History, Economics & Policy: The Importance of Doing History Forward

In the opening session of a conference in honor of Naomi Lamoreaux’s work on history and economics, panelists presented various perspectives of what “doing history forward" means, reflecting on different ways Lamoreaux influenced their work. They highlighted the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and research methods, which enable scholars to think about big societal questions.
The interdisciplinary Conference, “Charting the Future of Economics, Governance, and Economic Development in the United States and Beyond”, hosted by the Yale Economic Growth Center (EGC), took place on April 26-27, 2024.
Speakers:
Tamar Szabó Gendler, is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy, and Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University. After teaching at Syracuse and Cornell Universities for nearly a decade, she returned to Yale in 2006 as Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Cognitive Science Program. As FAS Dean, Gendler has focused on building excellence and collaboration within and across traditional disciplinary boundaries throughout the divisions in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and across the university more broadly.
David Moss is the Paul Whiton Cherington Professor at Harvard Business School and chair of the Business, Government, and the International Economy (BGIE) unit. He earned his B.A. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. from Yale. Moss also served as a senior economist at Abt Associates.
Rohini Pande is the Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University. Pande’s research is largely focused on how formal and informal institutions shape power relationships and patterns of economic, political, and environmental advantage in society, particularly in developing countries. She is interested in the role of public policy in providing the poor and disadvantaged political and economic power, and how notions of economic justice and human rights can help justify and enable such change.
Dan Raff is an associate professor of management at the Wharton School, Associate professor of History in the School of Arts and Science, a lecturer in the Law School at the University of Pennsylvania. His long-term research fellowships include the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Wharton Financial Institutions Center.
Jean-Laurent Rosenthal is Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Business Economics at Caltech and Director of the Ronald and Maxine Linde Institute of Economic and Management Sciences. His research focuses on understanding what institutions encourage economic growth and wealth formation.Rosenthal holds a bachelor's degree in history from Reed College and a PhD in social science from Caltech.
For more information on the “Charting the Future of Economics, Governance, and Economic Development in the United States and Beyond” conference, including the conference program, visit: egc.yale.edu/c.... The event was presented by the Yale Economic Growth Center and received additional support from the Yale Department of Economics, Yale Department of History, the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS), and the Whitney and Betty MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies.