Notes for KCBS Interview: Rebecca Corral: 1:20 PM Friday August 17, 2007
A Question for People Taking Econ 113 This Fall: Amerindian Migration

Objects in Your Calendar Are Closer than They Appear

Economic History Association Annual Meeting

Sheraton Austin Hotel, Austin, TX:

5:00-6:30 PM: Plenary Session B: What remains after 50 years: The role of economic history as a guide to economic development.

Moderator: James K. Galbraith, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

Panelists: J.Bradford DeLong, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY; Dick Easterlin, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

During the post-Sputnik decade economic history flourished in part because it was seen as a guide to the then-salient issue of economic development in “underdeveloped” countries. Three scholars stand out in this regard: Alexander Gerschenkron, Simon Kuznets, and Walt W. Rostow. The link to development persuaded many departments to hire practitioners and require students to study economic history. Then or soon after, the influence of Annales and even Marxist thought also gave economic history a greater place within History. Both currents faded as other fashions and methodologies took over. Again, a re-examination is warranted, for instance by the rise of World History as a less “occicentric” approach to comparative performance, as well as by the contrasting recent experiences of Asian and other emerging economies.

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