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Spleen: The Failures of the Cliometric School

Author

Listed:
  • Stefano Fenoaltea

    (Fellow, Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Turin; Associate, CESMEP, Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Turin)

Abstract
This paper argues that we cliometricians have failed as economists, because we did not drag the profession out of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth; that we have failed as historians, because we do not take measurement seriously, and misapprehend "the data"; and that we failed signally as economic historians, because we backcast "GDP" as if it measured gross domestic product.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano Fenoaltea, 2019. "Spleen: The Failures of the Cliometric School," Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) 44, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:workqs:qse_44
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    7. Easterlin,Richard A., 2006. "The Reluctant Economist," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521685115, September.
    8. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: Revised Second-Generation Expenditure-Side Estimates," MPRA Paper 88016, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2015. "Industrial Employment in Italy, 1911: The Burden of the Census Data," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 225-246.
    10. William D. Nordhaus & James Tobin, 1973. "Is Growth Obsolete?," NBER Chapters, in: The Measurement of Economic and Social Performance, pages 509-564, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    12. McCloskey, Donald N., 1978. "The Achievements of the Cliometric School," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 13-28, March.
    13. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2017. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: Revised Second-Generation Production-Side Estimates," MPRA Paper 83508, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2000. "The Growth of Italy's Wool Industry, 1861-1913: A Statistical Reconstruction," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 119-146.
    15. Stefano Fenoaltea, 1976. "Real Value Added and the Measurement of Industrial Production," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 1, pages 111-137, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Easterlin, Richard A., 1974. "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 111773, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "A Modest Proposal For Augmenting The Gross Domestic Product Of Italy, Allowing Greater Public Spending, Employment, And Graft," MPRA Paper 89746, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 1982. "The Growth of the Utilities Industries in Italy, 1861–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 601-627, September.
    19. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2016. "Fenoaltea on Industrial Employment in 1911: A Rejoinder," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 113-118.
    20. Fenoaltea,Stefano, 2014. "The Reinterpretation of Italian Economic History," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107658080.
    21. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2012. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: The Expenditure Side Re-(and De-)constructed," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 285-318.
    22. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2020. "The fruits of disaggregation: The engineering industry, tariff protection, and the industrial investment cycle in Italy, 1861-1913," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 73(292), pages 77-110.
    23. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2005. "The growth of the Italian economy, 1861–1913: Preliminary second-generation estimates," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 273-312, December.
    24. William D. Nordhaus & James Tobin, 1972. "Economic Research: Retrospect and Prospect, Volume 5, Economic Growth," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number nord72-1.
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    Cited by:

    1. Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert, 2020. "How Cliometrics has Infiltrated Economics – and Helped to Improve the Discipline," Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science, Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Torino (Italy), vol. 54(1), pages 219-230, June.
    2. Laurent Gauthier, 2022. "Extending Cliometrics to Ancient History with Complexity," Working Papers hal-03754911, HAL.
    3. Emanuele Felice, 2020. "LÕalbatros. Ricordo di Stefano Fenoaltea (The albatros. In memory of Stefano Fenoaltea)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 73(292), pages 397-407.
    4. Filippo Battistoni & Marco Martinez, 2022. "Rome and the Polis: Tradition and Change in the Financial Accounts of Tauromenion, 1st Century B.C," Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science, Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Torino (Italy), vol. 56(1), pages 149-176, June.
    5. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: The Measurement Of Aggregate Product," MPRA Paper 97042, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economics; economic history; cliometrics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A10 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - General
    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General
    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods

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