Month: February 2026

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Distribution Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Income Distribution. Course description, enrollment, final exam. Carver, 1910-11

The Crabbed Millionaire's Puzzle

This course by Thomas Nixon Carver on the distribution of wealth, appears from the exam questions and the course description to have been a course on the theory of the functional distribution of income. 

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From earlier semesters

1904-05
1905-06
1907-08
1908-09
1909-10

’The course content is undoubtedly captured in Carver’s 1904 book The Distribution of Wealth which was reprinted several times during his lifetime.

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Course Announcement and Description
1910-11

14a 1hf. The Distribution of Wealth. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., at 1.30. Professor Carver.

This course begins with an analysis of the theory of value. The attempt is then made to formulate a positive theory of distribution helpful in explaining the actual incomes of the various classes of producers. Finally the question of justice in distribution is considered.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VII No. 23 (June 21, 1910), p. 53.

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 14a 1hf. Professor Carver. — The Distribution of Wealth.

Total 86: 6 Graduates, 28 Seniors, 36 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 14a1
Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

  1. What is meant by the margin of cultivation?
  2. What would you suggest as a method of raising wages?
  3. Are wages “drawn from” capital or from product? Explain clearly the meaning which you give to the words “drawn from.”
  4. Discuss the question: Does the rent of land enter into the price of products?
  5. Do laborers as a class, or capitalists as a class, gain more from inventions and improvements in production? Give your reasons.
  6. What is the relation of risk to profits?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1910-11.

Image Source: The Crabbed Millionaire’s Puzzle by J. S. Pughe. Puck (7 August 1901). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

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Business Cycles Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles. Description, enrollment, final exam. Day, 1910-11

After a year gap, a business cycle course was offered in 1910-11 with a new instructor, Edmund Ezra Day. One-third of the exam was devoted to “‘barometers’ or indices of general business conditions”.

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About Edmund Ezra Day

https://www.irwincollier.com/harvard-1909-phd-alumnus-edmund-ezra-day-cornell-memorial-minute-1951/

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Earlier Exams 

1902/03-1907/08. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles (A.P. Andrew)

1908/09. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles (Wesley Clair Mitchell)

1909/10. Not offered.

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Course Announcement and Description
1910-11

12 1hf. Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Dr. Day.

            Course 12 begins with a brief review of the more important crises occurring before 1870. This is followed by an intensive study of the cycles of trade culminating in the crises of 1873, 1893, and 1907. The influence upon commercial fluctuations of the present organization of industry, of government finance, of foreign trade, of agricultural conditions, of the money supply, of speculation, of banking methods, and of other such factors is discussed. The so-called barometers of trade are examined. Finally some consideration is given to the theory of economic crises, to the methods which have been employed in different countries for relieving crises, and to proposed reforms designed to prevent them.

            Written work, in the preparation of short papers on assigned topics, will be required of all students.

            The course is open only to those who have passed satisfactorily in Economics 1.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VII No. 23 (June 21, 1910), p. 59.

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 12 1hf. Dr. E.E. Day. — Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade.

Total 99: 1 Graduate, 40 Seniors, 43Juniors, 10 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 12
Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

Give at least one-third of your time to Part II.
I
  1. “The real cause of the crisis of 1893 was the bungling and incompetent legislation of our Federal Government.” Was this so? If so, why? If not, why not?
  2. In what particulars were the conditions in the United States prior to the crisis of 1857 similar to those before 1907? In what respects were the conditions different?
  3. Describe accurately the relation between:—
    1. (1) Changes in the price level and (2) merchandise imports and exports.
    2. (1) Merchandise imports and exports and (2) international gold movements.
    3. (1) International gold movements and (2) banking reserves.
  4. In the theory of crises what is meant by overproduction? To what different causes may this overproduction be assigned?

II

  1. Arrange in the order of importance the following “barometers” or indices of general business conditions: —
    1. Wheat production.
    2. Cotton production.
    3. Railroad construction.
    4. Price of pig iron.
    5. New York bank clearings.
    6. Business failures.

Analyze the value and limitations of each of these indices. 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1910-11.

Image Source: “A dangerous bubble” by J.S. Pughe. Illustration published in Puck (22 October 1902). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Modern Economic History of Europe. Description, Enrollment, Exams. Gay, 1910-1911

Facciata di Palazzo San Giorgio visto dal Bigo - Genova

European and U.S. economic history were charter subjects within the discipline of economics (née political economy) from its earliest days. This post adds Edwin F. Gay’s exam questions for his course on modern European economic history taught at Harvard 1910-11. 

Bonus material:

Links to earlier course material for European Economic History from Harvard, 1883-84 through 1909-10.

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Course Announcement and Description
1910-11

  1. Modern Economic History of Europe. Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 10. Professor Gay and Dr. Gray.
    [note the enrollment figures only has Professor Gay as the course instructor]

At the outset a survey will be made of economic and social conditions in the chief European countries at the close of the Middle Ages. The history of agriculture, industry, and commerce in the succeeding periods down to the beginning of the nineteenth century will then be treated in some detail. England will receive the emphasis due to its increasing importance during this period.

Course 11 is open to students who have taken Economics 1 or History 1.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VI,I No. 23 (June 21, 1910), pp. 56.

