The New History of Capitalism and the Methodologies of Economic History

Abstract

The rise of the “New History of Capitalism” as a subfield of historical studies has magnified differences between economists and historians which started to grow during the 1970s. We describe what is and what is not new about the New History of Capitalism and explain how the different methodologies of economists and historians often cause confusion about their fields’ respective advantages. We also emphasize that these different methodologies allow ample room for collaboration between the disciplines.