When Paul Krugman, a Nobel prize-winning economist, clashed with Niall Ferguson, a famous historian (and FT contributing editor), over how best to respond to the economic crisis, Prof Ferguson’s response was humorously humble. “A cat may look at a king,” he wrote, “and sometimes a historian can challenge an economist.”

As the proud owner of a huge grey Chartreux cat, and a history graduate, I believe that it is time to overturn this implicit intellectual hierarchy. The cats must unsheath their claws and lacerate the kings, ripping away their regal pretensions. The vanity of economists needs to be challenged. Above all, their claim to scientific rigour – buttressed by models and equations – must be treated much more sceptically.

When things were going well for the global economy, the prestige of economists rose steadily. They were the gurus of the age of globalisation. Governments, consultancies and investment banks rushed to hire economists, who were thought to possess vital skills and information. Historians, by contrast, were treated as mere entertainers and storytellers. They were archive-grubbers, lacking in scientific method – good on television, but useless with a PowerPoint and no help in government or the boardroom.