The worst global downturn since the Great Depression has caused ballooning budget deficits in most nations, as tax revenues collapse and governments bail out financial institutions and attempt countercyclical fiscal policy. With notable exceptions, most economists accept the desirability of...

Front Cover -- The Handbook of Historical Economics -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of contributors -- Merger or acquisition? An introduction to The Handbook of Historical Economics -- 1 Historical Economics -- 2 Sources, methods, models, topics -- 2.1 Part 1: The evolution of the discipline --...