Category: Economic History

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Semester Examinations in US Economic History. Sprague, 1903-1904

Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague

 

Exam questions for the Economic History of the United States taught by Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague in academic years 1901-02, and 1902-03 have been posted earlier.

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ECONOMICS 6
Enrollment. 1903-04

Economics 6. Dr. Sprague. — The Economic History of the United States.

Total 58: 14 Graduates, 18 Seniors, 18 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 66.

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ECONOMICS 6
Mid-Year Examination. 1903-04

  1. Give reasons for the failure to engage in diversified agriculture in the South before 1860.
  2. Contrast the Southern plantation managed by owners with those under the management of overseers.
  3. Why should 1839 rather than 1837 be regarded as the close of the speculative movement of the thirties?
  4. Why may it be considered fortunate that the national government did not take an important part in the early internal improvement movement?
  5. To what extent was distrust of private corporations a factor in the internal improvement movement?
  6. Contrast the effects of protection upon the cotton and upon the woollen industry.
  7. Are wages and profits higher in protected than in other occupations, (a) raw materials, (b) manufactures?
  8. What, in your opinion, was the strongest argument for protection in 1816? What seems to you the strongest argument which has general validity?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1903-04.

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ECONOMICS 6
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

  1. How is immigration said to have affected the birth rate?
  2. Point out any indications which give promise of future negro progress.
  3. Briefly.
    1. The Homestead Law.
    2. The Copper Act of 1869.
    3. Reciprocity in the Tariff Act of 1890.
    4. The effects of specific duties according to Walker’s Report of 1846.
  4. Point out striking differences in the protective movement before and since 1860, taking illustrations especially from the Woollen Act of 1867 and the Act of 1890.
  5. The cotton manufacture in the South and the young industries argument.
  6. Why has the iron and steel industry developed more satisfactorily than the woollen industry?
  7. Account for changes in the character of the foreign trade of the United States with reference to the excess of imports or of exports.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, p. 29.

Image Source: Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague portrait in the Harvard Class Album 1915, colorised by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Bibliography Economic History Harvard

Harvard. Short Bibliography of Economic History for “Serious-minded Students”, Gay, 1910

Edwin Francis Gay

Economic history played a much larger role in the education of economists at the turn of the twentieth century than it does now. Course reading lists from the earlier time are relatively rare, it appears that assignments were written on the blackboard as part of lectures. Nonetheless, from printed bibliographies we do get a sense of the scale and scope of the literature advanced students would have been exposed to.

In 1910 Harvard published 43 short bibliographies covering “Social Ethics and Allied Subjects”, about half of which were dedicated to particular topics in economics and economic sociology. The project was coordinated by Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, Francis G. Peabody.

Economic History is the “allied subject” covered in the bibliography provided by Professor Edwin F. Gay and transcribed below. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has added links to digital copies of all but one of the ca. 90 items listed by Gay! 

UPDATE (July 16, 2023). Friend of Economics in the Rear-View Mirror, Thea Don-Siemion (Twitter: @StationryBandit), suggested a comparison with A bibliography of historical economics to 1980 by D. N. McCloskey and G.K. Harsh (Cambridge University Press, 1990). The book can be borrowed online, an hour at a time, at archive.org by registered users. To think there is still a residual gap of over forty years already!

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Previously posted  Harvard short bibliographies

I.2. Economic Theory by Taussig, 1910

I.7. Social Statistics by Ripley, 1910

II.3. Taxation by Bullock, 1910

IV.5 Economics of Socialism by Carver, 1910

IV.6 Socialism and Family/Christian Ethics by McConnell, 1910

IV.7. Trade Unionism by Ripley, 1910

IV.8. Strikes and Boycotts by Ripley, 1910

IV.12 Thrift Institutions by Oliver M. W. Sprague.

IV.13. Social Insurance by Foerster, 1910

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Economic History
Edwin F. Gay

The reader interested in economic history must gather his information from many books, for the most part dealing with special phases of the subject and limited as to period and country, rather than from comprehensive manuals or surveys. Since economic history is but a portion or aspect of general history, isolating for convenience of study the organized efforts of mankind to satisfy its material needs, works on political and constitutional history must be used, though they vary greatly in the degree of emphasis placed upon the economic factors. Indeed, for the student who cannot read German and French, such general histories must often be his sole reliance. This is particularly true of the economic history of Greece and Rome and of large parts of the mediæval and modern economic history of other than English speaking countries. This brief list cannot include general histories, but it must necessarily comprise some of the more important German and French contributions to economic history.

The economic history of England must hold first place in such a list, and therefore the books in that field are given the larger amount of space. Then follow some of the more important works relating to the continent of Europe and to the United States.

Cunningham, W. An essay on western civilization in its economic aspects. [Cambridge Historical Series.] Volume I, ancient times; Volume II, mediæval and modern times. Cambridge, University Press, 1898-1900, pp. xii, 220; xii, 300.

A good general introduction to economic history.

Bücher, Karl. Die Entstehung der Volkswirtschaft. 1 Aufl., 1893; 7 Aufl., ibid., 1910. Tübingen: H. Laupp, vii, 464 S.

Bücher, Karl. Industrial evolution. Translated from the third German edition [of the above] by S. M. Wickett. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1901, pp. xiv, 393.

A series of suggestive essays, illuminating the development of industrial organization. The book has exerted a marked influence.

Day, Clive. A history of commerce. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907, pp. xliv, 626.

The best brief manual; well proportioned and with a good background of economic history; it has a useful bibliography.

Lindsay, W. S. History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce. 4 vols. London: Sampson, Low & Co., 1874-76. [Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV]

An older standard work in this field; more exhaustive than any of its successors. The last two volumes (1816-74) were reprinted separately in 1876.

 

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Cunningham, W. The growth of English industry and commerce, . Volume I, Early and middle ages, fourth edition, 1905; [:] Modern times, Volume II [, The Mercantile System] and [Volume] III [Laissez Faire], fourth edition, 1907. Cambridge: University Press.

This work, constantly improved in the successive editions since the first in 1882, is of importance as a book of reference for English economic history, and should be used, if possible, in preference to the smaller but still commendable manuals on the subject, such as those by Cunningham and McArthur, Gibbins, Warner or Cheyney. Each volume has a helpful bibliography.

Ashley, W. J. An introduction to English economic history and theory. Part 1, The middle ages; Part 2, The end of the middle ages. Third edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1894-98, pp. xii, 227; xii, 501.

A scholarly and readable work.

Traill, H. D., editor. Social England: a record of the progress of the people in religion, laws, learning, arts, industry, commerce, science, literature and manners. By various writers. 6 vols., New York: George Putnam’s Sons, 1893-97 [Volume I, From the earliest times to the accession of Edward I (1895); Volume II, From the accession of Edward I to the death of Henry VII (1894); Volume III, From the accession of Henry VIII to the death of Elizabeth (1896); Volume IV, From the accession of James I to the death of Anne (1895); Volume V, From the accession of George I to the Battle of Waterloo (1896); Volume VI, From the Battle of Waterloo to the General Election of 1885 (1898)]; new edition [illustrated], Traill, H. D., and Mann, J. S., editors, 6 vols., New York: George Putnam’s Sons, 1901-4. [Volume I (1901); Volume II (1902); Volume III(1902); Volume IV (1903); Volume V (1904); Volume VI (1904)]

A poorly edited though useful book; the contributions of Prothero, Maitland, Powell and others more than counterbalance the less scholarly contributions. Brief bibliographical notes accompany each chapter.

Seebohm, Frederic. The English village community. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1883, pp. 464.

A stimulating pioneer book. Its conclusions are controverted by Vinogradoff and Maitland.

Vinogradoff, Paul. Villainage in England; essays in English mediæval history. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892, pp. xii, 464.

Vinogradoff, Paul. The growth of the manor. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1892, pp. 384.

These, with the same author’s “English Society in the Eleventh Century” (1908), are not easy reading, but indispensable for an understanding of earlier social history and manorial institutions.

Maitland, Frederic W. Domesday book and beyond: Three essays in the early history of England. Cambridge: University Press (Boston: Little, Brown & Co.), 1897, pp. xiii, 527.

The best starting point for the study of the vexed problems of social agrarian history presented by Domesday book.

Page, T. W. The end of villainage in England. Publications of the American Economic Association. New York: The Macmillan Company, third series, Volume I, No. 2, May, 1900, pp. 99.

A valuable contribution to the discussion of an important question.

Gross, Charles. The gild merchant. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890, pp. xxii, 332; xi, 447. [Volume I;Volume II]

The author’s chief interest in this book is in the development of the municipal constitution, but his investigations are of fundamental importance for a knowledge of the beginnings of mercantile associations in England. The book has a carefully prepared bibliography.

Rogers, J. E. Thorold. Six centuries of work and wages; the history of English labor. 1 vol. in 2 parts. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co. (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), 1884, pp. 591.

A summary of conclusions based upon his monumental “History of agriculture and prices in England” (7 vols., 1866-1902) [Volume I, 1259-1400; Volume II, 1259-1400; Volume III, 1401-1582; Volume IV, 1401-1582; Volume V, 1583-1702; Volume VI, 1583-1702; Volume VII, 1703-1793, Part I; Volume VII, 1703-1793, Part II], the most considerable collection of prices available for any country; but both his price averages and views must be accepted with caution. Eight selected chapters of this work have been reprinted (London, 1895, Social Science Series).

Unwin, George. Industrial organization in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1904, pp. vii, 277.

A well-written attempt to prove the continuity of labor organizations from the medieval craft gild to the modern trade union. For a different opinion see the Webbs’ “History of trade unionism,” second edition, 1907.

Schanz, Georg. Englische Handelspolitik gegen Ende des Mittelalters. 2 Bde. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1881, xix, 684; xiii, 672 S. [Volume I; Volume II]

The best account of English commercial policy and commercial institutions under Henry VII and Henry VIII. The second volume consists largely of documentary materials.

Ehrenberg, Richard. Hamburg und England im Zeitalter der Königin Elizabeth. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1896, 362 S.

A valuable study of the commercial struggle between England and the Hansa towns under Elizabeth.

