Categories
Economists Funny Business M.I.T.

From the 200th Anniversary of Wealth of Nations Roast of Adam Smith at MIT. 1976

The Graduate Economics Association of MIT held a celebration in honor of Adam Smith and the 200th anniversary of the publication of The Wealth of Nations.  The event took place April 12, 1976 at the Sheraton Commander Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I chaired the organizing committee for the event that was run like a Friar’s Club Roast. It featured a star-studded cast that included Alan Blinder (Princeton), William Parker (Yale), Paul Samuelson (MIT), Robert Solow (MIT), and James Tobin (Yale) and special surprise guest-of-honor to receive the Invisible Hand Award, Adam Smith a.k.a. Jerry Goodman. Before Mr. Goodman entered dressed in Adam Smith attire, the MIT economics children’s choir (i.e. a sample of graduate students who could carry a tune, sort-of) sang the following hymn set to the tune of “Rock of Ages” with a new text written by my old professor of American economic history at Yale, William Parker.

_____________________

WEALTH OF NATIONS!

Text by William N. Parker

Wealth of Nations! Writ for me!
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Not the Profits, nor the Rent,
But the Labour Time that’s spent,
Be of Value the true source.
Make me better; no one worse.

Every man looks to his need,
Counting on the butcher’s greed.
Public goods are little prized,
Model that is dynamized.
Half the world is cold and bare,
Still we cling to Laissez-faire.

Hand invisible whose love
We believe that we can prove!
With thy panapoly of saints,
Mill, Ricardo, Marshall, Keynes,
Save us all from Marxist sins.
Keep us gaily making pins!

When our earthly race is run,
Will we soar to Samuelson?
Will we sink to realms below,
There to meet with our So-low?
Was it neo-classic myth?
Tell us, tell us, Adam Smith!
Wealth of Nations, write for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee!

Source: From the program to the celebration.  To see my autographed copy of the full program, go to Paul Krugman’s blog post of Jan. 4, 2014 in which he notes the passing of Jerry Goodman. A copy of Goodman’s journalistic attempt at making sense of the economists at play that I also forwarded to Paul Krugman is there as well.

Image SourceProceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 151, No. 2, June 2007.

Categories
Bibliography Courses Harvard

Harvard. Public Finance. Economics 5, Bullock. 1915

This list of suggested readings in Public Finance come from two of seven pages carbon copy, (stapled together, ordered by course number from Economics 1b through Economics 6. The pages are undated and no instructor is given. Nonetheless, based on the course catalogues and indications from several of the courses that the following annotated list was prepared for the use of the Tutors in Harvard College.

We can be reasonably certain of the date since the only year Dr. J. S. Davis taught an accounting course with the number 1b was 1915-16. Charles Jesse Bullock refers to his own book of readings in public finance so it is certain that he composed the list.

Later addition to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror include:  the final examination questions for Economics 5 (June 1916). 

—————————–

Books Used in Economics 5.
Selected Readings in Public Finance.

[Charles Jesse Bullock, 1915-1916]

Bastable, Public Finance. (In these books the assignments cover everything relating to revenue and expenditures. They also have included all that Bastable has to say on public debts and financial administration, but have usually in recent years not included the material in the Selected Readings upon those subjects)

Adams, Public Finance. (In this book they have usually read the chapters dealing with public expenditures and revenue from domain. They used to read what he says about the United States budget, but in recent years I have been going light upon this subject, leaving out not only what Adams says but also the passages in my Selected Readings.)

Seligman, Essays in Taxation. (They have always read the chapters on classification, special assessment, the general property tax, and on the single tax; some times also the first chapter on the historical development of taxation and the chapters on the taxation of corporations and double taxation. Occasionally they have read the chapter on the inheritance tax.)

Daniels, Public Finance. (I have sometimes assigned Daniels’s chapters on revenues from industries and his chapters on customs and excise taxes, but not often in recent years.) [here a Course Syllabus of Daniels]

 

Ely, Evolution of Industrial Society. (I usually assign the chapter on the evolution of public expenditures, frequently the chapter on municipal ownership, and occasionally the chapter on inheritances and bequests.)

Ely, Taxation in American States and Cities. (Sometimes I assign the chapters upon the political and industrial effects of taxation,–I don’t remember the exact title at the moment,–and the chapter upon license taxes, but in recent years I have seldom assigned anything but the latter chapter.)

Shearman, Natural Taxation. (I almost always assign Chapter 9 and another chapter, I think No. 13 or 14, in which Sherman considers objections to the single tax, and in particular replies to Seligman’s Essay.

Bullock, Pamphlets on the Property Tax. (I have had bound together a number of my pamphlets relating to state and local taxation and taxation in Switzerland, and keep duplicate copies in Harvard Hall. The men are expected to read all of these pamphlets.)

The reading in the course is not exactly the same from year to year, and I am thinking of dropping Bastable because the book is getting too old. It was never very satisfactory in its discussion of difficult questions of principle, and its account of European legislation, etc., is now considerably out of date. I believe that next year I shall provide duplicate copies in Harvard Hall and not require the men to buy it unless a new edition is to come out.

I have sometimes thought of using David McG. Means’s book entitled Methods of Taxation, and think that if the tutors want to get the men to do supplementary reading, this might be a good book for them to use, unless meanwhile I decide to use it in the class. If any men read German, it would be very well to refer them to Eheberg, or if they read French, to get them to read chapters in the first volume of Leroy-Beaulieu. [2nd vol of Leroy-Beaulieu]

 

Source. Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers, 1902-1950. UAV 349.10, Box 25, Folder “Suggested Readings.”

Image Source. Harvard Album 1915.

