ECON 2200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Deflation, Monetary Base
14 May 2018
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ECON 2200
Lecture 8
a. British was double-track; US was single-track
• Field argues that you can’t have an efficient single-track system
without the telegraph. This gives logistical control to let RR know
which rail cars are coming (and keeps down collisions).
b. American RR single-track cost (1890)
•
c. British RR double-track cost (1890)
• $957 million (in their time)
d. The single most important thing in terms of economic growth was not
having to build an extra track (only have to have single-track) because of
the telegraph.
e. Meat Packing
• The telegraph most valuable to this industry. Telegraph services
were a necessity. Meat is highly perishable. It would make it more
expensive to store, because it not had to be stored, but had to stay
cool. The warehouses were cooled by ice, which had to constantly
be renewed after melting. Even the refrigerated cars had to iced.
This info could be sent by telegram and tell that they needed more
ice at next stop, etc. Allowed for centralizing of the meat
processing industry. It also made you have to ship less, because it
could be sent already packed, instead of doing a cattle drive or
sending cattle in cattle rail cars. The packed meat would weigh
much less.
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Lecture 8: british was double-track; us was single-track, field argues that you can"t have an efficient single-track system without the telegraph. It would make it more expensive to store, because it not had to be stored, but had to stay cool. The warehouses were cooled by ice, which had to constantly be renewed after melting. This info could be sent by telegram and tell that they needed more ice at next stop, etc. Allowed for centralizing of the meat processing industry. It also made you have to ship less, because it could be sent already packed, instead of doing a cattle drive or sending cattle in cattle rail cars. The packed meat would weigh much less: for meat slaughtering and packing, benefits of telegraph included: Increased need for inter-regional shipments of corn. Grain could stay were animals were, instead of being shipped with cattle. Increased economies of scale in by-products manufacture.