Hewins, W. A. S. English trade and finance chiefly in the seventeenth century. London: Methuen (University Extension Series), 1892, pp. 174.

This work treats concisely and interestingly of the chief commercial companies and labor organizations of the seventeenth century and of three important commercial treaties of the eighteenth century.
An account of the English commercial companies is given in Cawston and Keane’s “The early chartered companies, 1296-1858” (London: Edward Arnold, 1896, pp. 329), a compilation from material which is found in Macpherson’s “Annals of commerce” (London, 1805, 4 vols.) [Volume I; Volume II; Volume III; Volume IV]. For further account of the commercial companies, especially the Continental, consult Bonnassieux, “Les grandes compagnies de commerce” (Paris: Plon, Nourrit et Cie., 1892, pp. 562).

Hunter, William W. History of British India. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899-1900. 2 vols. [Volume I,To the overthrow of the English in the Spice Archipelago; Volume II, To the union of the old and new companies under the Earl of Godolphin’s award] [Completed by P. E. Roberts owing to the author’s death.]

A readable and reliable history of the English India Company.

Andréadès, A. Histoire de la Banque d’Angleterre: ses origines, sa fondation, son developpement, etc. 2 vols. in 1. Paris: Rousseau, 1904, pp. 455. Translated by Christabel Meredith. London: P. S. King & Son, 1909. [Essai sur la foundation et l’histoire de la Banque d’Angleterre (1694-1844), Paris: Rousseau, 1901]

A competent study; it contains an extensive bibliography.

Prothero, R. E. Pioneers and progress of English farming. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1888, pp. 290.

A brief and picturesque account of the history of English agriculture.

Johnson, A. H. Disappearance of the small landholder. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909, pp. 164.

The most recent and in many respects most useful discussion of the subject. W. Hasbach’s “Die englischen Landarbeiter.” (Leipzig, 1894. English translation by Ruth Kenyon, with preface by Sidney Webb. London: P. S. King & Son, 1908, pp. 470, with bibliography), deals with another aspect, the history of agricultural labor.

Toynbee, Arnold. Lectures on the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century in England. Fourth edition, London, 1894, pp. 319 (with a memoir by B. Jowett). New edition, New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1908 (with reminiscences by Lord Milner), pp. 282.

Suggestive lectures originally addressed to workingmen.

Mantoux, Paul. La Révolution industrielle au xviiie siècle. Paris: G. Bellair, 1906, pp. 543.

An excellent description (with good bibliography) of the industrial revolution in England, with, however, no adequate study of the causes and economic significance of the movement. The reader may find some assistance on this side from Hobson, “Evolution of modern capitalism” (London, 1896).

Macrosty, H. W. Trusts and the state. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. (London: Grant Richards), 1901, pp. 318.

A well-informed historical treatment of the subject.

Webb, Sidney and Beatrice. History of trade unionism. New edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907, pp. xxxiv, 558.

The best book on the subject.

Hutchins, B. L., and Harrison, A. History of factory legislation. Preface by Sidney Webb. London: P. S. King & Son, 1903, pp. xviii, 372.

Complete and reliable. Extensive bibliography.

Armitage-Smith, George. The free trade movement and its results. Chicago: Herbert S. Stone & Co., 1898, pp. 244.

An historical study written from the standpoint of a free trader.

Bowley, A. L. England’s foreign trade in the nineteenth century. Revised edition, 1905. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., 1893, pp. 165.

A brief but valuable statistical discussion.

Ashley, W. J., editor. British industries. Second edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907, pp. xvii, 232.

Eight lectures, each by an expert in his field.

Nicholls, George. History of the English poor law. 2 vols. [Volume I; Volume II] London: 1854. New edition with revision by the author, a biography by H. G. Willink, and a supplementary volume [III] by Thomas Mackay; 3 vols. [Volume I, A.D. 924 to 1714; Volume II, A.D. 1714 to 1853; Volume III, A.D. 1834 to the present time] London: P. S. King & Son, 1898–9.

The standard work on the subject.

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Lamprecht, Karl. Deutsches Wirtschaftsleben in Mittelalter. 3 Tle. in 4 Bdn. Leipzig: Dürr, 1885-86. [Volume I.1; Volume I.2; Volume II, Statistisches Material und Quellenkunde; Volume III, Quellensammlung]

An important work. Though based on a documentary study of economic conditions only in the Moselle valley for the period ending in the early sixteenth century, it nevertheless deserves its wider title. The same author’s “Deutsche Geschichte” emphasizes—perhaps over-emphasizes—the economic and social aspects of German history.

[Volume I, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 1-4);
Volume II, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 5-7);
Volume 3, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 8-10);
Volume 4, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 11-13);
Volume 5.1, Neuere Zeit (Books 14-15);
Volume 5.2, Neuere Zeit (Books 15-16);
Volume 6, Neuere Zeit (Books 17-18);
Volume 7.1, Neuere Zeit (Books 19-20);
Volume 7.2, Neuere Zeit (Book 21);
Volume 8, Neueste Zeit (Book 22);
Volume 9, Neueste Zeit (Book 23);
Volume 10, Neueste Zeit (Book 24);
Volume 11, Neueste Zeit (Book 25);
Volume 12, Anhang, Bibliographie, Register
Ergänzungsband I, Tonkunst—Bildende Kunst—Dichtung–Weltanschauung;
Ergänzungsband II.1, Wirtschaftsleben—Soziale Entwicklung];
Ergänzungsband II.2, Innere Politik—Äußere Politik]

Von Inama-Sternegg, K. T. Deutsche Wirtschaftsgeschichte. 3 Tle. in 4 Bdn. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1879-1901

[Volume I, bis zum Schluss der Karolingerperiode; Volume II, des 10. Bis 12. Jahrhunderts; Volume III, in den letzten Jahrhunderten des Mittelalters (1. Teil); Volume III, in den letzten Jahrhunderten des Mittelalters (2. Teil)]

Covers the period to the end of the middle ages. The only general work on the subject.

Pigeonneau, H. Histoire du commerce de la France. 2 vol. 2e édition. [Volume I; Volume II] Paris: Cerf, 1887-88.

A standard work, covering the period ending with the age of Richelieu.

Heyd, W. Geschichte des Levantehandels im Mittelalter. 2 Bde.  [Volume I; Volume II] Stuttgart: Cotta, 1879, 604, 781 S.

The French translation (Histoire du commerce du Levant au moyen-âge. 2 vols. [Volume I; Volume II] Leipzig: 1885-86, revised by the author) is preferable to the German original.

Levasseur, É. Histoire des classes ouvrières et de l’industrie en France avant 1789. 2 vol. [Volume 1; Volume 2] 2e édition. Paris: Rousseau, 1900-01.

Levasseur, É. Histoire des classes ouvrières et de l’industrie en France de 1789 à 1870. 2 vol. [Volume 1; Volume 2] 2e édition. Paris: Rousseau, 1903.

Levasseur, É. Questions ouvrières et industrielles en France sous la troisième république. Paris: Rousseau, 1907, pp. xxii, 968.

These three works together form the most available general survey not only of the history of the French working classes but of French economic history.

Sée, H. Les classes rurales et le régime domanial en France au moyen-âge. Paris: Giard et Brière, 1901, pp. xxvii, 638.

A convenient survey of French agrarian conditions in the middle ages, with bibliography.

Fuchs, [Carl Johannes]. Die Epochen der deutschen Agrargeschichte und Agrarpolitik. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1898, ii, 32 S. [Beilage zur Allgemeinen Zeitung No 70 und 71 vom 29. und 30. März 1898]

An admirable summary of the results of recent investigation in German agrarian history.

Ehrenberg, R. Das Zeitalter der Fugger. 2 Bde. [Volume I; Volume II] Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1896, xv, 420; iv, 367 S.

A noteworthy contribution to the financial and commercial history of the sixteenth century.

Wiebe, G. Zur Geschichte der Preisrevolution des 16ten und 17ten Jahrhunderts. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1895, ix, 419 S.

The best study of the subject, clear and critical.

Schmoller, G. Das Merkantilsystem in seiner historischer Bedeutung. A chapter from his “Studien über die wirtschaftliche Politik Friedrichs des Grossen” (1884) [Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich Band 8, S. 1-62] and reprinted in the Umrisse und Untersuchungen. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1898, pp. 1-60. English translation by W. J. Ashley: The mercantile system. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1896, pp. viii, 95.

Gives an understanding of the significance of the commercial and political policies of the period when the mercantile system prevailed. For the history of mercantilist doctrine, the English reader may consult J. K. Ingram’s “History of political economy.” New York: The Macmillan Company, 1888, pp. xv, 250. Second edition (unaltered), 1907. More recent books are available in French and German.

Sargent, A. J. Economic policy of Colbert. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899, pp. vii, 138.

A judicious and concise survey of Colbert’s work, based mainly on P. Clément: “Histoire de Colbert et de son administration” (Paris, 1892) [Volume I; Volume II] and Clément’s edition of the “Lettres, instructions, et mémoires de Colbert” (Paris, 1861-70). [Volume I; Volume II (1); Volume II (2); Volume III (1); Volume III (2) ; Volume IV; Volume V; Volume VI; Volume VII; Errata Général et Table Analytique]

Shepherd, R. P. Turgot and the six edicts. New York: Columbia University Press, 1903, pp. 263.

A scholarly study of the policy of Turgot.

Knapp, G. F. Die Bauernbefreiung und der Ursprung der Landarbeiter in den älteren Teilen Preussens. 2 Tle. [Volume I; Volume II] Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1887, vii, 352; vi, 473 S.

A most valuable study of the condition of the Prussian peasants and the work of emancipation. The English reader will find a less authoritative account in Seeley’s “Life and times of Stein,” [Volume I; Volume II; Volume III] and Morier’s “Agrarian legislation of Prussia,” chapters from each being reprinted in B. Rand’s “Selections illustrating economic history,” fourth revised edition. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1903, pp. vii, 647.

Sombart, W. Der moderne Kapitalismus. 2 Bde. [Volume I; Volume II] Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1902, xxxiv, 669; viii, 646. S.

