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British Imperial Policy and the Economic Interpretation of the American Revolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

Robert Paul Thomas
Affiliation:
University of Washington

Extract

Roger Ransom takes exception on three counts to my published study of the burden of the Navigation Acts, questioning (1) the counterfactual proposition I employed, (2) my estimate of the relative burden, and (3) the likelihood of differing regional impacts of the Acts. I shall briefly take up each of these in turn.

Type
Notes
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1968

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References

1 Thomas, Robert Paul, “A Quantitative Approach to the Study of the Effects of British Imperial Policy on Colonial Welfare,” JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY XXV (12. 1965), 616Google Scholar.

2 Ibid., p. 624.

3 Temin, Peter, “The Causes of Cotton Price Fluctuations in the 1830's,” Review of Economics and Statistics XLIX (11. 1967), 46370Google Scholar.

4 Shepherd, James F. Jr, “A Balance of Payments for the Thirteen Colonies 1768–1772”(Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington, 1966)Google Scholar.

5 Gallman, Robert E., “Gross National Product in the United States, 1834–1909,” in Output, Employment, and Productivity in the United States After 1800, Studies on Income and Wealth, National Bureau of Economic Research, Vol. 30 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1966), p. 26Google Scholar.

6 David, Paul A., “The Growth of Real Product in the United States Before 1840: New Evidence, Controlled Conjectures,” JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY XXVII (06 1967), Table 2, Source, p. 162Google Scholar.

7 Robert E. Gallman has reportedly been exploring this line of approach. Lawrence Harper has for several years been working along similar lines.

8 Downs, Anthony, An Economic Theory of Democracy (New York: Harper and Row, 1957)Google Scholar.

9 Morris, R. B., Encyclopedia of American History (New York: Harper and Row, 1953), pp. 7186Google Scholar.

10 Finkelstein, Stanley S., “The Currency Act of 1764: A Quantitative Reappraisal,” American Economist (Fall, 1968 forthcoming). Richard Trethewey has been investigating the Sugar Act and Richard Bean the Proclamation of 1763 and the Quebec ActGoogle Scholar.

11 This is a problem that has plagued the new economic history. See Thomas, Robert Paul and Shetler, Douglas D.Railroad Social Saving: Comment,” American Economic Review LVIII (03. 1968), pp. 186–89Google Scholar.