Author: Irwin Collier

Categories
Berkeley Economists Gender

Berkeley. Economics Ph.D. Alumna, Marjorie Ruth Clark, 1929.

 

Today’s post is another in the series “Meet an Economics Ph.D. alumna”. Marjorie Ruth Clark’s professional career took her from Berkeley (undergraduate and graduate education) to Nebraska (Home Economics) to Washington, D.C. (Departments of Agriculture and Labor) with about a fifteen year marriage/family “break” in between. 

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Dates

Born 18 December, 1899 in Eureka, Walla Walla, Washington.

Returned from France in June 1927.

University of California (Berkeley) Ph.D. 1929: Thesis “French syndicalism (1910-1927).

Source: University of California Graduate Division. Record of Theses Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of California, 1926 -1931. Supplement to Record for 1885-1926 (University of California, 1932),p. 23.

1936: Assistant director of the Labor Relations Division of the Resettlement Administration, Washington, D.C.  “She has been associate research professor of economics at the University of Nebraska, and a member of the Research Staff of the American Federation of Labor.”

Married Max Allen Egloff  12 March 1941  in Washington, D.C.

1959: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Assistant Commissioner, Publications and Program Planning. Office of Publications, Chief of the Special Publications Branch. Salary $9,890.

Source: United States Civil Service Commission. Official Register of the United States, 1959.

Died 16 March 1988 in Baltimore, Md. (Burial in Arlington National Cemetery)

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From newspaper reports in Nebraska

“Saturday, Dec. 22 saw the marriage of Miss Marjorie Ruth Clark to William John Hiller.” [Note: I have not found any other reference to this, perhaps annulled?]

Source: Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln Nebraska) 27 Jan 1929, p. 21.

 

Dr. Marjorie Ruth Clark of the agricultural college. Report of her survey of 180 households raising chickens. 197 women started, less than a score have dropped out. “Dr. Clark pays each of the recorders $1 a month”.

Source: The Lincoln Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) 7 November 1929, p. 22.

 

Miss Marjorie Ruth Clark associate professor in home economics research at Nebraska university, spent August 1930 studying organized labor and observing labor conditions in Mexico. Most work done in Mexico City in the government libraries.

Source: The Lincoln Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) 28 Sep 1930, p. 4.

 

Marjorie Ruth Clark Ph.D., associate professor of economics at the University of Nebraska, was awarded one of the research fellowships for 1931 by the Social Science Research Council.

Source: The Lincoln Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) 8 March 1931, p. 5.

 

Marjorie Ruth Clark, assistant [sic] professor of home economics at the university of Nebraska. Received on of thirty research fellowships by the Social Science Research council. Her fellowship extended for four months. “received her degree as doctor of philosophy in California and came to the University of Nebraska in 1928. Her home is at 1144 So. 11th.”

Source: The Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, Nebraska) 10 Apr. 1932, p. 12.

 

Granted four months leave of absence by the University of Nebraska (home economics department). Left Sunday for Washington “where she will work with the labor advisory board for the NRA and with the A.F. of L. in assisting in the representation of labor interests at code hearings and the preparation of labor briefs in connection with the various codes.”

Source: The Lincoln Star (Lincoln, Nebraska).. 4 October 1933, p. 7.

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Washington Post Obituary

MARJORIE RUTH CLARK EGLOFF
Labor Economist

Marjorie Ruth Clark Egloff, 88, a labor economist who had worked for the Department of Labor and the Department of Agriculture in Washington, died of congestive heart failure March 16 at St. Joseph Hospital in Baltimore.

Dr. Egloff was born in Walla Walla, Wash. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. She studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, then returned to Berkeley where she received a doctorate in labor economics.

She was on the faculty at the University of Nebraska before moving to Washington in the 1930s and joining the Department of Agriculture as a specialist on French and Mexican labor movements.

In 1940 [sic] she married Max Allen Egloff. They lived in the Caribbean during the 1940s and early 1950s, then returned to the Washington area. After the death of her husband in 1956 Dr. Egloff went to work for the Labor Department. She retired in 1965.

She wrote several books on labor movements in Mexico, France and elsewhere, and in retirement she edited yearly presidential manpower reports.

Dr. Egloff was a member of the National Press Club, the Woman’s National Democratic Club and the Westmoreland Congregational Church.

She lived in Washington before moving to Towson, Md., in 1985.

Survivors include two children, Dr. Allen C. Egloff of Arnold, Md., and Susan Egloff Efnor of Redlands, Calif., and two grandchildren.

Source: The Washington Post, March 19, 1988.

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Publications

Clark, Marjorie Ruth. The British Labour Government in Contemporary Opinion. University of California, Berkeley. M.A. thesis, 1925.

______________. Syndicalism in France, 1910-1927. University of California Publications in Economics (Vol. 8, no. 1), Berkeley, 1928. Ph.D. thesis, 484 pages.

______________ and Greta Gray. Water Carried for Household Purposes on Nebraska Farms. Bulletin, University of Nebraska, Agricultural Experiment Station, 234. Lincoln: University of Nebraska College of Agriculture, 1929.

______________. A History of the French Labor Movement (1910-1928). University of California Press, 1930.

______________. French Syndicalism of the Present. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 38 (June 1930), pp. 317-27.

Grace Margaret Morton and Marjorie Ruth Clark, “Income and Expenditures of Women Faculty Members in the University of Nebraska,” Journal of Home Economics, 1930.

______________ and Greta Gray. The Routine and Seasonal Work of Nebraska Farm Women. Bulletin, University of Nebraska, Agricultural Experiment Station, 238. Lincoln: University of Nebraska College of Agriculture, 1930.

______________. The Contribution of Nebraska Farm Women to Farm Income through Poultry and Dairy Products.  Bulletin, University of Nebraska, Agricultural Experiment Station, 258. Lincoln: University of Nebraska College of Agriculture, 1931.

______________. Organized Labor and the Family-Allowance System in France, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 39 (August 1931), pp. 526-37.

______________. History of the French Labor Movement (1910-1928). Diritto del labor, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 577ff.

______________. Organized Labor in Mexico. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1934.

______________. Recent History of Labor Organization. American Academy of Political and Social Science, Annals, Vol. 184 (March 1936), pp. 161ff.

______________. Recent History of Labor Organization. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 184 (1936): 161-68.

______________, and S. Fanny Simon. The Labor Movement in America New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1938.

______________. A Look at American Labor in 1959. Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 83, No. 1 (January 1960), pp. 10-17.

______________, ed. From the Best of the Monthly Labor Review. Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 88, No. 7, pp. 787-802.

 

Image Source: Marjorie Clark, junior year picture. University of California yearbook, The 1918 Blue and Gold, p. 358. (Record of 1916-17 published by the Junior Class in 1917)

 

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Undergraduate Public Finance, reading list and semester exams. Burbank and Musgrave, 1938-1939

 

Richard Abel-Musgrave received his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard in 1937. The following year he co-taught the undergraduate public finance course with Harold Burbank. The course reading list for the first term was incomplete in the Harvard University archives, but since the material corresponded very closely to that found in the 1937-38 folder, I have inserted the material as noted below.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 51. Professor Burbank and Dr. Abel-Musgrave.—Public Finance.

Total 58: 36 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1938-39, p. 98.

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Assignments for Economics 51
First Half-Year 38/39

Attention is directed particularly to the following books:

*Lutz, H.L. Public Finance (3d ed.)
Bastable, C.F. Public Finance (3d ed.)
Bullock, C.J. Selected Readings in Public Finance (3d. ed.)
Dalton, H. Principles of Public Finance (9th ed.)
Dewey, D.R. Financial History of the United States (11th ed.)
Fagan [E.D.] and Macy [C.W.] Public Finance
Hibbard, B.H. A History of the Public Land Policies
Lutz, H.L. The State Tax Commission
Mills [M.C.] and Star [G.W.] Readings in Public Finance and Taxation
Seligman, E.R.A. Essays in Taxation (10th ed.)
Seligman, E.R.A. The Income Tax
Seligman, E.R.A. Studies in Public Finance
Stamp, Sir Josiah Fundamental Principles of Taxation (2nd ed.)
Great Britain Report of the Committee on National Debt and Taxation
(The Colwyn Report, 1927)
Great Britain Report of the Committee on National Expenditure
(The May Report, 1931)
National Tax Association Proceedings
National Tax Association Bulletin
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury

 

Sept. 28  – Oct. 7; Pre-depression expenditures.

REQUIRED:
Introduction Lutz,  Ch. 1,2,3.
The increase of expenditure Lutz, Ch. 4,5.
War Finance Mills & Starr, Ch. 22, Sels. 52, 53.
Lutz, pp. 764-774

SUGGESTED:

Bastable, Public Finance, Bk. I, ch. 1-8.

Bullock, Readings, Ch. 2, 3.

