Economic History Commons^™

Survey Of Bank Holidays And Fund Suspensions, Rosalind Z. Wiggins, Owen Heaphy, Anmol Makhija, Stella Schaefer-Brown, Greg Feldberg, Andrew Metrick

Journal of Financial Crises

In this paper, we analyze seven case studies involving bank holidays and two involving mutual fund suspensions produced by the Yale Program on Financial Stability. Our main purpose is to assist policymakers who are considering utilizing a bank holiday in designing the most effective program as efficiently as possible. We find that a bank holiday may be most useful when designing and implementing a comprehensive remedy to an underlying problem distressing banks, particularly when an exogenous shock rather than balance sheet weaknesses is the cause of general distress to the system. A holiday is also useful to “ring-fence” one or …

Argentina: Mutual Fund Suspensions, 2019, Owen Heaphy, Anmol Makhija

Journal of Financial Crises

With Argentina facing a liquidity crisis and collapse in demand for government debt, on Wednesday, August 28, 2019, the country's minister of economy, Hernán Lacunza, announced after markets closed that the government was extending the maturity of USD 7 billion of its short-term public debt securities, among other measures. Lacunza stated that domestic retail investors would not be subject to the terms of the maturity extension and would be paid principal and interest on the affected securities per the original maturity schedule. This announcement caused confusion about the treatment of individual investors who held the affected securities indirectly through mutual …

New Institutional Economics : A Few Extensions, Murali Patibandla

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This article traces out the development of the New Institutional Economics (NIE). It delineates the literature into two interrelated themes of institutional environment and institutions of governance. The rules of the game of institutional environment determine governance choices. Inefficient institutional environment results in inefficient governance mechanisms which causes misutilization of scarce resources. Institutional environment evolves over time. This article demonstrates the evolution of institutions in response to shocks with analysis of historical examples. The prevailing literature over glorifies the colonial rule of the West for the emergence of capitalist institutions. It fails to explain success stories of Japan, Mainland China …

Inverting "Doux Commerce": The Paradox Of Rhetoric Surrounding European Jewish Commerce, Isabelle C. Sampere

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper investigates the inherent contradictions in the "Doux Commerce" thesis as articulated by Montesquieu, which argues that commerce civilizes and morally enriches its participants, using the historical experiences of the French Jewish community as a case study. Despite the Enlightenment’s promotion of commerce as a path to societal gentility and tolerance, French Jews remained targets of economic and social marginalization, which persisted into the 19th century. The analysis centers on the rhetorical dissonance exhibited by philosophers such as Voltaire, who extolled the virtues of commerce for its ability to unify diverse religious and cultural groups, yet simultaneously endorsed and …

Working Paper No. 100, Social Realism And Socialist Realism, Amanda F. Worman

Working Papers in Economics

This inquiry sees to establish that as a genre, “social realism” reflected values of the American system of market capitalism out of which this art style emerged. During the same timeframe, what has been categorized as “socialist realism” reflected values of the Soviet system out of which this art style also arose. The “Great Depression” that dogged the American economy and society through the 1930s, as well as the “Iron Fist” rule characteristic of Joseph Stalin’s heavy industrialization drive for Soviet Russia, appears to have promoted and shaped these two distinct but similar art styles under consideration, as responses to …

Working Paper No. 95, Jeremy Bentham And English Common Law, Anastasia Klingler

Working Papers in Economics

This inquiry seeks to establish that in his book, The Theory of Legislation [1802], author Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) critiqued English Common Law while also posing solutions and alternatives. The first part of this inquiry considers Bentham’s critique of the degrees of vagueness and confusion that could be associated with what is noted as “Common Law” with its emphasis upon the “principle of expectation.” In addition, this inquiry introduces and considers Bentham’s warnings against uses associated with the English legal system and its emphasis upon the importance of “precedent,” as this emphasis is argued to open risks for abuse by courts …

Working Paper No. 97, Business Sabotage In Theory And Practice, Nathan Lewis-Lusso

Working Papers in Economics

This inquiry seeks to establish that theoretical advances offered earlier on by one Karl Marx and some decades later by one Thorstein Veblen offer insights into forms of business sabotage. Drawing upon their writings, this inquiry considers how in the writings of Marx, already in the mid-nineteenth century surplus value extraction and pecuniary sabotage serve as structural features found in a market-based economy. Marx’s consideration of surplus labor and artificial scarcity reveals how private investment seeks to constrain production in order to preserve and enhance profitability. Veblen’s theory of institutional sabotage complements Marx’s view by showing how firms could delay …

Working Paper No. 98, Selma Mushkin And The Emergence Of The Field Of Health Economics, Sadie Kautz