Sombart, W. Die deutsche Volkswirtschaft im 19ten Jahrhundert. Berlin: Bondi, 1903, pp. xviii, 647.

These two works together form a stimulating interpretation of the recent economic development of Germany.

Ashley, Percy. Modern tariff history. London: Murray, 1904, pp. xviii, 367.

Contains a useful summary of the tariff history of Germany and France and a less useful one of the United States.

Liefmann, R. Kartelle und Trusts. 2 erweit. Aufl. Stuttgart: E. H. Moritz, 1910, 210 S. [5. Erw. und erb. Aufl. 1922]

A popular account with especial reference to Germany, written by a careful student of the subject.

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Emery, H. C. Economic development of the United States. Cambridge: University Press, 1904, in Cambridge Modern History, Volume VII: “The United States,” pp. 687-722.

The best brief survey. Two fairly good text-books in this field are: Coman, K., “The industrial history of the United States” (New York: Macmillan, 1905, pp. xviii, 343), and Bogart, E. L., “Economic history of the United States” (New York: Longmans, 1907, pp. 522).

Callender, G. S. Selections from the economic history of the United States, 1765-1860. Boston: Ginn & Company, 1909, pp. xviii, 869.

A comprehensive selection of original materials together with helpful editorial comment. Volume II (1860-1900) is in preparation.

Beer, G. L. The commercial policy of England toward the American colonies. New York: Columbia University Press, 1903, pp. 167.

An important monograph.

Hammond, M. B. The cotton industry. Publications of the American Economic Association. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1897, pp. viii, 382.

An historical study, especially good for the period before the Civil War.

Taussig, F. W. State papers and speeches on the tariff. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1893, pp. vii, 385.

Contains Hamilton’s report on manufactures, Gallatin’s free-trade memorial, Walker’s treasury report of 1845, and Clay’s and Webster’s speeches on the tariff of 1824.

Taussig, F. W. The tariff history of the United States. Fifth edition. New York: Henry Putnam’s Sons, 1903, pp. xi, 422.

This is the standard work on the subject. It is a scholarly investigation written from the free-trade standpoint. See also an article by the same author in the Quarterly Journal of Economics (November, 1909, Volume XXIV, pp. 1-38), on “The tariff debate of 1909 and the new tariff.” For the protectionist side of the tariff controversy see E. Stanwood’s “History of American tariff controversies.” 2 vols. [Volume I; Volume II] Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1903.

Dewey, D. R. Financial history of the United States. Second edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1903, pp. xxv, 530.

The standard text-book in its field. It contains excellent bibliographical notes.

Bullock, C. J. Essays on the monetary history of the United States. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1900, pp. x, 288.

Best on the period before the revolution.

Catterall, R. C. H. The second bank of the United States. Chicago: University Press, 1903, pp. xiv, 538.

A scholarly study.

Mitchell, W. C. A history of the greenbacks. Chicago: University Press, 1903, pp. xvi, 577.

An exhaustive work.

Noyes, A. D. Forty years of American finance. New York: Henry Putnam’s Sons, 1909, pp. ix, 418.

An excellent account of American financial history since the Civil War.

Hadley, A. T. Railroad transportation. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1885, pp. iv, 269.

An early and valuable treatise.

Johnson, E. R. American railway transportation. Second edition. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1908, pp. xviii, 434.

The best text-book on the subject.

Source: A guide to reading in social ethics and allied subjects; lists of books and articles selected and described for the use of general readers by teachers in Harvard University. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University, 1910) pp. 10-21.

Image Source: Portrait of Edwin Francis Gay, colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. Monochrome image from The World’s Work, Vol. XXVII, No. 5, March 1914.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. U.S. Economic History. Enrollment and Exams. Sprague, 1902-1903

Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague

From the announcement of courses for the 1902-03 year, it would appear that the economics department reckoned with Frank Taussig’s return after a one year medical leave since he was listed to teach several courses, including U.S. economic history. However his leave needed to be extended and Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague had to teach the course alone. This post provides the course description, enrollment figures and the final exam questions from 1902-03 for Economics 6.

Materials for the U.S. economic history course (Economics 6) taught at Harvard during the academic year 1901-02 have been posted earlier. They include a reading list for reports to prepared by the students. It was jointly taught by Oliver M.W. Sprague and James Horace Patten.

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Economics 6
Course Description
1902-1903

  1. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30. Professor Taussig and Dr. Sprague.

Course 6 gives a general survey of the economic history of the United States from the close of the eighteenth century to the present time, and aims to show on the one hand the mode in which economic principles are illustrated by American experience and, on the other, the extent to which economic conditions have influenced social and political development. The following are among the subjects considered: aspects of the Revolution and commercial relations during the Confederation and the European wars; the history of the protective tariff policy and the growth of manufacturing industries; the settlement of the West and the history of transportation, including the early canal and turnpike enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building and the establishment of public regulation of railways; various aspects of agrarian history, such as the public land policy, the growth of foreign demand for American produce and the subsequent competition of other sources of supply, certain social topics, such as slavery and its economic basis, emancipation and the present condition of the Negro, the effects of immigration. Finally, the more important features of our currency and financial history are reviewed. Comparisons will be made from time to time with the contemporary economic history of Europe.

The course is taken advantageously with or after History 13. It is open to students who have taken Economics 1, and also to Juniors and Seniors who are taking that course.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science[Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Economics 6
Enrollment
1902-1903

Economics 6. Dr. Sprague. — The Economic History of the United States.

Total 120: 1 Gr., 36 Se., 59 Ju., 15 So., 9 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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Economics 6
Mid-Year Examination
1902-1903

  1. Was the colonial relationship economically advantageous to New England?
  2. The sale of public lands to 1821.
  3. The effect of the credit system in the South upon cotton growing.
  4. The investment of foreign capital and internal improvements in the United States.
  5. Contrast the views of Webster and Clay upon conditions in 1824, and give reasons for their difference of opinion.
  6. The United States “can without difficulty obtain from abroad the manufactured supplies of which they are in want, but they experience numerous impediments to the emission and vent of their own commodities. . . . A constant and increasing necessity on their part for the commodities of Europe, and only a partial or occasional demand for their own in return, could not but expose them to a state of impoverishment compared with the opulence to which their political and natural advantages authorize them to aspire.”
    — Hamilton.
    What would Gallatin have said of this argument for protection? What is your own opinion?
  7. Why did not the opening of the Erie Canal at first greatly change the course of Western trade?
  8. Explain and illustrate the highly speculative character of American economic development.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).

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Economics 6
Year-End Examination
1902-1903

  1. The tariff act of 1883.
  2. “There are, however, some aspects of the tariff question on which the inductive and historical mode of inquiry has been more helpful. The protective policy of the United States has had unexpected successes and surprising failures.” Illustrate.
  3. Factors tending to the localization of industries.
  4. Why was the United States a more attractive country to immigrants in 1850 than in 1820?
  5. The future delivery system in the sale of cotton.
  6. What conclusions may be drawn from our experience under the tariffs of 1846 and 1857?
  7. Duties upon raw wool and their consequences.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague portrait in the Harvard Class Album 1915. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

 

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Economic History of Europe since 1500. Final Exam. Gay, 1902-1903

 

The previous post provided material for the first-semester course on mediaeval economic history taught at Harvard by economics instructor Dr. Edwin Gay during the 1902-03 academic year. In this post Economics in the Rear-view Mirror provides the course description, enrollment, and final exam questions for the follow-up course on European economic history since 1500.

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Economics 11
Course announcement
1902-03, Spring term

  1. 2hf. The Modern Economic History of Europe (from 1500). Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Mr. Gay.

This course, while intended to form a sequel to Course 10, will nevertheless be independent, and may usefully be taken by those who have not followed the history of the earlier period. The main thread of connection will be found in the history of trade; but the outlines of the history of agriculture and industry will also be set forth, and the forms of social organization dependent upon them. England, as the first home of the “great industry,” will demand a large share of attention; but the parallel or divergent economic history of the great countries of western Europe will be considered side by side with it.

Course 11 is open to those who have passed satisfactorily either in History 1 or Economics 1.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science[Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Economics 11
Course Enrollment
1902-03, Spring term

Economics 11. 2hf. Dr. Gay. — The Modern Economic History of Europe (from 1500).

Total 18: 7 Gr., 1 Se., 5 Ju., 4 So., 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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Economics 11
Final Examination
1902-03, Spring term

  1. Describe briefly (a) métayage, (b) Zunftzwang, (c) commenda, (d) South Sea Bubble.
  2. State succintly what you associate with the names of (a) John Hales, (b) Jean Bodin, (c) Colbert, (d) Nicholas Barbon.
  3. Give the chief points of interest in the economic history of the reign of Richard II. Where modern writers differ in opinion on any of these points, mention their views.
  4. (a) Summarize the history of wage regulation by public authority in England, noting the views of Rogers, Cunningham and Hewins as to the effectiveness of this public regulation.
    (b) By what causes and to what extent was the position of the wage-earner affected in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
  5. Name the three English statutes between 1560 and 1660 which you consider of most economic importance, and outline their provisions and significance.
  6. When and why did the gild system of industry come to an end in England, France, and Germany? Describe the forms of industrial organization which displaced it.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Edwin F. Gay in Harvard Class Album 1906.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Mediaeval economic history. Final exam. Gay, 1902-1903

Edwin Francis Gay (1867-1946) came to Harvard in 1902 as an instructor of economic history taking over William Ashley’s courses after having spent a dozen years of training and advanced historical study in Europe (Berlin, Ph.D. in 1902 under Gustav Schmoller, also he was in Leipzig, Zurich and Florence). He and Abram Piatt Andrew received five-year contracts as assistant professors of economics in 1903. In just four years he actually advanced to the rank of professor. He served as a principal advisor to Harvard President Charles Eliot in establishing the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1908. After the favored candidate to be the founding dean of the business school, William Lyon Mackenzie King (Ph.D., Harvard 1909) turned down the offer, instead continuing as deputy minister of labor in Canada then later becoming prime minister of Canada, President Eliot turned to Gay. In nine years Gay put his stamp on the Harvard Business School, apparently playing an instrumental role in the use of the case method (pedagogic transfer from the law school) with a strong emphasis on obtaining hands-on experience through practical assignments with actual businesses. He is credited with establishing the academic degree of the M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration), the credential of managers.

