Tag: Taussig

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Examination Questions in Economic Theory. Taussig and Carver, 1903-1904

 

Frank Taussig resumed teaching at Harvard in the fall semester of 1903 following his leave of absence for health reasons. Economic theory was his most important course and it was split between him (first semester) and Thomas Nixon Carver (second term) during 1903-04. It is striking to see how different their examination styles were. Carver appears to have taught a catechism of doctrine in contrast to Taussig’s attempt to teach some economic reasoning. Thereafter Taussig taught his course right up to his retirement.  Joseph Schumpeter then picked up the economic theory mantle in the spring semester of 1935.

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Course Enrollment
Economics 2, 1903-04

Economics 2. Professors Taussig and Carver. — Economic Theory.

Total 23: 9 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 2 Others.

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

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ECONOMICS 2
Mid-Year Examination. 1903-04

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.
One question may be omitted.

  1. Do you conceive wages to be determined in amount by capital, or to be paid from capital, in these cases:—
    1. a railway which collects its receipts before pay-day comes around;
    2. a farmer who pays his laborers after the crop has been harvested and sold;
    3. a workingmen’s society for coöperative production which makes advances to members from week to week, and adds a final payment when the season’s or year’s operations have been concluded?
  2. State carefully how you conceive Walker to define the “no-profits” line; how he distinguishes between business profits and wages; and whether there is a vicious circle in his reasoning as to the residual element in distribution.
  3. Suppose a tax to be levied on a commodity subject to the law of diminishing returns, and the proceeds to be used for a bounty on a commodity produced under conditions of increasing return, — how would the welfare of the community presumably be affected?
    Assume now that the first commodity is an article of comfort, the second an article of luxury, — would your conclusion be different?
    Reverse the assumption, and suppose the first commodity to be one of luxury, the second one of comfort, — would your conclusion be still different?
  4. “We might as reasonably dispute whether it is the upper blade of a pair of scissors or the lower that cuts a piece of paper, as whether value is governed by utility or cost of production. It is true that when one blade is held still, and the cutting is effected by moving the other, we may say with careless brevity that the cutting is done by the second; but the statement is not strictly accurate, and is to be excused only so long as it claims to be merely a popular and not a strictly scientific account of what actually happens.”
    Explain, with reference to commodities produced under the conditions of

monopoly;
constant returns;
increasing returns.

  1. Explain prime cost, total cost, supplementary cost; and consider their relation to quasi-rent.
  2. Would Marshall say that there was true rent in the case of, —

a very profitable silver mine;
a valuable site in a town like Pullman;
a successful business man.

Why or why not in each case?

  1. Suppose it were provided by law that the rent of premises used for wholesale or retail trading should not exceed interest on the cost of the buildings (with due allowance for depreciation and the like), what would be the effects on landlords and tenants, and on the prices of the articles sold?
  2. “A rich man abstains from the consumption of his superfluous wealth, and is scarcely conscious, perhaps quite unconscious, of having suffered any deprivation whatever. On the other hand, the same or a much smaller amount of wealth reserved from personal consumption by an artisan or a small tradesman will frequently demand the most rigorous self-denial….And it is similar with labor. The laborious effort fitted to produce a given result does not represent the same sacrifice for different people: it is one thing for the strong, another for the weak; one for the trained workman, another for the raw beginner. This being so, the questions arises — How are such differences to be dealt with in computing cost of production? The answer must be that the sacrifices to be taken account of, and which govern exchange value, are not those undergone by A, B, or C, but the average sacrifices undergone by the class of laborers or capitalists to which the producers of the commodity belong.”— Cairnes. Would you accede to this conclusion as to capitalists? as to laborers?

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 2
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

  1. Compare Clark’s theory of business profits with Walker’s.
  2. Compare Clark’s concept of the static state with Marshall’s concept of the equilibrium of demand and supply.
  3. Compare Clark’s theory of the rent of land with the classical theory.
  4. Compare Clark’s definition of capital with Taussig’s.
  5. Compare the doctrine of the wage fund, as stated by J. S. Mill. with Marshall’s theory of “joint demand.”
  6. What are the chief factors which give elasticity to the wage fund?
  7. How does Böhm-Bawerk connect the discounting of the future with the interest of capital?
  8. How does Clark make out that rent and interest are only different aspects of the same income?

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, June 1904, p. 27.

Image Source:  Frank W. Taussig (left) and Thomas Nixon Carver (right) from Harvard Class Album 1906. Images colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard Principles Undergraduate

Harvard. Exam questions for Principles of Economics. Taussig and Andrew, 1903-1904

Frank W. Taussig & A. Piatt Andrew

After the longest break from posting since I began this blog almost eight years ago, I now return to regular posting for most of the rest of this month (May 2023).

We resume our slow march through the economics exams at Harvard in the first decade of the 20th century with the semester examinations for the undergraduate introductory course in economics for the academic year 1903-04. The division of labor between A. P. Andrew and Frank Taussig appears to have been Taussig being responsible for the first semester with his junior partner Andrew taking over for the second semester. This would be consistent with the fact  that the year-end examination was not included in Taussig’s personal scrapbook of course examinations [Harvard University Archives. Prof. F. W. Taussig, Examination Papers in Economics 1882-1935  (Scrapbook)]. 

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Course Enrollment, 1903-04

Economics 1. Professor Taussig, Asst. Professor Andrew, and five assistants. — Outlines of Economics.

Total 529: 1 Graduate, 15 Seniors, 108 Juniors, 279 Sophomores, 72 Freshmen, 54 Others.

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

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Economics 1
Mid-Year Examination. 1903-04

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Answer nine questions, and give your reasons for all answers.

  1. Is it advantageous to laborers, temporarily or permanently, that there should be (1) large government expenditures for military purposes; (2) large government expenditures for improvements in transportation; (3) luxurious expenditure by the rich; (4) savings by the rich? (You are free to discuss these separately, or as one general question.)
  2. Which of the following are productive laborers (1) according to Mill’s distinction, (2) in your own opinion:—

an actor;
a grain merchant;
one who engages in “commercial speculation”,
one who engages in “industrial speculation”;
one who engages in stock speculation.

  1. Will the population of a country be able to increase more rapidly when there is immigration than when there is not? Will it probably increase more rapidly?
  2. Suppose the variations in the fertility of land to be offset precisely by disadvantage in situation — the more distant land being the more fertile, the nearer land the less fertile — would there be rent? Would your answer be the same or different, according as you assume the whole of the land to be under cultivation, or some parts of it to be not yet in use?
  3. The significance of the principle of demand and supply, as regards (1) perishable commodities, (2) durable commodities, (3) monopolized commodities, — wherein different, wherein the same?
  4. How far is the proposition that the value of commodities conforms to their cost of production affected by (1) the varying rent of land; (2) the use of fixed capital (plant) on a great scale; (3) the growth of combinations?
  5. Is there a tendency to equality in the return to capital? in net profits (“business profits”)? in gross profits?
  6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the regulation of combinations and monopolies by (1) limitations of profits, (2) fixing of prices charged to the public, (3) enforcement of farsighted management?
  7. Suppose all education and training to be gratuitous, and all obstacles to the free choice of occupations removed: would there be differences of wages? If so, of what sort? If not, why not?
  8. How do you conceive the remuneration for labor to be determined in a socialistic community? Wherein is the underlying principle different from that in existing society? What do you believe to be the essential merit or defect, or both, of the socialist principle?

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 1
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

Write answers strictly in the order of the questions.
Omit one question from each group.

I
  1. Differences of wages are sometimes due to the presence of competition, sometimes to its absence. Give examples of each.
  2. What factors tend to prevent the rate of interest from an excessive rise? from an excessive fall?
  3. What would be the effect upon the wealth of a community
    1. if landlords gave up all claims to rent?
    2. if all production took place upon the margin of cultivation?
    3. if the price of all agricultural produce were legally fixed at the average cost of production?
  4. What influences govern the value on the New York market of
    1. coffee?
    2. structural steel?
    3. hides?
II
  1. Under normal conditions in the United States the par of exchange on London is $4.866, and the value of 23.2 grains of gold is $1.00. Suppose that the market price of gold was quoted at 5 cents per grain, and exchange on London was quoted at $5.65. What would this indicate
    1. as to the balance of trade?
    2. as to the character of the currency?
  2. President Lincoln is reported to have said: “When we buy a ton of steel rails abroad, we get the rails and the foreigner gets the money; but when we buy a ton of steel rails produced at home, we get both the rails and the money.”
    Give your opinion of this statement as an argument for protection.
  3. “The fact that the greenbacks have circulated at par for more than a quarter of a century is a strong guarantee that their retention in limited amount, always promptly redeemable, has not proved a mistake.”
    State briefly the history of the greenbacks, and give your opinion of this statement with reasons.
  4. “They also urge — and this is in some respects their strongest argument — that a slowly depreciating currency is better than a slowly appreciating one.” — Hadley.
    Explain and criticise, stating the effect of a depreciating standard upon each of the four great shares in distribution.

III

  1. Given

Capital, $100.000;
Loans, $250.000;
Deposits, $240.000.

Complete and balance the account to show the condition of a National bank in New York city with a reasonable circulation giving in detail the items concerning the issue and securing of notes. How would the items probably differ, if the bank was located it Yonkers?

  1. Does an increase in bank notes add (1) to the amount, and (2) to the elasticity of the total currency in
    1. the United States?
    2. England?
    3. France?
    4. Germany?
  2. In the present industrial combinations how far have the economies of large scale and centralized production resulted in benefit to consumers? Give reasons.
  3. What four changes in industrial conditions resultant from the introduction of the factory system have influenced the character of modern trade-unionism?

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, June 1904, pp. 25-27.

Image Sources:  Frank W. Taussig (Original black and white image from of Frank William Taussig from a cabinet card photograph, 1895, at the Harvard University Archives HUP); Abram Piatt Andrews (Picture from ca. 1909 used in a magazine article about Andrew’s appointment to the directorship of the U. S. Mint. Hoover Institution Archives. A. Piatt Andrew Papers, Box 51). Images colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

 

 

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Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Enrollment and exams on Adam Smith, Ricardo and followers. Mixter, 1902-1903.

 

Charles Whitney Mixter (b. Sept. 23, 1869 in Chelsea, MA; d. Oct. 21, 1936 in Washington, D.C.) taught a year-long course at Harvard on Adams Smith, Ricardo, and their dissenting followers in 1902-03.

Mixter received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1897 with the thesis “Overproduction and overaccumulation: a study in the history of economic theory.” Further biographical information about Charles Whitney Mixter (1869-1936) is found in the post about his course offered 1901-1902. Also Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has a post with a student’s description of Mixter as economics instructor at the University of Vermont.

One of the dissenting followers of Adam Smith considered in Mixter’s course below was John Rae. Mixter edited a reprint of the 1834 book by John Rae, which he retitled The Sociological Theory of Capital. A few years before, Mixter had written two Quarterly Journal of Economics articles comparing Rae with Böhm-Bawerk:

“A forerunner of Böhm-Bawerk”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, January, 1897. [“the first article by me upon Rae…had a title which was also in great measure a misnomer. Rae is not a mere ‘anticipator of the discoverer’ (to use one of Cannan’s phrases), but the discoverer himself. By reason of the lack of a theory of invention, Böhm-Bawerk’s doctrine of capital, although coming much later, is in essentials the less complete of the two.”]

“Böhm-Bawerk on Rae,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1902. [Review of Chapter XI of the second edition of the Geschichte und Critik der Capitalzins-Theorien].

In the preface to his reprint of Rae’s book, Mixter provides us with some backstory to his research revealing the support of Frank Taussig and Irving Fisher at the beginning and the end of this book project:

When I first became interested in Rae’s theory of capital, under Professor Taussig’s direction in the economic seminary at Harvard University, there existed no printed information (except in his Preface) in respect to Rae himself; and for a long time nothing could be learned through inquiry in quarters which promised well in Canada and Great Britain. The late Professor Dunbar of Harvard, who always displayed a keen interest in the undertaking, urged me to persist, and at length a letter printed in the Montreal Star drew forth two replies, one from the Canadian antiquary Mr. H. J. Morgan, the other from the late Robert S. Knight of Lancaster, Ontario, a grand-nephew of Rae. This set me upon the right road to get into communication with several people who knew Rae personally. Of these the one who could tell me most was the late Sir Roderick W. Cameron of New York, a former pupil and life-long friend, at whose summer residence on Staten Island Rae died. Better still, I was able through the interest and kindness of this gentleman to come into possession of what few papers Rae left at his death. That is, I obtained all Rae’s effects of a literary nature which seem now to be in existence. Apparently, from statements made by Sir Roderick, there was another set of papers which Rae had with him at the time, but which were destroyed or in some way lost. The papers I obtained were little more than odds and ends, mostly unfinished fragments on a great variety of subjects, unfortunately but little on economics. Their chief use has been to help me to a fair understanding of Rae’s life, which I have been able, however, only very imperfectly to set forth.

