[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/wpaper/hal-03393148.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Whither Economic History? : Between Narratives and Quantification

Author

Listed:
  • Pamfili Antipa

    (Centre de recherche de la Banque de France - Banque de France, ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Vincent Bignon

    (Centre de recherche de la Banque de France - Banque de France)

Abstract
Macroeconomic analysis is not just a game of equations; it is a narrative of the real. We argue in this article for a re-evaluation of the importance of narratives. Because each financial crisis is a unique event, the narrative is the natural form of analysis. In addition, the effects of economic policies can no longer be analysed independently of the narratives appropriated by economic agents (Schiller, 2017) and policy makers (Friedman and Schwartz, 1963). There is a twofold value in adding the historical dimension. Economic history is instructive by multiplying case studies, i.e. by increasing the variety of policy successes and failures analysed. History also loosens the shackles of our preconceptions, since comparing the past and present calls into question the exceptional nature of what we are living.

Suggested Citation

  • Pamfili Antipa & Vincent Bignon, 2018. "Whither Economic History? : Between Narratives and Quantification," Working Papers hal-03393148, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03393148
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03393148
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03393148/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Piketty, 2013. "Le capital au XXIe siècle," Post-Print halshs-00979232, HAL.
    2. Robert J. Gordon, 2016. "The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10544.
    3. Carlos Álvarez-Nogal & Christophe Chamley, 2014. "Debt policy under constraints: Philip II, the Cortes, and Genoese bankers," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(1), pages 192-213, February.
    4. Thomas Herndon & Michael Ash & Robert Pollin, 2014. "Does high public debt consistently stifle economic growth? A critique of Reinhart and Rogoff," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 38(2), pages 257-279.
    5. Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Thomas Piketty, 2021. "Accounting for Wealth-Inequality Dynamics: Methods, Estimates, and Simulations for France," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 620-663.
    6. Rolnick, Arthur J & Weber, Warren E, 1986. "Gresham's Law or Gresham's Fallacy?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(1), pages 185-199, February.
    7. Flandreau, Marc, 1996. "The French Crime of 1873: An Essay on the Emergence of the International Gold Standard, 1870–1880," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(4), pages 862-897, December.
    8. Álvarez-Nogal, Carlos & Chamley, Christophe, 2016. "Philip Ii Against The Cortes And The Credit Freeze Of 1575-1577," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 351-382, December.
    9. Garbinti, Bertrand & Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Piketty, Thomas, 2018. "Income inequality in France, 1900–2014: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts (DINA)," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 63-77.
    10. Vincent Bignon & Eve Caroli & Roberto Galbiati, 2011. "Stealing to Survive: Crime and Income Shocks in 19th Century France," PSE Working Papers halshs-00623804, HAL.
    11. Bergeaud, A. & Cette, G. & Lecat, R., 2015. "Productivity trends from 1890 to 2012 in advanced countries," Rue de la Banque, Banque de France, issue 07, June..
    12. Mehlum, Halvor & Miguel, Edward & Torvik, Ragnar, 2006. "Poverty and crime in 19th century Germany," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 370-388, May.
    13. Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff, 2009. "Varieties of Crises and Their Dates," Introductory Chapters, in: This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, Princeton University Press.
    14. Becker, Sascha O. & Pfaff, Steven & Rubin, Jared, 2016. "Causes and consequences of the Protestant Reformation," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1-25.
    15. McCloskey, Donald N, 1976. "Does the Past Have Useful Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 434-461, June.
    16. Vincent Bignon & Eve Caroli & Roberto Galbiati, 2017. "Stealing to Survive? Crime and Income Shocks in Nineteenth Century France," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(599), pages 19-49, February.
    17. Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Thomas Piketty, 2017. "Income Inequality in France, 1900-2014: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts," Working Papers halshs-02658875, HAL.
    18. Allen,Robert C., 2009. "The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521868273.
    19. Thomas Piketty, 2013. "Le capital au 21e siècle," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00944865, HAL.
    20. P. Antipa & C. Chamley, 2017. "Monetary and Fiscal Policy in England during the French Wars (1793-1821)," Working papers 627, Banque de France.
    21. Milton Friedman & Anna J. Schwartz, 1963. "A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie63-1.
    22. Bernanke, Ben S, 1983. "Nonmonetary Effects of the Financial Crisis in Propagation of the Great Depression," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(3), pages 257-276, June.
    23. Vincent Bignon & Eve Caroli & Roberto Galbiati, 2017. "Stealing to Survive? Crime and Income Shocks in Nineteenth Century France," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(599), pages 19-49, February.
    24. Thomas, Ryland & Hills, Sally & Dimsdale, Nicholas, 2010. "The UK recession in context — what do three centuries of data tell us?," Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Bank of England, vol. 50(4), pages 277-291.
    25. V. Bignon & C. Jobst, 2017. "Economic Crises and the Eligibility for the Lender of Last Resort: Evidence from 19th century France," Working papers 618, Banque de France.
    26. Antonin Bergeaud & Gilbert Cette & Rémy Lecat, 2016. "Productivity Trends in Advanced Countries between 1890 and 2012," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(3), pages 420-444, September.
    27. Lamoreaux, Naomi, 2015. "The Future of Economic History Must Be Interdisciplinary," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 75(4), pages 1251-1257, December.
    28. North,Douglass C. & Wallis,John Joseph & Weingast,Barry R., 2013. "Violence and Social Orders," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107646995.
    29. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00941859 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Marc Flandreau, 1995. "L'or du monde : la France et la stabilité du système monétaire international : 1848-1873," Post-Print hal-03573200, HAL.
