Author: Irwin Collier

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Chicago Columbia Cornell Economists Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania. Ph.D. Alumnus, William H.S. Stevens, 1912

 

The following letter from E.R.A. Seligman that recommended the appointment of three young economists to junior positions in Columbia College for 1912/13 was the starting point for this post.  B. M. Anderson, Jr. and R. M. Haig were already well known to me.  The third economist, W. S. Stevens, was completely new however, even though I have become reasonably familiar with the comings and goings of people who had taught economics at Columbia during the first half of the 20thcentury. And so I went to work to figure out the future career (with respect to this April 23, 1912 letter) of Mr. W.S. Stevens.  My results are found below, following the letter and they present a teachable moment about the use of the subscription genealogical website ancestry.com in tracking down economists of yore. Incidentally many research and public libraries provide access to ancestry.com for their users. That site together with the digital archives of hathitrust.org and archive.org were used to follow this economist’s career. 

What did I learn from this exercise? Well, a reprint of a single QJE article represented a dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania in 1912. Also the life of an itinerant scholar is a real challenge to reconstruct, but especially for those cases when the absorbing state turns out to be a job outside of academia. An obituary or a tip from a death certificate pointing to the last employment is extremely useful should you be able to find one.

Incidentally, for those with more of a genealogical interest in this economist: W. S. Stevens was married three times: to Edyth Josephine Frost (1911-1922, divorce; one child, Joseph Libby Stevens b. 1913, d. 2000); to Mary E. Laird (1923-?); and to Rachel Bretherton (?-1966, died in 1966). 

_________________

Copy of Seligman letter recommending three instructional appointments to Columbia College

April 23, 1912

Mr. F. P. Keppell
Dean, Columbia College.

My dear Dean Keppel:-

I take pleasure in nominating herewith the following gentlemen for positions in the College:-

Dr. B. M. Anderson, Jr., [A.B., Missouri, 1906; A.M., Illinois, 1910; Ph.D., Columbia, 1911] instructor, reappointment.

W. S. Stevens, Colby College, A.B., 1905; George Washington University, A.M., 1909; Chicago University, Summer, 1910; Cornell University, 1910-11; Chicago University, Summer, 1911; University of Pennsylvania, 1911-12; Fellow in Economics and Political Science, George Washington University, 1908-1909; Fellow in Economics, Cornell, 1910-1911; Assistant in Economics, Pennsylvania, 1911-12, lecturer in Economics.

R. M. Haig, A.B., Ohio Wesleyan University, 1908; A.M., University of Illinois, 1909; Secretary and Research Assistant to the Dean of Graduate School, University of Illinois, 1909-11; Garth Fellow, Columbia, 1911-12, lecturer in Economics. (Will receive degree of Ph.D. this autumn).

If there is any further information that I can give you about these gentlemen, pray command me.

Faithfully yours,

SE-S

Source:  Columbia University Archives.  Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman Collection, Box 36, Folder “Box 98A, Columbia (A-Z) 1911-1913”.

_________________

 

William Harrison Spring Stevens, 1885-1972
Publications

William Harrison Spring Stevens (University of Pennsylvania). The powder trust, 1872-1912. [cover: “Ph.D. Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1912. Reprint of QJE article].

William S. Stevens (William S. Stevens). The powder trust, 1872-1912. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 26, No. 3 (May, 1912), pp. 444-481.

W. S. Stevens (Columbia University). A group of trusts and combinations. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 26, No. 4 (August, 1912), pp. 593-643.

William S. Stevens (Ph.D. Columbia University), ed. Industrial combinations and trusts. New York: Macmillan, 1914.

William H. S. Stevens (Ph.D. Sometime Professor of Business Management in the Tulane University of Louisiana). Unfair Competition: A Study of Certain Practices. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1917. [Dedication: “To Professor James C. Egbert of Columbia University with pleasant recollections of my experience in administrative work as his subordinate”]

 

_________________

William Harrison Spring Stevens, 1885-1972
C.V.

Born April 15, 1885 [3, 4] in Eau Claire, Wisconsin [4]

Colby College, A.B., 1905 [1]

George Washington University, A.M., 1909 [1]

Chicago University, Summer, 1910 [1]

Cornell University, 1910-11 [1]

Chicago University, Summer, 1911 [1]

University of Pennsylvania, 1911-12 [1]

Fellow in Economics and Political Science, George Washington University, 1908-1909; [1]

Fellow in Economics, Cornell, 1910-1911 [1]

Assistant in Economics, Pennsylvania, 1911-12, lecturer in Economics. [1]

University of Pennsylvania. Ph.D., 1912 [2]

Instr. in econ., Columbia Univ., 1912-15 [2]

Prof. bus. management, Tulane Univ. of La., 1915-16 [2]

Special expert, Federal Trade Commission, 1917 [2]

Assistant chief economist, Federal Trade Commission [3]

Economist at Interstate Commerce Commission, 1942 [4]

Last occupation. “Dr. of Econ., Fed Government” [5]

Died September 14, 1972 in Alexandria Virginia [5]

Sources:

[1] Seligman letter (above) April 23, 1912

[2] General Alumni Catalogue, University of Pennsylvania, 1917, p. 474.

[3] World War I, Draft Registration Card. September 12, 1918.

[4] World War II, Draft Registration Card, April 27, 1942

[5] Death Certificate, State of Virginia September 20, 1972

_________________

William Harrison Spring Stevens, 1885-1972
Fun Fact: Son of the American Revolution

“John Boyes, my great grandfather, enlisted in April 1777 in the 6thCompany, 3d N.H. regiment; Daniel Livermore Capt., Alex Scammell Col. He served three years, participated in battles of Hubbardstown, Stillwater, first and second Monmouth and was in Gen. Sullivan’s expedition against the six Indian Nations (Iroquois). He was wounded in the arm at Stillwater and later was captured and transported to Limerick, Ireland, and thence to Mill Prison in England where he was confined for one year. He was honorably discharged after three years service, on April 6, 1790.”

Source: Application by William H. S. Stevens (September 24, 1962) for Membership in the Virginia Society of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution. as great-grandson of John Boyes (27 September 1760 in Boston, died 2 May 1833 in Madison Maine).

Image Source:  William H. S. Stevens class portrait from the his college yearbook, Colby Oracle, 1906.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. Business cycle theory. Reading list and exam. Hansen and Haberler, 1938

 

This is one of those instances where I really would like to try to dig deeper to see what the actual course content was. From the 1940-41 Division announcements we have the following description of the Business Cycle course at Harvard:

The broad facts about the business cycle will be discussed first. The distinction between trend movements, seasonal fluctuations, long waves and the business cycle in various time series will be analyzed. Then various theories of the cycle will be reviewed and the principles of cycle policy and possibilities of mitigating or avoiding depressions considered.

For now we at least have a bibliographic list for the subject and the exam questions from the first time that Alvin Hansen and Gottfried Haberler co-taught the course together.

________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 45a 2hf. Professor Hansen and Associate professor Haberler.— Business Cycles.

Total 37: 2 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other.

 

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1937-1938, p. 85.

________________

[Penciled Note: 1937-38]

[Penciled Note: Ec. 45a]

BUSINESS CYCLE THEORY

I.

Haberler, Gottfried: Prosperity and Depression, League of Nations, Geneva, 1937
Hansen, Alvin H.: Business Cycle Theory, Ginn and Co., 1927
Röpke, Wilhelm: Crises and Cycles, William Hodge and Co., London, 1936.

 

II.

Selected List of Books, Articles and Forecasting Services

A. Books

Adams, A. B. 1. Economics of Business Cycles

2. Profits, Progress and Prosperity
Ayres, L. P. Economics of Recovery
Bellerly Control of Credit
Brookings Institution The Recovery Problem in the United States
Cassel, G. The Theory of Social Economy, Book IV.
Clark, J. M. 1. Strategic Factors in Business Cycles

2. Economics of Planning Public Works, (Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.)
Copeland, Douglas Australia in the World Crises
Dickinson, F. G. Public Construction and Cyclical Unemployment
Douglas, Paul H. Controlling Depressions
Durbin, E. M. F. 1. Purchasing Power and Trade Depressions

2. The Problem of Credit Policy
Economic Reconstruction (Report of Columbia University Commission)
Economic Essays in Honour of Gustav Cassel
Fisher, Irving 1. Booms and Depressions

2. 100% Money
Foster and Catchings 1. Profits, Part V.

