Abstract
North America is a large continent endowed with large amounts of fertile soil and natural resources. The economic histories of the USA, Canada, and Mexico offer contrasting examples that can illustrate multiple themes in world economic history. In particular, this chapter highlights differences in the institutional structures of these economies and argues that they are key to understanding the different development paths of these three nations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
For discussions of a broad range of topics in American economic history that discusses the research over the last decade and predictions of where the research will be going in those areas, see the volume edited by Cain et al. (2018). For descriptions of the role of government, see Fishback et al. (2007).
- 2.
Reading List
Acemoglu, Daron, and James Robinson. 2012. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. New York, NY: Crown Business.
Barro, Robert, and Xavier I. Sala-i-Martin. 2003. Economic Growth. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Bolt, Jutta, et al. 2015. GDP per Capita. Dataset accessed at http://hdl.handle.net/10622/8FCYOX, via the Clio Infra website (https://www.clio-infra.eu).
Bortz, Jeffrey, and Stephen Haber, eds. 2002. The Mexican Economy, 1870–1930: Essays on the Economic History of Institutions, Revolutions, and Growth. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Cain, Louis, Price Fishback, and Paul Rhode. 2018. The Oxford Handbook of American Economic History. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Carlson, Leonard. 1983. Federal Policy and Indian Land: Economic Interests and the Sale of Indian Allotments, 1900–1934. Agricultural History 57 (1): 33–45.
Coatsworth John. 1978. Obstacles to Economic Growth in Nineteenth-Century Mexico. American Historical Review 83 (1): 80–100.
Diaz-Cayeros, Alberto. 2013. Entrenched Insiders: Limited Access Orders in Mexico. In In the Shadow of Violence: Politics, Economics, and the Problems of Development, ed. Douglass North, John Wallis, Steven Webb, and Barry Weingast. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Engerman, Stanley, and Kenneth Sokoloff. 2012. Economic Development in the Americas Since 1500: Endowments and Institutions. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Fishback, Price. 2017. How Successful Was the New Deal? The Microeconomic Impact of New Deal Spending and Lending Policies. Journal of Economic Literature 55 (4): 1435–1485.
Fishback, Price, Robert Higgs, Gary Libecap, John Wallis, Stanley Engerman, Jeffrey Hummel, Sumner LaCroix, et al. 2007. Government and the American Economy: A New History. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Fogel, Robert. 1994. Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
Goldin, Claudia, and Lawrence Katz. 2008. The Race Between Education and Technology. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Haber, Stephen, Armando Razo, and Noel Maurer. 2003. The Politics of Property Rights: Political Instability, Credible Commitments, and Economic Growth in Mexico. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Higgs, Robert. 1977. Competition and Coercion: Blacks in the American Economy, 1865–1914. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Knack, Stephen and Philip Keefer. 1995. Institutions and Economic Performance: Cross-Country Tests Using Alternative Institutional Measures. Economics and Politics 7 (3): 207–227.
Marshall, M.G., et al. 2015. Polity 2 Index. Dataset accessed at http://hdl.handle.net/10622/HOPFWK, via the Clio Infra website (https://www.clio-infra.eu).
McCusker, John, and Russell Menard. 1991. The Economy of British America, 1607–1789. 2nd ed. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
McGuire, Robert. 2003. To Form a More Perfect Union: A New Economic Interpretation of the United States Constitution. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
North, Douglass. 1966. The Economic Growth of the United States, 1790–1860. New York, NY: Norton.
———. 1981. Structure and Change in Economic History. New York, NY: Norton.
———. 1990. Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
North, Douglass, William Summerhill, and Barry Weingast. 2000. Order, Disorder, and Economic Change: Latin America vs. North America. In Governing for Prosperity, ed. Bruce Bueno De Mesquita and Hilton L. Root. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
North, Douglass, John Joseph Wallis, and Barry Weingast. 2009. Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Human History. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fishback, P.V. (2018). North America. In: Blum, M., Colvin, C. (eds) An Economist’s Guide to Economic History. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96568-0_37
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96568-0_37
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96567-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96568-0
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)