Public Choice Analyses of American Economic History

Joshua C. Hall is an associate professor of economics at West Virginia University and Director of the Center for Free Enterprise within the College of Business and Economics. He earned his bachelor and master degrees in economics from Ohio University and his Ph.D. from West Virginia University in 2007. Prior to returning to his alma mater, he was the Elbert H. Neese, Jr. Professor of Economics at Beloit College and an Economist with the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress. Hall is a past President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education. In addition to being a co-author on the widely-cited Economic Freedom of the World annual report, he is author of over 100 academic journal articles. Marcus M. Witcher is a postdoctoral professor of history at West Virginia University. He earned his bachelor degree in history with a minor in economics from the University of Central Arkansas. He then received his masters and PhD in history from the University of Alabama. Marcus is currently revising his book manuscript Getting Right with Reagan: Conservatives and the Fortieth President, 1980-2016. He has published four peer-reviewed articles, six book reviews, and has presented his work at over ten academic conferences.

• Chapter 1: British Public Debt, the Acadian Expulsion and the American Revolution.- Chapter 2: North-South Alliances During the Drafting of the Constitution: The Costs of Compromise.- Chapter 3: A Paradox of Secessionism: The Political Economy of Slave Enforcement and the Union.-  Chapter 4: Why is there a Ratchet Effect?  Evidence from Civil War Income Taxes.- Chapter 5: Who Did Protective Legislation Protect?  Evidence from 1880.- Chapter 6: Political Selection of Federal Reserve Bank Cities.- Chapter 7: Demand for Private and State-Provided Health Insurance in the 1910s: Evidence from California.- Chapter 8: What Determines the Allocation of National Government Grants to the States?