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.