Questions tagged [history]
The history tag has no usage guidance.
59
questions
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18 views
References on foreign ownership of domestic assets
In Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century, he occasionally analyzes the ownership of domestic assets by foreign countries. On p. 192, he writes:
Japan and Germany have accumulated quite significant ...
0
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1answer
21 views
There is a paragraph about the history of credit rating agencies that I don't understand
"For a few decades, ratings were nothing more than private assessments, no different from any other form of consultancy provided to investors.
Born out of a need in the burgeoning industrial world of ...
2
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0answers
11 views
Is there a reference that plots different countries' debt-to-GDP ratios over (long) times?
This old blog post has an interesting plot that demonstrates that the U.K.'s current debt-to-GDP ratio is significantly below its very-long-term (180-year) average.
Is there a plot anywhere that ...
0
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0answers
19 views
To what extent did tsetse fly affect African development today?
Based on the fact that the insect is unique to African ecology and its impact both on humans and livestock, can it be argued that the lag of Africa's development today is at least partially due to the ...
1
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1answer
39 views
Why did foreigners keep buying Swiss francs at -41% (not a typo) interest rate in the 1970s?
A Bloomberg (opinion) piece notes
In January 1975, the Swiss government held an emergency meeting and then took the extraordinary step of slapping a 41% annual penalty on foreign deposits. But even ...
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0answers
17 views
Did Johnson and Johnson really pay a 25% quarterly dividend in 1978?
I looked through some of the old Dow Jones stocks for a project I'm working on and found some inconsistency with JNJ stocks.
Basicly for a share price of $1.66 they appeared to pay \$0.42 in quartely ...
1
vote
1answer
87 views
why did the 2008 financial crisis happen inspite of banks having 85% insurance on deposits in U.S.?
I read What Happened in 2008? which gives some idea and similar things are happening in India. Seems India's 2019/2020 is similar yet different as millions are educated unemployed. While I can ...
0
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0answers
9 views
Japanese savings glut vs capital adequacy issues in 1990s
If Japan had a huge savings glut in the 1990s, even during the financial downturn years, why were traditional banks and lenders struggling to meet the new capital adequacy requirements, under the 'Big ...
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0answers
24 views
Did Eisenhower, and his economic team, use a Keynesian economic policy, or a modified form, or not at all?
There is a big debate about this in my graduate political/economic history class. Any input will be appreciated, as well as suggested books or peer-reviewed journal articles. Thank you.
0
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1answer
66 views
Who took utimatum game and dictator game as the evidence against Homo Economicus assumption of individual utility maximization?
Wikipedia and this McGill University page states that the two games "have been taken as both evidence for and against the Homo economicus assumptions of rational, utility-maximizing, individual ...
4
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2answers
222 views
Did capitalism exist before the 18th century?
Were there capitalistic economies before the 18th century?
0
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1answer
48 views
What is “industrial capitalism”?
What's the difference between "industrial capitalism" and "agrarian capitalism" and "mercantilism" and the "industrial revolution" and the 20th century ideas of "Keynesianism"?
Is agrarian capitalism-...
6
votes
2answers
134 views
Predicted recessions that never happened
It seems generally accepted that recessions are hard to forecast, in both onset and intensity, but the bias seems to be toward rosy outlooks:
The main finding is that, while forecasters are ...
0
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1answer
71 views
Leontief Tableau Économique (produit net)
I’m doing some practice questions and I found this one about calculating produit net. I know that produit net or surplus is the amount that has to be paid to the landlords, and which becomes available ...
0
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2answers
109 views
Key points for a speech on Capitalism [closed]
I was given an English task in which the teacher has asked us to do a presentation/speech on Capitalism. The thing is he didn't specify which aspects (historical, economical and the political) we ...
3
votes
2answers
51 views
History of Municipal Bonds
Does anyone have a good book on the history of Muni Bonds that focuses on the reasons why they grew in popularity, adoption, and gov policy souring them.