During WW I Gay worked as adviser to the U.S. Shipping Board and then went on to become editor of the New York Evening Post that would soon go under, giving Gay “an opportunity” to return to Harvard where he could teach economic history up through his retirement in 1936. Gay was among the co-founders of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Council of Foreign Relations. He and his wife moved to California where he worked at the Huntington library where his bulk of his papers are to be found today. 

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Economics 10
Course Announcement
(1902-03, first semester)

  1. 1 The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Mr. Gay.

In this course special attention will be given to England, but its economic life will be treated in connection with the general economic and social development of western Europe.

Supplementary reading on the part of the student will be expected and tested by written reports.

The object of this course is to give a general view of the economic development of society during the Middle Ages. It will deal, among others, with the following topics: the manorial system in its relation to mediaeval agriculture and serfdom; the merchant gilds and the beginnings of town life and of trade; the craft gilds and the gild-system of industry, compared with earlier and later forms; the commercial supremacy of the Hanseatic and Italian merchants; and the break-up of the mediaeval organization of social classes.

It is desirable that students in this course should already possess some general acquaintance with mediaeval history, and those who are deficient in this respect will be expected to read one or two supplementary books, to be suggested by the instructor. The course is conveniently taken after, before, or in conjunction with History 9; and it will be of especial use to those who intend to study the law of Real Property. It is open to those who have passed satisfactorily either in History 1 or in Economics 1.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science[Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Economics 10
Course Enrollment
1902-03 (First term)

Economics 10. 1hf. Dr. Gay. — The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe.

Total 16: 6 Gr., 1 Se., 2 Ju., 6 So., 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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Economics 10
Final Examination
(1902-03, First Semester)

  1. Explain briefly:—
    1. firma unius noctis.
    2. judex, villicus, major.
    3. damnum emergens, lucrum cessans.
    4. lettre de foire.
  2. Describe briefly:—
    1. reprisals, noting the action taken in the first Statute of Westminster.
    2. the staple.
    3. the views of Nicholas Oresme on money (following Cunningham).
  3. Comment on the following:—
    1. “Omnis etiam qui venit in hunc locum liber hic sedebit, nisi fucrit servus alicujus et confessus fuerit dominum.”
    2. What were the other chief characteristics and privileges of the mediaeval town?
  4. What was the Gild Merchant? The Craft Gild? The relation between them?

Take two of the following three questions.

  1. Outline the mediaeval history of the Levant trade. By what routes and through what hands were the Oriental products distributed over Western Europe?
  2. a. Give an account of the origin, extent and organization of the Hanseatic League.
    b. Give the chief facts (with dates) in the history of the ‘Steelyard.’
  3. Sketch the medieval monetary history of England to the introduction of a gold coinage, with the date and significance of this step. How far was this history parallel with that of France and Germany, and what was its chief point of difference?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).
Also included in: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Edwin F. Gay, seated in office, 1908. From Wikipedia. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror

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Economic History Exam Questions Johns Hopkins Undergraduate

Johns Hopkins. Exam questions for undergraduate economic history. Broadus Mitchell, 1937-1938

 

Associate Professor Broadus Mitchell taught the standard undergraduate survey course in economic history at Johns Hopkins in 1937-1938. He resigned from Johns Hopkins the following year over the matter of admitting an African American student to the department of political economy (the admission was fought by the Johns Hopkins University administration).

Much more about Mitchell can be found in the 90 page transcript of an oral history interview with him from August 14 and 15, 1977 that can be found in the Southern Oral History Program Collection at the website Documenting the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

It is the regret of my life that at Johns Hopkins University I did not pursue to the bitter end the defense of the proposal to admit a qualified Negro graduate student in the Department of Political Economy. He was Edward S. Lewis, who was the Secretary of the Urban League, of which I had been the first President in Baltimore. He was a graduate, I believe, of the University of Chicago and maybe of the Columbia University School of Social Work; I’ve forgotten. At any rate he was in every way a highly qualified, mature applicant for admission to graduate work. He was a leading black social worker in Maryland, where there’s a large negro population with a much higher incidence of poverty, disease, and so on than the whites. And he had been doing graduate work in economics at the University of Pennsylvania, commuting weekends. He could only get weekends, because he was holding his position as Secretary of the Urban League in Baltimore. And this was unsatisfactory and costly and interrupted and so on, so why shouldn’t he come to Johns Hopkins where we had every facility? … pp. 76-77.

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Course Description
Economic History
1937-1938

12 B. Economic History. Associate Professor Mitchell. Three hours weekly through the year. M., Tu., W., 9.30. Gilman Hall 314.

In the first part of this course a study is made of English economic history, the purpose being to show not only the industrial development of the English people as such but the way in which the economic motive has influence the whole of social life. Particular attention is given to the characteristic forms of economic organization—the manorial system, the guild system, the entrance of capitalism and the causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution. Special reference is made to those features of English economic history which have influenced industrial life in the United States. The second part of the course is a survey of the economic history of our own country. Here the same effort is made, as in the case of England, to show the bearing of economic considerations on political evolution, especially in the direction of the growing importance of the Federal Government.

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Semester Examinations
Economic History
1937-1938

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
MID-YEAR EXAMINATION
POLITICAL ECONOMY 12 B

Dr. Mitchell

February 1, 1938
9 a.m.

  1. Contrast life in an English manorial village of the 13th century with agricultural life in the United States today.
  2. What were the main causes and consequences of the enclosures movement?
  3. Contrast the conduct of industry and commerce in the towns of England in the Middle Ages with industrial and commercial life in the United States today.
  4. Trace the transition from the guild system through the domestic system to capitalism.
  5. Describe the Industrial Revolution.
  6. Give a brief account of two of the following movements: labor unionism, the factory acts movement, Chartism, socialism, consumers’ co-operation.
  7. What is meant by the economic interpretation of history?
  8. What is the status of the laissez faire theory in the United States today?
  9. Make an argument that mankind would be better off if the inventors of the 18th century never lived.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
FINAL EXAMINATION
IN
POLITICAL ECONOMY 12 B

Dr. Mitchell

May 31, 1938
9 a.m.

  1. What was the economic position of the country at the time the Constitution was formed?
  2. Discuss the “American System”
  3. Give an outline of banking from 1791 to the adoption of the Federal Reserve Act.
  4. Contrast economic conditions in North and South on the eve of the Civil War.
  5. Tell what you can of the growth of large-scale business enterprise and its economic and legislative consequences.
  6. Discuss the protective tariff in America.
  7. Identify briefly: Mathew Carey, Friedrich List, Salmon P. Chase, Nicholas Biddle, James B. Duke, Samuel Slator.
  8. Tell what you know of governmental intervention in economic life during the depression which began in 1929.

Source: Johns Hopkins University, Eisenhower Library. Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy. Curricular Materials. Series 6. Box 2. Folder “Department of Political Economy — Exams, 1936-1940”.

Image Source:  Broadus Mitchell in his office, ca. 1938. From the Johns Hopkins university graphic and pictorial collection. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. US Economic History. Readings and Exams. Sprague and Patten, 1901-1902

In addition to a course announcement with description, enrollment figures, and the mid-term and/or year-end examination questions, we have a reading list for “reports”, presumably to be written or presented by students, for a course in U.S. economic history jointly taught by O.M.W. Sprague and James Horace Patten (see below) at Harvard during the 1901-1902 academic year.

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JAMES HORACE PATTEN

Born at Spring Hill, Kan., Dec. 23, 1877. Son of Henry Harrison and Gertrude (Pratt) Patten.

School: Paola and Olathe High School; Wentworth Military Academy.

Year in College: 1896-97. A.B.; AM. 1899; LL.B. 1905; A.B. 1896 (Kansas State University).

Married: Olive Young Latimer, Oct. 12, 1909, Belton, S.C.

Occupation: Lawyer.

Address: (business) 204 Second Street, S.E., Washington, D.C.; (home) 1918 S. Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Was Instructor of Economics, Harvard College, 1900-02; Austin Teaching Fellow, Harvard, 1902-03; appointed Professor of Political Science, University of New Brunswick, in May, 1902; resigned in August, 1902, to enter Harvard Law School; admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in June, 1905; South Carolina Bar in 1909; District of Columbia in 1906; resided in Washington, D.C., since 1905, office 204 Second Street, S.E.; residence 1918 S Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. I was general counsel, Farmers’ educational Co-operative Socitey, 1909-16; assistant secretary, Farmers’ National Congress, 1914-18; and secretary, 1918-20; secretary, Immigration Restriction League since 1912; member, Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Theta Pi, Mason, University Club, Washington, D.C.; national vice-president, Patriotic Order Sons of America.

Source: Harvard Class of 1897. Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Report 1897-1922, pp. 421-422.

James Horace Patten. “The Immigration Problem and the South” from The American (Raleigh, N.C.: April 1, 1906).

His death

[Died Apr. 25, 1940 (AP) Washington, April 26: “James H. Patten, 62, attorney and publicist, died yesterday from effects of illunitating gas a short time after his wife found him in the kitchen of their home”. 

A certificate of suicide was issued. “Mrs. Patten told police her husband had been in ill health and suffering from a nervous disorder for some time.” The Greenville News, S.C. April 27, 1940, p. 10]

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Course Announcement,
1901-1902.
Economics 6

For Undergraduates and Graduates

  1. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30. Dr. [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague and Mr. [Austin Teaching Fellow, James Horace] Patten.

Course 6 gives a general survey of the economic history of the United States from the close of the eighteenth century to the present time, and aims to show on the one hand the mode in which economic principles are illustrated by American experience and, on the other, the extent to which economic conditions have influenced social and political development. The following are among the subjects considered: aspects of the Revolution and commercial relations during the Confederation and the European wars; the history of the protective tariff policy and the growth of manufacturing industries; the settlement of the West and the history of transportation, including the early canal and turnpike enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building and the establishment of public regulation of railways; the development of corporations and the formation of industrial combinations; various aspects of agrarian history, such as the public land policy, the growth of foreign demand for American produce and the subsequent competition of other sources of supply, certain social topics, such as slavery and its economic basis, emancipation and the present condition of the Negro, the effects of immigration. Finally, the more important features of our currency and financial history are reviewed. Comparisons will be made from time to time with the contemporary economic history of Europe.

