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The article presents an in-depth analysis of the archives of the Brown family, collected at the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. In it the business activities of the family from the 18th to 20th centuries are charted. Comments are given highlighting the historical value of the papers, citing their remarkable comprehensiveness for such a long period. Issues addressed within the collection include records of business conditions and transactions during the Revolutionary War, the transitions in international business networks after the war, and the family's Western frontier land speculation ventures during the 19th-century.

Comments on articles about the economic history of the United States. Economic development of the country; Application of eminent domain on expropriate private property for public purposes; Stability of property rights in the country's legal order.

The article discusses researches conducted by economists Paul A. David, Warren J. Scoville and Earl J. Hamilton. Researcher Stanley Engerman in his discussion on David's article suggests that his article represents the most thorough study in the debate concerning American economic growth between 1800 and 1840. It is based both on new time series not previously utilized and upon the resourceful application of available data to clarify certain key points. Another researcher Ross M. Robertson while discussing Scoville's article finds his article on the whole persuasive. Robertson certainly has no quarrel with his quantitative inferences, nor for that matter with his description of French governmental regulation in the eighteenth century. He was not altogether convinced of the direct correlation between the paper industry's expansion and the relaxation of direct governmental controls that Scoville alleges. Perhaps Scoville's more extended publications on this subject will elucidate this relationship.

Presents abstracts of geography-related papers, as of March 1926. "The Status of Zoogeography in North America," by Chas. C. Adams; "Settlement and Economic Development of the San Juan Region of Colorado," by Wallace W. Atwood; "Culture and Landscape at Madison, Wisconsin," by V.C. Finch.

The article sheds light on commercial banking in the United States during the sixties. The article makes the conclusion that if the trends emerging in the late 1950s and in 1960 are not reversed by major changes in economic conditions or tax and regulatory policy, then the commercial banks will be unable to play as important a role in financing the 1960s as they have done in previous years. The article's conclusion is based on the expectation that in all years, except those of recession, bank deposits will continue to expand at a slower rate than the growth of the gross national product.

The first section is devoted to the discussion of a valuation technique for making estimates of the value of pension promises consistent with the principles underlying the determination of the value of other assets reported on consumer balance sheets; and the second section to a consideration of the financial magnitude of the unfunded pension promises when valued consistently with other assets. The major purpose of the paper is to show the distortion of the size of consumer wealth arising from the fact that pension promises are not recorded in terms of their economic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents critical discussion by various economists on the papers by Arnold C. Harberger and G. Warren Nutter about monopoly and the U.S. economy. According to the author the paper by Harberger id addressed to competition in factor markets in the long run. Harberger considers the factor, capital, and defines the long run for statistical purpose. The calculations on which the figures presented in the paper are based and the argument supporting them are stimulating and ingenious. The most serious quarrel with the paper involves what is not in it rather than what is. Nutter, on the other hand, goes on to describe other areas where competition, though irregular and delayed, nevertheless does operate in a direct fashion, and a still larger area where the constant pressure of potential competition works toward competitive ends albeit with delays and discontinuities. To the author the degree of competitiveness has been referred to the length of the adjustment period necessary for demand to become elastic in the neighborhood of where marginal costs and price approach one another.

This article presents the author's opinion with regard to George Stigler's views on the practice of political economy in the United States. The evidence presented in the paper of Stigler seems persuasive to me. It is difficult to look at this analysis and still subscribe to the widely held view that election results are highly sensitive to swings in business conditions. Once again we seem to have found that what everybody knows to be true is not necessarily true. Since Stigler's analysis on macro evidence is exhaustive and impressive, suppose we turn to micro evidence to see if it provides any clues to an understanding of why the macro results turn out the way that they do. Here we do gain some insight into attitudes pertinent to Stigler's analysis. What the views of Stigler suggest is that within reasonable tolerances, changes in political sentiment are more apt to reflect the myriad of other factors that bear on voter sentiment. If the swing is outside these tolerances, or if the event is sufficiently visible or discrete, economic developments can exert a substantial effect on citizen support or the incumbent. If therefore, the economic indicators start to waver, the economist may sleep well at night, knowing that in all probability it means little, but the politician may for very good reasons remains awake, wondering if this will be one of those cases that transforms him into a statesman.

