On Friday 29th September 2023, the directors of CEPH took to the stage to present economic history to the attendees of European Researchers’ Night at Trinity College Dublin. The annual event provides an opportunity for academics and researchers to discuss their research with the general public, and field questions and comments outside of the formal academic environment.

CEPH’s presentation, titled ‘I told you so’, How economics can use past disasters to predict the future, presented five case studies from the past and how economic historians can use these examples in research and policymaking.

Andrew Dorman, CEPH’s research and policy officer, opened the talk by discussing economic history as a discipline and its advantages in this sort of long-term analysis. He then handed over to the five directors of CEPH, each of whom gave a brief presentation of a past event and its relevance today.

Ronan Lyons examined the impacts of past global temperature changes, and what the climate crisis may hold for our future. He was followed by Chris Colvin, who warned against dogmatic following of dated economic models using the case-study of the Netherlands and the Gold Standard in the 1930s.

John Turner then presented the danger of bubbles, and how Crypto-currency is simply the latest in a series of crises. Gaia Narciso explored the collapse of Enron and the auditing scandal that enabled it, showing the importance of clear and effective regulation of companies. Finally, Marvin Suesse presented the issue of economic nationalism, arguing that we need to take the rhetoric of nationalists seriously and not to dismiss their comments out of hand.

The talk concluded with a question and answer session, chaired by Andrew, with questions coming from the audience about all aspects of the research presented.

The next European Researchers’ Night is September 27th 2024, and CEPH looks forward to exploring new findings in economic history with the general public.