I have received much information and kind assistance in this part of my work from not a few people in Canada, the United States, Honolulu, and Great Britain. I trust they will accept this general acknowledgment of my sense of indebtedness to them.

To Mr. L. W. Zartman of Yale University my especial thanks are due for assistance in preparing the copy for the printer, and in reading the proofs. I am also much indebted to Mr. Wilmot H. Thompson of the Graduate School of Yale, for revision of the classical quotations.

Finally, I wish here to express my obligations to Professor Irving Fisher of Yale University. His interest and encouragement have been of unfailing support. The proof sheets of the whole book have passed his able scrutiny, and his direct help in many other ways has been invaluable.

C. W. M.

Burlington,
Vermont, July, 1905.

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Course Description

  1. a. Selected Topics in the History of Economic Thought since Adam Smith. , Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri, at 12. Dr. Mixter.

The chief subject to which attention will be directed in this course is the school of dissenting followers of Adam Smith — Lauderdale, Rae, and those influenced by them — who carried forward Smith’s work to very different results from those attained by the Ricardians. This study of a little known tradition gives a fresh point of view as to the general method of formulating and presenting economics. Some of the other subjects to be discussed are, — the classic doctrine of over-production, and the opposition to that doctrine; the economics of absenteeism; the history of the theory of colonization; early American economic theory.
The exercises will be conducted largely by means of discussion. Oral reports on assigned topics will be required.

  1. d 2hf. Adam Smith and Ricardo. Half-course (second half-year). Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Professor Taussig.

In this course, a careful study will be made of large parts of the writings of Adam Smith and Ricardo, and comparison made with contemporary authors as well as with the later writers who accepted the teachings of the earlier English school.

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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Course Enrollment

Economics 20a. Dr. Mixter. — The History of English Economic Theory from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill.

Total 5: 3 Gr., 2 Se.

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

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Mid-Year Examination 1902-03

ECONOMICS 20a

It is expected that questions 3 and 7 will be answered more at length than the other questions.

  1. Who was Bentham and what does he stand for in the history of economics?
  2. What is the nature of Rae’s reply to Smith’s 5th argument against protection?
  3. What would Adam Smith say to the assertion that trades unions are necessary in the United States to prevent a fall of general wages? In what various aspects did Smith examine the subject of wages?
  4. What are Adam Smith’s four canons or “maxims” of taxation?
  5. Is “capital” or “labor” the leading concept in the economics proper of the Wealth of Nations?
  6. What idea of most value have you obtained from Cannan?
  7. Discuss the Malthusian theory with respect to errors and shortcomings:—
    1. In its original form of statement and proof.
    2. In its original application.
    3. Sum up the modernized Malthusian doctrine in the form which seems to you most sound and useful.
  8. How has “the Commerce of the Towns contributed to the Improvement of the Country”?

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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Year-End Examination 1902-03

ECONOMICS 20a

Omit two of the last five questions.

  1. Criticise the following statement: “What he [Ricardo] really ‘endeavored to show’ was that the rate of profit depends on the productiveness of the last employed, or no-rent-paying agricultural industry, and it is not of much importance to his theory whether this dependence is brought about through rises and falls of money wages, or also by the direct influence of variations in the productiveness of industry.”
  2. What is Lauderdale’s significance in the history of economics?
  3. What are the points of similarity and of difference between Rae and Böhm-Bawerk?
  4. What portions of a complete treatise on economics are lacking in Rae’s work? Give some examples of peculiar terminology.
  5. Give an account of one of the following writers: Chalmers, Wakefield, Longfield, Senior.
  6. “His [the capitalist’s] profit consists of the excess of the produce above the advances; his rate of profit is the ratio which that excess bears to the amount advanced.” Comment on this.
  7. Criticise the phrase “the profits of stock are only another name for the wages of accumulated labour.” Who first advanced this idea?
  8. What was John Stuart Mill’s treatment of the subject of general overproduction?
  9. When it is said that a certain writer “took as his type of capital, machinery instead of wage-fund,” what do you understand by the expression? Mention several writers who have done this.
  10. Give a brief account of Cannan’s description of the discovery of the law of diminishing returns.

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: Harvard scores (1905),  John Jepson (artists), Boston. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

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Exam Questions Harvard Principles Undergraduate

Harvard. Principles of Economics. Description, Enrollment, Exam Questions. Andrew, Mixter, and Sprague. 1902-1903

Over 500 students enrolled in the introductory course “Outlines of Economics” offered at Harvard in 1902-03. Frank Taussig continued his sick-leave through the academic year 1902-03 which is why his name was listed in the (ex ante) course description from June 1902 but not included in the departmental staffing report to the president (ex post) for 1902-03. 

Artifacts for the same course offered during the academic year 1901-1902 have been posted earlier. It is worth noting that of the three required texts listed below, Hadley’s Economics replaced Walker’s Political Economy (Advanced Course) that had been assigned for the previous year.

Fun Fact: Gilbert Holland Montague, one of the teaching assistants, left economics to become an anti-trust lawyer who quite apparently had the means to collect over 15,000 books and 20,000 pamphlets during his lifetime. He even owned a 14th century copy of the Magna Carta.

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Course Description, 1902-03
Economics 1

Course 1 is introductory to the other courses. It is intended to give a general survey of the subject for those who take but one course in Economics, and also to prepare for the further study of the subject in advanced courses. It is usually taken with most profit by undergraduates in the second or third year of their college career. Students who plan to take it in their first year are strongly advised to consult the instructor in advance. History 1 or Government 1, or both of these courses, will usually be taken to advantage before Economies 1.

[…]

Primarily for Undergraduates

  1. Outlines of Economics. — Lectures on Social Questions and Monetary Legislation. , Th., Sat., at 11. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig, Drs. [Abram Piatt] Andrew, [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague, and [Charles Whitney] Mixter, and Messrs. [Gilbert Holland] Montague and [Vanderveer] Custis.

Course 1 gives a general introduction to economic study, and a general view of Economics for those who have not further time to give to the subject. It undertakes a consideration of the principles of production, distribution, exchange, money, banking, and international trade. The relations of labor and capital, the present organization of industry, and the recent currency legislation of the United States, will be treated in outline.

Course 1 will be conducted partly by lectures, partly by oral discussion in sections. A course of reading will be laid down, and weekly written exercises will test the work of students in following systematically and continuously the lectures and the prescribed reading. Large parts of Mill’s Principles of Political Economy, of Hadley’s Economics, and of Dunbar’s Theory and History of Banking will be read; and these books must be procured by all members of the 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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Course Enrollment, 1902-03
Economics 1

Primarily for Undergraduates:—

Economics 1. Drs. [Abram Piatt] Andrew, [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague, and [Charles Whitney] Mixter, and Messrs. [Charles] Beardsley [Jr.], [Vanderveer] Custis, and [Gilbert Holland] Montague. — Outlines of Economics.

Total 514: 2 Gr., 25 Se., 108 Ju., 270 So., 39 Fr., 70 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 67.

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Mid-year Examination 1903
Economics 1

Omit one question

  1. The population of the United States has increased from 23 millions in 1850 to about 80 millions in 1902 (not including the population of the islands acquired from Spain), and yet the “standard of living” has not fallen. Can you reconcile this with the Malthusian theory?
  2. “Economic rent and net profits are like the producers’ and consumers’ surplus described at the beginning of the chapter in being differential gains. . . .”
    Explain these terms and discuss Hadley’s comparison of profits and rent.
  3. How in your opinion does the use of labor-saving machinery in agriculture affect the value of agricultural produce, and the rent of agricultural land?
  4. What would you suppose to be the effect of immigration upon the production of wealth, upon wages, and upon the value of land in the United States?
  5. A recent Secretary of the Navy, in defending large naval appropriations, wrote as follows: “It is a taking thing to say that $100,000,000 could be better spent for education or charity; and yet, on the other hand, $100,000,000 spent in the employment of labor is the very best use to which it can be put. There is no charity in the interest of the popular welfare or of education so valuable as the employment of labor.”
    Discuss the economic argument implied in this statement.
  6. Should a railroad be compelled to charge the same rate per ton-mile for all goods of equal bulk? Why? or why not?
  7. Suppose that one piano manufacturer buys out all of the other piano manufacturers in the country, can he now sell the former aggregate output of all the factories at an advanced price? Give reasons for your answer.
  8. Explain by the theory of the value of money why prices are high in times of speculation and low when a period of depression sets in.
  9. Could a paper currency depreciate in value, if a government pledged the public lands for its redemption? Give reasons.

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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Year-end Examination 1903
Economics 1

Omit one question from each group.

I

  1. What is meant by

unearned increment,
marginal utility,
double standard,
rapidity of circulation?

  1. Explain the relation of the law of diminishing returns to rent.
  2. It wages are determined by the productivity of labor, how would you explain the circumstance that labor organizations which impose restrictions upon individual output, have been accompanied by a rise of wages?
  3. What considerations are likely to determine the prices of trust-made commodities?

II

  1. In what ways would the repeal of our tariff duties affect our export trade?
  2. Former Speaker Reed, in an article on Protection, said: “Any system which enables our people to do our own work is a system which can give the best results. . . . The whole nation gets the benefit of it?”
    Discuss this statement.
  3. Give the principal reasons for and against the adoption of the policy of the single tax.
  4. How is the community served by the produce exchanges? by the stock exchanges?

III

  1. (a) What kinds of money are susceptible of increase under existing legislation in the United States? In what way?
    (b) In what way do clearing house loan certificates add to the circulating medium?
    Under what circumstances may they be issued?
  2. Suppose the deposits of the national banks to increase one hundred million dollars, would the position of the banks be rendered stronger thereby?
  3. Are the national banks of the United States unfairly granted the privilege of earning a double profit in respect to their circulation?
  4. In his last annual report, the Secretary of the Treasury writes: “I think a far better course for the present at least would be to provide an elastic currency available in every banking community and sufficient for the needs of that locality. This, I think, can be accomplished . . . . by several methods.”
    Explain some of these methods.

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 Sources: Abram Piatt Andrew (1920) from Wikimedia Commons. O.M.W. Sprague from Harvard Class Album 1920, p. 25.

 

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USA. Joseph Schumpeter’s Roadshow. 1st Quarter, 1914

Joseph Schumpeter spent the 1913-14 academic year as Austria’s first exchange professor at Columbia University. But before heading home, he went on a whirlwind tour of American universities as documented in the following collection of news reports. Cornell, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, the Universities of Illinois, Wisconsin, and California, and apparently culminating with lectures in Taussig’s Ec 11 course at Harvard. All this between mid-January and mid-March 1914.

I have not seen the above portrait of Schumpeter before. He looks much less like Nosferatu’s twin and one could say has even leading-man material if only his ears were pinned back a notch.

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Dr. Schumpeter Near End of Course as Austrian Exchange Professor at Columbia University

Professor Joseph A. Schumpeter, who was sent to this country by the Austrian Government as an exchange professor, will soon complete his course of lectures on economic theory and on the problem of social classes, at Columbia University, where he has been since last October, and will visit a number of other leading universities in this country.

Professor Schumpeter was born in 1883, in Triesch in the Austrian Province of Moravia, and was educated at the “Theresianum” in Vienna. Then he entered the University of Vienna where he took his degree of Doctor in Law and Political Science in 1906, and gained locally some representation within the little circle of students of economic theory called the Austrian School. After spending some years in travel, he began lecturing on economies at the same university from which he was, at the age of 26, called to the chair of Political Economy in the University of Gernowitz. In 1911 he accepted a call to the University of Graz in Styria. When the Austrian Government, following the example given by the German Government, concluded an agreement with Columbia University for the exchange of professors, Schumpeter was selected to be the first visiting professor in this country.

Source: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 14, 1914, p. 12.

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Predicts More War in Balkan Frontier

“Conditions as they exist in the Balkans now cannot last, I am sorry to say that the sad story of crime and suffering that we have been witnessing we shall have to see over again before long,” said Prof. Joseph Schumpeter in his lecture last night on “Austria’s Balkan Policy.”

“The Balkan situation awakens in us a multitude of passions,” said Dr. Schumpeter. “We see burning and murdered villages, and conditions growing worse and worse. Austria is very little known.

“A lot of false notions have arisen concerning Austria. It is a country of 50,000,000 inhabitants composed of a combination of different races and therefore gives statesmanship tasks of a peculiar kind. It is impossible to appeal to national patriotism in Austria for it is composed of several races apathetic to each other. The majority of the people are Slavs, but there are a great many Germans, Romanians, Italians and Servians. It is very difficult to adjust their claims for national supremacy.

“To keep the Turkish frontier is still Austria’s main care.

