Talk:Economic history of the United States

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I've added an economic history of the US from 1929 until 1994. I'm sure some might quibble with a point or two, but I think most of it is accurate - 1929 to the early 1940's seems to be an economic period (Depression to WWII), the mid 1940's to late 1960's and early 1970's seems to be another period (Keynes/Bretton Woods) and the mid-1970's to mid 1990's seems to be another era (Friedman, monetarism). I think most would agree major shifts in the economy happened that can space out these periods - and I think conservatives and liberals would agree - a conservative like Daniel Yergin as well as a liberal like Paul Krugman both seem to share this concept of time periods. Even Marxists see the West's adoption of Keynesianism as an important development in capitalism. -- Lancemurdoch 05:15, 14 Jan 2004 (UTC)

1 Post-Civil War destruction in the South
2 Bias?
3 removed opinion, uncited
4 All political
5 The article should be expanded
6 Reagan
7 US article on featured candidate
8 Economic statistics
9 United States article on featured candidate nominations list

[edit] Post-Civil War destruction in the South

"The devastation of the South was so great that poverty was inevitable." I don't think that any economists find this view plausible anymore in light of the post-WWII growth of Japan and Germany and the Solow growth model. I think, rather, most economists theorize that the supply-side problems in the South after the war had to do with: the fact that plantations were no longer as efficient without gang labor; and that free men chose a higher leisure to work ratio than they would have been given as slaves, so that the South's output declined accordingly. (There were demand side issues with cotton, of course, but I'm addressing the devastation thesis.)

If no one objects, I'll update that paragraph accordingly, once I finish exams and have more time. Until then, food for thought... Dr. Ebola 03:01, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

I think the argument is still plausible. If you find an alternative view, please include it, but I do not think the negative effects of the Civil War on the South can be easily dismissed. Japan and Germany are two cases of rebounds from war, but I do not think there successes are solid evidence that such recovery is inevitable or even likely. Those two cases are in a different time period, and both countries received considerable foreign assistance. The Solow model also indicates that income will be partially determined by worker productivity which in turn is determined by capital stocks. The devastation of the South destroyed factories and railroads, so the Solow model would seem to support the idea that destruction led to poverty. That's not to say fast recovery would not have been possible, but I don't think that there's a convincing argument for cutting out this viewpoint yet.--Bkwillwm 04:08, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

don't overlook the wealth effect: land prices were much lower. and prices: Cotton prices were much lower. of course Germany and Japan were in WORSE shape that South in 1945; they recovered because they rebuilt industries--they already had the human capital--engineers and skilled workers. South did not have knowledge of factories, no engineers few skilled workers--all it had was farmers. Even so the southern farmers probably were as well off as farmers in Europe in 1870s--just far lower $ than Yankees after 1865 down to 1960s when they caught up. than farmers in the US North. Rjensen 04:37, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bias?

"One should take note that during this period, government statistical formulas were changed to produce happier results, and government statistics should be considered carefully before being accepted." - is this comment necesary? Also, it seems that Reagan period is a bit optimisitic (but of course, the matter is controversial)

It's true, though I'd like for someone to put it in more encyclopedic terms without loss of concision. For instance, in 1995, the CPI formula was changed to measure the rental value of owner-occupied housing. This rises far slower than other housing understating the largest part of inflation, housing costs. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich admits the formulas were changed, and claims that with the old measurements, our GDP growth rate, announced as 4%, is actually closer to...zero. It's sad, but it's true. I do not pretend my edits were entirely NPOV, and as I asked in edit summaries, please fix it.

By the way, you might want to consider registering. It'd be great to know you by a name.

And if the Reagan Era seems a bit optimistic, need I remind everyone that the previous article boiled down to that the economy prospered under Democrats and stagnated under Republicans? - Calmypal 04:10, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] removed opinion, uncited

"Carter is consistently ranked from all across the political spectrum as one of the worst presidents in history." Something substantive about Carter's policies and actions would be appropriate for an encyclopedia. This is nothing more than an opinion with no citing. Further, a citing would be inappropriate for an opinion. Also, putting this sentiment in as "many people's opinion is..." would not add any factual substance to the article.

[edit] All political

This article seems to say that there were only 2 recessions and 3 expansions in the entire 20th century. Indeed this article doesn't acknowledge economic cycles at all, and instead gives the impression that the economy goes up and down based who's in the White House. There's no mention of the recession around 1990, the S&L crises, the stock market crash of 1987 or the recession in the late '50s which lead to the failure of the Edsel. Seano1 03:21, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

*Raises hand* My fault.

Who's in control of fiscal policy undoubtedly has a profound effect on the economy. Feel free to expand the article. I'd really like to see someone incorporate the information from the paragraph I commented out. - Calmypal (T) 17:19, Apr 19, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The article should be expanded

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.
This article has been tagged since January 2007.

But wouldn't the economic history of the United States really extend from 1776-present day? The article's title gives this impression, and when someone is trying to figure out economic changes of the early eighteen hundreds, this article doesn't especially help.

The pre-revolutionary history of the land that is now the United States is pretty much always presented along with the post-revolutionary history. Sometimes the history is long enough that it is broken up into different time periods, but it would be even more confusing to have pre-revolution material mixed up with the rest of the Economic history of Britain. The early 1800s are squarely in the history of the actual United States, so that doesn't seem like a problem. -- Beland 00:33, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reagan

The section was POV, so I made some edits. The sentence: "Of course, the debt regularly reaches record levels as the debt has not been reduced over the course of a Presidency since" is misleading. Every president in the late 20th century before Reagan reduced the debt as a share of GDP. Dollar values may go up, but the share of GDP is more important. Also misleading, "real GDP growth began" implies that Reagan began real GDP growth. He only did so after contraction in his own term. I also removed some political fluff that doesn't need to be in an encyclopedic economic article. More can probably be done with the section.--Bkwillwm 21:36, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] US article on featured candidate

Just to let you guys know, the United States article is on featured article candidates list, so you can cast your vote there- or not.--Ryz05 19:44, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Economic statistics

I came here looking for information on GDP throughout the history of the country. An ideal chart would have an inflation-adjusted measure all the way back to 1776 or before, if that data is available. Other measures, such as income, income equality, unemployment, standard of living, etc. would also be very informative. -- Beland 00:34, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

James Dec 16 07: Oddly, the caption on the GDP chart says it shows the effects of inflation, but the description attached to the chart says it is real GDP growth, which would be net of inflation.