The article presents authors' comments on three research papers on economic development after Second World War by economists Erik Lundberg, George H. Hildebrand and Shigeto Tsuru. These papers point out some striking contrasts among the experiences of countries including Scandinavia, Japan and Italy and the postwar experience of the U.S. For example, these papers insistently raise the question why the U.S. has done so poorly in achieving stable and rapid growth. They discuss whether it is a matter of economic structure, or partly a fault of economic policy. Research paper by Hildebrand provides a summary both of the Italian postwar economic achievement and of Italy's still pressing problems of unemployment and incomplete development. But there are aspects of his analysis that needs to be questioned. Moreover, papers of Hildebrand and Tsuru gave the impression that something of a catching-up process has been important in the Italian and Japanese economies. In his paper Lundberg drew attention to some destabilizing effects of governmental action in Sweden. They refer to public investments or publicly controlled investments as an instrument of anti cyclical policy.

This paper discusses the "capital gap" presumption underlying Federal programs of financial assistance to small business and the conflicting views as to its existence and measurement. It also presents evidence developed in a study of the performance of borrowers who had received business loans from the Small Business Administration which appears to support the view that a capital gap does in fact exist for small business as a whole. If this be so, an even wider gap may be assumed for minority persons confronted with additional bars to entry into or survival in business. The paper examines the position of minority-owned businesses both in the inner city--where the largest concentrations of minority-owned firms are now found--and without regard to location. The capital gap in the inner city is all pervasive, extending to consumer, home mortgage and business credit. It is aggravated by a high incidence of crime against business and the availability of crime insurance at several multiples of standard rates, if at all. The cost of doing business is further increased by usurious interest rates and losses on credit customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information about papers dealing in various subjects. Some of the papers related to economic history of the U.S. are "Tour in 1807 down the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers from Nashville to New Orleans," by J. R. Bedford; "Journal of a trip to Kentucky in 1795," by L. Condict and "Steamboating on the upper Mississippi after the Civil War: a Mississippi magnate," by L. B. Shippee. Some of the papers related to agricultural economics are "The American Cotton Association," by R. P. Brooks; "Farm tenantry in Nebraska compared with farm ownership," by H. Kano and "Will agricultural prices fall?," by E. G. Nourse. The list of papers focusing on railways and transportation are "The American railway situation," by W. M. Acworth; "Railroad valuation as a working tool," by J. M. Clark and "Increasing locomotive operating efficiency," by R. S. Mourse. Some of the papers focusing on commerce are "Trade restrictions now in effect in European commerce," by G. F. Bauer and "The war and world's mercantile marine," by A. Berglund.

This article presents information on several papers and memorandums related to economic conditions in various countries. The Parliamentary documents for 1886 will contain a good deal of evidence of the increasing uneasiness as to the condition and prospects of the foreign trade of England. A Blue Book has been issued, giving the rates of duty levied on imports by the different European countries and the United States; and a second is to give the duties levied by the British colonies, these returns being on the plan of the similar documents published in 1882. The Commission on the Depression of Trade have also collected and published reports from the English consuls, showing the impediments to British trade in the different countries. Another snippet reports that the opening of fertile wheat lands in the United States, and the cheap transportation of grain to Europe have had an influence not only on England and Ireland, but on France, Germany, and Russia. French and German legislation has been invoked to protect the farmer. But now an interesting movement is in progress among the Russian peasants, by which the former serfs are becoming separated from the land. At the time of the emancipation of the serfs, Russia controlled the wheat markets of Western Europe; while the prices of agricultural products were high, and even rising.

The article reports on the development of a model that uses existing data and theory to determine commercial structure in depressed urban neighborhoods. The model, which is based on the problems of neighborhoods in Cleveland, Ohio, and other cities with populations of at least 50,000, offers assistance for marketing-related dilemmas. The author proposes that the development of large retail chains and other service stores in depressed urban neighborhoods is dependent on short and long-term consumer demand. Government enterprise programs that are used to stimulate small businesses in the U.S. are also discussed.

