Lilly Trotter

Robert E. Hughes Assistant Professor of Economics

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Lilly Trotter (PhD, Vanderbilt University) joined the Furman economics faculty in August 2026. Her research interests are at the intersection of economic history and financial economics, with a focus on the development of the U.S. financial system around the turn of the 20th century. In her current work, she is digitizing the locations of NYSE brokerage offices to study how access to the stock market shaped local economic development. Dr. Trotter's teaching includes Principles of Economics and Asset Pricing and Portfolio Theory.

Dr. Trotter had not considered economics as a major until her second semester at Wake Forest University. The flexibility of a liberal arts curriculum made it easy to pivot toward a subject she had only just discovered. She also spent a summer studying comparative politics through a European study away program. Encouraged by professors who invested in her work, she pursued a doctorate at Vanderbilt University, where her dissertation was named a finalist for the Economic History Association's Allan Nevins Prize in American Economic History in 2023. She wanted to teach at a liberal arts college so she could help students find their way to a subject they love like she did.

Outside of Furman, Dr. Trotter enjoys walking the Swamp Rabbit Trail, exploring local coffee shops, and spending time with her family.

Honors and Awards

  • Finalist for the Allan Nevins Prize for the best dissertation in U.S. economic history, 2023

Education

  • B.A., Wake Forest University
  • Ph.D., Vanderbilt University

Publications

  • “Employee Stock Ownership During the Great Depression: The Varying Impacts of ESOPs on Output
    Growth and Worker Utilization,” Financial History Review, 2025, 32(2), 107-158
  • “Schumpeter vs. Keynes: ’Still Not Dead’ ” (with John T. Dalton), Southern Economic Journal, 2022,
    89(2), 569-592
  • “Measuring the Accuracy of Federal Reserve Forecasts” (with Sandeep Mazumder), Southern Economic
    Journal, 2019, 85 (3), 960-984.

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