Fagan & Macy, Public Finance, Ch. 1-4.

Haig, Public Finances of Post War France, Ch. 20.

Mallet, British Budgets, 1887-1913, 1913-1921, 1921-1933.

National Industrial Conference Board, Federal Finances, 1923-32.

National Industrial Conference Board, Cost of Government in the United States, 1925-26, 1926-27, 1929-30.

Report on Recent Social Trends, Vol. II, Ch. 25-26.

Smith, Deficits and Depressions, Ch. III.

Willoughby, W.F., Financial Condition and Operations of the National Government, 1921-30.

 

October 10  – 28; Depression expenditures and Finance.

REQUIRED:
Public Works Clark, The Economics of Public Works, Ch. 4-8, 11, 16.
Fagan & Macy, Ch. 3, Section 2.
The Debt Lutz, Chs. 29,31,33.
Bullock, Ch. 22,23.
Social Security Finance Anonymous (Wilcox), The Old Age Reserve Account, Q.J.E., May 37.
1937 Proceedings, National Tax Association, pp. 57-81.

SUGGESTED:

Current Economic Policies, Slichter on Public Works.

Dalton, Unbalanced Budgets: A study of the financial crisis in fifteen countries.

Gayer, Public Works in Prosperity and Depression.

Great Britain, Report of the Committee on National Expenditures, 31.

Hansen, A., Full Recovery or Stagnation, Part IV.

Hubbard, J., The Banks, the Budget, and Business.

Mallet, British Budgets, 21-33.

National Resources Committee, Public Works Planning.

Smith, Deficits and Depressions, Ch. 4-7.

Bastable, Public Finance, Bk. V.

Burgess, W.R., Reserve Banks and the Money Market, Ch. 6.

Fagan & Macy, Public Finance, Ch. 22-27.

Beckhart, B., New York Money Market, Vol. IV, Part II.

Hargreaves, The National Debt.

Hendricks, The Federal Debt, 1919-30.

Love, R.A., Federal Financing, esp. Ch. 8-14.

Pigou, Public Finance, Part III.

Matsushita, Economic Effects of Public Debts.

Seligman, Essays in Taxation, Ch. 23-24.

Studensky, P., Public Borrowing.

Burns, E.M., Social Security.

Douglas, Social Security in the United States.

Pribram, Reserves in Old Age Benefit Plans, Q.J.E., August 38.

Social Security Board, Social Security in America.

 

October 31  – Nov. 4; Proper limits to public spending.

REQUIRED:
Classical views Bullock, ch. 2.
Effects of Public Spending Dalton, ch. 2,3,18-20.
Lutz, ch. 8.

SUGGESTED:

De Marco, First Principles of Public Finance, ch.1.

Pigou, Public Finance, Part I.

Pigou, Economics of Welfare, Part IV, ch. 7-12.

Sidgwick, H., The Principles of Political Economy, 301, col., Book III.

 

[Pages missing, following three topics taken from the 1937-38 syllabus]

The Possibilities of Expenditure Control.

Required: Lutz, Ch. 6
Mills & Starr, Ch. 4, Section 8
Hillhouse & Welsh, Tax Limits Appraised.
Lutz, Ch. 35, 36.
Reorganization of the Executive Departments.
Suggested: Buck, A.E., The Budget in Governments of Today.
Buck, A.E., Public Budgeting.
Mallet, British Budgets, 1887-1913.
Mallet & George, British Budgets, 1913-1921, 1921-1932.

Revenues other than Taxes

Required: Lutz, Ch. 9, 19
Lutz, Ch. 11,12,13.
Mills & Starr, Ch. 7.
Mason, Power Aspects of the T.V.A., Q.J.E., Vol. 50, pp. 377-414.
Railroads and Government Annals, pp. 106-125, 133-141, 146-150.
Suggested: Bastable, Public Finance, Bk. II, Ch. 1-5.
Fagan & Macy, Public Finance, Ch. 5-7.
Knoop, D., Principles and Methods of Public Trading.
Public Administration Service, A Housing Program for the United States.
Current Developments in Housing, Annals, March 1937, pp. 83-95, 151-161.
Report of the United States Post Office.
Robson, W.A., Public Enterprise.
Seligman, Essays in Taxation, Ch. 14-15.
Splawn, Government Ownership and Operation of Railroads.
Tennessee Valley Authority, 1933-1937.

The Public Domain and Public Borrowing.

Required: Lutz, Ch. 10
Lutz, Part 4.
Bullock, Ch. 22, 23.
Suggested: Hibbard, Public Land Policies of the United States.
National Resources Board, Report of, Part II.
Nowell & Jessness, Land Use in Northern Minnesota.
Bastable, Public Finance, Bk. V.
Brown, H.G., Economics of Taxation, Ch. 1-2.
Burgess, W.R., Reserve Banks and the Money Market, Ch. 6.
Fagan & Macy, Public Finance, Ch. 22-27.
Hargreaves, The National Debt.
Hendricks, The Federal Debt, 1919-30.
Love, R.A., Federal Financing, esp. Ch. 8-14.
Pigou, Public Finance, Part III.
Seligman, Essays in Taxation, Ch. 23-24.
Studensky, P., Public Borrowing.
Beckhart, B., New York Money Market, Vol. IV, Part II.

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Economics 51
Assignments for the Second Half-Year
1938-39

(For general references see outline for first term.)

February 6 – 17. The Nature of Taxation and Criteria for a Sound Tax System.

Required: Introduction Lutz, Ch. 15, 16, 17.
Justice in Taxation Bullock, Ch. 8, 9.
Carver, Essays in Social Justice, Ch. 17.
Suggested: Bastable, Public Finance, Bk. III, Ch. 3,5.
Dalton, Public Finance, Ch. 4-9 (9th ed.)
Seligman, Progressive Taxation in Theory and Practice.
Stamp, Fundamental Principles of Taxation. (3d.ed).

February 20 – 27. Incidence and Effects of Taxation.

Required: Shifting of taxes Fagan and Macy, Ch. 9, sec. 2.
Lutz, pp. 378-386.
Shifting and effects Colwyn Report (Majority), Part I, Sec. 4.
Dalton, Public Finance, Ch. 10, 11, 12.
Suggested: Brown, H.G. Economics of Taxation.
Silverman, Taxation, Its Incidence and Effects.
Taussig, Some Aspects of the Tariff Question, (3rd ed.), Ch. 1.
Buehler, “Public Expenditures and Taxes”, in American Economic Review, Dec. 1938.

March 1 – 6. Property Taxation and its Reform

Required: Lutz, Ch. 22, 23
Fagan and Macy, Ch. 12, 14.
Silverhertz, Assessment of Real Property in the U.S.
Suggested: Blakey, Taxation in Minnesota, Ch. 5, 6.
Bullock, Readings, Selections 45, 46.
Fagan & Macy, Public Finance, Ch. 10, 11, 13.
Henry George, Progress and Poverty.
Fairchild, Forest Taxation in the U.S.
Jensen, Property Taxation in the United States.

March 8 – 24. Income Taxation: Personal and Business

Required: Federal Income Tax Personal:  Lutz, Ch. 20,21.
Corporate: Lutz, pp. 602-615.
Capital Gains: Fagan & Macy, Ch. 16, Pt. I.
State and Local Lutz, pp. 615-621.
Model Plan of State and Local Taxation.
Mills and Starr, Sel.42.
Suggested: Blakey, The State Income Tax.
Fagan & Macy, Ch. 15,16,17.
National Industrial Conference Board, State Income Taxes.
Seligman, The Income Tax.

 

March 27 – 31. Other Business Taxation

Required: Capital Stock and Excess Profits-Tax Lutz, pp. 587-602, 621-623.
Undistributed Profits Tax How Shall Business Be Taxed, Ch. 8,9,10.
Taxation of Banks Lutz, pp. 623-31.
Taxation of Public Utilities Mills & Starr, Sel. 43.
Summary How Shall Business Be Taxed, Ch. 4.
Suggested: Buehler, Undistributed Profits Tax.
Fagan & Macy, Public Finance, Ch. 19.
Haig, The Taxation of Excess Profits in Great Britain.
National Industrial Conference Board, State and Local Taxation of Business Corporations.

April 3 – 10. Vacation.

April 10 – 14. Death Duties

Required: Lutz, Ch. 27
Fagan and Macy, Ch. 18.
Rigano, Social Significance of the Inheritance Tax
Suggested: Schultz, The Inheritance Tax.

April 17 – 19. Commodity Taxation.

Required: Lutz, Ch. 24,26
Fagan and Macy, Ch. 20, Sect. 1,2.
Suggested: Buehler, General Sales Taxation.
Jacoby, N.H., Retail Sales Taxation.
National Industrial Conference Board, General Sales or Turnover Taxation.
Ibid., Sales Taxes, General, Selective, or Retail.