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 11. Professor Gay. — Modern Economic History of Europe.

Total 9: 6 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 1 Junior.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 11
Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

  1. Trace the history of copyhold tenure in England to the time of Sir Edward Coke.
  2. Describe the agrarian development of different parts of Germany from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries.
Answer three of the following questions.
  1. Compare the development and organization of the woolen industry in the Rhine valley, in Florence, and in England.
  2. Upon what sources are based modern studies of population and wealth in mediaeval towns? What definite results have been reached? To what extent was the mediaeval merchant a wholesale trader?
  3. State Unwin’s views regarding the differentiation of classes within English crafts, and examine the evidence adduced.
  4. …“we are led to the principle that the work of townsmen should yield them a sufficient satisfaction of the necessities of life … since only the well-being of individuals was the aim … it was necessary to see to it that there be the greatest possible equality in the division of output among individual producers … hence free competition was excluded.” Discuss this view of the purpose of the craft gild, illustrating from any special study of your own.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1910-11.

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ECONOMICS 11
Year-end Examination, 1910-11

  1. Comment on the following statement, giving illustrations:
    “The whole internal history of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is summed up in the opposition of the economic policy of the state to that of the town, the district, and the several estates. [Both in domestic and foreign policy] questions of political power were at issue, which were, at the same time, questions of economic organization.”
  2. Criticise the following statement: “the domestic system existed in England from the earliest times till it was superseded by capitalism; … craft gilds were a form of industrial organization which was appropriate to the domestic rather than to the capitalist system.”
  3. —
    1. Outline the history of English commerce from Elizabeth to the younger Pitt.
    2. It is stated that the total value of exports and imports for England and France was as follows for the years here given: —

England
£

France
livres

1613

 4,628,586
1750 20,471,120 1750

355,202,357

1800

 62,639,398 1789

758,104,000

Are these figures of equal statistical value? What conclusions may be drawn from a comparison of English and French commercial statistics during this period?

  1. —
    1. Describe briefly the price movement of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, its extent, character, causes, and results.
    2. What are the difficulties in comparing the purchasing power of a shilling in 1450, 1550, and 1911?
  2. What connection exists between: —
    1. the Casa di San Giorgio and modern banking?
    2. the “lettre de foire” and the bill of exchange?
    3. the Statute of Artificers and changes in the gild system?
    4. the Navigation Acts and the decline of Holland?

Source: Papers set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, …, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College. June 1911, p. 44. In Harvard University Archives, Examination papers, 1873-1915 (HUC 7000.25). Box 9. Examination Papers, 1910-11, pp. 48-49.

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Links to earlier course material for
European Economic History.
Harvard 1883-84 through 1909-10

1883-84. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1884-85. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1885-86. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1886-87. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1887-88. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1888-89. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [Gray]
1889-90. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [A.C. Miller]
1890-91. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [C.F. Dunbar]
1891-92. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [W.M. Cole]
1892-93. Economics 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. [W.M. Cole]
1892-93. Economics 10. Economic History of Europe and America, to 1763. [W.J. Ashley]
1893-94. Economics 10. Elements of Economic History from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. [W.J. Ashley]
1893-94. Economics 13. Development of Land Tenures and of Agrarian Conditions in Europe. [W.J. Ashley]
1894-95. Economics 10. Elements of Economic History from the Middle Ages to Modern Times. [W.J. Ashley]
1895-96. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [W.J. Ashley]
1896-97. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe and America [W.J. Ashley]
1897-98. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe and America [W.J. Ashley]
1898-99. Economics 8. Western Civilization, mediaeval and modern, in its Economic Aspects [W. Cunningham, Reading List]
1898-99. Economics 11. Industrial Revolution in England. [W. Cunningham]
1899-1900. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [W.J. Ashley, Reading List]
1900-01. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [W.J. Ashley]
1901-02. No course in European economic history offered.
1902-03. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [E.F. Gay]
1902-03. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1903-04. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1903-04. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1903-04. Economics 24. General Outlines of Agrarian History [E.F. Gay]
1904-05. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [E.F. Gay, only one student enrolled, no printed exam available]
1904-05. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1905-06. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [E.F. Gay]
1905-06. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1906-07. Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. [E.F. Gay]
1906-07. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1906-07. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]
1907-08. Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. [E.F. Gay]
1907-08. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1907-08. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe. [E.F. Gay]
1908-09. Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. [E.F. Gay with M.T. Copeland]
1908-09. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1908-09. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe. [not offered]
1909-10. Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. [E.F. Gay with H. L. Gray]
1909-10. Economics 10. Mediaeval Economic History of Europe [H.L. Gray]
1909-10. Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe [E.F. Gay]

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Image Source: Facciata di Palazzo San Giorgio visto dal Bigo – Genova by Sidvis from Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons license.

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Exam Questions Harvard Labor

Harvard. Problems of Labor. Course description, enrollment and exam. Ripley, 1910-1911

New York City, Labor Day Parade (1909)

For the institutional economist William Zebina Ripley at Harvard, trade unions and corporations were central for an understanding of the economy. In the 1910-11 academic year his course, Problems of Labor, completed its ninth iteration.