Categories
Economists Suggested Reading

Suggested reading: European emigrés and American Economics. Hagemann. 2011

Harald Hagemann (2011): European émigrés and the ‘Americanization’ of economics, The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 18:5, 643-671

Abstract

The development of economics since 1945 was marked by an increasing internationalization that was simultaneously in large part a process of Americanization. This article focuses on the role refugee economists from Continental Europe played in the rise of American economics. It focuses on the emigration of German-speaking economists after 1933; and then deals with the special case of Jacob Marschak who emigrated twice, first from the Soviet Union in 1919 and then from Nazi Germany, and exerted a greater influence in Britain and in the USA. Finally important contributions by émigré economists to game theory, public finance and development economics are reflected.

Categories
Bibliography Courses M.I.T.

MIT, Business Cycles Reading List. Samuelson, 1943

 

 

This reading list comes from Paul Samuelson’s second year at M.I.T. While not designated on the reading list itself, from its location in his papers (filed with other Business Cycle course materials) and according to the courses he taught that in the second term of 1943 (according to the MIT Course Catalogue), this is almost certainly for the course Ec26: Business Cycles.

___________________________

Course Description from 1942-43 Catalogue.

Ec26. Business Cycles (A). A statistical, historical, and theoretical examination of the determinants of income, production and employment. Modern methods are brought to bear on problems of analyses, forecasting, and control.

Prerequisite: Ec40 (Money & Banking). Primarily for graduate students, 2nd term

___________________________

February, 1943     READING LIST     P. A. Samuelson

Asterisks indicate required reading, other items suggested reading

 

I    NATIONAL INCOME, EMPLOYMENT & PRODUCTION

M. Gilbert, “War Expenditures & National Production,” Survey of Current Business, March, 1942.

S. S. Kuznets, National Income & Its Composition, 1919-1938, Vol. I.

W. L. Crum, J. F. Fennelly, L. J. Seltzer, Fiscal Planning for Total War.

S. Fabricant, Productivity of American Manufacturing Industries, [sic, probable or at least related publication: Solomon Fabricant, Employment in Manufacturing, 1899-1939: An Analysis of Its Relation to the Volume of Production, NBER, New York, 1942.]

Federal Reserve Board Bulletin, August & September, 1940.  [New index of industrial production]

R. A. Nixon & P. A. Samuelson, “Estimates of Unemployment in the U. S.,” Review of Economic Statistics, August, 1940.

 

II        NATURE OF BUSINESS CYCLE

*A. H. Hansen, Fiscal Policy & Business Cycle, Ch. 1-4

*Wesley C. Mitchell, Business Cycles, 1941 Reprint of 1913 edition, Ch. V, part I.

*J. P. Wernette, The Control of Business Cycles, pp. 3-23 and Conclusion.

*J. R. Meade & H. Hitch, Economic Analysis & Policy, Ch. I.

*G. Haberler, Prosperity & Depression, Ch. 9, 1 & 2.

*S. H. Slichter, Towards Stability, Ch. I.

A. H. Hansen, Business Cycle Theory, Chs. I, II, IV, & VI.

S. H. Slichter, Towards Stability, Chs. II & IV.

G. Haberler, Prosperity & Depression, any part.

 

III      SAVING AND INVESTMENT

*Joan Robinson, Introduction to the Theory of Employment.

*T.N.E.C. testimony of Hansen & Currie.
[Hearings Before the Temporary National Economic Committee, Seventy-Sixth Congress, First Session. Part 9. Savings and Investment. May 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26, 1939]

*A. H. Hansen, Fiscal Policy, Chs. 11, 12, 15, & 24.

*L. V. Chandler, Introduction to Monetary Theory, Chs. VI & VIII.

O. Altman, T.N.E.C. monograph #37, Saving & Investment.

 

IV THE PROPENSITY TO IMPORT & THE FOREIGN TRADE MULTIPLIER

*R. F. Harrod, International Economics, (Rev.Ed.) 6, 7. (8 & 9, optional)

*W.A. Salant, “Foreign Trade Policy in the Business Cycle,” in Public Policy II (editor E. S. Mason)

*J. M. Keynes, General Theory, Preface, Chs. 23 & 24

I. DeVegh, Review of Economic Statistics, 1940 [De Vegh, Imre. “Imports and Income in the United States and Canada.The Review of Economics and Statistics 23, no. 3 (1941): 130-46. ]

C. Clark & J. Crawford, National Income of Australia
[Colin Clark and John G. Crawford,National Income of Australia.Sydney and London: Angus & Robertson limited, 1938.]

L. Metzler, Journal of Political Economy, 1942
[Metzler, Lloyd A. “The Transfer Problem Reconsidered.” Journal of Political Economy 50, no. 3 (1942): 397-414.]

 

V        INTERNATIONAL PROPAGATION OF BUSINESS CYCLES

*G. Haberler, Prosperity & Depression, Ch. XII, pp. 455-473

*J. Viner, Studies, pp. 432-436
[Studies in the Theory of International Trade.]

*League of Nations, Annual Survey, 1939-40

*Sir A. Salter, Recovery, pp. 27-66, (101-195 optional)
[Recovery. The Second Effort. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1932]

R. Bennett, National Bureau, manuscript [Rollin F. Bennett, Columbia University: might be a paper presented at the 1940 or 1941 meeting of the NBER Conference of Income and Wealth which were not published (insufficient general interest to warrant publication) ]

P. Einzig, Bankers, Statesmen & Economists

League of Nations, B. Ohlin, Course & Phases of the World Economic Depression, especially pp. 116-215

___________________________

Source: Paul A. Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.451 Business Cycles, 1943-1955”. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Categories
Chicago Michigan

Interdisciplinary Moment. Max Sylvius Handman, Chicago Sociology Ph.D. 1917

This interdisciplinary moment comes as the result of my shallow acquaintance with American institutional economics. In the previous posting I ran across the name of M. S. Handman who was listed #2 in Frank Knight’s list of American Institutional Economists after Veblen but with the sarcastic addition “Perhaps the one true example [i.e. Veblen], except Handman, who has written little.” Knight then goes on to put Handman’s name in the #2 position without any bibliographic reference. The name rang no bells with me to be honest.

