WALTON / ROCKHOFF, Preface

1. What are the “five grand themes” emphasized by the authors?

WALTON / ROCKHOFF Chapter 1

1. What are some of the reasons to study economic history, according to the authors?

2. What is the main source of gains in population size and in longevity?

3. How does the “poverty line” in the US compare with incomes in other countries?

4. How widespread have been the gains from economic growth in the US?

5. What are the primary objectives of economic historians?

6. What are some the the main “sources of productivity growth” that have been emphasized in the past?

7. What source of productivity growth has been emphasized more in recent decades
(and is emphasized by the authors)?

ATACK AND PASSELL, Introduction

1. What were the hallmarks of the “new economic history” in its early days?

2. How has the new economic history evolved in recent decades?
What new themes have emerged?

3. What are some examples of unconventional insights into important questions that
economic history can offer to economics?

4. What example of “strange bedfellows” is mentioned at the top of p. xix?

SCHLESINGER, “Economic Influences in American History”

1. What is meant by the “economic interpretation of history”?

2. Who have been two advocates of the economic interpretation of history?

MADISON, The Federalist Papers, No. 10

1. What is an important advantage of a “well-constructed Union”?

2. What is meant by a “faction”?

3. What is the main cause of factions?

4. What are the specific factions that Madison mentions?

5. What is Madison’s proposed solution to the potential instability caused by factions?

6. What is the “great object to which our inquiries are directed”?

7. By what means can this object be obtained?

8. What are the advantages of a republic over a pure democracy?

9. What are the advantages of a large republic over a small republic?