Author: Irwin Collier

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Amherst Chicago Economists

Chicago. Economics Ph.D. alumnus, George Rogers Taylor. 1929

The economics Ph.D. alumnus featured in today’s post was awarded his doctorate in 1929 by the University of Chicago. George Rogers Taylor had a long and distinguished career at Amherst College as a leading U.S. economic historian. He was the author of  the history of economics at Amherst College from 1832 to 1932 transcribed for the previous post.

Taylor was an early pioneer in the interdisciplinary field of American Studies.

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George Rogers Taylor
Life and Career

1895. Born June 15 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

1914. Graduates from Wayland Academy at Beaver Dam.

Fun Fact: The school was named after Francis Wayland (1796-1865), Baptist minister, economist, and president of Brown University.

1916. Graduates from Oshkosh Normal School. “He earned his way through college by waiting on tables, mowing lawns and tending furnaces. He credits the late Prof. F. R. Clow for his life-long interest in economics, Prof. M. H. Small for getting him a job as a steward in a boarding club where he received his meals and Prof. J. O. Frank, whose furnace he tended.” Source: The Oshkosh Northwestern, May 10, 1971, p. 3.

1916-17. Principal of an Blair School with ca. five teachers at Waukesha, Wisconsin. He taught seventh grade and half of the sixth grade.

The original school was established in 1847, rebuilt at new locations in 1889 and 1966 and finally closed in June 2019. Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (June 4, 2019).

1917-19. Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, aviation operations. Assigned to wireless telephony.

1919. Summer. Worked at the post office at Beaver Dam.

1919-20. Taught eighth grade for one year at Wayland Academy.

1921. Ph.B., University of Chicago. Attended two summer school sessions plus an academic year to complete degree requirements in one year. College credit was given for some of his Navy service.

Taylor had received a four year scholarship which covered his tuition for his Chicago training. There was a long-time close connection between the Wayland Academy and Chicago. The main prize at Wayland Academy’s commencement was a four year scholarship to Chicago.

1921-22. Taught at University of Iowa. Taylor was asked by Frank Knight to go there as an instructor for a year.

Taught public speaking for part of spring term at a Hammond, Indiana high school at some point during graduate school.

1923. Taught economics at Earlham College for a semester.

1924. August 23 marries Mary Leanah Henderson in Mooresville, Indiana. He met her when she was a senior at Earlham College.

1923-24. Instructor, University of Chicago.

1924. Joins the faculty of Amherst College at the rank of instructor, coming along with Professor Paul Douglas.

1927. Promotion to assistant professor, Amherst College.

1929. Ph.D. University of Chicago.

1929. Promotion to associate professor, Amherst College.

1929-30. First semester visiting professorship at Mount Holyoke.

1930. Visiting professor at Smith College.

1930-31. Research for the International Committee on Price History.

1930. “Prices in the Mississippi Valley Preceding the War of 1812,” Journal of Economic and Business History, Vol. III, pp. 148-163.

1931. “Agrarian discontent in the Mississippi valley preceding the war of 1812,” (subject of the doctoral dissertation) Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 39, No. 4 (August 1931), pp. 471-505.

1932. “Wholesale Commodity Prices at Charleston, S.C.,” Journal of Economic and Business History, (two parts). Vol. IV (February and August).

1932. Arrived August 3 at the port of New York aboard the S.S. Europa that sailed from Southampton.

1934-35. Second semester. Visiting professor of economics at Mount Holyoke.

1937. (with Louis Morton Hacker and Rudolf Modley). The United States: A Graphic History. New York: Modern Age Books, Inc.

1938. Senior agricultural economist, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

1939. (with Edward Albertus and Lawrence Z. Waugh). Internal Barriers to Trade in Farm Products. Department of Commerce. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

1939. M.A. (hon.) Amherst College.

1939. Promotion to professor of economics, Amherst College.

1940. Spring semester. Visiting professor, Mount Holyoke College.

1940. “State Laws which Limit Competition in Agricultural Products,” Journal of Farm Economics Vol. 22, No. 1 (February).

1941-46. Office of Price Administration and War Production Board.

1943. Adviser on price and control and rationing to the Republic of Paraguay.

1948-68. General editor of the Amherst College’s American studies program book series “Problems in American Civilization” (D.C. Heath Co.). This was a part of Amherst’s “New Curriculum” introduced in 1947. Amherst was a pioneer of the field of American Studies.

1949. Jackson versus Biddle; the struggle over the second Bank of the United States. Boston: D. C. Heath and Company.

1950. Hamilton and the National Debt. Boston: D. C. Heath and Company.

1951. The Transportation Revolution, 1815-1860. Vol. IV of The Economic History of the United States.Rinehart and Co.

1952. Visiting Professor, Columbia University.

1953. The Great Tariff Debate, 1820 to 1830. Boston: D. C. Heath and Company.

1955-60. Editor of Journal of Economic History.

1956. The Turner Thesis concerning the Role of the frontier in American History. Rev. ed. Boston: D. C. Heath and Company.

1956. (with co-author Irene Neu). The American railroad network, 1861-1890. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

1956-58. President of the American Studies Association.

1959-62. Chairman of the Council on Research in Economic History.

1959. (with Ethel Hoover) Statement at Hearings before the Joint Economic Committee: Employment, Growth and Price Levels, 86th Congress, 1st Session, April 9, 1959.

1960. “Railroad Investment before the Civil War: Comment,” Trends in the American Economy in the Nineteenth Century, National Bureau of Economic Research, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. XXIV.

1961. Summer. Visiting professor at the University of Hawaii.

1962-64. President of the Economic History Association.

1963. The War of 1812: Past Justifications and Present Interpretations. Boston: D. C. Heath and Company.

1963. Visiting Professor, Tokyo University.

1964. Presidential address before the Economic History Association annual meeting “American Economic Growth before 1840: An Exploratory Essay,” Journal of Economic History, Vol. XXIV (December, 1964), 427-444.

1965. Retires from Amherst College.

1964. March 12. Public lecture at the University of Delaware published in “The National Economy Before and After the Civil War,” in David T. Gilchrist and David Lewis eds., Economic Change in the Civil War Era (Greenville, Delaware, 1965).

1966. “The Beginnings of Mass Transportation in Urban America, Part I,” The Smithsonian Journal of History. Part I (Summer); Part II (Autumn).

1965-70. Senior resident scholar at the Eleutherian Mills Historical Library (Wilmington, Delaware). Taught graduate seminars in economic history at the University of Delaware.

1967. “American Urban Growth Preceding the Railway Age,”Journal of Economic History, Vol. XXVII (September).

1969. Introduction to the reprint of Introduction and Early Development of the American Cotton Textile Industry to 1860 (1863) by Samuel Batchelder. New York: Harper & Row.

1969. American Economic History before 1860 (Goldentree Bibliographies in American History, ed. Arthur S. Link) compiled by George Rogers Taylor. New York: Appleton Century Croft.

1983. Died April 11 in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Sources:

Obituary, Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, Massachusetts), April 12, 1983, p. 4.

Scheiber, Harry N., and Stephen Salsbury. “Reflections on George Rogers Taylor’s ‘The Transportation Revolution, 1815-1860’: A Twenty-Five Year Retrospect.” The Business History Review, vol. 51, no. 1, 1977, pp. 79–89.

May 19, 1978 interview of George Rogers Taylor from the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections, Oral History Project.

Hugh G. J. Aitken’s memorial note in The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 626-629.

Image Source: Amherst College, The Olio 1930, p. 45.

