The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History: Accounting and bookkeeping - Contract labor and the indenture system
It is difficult to understand history or the conditions of modern society without a strong grasp of the economic past. Time and again, historic change is wrought by an underlying economic dynamic. For instance: what were the economic roots of modern industrialism?; were resource scarcities a positive element in stimulating technological change through the ages?; why were the Malthusian predictions of overpopulation and starvation in the early 19th century confounded?; were labour unions ever effective in raising workers' living standards?; did high levels of taxation in the past normally lead to economic decline?; what were the roots of economic imperialism and what effect did it have on today's underdeveloped world?; and what were the effects of the poor law reforms in Britain in the 1830s?.