The course is taken advantageously with or after History 13. It is open to students who take Economies 1, and also to Juniors and Seniors who are taking that course.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Annual Announcement of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics (June 21, 1901).  Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902. Box 1. Bound volume: Univ. Pub. N.S. 16. History, etc. p. 42.

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Course Enrollment, 1901-02
Economics 6.

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 6. Dr. Sprague and Mr. Patten. — The Economic History of the United States.

Total 125: 7 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 53 Juniors, 19 Sophomores, 13 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1901-1902, p. 77.

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REPORTS IN ECONOMICS 6.

[In pencil: “1901-02 ?”]

COLONIAL TOPICS.

  1. ENGLISH COLONIAL POLICY. — WAS IT BENEFICIAL TO THE COLONIES OR THE MOTHER COUNTRY?

Beer: Commercial Policy of England toward her Colonies, chs. iv-viii.

Rogers: Economical Interpretation of History, 318-340.

Rabbeno: American Commercial Policy, 48-91.

Smith: Wealth of Nations, Bk. IV, ch. vii.

Ricardo: Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, ch. xxv.

Bernard: Select Letters on the Trade Government of America.

  1. SPANISH COLONIES AND COLONIAL POLICY.

Burke: European Settlements in America, Part III, chs. iii-v, viii, ix, xi, xvi.

Robertson: History of America, Bk. VIII.

Lewis: Government of Dependencies, 134-165, 351-9.

Merivale: Colonization and Colonies, I, 1-44.

Moses: The Casa de Contratacion of Seville. — Annual Report of the American Historical Assn., 1894, pp. 93-123.

Winterbotham: History of America, IV, 176-202.

Reynal: History of the Indies, III, 336-426, IV, 275-345.

Humbolt: Political Essays on the Kingdom of New Spain, I, 230-257, III, 231-251, 283-294, 324-3336, 394-418, 490, IV, 27, 55, 92-127.

  1. THE COLONIAL LABOR PROBLEM. — DIFFICULTY OF SECURING A SUPPLY OF LABOR AND THE MEANS USED TO OVERCOME IT.

(a) Transportation of Criminals, and Indentured Servants.

Merivale: Colonization and Colonies, Part III, Lecture ix, xii, xiii.

Brownlow: Slavery and Serfdom in Europe, Lecture v.

Fisk: Old Virginia and Her Neighbors, II, 174-189.

Bruce: Economic History of Virginia, chs. ix, x.

Weeden: Economic and Social History of New England, 83-87, 520-522.

American Husbandry, I, 169-70. (Lib. No. 47.42.)

Lucas: Historical Geography of the British Colonies, II, 47.

(b) The African Slave Trade.

Weston: Progress of Slavery, 153-163, (ch. xi).

Merivale: Colonization and Colonies, Lecture ix-xi.

Lucas: Historical Geography of the British Colonies, III, chs. ii, iii.

DuBois: Suppression of the African Slave Trade, 1-6.

Cobb: Historical Sketch of Slavery, ch. IX.
Bandinel: Some Account of the Trade in Slaves, etc., Part I.
Edwards: History of the West Indies, Bk. IV, chs. ii-v.

Dean: Connection of Massachusetts with Slavery.

Weeden: Economic and Social History of New England, ch. xii.

Bruce: Economic History of Virginia, ch. xi.

  1. COLONIAL CURRENCY. — SCARCITY OF SPECIE CURRENCY AND SOME OF THE SUBSTITUTES FOR IT.

White: Money and Banking, 120-134, 248-258.

Weeden: Economic and Social History of New England, pp. 32-45, 314-336, 473-491, 674-678.

Macfarlane: Pennsylvania Paper Currency. — Publications of American Academy of Pol. and Soc. Science, Vol. VIII, 50.

Bruce: Economic History of Virginia, ch. xix.

Ripley: Financial History of Virginia, ch. xix.

Davis: Currency Discussions in Mass. in the 18th Century. — Quarterly Journal of Economics, XI, 70, 136.

Douglass: A Discourse Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America. — Economic Studies, II, No. 5.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY.

  1. COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH GREAT BRITAIN 1783-1830. — NAVIGATION ACTS AND THE WEST INDIA TRADE.

Lyman: The Diplomacy of United States, II, chs. ii, iii, xii.

Edwards: History of the West Indies, Bk. VI, ch. iv.

Lindsay: History of Merchant Shipping, II, 250-256, 345-407, III, 53-65.

Jay: Life and Writings of John Jay, I, 330-334.

Sumner: Life of Jackson, 164-170.

Rand: Economic History since 1763. (2d Ed.), 515-517.

Adams: Works, VIII, 241, 241 (sic), 310, 327, 350, (273-466).

Madison: Writings, II, 158, 170, 173, 197, 233. 480-483.

  1. SOME REPRESENTATIVE VIEWS OF TARIFF POLICY.

(a) Webster and the Position of New England.

Webster: Works, III, 94 (1824), 224 (1828), V, 161 (1846).

Taussig: State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, 317-385.

For the votes of each state on each Tariff Act, see Sen. Rept. No. 2130, 2d Sess. 51st Congress, pp. 118-120.

(b) Calhoun and McDuffie. — Opposition of the South. — . Had South Carolina just cause for complaint?

Houston: A [Critical] Study of Nullification in South Carolina, chs. iii, iv.

Calhoun: Works, II, 163-173, VI, 2-34.

McDuffie: In Annals of Congress, 18th Cong., I, 1552, 1677, II, 2402-2425; in Congressional Debates, III, 1003, 1006, 2400-2404, VI, 843-847, VIII, Part III, 3142.

(c) Hamilton and Gallatin.

Gallatin: Report on Manufactures, 26-29 (Lib. No. 7372, 25).

Taussig: State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, 1-62, 109-213.

Rabbeno: American Commercial Policy, 287-324.

(d) List and Carey.

Rabbeno: American Commercial Policy, 325-383.

List: National System of Political Economy, 189-352.

Carey: Principles of Social Science: I, chs. iv, §§1-3, viii, x, xiv, xv, xix, xx. xxvi-xxix.

  1. THE TARIFF POLICY AND THE GROWTH OF INDUSTRY 1846-1860. — HOW DID THE LOW DUTIES AFFECT MANUFACTORIES AND WAGES?

Webster: Works, V, 225-235.

Winthrop: Cong. Globe, 1845-46. Appendix, 972-973.

Taussig: Tariff’ History of the U.S., 109-154.

Bolles; Financial History of the U. S., 449-466

Grosvenor: Does Protection Protect, chs. ix, xi, xvi, xix-xxii, xxiv.

Bishop: History of American Manufactures, II, 505 (483-505).

Wright: Comparative Wages, 23-38, 191-199.

Aldrich: Report on Wholesale Prices, Wages, and Transportation, Part I, 11-16. (Sen. Report, No. 1394, 52d Cong. 2d Sess.)

Compendium of the 7th Census, 178-184.

Compendium of 8th Census, 59-75.

  1. GROWTH AND DECAY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING.

Shaler: The United States of American, I, 518-624.

Kelley: The Question of Ships, ch. i-v, xi.

Bates: American Marine, chs. ii, viii-xii, xxii.

Wells: Decay of Our Ocean Mercantile Marine. (Lib. No. v. 6034).

Lindsay: History of Merchant Shipping, IV, chs. iii, iv.

Lynch: Causes of the Reduction of American Tonnage.

SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST.

  1. SPREAD OF COTTON CULTURE AND ITS EFFECT ON SLAVERY. — HAD SLAVERY A PERMANENT ECONOMIC BASIS IN THE SOUTH?

Hammond: The Cotton Industry, chs. ii, iii.

Merivale: Colonization and Colonies. I, 295-302.

Wakefield: The Public Lands a Mine of Wealth, 44-46.

_________: England and America, ii, 1-17.

Sterling: Letters from the Slave States, 302-322.

Hildreth: Despotism in American, ch. iii.

Weston: Progress of Slavery, chs. i-iv, xii, xiv-xvi.

Cairnes: The Slave Power, chs. ii-v, especially 83-92.

Olmsted: The Cotton Kingdom, I, ch. 1; II, 361-398; or

_________: A Journey in the Back Country, ch. viii.

_________: Seaboard Slave States, chs. iii. iv, viii.

Russell: North America, its Agriculture and Climate, chs. viii-x, (xv-xvi).

  1. IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSPORTATION, AND GROWTH OF INTERNAL COMMERCE AS INDICATED BY LAKE, RIVER, AND CANAL TRAFFIC, 1813-1860.

McMaster: History of United States, III, 459-496, 1V, 381-424.

Million: State Aid to Railways in Missouri, 7-29, 196-229.

Adams: Public Debt, 317-342.

Flagg: Internal Improvements in New York. — Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine, XXIII-XXV. (See also, VI, 439, XVIII, 488.)

Poor: Manual of the Railroads of the U. S., 1868-9, pp. 9-19.

Kettell: In Eighty Years’ Progress, 165-167, 178-190.

U.S. Treas. Dept.: Report on the Internal Commerce of the United States, 178-233.

Andrews: Report on Colonial and Lake Trade.

De Bow: Industrial Resources of the South and West, I, 444-453.

  1. SALE AND SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. — PUBLIC LAND POLICY

McMaster: History of U.S., II, 476-482, III, 89-146.

Hart: Practical Essays on American Government, 233-258.

Donaldson: The Public Domain, chs. vii, viii, x, xiii, xx, xxvii.

Gallatin: Writings, III, 209-229.

Colton: Life, Correspondence, and Speeches of Henry Clay. I. ch. xx, VI. 56-85.

American Annual Register, 1829-30, p. 67.

Sato: History of the Land Question in the U.S. — Johns Hopkins University Studies in Hist. and Pol. Sci., IV, Nos. vii-ix.

