Abstract
This chapter explores the cyclicality of historical awareness in economics. It shows how, over the centuries, there have been numerous moments when a tendency toward theoretical abstraction has resulted in real-world catastrophes which, in turn, have inspired a return to more historically-grounded approaches to economic inquiry and policy.
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- 1.
These categories remain trenchant in the historiography of economics, see, for example, Eklund and Hebert (1997, p. 61). On Gay, see still Heaton (1952). The literature on Gustav von Schmoller is growing, for which see still Peukert (2001, pp. 71–116). On the historical school in Germany, see Grimmer-Solem (2003). On Schmoller and his method, see furthermore Gioja (1990) and Priddat (1995). On Roscher, see Backhaus (1995).
- 2.
- 3.
- 4.
It is important to note, however, that such a “concern with complexity did not entail a blind attempt to reproduce reality on a one to one scale,” see Grimmer-Solem and Romani (1999, p. 342).
- 5.
I agree with Keith Tribe that “the study of history and economics” should be considered “part of the wider history of the social sciences, rather than a clash between inductive and deductive methods, or of historicism and rationalism,” but, given the arguments made by the historical actors in question themselves, it seems excessive to argue that the idea of a “historicist critique of economics” is “based largely on bad history.” See Tribe (2002, p. 20). Though far from the black-and-white situation suggested by much of historiography, historicist critiques of economics have been going on for centuries.
- 6.
For a relevant compass for this tumultuous period in the history of economics, particularly given Gay’s background, see Schefold (1999, pp. 378–391).
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
For an intriguing take on the undead nature of economics, see also Quiggin (2012).
- 10.
- 11.
- 12.
For a remarkable recent selection of essays including a variety of historical approaches, see, however, Reinert et al. (2016).
- 13.
- 14.
On black swans, see of course Taleb (2007).
- 15.
- 16.
The literature on this topic is as vast as the subject matter, but see also the classic Viner (1977). On the theme of religion and economics, see furthermore Nelson (2014, p. 346) and Agamben (2009). For concrete arguments that a divinity literally made the world so that markets should be free, see the long arc from Bencivenni (1774, pp. 292–294, 329–330, 342–345, 387–390) on the authorship of which see Pozzetti (1810, pp. 100–101), to McCloskey (2006, pp. 38, 438, 462). For providence-skeptical historical economists, see, for example, Balabkins (1988, p. 75).
- 17.
On which see Romani (2004, pp. 37–65). That “economics” depended on the interplay of history on the one hand and theoretical abstraction on the other was mainstream at the time, see, for yet another example, Einaudi (2017, p. 1). For a timeless warning of ultimately believing the “fictive” nature of theoretical assumptions, see also Einaudi (1942–43, pp. 51–52) and Röpke (1942).
- 18.
- 19.
- 20.
- 21.
On Physiocracy and history, see S.A. Reinert (2011, p. 284).
- 22.
On Smith’s decidedly critical stance on Physiocratic reforms, see Hont (2005, p. 100).
- 23.
- 24.
On European Antiphysiocracy, see now the essays in Kaplan and S.A. Reinert (2018‚ forthcoming).
- 25.
See the frequently translated and republished List (1841). The literature on List is massive and growing in light of the recent crisis, but see still Tribe (1995, pp. 32–65) and Hont (2005, pp. 148–155). For an example of the recent flurry of publications, see Wendler (2015). On British free-trade imperialism, see still Semmel (1970). For the geographical limits to List’s argument, see Boianovsky (2013, pp. 647–691).
- 26.
- 27.
- 28.
The literature on the German Historical School is vast, but see, in addition to the previously mentioned Grimmer-Solem (2003), Tribe (2002) as well as the essays in Shionoya (2005). On its wider influence see the essays in Cardoso and Psalidopoulos (2016), and for the American case the classic Balabkins (1988) as well as Herbst (1965) and Bateman (2011, pp. 108–124). For the Norwegian case, see Fasting (2014). For the case of Japan, see Nishizawa (2003, pp. 155–172)‚ Yanagisawa (2003)‚ as well as the essays in the classic Sugiyama and Mizuta (1988). On the larger transformation of economics in academic life in the period, see the project described in Claeys et al. (1993, pp. viii–x), and the literature there addressed. From the perspective of the history of political thought, see now McDaniel (2018).
- 29.
For a brief overview, see Hagemann (2016, pp. 223–235). For caveats regarding the chronology of the German Historical School, see Lindenfeld (1993, pp. 405–416). The literature on German Cameralism is also flourishing, but see particularly Tribe (1988), Wakefield (2009), and S.A. Reinert (2011), pp. 233–245).
- 30.
Grimmer-Solem and Romani (1999, p. 353). The question of whether or not the German Historical School was ever a “school” even was recently raised. See Pearson (1999, pp. 547–562), for rebuttals against which see Caldwell (2001, pp. 649–654) and Tribe (2002, p. 2n3). On objectivity and history more generally, see still Novick (1989).
- 31.
The literature on this is, again, vast, but see Schumpeter (1996, pp. 814–815).
