The theory of political business cycles predicts economies will experience a short-run expansion during an election period. Cross-sectional evidence from 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910, does not reveal statistically significant differences in gainful employment rates between states with and...

The theory of opportunistic political business cycles predicts incumbent politicians will alter their economic policies to spur short-run growth to attract additional votes for the upcoming election. There has not been much emphasis on the possibility of historical political business cycles...