CURRENCY AND FINANCE

  1. THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY HAMILTON AND GALLATIN.

Hildreth: History of U.S., IV, 152-176; 206-220; 252-256; 536-538.

Dunbar: Some Precedents followed by Hamilton, Q.J.E., III, 32-59.

Hamilton: Reports on Public Credit; Works, III, 1-45, 457-529. (Lodge Ed., ii, 97-108; 475-529.)

Adams: Life of Gallatin, 267-274; 292-297

______: History of U.S., I, ch. x.

Howe: Taxation in the U.S. under the Internal Revenue System. chs. i, ii.

  1. BANK NOTES AS DEPRECIATED CURRENCY AND THE HISTORY OF THE SECOND UNITED STATES BANK, 1814-1846.

Hildreth: History of U.S., IV, 256-262.

Bancroft: A Plea for the Constitution, etc., Part iii.

White: Money and Banking, 271-313.

Gallatin: Considerations on the Currency and Banking System of the U.S., 5-6, 19-84. (See also Writings, 235-6; 253-336.)

Sumner: History of American Currency, 59-169; or

______: Life of Jackson, 236-276; 291-342.

McMaster: With the Fathers, 237-252.

  1. THE INDEPENDENT TREASURY AND EFFORTS TO SECURE A SPECIE CURRENCY, 1836-1860.

Bolles: Financial History of the U.S., II, 351-358.

Hildreth: Banks and Banking, 109-113; 170-177.

Gouge: A Short History of Paper Money and Banking in the U.S., 103-106: 111-116.

Van Buren: Special Message of 1837, Statesman’s Manual, 1051.

Webster: Works, IV, 312, 324.

Benton: Thirty Years’ View, II, 124, 164.

Kinley: The Independent Treasury of U.S., chs, i-iii, vii.

Sumner: History of American Currency, 161-189.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003.Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1901-1902”.

______________________________

Mid-Year Examination 1901-02
ECONOMICS 6

  1. Define or explain:
    1. Enumerated Commodities.
    2. The Molasses Act.
    3. Specie Circular.
    4. Independent Treasury.
    5. The “National Pike.”
    6. Pre-emption.
    7. The tariff of abominations.
  2. The iron industry in the United States to 1860 and the influence of the tariff upon its development.
  3. Why was protection favorably regarded in the West and South after the War of 1812?
  4. The relation of the public lands to the tariff after 1825.
  5. What economic reasons were advanced against the renewal of the charter of the second bank of the United States? Were they well-founded?
  6. The history of internal improvements in Michigan, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, distinguishing carefully important differences.
  7. The connection of the settlement of the Mississippi valley, improvements in transportation facilities, and changes in the nature and relative importance of occupations in different sections of the country. What statistics show the connection?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1901-02.

______________________________

Year-End Examination 1901-02
ECONOMICS 6

  1. Trace with specific illustrations the steps taken for the elimination of railroad competition between 1868 and 1878.
  2. Conditions leading to the greater diversification of agriculture in the United States. What peculiar obstacles present themselves in the South?
  3. Why are duties on raw materials less defensible than those on manufactures? Give specific illustrations.
  4. Why have the silk duties been more successful than the linen duties?
  5. The value of the inductive method in studying the effects of protective duties.
  6. What kinds of money might have increased in quantity under U.S. laws in 1874, in 1885 and in 1901?
  7. Why is the United States acquiring a larger proportion of the current production of gold now than ten or fifteen years ago?
  8. Defects in the fiscal system of the United States. Illustrate from experience during the war of 1812 and the Civil War

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1902-03. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College (June, 1902), p. 25.

Image Source: Wikimedia. Muse Clio from the illustrations to Ovid by Virgil Solis (1562).

Categories
Economic History M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Reading list for Problems in Russian Economic History. Domar, 1975

Evsey Domar’s 1970 article, “The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom” (The Journal of Economic History. Vol. XXX, March, 1970) made him a one-hit wonder in the field of economic history. But what a hit!

He shared some of his life-long passion for Russian economic history  with M.I.T. graduate students back when M.I.T. could boast having three professors teaching economic history — Charles Kindleberger covered modern European history, Evsey Domar focussed on his Russian peasants, and Peter Temin was there for U.S. economic history of the new cliometric fashion. Just about ten years ago Peter Temin wrote a memoir on “the rise and fall of economic history at MIT“.

One salient memory I took from Domar’s Russian economic history class is associated with the very first meeting when Domar, not a very tall man, lugged into the classroom a huge rolled-up map of Russia to hang on the blackboard. He hardly referred to the map so I presumed he once ordered it in a fit of enthusiasm that far exceeded its pedagogical usefulness. Or maybe Domar was a kindred spirit of The Dude (see “Lebowski, Big”) and thought his Russia map really tied the classroom together. 

________________________

PROBLEMS IN RUSSIAN ECONOMIC HISTORY
14.732

E.D. Domar
Spring Term 1974-75

The purpose of this list is to indicate to the student the sources in which the more important topics of the course are discussed from several points of view. He will be held responsible for the topics rather than for “who said what.”

Since it is difficult to understand the economic and social developments in a country without a good general background in the country’s history, it is suggested that students who have not had a course in Russian history familiarize themselves with some standard textbook, such as A History of Russia by Nicholas V. Riasanovsky (New York: Oxford University Press, 1963), to which some references will be made here.

The book which will be used from cover to cover is Jerome Blum, Lord and Peasant in Russia from the Ninth to the Nineteenth Century (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961). It would be best to buy a copy. (Paperbacks are available).

Each student is expected to write a term paper of about 30 double-spaced pages on a subject agreed upon with the instructor.

There will be a 80 minute final examination on the last day of class in May.

PART I – KIEVAN RUSSIA
PART II – APPANAGE RUSSIA

REQUIRED

Riasanovsky, Parts I, Il, and III.

Blum, Introduction, Chapters 1-7.

RECOMMENDED

Karl Bosl, Alexander Gieysztor, Frantisek Graus, M. M. Postan, and Ferdinand Seibt, Eastern and Western Europe in the Middle Ages (Harcourt Brace, Jovanovich, Inc., 1971).

Francis Dvornik, The Slavs in European History and Civilization (Rutgers University Press).

James Gregory, Russian Land, Soviet People: A Geographical Approach to the U.S.S.R. (London, 1968).

V. O. Kliuchevsky, A History of Russia, translation by C. J. Hogarth.

Peter Liashchenko, History of the National Economy of Russia to the 1917 Revolution, translated by L. M. Herman (New York: 1949, 1970).

Frank Nowak, Medieval Slavdom and the Rise of Russia (Greenwood Press, Inc.)

W. H. Parker, An Historical Geography of Russia (London: 1968).

Henry Paszkiewicz, The Origin of Russia (New York: 1969).

M. N. Pokrovaky, History of Russia from the Earliest Times to the Rise of Commercial Capitalism(Bloomington, Indiana: 1966).

B. H. Slicher (van Bath), The Agrarian History of Western Europe, A.D. 500-1850.

Arnold J. Toynbee, A Study of History, Vol. III, pp. 391-454.

George Vernadsky, Kievan Russia (New Haven: 1948).

George Vernadsky, The Mongols and Russia (New Haven: 1953).

Warren B. Walsh, Readings in Russian History from Ancient Times to the Post-Stalin Era, Vol. I, (Syracuse University Press, 1963).

PART III — THE DEVELOPMENT OF SERFDOM BEFORE PETER I
XVI and XVII CENTURIES

REQUIRED

Riasanovsky, Part IV (as a background)

Blum, Chapters 8-14.

Evsey D. Domar, “The Causes of Slavery or Serfdom,” The Journal of Economic History. Vol. XXX, March, 1970, pp. 18-32.

Richard Hellie, Enserfment and Military Change in Muscovy (Chicago: 1970). Introduction, Parts I, II (omit the details and get the man ideas).

Joseph T. Fuhrmann, The Origins of Capitalism in Russia: Industry and Progress in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Chicago: 1972), Chapters 1, 2, 10-13 (omit the details).

RECOMMENDED

Paul Avrich, Russian Rebels, 1600-1800 (Schocken Booke, 1972).

Lloyd E. Berry and Robert O. Crummey, editors, Rude & Barbarous Kingdom (The University of Washington Press, 1968).

V. O. Kliuchevsky, A Course in Russian History: The 17th Century (Quadrangle Books, Inc.)

James Mavor, An Economic History of Russia (New York: 1965), two volumes.

R. E. F. Smith, The Enserfment of the Russian Peasantry (Cambridge: 1968).

George Vernadsky, The Tsardom of Moscow, 1547-1682, in two volumes, (London and New Haven: Yale University Press, 1969).

Jerome Blum, “The Rise of Serfdom in Eastern Europe,” American Historical Review, Vol. LXII, 1957, pp. 807-836.

T. S. Wellan, The Early History of the Russia Company (New York: 1969).

See also Part I and II of the Reading List.

PART IV – FROM PETER I TO THE EMANCIPATION OF THE PEASANTS
1700 — 1861

REQUIRED

Blum, Chapters 15-27.

James Mavor, An Economic History of Russia (New York: 1925, 1965), pp. 100-141 (omit the details).

A. Kahan, “Continuity in Economic Activity and Policy During the Post-Petrine Period in Russia,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. XXV, March, 1965, pp. 61-85.

A. Kahan, “The Costs of ‘Westernization’ in Russia: The Gentry and the Economy in the Eighteenth Century,” The Slavic Review, Vol. XXV, March, 1966, pp. 40-66.

R. Portal, “The Industrialization of Russia,” The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, Vol. VI, Part II, (Cambridge: 1965), pp. 801-810.

W. Blackwell, The Beginnings of Russian Industrialization, 1800-1860 (Princeton: 1968), (Get the main ideas and omit all details).

RECOMMENDED

Clifford M. Foust, Muscovite and Mandarin: Russia’s Trade with China and its Setting, 1727-1805 (Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1969).

Baron August Von Haxthausen, Studies on the Interior of Russia (University of Chicago Press, 1972).

