How can the use of historical macroeconomic data series support economic analysis and policy-making? The new Greek macro history database 1833-1949 as part of the large database of Southeastern European (SEE) countries

Greece is one of the countries that were dramatically affected by the recent euro crisis, as in six years it lost more than one fourth of its national product. Although its economic and monetary history is rich in crises and defaults, it has not been systematically studied, thus remaining largely unknown and hazy. This is partly due to the lack of data and of systematic data collection. To address this shortcoming, the Bank of Greece, along with six other European national central banks, has participated in a research network established in 2006 for the purpose of preparing a joint publication providing, for the first time, a complete, harmonised and comparable long-run statistical database on key macroeconomic and monetary variables for SEE. Part of this database is the Greek database, which spans over 100 years (1833-1949). The availability of historical data series supports analysis of past events from a quantitative perspective. This knowledge can serve as important input in decision-making that will shape the future. The purpose of the paper is two-ford: first, to present the Greek database and, second, using specific examples of historical data series, to demonstrate the value of their use in understanding the mechanisms behind the creation and evolution of the phenomena.