2. Business Without a Buyer

3. Road to Plenty
Gayer, Arthur D. 1. Monetary Policy and Economic Stabilization

2. Public Works in Prosperity and Depression
Haney, L. H. Business Forecasting
Hansen, A. H. 1. Economic Stabilization in an Unbalanced World

2. The Problem of Unemployment Insurance and Relief in the U.S., Part IV.
Hardy, C. O. and Cox, G. V. Forecasting Business Conditions
Harrod The Trade Cycle
Hawtrey 1. Good and Bad Taste [sic, “Trade”]

2. Trade Depression and the Way Out

3. Capital and Employment
Hayek, F. A. Prices and Production
Hobson, J. A. Economics of Unemployment
Hull Industrial Depressions
Keynes, J. M. 1. A Treatise on Money

2. The Means to Prosperity

3. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

4. Unemployment as a World Problem, pp. 1-42
Kuznets, S. S. Cyclical Fluctuations
Lavington Trade Cycle
Lundberg Economic Expansion
McCracken, H. L. Value Theory and Business Cycles
Meade  Economic Analysis and Policy
Mitchell, Wesley Business Cycles, the Problem and its Setting
Moore, Henry L. 1. Economic Cycles

2. Generating Economic Cycles
Moulton, H. G. 1. The Formation of Capital

2. Income and Economic Progress
Newman, William H. The Building Industry and Business Cycles
Ohlin, Bertil Course and Phases of the Depression (League of Nations)
Persons, Warren Forecasting Business Cycles
Persons, Foster and Hettinger The Problem of Business Forecasting
Pigou, A. C. Industrial Fluctuations
Robbins, Lionel The Great Depression
Robertson, D. H. 1. Money

2. Industrial Fluctuations

3. Banking Policy and the Price Level
Schmidt, C. T. German Business Cycles, 1924-1933
Schumpeter, Joseph A. The Theory of Economic Development
Slichter, S. H. Towards Stability
Smith, W. B. and  Cole, A.H. Fluctuations in American Business, 1790-1860
Snyder, Carl Business Cycles and Business Measurements
Timoshenko, V. 1. World Agriculture and the Depression

2. The Role of Agriculture Fluctuations
Tintner, Gerhard Prices in the Trade Cycle
Warren and Pearson Gold and Prices
World Prices and the Building Industry
Veblen, T. [1.] Theory of Business Enterprise

[2.] The Engineers and the Price System
Wagemann Economic Rhythm
Wicksell Interest and Prices

 

B. Articles

Aftalion, Albert in Review of Economic Statistics, October 1927

Haberler, Gottfried, “Some Reflections on the Present Situation of Business Cycle Theory,” Review of Economic Statistics, February, 1936

Hansen, Boddy and Langum, “Recent Trends in Business Cycle Literature,” Review of Economic Studies, May, 1936

Hansen and Tout, “Investment and Saving in the Business Cycle,” Econometrica, April 1933

Hansen, A. H., “Mr. Keynes in Under-employment Equilibrium,” Journal of Political Economy, October, 1936

Hansen, A. H., Harrod on the Trade Cycle,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1937

Hansen, A. H., “The Consequences of Reducing Expenditures,” Proceedings, Academy of Political Science, January, 1938

Kondratieff, M. D., “The Long Waves in Economic Life,” Review of Economic Statistics, November, 1935

Robertson, D. H., “The Trade Cycle—An Academic View,” Lloyds Bank Review, September, 1937

Schumpeter, Joseph, “An Analysis of Economic Change,” Review of Economic Statistics, May, 1935

 

C. Forecasting Services

  1. Annalist (Weekly)
  2. Brookmire Economic Service (Weekly and Special)
    Councillor; Annalist; Investor; Technician; Forecaster; Purchaser (outlook for commodity prices); Executive; Income Map; Special Reports on Industries.
  3. London and Cambridge Economic Service (Quarterly)
  4. Moody’s Investors Service (Weekly and Bi-weekly)
  5. Review of Economic Statistics; Harvard (Quarterly)
  6. Standard Statistics (Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly and Special)
    Business Prospects; Outlook for Security Market; Industry Reports A, B, C, etc.; Basic Statistics.
  7. United Business Service (Weekly)

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1). Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1937-38”.

________________

1937-38
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 45a2
BUSINESS CYCLES

[Final Exam]

(Write on THREE questions)

  1. Write briefly on each of the following:
    1. Summarize and evaluate the analyses of “the long waves” made by (1) Schumpeter, and (2) Kondratieff.
    2. Compare Robertson and Aftalion with respect to the role of fixed capital in the business cycle.
  2. Show the significance and implications of (a) the “principle of accelerations” and (b) the “multiplier” with respect to the “pump-priming” theory.
  3. “The turning point from prosperity to depression is caused not by a shortage of capital but by inadequate consumption expenditures.”
    (In answering this question discuss, among other items, the following: (1) Is saving deflationary? (2) What is the effect of an increase in savings (a) upon the value of real investment? (b) upon consumption? (3) Is over-investment a cause of recession?
  4. Discuss the part played by monetary factors in the trade cycle, drawing particularly upon the analyses of Hawtrey and Hayek.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 4. Papers Printed for Final Examinations. History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…, Military Science, Naval Science. June, 1938.

Image Source: Alvin Hansen (left) and Gottfried Haberler (right) from Harvard Class Album 1942.

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Chicago Faculty Regulations

Chicago. Nominal duties of a Department Head (Chairperson), 1891-1910

 

The following letter (March 9, 1910) from the second President of the University of Chicago  (Harry Pratt Judson) to the first Head of the Department of Political Economy (James Laurence Laughlin) provided a list of the Duties of a Department Head that was apparently unchanged since the founding of the University in 1891. From the tone of the letter, it does not appear to be intended as a reminder as much as a slightly whimsical juxtaposition of historical expectations with (implicit) contemporary administrative realities. One wonders of course, which duties on that list were actually still in effect in 1910 and which new duties had become a part of the “custom of the manor” in the meantime. In an earlier post the 1892 regulations for graduate education at the University of Chicago, give almost the same list of Department Head duties, but it is not identical. In the 1892 regulations the authority to determine textbooks for courses was not listed and the duty to serve in the University Senate was added.

In any event, we see that the role of the department chairman (at least at the University of Chicago in its early years) had more of a Dean-like quality than Player-Coach quality observed in departments today. Executive Committees of senior colleagues serve as a check or balance with respect to the power of the departmental chairperson, a tenured senior colleague in the department. 

__________________

Biographical Note: James Laurence Laughlin

James Laurence Laughlin was born on April 2, 1850 in Deerfield, Ohio. In the fall of 1869 he entered Harvard College and was graduated summa cum laude in history in 1873. He continued the study of history under Henry Adams at Harvard. He also taught at Hopkinson’s Classical School in Boston. In 1876 he received his Ph. D. degree for his thesis on “The Anglo-Saxon Legal Procedure.”

In the fall of 1878 Laughlin was appointed instructor of political economy at Harvard. After receiving graduate training in economics, he was appointed an assistant professor at Harvard (1883-1888); during this period, Laughlin organized and sponsored the Political Economy Club. He also completed his History of Bimetallism in the United States in 1885. In 1888 Laughlin left Harvard and became president of the Manufacturer’s Mutual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia. He accepted a professorship in Political Economy at Cornell University in 1890.

Two years later President Harper appointed Laughlin Head Professor of Political Economy at the new University of Chicago. At Chicago, Laughlin introduced the seminar as a method of instruction and founded the Journal of Political Economy. In 1894, Laughlin proposed that the University establish a School of Commerce and Industry. The new professional school, which began undergraduate instruction in 1898, evolved into the Graduate School of Business.

In 1916 Laughlin became Professor Emeritus. He moved to East Jaffery, New Hampshire, where he completed his Credit of Nations, published in 1918. He also wrote numerous magazine articles, largely on labor questions, including “Monopoly of Labor.” He died on November 28, 1933.

Source:University of Chicago Library. Guide to the James Laurence Laughlin Papers 1885-1914.

__________________

The University of Chicago
Founded by John D. Rockefeller
Office of the President

March 9, 1910

Dear Mr. Laughlin:-

I enclose copy of the original statute of the University, which has never been repealed, relating to the duties of Heads of Departments. This was printed in Bulletin #1, which we all read with so much interest at the opening of the University, and in accordance with which the original arrangements were all made. I thought you would be interested.

Very truly yours,
[signed] H. P. Judson

Mr. J. Laurence Laughlin,
The University of Chicago

 

Source:  The Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.Papers of James Laurence Laughlin. Box 1, Folder “1910: Miscellaneous Correspondence”.

__________________

From THE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNIVERSITY.

[…]

Heads of Departments, who shall in each case

(1) Supervise, in general, the entire work of the department.

(2) Prepare all entrance and prize examination papers, and approve all course examination papers prepared by other instructors.

(3) Arrange, in consultation with the Dean and with other instructors in the department, the particular courses of instruction to be offered from quarter to quarter.

(4) Examine all theses offered in the department.

(5) Determine, in consultation with the instructors, the text-books to be used in the department.

(6) Edit any papers or journals which may be published by the University on subjects in the department.

(7) Conduct the Club or Seminar of the department.

(8) Consult with the librarian as to books and periodicals in the department needed in the University and Departmental Libraries.

(9) Consult with the President as to the appointment of instructors in the department.

(10) Countersign the course-certificates in the department.

[…]

 

Source: Ibid. and University of Chicago. Official Bulletin, No. 1 (January 1891), p. 11.

Image Source:  J. Laurence Laughlin (standing left) and President William Rainey Harper (standing right) and John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (sitting, with top-hat) at the cornerstone laying for the University Press Building in 1901. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-05937, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

 

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Courses Curriculum Gender Harvard Radcliffe

Radcliffe. Economics Course Offerings, 1900-1905

 

Pre-Radcliffe economics course offerings and the Radcliffe courses for  1893-94 and for 1894-1900 have been posted earlier.