    31. Vincent Bignon & Eve Caroli & Roberto Galbiati, 2017. "Stealing to Survive? Crime and Income Shocks in Nineteenth Century France," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(599), pages 19-49, February.
    32. Álvarez-Nogal, Carlos & Chamley, Christophe, 2016. "Philip Ii Against The Cortes And The Credit Freeze Of 1575-1577 – Erratum," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 383-383, December.
    33. Eichengreen, Barry, 2012. "Economic History and Economic Policy," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(2), pages 289-307, May.
    34. Harold L. Cole & Lee E. Ohanian, 2004. "New Deal Policies and the Persistence of the Great Depression: A General Equilibrium Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(4), pages 779-816, August.
    35. Marc Flandreau, 1996. "The French Crime of 1873: An Essay on the Emergence of the International Gold Standard, 1870-1880," Post-Print hal-03416271, HAL.
    36. Marc Flandreau, 1996. "The French Crime of 1873: An Essay on the Emergence of the International Gold Standard, 1870-1880," Post-Print hal-03416270, HAL.
    37. Bordo,Michael D. & Roberds,William (ed.), 2013. "The Origins, History, and Future of the Federal Reserve," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107013728, September.
    38. Redlich, Fritz, 1965. "“New” and Traditional Approaches to Economic History and Their Interdependence," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(4), pages 480-495, December.
    39. Marc Flandreau & Stefano Ugolini, 2013. "Where It All Began: Lending of Last Resort and Bank of England Monitoring During the Overend-Gurney Panic of 1866," Post-Print hal-01293916, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ellis W. Tallman, 2020. "Historical patterns in market behavior: Opportunities and risks," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(S1), pages 143-144, March.
    2. Eric Monnet & Francois R. Velde, 2020. "Money, Banking, and Old-School Historical Economics," Working Paper Series WP-2020-28, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    3. Cormac Ó Gráda, 2019. "Economic History: «An Isthmus Joining Two Great Continents»?," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 81-120.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/3333juqsbl8k6qn6kl3c2nkjtt is not listed on IDEAS
    2. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4ithmorhr18kq90pu8cm6fv3ad is not listed on IDEAS
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3333juqsbl8k6qn6kl3c2nkjtt is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4ithmorhr18kq90pu8cm6fv3ad is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/3333juqsbl8k6qn6kl3c2nkjtt is not listed on IDEAS
    6. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/3333juqsbl8k6qn6kl3c2nkjtt is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Pamfili Antipa & Vincent Bignon, 2018. "Whither Economic History? Between Narratives and Quantification," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(3), pages 17-36.
    8. Mitchener, Kris & Trebesch, Christoph, 2021. "Sovereign Debt in the 21st Century: Looking Backward, Looking Forward," CEPR Discussion Papers 15935, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Ishak, Phoebe W., 2022. "Murder nature: Weather and violent crime in rural Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    10. Calomiris, Charles W. & Flandreau, Marc & Laeven, Luc, 2016. "Political foundations of the lender of last resort: A global historical narrative," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 48-65.
    11. Stéphane Auray & Aurélien Eyquem & Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret, 2022. "Markups, Taxes, And Rising Inequality," Working Papers halshs-03832267, HAL.
    12. Nicholas Crafts & Peter Fearon, 2010. "Lessons from the 1930s Great Depression," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 26(3), pages 285-317, Autumn.
    13. Karaman, K. Kıvanç & Pamuk, Şevket & Yıldırım-Karaman, Seçil, 2020. "Money and monetary stability in Europe, 1300–1914," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 279-300.
    14. Melissa Rubio-Ramos, 2022. "From Plantations to Prisons: The Race Gap in Incarceration After the Abolition of Slavery in the U.S," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 195, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    15. Kramer, Bert S. & Milionis, Petros, 2022. "Democratic constraints and adherence to the classical gold standard," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    16. William D. Craighead, 2010. "Across Time And Regimes: 212 Years Of The Us‐Uk Real Exchange Rate," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 48(4), pages 951-964, October.
    17. Ran Abramitzky, 2015. "Economics and the Modern Economic Historian," NBER Working Papers 21636, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Mike Anson & David Bholat & Miao Kang & Ryland Thomas, 2017. "The Bank of England as Lender of Last Resort: New historical evidence from daily transactional data," Working Papers 0117, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    19. Michael D. Bordo & Joseph G. Haubrich, 2017. "Deep Recessions, Fast Recoveries, And Financial Crises: Evidence From The American Record," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(1), pages 527-541, January.
    20. Michael D. Bordo, 2017. "An Historical Perspective on the Quest for Financial Stability and the Monetary Policy Regime," Economics Working Papers 17108, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
    21. Stéphane Auray & Aurélien Eyquem & Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret, 2022. "Markups, Taxes, And Rising Inequality," Working Papers halshs-03832267, HAL.
    22. Nanda, Ramana & Nicholas, Tom, 2014. "Did bank distress stifle innovation during the Great Depression?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 273-292.
    23. De Magalhaes, Leandro & Giovannoni, Francesco, 2022. "War and the rise of parliaments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    24. Fernholz, Ricardo T. & Mitchener, Kris James & Weidenmier, Marc, 2017. "Pulling up the tarnished anchor: The end of silver as a global unit of account," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 209-228.
    25. Ishak, Phoebe W., 2021. "Murder nature weather and violent crime in Brazil," Discussion Papers 2021/2, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    26. Stijn Claessens & M Ayhan Kose, 2018. "Frontiers of macrofinancial linkages," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 95.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03393148. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.