The Economic History of the United States

1. Why Should We Study History, In the First Place?

01/08/2010 Mark Thornton

The study of U.S. history seen through the lens of economic theory teaches us lessons like: (1) Why did America do so well economically?, (2) Why do we have the problems of war, terrorism, and immigration?, (3) What results from the growth of government?, (4) What is the hidden role of money and banking?, (5) How have monetary institutions changed?, and (6) What myths about American history need to be debunked?

Colonialism was the period from 1600 to 1776. Why did Americans want to get out of it? Three schools of economic policy during colonialism are socialism, capitalism or mercantilism. Mercantilism is the most important of these to understand. Its philosophy made the state powerful and supportive of business.

Lecture 1 of 9 from Mark Thornton’s The Economic History of the United States.

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