HIST451

Prerequisite: HIST201, HIST211, HIST213, HIST222, HIST255, or HIST275; or permission of instructor. An examination of the evolution of American capitalism from 1900 to the present, with special attention on the emergence of the United States as the world's leading economic power; the impact of big business on work and government regulation; causes and consequences of the Great Depression; the role of business in the two world wars; postwar growth followed by the decline of U.S. global competitiveness; why consumerism occupied a central role in U.S. history; the influence of economic theory on policymaking; realities and mythologies of Reaganomics and Clintonomics; and the economic impact of the digital revolution.