In the meantime I have consulted JSTOR to obtain a very convenient history of American Institutional Economics, Malcolm Rutherford’s Presidential Address before the Association for Evolutionary Economics: “Towards a History of American Institutional Economics”, Journal of Economic Issues, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Jun., 2009), pp. 308-318. This provides us with more context.

Max Handman received his Ph.D. in Sociology and Anthropology rather than in Political Economy. The title of his thesis was “The Beginnings of the Social Philosophy of Karl Marx.”

_________________________

[from the University of Michigan]

Memorial
Max Sylvius Handman
LSA Minutes

On December 26, 1939, while the University was in recess, Professor Max S. Handman, one of its outstanding personalities, died of coronary thrombosis; a scant two weeks after he had passed his fifty-fourth birthday. The first of the heart attacks to which he finally succumbed occurred in the spring of 1938, while he was devoting his sabbatical leave to a research project in South America. He returned to Ann Arbor early that summer and carefully nursed his ailment, both at the University Hospital and at home, to the end of the first semester of the academic year 1938-39. During the second semester of that year he was able to resume his teaching, and during the summer of 1939, though not a member of the teaching staff, he participated actively in the Institute of Latin-American Studies which was being conducted by the Summer Session. He then prepared and delivered his last paper, soon to be published, on the historical function of foreign investments in Latin-America. He was planning, of course, to continue his regular work during the present academic year, but a further severe attack shortly before the opening of the University in the fall confined him to bed till his untimely death. While the course of this illness afforded some preparation for the fatal outcome to his associates and friends, the actual loss of our widely known and beloved colleague came as a profound and lamented shock to all who knew him.

Max Sylvius Handman, son of Melchior and Rosa (Sayman) Handman, was born in Roman, Rumania, December 13, 1885. He remained in his native land into his eighteenth year. His father was engaged in commercial pursuits, but was dominated by a deep love of learning. In this environment the seeds were sown for a lifetime of scholarly interest and devotion. Young Handman received instruction at home as well as all available public schooling, through the Gymnasium at Roman. Upon his arrival in this country in 1903 he proceeded immediately to the far west, where he devoted himself for a period of two years to working at miscellaneous tasks and learning the English language. Two years later, in 1907, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oregon. Then followed ten years of graduate study, both at American and foreign institutions, including the University of Chicago, the University of Missouri, Columbia University, the College de France, and the University of Berlin. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Chicago in 1917, and during the same year he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Some three years earlier, on September 3, 1914, he had married Della Dopplemayer of Marshall, Texas, after he had established himself as a young instructor.

His teaching experience, like his academic training, embraced a number of institutions. In 1913 he served as Docent in Sociology at the University of Chicago; from 1913 to 1916 he was Instructor in Sociology at the University of Missouri; from 1917 to 1926 he was Professor of Sociology, and from 1926 to 1931 Professor of Economics, at the University of Texas; and during the academic year 1930-31, just before he left Texas, he was Visiting Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. From 1931 till his death he was Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan. During this relatively brief period he devoted himself on the instructional side to economic theory, labor economics, the history of economic thought, economic history, European economic problems, and Latin-American economic problems. While in recent years his independent studies were largely in the latter two fields, he adjusted himself in a fine spirit of cooperation to the curricular needs of the Department of Economics, and his qualifications were so diverse and his personality so stimulating that these varied tasks were entrusted to him with unquestioning confidence and were performed by him with high competence.

The breadth of Professor Handman’s interests is further evidenced by his outside contacts and activities of an academic and public character. In 1918 he served as a special investigator for the Library of Congress and as a member of the Committee on Public Information; and he was also attached, during the same year, to the staff of the United States Inquiry on Terms of Peace. In 1919 he was Director of the Red Cross Social Service Institute for Texas; in 1924 he was President of the Texas Conference for Social Welfare, holding at the same time, and for a number of years, the position of Trustee of the Texas Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor; and for a period of some six or seven years, from 1926 to 1932, he served in various capacities as a member of the National Conference of Social Work. In 1929-30 he was a special investigator for the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement (the so-called Wickersham Commission); and for a period of three years, from 1931 to 1934, he represented the American Economic Association on the Social Science Research Council. In the summer of 1932 he was sent to Rumania by the Council to study race and culture contacts in that territory, the results being published as a chapter on conflict and equilibrium in a border area; and in connection with this visit he was decorated by the Rumanian Government as Knight, First Class, of the Order of Cultural Merit.

For the most part Professor Handman’s publications are more noted for the range of their subject matter and the suggestiveness of their approach than for the detailed factual or analytical treatment accorded by thorn to the varied matters with which they deal. His only book-length manuscript, a socio-economic study dealing with standards of living and pecuniary valuation, he did not deem ripe for publication, although he labored upon it for many years. His score or more of journal contributions deal in part with concrete social and economic conditions in Texas and Mexico, particularly in their reciprocal impacts; but his more generalized writings, reflecting a broad philosophical attack upon the questions at issue, are the papers of primary significance. He has written illuminatingly, for example, on the sociological methods of Pareto, on scientific trends in economics, on economic history and the economist, on conflicting ideologies in the American labor movement, on the sentiment of nationalism, on the bureaucratic culture pattern and political revolution, on war, economic motives, and economic symbols. These writings cannot be cramped into the traditional molds of the established disciplines. They embrace, with varying degrees of emphasis, the fields of sociology, economics, psychology, political science, and history. His approach was that of the so-called social sciences as a group, rather than of more or less artificially delimited segments of the field; and while he chiefly charted channels of thought through this means, rather than cultivated intensively the areas of his special interest, he performed his chosen tasks with much knowledge and deep insight.