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Amherst Economics Programs Undergraduate

Amherst. 100 years of economics, 1832-1932

Even a superficial local history of one department can contain anecdotal nuggets of interest to historians of economics. This one for Amherst College was written by the University of Chicago trained economic historian George Rogers Taylor (Ph.D. 1929) whose Amherst faculty career spanned four decades. He tagged along when Paul Douglas took leave to teach at Amherst.

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One Hundred Years of Economics
[1832-1932]
at Amherst College
by George Rogers Taylor 

                  ALTHOUGH economics is one of the oldest of the so-called social sciences, it may come as a surprise to some to learn that in one form or another this subject has been taught at Amherst probably since the founding of the college. At first no separate courses were given in economics, but it was a recognized part of the more general subject then known as moral philosophy. It will be remembered in this connection that Adam Smith himself was professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and came to his interest in economics from that more general subject. As early as 1827-28 “political economy” — now known as “economics” — was listed as required for seniors, but it is not known how much work was done or what member of the faculty directed it. Quite possibly Pres. Heman Humphrey, who held the chair of professor of mental and moral philosophy, may have done some regular teaching in economics.

                  One hundred years ago, during the school year 1832-33, political economy became a definitely recognized part of the curriculum, and Hon. Samuel C. Allen [a trustee of the Amherst College Corporation] was appointed to the faculty as lecturer in political economy [First term of Senior Studies “Say’s Political Economy” (p. 14); “ Lectures on Political Economy and Legislation will be delivered by the Hon. Samuel C. Allen” (p. 15)]. It is reported that he volunteered his services for this purpose and received by way of compensation “the thanks of the trustees.” He lectured only during this one year. Though political economy continued to be taught, there probably were no further formal lectures in the subject until 1835. In that year Hon. William B. Calhoun of Springfield [A.M. “Lecturer on Political Economy”, Nov 1836 Catalog (p. 5)], one of the trustees, was appointed lecturer in political economy [Third term, Senior year. Nov 1836 Catalog (p. 16)]. He continued to hold that position until 1849 [sic, 1835-1850 according to Amherst records]. Then, for a little more than a decade, there was no faculty representative definitely in this field; but the course continued as part of the curriculum and, at least in some years, regular lectures were given. Apparently this teaching was allotted to the professor of intellectual and moral philosophy.

                  One other lecturer in political economy was appointed before 1876. Amasa Walker [Note: Father (!) of Francis Amasa Walker] held that position from 1860 to 1869. Like Allen and Calhoun, Walker came to his teaching with the background of one interested in public affairs. In addition to holding state offices, all three men were members of the United States House of Representatives. Both Calhoun and Walker carried on their work at Amherst College while serving in Congress. All of these early teachers of political economy at Amherst were unquestionably able, public spirited, and deeply religious men.

                  The economics taught in these early lectures followed in general the lines laid down by the English classical school. The popular translation of Say’s “Political Economy” was used as a textbook until 1838, when it was replaced by Wayland’s “Political Economy” — an American restatement and simplification of the classical doctrine. But it must not be concluded that these men were dry-as-dust expositors of the “dismal science.” Nor were they among those of the period who have been so often accused of using classical economics primarily as a device for defending the status quo. All were men of liberal tendencies, much interested in the progressive movements of their day. Allen, who started out as a Congregational minister, afterwards becoming a Unitarian, was a Democrat and an ardent champion of free trade. William B. Calhoun is described as one who dealt with social and political problems more in the spirit of a philosopher than a politician. He left former political allegiances to become a strong anti-slavery Whig and was a leader in the temperance movement of the time. Amasa Walker also was an active leader in the reform movements of his day. He gave generously of his time and ability to the temperance, anti-slavery, and peace movements.

                  Of the three, Walker is the only one who was primarily an economist. He was generally recognized in his day as an authority in finance and has left writings, particularly in the field of currency and finance, which may still be read with profit by the economist and the historian. In 1866 he published his chief work, “The Science of Wealth.” His chapters on money and currency are particularly able. He was much in advance of his time in the use of statistics and graphical methods. Even in the more theoretical parts of the subject, Walker was vigorous and questioning. American conditions with which he was acquainted, not only as a business man but also as a legislator, led him to question Malthus’s famous law of population and to differ with Ricardo on certain important points of rent theory.

                  The present phase of economics at Amherst College began with the appointment of Anson D. Morse as instructor in political economy in 1876. The subject became now much more than an appendage to moral philosophy and the lectures were no longer given by ministers or practical men of affairs. From now on the teachers were professional students of social science, trained as such, and among those who were called to the chair of professor of economics were men who are numbered among the ablest in the American field.

                  Professor Morse [Anson D. Morse Papers at the Amherst College Archives] began his many years of fruitful teaching at Amherst in 1876 as an instructor of political economy. But his main interest was history, and before many years he had shifted completely over to that department. It is history, therefore, rather than economics, which has primary claim upon this man who is remembered not only as a scholar but as one of Amherst’s most stimulating teachers.

                  From 1885 down to the World War, three outstanding teachers left their impress on economics, not only by their teaching at Amherst College but also through their writings. Two of these, John Bates Clark [see also; also this post] and his son, John Maurice Clark, have made major contributions to the economic thought of the time. The elder Clark is known for contributions to economic theory that are regarded by many as the most significant which America has produced. His son has taken his place as one of the ablest and most original of American economic writers of today. The third, James W. Crook, [see also] was primarily a teacher, beloved by two generations of Amherst students.

                  In more recent years, the professors of economics at Amherst have continued to be men of outstanding ability and national prominence. Among those who were in the department long enough to leave a definite mark on the life of the College must be listed Walton Hale Hamilton, Walter W. Stewart, Paul Howard Douglas, and Richard Stockton Meriam.

                  Until 1880 only one course was given in economics. This was apparently comparable to the principles or introductory course of more recent years. It is interesting to note that the first course to be added (1880) was one in the history of socialism. As time went on other courses appeared and disappeared, but usually they were substantially in one of the four fields now covered by advanced courses — finance, labor, economic history, and advanced theory.

                  It will be noted that two tendencies in the teaching of college economics which have been increasingly prominent in the United States during the last twenty years have been completely avoided at Amherst. The first is that toward the multiplication of courses. In fact, Amherst has gone to the extreme in the other direction. A study¹ of a large number of American colleges made in 1928 brought out the fact that only three colleges offered fewer courses in economics than Amherst, and the average number of subjects per instructor was smaller at Amherst than at any other college.

                  In the second place, the trend toward the introduction of business subjects has not affected the Amherst course of study. Economics, as taught here for one hundred years, has been given from the cultural and not from the professional point of view. In fact, the early courses in moral philosophy, which included at least some economics, were in so far as they were especially designed for students preparing for the ministry, possibly more professional than are the present courses in economics which are designed for the student who is to enter any walk of life.

                  The first hundred years of economics at Amherst College has witnessed many changes. A distinguished line of teachers has come and gone. The subject matter of the courses has been somewhat altered and expanded. In the early days economics was a compulsory course during part of the senior year. As time went on the department was enlarged but study in the department was made optional. Since 1927 the introductory course has been open to sophomores. The advanced student has now four courses in the department from which he may choose: economic history of the United States, labor problems, theory of credit, and development of economic thought, and additional individual work is offered for those taking honors in economics. But though many changes have taken place, the purpose of the work has remained essentially what it has always been, to fit the student to take his place in the world as a cultured man and a good citizen.

1 E. E. Cummins, “Economics and the Small College,” American Economic Review, Vol. XXVIII, No. 4 (December 1928) p. 631.

Source: George Rogers Taylor, “One Hundred Years of Economics at Amherst College,” Amherst Graduates’ Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 4 (August 1933), pp. 300-303.

Image Source:  1831 view of Amherst College by Alexander Davis. Restored copies are available for $44.95 (plus presumably shipping) at Vintage City Maps.

