ABSTRACT

Economic Thought and History looks at the relationship between facts and thought in historical economic research, viewing it in the context of periods of economic crisis and providing detailed analyses of methods used in determining the bond between economic history and economic theory.

This interdisciplinary collection brings together international researchers in the history of economic thought and economic history in order to confront varying approaches to the study of economic facts and ideas, rethinking boundaries, methodologies and the object of their disciplines. The chapters explore the relationship between economic thought and economic theory from a variety of perspectives, exploring the relationship between history and economics, and the boundaries defining the history of economic thought, in terms of both single authors and schools of thought.  The book offers particular insights on the Italian tradition of thought.

The uniquely interdisciplinary and analytical approach presented here bridges the methodological gap between these disciplines, unearthing a fertile common ground of research. This book is intended for Postgraduate students conducting further research into the field, or for professors and academics of economic history and history of economic thought.

chapter |14 pages

Introduction 1

ByMonika Poettinger, Gianfranco Tusset

part I|58 pages

Economic thought

chapter 1|26 pages

History of economic thought and economic history

Who will bring the past to life? 1
ByBertram Schefold

chapter 2|15 pages

Economic facts, theoretical beliefs and the ‘double movement’

ByClaus Thomasberger

chapter 3|15 pages

Economic knowledge and value judgments

ByMichele Cangiani

part II|90 pages

Theories meet facts

chapter 4|25 pages

Between history and theory

Otto Neurath's economics from 1906 to 1917
ByMonika Poettinger

chapter 5|21 pages

The Freiburg scholars and interwar Germany

ByAnita Pelle

chapter 6|18 pages

When a generally accepted theory fails to meet the facts

The case of Real Business Cycles Theory
ByJorge Turmo Arnal, Ángel Rodríguez García-Brazales, Oscar Vara Crespo

chapter 7|24 pages

The cultural and psychological dimensions of economic development

ByArturo Hermann

part III|39 pages

History in the Italian tradition of economic thought

chapter 8|12 pages

Economics and history in Italy in the twentieth century

ByPiero Roggi

chapter 9|15 pages

Labour as culture

The Lombardo-Veneto School
ByGianfranco Tusset

chapter 10|10 pages

Sergio Paronetto 1

An economist in deed, from Alberto Beneduce to Alcide de Gasperi, 1934–1945
ByStefano Baietti, Giovanni Farese