For such results his long training and experience in both sociology and economics were not alone responsible; of equal importance was the broadening effect of his enormously wide reading and extensive travel. His great library was in no sense the reflection of a collector’s hobby. Visitors to his home, earlier in Austin and later in Ann Arbor, were frequently amazed at his ability to locate without the slightest difficulty any book he wanted from among his many thousands of uncatalogued volumes; and what is much more significant, as those who ever had the privilege of conversing with him at any length repeatedly learned, he knew what was in his books. He wrote and spoke from a full mind, which was also enriched by personal contacts and observations in much travel in Europe and the Americas. His great linguistic facility–embracing the spoken tongue as well as the written word in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Rumanian–rendered these travels a source of genuine enlightenment in the various fields of his interest. These factors, and not merely his actual publication record, contributed to Professor Handman’s wide recognition as a scholar. His professional colleagues in all parts of the country–particularly among the sociologists, economic historians, and students of Latin-America–entertained the highest respect and admiration for his knowledge and understanding. His counsel was sought often and in numerous quarters, and the meetings of the learned societies were very few in which he was not invited to participate as critic of the contributions of his older as well as younger colleagues.

In the last analysis, however, Professor Handman’s most significant service was rendered as a stimulating teacher and associate, who exerted a large influence upon the human beings with whom he came into contact. He was a highly cultivated gentleman, of broad sympathies and incisive understanding, who labored always in furtherance of human welfare. His great store of knowledge was not confined to the social sciences. He was steeped in general history, literature, philosophy, music, and the arts. The spirit molded by these humanistic influences was directed to the improvement of social living, in the narrower range of personal contacts as well as in the more complicated relationships of the great society. Toward this end he gave of himself unstintingly to his students, his associates, and the general community. Because of his lofty ideals, intellectual integrity, and endearing personality, he evoked satisfying and even gratifying responses throughout his career. That he was affectionately known to so many, both old and young, as Uncle Max was no mere accident. He built well and fruitfully. His memory will long endure.

D. H. Parker,
P. E. James,
I. L. Sharfman, Chairman

Source (also of image): University of Michigan Faculty History Project.

_________________

[from the University of Texas]

IN MEMORIAM
MAX SYLVIUS HANDMAN

Max Sylvius Handman, professor of sociology and economics, died in December of 1939.

Professor Handman was born on December 13, 1885, in Roman, Romania. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon in 1907 and a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1917.

Dr. Handman taught at the University of Chicago and the University of Missouri. He joined the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin in 1917 and resigned in 1931, when he accepted a position at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Professor Handman served on the Committee on Public Information in 1918. He was a special investigator for the Library of Congress and for the Wickersham Commission on Law Enforcement. He was also president of the Texas Conference on Social Work in 1924.

During the early 1930s Professor Handman was recalled to Romania by King Carol to carry out a study on the problems of minority populations. He was later decorated by King Carol with the Order of Cultural Merit, Knight, first class, for his service.

<signed>

John R. Durbin, Secretary
The General Faculty

Source: Biographical sketch prepared by Teresa Palomo Acosta and posted on the Faculty Council web site on January 18, 2001.

Categories
Chicago Courses Syllabus

Chicago. Economics From an Institutional Standpoint. Knight c.1934

Frank Knight’s teaching at Chicago covered four bases: core economic theory, the history of economics, social control of the economy and institutional economics. 

One truly can’t fault 1930’s Chicago economics for failing to be aware of the surrounding disciplines. On the other side of the political spectrum we witness the same breadth in Paul Douglas’ 1938 course, Types of Economic Organization.

The following course outline is out of place in the folder for Econ 304 in the Homer Jones Papers. Note that the “general alphabetical bibliography” mentioned in the outline was not in this folder.   The copy of the outline transcribed below apparently came from Homer Jones’ classmate, A.H. = “Alice Hanson”,  later his wife.

Milton Friedman’s 1976 remembrance of Homer Jones was reprinted in the St. Louis Fed’s Review November/December 2013, 95(6), pp. 451-54.

__________________

 Course Description

305. Economics from an Institutional Standpoint.—The relations between the classical-mathematical and institutional-historical views of economic phenomena; institutional factors as the framework and much of the content of the price economy; late nineteen century economic society as a complex of structural forms. Prerequisite: Economics 301 and some European economic history. C. 10:00, Knight.

Source:   Course description from the University of Chicago’s Announcement of courses for Summer Quarter 1934

_____________________________

[ penciled addition:] A. H. (n.d.)

Economics 305
Economics from Institutional Standpoint

Main Topics and Notes on Literature
(To be used with general, alphabetical bibliography)

I. American Institutional Economics

1. Veblen, Th. (Perhaps the one true example, except Handman, who has written little.)

a. The Place of Science in Civilization. (1919) Collected Essays. “Why is Economics not an Evolutionary Science,” 3rd paper, contains most of Veblen’s position. For his criticism of classical economics, especially “Professor Clark’s Economics” and “Limitations of Marginal Utility”; also three papers on “Presuppositions of Economic Science.” For V’s positive contribution, the title essay and second, on “Evolution of the Scientific Point of View” most important, to be followed with “Industrial and Pecuniary Employments,” “Gustav Schmoller’s Economics” and papers on Capital, Marx, and Socialism.

b. Economics in the Visible Future. A.E.R., 1925 (Cf. Discussion of J. M. Clark).

c. Other works: Instinct of Workmanship, Theory of the Leisure Class, and Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution most important. Theory of Business Enterprise social-critical, on line of Industrial and Pecuniary Employments. Later books (Nature of Peace, Higher Culture in America, Vested Interests, Engineers and Price System, Absentee Ownership, etc.) More satirical, and literary or controversial in appeal.

