Contributors will discuss the relevance of the past as a guide to the present, or even the future. They will explore how the past is used when policymakers, bankers and the public are faced with difficult economic challenges, drawing on a range of examples. These include the commitment to free trade expressed by the Covenant of the League of Nations in 1919; how the past was used to frame the policies of monetary reform expressed the Federal Reserve Act of 1939; the role of banking regulations in the management of risk in the 20th century; and, more recently, how the past has informed the estimation of Greece’s taxation capability.