Comments on Cowen, Hanley, and Voth

Abstract

Cowen, Hanley, and Voth have so ably summarized their work that I can avoid the exercise. Instead I will attempt what my high school teachers dubbed a commentaire compose, a reasoned discussion of the implications of their work guarded by a few remarks about the potential weaknesses of their analyses. I should note that I never succeeded in garnering a passing grade in the commentaire compose despite having to offer one every fourth week for two years. Still I forge ahead, reviewing the three dissertations in alphabetical order. The topics and periods span some 200 years, a pair of hemisphere, and more countries than I can count on my fingers. Each illustrates a major interest among the members of the EHA: macroeconomics, institutions, and the microeconomics of factor markets. In fact, this batch of dissertations demonstrates that our discipline continues to investigate a broad range of phenomena, with an equally broad range of topics.