American Capitalism: A History - Cornell University

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Perhaps no story is as essential to get right as the history of capitalism. Nearly all of our theories about promoting progress come from how we interpret the economic changes of the last 500 years. This past decade’s crises continue to remind us just how much capitalism changes, even as its basic features—wage labor, financial markets, private property, entrepreneurs—endure. While capitalism has a global history, the United States plays a special role in that story. This course will help you to understand how the United States became the world’s leading economic power, revealing essential lessons about what has been and what will be possible in capitalism’s on-going revolution.

• Describe the development of American capitalism as a historical process that emerged from political choices, business cultures, entrepreneurial decisions, and technological transformations.
• Recognize and criticize the policy programs derived from different analyses of capitalism.
• Describe how government policies contribute to market success and failure.
• Exercise reading, writing, and analytical skills vital to historical interpretation.
• Display a critical sense of how capitalism is not a static economic system but changes over time.