- 32.
On John Neville Keynes, see Deane (2001).
- 33.
On the explicit use of historicism to criticize more theoretical economics in the USA, for example, see Barber (2003, pp. 231–245, particularly pp. 240–241).
- 34.
Though Cunningham himself felt he was changing his mind in light of recent events, p. [vii], he had always been oriented toward a historical political economy generally speaking, see, for example, Kadish (1993, p. 81 and passim).
- 35.
See from different perspectives on this moment O’Rourke and Williamson (1999), Harper (2002, pp. 141–166), Mattelart (2000), Wenzlhuemer (2013), Osterhammel (2014), and Rosenberg (2012). For a popular account, see Wilson (2016). For an insightful theoretical take on the mechanisms of this, see again Perez (2003).
- 36.
- 37.
The relocation of laissez-faire to distant planets is old news, see, for example, Genovesi (1764, vol. I, pp. 292–93n).
- 38.
On the history of Darwinian influences on economics, see among others Hodgson (2004).
- 39.
The construction of a worldwide dataset of such estimated GDP values had been the brainchild of the late Angus Maddison, now continued by an international team of scholars. See The Maddison Project, http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/maddison-project/home.htm. On recent updates to the dataset, see Bolt and Van Zanden (2014, pp. 627–651). For a rather different argument, see a literature best represented by Pomeranz (2000, pp. 165, 276 and passim).
- 40.
On the vast difference between Gross Domestic Product per capita in the UK and the rest of Europe, let alone the world, in the late nineteenth century, see Maddison (2007, p. 382).
- 41.
On the much longer history of theorizing about cost-competition, see Hont (2008, pp. 243–323).
- 42.
On the truth of this analysis, in the complex history of labor conditions under globalization, see among others Bonanno (2013, pp. 21–41, particularly p. 37).
- 43.
The phrase was used to compare Gunnar Myrdal and, by reflection, large parts of early development economics, to Johann Gottlieb Fichte by Heilperin (1960, p. 149). On Fichte’s actual political economy, see Nakhimovsky (2011). More recently, isolated states are seen as nothing less than cancers in the global body; as Harold James argues, if countries “cannot export goods and participate in international society, they will not remain simply self-contained in a ghetto of misery and inhumanity. They will export their problems: their terrorism, their violence, and even their diseases.” See James (2001, p. 217).
- 44.
- 45.
- 46.
- 47.
On Robinson see Harcourt and Kerr (2009).
- 48.
The first variation of the quote may have been in “Art. I. [Review of A. N. Mouravieff’s A History of the Church in Russia],” The Christian Remembrancer, October 1845 [vol. 10, London: Burns, 1845], pp. 245–331, p. 264: “history repeats her tale unconsciously, and goes off into a mystic rhyme; ages are prototypes of other ages, and the winding course of time brings us round to the same spot again.”
- 49.
On which see among others Hudson and Tribe (2017).
- 50.
Barnard (2013, p. 9) claiming someone ignorant of the history of economics risks being a “cittadino coglione,” a less vulgar but also less colorful rendition of which would be “stupid citizen.”
- 51.
“The financial crisis of 2008,” Cardoso and Psalidopoulos (2016, p. xiv) have rightly observed, “has revived interest in economic scholarship from a historical perspective.” For an earlier, similar statement, see, for example, Peukert (2001, pp. 73–74), and even the memorable warning that “graduate programs may be turning out a generation with too many idiot savants skilled in technique but innocent of real economic issues” in Krueger et al. (1991, pp. 1044–1045).
- 52.
- 53.
- 54.
- 55.
See recently Fourcade et al. (2015, pp. 89–114).
- 56.
- 57.
For a rather less forgiving reading of the story, see Chitonge (2015, pp. 1–3 and passim).
- 58.
- 59.
On these events, see now the essays in Aaslestad and Joor (2014).
- 60.
- 61.
- 62.
- 63.
For context, see also Appelqvist (2014, p. 72).
- 64.
- 65.
- 66.
- 67.
- 68.
- 69.
On Walras and his contribution, see now Tribe (2015, pp. 255–295).
- 70.
Richard Whatmore recalls Istvan Hont proclaiming that “methodology is for stupid people,” in Whatmore (2015, p. 10); my recollection is of him arguing that “methodological work has never said anything interesting.” The point remains.
- 71.
- 72.
- 73.
For a salutary reminder of the relationship between economics and the public sphere, see Maas (2014, p. 174).
- 74.
- 75.
See on this theme S.A. Reinert (2010, pp. 1395–1425).
- 76.
- 77.
On the case method, emphasizing the virtues of wisdom and judgment, see still Gragg (1951), and the classic essays in Christensen et al. (1992). On political judgment, see recently the essays in Bourke and Geuss (2009). For Friedman’s point, see, for example, his argument that there “inevitably” would be a need for “judgment” in economics in Friedman (1953, p. 25).
- 78.
On which see Silvestri (2017, pp. 23–24).
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Reinert, S.A. (2018). Historical Political Economy. In: Cardinale, I., Scazzieri, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-44254-3_5
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