Understanding the Economic History of the United States

Understanding the Economic History of the United StatesA good economic history of the United States is an important component in understanding the United States' economic and financial history. The United States has been dominated by capitalism, primarily capitalist free-market capitalism, since its inception in the 17th century. With the appearance of democracy on the scene, however, has been an enormous change in the quality of economic and social life, which now depends on the government for most of the functions that we traditionally regarded as the prerogative of the market.The current administration of President Barack Obama has been remarkably consistent in its views on the relationship between government and the market. This means that it has tended to back away from the marketplace in favor of large corporations and companies that can be regulating to help with environmental protection and with workers' rights. The success of the current administration, and the future succes s of the new administration, will depend on whether they continue the present policies of the present administration or whether they put forward a more radical new agenda for addressing the problems of the present.There are many areas of recent history that are of interest to economic historians. One of the most interesting areas is the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913. Through much of American history, the role of the Federal Reserve System has been one of significant controversy, for example the collapse of the supply side of the economy and the failure of the supply-side policies.Two of the key economic events that were captured in the historical record were the Panic of 1907 and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Although we have records of these events, very little is known about how the Federal Reserve System responded to these events. What was known, is mostly the positions of the Federal Reserve at the time and the actions that the Federal Reserve took followin g the events that took place.Contemporary political issues as well as economic history may add to or detract from our understanding of how the Federal Reserve system can be used for economic growth and how it can be used to help the economy in times of distress. Perhaps it will not be surprising if future administrations come up with different economic approaches, but even if the current government does not have anything to announce, it will be interesting to see how the next administration will approach this critical area of our economic history.The economic history of the United States can also be a major source of information for economic historians. The United States, during its whole period of existence, was somewhat of a wilderness when it came to economic activity. After all, it did not really exist during the period of history that has been discussed so far.It may be true that the economic activities in the country during the era of the nation were less than productive, but it is certainly not an assumption. There were many people who worked in the manufacturing of things such as clothing, textiles, silk, woolen products, furniture, and even utensils. There were also a large number of immigrants in the country during this period.No matter what economic policies were used in the past, there was still a need for a way to organize and channel economic activity into market economics. It was only with the advent of capitalism that economic activity could become the agent of social progress for the individual.