Most papers explaining the macro causes of the U.S. Great Recession focus on the behavior of the middle class: how its saving rate declined in the pre-crisis years, then surged following the crisis. This paper argues that the saving rate of the rich followed a similar pattern, the result of...

The most vital and deeply practical argument for more broadly understanding corporate purpose comes from the management literature and the data on how to motivate people in organizations. When employees care – when they are engaged – they use discretionary effort. Management research shows...

Fifty years ago, Friedman compellingly presented his argument for shareholder primacy. But as currently implemented, shareholder primacy threatens the unifying purposes that drove people to form corporations to begin with. It’s time for a re-examination of what binds us together to do great things

An oversupply of housing, as a result of a building boom after the turn of the century, is commonly cited as a key cause of the Great Recession and the slow recovery from that recession. Using both national data and data for individual metropolitan areas, such as housing permits, residential...

This paper has two main sections and an appendix. The first provides an overview of what lay behind record productivity growth in the US economy between 1929 and 1941. The second considers the role of rigidities and other negative supply conditions in worsening the downturn and slowing recovery....

Past research suggests that the Michigan bank holiday in February of 1933 might have been made in haste. The holiday spread panic to neighboring states and was a contributing factor in President Roosevelt's decision to declare a national bank holiday in March. Recently discovered archival...

Banks in Michigan were opting for self-imposed moratoria during the Great Depression as early as 1931. These plans largely imitated a plan that began in the township of Milford, Michgan. Eventually, all banks in the state were closed in the national holiday declared by President Roosevelt in...

This study examines the effect of shocks observed in financial markets on output and employment during the Great Depression. We present three main findings. First, an adverse financial shock leads to a decline in manufacturing sector output and employment that peaks about 11 months afterward....

A consideration of TFP growth in the United States during the golden age (1948–1973) raises two related questions: on the one hand why was it so strong and on the other hand, why were TFP growth rates lower than they were during the Depression years (1929–1941)? A continuing downward trend...

This paper analyses the relationship between spatial density of economic activity and interregional differences in the productivity of industrial labour in Spain during the period 1860–1999. In the spirit of Ciccone and Hall (Am Econ Rev 86:54–70, 1996) and Ciccone (Eur Econ Rev...