____________________________________

1900-1901
ECONOMICS.

Primarily for Undergraduates:—

1. Dr. SPRAGUE and Dr. ANDREW. — Outlines of Economics. — Production, Distribution, Exchange. — Lectures on Social Questions, Banking and Monetary Legislation. 3 hours a week.

19 Undergraduates, 5 Special students. Total 24.

 

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

3. Professor CARVER. — Principles of Sociology. —Theories of social progress. 2 hours a week.

2 Graduates, 5 Undergraduates, 2 Special students. Total 9.

10. Professor ASHLEY. — The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. 2 hours a week.

2 Graduates, 4 Undergraduates, 3 Special students. Total 9.

92. Mr. WILLOUGHBY. — The Labor Question in Europe and the United States. — The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen. Half-course. 3 hours a week, 2d half-year.

1 Graduate, 8 Undergraduates, 2 Special students. Total 11.

81. Dr. ANDREW. — Money. A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times. Half-course. 3 hours a week, 1st half-year.

1 Graduate, 4 Undergraduates, 1 Special student. Total 6.

 

Source:   Radcliffe College. Report of the President, 1900-01, p.44.

____________________________________

1901-1902
ECONOMICS.

Primarily for Undergraduates:—

1. Dr. ANDREW. — Outlines of Economics. — Production, Distribution, Exchange. — Industrial Organization, Labor Questions, Banking and Monetary Legislation. 3 hours a week.

28 Undergraduates, 4 Special students. Total 32.

 

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

3. Asst. Professor CARVER. — Principles of Sociology. —Theories of social progress. 2 hours a week.

6 Undergraduates, 2 Special students. Total 8.

92. Mr. DURAND. — The Labor Question in Europe and the United States. — The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen. Half-course. 3 hours a week, 2d half-year.

1 Graduate, 6 Undergraduates. Total 7.

6.  Dr. SPRAGUE. — The Economic History of the United States. 2 hours a week.

2 Graduates, 4 Undergraduates. Total 6.

 

Primarily for Graduates:—

20. Asst. Professor CARVER. — Seminary in Economics. Thesis-subject: Motives in Politics.

1 Special student. Total 1.

 

Source:   Radcliffe College. Report of the President, 1901-02, pp. 37-38.

____________________________________

1902-1903
ECONOMICS.

Primarily for Undergraduates:—

1. Drs. ANDREW and MIXTER. — Outlines of Economics. — Production, Distribution, Exchange, Industrial Organization, Foreign Trade, Banking, Socialism, and Labor Questions. 3 hours a week.

18 Undergraduates, 3 Special students. Total 21.

 

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

32. Professor CARVER. — Principles of Sociology. —Theories of social progress. Half-course. 2 hours a week.  2d half-year.

10 Undergraduates, 1 Special student. Total 11.

14. Professor CARVER. — Methods of Social Reform. — 2 hours a week.

4 Undergraduates, 2 Special students. Total 6.

112. Dr. GAY. — The Modern Economic History of Europe and America. Half-course. 3 hours a week, 2d half-year.

1 Graduate, 1 Undergraduate. Total 2.

51.  Mr. MEYER. — Railways and Other Public Works under Corporate and Private Management. Half-course. 3 hours a week, 1st half-year.

1 Graduate, 4 Undergraduates. Total 5.

8a1.  Dr. ANDREW. — Money. A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times. Half-course. 3 hours a week, 1st half-year.

1 Graduate, 7 Undergraduates, 3 Special students. Total 11.

8b2.  Dr. SPRAGUE. — Banking and the history of the leading Banking Systems. Half-course. 3 hours a week, 2d half-year.

3 Undergraduates. Total 3.

 

Source:   Radcliffe College. Report of the President, 1902-03, p. 43.

____________________________________

1903-1904
ECONOMICS.

Primarily for Undergraduates:—

1. Asst. Professor ANDREW. — Outlines of Economics. — Production, Distribution, Exchange, Industrial Organization, Foreign Trade, Banking, Socialism, and Labor Questions. 3 hours a week.

36 Undergraduates, 2 Special students. Total 38.

 

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

2. Professor CARVER. — Economic Theory. 3 hours a week.

1 Graduate, 1 Undergraduate, 2 Special students. Total 4.

11. Asst. Professor GAY. — The Modern Economic History of Europe and America. 2 hours a week (and occasionally a third hour).

2 Undergraduates. Total 2.

6.  Dr. SPRAGUE. — The Economic History of the United States. 2 hours a week.

7 Undergraduates, 2 Special students. Total 9.

9a2.  Professor RIPLEY. — Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization. Half-course. 3 hours a week, 2d half-year.

2 Graduates, 5 Undergraduates. Total 7.

 

Primarily for Graduates:—

131.  Professor CARVER. — Methods of Economic Investigation. Half-course. 2 hours a week, 1st half-year. [Graduate course in Harvard University, to which Radcliffe students were admitted by vote of the Harvard Faculty]

1 Graduate, 2 Undergraduates. Total 3.

20.  Professors CARVER and RIPLEY. — Seminary in Economics. Thesis-subjects: “Labor Organizations among Women” and “The Defective Child in its own home.”

1 Graduate, 1 Special student. Total 2.

 

Source:   Radcliffe College. Report of the President, 1903-04, pp. 50-51.

____________________________________

1904-1905
ECONOMICS.

Primarily for Undergraduates:—

1. Asst. Professors ANDREW and SPRAGUE. — Outlines of Economics. — Production, Distribution, Exchange, Industrial Organization, Foreign Trade, Banking, Socialism, and Labor Questions. 3 hours a week.

14 Undergraduates, 4 Special students. Total 18.

 

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

3. Professor CARVER. — Principles of Sociology. — Theories of social progress. 2 hours a week, with a third hour at the pleasure of the instructor.

1 Graduate, 3 Undergraduates, 2 Special students. Total 6.

6.  Asst. Professor SPRAGUE. — The Economic History of the United States. 3 hours a week.

2 Graduates, 1 Undergraduate, 1 Special student. Total 4.

 

COURSE OF RESEARCH

20a.  Asst. Professor GAY. — The Expansion of English Trade in the Mediterranean, and the Levant Company.  1 hour a week. [Graduate course in Harvard University, to which Radcliffe students were admitted by vote of the Harvard Faculty]

1 Graduate. Total 1.

 

Source:   Radcliffe College. Report of the President, 1904-05, p. 56.

Image Source: Gymnasium and Fay House, Radcliffe College ca. 1904. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540. REPRODUCTION NUMBER: LC-D4-10778 R (b&w glass neg.)  Copy from Wikimedia Commons.

 

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Cambridge Chicago Columbia Economic History Economists Germany Harvard NBER Stanford

Chicago. Friedman memo regarding Karl Bode and Moses Abramovitz, 1947

 

In the following 1947 memo from Milton Friedman to T.W. Schultz we can read two talent-scouting reports on potential appointments for the University of Chicago economics department. One candidate, Karl Bode had been vouched for by Allen Wallis, a trusted friend and colleague of Milton Friedman, but we can easily read Friedman’s own less than enthusiastic report on the meager published work examined, certainly compared to Friedman’s glowing report for his friend from Columbia student days, Moses Abramovitz. But comparing the publications listed in the memo, I certainly wouldn’t fault Friedman’s revealed preference for Abramovitz.

Abramovitz went on to have a long and distinguished career at Stanford and Bode left Stanford for government service with his last occupation according to his death certificate “Planning Director, Agency for International Development (A.I.D.)”

Since Karl Bode turned out to have cast a relatively short academic shadow, I have appended some biographical information about him at the end of this post. But for now just the vital dates: Karl Ernst Franz Bode was born November 24, 1912 in Boennien, Germany and he died March 18, 1981 in Arlington, VA.

__________________

Milton Friedman on Bode and Abramovitz

January 10, 1947

[To:] Mr. Schultz, Economics
[From:] Mr. Friedman, Economics
[Re:] Staff appointments

In connection with staff appointments, I thought it might be helpful if I put down on paper for you the information I have on two persons whose names I have casually mentioned: Karl Bode and Moses Abramovitz.

  1. Karl Bode (Assoc. Prof. of Economics, Stanford)

I know about Bode primarily from Allen Wallis. Allen considers him absolutely first-rate in all respects and recommends him very highly.

Bode, who is now in his early thirties, was born in Germany and, though Catholic of Aryan descent, and the holder of a highly-prized governmental fellowship, left Germany almost immediately after Hitler’s accession. He went first to Austria, then to Switzerland, where he took his Ph.D., in 1935, then to England, where he studied at Cambridge and at the London School. Bernard Haley met him while at Cambridge, was highly impressed with him, and induced him to come to Stanford, where he has been since 1937. He has been on leave of absence since early 1945, first with the Tactical Bombing Survey, then with the Allied Military Government in Berlin. He is expected back sometime this summer.

