International Macro History Online Seminar Series

The International Macroeconomic History Online Seminar Series, jointly organised by the Graduate Institute's Centre for Finance and Development, Centre for Economic Policy Research and a consortium of numerous other universities and institutions from around the world, aims to keep the flow of intellectual debate active and to bring macroeconomic history topics to an interested public on a weekly basis.

A virtual format has important advantages, namely, by abolishing physical constraints, so we can have more participants joining in from compatible time zones than the conventional seminars. This is good for the presenters, who are exposed to a broader audience and also for the audience, who can choose to attend seminar series closer to their own research interests. This advantage is greater for specialized sub-disciplines. This is the reason why we launched a seminar in macro history. Finally, co-ordinating a joint seminar series provides economies of scale in time use.

The spring 2024 sessions of the International Macro History Online Seminar will run from 21 February to 22 May 2024. 

The programme is as follows:

• IMHOS 73- 21 February 2024: Joel Mokyr (Northwestern University) 'The Benefits and Costs of Diversity: Lessons from Economic History'. Chair: Nathan Sussman ( Geneva Graduate Institute and CEPR)
• IMHOS 74- 28 February 2024: Thea Don-Siemion (Cardiff University), 'Hyperinflation and Stabilisation in Poland: War of Attrition or Politics by Other Means'. Chair: Elena Seghezza (University of Genoa)
• IMHOS 75- 13 March 2024: 'Narrative Macro History in the 21st Century' with Sebastian Edwards (UCLA), Larry Neal (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign) and Tobias Straumann (University of Zurich). Chair: Eugene White (Rutgers University) 
• IMHOS 76- 27 March 2024: Howard Bodenhorn (Clemson University), 'The Extent of the Market for early American banknotes'. Chair: Angela Redish (The University of British Columbia)
• IMHOS 77- 10 April 2024: Paul Bouscasse (Sciences-Po), 'Canst Thou Beggar Thy Neighbour? Evidence from the 1930s'. Chair: Thilo Albers (Humboldt University)
• IMHOS 78- 24 April 2024: Joan R. Rosés (LSE and CEPR), Alexandra L. Cermeño (Lund University) and Alexander Klein (University of Sussex and CEPR), 'The long-run unintended consequences of the 'Arsenal of Democracy'. Chair: Maylis Avaro (University of Pennsylvannia)
• IMHOS 79- 8 May 2024: Osama M. Khawar (University of Florida), Gustavo Cortes (University of Florida) and Marc Weidenmier (Chapman University), 'The Glass- Steagall Act and Bank Stock Market Speculation'. Chair: Carola Frydman (Northwestern University)
  • Note: At the request of the authors, the recording of this session is not available. 
• IMHOS 80- 22 May 2024: Fabio Braggion (Tilburg University and CEPR), Felix von Meyerinck (University of Zurich), Nic Schaub (WHU) and Michael Weber (University of Chicago Booth and CEPR), 'The Long-term Effects of Inflation on Inflation Expectations'. Chair: Rui Esteves (Geneva Graduate Institute and CEPR)

The fall 2023 sessions of the International Macro History Online Seminar will run from 30 August to 13 December 2023.

