Enterprising America: Businesses, Banks, and Credit Markets in Historical Perspective.

Enterprising America: Businesses, Banks, and

Credit Markets in Historical Perspective

Edited by William J. Collins and Robert A. Margo

National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report

Cloth: $110.00, e-book $88.00

The rise of America from a colonial outpost to one of the world's most sophisticated and productive economies was facilitated by the establishment of a variety of economic enterprises pursued within the framework of laws and institutions that set the rules for their organization and operation.

To better understand the historical processes central to American economic development, Enterprising America brings together contributors who address the economic behavior of American firms and financial institutions--and the associated legal institutions that shaped their behavior --throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Collectively, the contributions provide an account of the ways in which businesses, banks, and credit markets promoted America's extraordinary economic growth. Among the topics that emerge are the...