Working Papers in Economics

This inquiry seeks to establish that through her effective efforts, Selma Mushkin promoted and shaped the field of Health Economics. Perhaps most importantly, she redefined health as a form of human capital that needed to be considered as both essential and integral to economic growth. In her 1958 paper: “Toward a Definition of Health Economics,” she defined the scope of this emerging field through emphasizing how improved resource allocation could lead to efficiency gains. Appearing as her 1962 article in the Journal of Political Economy, with “Health as an Investment” Mushkin advanced the idea that--much like education--public spending on health …

Working Paper No. 102, Knowledge And Power: Towards Anintellectual Biography Of Michel Foucault, Amanda Bergeson

Working Papers in Economics

This inquiry seeks to establish that in his efforts as an intellectual, scholar, and author of books that would include Discipline and Punish [1975], Michel Foucault emphasizes the importance of power and power relations, especially of an authority (such as a sovereign) over the common people. Drawing from Discipline and Punish [1975], this inquiry considers how Foucault’s understanding of genealogy got rooted and shaped by Friedrich Nietzsche’s critique of history; a view which altogether challenged the idea of historical progress, while also revealing the contingent nature of truth. The second section considers how sovereign power evolves into disciplinary mechanisms embedded …

Working Paper No. 103, Russia And The Myriad Of Challenges Associatedwith ‘Relative Backwardness’, Jacob Wood

Working Papers in Economics

This inquiry seeks to establish that over recent of centuries Russia exhibits signs of what is termed as ‘relative backwardness.’ Drawing from Alexander Gershenkron’s (1962, 62-70) understanding of ‘backwardness in historical perspective,’ as well as Karl Marx’s ([1845] 1977, 39-43) concept of ‘historical materialism,’ this inquiry examines how successive Russian regimes sought to close the developmental gap with western countries through state-led modernization efforts. What stands out is that when confronted with attempting deep structural challenges, each leader turned to centralized authority and coercive reforms—not by choice, but out of necessity. Our inquiry considers Nicolas II’s failure to modernize Russia’s …

Working Paper No. 99, Adam Smith And The American Experiment, Cole Soliz

Working Papers in Economics

As the noted author of a tome titled An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith [1776] is often cited as a proponent of Laissez-faire capitalism. However, the reality is that his writings offer a more nuanced vision that includes suggesting constraints on economics activity, while encouraging the importance of what he views as state or public institutions. In Smith's writings we find that he speculates that for a perfectly functioning market system to operate effectively depends upon the enforcement of contracts, the protection of property rights, and the maintenance of justice. These, along …

Working Paper No. 101, “Universal Welfare” In Marxist Thought, And Its Implementation During The Era Of The Soviet Union, Eunji Jang

Working Papers in Economics

This inquiry seeks to establish that although in his writings Karl Marx emphasized “Universal Welfare” as a central ideal, its appearance and realization in the Soviet Union was affected by tensions between ideology and the realities of centralized economic control. The first section explores Marx’s vision of universal welfare as a structural component of a post-capitalist society rooted in collective ownership and human emancipation. The second section examines how the Soviet Union institutionalized welfare across sectors such as education, healthcare, housing, and employment, while access to these services was often influenced by labor contribution and political loyalty. The final section …

The Benefits To New York State Of The Local Roads Program, Theresa Lagasse

Applied Economics Theses

ABSTRACT:

This paper explores the history of the Cornell Local Roads Program and how it helps to satisfy Cornell’s land grant mission as an extension program. Then the paper will look at the programs impact both directly and indirectly on the economy of New York State, via its role in improving local road infrastructure and providing highway departments with trainings and technical support.

The focus of the paper examines the four primary components of the Local Roads Program at Cornell, including workshops, research initiatives, technical assistance, and the Local Roads library, each of which contributes to better road management and …

Chains Of Knowledge: Slavery, Low-Wage Labor, And The Role Of Intellectual Property In Antebellum Georgia (1789 To 1865), Kris Kallies

Journal of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association

This article investigates Georgia’s engagement with intellectual property from 1789 to 1865, with an epilogue to 1920, arguing that the state’s economic reliance on unfree labor systems profoundly shaped its approach to technological innovation. Drawing from a newly constructed, state-specific patent database, the study reveals that Georgia’s low patenting rates—examining the areas of in mining and metallurgy, textiles, and the establishment of the Confederate Patent Office during the American Civil War—was not indicative of technological stagnation, but rather evidence of a region where innovation was informal, experiential, and embedded in labor hierarchies. The article advances the argument that the absence …