• IMHOS 65 - 30 August 2023: "From Boom to Bust: China’s Overseas Lending", Carmen Reinhart (Harvard University), Christoph Trebesch (Kiel Institute for World Economics and CEPR) and Sebastian Horn (Munich). Chair: Rui Esteves (The Graduate Institute and CEPR)
• IMHOS 66 - 13 September 2023: "Public Credit and the Financial Cycle", Victor Degorce (JRCPPF, Princeton University). Chair: Stefano Battilossi (Universidad Carlos III Madrid)
• IMHOS 67 - 27 September 2023: "The consequences of a trade collapse: Economics and politics in Weimar Germany", Björn Brey (University of Oxford) and Giovanni Facchini (University of Nottingham). Chair: Joachim Voth (University of Zurich)
• IMHOS 68 - 11 October 2023: "Women Bankers in Nineteenth Century America?", Eugene White (Rutgers University). Chair: Anne Murphy (University of Portsmouth)
• IMHOS 69 - 25 October 2023: "Deception through Credible Commitment: Secret Inflationary Finance in Israel’s War of Independence", Dror Goldberg (The Open University of Israel). Chair: Rebecca Stuart (University of Neuchâtel)
• IMHOS 70 - 8 November 2023: "Long-Run Asset Returns", David Chambers (Cambridge University), Elroy Dimson (Cambridge University), Antti Ilmanen (AQR) and Paul Rintamäki (Aalto). Chair: Catherine Schenk (University of Oxford)
• IMHOS 71 - 29 November 2023: "Industrialization, returns, inequality", Thilo Albers (Humboldt University), Felix Kersting (Humboldt University) and Timo Stieglitz (Humboldt University). Chair: Kerstin Enflo (Lund University)
• IMHOS 72 - 13 December 2023: "The Federal Reserve: A New History", Robert Hetzel (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago) and Michael Bordo (Rutgers University), Chair: Nathan Sussman (The Graduate Institute and CEPR)

• IMHOS 57 - 8 February 2023: Did the U.S. really grow its way out of its WWII debt?, Julien Acalin (Johns Hopkins University) and Laurence Ball (Johns Hopkins University). Chair: Rui Esteves (The Graduate Institute and CEPR)

• IMHOS 58 - 22 February 2023: Export-Led Decay: The Trade Channel in the Gold Standard Era, Mathieu Pedemonte (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland). Chair: Kirsten Wandschneider (University of Vienna)

• IMHOS 59 - 8 March 2023: Financial Sanctions: Arsenal of Democracy or Feeble Weapon?, Barry Eichengreen (University of California, Berkeley). Chair: Chris Meissner (University of California, Davis)

• IMHOS 60 - 22 March 2023: Riding the Monsoon: Geography and Iron Age Trade in the Indian Ocean, Conrad Copeland (University College London) Chair: Stefano Battilossi (University Charles III of Madrid)

• IMHOS 61 - 5 April 2023: Trade Imbalances or Silver Arbitrage? Anglo-Asian Bullion Flows in the Early Modern Period, 1664-1811, Pilar Nogues-Marco (University Of Geneva and CEPR). Chair: Larry Neal (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

• IMHOS 62 - 19 April 2023: Persistent Specialization and Growth: The Italian Land Reform, Riccardo Bianchi-Vimercati (Northwestern University), Giampaolo Lecce (University of Groningen) and Matteo Magnaricotte (Chicago University). Chair: Carol Shiue (University of Colorado Boulder and CEPR)

• IMHOS 63 - 3 May 2023: Finance, Advertising and Fraud: The Rise and Fall of the Freedman’s Savings Bank, Claire Célérier (University of Toronto) and Punoor Tak (London Business School). Chair: Natacha Postel-Vinay (London School of Economics and CEPR)

• IMHOS 64 - 17 May 2023: Central Bank Losses and Lending of Last Resort, Kris Mitchener (Santa Clara University and CEPR) and Eric Monnet (Paris School of Economics). Chair: Nathan Sussman (The Graduate Institute and CEPR)

