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Spleen: the failures of the cliometric school

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  • 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
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    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.
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    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.
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    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, January.
    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.
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    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.

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    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

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