This is one of those instances where I really would like to try to dig deeper to see what the actual course content was. From the 1940-41 Division announcements we have the following description of the Business Cycle course at Harvard:
The broad facts about the business cycle will be discussed first. The distinction between trend movements, seasonal fluctuations, long waves and the business cycle in various time series will be analyzed. Then various theories of the cycle will be reviewed and the principles of cycle policy and possibilities of mitigating or avoiding depressions considered.
For now we at least have a bibliographic list for the subject and the exam questions from the first time that Alvin Hansen and Gottfried Haberler co-taught the course together.
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Course Enrollment
[Economics] 45a 2hf. Professor Hansen and Associate professor Haberler.— Business Cycles.
Total 37: 2 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1937-1938, p. 85.
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[Penciled Note: 1937-38]
[Penciled Note: Ec. 45a]
BUSINESS CYCLE THEORY
I.
| Haberler, Gottfried: | Prosperity and Depression, League of Nations, Geneva, 1937 |
| Hansen, Alvin H.: | Business Cycle Theory, Ginn and Co., 1927 |
| Röpke, Wilhelm: | Crises and Cycles, William Hodge and Co., London, 1936. |
II.
Selected List of Books, Articles and Forecasting Services
A. Books
| Adams, A. B. | 1. Economics of Business Cycles
2. Profits, Progress and Prosperity |
| Ayres, L. P. | Economics of Recovery |
| Bellerly | Control of Credit |
| Brookings Institution | The Recovery Problem in the United States |
| Cassel, G. | The Theory of Social Economy, Book IV. |
| Clark, J. M. | 1. Strategic Factors in Business Cycles
2. Economics of Planning Public Works, (Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.) |
| Copeland, Douglas | Australia in the World Crises |
| Dickinson, F. G. | Public Construction and Cyclical Unemployment |
| Douglas, Paul H. | Controlling Depressions |
| Durbin, E. M. F. | 1. Purchasing Power and Trade Depressions
2. The Problem of Credit Policy |
| Economic Reconstruction (Report of Columbia University Commission) | |
| Economic Essays in Honour of Gustav Cassel | |
| Fisher, Irving | 1. Booms and Depressions
2. 100% Money |
| Foster and Catchings | 1. Profits, Part V.
2. Business Without a Buyer 3. Road to Plenty |
| Gayer, Arthur D. | 1. Monetary Policy and Economic Stabilization
2. Public Works in Prosperity and Depression |
| Haney, L. H. | Business Forecasting |
| Hansen, A. H. | 1. Economic Stabilization in an Unbalanced World
2. The Problem of Unemployment Insurance and Relief in the U.S., Part IV. |
| Hardy, C. O. and Cox, G. V. | Forecasting Business Conditions |
| Harrod | The Trade Cycle |
| Hawtrey | 1. Good and Bad Taste [sic, “Trade”]
2. Trade Depression and the Way Out 3. Capital and Employment |
| Hayek, F. A. | Prices and Production |
| Hobson, J. A. | Economics of Unemployment |
| Hull | Industrial Depressions |
| Keynes, J. M. | 1. A Treatise on Money
2. The Means to Prosperity 3. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money 4. Unemployment as a World Problem, pp. 1-42 |
| Kuznets, S. S. | Cyclical Fluctuations |
| Lavington | Trade Cycle |
| Lundberg | Economic Expansion |
| McCracken, H. L. | Value Theory and Business Cycles |
| Meade | Economic Analysis and Policy |
| Mitchell, Wesley | Business Cycles, the Problem and its Setting |
| Moore, Henry L. | 1. Economic Cycles
2. Generating Economic Cycles |
| Moulton, H. G. | 1. The Formation of Capital
2. Income and Economic Progress |
| Newman, William H. | The Building Industry and Business Cycles |
| Ohlin, Bertil | Course and Phases of the Depression (League of Nations) |
| Persons, Warren | Forecasting Business Cycles |
| Persons, Foster and Hettinger | The Problem of Business Forecasting |
| Pigou, A. C. | Industrial Fluctuations |
| Robbins, Lionel | The Great Depression |
| Robertson, D. H. | 1. Money
2. Industrial Fluctuations 3. Banking Policy and the Price Level |
| Schmidt, C. T. | German Business Cycles, 1924-1933 |
| Schumpeter, Joseph A. | The Theory of Economic Development |
| Slichter, S. H. | Towards Stability |
| Smith, W. B. and Cole, A.H. | Fluctuations in American Business, 1790-1860 |
| Snyder, Carl | Business Cycles and Business Measurements |
| Timoshenko, V. | 1. World Agriculture and the Depression
2. The Role of Agriculture Fluctuations |
| Tintner, Gerhard | Prices in the Trade Cycle |
| Warren and Pearson | Gold and Prices |
| World Prices and the Building Industry | |
| Veblen, T. | [1.] Theory of Business Enterprise
[2.] The Engineers and the Price System |
| Wagemann | Economic Rhythm |
| Wicksell | Interest and Prices |
B. Articles
Aftalion, Albert in Review of Economic Statistics, October 1927
Haberler, Gottfried, “Some Reflections on the Present Situation of Business Cycle Theory,” Review of Economic Statistics, February, 1936
Hansen, Boddy and Langum, “Recent Trends in Business Cycle Literature,” Review of Economic Studies, May, 1936
Hansen and Tout, “Investment and Saving in the Business Cycle,” Econometrica, April 1933
Hansen, A. H., “Mr. Keynes in Under-employment Equilibrium,” Journal of Political Economy, October, 1936
Hansen, A. H., Harrod on the Trade Cycle,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1937
Hansen, A. H., “The Consequences of Reducing Expenditures,” Proceedings, Academy of Political Science, January, 1938
Kondratieff, M. D., “The Long Waves in Economic Life,” Review of Economic Statistics, November, 1935
Robertson, D. H., “The Trade Cycle—An Academic View,” Lloyds Bank Review, September, 1937
Schumpeter, Joseph, “An Analysis of Economic Change,” Review of Economic Statistics, May, 1935
C. Forecasting Services
- Annalist (Weekly)
- Brookmire Economic Service (Weekly and Special)
Councillor; Annalist; Investor; Technician; Forecaster; Purchaser (outlook for commodity prices); Executive; Income Map; Special Reports on Industries. - London and Cambridge Economic Service (Quarterly)
- Moody’s Investors Service (Weekly and Bi-weekly)
- Review of Economic Statistics; Harvard (Quarterly)
- Standard Statistics (Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly and Special)
Business Prospects; Outlook for Security Market; Industry Reports A, B, C, etc.; Basic Statistics. - United Business Service (Weekly)
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1). Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1937-38”.
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1937-38
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 45a2
BUSINESS CYCLES
[Final Exam]
(Write on THREE questions)
- Write briefly on each of the following:
- Summarize and evaluate the analyses of “the long waves” made by (1) Schumpeter, and (2) Kondratieff.
- Compare Robertson and Aftalion with respect to the role of fixed capital in the business cycle.
- Show the significance and implications of (a) the “principle of accelerations” and (b) the “multiplier” with respect to the “pump-priming” theory.
- “The turning point from prosperity to depression is caused not by a shortage of capital but by inadequate consumption expenditures.”
(In answering this question discuss, among other items, the following: (1) Is saving deflationary? (2) What is the effect of an increase in savings (a) upon the value of real investment? (b) upon consumption? (3) Is over-investment a cause of recession? - Discuss the part played by monetary factors in the trade cycle, drawing particularly upon the analyses of Hawtrey and Hayek.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 4. Papers Printed for Final Examinations. History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…, Military Science, Naval Science. June, 1938.
Image Source: Alvin Hansen (left) and Gottfried Haberler (right) from Harvard Class Album 1942.