The economic history of the United States is that of Europeans and their institutions. Indigenous nations are absent. This absence is due partly to lack of data but in large measure to a perception that Indigenous communities have contributed little to US growth. This paper argues that this...

Abundant land and strong property rights are conventionally viewed as key factors underpinning US economic development success. This view relies on the "Pristine Myth" of an empty undeveloped land. But the abundant land of North America was already made productive and was the recognized...

This paper examines the responses of Indigenous nations and European companies to new trading opportunities: Cree nations and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and Khoe nations and the Dutch East India Company (VOC). This case study is important because of the disparate outcomes: within a few...