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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · Jul 8

Our paper now

Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · Jul 5

I do love flying in to Boston, it's like a city of sails on the water. Weekend is all prep for NBER SI, reading econ history paper, good times.

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · Jun 5

Genevieve Williams, writer of things @rimrunner.bsky.social · Jun 5

Well this couldn’t have come at a better time www.bbc.com/news/article...

Scientists at Loughborough University create 'world's smallest violin'

The violin is smaller than a human hair and has "laid the groundwork" for future research.

www.bbc.com

Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 29

And today a swan's nest, right on the banks of the river

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 24

Vienna. Wildflowers on the walk to the train

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 22

Does Harvard build a couple of spin offs now?

Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 22

98 million pairs of shoes produced in Britain in 1907

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 20

Sometimes I feel like documenting the most quotidian moments of life in Western Europe. This whole terrain will be foreign to peoples of the future, as I am reminded every time I read biographies of workers in 19th c England

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 20

Industrial Revolution probably improved living standards more than any other revolution before or since.

It'd be neat to quantify this, and without overlooking the many people who were harmed in the churn

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 19

Have come to terms with the fact that I don't really understand or remember much until I write it out & work through it.

So I'm going to blog. Primarily for myself. Would love it to be a little useful for others. Many thanks to @johanfourieza.bsky.social, whose conference on this was inspiring

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Reposted by Hillary Vipond

Kris Inwood @kris-inwood.bsky.social · May 18

The 12th Australasian Cliometrics Workshop will be held 14 Nov 2025 at Monash Uni, Melbourne.
Proposals accepted thru 14 July, full papers due 31st Oct.
More info: Quoc-Anh Do ([email protected]) & Laura Panza ([email protected])
ECR & grad students particularly encouraged
📉📈🗃📗 #AcademicSky

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 16

Vienna at sundown

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 15

Thousands of books have just arrived at CSH and I can't help myself, I've nabbed a few just for the cover art and title. Any Booth map will do for me I guess #econhistory

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Reposted by Hillary Vipond

Eric Schneider @ericbschneider.bsky.social · May 13

📜 NEW WORKING PAPER 📜

What was the true case fatality rate (CFR) of smallpox?

My new paper with Romola Davenport (Cambridge) revisits this question using 18th-century data from Sweden and Iceland—and challenges the long-held belief that smallpox CFRs were 20–30%.

🧵👇

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Picture of the title and abstract of the paper.

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 9

Good discussion taking place on whether researchers should be responsible for sharing their findings, or whether it should be someone else. Specialization etc.

Someone said "the researcher might not be the one who shares the story, but they should know why it matters"

Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 8

Do we have a 4th Industrial Revolution Pope?!

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 8

@delong.social sharing thoughts on the use and abuse of economic history

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 8

Day 1 of the workshop on communicating research in economic history. Very glad to see this space developing #econhist

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 7

Faulkner

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 6

I kinda like eudoroam

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · May 5

Really delighted to have arrived in Stellenbosch for this workshop on disseminating Economic History. Organized by @johanfourieza.bsky.social with keynote from @delong.social

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · Apr 6

He points out that the great gifts of the super rich are primarily acts of magnificience, acts of rulership.

He notes the secular stagnation following the full entrenchment of the Medici.

And that, historically, when the super rich rule, they do so for their own benefit

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · Apr 6

Look at the decline in entry into the elite over time!

After the Black Death, quite a lot of opportunity.

Once the Medici had become the super rich, they gained control of central government, and entry disappeared.

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · Apr 6

He then accumulated a lot of support and power by redistributing his wealth. In the form of contributions to society.

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Hillary Vipond @hillaryvipond.bsky.social · Apr 6

But business as usual is keeping wealth and influence in.

He tells us the story of the Medici family. They were newcomers after the Black Death. But they got to power by Cosimo. He was initially expelled by Florence. Then Florence needed money. They brought him back...

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