1. The same conclusion holds if a “real” interest rate is used.
2. Railroads as an Analogy to the Space Effort: Some Economic Aspects
3. Western Settlement and the Price of Wheat;Harley;JOURNAL,1978
4. For a discussion of the details of this collapse see Grodinsky, Transcontinental Railway Strategy, Chaps. 15 and 16.
5. A Chicago price of 97¢ implies a local price of about 67¢ a bushel or a bit less at the 99th meridian. The United States Department of Agnculture Yearbook 1893, pp. 515 and 517, estimate the cost of production of wheat, except rent, at between $7.00 and $7.50 per acre. Yield per acre in average years was between 13 and 17 bushels per acre in the mid-1880s and the general price level was some 20% higher than in 1893. These imply costs, excluding rent, of between 50¢ and 70¢ per bushel. Local price would be below 70¢ at the 99th meridian and around 50¢ at the west end of the state.