Read the passage below:
In her reevaluation of early Enlightenment historiography, scholar Julianna Vance examines how eighteenth-century chroniclers sought to distinguish their narratives from the sensationalist broadsides of the era. Rather than relying on rhetorical flourishes or emotive embellishments to captivate readers, these historians embraced an austere narrative methodology characterized by structural restraint and verbal economy. This stylistic austerity was not merely a matter of aesthetic preference; it reflected a deeply held philosophical conviction that historical truth emerged most clearly when unencumbered by literary ornament. However, modern critics argue that this apparent neutrality was itself a persuasive strategy. By stripping their prose of overt ideological posturing, Enlightenment historians cultivated an aura of dispassionate objectivity that rendered their underlying political biases all the more difficult to detect. Thus, the deliberate paucity of decorative language functioned less as a transparent window onto the past than as a sophisticated instrument of rhetorical persuasion.
In the context of the passage, which single word or short phrase most nearly captures the meaning of the word 'economy' as it is used in the second sentence?
Answer: restraint / conciseness / sparingness / parsimony / brevity / moderation / verbal restraint / conciseness of language