This paper presents a comparison between similar types of American and Canadian forecasts of annual gross national product for an identical period (1960-69) using the same error measures. It was concluded that on mean, mean absolute, and mean square error bases, American forecasts were significantly more accurate than were the Canadian ones in predicting relative changes in their respective annual gross national products during the period 1960-69. Forecasters in both the United States and Canada were likely to have made the same types of errors on average in forecasting any given year. The general conclusion from the analysis of the errors seemed to suggest that a bias toward underestimating change may be less evident in the American gross national product forecasts than in those made in Canada. The negative mean errors were smaller, the percentage of underestimates was smaller, the covariance components of the mean square errors were larger, and the regression and test statistics were less suggestive. One of the more important points is that when "adjustments" of the predictions for differences in the basic nature of the economies are made, the conclusions as to differences in the "accuracy" of aggregate forecasts made in various countries may change a great deal. That is, conclusions as to differences in forecasting ability based solely on the comparison of "absolute accuracy" could be seriously misleading if the economies are not of approximately similar natures. The method of "adjustment" used here assumes that information as to the nature of the economies is contained in the past history of the variables to be forecast, so that a more worthwhile comparison is obtained when the respective judgmental sets are first "adjusted" by extrapolative predictions from these past actuals. Comparisons of the "relative" accuracy of forecasts showed that the American predictions of annual gross national product percentage changes had larger relative mean square errors than did the Canadian sets. That is, the American sets were only about as accurate as, and probably less accurate then, relative to extrapolative predictions. the forecasts made in Canada. The predictive efficiency of the Canadian gross national product forecasts relative to that of the extrapolative predictions was generally higher than that of the American predictions; the amount of autonomous information and available extrapolative information included was also somewhat higher. However, the extrapolative information actually used in forecasting was quite low in both countries, probably because of the essentially trendless nature of percentage changes in gross national product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is general agreement that some types of low-income situations are not a function of general economic conditions and thus will not share in improvement of the total economy. Low-income conditions in agriculture have been treated largely in economic terms. The fact that low income has become a chronic condition in a number of farm areas, in spite of extensive and expensive efforts at improvement, suggests that economic factors alone are not sufficient to account for the phenomenon even in much less isolated areas in a predominantly urban state such as Pennsylvania. The data analyzed in this article can be added to a growing body of evidence that some low-income farmers can be expected to respond poorly to education and action programs which emphasize an aggressive commercial approach to agriculture. The data analyzed in this article shows that low-income respondents are less likely to project plans into the future and are less likely to utilize such key means of gaining greater control over circumstances as credit and modern farming information and practices. No difference was however found between income groups with regard to movement from farm to farm. If the low-income respondent is to improve returns from agriculture, the observed tendencies will represent serious obstacles.

When an economically inert, semi-arid land, larger than the state of Rhode Island, receives water, a Cinderella like transformation takes place. People move in, farm production increases, business establishments are built and commerce begins. This economic awakening augments investment opportunities, employment, and income. As economic activity broadens, it adds balance to the local and regional economy. These changes on the local scene can be easily observed and recorded. The changes farther removed from the area of impact are not so easily measured although the direct and indirect ties between the local and national economy are in evidence everywhere. Where the factors of production are as fluid as in the United States, the development, or more efficient use of resources in one area, results in long-run benefits which are diffused industrially and geographically. In this paper, attempts have been made to measure some of the regional and national changes in economy resulting from irrigation of the Columbia Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of Missouri's utility earnings and rate base formulae. The matter of General Order No. 38A of the Missouri Public Service Commission relating to its rate making policies and practices needs further interpretation and review in answer to an analysis. Although concluding that the Missouri rate base and earnings formula is definitely a step in the right direction, because, at present, it permits a needed increase in permitted earnings of utilities. The Commission's order merits a more pragmatic and less hypothetical treatment in order to set forth the issues in the case. It is also believed that the formula is definitely a step in the right direction, not because it recognizes the need for increased earnings, but because it more actually reflects the facts relative to depreciation accountability. The purpose of this paper is to outline briefly some of the economic and accounting principles that were observed by the Missouri Commission in order to arrive at their announced policy relating to the establishment of the utility rate base in future proceedings.

Comments on several studies regarding economic history during the 19th century. Guidelines for selecting historical topics; Contribution of a study on real wages in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to research on national income before 1840.