• IMHOS 49 - 31 August 2022: Slouching Towards Utopia, Brad DeLong (University of California, Berkeley). Chair: Rui Esteves (The Graduate Institute and CEPR)
• IMHOS 50 - 14 September 2022: The Seeds of Ideology: Historical Immigration and Political Preferences in the United States, Paola Giuliano (UCLA and CEPR) and Marco Tabellini (HBS and CEPR). Chair: Davide Cantoni (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and CEPR)
• IMHOS 51 - 28 September 2022: Economic Activity in San Francisco During the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, François Velde (FRB Chicago). Chair: Paul Rhode (University of Michigan)
• IMHOS 52 - 12 October 2022: Pandemic Shock and Economic Divergence: Political Economy Before and After the Black Death, Luis Bosshart (LSE) and Jeremiah Dittmar (LSE and CEPR). Chair: Mark Koyama (George Mason University and CEPR)
• IMHOS 53 - 26 October 2022: Hot Money Inflows and Bank Risk-Taking: Germany from the 1920s to the Great Depression, Natacha Postel-Vinay (LSE and CEPR) and Stéphanie Collet (Deutsche Bundesbank). Chair: Pamfili Antipa (Banque de France)
• IMHOS 54 - 9 November 2022: Legal Origins of Corporate Governance: Choice of Law in Egypt, 1887-1914, Cihan Artunc (Middlebury College). Chair: Ron Harris (University of Tel Aviv)  
• IMHOS 55 - 23 November 2022: Railroad Bailouts in the Great Depression, Lyndon Moore (Monash University) and Gertjan Verdickt (KU Leuven). Chair: Chris Colvin (Queen's University Belfast)
• IMHOS 56 - 7 December 2022: “Muddling Through or Tunnelling Through?” UK Monetary and Fiscal Exceptionalism During the Great Inflation, Michael Bordo (Rutgers University), Oliver Bush ( Bank of England) and Ryland Thomas (Bank of England). Chair: Nathan Sussman (The Graduate Institute and CEPR)

• IMHOS 37 - 9 February 2022: The Journey of Humanity, Oded Galor (Brown University and CEPR)
• IMHOS 38 - 16 February 2022: The Short- and Long-Run Effects of Affirmative Action. Evidence from Imperial China, Melanie Meng Xue (LSE) and Boxiao Zhang (UCLA)
• IMHOS 39 - 23 February 2022: Taxation in Africa from Colonial Times to the Present. Evidence from Former French Colonies 1900-2018, Denis Cogneau (Paris School of Economics), Yannick Dupraz (University College Dublin), Justine Knebelmann (Paris School of Economics) and Sandrine Mesplé-Somps (Paris School of Economics)
• IMHOS 40 - 2 March 2022: The Rise of the Engineer: Inventing the Professional Inventor During the Industrial Revolution, Walker Hanlon (Northwestern University)
• IMHOS 41 - 9 March 2022: The Rise and Fall of Global Currencies Over Two Centuries, Roger Vicquéry (Banque de France)
• IMHOS 42 - 16 March 2022: Superstar Returns, Moritz Schularick (Bonn University and CEPR), Francisco Amaral (Bonn University), Martin Dohmen (Bonn University) and Sebastian Kohl (MPIfG Cologne)
• IMHOS 43 - 23 March 2022: Trade, Financial Development, and Inequality: Evidence from US Railroads in the 19th Century, Dheeraj Chaudhary (University of Maryland)
• IMHOS 44 - 30 March 2022: The Rise of Fiscal Capacity, Davide Cantoni (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and CEPR), Cathrin Mohr (Bonn University) and Matthias Weigand (Harvard)
• IMHOS 45 - 6 April 2022:  Bourbon Reforms, State Capacity in the Spanish Empire, Felipe Valencia Caicedo (University of British Columbia and CEPR), Luis Roberto Martinez (University of Chicago), Leopoldo Fergusson (Universidad de los Andes), Giorgio Chiovelli (Universidad de Montevideo) and Juan David Torres (Stanford University)
• IMHOS 46 - 13 April 2022: Riding the Bubble or Taken for a Ride? Investors in the British Bicycle Mania, Will Quinn (Queen’s University Belfast) and John Turner (Queen’s University Belfast)
• 20 April 2022: Easter break
• IMHOS 47 - 27 April 2022: The Colonial Origins of Banking Crises in Africa, Lisa D. Cook (Michigan State University), Linguère Mously Mbaye (African Development Bank), Janet Gerson (University of Michigan) and Anthony Simpasa (African Development Bank)
• IMHOS 48 - 4 May 2022: The Economic Consequences of the Opium War, Wolfgang Keller (University of Colorado and CEPR) and Carol Shiue (University of Colorado and CEPR)

