American Economic History

How do the major economic issues that dominate today's news—questions about gross domestic product or budget deficits or trade imbalances—impact the average citizen? Why are health insurance and college tuition increasingly expensive? What can be done about soaring energy prices?

Since the formation of the American Republic the principles of free enterprise and equal opportunity have been at the very core of economic philosophy. During the revolution, colonists fought not only for intangibles like “liberty” and “justice,” but also for the promises of a free market that provided everyone with the opportunity to pursue economic advancement regardless of social position and unsubjugated to a crown. America quickly became a society in which an individual’s success would be measured not by birthright, but rather by determination.