Economic History of the U.S.

Catalog description

This course offers a survey of the transformation of the United States from an agrarian society through a completely industrialized economy to the post-industrial world. Principal topics include the key factors that caused the U.S. to become a world dominating economic power including developments in agriculture, transportation, finance, technological change, human capital and the role of government policy. It will also discuss the future role of the U.S. in the new globalized world economy and explore the question of what nations will be the next rising stars. The economic history covered will be directly related to the national and world economic conditions that are of such current concern (e.g., recession, education, financial crisis, role of government, etc.). This course stresses the interaction of ethics, economics and philosophy and introduces students to the great economic thinkers in history and their views of ethics in economics. Critical questions to be addressed are: How did the US develop from colony to super power? What were the economic and political forces that lead to the rise of the U.S.? In all of this, great leaders emerged in the economic, business and political arenas (e.g., Alexander Hamilton, FDR, Andrew Carnegie and J.D. Rockefeller). How did ethics, law and economics interplay in their leadership styles and decisions and effect U.S. economic history?