Background on why I need this info
I am ...
2
votes
1answer
22 views
Need help reading early 20th century stock market list
I have a bit of a problem understanding the stock market price listings for the London stock market. I am mainly concerned with Argentinian government bonds. So far, I have always used the Investor's ...
4
votes
2answers
101 views
Who was the inventor of Utility function?
To my knowledge, the idea of representing weak-order with a function dates back to Cantor. So my questions are:
1) Was Cantor the first person to rigorize these kinds of representation?
2) Were ...
0
votes
2answers
63 views
How to convert an historic value denoted in foreign currency to a modern value in local currency?
I want to convert GBP in 1968 to USD in 2018, in order to "translate" an amount paid by an individual in Britain fifty years ago. My intention is that an American reader today will be able to better ...
0
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1answer
54 views
Does the Italian national debt really go all the way back to Mussolini's excessive prewar spending?
The WWI & WWII debt is quite well defined in the UK for example and quite shocking how many years it took to pay off.
Somebody told me that the Italian debt crisis really goes all the way back ...
3
votes
1answer
40 views
Military expenditure over time
The following graph from the world bank website shows the world wide military expenditure in percentage of the world GDP over time from 1988 to 2015
I am trying to find similar data over a much ...
2
votes
1answer
33 views
Pascali (2015) Natural Experiment
In The Wind of Change: Maritime Technology, Trade and
Economic Development (2015), Pascali estimates various effects on freight rates (i.e. the cost of transport) on outcomes such as trade volumes and ...
1
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0answers
62 views
What are some great economic reforms from the Middle Ages / the Ancient History?
Is there any great economic structural reforms, which date back to the Middle Ages or to the Ancient times?
1
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3answers
172 views
What are modern examples of established economic theories being used on a large scale in real life?
I was thinking recently how economic theories (the stuff they teach you in college) affects real-life decisions. I found some examples (see below), but most of them are from the past and many of those ...
2
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0answers
2k views
Has Trickle-Down economics ever worked?
With "trickle-down economics" on the tongue of Americans this year, I wanted to do some research. The prevailing opinion is "trickle-down economics doesn't work." I can find many resources which ...
6
votes
3answers
934 views
Who created the concept of “present value”?
I cannot find anything on this online. The wikipedia article is purely technical, except by a mention that such system was used in England in early 16th century.
Do you know who was the first to come ...
5
votes
5answers
186 views
What are good books on economic world history?
I am trying to find a book that covers human history with a special focus on economics. It should answer questions like:
What economic systems prevailed during which eras?
How did these systems work ...
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0answers
38 views
Maximum wage laws in mercantilist France
One John K Williams (1986) writes that in mercantilist France,
The government actually imposed maximum wage laws. Any employer who paid wages above a legally defined ceiling was charged with an ...
15
votes
1answer
2k views
How could the economic cost of the world not speaking the same language be estimated?
While languages are fun and add color and flair to cultures and make the world a more interesting place, they also have a cost. Beyond the monetary costs of translation/editing/proofreading, ...
3
votes
1answer
5k views
Was the aid in the Marshall Plan a loan?
In the aftermath of the Second World War the USA organised the Marshall plan for the post-war reconstruction of Europe.
I take it this was actually a loan of some kind; on what kind of terms was the ...
1
vote
2answers
54 views
Historical GDP of world economies back to 1945: What are the most complete and reliable data sets?
I need the historical GDP of all modern countries (or at least the vast majority) from 1945 to now. It seems the world bank data only starts in 1960 or later. I found Angus Maddison's data, but I don'...
1
vote
1answer
37 views
Quantifying economic mobilization
Total war requires mobilization of the economy.
The degree of a nation's mobilization can be quantified in two major ways:
Negatively: as, e.g., the reduction of "non-essential consumer production" --...
2
votes
2answers
457 views
Did the idea of “making money” originate in the United States?
