Abstract:
Acouple of years ago the editor and associate editors of HOPE attempted
to construct an unusual collection of essays by historians of economics.
The plan was that the collection would demonstrate to economists that
their avoiding history had some significant opportunity cost, and their
own projects could be advanced by a fuller historical understanding. Put
another way, we sought to show mainstream economists that material developed
by historians of economics had current “mainstream” relevance.
The project, however, foundered when we were unable to gather enough
essays that did such work—most historians appeared more comfortable
writing for other historians, and seemed in fact not very connected to the
kinds of concerns that engaged “frontline scholars” doing “mainstream
economic research.” Despite the traditional rhetorical riffs and flourishes
heard in meetings of our subdisciplinary societies, historians did not, it
emerged, seem to have much to contribute in a positive way to lively
intellectual debates in, say, financial econometrics, public finance, labor
economics, or auction theory...
