Webinar: Towards a new history of financial crises? What we can (not yet) learn from the past

A Webinar of the Dutch-Belgian Society of Eighteenth-century Studies

October 15, 13h-14h Amsterdam time

7:00 New York; 12:00 London; 13:00 Amsterdam; 20:00 Tokyo

Precisely 300 years ago, the world experienced the very first international financial crisis. In 1720, a financial boom and bust raged from France, England and the Netherlands through Europe and the world. This crisis has long since generated heated public debates about the value and threats of the financial sector and inspired a new body of scholarship: financial history and theory.

For a long time, financial history has focused on market dynamics, and fought over the question whether financial bubbles are rational or irrational. This debate seems to be stalling historical research, while in the meantime the necessity to innovate the field becomes more urgent every day. With algorithms taking over markets, and the efficient market hypothesis under severe criticism, how should we rethink historical research? And: as the Western world is dropping into an economic crisis, the financial markets seem to be booming. How can historians help to explain these current developments? What can we learn from the past and how can we better attune the study of finance to current pressing questions?

The year 2020 is a timely moment to reflect on the history of finance and the future of financial history. Join us for a live webinar to learn more about financial crises from a historical perspective. You’ll get evidence-based insights from historians who will reflect on urgent questions through short pitches, followed by discussion.

Timetable (in Amsterdam):

13:00-13:05                Introduction by prof. dr. Fokko Jan Dijksterhuis (Chair Dutch-Belgian Society for Eighteenth Century Studies)

13:05-13:10                ‘Why studying financial crises makes no sense’ by prof. dr. Anne Murphy (University of Hertfordshire)

13:10-13:15                ‘How could we dive into historical financial crisis? What is still there from the past?’ by dr. Koji Yamamoto (University of Tokyo)

13:15-13:20                ‘What can a cultural history of finance bring us?’ by prof. dr. Inger Leemans (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam & KNAW Humanities Cluster)

13:20-14:00                Discussion opened by prof. dr. Jakob de Haan (Dutch Central Bank)

Zoom hosting and moderation: Floris van Berckel Smit, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam <f.j.n.van.berckelsmit@vu.nl>

This Webinar is organized as part of the NWO Internationalisation project ‘Banking on Financial Heritage. Towards a Sustainable Network for the History of Finance’.