2. Handman, M. S.

3. Commons, J. R., Legal Economist. (Laws are not institutional in origin, but become institutions if long kept in force).

a. Legal Foundations of Capitalism. (Cf. Reviews, Mitchell, A.E.R., June, 1924 and Scharfman, Q.J.E., 1924-5.

b. “Institutional Economics,” A.E.R., Dec. 1931. (Corres. Regarding same, ibid., June, 1932.)

4. Mitchell, W. C. (Quantitative or statisticial economist, properly at opposite pole from institutionalism, but usually included in the movement. Has, like most economists, written some things of a really institutionalist character

a. “Quantitative Method in Economics” (Presidential Address) A.E.R., 1925. (His main position: not institutionalistic).

b. “Prospects of Economics.” (Leading Essay) in Tugwell, The Trend of Economics. (Institutional only in sense of being more or less critical of the older classical economists).

c. “The Role of Money in Economic Theory” (Institutional) A.E.R. 1916 Sup.; “The Backward Art of Spending Money.” A.E.R., 1912. “Human Behavior in Economics.”….Rev. of Sombart, Q.J.E. 1928-9; Bentham’s Felecific Calculus, P.S.Q., June, 1918.

d. On Mitchell’s main work on Business Cycles, see review by J. M. Clark, in Rice’s Case-Book, with Mitchell’s comment.

5. Copeland, Clark, Hale, Mills, Tugwell, Wolfe, etc., see Tugwell, (Editor) The Trend of Economics. Sometimes treated as an institutionalist manifesto, but with several “black sheep.” Cf. Review of the volume by A. A. Young, Q.J.E.

6. Other authors more or less sympathetic with the “movement,” see Boucke[sp?], Clark, Edie (uses the word for all recent economics he approves of) Hamilton.

 

II. Criticism of Institutional Economics.

1. Eva Flügge, in Jahrb. f. Nationalökon. u. Statistik, LXII, 1927. Important; on relations to German Historical School Position.

2. Homan, P. T. Essays on Veblen and Mitchell in Contemporary Economic Thought. Also Paper, A.E.R., Sup., Mar., 1932, and Discussion following, by various members. Cf. J.P.E., 1927 (Impasse, etc.) Q.J.E., 1928 (Issues, etc.)

3. Morgenstern, Schumpeter, Suranyi-Unger.

 

III. Earlier Historical Economics

1. Leslie, T.E.C. “The Philosophical Method in Political Economy” and “History of German Political Economy” in Essays in Moral and Political Philosophy.

2. Schmoller, The Mercantile System. (Example of an argument for the method. Cf. Veblen’s essay on Schmoller, under Veblen, above.

3. Ashley, W. J. Trans. of Roscher Program; also “The Study of Economic History” and “The Study of Economic History after Seven Years,” first two in Q.J.E., all in Surveys Historical and Economic.

4. Cohn, G., A.A.A., 1894 and Ec. Jour., 1905; Dunbar, Q.J.E. Vol. I (and in vol. Econ. Essays); Keynes, J.M., in Scope and Method of Pol. Econ.; Ingram, in History of Pol. Econ.; Nasse, Q.J.E., 1886; Rae, in Contemporary Socialism, pp. 193-221; Seager, J.P.E., 1892; Wagner, Q.J.E., 1886.

 

IV. The Neo-Historical School in Germany, and Related Work.

1. Parsons, T., Capitalism in Recent German Literature (Somart and M. Weber; best thing in English. For orientation see also Parsons, “Economics and Sociology” in Q.J.E., February, 1932).

2. Sombart, W., “Economic History and Economic Theory”, Ec. Hist. Rev.; Nationalökonomie u. Soziologie, Kieler Vorträge; also in G.D.S., Vol. III.

3. Diehl, Carl, Life and Work of Max Weber, Q.J.E. Vol.33.

4. Abel, Th., Chap. on Max Weber in vol., Systematic Sociology in German.

5. Weber, M., Protestant Ethic; and General Economic History.

6. Sombart, W., Die drei Nationalökonomien. Der modern Kapitalismus.

7. Weber, M., Essays in Ges. Aufsätze zur Wissenschaftslehre, esp. on Roscher und Knies, and Objektivität; finally, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (2 vols., in Grudriss d. Sozialökonomie).

8. Brinkmann, C., in Überbau etc., Schmollers Jahrb., 1930.; von Schelting, Zum Streit um die Wissenssoziologie, in Archiv. f. Sozialwiss. u. Sozialpol., v. 62, 1930. And references in both.

9. Related work in other countries. Tawney. Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, and other work; Simiand[sp?], La method positive dans l’économie politique (and French Neo-Positivism generally).

10. Another German movement closely related to neo-historism is the Universalistic economics of Spann. See in English his History of Economics. Also, C. Schmitt, Politische Romantik.

11. On the problem of Objectivity (Wertfreiheit) an essential issue throughout this movment, but especially under the influence of communism and fascism, see E. Spranger, Der Sinn d. Voraussetzungslosigkeit d. Wissenschaft (1930 and references.

 

V. ISSUES INVOLVED IN INSTITUTIONALISM

1. General Problems of Behavior (above bio-mechanics and chemistry and histology). Surveys, chiefly on level of physiology and animal behavior in Parmelee, Problem of Human Behavior; Allport, Social Psychology. Cf. Metchnikoff, Nature of Man; Wheeler, Ants; Emerson, Termites. Psychology Symposia, Clark University, Psychologies of 1925, also 1930; also, The Unconscious, sponsored Mrs. E. Dummer. Cf. Cooley, Dewey, Ellwood, McDougall, Sumner, Wallas. Survey of General Sociology, Park & Burgess, Introduction. Sociology from standpoint of society as a unit, Spann, Gesellschaftslehre; from that of personalities in relation, Hornell Hart.