• IMHOS 25 - 22 September 2021: For Whom the Bell Curve Tolls: Genetics and Social Life in England, 1670-2021, Greg Clark (UC Davis and CEPR)
• IMHOS 26 - 29 September 2021: The Smoot-Hawley Trade War, Kirsten Wandschneider (University of Vienna and CEPR), Kris Mitchener (Santa Clara University and CEPR) and Kevin O’Rourke (NYU Abu Dhabi and CEPR)
• IMHOS 27 - 6 October 2021: The Columbian Exchange and Conflict in Asia, Mark Dincecco (Michigan University), James Fenske (University of Warwick) and Anil Menon (University of Michigan)
• IMHOS 28 - 13 October 2021: National Banks and the Local Economy, Chenzi Xu (Stanford University)
• IMHOS 29 - 20 October 2021: Public Health Shocks and Product Pricing Behavior: Evidence from Life Insurance during the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic, Gustavo Cortes (University of Florida) and Gertjan Verdickt (KU Leuven)
• IMHOS 30 - 27 October 2021: Where is Capital?, Emma Rothschild (Harvard University)
• IMHOS 31 - 3 November 2021: From Pluribus to Unum? The Civil War and Imagined Sovereignty in 19th Century America, Melissa M. Lee (Princeton University) Nan Zhang (Mannheim Center for European Social Research) and Tilmann Herchenröder (Princeton University)
• IMHOS 32 - 10 November 2021: Comparative European Institutions and the Little Divergence, 1385-1800, Antonio Castro Henriques (Universidade do Porto) and Nuno Palma (University of Manchester, Universidade de Lisboa and CEPR)
• IMHOS 33 - 17 November 2021: Technology Adoption and Productivity Growth: Evidence from Industrialization in France, Reka Juhasz (Columbia University), Mara P. Squicciarini (Bocconi University) and Nico Voigtländer (UCLA)
• 24 November 2021: Break
• IMHOS 34 - 1 December 2021: Loans for the Little Fellow: Credit, Crisis, and Recovery in the Great Depression, Sarah Quincy (Vanderbilt University)
• IMHOS 35 - 8 December 2021: Welfare Reform and Repression in an Autocracy: Bismarck and the Socialists, Felix Kersting (Humboldt University)
• IMHOS 36 - 15 December 2021: Inflation and Individual Investors' Behavior: Evidence from the German Hyperinflation, Fabio Braggion (Tilburg University and CEPR), Felix Meyerinck (University of St. Gallen), Nic Schaub (WHU)

• IMHOS 13 - 17 February 2021: The Great Demographic Reversal: Ageing Societies, Waning Inequality, and an Inflation Revival, Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan
• IMHOS 14 - 24 February 2021: It Takes Money to Make MPs: New Evidence from 150 Years of British Campaign Spending, Julia Cagé and Edgard Dewitte 
• IMHOS 15 - 3 March 2021: Why is Europe Less Unequal than the United States?, Thomas Blanchet, Amory Gethin and Lucas Chancel
• IMHOS 16 - 10 March 2021: Selective Default Risk: Evidence from the German Default of the 1930s, Olivier Accominotti, Thilo Albers and Kim Oosterlinck
• IMHOS 17 - 17 March 2021: The Economic Impact of the Black Death, Remi Jedwab, Noel Johnson and Mark Koyama
• IMHOS 18 - 24 March 2021: State Capacity and the Rise and Fall of Serfdom in Europe, Tracy Dennison
• IMHOS 19 - 31 March 2021: Blowing Against the Wind? A Narrative Approach to Central bank Foreign Exchange Intervention, Alain Naef
• 7 April 2021: Spring Break
• IMHOS 20 - 14 April 2021: Hollowing out the State: Franchise Expansion and Fiscal Capacity in Colonial India, Pavithra Suryanarayan
• IMHOS 21 - 21 April 2021: The Real Effects of Bank Runs. Evidence from the French Great Depression (1930-1931), Eric Monnet, Angelo Riva and Stefano Ungaro
• IMHOS 22 - 28 April 2021: Banking Crises Interventions, 1290-2018, Andrew Metrick and Paul Schmelzing
• IMHOS 23 - 5 May 2021: Assignats or Death: Inflationary Finance in Revolutionary France, Bryan Cutsinger, Joshua Ingber and Louis Rouanet
• IMHOS 24 - 12 May 2021: The Economic Consequences of Sir Robert Peel: A Quantitative Assessment of the Repeal of the Corn Laws, Doug Irwin and Maksym Chepeliev

