Economic History and Ideas

The climate emergency has forced a revival of debates on long-term economic planning. Against a backdrop of rising temperatures and sea levels, scholars and policymakers are grappling with a set of future-oriented questions: In which technologies should we invest? Should we pursue economic growth? How to balance present suffering, with that of future generations? Like in the mid-twentieth century ‘socialist calculation debate’ on the merits of planning vs the market, underlying all these questions is an epistemological one: How is it possible to know ‘the economy’?

Our readings this year will take inspiration from this and will be on the topic on economic knowns and unknowns in history. Alongside the usual reading group, we will also host work-in-progress seminars during which researchers (from within and outside the EUI) will get the opportunity to present and discuss their work in a friendly environment. Our aim is to lay the groundwork for a two-day researchers’ workshop on the same topic towards the end of the academic year (2024-25).

For more information on upcoming activities, please contact the working group’s coordinators