Questions tagged [history]
The history tag has no usage guidance.
7
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2answers
84 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
votes
1answer
38 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
votes
0answers
12 views
Is there a 19th century or early 20th century economist who proposed an energy-based currency?
I'm familiar with the '20s era attempts at the "energy dollar" from Edison and Ford, but are there earlier instances of energy currencies?
0
votes
2answers
101 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
23 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
68 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 ...
1
vote
2answers
39 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
votes
1answer
43 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
36 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
30 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
vote
0answers
53 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
vote
3answers
128 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
votes
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
390 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 ...
4
votes
5answers
156 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 ...
1
vote
0answers
34 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
1k 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
3k 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
46 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
398 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
votes
0answers
38 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
132 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
45 views
What are some good books, explaining why the society and economy developed like it is through the history?
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 ...
1
vote
1answer
52 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
votes
0answers
126 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
178 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
106 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
39 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
49 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 ...
1
vote
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
vote
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
671 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
52 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 ...
4
votes
2answers
406 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
77 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 ...
5
votes
3answers
143 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
171 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
40 views
Could food storage prevent a depression?
In Genesis chapter 41 Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh about 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine which resulted in saving Egypt from famine, among other things.
I think this is a great ...
6
votes
2answers
4k views
When was fractional reserve banking introduced?
According to Wikipedia's history of banking article:
Modern banking practice, including fractional reserve banking and the issue of banknotes emerged in the 17th century.
The article on fractional ...
2
votes
0answers
47 views
Is the average age of economists getting higher than it was many years ago?
I read Hamermesh's 2012 paper, "Six Decades of Top Economics Publishing: Who and How?". He collected the data from QJE, AER and JPE. It seems that the average age of economists is now higher than it ...
4
votes
1answer
74 views
Was factory beef farming (in the USA) the result of government-subsidized corn?
In The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan writes that industrial beef farming, in the form of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), is dependent on low corn prices for its cost-effectiveness....
7
votes
2answers
588 views
What causes the “imperialism of economics” and how did it start?
Wikipedia defines "economics imperialism" as follows:
Economics imperialism (often economic imperialism) in contemporary economics refers to economic analysis of seemingly non-economic aspects of ...
10
votes
1answer
170 views
Do large public companies ever “quit while they're ahead”?
Large public companies (e.g. S&P 500) seem to end their lives in one of two ways: either they're acquired (or taken private), or they go bankrupt.
Theoretically it seems like there should be a ...
7
votes
2answers
368 views
Historical US Housing Data Availability
Papers like Ng and Moench (2011) and Negro and Otrok (2007) use historical housing data to estimate latent variables that correspond to some "true" or "truer" measure of house prices or housing ...
18
votes
2answers
742 views
Why is capital income taxed differently than wage income?
Why is income from capital gains taxed differently than wage income? There are perhaps historical, practical, and theoretical reasons. What are they?
(As far as historical reason go, I'm asking ...
14
votes
5answers
4k views
What was economics like as a field before Adam Smith, the father of *modern* economics?
Adam Smith is called the "father of modern economics" and his book The Weath of Nations, a fundamental work in the field of economics, is considered the first modern book on economics. In addition, ...