April 21 – May 6. Current Problems.

Required: Coordination of Tax System Lutz, Ch. 7.
Haig, “Co-ordination of Federal and State Tax Systems”,
Proceedings of National Tax Association, 1932.
Bitterman, Grants In Aid, Ch. 20[?].
Taxation and the Cycle Hicks, Finance of British Government, Ch. 18.
Budget, Debt and Tax Sources President’s Budget Message, Jan. 5, 193[?].

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 2. Folders “Economics, 1938-39” and “Econommics, 1937-38”.

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1938-39
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 51
[Mid-Year Examination]

Choose ONE question for an hour essay, and FOUR questions for half-hour answers. Wherever (a) and (b) are indicated take ONE PART ONLY; both cannot be taken.

  1. (a) What do you consider the most important factors underlying the post war expansion in Federal spending in the United States?
    (b) “The increase in spending the world over shows that the rise in the spending of the United States government is not to be explained in terms of party politics or New Deal theories. The underlying causes are more basic and general.” Discuss.
  2. (a) “Deficit spending in the depression is inevitable to finance necessary relief expenditures. But it is also desirable since it results in a rise in employment which in turn reduces the need for relief. There is no reason to expect a continuous deficit policy.” Discuss.
    (b) “The fear of a growing public debt is an unfortunate superstition. A ‘bigger and better’ public debt is, in fact, the only salvation for capitalism.” Discuss.
  3. Do you think that extravagance in public spending may be reduced by (1) centralization of fiscal control, and/or (2) governmental reorganization of existing spending units? Which measure do you favor?
  4. (a) “A determination of the relative efficiency of public and private enterprise meets with insurmountable obstacles. The ‘yard-stick’ criterion is a dangerous illusion.” Discuss.
    (b) “Government enterprises are perfect monopolies. The experience with private monopoly should make us realize what to expect from public ownership.” Discuss.
  5. Would you amend the Old Age Annuity Provision of the Social Security Act of 1935? If so, why and how?
  6. (a) Do you consider the German and English experience with the coordination of State and Local finances applicable to the United States? What lessons in particular may be learned?
    (b) Do you consider the allocation of ‘Block Grants’ under the British Local Government Act of 1929 a satisfactory solution of the grant problem? Could it be applied to Federal grants in the United States? With what possible amendments?
  7. “If it is realized that political democracy depends upon parliamentary control over public finances, it must similarly be realized that the Budget System is the key factor in the execution of such control. The United States Budget System is fully satisfactory from this point of view.” Do you agree?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-Year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 13. Bound Volume: Mid-Year Examinations, 1939. Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. January-February, 1939.

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1938-39
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 51
[Year-end Examination]

I

Write an hour essay on one question, and half-hour answers on three questions. Indicate essay question.

  1. “‘Justice in taxation’ is indeed a dangerous concept. It lacks precision, is readily abused and beclouds the real issue of the tax problem.” Discuss with detailed and accurate illustrations.
  2. “From the interdependence of prices it follows that the burden of a tax, no matter where the point of impact may be, will spread throughout the economic system and finally will come to rest upon the consumers at large.” Discuss.
  3. Take either (a) or (b). Both cannot be taken.
    1. “The taxation of business has been the most criticized part of the federal tax system; and for this there is good reason.” Discuss.
    2. To what extent would you attribute the failure or success of the New Deal to its tax policy? Present your point of view with reference to specific
  4. “The rivalry between Federal State and Local governments for tax sources is unfortunate. To obtain a well balanced tax system, a sharp division of revenue sources between the different levels of government is necessary.” Discuss.
  5. Give a critical account of the ‘Model Plan of State and Local Taxation.’

II

Write for one half-hour on one of the following:

  1. “The experience of the world war has shown that tax-finance of wars is neither possible nor desirable.” Discuss.
  2. Discuss the main factors to be considered in determining the ‘taxable capacity’ of a country. Illustrate with reference to the United States.
  3. Discuss some of the major characteristics of post-war British tax policy. In what respects does it set an example for future American policy?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 4, Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. June, 1939.

Images Sources: Richard A. Musgrave (right). University of Michigan Faculty History Project.

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Year-end exam on Henry George and H. C. Carey. Dunbar, 1884

 

The 1883-84 academic year at Harvard marked a notable expansion in economics course offerings. From this point on I’ll almost only post materials for a single course at a time, though sometimes I’ll transcribe a few years’ worth of course materials. For the second course in political economy taught at Harvard in 1883-84 it appears that the first semester was devoted to the history of economic theory with the primary text being Cairnes’ Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (1878). Unfortunately I haven’t yet found the mid-year final examination. However I have found a copy of the end-of-year final exam that covered Henry George’s Progress and Poverty (1881) and most likely the abridged version of H.C. Carey’s Principles of Social Science by Kate McKean (1865).

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Course Enrollment:

Political Economy 2. Prof. Dunbar. History of Economic Theory and an Examination of Recent Doctrines. — Cairnes’s Leading Principles. — George’s Progress and Poverty. — Carey’s Social Science.  3 hours per week in 1st half-year, 2 in 2d

Total 23: 2 Graduates, 18 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1883-1884, p. 71

 

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Year-end Examination. June 1884]

[Of 1, 2, and 3 one may be omitted.]

  1. “But the fundamental truth, that in all economic reasoning must be firmly grasped and never let go, is that society in its most highly developed form is but an elaboration of society in its modest beginnings, and that principles obvious in the simpler relations of men are merely disguised and not abrogated or reversed by the more intricate relations that result from the division of labor and the use of complex tools and methods.” [Henry George, Progress and Poverty, 5th edition, 1883, p. 23]
    What limits, if any, should you set to the validity of arguments thus drawn from the case of primaeval society?
  2. How far does the proposition that “the power of any population to produce the necessaries of life is not to be measured by the necessaries of life actually produced, but by the expenditure of power in all modes,” or that “the power of producing wealth in any form is the power of producing subsistence,” serve as an answer to the Malthusian theory? [Henry George, Progress and Poverty, 5th edition, 1883, p. 127]
  3. Compare (1) George’s views as to the increase of general productive power when population is advancing, with (2) Carey’s theory that in the progress of society it becomes possible to devote a larger proportion of a constantly increasing force to the development of natural resources, and with (3) the ordinary reasoning as to increasing difficulty of subsistence.
  4. “If it be true that wages depend upon the ratio between the amount of labor seeking employment and capital devoted to its employment, then high wages must be accompanied by low interest, and reversely. This is not the fact, but the contrary” [as g. in new countries]. [Henry George, Progress and Poverty, 5th edition, 1883, p. 17]
  5. “Both Smith and Ricardo use the term ‘natural wages’ to express the minimum upon which laborers can live; whereas, unless injustice is natural, all that the laborer produces should rather be held as his natural wages.” [Henry George, Progress and Poverty, 5th edition, 1883, p. 146]
    Point out the ambiguity.
  6. “Without any increase in population, the progress of invention constantly tends to give a larger and larger proportion of the produce to the owners of land, and a smaller and smaller one to labor and capital. And, as we can assign no limits to the progress of invention, neither can we assign any limit to the increase of rent, short of the whole produce.” [Henry George, Progress and Poverty, 5th edition, 1883, p. 227]
    Consider the reasoning by which these propositions are sustained.
  7. What answer is there to Mr. George’s theory that rent, resting upon a monopoly, is able to, and does, intercept any gains which might otherwise accrue to labor?
  8. Suppose all rents to be confiscated by means of taxation, what would be the effect upon the condition of the laboring class?
  9. Carey says:—
    “It may be asked, why should a very rare copy of an ancient work sell for many times its original price? Value is limited to the cost of reproduction; and when an object cannot be reproduced, its value has no limit but the fancy of those who desire to possess it.” [Kate McKean’s Manual of Social Science, being a Condensation of Principles of Social Science by H.C. Carey (1879), p. 88]
    Can the class of cases, thus admitted to exist, of objects which “cannot be reproduced,” be made to include land?
  10. Increasing ease of reproduction of money and of improved land is given as the reason for a decline of both interest and rent as society advances. Why then should not land fall in value as well as money?
  11. Upon Mr. Carey’s reasoning, excluding the law of diminishing returns, how is the rise in value of agricultural produce as society advances to be reconciled with the cheapening effects of agricultural improvement?
  12. What logical necessity has compelled Mr. Carey to assume the existence of a law of diminishing fecundity in the human race? [Kate McKean’s Manual of Social Science, being a Condensation of Principles of Social Science by H.C. Carey (1879), p. 436] Compare this with the reasoning which leads to the Malthusian conclusion as to the ultimate necessity for checks upon increase, either positive or preventive.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 2, Bound volume, Examination Papers 1883-86: Papers set for Final Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy,… in Harvard College (June, 1884), pp. 8-9.