At Stanford, Bode is responsible for American and European Economic History, and, in addition, has taught advanced courses in Economic Theory. His original interest was in International Trade. He has a contract to write a text on Economic History, but I do not know whether on American or European Economic History.

I have obtained a list of his publications, most of which are fragments or reviews. Three of more general interest are:

(a) A. W. Stonier: “A New Approach to the Methodology of the Social Sciences”, Economica, Vol. 4, p. 406-424, Nov., 1937.

(b) “Plan Analysis and process analysis: AER, 33-348-54, June 1943.

(c) “A Note on the Mathematical Coincidence of the instantaneous and the serial multiplier”, Review of Economic Statistics, 26: 221-222, Nov. 1944.

I have read these. They are too slight to permit a reliable and comprehensive judgment about his capacities; but they are sufficient to demonstrate a clear, logical mind.

Allen tells me that Schumpeter, Haberler, Howard Ellis, and of course, the Stanford people all know him and could provide evidence about his abilities.

 

  1. Moses Abramovitz (member of research staff in charge of business cycle unit, National Bureau of Economic Research.)

Abramovitz got his bachelor’s at Harvard, his Ph.D. at Columbia. He has done some part-time teaching of Theory at Columbia. During the war he was with the Office of Strategic Services, where he worked on foreign economic conditions. He was a member of the reparations commission staff at both the Moscow and Paris Conferences.

Abramovitz and I were fellow graduate students at Columbia, and I have known him rather well ever since. I think him extremely capable, with an excellent mind, broad interests, and an extraordinary capacity for forming a sound judgment from conflicting evidence.

His academic and private research background is mostly in Economic Theory and Business Cycles; but the war years gave him a considerable background, and generated a real interest, in foreign economic relations.

Some of his writings are:

Selected Publications:

An Approach to a Price Theory for a Changing Economy, Columbia University Press, 1939.

Monopolistic Selling in a Changing Economy, Q.J.E., Feb., 1938.

Saving vs Investment: Profits vs Prosperity?Supplement on papers relating to the TNEC, Am. Econ. Rev., June, 1942.

Book on Cyclical behavior of inventories completed and scheduled to be published shortly by Nat’l Bureau of Economic Research.

M.F.

ab

* * * * *

PUBLICATIONS OF KARL BODE

A new approach to the methodology of the social sciences. (With A.W. Stonier): Economica, vol. 4, pp. 406-424, November, 1937.

Prosperität und Depression: Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, vol. 8, pp. 597-614, December, 1937.

Review of: Plotnik, M.J. Werner Sombart and his type of economics. 1937. American Economic Review, 28: 522-523, September, 1938.

Review of: Sombart, Werner. Weltanschauung, Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft. 1938. Ibid., 28: 766, December, 1938.

The acceptance of defeat in Germany: Journal of abnormal and social psychology, 38: 193-198, April, 1943.

Plan analysis and process analysis: American Economic Review, 33: 348-354, June, 1943.

Review of: Day, C. Economic Development in Europe. 1942:Journal of economic History, 2: 225-227, November, 1942.

Catholics in the postwar world: America, 71: 347-348, July, 1944

Economic aspects of morale in Nazi Germany: Pacific Coast Economic Association: Papers, 1942. pp. 29-34, 1943.

Reflections on a reasonable peace: Thought, 19: 41-48, March, 1944

Review of: Dempsey, B.W. Interest and usury. 1943: Ibid., 18: 756-758, December, 1943.

German reparations and a democratic peace: Thought, 19: 594-606, December, 1944

A note on the mathematical coincidence of the instantaneous and the serial multiplier: Review of Economic Statistics, 26: 221-222, November, 1944.

 

Source:Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman, Box 79, Folder 1 “University of Chicago, Minutes. Economics Department 1946-1949”.

__________________

Karl F. Bode
AEA 1969 Directory of Members, p. 41.

Bode, Karl F., government; b. Germany, 1912; student, U. Bonn-Germany, 1931-33, U. Vienna-Austria, 1933-34; Ph.D., U. Bern-Switzerland, 1935; Cambridge-England, 1935-37. DOC.DIS. The Concept of Neutral Money, 1935. FIELDS 2abc, 1c, 4a. Chief, Regional Organization & Program Staff, Intl. Cooperation Adm., 1955-60, asst. dep. dir. for planning, 1960-62; chief, Planning Assistance & Research Div., Agy. for Intl. Dev., 1962-67; dir., Research, Evaluation & Information Retrieval, Agy. for Internat. Dev. since 1967. ADDRESS Vietnam Bur., Agy. for Internat. Dev., Dept. State, Washington, DC 20523.

__________________

 Haberler Report of Mises’s Private Seminar

Regular participants of the seminar were several members of the Mont Pelerin Society – notably Hayek, Machlup, the late Alfred Schutz and in the very early days, John V. Van Sickle. Visiting scholars regarded it a great honor to be invited to the seminar – among them Howard S. Ellis (University of California), Ragnar Nurkse (late Professor of Economics in Columbia University, New York) whose untimely death occurred three years ago, Karl Bode (later in Stanford University and now in Washington), Alfred Stonier (now University College in London), and many others. There was Oskar Morgenstern (now Princeton University), the late Karl Schlesinger and Richard Strigl, two of the most brilliant economists of their time…the unforgettable Felix Kaufmann, philosopher of the Social Sciences in the broadest sense including the law and economics – he also wrote a much debated book on the logical foundation of mathematics – who after his emigration in 1938 joined the Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York where he taught with great success until his premature death twelve years ago.

Source: Mises’s Private Seminar: Reminiscences by Gottfried Haberler. Reprint from The Mont Pelerin Quarterly, Volume III, October 1961, No. 3, page 20f. Posted at the Mises Institute website.

__________________

 From the Preface of Felix Kaufman’s 1936 book

For the critical editing of the manuscript and of the galleys, I wish to thank most heartily a number of friends in various countries, expecially Dr. Karl Bode, presently of St. John’s College, Cambridge and Dr. Alfred Schütz of Vienna. Dr. Bode has also taken upon himself the great labor of preparing both indexes.

Source: Felix Kaufmann. Theory and Method in the Social Sciences. [English translation of Methodenlehre der Sozialwissenschaften. Wien: Julius Springer, 1936.] from Felix Kaufmann’s Theory and Method in the Social Sciences, Robert S. Cohen and Ingeborg K. Helling (eds.). Boston Studies in the Philosophy and  History of Science, 303. Springer: 2014.

__________________

 Reports from The Stanford Daily

The Stanford Daily, Volume 93, Issue 47, 29 April 1938

Several distinguished scholars from other universities will join the Stanford faculty next year…Dr. Karl Franz Bode, formerly on the faculty of St. John’s College, Cambridge University, England, was appointed assistant professor of economics to succeed Dr. Donald M. Erb who was appointed president of the University of Oregon….

 

The Stanford Daily, Volume 100, Issue 02, 23 September 1941, p. 1.

Econ Department Changes Classes… History of Currency Problems, 118, will he given in fall quarter rather than in the spring quarter. It is a five-unit course, taught MTWThF at 11 a.m. in Room 200Q by Karl F. Bode. Economics 1 and 2 are prerequisites….

 

The Stanford Daily, Volume 103, Issue 86, 28 May 1943, p. 1.

Wilbur Names New Faculty Promotions. Promotions and appointments of faculty members for the academic year 1943-1944 were announced yesterday by Chancellor Ray Lyman Wilbur. … Those promoted from assistant professor to associate professor are … Dr. Karl F. Bode, economics….

 

The Stanford Daily, Volume 111, Issue 20, 7 March 1947, p. 3

President Donald B. Tresidder yesterday announced 37 faculty promotions. The promotions include 11 faculty members to full professorships, six to associate professorships, and two to assistant professorships, together with promotion of 18 members of the clinical faculty at the Stanford School of Medicine in San Francisco….

To professorships … Karl F. Bode, in economics…

 

The Stanford Daily, Vol 119, Issue 7, 13 February 1951, p. 1.

Dr. Karl F. Bode, Stanford economics professor on leave for government duty in Germany, has been appointed deputy economic adviser, Office of Economic Affairs, it has been announced by the office of the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany. Dr. Bode will be stationed in Bonn, Germany. He has been acting chief of the program division in the Office of Economic Affairs.

 

Image Source: Karl Bode from the 1939 Standford Quad.

Categories
Princeton Suggested Reading Syllabus

Princeton. Syllabus for International Economic Policies. F.W. Fetter and C.R. Whittlesey, 1934

 

The Princeton course “International Economic Policies” was co-taught by Charles R. Whittlesey and Frank W. Fetter in 1934. Biographical material from their respective archival papers guides and the course syllabus are included in this post.

