The Rise and Fall of Economic History at MIT

23 Pages Posted: 6 Jun 2013 Last revised: 12 Dec 2013

See all articles by Peter Temin

Peter Temin

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: December 9, 2013

Abstract

This paper recalls the unity of economics and history at MIT before the Second World War, and their divergence thereafter. Economic history at MIT reached its peak in the 1970s with three teachers of the subject to graduates and undergraduates alike. It declined until economic history vanished both from the faculty and the graduate program around 2010. The cost of this decline to current education and scholarship is suggested at the end of the narrative.

Keywords: economic history, MIT economics, Kindleberger, Domar, Costa, Acemoglu

JEL Classification: B250, N12

Suggested Citation

Temin, Peter, The Rise and Fall of Economic History at MIT (December 9, 2013). MIT Department of Economics Working Paper No. 13-11, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2274908 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2274908

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