspectives. 7 (2): 19-39. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.7.2.19>.
Gerstle, Gary. 2022. The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://archive.org/details/rise-fall-neoliberal-order>. Ch. 1 (“The New Deal Order: Rise”).
Friedman, Walter A. 2020. American Business History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://academic.oup.com/book/28380>. Ch 8. (“Corporate America, 1945-1980”)
Boyer, Paul S. 2012. American History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://books.google.com/books/about/American_History.html?id=C6B13ky6vkQC>. Ch. 8 (“Affluence & social unrest”)
Gerstle, Gary. 2022. The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order: America and the World in the Free Market Era. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://archive.org/details/rise-fall-neoliberal-order>. Chs. 2 (“The New Deal Order: Fall”).
WEEK 11: The Rise of Silicon Valley, 1950 to 2025
[SECTION WEEK 11]
2025-04-07 Mo
2025-04-09 We
[2025-04-11 Fr]
Brand, Stewart. 1968. Whole Earth Catalog. Fall 1968. Menlo Park, CA: Portola Institute. <https://archive.org/details/1stWEC-complete>.
Moore, Gordon E. 1965. "Cramming More Components onto Integrated Circuits." Electronics. 38 (8): 114–117. <https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~fussell/courses/cs352h/papers/moore.pdf>.
Friedman, Walter A. 2020. American Business History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://academic.oup.com/book/28380>. Ch 9. (“Entrepreneurs & the global economy, 1980-2020”).
Katz, Michael L., & Carl Shapiro. 1994. "Systems Competition and Network Effects." Journal of Economic Perspectives. 8 (2): 93–115. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.8.2.93>.
Jobs, Steve. 2005. “You've Got to Find What You Love." Commencement address, Stanford University, June 12. <https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/>.
WEEK 12: Inequality & Economic Mobility, 1945 to 2025
[SECTION WEEK 12]
2025-04-14 Mo
2025-04-16 We
[2025-04-18 Fr]
Alvaredo, Facundo, Anthony B. Atkinson, Thomas Piketty, & Emmanuel Saez. 2013. "The Top 1 Percent in International and Historical Perspective." Journal of Economic Perspectives. 27 (3): 3-20. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.27.3.3>.
Chetty, Raj, Matthew O. Jackson, Theresa Kuchler, Johannes Stroebel, Nathaniel Hendren, Robert B. Fluegge, Sara Gong, & al. 2022. "Social Capital I: Measurement and Associations with Economic Mobility." Nature. 608 (7921): 108–121. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9352590/>.
WEEK 13: The Global Financial Crisis & After, 2005 to 2015
[SECTION WEEK 13]
2025-04-21 Mo
2025-04-23 We
[2025-04-25 Fr]
Gertler, Mark, & Simon Gilchrist. 2018. “What Happened: Financial Factors in the Great Recession”. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 32:3 (Summer): 3–30. <https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fjep.32.3.3>.
Boyer, Paul S. 2012. American History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://books.google.com/books/about/American_History.html?id=C6B13ky6vkQC>. Ch. 9 (To the present”).
DeLong, J. Bradford. 2022. Slouching Towards Utopia: The Economic History of the 20th Century. New York: Basic Books. <https://archive.org/details/slouching-towards-utopia>. Ch. 17 (“Great Recession & Anemic Recovery”).
WEEK 14: The Attention Info-Bio Tech Economy & The Future, 2000 to ?:
[SECTIONS: PRE-FINAL REVIEW]
2025-04-28 Mo
2025-04-30 We
[2025-05-02 Fr]
Wolfram, Stephen. 2023. "What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work?" Stephen Wolfram Writings. February 14. <https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/what-is-chatgpt-doing-and-why-does-it-work/>.
Lippman, Walter. 1922. Public Opinion. London: George Allen & Unwin. <https://ia801506.us.archive.org/1/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.126489/2015.126489.Public-Opinion.pdf> Chs. 20, 21, 23, & 24 (“The Old Image of Democracy”, “A New Image of Democracy”, “The Appeal to the Public”, & “The Appeal to Reason”).
DeLong, J. Bradford, & A. Michael Froomkin. 2000. "Speculative Microeconomics for Tomorrow's Economy." In Internet Publishing & Beyond: The Economics of Digital Information & Intellectual Property. Ed. Brian Kahin & Hal R. Varian. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. <https://repository.law.miami.edu/fac_books/144/>.
Sandberg, Anders, Eric Drexler, & Toby Ord. 2018. "Dissolving the Fermi Paradox." arXiv. <https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.02404>.
WEEK 15: Conclusion:
2025-05-05 Mo: PULLING THINGS TOGETHER
Friedman, Walter A. 2020. American Business History: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press. <https://academic.oup.com/book/28380>. Conclusion (“Sustainability”)
Allen, Robert C. 2011. Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. <https://archive.org/details/globaleconomichi0000alle>. Epilogue.
DeLong, J. Bradford. 2022. Slouching Towards Utopia: The Economic History of the 20th Century. New York: Basic Books. <https://archive.org/details/slouching-towards-utopia>. Conclusion (“Are We Still Slouching Towards Utopia?”).
2025-05-12 Mo 19:00 PDT: FINAL EXAM
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The conventional view of slavery is messed up - slavery has been rife around the world. See
[1] D. A. Pargas and J. Schiel, The Palgrave Handbook of Global Slavery throughout History. 2023.
free on the web not too heavy for undergraduates
Good to see you have Hamilton on manufactures - maybe something from Jefferson on agricultural republics to see the other side - sort of the equivalent of the Hayek-Polanyi framing in STU.
A little more unorthodox might be some passages from Henry George's Progress and Poverty, which was highly influential in its day. Or Thorstein Veblen on the emergence of a consumer society, Veblen also gets you to institutionalist perspectives on economic history. Institutionalism would give you an opening to discuss why economists should study economic history. And you could use it throw in Acemoglu on AI and the economy of the future.
Maybe something from Glory Liu's Adam Smith in America. Interesting use of Lippmann, but maybe Dewey for contrast.
I know it is not a history of political economic thought, but the I think the Hayek-Polanyi framing was useful for STU and something similar might work here.