“What Austria wanted, and wants still, is to have a group of states on national lines so arranged that they will last for some time and not be under the influence of Russia. The Albanians held their own against Turkey for some time and finally Austria made a treaty with Italy that, no matter what happened to Turkey, they should combine to save the Albanian state.”

Source: The Ithaca Journal. January 17, 1915, p. 5.

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Admires Quick Wit Found in America

Professor Joseph Schumpeter of the University of Graz, Austria, expresses himself as delighted with Cornell University and everything he has seen here. Professor Schumpeter, who gave the lecture on “The Balkan Policies of Austria,” is now Exchange Professor at Columbia University. He has gained the reputation of being one of the most promising economists of Europe.

“You have a wonderful University here, splendidly equipped,” he declared. “The situation is ideal. I have been very much interested in my work at Columbia and feel that we Europeans can learn a lot from you. My work at Columbia has been mostly with the graduate students and I have not been able to get into as close touch with the undergraduates as I would have liked to. I have been especially struck by the quick-wittedness and energy of the American undergraduates. They also have an aptitude for intelligent discussion which is lacking in Europe. The whole spirit of fellowship is so splendid.

“The social life in America is remarkably pleasant. In other countries you take much longer to make friends. In my short stay here I have already made scores of excellent friends. American audiences are also so pleasant to talk to. I feel less intellectual sympathy while talking before a German audience than I do here. Unlike Europe all classes of society seem equally interested, the workingmen as much so as the richest families.”

Source: The Ithaca Journal, Jan 19, 1914, p. 9.

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Talk on the Balkans by Prof. Schumpeter
University of Gratz Educator Entertains Audience at National Museum

Prof. Joseph Schumpeter delivered a lecture on the present and prospective situation in the Balkans at the New National Museum last night, to which the general public was invited, the audience including students of the eastern question and a number of diplomats. Dr. Schumpeter is exchange professor between the University of Gratz, where he is professor of political science and economics, and Columbia University, New York, where he has just completed his series of lectures.

Last night’s address was delivered under the auspices of George Washington University, and Dr. Schumpeter was introduced by Rear Admiral Charles Herbert Stockton, U. S.N., retired, president of George Washington.

Dr. Schumpeter gave an historical account of the development of the Ottoman empire from the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 up to the present time. He declared that outside of Greece, where the situation has been practically clarified, the Balkan troubles have not been set at rest, and that further trouble may be expected in the Balkan countries at any time.

Real Root of Troubles.

He pointed out that the real root of many of the troubles of those countries has been differences because of race, the clash between Mohammedan and Christian, which he said is likely to continue to the end of the world. He offered, for example, the experiences of Great Britain, in charge of the largest number of Mohammedans in the world, in India.

Dr. Schumpeter devoted considerable attention to the part that Austria-Hungary is playing in the Balkan situation. Since 1908 the Balkan provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been recognized as a part of Austria, and it is around the possession of these provinces that considerable interest lies. Austria-Hungary was permitted by the congress of Berlin in 1878 to occupy and administer these two Balkan provinces, but it was not until 1908 that they were formally annexed.

Source: Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), February 5, 1914, p. 9.

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Balkan War Policy of Austria Defended
Prof. Schumpeter Says Nation Must Control of Principalities Along the Danube.
Great Britain is Criticised.

John Bull was said to have in his charge the greatest Mohammedan power in the world by Prof. Joseph Schumpeter, professor of political science and economics at the University of Gratz, Austria, in an Interesting lecture last night at the National Museum.

“No less than 90,000,000 Mohammedans are under British rule, yet England has seen fit to attack the right of Austria to establish a mere legal pact by taking over Herzegovina and Boris and assuring to these two countries safety and security,” said Prof. Schumpeter.

Rear Admiral Stockton, president of Georgetown University, under the auspices of which institution the lecture was given, presided.

Prof. Schumpeter gave a comprehensive historical account of the development of the Ottoman empire since the conquest of Constantinople, in 1453, up to the present day.

In closing, Prof. Schumpeter asserted that in his opinion, outside of Greece, where he said the situation has been pretty well clarified, the Balkan troubles have not been definitely put at rest. He made it clear that he looked for further trouble.

Source: The Washington Herald, February 5, 1914, p. 3.

_____________________________

Predicts Third Balkan War.
Prof. Schumpeter of Austria, Is Pessimistic in Lecture.

Under the auspices of George Washington University, Prof. Joseph Schumpeter, dean of political science and economics at the University of Gratz, Austria, and exchange professor between his university and Columbia, spoke Wednesday in the auditorium of the new National Museum on “The Balkan Situation from the Austrian Viewpoint.” Among those present were Konstantin von Masirevich, first secretary, and the Baron Freudenthal, attache of the Austrian embassy; Rear Admiral C. H. Stockton, president of George Washington, Prof. Richard Cobb, secretary of the university; Dean Charles E. Munroe, Dean Charles Noble Gregory and L. Cleveland McNemar, assistant professor of international law.

Prof. Schumpeter claimed that the Austrian annexation of Bosnia and Herzogovina in 1910 was warranted by circumstances. He said that Balkan peace is merely transitory; that another war is sure to come.

Source: The Washington Post, February 8, 1914, p. 2.

_____________________________

Johns Hopkins University.

Two foreign educators lectured at the Johns Hopkins university last week. Dr. Joseph Schumpeter, of the University of Gratz, and first Austrian exchange professor at Columbia, delivered five lectures before the department of political economy….

Source: The Oregon Daily Journal. February 15, 1914, p. 48.

_____________________________

Vienna Man at Madison.
Exchange Professor Studies Wisconsin Industrial Laws.

(Special to The Northwestern.) Madison, Wis., Feb. 10. — Dr. J. A. Schumpeter, exchange professor from Vienna to Columbia university, spent today here investigating the work of the state industrial commission. He will leave tonight for St. Paul, where he intends to make a similar investigation. Dr. Schumpeter is a recognized expert on labor legislation, and in addition to investigating the work of the commission held a conference with Prof. John R. Commons.

Source: The Oshkosh Northwestern, February 10, 1914, p. 9.

_____________________________

Professor Schumpeter has very busy two days here.
Austrian makes four addresses and attends several affairs.

Four addresses were given by Prof. Josef Schumpeter during his stay here from last Saturday morning until Sunday night, when he left for the University of California via Chicago. All of his addresses were along the line of the social sciences in which he enjoys wide fame for his great ability.

Professor Schumpeter’s first talk was given Saturday noon to the University Club where he took lunch. There he gave a talk on smoke. His second, and most important address, was to the combined seminars of the social science departments. It was given in room 304 of Lincoln Hall to an audience which contained almost every faculty and student member of the two seminars. His discussion was upon the theory of economic development. The lecturer paid especial attention to the place of interest and economic crises in static and dynamic states. Although he is an Austrian. and from the University of Graz, his lecture was delivered in perfect English, and was of profound interest to those who were privileged to attend.

With some eighteen University people, Professor Schumpeter took dinner at the Beardsley Saturday evening. Here again he spoke, this time giving an address on “The Austrian Attitude to the Balkan Situation.” He was followed by Professors E. B. Greene, A. H. Lybyer, L. M. Larson and W. F. Dodd, each of whom spoke on some aspect of world politics.

A reception was given the Professor at the home of Dean Kinley on Sunday afternoon. Here he addressed those present on “The Aspects of Austrian Social and Political Life in University Government.” Sunday night, Professor Schumpeter took the train for Chicago.

Source: The Daily Illi (Urbana, Illinois). February 17, 1914. Page 4.

_____________________________

Talks of Marx’ Economy

University of California, Feb. 25. — Dr. J. A. Schumpeter, eminent Austrian economist, addressed an audience at California hall yesterday on “The Economy of Karl Marx.” Among the points he made were that one could believe in Marx’ doctrines without being a Socialist; his theories of value and exploitation of the working class were receiving more and more general acceptance; he was a “flaming propagandist whose followers regarded him as little less than inspired.”

He addressed also during the day classes in economics on interest rates and classical and modern economic theories.

Source: Oakland Tribune. February 25, 1914, p. 4.

_____________________________

Brings Austria’s Message to Both Columbia and Harvard

The first Austrian exchange professor at Columbia will deliver a series of lectures on economic theory at Harvard in March. His lectures will be in connection with some of the courses given by Professor Taussig on economic theory.

Professor Schumpeter was born in Triesch, Moravia, in 1883, and received his early education in Vienna, where he also attended the University. He was awarded the degree of doctor of law and political science in 1906 and after spending several years in travel, established himself as a docent at the University of Vienna in 1909. A few months later, he was appointed professor of political economy in the University of Czernowitz, and in 1911 he was appointed professor of political economy in the University of Graz.

Professor Schumpeter’s own system of economic theory is developed in two books, “Wesen und Hauptinhalt der Theoretischen Nationalökonomie” and “Theorie der Wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung.” In addition, he has published a number of important papers. He has also contributed a history of economic theory to Schönberg’s “Handbuch der Politischen Oekonomie,” which is to appear shortly, and has furthermore prepared a treatise on banking law for a manual of mercantile law to be published in the near future.

In recent years Professor Schumpeter’s interest has been largely in the field of sociology, but he has not yet published anything in this department. As an economist, Professor Schumpeter is a member of the Austrian school — the brilliant group of writers headed by Böhm-Bawerk and Wieser of the University of Vienna, who have rescued economic theory from the eclipse with which it was for a time threatened by the able but exaggerated criticisms of the leaders of the German historical school. Though agreeing with his Viennese colleagues in many of their theories, he has shown great independence and originality in his treatment of the phases of economics, such as the interest problem, to which he has given particular attention. Thus, in spite of his comparative youth, he has won a place in the very front rank of contemporary European economists. His fluent command of spoken English and his intimate knowledge of American economic literature make him a most attractive lecturer.

Source: Boston Evening Transcript. February 4, 1914.

_____________________________

“The Theory of Crises”at 4.30
March 16, 1914

Professor Josef Schumpeter, an Austrian economist of the University of Vienna, will lecture upon “The Theory of Crises” before the Seminary of Economics in Upper Dane this afternoon at 4.30 o’clock. Professor Schumpeter has written two books upon Economic. Theory which are of high quality, and have attracted a great deal of attention.

Source: The Harvard Crimson. March 16, 1914.

_____________________________

Noted Economist’s Last Lecture

All members of the University interested in economics are invited to hear Professor Josef Schumpeter, of the University of Vienna, lecture upon “Economic Theory” in Professor Taussig’s course, Economics 11, this afternoon at 2.30 o’clock. This will be the last of a series of lectures given by Professor Schumpeter, who is this year conducting courses at Columbia University. The lecture will take place in Emerson H.

Source: The Harvard Crimson. March 18, 1914.

_____________________________

Prof. Schumpeter Sails.
Says That America Made a Deep Impression on Him.

Professor Joseph Schumpeter, the first Austrian exchange professor in America, who is returning to his home University of Graz, Austria, sailed on the Martha Washington yesterday. The professor has lectured on social problems, money systems, democracy and other branches of science, has been with Columbia University until the end of January, when he left for a tour through all of the leading universities of this country, the tour extending to San Francisco. Mr. Schumpeter said that he was sorry to leave America, which had made a deep impression upon him.

“The big American universities,” the professor stated, “are far better than the average Austrian and even European university. America has a bigger and better body of scientists at each university, and the student’s material is of a much higher type than that of European schools. The American student wants to learn. He has the earnest desire to go to the bottom of science. He wants to make headway in the world, whereas the Austrian student visits a university for reasons of tradition, social standing and title.”

Asked what he thought the greatest American achievement, the professor answered that the “one-man management” was most appealing to him. It was far better, he claimed to have one man run a business, a university, and even a political party, than to have the European system of sharing power and responsibilities.

Four pretty young sisters, all of whom are ardent suffragists, left on board the big Austrian liner for Italy, France and Germany. The fair travelers are Misses Catherine, Ella S., Grace and Margaret Switzer of Manhattan. Their purpose is to show their European sisters how superfluous man really is, for never during their trip will they tolerate or accept the services of any man nor will they speak to any man or stand for being addressed by a man.

Source: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 22, 1914, p.74

Image Source: Boston Evening Transcript. February 4, 1914. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final exam for graduate economics course on methods. Carver, 1902

 

This post resumes the systematic transcribing of Harvard economics exam questions year-by-year and course-by-course. Today we visit young Thomas Nixon Carver‘s graduate methods course (incidentally attended by zero graduate students during the second semester of the 1901-02 academic year). The recently hired assistant professor found Frank Taussig’s methods course dropped into his lap when the latter went on a two year leave for personal health reasons (Schumpeter called it recovery from a “nervous breakdown”, i.e., Taussig almost certainly suffered from clinical depression).

Carver’s exam questions from 1900-01 for the course have been previously posted.

Fun fact with supporting image: While a graduate student at Cornell, Thomas Nixon Carver rowed on the varsity crew. He is seen sitting on the far left in the yearbook image posted above.