______________

Frank Whitson Fetter
(1902-1992)

1899, May 22—Born, San Francisco, Calif.
1916—Graduate of Princeton High School, Princeton, NJ
1920 A.B.—Political Science, Swarthmore College (Phi Beta Kappa)
1922 A.M.—Princeton University
1924 A.M.—Harvard University
1926 Ph.D.—Economics, Princeton University
1928-1934—Assistant Professor and Professor of Economics, Princeton University
1929, Jan. 14—Married Elizabeth Pollard (d. 1977)
1934—Member of Commission on Cuban Affairs, organized by the Foreign Policy Association
1934-1948—Associate Professor and Professor of Economics, Haverford College
1937-1938—Guggenheim fellowship (Research on banking in Great Britain)
1939—summer Economist for the Export-Import Bank of Washington
1940—summer Economic Advisor to the Central Bank of Ecuador
1943-1946—Economic Advisor with the Lend-Lease Administration and the Department of State; ten months spent in India
1948-1967—Professor of Economics, Northwestern University
1950—summer Advisor to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
1951—summer Advisor to the Department of State, Division of German Affairs, and member of the American Delegation to London for the Preliminary Conference on German Debts
1967-1968—Visiting Haney Professor, Dartmouth College
1978, Apr.—Married Elizabeth Miller Stabler (d. 1985)
1991—Died

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Guide to the Frank Whitson Fetter Papers.

______________

 Charles Raymond Whittlesey
(1900-1979)

Economist, author and educator; B.A., Philomath College, (1921), M.A., American U. of Beirut, (1924) and Ph.D., Princeton U., (1928) [dissertation: Government Control of the Crude Rubber Industry. The Stevensen Plan. Published by Princeton University Press, 1931]; faculty, Princeton U., (1925-1940); faculty, Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania, (194-1967); chairman, Dept. of Finance, (1945-1952, 1960-1963); economist for Penn Mutual Insurance Co. (1941-1961); specialist in monetary economics and monetary policy.

Source:  University of Pennsylvania Archives. Webpage Papers of Charles Raymond Whittlesey, 1928-1974.

______________

Economics 526. (International Economic Policies.)
– 1934 –

Date

 Topic

Readings
Feb. 14 (CRW) Valorization Wallace and Edminster, International Control of Raw Materials. (Omit ch. 8 and Appendix).
Feb. 21 (CRW) Valorization 1.     C. R. Whittlesey, The Stevenson Plan, Journal of Political Economy, August 1931, pp. 506-25;

2.     Jacob Viner, Control of Raw Materials, Foreign Affairs, July 1926;

3.     F. Rowe, Studies in Artificial Control of Raw Materials, #3. Coffee;

4.     Senate Document 70, 73d Congress, 1st Session, World Trade Barriers in Relation to American Agriculture, pp. 1-141;

5.     T.T.Read, Valorization in the Mineral Industry, Political Science Quarterly, June 1932, pp. 234-241.

6.     Department of Commerce, Foreign Combines to Control Prices of Raw Materials, T. 1B. #385, 1926.

7.     W. S. Colbertson, Raw Materials and Foodstuffs in the Commercial Policies of Nations, Annals of Am. Acad. of Pol. and Soc. Science, March, 1924.

8.     J. Pedersen. Economic Stabilization in Economic Essays in Honour of Gustav Cassel, 1936.

9.     Reports by students on various aspects of Valorization.
Feb. 28 (FWF) Foreign Trade Monopolies and Commercial Treaties 1.     E.Lipson, An Introduction to the Economic History of England,
vol. 1, ch. 10 (Foreign Trade)
vol. 2, pp. 184-315 (Foreign Trade).2.     Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book IV, ch. 6 (Of Treaties of Commerce).3.     U.S.Tariff Commission, Reciprocity and Commercial Treaties, pp. 389-450.4.     Vernon Seltzer, Did Americans Originate the Conditional Most Favored Nation Clause, Journal of Modern History, Sept. 1933.
March 7 (FWF) Reciprocity 1.     U.S. Tariff Commission, Reciprocity and Commercial Treaties, Conclusions and Recommendations, pp. 9-47.

2.     U. S. Tariff Commission, Effects of the Cuban Reciprocity Treaty, Summary and Conclusions, pp. 1-26.

3.     W. S. Culbertson, America’s New Commercial Policy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 38, Feb. 1924, pp. 352-357.

4.     League of Nations—Documentation of International Economic Conference of 1927 on “Discriminatory Tariff Classifications” and “European Bargaining Tariffs.”

5.     Reports by members of class, on: Canadian Reciprocity, Contingent Duties, Hawaiian Reciprocity, Tariff Bargaining under 1890 Act, Tariff Bargaining under 1897 Act.
March 14 (FWF) Colonial Tariff Policies 1.     U.S. Tariff Commission, Colonial Tariff Policies, pp. 1-78, 571-629.

2.     U.S. Tariff Commission, U.S. Philippine Tariff and Trade Relations, pp. 1-52
March 21 (FWF) British Tariff Policy and Colonial Preference 1.     Dunham, The Anglo-French Treaty of Commerce of 1860, ch. 1.

2.     W.J.Ashley, The Tariff Problem, Introduction and ch. 1-6.

3.     U.S.Tariff Commission, Colonial Tariff Policies, ch. 12, 13, 18.

4.     H.V.Hodson, Before Ottawa, Foreign Affairs, vol. 10, pp. 588-599.

5.     J.M.Macdonnell, After the Ottawa Conference, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 11, pp. 331-346.
March 28 (CRW) Dumping 1.     Jacob Viner, Dumping, pp. 1-329.

2.     Article on Dumping in Encyclopaedia of Soc. Sci.

3.     Sen. Doc. Anti-Dumping Legislation [Perhaps: Emergency Tariff and Antidumping. Hearing before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, April, 1921]
April 11 (CRW) Quotas and Exchange Control 1.     World Trade Barriers in Relation to American Agriculture, pp. 1-141.

2.     E.B.Dietrich, French Import Quotas, American Economic Review, Dec. 1933.

3.     C.R.Whittlesey, Exchange Control, American Economic Review, Dec. 1922.
April 18 (CRW) Quotas and Exchange Control 1.     W.H.Beveridge, Tariffs, The Case Examined. ch. 7, 9-18, and Appendix.

2.     Economist, Feb. 24, 1934, Clearing Agreements, pp. 405-6.

3.     U.S. Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, T. 1B. #812, Foreign Tariffs and Commercial Policy during 1932.
April 25 (FWF) Bounties and Subsidies 1.     D.G.Barnes, A History of the English Corn Laws, ch. 1-3.

2.     Josef Gruzel, Economic Protectionism, pp. 163-179, 200-231.

3.     Griffin, The Sugar Industry and Legilation in Europe, Q.J.E., vol. 17, pp. 1-43.

4.     F.W.Taussig, The End of the Sugar Bounties, Q.J.E., vol. 18, pp. 130-4.

5.     P.T.Cherington, State Bounties and the Beet Sugar Industry, Q.J.E., V. 26, pp. 381-386.

6.     League of Nations—Documentation of International Economic Conference, Direct and Indirect Subsidies, pp. 8-22.

7.     U.S. Tariff Commission, Preferential Transportation Rates, pp. 9-52

8.     Review, pp. 72-84 in World Trade Barriers in Relation to American Agriculture.
May 2 (CRW) Shipping Subsidies 1.     Dunmore, Ship Subsidies.

2.     U.S.Shipping Board, History of Shipping Discriminations.

3.     Nat. Inds. Conf. Bd: Amer. Merchant Marine Problem. Omit chs. 2-6.

4.     Grovenor M. Jones: Government Aid to Merchant Shipping, pp. 7-29; 257-84; 427-68.
May 9 (FWF) Control of Foreign Investments 1.     Herbert Feis, Europe, the World’s Banker. ch. 1-6.

2.     L.H.Jenks, The Migration of British Capital to 1875. ch. 9.

3.     T.E.Gregory, Foreign Investments and British Public Opinion, in Foreign Investments, by Cassell and others, pp. 97-119.

4.     Carter Glass, Government Supervision of Foreign Loans, Proceedings of The American Academy of Political Science, vol. xii, Jan. 1928, pp. 843-849.

5.     Charles P. Howland, Our Repudiated State Debts, Foreign Affairs, vol. 6, April 1928, pp. 395-407.

6.     John Foster Dulles, Our Foreign Loan Policy, Foreign Affairs, vol. 5, Oct. 1926, pp. 33-48.
May 16 (FWF and CRW) Present Day American Commercial Policy 1.     U.S. Tariff Commission, Methods of Valuation, pp. 1-43.

2.     U.S.Tariff Commission, Regulation of Tariffs by Administrative Action, Passim.

3.     Report of Ways and Means Committee on Reciprocal Trade Agreements Bill (House Report 1000, 72d Congress, 2d Session).

4.     Reciprocal Trade Agreements, Hearings before Ways and Means Committee on H.R. 8430.

a.     Testimonies of Hull, pp. 1-45

b.     Testimonies of Dickinson, pp. 183-227.

c.     Testimonies of Sayre, 293-319, 333-382, 387-389.

d.     Letters, pp. 282-286.

 

Source:  Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Frank Whitson Fetter Papers, Box 55, Folder “Teaching Ec 526 International Economic Policies (Princeton University)”.

