_ _ _ _ _ _ _ / _ _ / / / / / / \ / / / / / / / / / \ / / / /_ _ / /_ _/ / / / \ \/ / / /_ _ / / /_ _/ / / / \ / / / / / / / / / / \/ / / /_ _ / / / / / / / / /_ _ _ / /_/ /_/ /_/ /_/ Economic History Newsletter (c.) Date: November 10, 1993 Number: 4 ============================================================== Index 1. Editorial 2. Donald McCloskey on the Nobel Prize 3. Computing 4. Book Review 5. Conferences and Calls for Papers 6. Job Bulletin 7. Member Forum ============================================================== _________________________________________ | | | 1. Editorial | |_________________________________________| Dear Economic Historians (and everybody else), With a brief delay, we are able to present you with the fourth issue of the Economic History Newsletter. Among other things, this issue includes the topical contribution by Donald McCloskey on the recent awarding of the Nobel Prize in Economics to two economic historians (for the first time in the history of the Nobel Prize), information on computing, conferences, job offers, and research interests of some of our members. Starting in the next issue, which we will circulate at the end of January/beginning of February, we will present profiles of economic history departments, hopefully from all over the world, depending on your contributions. We thus invite you to contribute a profile on a department which you would like to have introduced in the coming issues. On a more general note, we welcome contributions - articles, research interests, book reviews, conference information, etc. - and take this opportunity to thank everybody for their articles, comments, and encouragement which we received for the last issue of the newsletter. Sincerely, The Editors _______________________________________________ | | | 2. Donald McCloskey on the Nobel Prize | |_______________________________________________| The Nobel Prize I'd be glad to make a few points about the Nobel Prize to Douglass North and Robert Fogel. Viewed from economic history, of course, the prize marks the accomplishments of cliometrics, or "historical economics" as it might be called. North was early on the American scene, teaching people like Lance Davis and Richard Sutch at the University of Washington in the 1950s and 1960s. But as North would himself point out, historical economics had deeper roots. Brinley Thomas, Alec Cairncross, T. S. Ashton, and others were writing economic history informed by modern economics in the 1940s. W. W. Rostow, it is often forgotten, wrote cliometrically in the 1940s, too. I like to torture economists by pointing out that their beloved technique of total factor productivity, in the price dual form, was invented by G. T. Jones, a student of Marshall, and applied to historical questions in 1933. Eli Heckscher, who in 1919 had most of the ideas that constitute modern trade theory, was a historical economist. In part the revolutionary tone of American cliometrics is a result of the backwardness of American economic history. Applications of economics that Jack Fisher or Ashton at the LSE would find routine were shocking to a field still thinking of itself as a branch of American institutionalism, a trans-Atlantic version of the German historical school, in opposition to British economics. Fogel came a little later, but made up for his tardy appearance in impact. Until 1956 he was an organizer for the American Communist Party. As he tells it, he expected to become the Minister of Education when the Revolution came. He then went to Columbia for an MA (with Carter Goodrich) and to Johns Hopkins for a PhD (with Simon Kuznets). His first book was the MA thesis, his second, and famous one, was Railroads and American Economic Growth. It is notable, and reminds one of the important role of Rostow,that the preliminary outline that Fogel submitted to Kuznets' seminar said that railways were indispensible, just as Rostow and Schumpeter had said. Fogel changed his mind during the research. That, incidentally, is a feature of both North and Fogel. They have changed their minds, though both quite unfairly are portrayed sometimes as dogmatic. The modal number of times that a scholar changes her mind on an important matter is zero, and the average is well below 1.00. These two are up in the three or four range, two or three standard deviations, I should think, above the average. Fogel believed that railways were indispensible, then that they were not; that the abolition of slavery was mainly economic, then not; that all merit resided in model building history, then not. North believed in mercantalist models of regional growth, then not; in neoclassical, static economics, then not. The two men contrast in one way. Fogel believes (as I do) that historical economics can best take snapshots. North believes that it can best film feature-length movies. It is the difference