Inconvenient glow: Cliometrics and the “golden age” of capitalism

Vol. 34 No. 4 (2014)

Oct-Dec / 2014
Published October 1, 2014
PDF-English
PDF-English

How to Cite

Rugitsky, Fernando. 2014. “Inconvenient Glow: Cliometrics and the ‘golden age’ of Capitalism”. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 34 (4):587-607. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-3157-2014-2313.

Inconvenient glow: Cliometrics and the “golden age” of capitalism

Fernando Rugitsky
PhD em economia pela New School for Social Research, London, UK.
Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 34 No. 4 (2014), Oct-Dec / 2014, Pages 587-607

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.” 

JEL Classifiction: N00, N01, N10, N40.


Keywords: “golden age” of capitalism cliometrics periodization historiography