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Johns Hopkins Suggested Reading Syllabus

Johns Hopkins. International Economics Reading List. Balassa, 1968

 

The content of the course titled “International Economics” taught by Bela Balassa at Johns Hopkins University in 1968 was actually limited to pure trade theory, commercial policy and economic integration. The reading list for Balassa’s other course at Johns Hopkins University, “Trade and Economic Development“, was posted earlier. 

___________________

Department of Economics
International Economics 641
Fall, 1968
Dr. Balassa

Bibliography and Reading List

Abbreviations of Books

Books are referred to by authors unless otherwise noted.

RIT, Readings in International Economics

RTIT, Readings in the Theory of International Trade

Balassa, B., The Theory of Economic Integration

Baldwin et al, Trade, Growth and the Balance of Payments

Caves, R., Trade and Economic Structure

Haberler, G., The Theory of International Trade

Johnson, H.G., International Trade and Economic Growth

Linder, S.B., An Essay on Trade and Transformation

Marshall, Money, Credit, and Commerce

Meade, J. E., Trade and Commerce

_________, A Geometry of International Trade

Mill, J. S., Principles of Political Economy

Ohlin, B., Interregional and International Trade

Ricardo, D., The Principles of Political Economy

Scitovsky, T., Economic Theory and Western European Integration

Travis, W.P., The Theory of Trade and Protections

Vanke, J., International Trade: Theory and Economic Policy

Viner, J., I, Studies in the Theory of International Trade

_________ II, The Customs Union Issue

Abbreviations of Periodicals

AER, American Economic Review

BOUIS, Bulletin of Oxford University Institute of Statistics

Econ., Economica

EI, Economia Internazionale

EJ, Economic Journal

ER, Economic Record

IEP, International. Economic Papers

JPE, Journal of Political Economy

Ky, Kyklos

OEP, Oxford Economic Papers

QJE, Quarterly Journal of Economics

RES, Review of Economics and Statistics

RESt, Review of Economic Studies

WA, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv

NOTE: The non-starred items are assigned, the starred ones recommended .

General Surveys

Haberler, G., A Survey of International Trade Theory, Special Papers in International Economics, No. 1, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey

Corden, W.M., Recent Developments in the Theory of International Trade, ibid., No. 7

Bhagwati, J., “The Pure Theory of International Trade,” Economic Journal, March, 1964

Chipman, J.S., “A Survey of the Theory of International Trade,” Econometrica, July, October,1965, January, 1966

Caves, R.E., Trade and Economic Structure

Kemp, M.C., The Pure Theory of International Trade

I. The Classical Theory of International Trade

Ricardo, ch. 7

Mill, Book III, ch. 17, 18, 25

Marshall, Appendix J.

Haberler, ch. IX-XII

Viner, I, ch. VIII

*Mynt, H., “The Classical Theory of International Trade and the Underdeveloped Countries,” EJ, June, 1958.

*Vanek, J., “An Afterthought on the ‘Real Cost-Opportunity Cost’ Dispute and some Aspects of General Equilibrium Under Conditions of Variable Factor Supplies,” RESt, June, 1959.

*Walsh, V.C., “Leisure and International Trade,” Econ., August, 1959

II. Criticisms and Extensions of the Classical Theory

Williams, J.H., “The Theory of International Trade Reconsidered,” RTIT, ch. 12

Graham, F.D., “The Theory of International Values Re-Examined,” RTIT, ch. 14

Whitin, T.M., “Classical Theory, Graham’s Theory, and Linear Programming in International Trade,” QJE, November, 1953.

Ohlin, ch. I-VI, Appendix III.

Robinson, R., “Factor Proportions and Comparative Advantage,” RIT, ch. 1

Kenen, P.B., “Nature, Capital, and Trade,” JPE, October, 1965

*Metzler, L., “Professor Graham’s Theory of International Values,” AER, June, 1950

*Posner, M.V., “International Trade and Technical Change,” OEP, October, 1961

*Becker, G.S., “A Note on Multi-Country Trade,” AER, September, 1952.

*Kravis, I.B., “Availability and Other Influences on the Commodity Composition of Trade,” JPE, April, 1956

*Michaely, M., “Factor Proportions in International Trade: Current State of the Theory, ” Ky, 1964 (4)

III. Comparative Costs and International Trade: Further Developments

Leontief, W., “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” RTIT, ch. 10

Samuelson, P., “Social Indifference Curves,” QJE, February, 1956

Haberler, G., “Some Problems in the Pure Theory of International Trade,” RIT, ch.13

Isard, W., and M.J. Peck, “Location Theory and International and Interregional Trade,” QJE, February, 1954

Linder, ch. 3

Balassa, B., “Tariff Reductions and Trade in Manufactures Among Industrial Countries,” AER, June, 1966

*Lösch, A., “A New Theory of International Trade,” IEP, Vol. 6

*Posner, M.V., “International Trade and Technical Change,” OEP, October, 1961

*Grubel, H.G., “Intra-Industry Specialization and the Pattern of Trade,” CJEPS, August, 1967

*Matthews, R.C.O., “Reciprocal Demand and Increasing Returns,” RESt (1949- 50)

*Vanek, ch. XII-XIV

*Ohlin, ch. X-XII

*Meade, II, ch. I-III

IV. Comparative Cost Theory: Empirical Verification

Leontief, W., “Domestic Production and Foreign Trade,” RIT, ch. 30 and RES, November, 1956

Vanek, J., “The Natural Resource Content of Foreign Trade, 1870-1955, and the Relative Abundance of Natural Resources in the United States,” RES, May, 1959

Keesing, D.B., “Labor Skills and International Trade,” RES, August, 1965

Gruber, W., Mehta, D., and Vernon, R., “The R & D Factor in International Trade and International Investment of United States Industries,” JPE, February, 1967

MacDougall, G., “British and American Exports: A Study Suggested by the Theory of Comparative Costs,” EJ, December, 1951

Balassa, B., “An Empirical Demonstration of Comparative Cost Theory,” RES, August, 1963

*Comments on the Leontief-Paradox:

Ellsworth, RES, August, 1954
Swerling, RES, August, 1954
Valavanis-Vail, JPE, December, 1954
Buchanan, EI, November, 1955
Valavanis, Robinson, Elliott, Vaccale, Leontief, RES, February, 1958
Kreinin, AER, March, 1965

*Minhas, B.S., An International Comparison of Factor Costs and Factor Use.

*Moroney, J.R., and Walker, J.M., “A Regional Test of the Heckscher-Ohlin Hypothesis,” JPE, December, 1966

V. Factor-Price Equalization and Income Distribution

Heckscher, E., “The Effect of Foreign Trade on the Distribution of Income,” RTIT, ch. 13

Samuelson, P., “International Factor Price Equalization Once Again,” RIT, ch. 3

Johnson, H.G., “Factor Endowments, International Trade and Factor Prices,” in Johnson, ch. 1 and RIT, ch. 5

Balassa, B., “The Factor-Price Equalization Controversy,” WA, Vol. 87, No. 1 (1961)

Rybczynski, T.M., “Factor Endowments and Relative Commodity Prices,” RIT, ch. 4

Stolper, W., and Samuelson, P., “Protection and Real Wages” RTIT, ch. 15

*Lancaster, K., “Protection and Real Wages: A Restatement,” EJ, June, 1967

*Bhagwati, J., “Protection, Real Wages and Real Income,” EJ, December, 1959

*Pierce, I., McKenzie, L.W., and Samuelson, P., “More About Factor Price Equalization,” IER, October, 1967

*Samuelson. P., “Equalization by Trade of the Interest Rate Along With the Real Wage,” in Baldwin, pp. 35-52

*Jones, R.W., “The Structure of Simple General Equilibrium Models,” JPE, December, 1965

*Minabe, N., “The Stolper-Samuelson Theorem, the Rybczynski Effect, and the Heckscher-Ohlin Theory of Trade Pattern and Factor Price Equalization,” CJEPS, August, 1967

Travis, ch. II, III

VI. Gains from Trade

Viner, J, ch. IX (up to p. 565)

Samuelson, P., “The Gains from International Trade,” RTIT, ch. 2

Samuelson, P., “The Gains from International Trade Once Again,” EJ, December, 1962

Meade, I , ch. IX

Baldwin, R.E., “The New Welfare Economics and Gains in International Trade,” RIT, ch. 12

*Giersch, H., “The Trade Optimum,” IEP, Vol. 7

*Kenen, D.B., “On the Geometry of Welfare Economics,” QJE, August, 1957

*Kemp, M.C., “The Gains from International Trade,” December, 1962

*Vanek, ch. XV

VII. The Theory of Tariffs

Scitovsky, T., “A Reconsideration of the Theory of Tariffs,” RTIT, ch. 16

Metzler, L.A., “Tariffs, International Demand, and Domestic Prices” RIT, ch. 2

Johnson, “Optimum Tariffs and Retaliation,” in Johnson, ch. II

_________, “The Cost of Protection and the Scientific Tariff,” JPE, August, 1960

Balassa, B., “Tariff Protection in Industrial Countries : An Evaluation,” RIT, ch. 3