between comparative statics and dynamics. "Dynamics" sounds like it must always be better than (mere) statics. But it ain't so. The choice is between a sharp black-and-white snapshot of conditions at one time, or a necessarily fuzzy if engaging movie in a lightly blurred Technicolor. Scholarly tastes differ. North has never been happy with snapshots--even before he discovered property rights, around 1970. Fogel, on the other hand, wants to get the calculation for 1890 or 1860 right in as fine-grained a way as he can. That leads to the one disagreement I have with North, and the one theme that I hope he will drop. He has been saing for some years that we economic historians should take up, as he has, the study of institutions. This suggestion I regard as ignorant or cheeky or both. Economic historians have been studying institutions since the beginning. What, I have frequently asked North, who is a dear friend of mine and can be talked to this way to his face, do you think Fogel was doing when he studied the institution of the slave plantation? Or, to take a personal case, what do you think D. McCloskey was doing when he studied the institution of English open fields? When North says "Study institutions" he means "Study them dynamically, over long periods of time." I can only reply: sometimes--not always-- a fine-grained snapshot is more informative than a blurred movie. But of course nothing can be said a priori. As Ashton put it, weshould walk on both legs if we have them. Viewed from economics--after all, it is a prize in economics--the prize marks, I hope, the beginning of the end for blackboard economics. Well, maybe just the end of the beginning. Few of the Nobel prizes have been awarded for empirical work. Most of them have been awarded for blackboard economics. Most economists, and startlingly even some economic historians, believe that empirical issues can be settled on the blackboard with no recourse to the world. That is to say, many economists since Hobbes have believed that great social questions can be solved by staring at a blackboard. Not all economists think this way, of course--two who do not are Douglass North and, most passionately, Robert Fogel. The blackboard optimism in fact violates the principles of economics: it can't be so easy--it is a free lunch--to answer serious questions. So some of us hope that increasingly in future the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science will be awarded for economic science rather than for economic mathematics. We hope that the prize to North and Fogel is the beginning of a trend. Donald McCloskey Department of Economics and of History University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 52242 mcclosky@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu ____________________________________________ | | | 3. Computing | |____________________________________________| In this section you can find some tips and tricks about using your mail system. We try to keep it simple, to encourage people to use their e-mail for their research. The first topic has to do with how to find files on internet. There are a number of computers that are specialized in doing just this. The nice thing is that you can let them search files for you by sending them a simple mail message. For people who do not have Internet facilities like TELNET this is in fact the only way. An example: Send the following message to archie@archie.doc.ic.ac.uk, ignoring the subject line: set sortby time set search regex prog costa rica quit In a day you will be send a list with all the files that have information about this beautiful country. Secondly, we are happy that the famous CLIOMETRIC SOCIETY has opened a list on an experimental basis. Send your message to LISTSERV@MIAMU.ACS.MUOHIO with the text SUB ECONHIST Thirdly, for those with internet, try an anonymous FTP to let.rug.nl. (129.71.32.152) In the GHETA archive you will find a lot of information. For more information you could mail WELLING@LET.RUG.NL Fourthly, there is an organization of historians called HNET, which created a huge depository of interesting files. Try TELNETTING them at 129.237.1.30 (login: history). We wish you a lot of luck with your explorations. If you have any questions or comments about these notes: write a letter to the conference at HISTORY-ECON@MAILBASE.AC.UK. Someone might want to help you. RESOURCES FOR ECONOMISTS/EC HISTORIANS ON THE INTERNET Keywords: Guides, Resources, Economics, Gopher FFI: Bob Parks (bparks@wuecon.wustl.edu) Bob Parks (bparks@wuecon.wustl.edu) has announced the availibility of the second draft of RESOURCES FOR ECONOMISTS ON THE INTERNET. It is available on the gopher at niord.shsu.edu in the Economics item as Resources for Economists on the Internet, and on the Economics Working Paper gopher econwpa.wustl.edu as the last item. It will be kept up-to-date on both those gophers. I have included the main points from table of contents below. Please use gopher to retrieve the document itself. 