Jeremy Atack

National Bureau of Economic Research, Vanderbilt University

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About

Jeremy Atack is a leading economic historian whose research illuminates the transformation of the American economy during the 19th and early 20th centuries. His key areas of inquiry include the mechanization of manufacturing, the evolution of labor markets, and the economic history of agriculture and railroads. Atack is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking work on the “Automation” of Manufacturing in the Late Nineteenth Century, a study that draws powerful parallels between the historical mechanization debate and modern anxieties about AI and robotics. Analyzing an extraordinary dataset from the U.S. Department of Labor’s “Hand and Machine Labor” study, his work (cited 87 times) provides a vital empirical foundation for understanding how technological change reshaped work and productivity. He has also made significant contributions by digitizing this invaluable historical record, ensuring its accessibility for future scholars. With a career spanning decades, Atack’s meticulous quantitative analyses have fundamentally shaped our understanding of America’s industrial revolution, making him an essential reference for students and researchers studying the long-run dynamics of technological change and economic development.