New Books in Economic and Business History

How Government Made the U.S. into a Manufacturing Powerhouse

Episode Summary

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Colleen Dunlavy, Emeritus Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-Madison, about her recent book, Small, Medium, Large: How Government Made the U.S. Into a Manufacturing Powerhouse. Small, Medium, Large examines the crucial role that the U.S. federal government played in rationalizing and diffusing industrial production standards, which over time greatly increased economies of scale and reduced the cost of both industrial and consumer goods.

Episode Notes

Peoples & Things host, Lee Vinsel, talks with Colleen Dunlavy, Emeritus Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-Madison, about her recent book, Small, Medium, Large: How Government Made the U.S. Into a Manufacturing PowerhouseSmall, Medium, Large examines the crucial role that the U.S. federal government played in rationalizing and diffusing industrial production standards, which over time greatly increased economies of scale and reduced the cost of both industrial and consumer goods.