The growth of individual firms to great size through merger with rivals is an outstanding development of modern economic history. The life history of the firm in late 1890s was viewed as a silhouette of that of man in an age of high infant mortality: the firm began as a small venture; if it survived the early years, it straggled along or grew at a rate governed by the entrepreneur's ability-occasionally reaching large size if his ability was extraordinary or his children's abilities great--but eventually it languished into obscurity and then into oblivion. The whole process usually took place, one infers, in one or two generations. An anthropomorphic theory of the growth of the firm, however, scarcely fits modern giants. There are no large companies in the U.S., that have not grown somewhat by merger, and probably very few that have grown much by the alternative method of internal expansion. The present paper seeks to summarize some of the major episodes in the development of the merger movement, with special reference to the question of monopoly. The discussion is restricted to so-called "horizontal" combinations, which are quantitatively much the most important form of merger.

Discusses economic condition of the U.S. during 1962. Econometric studies of the birth, growth and death of firms; Criteria used to control prices set by firms; Evaluation of market behavior in the telephone and telegraph industry.

This paper proposes a particular "political" theory of the expenditures of local governments with the aid of some of the traditional tools of economic analysis, and examines some data referring to the governments of the counties of Pennsylvania in light of the proposed theory.
Several interrelated questions merit further attention. First, in a sense this political-economic model of local expenditures represents little more than an effort to relate the preferences of the voters to the decisions on expenditures of democratically selected politicians. As such it may have merit in and of itself; for the formal model stands quite apart from the strict assumptions which were necessary to relate it to the empirical results. In this regard, it is important to point out the conceptual (if not so practicable) possibility of subjecting this theory to an adequate empirical test. One can imagine determining the frequency of preferred points of the registered voters in a locality by survey methods and then relating actual decisions on expenditures to this frequency. Yet, the crude procedure used in this paper also has merit. Granted the appropriateness of the two propositions, by augmenting the model with the additional and unrealistic assumptions in order to relate the theory to the empirical results, one gains insight into the problem of the relative importance of various assumptions.
Finally, although it is appropriate to base a theory of local governmental expenditure upon the assumption of a property tax, it should be noted that one might just as easily presume that the source of governmental revenues is an income tax and that under such conditions results quite similar to those derived herein follow naturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's comments on the research paper by professor Elmore Petersen published in the April 2, 1940 issue of the "Journal of Marketing." The geographic economy of Denver, Colorado is used as an example of trading area research. Differences between the Denver market and the market in Akron, Ohio are noted. A survey of locational factors in manufacturing from Akron is referenced. Many companies reported geographic changes in their trade areas due to the depression and rubber companies' decentralization.

The major problem of base theory is the lack of an acceptable and objective technique to identify the export and service employment in the local economy. In this article, researchers propose and test a new approach to handle this problem. The findings as presented in this paper further confirm researchers belief that the Location Quotient approach is not an appropriate technique to measure and forecast the economic base of a region. This conclusion is in complete agreement with other studies that have also evaluated this technique." However, researchers go beyond these criticisms and findings by presenting a new approach for conducting economic base analysis. The new model provides the regional analyst a more objective tool for conducting economic base analysis and it can show him how national growth may constrain local growth despite his efforts to boost local employment. Another unique characteristic of this new model is that it can be easily linked to national quarterly models of the U.S. economy such as the Wharton or Brookings model.

This paper examines the wealth position of blacks relative to whites, on the basis of data in the Survey of Economic Opportunity. The analysis indicates that at the same levels of both income and wealth blacks consistently invest more in consumer durables, especially housing, that these investment differences are not solely due to the income and wealth position of blacks, but may be due to a smaller set of investment opportunities institutionally fostered by discriminatory forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents various news items related to the economic conditions in Great Britain and the U.S. as of May 1903. Laws related to education in the British universities; Suggestion for a theory of industrial depressions; Plans of the United States Steel Corp. to issue bonds.

