Examining the European economy from a historical perspective
Is the single European market in people, goods, money and ideas a new development? Or are we merely reassembling something that existed a century ago? Appropriately, the European Science Foundation is supporting the researchers who aim to find out. GlobalEuroNet, the Globalizing Europe Economic History Network, runs from 2006 to 2010.
It was set up to promote scientific cooperation among historians and onomists in the reconstruction of data sets for European economies in the past century. But it will also answer key questions about European economic integration and interdependence, both past and present.
According to Professor Stefano Battilossi of Carlos III University in Madrid, chair of the GlobalEuroNet steering committee, the programme was born of the realisation that vital data on subjects such as national accounts, standards of living and income inequality have been collected on different criteria over time across Europe. Time was ripe for an ambitious effort to achieve methodological convergence around a common research agenda.