Eila Linnanmäki,Espanjantauti Suomessa. Influenssaepidemia 1918–1920

Abstract

Economic historians are familiar with the conflict in their work between, on the one hand, phenomenological analysis based upon or, more precisely, guided by modern economic theory, and on the other, causal analysis, of a kind common to all historical disciplines, but operating within the special conceptual framework and terminology of economics. The conflict becomes more apparent as one moves backward in time, simply because knowledge of the facts usually decreases until a point is reached where economic theory has to take the place of facts. Since economic theory is mainly derived from a large body of data drawn from recent times, it is obviously necessary to use very great care when applying modern theory to the anlysis of economic data drawn from the past.