American Economic History

American Economic History: 2014 Edition contains an analysis of the historical contribution to economic theory provided by many of the great economists of the past. The book also contains the latest economic data available from The Bureau of Economic Analysis (Year end and quarterly GDP for 2013), the Department of Labor (December 2013 employment), the Federal Reserve Money Supply (December 2013), the Federal Government Debt and Deficit from the Department of the Treasury (Fiscal Year 2013) and The President's 2015 Budget. The purpose of this book is to examine the evolution of economic thought and the historical events that affected the economic growth of the world's industrialized countries, with particular emphasis of the United States. During specific times in its history, the United States was the envy of the entire world. In the nineteenth century, the Europeans recognized that the America approach was different. It was the Europeans, who originally coined the term the "American System." After World War II, the United States dominated the world in almost every aspect of global business, as they were clearly the world leader in manufacturing in both new product and new process development.However, starting in the 1980's the rest of the industrialized world began to catch up and even surpass America in some sectors of manufacturing. During the 1990's there were many economists that were predicting that the European Union or Japan would overtake America and become the economic leader of the free world in the twenty-first century. However, these predictions neglected to estimate the importance of an invention by Intel, Inc. in the early 1970's. The invention was called the microprocessor and it was a catalyst for the strong comeback of American industry in the twenty-first century.This is not a book about government, or industry, it is about the people, past and present that contributed to the current understanding of economic and political theory in an historical context. The major theories of micro and macroeconomics are discussed but the major emphasis is how these theories were developed and taught by those economists and political thinkers who invented them in the first place.
About the Author: Richard E. Carmichael, Ph.D. is a professor in the College of Distance Learning and Continuing Education at Gardner-Webb University. He previously served as the Alex Lee Professor of Business at Lenoir-Rhyne College. He also served as a Visiting Professor of Finance at Washington College in Chestertown, MD and a Faculty Associate with the Johns Hopkins University Division of Business in Baltimore, MD. He has had teaching assignments in American Economic History, Macro and Microeconomics, Strategic Management, Business Economics, International Business, Small Business Management and Financial Markets and Institutions. In addition, Dr. Carmichael has over fifteen years of business experience in the fields of Financial Management, Economic Forecasting and Marketing. He has held executive positions with First Interstate Bank of California as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Marketing, BankAmerica Corp., as Vice President of Market Planning and Research, Manufacturers Hanover Corp. as Financial Economists for the Bank's National Division. Also, he has over ten years experience with the U.S. Government as Budget Manager for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maryland and as Branch Chief for Credit Programs for the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington, DC. He holds a BS in Economics, an MBA in Financial Management and a Ph.D. in Business Administration.