James N Marshall Professor, Economics |
Education
Teaching Interests
I enjoy teaching courses that allow the world around us to be explained. In finance there are various models that purport to show how stock prices are determined. Students are wowed to see that movements in stock prices can be explained. I also enjoy teaching courses that seek to provide explanations for our economic experience. Why did the Great Depression occur? Could it happen again on the same scale as seen in the 1930s? Why do recessions occur? These are the kinds of questions and issues that I address in my classroom.
Research, Scholarship or Creative/Artistic Interests
I write on economic history and economic thought. My scholarship includes authorship of the definitive biography of noted economist William J. Fellner. More recently, I co-edited and co-wrote The American Economic History Reader.
Currently, my research is focused on the Recession of 1937-1938, often referred to as the "recession within a depression." Its causes and cure are endlessly fascinating to me, and I have devoted my sabbatical to generating readings and course assignments on the subject for my course on the History of Economic Thought.