Image Sources:  Frank W. Fetter (left) (ca. 1937) John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; Charles R. Whittlesey (right), Princeton Yearbook, Bric-a-Brac, 1939

Categories
Amherst Chicago Economists Harvard M.I.T. Placement

Chicago. Zvi Griliches asking Frank Fisher for junior appointment leads, 1961

 

In a 1961 memo Zvi Griliches reported to his Chicago colleagues some scouting results regarding a possible junior appointment in economics. He spoke econometrician-to-econometrician with his colleague Frank Fisher at M.I.T. about the most interesting graduate students in the Cambridge area on the job market that year. Four names were mentioned, two unsurprising enough were the names of economists “unable” to be drawn from the gravitational pull of Cambridge. 

Griliches ended his memo with the remark “This year Domar happens to be MIT’s ‘placement officer’ and this is likely to put us at some competitive disadvantage.” Does this mean that Griliches thought the monopsonist Evsey Domar would deliberately discriminate against the University of Chicago?

_______________

Four graduate students discussed by Zvi Griliches and Frank Fisher

Beals, Ralph E. Dept. of Econs. Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002. Birth Yr: 1936.  Degrees: B.S., U. of Kentucky, 1958; M.A., Northwestern U., 1959; Ph.D., Mass. Institute of Technol., 1970. Prin. Cur. Position: Clarence Francis Prof. of Econs., Amherst Coll., 1966.  Concurrent/Past Positions: Assoc., Harvard Institute for Int’l. Develop., 1973.  Research: Int’l. trade, commercial policy & industrialization in Indonesia.

[According to the Prabook website: Ralph E. Beals was Assistant professor economics, Amherst (Massachusetts) College, 1962-1963; associate professor, Amherst (Massachusetts) College, 1966-1971. ]

Hohenberg, Paul M. RPI, Dept of Econ, Troy, NY 12180. Birth Yr: 1933.  Degrees: B.Ch.E., Cornell U., 1956; M.A., Tufts U., 1959; Ph.D., Mass. Institute of Technol., 1963. Prin. Cur. Position: Prof. of Econs., Rensselaer Poly. Institute, 1977.  Concurrent/Past Positions: Vis. Assoc. Prof., Sir George Williams U., Montreal, 1972-74; Assoc. Prof., Cornell U., 1968-73.  Research: Urbanization & econ. change in Europe and U.S.

Marglin, Stephen A.  Birth Yr: 1938.  Degrees: A.B., Harvard U., 1959; Ph.D., Harvard U., 1965. Prin. Cur. Position: Prof. of Econs., Harvard U.

Temin, Peter. Mass Inst of Tech, Dept of Econ, Cambridge, MA 02139. Birth Yr: 1937.  Degrees: B.A., Swarthmore Coll., 1959; Ph.D., Mass. Institute of Technol., 1964. Prin. Cur. Position: Prof. of Econs., Mass. Institute of Technol., 1970.  Concurrent/Past Positions: Assoc. Prof., Mass. Institute of Technol., 1967-70; Asst. Prof., Mass. Institute of Technol., 1965-67. Research: Econ. history; telecommunications policy.

 

Source:  Biographical Listing of Members. The American Economic Review, Vol. 83, No. 6 (Dec., 1993).

_______________

Memo on possible appointments written by Zvi Griliches

November 8, 1961

[To:] A. Rees
[From:] Z. Griliches
[Re:] The possible appointments.

I had a long telephone conversation with Frank Fisher last week about “whom we should look at.” It is his opinion that the single best young man coming up now in the Cambridge area is:

Stephen A. Marglin—He is a mathematical theorist, with several papers to his credit. He has spent a year at Cambridge, England and is currently in his second year of a three year Junior Fellowship at Harvard. I had already invited him to give a talk to the workshop and he will be here on January 16 to talk on “The Social Rate of Discount and the Opportunity Costs of Public Investment.” Frank thinks that we would have a very hard time getting him, in particular for next year, but that he is clearly the best.

The best current MIT student that will be coming to the market is, in Fisher’s opinion:

Ralph Beals—who is a third year graduate student specializing in the fields of monetary policy and econometrics. He has been working with Solow and Albert Ando and his interests in the monetary area have appartently been stimulated by Solow’s and Ando’s involvement in the Monetary Commission stuff.

In addition, Fisher mentioned that there are also two ver good “economic historian types” finishing there this year:

Peter Pemin[sic, “Temin”]—who is working with Gerschenkron at Harvard, and
Paul Hohenberg—who is working withKindelberger on the sources of the econonmic development of France in the 19thcentury.

This year Domar happens to be MIT’s “placement officer” and this is likely to put us at some competitive disadvantage.

cc:       H. Johnson, M. Friedman, T. Schultz✓, G. Stigler, W. Wallis.

Source:  University of Chicago Archives. Department of Economics Records, Box 42, Folder 3.

Image Source:  Zvi Griliches from the University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-06565, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Statistics

Harvard. Final Examination for topics in statistical theory. E.B. Wilson, 1938

 

Most course final examination questions at Harvard were officially printed, but for a variety of reasons some course final examinations questions were only duplicated using carbon paper or perhaps they were written on the black-board at the time of the examination. The Harvard archives collection of final examinations has boxes of the bound printed copies of final examinations and folders with the carbon or mimeographed copies of examinations for (some) of the other courses. We see from the enrollment data that there were only four graduate students enrolled in E. B. Wilson’s course on “Topics in Statistical Theory” so logistically it would have been no big deal for a secretary to type enough copies using carbon paper.  It appears to be the original copy of his examination questions for 1937-38 that I have transcribed for this post.

________________

Course Announcement

Economics 122b 2hf. (formerly 32b). Topics in Statistical Theory.
Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., 3 to 4.30. Professor E. B. Wilson.

 

Source:  Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1937-38 (First Edition). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 34, No. 5 (March 1, 1937), p. 149.

________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 122b 2hf. (formerly 32b). Professor E. B. Wilson.—Topics in Statistical Theory.

Total 4: 4 Graduates.

 

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College for 1937-38, p. 86.

________________

Final Examination in Economics  122b2.
Wednesday June 8, 1938 at 2 P.M. in Amerson A

Students may individually use slide rules, logarithmic tables, books, notes, and their solutions of problems at their discretion.

  1. Why did Macaulay feel that he must include a twelve-months moving average as one process in his summation formula for smoothing monthly interest rates? Why did this make it advisable that he include another summation over an even number of elements?
  2. Prove that a running mean of a specified number of elements eliminates more of the random fluctuation from a time series than any other mean of the same number of elements.
  3. What does a 13-term running mean do to a sine curve with period of 40 (using the interval between terms as a unit)?
  4. Define a random series. Derive the relations which exist between the standard deviation of the random elements and the standard deviations of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rddifferences of those elements?
  5. What is the actuarial criterion of smoothness? What is the difficulty of using maximum smoothness as a criterion for smoothing a series?
  6. Assuming the expansion of \frac{x}{{{e}^{x}}-1} in a series with Bernoulli numbers as coefficients, derive formally the (asymptotic) expansion for \log n! or for \log \Gamma \left( n \right).
  7. What is the criterion of fidelity which is ordinarily imposed in graduating time series? Why is Spencer’s 21-term formula, which satisfies this criterion, used in place of that best 21-term eliminator or of that 21-term best smoother which satisfy this same criterion?
  8. Prove the ordinary formula for the standard deviation of a median.
  9. State R.A.Fisher’s method of finding the values of the constants (or parameters) of a frequency function of assumed type from the elements of a given sample. State also his rule for the standard deviations of the constants.
  10. Given any analytical frequency function with close contact at the ends, derive therefrom the expansion of another frequency function of the same mean and standard deviation good to fourth moments inclusive.
  11. Give a brief sketch of the symbolic method of treating advancing and retreating and central differences.
  12. Give an illustration of (a) a universe with median but no mean (b) another universe in which the median is a better criterion of center than the mean, (c) a universe in which the mean is a better criterion of center than the median, (d) a universe in which the average of the least and greatest elements of a sample is a better criterion of center than either the mean or the median. What do you mean by “a better criterion of center”?

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Final Examinations 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28). Box 3, Folder “Final examinations, 1937-1938”.

Image Source:  Faculty portrait of of E. B. Wilson in Harvard Album 1939.

Categories
Columbia Courses Economists Gender Germany Harvard Social Work

Harvard, Boston University & Berlin. Career of alumnus Edward Everett Ayers

 

From the E.R.A. Seligman papers at Columbia I came across an unsolicited application for employment in economics and sociology submitted to the President of Columbia University by a man who received his A.M. from Harvard and a pair of doctorates from Boston University and the University of Berlin (I suspect the dissertation did double duty since both degrees were apparently awarded in 1901, but have not checked that out). Edward E. Ayers turns out to be a nice example of the mixture of economics, sociology and social reform that was found in economics departments around the turn of the 20th century. Before getting to the document-artifacts found in the Seligman papers, I have included information about Ayers’ life and career and a review of his German doctoral dissertation. The post ends with course descriptions for Ayres’ non-Biblical teaching at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. 

From his yearbook portrait for Greensboro College (The Echo) 1927 we see that Edward E. Ayers appears to have switched into Religious Education and entirely dropped economics/sociology/social reform at the end of his teaching career.