2. History and Economic History. Müller-Lyer; Hobhouse, also Hobhouse, Wheeler & Ginsburg; Gras; E. Gross. On Economic Interpretation of History; Communist Manifesto: Engels; Labriola; See; Seligman. (Hanson; Knight; Matthews). History and Historical Method: Adams, G. B. [sp.?]; Adams, Brooks; Barth; Bernheim; Cheyney; Flint; Fueter; Teggart; Rickert; Windelband. (For Rickert-Windelband view of history, Chap. I of Park & Burgess Sociology with Bibliography. Cf. Small, Origins of Sociology.

3. Institutions. Besides Sociology, see Anthropology, works of (esp.) Lowie, Goldenweiser; also, Boas, Kroeber, Wallis, Wissler, etc.

4. Particular Institutions, (all more or less economic in basis and function). Language: Sapir; The Family; Westermarck, Calhoun; Law: Commons, Pound, Jenks, Holdsworth, Maine, Maitland, Vinogradoff. Religion: Barton, Carpenter, Carus, Cumont, Harnak, Simkhovitch, Sohm, Lagarde, Walker.

5. Economic Institutions, Specifically. Bibliographies in Sombart, Der modern Kapitalismus; use table of contents and index. Surveys of Economic History; Knight, Barnes & Fluegel, Economic History of Europe; H. See, Modern Capitalism (both with chapter bibliographies).

6. Methodology. See M. R. Cohen, “Social Science and Natural Science,” in Ogburn & Goldenweiser (Ed.) The Social Sciences in their Interrelations; also most of the 33 papers in the volume, all with bibliographies. Rice, S. A., (Ed.) Methods in Social Science, a Case-Book; 52 papers, mostly analyses of particular works or groups of works from methodological standpoint. Keynes, J. N., Scope and Method of Political Economy.

7. Idea of Style and Culture-Pattern. Compare Wöfflin, Kunstgeschichtliche Grundbegriffe; Sapir in Ogburn and Goldenweiser.

_____________________________

Source: Homer Jones Papers, Duke University, Rubenstein Library. Box 2, Folder “Frank H. Knight, Economics 304, lecture, notes, 1933, Oct.-1934.”

Image Source: University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-03516, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

__________________

Other sources for this course:

  • F. T. Ostrander’s “Notes on Frank H. Knight’s Course, Economics from an Institutional Standpoint, Economics 305, University of Chicago, 1933-34,” Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, 23(B), 2005.
  • Earl Hamilton’s  Economics 305 notes in Summer Quarter 1935, (Frank Knight Papers, Box 38, Folder 8) are cited among other places in Malcolm Rutherford’s “Chicago economics and institutionalism” in The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics (Ross B. Emmett, ed.).
  • In the Hyman Minsky Archive at Bard College are notes Minsky took in Economics 305 during the Spring Quarter 1942.
Categories
Chicago Courses Economists

Chicago. Undergraduate Macro. Stanley Fischer, 1973

While organizing my material from George Stigler’s papers, I ran across this reading list for an undergraduate macro course taught in 1973 at the University of Chicago by the then thirty year-old future professor of the so-called MIT gang that included Ben Bernanke, Mario Draghi, Olivier Blanchard, Maurice Obstfeld, and Paul Krugman (yes, there were others… worth another post). Learn this stuff (and I mean really learn this stuff) and you too might become chief economist of the World Bank, or first managing director of the IMF, or vice chairman of Citigroup, or governor of the Bank of Israel, or Vice Chairman of the Fed. Excuse me, I mean “and/or”.

_____________________________

Winter 1973

Stanley Fischer

ECONOMICS 202
Reading List

Texts:

Branson: Macroeconomic Theory and Policy, Harper and Row, 1972.

Friedman: An Economist’s Protest, Thomas Horton, 1972.

 

I. Introductory

Friedman, M. “A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis,” JPE, March/April, 1970, 193-238.

Johnson, H. G. “The Keynesian Revolution and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution,” AER Papers and Proceedings, May, 1971, 1-14.

Leijonhufvud, A. “Keynes and the Classics: Two Lectures on Keynes’ Contribution to Economic Theory,” London, Institute of Economic Affairs, 1969. Occasional Paper 30.

Tobin, J. Manuscript on Monetary Theory, Chapter 1. (This is on reserve in the library.)

 

II. Quantity Equation

Fisher, I. The Purchasing Power of Money, Macmillan, 1913, Chaps. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8.

Keynes, J. M., Tract on Monetary Reform, Macmillan, 1924, Chaps. 2, 3.

Patinkin, D. “The Chicago Tradition, the Quantity Theory, and Friedman,” JMCB, Feb., 1969, 46-70.

Pigou, A. C. “The Value of Money,” originally in Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1917, reprinted in Lutz and Mints.

 

III. The Demand for Money

Baumol, W. J. “The Transactions Demand for Cash: An Inventory Theoretic Approach,” QJE, Nov., 1952, reprinted in Thorn.

Cagan, P. “The Monetary Dynamics of Hyperinflation” in Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money, M. Friedman (ed.), University of Chicago Press, 1956.

Friedman, M. “The Quantity Theory of Money: A Restatement,” in OQM (also in Thorn and in Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money).

Keynes, J. M. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Macmillan, 1935, Chaps. 13, 15, 17.

Laidler, D. E. W. “Some Evidence on the Demand for Money,” JPE, Feb., 1966, 55-68.

Latané, H. A. “Cash Balances and the Interest Rate—A Pragmatic Approach,” RE and Sta., Nov., 1954, 456-60.