1. INTRODUCTION 2. NEW THIS VERSION 3. INTERNATIONAL, U.S. MACRO, AND U.S. REGIONAL DATA 4. OTHER DATA 5. WORKING PAPER ARCHIVES AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SERVICES 6. GOPHERS 7. UNIVERSITY AND RESEARCH LIBRARY CARD CATALOGS 8. PROGRAM LIBRARIES 9. EDUCATIONAL SERVICES 10. USENET NEWSGROUPS 11. MAILING LISTS _________________________________________ | | | 4. Book Review | |_________________________________________| Version 2 (History and Archaeology) of Essentials of Statistical Methods by Dr. T. P. Hutchinson. There are many excellent introductory textbooks of statistics available. But so many of them are 500, 700, even 1000 pages long. This has real disadvantages. They are heavy. They are expensive. And they are wordy. But here is a volume light enough to be carried around, and cheap enough for every student to afford. A typical introductory statistics course gets as far as some techniques of inference --- the testing of hypotheses and the construction of confidence intervals. That is the subject of Part III of this book. In preparation for this, the student needs to know about data description and about probability. These are covered in Parts I and II. In this Version, many of the examples are taken from history and archaeology. For instance: in Part I, the percentages of lead in Bronze Age sickles, and the price of rice in 18th-century China; in Part II, the probability of throwing ``Venus'' with four astragali, and the occurrence of wars viewed as a Poisson process; in Part III, the sizes of shells in a possible Aboriginal midden, and drought causing the fall of Tiwanaku. Published September 1993. A5 format. Paperback. xii + 152 pages. Index of 800 entries. Price: $17 (Australian currency), $12 (U.S. currency), 7 pounds sterling, $15 (Canadian currency), or Y1300 (Yen). A price reduction of 35% is offered on orders for 8 or more copies. ________________________________________________ | | | 5. Conferences and Calls for Papers | |________________________________________________| ELEVENTH INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC HISTORY CONGRESS. MILANO - September 1994. General Information: Official languages for the session themselves: English, French, German, Russian, Spanish. The publications are only in English or in French. Congress Participation: All participants will be entitled to: 1) attend working sessions; 2) receive two volumes of Congress proceedings, one containing the reports for A-session and the other containing the summaries of the doctoral theses presented by young scholars; 3) order in advance and at special prices the volumes containing the papers for the B-sessions; 4) participate in the official social programme of the Congress; 5) use the special facilities provided at the Congress centre. Registration Fees: Reg. fees for participants will be announced by september 1993. Students will be able to register at a reduced rate. In addition, a number of GRANTS for students and for participants coming from countries in troubles will be available, but their number will be limited. Participants should pursue other sources of funding for Congress participation. Accommodation: A certain number of relatively inexpensive rooms are available for students, and also for participants from the Third World and Eastern and Central Europe. Full details concerning accommodation will be given in the second brochure by september 1993. Provisional registration: All person who wish to receive the second brochure, which will include further details of the Congress programme and registration should write to the Organizers. Addresses to note: Academic programme: Prof. Joseph Goy Secretaire General Association Internationale d'Histoire Economique Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales 54 Boulevard raspail 75270 Paris CEDEX 06 France Secretary Congress Ing Alessandro Ciarlo Bocconi Comunicazione Universita Bocconi Via Starfatti 25 20136 Milano Italy. ************************ACADEMIC PROGRAMME****************** Session A; DEBATES AND CONTROVERSIES A1. The changing relationship of european regions. Division and Cooperation; 14th-19th centuries. A2. Global Enterprise: Big business and the wealth of nations in the past century. 