Shining Light on a Statistical Dark Age: Postal Activity in Antebellum America
利用1817年后美国地方邮政活动的高频统计数据，研究现代经济增长的起始时间、区域发展模式及通信文化的传播，弥补了1840年前经济数据缺失的不足。
American economic historians generally believe that U.S. modern economic growth began before 1840, was broadly based, and the acceleration was gradual. These claims are treated as conjectures rather than solid conclusions because the census did not publish good economic data before 1840. But the earlier period was not a “statistical dark age,” as sometimes asserted. After 1817, systematic statistics on postal activity were available at the local level at high frequencies. These data shed light on the timing and sources of the onset of modern economic growth, the patterns of regional development, and the spread of a culture of communication.