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Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Exams for the history of economics up to 1848. Bullock, 1910-1911

Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot

Six Harvard graduate students were led through economic thought from the Ancient Greeks through the Scottish Enlightenment by Professor Charles Jesse Bullock in 1910-11. That material could have been covered in the General Examination in economic theory that at that time included the history of economic ideas.

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Earlier versions of the course
by year and instructor

1899-1900. The History and Literature of Economics to the close of the Eighteenth Century. [William James Ashley]

1901-02. History and Literature of Economics, to the opening of the Nineteenth Century. [Charles Whitney Mixter]

1903-04. History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the Nineteenth Century [Charles Jesse Bullock]

1904-05. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. [Charles Jesse Bullock]

1905-06. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. [Charles Jesse Bullock]

1906-07. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 [Charles Jesse Bullock]

1907-08. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 [Charles Jesse Bullock]

1908-09. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 [Charles Jesse Bullock]

1909-10. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 [Charles Jesse Bullock]

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Course Announcement and Description
1910-11

[Economics] 15. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 11. Professor Bullock.

            The purpose of this course is to trace the development of economic thought from classical antiquity to the middle of the nineteenth century. Emphasis is placed upon the relation of economics to philosophical and political theories, as well as to political and industrial conditions.

            A considerable amount of reading of prominent writers will be assigned, and opportunity given for the preparation of theses. Much of the instruction is necessarily given by means of lectures.

            No undergraduates will be admitted to the course who are not candidates for honors in economics.

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. 54.

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

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

Total 6: 6 Graduates.

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

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ECONOMICS 15
Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

  1. How did Aristotle classify the various branches of the art of acquisition?
  2. What ideas concerning value are found in the works of the leading Greek and Roman writers?
  3. Discuss Aristotle’s criticism of Plato’s communism.
  4. Discuss the economic opinions of Xenophon.
  5. What views concerning commerce were held by Aristotle, Xenophon, and Thomas Aquinas?
  6. What traces of the influence of Aristotle do you find in the theories of the Schoolmen concerning just price and usury?
  7. Discuss Ashley’s views of the Scholastic doctrine of usury.
  8. Discuss the change that occurred in the doctrine of usury between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries.

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 15
Year-End Examination, 1910-11 

  1. Discuss briefly the development of theories of interest from Aquinas to Turgot.
  2. Discuss the economic opinions of John Hales.
  3. Discuss the relation of mercantilism to the economic thought of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
  4. Discuss the economic opinions of Mun and Davenant.
  5. Discuss the theories of Boisguilbert and Cantillon.
  6. Compare English mercantilism with French and Italian.
  7. Discuss critically Ingram’s treatment of mercantilism.
  8. Discuss Adam Smith’s relation to earlier ethical and political thought; his relation to mercantilist writers; his indebtedness to the physiocrats. How far can his work claim originality?

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. 51.

Image Source: Chateau de Versailles. Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot, intendant et ministre des Finances (1727-1781).