​An Economist's Guide to Economic History
Editors: Matthias Blum and Christopher L. Colvin
Publisher: Palgrave Studies in Economic History, Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date: 24 November 2018
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Without economic history, economics runs the risk of being too abstract or parochial, of failing to notice precedents, trends and cycles, of overlooking the long-run and thus misunderstanding `how we got here'. Recent financial and economic crises illustrate spectacularly how the economics profession has not learnt from its past.

This important and unique book addresses this problem by demonstrating the power of historical thinking in economic research. A carefully curated collection of short chapters guides economics lecturers and their students through the field of economic history, and advises them on how they can actively engage with economic history in their own teaching and learning.

​Blum and Colvin bring together important voices in the field to show readers how they can use their existing economics training to explore different facets of economic history. Each chapter introduces a question or topic, historical context or research method and explores how they can be used in economics scholarship and pedagogy. In a century characterised to date by economic uncertainty, bubbles and crashes, An Economist's Guide to Economic History is essential reading.

Contributors
Michael Aldous, Guido Alfani, Vellore Arthi, Gerben Bakker, Sascha O. Becker, Sebastian T. Braun, Matthias Blum, Graham Brownlow, William J. Collins, Christopher L. Colvin, Alan de Bromhead, Abe de Jong, Herman J. de Jong, Alexandra M. de Pleijt, Arcangelo Dimico, Alexander Donges, Jari Eloranta, Price V. Fishback, Matthias Flückiger, Peter Foldvari, Gabriel Geisler Mesevage, Vincent J. Geloso, Robert P. Gilles, Rowena Gray, Jane Humphries, Noel D. Johnson, Mark Koyama, Tim Leunig, Eoin McLaughlin, Alexander Moradi, Stephen L. Morgan, Larry D. Neal, Cormac Ó Gráda, Les Oxley, Nuno Palma, William Quinn, Meeghan Rogers, Eva Rosenstock, Tirthankar Roy, Jared Rubin, Andrew Seltzer, Paul R. Sharp, Richard H. Steckel, Judy Z. Stephenson, John D. Turner, Hugo van Driel, Leonardo Weller, Homer Wagenaar, Pieter Woltjer, Stephen Ziliak.
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More Information
Visit the book's new website for more information, including a table of contents.

 
 
Advance Praise
“The list of contributors to this project is truly impressive, as is the breadth of the topics covered. The result is a terrific teaching resource that will give students a good sense of the many ways in which economic history can help economics come alive.” 
Kevin H. O’Rourke, Chichele Professor of Economic History, University of Oxford
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