Beginning with this post on Harvard labor economics, Economics in the Rear-view Mirror will provide links to all previous labor course material transcribed and posted:

Links to previous Harvard labor exams 1892-93 to 1909-10.

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Labor Bibliographies
Prepared by Ripley

Short Bibliography of Trade Unionism, 1910.

Short Bibliography of Strikes and Boycotts, 1910.

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Course Announcement, Description
1910-11

9a 1hf. Problems of Labor. Half-course (first half-year); Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. [Ralph Cahoon] Whitnack.

This course will deal mainly with the economic and social relations of employer and employed, with especial reference to legislation. Among the topics included will be, — collective bargaining; labor organizations; factory legislation in the United States and Europe; strikes, strike legislation and legal decisions; conciliation and arbitration; employers’ liability and compulsory compensation; compulsory insurance with particular reference to European experience; the problem of the unemployed; apprenticeship, and trade and technical education.

Each student will make at least one report upon a labor union, from the original documents. Two lectures a week, with one recitation, will be the usual practice.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VII No. 23 (June 21, 1910), pp. 58-59.

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 9a 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. [Ralph Cahoon] Whitnack. — Problems of Labor.

Total 64: 6 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 29 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 9a1
Mid-Year Examination, 1910-11

  1. Under the compulsory German insurance laws, who pays the premiums for (a) accident, (b) sickness, (c) old age, insurance, respectively?
  2. What are some of the abuses of private employment offices in the United States? What is alleged to be one of the main objections to the establishment of public employment offices? What has been the experience in Germany and the United States in this regard?
  3. As contrasted with English conditions, what is the main dificulty to be considered in the proposed adoption of “workmen’s compensation” legislation in Massachusetts?
  4. What is the one great advantage from the employers’ standpoint of the German over the English system in respect of accident insurance?
  5. New Zealand provided by law for both conciliation boards and courts of arbitration for labor disputes. What has been the experience with the former?
  6. The western locomotive engineers have recently endeavored to secure the adoption of a wage scale granting much higher wages to drivers of compound Mallet engines; not simply because more labor was needed to handle them, but largely because they could haul twice the tonnage of freight. What would be the engineers’ probable motive? Is this anything in principle like a premium plan of paying for labor? Discuss it.
  7. Explain the nature of an injunction. What was its origin in law, and how did it become applicable to the prosecution of labor disputes?
  8. What English statute resulted from the Taff Vale decision in England? Have we any law or, in your judgment, need of such a law in the United States?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1910-11.

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Previous Labor Courses at Harvard

1892-93. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1893-94. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1894-95. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1895-96. The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the U.S. and in Other Countries (E. Cummings)
1896-97. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (J. and E. Cummings)
1897-98. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (J. and E. Cummings)
1898-99. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (E. Cummings)
1899-1900. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (Omitted)
1900-01. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (W.F. Willoughby)
1901-02. The Labor Question in Europe and the U.S. (E.D. Durand)
1902-03. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1903-04. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1904-05. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1905-06. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1906-07. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1907-08. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1908-09. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)
1909-10. Problems of Labor (W.Z. Ripley)

Image Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Phtographs Online. Women on float of the Women’s Auxiliary Typographical Union in New York City’s Labor Day parade, published 6 September 1909.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard International Economics

Harvard. Banking and Foreign Exchange. Course description, enrollment, and examination. Day, 1910-1911

Edmund Ezra Day was awarded his Harvard economics Ph.D. in 1909 and he was subsequently appointed assistant professor of economics in 1910-11. This was a transition year for monetary economics at Harvard. In 1911-12 Day consolidated the three half-courses Econ 8a (Money), Econ 8b (Banking and Foreign Exchange), and Econ 12 (Commerical Crises and Cycles of Trade)into the full course “Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.”

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Exams from earlier years

1906-07. Banking and Foreign Exchange (A.P. Andrew)
1907-08. Banking and Foreign Exchange (A.P. Andrew)
1908-09. Banking and Foreign Exchange (W.C. Mitchell)
1909-10. Banking and Foreign Exchange (O.M.W. Sprague)

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Economics 8b
Course Description
1910-11

8b 2hf. Banking and Foreign Exchange. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 1.30. Dr. [Edmund Ezra] Day.

In Course 8b, after a summary view of early forms of the development, legislation, and present practice of banking in leading countries, — such as England, Scotland, France, Germany, and Canada, — are reviewed and contrasted. Particular attention is given to banking history and experience in this country: the two United States banks; the more important features of banking in the separate states before 1860; the beginnings, growth, operation, and proposed modification of the national banking system; and credit institutions outside that system, such as state banks and trust companies; and the growth and influence of the independent government treasury.

The peculiarities of the money markets of London, Paris, Berlin, and New York are examined, and the various factors, such as stock exchange dealings, and international exchange payments, which bring about fluctuations in the demand for loans, and the rate of discount in these markets will be considered.

Written work, in the preparation of short papers on assigned topics, and a regular course of prescribed reading will be required of all students.

The course is open to those who have taken Economics 1.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VI,I No. 23 (June 21, 1910), p. 58.

Economics 8b
Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 8b 2hf. Dr. E. E. Day. — Banking and Foreign Exchange.

