Economic Growth and Population Growth in North America: Insights from historical US and Canadian census data

The primary purpose of this presentation is to understand the relationship between population growth and population distribution in a historical context. It will use historical census data from Canada and the United States to document the extent to which urbanization drove regional economic and population growth. This builds on the work of urban economist Edward Glaeser, who argues that urbanization was essential to distinguishing between demographic and economic winners and losers in North America in recent history. Using historical economic data from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada and census data from through the CCRI initiative (Canada) and IPUMS USA, this presentation will identify the extent to which economic growth drove population growth (versus the opposite, or a situation of reciprocal causality).