Tobin, J. “Liquidity Preference as Behavior Toward Risk,” RES, Feb., 1958, 65-86, reprinted in Thorn.

 

IV. The Supply of Money

Cagan, P. Determinants and Effects of Changes in the Money Stock, 1875-1960, Columbia University Press, 1965.

 

V. Inflation

Friedman, M. “The Role of Monetary Policy, “ AER, March 1968, 1-17, reprinted in OQM.

Phillips, A. W. “The Relation between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wages in the U.K., 1862-1957,” Economica, Nov., 1958, 283-99.

_____________________________

[References completed]

Lutz and Mints.   Lutz, Friedrich A. and Mints, Lloyd W. Readings in Monetary Economics.Volume 5 of The series of republished articles on economics. R.D. Irwin, 1951.

Thorn. [probably] Money and banking: theory, analysis, and policy; a textbook of readings. Edited with introd. by S. Mittra. [Consulting editor: Richard S. Thorn]. New York, Random House [1970]

OQM. Friedman, Milton. Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1969.

_____________________________

Source: Source: Stigler, George. Papers, Box 3, Folder “U of C Other, Miscellaneous, Corresp. w. Pres., etc”, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

 

Image Source: MIT Museum.

 

Categories
Economists Funny Business

Old David Hume, New iMac

 

 

Teaching the History of Economics frequently involves dressing dead economists in 21st century attire. Here my attempt at adding a new twist to the sport at David Hume’s expense. I truly hope he isn’t spinning in his Mausoleum because of me. For Hume fans the original drawing by Louis Carrogis can be viewed here.

 

iMacHume

Categories
Chicago Courses

Chicago. Imperfect Competition (Econ 307) Reading List. Lange, 1941

Today’s posting  comes from Norman M. Kaplan’s student notes from his graduate studies: a carbon copy of the reading list for Oskar Lange’s course at the University of Chicago given in the Autumn Quarter of 1941.

The Course description from the 1941-42 course announcements:

307. Imperfect Competition.—A study of price formation and production under various transitional forms between perfect competition and pure monopoly, such as monopolistic and monopsonistic competition, noncompeting groups, oligopoly and bilateral monopoly. The problem of equilibrium under such forms. Noncompeting groups and social structure. Application of the theory to the study of distribution of incomes, collective bargaining, excess capacity, price rigidity, and business cycles. Imperfect competition and economic policy. Prerequisite: Economics 301 or equivalent. Summer, 9:00; Autumn, 1:30; Lange.

Source: University of Chicago. Announcements of the College and the Divisions for the Sessions of 1941. Vol. XLI, No. 10 (April 25, 1941), p. 307.

_______________________________________

ECONOMICS 307
Autumn, 1941

 

E. Chamberlin. The Theory of Monopolistic Competition

Joan Robinson. Economics of Imperfect Competition

Roy F. Harrod. “Doctrines of Imperfect Competition,” QJE (May 1934)

G. Stigler. “Notes on the Theory of Duopoly,” JPE (Sept. 1940)

A. C. Pigou. Economics of Stationary States. Chap. 14-19, 23, 40-44

R. Triffin. Monopolistic Competition and General Equilibrium Theory.

Testimony of Frank Fetter before TNEC. Hearings before TNEC, Part 5

N. Kalder. “The Equilibirum of the Firm” Econ. J. (1934)

__________. “Monopolistic Competition and Excess Capacity,” Economica (Feb 1935)

P. Sweezy. “Demand under Conditions of Oligopoly,” JPE (Aug 1939)

R. L. Hall and C. J. Hitch. Price Theory and Business Behavior. Oxford Economic Papers No. 2, May, 1939

M. W. Reder. “Inter-Temporal Relations of Demand and Supply within the Firm,” Canadian J. of Economics and Political Science (Feb 1941)

H. Smith. “Advertising Cost and Equilibrium,” RES (Oct 1934)

G. Tintner. “Note on the Problem of Bilateral Monopoly,” JPE (1939)

M. Bronfenbrenner. “The Economics of Collective Bargaining,” QJE (Aug. 1939

Turner. “Theory of Industrial Disputes,” RES (Feb 1934)

G. Tintner. “Note on the Problem of Bilateral Monopoly,” JPE (1939)

M. Bronfenbrenner. “The Economics of Collective Bargaining,” QJE (Aug. 1939)

Turner. “Theory of Industrial Disputes,” RES (Feb 1934)

A. P. Lerner. “The Concept of Monopoly and Measurement of Monopoly Power,” RES (Feb 1934)

____________. “From Vulgar Political Economy to Vulgar Marxism,” JPE (Aug 1939)

M. Kalecki. Studies in Theory of Economic Fluctuations. Chap. 1.

 

Optional

J. E. Meade. An Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy, part II

E. A. G. Robinson. Structure of Competitive Industry.

F. Zeuthen. Problems of Monopoly and Economic Warfare, part 4.

F. Harrod. Price and Cost in Entrepreneur’s Policy. Oxford Economic Papers No. 2, May, 1939.

S. Nelson and W. G. Keim. Price Behavior and Business Policy. TNEC Mon. No. 1

Report of the Federal Trade Commission on Monopolistic Practices in Industry, Hearings before TNEC, part 5A

R. Triffin. “Monopoly in Particular and General Equilibrium Economics,” Econometrica (April 1941)

M. W. Reder. “Monopolistic Competition and the Stability Conditions,” RES (Feb 1941)

R. Shone. “Selling Costs,” RES (June 1935)

E. Hoover. “Spatial Price Discrimination,” RES (June 1937)

J. R. Hicks. “The Theory of Monopoly,” Econometrica, 1935

H. Hotelling. “Stability in Competition,” Econ. J., 1929

M. Bronfenbrenner. “Application of the Discontinuous Oligopoly Demand Curve,” JPE (June 1940)

R. H. Coase. “Some Notes on Monopoly Price,” RES (Oct. 1937)

Structure of the American Economy, chaps. 7, 8, 9

J. Robinson. “What is Perfect Competition?” QJE, 1934

E. Chamberlin. “Monopolistic or Imperfect Competition,” QJE, 1937

N. Kaldor. “Professor Chamberlin on Monopolistic and Imperfect Competition,” QJE, 1938

R. F. Kahn. “Some Notes on Ideal Output,” Econ. J, 1935

_______________________________________

Source: Kaplan, Norman Maurice. Papers, Box 2, Folder 7, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Image Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Yzgmunt Berling, Box 2. Lange is the civilian in the front left, soon to be General Yzgmunt Berling is the uniformed man on the right. The picture is from 1943.