Total 123: 1 Graduate, 26 Seniors, 55 Juniors, 27 Sophomores, 5 Freshmen, 9 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

Economics 8b
Year-end Examination, 1910-11

  1. Carefully distinguish the clearing house certificate from the clearing house loan certificate. Describe the manner in which the loan certificate has been customarily issued.
    What is the primary function of the loan certificate? Explain Professor Sprague’s statement: “The result (from failure to equalize or pool reserves) has been to convert the clearing house loan certificate into an instrument which inevitably and immediately leads to the suspension of payments by the banks.”
    To what new uses was the loan certificate put in 1907? To what extent would you expect this practice of 1907 to be followed were another crisis to occur under our present banking laws?
  2. Describe the manner in which commercial banking in England arose from the business of the “new fashioned” goldsmiths.
  3. Contrast the banking systems prevailing in 1860 in New England and New York.
  4. In the English banking system, what are the functions of (1) the accepting house, (2) the bill-broker, (3) the discount house? What is the size and form of the English banking reserves? Are these reserves adequate? If so, why? If not, why not?
  5. Describe the following features of bank note issue in Canada: (1) number of issuing banks; (2) limitations upon issue; (3) security of notes; (4) current redemption of notes; (5) elasticity of issue.
  6. Describe the elasticity, from year to year, season to season, and during crises, of’ (1) gold coin, (2) bank notes, and (3) deposit currency, in the United States.
  7. Contrast Professor Sprague’s proposed central bank with the Reserve Association advocated by Senator Aldrich. Which, in your opinion, the better assures the banking reform needed in the United States? Why?

Source: Papers set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, …, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College. June 1911, p. 44. In Harvard University Archives, Examination papers, 1873-1915 (HUC 7000.25). Box 9. Examination Papers, 1910-11, p. 47.

Image Source: Edmund Ezra Day in Harvard Class Album 1915. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Monetary economics Money and Banking

Harvard. Money. Course description, enrollment, final examination. Huse, 1910-1911

Before Abram Piatt Andrew began teaching a course on money, literally at the turn of the 20th century, the subject of money was treated jointly with national debt. That was how Charles F. Dunbar approached the subject. Charles Phillips Huse was the third instructor to fill the gap left by A. Piatt Andrew. In the following year “money” would merge with “banking and commercial crises”.

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Previous money course materials

1900-01(Abram Piatt Andrew’s money exam)
1901-02 (Abram Piatt Andrew’s money exam) Reading list for money 1901-02.
1902-03 (Abram Piatt Andrew’s money exam)
1903-04 (Abram Piatt Andrew’s money exam)
1904-05 (Abram Piatt Andrew’s money exam)
1905-06 (Abram Piatt Andrew’s money exam)
1906-07 (Abram Piatt Andrew’s money exam)
1907-08 (Abram Piatt Andrew’s money exam)
1908-09 (Wesley Clair Mitchell’s money exam)
1909-10 (Davis Rich Dewey’s money exam)

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Course Description
1910-11

8a 1hf. Money. — A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30. Dr. [Charles Phillips] Huse.

This course aims to show how the existing monetary systems of the principal countries have come to be, and to analyze the more important currency problems. It begins with a brief history of the precious metals, which is connected, in so far as possible, with the history of prices and the development of monetary theory. The history of coinage legislation in England and Europe and the United States is traced, and leads to a consideration of various aspects of the bimetallic controversy. At convenient points, the experiences of various countries with paper money are reviewed and the influence of such issues upon wages, prices, and trade examined. Attention is also given to the non-monetary means of payment and the questions of monetary theory arising from their use. Among other subjects treated are the several methods of measuring exchange value, the explanation of price movements, the relations between prices and the rate of interest, the effects of appreciation and depreciation, the criteria of an ideal standard, and the reasons for divergences in the value of money as between different countries.

Course 8a is open to those only who have taken Course 1. 

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VI,I No. 23 (June 21, 1910), pp. 57-58.

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 8a 1hf. Dr. [Charles Phillips] Huse. — Money. A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times.

Total 108: 2 Graduates, 30 Seniors, 50 Juniors, 18 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 8a
Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

  1. Explain briefly: (1) bills of credit; (2) assignats; (3) fractional currency; (4) rupee; (5) “conant”; (6) balboa; (7) guinea.
  2. Trace briefly the changes in the output of gold and silver since 1492. Give the important changes in the market ratio.
  3. Trace the monetary history of the United States from 1792 to 1860. Briefly rewrite this history on the assumption that the United States had adopted the French mint ratio.
  4. Write a brief history of the American trade dollar, stating the circumstances which led to its issue and withdrawal.
  5. Compare the Bland-Allison and Sherman Acts as to their legal provisions and actual results.
  6. Suppose the United States should permit the free coinage of our present silver dollar. What would be the probable effect of this law upon (1) debtors; (2) the value of the dime; (3) the value of the silver certificate; (4) the value of the gold certificate; (5) the value of the greenback; (6) the gold price of silver; (7) prices in Holland; (8) prices in the Dutch East Indies?
  7. The monetary laws of a certain country permit the free coinage of a gold dollar containing 25 grains of pure gold, and of a silver dollar containing 700 grains of pure silver. Subsidiary silver is coined on government account at a ratio of 15 to 1. The necessities of war have, however, led to the issue of irredeemable legal tender paper. Assuming that the market ratio is 30 to 1, state what coins you would find in circulation (1) before the war; (2) when the paper dollar was worth 75 cents in gold; (3) when it was worth 60 cents in gold; (4) when it was worth 45 cents in gold. Devise a scheme for making the paper dollar and the gold dollar circulate at a parity. (Show the method by which your answers were obtained.)
  8. A certain Asiatic country permits at present the free coinage of a dollar containing 348.3 grains of pure silver. How much is this dollar worth in money of the United States, assuming the present price of silver to be 54 cents an ounce? Without changing the weight or fineness of the dollar, tell how you would give this country a monetary system that would prevent fluctuations in the gold value of its coins and insure an adequate supply of money, even though the market ratio should become 30 to 1. (Give exact figures.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1910-11.