Categories
Amherst Principles Undergraduate

Amherst. Economics course offerings. Crook, 1901-1902.

At the beginning of the twentieth century there was only one instructor for economics at Amherst College. He offered elective courses to seniors.  His name was James Walter Crook, Associate Professor of Political Economy, an 1895 Columbia University Ph.D, the successor to John Bates Clark who had briefly taught at Amherst from 1892 to 1895.

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James Walter Crook
Timeline

1859. Born December 21 in Bewdley, Ontario, Canada.

1883. Married Eva Maria Lewis of Manistee, Michigan. They had no children.

1891. A.B., Oberlin College.

1891-92. Instructor in history, Oberlin College.

1892-93. Graduate fellow in economics at the University of Wisconsin.

1893-94. Graduate student at the University of Berlin, Germany.

1894-95. Graduate fellow in economics at Columbia University.

1895. Lecturer on Taxation at Columbia University.

1895. Ph.D., Columbia University.

German Wage Theories: A History of Their Development. Vol. IX, No. 2 (1898) of Studies in History, Economics and Public Law. New York: Columbia University

1895–99. Assistant Professor of Political Economy, Amherst College.

1899-1907. Associate Professor of Political Economy, Amherst College.

1907-27. Professor of Political Economy, Amherst College.

1912. M.A., Amherst College.

1927—. Professor Emeritus, Amherst College.

1927-33. Professor of Public Speaking at Northeastern University.

1933. Died November 22 in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Sources: Annual yearbooks of Amherst College (The Olio), Crook’s Boston Globe obituary (October 23, 1933)

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Amherst College
Economics Course Offerings
1901-02
Professor Crook

The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 denote, not the four classes, but the successive years in which courses are offered. The letters a, b, c denote the first, second, and third terms. The letters aa, bb, cc indicate courses parallel with courses a, b, c, respectively. [p. 51]

(1 a) Outlines of economics. Walker’s Political Economy; Hadley’s Economics. (Four hour course.)

(1 b) Advanced work in economic theory. Assigned readings in Smith, Ricardo, and Mill, with especial attention to Marshall’s Principles of Economics and Clark’s Distribution of Wealth. (1 a requisite.)

(1 bb) Money and banking. Dunbar’s Theory and History of Banking; White’s Money and Banking; Taussig’s Silver [Situation in the United States]. (1 a requisite.)

The practical monetary problems of the United States are considered, and the systems of banking practised in England, France, Germany, and the United States are compared.

(1 c) Public finance; taxation; public expenditures; public debts; financial administration. Adams’s Science of Finance. (1 a requisite.)

(1 cc) Practical economic problems; transportation; monopolies; trusts. Thesis required. Hadley’s Railroad Transportation; Jenks’s Trust Problem, (1 a requisite.)

Source: Amherst College Catalogue for the Year 1901-02, pp. 53-54.

Image Source: James Walter Crook in The Olio 1905, p. 23.

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Chicago Columbia Cowles CUNY Economists Stanford

Stanford. Kenneth Arrow’s mini-cv at age thirty. 1951

This post repackages the information contained in the mini-c.v. for the Social Science Research Council fellow of 1951-52, Kenneth Arrow, then a thirty year old freshly minted Columbia economics Ph.D. and associate professor of economics at Stanford. Fellows were asked to limit their cited publications to ten. It is interesting to note that Arrow could have easily added three other items but didn’t. It is also interesting to see that he gave a citation to the French translation of a chapter he published in English. Does any one have a clue to why Arrow might have made that choice? 

The data below come from the publication Fellows of the Social Science Research Council, 1925-1951  that is simply chock-full of mid-career biographical information for other economists as well

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ARROW, KENNETH (JOSEPH)
Research Training Fellow 1951-52

[Personal:]

b. New York, N. Y. August 23, 1921.
m. Selma Schweitzer 1947.

[Education:]

B.S. 1940, City College, New York;
M.A. in mathematics 1941, Ph.D. 1951, Columbia, economics.

[Employment:]

Actuarial clerk 1941, Guardian Life Insurance Company;

USAAF 1942-46, captain;

Instructor in economics, summer 1946, City College, New York;

Research associate 1947-49, Cowles Commission for Research in Economics;

Assistant professor of economics 1948-49, University of Chicago;

Acting assistant professor 1949, associate professor of economics and statistics 1950—, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.

Home: 4 Aliso Way, Menlo Park, Calif.

Consultant:  Bureau of the Budget 1948;
Rand Corporation 1948-51.

Publications:

“On the Use of Winds in Flight Planning,” J. Meteorology 1949; in Econometrica: (with D. Blackwell and M. A. Girshick) “Bayes and Minimax Solutions of Sequential Decision Problems” 1949; “Homogeneous Functions in Mathematical Economics: Comment” 1950. “A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare,” J. Polit. Econ. 1950; “L’Utilisation des Modèles Mathématiques dans les Sciences Sociales” in Les “Sciences Politiques” aux États-Unis (ed. D. Lerner and H. A. Lasswell) 1951 [Original english version (?) as Chapter 8 in “Mathematical Models in the Social Sciences” in Daniel Lerner and Harold D. Lasswell (eds.), The Policy Sciences: Recent Developments in Scope and Method (Stanford University Press, 1951)]; “Alternative Proof of the Substitution Theorem for the Leontief Model in the General Case” in Activity Analysis of Production and Allocation (ed. T. C. Koopmans) 1951; Social Choice and Individual Values 1951.

Fellowship program: study in Western Europe of statistical problems arising in economic planning.

Current research: welfare economics; foundation of statistical inference; index number theory; statistical problems in “model building”; theory of economic behavior under conditions of uncertainty.

Source: Fellows of the Social Science Research Council, 1925-1951. pp. 11-12.

Image Source: From the book ad placed by the bookstore La Memoire du Droit (Paris) at the AbeBooks website. As of this posting it is available for US$ 50.30 + shipping cost. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is here solely for educational and research purposes and provides such information solely to satisfy the pecuniary curiosity of its visitors.

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U.S. Economics Graduate Programs Ranked, 1957, 1964 and 1969

Recalling my active days in the rat race of academia, a cold shiver runs down my spine at the thought of departmental rankings in the hands of a Dean contemplating budgeting and merit raise pools or second-guessing departmental hiring decisions. 

But let a half-century go by and now, reborn as a historian of economics, I appreciate having the aggregated opinions of yore to constrain our interpretive structures of what mattered when to whomever. 

Research tip: sign up for a free account at archive.org to be able to borrow items still subject to copyright protection for an hour at a time. Sort of like being in the old reserve book room of your brick-and-mortar college library. This is needed if you wish to use the links for the Keniston, Carter, and Roose/Andersen publications linked in this post.

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1925 Rankings

R. M. Hughes. A Study of the Graduate Schools of America (Presented before the Association of American Colleges, January, 1925). Published by Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. (See earlier post that provides the economics ranking from the Hughes’ study)

1957 Rankings

Hayward Keniston. Graduate Study and Research in the Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania (January 1959), pp. 115-119,129.

Tables from Keniston transcribed here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror:
https://www.irwincollier.com/economics-departments-and-university-rankings-by-chairmen-hughes-1925-and-keniston-1957/

1964 Rankings

Allan M. Cartter, An Assessment of Quality in Graduate Education Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education, 1966.

1969 Rankings

Kenneth D. Roose and Charles J. Andersen, A Rating of Graduate Programs. Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education, 1970.

Tables transcribed below.