 

 

Categories
Chicago Columbia Cornell Harvard Michigan Pennsylvania Research Tip Salaries

Professors’ and Instructors’ Salaries, ca. 1907

Some 103 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada provided useable answers to a survey of higher educational institutions having annual instructional salary budgets of over $45,000 (note assistant professors at the time cost about $2,000 per year) conducted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Results were published in 1908 (the Preface is dated April 1908), so we can reasonably presume the information reported is either from budgetary data for the academic year 1907-08 or for the academic year 1906-07. The 101 page Bulletin even went on to present data for professorial incomes in Germany!

As the entire Carnegie Foundation Bulletin can be downloaded, this posting is more of a research tip/teaser. I present below an excerpt for the top ten universities (out of 103), ranked by their annual appropriations for the salaries of instructional staff.

Plucking two sentences in lieu of an executive summary, I offer the following quotes from the Bulletin:

“Good, plodding men, who attend diligently to their profession [law, medicine and engineering are meant here] but who are without unusual ability, often obtain in middle life an income considerably higher tthan a man of the greatest genius can receive in an American professor’s chair.” [p. 25]

“A German who possesses such ability that he may expect in due time to become a full professor and who prepares himself for university teaching must expect to study until the age of thirty with no financial return, to study and teach as a docent till nearly thirty-six with an annual remuneration of less than $200, and to teach from thirty-six to forty-one with an annual remuneration of from $600 to $2,000, by which time he may become a full professor and will continue to receive his salary until his death [my emphasis]…If he succeeds… he may hope for a much larger reward and be assured of security in old age.” [p. vii]

____________________________

Average Salaries for Ranks, Age at Start of Rank, Student-Instructor Ratios

Columbia Harvard Chicago Michigan Yale
Total annual income
(thousands of dollars)
1.675 1.828 1.304 1.078 1.089
Annual Appropriation for Salaries of Instructing Staff
(thousands of dollars)
1.145 .842 .699 .536 .525
Average Salary of Professor $4,289 4,413 $3,600 $2,763 $3,500
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Professor 37.5 39 35
Average Salary of Associate Professor $3,600 $2,800 $2,009
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Associate Professor
Average Salary of Assistant Professor $2,201 $2,719 $2,200 $1,624 $2,000
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Assistant Professor 32 33 29
Average Salary of Instructor $1,800 $1,048 $1,450 $1,114 $1,400
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Instructor 29 28 24
Average Salary of Assistant $500 $347 $666
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Assistant 24 26 23
Total Number of Students in University 4,087 4,012 5,070 4,282 3,306
Total Instructing Staff in University 559 573 291 285 365
Ratio 7.3 7 17.4 15 9
Total Number of Students in Undergraduate Colleges and Non-professional Graduate Schools 2,545 2,836 3,902 2,899 2,620
Total Instructing Staff in Undergraduate Colleges and Non-professional Graduate Schools 253 322 211 198 236
Ratio 10 8.8 18.4 14.6 11.1

 

Average Salaries for Ranks, Age at Start of Rank, Student-Instructor Ratios

Cornell Illinois Wisconsin Pennsyl-vania UC Berkeley
Total annual income
(thousands of dollars)
1.083 1.200 .999 .589 .844
Annual Appropriation for Salaries of Instructing Staff
(thousands of dollars)
.511 .492 .490 .433 .408
Average Salary of Professor $3,135 $2,851 $2,772 $3,500 $3,300
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Professor 32.8
Average Salary of Associate Professor $2,168 $2,081 $2,200
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Associate Professor 29.6
Average Salary of Assistant Professor $1,715 $1,851 $1,636 $1,850 $1,620
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Assistant Professor 28.6
Average Salary of Instructor $924 $1,091 $1,065 $1,000 $1,100
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Instructor 27.5
Average Salary of Assistant  … $660 $542 $650 $850
Average Age at Entrance to Grade of Assistant 24.5
Total Number of Students in University 3,635 3,605 3,116 3,700 2,987
Total Instructing Staff in University 507 414 297 375 350
Ratio 7.1 8.7 10.4 9.8 8.5
Total Number of Students in Undergraduate Colleges and Non-professional Graduate Schools 2,917 2,281 2,558 2,618 2,451
Total Instructing Staff in Undergraduate Colleges and Non-professional Graduate Schools 283 190 231 166 218
Ratio 10.3 12 11 15.7 11.2

 

[From the table notes:]

“The grade of associate professor is only given when there is also the distinct grade of assistant professor in the same institution; otherwise the associate professor is classed throughout this discussion as an assistant professor.

Professors who are heads of departments received on an average $5,800 at the University of Chicago.

Figures for Cornell do not include the medical school.

 

Source: Table II in The Financial Status of the Professor in America and in Germany. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Bulletin Number Two. New York City, 1908, pp. 10-11.

Image Source: Website of the Carnegie Foundation.

P.S. A list of all Carnegie Foundation Publications.