Labor and the economy

xvii, 538 p.; 24 cm

MAASTRICHT: A BRIDGE TOO FAR

European monetary union and a single currency are at the heart of the 1991 Maastricht Treaty that transformed the European Community into a European Union. Were the financial plans too ambitious? What are the costs and benefits of a single currency and a uniform monetary policy? This article looks at the arguments for and against the Maastricht agreements and concludes that its reach exceeded both the realities of European economies and the political consensus within Europe for such a scheme of Euro-Federalism.Maastricht Treaty, uniform monetary policy, Euro-Federalism

ALEXANDER HAMILTON AND THE ORIGINS OF WALL STREET

The origins of Wall Street are tied to Alexander Hamilton's plans for the financing of the new nation and the funding of its debt. The two hundredth anniversary of Wall Street in 1992 occasioned many retrospectives that owe more to mythology than to historical veracity. Wall Street's earliest history consists of market corners, insider trading, and financial scandal that implicated the high (Alexander Hamilton) and the low (William Duer). The 1792 Wall Street response was in the form of private self-regulation in order to hold off governmental regulation, setting a precedent for public policy that carries well into the twentieth century. Using new historical methodology, this article reinterprets the formative financial period of 1790-1792 and the origins of Wall Street.Wall Street, Alexander Hamilton, formative financial period