Shining Light on a Statistical Dark Age: Postal Activity in Antebellum America

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Rhode, Paul W.
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S002205072610134X
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: REAL PRODUCT; GROWTH

摘要

American economic historians generally believe that U.S. modern economic growth began before 1840, was broadly based, and the acceleration was gradual. These claims are treated as conjectures rather than solid conclusions because the census did not publish good economic data before 1840. But the earlier period was not a statistical dark age, as sometimes asserted. After 1817, systematic statistics on postal activity were available at the local level at high frequencies. These data shed light on the timing and sources of the onset of modern economic growth, the patterns of regional development, and the spread of a culture of communication.