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Berkeley Suggested Reading Syllabus

Berkeley. Graduate Macroeconomics. Syllabus, 1959

 

The following reading list from the University of California (Berkeley), Spring 1959, was found in the papers of Martin Bronfenbrenner who as far as I can determine was at Michigan State at the time. Perhaps someone who looks at the reading list (formatted more-or-less to look like the original mimeo) could identify which of the instructors listed for the course (Papandreou, Scitovsky, Caves, Minsky) might have assembled the reading list. The capitalization of book titles is not common. It is also interesting to note that income distribution, typically part of the second term of price theory elsewhere, is covered before turning to more familiar (today) macroeconomics territory.  Something else worth noting is the use of “macro-statics” and “macro-dynamics”. Comments welcome!

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Course Announcement

Graduate Courses

Admission to graduate courses requires, in all cases, the consent of the instructor. Undergraduate courses are not prerequisite to graduate courses, except where indicated.

 

200A-200B. Fundamentals of Economic Theory. (3-3) Yr.

            [Harvey Leibenstein, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Economics, in residence, fall semester only, 1958-59; Tibor Scitovsky, M.Sc., J.D., Professor of Economics; Philip W. Bell, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Economics, in residence, fall semester only, 1958-59; Richard E. Caves, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Economics; Hyman P. Minsky, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Economics.]

200A. Micro-economics: the behavior of firms and households, and the determination of prices and resource allocation patterns in a decentralized economy. Mr. Bell, Mr. Leibenstein, Mr. Scitovsky.

200B. Macro-economics: general interdependence and the behavior of aggregates in a decentralized economy. National income and employment determination. The impact of fiscal and monetary policies on employment, national income and its distribution. [Andreas G. Papandreou, Ph.D., Professor of Economics (Chairman of the Department)], Mr. Scitovsky, Mr. Caves, Mr. Minsky.

Source:   Bulletin of the University of California 1958-59. General Catalogue. Announcement of Courses, Departments at Berkeley. Fall and Spring Semesters, 1958-59. (July 10, 1958), pp. 109, 114.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Department of Economics
Spring, 1959

Reading List
Economics 200B

 

It is suggested that students purchase the following works:

J. M. Keynes, THE GENERAL THEORY OF EMPLOYMENT, INTEREST, AND MONEY
U. S. Department of Commerce, 1954 NATIONAL INCOME SUPPLEMENT to the survey of CURRENT BUSINESS.

I. The Pricing of Productive Services and the Distribution of Income

G. J. Stigler, THE THEORY OF PRICE, chaps. 10, 15
J. R. Hicks, THE THEORY OF WAGES, chaps. 1-4
E. Rolph, “The Discounted Marginal Productivity Doctrine,” in American Economic Association, READINGS IN THE THEORY OF INCOME DISTRIBUTION, pp. 278-293
F. A. v. Hayek, “The Mythology of Capital,” READINGS IN THE THEORY OF INCOME DISTRIBUTION, pp. 355-383
D. H. Buchanan, “The Historical Approach to Rent and Price Theory,” READINGS IN THE THEORY OF INCOME DISTRIBUTION, pp. 599-637
F. H. Knight, “Profit,” READINGS IN THE THEORY OF INCOME DISTRIBUTION, pp., pp. 533-546
B. F. Haley, “Value and Distribution,” SURVEY OF CONTEMPORARY ECONOMICS, Vol. I (ed. H. S. Ellis), pp. 26-48
N. Kaldor, “Alternative Theories of Distribution,” REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES, XXIII (1955-56), pp. 83-100
M. Kalecki, “The Distribution of the National Income,” READINGS IN THE THEORY OF INCOME DISTRIBUTION, pp. 197-217

II. Macro-statics: National Income and Aggregate Demand

U. S. Department of Commerce, 1954 NATIONAL INCOME SUPPLEMENT
O. Lange, “Say’s Law: A Restatement and Criticism,” STUDIES IN MATHEMATICAL ECONOMICS AND ECONOMETRICS (ed. O. Lange, F. McIntyre, and T. O. Yntema), pp. 49-68

III. Consumer Behavior, the Consumption Function and Income Levels

J. S. Duesenberry, “Income-Consumption Relations and Their Implications,” in INCOME, EMPLOYMENT AND PUBLIC POLICY, ESSAYS IN HONOR OF ALVIN H. HANSEN, pp. 54-81.
J. Tobin, “Relative Income, Absolute Income, and Saving,” MONEY, TRADE, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH, ESSAYS IN HONOR OF J. H. WILLIAMS, pp. 135-156
M. Friedman, A THEORY OF THE CONSUMPTION FUNCTION, chaps. 2, 3
P. A. Samuelson, “The Simple Mathematics of Income Determination,” INCOME, EMPLOYMENT AND PUBLIC POLICY, pp. 133-155

IV. Business Behavior, the Level of Investment and the Rate of Interest

T. Scitovsky, WELFARE AND COMPETITION, pp. 216-226
J. Meyer and E. Kuh, “Acceleration and Related Theories of Investment,” REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS, XXXVII, (August, 1955), pp. 217-230
A. P. Lerner, “On the Marginal Product of Capital and the Marginal Efficiency of Investment,” JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, LXI (February, 1953), pp. 1-15
J. R. Hicks, VALUE AND CAPITAL, chaps. 11-13
N. Kaldor, “Speculation and Economic Stability,” REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES, VII (October, 1939), pp. 1-27
J. Tobin, “Liquidity Preference and Monetary Theory,” REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS, XXIX (May, 1947), pp. 124-130

V. Macro-static Models

P. Lerner, THE ECONOMICS OF CONTROL, chaps. 21-25
L. R. Klein, “Theories of Effective Demand and Employment,” JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, LV (April, 1957), pp. 108-131
J. R. Hicks, “Mr. Keynes and the ‘Classics’; A Suggested Interpretation,” READINGS IN THE THEORY OF INCOME DISTRIBUTION, pp. 461-476
F. Modigliani, “Liquidity Preference and the Theory of Interest and Money,” READINGS IN MONETARY THEORY, pp. 186-240
D. Patinkin, “Price Flexibility and Full Employment,” READINGS IN MONETARY THEORY, pp. 252-283

VI. Macro-dynamics and Economic Growth

E. D. Domar, “Expansion and Employment,” AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, XXXVII (March, 1947), pp. 34-55
R. Solow, “A Contribution to the Theory of Growth,” QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS, LXX (February, 1956), pp. 65-93

VII. Inflation

A. C. L. Day, AN OUTLINE OF MONETARY ECONOMICS, CHAPS. 19-31

Source: Duke University, Rubenstein Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Martin Bronfenbrenner Papers, 1939-1995. Box 26, Folder “Micro-econ + Distribution, 2 of 2, 1958-67, n.d.”.

2 replies on “Berkeley. Graduate Macroeconomics. Syllabus, 1959”

Interesting find. I don’t think textbooks in 1959 reflected the material in the course. Probably only by the early 1970s. Hope you can trace back who was teaching the course.

Maybe someone working in the Duke Economists’ Papers Archive will check sometime if Bronfenbrenner was corresponding that year with any of the instructors listed in the Berkeley course catalogue.

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