Baron August Von Haxthausen, The Russian Empire, Volume 1 and 2.

James Mavor, An Economic History of Russia (New York: Russell and Russell, Inc., 1925, 1965), pp. 142-374, Volume I.

Anatole G. Mazour, The First Russian Revolution, 1825: The Decembrist Movement — Its Origins, Development, and Significance (Stanford: 1937).

Walter McKenzie Pintner, Russian Economic Policy Under Nicholas I (Cornell University Press, 1967).

Charles H. Pearson, Russia by a Recent Traveller (Frank Cass and Co. Limited, 1970).

S. P. Turin, From Peter the Great to Lenin: A History of the Russian Labour Movement with Special Reference to Trade Unionism (W. Heffer and Sons)

PART V — FROM THE EMANCIPATION OF THE PEASANTS TO
THE SOVIET REGIME 1861-1917

REQUIRED

A. Gerschenkron, “Agrarian Policies and Industrialization: Russia 1861-1917,” The Cambridge Economic History of Europe, Vol. VI, Part II, (Cambridge: 1965) , pp. 706-800 (Get the main ideas and skip the details).

G. T. Robinson, Rural Russia Under the Old Regime (New York: 1962).

A. Gerschenkeron, “Russia: Patterns and Problems of Economic Development, 1861-1958,” Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective (Cambridge, Mass.: 1962), pp. 119-151.

A. Gerschenkron, “The Rate of Industrial Growth in Russia Since 1885,” The Tasks of Economic History, Supplement VII, 1947, to The Journal of Economic History, pp. 144-174.

R. W. Goldsmith, “The Economic Growth of Tsarist Russia, 1860-1913,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol. IX, April, 1961, pp. 441-475 (only pp. 441-443 are required).

Paul Gregory, “Economic Growth and Structural Change in Tsarist Russia: A Case of Modern Economic Growth?” Soviet Studies, Vol. XXIII, January, 1972, pp. 418-434.

T. H. Von Laue, Sergei Witte and the Industrialization of Russia (New York: 1963), (not in detail), pp. 1-35, 262-308.

RECOMMENDED

Dorothy Atkinson, “The Statistics on the Russian Land Commune, 1905-1917,” Slavic Review, Vol. 32, Number 4, December, 1973, pp. 773-787.

Alexis N. Antsyferov, Russian Agriculture during the War: Rural Economy (New Haven: 1930).

Haim Barkai, “The Macro-Economics of Tsarist Russia in the Industrialization Era: Monetary Developments, the Balance of Payments and the Gold Standard, The Journal of Economic History, Vol. XXXIII, June, 1973, pp. 339-371.

A.V. Chayanov, The Theory of Peasant Economy (Homewood, Illinois: 1966).

T. Emmons, The Russian Gentry and the Peasant Emancipation to 1861 (Cambridge: 1968).

A. Gerschenkron, Continuity in History and Other Essays (Cambridge, Mass.: 1968).

A. Gerschenkron, Europe in the Russian Mirror: Four Lectures in Economic History (Cambridge University Press, 1970).

Geoffrey A. Hosking, The Russian Constitutional Experiment: Government and Duma, 1907-1914 (New York and London: Cambridge University Press, 1973).

Isaac A. Hourwich, The Economics of the Russian Village (New York: Columbia University, 1892).

Stefan Kieniewicz, The Emancipation of the Polish Peasantry (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1969).

V. I. Lenin, The Development of Capitalism in Russia, (second Russian edition, Moscow: 1907; English translation, Moscow: 1956).

James Mavor, An Economic History of Russia (New York: Russell & Russell, 1925, 1965).

John P. Mckay, Pioneers for Profit: Foreign Entrepreneurship and Russian Industrialization, 1885-1913(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970).

Margaret Miller, The Economic Development of Russia, 1905-1914, second edition, (New York: 1967).

W. H. Parker, A Historical Geography of Russia (London: 1968).

Alfred J. Rieber, editor, Politics of Autocracy: Letters of Alexander II to Prince Bariatinskii, 1857-1865 (New York: 1966).

Amende Roosa, “Russian Industrialists and ‘State Socialism’, 1906-1917,” Soviet Studies, Vol. XXIII, January, 1972, pp. 395-417.

Teodor Shanin, The Awkward Class: Political Sociology of Peasantry in a Developing Society: Russia 1910-1925 (Oxford: 1972).

Mikhail I. Tugan-Baranovsky, The Russian Factory in the 19th Century, Richard D. Irwin, 1970.

Wayne S. Vucinich, editor, The Peasant in Nineteenth-Century Russia (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1968; London: 1970).

Reginald E. Zelnik, Labor and Society in Tsarist Russia: The Factory Workers of St. Petersburg, 1855-1870(Stanford: April, 1971).

Male, D. J., Russian Peasant Organisation Before Collectivisation. A Study of Commune and Gathering 1925-1930. (Cambridge University Press, 1971).

Source: Personal copy of Irwin Collier.

Image Source:  MIT Economics Facebook post (Evsey Domar, In Memoriam) of October 10, 2014.

Categories
Economic History Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania. Rejected proposal to the Committee on Research in Economic History. Kuznets, ca. 1941

 

The economic historian Earl J. Hamilton’s papers at the Economists’ Papers Archive at Duke University are, we shall say, rather disheveled, though not quite in the archival dusty way that John Maurice Clark’s papers at Columbia University are found by the rummaging historian. There are numbers of folders that might as easily be labelled “Everything plus the kitchen sink, 1930-1970” and it was in one such folder that the following undated memorandum of Simon Kuznets was found.

The backstory to this memo is that sometime around 1941 Simon Kuznets (then a forty-year old professor at the University of Pennsylvania) self-nominated his quantitative approach to economic history to become one of the pillars of a major project in economic history to be supported by the Rockefeller Foundation through the Social Science Research Council. His project was rejected which just might have had something to do with his later resignation from the Committee. The larger context is described in Arthur H. Cole. The Committee on Research in Economic History: An Historical Sketch. The Journal of Economic History, vol. XXX, No. 4 (December 1970), pp. 723-741.

In the debate pertinent to the fields most worthwhile for the Committee, considering the whole situation of public needs, quantum of research funds, paucity of existing talent, and the like, two proposals were elaborated for Committee consideration, both of which caused much debate and a postponement of decision on the selection of suitable subjects. One was submitted by [Edwin] Gay. He had apparently been much impressed by the summaries of changes in national foreign policies which Arnold Toynbee was then preparing for publication in England. (One of Gay’s personal connections was that of treasurer and active member of the Council on Foreign Relations.) He suggested a continuing group to record the significant alterations of conditions in the principal segments of the American economy. After lengthy debate, it was decided that this project would entail too great a commitment of our limited funds, and the proposition was tabled-and never called back into debate. The second scheme was that which Kuznets has prosecuted over the past two or three decades. At the period of our debate, he seemed unable to outline his program and define his objectives in a manner that satisfied his fellow members of the group. In the end this proposal also was shelved-permanently. Happily Kuznets did secure other financial backing within a few years and has been busy with the investigation ever since: the measurement of economic change and a determination of its cause. [p. 728]

In an earlier article, the (losing) Kuznets and Gay proposals were not mentioned however the winning topics were named in Arthur H. Cole, Committee on Research in Economic History: A Description of Its Purposes, Activities, and Organization. The Journal of Economic History. Vol. 13, No. 1 (Winter, 1953), pp. 79-87.

The Committee on Research in Economic History owes its start to the scholarly interests of Dr. Joseph H. Willits and Dr. Anne Bezanson, at that time both associated with the Rockefeller Foundation. A committee of inquiry was nominated by them; a report of the needs of economic history was drafted by the committee; and, at the instance of Dr. Willits, a grant was made by the Foundation. In all these latter proceedings, Dr. Edwin F. Gay, director of research at the Huntington Library and the dean of American economic historians, was the energizing element. The grant was made in 1940.
During the following ten years, the committee operated as an organ of the Social Science Research Council. Subsequently it withdrew from the Council, secured incorporation as a nonprofit institution under the laws of the District of Columbia, and is now an independent body.
The objective specified for the committee in the grant of the Rockefeller Foundation was broad but simple: merely to develop the field of economic History….
…The specific areas in economic history which the committee found to be especially worthy of research attention and to which it decided initially to devote effort were (i) the relation of the state to American economic development; (2) the evolution of the corporation in the United States and Canada; (3) the history of banking in these same areas; and (4 ) the role of entrepreneurship in our economic progress. [pp. 79-80]