______________________________

Methods of Economic Investigation
[2nd half-year, 1901-1902]

Primarily for Graduates

[Economics] 13. Methods of Economic Investigation. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 1.30. Asst. Professor Carver.

Course 13 will examine the methods by which the important writers of modern times have approached economic questions, and the range which they have given their inquiries; and will consider the advantage of different methods, and the expediency of a wider or narrower scope of investigation. These inquiries will necessarily include a consideration of the logic of the social sciences. Cairnes’ Logical Method of Political Economy and Keynes’ Scope and Method of Political Economy will be carefully examined. At the same time selected passages from the writings of Mill, Jevons, Marshall, and the Austrian writers will be studied, with a view to analyzing the nature and scope of the reasoning.

Course 13 is designed mainly for students who take or have taken Course 2 or Course 15; but it is open to mature students having a general acquaintance with economic theory.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902. Box 1. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science (June 21, 1901), University Publications, New Series, No. 16, pp. 45-46.

______________________________

Enrollment 1901-02

ECONOMICS 132

Economics 132 hf. Asst. Professor Carver. — Methods of Economic Investigation.

Total 5: 1 Senior, 1 Junior, 1 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1901-1902, p. 78.

______________________________

Semester Final Examination

ECONOMICS 13

Discuss the following topics.

  1. The relation of economics to history, to ethics, and to sociology.
  2. The division of economics into departments.
  3. Methods of reasoning, methods of investigation, and methods of exposition as distinguished from one another.
  4. The nature of an economic law.
  5. The methods of investigating the causes of poverty.
  6. The use of hypotheses in economic investigation.
  7. The application of mathematics to economics.
  8. The meaning of an economic quantity.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1902-03. Sub-volume Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College (June 1902).

Image Source: The Cornell varsity crew of 1894. Thomas Nixon Carver standing on the far left. The Cornellian 1895, p. 197.

Categories
Economists Faculty Regulations Harvard

Harvard. Economics Graduate School Records of James Alfred Field, ABD. 1903-1911.

 

The artifact transcribed for the previous post came from the tenth year report for the Harvard Class of 1903 written by University of Chicago associate professor of economics James A. Field. This post begins with an excerpt from Field’s Chicago Tribune obituary to complete our picture of his career.

What makes this post noteworthy for Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is the following information transcribed from Field’s graduate student records kept at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and within the division of History and Political Science during his first two graduate years in residence at Harvard. 

Also of particular interest is the copy of a 1911 letter included in his file informing the chairman of the economics department, Professor Frank Taussig, that the submission of a single excellent paper would not satisfy the thesis requirement for the Ph.D. By this time James A. Field was well-established at the University of Chicago and appears to have subsequently abandoned his plans to complete a Harvard Ph.D. degree. 

_________________________________

From James A. Field’s obituary in the Chicago Sunday Tribune
(July 17, 1927)

James Alfred Field, professor of economics at the University of Chicago, died on Friday [cf. The Associated Press reported that he died Saturday] in Boston from a tumor of the brain. He was returning from study at the British museum when he was stricken in Boston and died after a short illness. He was 47 years old and a native of Milton, Mass…In 1910 he came to the University of Chicago and in 1923 was made dean of the college of art and literature.
He was associate editor of the Journal of Political Economy and was special investigator of the division of statistics of the council of national defense in 1917. In 1918-19 he served as chief statistician of the American shipping mission of the allied maritime transport council in London. Prof. Field was the author of “Progress of Eugenics” and co-author of “Outlines of Economics…”

Source: Chicago Sunday Tribune, 17 July, 1927, p. 12.

_________________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Name (in full, and date of birth).

James Alfred Field
May 26th 1880

II. Academic career. (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended and teaching positions held.)

Harvard College 1899-1903
Assistant in Economics 1903-1904
Austin Teaching Fellow in Economics 1904-1905

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B. Harvard 1903

IV. Academic distinctions. (Mention prizes, honors, fellowships, scholarships, etc.)

A.B. summa cum laude; honorable mention in Economics; Jacob Wendell Scholarship; John Harvard Scholarship (twice)

V. Department of study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., in “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (Write out each subject, and at the end put in [brackets] the number of that subject in the Division lists. Indicate any digressions from the normal choices, and any combinations of partial subjects. State briefly what your means of preparation have been on each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

    1. Economic Theory and its History [1]. Based on Econ. 1, taken and for two years taught. Econ. 3, Econ. 15.
    2. Economic History [2 and 3 merged] Based on Econ. 6 and 11 and parts of History 9.
    3. Sociology [4] Based on Econ. 3 taken and taught; Anthropology 1, and on private reading.
    4. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization [9]. Based on Econ 9a and 9b.
    5. The Sociological Aspect of the Evolution Theory [4 and 16, modified]. Based chiefly on private reading; and on parts of Philosophy 1b, of the courses mentioned under (3), and of other courses and work in biological subjects.
    6. International Law [14, adapted] Based on Gov. 4.

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

[Left blank]

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

[Left blank]

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of either of the general or special examinations.)

General examination as late in the present academic year as is practicable.

X. Remarks.

[Left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: James Alfred Field

Date of reception: Feb. 13, 1905

Approved: Feb. 14, 1905

Date of general examination: June 12, 1905. Passed.

Thesis received: [blank]

Read by; [blank]

Approved: [blank]

Date of special examination: [blank]

Recommended for the Doctorate: [blank]

Voted by the Faculty: [blank]

Degree conferred: [blank].

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Unsigned copy of letter to F.W. Taussig
(presumably from head of Division)

11 December 1911

Dear Taussig:

            I have read Field’s article with interest, and I wish all our Ph.D.’s could do things as well. I should suppose there would be no question that it shows the kind of quality which will justify a doctor’s degree, and, of course, quality is far more important than quantity. Nevertheless, I think that if this article alone were accepted as a thesis our students and former students would feel that Field had been let off easily. Good as it is, I should not suppose this article would stand in line with the substantial volumes which make up the Harvard Economic Studies, and I should be sorry to have anybody feel that we had given Field a special favor.

            I hope very much we can make Field one of our Ph.D.’s. Could he not advantageously and with comparatively little effort use this article as part of some more comprehensive study in the field of population? The stimulus of working on a larger book is something Field needs.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy]

Professor F.W. Taussig

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Box 3 “PhD. Exams, 1917-18 to 1920-21”, Folder “Ph.D. Applications Withdrawn”. 

[Memo: The above letter was likely written by CHARLES HOMER HASKINS, Ph.D., Litt.D., Professor of History, Chairman of the Division of History, Government, and Economics, and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.]

_________________________________

From the Announcement for Ph.D. General Examinations

James Alfred Field.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, June 12, 1905.

Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Ripley, Carver, Gay, Castle, and Dr. Munro.

Academic History: Harvard College, 1899-1903; Harvard Graduate School, 1903-05; A.B. (Harvard) 1903.

General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History. 3. Sociology. 4. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization. 5. The Sociological Aspect of the Evolution Theory. 6 International Law.

Special Subject: Sociology.

Thesis Subject: (Not yet announced.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government and Economics, Exams for PhD. (Schedules) 1903-1932. Examinations for 1904-05, p. 8.

_________________________________

FROM THE GRADUATE SCHOOL RECORD CARD

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the record card; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

Record of James Alfred Field

Years: 1903-04, 1904-05

First Registration: 1 Oct. 1903

1903-04 Grades.
First Year. Course. Half-Course.
History 9 abs.  
Government 4 A  
Economics 2 A  
Economics 11 incomplete

 

1904-05 Grades.
Second Year. Course. Half-Course.
Economics 9a1 (extra)   no report
Economics 9b2 (extra)    
Economics 15 (extra) abs.  
Economics 20 (extra) incomplete  

Division History and Political Science

Scholarship, Fellowship

Assistantship in Economics [1903-04]
Austin Teaching Fellowship in Economics [1904-05]
Proctorship in Apley 1 [1903-04, 1904-05]

College attended [Harvard]

Honors at College: Hon. Mention, Economics.

Degrees received: A.B. summa cum laude 1903

Non-Resident Student Years: 1905 John Harvard Fellow

Source: Harvard University Archives. GSAS, Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930. File I, Box 5 “Eames-Garrett”.

_________________________________

Economics in the Rear-view Mirror Note:
Course numbers, names, and instructors

1903-04

History 9. Constitutional History of England to the Sixteenth Century. Professor Gross.

Government 4. Elements of International Law. Professor Macvane and Mr. Jones.

Economics 2. Economic Theory. Professors Taussig and Carver.

Economics 11. The Modern Economic History of Europe. Asst. Prof. Gay.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1903-04.

1904-05

Economics 3. Principles of Sociology, Theories of Social Progress. Professor Carver and Mr. Field.

Economics 9a1. Problems of Labor. Professor Ripley and Mr. Custis.

Economics 9a2. Economics of Corporations. Professor Ripley and Mr. Custis.

Economics 15. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Asst. Professor Bullock.

Economics 20. The Seminary in Economics.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1904-05.

Image Source: Original black-and-white image from the Special Diplomatic Passport Application by James Alfred Field (January 1918). Cropped and colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. (Note: left third of the image is slightly distorted because of a transparent plastic strip used to hold pages in the imaging process)

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. List of Ph.D. recipients in History and Political Science, 1873-1901

Before there was a department of political economy or economics at Harvard there was a Division of History and Political Science that continued on to become the Division of History, Government and Economics. Earlier student records for graduate students of economics as well as for the other departments were kept at this divisional and not departmental level. Altogether a total of 45 Ph.D. degrees were awarded at Harvard going up through 1901, not quite a third to men who were or became economists or economic historians.

The following list includes the activity of the Ph.D. alumni, presumably as of 1900-01.

____________________

DIVISION OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
RECIPIENTS OF THE DEGREE OF PH.D., 1873-1901.

(* deceased)

Field. Date.
1. Charles Leavitt Beals Whitney* History. 1873.
2. Stuart Wood Pol. Sci. 1875.
3. James Laurence Laughlin
(Prof. Chicago)		 History. 1876.
4. Henry Cabot Lodge
(Former Instr. Harv., now Senator)		 History. 1876.
5. Ernest Young*
(Late Prof. Harvard)		 History. 1876.
6. Freeman Snow*
(Late Instr. Harvard)		 History. 1877.
7. Franklin Bartlett History. 1878.
8. Melville Madison Bigelow
(Prof. Boston Univ.)		 History. 1878.
9. Edward Channing
(Prof. Harvard)		 History. 1880.
10. Denman Waldo Ross
(Lecturer, Harvard)		 History. 1880.
11. Samuel Eppes Turner*
(once Instr. Philips Exeter)		 History. 1880.
12. Frank William Taussig
(Prof. Harvard)		 Pol. Sci. 1883.
13. Andrew Fiske
(Lawyer)		 History. 1886.
14. Charles William Colby
(Prof. McGill)		 History. 1890.
15. Edson Leone Whitney
(Prof. Bezonia)		 History. 1890.
16. Herman Vanderburg Ames
(Prof. Pennsylvania)		 History. 1891.
17. Fred Emory Haynes
(Charity Work)		 History. 1891.
18. Evarts Boutell Greene
(Prof. Illinois)		 History. 1893.
19. Charles Luke Wells
(Recent Prof. Minnesota)		 History. 1893.
20. Willian Edward Burghardt DuBois
(Prof. Atlanta)		 Pol. Sci. 1895.
21. Kendric Charles Babcock
(Prof. California)		 History. 1896.
22. Howard Hamblett Cook
(Statistician)		 Pol. Sci. 1896.
23. Theodore Clarke Smith
(Prof. Ohio State Univer.)		 Pol. Sci. 1896.
24. Guy Stevens Callender
(Prof. Bowdoin)		 Pol. Sci. 1897.
25. Clyde Augustus Duniway
(Prof. Leland Stanford Univ.)		 Pol. Sci. 1897.
26. Gaillard Thomas Lapsley
(Instr. Univ. Cali.)		 History. 1897.
27. Charles Whitney Mixter
(Instr. Harvard)		 Pol. Sci. 1897.
28. Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague
(Instr. Harvard)		 Pol. Sci. 1897.
29. George Ole Virtue
(Prof. Wisconsin Normal)		 Pol. Sci. 1897.
30. Samuel Bannister Harding
(Prof. Indiana)		 History. 1898.
31. James Sullivan, Jr.
(Instr. N.Y. [DeWitt Clinton] High School)		 History. 1898.
32. Arthur Mayer Wolfson
(Instr. N.Y. [DeWitt Clinton] High School)		 History. 1898.
33. Frederick Redman Clow
(Prof. Minnesota Normal)		 Pol. Sci. 1899.
34. Arthur Lyons Cross
(Instr. Michigan)		 History. 1899.
35. Louis Clinton Hatch. History. 1899.
36. Norman Maclaren Trenholme
(Instr. Pa. State College)		 History. 1899.
37. Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr.
(Instr. Harvard)		 Pol. Sci. 1900.
38. Sidney Bradshaw Fay
(Instr. Harvard)		 History. 1900.
39. Carl Russell Fish
(Instr. Wisconsin)		 History. 1900.
40. William Bennett Munro
(Instr. McGill)		 Pol. Sci. 1900.
41. Subharama Swaminadhan Pol. Sci. 1900.
42. Don Carlos Barrett
(Prof. Haverford)		 Pol. Sci. 1901.
43. Herbert Camp Marshall Pol. Sci. 1901.
44. Jonas Viles History. 1901.
45. Arthur Herbert Wilde
(Prof. Northeastern)		 History. 1901.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics. PhD. Material. Box 1, Folder “PhD degrees conferred, 1873-1901 (Folder 1 of 2).”

