The Economics Department would like to congratulate Dr. Hansen and his wife, Dr. Hansen!
In early April, the American Historical Association issued a call for historians to apply their skills to help illuminate the challenge COVID-19 poses to our nation and the world. As the AHA Council wrote: “Historians can…play an important role by providing context, in this case shedding light on the history of pandemics and the utility of that history to policy formation and public culture.”
To reinforce and support this call to action, the Stanton Foundation has launched a weekly contest to identify and reward what we judge the best new Applied History article or op-ed that illuminates the current coronavirus crisis. An advisory panel from the Applied History Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center will assist in the screening process. These articles should illuminate current challenges and policy choices by analyzing the historical record, especially precedents and analogues.
The Selection Committee was particularly impressed with the detailed legal history of bankruptcy in the Great Depression that makes a clear, compelling argument for a concrete policy prescription.
To read more, please see use the following link: http://thestantonfoundation.org/informed-citizens/covid-19-ah-prize