We test for wage discrimination and occupational crowding in the nineteenthcentury American whaling industry. Although our results indicate little evidence of wage discrimination, we cannot reject the hypothesis that certain groups—specifically blacks and Portuguese–experienced some occupational crowding, though it was by no means complete and the minority-dominated occupations were not low-paying ones. In addition, we find that members of the majority group—white American and Northern European seamen—did accept a negative compensating wage differential for working with members of their own group.

The textbook explanation for Britain's high unemployment in the 1920s is that the return to gold at $4.86 left the currency overvalued. Recent estimates suggest that an 11 percent devaluation would have eliminated roughly half the unemployment in 1925. This article questions the validity of that conclusion. It measures the power of exchange rate devaluations to decrease unemployment in the context of sectorally distinct labor markets. The results suggest that though a devaluation would have been helpful, eliminating half of 1925's unemployment would have required one much greater than 11 percent and would have caused significant price pressures.

In this article we present the first estimates of output per capita for the Old Northwest in the years before 1840. The results indicate that the region grew quite rapidly, even during its earliest formative years. Its performance relative to the nation depends on the definition of output.

This article investigates interstate differences in banking market structure during the 1920s. It finds that the number of banks per capita and the ratio of state-chartered to federally chartered banks were highest in states with deposit insurance systems, low minimum capital requirements, and branching restrictions. In the 1920s banking consolidation was greatest where falling incomes caused high failure rates, in states with deposit insurance, and where branching increased. After 1920, the high failure rate of insured state banks caused the ratio of state–chartered to federally chartered banks to decline relatively more in states with insurance systems.

Historical verdicts on the economic effects of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal have been decidedly mixed. This article examines the New Deal's impact on the electric utility industry. In contrast to Roosevelt's cartel-like policies toward other sectors, his approach to the electric utilities involved the infusion of various forms of direct and indirect competition. Statistical evidence and econometric analysis suggest that Roosevelt's procompetitive strategy produced superior outcomes relative to traditional “natural monopoly” approaches to electric utility regulation.

The farming practices of the Amish have differed in various ways from those of other farmers. I use the information from federal census schedules to examine the differences during the period 1850 to 1880 in light of Amish culture. Amish farmers did not resist technological change during 1850–80, but the evidence shows other systematic differences. They adopted distinct patterns in investment to ensure the survival of their religious culture, which in turn affected their relative performance.

This article discusses the changing living standards among the Korean masses under Japanese rule. Farm income per household, agricultural real wages, and per capita calorie intake from staple foods declined. On the other hand primary school enrollment, literacy, and survival rates rose, and average stature at least did not decrease. Arguing that literacy rates, survival rates, and average stature are variables more directly related to living conditions than the others, this article concludes that the Korean masses' standards of living rose between colonization and 1940. Still, any summary assessment depends on the weights assigned to different variables.

In a recent article in this Journal, Howard Bodenhorn made a remarkable suggestion: “Antebellum financial markets may have outperformed those of the post–Civil War period.” According to Bodenhorn, antebellum capital markets displayed notable integration, as indicated by movements in short-term (60–day) interest rate data for important commercial centers east of the Mississippi. When considered in light of Lance Davis's work, suggesting poor integration of credit markets immediately after the Civil War and only gradual integration thereafter, we believe economic historians will find Bodenhorn's hypothesis provocative—even startling. We found the hypothesis so suggestive that we attempted to replicate Bodenhorn's analysis—a process that generated both “bad news” and “good news.” The “bad news” is that we believe the evidence Bodenhorn provided for his hypothesis is weak or irrelevant. The “good news” is that the data Bodenhorn generated support the integration hypothesis more strongly than even Bodenhorn suggested.

Demand for farm products grew, and the cost of marketing them shrank, between 1860 and 1880. The resulting commercialization of Midwestern agriculture has been widely discussed, but the production strategies that farmers pursued have not been adequately described or modeled. I find that an endowment-contingent model of crop choice provides a consistent explanation for farm production strategies at the micro-level on Missouri farms. The results call for a re-examination of the conventional wisdom that commercialization fostered specialization at the regional level.

Handloom weaving with a mixture of wool and cotton yarn was common in late nineteenth-century Canada. The hand technology survived using industrial inputs and part-time female labor whose opportunity cost was relatively low in rural areas. The demand for homespun was income-sensitive and reinforced by the cold Canadian climate. The patterns of weaving by men and women differed, but both produced for the market in addition to home consumption. Cloth constituted a significant share of farm production, especially in low-income areas.

An important tenet of the Chicago School of antitrust asserts that the Sherman Act's framers sought to foster consumer welfare. This article challenges that interpretation by re-examining the legislative history. That history suggests that a consumer-welfare standard did not survive the legislative process and that, if anything, Congress focused on the behavior of producers.