Stephen Mihm of the University of Georgia has revamped the
Echoes blog at Bloomberg.com to focus on historical parallels to modern events in business and economics. As he explains:
History doesn’t repeat itself. Sometimes, though, it rhymes. That idea animates our revamped "Echoes" blog, dedicated to the
history of economics, business, finance and, above all, capitalism. Our contributors will aim to unearth parallels between past and present, highlighting how the economic crises of our own era are perhaps not as unique as we think. . . . Many of history's best economic stories can’t be reduced to numbers and charts. They're dramatic tales of hubris, innovation, brilliance and luck—of people caught in the grips of forces that they don't fully comprehend. We'll be trying to tell those stories here.
Commentary will be offered by business and economic historians, including co-contributors Philip Scranton of Rutgers University and John B. Taylor of Stanford. The first post under the revamped blog considers "How Populist Outrage Gave Birth to the Federal Reserve."
