Inconvenient glow: Cliometrics and the "golden age" of capitalism

Rugitsky, Fernando

Abstract

This paper aims to criticize the recent cliometrics literature on the so-called "golden age" of capitalism. The works of Nicholas Crafts, Gianni Toniolo, and Barry Eichengreen are reconstructed in order to reveal the main characteristics of this research program. Its narrow quantitative focus, its reliance on theoretical propositions borrowed from neoclassical economics, and its auspicious interpretation of the postwar reconstruction are the main focus of the criticism presented. Finally, the cliometricians' attempt to historicize the "golden age" and de-historicize the following decades is related to the ideological understanding of the recent decades as a period of "great moderation.".

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 4, 2013
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2014
• Deposit Date: Mar 3, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 4, 2022
• Journal: Brazilian Journal of Political Economy
• Print ISSN: 0101-3157
• Electronic ISSN: 1809-4538
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 587-607
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1590/s0101-31572014000400005
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9097914
• Publisher URL: https://centrodeeconomiapolitica.org.br/repojs/index.php/journal/article/view/290