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On systems of production, consumption, and trade.

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Textile workers in Massachusetts Striking for Wages.

Forces of Labor: The Minimum Wage

The federal minimum wage has not risen in over 15 years. We analyze why.
by Esha Krishnaswamy via Historic.ly on July 26, 2024
Illustration of the Georgia Peach.
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The Georgia Peach: A Labor History

The peach industry represented a new, scientifically driven economy for Georgia, but it also depended on the rhythms and racial stereotypes of cotton farming.
by Livia Gershon via JSTOR Daily on July 1, 2024
Close-up of barcode being scanned.

Happy 50th Birthday to the UPC Barcode – No One Expected You Would Revolutionize Global Commerce

The scanning of a package of gum in an Ohio grocery store in 1974 marked the beginning of an era.
by Jordan Frith via The Conversation on July 25, 2024
Percentage sign written in clouds.

The Federal Reserve’s Little Secret

No one really knows how interest rates work—not the experts who study them, the investors who track them, or the officials who set them.
by Rogé Karma via The Atlantic on June 27, 2024

Exhibits

Exhibit

The Way We Tax

From municipal government to international trade, these writings examine the political rhetoric, economic theories, and changing policies of taxation in the U.S.

Neon signage for Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort.
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The 2024 Election and America's Love Affair With Lotteries

Americans love games of chance, but history shows they're a poor substitute for a robust investment in public goods.
by Carly Goodman via Made By History on November 12, 2024
Donald Trump at a podium

The New Trumpian Bargain

Trump's second term echoes 19th-century policies: tariffs and immigration limits protect workers, while deregulation risks widening inequality.
by Sohrab Ahmari via New Statesman on November 12, 2024
A Chinese American woman riveter at work.
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Could “Rosie the Riveter” Be Chinese American?

Despite having their citizenship withheld before the war, Chinese American women in the Bay Area made significant contributions to the wartime labor force.
by H. M. A. Leow, Xiaojian Zhao via JSTOR Daily on November 9, 2024
Advocates of student loan forgiveness protest outside the Supreme Court.

Reflections on the Geopolitical Roots of U.S. Student Loan Debt

The emergence of student loan debt in the late 1960s can be situated within a broader shift towards neoliberal governance.
by Britain Hopkins via Process: A Blog for American History on October 29, 2024
A 1923 General Electric advertisement of a women standing over a light switch.

Using Women’s Suffrage to Sell Soup and Cereal

In the 1920s, advertisers tried to convince women to exercise their political power not only at the ballot box but also in the store.
by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox via The Saturday Evening Post on October 29, 2024
A graphic of a megaphone with a group of people inside the horn holding smaller megaphones.

Gags and Grievance: The Labor Origins of Whistleblowing

The forgotten history of the Lloyd-La Follette Act and of whistleblowing in the federal workforce.
by Sarah Milov via Knight First Amendment Institute on October 28, 2024

Call of Duty: Pentagon Ops

Inside the weird synergies that launched the videogaming industry—and made the Pentagon fantasies in Call of Duty its stock in trade.
by Jesse Robertson via The Nation on October 24, 2024
Trump holding a table of tariff rates.
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Tariffs Don’t Have to Make Economic Sense to Appeal to Trump Voters

Economists and Democrats dismiss Trump’s tariffs talk at their peril.
by Bruce J. Schulman via Made By History on October 24, 2024
A view of Wall Street and Federal Hall in the Financial District in New York City.

In the 1970s, the Left Put a Good Crisis to Waste

In "Counterrevolution," Melinda Cooper reads the 1970s economic crisis as an elite revolt rather than proof of the New Deal order’s unsustainability.
by Scott Aquanno, Stephen Maher via Jacobin on October 24, 2024
Shipping container labeled "China Shipping," overlaid on political cartoon showing a tariff slowing supply of medicine to a drip.

Trump Loves The 1890s But He’s Clueless About Them

The tariffs he keeps babbling about didn’t make that decade great. They helped usher in a depression.
by Eric Rauchway via The Bulwark on October 23, 2024
Statue of Jefferson Davis next to other leaders in Statuary Hall in the Capitol.

Many Wealthy Members of Congress are Descendants of Rich Slaveholders

Researchers measured lawmakers’ wealth and found that those whose Southern ancestors owned slaves before abolition have a higher net worth today.
by Neil K. R. Sehgal, Ashwini Sehgal via The Conversation on October 23, 2024
Bookcover of Golden States, of people in bathing suits doing yoga.

How Dr. Bronner’s Spiritual Messaging Became a Global Brand

Dr. Bronner blends spirituality, ethical consumerism, and social activism, aiming to support both community and environmental causes through “All-One” values.
by Eileen Luhr via University Of California Press Blog on October 23, 2024
Black and white photo of Boston’s Old Corner bookstore (1900).

