Books in the Markets and Governments in Economic History (CHUP) series

Fresh water has become scarce and will become even more so in the coming years, as continued population growth places ever greater demands on the supply of fresh water. This book draws on historical sources to trace the emergence of the current framework for resolving water-rights issues to California in the 1850s, during the Gold Rush.

Looking at the history of the United States with a focus on three diseases - smallpox, typhoid fever, and yellow fever, this book shows how constitutional rules and provisions that promoted individual liberty and economic prosperity also influenced the country's ability to eradicate infectious disease.