Hi there,
Can people here suggest research topics related to economic history? I am planning to apply for graduate studies (Msc. Economic History) in a while, and I’d want to mention a little about my research interests in the statement of purpose. I am still undecided on what topic I should actually focus my research interests on. Any suggestion would be welcome.
Hi,
Technically, you should go to the department website, select a teacher you like and would like to work with, read one or two of his papers and build your research project on that. Of course, it also has to be both doable and relevant. I suspect the institution you’re applying to is set in England so saying that you want to work on sources that are only available in Argentina or Nepal may not be a good idea. Still assuming that this school is say in London, tell them that the data are available in the National Archives in Kew or in some other place in the neighbourhood and then work from there.
So your proposal must:
For the last point, of course it helps to concentrate either on the UK itself or on the British Empire. However there are other possibility such as the information coming from investment flows from the UK to the world during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Finally you need to think long and hard about the method. You mentioned that you were into history. However you need to know that you might have missed on some critically important technics used by economists that may help you a great deal during your research.
Here, I don’t think I can really help you more than that without more specific information about where exactly you intend to go and what actually interests you.
Good luck
History of antitrust, monopoly and cartels. This is a good one because Armentano, in his book, Antitrust and Monopoly relies on neoclassical monopoly theory (something an economics student needs to pay homage to) to demolish antitrust legislation. You need not take a purely Austrian appoach for your study.
Others:
Tariff history of the United State, focusing on the nineteenth century.
Economic policies of Alexander Hamilton
A good one that I’ve just come across (this goes way back) is the economic fallout of the Black Death. With the shortage of labor, competition between land owners for labor emerged and the peasants begun to be paid wages, which helped usher in the fall of feudalism. When European rulers imposed wage controls to prevent labor prices from rising, peasant revolts ensued. A good story about how an emerging market was threatening to make a dent in the social class system and how ruling power moved to prevent it.
Bimetallism in the late 19th century (William J. Bryan and the “cross of gold”)
Economics of slave labor in the American South. (Was it sustainable in the long run?)
Maharbbal, I am actually gonna apply for Msc. Economic History at LSE in the coming year. Here is the list of teachers in the department and their research interests: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/graduateProspectus2010/departmentsInstitutesCentres/departmentOfEconomicHistory.aspx#generated-subheading4
I am kind of anxious about choosing the research programme offered by the department, since I feel, as you said, my research topic should also be comfortable for my teacher to deal with. I am not sure if I can match the exact interests of the teachers there. So, do you think applying for the taught degree, and mentioning in the statement of purpose that I want to carry out further research on a particular topic later at the Ph.D level is a better thing to do? I am obviously interested in research, but I don’t want to get rejected for my Msc. just because my research interest doesn’t match with that of the teachers at LSE. I’d rather choose a taught degree then. Or am I being too pessimistic?
Lewis, I need some time to ponder over the topics you’ve suggested. Thanks!