Corden, W.M., “The Structure of the Tariff System and the Effective Protective Rate,” JPE, June, 1966

*Meade II, ch. VI

*Vanek, ch. XVI

*Lerner, A.P., “The Symmetry Between Import and Export Taxes,” RIT, ch. 11

*Fleming, J.M., “The Optimal Tariff from an International Point of View,” RES, February, 1956

*Baldwin, R.E., “The Effect of Tariffs on International and Domestic Prices,” QJE, February, 1960

*Johnson, H.G., “A Model of Protection and the Exchange Rate,” RESt, Vol XXXIII No. 2

*Bhagwati, J., “On the Equivalence of Tariffs and Quotas,” in Baldwin, pp. 53-67

VIII. Trade and Factor Movements

Mundell, R.A., “International Trade and Factor Mobility,” RIT, ch. 7

McDougall, G.D.A., “The Benefits· and Costs of Private Investment from Abroad: A Theoretical Approach,” RIT, ch. 10

Corden, W.M., “Protection and Foreign Investment,” ER, May, 1967

Vernon, R., “International Investment and International Trade in the Product Cycle,” QJE, May 1966

Johnson, H.G., Comparative Cost and Commercial Policy Theory in a Developing World Economy (Stockholm, Alqvist and Wiksell, 1968)

Jones, R. W., “International Capital Movement and the Theory of Tariffs and Trade,” QJE, February, 1967

*Olivera, J.H.G., “Is Free Trade a Perfect Substitute for Factor Mobility?”, EJ, March, 1967

*Corden, W.M., “The Economic Limits of Population Increase,” ER, November, 1955

*Jasay, A.E., “The Social Choice between Home and Overseas Investment,” EJ, March, 1960

*Frankel, M., “Home vs. Foreign Investment,” BOUIS, August, 1960.

*Penrose, E., “Foreign Investment and the Growth of the Firm,” EJ, June, 1956

*Kemp, M.C., “Foreign Investment and National Advantage,” ER, March, 1962

IX. Economic Integration

Viner, II, ch. I-IV, VII

Balassa, B., ch. 1-12

Scitovsky, ch. I, III

Lipsey, R.G., “The Theory of Customs Unions: A General Survey,” EJ, September·, 1960

Spraos, “The Conditions for a Trade Creating Customs Union,” EJ, March, 1964;

Mishan, “Comment,” March, 1965; Spraos, “Rejoinder,” September, 1965

Johnson, H.G., “An Economic Theory of Protectionism, Tariff Bargaining, and the Formation of Customs Unions,” JPE, June, 1965

Balassa, B., “Trade Creation and Trade Diversion in the European Common Market,” EJ, March, 1967

*Lipsey, R.G. and Lancaster, K., “The General Theory of the Second Best,” RESt, 1956-57 (1)

*Dosser, D., “Welfare Effects of Tax Unions,” RESt, June, 1964

*Meade, J.E., The Theory of Customs Unions

*Cooper, C.A., and Massell, B.V., “A New Look at Customs Union Theory,” December, 1965

*Michaely, M., “On Customs Unions and the Gains from Trade,” EJ, September, 1965

*Flanders, June, “Measuring Protectionism and Predicting Trade Diversion,” JPE, April, 1965

*Krause, L.B., The Meaning of European Economic Integration for the United States, Ch. 2-3

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Eisenhower Library, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives, Department of Political Economy. Series 5/6. Box 6/1, Folder “Course Outlines and Reading Lists c. 1900, c. 1950, 1963-68”.

Image Source: Portrait of Bela Balassa in the Johns Hopkins University Yearbook, Hullabaloo 1976. Note that the image posted on the Béla Belassa page at the website Alchetron mistakenly uses a photo of Balassa Sándor Erkel Ferenc.

 

 

Categories
Chicago Economists Exam Questions

Chicago. Economic Price Theory Prelim Exam taken by Zvi Griliches. Winter quarter 1955.

 

With this post Economics in the Rear-view Mirror adds two more preliminary exams from the University of Chicago (here, from the Winter Quarter of 1955) to its growing collection of artifacts that provide us a digital record of economics education through the years. The original document was found in Milton Friedman’s files which provide us the additional information of the names of the examination committee as well as names, together with Friedman’s own test scores and his answers to the True-False questions. Of interest to note: Zvi Griliches not only attained the greatest number of points awarded by Friedman (120 points of 185 possible points), but he finished far ahead of the rest of the pack–the second highest exam only received 86 points which incidentally was more than enough to clear this PhD requirement. The Committee failed two students and four students passed the exam for the M.A. degree. Milton Friedman appears to have been the toughest grader of the three members of the Committee.

_____________________________________

Economic Theory Examination Committee:
M. Friedman, chairman; F. H. Knight; D. G. Johnson.

There were 13 examinees for Economic Theory I. These included Zvi Griliches (who incidentally blew the top off the curve according to Friedman’s grades) and Walter Oi.

Griliches Interview with Alan Krueger and Timothy Taylor from June 21, 1999.
Memorial blogpost for Walter Oi by Steve Landsburg on December 26, 2013

There were 2 examinees for Economic Theory II.

_____________________________________

Previously transcribed and posted Preliminary and Field Exams
from the graduate program of the University of Chicago

Economic Theory I and II. Summer 1949
Economic Theory I and II. Summer 1951
Economic Theory I and II. Summer 1952
Economic Theory I. Summer 1955
Economic Theory I and II. Winter 1955
Money and Banking. Summer 1956
Economic Theory. Winter 1957
Money and Banking. Summer 1959
Economic Theory (Old Rules). Summer 1960
Price Theory. Winter 1964
Income, Employment and Price Level. Summer 1967
Money and Banking. Summer 1967
Price Theory. Winter 1969
Income, Employment, Price Level. Winter 1969
Money and Banking. Winter 1969
International Trade. Winter 1970
History of Economic Thought. Summer 1974
Price Theory. Summer 1975
Industrial Organization. Spring 1977
History of Economic Thought. Summer 1989

_____________________________________

Economic Theory I
Preliminary Examination
Winter, 1955
[Milton Friedman’s answers in square brackets]

Time: 4 hours.

Write your number and not your name on your examination paper. Please be brief in your replies.

  1. (30 points) Indicate whether each of the following statements is True, False, or Uncertain and justify your answer briefly.
    1. [False] Production of a commodity occurs under conditions of fixed proportions. The supply curve for A shifts to the right. It is to the advantage of the owners of A that expenditure on A shall have represented a small part of total costs.
    2. [False] A firm will not carry on production at a given level of output, if one factor exhibits increasing average returns at that output level.
    3. [appears to be False with True crossed out] When a firm is in equilibrium, the ratio of the price of a factor to the marginal physical product of the factor determines the marginal cost of production.
    4. [True or Uncertain] If the demand for output is perfectly elastic, a decline in the price of factor A will always increase the demand for factor B unless A and B are perfect substitutes (only two factors employed).
    5. [True] If the demand for output is less than perfectly elastic, a decline in the price of A may either increase or decrease the demand for factor B.
    6. [False] If a monopsonist is not a monopolist, it is possible to construct the monopsonist’s demand curve for a factor.
    7. [False] If all the factors used by a firm are paid the value of their marginal products, the sum of the payments will equal the total receipts of the firm.
    8. [False] If all factors are paid the value of their marginal products, it would not be possible to increase total real output of the economy by any change in the allocation of factors.
  2. (15 points) In an article on the British tobacco industry, the Economist remarked:
    “Since 1938 the industry has had to contend with a sixfold rise in the standard rate of tobacco duty, and a three- to fourfold increase in the average cost of its principal raw material—this includes the higher cost of dollar leaf bought since sterling devaluation. All eight duty increases have been automatically passed on to the smoker, but if duty is left out of account the increase in cigarette prices since 1938 has been no more than about 85 per cent.”
    What do you take “passed on” to mean in this sentence? What is its relation to the economic concept of “incidence”? What inference, if any, would you draw about the latter?
  3. (20 points) Assuming that a monopolist always fixes price so as to maximize profits, can the price of a commodity ever be lower when it is monopolized than when it is competitively produced?
  4. (30 points) Trace the development of the theory of consumer choice. Include in your answer an explanation of (a) the meaning attached by Smith to “effectual demand”, (b) the role assigned by Ricardo to demand in determining prices; (c) Jevons “the final degree of utility determines price”; (d) the contribution of Edgeworth, Fisher, and Pareto.
  5. (20 points) It is widely asserted that workers have less “bargaining power” than employers because there are more workers than employers. Discuss.
  6. (25 points) Discuss the following concepts (a) the “postponement” of consumption said to be involved in saving and investment, (b) “abstinence”, (c) “time preference”, (d) the “marginal efficiency of investment”, (e) the “marginal efficiency of capital”.
  7. (45 points) For each of the following methods of financing radio and television programs, indicate how the resulting structure of programs differs from the optimum: and under what conditions, if any, it would be an optimum. In interpreting “optimum”, assume that the only consideration is direct private benefit from the programs; neglect distributional effects, i.e., treat it as a purely allocative problem; and assume that there are no such public issues involved as “education” or “indoctrination”. On the technical side, assume throughout that there are a narrowly limited total number of frequencies or channels available in any one area. Make your answer as definite as possible in terms of the kind of people whose tastes are or are not catered to appropriately, the kinds of programs that are too numerous or too sparse, etc. In answering the question, assume throughout that it is possible without cost to know exactly the number and kind of people who listen to each program.
    1. The existing U.S. method of selling time to advertisers.
    2. Imposition of an annual license tax or fee on each set; auctioning off of time to private program producers; compensation of these producers by giving to each a share of the total tax collection equal to the fraction of total listener time devoted to his programs. Assume that advertising is forbidden.
    3. Some mechanical method whereby a subscriber can receive a particular program only if he pays through a coin-box arrangement for that particular program. The programs are to be provided by private producers who receive the payments, who buy time on the stations, as in the preceding case, and who can determine the amount charged for the programs they produce. Once again, assume that advertising is forbidden.

