A version of Matteo Ricci's world map, created in China in 1602.

The Department of Economic History is home to a huge breadth and depth of knowledge and expertise ranging from the medieval period to the current century and covering every major world economy. It is one of the largest specialist departments in the country, with 16 full time teachers as well as visiting academics and researchers.

News and events
Programmes
Publications

Senior lecturer Gerben Bakker won the Ralph Gomory Prize at the BHC. The $5,000 prize funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is awarded by the Business History Conference for the best article published in 2010 and 2011 that examines the impact of business enterprise on the economic conditions of the countries in which they operate.

It was awarded for “Trading Facts: Arrow’s Fundamental Paradox and the Origins of Global News Networks” in Peter Putnis, Chandrika Kaul and Juergen Wilke eds., International Communication and Global News Networks: Historical Perspectives (Hampton Press / International Association of Media and Communication Research, 2011), 9-54.

Current Senior Visiting Fellow and former Phd student Morten Jerven launches his new book, 'Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It' on Wednesday 22nd May 6-7 pm at Waterstones Economists' Bookshop in Clare Market.

Congratulations to Natacha Postel-Vinay for winning the New Researchers’ Prize for her paper:“What Caused Chicago Bank Failures in the Great Depression? A Look at the 1920s” at this year’s Economic History Society Conference in York.

Sir Timothy Coghlan Prize

Congratulations to Professor Tirthankar Roy who has been awarded this prize for the best paper published in the Australian Economic History Review in 2012, for his paper, 'Consumption of Cotton Cloth in India, 1795-1940', (March 2012 issue). The paper was written for HI-POD, an international collaborative project led by Professor Stephen Broadberry and others. Click on the link for more details.

http://www.cepr.org/research/hipod.htm

For a comprehensive guide to our Master's programmes, including course information and how to apply, click on the link below.

Economic History Department Master's Programmes

Undergraduates and postgraduates tell us about their experience of studying Economic History.

Click here to read about our students' experience

Are you interested in studying Economic History? For a comprehensive guide to our undergraduate programmes, including course information and how to apply, click on the link below.

BSc Economic History Programmes

The World in the Model: How Economists Work and Think

Professor Mary S. Morgan

CUP | ISBN:9780521176194

Professor Morgan's book examines how economics evolved into a model-based science by offering a 'tourist' guide to the major models that have made economics technocratic.

India in the World Economy: From Anitquity to the Present

Professor Tirthankar Roy

CUP | ISBN:9781107401471

The book sets trade and mercantile activity in the region within a global framework and assesses the importance of India's economy across 2,000 years from antiquity to the present.

The East India Company: The World's Most Powerful Corporation

Tirthankar Roy, Gurcharan Das

ISBN:9781107401471

This new account of the East India Company examines some longstanding questions by taking a fresh look at the world of Indian business, telling the Company’s story from the perspective of Indian business history for the first time.

This week's seminars

Working Papers