All Things Reconsidered: The Life-Cycle Perspective and the Third Task of Economic History
1991 ◽
Vol 51
(2)
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pp. 271-288
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Keyword(s):
The Past
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I suggest that converting economic history from a topic to a discipline requires three steps: economic theory and quantitative methodology must be relevant and required for writing and teaching good economic history; economic history and historical statistics must be relevant and necessary for writing and teaching good economic theory; and economic history must be relevant and required for writing and teaching good history. Over the past 50 years the first task has been accomplished and the second nearly so. The third task remains, but incorporating the life-cycle perspective into economic history would hasten its successsful completion.