Henry Carter Hull

Professor Harreld introduces you to the origins of modern banking. First, explore the major banking revolutions that took place in Great Britain, Belgium, and Germany. Then, examine how insurance companies developed in tandem with banks; how banks fostered industrialization; and how central banks played an important role in creating a stable economic environment.

The golden age of American capitalism was undoubtedly the 1950s and 1960s. Professor Harreld charts the development of American economic exceptionalism (aided by the U.S. automobile industry). He also examines how American exceptionalism was shaped by the Cold War, and considers whether or not it came to an end in the 1970s.

Industrialization was not just a helpful force but also a disruptive one. In fact, many scholars believe it led to the breakdown of the working class family structure. Investigate what this meant for families, including the destabilization of wages, the gendering of occupations, the worsening of working conditions, and the rise of our modern ideas of class consciousness.

From land reform to scientific farming techniques to new farm technology, explore the factors that transformed agricultural production in Europe and the United States. Topics include how America became the world's dominant agricultural power, the peasant rights that came from the French Revolution, and how farmers used new practices like crop-rotation systems.

Learn how John Maynard Keynes, a founder of macroeconomics, shattered the predominant economic thinking of the 19th and early 20th centuries. What made governments the best source for moderating swings in economic performance? What did economic policymakers fail to consider in the years leading up to the Great Depression? How did tariffs and cartels work to eliminate much of free trade?

Thanks to a global shift in fuel consumption, oil has been a weapon in geopolitical disputes for quite some time. In this lecture, discover how the global economy got to this point and how the developing countries of the Middle East began to play a central role in world economic affairs in the last quarter of the 20th century.

It took just 10 years after World War II for Japan's economy (along with that of Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore) to reemerge stronger than ever. Uncover the roots of this economic resurrection, including technology exchanges, expanded global trade, rising standards of living-and the humble transistor radio.

At the heart of many European colonies were plantations, an economic system that relies on one mass-produced cash crop and a large, inexpensive labor force. How did Europeans solve labor supply problems in the colonies they established around the world? When (and where) did race-based slavery begin? Why did it last for so long?

What did the age of exploration mean to the European economy? Find out in this lecture that covers the voyages of explorers like Columbus and Magellan, the reasons why Asians didn't succeed at discovering a sea route to the West, the new European commercial systems created in the Americas, and much more.

Turn now to some of the factors that affected late 19th-century industrialization and, in some cases, led to uneven economic development among different countries. You'll learn how this unequal power in economic relationships contributed to a significant resentment toward capitalist systems in the West, with some countries feeling that industrialization had exacerbated economic disparity.