___________________________

Graduate Programs in Economics
(1957, 1964, 1969)

Percentage of Raters Who Indicate:
Rankings “Quality of Graduate Faculty” Is:
1957 1964 1969 Institution Distiguish-
ed and strong		 Good and adequate All other Insufficient Information
Nineteen institutions with scores in the 3.0 to 5.0 range, in rank order
1 1* 1* Harvard 97 – – 3
not ranked 1* 1* M.I.T. 91 – – 9
2 3* 3 Chicago 95 – – 5
3 3* 4 Yale 90 3 – 7
5* 5 5 Berkeley 86 9 – 5
7 7 6 Princeton 82 9 – 10
9 8* 7* Michigan 66 22 – 11
10 11 7* Minnesota 65 19 – 15
14 14* 7* Pennsylvania 62 22 – 15
5* 6 7* Stanford 64 25 – 11
13 8* 11 Wisconsin 63 26 – 11
4 8* 12* Columbia 50 37 – 13
11 12* 12* Northwestern 52 32 – 16
16 16 14* UCLA 41 38 – 21
not ranked 12* 14* Carnegie-Mellon Carnegie-Tech (1964) 39 35 – 26
not ranked not ranked 16 Rochester** 31 39 1 29
8 14* 17 Johns Hopkins 31 56 – 13
not ranked not ranked 18* Brown** 20 52 1 27
15 17 18* Cornell** 21 56 2 21
*Score and rank are shared with another institution.
**Institution’s 1969 score is in a higher range than ist 1964 score.

 

Ten institutions with scores in the 2.5 to 2.9 range, in alphabetical order
(1969)
Duke
Illinois
Iowa State (Ames)
Michigan State
North Carolina
Purdue
Vanderbilt
Virginia
Washington (St. Louis)
Washington (Seattle)

 

Sixteen institutions with scores in the 2.0 to 2.4 range, in alphabetical order
(1969)
Buffalo*
Claremont
Indiana
Iowa (Iowa City)
Kansas
Maryland
N.Y.U.
North Carolina State*
Ohio State
Oregon
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Rice*
Texas
Texas A&M
Virginia Polytech.*
* Not included in the 1964 survey of economics

 

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Exam Questions Harvard Philosophy Socialism

Harvard. Final examination for Ethics of the Social Questions. Peabody, 1905-1906

 

 

In 1905-06 Francis Greenwood Peabody’s popular course on the ethics of the social questions was listed for the first time as one of the course offerings in a new sub-departmental unit “Social Ethics” within the Philosophy Department. In previous years the course was listed as “Philosophy 5”. It was a relatively popular field chosen for economics Ph.D. general examinations.

More about Professor Peabody can be found in the earlier post for 1902-03 together with the final examination questions from that year. Here the course description and exam from 1904-05. Readings and final exam for social ethics in 1906-07.

A fully linked transcription of Peabody’s own short bibliography of social ethics published in 1910 is also of interest.

Note: the items cited in the exam are found in the original printed exam. Links to the corresponding passages have been added.

__________________________

A Peek into Likely Course Content 

Cf. Francis Greenwood Peabody’s The Approach to the Social Question (New York: Macmillan, 1912). “The substance of this volume was given as the Earle Lectures at the Pacific Theological Seminary in 1907.”

__________________________

Course Enrollment
1905-06

Social Ethics 1 2hf. Professor Peabody and Dr. Rogers. — Ethics of the Social Questions. The problems of Poor-Relief, the Family, Temperance, and various phases of the Labor Question, in the light of ethical theory. Lectures, special researches, and prescribed reading. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 10.

Total 165: 5 Graduates, 24 Seniors, 59 Juniors, 50 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 11 Divinity, 14 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-1906, p. 75.

__________________________

SOCIAL ETHICS 12
Year-end Exam, 1905-06

This paper should be considered as a whole. The time should not be exhausted in answering a few questions, but such limits should be given to each answer as will permit the answering of all the questions in the time assigned.

  1. The place in the ethics of industry of :—
    The Civic Federation.
    Mundella.
    Conseils de Prud’hommes.
    Employers’ Associations. (Adams and Sumner, page 279.)
  2. The Social-Democratic Party in Germany; its history and principles.
  3. Economic and ethical criticisms on the programme of Revolutionary Socialism.
  4. “The labor movement in America already exhibits a manifest tendency in the same direction [towards organized socialism] in which it moves in older countries.” (Sombart, Sozialismus und sozialistische Bewegung, s. 249.) How far is this judgment justified by the history of Collectivism, and by the present attitude of Tradesunionism [sic], in the United States?
  5. Industrial education, in its relation to child-labor and to economic efficiency. (Lecture of R. A. Woods.)
  6. The methods and policies of labor-organization in the United States. (Adams and Sumner, pages 245 ff.)
  7. “Have the conditions of employment and the material comfort of the working classes really improved since the introduction of the factory system?” (Adams and Sumner, page 502.) The answer of these authors to their own question, and some of the evidence which they cite.
  8. Compare, in their importance for the ethics of industry, the system of profit-sharing and the system of industrial partnership.
  9. “Trade-agreements,” considered in their relations to the rights of the people.
  10. The relation of the drink-habit in the United States to poverty and crime; and the economic forces now operating for temperance, (“The Liquor Problem,” Chapter IV, pages 108-134.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1906), p. 59.

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Bibliography Harvard Principles

Harvard. Linked References to 1st ed of Principles of Economics. Taussig, 1911

The first edition of Frank W. Taussig’s Principles of Economics was published in 1911. The two volumes were divided into eight books with well over one hundred items listed in the references. All but two of those items have been found in internet archives and links have been provided to them in the transcription below. I have also included first names for all but one of the authors.

Outstanding Challenge: Find on-line copies of

Ludwig Pohle. Deutschland am Scheidewege (1902);
Karl Theodor von Eheberg. Finanzwissenschaft (1909 edition).

____________________________

Volume I

BOOK I
THE ORGANIZATION OF PRODUCTION
References

                  On productive and unproductive labor, see the often-cited passages in Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book II, Chapter III; and those in John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book I, Chapter III. Wilhelm Roscher, Political Economy, Book I, Chapter III, gives an excellent historical and critical account. Among modern discussions, none is more deserving of attention than the paper by Professor Thorstein Veblen, on “industrial” and “pecuniary” employments, in Proceedings of the American Economic Association, 1901, No. 1. A recent discussion, with not a little of clouded thought, is in the Verhandlungen des Vereins für Sozialpolitik, 1909; especially a paper by Professor Eugen von Philippovich and the discussion thereon.

                  On the division of labor, Charles Babbage, On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures (1837), is still to be consulted. On modern developments, the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor (U. S.) on Hand and Machine Labor (1899) [Volume I; Volume II] contains a multitude of illustrations. A keen analysis of the division of labor in its historical forms is in Karl Bücher, Die Entstehung der Volkswirthschaft (7th ed., 1910) [3rd ed. 1901; 10th ed. 1917]; translated into English from the 3d German edition under the title Industrial Evolution (1901). On the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century, see the well-ordered narrative in Paul Mantoux, La révolution industrielle au xviiie siècle (1906), and the less systematic but more philosophical account in Arnold Toynbee, Lectures on the Industrial Revolution (10th ed., 1894).

                  On capital, see the references given below, at the close of Book V. Much as has been written of late on corporate doings and corporate organization, I know of no helpful references on the topics considered in Chapter 6.

BOOK II
VALUE AND EXCHANGE
References

                  Easily the first and most valuable book to be consulted on the theory of value is Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics (6th ed., 1910) [4th ed., 1898; 7th ed., 1916], especially Books III, IV, V. An admirable introductory sketch is in Thomas Nixon Carver, Distribution of Wealth, Chapter I. On the play of utility, see Philip Henry Wicksteed, The Common Sense of Political Economy (1910); Chapter II of Book I and Chapter III of Book II are valuable supplements to Marshall’s discussion of consumer’s surplus. Compare, also, Maffeo Pantaleoni, Pure Economics (English translation, 1898), Part II.

