A Revision of the US Business- Cycles Chronology 1790–1928

This article extends earlier efforts at redating the US business cycles for the 1790–1928 period using the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) constructed by Johnson and Williamson (2007). We compare the alternative chronology with those of the NBER and Davis (2006) as well as Romer (1994) for the postbellum period. The resulting chronology alters more than 50% percent of the peaks and troughs identified by the NBER and Davis's chronologies, especially during the antebellum period, and removes those cycles long considered the most question- able, as growth or industrial cycles. An important result of the new chronology is the lack of discernible differences in the frequency and duration of US busi- ness cycles among the antebellum and postbellum periods. We also find that the average frequency and duration of contractions are less important than those of expansions