The archaeological evidence is clear, but the mechanisms of diffusion are still not entirely understood. By Dr. Sonja Magnavita Research Associate Commission for the Archaeology of Non-European Cultures (KAAK), Bonn, Germany Abstract The long-standing, more mythical than fact-based assumptions about ancient trade contacts between West Africa and the wider world prior to the Arab conquest[…]
A Phoenician-Punic ship from a relief carving on a 2nd century CE sarcophagus / Photo by NMB, Wikimedia Commons The Phoenicians established themselves as one of the greatest trading powers in the ancient world. By Mark Cartwright / 04.01.2016 Historian Introduction The Phoenicians, based on a narrow coastal strip of the Levant, put their excellent seafaring skills to good[…]
This painting by Roberto Bompiani captures a common 19th-century association of Roman dining and excess. A Roman Feast, late 1800s. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 72.PA.4 While Roman law was laying the foundation for a society of contract and exchange, Roman philosophers were listening to the Greek philosopher Epicurus, who said, “If you wish to make[…]
An overview of the main phases of the history of globalization, as well as of radical structural breaks. By Dr. Ulrich Pfister / 06.06.2012 Professor of Modern and Contemporary History WWU Münster Introduction This article provides an overview of economic globalization in the modern period. It includes an overview of the main phases of the history[…]
Monetary, fiscal, military, political, and economic issues are all very much intertwined. Lecture by Dr. Joseph R. Peden / 10.27.1984 Delivered at the Seminar on Money and Government, Houston, TX Former Professor of History Baruch College City University of New York Two centuries ago, in 1776, there were two books published in England, both of[…]
A medieval baker with his apprentice (scanned from The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black). As both business and social organizations, guilds were prolific throughout Europe between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries. By Dr. William Bosshardt and Dr. Jane S. Lopus Bosshardt: Professor of Economics, Florida Atlantic University Lopus: Professor Emerita of Economics, California State[…]
Night of August 4th, abolition of feudality and fiscal privileges, by Léopold Morice / Photo by Teofilo, Wikimedia Commons Feudalism can be found in a range of societies across different time periods. By Dr. Vladimir Shlapentokh (left) and Dr. Joshua Woods (right) Shlapentokh: Professor of Sociology, Michigan State University Woods: Associate Professor of Sociology,[…]
Mosaic of amphorae being unloaded from a ship, Ostia / Southampton University, Creative Commons The trade networks of the Roman Empire are among the most intensively researched large-scale market systems in antiquity, By (left-to-right) Dr. Xavier Rubio-Campillo, María Coto-Sarmiento, Jordi Pérez-Gonzalez, and Dr. José Remesal Rodríguez Rubio-Campillo: Lecturer in Archaeology; Computational Archaeology, The[…]
The Greeks failed miserably to see the need for the development of a discipline, economic science, devoted to the study of the spontaneous processes of social cooperation that comprise the market. By Dr. Jesús Huerta de Soto / 09.15.2010 Professor of Political Economy Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid Introduction The intellectual odyssey that laid the[…]
The country’s most vulnerable populations were the hardest hit. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 08.27.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction From industrial strongholds to the rural Great Plains, from factory workers to farmers, the Great Depression affected millions. In cities, as industry slowed, then sometimes stopped altogether, workers lost jobs and joined breadlines, or sought[…]
While it is misleading to view the stock market crash of 1929 as the sole cause of the Great Depression, the dramatic events of that October did play a role in the downward spiral of the American economy. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 08.28.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction Herbert Hoover became president at a[…]
A One Hundred Dollar Confederate States of America banknote dated December 22, 1862. Issued during the American Civil War (1861–1865) / Wikimedia Commons What was the economic impact of the Civil War on American life? By Dr. Burton W. Folsom / 03.23.2011 Senior Fellow in Economic Education Mackinac Center for Public Policy Even after 150[…]
Mysia Islands off Troas, Tenedos. Circa 100-70 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 16.27 g 12). / Photo by Exekias, Wikimedia Commons The earliest discussions of economics date back to ancient times, such as Chanakya’s Arthashastra or Xenophon’s Oeconomicus Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 08.19.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction In the history of economic thought, early economic[…]
The historical emergence and use of money is an important question. By Dr. Alexander W. Salter / 12.07.2017 Comparative Economics Research Fellow Assistant Professor of Economics Texas Tech University The historical emergence and use of money is an important question. It is important in its own right as academic history and because it highlights the[…]
Men stand in line outside a depression soup kitchen, 1931 / Public Domain Far less has been written about the origins of the Depression than about its results. By Dr. Robert S. McElvanie Elizabeth Chisholm Professor of Arts and Letters Millsaps College Far less has been written about the origins of the Depression than about[…]
Socialists in Union Square, New York City, May 1, 1912 / Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons Socialism has a very long history. The earliest recorded socialist society is described in the Book of Acts in the Bible. Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 08.10.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief Introduction Socialism has a very long history. The[…]
Toronto in lovely black and white / Photo by Steve Harris, via Flickr creative commons Just what is “capitalism” and its history? By Dr. Tom Cutterham / 11.12.2014 Lecturer in United States History University of Birmingham One of the central characteristics of the new history of capitalism has been its tendency to defer the question[…]
By Dr. David Blanke Joe B. Frantz Associate Professor of History Texas A&M University-Corpus Christie Industrial Capitalism The Panic of 1873 stands as the first global depression brought about by industrial capitalism. It began a regular pattern of boom and bust cycles that distinguish our current economic system and which continue to this day. While[…]
William James Bennett, “View of South Street, from Maiden Lane, New York City,” ca. 1827 / Metropolitan Museum of Art Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 03.10.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief 1 – The Market Revolution 1.1 – Introduction The Market Revolution of the nineteenth century radically shifted commerce as well as the way of life for[…]
Edited by Matthew A. McIntosh / 02.24.2018 Historian Brewminate Editor-in-Chief The Agriculture Market Landscape Introduction The agricultural market landscape is the economic system that produces, distributes, and consumes agricultural products and services. Agriculture, in many ways, has been the fundamental economic industry throughout history. The production and exchange of food laid the groundwork for all[…]
A massive bulk cargo ship, the Pasha Bulker / Photo by Tim J. Keegan, Creative Commons By Guglielmo Piombini / 10.19.2017 Before the State For a very extended period of time primitive men lived in small groups of hunters and gatherers at a time in which there was no state. The modus vivendi of these clans[…]
By Dr. Joseph T. Salerno / 10.25.2017 Ludwig von Mises as Social Rationalist For the most part Ludwig von Mises’s writings on society and social evolution have been ignored by the participants in the current revivals of both Austrian economics and classical liberal political philosophy. When his social theory has been addressed, Mises appears to[…]
Overcoming isolation in the gig economy, workers like Amazon’s Mechanical Turks are building democratic, worker-led communities. By Paul Hampton / 08.25.2016 Estelle Becker Costanzo has worked in Pittsburgh restaurants since age 15. Now 56, she is a server at The Capital Grille, a position she is proud of. “This is a good job,” she says—relative[…]
Austin, Texas, leads the nation in people with jobs outside the 9-to-5 economy. By Martin do Nascimento / 08.18.2016 Shooting this assignment and meeting folks doing gig work all over Austin, Texas, I was surprised by the variety of perspectives that people have on working in the gig economy. Ask two rideshare drivers or two[…]
Courtesy: Softwear Automation National Public Radio (NPR) has published a series of stories about robots and the future of employment in the U.S. and abroad. It begins with the story about the Luddites war on industry and a more recent podcast about the sewing robot DARPA has contracted to research for the production of U.S. military[…]