Image Source: Harvard Square, ca. 1901-07. History Cambridge webpage “Postcard Series I: Harvard Square”.

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Cornell Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance Williams Wisconsin

Harvard. Public Finance Exams. Charles Jesse Bullock visiting from Williams College, 1901-02

Courses in public finance were not offered in the academic year 1900-01 at Harvard. Those courses had last been taught by Charles F. Dunbar and Frank W. Taussig in 1899-1900. Following Dunbar’s death (January, 29 1900) and Taussig’s leave to recover from a nervous breakdown (1901-03), it was necessary to bring in an outsider to cover the public finance offerings. Charles Jesse Bullock was first appointed as an instructor in economics for the 1901-1902 academic year to fill that gap. He was later to return at the rank of assistant professor beginning with the 1903-04 academic year.

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From the Williams College Yearbook

CHARLES JESSE BULLOCK, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of Political Science.

Graduated from Boston University, 1889, with Commencement appointment, and received the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, in 1895. He taught in high schools from 1889 to 1893 and was traveling fellow in Boston University in 1891. In 1895 he was fellow and assistant at the University of Wisconsin and from 1895 to 1899 was instructor in Economics at Cornell University. Dr. Bullock has written: “The Finance of the United States, 1775-1789,” (1895), “Introduction to the Study of Economics,” (1897), and “Essays on the Monetary History of the United States” (in press [1900]). He also edited William Douglass’s “Discourse Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America,” and has contributed various articles to the economic and statistical magazines. He is a member of the American Economic Association and of the American Statistical Association, an associate member of the National Institute of Art, Science and Letters, and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Dr. Bullock is a member of the ΦΔΧ Fraternity.

Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian MCMI, Vol 44 (Williamstown, MA: 1900), p. 23.

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Course Announcements

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

[open to students who have passed satisfactorily in Course 1. Outlines of Economics]

7a1 hf. Financial Administration and Public Debts. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri. at 9. Professor Bullock (Williams College).

7b1 hf. The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special reference to local taxation in the United States. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat. at 10. Professor Bullock (Williams College).

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year, 1901-02 (Second ed., 25 June 1901), p.44.

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Course Enrollments

7a 1hf. Professor Bullock (Williams College). — Financial Administration and Public Debts.

Total 26: 2 Graduates, 16 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 2 Others.

7b 1hf. Professor Bullock (Williams College). — The Theory and Methods of Taxation with special reference to local taxation, in the United States.

Total 26: 2 Graduates, 13 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1901-1902, p. 78.

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Course Descriptions

7a1 hf. Financial Administration. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri. at 9. Professor Bullock (Williams College).

This course will deal with the methods by which governments have attempted to adjust expenditures to revenue, and will study the problems arising from the effort to secure popular control over this process. The budget systems of England, France, and Germany will first receive attention; and study will then be concentrated upon the budgetary methods of our federal government. So far as practicable, also, some consideration will be given to State and local budgets in the United States. The history and present form of our federal budget will offer a large field for investigation, and supply subjects for written reports. Students will be encouraged, furthermore, to gather information concerning the methods followed by State and local governments with which they may happen to be familiar. Candidates for Honors in Political Science or for the higher degrees may advantageously use reports thus prepared by them as material for theses.

Course 7a is open to students who have taken Economics 1

7b1 hf. The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special reference to local taxation in the United States. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat. at 10. Professor Bullock (Williams College).

In this course both the theory and practice of taxation will be studied. Attention will be given at the outset to the tax systems of England, France, and Germany; and the so-called direct taxes employed in those countries will receive special consideration. After this, the principles of taxation will be examined. This will lead to a study of the position of taxation in the system of economic science, and of such subjects as the classification, the just distribution, and the incidence of taxes. Finally, the existing methods of taxation in the United States will be studied, each tax being treated with reference to its proper place in a rational system of federal, state, and local revenues.

Written work will be required of all students, as well as a systematic course of prescribed reading. Candidates for Honors in Political Science and for the higher degrees will be given the opportunity of preparing theses in substitution for the required written work.

Course 7b is open to students who have taken Economics 1.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902, Box 1. Bound volume: Univ. Pub. N.S. 16. History, etc. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics (June 21, 1901), pp. 43-44.

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Final Examinations

ECONOMICS 7a
FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION

  1. How is budgetary legislation prepared in France, in England and in the United States? In which country are the best results attained?
  2. At what time of the year is the budget prepared and enacted in France, England, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Prussia, and the United States? Why is the time of preparation and adoption an important consideration?
  3. Compare methods of budgetary legislation in England with those prevailing in France.
  4. Describe and criticize federal budgetary procedure in the United States?
  5. What part do supplementary, or deficiency, appropriations play in France, in England, and in the United States?
  6. Compare the English and French methods of accounting. What method is followed in the United States?
  7. What are the methods of collecting and issuing public money in England?
  8. What methods of collection and issue are followed in the United States?
  9. Compare the auditing methods of England, France, and the United States?
  10. Why are unity and universality important elements in any good budget system?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6. Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-years 1901-1902.
Also included in: Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume Examination Papers, 1902-03.  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy,… in Harvard College(June, 1902), pp. 26-27.

ECONOMICS 7b
TAXATION

  1. Describe the land taxes of France, Prussia, and Great Britain.
  2. Compare the French and the Prussian business taxes.
  3. Discuss the British income tax, giving special consideration to methods of administration and to financial results.
  4. In a similar manner discuss the Prussian income tax.
  5. Discuss briefly the customs taxes of Great Britain, France, and Germany.
  6. Describe the excise taxes of the same countries.
  7. What reasons are there for thinking that a tax on rent can not be shifted? Discuss the incidence of an excise tax on each unit of the product of an industry.
  8. What arguments are advanced for and against progressive taxation?
  9. Discuss the shortcomings of the property tax in the United States: (a) with reference to the taxation of realty; (b) with reference to the taxation of personalty.
  10. Describe the corporation taxes of Massachusetts.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6. Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-years 1901-1902.
Also included in: Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume Examination Papers, 1902-03.  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy,… in Harvard College(June, 1902), pp. 26-27.

Image Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Economics semester final examinations, 1900-01.

In the first full academic year of the twentieth century the Harvard economics department offered the following courses. The course links take you to the official course announcement, instructor names, enrollment figures, and the transcribed semester examinations.

Economics 1. Outlines of Economics
Economics 2. Economic Theory of the 19th Century
Economics 3. Principles of Sociology
Economics 5. Railways and Other Public Works
Economics 6. Economic History of the U.S.
Economics 8. Money
Economics 9. Labor Question in Europe and the U.S.
Economics 10. European Mediaeval Economic History
Economics 12. Banking and Leading Banking Systems
Economics 12a. International Payments and Gold/Silver Flows
Economics 13. Methods of Economic Investigation
Economics 17. Economic Organization and Resources in Europe
Economics 18. Principles of Accounting
Economics 19. General View of Insurance
Economics 20d. Adam Smith and Ricardo

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Economics 1.
Outlines of Economics

Primarily for Undergraduates.

Course Announcement
  1. Outlines of Economics. , Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor Taussig, Dr. Sprague, Mr. Andrew, and Messrs. — and — .

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 41.

Course Enrollment
  1. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig, Drs. [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague and [Abram Piatt] Andrew, and Messrs. [Charles] Beardsley and [James Horace] Patten. — Outlines of Economics.

Total 442: 23 Seniors, 70 Juniors, 257 Sophomores, 29 Freshmen, 63 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1900-1901, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 1
[Mid-year Examination]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

  1. In what manner do you think that (a) the individual efficiency of laborers, (b) their collective efficiency, would be affected by the general adoption of profit sharing? of socialism?
  2. It has been said that the original formation of capital is due to abstinence or saving, but its permanent maintenance is not. What do you say to either statement?
  3. Wherein is Walker’s presentation of the forces that make the general rate of wages better than Mill’s, wherein not so good?
  4. “The extra gains which any producer or dealer obtains through superior talents for business, or superior business arrangements, are very much of a similar kind. …All advantages, in fact, which one competitor has over another, whether natural or acquired, whether personal or the result of social arrangements, bring the commodity, so far, into the Third Class, and assimilate the advantage to a receiver of rent.”
    Explain (a) what is this Third Class, and what is the law of value applicable to it; (b) what Mill would say as to the proposition here stated; (c) what Walker would say?
  5. What qualifications of the general principle of rent can you state, in its application to (a) premises used for building purposes, (b) dwelling-houses, (c) mines?
  6. If all men had the same start in life, would there be differences of wages? If so, of what sort? If not, why not?
  7. “Since cost of production here fails us, we must revert to a law of value anterior to cost of production and more fundamental…” In what cases does cost of production fail us? Will “cost of reproduction” cover such cases? Is there another law more fundamental?
  8. Under what circumstances. if ever, will a general rise in wages affect the relative values of commodities? Would your answer be the same as to a general rise in profits?
  9. In what manner do you believe business profits, interest, and wages would be affected by the general adoption of the various forms of consumers’ coöperation? of producers’ cooperation?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 1
[Year-end Examination]

I.
Answer three.

  1. How will the value of land be affected by
    1. an increase in population,
    2. a reduction in the rate of interest,
    3. a protective tariff on agricultural produce.
  2. How will the price of grain be affected by
    1. a tax proportioned to the economic rent of the land,
    2. an equal tax upon all land.
  3. “Profits do not form a part of the price of the products of industry, and do not cause any diminution of the wages of labor.”
    Would Mill agree to this statement? Would you?
  4. Upon what does the general level of wages depend (a) according to Mill, (b) according to Walker? What would you expect these writers to say as to the effect of a protective tariff on the general level of wages?

II.
Answer two.

  1. If a country exports on a large scale a commodity not previously exported, will its other exports be affected? If so, how? If not, why not?
  2. Can a country have a permanently “unfavorable” balance of trade? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not?
    Can a country permanently export specie? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not?
    Can the rate of foreign exchange in a country be permanently at the specie-shipping point? If so, under what conditions? If not, why not?
  3. How would you expect the issue of a paper currency to effect foreign trade,—
    1. While the notes were still redeemable;
    2. After they had become irredeemable.

III.
Answer two.

  1. Define the following terms

Seignorage,
Clearing house loan certificates,
Silver Certificates,
United States notes,
Inconvertible paper.

  1. How would the adoption of bimetallism affect the stability of the value of money?
    1. according to Mill,
    2. according to Walker,
    3. in your own opinion.
  2. How is the value of money in a country likely to be affected by an increase in
    1. the quantity of commodities produced and sold,
    2. the quantity of bank notes,
    3. the volume of bank deposits.

Which of these changes would you expect to exercise most influence? Which least? Give your reasons.

IV.
Answer all.

  1. Compare and explain the operations of the Bank of England and those of the New York banks in a time of crisis,
  2. Arrange these items…

Government Securities 40.
Surplus 3.
Notes 38.
Specie 40.
Deposits 55.
Capital 14.
Loans 30.

    1. … in their proper order, as they would stand in an account of the Bank of France.
    2. … as they would stand in an account of a national bank of the United States; and state (1) whether this could be an account of a national bank, and (2) whether the proportions of the different items are such as you would be likely to find in an account of such a bank.
    3. … as they would stand in an account of the Bank of England, assuming the uncovered issue to be 17.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 21-23.

 

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Economics 2.
Economic Theory
in the 19th Century

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course outline and readings.

Course Announcement
  1. Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century. , Wed., Fri., at 2.30 Professor Taussig. [note: Professor Carver taught the course]

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 41.

Enrollment
  1. Professor Carver. — Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century.

Total 45: 6 Graduates, 15 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 3 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 2
[Mid-year examination]
  1. Define value and explain why one commodity possesses more value in proportion to its bulk than another.
  2. Explain the various uses of the term diminishing returns, and define it as you think it ought to be defined.
  3. In what sense does a law of diminishing returns apply to all the factors of production.
  4. State briefly Böhm-Bawerk’s explanation of the source of interest.
  5. What, if any, is the relation of abstinence to interest.
  6. Would you make any distinction between the source of wages and the factors which determine rates of wages? If so, what? If not, why not?
  7. Discuss the question: Is a demand for commodities a demand for labor?
  8. What is the relation of the standard of living to wages.
  9. Discuss briefly the following questions relating to speculators’ profits. (a) Do speculators as a classmake any profits? (b) Are speculators’ profits in any sense earned?
  10. In what sense, if any, does the value of money come under the law of marginal utility?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 2
[Year-end Examination]

Discuss the following topics.