___________________

Rev Edward Everett Ayers

Bio by: David Ayers

BIRTH:           16 Jul 1865. Egypt, Belmont County, Ohio, USA

DEATH:         20 Apr 1939 (aged 73). Lynchburg, Lynchburg City, Virginia, USA

BURIAL:        Fort Hill Memorial Park, Lynchburg, Lynchburg City, Virginia, USA

 

Edward Everett Ayers was the 9th of 14 children of Philander and Nancy (Eagon) Ayers. He grew up on their farm in Kirkwood Twp, Belmont Cty, Ohio.

Despite these humble beginnings he obtained an amazing education – B.C.S. from Mount Union College in Ohio in 1891 and then a Ph.B. from the same institution a year later, a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Boston University in 1896, then an A.M. from Harvard University in 1898, then separate Ph.D.s from both the University of Berlin (Germany) and Boston University in 1901. He published a small book on worker’s insurance and care for the poor, in German, in 1901. He also studied at Andover Theological Seminary from 1901-1903.

In the midst of all that he served 4 churches in and around Boston, MA between 1894 and 1908 as a Methodist Episcopal clergyman.

He married Caroline Eleanor Elder in Boston in 1899.

He then obtained another degree — S.T.D. – from Mount Union College in 1908.

In 1908 he secured a faculty position at Randolph Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, and remained there until 1925. He was Professor of Sociology and Bible. The later-famous Pearl Buck graduated from there in 1914, and given her interests and the size of the college he almost certainly had her as a student. He then accepted a faculty position at Greensboro Women’s College in 1926, staying there until he retired in 1936. He kept his home in Lynchburg during this time and it appears that his wife Caroline, stayed there. His daughter Virginia was in Wellesley College when he made this shift to Greensboro (1924-28). He appears in yearbooks for Greensboro Women’s College and appears to have been very well liked by students. He was certainly amazingly well-educated. Given his subject area, while he was studying in Berlin he almost certainly would have attended lectures by the great Georg Simmel.

 

Source: Memorial page for Rev. Edward Everett Ayers at the Find a Grave website. Includes pictures.

___________________

Review of Ayres’ German dissertation

Arbeiterversicherung und Armenpflege. Von Edward E. Ayres, Ph.D. Berlin: E. Ebering, 1901.

Dr. Ayres belongs to an increasing number of young American clergymen who supplement their training in theology with a course in sociology. In selecting the above subject for his doctor’s thesis at Berlin he has appropriated one of the very choicest bits from the great social laboratory which the German states seem to have become. It appears that the German compulsory insurance — against sickness, accident, and old age — applies, in these different classes, to about 9,000,000, 16,500,000, and 12,000,000 of German working people, respectively. Dr. Willoughby, in his book on Workingmen’s Insurance, which appeared in 1898, explained the spirit and the letter of these experiments in paternalism, and now, after about twenty years of testing, it is time we were told something of the incidents, and it is to be  hoped that Dr. Ayres will turn his little book into English.

The chief thesis of the essay is that compulsory insurance has had a salutary influence upon conditions of dependency. This conclusion is reached after a study of the number of applicants for relief, for different periods, in a selected group of twenty-one towns, averaging in population about 40,000. The first discovery is that the number of cases of relief on account of sickness falling to women, who are less protected by the insurance, increased between 1880 and 1893 by about 20 per cent., while the population increased by nearly 50 per cent., and on account of sickness falling to men, who are more protected, there was an actual falling off in the number of cases. The showing is not quite so favorable in the class of relief on account of accident; but it is much more favorable in the class of relief on account of old age. The author’s conclusion is buttressed by a remarkable consensus of opinion, on the part of the administrators of the poor funds in the cities from which the figures are taken, that the burden of poor relief is greatly lightened as a result of measures of state insurance, and a number of them offer statistical reasons for their faith.

The general favorable view of the author is further strengthened by reports showing an increase of small savings-bank accounts, by different evidences of a higher standard of living, by the increased average annual income of insured persons from 641 marks in 1886 to 735 marks in 1898, and by a decline in emigration from 120,089 in 1891 to 20,837 m 1898.

The thesis certainly contains an interesting marshaling of pertinent coincidences, but in weighing the causal elements Germany’s phenomenal industrial awakening during the period studied should be considered, and this the author seems to neglect. Here he might shift his ground a trifle and say, “if insurance paternalism, as its enemies assert, leans in the direction of a slothful content (the future being cared for), it does not press sufficiently heavy to prevent the present era of industrial prosperity, and it has not proven to be as bad as some have prophesied.” But to say that “it was the cause of the industrial awakening” — not even Dr. Ayres would go that far. And that the industrial growth has been a factor in all the phenomena enumerated he would probably agree.

James H. Hamilton.
Syracuse University

 

Source: Review of Arbeiterversicherung und Armentpflege von Edward E. Ayres (Berlin, 1901) by James H. Hamilton in The American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 7, No. 2 (September 1901), pp. 281-282.

___________________

Cover letter to President Butler
and Ayers’ c.v.

College Park, Lynchburg, Va.
Feb. 1, 1915.

Pres. N.M. Butler, LL.D.
New York

Dear Sir:-

Please find enclosed some personal testimonials of my preparation and work in economics and sociology. I would be very much pleased if you would keep these on file and, in case of a vacancy in this department of your institution, communicate with me.

Yours very truly,
[signed] Edward E. Ayers

* * *

            With a desire to make larger provision for my family I wish to be considered for any vacancy in the department of Economics or Sociology in your institution.

The following is a brief account of my education and experience: I spent five years in Mt. Union College, having received my preparatory education in the public schools of Ohio. In the college I completed the business course, the teacher’s course, and the philosophical course, and received the degrees C.S.B. and Ph.B. in 1892. Entering immediately upon a course of study in Boston University, I remained four years and completed a theological course, receiving the degree S.T.B. During my stay there I also took all the philosophy taught by Professor Borden P. Bowne and all of the economics and sociology offered in the University. In 1896 I entered Harvard University to specialize in sociology and remained there two years, and received the degree A.M. in 1898. Much of my time while in Boston University and Harvard was spent in a study of the practical social problems of Boston and vicinity. In 1899 I entered Berlin University, Germany, and spent two years in special work on sociology and economics under Professors Schmoller, Wagner, Sering and Von Halle. In connection with my university work I made excursions over Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France to study social questions and economic conditions. I took all the courses offered in agricultural economics, and with the professors made excursions out to the farms to study actual conditions. My early life until entering college was spent on a farm in Ohio. In 1901 I received the degree Ph.D. from Berlin. In the same year I also received Ph.D, from Boston University.

From 1901 to 1908 I spent in directing church work in the following cities or their suburbs: Lawrence, Mass., Boston and Springfield, Mass., at the same time continuing my work and interest in economics and social subjects.

In 1908 I received a call to Randolph-Macon Woman’s College of Lynchburg, Va., as head professor of the department of Bible and Sociology. My work has been a pleasure from the beginning. I am now offering courses in economics, money and banking, pathology, labor movement and socialism.

In 1908 I received the honorary degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology from my Alma Mater, Mt. Union College.

Trusting that I may hear from you, I am

Yours very sincerely,
[signed] Edward E. Ayers

[Note: testimonials have not been included here because they are not particularly informative]

Source:   Columbia University Archives. E.R.A. Seligman Collection. Box 98B [now in Box 36], Folder “Columbia, 1913-1917 (unarranged and incomplete)”.

___________________

Faculty listing for E.E. Ayers at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College

Edward Everett Ayers, S.T.D.  Professor of Sociology and English Bible.

B.C.S., Mount Union College, 1891; Ph.B., 1892; S.T.B., Boston University, 1896; A.M., Harvard University, 1898; Ph.D., Boston University, 1901; Ph.D., University of Berlin, 1901; S.T.D., Mount Union College, 1908; Student, Andover Theological Seminary, 1901-03; Professor of Sociology and Bible, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, 1908—.

* * *

Economics/Sociology Courses taught by Ayers at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College

SOCIOLOGY
Professor Ayers.

            Course 1. Introduction to Economics.— This course deals with the rise of modern industry and its expansion in the United States; production, distribution and consumption; value, price and the monetary system of the United States; tariff, labor movement, natural and legal monopolies; American railroads and trusts; economic reform; government expenditures and revenues; taxation and economic progress.

The last half of this course deals with the development of economic thought. This will include a brief survey of economic thought in classical antiquity and its development in Europe, England, and America. Mill, Turgot, Adam Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, and other writers will be considered.

The members of the class will be taken on tours of inspection through industrial institutions in and about Lynchburg.

Lectures, recitations, and discussions. Three hours a week throughout the year.

 

            Course 2. Introduction to Social Science.— This course deals with early social development, achievement, civilization, and the growth of modern social institutions; elimination of social evils; the social ideal; charities, compulsory insurance, and corrective legislation.

Particular problems of city and country life will be discussed. Students will be directed in personal investigation of social conditions in Lynchburg.

Prisons, almshouses, and other institutions will be studied. The aim of the course is to prepare students for social service.

