State and Economy in Industrial America, 1870--1940
ECON 254
Spring 2019
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01
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This course considers the transformation of the political and economic institutions of the United States in the 70 years ending in 1940 and the revolution in political ideology that occurred alongside this transformation and helped bring it about. We begin by examining the growth of large corporations after 1870, the new techniques of management they called forth, and the antitrust movement that arose in response to them. We then turn to the many changes in American government brought by the Fourteenth Amendment, the granting of constitutional personality to business corporations, and the attempt of Progressives before World War I to analogize the administrative state to business firms and bring the newly developing techniques of management science to bear in politics and policy, an effort with profound effects on American life. Finally, the role played by war in these changes, the creation of the modern American economy in the 1920s, and the New Deal's attempt to adapt the nation's political and legal institutions to the economic and ideological realities of the 20th century are considered. Along the way, the course addresses a range of theoretical issues, including the contrast between markets and central planning as ways of organizing economic activity, the tension between the individual and the collective in complex societies, technocracy and social engineering, and the impact of war on economic and political institutions. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS ECON |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: ECON101 or ECON110 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ECON-MN)(ECON) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
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