_________________________

Memorandum on General Bases of the Research Program

To: Members of Committee on Research in Economic History
From: Simon Kuznets

  1. The concern of economic history is to describe and analyse changes over time in the structure and performance of an economic system. This should comprise not only qualitative changes in character of economic organization or faults in its structure (associated with such events as wars or revolutions), but also (b) quantitative measures of the economic factors and of their performance. Whatever may be said of the adequacy with which the discipline of economic history carried through task (a), it has, for various reasons, neglected (b). Yet it is in the combination of study of qualitative changes and structural faults with a quantitative analysis of factors, their interrelations and their performance, that lies the way to significant results.
  2. The aims of economic history may be viewed as (a) providing economic changes, raw materials so as to reveal the lines of causal relation among them, and the patterns of quantitative change — all in application to the concrete historical unfolding of economic events, but with a view to results that can serve as tests and cornerstones for analysis of the present and prognosis of the future. The two aims are interdependent. Whatever may be said of the past efficiency of the discipline of economic history in satisfying aim (a), there appears to be a pressing need for strengthening its performance in attaining aim (b). Also, there is an obvious relation between the neglect by economic history in the past of quantitative analysis of the substantive performance of the economic system and its failure to interpret economic change in analytical categories (i.e., between 1b and 2b)
  3. The adequacy or inadequacy of any specific study of qualitative changes in economic structure, or of any collection of raw materials, is to be judged in terms of the analytical uses to which the results can be put. The need for new data, whether qualitative or quantitative, can be seen clearly only in the light of a study guided by some significant problem which one intends to analyse in terms of historical experience. There is no way, barring the extreme and unimportant cases of complete absence of any empirical data, to determine the adequacy of raw materials and the character of the lacunae, except by coming to the data with a broad and well articulated question to which one seeks an answer.
  4. Hence, the Committee should, in planning its research program, consider the advisability of selecting at least one broad problem, one comprehensive study that could serve as a focus of whatever narrower undertakings may be launched. In view of the need of emphasizing a combination of historical-qualitative, statistical and analytical methods of inquiry, the broad central study should force the investigators to use fully each and all of these types of research tools. This, of course, does not mean that similar combination of research tools should not be employed in any of the narrower studies the Committee may wish to launch.
  5. As stated in my earlier communication, it seems to me that such a central comprehensive study could be formulated on, the broad topic of economic change in this country, to comprise: (a) a study of long term changes; (b) a study of shorter term recurrent fluctuations; and supplemented by (c) a chronological record of specific changes of the type provided by economic annals. (a) The study of long term or secular changes would deal with the quantitative aspects of the growth of population, production, size and organization of enterprise, various facets of the trade, transportation and credit systems, relation of domestic and foreign trade, relation of government etc. to the economic system, and so on. It would attempt to show how fast or slow such changes were in the past; what were the quantitatively measurable or qualitatively recordable factors that appeared to determine these rates or their changes; and what elements of persistence and variation in these long term trends can be discerned. (b) The study of shorter term fluctuations would attempt to present a record of business cycles in this country in their historical succession their peculiarities, in the light of qualitative and quantitative data available as well as of the hypotheses offered by economic theory. (c) Economic annals will seek to record the succession of specific events, which are of bearing upon both long and short term changes in the economy, events that do not appear clearly in continuous quantitative records. They will thus provide largely the qualitative materials needed for studies (a) and (b), and indeed will follow the principles of selection imposed by these broader studies.
  6. Objections may be raised to the effect that such studies are impossibly wide; that we don’t have the materials for a complete story of secular changes of business cycles in the economy of this country; that the compilation of economic annals, if taken seriously, would alone absorb the efforts of a score of investigators for years to come. To all these objections I would reply that to wait with initiation of such broad, synthetic studies until materials are relatively complete would be to wait until the Greek Kalends; that if such studies are essentially impossible, we had better give up economic history; and that we shall contribute much more to the enrichment of society’s knowledge and understanding through a glorious allure in such broad undertakings than through inglorious successes in more specific, pedestrian studies. I would also point to a complete absence of even a single broad history of business fluctuations in this country: to the relative inadequacy of the synthesis of secular changes offered in the available literature; and to the reasonable assumption that a tentative synthesis now is not the less valuable because it is necessarily tentative and will give room to a more thoroughly grounded one in the decades to come.
  7. The need for such a broad comprehensive study is suggested also by the following two considerations. First, a large literature already exists on the long term changes in various special fields, such as population various industries, some segments of the banking system, foreign trade, tariffs, business organization, etc.; and yet there are few thoroughgoing attempts, if any, to pull the threads together and weave the secular tendencies in these various, essentially related aspects of the economic system into a coherent study that would use adequately quantitative and qualitative data as well as theoretical hypotheses. On cyclical fluctuations too there are a number of special published studies, inadequate as they may be in toto. Even if the proposed inquiries of secular change and of business cycles accomplish nothing more than to bring the results of already published studies together, evaluate them critically, and point to the questions still unanswered, a valuable service will be performed. But naturally, the inquiries proposed may and will in addition utilize primary data that have not yet been analysed and published.
  8. The second important consideration is that at present, in times of rapid change in structure and performance of our economic and social system, it is particularly necessary to think through our past in terms that will shed some light on the present and on the future. I do not suggest that the broad studies proposed will provide a definitive answer as to where we go from here, or enable us to establish immutable trends and laws. But they should help us to distinguish durable from transient phenomena; guard us and others against interpreting the past and present in terms of emotionally determined patters of group or class thinking; and thus bring the results of dispassionate social study to bear most efficiently and directly to the understanding and solution of present problems. I fail to see how studies of narrower scope can be expected to perform this important function.
  9. It will be noted that the broad studies proposed involve no confining scheme except the distinction among various types of economic change by the temporal span of their persistence. This distinction is so fundamental that it cannot and should not be neglected in any historical study. Within the framework of each type of change, all the related processes of economic life should be considered — in proportion to their relative importance in determining the character and significance of the changes under study. The other topics suggested in our discussions and correspondence so far, such as the increasing control by the state, or influence of free land, or studies of firms in a given industry, or studies of a region, all appear to be too narrow to serve as the focusing point and central study of the Committee’s research program. They can be justified only within a broader framework that should explain why this and not another facet of economic life is to be studied; and how the studies so circumscribed can be expected to yield results of analytical validity without consideration of related factors presumably excluded.
  10. The carrying out of the central, basic group of studies would provide the justification for narrower undertakings, since they will supply the framework for the latter. It is the broad picture of secular changes and recurrent fluctuations in the economy of this country that will provide the needed background against which, e.g., a tendency towards increasing control by the state can be understood and studied. This does not mean that in actual practice we should wait with beginning the more specific studies until the synthetic studies are completed. But it does mean that the latter are an indispensable core of the program; should be envisaged, planned, and initiated among the first; and serve throughout the Committee’s activity as the focusing point of the whole range of undertakings.
  11. The narrower studies should be launched only in so far as they are seen to contribute to the broader picture of trends and fluctuations in this country’s economy: either directly and immediately through their results or because they suggest new types of data, new types of approach, new methods which we wish to encourage because, if multiplied and followed, they will add significantly to the understanding of changes in the past and present. Some such criterion is indispensable if we are to guard against lowering the potential value of our efforts by devoting them to following beaten tracks, and adding to a large body of already existing data another batch, of low marginal utility.
  12. This memorandum is intended as an amplification of the proposals submitted before; and to serve, if the Committee so wishes, as a basis for discussion at its forthcoming meeting. It need not be added that, strongly as I am inclined to the views presented here, I realize that they may be unduly influenced by past personal experience in economic and statistical research, by ignorance of the literature of economic history, and by a predilection towards broad canvas and general results; and I am therefore looking forward with interest to whatever critical comments the members of the Committee may wish to offer.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Earl J. Hamilton Papers, Box 2, Folder “Correspondence—Misc. 1930’s-1960s and n.d.”.

Categories
Economic History History of Economics Johns Hopkins Regulations

John Hopkins. Proposals for First and Second Year Graduate Examinations. Musgrave, 1960

Having had just served as a member of the economics faculty at the University of Michigan for the preceding twelve years, Richard A. Musgrave demonstrated the seriousness and enthusiasm for his new job at the Johns Hopkins University starting with the academic year 1960-61. It is interesting to see one and the same person arguing for both more mathematics and more history of economics to be included in the graduate general microeconomic and macroeconomic examinations.

_____________________________

October 19, 1960

MEMO TO:     Members of the Department
FROM:             R. A. Musgrave

            As we mentioned before, it would be desirable to make some announcement to the graduate students indicating how the examinations would be handled this year. I think the announcement could be framed in such a way to relate to this year only, without establishing a new policy or making a precedent for what is to be done thereafter. I indicated to the graduate students at the opening meeting that some such statement would be forthcoming.

            As I understand it, there was a fairly general feeling at the close of last year that it was not very satisfactory to insist upon equal-emphasis examinations in twelve fields, with the result that performance in some areas (as was the case with International Trade) would be below the senior level. At the same time, there also seemed general agreement that the Hopkins tradition of avoiding over-specialization is sound. The following proposal attempts to be in line with these ideas and is herewith submitted for discussion.

            With regard to the proposal for the second year exam, these two questions may be thought about:

  1. I do think it is sound that a certain amount of mathematical economics and history of thought should be worked in with the general theory examinations rather than be treated as a special area. A person specializing in mathematical economics would be free to choose econometrics as one of his fields anyhow. A person specially interested in history of thought might be permitted to offer this as a special field. In other words, history of thought might be added to the optional fields listed on the next page.
  2. If the student chooses two out of the six optional fields, this of course means that there remain four fields which are not at all covered. If we are worried about this, we might add a requirement that a student must have done a certain amount of course work in these fields. Or one might add sort of “minima examinations” in these other fields, as distinct from the more intensive examinations in the special fields. But this would again greatly increase the examination load.

Graduate Students’ Examinations in Political Economy
Spring 1961

            Our examination procedure this year will be as follows:

First Year Graduate Students. There will be an oral examination in the latter part of May. This examination is designed to give the Department an opportunity to confirm its judgment that the incoming graduate students have the ability to meet the requirements of Ph.D. work, to explore the extent of the students’ preparation in various areas, and to determine in what areas additional work is needed. The Staff is aware of the work which a student has done before coming to Hopkins, and of the courses which he is taking this year. The examination is conducted accordingly, and no preparation distinct from regular course work is required.

Second Year Graduate Students. In May, second year graduate students will come up for their Ph.D. generals. The generals consist of a set of written examinations and an oral examination. The oral examination covers the general range of work which has been completed. The written examination will include the following papers, four hours each.

  1. Theory. There will be a paper on micro theory and macro theory each. There will be no separate papers in mathematical economics and history of thought. Rather, the papers dealing with micro and macro theory will contain some questions demanding an answer which involves mathematical tools; as well as questions involving a historical perspective on the development of doctrine. The examination in micro theory will include the theory of relative prices, incomes, and welfare economics. The examination in macro theory will include the theory of income determination, growth and stabilization policy.
  2. Statistics.
  3. Economic History. The examination in Economic History will include questions on American and European economic history. Students who have not taken work in economic history here will be held responsible for two books, as follows: (To be inserted).
  4. Optional Fields. In addition to the preceding four examinations, the student may choose two of the following fields: International trade, industrial organization, labor, public finance, money, economic development, and econometrics. A substantial familiarity with the chosen field is required.

Source: The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives of the Eisenhower Library at Johns Hopkins University. Department of Political Economy, Series 7, Subseries 1.  Box No. 3/1. Folder “Graduate and Undergraduate Curriculum 1953-1961.”

Image Source: Richard A. Musgrave page at the University of Michigan’s Faculty History Project.