One thesis is required of each student. Three hours a week throughout the year.

 

            Course 3. Socialism.— The purpose of this course is to acquaint the student with the various Utopian schemes of government in order to separate the transient from the permanent in political society. Some attention will be given to such writers as Plato, Fourier, Proudhon, Louis Blanc, Thomas More, and Edward Bellamy; but most of the time will be given to present socialistic theories and development. The nature, strength, and weakness of socialism will be considered; the golden mean of practical reform will be studied. Lectures, recitations, and discussions. One thesis will be required of each student. Three hours a week throughout the year.

 

            Course 4. The Labor Movement.— This course embraces a brief survey of the conditions of labor in the nations of antiquity and in mediaeval Europe. Most of the time will be given to modern labor movements in Europe, England, and America; the rise of labor organizations, strikes, boycotts, and injunctions, the sweating system, woman and child labor; wages, hours of labor, sanitary and safety devices. The labor of factories, farms, and stores will be studied to furnish concrete examples for the course. One thesis required of each student. Three hours a week throughout the year.

Any student taking two courses in sociology may be allowed to concentrate her work in writing one thesis instead of two.

 

Source: Randolph-Macon Woman’s College Catalogue 1913-1914 (Announcements 1914-1915), pp. 6, 61-2. Lynchburg, Virginia.

Image Source: Edward E. Ayres. Greensboro College. The Echo, 1927.

Categories
Columbia Computing Statistics

Columbia. Statistician Robert Chaddock and his Statistical Laboratory, 1912

 

 

The Statistical Laboratory at Columbia University in the second decade of the 20th century was run by the young assistant/associate professor, Robert E. Chaddock. An earlier post provided Chaddock’s 1911 request for equipment and literature for the Statistical Laboratory along with information about the calculating machines being considered and included a newspaper account of his suicide in 1940. From Professor Seligman’s papers I include today a recommendation for a promotion in rank for Robert E. Chaddock and his 1912 request for more equipment and literature. It is interesting to read that a Mannheim slide rule cost $10 in 1912. Finally from a letter from 1913, we can see that Brunsviga electric “Millionaire” must have been ordered for the Statistical Laboratory (cost $520).

_______________

Recommendation of promotion to rank of associate professor for Robert E. Chaddock
[Copy of letter to President Butler from Professor E.R.A. Seligman]

March 30, 1912

Nicholas Murray Butler, LL.D.,
President, Columbia University,
New York.

My dear President Butler:-

Referring to our conversation of the other day, I should like to bring before you more formally the matter of Professor Chaddock.

Professor Chaddock is at present assistant professor of Statistics on the Barnard Foundation, at a salary of $2,500. His work during the year as head of the Statistical Laboratory has been exceedingly fine. The Laboratory has now become a busy hive of industry at almost any time of the day or night, and Professor Chaddock has been no less successful a teacher than he has been a director.

So successful has his work been as to have attracted attention in various quarters. The New York School of Philanthropy, together with the Sage Foundation, proposes to start a comprehensive scheme of statistical investigation into social problems and on looking over the whole country decided on Professor Chaddock as by all means the best man. They have, therefore, offered him the position of head of that investigation at a salary of $1,500 in advance of what he is getting at Columbia and with all the assistance and possibilities of European travel that might be needed. After carefully considering this proposition he has finally decided to remain at Columbia on the understanding that his salary would be increased to $3,000 and with no further obligation on the part of the Department or of anyone else, except the general understanding that he will take his chance of gradual promotion with the other members of the Department as opportunity offers.

The $500 addition to his salary has been made possible by the School of Journalism. Professor Chaddock will give a one-term course in Statistics to the third year men, for which the budget in the School of Journalism appropriates the sum of $500.

The Department deems itself exceedingly fortunate in being able to keep Professor Chaddock on these terms. But precisely because he made no other conditions and because of the fine spirit manifested by him, as a married man with a family, in being willing to make this considerable financial sacrifice, we feel that we ought to do our utmost possible for him. Our proposition is that his title be changed from assistant professor to associate professor.

When Professor Chaddock was called to Columbia he was offered a full professorship at the University of Pennsylvania, but he preferred to come to Columbia. He would naturally have been given an associate professorship, which he fully deserved, but unfortunately the financial adjustments which were made by Barnard College on the resignation of Professor Clark left only $2,500 available for his salary, and under the circumstances we were compelled to offer him an assistant professorship. Now that this financial difficulty has been removed, we respectfully suggest that the spirit rather than the letter of the rule be observed and that Professor Chaddock be given the title which he would surely have received originally had it not been for this financial complication. The Department feels that not only from every point of view is Professor Chaddock worthy of an associate professorship but wishes especially to emphasize the desirability of rewarding his loyalty and the fine spirit that he has displayed in staying by us. We feel that with Professor Moore to represent the theoretical side and Professor Chaddock to represent the sound, common sense, practical side, there is no reason why the Statistical Laboratory of Columbia should not very soon become a unique institution of its kind in this country. If for no other reason than that, Professor Chaddock, as the director of the Laboratory, ought to have a title corresponding to the dignity of his position.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

[presumably E.R.A. Seligman]

_______________

Chaddock’s Additional Budgetary Request for his Statistical Laboratory

Columbia University
in the City of New York
Faculty of Political Science

April 19, 1912

Professor E. R. A. Seligman
Columbia University

My dear Professor Seligman:-

At your suggestion I am describing the most pressing needs for our statistical laboratory for the coming year. As you know, the equipment has been in pretty constant use during the past year and the effort has been made to divide the group into laboratory sections of from 6 to 10 persons in order that all might have a chance to learn the use of the mechanical devices by which the statistician makes his work possible, i.e., the Burroughs Adding Machines, the Brunsviga Calculating Machines, the graphic devices of various sorts, and the calculating tables.

With the added courses in the School of Journalism and the School of Commerce which we are undertaking for next year and the increasing use of our equipment by our graduate students, it has seemed to me that our numbers using the laboratory at one time will be larger and our present equipment will be quite inadequate.

We have one set each of tables of squares and cubes and tables (Crelle’s) for multiplication. We have no drawing set, no drawing crayon, and only 2 slide rules. I suggest the following additions, in order that a group may be kept working at the same time to better advantage.

 

10 copies Barlow’s tables of squares, etc. @ $2.50

$25.00
10 copies J. Peters’ Neue Rechentafeln for multiplication—English introduction–@15 m.

$30.00
1 Drawing set,

$20.00
Drawing crayons for graphic and map work

$10.00
3 Mannheim slide rules for calculating

$30.00

In addition, I am very anxious to see one more calculating machine added to our equipment which will do all four operations. Thus, adding one machine at a time we shall be able gradually to build up such a mechanical equipment as will enable our students to do their statistical calculations with facility and put their thesis and other statistical work in the best possible form. We have now 3 Brunsviga Machines which do all the operations but there are machines that do multiplication and division with more facility. I suggest an electric “Ensign” machine at $450. or the long tested “Millionaire” at $375. or electric “Millionaire” at $520. The selection of one of these three would be only after careful testing in our laboratory for our particular needs, altho the “Millionaire” is widely used in statistical laboratories, government offices, and insurance companies, and the “Ensign” is a Boston machine meeting with rapid adoption.

I make these suggestions only after the most careful consideration and information by correspondence with other laboratories and persons doing statistical training work, and in view of the added burdens to be placed next year upon the laboratory facilities.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
Rob’t E. Chaddock.

_______________

Approval of Chaddock’s Budgetary Increase

Columbia University
in the City of New York
Faculty of Political Science

May 6, 1912

Dear Prof. Seligman:

Thank you for sending me President Butler’s letter. It pleases me more than I can say to have our laboratory work thus recognized. It is due to your untiring interest in every detail of our whole department’s work, and for your care over my end of the work I wish to thank you very cordially.

I shall try to see that the added appropriation is well spent.

With best wishes for all your plans, I am

Sincerely
[signed]
Robt. E. Chaddock

Prof. E.R.A. Seligman
Kent Hall, Columbia U.

_______________

Regarding a Bill to the Statistical Laboratory for $520

February 3, 1913

Mr. Charles S. Danielson,
Columbia University.

My dear Mr. Danielson:-

Professor Chaddock advises me that a refund of $90.00 made by W. A. Morschhauser on bill of October 31st, 1912 has been turned over to your office. This $90.00 covers the import duty which had been included in the bill of $520.00.

Will you therefore please apply this $90.00 to the account “Special Appropriation for Statistical Laboratory,” and recharge to the same account $22.00 of the $29.20 overdraft charged to the “Economics” appropriation at the end of last year? When these entries and transfers have been made the “Economics” appropriation balance should show an increase of $22.00 and the balance of the “Special Appropriation for Statistical Laboratory” should be $68.00.

If this is not correct, kindly let me know.

Very sincerely yours.
[presumably E.R.A. Seligman]

 

 

 

 

Source:  Columbia University Archives. E.R.A. Seligman Collection. Box 98A [now in Box 36], Folder “Columbia (A-Z), 1911-1913”.

Image Source: Robert Emmet Chaddock from Barnard College, Mortarboard, 1919.