On the Rocks
Ice harvesters once made a living from frozen lakes and ponds, and the international ice industry was a booming business. Then refrigeration came along.
Wheely Good Reviews: How Michelin Forms Foodie Ideology
The French Michelin guide is an authoritative voice in the world of fine dining, but when it arrived on the American food scene, it was met with a chilly reception.
An Uncertain Energy Transition a Century Ago
When it came to the transport of goods within local areas, it took decades for the competition among horses, electric vehicles, and gas trucks to shake out.
The First American Hotels
In the eighteenth century, if people in British North America had to travel, they stayed at public houses that were often just repurposed private homes.
How Government Helped Create the “Traditional” Family
Since the mid-nineteenth century, many labor regulations in the US have been crafted with the express purpose of strengthening the male-breadwinner family.
Uneven Impacts: The Virtual Water Trade
The virtual water trade reveals significant disparities between water-rich states and their trade partners.
The Challenges of Regulating Rice in Myanmar
The Myanmar government has regulated its agricultural and export industry through one specific crop: rice. What are the future prospects of the rice economy?
Fast and Pluribus: Impacts of a Globalizing McDonald’s
The expansion of McDonald’s in the twentieth century brought the fast food chain to more than 100 countries. But how well did it integrate into its new home(s)?
Adam Smith, Revolutionary?
By 1800, Smith—once considered a friend of the poor and an enemy of the privileges of the rich—was already being refashioned into a icon of conservatism.
Economic Grrrowth in the East: Asian Tiger Economies
Can the conditions that produced the fast-growing economies of the Four Tigers—Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan—be replicated?