Cliometrics
The application of quantitative methods to economic history has been termed either the new economic history or cliometrics. More enthusiastically embraced in the United States than in Britain, it consists of applying the mathematical modelling techniques of economics and econometrics to historical data. The complexity of these models, their assumptions as to the universal nature of human behaviour and the suitability of their application to often incomplete historical data has made cliometrics a controversial pursuit, but as with quantitative history in general its usefulness as a powerful tool for historians when used alongside more traditional qualitative methods has been gradually accepted.
