Courses

Economics 2150: Economic History of the United States (for undergraduates)

This course introduces students to the economic development of the United States from the colonial period to the present. Broad themes include economic growth, slavery and its aftermath, structural change (e.g., the transportation revolution, urbanization, education, women’s labor force participation), and trends in inequality. I assume students are familiar with principles of economics and basic statistics.

Economics 9440: Microeconomic Topics in Economic History (for PhD students)

The goal of the course is to introduce graduate students to research on central themes in economic history, especially research that is essentially “micro” in the nature (i.e., studying person-, firm-, or local-level units of observation). Most, but not all, readings center on the US economy in the twentieth century. Many of the topics and methods are of broad interest to applied economists, including research in labor, urban, health, and demography.

Economics 3150: Topics in US Economic History (for undergraduates)

This course examines selected topics in the economic development of the U.S. economy. The goals are to review some major themes in U.S. economic history, to study professional research papers to learn how economists develop and interpret historical evidence, and to give students hands-on experience analyzing historical data. Major themes include: migration flows to and within the US; slavery, subsequent racial disparities, and civil rights; transportation and industrialization; the Great Depression; and long-run changes in education, income, and urbanization. Because this is designated an “upper-level” economics course, I assume students are familiar with intermediate economic theory, statistics, and regression analysis.

Economics 8400: Introduction to Economic History (for PhD students)

This course explores a variety of topics in economic history. The lectures develop a long-run perspective on the trends and determinants of national income growth and international inequality, demographic change, industrialization, international trade, capital and labor mobility, and technological change. The course highlights the useful interaction of economic theory, empirical evidence, and historical context. In the space of one semester it is impossible to cover the entire spectrum of economic history. Instead, this introductory course examines some of the major themes in economic history and gives graduate students an early opportunity to engage with applied empirical research.