------------ EH.NET BOOK REVIEW --------------  
Published by EH.NET (October 2006)  
  
Susan B. Carter, Scott Sigmund Gartner, Michael R. Haines, Alan L.   
Olmstead, Richard Sutch, and Gavin Wright, editors, _Historical   
Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition_ (Online   
Version). New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.  
  
(Note: The price of _Historical Statistics_ is going up on November 1   
-- from $825 to $990 for the five-volume print version, and from   
$1,250 to $1,450 for the online version purchased by individuals. The   
online version for libraries is more expensive and the price depends   
on the library's size.)  
  
Reviewed for EH.NET by Samuel H. Williamson, Department of Economics,   
Miami University.  
  
  
The publishing of _Historical Statistic of the United States:   
Millennial Edition_ is a major event for American economic   
historians. It comes in five volumes and is also accessible online.   
The online package will be reviewed below, but first I want to   
comment on the entire project.  
  
EH.Net has already published a review of each volume and all the   
reviews have been full of praise. Here is a list of the volume   
titles, each of which is linked to its review.  
  
1. Population -- http://eh.net/bookreviews/library/1092.shtml  
  
2. Work and Welfare -- http://eh.net/bookreviews/library/1101.shtml  
  
3. Economic Structure and Performance --   
http://eh.net/bookreviews/library/1096.shtml  
  
4. Economic Sectors -- http://eh.net/bookreviews/library/1088.shtml  
  
5. Governance and International Relations --   
http://eh.net/bookreviews/library/1064.shtml  
  
The work, however, is more than the sum of its parts. This is the   
fourth version of _Historical Statistics_ (HS) and it is greatly   
expanded from the previous editions. It is also the first edition not   
published by the U.S. Census Bureau.  
  
The first _HS_ came out in 1949 as an appendix to the _Statistical   
Abstract of the United States_. The second edition was published in   
1960, followed by the Bicentennial Edition in 1975. The first three   
editions had 3,000, 8,000 and 12,500 series, respectively. The   
current edition has 37,339 series that include dozens of new topics   
and introductory essays explaining the sources and limitations of the   
data presented. One of the appendices (found in volume five), written   
by Carmel Chiswick, explains the origins of _HS_ and is very useful   
for putting the current edition in perspective.  
  
This work has been twelve years in the making. It started in 1993   
when a group of interested organizations met with representatives   
from the Census Bureau who indicated that they could not commit to a   
new edition, but would support the venture if these groups did it. In   
the end, over 80 scholars with the support 70 plus organizations   
produced this _Millennial Edition_. While it was a huge project that   
depended on the contributions of many, in my opinion, two people   
should be especially singled out. They are Richard Sutch and Frank   
Smith. Sutch organized the original meeting with the Census Bureau   
and (with no disrespect meant for the considerable work of the other   
four editors) based on my observations, he has been the chief   
organizer ever since. If I understand correctly, Smith has been the   
economics editor from Cambridge Press in charge of this project over   
the past twelve years -- the one who has had to bear up under missed   
deadlines and unanticipated expenses and yet who ultimately saw the   
project through to the valuable, polished finished product we are   
enjoying today.  
  
The delays in the project will be readily evident to most readers.   
For example, a large number of series are from census data, but most   
of the edition's data collection was done before the 2000 census data   
were available. Thus, most (but not all) of the decadal series end in   
1990. Many of the annual series end in 1998 or 1999, though a few   
extend as far as 2002. There are, however, many, many series that end   
at other years. For example, the twenty-seven tables on employment   
and industry end in eight different years from 1940 to 2000.  
  
This quibble aside, it is important to note that each table comes   
with source notes, documentation and definitions that are very   
helpful. However, while it is understandable the editors wanted to   
include so many useful series, this inclusiveness may overwhelm the   
average user.  
  
My review of the online version has been delayed partially because   
this version has been a work in progress. When I first started, there   
were too many programming glitches for me to give the work a fair   
review. However, the editors at Cambridge Press have been very open   
in communicating with me and in working to fix these problems.   
Perhaps the biggest advantage of an online version would be the   
ability to copy tables and paste them into a spreadsheet. However,   
when I initially tried this, I found that negative numbers were not   
formatted to be able to paste. This problem has recently been fixed.  
  
The online version has all the tables and essays that are in the   
print version and reports all data in an unrounded format. There is a   
good search engine that is helpful in finding things, which is   
particularly useful if the user does not have the print version   
available. In addition, the version allows users to create custom   
tables that can combine series from all the diverse series.  
  
The most important tool is the graphing program. By creating a custom   
table, the user can compare any of the series over time or in a   
scatter diagram. For a user accessing this program online in a   
library, this will be an invaluable part of the package. The user can   
create graphs in color and print or download them. The online user   
can also send tables to any email address and the recipient has ten   
days to view it. While the program notes that "you can download   
[output] in PDF and/or Excel during this time," this appears to be   
only true if the recipient has an account. On the other hand, the   
numbers in the tables can be copied from the browser.  
  
My tests of the graphing tool were 1) creating a custom table and   
then using the graphing program; 2) creating a custom table,   
downloading it and then creating a graph in Excel; and 3) going to   
the various series, copying the numbers I wanted, pasting them into   
Excel and creating a graph. For me the third choice won, but I must   
add that I am an experienced Excel user and I could not have done   
this if I were not logged on to _HS_ on a computer that also had   
Excel. Most researchers are going to want to use Excel or some other   
package to graph, as the program on _HS_ has fewer graphing options.  
  
The Government Printing Office still sells the 1975, _Bicentennial   
Historical Statistics_ edition, which is 1,200 pages in two volumes,   
for $114.50. The _Millennium_ edition of five volumes, with 4,500   
pages is selling for $990 as of November 1, making it more than eight   
times as expensive. This price may mean that these volumes will   
seldom be found outside university and other research libraries. With   
the online version at $1,450, it will even be less likely to be   
commonly found. On the other hand, everything but the tables and   
essays are available free online, so that a user can search for a   
table or essay and then view it for printing or downloading for $6   
each  
  
I have no idea what percent of the 37,339 series are currently still   
being collected and could be updated. For those that have an   
unchanged definition and are from public sources, such as the Census,   
it should be quite easy. For others that are period specific or where   
a base year has been updated, or the bundle has changed -- such as   
real GDP or the various price indexes -- it would be difficult or   
just not practical since often these revisions are to all the   
observations.  
  
The online version of _Historical Statistics�_ is a great innovation,   
but it would be much more valuable if it was more than a reprint of   
the text version and contemporary tables were updated. I would expect   
that one full-time researcher could update dozens of them a day.   
Integrating them into the format of the tables should be possible.  
  
My other suggestion to the editors is that they publish an _HS_   
"light" with a few hundred of the most popular tables and link it to   
the online version. If it could be priced for less than $100, then   
small libraries and others could buy it and would be directed to the   
online version to purchase the essays and other tables for the $6.  
  
  
Samuel H. Williamson, cofounder and president of MeasuringWorth   
(www.measuringworth.com), is Professor of Economics, Emeritus, from   
Miami University. In 1983 he was a cofounder of the Cliometric   
Society and served as its executive director for sixteen years. In   
1996 he founded EH.NET and was its executive director until 2003.  
  
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