Business & economics / Economic History

The Canadian Century

by Brian Lee Crowley

One hundred years ago a great Canadian, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, predicted that the twentieth century would belong to Canada. He had a plan to make it so. What happened? Canada lost sight of Laurier's plan and failed...

Economic Actors, Economic Behaviors, and Presidential Leadership: The Constrained Effects of Rhetoric

by C. Damien Arthur

This book utilizes a theoretically informed framework for analyzing the effectiveness of the president’s economic rhetoric and employs an empirical assessment that measures rhetoric’s effect on economic...

Justice in the Marketplace in Early Modern Spain: Saravia, Villalon and the Religious Origins of Economic Analysis

by Michael Thomas D'Emic

Justice in the Marketplace in Early Modern Spain examines the religious views and motivations of the late scholastic authors Cristobal de Villalon and Luis Saravia de la Calle . Michael Thomas D’Emic explains...

Political Vanity: Adam Ferguson on the Moral Tensions of Early Capitalism

by Matthew B. Arbo

Political Vanity aims to illuminate the central debates over the historical, moral, and political legitimacy of market capitalism as though still profoundly theological in character. This theological sensitivity...

Capital of Capital: Money, Banking, and Power in New York City

by Steven H. Jaffe, Jessica Lautin & Museum of the City of New York

From Revolutionary-era bank notes and stock and bond trading during the Civil War to the invention of modern mortgages and the 2008 financial collapse, Capital of Capital explores how New York City gave rise...

The Transformation of the World: A Global History of the Nineteenth Century

by Jürgen Osterhammel & Patrick Camiller

A monumental history of the nineteenth century, The Transformation of the World offers a panoramic and multifaceted portrait of a world in transition. Jürgen Osterhammel, an eminent scholar who has been called...

A Glance in the Rear View Mirror: Neoliberal Ideology From its Origins to the Present

by Eric Toussaint

An introductory guide to the neo-liberal ideology of the global 1%. Perfect for those of us without economics degrees.

A Brief History of Economics: Artful Approaches to the Dismal Science

by E Ray Canterbery

Blending past and present, this brief history of economics is the perfect book for introducing students to the field.

A Brief History of Economics illustrates how the ideas of the great economists not only influenced...

Life and Work in Medieval Europe

by P. Boissonade

Erudite yet readable work traces the economic evolution of Europe from 5th to 15th century. Focusing on working people, it covers breakup of feudal estates, development of small craft and large capitalist industries,...

Early Economic Thought: Selected Writings from Aristotle to Hume

by Arthur Eli Monroe

A vital and varied survey of economic theory in the pre-modern era, this well-chosen collection includes extracts from the works of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Antonio Serra, and David Hume.

General Economic History

by Max Weber

Starting with descriptions and analyses of the agrarian systems, the famed economist explores manorial system, guilds, and early capitalism, organization of industry and mining, development of commerce, the...

The History of the Standard Oil Company: Briefer Version

by Ida M. Tarbell & David M. Chalmers

This muckraking classic, which eventually led to effective regulation of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company, was the inaugural work for crusading journalists whose mission was to expose corruption in...

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

by Max Weber

Author's best-known and most controversial study relates the rise of a capitalist economy to the Puritan belief that hard work and good deeds were outward signs of faith and salvation.

John Maynard Keynes: Free Trader or Protectionist?

by Joseph R. Cammarosano

John Maynard Keynes: Free Trader or Protectionist? sheds light on Keynes’ position on the issue of free versus protected international trade. Over his lifetime, Keynes’ position altered from free to restricted...

The Great Recession in Fiction, Film, and Television: Twenty-First-Century Bust Culture

by Daniel Mrozowski, Kirk Boyle, April Miller & Maryann Erigha et al.

The Great Recession in Fiction, Film, and Television: Twenty-first-Century Bust Culture examines pop artifacts not typically included in discussions of the financial meltdown; the collected essays treat our...

Economic Fascism: Primary Sources on Mussolini's Crony Capitalism

by Carlo Celli

It may be argued that Mussolini (1883–1945, dictator of Italy 1922–1943) invented modern crony capitalism. Although he described himself as a socialist, he rejected the Marxist version. Today nobody supports...

Biblical Economic Ethics: Sacred Scripture's Teachings on Economic Life

by Albino Barrera

Written in non-technical language accessible to non-specialist readers, this book is a theological synthesis of the findings of scripture scholars and ethicists on what the Bible teaches about economic life....

The Idea of Capitalism before the Industrial Revolution

by Richard Grassby

In this volume, noted economic historian Richard Grassby investigates the origins and evolution of the idea of capitalism to illustrate for readers the true nature, merits, and the future of capitalism. Grassby...

Grounds for Agreement: The Political Economy of the Coffee Commodity Chain

by John M. Talbot

As the popularity of coffee and coffee shops has grown worldwide in recent years, so has another trend-globalization-which has greatly affected growers and distributors. This book analyzes changes in the structure...

Perilous Passage: Mankind and the Global Ascendancy of Capital

by Amiya Kumar Bagchi

In this innovative and ambitious global history, distinguished economic historian Amiya Kumar Bagchi traces the global history of human change and survival under the sway of capitalism since the voyages of Columbus....