Portes, Richard D. DECENTRALIZED PLANNING PROCEDURES AND CENTRALLY PLANNED ECONOMIES, pp. 422–429. Central planning in Eastern European nations continues in the face of decentralization. Decentralization itself is a consequence of central planning. This raises questions of price duality, and overlapping jurisdictions. Decentralization in these nations is a matter quite different from that in other states. Biblio. Nagy, Tamas. THE HUNGARIAN ECONOMIC REFORM, PAST AND FUTURE, pp. 430–435. A review of progress in implementing the Hungarian economic reforms of 1968. Great strides have been made. Exports are growing, wages are climbing slowly, and more consumer goods are on the market. Future reforms include a firmer tariff policy and increased capital for capital investment. Ames, Edward and Balassa, Bela. DISCUSSION, pp. 436–439. A closing discussion on economic planning as presented by Portes and Nagy. Historical Abstracts, Part B, Vol. 22, 1976. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the sensitivity of estimates of the aggregate capital stock of the United States to the statistician's choice of depreciation method. The usual depreciation charge can be shown to include allowances both for physical deterioration and for obsolescence. If one interprets the gross stock as the stock of surviving assets, then the various net stocks defined by depreciation accounting may be interpreted as a revaluation of these assets by means of an index of embodied technical change. Estimates of the United States capital stock were generated under eight sets of assumptions. These estimates are compared with respect to level, trend, and implications for other aggregate statistical indicators. The conclusion is reached that the assumptions which define a country's stock of tangible capital are of considerably greater importance than has often been supposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses economic condition of the U.S. during March 1963. Impact of relationship between government and various interest groups on attainment of stability and growth; Description of three different price systems of the socialist economy; Public policy problems of the domestic crude oil industry.

The article focuses on the influence accounting has had on the various elements of society. The significant roles those various elements have played on accounting should not be underestimated. For example, accounting, some writers say, had a considerable impact on the industrial revolution. Others have stated that the investment of great quantities of foreign capital in the U.S. after the Civil War had a consequential influence on what accounting is today. Accounting as a means for providing information for better government for the citizens of the U.S. is well accepted. But, the federal government also has played an essential role in providing an environment for the changing products of accounting. This influence, what the government has had on accounting and accounting on the government, can provide a perspective of accounting from a different viewpoint. In this paper, this perspective is seen from the standpoint of the many departments, agencies, and corporations of the federal government but with special reference to one agency, the U.S. General Accounting Office.

The article presents an overview of several studies on economic history published in various U.S. journals. The article "Investment in Medieval Agriculture," by M.M. Postan, published in the December 1967 issue of the "Journal of Economic History," arguers that the main reason investment was so small, when thirteenth-century profits from manorial farming were so high, was because the bulk of profits was squandered. The article "Levers and Levelers: Surveying Irrigation Canals in Medieval Valencia," by T.F. Glick, published in the 1968 issue of the journal "Technology and Culture," examines the profession of livelladors in Valencia, Spain from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, and details the tools and techniques used in their trade. The article "Town and Countryside in Fourteenth-Century Flanders," by D.M. Nicholas, published in the 1968 issue of the journal "Studies in Society and History,"concludes that the Flemish city state failed because of the almost exclusive preoccupation of the bourgeois with the town and their urban interests.

This article presents information on the household demand for savings deposits in the U.S. during the years 1921-1965. The author discusses the role that savings bonds play in the financial structure of the U.S. noting that they represent the principal source of funds for savings banks and savings and loan associations and represent a quarter of commercial banks deposits as well. The author notes that it is the competition for savings deposits among commercial banks, the U.S. government in the form of savings bonds and the private intermediary system that has fueled the growth of financial intermediation in the U.S.

The article analyzes the wage policy for the United States proposed by A.P. Lerner. The proposal is designed to eliminate the inflationary potential inherent in a full employment policy. According to the author, the proposed program by Lerner is impossible to carry through, primarily because of the obstacle of securing the data necessary to permit the proper functioning of the plan. The author classifies Lerner's proposal as an automatic stabilizer. This is because the decision to act in one way or another is not a matter of discretion, but is decided for the authorization by an index of relative attractiveness.

Have you ever questioned the accuracy of the U.S. Census of Business? How precise are the tabulations of the number of retail establishments in a given area at a particular time? This article compares Census data with independent sources of data, discusses the discrepancies, and offers suggestions for improving the Census of Business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the economic growth, industrial trends and future of California and the Pacific Coast region of the United States. The market is described as benefitting from the war industries of aircraft and shipbuilding and population growth, but also having great potential. The production growth of the iron, steel and steel related industries in California are tracked. Industries with local markets and national markets are discussed. According to the author, California's economic development in the periods before and after World War II has been faster than the rest of the United States.

The article discusses studies pertaining to the distribution of family income in U.S. urban communities in the 1930's. A division of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics conducted a study in 1934-1935 among urban families in several states. Preliminary results revealed a relationship between the size of a community and income levels. Rent was found to be the most significant expenditure of family income, particularly in larger communities. Lower-income families in Chicago, Illinois had just two-thirds of their annual incomes for consumer purchases other than rent.