 

 

ECONOMIC THEORY II
Preliminary Examination
WINTER 1955

Time: 2½ hours.

Note: Write only your number, not your name, on your examination paper.

Answer question 1, and two others.

 

  1. Using the Table below, explain the variations in the real income, the price level, the velocity of circulation, the government and private investment, the rate of unemployment, the ratio of savings to income, and whatever else you consider significant.

TABLE

The following figures are based on the Economic Report to the President, 1955.
Note: (a) All figures except those for item A are expressed as percentages of the corresponding 1937 figure; (b) item F is defined to be equal to “gross private domestic investment” plus “government purchase of goods and services” plus“net foreign investment”, all in 1947 prices.

 1929

1933

 1937 1941 1945 1949

1953
A. Unemployment as percentage of civilian labor force

3.2

 24.9 14.3 9.9 1.9 5.0

2.5
B. Civilian employment 103

84

 100 109 114 127

134
C. Demand deposits and currency (non-deflated) 89

67

 100 164 346 376

441
D. National income (non-deflated) 119

55

 100 142 246 294

414
E. Consumer price index 119

90

 100 102 125 166

186
F. Gross national product less consumption (in 1947 prices) 100

41

 100 160 281 165

262
G.  D/C 134

82

 100 87 71 78

94
H.  D/E 100

61

 100 139 197 178

222
I.  H/B 97

72

 100 128 172 140

166
J.  F/H 100

67

 100 115 146 93

118
  1. It is often said that the U.S. economy is less likely to suffer a severe depression today than it was twenty or thirty years ago. List and discuss major changes which have taken place which bear on this statement.
  2. Suppose the tax on capital income (dividends, interest) is increased. What will be the effect on the demand for cash if the tax proceeds are spent on: (a) aid to foreign countries; (b) federal contribution to medical aid in the United States.
  3. In the Confederate States, the ratio of bank reserves to deposits grew rapidly during 1862-64. This ratio also grew in the period 1933-37 in the Unites States. Explain these phenomena. Evaluate the action taken by the Governors of the Federal Reserve Board in 1936 and 1937, when they raised the required minimum reserve ratio.
  4. The stock of money (currency and demand deposits) per capita was about 800 dollars in June 1953 as against about 100 dollars in June 1910. Explain the increase.

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Milton Friedman Papers. Box 76. Folder 2 “University of Chicago, Economic Theory”.

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

Categories
Exam Questions Gender Harvard

Harvard. Political Economy Examination for Women, 1878

 

The motivation behind the examinations offered by Harvard University to women (beginning in 1874) was “to afford persons desirous of becoming teachers in schools such a diploma of competency for their task as would be received on all hands with respect, and, further, to promote a higher standard of attainments in the private schools attended by the wealthier classes, by thus securing them thoroughly qualified teachers.” However, it was understood that “the preparation for these examinations [was not] equivalent to a course in Harvard, or other first-class colleges, and that they did not place the same value on a Harvard diploma and a Harvard certificate.”

The Harvard 1874 Advanced Examination in Political Economy for Women was previously posted.

The examination was based on Henry Fawcett’s “Manual of Political Economy” [1874] and Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui’s “Histoire de l’Économie Politique en Europe.” [4e èd. Rev. et annot. (1860). Tome Premier; Tome Second]

________________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY.
FAWCETT.

  1. Distinguish productive labor and productive consumption from unproductive. Are “useful” and “productive” convertible terms in political economy?
  2. What is capital? How does the popular use of the term differ from its scientific use? When Macleod contends that “credit is capital,” what is the real point of difference between him and other writers
  3. What causes determine the prices of manufactured commodities, temporarily and in the long run? How do the causes which determine the prices of agricultural commodities differ from the above?
  4. 1What determines the value of money? 2How far does it receive value from being coined and made a legal tender? 3What determines the value of inconvertible paper? 4Does it receive value from being made a legal tender? 5When a legal tender, is its value affected by the greater or less chance of its being paid off?
  5. Explain carefully Ricardo’s theory of rent, showing under what conditions rent can be an element of price, and explaining the application of the theory to a country like the United States, where the cultivators, as a rule, own the land.
  6. What causes the observed tendency of profits to fall as a country advances in age, wealth, and population?
  7. State the general principles which determine the exchange of commodities between two countries. How and why does this international trade differ from domestic trade?
  8. Why do the exports of India regularly exceed her imports, and the exports of the British Islands fall short of their imports? How are these facts to be reconciled with the general principle that the exports of a country must balance its imports?
  9. The United States being a gold-producing country, would exchange on Europe, when commerce is in its normal condition, be “in our favor,” against us, or at par? Why? Would this state of things be for our disadvantage or not?
  10. When a building, e. g., a store, is built on valuable ground and a tax is laid as usual on the total value, what will be the incidence of the tax? Will it have this incidence at once, or in the long run? Suppose the premises are held under a lease for a term of years?
  11. If a tax were laid at a uniform rate on all property of every description, would it meet the requirements of Adam Smith’s first rule?
  12. If a government has a large expenditure to make (1) in some productive enterprise, or (2) for some unproductive purpose, is it better that the amount should be raised at once by taxation, or by loan?

 

BLANQUI.

  1. Contrast the system on which the Bank of Amsterdam and the Bank of England were respectively established.
  2. What was the English act of navigation? When and why was it passed? What position do Adam Smith and J. S. Mill take as to its expediency?
  3. When did the “French Economists” flourish, and what were the distinctive characteristics of that school?
  4. Give what account you can of Turgot and his reforms.
  5. What was “the continental blockade,” and what were its economic effects, both before and after the declaration of peace?
  6. Under what circumstances was Malthus led to write his Essay on Population?
  7. What contribution did J. B. Say make, or what service did he render, to economic science?
  8. Give what account you can of the socialist system of St. Simon.
  9. What share had Ricardo, Mill, and Cairnes, respectively, in the development of the system of political economy, and in what relations do they stand to each other as writers developing the same subject?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915 (HUC 7000.25), Box 2. Bound volume: Examination Papers 1878-79. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Used at the Examinations for Women held at Cambridge, New York, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati, May 29 to June 6, 1878. Cambridge, Mass., 1878, pp. 42-44.

 

Image Sources:

Henry Fawcett (left) The University of Glasgow Story website; Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui (right): Austrian National Library. Website Bildarchiv Austria.

 

 

 

Categories
M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Reading list for graduate Monetary Economics I. Modigliani and Poole, 1977

In the previous post we find the reading list for the nominally second course for the money field at M.I.T. However typically the courses were taken in the reverse order (Monetary Economics II (14.463) in the Fall followed by Monetary Economics I (14.462) in the Spring. 

I will go out on a limb here and assert that Ben Bernanke’s graduate training in monetary economics was, if not exactly these two courses, then observationally equivalent content-wise to this and the previous course. 

_____________________

Earlier versions

Albert Ando and Franco Modigliani’s reading list for monetary economics at M.I.T. in 1960/61.

William Poole’s 1964 reading list at Johns Hopkins University for Monetary Theory.

