Economic history employs multiple methods to study change over time. It seeks to understand fundamental economic transformation such as the emergence and spread of "modern economic growth." This global growth process involved both the rise of per capita income and many associated structural changes. Economic historians examine the ultimate and proximate forces driving these changes as well as their long-run impacts. The discipline also seeks to understand interruptions to the growth process, due for example to depressions, wars, environment crises, and disease outbreaks. In addition, economic history develops the contextual knowledge necessary to appraise and critique the use of historical data within the broader economics discipline. The economic historians in the department are an eclectic group whose interests span micro and macroeconomics in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Primary Appointment outside the Economics Department
Department of Political Science
Ford School of Public Policy & Department of Economics (courtesy)
Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics
Ross School of Business
Recent Graduate Student Placement Locations
Vanderbilt University
University of Richmond
Korean Development Institute
Clark University
Amazon.com
University of Victoria
Mount Holyoke
Corvinus University
Seminars, Reading Groups, Lunches, etc.
Economic History Workshop
Political Economy Workshop (Joint with Political Science)
