Frederick S. Weaver is emeritus professor of economics and history at Hampshire College. He is author of eleven books, most recently The United States and the Global Economy: From Bretton Woods to the Current Crisis and Economic Literacy: Basic Economics with an Attitude, 3rd Edition.

• Table of ContentsIntroduction: Some Initial Definitions and Organizational Strategies Part I: Colonial RootsChapter 1: Mercantilism, British Colonialism, and IndependencePart II: The New Nation: From Revolution to Civil WarChapter 2: Defining the New NationChapter 3: Regions, Sections, and Civil WarPart III: Fifty Years after the Civil WarChapter 4: Wartime Legislation, Western Expansion, and Reconstruction Chapter 5: Changing Forms of Industrial DevelopmentChapter 6: Social Change, Politics, and ReformChapter 7: The United States in the WorldPart IV: Into the Twentieth and Twenty-First CenturiesChapter 8: War, Depression, War Chapter 9: Post-World War II Recovery, Institutional Innovation, Chapter 10: The Demise of the Bretton Woods System and the Dissolution of U.S. Modern Times, 1980Chapter 11: The Great Recession, Austerity, and Three Worrisome TendenciesGlossaryBibliography

‘Standard’ approaches to the history of the U.S. economy (e.g., Gary Walton and Hugh Rockoff; Jonathan Hughes and Louis Cain) take a narrative approach, bolstered with the use of neoclassical microeconomic or Keynesian macroeconomic analyses of specific issues (e.g., the economics of slavery; the causes and consequences of economic “panics”). Weaver takes a different path, developing a ‘political economy’ approach based on an understanding of capitalism as a conflict between workers and owners, with an emphasis on manufacturing (and a secondary emphasis on America’s role in the global economy). In doing this, he clearly differentiates his book from other textbooks in the field. . . . Another point of differentiation is that Weaver devotes a third of the book to post–WW II developments, far more than other texts. This is an interesting book, but for most teachers of U.S. economic history it will require a major rethinking of the structure and content of their courses. Summing Up: Recommended. Academic audiences: lower-division undergraduates and up; general readers.

Frederick S. Weaver is emeritus professor of economics and history at Hampshire College. He is author of eleven books, most recently The United States and the Global Economy: From Bretton Woods to the Current Crisis and Economic Literacy: Basic Economics with an Attitude, 3rd Edition.

• Table of ContentsIntroduction: Some Initial Definitions and Organizational Strategies Part I: Colonial RootsChapter 1: Mercantilism, British Colonialism, and IndependencePart II: The New Nation: From Revolution to Civil WarChapter 2: Defining the New NationChapter 3: Regions, Sections, and Civil WarPart III: Fifty Years after the Civil WarChapter 4: Wartime Legislation, Western Expansion, and Reconstruction Chapter 5: Changing Forms of Industrial DevelopmentChapter 6: Social Change, Politics, and ReformChapter 7: The United States in the WorldPart IV: Into the Twentieth and Twenty-First CenturiesChapter 8: War, Depression, War Chapter 9: Post-World War II Recovery, Institutional Innovation, Chapter 10: The Demise of the Bretton Woods System and the Dissolution of U.S. Modern Times, 1980Chapter 11: The Great Recession, Austerity, and Three Worrisome TendenciesGlossaryBibliography

‘Standard’ approaches to the history of the U.S. economy (e.g., Gary Walton and Hugh Rockoff; Jonathan Hughes and Louis Cain) take a narrative approach, bolstered with the use of neoclassical microeconomic or Keynesian macroeconomic analyses of specific issues (e.g., the economics of slavery; the causes and consequences of economic “panics”). Weaver takes a different path, developing a ‘political economy’ approach based on an understanding of capitalism as a conflict between workers and owners, with an emphasis on manufacturing (and a secondary emphasis on America’s role in the global economy). In doing this, he clearly differentiates his book from other textbooks in the field. . . . Another point of differentiation is that Weaver devotes a third of the book to post–WW II developments, far more than other texts. This is an interesting book, but for most teachers of U.S. economic history it will require a major rethinking of the structure and content of their courses. Summing Up: Recommended. Academic audiences: lower-division undergraduates and up; general readers.

Frederick S. Weaver is emeritus professor of economics and history at Hampshire College. He is author of eleven books, most recently The United States and the Global Economy: From Bretton Woods to the Current Crisis and Economic Literacy: Basic Economics with an Attitude, 3rd Edition.

• Table of ContentsIntroduction: Some Initial Definitions and Organizational Strategies Part I: Colonial RootsChapter 1: Mercantilism, British Colonialism, and IndependencePart II: The New Nation: From Revolution to Civil WarChapter 2: Defining the New NationChapter 3: Regions, Sections, and Civil WarPart III: Fifty Years after the Civil WarChapter 4: Wartime Legislation, Western Expansion, and Reconstruction Chapter 5: Changing Forms of Industrial DevelopmentChapter 6: Social Change, Politics, and ReformChapter 7: The United States in the WorldPart IV: Into the Twentieth and Twenty-First CenturiesChapter 8: War, Depression, War Chapter 9: Post-World War II Recovery, Institutional Innovation, Chapter 10: The Demise of the Bretton Woods System and the Dissolution of U.S. Modern Times, 1980Chapter 11: The Great Recession, Austerity, and Three Worrisome TendenciesGlossaryBibliography

‘Standard’ approaches to the history of the U.S. economy (e.g., Gary Walton and Hugh Rockoff; Jonathan Hughes and Louis Cain) take a narrative approach, bolstered with the use of neoclassical microeconomic or Keynesian macroeconomic analyses of specific issues (e.g., the economics of slavery; the causes and consequences of economic “panics”). Weaver takes a different path, developing a ‘political economy’ approach based on an understanding of capitalism as a conflict between workers and owners, with an emphasis on manufacturing (and a secondary emphasis on America’s role in the global economy). In doing this, he clearly differentiates his book from other textbooks in the field. . . . Another point of differentiation is that Weaver devotes a third of the book to post–WW II developments, far more than other texts. This is an interesting book, but for most teachers of U.S. economic history it will require a major rethinking of the structure and content of their courses. Summing Up: Recommended. Academic audiences: lower-division undergraduates and up; general readers.