  1. The bearing of the marginal utility theory of value upon the questions of wages and interest.
  2. The definitions of capital as given by Taussig and Clark.
  3. Clark’s explanation of the place of distribution within the natural divisions of economics.
  4. Clark’s method of distinguishing between the product of labor and the product of capital.
  5. Clark’s distinction between rent and interest.
  6. Böhm-Bawerk’s theory of the nature of capital.
  7. The origin of capital, according to Böhm-Bawerk and Clark.
  8. The meaning of the word “productive” in the following proposition: “Protection is an attempt to attract labor and capital from the naturally more productive, to the naturally less productive industries.”
  9. The incidence of tariff duties.
  10. The theory of production and the theory of valuation as the two principal departments of economics.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 23-24.

 

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Economics 3.
Principles of Sociology

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course Announcement
  1. The Principles of Sociology. — Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. , Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30. Mr. —.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 41.

Enrollment
  1. Asst. Professor [Thomas Nixon] Carver. — The Principles of Sociology. Development of the Modern state, and of its Social Functions.

Total 57: 9 Graduates, 22 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 14 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 3.
[Mid-year Examination]

Answer only ten questions.

  1. Upon what does Kidd base his argument that religion is necessary to keep men from taking such political action as would suspend economic competition, and what is the crucial point in his argument?
  2. In the light of Kidd’s theory of social evolution, discuss the question: Can there be a permanent civilization? Or, do the conditions which promote progress also ensure decay?
  3. Classify the sanctions for conduct which originate outside the individual and explain your classification.
  4. Explain and illustrate the meaning of the following: “Generalizing this struggle and extending it to every form existing in the social life — linguistic, religious, political, artistic, and moral, as well as industrial — we see that the really fundamental social opposition must be sought for in the bosom of the social individual himself.” (Tarde, Social Laws. Ch. II. p. 83.)
  5. What is meant by social stratification? How does it originate? What are some of its consequences?
  6. Compare Herbert Spencer’s theory of progress with Lester F. Ward’s, giving special attention to the argument which each offers in support of his theory.
  7. What, according to Patten, are the chief obstacles to a progressive evolution.
  8. Explain the following. “The difference between that society of conscious units which we call mind, and a society of human beings on our planet, is in the completeness of the mechanism.” (Patten, Theory of Social Forces. Ch. II. p. 21.)
  9. What, according to Patten, is the significance of the transition from a pain to a pleasure economy.
  10. How does Bagehot account for the origin of national traits?
  11. Discuss the question: Does charity retard the process of race improvement?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 3.
[Year-end Examination]

Discuss the following topics

  1. The definition of progress.
  2. Charity as a factor in human selection.
  3. The way in which, according to Spencer, the different classes of institutions are related to one another.
  4. The sanctions for conduct.
  5. A moral ideal as a factor in human selection.
  6. The natural antagonism of human interests and the problem of evil.
  7. The storing of the surplus energy of society.
  8. The influence of property on the relations of the sexes.
  9. Labor and service as bases of distributive justice
  10. The influence of militarism upon race development, or deterioration.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), p. 24.

 

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Economics 5.
Railways and Other Public Works

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course Announcements

51 hf. Railways and Other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th. and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Mr. Meyer.

52 hf. Railways and Other Public Works (advanced course). Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th. and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Mr. Meyer.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 42.

Enrollments

[Economics] 51 hf. Mr. [Hugo Richard] Meyer.— Railways and other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management.

Total 86: 4 Graduates, 52 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 9 Others.

[Economics] 52 hf. Mr. Meyer.— Railways and other Public Works (advanced course).

Total 9: 3 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1900-1901, p.64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 51
[Mid-year Examination]

Omit the last question if the paper seems too long

  1. The construction put upon the long and short haul clause: by the Interstate Commerce Commission; by the Supreme Court.
  2. The decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission on group rates.
  3. The railway rate situation in Germany [Prussia]; does it throw any light on the railway problem in the United States?
  4. “If pooling produces any beneficial result, it necessarily does so at the expense of competition. It is only by destroying competition that the inducement to deviate from the published rate is wholly removed….By the legalizing of pooling the public loses the only protection which it now has against the unreasonable exactions of transportation agencies.”—Give your reasons for accepting or rejecting this statement.
    Alternative:—
    The reasons for the instability of pools in the United States.
  5. The Iowa Railroad Commission.
    Alternative:—
    To what extent was the long and short haul clause of the Interstate Commerce Act enforced; what was the effect of that enforcement: on railway revenues; on intermediate shipping or distributing points?
  6. The body of administrative law to be found in the decisions of the Massachusetts Gas and Electric Light Commission’s decisions upon petitions for reductions in the price of gas.
  7. (a) Is it to the public interest to insert in street railway charters provisions seeking to secure to the municipality or the state a share in any excess of profit over the normal rate?
    Alternative: (b) and (c).
    (b) The evidence as to the return on capital obtainable in street railway ventures.
    (c) What questions of public policy were raised in the case of the Milwaukee Street Railway and Electric Light Co. vs. The City of Milwaukee?
  8. What statistics were used in illustrating in a general way the statement that railway charges are based upon what the traffic will bear; in discussing the bearing of stock-watering upon railway rates; in discussing the return obtained by capital invested in railway enterprises in the United States?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College. June, Pages 24-25.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 52
[Year-end Examination]
  1. The railways and the national finances in Prussia and Australia.
  2. Railway rates and the export trade of the United States since 1893, or, 1896.
  3. The economic situation in Australia since 1892, and the Australian railways.
  4. “A fatal objection to the income or preference bond is that it is an attempt to combine two contradictory commercial principles.”
    Discuss this statement fully. What does it mean? Is it true?
  5. If you had access to all the accounts of a railroad, how should you determine the value to it of one of its branch lines?
  6. To what accounts would you charge the following expenditures? (If you do not remember the exact Interstate Commerce Commission classification, use your best judgment.) State reasons in each case.
    Engineer’s wages on a special train conveying the general manager to an extensive flood covering the line.
    Fireman’s wages on an engine employed exclusively in switching to and from the repair shops.
    Conductor’s wages on a worktrain engaged in taking up rails on an abandoned branch.
    Brakeman’s wages on a train engaged solely in hauling company’s coal for company’s use.
    Cost of taking up comparatively new sound rails judged too light for heavy rolling stock.
    Cost at a competitive point of a new station to replace an old one which was large enough but old-fashioned.
  7. State the commonest problems facing a reorganization committee for an insolvent road, and then suggest and defend one course of procedure for each problem.
  8. Combine and arrange the following items so as to give the best information about the operation and condition of the road. (Do not rewrite the names but use the corresponding numbers where possible.)
1. Passenger train miles 2,000,000
2. Freight train miles 3,400,000
3. Passenger train earnings $2,400,000
4. Freight train earnings $5,500,000
5. Income from investments $100,000
6. Dividends $500,000
7. Operating expenses $4,700,000
8. Av. no. pass. cars per train 4
9. Av. no. passengers per car 11
10. Tons freight carried 2,800,000
11. Av. load per car (loaded and empty), tons 8.2
12. Av. no. loaded cars per train 12.3
13. Av. no. empty cars per train 6.7
14. Interest charge for year $2,200,000
15. Due other roads $100,000
16. Stocks and bonds owned $4,900,000
17. Supplies on hand $500,000
18. Taxes for the year $300,000
19. Accounts receivable $500,000
20. Cash $1,000,000
21. Surplus for the year $300,000
22. Profit and loss account $1,000,000
23. Taxes accrued but not due $100,000
24. Capital stock $50,000,000
25. Interest due $700,000
26. Funded debt $45,000,000
27. Due from other roads $100,000
28. Interest accrued not due $300,000
29. Franchises and property $90,400,000
30. Bonds of the company in its treasury $800,000
31. Accounts payable $1,000,000
32. No. of passengers carried 2,300,000

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College. June, 1901. Pages 25-27.

 

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Economics 6.
Economic History of the U.S.

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course Announcement
  1. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructor. Mr. —.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 42.

Enrollment
  1. Professor Taussig. — The Economic History of the United States.

Total 164: 9 Graduates, 63 Seniors, 68 Juniors, 13 Sophomores, 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 6
[Mid-year Examination]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Answer all the questions,

  1. The nature and object of the scales of depreciation established by Congress and by the States at the close of the war of the Revolution; and how far these objects were accomplished.
  2. “The year 1789 marks no such epoch in economies as it does in political history.” — Taussig. How far is this true as to (1) financial legislation; (2) tariff legislation; (3) the course of foreign trade; (4) the growth of manufactures?
  3. Explain how you would distinguish Treasury Notes designed to circulate as currency from those designed simply to meet financial needs; and state when and under what circumstances, between 1789 and 1860, the United States resorted to issues of the first kind.
  4. Suppose the charter of the first Bank of the United States had been renewed: would the effect have been favorable or unfavorable for the finances of the government, for the bank, for the community, in 1812-1815?
  5. Suppose the charter of the second Bank of the United States had been renewed: would the effect have been favorable or unfavorable for the finances of the government, for the bank, for the community, in 1835-40?
  6. Describe the Independent Treasury system, as first established and as finally settled (give dates). Do you believe it better than the alternative system proposed by its opponents? Why?
  7. The causes of the crises of 1837 and 1857: wherein similar, wherein different.
  8. State what were the duties on cotton goods in 1809, 1819, 1839, 1859; and give your opinion whether the duties at these several dates were designed to give protection, and whether protection was then expedient.
  9. Why the early railway enterprises of the States were undertaken as public enterprises; and how far their history may be fairly cited for or against the policy of public management.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 6
[Year-end Examination]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions

  1. Explain summarily at what dates and to what extent land-grants and bond-subsidies were extended to railways by the United States; and state whether you believe these measures brought advantage to the country.
  2. Was the management of the finances during the Civil War fraught with more or less evil consequences than that during the War of 1812, as regards (1) the currency, (2) the banks?
  3. State what main sources of revenue were expected to be used, what were used in fact, by the United States in each of the years 1862, 1863, 1864; and explain how the resort to the sources actually used came about.
  4. For the decade 1870-80, explain the connection between the course of prices, foreign trade, railway operations, and currency legislation.
  5. For the decade 1880-90, connect the history of the public debt, the national revenues, the banking system, the silver currency.
  6. Does the argument for protection to young industries find support in the history of (1) the cotton manufacture before 1830, (2) the silk manufacture since 1870, (3) the tin plate industry since 1890.
  7. Explain how the theory of comparative costs may be applicable to the present situation as regards carpet wool, beet sugar, glassware, woollen cloths (take three).
  8. What changes were made in the duties on raw and refined sugar in 1890, 1894, 1897? Which mode of treatment do you regard the most advisable, and why?
  9. State what causes you believe to have chiefly promoted the growth and maintenance of the sugar and oil combinations; and consider which of these two you regard as typical, and as instructive for forecasting the future of combinations.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College. June, 1901. Pages 27-28.

 

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Economics 81
Money

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course Announcement

81 hf. Money. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Mr. Andrew.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 42.

Enrollment

81 hf. Dr. [Abram Piatt] Andrew. Money.

Total 122: 3 Graduates, 56 Seniors, 41 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 13 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 8
[Mid-year Examination]

Answer only three questions from each group, but consider the questions strictly in the order of their arrangement 

I

  1. What is meant by

(1) a “double” standard;
(2) a “parallel” standard;
(3) a “limping” standard;
(4) a “single” standard;

Cite at least two historic examples of each, giving approximate dates.

  1. The following are estimates which have been made of the average production of silver, and its annual average export to the Orient in millions of ounces:

 Production Export to East
1851-55 28 mill.

20 mill.

1855-60

 29  ” 52  ”
1861-65 35  ”

53  ”

1865-70

 43  ”

25  ”

State the causes of the singular situation revealed in these figures, and explain its actual effect upon the relative values of gold and silver in Europe.

  1. Suppose that the British government in 1870 had used the right conferred by the act of 1816, and had proclaimed the free coinage of silver at the ratio then current. What differences do you think would have occurred in the subsequent currency history of the world?
  2. Describe the effect of the suspension of the coinage of silver upon the value of the currency in each of the following cases:—
    (1) in Holland; (2) in Austria; (3) in Russia; (4) in India.