Image Source:  “Money Talks” from the cover of Puck, Vol LX, No. 1541 (September 12, 1906). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.  “William Randolph Hearst sitting with two large, animated, money bags resting on his lap, with arms and legs, and showing two large coins as heads; on the floor next to Hearst is a box labeled ‘WRH Ventriloquist’.”

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Uncategorized

Harvard. Enrollment and Exam for Public Finance especially Taxation. Huse, 1910-1911

Charles Phillips Huse again substituted for his thesis advisor, Charles Jesse Bullock, in 1910-11. This post has established a curatorial first for Economics in the Rear-view Mirror, namely, it has a list of all previous examinations for courses in public finance at Harvard going into the 1910-11 academic year that have been transcribed and posted!

Links to previous public finance exams 1883-84 to 1909-10.

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Relevant Readings for Students

From 1906: Selected Readings in Public Finance edited by Charles Jesse Bullock (Boston: Inn & Company).

From 1910: Short bibliography on public finance “for serious minded students” by Bullock.

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Course Description
1910-11

7 2hf. Public Finance, considered with special reference to the Theory and Methods of Taxation. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Professor Bullock [sic] and an assistant.

This course is for undergraduates exclusively. As stated in the title, much attention is given to the subject of taxation, which will occupy about one half of the time of the course and will be studied with special reference to federal, state, and local taxation in the United States. The remainder of the time will be given to such topics as governmental expenditures, governmental industries (including some study of the relation of the state to railways and other public-service industries), public debts, and financial administration.

The course may, with the consent of the instructor, be elected by students who are taking Economies 1 in the same year.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VI,I No. 23 (June 21, 1910), pp. 52

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 7 2hf. Dr. [Charles Phillips] Huse [Ph.D. 1907], assisted by Messrs. [Wilfred] Eldred [Ph.D. 1919] and [Roscoe Russell] Hess [LL.B. 1916] . — Public Finance considered with special reference to the Theory and Methods of Taxation.

Total 192: 1 Graduate, 30 Seniors, 63 Juniors, 69 Sophomores, 18 Freshmen, 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 7
Year-end Examination
1910-11

  1. What is the significance, practical and theoretical, of the increase of public expenditure in modern times?
  2. Discuss the financial results of the United States postal service.
  3. What do you consider the proper financial policy for public industries?
  4. What is the incidence of a tax on interest? On wages? On the products of a monopolized industry?
  5. State the benefit and ability theories of taxation. To what extent should each be followed in apportioning the burdens of any particular tax? Of the tax system as a whole?
  6. Describe the working of the general property tax in the United States. What defects are most clearly and generally to be observed? What reforms of the tax are most commonly urged?
  7. What have been the salient features of state inheritance taxation in this country? What changes are to be expected in the future?
  8. Describe the following features of the British income tax:
    (1) the five schedules; (2) stoppage at the source; (3) extent of declaration; (4) amount of evasion; (5) exemptions and abatements; (6) productiveness; (7) conformity with ideals of justice.
  9. Describe the present position of the income tax in the financial systems of our state and national governments. What are the arguments for and against a Federal income tax in the United States?
  10. What use is made of license taxes in the United States? What are the arguments for and against the license tax?

Source: Papers set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, …, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College. June 1911, p. 44. In Harvard University Archives, Examination papers, 1873-1915 (HUC 7000.25). Box 9. Examination Papers, 1910-11, p. 45.

Image Source: Charles Phillips Huse, Boston University yearbook, 1927.

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Earlier public finance exams
at Harvard

1883-84. Political Economy 7. Comparison of the Financial Systems of France, England, Germany, and the U.S. Taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1884-85. Political Economy 7. Comparison of the Financial Systems of France, England, Germany, and the U.S. [Omitted 1884-85].

1884-85. Political Economy 8. History of Financial Legislation in the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1885-86. Political Economy 8. Financial History of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1886-87. Political Economy 7. Public Finance and Banking taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1886-87. Political Economy 8. Financial History of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar [Exams not (yet) found]

1887-88. Political Economy 7. Taxation, Public Debts, and Banking taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1887-88. Political Economy 8. History of Financial Legislation in the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1888-89. Political Economy 7. Taxation, Public Debts, and Banking taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1888-89. Political Economy 8. History of Financial Legislation in the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar

1889-90. Political Economy 7. Public Finance and Banking. Omitted.