On speculation, consult Henry Crosby Emery, Speculation in the Stock and Produce Exchanges of the United States (1896).

                  The so-called Austrian theory of value, in which stress is laid on utility as dominating value, is set forth most fully in Friedrich von Wieser, Natural Value (English translation, 1893). A more compact statement is in Eugen von Böhm Bawerk, Positive Theory of Capital (English translation, 1891), Books III and IV.

BOOK III
MONEY AND THE MECHANISM OF EXCHANGE
References

                  On money, Karl Helfferich, Das Geld (2d ed., 1910) 3rd ed., unchanged with a statistical addition to the 2nd ed, 1916, is an excellent descriptive and analytical book. On the theory of money and prices, Irving Fisher, The Purchasing Power of Money (1911), also an excellent book, was published just as the present volume was going to press; I am glad to find its conclusions in essential accord with my own. An entirely different mode of reasoning, and different conclusions, which I find myself unable to accept, are in James Laurence Laughlin, The Principles of Money (1903). Joseph French Johnson, Money and Currency, has convenient accounts of the monetary history of various countries, but is of no value on questions of theory.

                  On banking, Charles Franklin Dunbar, Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking (ed. by Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague, 1901), is a little classic, and contains also abundant references.Hartley Withers, The Meaning of Money, gives a lucid and interesting account of banking conditions in Great Britain. Charles Arthur Conant, A History of Modern Banks of Issue, is useful for its descriptive matter. A vast mass of information on the banking problems and experiences of recent years is in the Publications of the National Monetary Commission (1909-1911); ably reviewed by Wesley Clair Mitchell] in Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1911.

                  On the questions of principle underlying bimetallism, see Leonard Darwin, Bimetallism (1898). The same questions are considered in Karl Helfferich, Das Geld (1910) [3rd ed., unchanged with a statistical addition to the 2nd ed, 1916], already referred to. Consult, also, James Laurence Laughlin, History of Bimetallism in the United States; Henry Parker Willis, A History of the Latin Monetary Union (1901); Piatt Andrew, “The End of the Mexican Dollar,” in Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XVIII, p. 321 (May, 1904).

                  On index numbers and methods of measuring prices, William Stanley Jevons, Investigations in Currency and Finance  (1884), though of older date, is still to be read, as among the most interesting and stimulating on this topic. See also Professor Francis Ysidro Edgeworth’s] brilliant memorandum, in Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1887, pp. 247-301; and Correa Moylan Walsh, The Measurement of General Exchange Value (1901).

                  On rising and falling prices in relation to the rate of interest, see Irving Fisher, Appreciation and Interest, Public. Am. Econ. Assoc., First Series, Vol. XI (1896), and the same writers The Rate of Interest (1907), Chapters V and XIV. See also two papers by John Bates Clark, in the Political Science Quarterly, Vol. X, p. 389 [“The Gold Standard of Currency in the Light of Recent Theory”], and Vol. XI, p. 259 [“Free Coinage and Prosperity”](1895, 1896), and criticism of these by Correa Moylan Walsh, “The Steadily Appreciating Standard,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XI, p. 280 (1897).

                  Notwithstanding the abundant literature on crises, there is no good book on the underlying questions of principle. Good historical books are: Clément Juglar, Des crises commerciales et de leur retour périodique en France, en Angleterre, et aux États-Unis (2d ed., 1889), and Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague, A History of Crises under the National Banking System (1910; published by the National Monetary Commission).

BOOK IV
INTERNATIONAL TRADE
References

                  On the foreign exchanges, see Viscount George Joachim Goschen, The Theory of the Foreign Exchanges (last ed., 1901), and George Clare, The A B C of the Foreign Exchanges [Frank Taussig’s copy!] (1895). On international trade, the chapters in John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy (last ed., 1871), Book III, Chapters 17 seq., though in some parts unduly elaborated, are still unsurpassed. A good modern statement, almost too compact, is in Charles Francis Bastable, The Theory of International Trade (4th ed., 1903). A mathematical treatment is in three papers by Francis Ysidro Edgeworth, “The Theory of International Values,” in the Economic Journal, Vol. IV [March, September, December] (1894). I venture to refer also to my own paper on “Wages and Prices, in Relation to International Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XX, August, 1906.

                  Notwithstanding the mass of literature on free trade and protection, no book covers the controversy satisfactorily. Henry Fawcett, Free Trade and Protection (1885), states the simpler reasoning in favor of free trade and refutes the cruder protectionist fallacies. Arthur Cecil Pigou, Protective and Preferential Import Duties (1906), is able and discriminating, but written with reference chiefly to the contemporary controversy (1895-1905) in Great Britain. On this, see also William James Ashley, The Tariff Problem (2nd ed. 1904). On the German debates, see, among others, Ludwig Pohle, Deutschland am Scheidewege (1902), and Adolph Wagner, Agrar- und Industriestaat (1902), both in favor of protection for agriculture; and on the other side, Lujo Brentano, Die Schrecken des [überwiegenden] Industriestaats (1901), and Heinrich Dietzel, Weltwirthschaft und Volkswirthschaft (1900). On the tariff history of the United States, Edward Stanwood, American Tariff Controversies in the Nineteenth Century (1903) [Volume I(1903); Volume II (1904), a narrative account of legislation and discussion by a protectionist; and Frank William Taussig, The Tariff History of the United States (ed. of 1909) [5th ed. 1910].

Volume 2

BOOK V
THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH
References

                  On the theory of distribution in general, as on that of value, the first book to be mentioned is Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics, Books IV, V, VI (6th ed., 1910) [5th ed., 1908]. A compact and able theoretic analysis is in Thomas Nixon Carver, The Distribution of Wealth (1904). Entirely different in method, with a wealth of historical and statistical analysis, and large-minded treatment of the underlying social problems, is Gustav von Schmoller, Grundriss der Volkswirtschaftslehre, Books III, IV (1900–1904; French translation, 1905–1908).

                  Among the many modern books on capital and interest, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Positive Theory of Capital (English translation, 1891, has most profoundly influenced recent economic thought. A revised edition of the German is in process of publication, the first part having appeared in 1909) [Note —German 4th edition (1921): Kapital und Kapitalzins: Part I, Geschichte und Kritik der Kapitalzins-Theorien; Part II, Positive Theorie des Kapitales, Vol. I; Part II, Positive Theorie des Kapitales, Vol. II (Exkurse)]. Not inferior to this in intellectual incisiveness, but marked, like it, by some excess of refinement and subtlety, are Irving Fisher’s two volumes, The Nature of Capital and Income (1906), and The Rate of Interest (1907). John Bates Clark, The Distribution of Wealth (1899), sets forth a theory of wages and interest as the specific products of labor and capital; I find myself unable to accept the reasoning, but to some economists it seems conclusive. The view that there is no essential difference between interest and rent (see Chapter 46) is maintained not only by I. Fisher and J. B. Clark, but by Frank Albert Fetter, Principles of Economics (1904). An able book by a French thinker is Adolphe Landry, L’intérêt du capital (1904).

                  On urban site rent, interesting descriptive matter is in Richard Melancthon, Principles of City Land Values (1903).