1880s-1980s. A3. problems of transition to a market economy at the end of 20th century. Session B; THEMES OF CURRENT RESEARCH B1. Productions and public powers in antiquity. B2. Water control in Western Europe, 12th-16th centuries. B3. Labour and leisure in historical perspective, 13th-20th centuries. B4. Hours of work and means of payment; the evolution of conventions in pre-industrial Europe. B5. Material culture; consumption, life-style, standard of living, 1500-1900. B6. Socio-economic consequences of sex-ratios in historical perspective, 1500-1900. B6. The evolving structure of the East Asian economic system since 1700; a comparative analysis. B7. Political economy of protectionism and commerce, 18th- 20th centuries. B8. European networks, 19th-20th centuries. New approaches to the formation of a transnational transport and communications system. B9. Real wages in the 19th and 20th centuries. B10. Foreign investment in Latin America: impact on economic development, 1850-1930. B11. International labour market integration and the impact of migration on national labour markets since 1870. B12. The evolution of modern financial institutions in the 20th century. B13. Economic growth and structural change. Comparative approaches over the long run on the basis of reconstructed national accounts. B14. Management, finance and industrial relations in the maritime industry. B15. Electricity generation and supply; regulation, market, competition. International comparisons. B16. national and european markets in economic thought. Session C; (There are 56 items included in this session which will give scholars working on more specialized subjects or pioneering new sources, methods or topics the opportunity to exchange ideas. It will be detailed in the next issue) CALL FOR PAPERS `Structures and contingencies in computerized historical research' IXth Congress of the Association for History and Computing, August 30 - September 2, 1994 Nijmegen, the Netherlands Scientific historical research aims at constructing an image of the past which comprises more than the sum of the historical events that serve as its basic material. Historical researchers, therefore, have much to gain from instruments that can be used to extract structures from the contingencies of historical events. The IX AHC Conference will offer a platform to all those who can contribute towards the unravelling of the problem of historical 'structures and contingencies' with help of a computer. The Conference includes main sessions, special sessions, project presentations and demonstrations all related to one of the following themes: - Computer structures, computer software and historical research - Structuring historical data - The dynamics of historical structures - Structuring data-processing - The study of historical structures All who would like to participate in the Congress are kindly invited to contact the Congress Secretary before January 15, 1994. The address is: AHC '94 Vakgroep Geschiedenis Nijmegen University P.O. Box 9103 6500 HD Nijmegen The Netherlands Tel: +80 - 612825 FAX: +80 - 615939 E-mail: U204015@HNYKUN11.UCI.KUN.NL ______________________________________ | | | 6. Job Offers | |______________________________________| (Not necessarily for economic historians. Extracted from the Latam-Info conference) Those who are interested in Latin American History, please send notices to U15609@uicvm or U15609@uicvm.uic.edu for free postings. 1) Position: Latin American History Institution: California State University, Los Angeles Location: Los Angeles Assistant Professor, tenure-track, beginning Summer or Fall 1994. Step and salary dependent upon experience and qualifications. Mexican history essential; competence in additional field(s) advantageous. To teach World Civ. or U.S. survey plus upper division and graduate courses in area(s) of specialty. Ph.D. or near completion (Ph.D. required for tenure). Cal State L. A. is an ethnically diverse campus with a strong affirmative action program. Will interview at AHA convention. Send letter of application, c.v., graduate transcripts, three letters of recommendation, samples of writings by 1/17/94 to: Chair, Dept. of History, California State University, Los Angeles, 5151 State University Dr., Los Angeles CA 90032-8223. 2) Position: U.S. Latino Institution: Williams College Location: Massachusetts Williams College invites applications for the anchor position for studies in the US Latino/a field. Responsibilities will include curricular consultation and academic mentoring of students; some released time will be provided for these purposes. Interdisciplinary and collaborative teaching and scholarship are encouraged. The appointment will be made in one of the following departments: Anthropology, English, History, Political Science, Sociology or Spanish. This is a tenure-eligible position open to entry-level candidates in Anthropology, Sociology and Political Science, open to both entry-level and senior candidates in English, History and Spanish. Candidates should have Ph.D. or be completing dissertation. Expertise is one of these disciplines and specialization in US Latino/a Studies are required. Candidates who submit materials by November 1 will be given first consideration. Letters of application describing research and teaching interests, c.v., and brief writing sample of work in Latino/a