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Discussion Paper Details

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Title: Populism and the First Wave of Globalization: Evidence from the 1892 US Presidential Election

Author(s): Alexander Klein, Karl Gunnar Persson and Paul Sharp

Publication Date: July 2020

Keyword(s): agriculture, Globalization, Grain Invasion, populism and United States

Programme Area(s): Economic History

Abstract: The reasons for the famous agrarian unrest in the United States between 1870 and 1900 remain debated. We argue that they are, at least in part, consistent with a simple economic explanation. Falling transportation costs allowed for the extension of the frontier, where farmers received the world price minus the transaction costs involved in getting their produce to market. Many perceived these costs to be unfairly large, owing to the perceived market power of rail firms and the discriminatory practices of middlemen, with farmers closer to the frontier most affected. Consistent with this, we find that the protest, as measured by vote shares for the Populists in the 1892 Presidential elections, is negatively related to wheat prices, transportation costs, and rail network density.

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Bibliographic Reference

Klein, A, Persson, K and Sharp, P. 2020. 'Populism and the First Wave of Globalization: Evidence from the 1892 US Presidential Election'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=15076