1889-90. Political Economy 8. History of Financial Legislation in the U.S. taught by Adolph Caspar Miller

1890-91. Political Economy 7. Public Finance and Taxation taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1890-91. Political Economy 8. History of Financial Legislation in the U.S. taught by William Morse Cole.

1891-92. Political Economy 71. Theory and Methods of Taxation  taught by Charles F. Dunbar [Mid-year examination not found]

1891-92. Political Economy 8. History of Financial Legislation in the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1892-93. Economics 71. Theory and Methods of Taxation taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1892-93. Economics 72. Financial Administration and Public Debts taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1893-94. Economics 8. History of Financial Legislation of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1894-95. Economics 7. Theory and Methods of Taxation (first semester) and Financial Administration and Public Debts (second semester) taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1895-96. Economics 7. Financial Administration and Public Debts taught by John Cummings.

1895-96. Economics 8. History of Financial Legislation of the U.S. taught by J. A. Hill.

1896-97. Economics 16. Topics in the Financial Legislation of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1897-98. Economics 71. Theory and Methods of Taxation taught by Frank William Taussig, Readings, Exams.

1898-99. Economics 16. Topics in the Financial Legislation of the U.S. taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1899-1900. Economics 7a. Financial Administration and Public Debts taught by Charles F. Dunbar.

1899-1900. Economics 7b. Theory and Methods of Taxation taught by Frank William Taussig.

1900-01. Economics 7a and 7b. Not offered.

1901-02. Economics 7a and 7b. Financial administration; taxation [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1902-03. Economics 7b. Theory and methods of taxation with reference to local taxation [undergraduate] taught by Edward Dana Durand, Readings, Exam and Durand biography.

1902-03. Economics 16. Financial History of the United States taught by Prof Henry Brayton Gardner of Brown University.

1903-04. Economics 7b. Theory and Methods of Taxation taught by Frank William Taussig.

1903-04. Economics 16.  Financial history of the United States taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1904-05. Economics 7a. Introduction to public finance [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1904-05. Economics 7b. Theory and methods of taxation [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1904-05. Economics 16. Financial history of the United States taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1905-06 Economics 7.  Public finance [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1905-06 Economics 16. Public finance [advanced] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1906-07 Economics 16. Public finance and taxation taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1907-08 Economics 16. Public finance and taxation taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1908-09 Economics 7. Public finance [undergraduate] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1908-09 Economics 16. Public finance [advanced course] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock

1909-10 Economics 7. Public finance and taxation taught by Charles Phillips Huse [biographical information included]

1909-10 Economics 16. American Taxation [advanced course] taught by Charles Jesse Bullock and Charles Phillips Huse.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Transportation

Harvard. Transportation economics. Enrollments and Final Exam. Ripley, 1910-1911

For as long as advanced electives in economics had been offered at Harvard there was a course on transportation economics, in the beginning exclusively on the economics of railroads. This post includes links to the exams from 1887-88 through 1909-10 as well as the most recent transcription of course material for the 1910-11 academic year.

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Earlier exams etc. for Economics 5,
Pol Econ 9
(Economics of Transportation/ Railroads)

1887-88 (James Laurence Laughlin)
1888-89 (John Henry Gray)
1889-90 [Omitted]
1890-91 (Frank William Taussig)
1891-92 (Frank William Taussig)
1892-93 (Frank William Taussig)
1893-94 (Frank William Taussig)
1894-95 (George Ole Virtue)
1895-96 (Frank William Taussig)
1896-97 (Frank William Taussig)
1897-98 (Hugo Richard Meyer)
1898-99 (Hugo Richard Meyer
1899-1900 (Hugo Richard Meyer)
1900-01 (Hugo Richard Meyer)
1901-02 (Ripley with Hugo Richard Meyer)
1903-04 (Ripley alone)
1904-05 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1905-06 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1906-07 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett and Walter Wallace McLaren). Also with the Assignment of Reports.
1907-08 (Ripley with Stuart Daggett)
1908-09 (Ripley with Edmund Thorton Miller)
1909-10 (Ripley with Eliot Jones)

….etc.

1906-07. Ec 17. Railroad Practice (Dr. Stuart Daggett)
1907-08. Ec 17. Railroad Practice (Dr. Stuart Daggett)

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Monographs/Books on Transportation by W. Z. Ripley

Transportation. Chapter from the Final report of the U.S. Industrial Commission (Vol. XIX) and privately issued by the author for the use of his students and others. Washington, D.C., 1902.

Railway Problems, edited with an introduction by William Z. Ripley (Boston: Ginn & Company, 1907).

Railroads: Rates and Regulation (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912).

Railroads: Finance & Organization (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1915).

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Course Announcement and Description
1910-11

APPLIED ECONOMICS
For Undergraduates and Graduates

5 1hf. Economics of Transportation. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 10. Professor Ripley assisted by Mr. [Ralph Cahoon] Whitnack.