fields should be sent to: Williams College P.O. Box 607, Williamstown, MA 01267. Those wishing to explore the nature of this position informally, before applying, are invited to phone or write: Professor David L. Smith at 413/597-2547 or Professor Alex Willingham at 413/597-2542 An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, especially welcomes and encourages applications from women and minorities. James W. Brodman Department of History University of Central Arkansas 201 Donaghey Avenue Conway, AR 72035-0001 501-450-5625 3) Position: Latin American Program Institution: Johns Hopkins Location: Washington DC LATIN AMERICAN/CARIBBEAN STUDIES PROGRAM The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. invites applications for a non-tenured teaching position in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, to commence in the Fall Semester of 1994. The appointment is for three years and is renewable. Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Nitze School is a multi-disciplinary program with an emphasis on Political/institutional development, economic modernization, and 20th century historical growth. The individual appointed will also serve as Assistant Director of the program. Preference will be given to those with research and/or teaching experience in Spanish America. Preference will be given to applicants with a Ph.D., teaching experience and publications and who have a political economics approach to Latin American development issues. Fluency in Spanish is required. A letter of application, a curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, and samples of publications should be sent to: Mr. Gerald W. Stover, Director of Human Resources, SAIS, 1740 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036. SAIS and the Johns Hopkins University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and Educator and encourages applications from people of color and women. 4) The University of Illinois, Department of History at Urbana-Champaign, seeks to fill a tenure-track assistant professorship in colonial Latin American history, exclusive of Brazil and Peru, effective late August, 1994. Preference will be given to candidates with Ph.D. in hand; publications and teaching experience preferred. Salary competitive. Specialists in Mexico are especially encouraged to apply. To receive full consideration, vita, transcripts, and three letters of recommendation should be received by November 22, 1993. Send materials to Professor Donald Crummey, Chair of the Latin American history search, Department of History, 309 Gregory Hall, 810 S. Wright St., Urbana, IL 61801, telephone 217-333-4193 fax 217-333-2297. Please indicate whether you expect to be at the AHA convention. The University of Illinois is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer. 5) Position: Latin American History Institution: U of Notre Dame Location: Indiana Latin American History. The University of Notre Dame invites applications for a tenure-track/tenured position in Latin American history, rank open to associate professor, starting in August of 1994. Applicants will be expected to offer a survey of Latin American history, as well as advanced courses in their specialty. Send letter of application, c.v., and recommendations to Wilson D. Miscamble, chair, DepartmeUse of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at E:\listplex\SYSTEM\SCRIPTS\filearea.cgi line 455, line 608. nt of History, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame IN 46556. Notre Dame is an AA/EOE. Application deadline, December 1, 1993. 6) Position: Latin American History Institution: Auburn University Location: Alabama History: Latin American and world history survey. Assistant Professor, tenure-track. Ph.D. required; teaching experience preferred. Curriculum vitae and three letters of recommendation to Dr. John Fair, History Department, Auburn University at Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama 36117. Deadline: December 1, 1993. AA/EEO. 7) Position: European Economic History with an interest in international economic processes Institution: University of Pennsylvania Location: Philadelphia Position for Assistant Professor, tenure track, in the department of history. Send letter, description of dissertation, file and references to Prof. Thomas Chiders Chair of Search Committee in European Economic History Department of History 207 College Hall University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6379 Deadline: November 15, 1993 ______________________________________ | | | 7. Member Forum | |______________________________________| Arnfinn Kjelland Department of History More og Romsdal College Box 188 N-6100 Volda, Norway Research Interests: 16th-19th century - rural/agrarian history, esp. systems of production, economic development and social groups. e-mail: arnfinn.kjelland@voldadh.no