Guardians Of The Iranian Revolution: Clerical Authority, Bonyads, And The Irgc In Iran's Economic Landscape, Chase M. Toscano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis investigates the ideological and institutional foundations of Iran's post-revolutionary political economy, focusing on the triumvirate of clerical authority, bonyads (charitable foundations), and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Drawing on Kevan Harris’s “subcontractor state” framework, this study argues that Iran’s political economy is simultaneously a decentralized yet state-dominated system, where semi-public institutions like the bonyads and the IRGC act as key subcontractors, enabling the Islamic Republic to further economic development and circumventing Western sanctions. This analysis examines the development of Iran’s political economy from the 1979 revolution to identify the influence of left-wing Islamic ideologues like Ali Shariati …

Horses, Serfs, Slaves, And Transitions Debates., Thomas E. Lambert

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This research note/paper examines several factors that have been mentioned and debated as determinants of how Britain moves from feudalism to mercantilism and then to capitalism by way of agricultural and industrial innovations and also how it arrives at the cusp of the industrial revolution. Of special interest are somewhat recent conjectures of macroeconomic data, investment estimates, and data on horses, serfs, and slaves of previous centuries that perhaps can better contribute to and add some clarification to the debates over the transition from feudalism to capitalism and the transition from an early form a capitalism or mercantilism to the …

Power And Progress, Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology And Prosperity, Jay Nathan

Journal of Global Awareness

No abstract provided.

The Struggles For Equality And Democracy In Modern China: Which Was More Influential?, Angelina K. Lambros

Publications and Research

This paper analyzes the struggles for democracy and equality in modern China, from the fall of the Qing Dynasty to the Tiananmen Square movement. It considers which struggle was more influential, evaluating the recurring theme of a fight for democracy in China since the New Culture Movement, and a quest for social and economic equality that Mao and the Chinese Communist Party committed themselves to. Ultimately, the paper concludes that the struggle for democratic norms and institutions was always present among the Chinese people, but it did not succeed in pushing the government or the Party to adopt political reforms. …

The People's Ledger: Reform Or Revolution?, Kostantinos R. Grigoras

Applied Economics Theses

The ramifications of the 2007-08 financial crisis, the later Covid-19 pandemic, and the technological developments surrounding cryptocurrencies and digital ledgers have led to increasingly explicit political views on banking apart from dominant mainstream economic narratives. As such, a widening range of authors from varying perspectives have sought to contribute a “programmatic vision” to the set of changes they assert as necessary in the current financial system. Saule T. Omarova’s (2021) controversial article, “The People’s Ledger: How to Democratize Money and Finance the Economy,” and the resulting political reaction to its goal of advancing such a programmatic vision in order to …

Hands On Archiving: Aid In Reorganizing The San Bernardino County Museum Archive Room And Archival Material, Ezequiel Vera

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This paper documents the process and details of the History Archives Inventory Project at the San Bernardino County Museum (SBCM). Most of the work of this project is done in-person and will include photographic evidence of the project, a written portion that will explain the process of the project, and secondary literature that will help explain the process of the project and its corresponding decision making. The History Archives Inventory Project is a multiple year-long project; this paper will be limited to my time working on the project while completing my Master of Arts in History at CSUSB. My time …

Borders And Burdens: Three Essays On Inter-Jurisdictional Tax Policy In America, Benjamin Jaros

All Dissertations

Individuals, firms, and governments make decisions about the tradeoffs of different tax policies at jurisdictional borders, such as those between states, nations, or local governments; those choices shape the burden of taxation. This dissertation examines the effects of three distinct changes in tax policy: for state corporate income tax apportionment, colonial tobacco tariffs, and tax abatements for data centers. Chapter 1 examines how changes to the corporate income tax base formula affect state tax revenues. Chapter 2 analyzes how colonial era export and import tariffs on tobacco impacted trade volumes, raised revenue, and the distribution of the tax burden between …

The Perry-Campbell Collection: An Analysis Of Byzantine And Roman Coins, Samuel A. Skokan

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

The Anthropology Collections of the Nebraska State Museum are home of the Gladys G. Perry Campbell and Iain Colin Gordon Campbell (I. C. G. Campbell) coin collection, which consists of an estimated 4,000 coins that date between the 1^st century BC to the 15th century AD. The collection consists of bronze coins (91%+) and billon (alloy) coins that represent low-denomination currency of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. There are approximately 3,200 Byzantine and 750 Roman coins. This study focused solely on the Byzantine coins of the Collection, to document their chronological range and research value. The collection can support …