_____________________

14.462—Monetary Economics
Franco Modigliani and William Poole
Spring 1977

Asterisks indicate required reading

Abbreviations

AER: American Economic Review
BPEA: Brookings Papers on Economic Activity
EI: Economic Inquiry
IER: International Economic Review
JEL: Journal of Economic Literature
JF: Journal of Finance
JMCB: Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking
JME: Journal of Monetary Economics
JPE: Journal of Political Economy
NBER: National Bureau of Economic Research
NEER: New England Economic Review
OQM: Milton Friedman, The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays
QJE: Quarterly Journal of Economics

General References

Shapiro, Solomon and White. Money and Banking. Fifth edition. Hot, Rinehart and Winston, 1968.

Jacobs, Farwell and Heave. Financial Institutions. Fifth edition. Irwin, 1972.

I. Introduction—The Nature of Money and Other Claims

Einzig, Paul, Primitive Money, Pergamon Press. 1966.

*Federal Reserve System, Flow of Funds Accounts, 1967-1975. Washington, D.C.

*Friedman, Milton and Anna J. Schwartz, Monetary Statistics of the United States, pp. 86-198.

*Patinkin, Donald, “Money and Wealth: A Review Article,” JEL 7 (Dec. 1969), 1140-60.

Robertson, Dennis Money. Cambridge University Press. Chapters 1-3.

*Tobin, James, Manuscript. Chapters 1 and 2.

II. The Supply of Money and the Balance Sheets of Commercial Banks

Brunner, Karl and Allan Meltzer, “Some Further Investigations of Supply and Demand Functions for Money,” JF, May 1964.

Burger, Albert, The Money Supply Process. Wadsworth, 1971.

Cagan, Phillip, Determinants and Effects of Changes in the Stock of Money, 1876-1960. NBER, 1965. Chapters 2 and 3.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Controlling Monetary Aggregates, I and II. Conference Series Number 1 and 9.

Fouzek, P.G., Foreign Central Banking, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Frost, Peter, and Thomas Sargent, “Money Market Rates, the Discount Rate and Borrowing from the Federal Reserve,” JMCB, February 1970.

Goldfeld, Stephan and Edward Kane, “The Determinants of Member Bank Borrowing,” JF, September 1966.

Hester, Donald and James Pierce, Bank Management and Portfolio Behavior, Cowles Foundation, 1975.

*Meade, James, “The Amount of Money and the Banking System,” reprinted in Readings in Monetary Theory, American Economic Association Series.

*Meek, Paul, Open Market Operations, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 1973.

*Modigliani, Franco, Robert Rasche and J. Phillip Cooper, “Central Bank Policy, the Money Supply and Short Term Interest Rates,” JMCB, May 1970.

*Poole, William, “Commercial Bank Reserve Management in a Stochastic Model: Implications for Monetary Policy,” JF 23 (Dec. 1968), pp. 769-91.

Poole, William and Charles Lieberman, “Improving Monetary Control,” BPEA, 1972:2.

*Thomson, Thomas, James Pierce and Robert Parry, “A Monthly Money Market Model,” JMCB, November 1975.

Tobin, James, Manuscript, Chapter 8.

___________, “Commercial Banks as Creators of Money,” Chapter 16 of his book, Macroeconomics.

Willis, Parker, Federal Funds Market, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 1970.

III. Other Financial Intermediaries and their Balance Sheets

Committee on Banking, Currency and Housing, House of Representatives, “Financial Institutions and the Nation’s Economy,” November 1975.

Dougal, Herbert E., Capital Markets and Institutions, Prentice Hall, Third edition, 1975.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Policies for a More Competitive Financial System, Conference Series #8.

Federal Reserve Staff Study: Ways to Moderate Fluctuations in Housing Construction (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1972); see especially papers by Gramley, Fisher and Seigman, and Poole.

Goldsmith, Raymond, Financial Instiutions, Random House, 1968.

Gurley, John and Edward Shaw, Money in a Theory of Finance, Brookings, 1960.

Guttentag, Jack and Robert Lindsay, “The Uniqueness of Commercial Banks,” JPE, September/October 1968.

New Mortgage Designs for Stable Housing in an Inflationary Environment (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Conference Series, No. 14); see especially papers by Lessard and Modigliani, and those reviewing foreign experience.)

*Patinkin, Donald, “Financial Intermediaries and the Logical Structure of Monetary Theory,” AER, March 1961.

*Treasury, “Recommendations for Change in the U.S. Financial System,” Washington, D.C., August 1973.

IV. The Demand for Money

Note: Familiarity with the material on the demand for money covered in 14.451 and 14.463 will be assumed.

Brunner, Karl and Allan Meltzer, op. cit.

Chow, Gregory, “On the Long-Run and Short-Run Demand for Money,” JPE, April 1966.

Fisher, Irving, The Purchasing Power of Money, Macmillan, 1931. Chapters 1-4 and 8.

Friedman, Milton, “The Quantity Theory of Money, A Restatement,” OQM, Aldine, 1969.

*___________, “The Demand for Money: Some Theoretical and Empirical Results,” OQM.

___________, “Interest Rates and the Demand for Money,” OQM.

*Goldfeld, Stephen, “The Demand for Money Revisited,” BPEA, 1973:3.

*___________, “The Case of the Missing Money,” BPEA, 1976:3.

Gould, John P. and Charles R. Nelson, “The Stochastic Structure of the Velocity of Money,” AER, 64 (June 1974), pp. 405-18.

Hicks, John, “A Suggestion for Simplifying the Theory of Money,” Readings in Monetary Theory, op. cit.

Keynes, J.M., “A Treatise on Money,” The Collected Writings, St. Martin’s Press, 1971.

___________, The General Theory, Chapters 13, 15, 17.

Laidler, D.E.W., The Demand for Money: Theories and Evidence, International Textbook Company, 1969.

Miller, Merton and Daniel Orr, “A Model of the Demand for Money by Firms,” QJE, August 1966.

Modigliani, Franco, “Liquidity Preference,” International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 9, MacMillan Company & Free Press, 1968, pp. 394-409.

___________, Rasche and Cooper, op. cit.

Tobin, James, “The Interest Elasticity of [the] Transactions Demand for Cash,” Chapter 14 of Macroeconomics.

V. Interest Rate Determination and Term Structure

*Fama, Eugene, Short-Term Interest Rates as Predictors of inflation,” AER, June 1975.

Fisher, Irving, The Theory of Interest, Macmillan, 1930.

Fisher, Lawrence, “Determinants of the Risk Premium on Corporate Bonds,” JPE, June 1959.

*Friedman, Benjamin, “Financial Flow Variables and the Short-Run Determination of Long-Term Interest Rates,” unpublished.

*___________, “Substitution and Expectation Effects on Bond Supply and the Long-Term Interest Rate,” unpublished.

Kane, Edward and Burton Malkiel, “Expectations and Interest Rates: A Cross-Sectional Test,” JPE, August 1969.

*Lutz, Friedrich, “The Structure of Interest Rates,” in AEA Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution.

Malkiel, Burton, The Term Structure of Interest Rates, Princeton University Press, 1966.

Modigliani, Rasche and Cooper, op. cit.

*Modigliani, Franco and Robert Shiller, “Inflation, Rational Expectations and the Term Structure of Interest Rates,” Economica, February 1973, pp. 12-43.

___________, and Richard Sutch, “Debt Management and the Term Structure of Interest Rates,” JPE, August 1967, Supplement No. 4, pp. 569-589.

Nelson, Charles, The Term Structure of Interest Rates, Basic Books, 1972.

___________, and William Schwert, “On Testing the Hypothesis that the Real Rate of Interest is Constant,” AER, 1977 (forthcoming).

Rutledge, John, A Monetarist Model of Inflationary Expectations, Lexington Books, 1974.

Roll, Richard W., The Behavior of Interest Rates.

Tobin, James, “An Essay on the Principles of Debt Management,” Chapter 21 in Macroeconomics.

VI. The Transmission Mechanism, etc.

Note: Familiarity with the standard IS-LM and related models, as covered in 14.451, will be assumed.

Andersen, Leonall and Keith Carlson, “A Monetarist-Model for Economic Stabilization,” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, April 1970.

Ando, Albert and Franco Modigliani, “Econometric Analysis of Stabilization Policies,” AER, May 1969.

___________, and ___________, Robert Rasche and Stephen Turnovsky, “On the Role of Expectations of Price and Technological Change in an Investment Function,” IER, June 1974.

Baily, Martin Neil, “Contract Theory and the Moderation of Inflationary Expectations by Recession and by Controls,” BPEA, 1976:3.

Bischoff, Charles, “Business Investment in the 1970’s: A Comparison of Models,” BPEA, 1971:1.

Blinder, Alan and Robert Solow, “Analytic Foundations of Fiscal Policy,” in Economics of Public Finance, Brookings Institution, 1974.