II

  1. “Before 1873 we had coined in the United States only about eight million silver dollars ($8,031,238) while since the date fixed as the beginning of demonetization we have coined nearly five hundred millions ($485,427,703).”
    How do you explain (1) the small amount of dollars coined before 1873? (2) the large amount coined since then?
  2. What in your opinion was the real significance of (1) the act of 1803? (2) the act of 1873?
  3. “With the exception of the brief period of fifteen years (1544-60) the English coins have never been debased.”
    In what sense and to what extent is this statement correct?
  4. In writing of the currency history of England during the years, immediately succeeding the great recoinage (1696) Mr. Dana Horton says:—
    “And so the full weight standard coin of the Realm, to create a stock of which the State had spent a sum greater than its regular annual revenue, and equal to perhaps a fourth of the country’s total stock of cash, — was allowed to find its way back to the melting-pot in exchange for cheaper gold.”
    Explain the situation to which he refers, and the reasons for this disappearance of the “standard coin.”

III

  1. (a) What were the main arguments which Lord Liverpool advanced in favor of a single gold standard?
    (b) What were the legislative acts in which his influence is to be traced?
  2. (a) Do falling prices necessarily mean an increase in the burden of debts?
    (b) Do they in the long run inevitably diminish the productiveness of industry?
    (c) To what extent are they prejudicial to the interests of the working classes?
  3. “It is generally agreed that every fall in the value of silver acted at the time as a stimulus to Indian exports and as a check on imports into India.”
    (1) Explain this statement, (2) state how far it is confirmed by commercial statistics, and (3) show whether such a condition is ever likely to be of prolonged duration.
  4. It is alleged that the Russian government, by stimulating exports, and hindering imports, has endeavored to secure a favorable balance of trade, with the idea of increasing the quantity of gold in the country? What do you think would be the ultimate effect of such a policy if continuously pursued?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

Also: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 28-30.

 

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Economics 9.
The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S.

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Taught by W. F. Willoughby (Edward Cummings’ successor).

Course Announcement
  1. The Labor Question in Europe and the United States. — The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen. Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Mr. —.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 42.

Enrollment

92 hf. Mr. W. F. Willoughby. — The Labor Question in Europe and the United States. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen.

Total 146: 3 Graduates, 53 Seniors, 40 Juniors, 35 Sophomores, 3 Freshmen, 12 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 9
[Year-end examination]
  1. Show how the change in the organization of industry from the handicraft system and production on a small scale to the factory system and production on a large scale has led to; (a) efforts to supplant the wages system by socialism[,] coöperation, etc., (b) the trade union movement, and (c) compulsory compensation acts.
  2. Give the arguments for and against profit-sharing as regards (a) it being a more just system of enumeration than the wages system, and (b) its practical advantages.
  3. What are the two systems of coöperative production now practice in Great Britain, and why are they meeting with more success than earlier efforts?
  4. Describe the trade agreement between the National Metal Trades Association and the International Association of Machinists in such a way as to show its essential character and significance, and particularly its relation to the trade union movement and the question of the prevention and adjustment of industrial disputes.
  5. What was the nature of the “new unionism” movement in Great Britain, and its success?
  6. What is the general character of the Massachusetts State Board of Conciliation and Arbitration; what its duties and its powers?
  7. Describe the essential features of the French Workmen’s Compensation Act.
  8. Give a brief sketch of the Social Democratic Party in Germany, with the names of its early leaders and important events in its history.
  9. In what ways can the municipality take action for the improvement of the housing condition of the poorer classes without itself building tenements? What are some of the objections to the municipalities themselves undertaking building operations?
  10. Show why employment bureaus can do but little for the solution of the general problem of the unemployed.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 30-31.

Enrollment (Economics 9a)

9a2 hf. Mr. W. F. Willoughby. — Provident Institutions. Workingmen’s Insurance, Friendly Societies, Savings Banks.

Total 22: 1 Graduate, 13 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-1901
ECONOMICS 9a
[Year-end Examination]
  1. What is the general situation in France at the present time in respect to insurance against old age and invalidity? Describe briefly the organization and workings of important institutions, and show particularly how the government is attempting to further this kind of insurance.
  2. What has been the general policy of the British government in respect to the regulation of Friendly Societies? Give the main features of law now regulating them.
  3. Describe the Fraternal Beneficial Orders of the United States as regards (a) their general scheme of organization, and (b) system of insurance.
  4. Show wherein this insurance system is defective by contrasting it with that of ordinary life insurance companies: indicate reforms that are necessary and how they can best be brought about.
  5. Contrast the systems of savings banks in Great Britain and the United States.
  6. In what respects are coöperative banks of the Schulze-Delitzsch and Raiffeisen type more valuable social institutions than the ordinary savings banks?
  7. Describe the principles upon which all coöperative building and loan associations in this country are organized, and indicate ways in which they might profitably be subjected to more rigid state control.
  8. Why is it impracticable to insure against unemployment?
  9. Outline briefly the system of sick insurance in Germany.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), p. 31.

 

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Economics 10.
Mediaeval Economic History of Europe.

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course Announcement

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

  1. The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Professor Ashley.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 41.

Enrollment
  1. Professor Ashley. The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe.

Total 11: 6 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 1 Junior.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 10
[Mid-year Examination]

Not more than six questions should be attempted, of which the first should be one.

  1. Translate, and briefly comment upon
    1. Toto regis Willelmi primi tempore perseveravit haec institutio, usque tempora regis Henrici filii ejus; adeo ut viderim ego ipse quosdam qui victualia statutis temporibus de fundis regiis ad curiam deferri viderint.
    2. In Kateringes sunt X hidae ad geldum Regis. Et de istis X hidis tenent XL villani XL virgas terrae.
    3. Compotus Roberti Oldeman praepositi de Cuxham, ab in crastino Sancti Jacobi anno regni Regis Edwardi filii Regis Edwardi decimo usque ad in crastinum Sancti Jacobi proxime sequentis anno regni Regis Edwardi praedicti undecimo intrante.
    4. Rogamus . . . ademptum sit jus etiam procuratoribus nedum conductori adversus colons ampliandi partes agrarias aut operarum praebitionem jugorumve.
    5. Orgeterix ad judicium omnem suam familiam, ad hominum milia decem, undeque coëgit et omnes clientes obaeratoque suos quorum magnum numerum habebat eodem conduxit.
  2. What materials have we for forming a judgment as to the position of the rural population of England in the period from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries? Classify them, and indicate the value of each class for the purposes of this enquiry.
  3. Wherein did the status of the coloni of the later Roman Empire resemble or differ from that of the medieval villein?
  4. Describe the constitution and working of manorial courts. What light does their history throw on the evolution of social classes?
  5. “Wie das Wort Dorf … dem Sinne nach einen Haufen bezeichnet, so ist auch haufenförmig oder Haufendorf der geeignetste Ausdruck für diese Art der Dorfenlage.” Explain and comment.
  6. “M. Fustel took for his point of departure the Provincial villa; Dr. Hildebrand takes the Kirghises of modern Asia.” Explain, and then show the peculiar dangers of each method.
  7. “We may safely follow Palgrave in taking the Anglo-Saxon townships as the integral molecules out of which the Anglo-Saxon State was formed.” Why? or why not?
  8. What was the gwely? What bearing has it on the general problem of “tribal” organization?
  9. What are the assumptions or postulates of modern Political Economy? To what extent were they true of the Middle Ages?
  10. Which book read in connection with this course has interested you most? Describe its method and estimate the value of its contribution to economic history.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 10
[Year-end Examination]

Not more than six questions should be attempted, of which the first should be one

  1. Briefly comment upon the following passages, and translate such of them as are not in English:—
    1. Colunt discreti ac diversi, ut fons, ut campus, ut nemus placuit. Vicos locant non in nostrum morem connexis et cohaerentibus aedificiis: suam quisque domum spatio circumdat.
    2. If a man agree for a yard of land or more, at a fixed rent, and plough it; if the lord desire to raise the land to him to service and to rent, he need not take it upon him, if the lord do not give him a dwelling.
    3. Ego S. … et ego P. … aliquantulam agri partem pro remedio animarum nostrorum W. episcopo in dominio donare decrevimus; id est xxx cassatorum in loco qui dicitur T.
    4. Si quis super alterum in villa migrare voluerit, et unus vel aliqui de ipsis qui in villa consistunt eum suscipere voluerit, si vel unus extiterit qui contradicat, migrandi ibidem licentiam non habebit.
    5. Qui habebant de tenentibus per diaetas totius anni, ut assolet de nativis, oportebat eos relaxare et remittere talia opera.
    6. If any one does an injury who is not of the gild and is of the franchise … he shall lose his franchise.
  2. Explain the position of Maitland’s Domesday Book and Beyond in the discussion concerning the origin of the manor.
  3. Distinguish between the several characteristics of mediaeval towns, and indicate the part played by each, in your opinion, in the formation of specifically urban conditions.
  4. Examine the relations between questions of personal status and questions of economic condition in relation to the ‘peasants’ of the Middle Ages.
  5. What is the nature of our evidence as to the Peasants’ Rising of 1381? Is there any reason for ascribing anything like an economic programme to the leaders of the movement?
  6. Indicate briefly (a), the several influences tending towards a corporate organization of industry in the later Middle Ages and (b) the advantages or disadvantages of such an organization.
  7. Distinguish between the several immigrations of foreign work people to England before the accession of James I, and explain the nature of their contributions to the development of English manufactures.
  8. The relation of John Major and Juan Vives to the development of the English ‘Poor Law.’
  9. What changes, if any, did the Reformation bring about in social life?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 32-33.

 

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Economics 122.
Banking and the History of the Leading Banking Systems.

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course Announcement

122 hf. Banking and the history of the leading Banking Systems. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Dr. Sprague.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 43.

Enrollment

122 hf. Dr. [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague. — Banking and the History of the Leading Banking Systems.

Total 128: 4 Graduates, 51 Seniors, 43 Juniors, 16 Sophomores, 14 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1900-1901, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 122
[Year-end Examination]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Answer all the questions under A and two of those under B

A

  1. Explain in detail and under different circumstances the effect of an advance of the rate of discount by the Bank of England upon the money market of London and upon the foreign exchanges.
  2. Taking the separate items of a bank account point out how those of the Bank of Amsterdam differed from those of a modern bank.
  3. Define and explain:—
    1. Bill broker.
    2. Banking Principle.
    3. The State Bank of Indiana.
    4. The banking law of Louisiana.
    5. Clearing House Certificates.
  4. The extent and banking consequences of government control of the Bank of France and the Reichsbank.
  5. How do government receipts and expenditures affect the money market (a) of London, (b) of New York?
  6. Explain with illustrations from the crises of 1857 and 1893 the nature of the demand for cash in time of crisis, and consider how far that demand may be met under a flexible system of note issue.

B

  1. (a) How far and with what qualifications may banking experience in the United States before 1860 be appealed to in the discussion of changes in our banking system? (b) How far, similarly, may Canadian experience be applied?
  2. “Why compel banks to send home for redemption a multitude of notes which can as well be used in payments and are sure to be reissued at once? Why impede the free use of its power of circulation by any enterprising bank by requiring the early redemption of notes which the holder does not in fact care or need to have redeemed?”
    Explain from past experience what regulations may be expected to bring about these results, and give the reasons for demanding them.
  3. Discuss the question of branch banking with reference to the United States, including in your discussion considerations of safety and economy. Would branch banking be more desirable than at present if notes were issued against general banking assets.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 34-35.

 

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Economics 12a1.
International Payments and the Flow of Precious Metals.

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course Announcement

12a2 hf. International Payments and the Flow of the Precious Metals. Half-course (second half-year). Three times a week. Mr—.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 43.

Enrollment

[Economics] 12a1 . Mr. [Hugo Richard] Meyer.—International Payments and the Flow of the Precious Metals.

Total 16: 2 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1900-1901, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 12a1.
[Mid-Year Examination]

Observe strictly the order in which the questions are arranged.

  1. Sidgwick’s criticisms on Mill’s doctrine of international trade and their validity.
  2. What temporary changes in the general level of prices in this country should you expect to see, as the result of a large permanent withdrawal of foreign capital? What ultimate change of prices should you expect?
  3. Suppose the exportation of specie from the United States to be prohibited (or, as has sometimes been suggested, to be slightly hindered), what would be the effect on rates of exchange, and on prices of goods, either domestic or foreign? Would the country be a loser or not? [See Ricardo (McCulloch’s ed.), page 139.]
  4. The conditions which led to the flow of gold to the United States in the fiscal years 1880 and 1881?
  5. What economic conditions or events tended to make the year 1890 a turning point both in domestic and in international finance?

Alternative:

The reasons for the return flow from Europe of American securities in the years 1890-1900?

  1. What sort of wealth did France actually sacrifice in paying the indemnity? What was the process?
  2. Is Mr. Clare justified in making the general statement that “the gold-points mark the highest level to which an exchange may rise, and the lowest to which it may fall”?
  3. Why is it that certain trades bills are drawn chiefly, or even exclusively, in one direction, e.g. by New York on London and not vice versa; and how is this practice made to answer the purpose of settling payments which have to be made in one direction?