                  James Bonar, Malthus (1885), gives an excellent account of Malthus’s writings and of the earlier controversy about his doctrines. Arsène Dumont, Dépopulation et civilisation (1890), not a book of the first rank, states the modern French view, laying stress on “social capillarity”, as explaining the decline in the birth rate, and enlarging on the desirability of an increasing population. Émile Levasseur, La Population française (1892), Vol. III, Part I, gives a good summary statement on the base of population compared with the growth of wealth. Georg von Mayr, Statistik und Gesellschaftslehre [Vol. I, Theoretische Statistik(1895)]: Vol. II, Bevölkerungsstatistik (1897), Vol. III, Part I, Moralstatistik (1910), gives a model summary of statistical data and a judicial statement on questions of principle.

                  Notwithstanding the enormous mass of literature on social stratification, there is no one book that treats this topic in a manner thoroughly satisfactory. Cyrille van Overbergh, La classe sociale (1905), may be consulted.

BOOK VI
PROBLEMS OF LABOR
References

                  A compact discussion of the topics in this Book is in Thomas Sewall Adams and Helen L. Sumner, Labor Problems (1905). On trade-unions, the elaborate book by Sidney and Beatrice Potter Webb, Industrial Democracy (1902), is of high quality; written with special regard to English experience, and stating too strongly the case in favor of the trade-union. On the American situation there is no good systematic book; but excellent studies on some phases are in Jacob Harry Hollander and George Ernest Barnett, Studies in American Trade-Unionism (1905). On Australasian experience, see Victor Selden Clark, The Labour Movement in Australasia (1906); and on the history of labor legislation in England, B. L. Hutchins and Amy Harrison, A History of Factory Legislation (1903). John Rae, Eight Hours for Work(1894), is a good inquiry on experience to the date of its publication. On workingmen’s insurance and allied topics, see Henry Rogers Seager, Social Insurance: A Program of Social Reform (1910), brief and excellent. More detailed and more informational is Lee Kaufer Frankel and Miles Menander Dawson, Workingmen’s Insurance in Europe (1910); still more elaborate is the Twenty-fourth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor (U. S.), Workingmen’s Insurance and Compensation Systems in Europe (2 vols., 1910). William Henry Beveridge, Unemployment (1910), is an able book, at once sympathetic and discriminating. A good general account of the co-öperative movement is Charles Ryle Fay, Co-öperation at Home and Abroad (1908).

                  For more detailed bibliographical memoranda, see the Guide to Reading in Social Ethics and Allied Subjects, published by Harvard University (1910).

BOOK VII
PROBLEMS OF ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION
References

                  On railways, Arthur Twinning Hadley, Railroad Transportation (1885), though of older date, has not been completely superseded. More recent are William Mitchell Acworth, The Elements of Railway Economics (1905), and Emory Richard Johnson, American Railway Transportation (new ed., 1910); the latter written primarily as a textbook for American colleges. An able monograph is Matthew Brown Hammond, Railway Rate Theories of the Interstate Commerce Commission (1911); compare John Maurice Clark, Standards of Reasonableness in Local Freight Discriminations (1910). Among foreign books, Clément Colson, Transports et tarifs (1890), though technical and detailed, is of high value. On combinations and trusts, Robert Liefmann, Kartelle und Trusts (1909) [French translation, 1914], gives an excellent compact account of the German situation; and Henry William Macrosty, The Trust Movement in British Industry (1907), a detailed survey of that in Great Britain. Three usable books on American conditions are Richard Theodore Ely, Monopolies and Trusts (1900), Jeremiah Whipple Jenks, The Trust Problem(1900), Edward Sherwood Meade, Trust Finance (1903).

                  On public ownership, Leonard Darwin, Municipal Trade (1903), is an acute critical book, by an opponent; a briefer statement of the same reasoning is in this author’s Municipal Ownership (1907). A mass of information and discussion on both sides is in the Report on the Municipal and Private Operation of Public Utilities, published by the National Civic Federation (3 vols., 1907) [Vol. I; Vol. II; Vol. III]. A detailed treatment of the relation of municipalities to “public utilities” is in Delos Franklin Wilcox, Municipal Franchises (2 vols., 1910-1911) [Vol. I; Vol. II].

                  The books on socialism deal largely with controversies which do not proceed to the heart of the matter. This seems to me to hold of Karl Marx, Das Kapital (English translation, 1891), the most famous and influential of socialist books. Among the innumerable discussions and refutations of the Marxian doctrines may be mentioned Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Zum Abschluss des Marxchen Systems, Marx and the Close of his System (English translation, 1891), and James Edward Le Rossignol, Orthodox Socialism: a Criticism (1907). A concise and vigorous statement, based mainly on Marx, is in Karl Kautsky, The Class Struggle and The Social Revolution (English translations, 1910 [and 1902, respectively]). John Spargo, Socialism (1906), is a popular statement of socialist tenets and proposals. Among recent socialist books, James MacKaye, The Economy of Happiness (1906), advocates socialism in a train of rigorous utilitarian reasoning.

                  Among expository and critical books, Albert Schäffle, The Impossibility of Social Democracy, and The Quintessence of Socialism (English translations, 1892 and 1902), are excellent, especially the last-named. The most stimulating and discriminating advocacy and discussion of socialism is often by writers who do not pretend to be “scientific.” Such are Herb Goldsworthy Lowes Dikinson, Justice and Liberty(1908).

                  On this Book, as on Book VI, see the bibliographical memoranda in the Guide to Reading in Social Ethics and Allied Subjects, published by Harvard University (1910).

BOOK VIII
TAXATION
References

                  Charles Francis Bastable, Public Finance (2d ed., 1895), covers the whole field, and is able and well-judged, though not attractively written. Among foreign books, Karl Theodor von Eheberg, Finanzwissenschaft (new ed., 1909), is a good book of the German type; and Paul Leroy Beaulieu, Science des Finances (new ed., 1906. Vol. I; Vol. II), is an able French book, full of good sense and information, but not strong on some questions of principle. On progression, the view presented in Chapter 66 is similar to that of Adolph Wagner, Finanzwissenschaft, Vol. II, § 396 seq. (ed. of 1880), and is different from that in Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman’s Progressive Taxation in Theory and Practice (new ed., 1908). The last-named writer’s Income Tax (1911) is an excellent survey of legislation and experience; and in his Essays on Taxation (new ed., 1911 [1913 edition linked here]), there is a valuable discussion of the American property tax system.

Image Source: Maggs Bros. Ltd. advertisement for a copy of the first edition of Frank W. Taussig’s Principles of Economics (1911). List price (as of July 27, 2024): US$ 765.35.

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Chicago. Economics Ph.D. Alumna Emily Clark Brown, 1927

 

EMILY CLARK BROWN

1895. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1917. B.A. Carleton College.

1917-19. High school teacher in Delavan, Minnesota.

1919-20. Graduate study in social work at the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy.

1920-25. Research assistant with the United Typothetae of America.

1923. M.A. University of Chicago.

1927. Ph.D. University of Chicago.

1927-28. Research Fellow of the Social Science Research Council. Study in England and in New York, Boston, and Baltimore of industrial relations in book and job printing.

1928-29. Industrial economist. Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau.

1929-32. Assistant professor, Wellesley College.

1932-33. Assistant Professor. Vassar College.

1933-39. Associate Professor. Vassar College.

1936. Trip to the Soviet Union as a tourist.

1937, 1938. Teacher at the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers.

1938. Researcher. National Resources Committee.

1939-1961. Professor. Vassar College.

1942. Teacher at the Hudson Shore Labor School (summer).

1942-44. Operating analyst. National Labor Relations Board.

1944-45. Public panel member. National War Labor Board.

1946. Member of the panel of arbitrators, American Arbitration Association.

1950-54. Chairman of the Economics Department at Vassar.

1955. Vassar faculty fellowship. November-December. 30 day visit to Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, and Kharkov to study the Soviet labor market. Five factory tours.

