UNITED STATES ECONOMIC HISTORY: SELECTED READINGS.

By Prof. HarryN. Scheiber (History). New York: AlfredA. Knopf, 1964. 583 pp. $3.95.

What this country needs is a good volume of readings in economic history that protects the reader from the readings. And I think Harry Scheiber could have provided such a volume if he had expanded the introductory comments he offers on each article, or set of articles, and reduced the number of articles included. For Professor Scheiber, a member of Dartmouth's History Department and a contributor to the School's economic dialogues, is usually more informative and almost always clearer and more interesting than the readings he introduces. Even so, there are among the reprinted studies, which treat American economic history from colonial times to the present, quite a number that should interest a much broader public than the economic and business history students for whom the book is primarily intended. Among these are Henry Broude's sketch of the role of government in the 19th Century, Douglas Dowd's comparison of economic development in the West and South, and Thomas Cochran's discussion of relations between business and the public since 1929.

Professional prejudice may explain my lack of enthusiasm for some of the readings. They are more historical than economic. Only nine of the 26 selections are authored by individuals listed in The American Economic Association Directory; only six are drawn from economic journals. Description takes precedence over analysis, and emphasis is not on the development and testing of general explanations. However, since description and analysis are equally essential to understanding economic behavior, my reaction to the readings may be a reflection of a preference for model building and testing.

Still, given Professor Scheiber's desire to present "fresh approaches" to history, econometric analysis seems unfairly ignored. One might hope to find among readings on history Conrad and Meyer's work on slavery or George Borts' analysis of regional development or even such a practical dissection of growth as that attempted by Edward Denison for the Committee for Economic Development.

Perhaps this is another subject and belongs in another book. If so I hope Professor Scheiber will some day put it together. This time, giving us even more of himself.

Associate Professorof Business Economics,Amos Tuck School