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Government Finance in the United States
Almost everything I do has some connection to government
finance. The papers cited in this section are specifically about
government finance. If you are interested in my work on government finance
you should consult the other areas of specialization as well.
My research into government finance began in my
dissertation when I tried to figure out how the federal, state, and local
governments coordinate on the financing of relief programs during the New
Deal.
These papers are referenced in the New Deal research
section.
In 1983, Dick Sylla, John Legler and I began collecting
state and local government statistics for the 19th and early 20th
century.
Most of what we collected has been archived at ICPSR,
although some details of individual state and city finances have not been
released. We have never "finished" this project, although hopes springs
eternal. The finer the level of detail in the statistics, the more doubt
there is about their accuracy. So we are waiting to do a final release until
the time when we are sure about the state and local accounts. Don’t hold
your breath.
Papers directly out the project:
"Banks and State Public Finance in the New Republic: The United
States, 1790-1860," with Richard Sylla and John B. Legler, Journal of
Economic History, 47, pp. 391-403, June 1987.
"U.S. City Finances and the Growth of Government, 1850-1902," with
John B. Legler and Richard Sylla, Journal of Economic History, 48,
pp. 347-356, June 1988.
"The Interaction of Taxation and Regulation in Nineteenth Century
Banking" with Richard Sylla and John Legler, in Claudia Goldin and Gary
Libecap, eds., The Regulated Economy: An Historical Approach to
Political Economy, NBER, University of Chicago Press, 1994.
My collaboration with Sylla led to a whole series of
papers on the 19th century, which are referenced in the 19th
century research summary. Many of these are directly related to public
finance.
I have also published a series of larger examinations of
pieces of government finance:
"American Government Expenditures: An Historical Perspective," with
Douglass C. North, American Economic Review, 72, pp. 336-340, May
1982.
"Does Economic Sclerosis Set in With Age? An Empirical Study of the
Olson Hypothesis," with Wallace E. Oates, Kyklos, 41, pp. 397-417,
1988.
"Railroads and Property Taxes," with Jac Heckelman, Explorations in
Economic History, 34, pp. 77-99, January 1997.
"American Government Finance in the Long Run:
1790 to 1990," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2000.
"The Property Tax as a Coordinating
Device: Financing Indiana’s Mammoth System of Internal Improvements, 1835
to 1842." Explorations in Economic History, July 2003.
"Decentralization in the Public Sector: An
Empirical Study of State and Local Government," with Wallace Oates, in
Harvey Rosen, ed. Fiscal Federalism, NBER, University of Chicago
Press, 1988.
"Government Growth, Income Growth and Economic Growth", in John James
and Mark Thomas, eds. Capitalism in Context, University of Chicago
Press, 1994.
"A History of the Property Tax in America," in Property Taxation
and Local Government Finance, Wallace E. Oates, ed. Lincoln Institute
of Land Policy, 2001.
"American Government and the Promotion of Economic Development In the
National Era, 1790 to 1860." Forthcoming in The Role of Government in
U.S. Economic History: Essays in Honor of Robert Higgs, Price Fishback,
ed.
Finally, I edited the chapter on "Government Finance and Employment" in
the forthcoming edition of Historical Statistics of the United States.
"Government Finances and Employment," Historical Statistics
of the United States, Carter, Gartner, Haines, Olmstead, Sutch, and
Wright eds. Cambridge University Press, 2004 (?).
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