Examining The Impact Of Widespread Disease On The Economy, Ryan Howell

Honors College Theses

Over centuries, disease has been an instigator of economic change. From the Black Death and the overturning of feudalism to the Spanish flu and its relationship with World War 1, pandemics have a profound effect on the social, political, and economic climate of the affected areas. In 2020, COVID-19 began in Wuhan, China and spread across the world rapidly and unexpectedly. The world economy was forced into a recession with major effects on industries such as airlines, energy, and automobiles. While some industries made smooth recoveries, the pandemic undeniably altered the way business is conducted. The shift between in-person and …

The Formation Of The American League In Baseball; Changes In American Society And Culture That Contributed To The Demand For More Baseball In The Late 19th Century, Shawn M. Smith

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The second professional major league (the American League) in baseball came about in response to the demand for more baseball entertainment due to the increased amount of leisure time Americans had in the late-19th century as society started the shift from an agricultural based lifestyle to a culture who worked predominantly in factory work.

The culture and society of the day changed drastically due to changing economic conditions of the time period. Due to monumental changes in industry, the vast majority of the population had shifted from working in an agrarian society to working in factories as a result of …

Lessons Learned: Fabrizio López-Gallo, Mercedes Cardona

Journal of Financial Crises

Fabrizio López-Gallo served as the Bank of Mexico’s director general of financial stability during the COVID-19 pandemic, having been financial sector specialist and risk analysis and special projects manager for the central bank during the 2007–09 Global Financial Crisis (GFC). The Mexican government declared a health emergency at the outbreak of the pandemic and implemented a general economic shutdown. The Bank of Mexico intervened by cutting rates and initiating extraordinary measures, such as adding bond swaps and loosening rules for minimum deposits at commercial banks to provide liquidity. It gave flexibility to commercial banks to grant forbearance on mortgage payments …

Lessons Learned: Cecilia Skingsley, Maryann Haggerty

Journal of Financial Crises

During the Swedish banking crisis of the early 1990s, Cecilia Skingsley was the press secretary for the Ministry of Finance. She held various roles, including chief economist, at Swedbank, one of Sweden’s largest banks, from 2007 to 2013, a period that included the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and European Sovereign Debt Crisis. Swedbank suffered heavy losses amid the GFC and relied on a government guarantee program for support. In 2013, she became a deputy governor of Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank; in 2019, she became first deputy governor. Skingsley left the Riksbank in September 2022 to become head of the …

Lessons Learned: Philip Lane, Mary Anne Chute Lynch, Rosalind Z. Wiggins

Journal of Financial Crises

Philip Lane served as governor of the Central Bank of Ireland from 2015 to 2019. He introduced countercyclical capital and systemic buffer tools and initiated research into the role and risks of cross-border inflows across Ireland. As a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) since 2015, Lane has advocated for the European Union to adopt macroprudential policies and tools. He hailed the work of the European Systemic Risk Board and similar institutions established after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the European Sovereign Debt Crisis to share data, information concerning risks, and concerns over financial …

Lessons Learned: J. Christopher Flowers, Mary Anne Chute Lynch

Journal of Financial Crises

J. Christopher Flowers has been managing director, CEO, and chairman of the private investment firm J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC for many years. During the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–2009, Flowers was involved with investing in some of the largest banks and financial institutions in the world and advising and consulting with them on possible acquisitions, mergers, and sales as several of these firms began to collapse. In the fall of 2008, Flowers worked closely with the Bank of America (BofA) on proposals to acquire Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, and he developed a plan for private investors to …

Lessons Learned: Giorgio Gobbi, Mercedes Cardona

Journal of Financial Crises

Giorgio Gobbi joined the Economic Research Department of the Bank of Italy in 1990 and was assigned to carry out analysis and research on the banking industry. From 1998 to 2004, he headed the department’s Financial Intermediaries Office and represented the bank at the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of International Settlements, and the European Central Bank. Starting in 2007, Gobbi headed the Financial Structure and Intermediaries Division within the bank’s Structural Economic Analysis Department. He was appointed deputy head of the Financial Stability Unit in 2013 and became head of the Financial Stability Directorate in 2014.

Eliminating Discount Window Stigma: What Can We Learn From Abroad?, Susan Mclaughlin

Journal of Financial Crises

This article picks up from an earlier Journal of Financial Crisis policy note on discount window design to see how the experiences of other central banks can inform work to redesign the discount window to reduce stigma. As explained in that article, banks’ reluctance to use the discount window is problematic for financial stability as it constrains the Fed’s ability to use its liquidity provision tools to stem runs and mitigate contagion in times of stress. The stigma associated with discount window borrowing in the United States is well documented and is a multifaceted phenomenon.