A brief outline of the historical development of rail and water transportation in the United States will be followed by a description of the condition of transportation systems at the present time. The four main subdivisions of Rates and Rate-Making, Finance, Traffic Operation, and Legislation will be considered in turn. The first deals with the relation of the railroad to shippers, comprehending an analysis of the theory and practice of rate-making. An outline will be given of the nature of railroad securities, the principles of capitalization, and the interpretation of railroad accounts. Railroad Operation will deal with the practical problems of the traffic department, such as the collection and interpretation of statistics of operation, pro-rating, the apportionment of cost, depreciation and maintenance, etc. Under Legislation, the course of state regulation and control in the United States and Europe will be traced.

Course 5 is open to all students who have taken Economics 1.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VI,I No. 23 (June 21, 1910), p. 57.

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 5 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. [Ralph Cahoon] Whitnack.— Economics of Transportation.

Total 142: 4 Graduate, 48 Seniors, 65 Juniors, 18 Sophomores, 5 Freshmen, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 51
Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

  1. What is the principal feature of the law of 1910 respecting rate making power of the Interstate Commerce Commission? Explain the necessary procedure.
  2. How does the law of 1910 affect the long-and-short-haul clause? Show how the new law contrasts with the law before amendment. Does it affect water competition? If so, how?
  3. What was the gist of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Illinois Central car-distribution case? Show how it was related to pending legislation.
  4. Describe the plan adopted for eliminating railway competition in trunk line territory since 1901. Why were the coal roads so troublesome?
  5. Cite or invent a case of true commercial competition as it affects rate-making. Show wherein it differs from ordinary railroad competition.
  6. Describe how a branch line may be administered or its affairs dealt with in accounting as to conceal the real financial condition of the main company?
  7. What use did you make of the balance sheets of your railroad in connection with your thesis? (If it was an analysis of one or more railroads.) If your theses was of another sort, explain what is the significance, or lack of it, of the main items on a balance sheet.
  8. Describe the nature of the pending railroad rate increase cases before the Interstate Commerce Commission. Set forth the leading arguments on either side.
  9. Outline the plan involved in the Keene Southern Pacific pool of 1902-3.
  10. Define the following: —
    1. Immunity bath.
    2. Differential rates.
    3. Voting trust.
    4. Stock watering.
    5. Commodity rate.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1910-11.

Image Source: “The Highland Light.” Print. 1910. Digital Commonwealth, Massachusetts Collections on Line.

The Highland Light, a 4-4-0 or American type which William Mason built at Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1867 for the Cape Cod Railroad (now part of the New Haven system), was one of America’s most graceful iron horses. Mason created “melodies cast and wrought in metal,” according to Matthias N. Forney, himself a great locomotive designer. “He was a wonderfully ingenious man and embodied with his ingenuity a high order of the artistic sense, so that his work was always most exquisitely designed.” Mason declared that locomotives should
“look somewhat better than cookstoves on wheels.” A distinctive feature of the Highland Light was the pairs of decorative brackets that joined the hubs of her tender wheels. Mason’s ornamental monogram was placed proudly between her driving wheels.

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Exam Questions Harvard Statistics

Harvard. Statistics. Enrollment, course description, final exam. Young, 1910-1911

Professor Allyn Abbott Young

According to a story in The San Francisco Call Bulletin (19 June 1910), the head of the Stanford department of economics, Allyn A. Young, was to go on leave for a year to take the place of Professor Taussig at Harvard. Perhaps Taussig planned on going on leave himself when the original invitation to Young was made, but Taussig did end up teaching his courses as scheduled at Harvard in 1910-11. Young returned to Harvard in 1920.

This post adds links to the statistics exams of courses offered earlier at Harvard by John Cummings and William Z. Ripley. The exam questions for Allyn Abbott Young’s visiting year at Harvard have been previously posted so the value-added to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is the added course description along with links to earlier statistics exams in the economics department beginning in 1896.

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Statistics (Econ 4), previous years

1896-1900, John Cummings.
1900-01 [omitted]
1901-02, Ripley.
1902-03, Ripley.
1903-04, Ripley. [only mid-year exam found]
1904-05, Ripley.
1905-06 [omitted]
1906-07. [offered but no printed exam found]
1907-08, Ripley. [only mid-year exam found]
1908-09, Ripley.
1909-10, Ripley.

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Course Description
1910-11

[Economics] 4. Statistics. — Theory, method, and practice. Tu., Th., at 11.  Professor [Allyn Abbott] Young (Leland Stanford Jr. University).

            This course is intended rather as an analysis of methods of research and sources of information than as embodying mere results. A brief history of statistics will be followed by an account of census and other statistical methods in the United States and abroad, with the scientific use and interpretation of results. The main divisions of vital statistics, relating to birth, marriage, morbidity, and mortality, life tables, etc.; the statistics of trade and commerce, such as price indexes, etc.; industrial statistics relating to labor, wages, and employment; statistics of agriculture, manufactures, and transportation, will be then considered in order. Laboratory work, amounting to not less than two hours per week, in the preparation of charts, maps, and diagrams from original material, will be required.

            Course 4 is open to students who have taken Economics 1; and it is also open to Juniors and Seniors who are taking Economics 1.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VI,I No. 23 (June 21, 1910), p. 53

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 4. Professor [Allyn Abbott] Young (Leland Stanford Jr. University). — Statistics. Theory, method, and practice.

Total 26: 5 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 2 Freshmen, 1 Others

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1909-1910, p. 49.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 4

Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

[There was no mid-year exam in the collection of printed exams.]