Alternative:

Why has England become the natural clearing-house for the world?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

Also: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 33-34.

 

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Economics 13.
Methods of Economic Investigation.

Primarily for Graduates.

Course Announcement
  1. Methods of Economic Investigation.—English Writers. German Writers. Tu., Th., at 1.30. Professor Taussig.
    Courses 15 and 13 are usually given in alternate years.

[15. The History and Literature of Economics to the close of the Eighteenth Century. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Professor Ashley.
Omitted in 1900-01.]

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 43.

Enrollment
1900-01

Economics 132 hf. Asst. Professor Carver. — Methods of Economic Investigation.

Total 10: 4 Graduates, 6 Seniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1900-1901, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 13
[Year-end Examination]

Discuss ten of the following topics.

  1. The subdivision of economics into departments.
  2. The fields for the observation of economic phenomena.
  3. The place of historical and statistical research in economic investigation.

4, 5, 6. The methods of investigating:

    1. The causes of poverty.
    2. The effect of immigration on the total population of the United States.
    3. The effect of protection on the production of flax fibre, on the iron industry, or on any other industry which you may select.
  1. The nature of an economic law.
  2. The relation of the theory of probabilities to economic reasoning.
  3. The use of hypotheses in economic reasoning.
  4. The use of the terms “static” and dynamic in economic discussion.
  5. The use of diagrams and mathematical formulae in economic discussion.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), p. 35.

 

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Economics 17.
Economic Organization and Resources of European Countries.

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course Announcement
  1. The Economic Organization and Resources of European countries. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Professor Ashley.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 42.

Enrollment
  1. Professor Ashley. The Economic Organization and Resources of European countries.

Total 34: 5 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 17
[Mid-year Examination]

Not more than eight questions should be attempted

  1. “It is less important for a particular community than ever it was to be in possession of cheap food and raw materials produced within its own domain.” Discuss this proposition.
  2. Describe very briefly the main features of the physical geography of England (illustrating your answer, if possible, with a map) and indicate in general terms their economic consequences.
  3. Set forth some of the general considerations which should be taken into account in answering the question whether the industrial development of Ireland has been injuriously affected by English legislation.
  4. Compare the number and character of the several classes maintained by agriculture in England, with those of the agricultural classes in the U.S. and on the continent of Europe.
  5. Explain the powers of dealing with his estate enjoyed at present by an English tenant for life under a settlement.
  6. What districts of England are now suffering most severely from agricultural depression, and why?
  7. Can any lessons be drawn for the U.S. from the recent history of productive coöperation in England? Give your reasons.
  8. Give a rapid survey of the apparent coal resources of the world.
  9. What points of especial interest are there to the economist in the history, situation, character, etc. of the South Wales Coal Field?
  10. What is meant by Collective Bargaining? What are its prerequisites? What examples of it are you acquainted with in America?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 17
[Year-end Examination]

Not more than eight questions should be attempted

  1. The British Chancellor of the Exchequer proposes to levy a duty of one shilling per ton upon the export of coal from the United Kingdom: He argues that the tax will not be borne by the producer, but mainly, if not wholly, by the foreign consumer. Consider (a) what are the conditions under which this is likely to be the case, (b) how far these conditions are at present realized in the case of England.
  2. Distinguish the successive stages in the technological history of iron and steel, and connect them with the industrial development of the several countries concerned.
  3. What were the questions at issue in England in the Engineering dispute of 1897? What, with your present knowledge, do you think ought to have been your attitude, had you then been (a) an English engineering employer, (b) a leading official of the employees’ union.
  4. Give a brief account of the organization of the English cotton manufacture (as distinguished from the securing either of the material or of a market for the product). Contrast it with American conditions; and consider how England and New England are likely to be affected by the growth of the manufacture in the Southern States.
  5. Distinguish between the several forms of capitalist combination at present to be observed in England. What general causes have led to the movement? What, if any, advantages does it promise, and what, if any, dangers does it threaten?
  6. Compare Bradford and Roubaix in any aspects which seem to you worthy of attention.
  7. “Lorsque il n’y a point d’hommes riches qui aient de gros capitaux à mettre dans les entreprises d’agriculture, lorsque les récoltes ne suffisent pas pour assurer aut entrepreneurs des profits égaux à ceux qu’ils tireraient de leur argent en l’employant de toute autre manière, on ne trouve point de fermiers qui veuilient louer les terres. Les propriétaires sont forcées de les faire cultiver par les métayers hors d’état de faire aucunes avances et de bien cultiver. Le propriétaire fait lui-même des avances médiocres qui lui produisent un très médiocre revenu.”
    Translate the passage from Turgot; and then consider how far his description applies to existing conditions in France and Italy.
  8. Show the relation of the great manufacturing industries of France to the distribution of coal in that country.
  9. Would the construction of the Rhine-Elbe canal be a benefit to Germany? Give your reasons.
  10. “Wir müssen uns Rechenschaft ablegen, ob ohne eine grössere Macht zur See, ohne eine solche die unsere Küsten vor Blockaden schützt, unseren Kolonialbesitz und unseren Welthandel absolut sicher stellt, unsere wirtschaftliche Zukunft gesichert sei.”
    Are there sufficient reasons in the contemporary situation of Germany for this anxiety on the part of Professor Schmoller?
  11. (a) Give a brief account of the contents, and then (b) compare the method and general attitude toward the subject, of von Schulze-Gaevernitz’s Social Peace and de Rousers’ Labour Question in Britain.
  12. What in the light of the experience in the English coal, iron, and cotton industries, would seem to you the most satisfactory form to be taken by joint wage agreements in the great industries of America?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 36-37.

 

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Economics 18.
Principles of Accounting.

For Undergraduates and Graduates.

Course Announcement

181 hf. The Principles of Accounting. — Lectures, discussions, and reports. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 3.30. Mr. W. M. Cole.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 43.

Enrollment

181 hf. Mr. W. M. Cole. — The Principles of Accounting.

Total 56: 43 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 7 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 18
[Mid-year Examination]

Problems 1 to 5 inclusive form a connected whole;
but 6 and 7 may be substituted for 4 and 5

I

  1. Construct a rough ledger (omitting rulings and index-memoranda) to correspond with the following trial-balance:
Real estate $150,000 Proprietor $244,275
Plant $60,000 Merchandise $401,000
Patents $40,000 Rent $6,000
Supplies $228,000 Bills payable $14,000
Wages $127,000 Accounts payable $43,000
Coal $9,000 Reserve fund $12,000
Insurance $4,500
Trade discounts $8,000
Interest $1,500
Bills receivable $10,000
Accounts receivable $68,000
Cash $14,275
$720,275 $720,275
  1. The above trial-balance is supposed to be taken from manufacturing books that are kept on the ordinary commercial plan, i.e., without distinctive accounts for stores, manufacturing, stock, or trading; and to construct such accounts now is supposed to be either impossible or undesirable.
    If you were required to determine profit and loss for the year which these figures cover, what questions about the business should you wish to ask before reaching your conclusions? [Give your answer in the form of questions consecutively numbered.]
  2. State what would be fairly reasonable answers to your own questions above numbering the answers to correspond with the questions; and then, assuming your answers to be the real answers show a complete statement of resources and liabilities and of profit and loss.
  3. Close for the year the ledger that you constructed indicating all balances that you have transferred to other accounts and all balances that you have carried down for the new year.
  4. From the ledger as it now stands draw off a balance sheet showing the condition of the business at the beginning of the new year, assuming that the loss or gain is carried directly to the proprietor’s account.
  5. Journalize the following:

A gives you his note for $100, bearing interest, dated a month ago.
You discount at a bank a note for $100 payable in a month
B gives you A’s note for $100 payable in one month, and buy goods for $100 on one month’s time.
Your book-keeper charged bills receivable and credited B when B paid his bill by your own note returned to you. A counter entry is to be made, so that the original wrong entry need not be erased

  1. What is the distinguishing feature of double entry? Are two postings made for every entry? If not, what devices are employed for reducing the number of postings?

II
Omit one

  1. The balance sheet of a corporation on January 1, 1899, stood as follows:
Real estate $50,000 Capital stock $200,000
Plant $95,000 Accounts payable $20,000
Horses, etc. $15,000 Bills payable $25,000
Patents $20,000 Profit and loss $15,000
Merchandise $30,000
Accounts receivable $30,000
Cash $20,000
$260,000 $260,000

On January 1, 1900, the books showed the following facts:

Real estate $55,000 Capital stock $200,000
Plant $88,000 Accounts payable $12,000
Horses, etc. $12,000 Bills payable $17,000
Patents $19,000 Profit and loss $33,000
Merchandise $42,000
Accounts receivable $28,000
Cash $18,000
$262,000 $262,000

What has become of the profits earned?

Should you recommend that a dividend be declared? State your reasons.

  1. How should you treat interest received on a bond bought above par?
  2. Describe the following, and state the distinguishing feature of each: a real account; a nominal account; a suspense account; reserve fund: a sinking fund
  3. If payments are received on account of goods in process of manufacture, should such payments appear on the balance sheet? If so, where?
  4. Describe three different methods of treating depreciation, and show how each would appear upon the books. To what circumstances on a railroad is each adapted?
  5. A corporation is formed to unite and continue the business of three concerns, A, B, and C, engaged in the same industry. The books of the concerns show the following:
A B C
Assets (valuation) $80,000 $160,000 $120,000
Liabilities (external) $20,000 $80,000 $90,000
Average profit, last three years 10% 14% 30%
Average profit, preceding three years 9 17 25
Average profit, prior three years 10 20 20

On what basis should you determine the total amount of capital stock to be issued by the new corporation, and on what basis should you apportion it to these three concerns?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

 

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Economics 19.
General View of Insurance.

Primarily for Graduates.

Course Announcement

192 hf. A General View of Insurance. — Lectures and reports. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 3.30. Professor Wambaugh.
Course 19 cannot be counted towards the degree of A.B.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 43.

Enrollment

192 hf. Professor Wambaugh. — A General View of Insurance.

Total 9: 6 Seniors, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 192
[Year-end Examination]

One of the paragraphs may be omitted.

  1. From the point of view of the person procuring the policy, what is the purpose of insurance?
  2. From the point of view of the community, what are the advantages and the disadvantages of insurance?
  3. Give some account of three insurance books, pamphlets, or periodicals.
  4. Tell what you know of the history of insurance.
  5. Give a classification of the provision of the New York standard form of fire insurance policy,
  6. If either party to the fire insurance contract wishes to terminate the insurance, what are his rights?
  7. What are the benefits and the dangers of fire insurance by government?
  8. Describe ordinary life policies, single payment life policies, twenty payment life policies, endowment policies, tontine policies, assessment insurance.
  9. If a person thirty years of age wishes to obtain a life insurance policy for a single premium, how is the premium calculated?
  10. What are the chief differences between fire insurance and marine insurance?
  11. Discuss any insurance topic of which you have made a special study. 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), p. 40.

 

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Economics 20d.
Adam Smith and Ricardo.

Primarily for Graduates.

Course Announcement

20d. Adam Smith and Ricardo. Half-course. Professor Taussig.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1900-1901, p. 43.

Enrollment

20d1 hf. Professor Taussig. — Adam Smith and Ricardo.

Total 12: 7 Graduates, 5 Seniors.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

1900-01
ECONOMICS 20d
[Final examination]
  1. Compare Ricardo’s conclusions with Adam Smith’s on the course of wages, profits, and rent, as society advances: discussing not only the conclusions themselves, but the reasoning by which the two writers arrive at them.
  2. Under what circumstances are real wages high, according to Adam Smith? according to Ricardo?
  3. Adam Smith’s doctrine on labor as a measure of value; Ricardo’s strictures thereon; and Ricardo’s own doctrine.
  4. S. Mill in his Autobiography says that “it was one of my father’s main objects to make me apply to Smith’s more superficial view of political economy the superior lights of Ricardo, and to detect what was fallacious in Smith’s arguments or erroneous in his conclusions.” Set forth how you believe the two Mills (father and son) set about this task as to Adam Smith’s reasoning on the following topics:—
    1. the mode in which the payment of heavy foreign obligations is brought about by the exportation of goods, not by the outflow of specie;
    2. the distinction between that land which always affords rent, and that which sometimes does and sometimes does not;
    3. the effect of foreign trade in raising the general rate of profits in a country.
  5. “That able but wrong-headed man, David Ricardo; shunted the car of Economic science on to a wrong line, a line, however, on which it was further urged by his equally able and wrong-headed admirer, John Stuart Mill.” — W. S. Jevons.
    What grounds are there for assenting to this judgment? What grounds for dissenting from it?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 40-41.

Image Source: Detail from cover of the Harvard Class Album 1946.