This book is a student reader of the key topics in American economic history.

Introduction: 1. Editors' introduction; 2. Does the past have useful economics? Donald McCloskey; Part I. Colonial and Early National Economy: 3. An economic interpretation of the American Revolution Mark Egnal and Joseph Ernst; 4. The market and Massachusetts farmers 1750¿1855 Winifred Rothenberg; Part III. Slavery and Servitude: 5. The rise and fall of indentured servitude in the Americas: an economic analysis David Galenson; 6. The anatomy of exploitation Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman; 7. Slavery: the progressive institution? Paul David and Peter Temin; 8. Explaining the relative efficiency of slave agriculture in the antebellum South Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman; Part IV. The South Since the Civil War: 9. The trap of debt peonage Roger Ranso and Richard Sutch; 10. The economic revolution in the American South Gavin Wright; Part V. The Rise of American Industrial Might: 11. The railroads: the first modern business enterprises, 1850s¿1860s Alfed Chandler; 12. Notes on the social savings controversy Robert Fogel; 13. Industrial structure and the emergence of the modern industrial corporation Jeremy Atack; 14. The origins of American industrial success, 1879¿1940 Gavin Wright; 15. Federal policy, banking market structure, and capital mobilization in the United States, 1863¿1913 Richard Sylla; Part VI. Populism and Postbellum Banking: 16. A reappraisal of the causes of farm protest in the United States, 1870¿1900 Anne Mayhew; 17. The 'Wizard of Oz' as a monetary allegory Hugh Rockoff; Part VII. Women in the Economy: 18. The changing economic role of women: a quantitative approach Claudia Goldin; Part VIII. The Great Depression: 19. Factors accounting for changes in the stock of money Milton Friedman and Anna Schwarz; 20. The fall in the demand for money Peter Temin; Appendix: basics of regression; Glossary.