Unit I: Course Introduction
2018-01-17: Introduction: Slides
- BIG IDEAS
- The Story of American Economic History
- Letter of Introduction: Assignment
- Reading: Paul Boyer: American History: A Very Short Introduction: ch. 1: Beginnings: Pre-History to 1763 | Boyer Reading Note | Jared Diamond (1997): The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race | Diamond Reading Note
2018-01-22: Perspective: Slides
- BIG IDEAS: Review
- Course Mechanics: Administration
- Who Are You, etc.?: inclass
- Global Economic Growth since 70000 BC
Unit 2: Settlement to Independence:
2018-01-24: Commerce, Conquest, and Migration: Slides
- Conquest
- Commerce
- Migration and Settlement
- Agrarian Age Malthusian Stagnation, and Escape
- Analyzing Growth: Tools
- This Is Berkeley
- Map Exercise: Assignment
2018-01-29: The Colonial Americas: Slides
- Reading: Alan Taylor (2012): Colonial America: A Very Short Introduction | Taylor Reading Note
- Supply, Demand, and Surplus: Tools
- Reading Response—Disagreeing: Assignment
2018-01-31: The Thirteen Colonies: Settlement: Slides
- British (and Dutch) Settlement
2018-02-05 The Thirteen Colonies: Revolution: Slides
- Toward Revolution
Unit 3: The Independent United States: Land of Slavery and Growth
2018-02-07:The Hamiltonian United States: Slides
- Reading Paul Boyer: American History: A Very Short Introduction, ch. 3: The promise and perils of nationhood; ch. 5: Industrialization and its consequences
2018-02-12: America's Crisis: King Cotton and Plantation Slavery: Slides
- Reading: Paul Boyer: American History: A Very Short Introduction, ch. 4: Slavery and Civil War | Trevon Logan (2015): A Time Not (Yet) Apart | Logan Reading Note
- Problem Set 1: Big What-Ifs: Assignment
2018-02-14: America's Crisis: Civil War and Reconstruction: Slides
2018-02-26: Women in an Agricultural-Industrializing Civilization: Slides
2018-02-28: Republican Ascendancy: Slides
- Reading: John Maynard Keynes: The End of Laissez-Faire | Keynes Reading Note
- Reading Response—Keynes: Assignment
2018-03-05: The Gilded Age/The Era of Mass Migration: Slides
- Reading: David A. Gerber: American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction
2018-03-07: The Progressive Course Correction—and the Roaring Twenties: Slides
- Reading: Walter Nugent: Progressivism: A Very Short Introduction | Paul Boyer: American History: A Very Short Introduction, ch. 6: Reform and war
2018-03-12: Slides
2018-03-14: The Great Crash and the Great Depression: Slides
- Reading: John Maynard Keynes: The Economic Consequences of the Peace, chapters 1 and 2 | Keynes Economic Consequences of the Peace Reading Note
- Macroeconomics for Beginners: Tools
Unit 4: Social Democracy in the United States
2018-03-19: The New Deal: Slides
- Reading: Eric Rauchway: The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Very Short Introduction | Barry Eichengreen (2011): Economic History and Economic Policy | Eichengreen Reading Note
- Reading Response 3: Progressivism and the New eal
2018-03-21: Totalitarianism and World War II: Slides
- Reading: Paul Boyer: American History: A Very Short Introduction, ch. 7: From conflict to global power | Rosa Luxemburg (1981): The Russian Revolution | Richard Ericson: The Classical Soviet-Type Economy
2018-04-02: Mass Production and the Post-WWII Boom: Slides
2018-04-04: The Welfare State: Slides
- Reading: David Garland: The Welfare State: A Very Short Introduction | Paul Boyer: American History: A Very Short Introduction, ch. 8: Affluence and social unrest | Claudia Goldin and Larry Katz: The Race between Education and Technology
2018-04-09: Second Reconstruction: Slides
- Readings: John J. Donohue III and James Heckman: The Impact of Civil Rights Policy on the Economic Status of Blacks
- Problem Set 3
2018-04-11: Inequality: "Growing Together" and the Neoliberal Turn: Slides
- Reading: Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez: Income Inequality in the United States | Ryan Avent: Thomas Piketty's "Capital", Summarised
Unit 5: Neoliberalism
2018-04-16: Why Did Social Democracy End?: Slides
- Reading: Paul Boyer: American History: A Very Short Introduction, ch. 9: To the present | Dani Rodrik: The Past, Present and Future of Economic Growth
2018-04-18: Demography and Feminism: Slides
- Reading: Martha Bailey: More Power to the Pill
2018-04-23: The Longer Depression: 2018-04-23Slides
- Reading: Paul Krugman: Why Weren't Alarm Bells Ringing? | Our Giant Banking Crisis | What to Expect | Does He Pass the Test? | How the Case for Austerity Has Crumbled http://delong.typepad.com/2017-04-09-krugman-nyrb-second-great-crash-and-longer-depression-readings.zip
Unit 6: An End to Exceptional America?
2018-04-25: The End of the American Century? The Future of Work?: Slides
- Readings: William Nordhaus: Do Real-Output and Real-Wage Measures Capture Reality? | Nordhaus Reading Note
- An End to American Exceptionalism?
- A Polanyian Lens?
- The Future of Work?
- Problem Set 5—Sample Final: Assignment
2018-04-30: Conclusion and Review: Slides
Th May 10: FINAL EXAM 11:30-2:30 Li Ka Shing 245
- Potential Topics List
- Sample Exam
- Problem Set Answers: 1 2 3
- Makeup Exam: F May 11 3-6 PM 126 Barrows
Highly Optional Further Readings
Christina Romer: The Nation in Depression
Richard Evans (2007): Immoral Rearmament; (2012): The Truth About World War; (2013): What the War Was Really About
Taylor Jaworski and Price Fishback (2014):World War II
Robert Rowthorn and Ramana Ramaswamy: Deindustrialization: Causes and Implications
J. Bradford DeLong and A. Michael Froomkin: Speculative Microeconomics for Tomorrow's Economy
Andrew Berg: The Asian Crisis
Atif R. Mian and Amir Sufi: House Prices
Lawrence Summers: Reflections on the "New Secular Stagnation" Hypothesis
Philip Lane: The European Sovereign Debt Crisis
Paul Krugman: Why We Are in a New Gilded Age
Claudia Goldin and Larry Katz: Long-Run Changes in the U.S. Wage Structure: Narrowing, Widening, Polarizing
Thomas Piketty: New Thoughts on Capital in the Twenty-First Century
David Landes (2006): [Why Europe and the West? Why Not China?](http://www.bradford-delong.com/2017/01/reading-david-landes-2006-why-europe-and-the-west-why-not-china.html
2017 Version of American Economic History