This volume includes seven papers in quantitative economic history. Four were accepted through our regular channels. These include Harald Edquist and Magnus Henrekson on "Technological Breakthroughs and Productivity Growth," Scott Redenius on "New National Bank Loan Rate Estimates, 1887-1975," Ebru Guven Solakoglu on the "Net Effect of Railroads on Stature in the Post Bellum Economy," and Pedro Lains on "Growth in a Protected Environment, Portugal, 1850-1950." Three papers are from a 2004 conference, Towards a Global History of Prices and Wages. These include Metin Cosgel on "Agricultural...

The volume includes six papers in quantitative economic history. Peter Mancall, Josh Rosenbloom, and Tom Weiss consider growth in colonial North America, while Gary Richardson examines the role of bank failures in propagating the Great Depression. John Komlos examines the heights of rich and poor youth in England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Klas Fregert and Roger Gustafson provide a synoptic view of public finances in Sweden from the eighteenth through the twentieth century. Drew Keeling studies the economics of the steamship industry that facilitated migration...