Bookselling Out

“The Bookshop” tells the story of American bookstores in thirteen types. Its true subject is not how bookstore can survive, but how they should be.
by Dan Sinykin via The Baffler on October 16, 2024
The sold-out crowd at Yankee Stadium’s first opening day.

Major League Baseball’s Historical Quest to Entice Middle- and Upper-Class Fans to the Park

MLB’s focus on wealthier fans stands in stark contrast to rhetoric about the ballpark that had long called it a site of egalitarian intermixing.
by Seth S. Tannenbaum via Process: A Blog for American History on October 15, 2024
A drawing of 10 identical women in historical cooking, but nine of them are colored green and one of them is red.

Anthony Bourdain on the Life and Legacy of a Truly Infamous Cook: Typhoid Mary

“Mary Mallon was a cook. And her story, first and foremost, is the story of a cook.”
by Anthony Bourdain via Literary Hub on October 15, 2024
Harris carved in stone next to Mount Rushmore.

Kamala Harris Must Grapple with America’s Founding Fathers

To achieve a new political settlement, she has to resolve a tension dating from the Revolution.
by Justin H. Vassallo via New Statesman on October 12, 2024
Ibn Khaldun

The Muslim Thinker Who Inspired Reagan

How Ibn Khaldun influenced the president and a generation of conservative tax policy.
by Mustafa Akyol via The Dispatch on October 10, 2024
A computer, business documents, envelope, and a broadcast tower.

How Tech Giants Make History

AT&T’s early leaders used PR to sway public opinion, casting their monopoly as a public service and obscuring its political roots.
by Richard R. John via Pro-Market on October 10, 2024
Advertisement for beer.

Pilsner Goes to America: How Beer Got Big in the 19th Century

On the transatlantic development of pilsners and lagers from Central Europe to the Americas.
by Jeffrey M. Pilcher via Literary Hub on September 30, 2024
Samuel Gompers giving a speech in front of a crowd with his arms open wide.

A Return to Gompers

Samuel Gompers, the Teamsters at the Republican National Convention, and where unions fit into party politics.
by Dustin Guastella via Jacobin on September 27, 2024
A homesteader woman feeding chickens.

Some Country for Some Women

As women stretch themselves thin, homesteader influencers sell them an image of containment.
by Kim Hew-Low via The New Inquiry on September 26, 2024
Run on a bank during the Great Depression.

The Radical Past and Future of Debt Resistance

The deep roots of debt relief activism in the United States.
by Astra Taylor via The Nation on September 25, 2024
A McDonald's worker handing a bag of food to someone in a drive through.
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What Harris Talking About Her McDonald's Job Reveals

Harris' rhetoric about working at McDonald's shows how Democrats have rethought their 1990s emphasis on fast food jobs.
by Alex Park via Made By History on September 24, 2024
Crowd marching on Wall Street.

Nationalize the Banks

Grassroots support for public banks early in the 20th century revealed the popularity of socialism-aligned economic ideas.
by Christopher W. Shaw via Catalyst on September 20, 2024
Portrait of Julius Rosenwald hanging on a wall.

Finding Philanthropy’s Forgotten Founder

Julius Rosenwald understood that charity is not just about giving, but about fixing the inequalities that make giving necessary.
by Darren Walker via The Atlantic on September 9, 2024
A scale measuring the weight of gold flakes; with a quill, wax seals, lace, and jewelry.

Where Inflation Comes From

How we calculate inflation has always been a subject of debate. Small changes that might seem trivial lead to enormous changes in how well-off we think we are.
by Carola Conces Binder via Works In Progress on August 30, 2024
Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention.
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Michelle Obama Was Right to Clap Back at Trump on 'Black Jobs'

The idea of "Black jobs" owes to 18th and 19th century divisions of labor designed to uphold slavery and white supremacy.
by Whitney Nell Stewart via Made By History on August 28, 2024

The Surprising Origins and Politics of Equality

Should equality, instead of another political ideal, should be at the center of our politics?
by Samuel Moyn via The Nation on August 27, 2024
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifying before the Senate Budget Committee in 2009.

The Intractable Puzzle of Growth

The key measure of a healthy economy has long been growth, yet if production and consumption expand at their current rate we risk the health of the planet.
by Benjamin Kunkel via The Nation on August 26, 2024
Drawing showing teacher in front of the blackboard while students look bored in the back of the classroom.

Why Professors Can’t Teach

For as long as universities have existed, academics have struggled to impart their knowledge to students. The failing is fixable—if Washington demands it.
by Jonathan Zimmerman via Washington Monthly on August 25, 2024
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