In the nineteeth century, as the United States rapidly increased its area, population, and income, the American iron and steel industry also underwent tremendous expansion, both to meet the increased demand of the booming railroad industry for iron and steel products, and as a result of important innovations in iron and steel production methods. This is the first book to use the tools of modern economic analysis to explain the nature of the growth of the iron and steel industry. Information is provided relating to the changes in the supply and demand curves for iron and steel from 1830 to 1900, a period that saw, besides the expansion of the industry, a major improvement in the quality of iron and steel products, accompanied by a simultaneous lowering of their price.
This book will be of interest to students of the iron and steel industry, economic historians and those specifically interested in American economic development or the diffusion of innovations, as well as to those concerned with more general questions of industrial growth.
