Everything Economic History

Mattia Bertazzini What happens when you farm a desert? With Mattia Bertazzini Parts of North Africa are surprisingly fertile, particular around Tunisia and Libya. In the case of the latter, Italy saw a great opportunity to join the colonial bandwagon in the early 20th century and learned that successful ventures require more than just state money. Mattia Bertazzini (Nottingham) joins Lloyd and Andrew to talk about the challenges faced by these farmers, and the local Libyans who were forced to live near them. https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.13166

Where should you set up a new town? With Kerstin Enflo Certain places seem to have been around ‘forever’. But planned towns are not a new phenomenon. And in early modern Sweden, the royal family decided that planned towns were the way to economic success. Kerstin Enflo (Lund) chats with Andrew and Lloyd about this programme and discusses whether or not the Swedish monarchs were on to a winner. https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/juecon/v112y2019icp50-69.html

How much is care actually worth? With Jane Humphries Can you put a value on care? How much does a homemaker add to an economy? And why isn’t this considered in economic thought? Andrew and Lloyd are joined by Jane Humphries to answer all of this and more in this fascinating look at early-modern England. Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BoY9W9rZSE

Where should you patent an invention? With Chris Colvin In another in-person episode, Andrew and Lloyd are joined by Chris Colvin (QUB) to talk about patents. We compare the Dutch and British systems to see which is best, and some of the lessons that modern policymakers might learn about controlling innovation nowadays. Papers: https://ceph.ie/article-re/financing-innovation-the-role-of-patent-examination/ https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/315206.2

How do you study the global south? With Ewout Frankema From “Third World” to “Global South”, academia struggles to study large parts of the world with delicacy or accuracy. One of the challenges faced by researchers is assessing the economic impact of colonialism, and it is often the scapegoat for the divergence in growth between North and South. But in this episode, Andrew and Lloyd are joined by Ewout Frankema (Wageningen University), who explains that there may be more to this than meets the eye. https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12609

Season 3, Episode 8. How do you make a home in Alaska? With Ann Carlos Alaska is the largest state in the United States of America, with a reputation for remoteness, cold weather, and large moose. Yet despite these disadvantages, the indigenous population retains a strong sense of community and cooperation that endures to this day. Ann Carlos (UC Boulder) chats with Andrew and Lloyd and explores life in Alaska in the 20th century. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/391830364_Resilience_of_Indigenous_communities_in_Alaska_by_1940

Everything Economic History. Season 3, Episode 7. How does political violence affect the stock market? With Christopher Hartwell Political violence is nothing new, but it can be tough to measure it’s impact on the economy. Christopher Hartwell (Kozminski University) talks Andrew and Lloyd through some new ways to measure its impact, using the case of Tsarist Russia as an example. Paper: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0968565023000057

Everything Economic History, Season 3, Episode 6. Marc Deloof How does a King sell a state? With Marc Deloof The Belgian atrocities in the Congo are well known and rightly condemned. But what happened before it became a colony? How did King Leopold attract investment to an area that, prior to the rubber boom, had little to offer? Andrew and Lloyd sit down with Marc Deloof (University of Antwerp) to find out. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4743798

Season 3, Episode 5. So you want to be an economic historian? With Áine Doran Economic history is in a good place. There’s a growing number of new researchers emerging, and people are slowly realising how useful it can be. But what is it like on the front line? Andrew and Lloyd sit down with Áine Doran (UU) for a “state of the nation”, seeing how the discipline is faring and what the future might bring. https://doi.org/10.1177/03324893241293002

How do you build a business in a new nation? With Frank Barry With the War of Independence and the Civil War behind it, 1920s Ireland was faced with opportunities for growth, but it hesitated about how best to go about it. Andrew and Lloyd are joined by Frank Barry (TCD), who walks them through how Ireland built its businesses in the first half of the twentieth century, and asks whether everything was as bad as people say! https://irishhistorybookshop.ie/product/industry-and-policy-in-independent-ireland-1922-1972