Knowing a lot of frameworks helps you also outside of history. “Historians learn a lot of different frameworks because each one exposes the gaps in the others: there is no perfect framework (and no way to proceed without a framework… Read More »Collections: What Do Historians Do? – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Nice explainer on how (historical) science works. “Consequently it is important for us to remain ‘up to date’ with everyone else’s research, which is why we spend so much time and effort (seriously, writing is hard) packaging our research so… Read More »Collections: How Your History Gets Made
I did not like humanities, but I have changed my mind a long time ago. “History is a humanities discipline through and through, whereas political science attempts to hybridize humanities and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) approaches; that’s not… Read More »Collections: The Practical Case on Why We Need the Humanities
Turning manufacturing model upside down. “Specifically, they have lost their lead to one remarkable Taiwanese company: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. TSMC are essentially the world’s greatest machinists. Other companies design the chips, and other companies create the (incredibly advanced) machine… Read More »FDI is the Missing Piece of Japan’s Puzzle
Japan lost decade came later than you think. “Why did Japan stagnate starting in 2008? It’s not clear. Potential culprits include the global financial crisis, the big earthquake and nuclear accident of 2011, the subsequent shutdown of nuclear power, rapid… Read More »I want the Japanese future back!
Russians being Russians.
The boring documents are often the most important. “it is difficult to overstate the value of the papyri we do recover from Egypt. Documents containing census and tax information can give us important clues about the structure of ancient households… Read More »Collections: Why Roman Egypt Was Such a Strange Province
Sometimes creating a permanent empire is just a side effect. “At first, a provincia was a temporary assignment, which came into existence when assigned and ceased to exist when completed. As the Romans decide to permanently garrison their overseas possessions,… Read More »Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Addenda: The Provinces
Having allies is easier than having subjects. “By contrast, the socii recruit themselves, equip themselves and organize themselves. And they fight hard, because they’re fighting for their home communities, to show their bravery to their own neighbors and family (who… Read More »Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Addenda: The Socii
Laws mean nothing if people do not take them seriously. “The lion’s share of Sulla’s reforms consisted, after all, in writing into law limits that had once been customary and codifying expectations which before had been unspoken and it did… Read More »Collections: How to Roman Republic 101, Part IIIc: Ten Tribunes, Two Censors and Twenty-Six Guys