The Economic History Podcast

Join Jason Leonard, an assistant professor at the London School of Economics, as he delves into UK economic history from 1700 to 2010. Discover the nature of business cycles and the impact of sticky wages during downturns, particularly in the Great Depression. Leonard presents his research on wage rigidity using detailed data, revealing surprising flexibility. He also discusses the evolution of monetary policy and its effectiveness, emphasizing how historical shifts in causes and responses shape today’s economic landscape.

In this episode, we meet Prof. Eric Schneider to discuss the use of data on heights in economic history as a measure of well-being. Eric discusses his use of the crew records on a British ship (in operation for over a century) and what such sources can reveal about human growth patterns over longer time horizons- are they simply a function of income or is there more to the picture? We also hear about variation across countries and note some dramatic changes in human growth patterns over the last century. Finally, Eric talks about the importance of revisiting old height data with new insights from the medical literature and applies this framework to the existing data on slave children.

Prof. Leandro Prados de la Escosura challenges the conventional GDP measurement, discussing improvements in health and education not necessarily mapping on to GDP per capita. He introduces new metrics and explores the relationship between economic liberty and well-being. The podcast delves into global equity and well-being beyond traditional economic indicators, shedding light on the complexity of factors influencing human welfare.

Prof. Robert Gordon discusses U.S. growth since the Civil War, contrasting technological breakthroughs in different periods. The chapter explores the factors behind increased productivity in American history. The differences between the late 19th and 20th centuries are highlighted, as well as the impact of technology on productivity. The potential of artificial intelligence to boost productivity is explored, and obstacles to future economic growth in the U.S. are discussed.

In this discussion, Kirsten von Schneider, an Associate Professor specializing in interwar monetary systems, shares fascinating insights on the tumultuous economic landscape of the era. She explores why countries returned to the Gold Standard post-WWI and the limitations it imposed on their policies. Kirsten also delves into the reasons for the system's fragility and the impact of capital controls on economic recovery. Additionally, she discusses the concept of currency wars and reveals how they influenced international trade during the 1930s.

Prof. Peter Lindert discusses the evidence on social spending and the economy since the nineteenth century summarized in his new book- 'Making Social Spending Work'. Why did it take so long? What are the effects of social spending on growth? What are the threats to the welfare state?  We finish by covering the reformers and non-reformers in tackling the looming pension crisis, as population ageing  appears in many of the world's economies.

In this episode, we chat with Prof. Tamás Vonyó about the long run variation in the impact of World War II across a range of European economies. We begin with discussing the comparative wartime destruction across regions (using Tamás' "5 D's") and then move on to contrast the growth experiences of Western Europe and Eastern Europe with these initial starting points in mind. We also revisit the 1980s collapse of the Eastern Bloc and reconsider the role of factor inputs as a cause of socialism's failure, as an alternative to the traditional narrative, which places the blame on productivity/innovation deficiencies.

Prof. Deirdre McCloskey has written prolifically on a wide range of topics. In this episode, she discusses her trilogy of books which attempt to explain what she coined 'The Great Enrichment' since the nineteenth century. We discuss the use of language in economics, the potentially overstated role of physical capital, how liberalism spawned innovation and fostered ideas, as well as comparing some historical living standard examples throughout.

Today, we meet Professor Hans-Joachim Voth to discuss some of his work on the economic forces around religious and political epochs characterised by extremism. We begin by reviewing the long term economic effects of the Spanish Inquisition and consider the historical  roots of anti-semitism  in explaining Nazi support centuries later. Finally, we look at how "social capital" may have negative effects in garnering support for extremist movements and look at the effects of road building on political votes for the Nazi party.

Professor Peter Temin's 'Lessons from the Great Depression' remains a standard classic three decades since its publication. In today's episode, Peter talks about the Great Depression's lessons for today's policy makers and the use of fiscal policy with and without a gold standard. We also consider how the existing theories available to each generation influence their policy makers in their choices.