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 4

Year-end Examination, 1910-11

Answer eight questions.
  1. In what ways did (1) “German university statistics” and (2) “political arithmetic” differ from modern “statistics”?
  2. What errors are found in age statistics?
  3. In what ways may the death rates of two or more cities be accurately compared?
  4. What are the best methods of measuring the change in the length of human life? What different things may be meant by the “length of human life”?
  5. Discuss census statistics of manufactures, with special reference to the definitions of (1) “manufactures,” and (2) “capital.”
  6. What are the chief uses of price statistics? How are the problems of (1) choosing quotations, and (2) weighting, affected by the intended use?
  7. What different methods of “smoothing” a statistical diagram can you suggest? When should diagrams “smoothed” and when not?
  8. What refinements of method should be observed in making comparisons of the birth rate at different periods or for different classes of the population?
  9. May it be expected that most frequency curves will approximate the normal curve of error? Why?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 9, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1910-11 (HUC 7000.25) Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1911), p. 42.

Image Source: Portrait of Allyn A. Young from the 1918 Cornell yearbook, The Cornellian (vol. 50), p. 18. Image enhanced by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Sociology

Harvard. Enrollment, course description, semester exams in sociology. Carver and Bristol, 1910-1911

Carver lists sixteen items in his chapter on sociology in A guide to reading in social ethics and allied subjects (1910), by Francis G. Peabody et al.

An obituary for Carver’s assistant for the course, Lucius Moody Bristol (Harvard PhD in Social Ethics, 1913), was published in Social Forces Vol. 32, Issue 1 (October 1953), p. 90.

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Sociology exams from earlier years.

1892-93 (taught by E. Cummings)
1893-94 (taught by E. Cummings)
1894-95 (taught by E. Cummings)
1895-96 (taught by E. Cummings)
1896-97 (taught by E. Cummings)
1897-98 (taught by E. Cummings)
1898-99 (taught by E. Cummings)
1899-1900 (taught by E. Cummings)
1901-02 (taught by T. N. Carver)
1902-03 (taught by T. N. Carver and W. Z. Ripley)
1903-04 (taught by T. N. Carver)
1904-05 (taught by T. N. Carver and J. A. Field) Includes the reading list for the course and additional biographical information.
1905-06 (taught by T. N. Carver)
1906-07 (taught by J. A. Field)
1907-08 (taught by T. N. Carver)
1908-09 (taught by T. N. Carver and C. W. Thompson)
1909-10 (taught by T. N. Carver and J. S. Davis)

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Course Announcement and Description
1910-11

  1. Principles of Sociology. — Theories of Social Progress. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30. Professor Carver, and an assistant.

An analytical study of social life and of the factors and forces which hold society together and give it an orderly development. The leading social institutions will also be studied with a view to finding out their true relation to social well-being and progress.

Spencer’s Principles of Sociology [Vol. 1; Vol. II; Vol. III] and Carver’s Sociology and Social Progress will be read in full. Students are expected to take part in the discussion of the books read and of the lectures delivered.

Course 3 is open to students who have passed satisfactorily in Course 1.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VI,I No. 23 (June 21, 1910), p. 63

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 3. Professor Carver, assisted by Mr.[Lucius Moody] Bristol [Ph.D. 1913] — Principles of Sociology. Theories of Social Progress.

Total 61: 8 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 27 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 12Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911 p. 50.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3
Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

  1. What is the bearing of Weisman’s theory of heredity upon the problem of the transmissibility of acquired characters?
  2. What is Spencer’s opinion as to the methods of administering charity?
  3. How does the transition from the militant to the industrial type of society affect the liberty of the individual?
  4. What is the relation of our economic concept of wealth to the general problem of adaptation?
  5. How does Spencer explain the origin of the belief in ghosts?
  6. What is meant by the power of idealization, and how does it affect the process of adaptation?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1910-11.

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ECONOMICS 3
Year-end Examination, 1910-11

  1. Comment upon the following: —
    “Already increased facilities for divorce point to the probability that whereas, while permanent monogamy was being evolved, the union by law (originally the act of purchase) was regarded as the essential part of marriage and the union by affection as non essential; and whereas at present the union by law is thought the more important and the union by affection the less important, there will come a time when the union by affection will be held of primary moment and the union by law as of secondary moment: whence reprobation of marital relations in which the union by affection has dissolved.”
  2. Trace the origin, separation, and specialization of the leading professions.
  3. What is the leading idea of the selection entitled “War and Economics”? What do you think of it?
  4. What is the leading idea of the selection entitled “The Prolongation of Infancy”? What do you think of it?
  5. What, according to Nordau, are the symptoms and the causes of increasing degeneration in recent times?
  6. What is the relation of morality to the problem of adaptation?
  7. What are the leading phases of the struggle among the individuals of the social group called the state?
  8. What is meant by the storing of social energy, and by what means is it accomplished?
  9. Discuss the question: Is monarchy or democracy the more highly evolved form of government?
  10. What do you regard as the most important thing you have learned in this course?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 9, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1910-11 (HUC 7000.25) Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1911), pp. 41-42.

Image Source: Thomas Nixon Carver from Harvard Class Album 1913 (colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror).