IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/90210.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Spleen: the failures of the cliometric school

Author

Listed:
  • Fenoaltea, Stefano

Abstract

This paper argues that we cliometricians have failed as economists, because we did not drag the profession out of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth; that we have failed as historians, because we do not take measurement seriously, and misapprehend “the data”; and that we failed signally as economic historians, because we backcast “GDP” as if it measured gross domestic product.

Suggested Citation

  • Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "Spleen: the failures of the cliometric school," MPRA Paper 90210, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:90210
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/90210/1/MPRA_paper_90210.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert J. Gordon, 2016. "The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10544.
    2. Easterlin,Richard A., 2006. "The Reluctant Economist," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521685115.
    3. William D. Nordhaus & James Tobin, 1973. "Is Growth Obsolete?," NBER Chapters, in: The Measurement of Economic and Social Performance, pages 509-564, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861−1913: The Composition Of Investment," MPRA Paper 88138, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "A Modest Proposal For Augmenting The Gross Domestic Product Of Italy, Allowing Greater Public Spending, Employment, And Graft," MPRA Paper 89746, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2015. "Industrial Employment in Italy, 1911: The Burden of the Census Data," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 225-246.
    7. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2016. "Fenoaltea on Industrial Employment in 1911: A Rejoinder," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 113-118.
    8. Pollak, Robert A, 1985. "A Transaction Cost Approach to Families and Households," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 581-608, June.
    9. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 1981. "The slavery debate: A note from the sidelines," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 304-308, July.
    10. McCloskey, Donald N., 1978. "The Achievements of the Cliometric School," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 13-28, March.
    11. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2000. "The Growth of Italy's Wool Industry, 1861-1913: A Statistical Reconstruction," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 119-146.
    12. McCloskey, Donald N, 1983. "The Rhetoric of Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 481-517, June.
    13. Fenoaltea,Stefano, 2014. "The Reinterpretation of Italian Economic History," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107658080.
    14. Sims, Christopher A, 1969. "Theoretical Basis for a Double Deflated Index of Real Value Added," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 51(4), pages 470-471, November.
    15. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: Revised Second-Generation Expenditure-Side Estimates," MPRA Paper 88016, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Easterlin, Richard A., 1974. "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 111773, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 1982. "The Growth of the Utilities Industries in Italy, 1861–1913," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 601-627, September.
    18. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2012. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: The Expenditure Side Re-(and De-)constructed," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 285-318.
    19. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2020. "The fruits of disaggregation: The engineering industry, tariff protection, and the industrial investment cycle in Italy, 1861-1913," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 73(292), pages 77-110.
    20. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2006. "Economic Decline in Historical Perspective: Some Theoretical Considerations," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 3-40.
    21. Higgs, Robert, 1992. "Wartime Prosperity? A Reassessment of the U.S. Economy in the 1940s," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(1), pages 41-60, March.
    22. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2017. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: Revised Second-Generation Production-Side Estimates," MPRA Paper 83508, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2005. "The growth of the Italian economy, 1861–1913: Preliminary second-generation estimates," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 273-312, December.
    24. William D. Nordhaus & James Tobin, 1972. "Economic Research: Retrospect and Prospect, Volume 5, Economic Growth," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number nord72-1.
    25. Stefano Fenoaltea, 1976. "Real Value Added and the Measurement of Industrial Production," NBER Chapters, in: Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, Volume 5, number 1, pages 111-137, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert, 2020. "How Cliometrics has Infiltrated Economics – and Helped to Improve the Discipline," Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science, Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Torino (Italy), vol. 54(1), pages 219-230, June.
    2. Filippo Battistoni & Marco Martinez, 2022. "Rome and the Polis: Tradition and Change in the Financial Accounts of Tauromenion, 1st Century B.C," Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science, Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Torino (Italy), vol. 56(1), pages 149-176, June.
    3. Laurent Gauthier, 2022. "Extending Cliometrics to Ancient History with Complexity," Working Papers hal-03754911, HAL.
    4. Emanuele Felice, 2020. "LÕalbatros. Ricordo di Stefano Fenoaltea (The albatros. In memory of Stefano Fenoaltea)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 73(292), pages 397-407.
    5. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: The Measurement Of Aggregate Product," MPRA Paper 97042, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: The Measurement Of Aggregate Product," MPRA Paper 97042, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: Revised Second-Generation Expenditure-Side Estimates," MPRA Paper 88016, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2017. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861-1913: Revised Second-Generation Production-Side Estimates," MPRA Paper 83508, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: Italy's Historical National Accounts, 1861-1913," MPRA Paper 98350, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "A Modest Proposal For Augmenting The Gross Domestic Product Of Italy, Allowing Greater Public Spending, Employment, And Graft," MPRA Paper 89746, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2018. "The Growth of the Italian Economy, 1861−1913: The Composition Of Investment," MPRA Paper 88138, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing the Past: The New Expenditure-Side and Composition-Of-Investment Estimates for Italy, 1861–1913," MPRA Paper 99432, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2020. "The fruits of disaggregation: The engineering industry, tariff protection, and the industrial investment cycle in Italy, 1861-1913," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 73(292), pages 77-110.
    9. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2014. "The measurement of production movements: lessons from the engineering industry in Italy, 1861-1913," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 400, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    10. Stefano Fenoaltea, 2015. "Italian Industrial Production, 1861-1913: A Statistical Reconstruction. A. Introduction," Carlo Alberto Notebooks 412, Collegio Carlo Alberto.
    11. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2015. "The measurement of production movements: Lessons from the general engineering industry in Italy, 1861–1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 19-37.
    12. Emanuele Felice, 2019. "Rethinking the take-off: the role of services in the new economic history of Italy (1861–1951)," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 13(3), pages 405-442, September.
    13. Andrea Incerpi & Barbara Pistoresi & Alberto Rinaldi, 2020. "Finance and Development in Italy, 1870-1913," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(9), pages 1-95, September.
    14. Andrea Incerpi & Barbara Pistoresi & Alberto Rinaldi, 2020. "Finance and Economic Development in Italy, 1870-1913," Department of Economics 0162, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    15. Pistoresi, Barbara & Rinaldi, Alberto, 2012. "Exports, imports and growth," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 241-254.
    16. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 2020. "Reconstructing The Past: The New Production-Side Estimates For Italy, 1861–1913," MPRA Paper 99307, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Diane Coyle & Leonard Nakamura, 2019. "Towards a Framework for Time Use, Welfare and Household-centric Economic Measurement," Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE) Discussion Papers ESCoE DP-2019-01, Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE).
    18. Bart Los & Marcel P. Timmer, 2020. "Measuring Bilateral Exports of Value Added: A Unified Framework," NBER Chapters, in: Challenges of Globalization in the Measurement of National Accounts, pages 389-421, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. V. K. Shrotryia & Shashank Vikram Pratap Singh, 2020. "Measuring Progress Beyond GDP: A Theoretical Perspective," Emerging Economy Studies, International Management Institute, vol. 6(2), pages 143-165, November.
    20. Enrico Ivaldi & Guido Bonatti & Riccardo Soliani, 2016. "The Construction of a Synthetic Index Comparing Multidimensional Well-Being in the European Union," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 397-430, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    economics; economic history; cliometrics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A10 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - General
    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General
    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:90210. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.