In this episode, Professor Michael Bordo talks about his finding on the countries that "learned" to develop financial stability through history versus those that did not. Mike also walks us through the historical evolution of the Canadian and US banking systems, contrasting the relative stability of the former with the instability of the latter. We discuss whether system design in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries influenced the different outcomes of both countries during the Great...
Professor Valerie Ramey takes us through the conundrum of why post-war unemployment did not surge in the USA. We then discuss the economic effects of fiscal policy and how the timing of spending (and spending announcements) matters to the measuring the outcome. We finish with a discussion on time use and consider whether leisure time has actually increased as is generally believed over the twentieth century, and review the link with how home production is measured.
Prof. Robert Allen discusses how the desert environment led to a unique economic structure-"from the sand up". Bob takes us through the economic implication of communal lands and describes the differences between the nomadic (Bedouin) and oasis economies. He suggests that religious structures were convenient in eventually consolidating various regions/tribes in the form of states. We also consider the incentives for a unique type of slavery, that arose from the nature of date farming/pearl di...
Prof. Tommy Bengtsson takes us through the historical effects of short term stresses on living standards and health outcomes. How did high food prices in the nineteenth century impact the mortality risk and fertility patterns of different income classes- did it change over time? How did fetal exposure to the Spanish flu affect later life outcomes? What drives the rise in the elderly share of the population and why does it matter for solving the problems facing many pension systems? In this in...
Today, we meet Prof. Luis Bértola to discuss the economic history of Latin America since the 1820s. We cover Luis' book with José Antonio Ocampo ('The Economic Development of Latin America since Independence') tracing the development paths of three selected regions through different economic epochs- how did each zone perform, what were the driving forces and what policies emerged in response to internal/external challenges. We finish by discussing the disappointing growth that has plagued the...
In this episode, we chat with Assoc. Prof. Erik Bengtsson about his extensive work on income inequality. What is the capital share of National Income, why does it matter and why does it change? We discuss the role of democracy and the "Great Levelling" in equality that occurred in Sweden and elsewhere in the first half of the twentieth century. Erik finishes by revisiting old assumptions on the Kuznets curve of income inequality brought about by structural change. With highly disaggregated Sw...
In this episode, Prof. Kevin H. O'Rourke discusses some of his work on trade and globalization. We trace the beginnings of globalization, mention some problems with measuring it perfectly, and review some of the literature on tariffs and economic growth including Kevin's own papers. We review how the U.S. and the U.K. turned protectionist in different ways during the 1930s and contrast previous tariff levels with those of the present day. We finish with a discussion on how the "losers" of glo...
Prof. Kim Oosterlinck walks us through the strange world of financial (and alternative asset) markets in occupied France. We begin by looking at the economic costs of the Nazi occupation. We then turn to discuss the array of measures that were put in place to force the financial markets to respond in the way the new regime required. How did government debt and stock markets respond? How did the freer (and grey/black) markets in other asset classes such as artworks behave by comparison?
In this episode, we meet Prof. Bradford DeLong to discuss his recent book 'Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century.' We cover the rate of technological change prior to the industrial revolution. Before 1500, "the amount of technological change they got in a century, we get in two and a half years"! We also look at some prerequisites for industrialisation and discuss how the second industrial revolution was the game-changer in terms of long run living stand...
In this episode, we meet Assist. Prof. Jason Lennard to discuss his work on measuring fluctuations in the UK economy. We cover the nature of the business cycle, how it is measured and how it has changed through time. We also consider the implications of rigid wages during economic downturns. We look at new evidence on the existence of "sticky wages" during the Great Depression in the UK, using disaggregated (instead of average) wage data. Finally, we chat about the effects of poli...
In this episode, we meet Prof. Eric Schneider to discuss the use of data on heights in economic history as a measure of well-being. Eric discusses his use of the crew records on a British ship (in operation for over a century) and what such sources can reveal about human growth patterns over longer time horizons- are they simply a function of income or is there more to the picture? We also hear about variation across countries and note some dramatic changes in human growth patterns over the l...
Today we meet with and discuss the recent work of Prof. Leandro Prados de la Escosura. We speak about the concept of economic liberty and discuss whether improvements in measures of health and education map on to GDP per capita over time.....it's not that simple. With new metrics developed by Leandro, we reconsider the standard narratives with examples from different periods where well-being and GDP per capita appear to diverge. Using his newly developed data, Leandro joins the economic inequ...
In this episode, Prof. Robert Gordon walks us through the U.S. growth record since the Civil War. We discuss some key takeaways from his monumental 2016 book (which lends its name to this episode). We cover some key drivers of changes in standard of living, not all of which are captured in economic statistics. We contrast the technological breakthroughs in the period 1870-1940 with 1940-2010 and consider the varying productivity impacts of each. Finally, we review the major headwinds facing t...
In this episode, we sit down with Assoc. Prof. Kirsten Wandschneider to talk about the monetary disintegration that plagued the interwar period. How did countries choose to go back on the Interwar Gold Standard? How did this constrain policy choices? Why did countries eventually leave and why was the interwar standard so shortlived? We also review the performance of countries who remained on gold compared with those who imposed various types of capital controls based on Kirsten's work. We fin...
Prof. Peter Lindert discusses the evidence on social spending and the economy since the nineteenth century summarized in his new book- 'Making Social Spending Work'. Why did it take so long? What are the effects of social spending on growth? What are the threats to the welfare state? We finish by covering the reformers and non-reformers in tackling the looming pension crisis, as population ageing appears in many of the world's economies.
In this episode, we chat with Prof. Tamás Vonyó about the long run variation in the impact of World War II across a range of European economies. We begin with discussing the comparative wartime destruction across regions (using Tamás' "5 D's") and then move on to contrast the growth experiences of Western Europe and Eastern Europe with these initial starting points in mind. We also revisit the 1980s collapse of the Eastern Bloc and reconsider the role of factor inputs as a cause of socialism'...
Prof. Deirdre McCloskey has written prolifically on a wide range of topics. In this episode, she discusses her trilogy of books which attempt to explain what she coined 'The Great Enrichment' since the nineteenth century. We discuss the use of language in economics, the potentially overstated role of physical capital, how liberalism spawned innovation and fostered ideas, as well as comparing some historical living standard examples throughout.
Today, we meet Professor Hans-Joachim Voth to discuss some of his work on the economic forces around religious and political epochs characterised by extremism. We begin by reviewing the long term economic effects of the Spanish Inquisition and consider the historical roots of anti-semitism in explaining Nazi support centuries later. Finally, we look at how "social capital" may have negative effects in garnering support for extremist movements and look at the effects of road buildi...
Professor Peter Temin's 'Lessons from the Great Depression' remains a standard classic three decades since its publication. In today's episode, Peter talks about the Great Depression's lessons for today's policy makers and the use of fiscal policy with and without a gold standard. We also consider how the existing theories available to each generation influence their policy makers in their choices.
This week, we hear from Prof. Naomi Lamoreaux on her work on the evolution of the corporation through time. We start with trying to define what a firm is, cover the motivations behind and the consequences of mergers. We look to a past example of a giant corporation and put it in the context of the present. Is "bigness" of some firms a problem and if so, how might we attempt to deal with it?