1959. Social Science Research Council grant. January-February. Research visit to Soviet Union. 10 weeks, 17 factory trips. Tours of Alma Ata, Tashkent, Samarkand, Rostov, and Tbilisi.

1961. Retired from Vassar College.

1962. Awarded grant from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council to finance a trip to the Soviet Union to study labor relations. [newspaper account that she was a resident of Minneapolis following retirement from Vassar]

1967-1976. Volunteer librarian for the Twin Cities Opportunities Industrialization Center.

1980. Died October 13 in Minneapolis.

Publications:

Joint Industrial Control in the Book and Job Printing Industry, Bureau of Labor Statistics Bul. 481, 1928.

Book and Job Printing in Chicago, 1931. (Ph.D. Dissertation 1927)

“The New Collective Bargaining in Mass Production,” J. Polit. Econ., 1939.

“The Employer Unit in NLRB Decisions,” J. Polit. Econ., 1942.

“Book and Job Printing” in How Collective Bargaining Works (ed. H. A. Millis), 1942.

“Free Collective Bargaining or Government Intervention?” Harv. Bus. Rev.,1947.

“Union Security” in N.Y.U. 2nd Ann. Conf. on Labor, 1949.

(with H. A. Millis) From the Wagner Act to Taft-Hartley, 1950.

National Labor Policy: Taft-Hartley after Three Years and the Next Steps, 1950.

“The Soviet Labor Market,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review (January 1957).

“Labor Relations in Soviet Factories” Industrial and Labor Relations Review (January 1958)

“The Local Union in Soviet Industry,” Industrial and Labor Relations Review (January 1960).

“The Current Status of the Soviet Worker: Not Good—But Better,” Problems of Communism, 1960.

Soviet Trade Unions and Labor Relations. (Harvard University Press, 1966).

[Some other titles can be found in: A Bibliography of Female Economic Thought to 1940 By Kirsten Kara Madden, Janet A. Seiz, Michèle A. Pujol p. 80.]

Sources: Fellows of the Social Science Research Council, 1925-1951. p. 49.

Vassar Miscellany News, Volume XXXXV, Number 23 (26 April 1961), p. 3.

Image Source: Vassar College, The Vassarion 1940, p. 36

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Roosevelt College. Abba Lerner’s draft letter to Karl Popper. 1951

 

The following transcribed draft of a letter to Karl Popper was written by Abba Lerner during a transatlantic trip from Southampton to the port of New York on the ship “Anna Salen”. The draft is undated, but checking port arrival lists at the ancestry.com website I found the record of Abba Lerner, his wife Alice and their twins Lionel (M) and Marion (F) arriving at the port of New York on September 20, 1951 aboard the Anna Salen, having sailed from Havre-Southampton, Hook Holland to New York City. I was struck by the overwhelming number of academic addresses among the passengers, which turns out to reflect one use of the dual-use for this converted Navy transport ship.

What higher praise could Lerner possibly have given Karl Popper than “I found your book the most exciting one I had read for a very long time and admired the clarity and forthrightness with which you have stated positions toward which I felt I h[a]d been groping for many years”? One wonders what Popper thought of this, presumably sincere, attempt by one kindred spirit to adopt another.

________________________________

Summer travel for academics, winter transport for D.P.s

Barnard Bulletin (June 7, 1951, p. 1)  “….the Anna Salen, a converted Navy transport which alternates between being a student ship in the summer and carrying Displaced Persons in the winter.”

________________________________

An Open Society Fan-Boy writes…

At Sea on the Anna Salen
Southampton – NY

as from Roosevelt College,
Chicago 5, Ill. USA

Dear Professor Popper,

                  For a long time I have been wanting to read your two volumes on The Open Society and Its Enemies, but did not get around to it until the last two days on this boat. I found your book the most exciting one I had read for a very long time and admired the clarity and forthrightness with which you have stated positions toward which I felt I h[a]d been groping for many years. I am sending you a copy of my “Economic[s] of Employment” which I think might have helped you in the economic analysis of Marx’ trade cycle writings. Time and again in reading your book I w[a]s reminded arguments and writings in which the closeness of your thought to mine is remarkable. I am thinking in particular of a debate I once had with Maurice Dobb on “Vulgar Marxism” (which has a slightly different connotation than your use of the phrase, being directed more to my sp[e]cial interest of economics), a review of Clarence E Ayres [Lerner’s review of The Theory of Economic Progress in American Economic Review, March 1945] who is an excellent example of what you so fel[i]citously call “Moral Futurism”, and an article on Dialectics in “Science and Society” (about 1938) which is a polemic against Haldane’s “dialectical” mysticism.

                  I remember attending a lecture of yours at the London School of Economics some-time in the early thirties and asking you a question – something about Marxian time-limited “truth”. You probably do not remember this. I was also sorry for having missed your lectures in Chicago last year while I was away temporarily in Geneva. While in London this summer I tried to call you up in case you were around – I had a colleague from Roosevelt College, a teacher of philos[o]phy, Dr Lionel Ruby, who also wanted to meet you, but through some misunderstanding, which was never thoroughly cleared up, perhaps I got the wrong number, I was told that you had died and only a few days later did Lionel Robbins tell me that it must have been a mistake. I do hope to meet you again soon.

Yours most sincerely,

Abba P. Lerner

Source: U.S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. The papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 2 “ ‘P’ miscellany 1978-80, w.d.”

Image Source: See Webpage: Salén Rederierna. There is to be found the page in Swedish) with photos of the Anna Dalén.

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Harvard. Economics Ph.D. alumnus, Melvin Gardner de Chazeau. 1930

Melvin Gardner de Chazeau’s graduate school record at Harvard (Economics Ph.D. 1930) is documented fully in this post that also includes a fairly complete c.v. for him (visitors can hunt down his many book reviews at jstor.org). 

Research Tip: There are 2.3 cubic feet of personal papers of Melvin Gardner de Chazeau at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

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

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Melvin Gardner de Chazeau. Olympia, Wash.; March 20, 1900.

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

University of Washington 1921-25.
Teaching Fellow (Econ.) 1924-25.
Harvard University 1925-6. Instructor & Tutor (Econ. A) 1926-27.

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

A.B. U. of Washington. Dec. 1924.
M.A. U. of Washington. Aug. 1925.
A.M. Harvard. 1927.

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.)

Econ.: Courses in Standards of Living, History and Theory of Labor in U.S. and Europe, Marketing and Advertising, History of Econ. Thought, Econ. Theory. (Taught General Econ.)
Gov.: General course, American Gov’t., Readings in Political thought.
Phil.: Hist. of Phil., Social Ethics & Ethical Theory, Logic, Phil. of Religion, Modern Schools.
Languages: Spanish, French & Latin (High School).

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

Economics.

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Econ. Theory and its History. (Special emphasis since 1776).
    Econ. 11; Econ. 15 (audit); Econ. 33
    Grad. Seminars (U. of W.) in Price Determination, Theory, International Finance.
  2. Econ. History since 1750.
    Econ. 2.
  3. Statistics.
    Econ. 41; Econ. 1a.
  4. Money and Banking.
    Econ. 38. Also matter connected with Econ. 33.
  5. Ethics.
    Two undergraduate courses: Social Ethics and Ethical Theory (U. of W.) Extensive undergraduate and one year’s graduate work in Phil. Private reading.
  6. Regulation of Public Utilities.
    Grad. Seminar (U. of W.) in Rate Regulation.
    Econ. 36 (audit).

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Regulation of Public Utilities.

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

Details of subject not yet determined upon. F. W. Taussig.
[Insert written in pencil:] Some Chapters in the Regulation of the Electric Industry in Massachusetts

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

Closing weeks of first, or first few wseeks of second, semester
[Insert written in pencil:] 1926-27. February 21, 1927.