Find below the recordings, papers and slides of the Fall 2020 sessions.

Recordings of the fall 2020 sessions

PAPERS

• Session 1: Black Swans, Dragon Kings and Gray Rhinos: The World War of 1914-1918 and the Pandemic of 2020-?, Niall Ferguson (PDF, 538 KB)

• Session 2: The Role of Sentiment in the Economy of the 1920s, Ali Kabiri, Harold James, John Landon-Lane, David Tuckett, Rickard Nyman.

• Session 3: Hidden Wealth, Neil Cummins (PDF, 907 KB)

• Session 4: Vulture Diplomacy: Distressed Sovereign Debt, Creditor Coalitions and the London Stock Exchange in the 19th century, Marc Flandreau (PDF, 439 KB)

• Session 5: Understanding Persistence, Morgan Kelly (PDF, 1.3 MB)

• Session 6: Paper not available

• Session 7: Paper not available

• Session 8: Corporate Finance of Industry in a Developing Economy: Panel Evidence from Imperial Russia, Amanda Gregg & Steven Nafziger (PDF, 7.79 MB)

• Session 9: What Determines the Capital Share over the Long Run of History?, Erik Bengtsson, Enrico Rubolino, Daniel Waldenström (PDF, 839 KB)

• Session 10: Human Development in the Age of Globalisation, Leandro Prados de la Escosura (PDF, 5.39 MB)

• Session 11: The Effects of Banking Competition on Growth and Financial Stability: Evidence from the National Banking Era, Mark A. Carlson,  Sergio Correia, Stephan Luck.

• Session 12: Contagion of Fear, Kris James Mitchener, Gary Richardson (PDF, 1.34 MB)

SLIDES

• Session 1: Black Swans, Dragon Kings and Gray Rhinos: The World War of 1914-1918 and the Pandemic of 2020-?, Niall Ferguson (PDF, 2.15 MB)

• Session 2: The Role of Sentiment in the Economy of the 1920s, Ali Kabiri and Harold James (PDF, 1.62 MB)

• Session 3: Hidden Wealth, Neil Cummins (PDF, 1.95 MB)

• Session 4: Slides not available

• Session 5: Understanding Persistence, Morgan Kelly (PDF, 1.23 MB)

• Session 6: When Property Rights Are Not Enough: Lessons from Renaissance Florence, Francesca Trivellato (PDF, 2.3 MB)

• Session 7: The Berlin Stock Exchange in the ‘Great Disorder’, Caroline Fohlin (PDF, 2.34 MB)

• Session 8: Corporate Finance of Industry in a Developing Economy: Panel Evidence from Imperial Russia, Amanda Gregg (PDF, 4.8 MB)

• Session 9: What Determines the Capital Share over the Long Run of History?, Daniel Waldenström (PDF, 776 MB)

• Session 10: Human Development in the Age of Globalisation, Leandro Prados de la Escosura (PDF, 1.36 MB)

• Session 11: The Effects of Banking Competition on Growth and Financial Stability: Evidence from the National Banking Era, Mark A. Carlson (PDF, 6.22 MB)

• Session 12: Slides not available