I am currently reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and I came across an interesting paragraph related to Economics and American History.
If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, ...
2
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0answers
40 views
When in the history the governments issued non-cash money first?
I understand that the Federal Reserve is issuing money in the form of deposits. Those deposits "are not cash but they are money: they can be used for payment (at which point they become somebody else'...
5
votes
2answers
150 views
When and why women left the labour market?
It is well documented that women in now developed countries entered the labour market all thoughout the 20th century. As such, female labour participation have consistently increased. For example, ...
1
vote
1answer
70 views
What are some good books, explaining why the society and economy developed like it is through the history? [closed]
It has always been fascinating to me why, out of so many other options, the society has developed in this way. So I was searching for resources which explain what chain of events-and why- from ...
2
votes
1answer
60 views
When was the supply and demand model first used?
Who created the supply and demand model in economics or when was it first used?
3
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0answers
128 views
Has there been anyone since the philosopher Thales that has held an extremely detached view of money, and also found innovative ways to profit?
According to legend anyway (ie Aristotle's account), Thales was a business man of his time! On the motive Thales had for attaining material possession, Aristotle held that Thales was only out to prove ...
6
votes
3answers
184 views
How wealthy are modern day humans compared to preindustrial times?
I would like to see a quantitative wealth comparison between the average human in a hunter gather or agrarian society to average human in the today's world.
I'm mostly interested in how the discovery ...
1
vote
2answers
111 views
Rationale behind teaching History in University
I wrote an answer to this question regarding how economists evaluate a specific subject in a given curriculum.
Subjects which develop skills that have labour market significance are valuable to a ...
3
votes
1answer
41 views
Is finance complex?
I am reading a book that is describing a group of people in the middle ages. It says "[they] had managerial and financial jobs, jobs of high complexity, and were neither farmers nor craftsmen". I am ...
2
votes
2answers
51 views
Recommended reading to understand American economic history
In India Unbound, the author goes over India's economic history, right from independence to present day. I am interested in a similar reading for the United States, specifically conditions in the 20th ...
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0answers
16 views
Delaying wages in response to slack?
I'm reading a book about the economic development of South Korea during the 'miracle' period.
One of the points the author makes is the following:
A major source of industrial disputes was ...
1
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0answers
1k views
What evidence is there that Adam Smith made mistakes in criticizing Mercantilism and upholding capitalism?
This commentator writes:
On March 9, 1776, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" (commonly referred to as simply "The Wealth of Nations") was published. Smith, a Scottish ...
6
votes
2answers
682 views
Why could interest rates go up if Brexit happens?
I was reading this article, George Osborne says Brexit would drive up mortgage rates:
George Osborne has issued a stark warning that mortgage rates will
rise if Britain leaves the European Union.
...
1
vote
0answers
56 views
What is the “natural rate of interest” vs. “money interest rate”?
What exactly is the distinction that Knut Wicksell made in his Interest & Prices between
"natural rate of interest" or "natural interest" ("der natürliche
Kapital zins")
and the
"money rate of ...
5
votes
2answers
658 views
Is money capital?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines "capital" as
n. economic goods (e.g. railways, ships, machinery, buildings) destined for use in production (as opposed to consumers' goods).
Historically, the ...
6
votes
1answer
85 views
Is there a study of world poverty rates over time pre 1800?
There seems to be research showing that world poverty rates have declined since 1800, see eg this. Is there any research on world poverty rates before this period? I am guessing that during this ...
6
votes
3answers
195 views
What is Islamic Banking?
What is "Islamic banking," and how is it similar to and different from banking as it occurs in the U.S.?
I have heard Shariah Law prohibits usury, the taking of interest on loans. How do Muslim ...
5
votes
1answer
189 views
Book for Bretton Woods conferences and gold standard
I am looking for a good book to explain to me why the gold standard existed and why in the Bretton Woods conferences, some countries choose to abandon it. An explanation of the general scenario in a ...