X. Remarks

[Left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] F. W. Taussig

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Melvin Gardner de Chazeau

Approved: November 12, 1926

Ability to use French certified by Professor A. E. Monroe, October 21, 1926.

Ability to use German certified by Professor A. E. Monroe, October 21, 1926

Date of general examination February 21, 1927

Thesis received April 1, 1930

Read by [left blank]

Approved [left blank]

Date of special examination [left blank]

Recommended for the Doctorate [left blank]

Degree conferred  [left blank]

Remarks.  [left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
Oct. 21, 1926

Mr. M. G. De Chazeau has this day passed a satisfactory examination in the reading of French and German, as required of candidates for the doctor’s degree.

[signed]
A.E. Monroe

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Passed General Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
February 24, 1927

To the Division of History,
Government, and Economics,

As chairman of the committee appointed to conduct the general examination in economics of Melvin Gardner de Chazeau, I have to report that the examination was accepted by the committee [Taussig, Crum, Young, Cole, Demos (Ethics)] as satisfactory. It was not as high in quality as the previous record of the candidate had led the committee to expect, and a more than respectable showing at the time of the candidate’s special examination is desirable. The committee had no doubt, however, about accepting the present examination as satisfactory.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Passed Special Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 20, 1930

Dear Professor Carver,

As chairman of the committee appointed to conduct the special examination in Economics of Mr. M. G. de Chazeau, I beg to report that Mr. De Chazeau passed the examination to the entire satisfaction of the committee.

Very sincerely yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig

Professor T. N. Carver
772 Widener Library
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Ph.D. Degrees Conferred 1929-30. (UA V 453.270), Box 10.

__________________________

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Record of
Melvin Gardner de Chazeau

Years: 1925-26, 1926-27, 1927-28, 1929-30.

[Previous] Degrees received.

A.B. Univ. of Washington, 1924,
A.M. Univ. of Washington, 1925.

First Registration: 24 September 1925

1925-26

Grades
First Year Course

Half-Course

Economics 1a1

A-

Economics 2

A

Economics 11

A

Economics 38

A

Economics 412

A+
Division: History, Government, & Economics
Scholarship, Fellowship: Ralph Sanger Scholar
Assistantship:
Austin Teaching Fellowship:
Instructorship:
Proctorship:
Degrees received: A.B. Univ. of Washington 1924, A.M. ibid. 1925

 

1926-27

Grades
Second Year Course

Half-Course

Economics 20 (F.W.T.) (2d. hf.)

A

Economics 331

A

Economics 392

A
Summer School 1927

Public Utilities S36 (GBA)

A

Division:
Scholarship, Fellowship:
Assistantship:
Austin Teaching Fellowship:
Instructorship: $700 in Economics. Tutor in Division of History, Government, and Economics, $900
Proctorship:
Degree attained at close of year: A.M.
Accepted for Ph.D., except for French (H.S. only) and German . Oct-16, 1925.

 

1927-28

Grades
Third Year Course

Half-Course

Economics 20

 A

Division:
Scholarship, Fellowship:
Assistantship:
Austin Teaching Fellowship:
Instructorship: in Economics. Tutor in the Div. of H. G. + E. $2500
Proctorship:
Degree attained at close of year: 

 

1929-30

Fourth Year

Economics 20 (F.W.T.) 1 co.

 A

Division:
Scholarship, Fellowship:
Assistantship:
Austin Teaching Fellowship:
Instructorship: in Economics. Tutor Hist, G. + Econ  $2700
Proctorship:
Degree attained at close of year:  Ph.D.
Home Address: Nov. 1930. 27 University Circle, University, Virginia.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Cooke—Dyson (UAV 161.2722.5). Box 4, Record Card of Melvin Gardner de Chazeau [formerly, De Shazo].

__________________________

Course Names and Instructors

1925-26

Economics 1a. Principles of Economics. Prof. Taussig and other members of the department for lectures.

Economics 2. Economic History from the Industrial Revolution. Professor Gay.

Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Taussig.

Economics 38. Principles of Money and Banking. Professor Young.

Economics 412. Statistical Theory and Analysis. Asst. Professor Crum.

1926-27

Economics 20. Research in Economics (with Professor Frank William Taussig) (2d. hf.)

Economics 331. International Trade. Professor Taussig.

Economics 392. International Finance. Associate Professor Williams.

1927 (Summer)

S36 (GBA). Public Utilities. Professor Philip Cabot.

1927-28

Economics 20. Research in Economics.

1929-30

Economics 20. Research in Economics (with Frank William Taussig) 1 co.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College for 1925-26, 1926-27, 1927-28, 1929-30.

__________________________

Melvin Gardner
de Chazeau
Timeline of his life and career

1900. Born March 20 in Olympia, Washington.

1924. B.A. University of Washington. Summa cum laude. Phi Beta Kappa. [Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug 1946]

1925. M.A. University of Washington.

1927. M.A. in economics, Harvard University.

1930. Ph.D. in economics, Harvard.

1929. Married Eunice Storey (daughter Marian, born 1937).

1930-46. University of Virginia. Assistant professor 1930, associate professor 1931, professor, 1946.

1932-33. Study in England, Scotland, and South Wales of the rationalization of electricity supply in Great Britain as research fellow, Social Science Research Council.

1940-41. National Defense Advisory Commission and Office of Production Management. Steel expert.

1941-42. Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply. Consultant to Director.

1942. Production Board, Bureau of Planning and Statistics, Materials Division. Director.

1943-45. War Production Board, Program Bureau, Non-military Division. Director.

1945-47. Committee for Economic Development. Research staff.

1946-48. University of Chicago. School of Business. Professor of business economics and marketing.

1949-50. Brookings Institution. economic research.

1948-1967. Cornell University. School of Business and Public Administration. Founding member and Professor of economics and business policy. Retired 1967.

1954-55. Fulbright lecturer at the Copenhagen Graduate School of Business, Denmark.

Represented Cornell at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) for more than a decade (1950s)

1967-70. Taught at Dartmouth College and Cornell.

1985. Died November 28 in Arlington, Virginia.

Consultant (various dates): Treasury Department, Department of Justice, War Production Board, Housing Administration, Council of Economic Advisers (1953), Department of Commerce, Economic Cooperation Administration.

Selected Publications:

1934. “The Rationalization of Electricity Supply in Great Britain,”  J. Land & Pub. Util. Econ. (Part I. August; Part II, November).

1937. (with C. R. Daugherty and S. S. Stratton) Economics of the Iron and Steel Industry.

1937. “The Nature of the Rate Base in the Regulation of Public Utilities,” Quarterly J. Econ.

1938. “Public Policy and Discriminatory Prices of Steel : A Reply to Prof. Fetter,”  J. Polit. Econ.

1938. “Revision of Railroad Rate Structures,” Southern Econ. J.

1939. (with S. S. Stratton) Price Research in the Steel and Petroleum Industries.

1941. “Electric Power as a Regional Problem,” Southern Econ. J.

1945. “Employment Policy and Organization of Industry after the War,” Am. Econ. Rev.

1946. (with others) Jobs and Markets.

1954. (editor). Regularization of Business Investment.

1956. “Some Gains from Unit Size in Industry,” Social Science.

1973. (with Alfred E. Kahn). Integration and Competition in the Petroleum Industry.

Source: Fellows of the Social Science Research Council, 1925-1951. pp. 87-88. Also see the Cornell University Faculty Memorial Statement.

Image Source: Cornell University Library. Portrait credited to Otis A. Arnst appeared in The Ithaca Journal (29 January 1952; 8 December 1953).