What Was Funny?

Huffington reports on how the Board of Visitors of UVA deal with the problem of sexual asault on campus:

"Later, however, as the meeting neared its third hour, board member Edward D. Miller interrupted to note the Visitors were laughing too much for a session dedicated to such a serious issue. Miller commented through a conference call, as he was not able to be there in person. His comment was quietly applauded by public audience members."

Ice Fountain at Mary Washington

Courtesy of Lauren Castellano

Kudos to Cabell's

Cabell's is taking a stand against fake journals:

"Unfortunately, academic publishing has been rife with fraudulent procedures over the past several years. Instances of deceptive practices and outright fraud have skyrocketed. Understandably, this has led to a significant erosion of trust in the scholarly publication process. In an effort to offer our users guidance and to support our mission of providing academics with accurate information and reputable outlets for publication, Cabell’s has launched a reevaluation initiative whereby selected journals appearing in our Directories will be examined according to new, more stringent criteria on a rotating basis throughout the year. Journals are selected for reevaluation based on inclusion in Jeffery Beall’s 2014 List of Predatory Publishers, exclusion from DOAJ and/or OASPA, and not meeting requirements of the Cabell’s Selection Policy. As these selected journals undergo this reevaluation process, they will be removed from our database. Essentially, these journals will be reapplying for inclusion. Journals will be evaluated according to the Cabell’s Selection Policy. Each journal’s editor or publisher will be asked to complete a new Application for Inclusion. Our Journal Admissions Department will verify that all journals reapplying for inclusion meet the required criteria. This comprehensive reevaluation process is expected to be completed by the end of 2015."

More on the History of Capitalism

Tom Cutterham has a post at the Junto about both the recent Shenk essay in The Nation and the discussion in the recent issue of Journal of American History.

Apostles of Growth

Timothy Shenk's essay on the the new history of capitalism.

Transcontinental Railroad

The Linda Hall Library in Kansas City has a cool web exhibit about railroads.

International economic history data

https://www.clio-infra.eu/

A Failure of Regulation: Reinterpreting the Panic of 1907

The Autumn 2014 issue of Business History Review is out now. It contains my paper on New York city trust companies during the panic of 1907.

This is the abstract for the paper

                 Financial Regulation and the Panic of 1907

 

Lax regulation enabled trust companies to take excessive risks, according to previous studies of the Panic of 1907, leading to a loss of confidence and massive runs. These studies have, however, given relatively little attention to the historical development of trust companies. This article argues that a more historical perspective can lead to a better understanding of the institutional framework and the actions of trust companies. Depositors did not lose confidence because of inadequate regulation; depositors lost confidence in specific trust companies because of false rumors, and diversity among trust companies hindered cooperation to halt the Panic.