How did Fogel use quantitative methods in history?
I approached history as a detective, meticulously gathering data from primary sources such as plantation records, shipping manifests, and census data. These raw figures were then subjected to rigorous statistical analysis and econometric modeling. This allowed me to quantify economic relationships, test counterfactual scenarios (e.g., what if railroads hadn't been built?), and build empirical arguments that could stand up to scrutiny, rather than relying on qualitative descriptions alone.
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