American Economic Development Since 1945: Growth, Decline and Rejuvenation [Paperback]

Samuel Rosenberg (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0333345347 | ISBN-13: 978-0333345344 | Publication Date: February 22, 2003

This clearly-written book provides an historical analysis of postwar economic development in the US, helping the reader to understand the nation's current economic position. Samuel Rosenberg investigates three postwar phases: the creation of an institutional framework setting the stage for prosperity in the US after World War II, the forces undermining this institutional framework and the resulting stagflation of the 1970s, and the recreation of a new institutional structure in the 1980s. Basic economic concepts are introduced and explained throughout and specific attention is paid to macroeconomic policy, industrial relations, the role of the US in the world economy, social and labor policy, the structure of the labor force, and the distribution of income by race and gender.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a solid economic history of the US since 1945, but this book is actually much more. Unlike other economic history texts, this well-researched general presentation manages to put people, especially labor, int he forefront."--M. Perelman, California State University, Chico

"...an outstanding summary statement of more than fifty-five years of American economic history and policy and would make an excellent text for history, political science, and economics courses covering the recent era."--Michael Meeropol, chair of Department of Economics, Western New England College

About the Author

Samuel Rosenberg is Professor of Economics and Director of the Honors Program, Roosevelt University, Chicago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (February 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0333345347
• ISBN-13: 978-0333345344
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Well researched yet painfully dry, April 12, 2008

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Clio - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Economic Development Since 1945: Growth, Decline and Rejuvenation (Paperback)

I ordered this book to consider assigning as a text for an intro. US history course. I had hoped to assign it with Liz Cohen's A Consumer's Republic among other books. Cohen is lively and accessible examination of 20th century economic history, particularly as related to the long-term consequences of the GI Bill. This text, in contrast, is achingly dull. It doesn't have enough social context to make the book accessible and/or bearable for undergrads other than perhaps students majoring in economics. Chapter 10, "The Economic and Political Stalemate, 1971-1980" was highlighted as an examination of the response by "workers... and civil rights organizations" to the crippling economic conditions of the 1970s [page 185]. Instead the chapter flattens out the complicated and vibrant responses of organized labor and others, leaving the reader with a statistical impression of the era without any real sense of what those statistics might have meant to ordinary Americans and their families.

The bottom line: This is an excellent resource for lecture prep and for scholars interested in US economic history but it misses the target market of its publisher--undergraduates.