The Revolution That Bit Its Own Tail: How Economic History Changed Our Ideas on Economic Growth

The 1960s witnessed a revolutionary change in economic history, to such an extent that in less than ten years time, the discipline was hardly recognizable thereafter. The essentially literary-descriptive method that had characterized economic history since its very beginnings in the second half of the 19th century, gave way to rigorous quantitative testing of mathematically formulated hypotheses, and as a result a host of formerly generally accepted ideas suddenly and quite unexpectedly lost their credibility in academic circles. Although the revisions that were the result of this so called cliometric revolution had a major impact on our ideas on economic development, this methodological revolution remained almost unnoticed outside the realms of academic economic history, the reason for this being the nature of the revolution itself. Suddenly, economic historical articles in professional journals became more or less unintelligible for the interested layman, as they were cast in a language that was directly derived from highly specialized fields of study, such as neoclassical economic theory and econometrics. The revolution that bit its own tail explains in terms understandable for non-specialist readers what was essential in the cliometric revolution and in what ways it changed our ideas on economic development. The book addresses itself in the first place to students in history and economics, but is also an indispensable guide for everyone who is engaged in what is one of today's most pressing problems: The increasing inequality in wealth between rich and poor countries, or, stated in more formal terms: the explanation of economic growth, stagnation and decline.

The 1960s witnessed a revolutionary change in economic history, to such an extent that in less than ten years time, the discipline was hardly recognizable thereafter. The essentially literary-descriptive method that had characterized economic history since its very beginnings in the second half of the 19th century, gave way to rigorous quantitative testing of mathematically formulated hypotheses, and as a result a host of formerly generally accepted ideas suddenly and quite unexpectedly lost their credibility in academic circles. Although the revisions that were the result of this so called cliometric revolution had a major impact on our ideas on economic development, this methodological revolution remained almost unnoticed outside the realms of academic economic history, the reason for this being the nature of the revolution itself. Suddenly, economic historical articles in professional journals became more or less unintelligible for the interested layman, as they were cast in a language that was directly derived from highly specialized fields of study, such as neoclassical economic theory and econometrics. The revolution that bit its own tail explains in terms understandable for non-specialist readers what was essential in the cliometric revolution and in what ways it changed our ideas on economic development. The book addresses itself in the first place to students in history and economics, but is also an indispensable guide for everyone who is engaged in what is one of today's most pressing problems: The increasing inequality in wealth between rich and poor countries, or, stated in more formal terms: the explanation of economic growth, stagnation and decline.