The Poverty of Clio (ebook)

Argumento de The Poverty of Clio (ebook)

"With impressive erudition and verve, Boldizzoni laments that much economic history has become a mere handmaiden of neoclassical economics. He seeks to reinvigorate its classic focus on how the economy unfolds in its social and cultural setting. Drawing on sophisticated and subtle European historiography such as the Annales school, he makes a vivid, detailed, and persuasive case. I highly recommend this sweeping and provocative study."--Mark Granovetter, Stanford University

"Boldizzoni has written a powerful polemic that combines an impressive survey of a great deal of recent cliometric economic history writing with an impassioned plea for the revival of the European social-science tradition. The theme, simply stated, is the erroneous and irrelevant character of most economic history writing. It is a book that needed to be written."--Harold James, Princeton University

"I am struck by the immense and impressive range of The Poverty of Clio. Few works in historiography can muster the scope and learning of this book, which will make it attractive not just to economic historians but to sociologists and historians of culture more generally."--Frank Trentmann, author of Free Trade Nation

"[Boldizzoni's] sensible guidelines--which do not negate the importance of either theory or quantification--should become standard practice for historians who want to venture beyond their own discipline into the world of social science."--Michael B. Katz, Journal of American History

"Most of Boldizzoni's examples of bad economic history are also examples of bad economics. There are no shortcuts to good work. The merit of this book is to remind us of that sad truth."--George Grantham, Journal of Economic History

"The Poverty of Clio is a vigorous polemic that convincingly points out the deficiencies of current economic history. It is an extremely learned book that draws on a wide array of research from different fields. . . . [T]he book makes an important contribution to rethinking the state of the art and to--hopefully--realigning economic history more closely with general history."--Justus Nipperdey, European Review of History

"I . . . found The Poverty of Clio an interesting and stimulating read, recommendable for anyone interested in economic history."--Erik Bengtsson, Economic Sociology0Preface ix
Chapter 1: Truth on the Cross
Science and Ideology 1
Chapter 2: Economics with a Human Face? 18
Chapter 3: The Fanciful World of Clio 54
Chapter 4: The World We Have Lost
Microeconomic History 87
Chapter 5: The World We Have Lost
Macroeconomic Perspectives 120
Chapter 6: Building on the Past
The Creative Power of History 138
References 173
Index 209