*De Menil, George and Jared Enzler, “Prices and Wages in the FMP Econometric Model,” in The Econometrics of Price Determination, Otto Eckstein, ed., 1970.

*Friedman, Milton, “The Role of Monetary Policy,” in OQM.

___________, and Anna Schwartz, The Great Contraction, Princeton, 1965.

*Gordon, Robert J., “Recent Developments in the Theory of Inflation and Unemployment,” JME, 2, (April 1976), pp. 185-219.

Gramlich, Edward, “The Usefulness of Monetary and Fiscal Policy as Discretionary Stabilization Tools,” JMCB, May 1971.

Jaffee, Dwight and Franco Modigliani, “A Theory and Test of Credit Rationing,” AER, December 1969.

*Holt, Charles, “Job Search, Phillips’ Wage Relation, and Union Influence: Theory and Evidence,” in E.S. Phelps, ed., Microeconomic Foundations of Employment and Inflation Theory, Norton, 1970.

Keeton, William, “An Analysis of Interest Rate Ceilings,” unpublished.

*Lucas, Robert, “Some International Evidence on Output-Inflation Tradeoffs,” AER, June 1972.

___________, “An Equilibrium Model of the Business Cycle,” JPE, 83 (Dec. 1975), pp. 113-44.

Modigliani, Franco, “Monetary Policy and Consumption: …,” in Consumer Spending and Monetary Policy, The Linkages, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Conference Series #5, June 1971.

___________, “The Channels of Monetary Policy in the FMP Econometric Model of the U.S.,” in Modelling the Economy, G.A. Renton, ed., Heinemann Educational Books, 1975.

___________, and Lucas Papademos, “Monetary Policy for the Coming Quarters: The Conflicting Views,” NEER, March/April 1976.

*___________, “Models of the Economy and Optimal Stabilization Policies,” June 1976, unpublished.

Mortenson, Dale, “A Theory of Wage and Employment Dynamics,” in Phelps, op. cit.

Sargent, Thomas, “Rational Expectations, the Real Rate of Interest, and the Natural Rate of Unemployment,”BPEA, 1973:2.

VII. Monetary Policy: Optimal Control and Related Issues

Athans, Michael, “The Discrete Time Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian Stochastic Control Problem,” Annals of Economics and Social Measurement, October 1973, pp. 449-493.

*Brainard, William, “Uncertainty and the Effectiveness of Policy,” AER, May 1967.

Fischer, Stanley and J. Phillip Cooper, “Stabilization Policy and Lags,” JPE, July/August 1973.

*Friedman, Benjamin, “Targets, Instruments, and Indicators of Monetary Policy,” JME, October 1975.

Holbrook, Robert S., “Optimal Economic Policy and the Problem of Instrument Instability,” AER, March 1972.

Pierce, James L., “Quantitative Analysis for Decisions at the Federal Reserve,” Annals of Economic and Social Measurement, January 1974.

*Poole, William, “Optimal Choice of Monetary Policy Instruments in a Simple Stochastic Macro Model,” QJE, May 1970.

___________, “The Making of Monetary Policy: Description and Analysis,” EI, 13 (June 1975), pp. 253-65.

___________, “Benefits and Costs of Stable Monetary Growth,” in Karl Brunner and Allan H. Meltzer, eds., Institutional Arrangements and the Inflation Problems (Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Vol. 3, 1976).

VIII. Monetary Policy: Rational Expectations and Related issues

Barro, Robert J., “Rational Expectations and the Role of Monetary Policy,” JME, 2 (January 1976), pp. 1-32.

___________, and Stanley Fischer “Recent Developments in Monetary Theory,” JME, 2 (April 1976), pp. 133-67.

Fischer, Stanley, “Recent Developments in Monetary Theory,” AER, 65 (May 1975), pp. 157-66.

*Lucas, Robert E., “Econometric Policy Evaluation: A Critique,” in Karl Brunner and Allan H. Meltzer, eds., The Phillips Curve and Labor Markets (Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Vol. 1; Supp. To JME).

*Modigliani, Franco, “The Monetarist Controversy Or, Should We Foresake Stabilization Policies?” (AEA Presidential Address).

*Muth, John F., “Rational Expectations and the Theory of Price Movements,” Econometrica, 29 (July 1961), pp. 315-35.

*Poole, William, “Rational Expectations in the Macro Model,” BPEA, 2, 1976, pp. 463-514.

*Sargent, Thomas J. and Neil Wallace, “’Rational’ Expectations, the Optimal Monetary Instrument, and the Optimal Money Supply Rule,” JPE, 83 (April 1975), pp. 241-54.

___________ and ___________, “Rational Expectations and the Theory of Economic Policy,” JME, 2 (April 1976), pp. 169-83.

 

Source: Copy of mimeographed course reading list from the files of Irwin L. Collier. Provided by Robert Dohner (our friendship goes back to our internships at the Nixon Council of Economic Advisers in the year of Watergate).

Image Sources: Nobel Prize Web Page for Franco Modigliani;  William Poole at the Federal Reserve Centennial, 2014.

Categories
M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Reading List for Monetary Economics II. Dornbusch, 1976

 

Associate Professor Rudiger Dornbusch covered the second course in the graduate money field during the Fall term 1976 at M.I.T. This was a course taught by his colleague Stanley Fischer (I took that course in 1975). The syllabus was more-or-less unchanged from the one used when Fischer taught the monetary theory course. According to the department staffing report for the term, 22 students were registered for credit and 2 students audited the course.

___________________________

MONETARY ECONOMICS II
14.463
Professor R. Dornbusch
Fall 1976

*denotes required reading

There is no textbook for this course. The following books and surveys should be useful.

Robert Barro and Herschel Grossman, Money, Employment and Inflation, Macmillan, 1976.

Robert W. Clower (ed.), Monetary Theory, Penguin Books, 1969.

Milton Friedman, The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays, Aldine, 1969.

Robert Mundell, Monetary Theory, Goodyear, 1971.

Robert J. Barro and Stanley Fischer, “Recent Developments in Monetary Theory,” Journal of Monetary Economics, April 1976.

 

I. BACKGROUND

*Friedman, Milton, “The Quantity Theory of Money—A Restatement” in Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money, Friedman, ed., University of Chicago Press, 1956, 3-24.

___________, “A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis,” JPE, March/April 1970, 193-238. (See also Symposium on this article in Sept./Oct. 1972 JPE.)

*Johnson, Harry G., “The Keynesian Revolution and the Monetarist Counter-Revolution,” AER, May 1971, 1-14.

Keynes, J.M., General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Harcourt Brace, 1964.

*Leijonhuvud, Axel, “Keynes and the Classics: Two Lectures on Keynes’ Contribution to Economic Theory,” London, Institute of Economic Affairs, 1969. Occasional Paper 30. (This is a reasonably coherent account of his book.)

*Patinkin, Don, Money, Interest and Prices, Harper and Row, 1965, Part II.

Tobin, James, “Money, Capital and Other Stores of Value,” AER Papers and Proceedings, May 1961, 16-37.

*___________, “A General Equilibrium Approach to Monetary Theory,” JMCB, Feb. 1969, 15-29.

___________, Chapter I of Manuscript, on reserve.

___________, “Money and Income: Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc?” QJE, May 1970, (and discussion with Friedman, same, 318-329).

___________, The New Economics One Decade Older, Princeton University Press, 1974.

 

II. DISEQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS

*Barro, Robert J. and Herschel Grossman, “A General Equilibrium Model of Income and Employment,” AER, March 1971, 82-93.

___________, Money, Employment and Inflation, MacMillan, 1976.

Benassy, J.P., “Neo-Keynesian Disequilibrium Theory in a Monetary Economy, Unpublished, 1974.

*Clower, Robert, “The Keynesian Counterrevolution: A Theoretical Appraisal,” in The Theory of Interest Rates, F.H. Hahn and F.P.R. Brechling (ed.), MacMillan, 1965.

Iwai, K., “On Disequilibrium Economic Dynamics,” Parts I & II. Cowles Discussion Papers #385 and #386, 1974, 1975.

Patinkin, Don, Money, Interest and Prices, Chapter 13.

 

III. DEMAND FOR MONEY

Barro, Robert J., “Inflation, the Payments Period, and the Demand for Money,” JPE, Nov./Dec. 1970, 1228-1263.

___________, “Integral Constraints and Aggregation in an Inventory Model of Money Demand,” Journal of Finance(forthcoming).

*Baumol, W.J., “The Transactions Demand for Cash: An Inventory Theoretic Approach,” QJE 66 (Nov. 1952), 545-556. (Reprinted in Thorn, R.S., ed. Monetary Theory and Policy, Ch. 6.)

*Cagan, P., “The Monetary Dynamics of Hyperinflation,” in Friedman, M., ed., Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money.

Goldfeld, S.M., “The Demand for Money Revisited,” in Okun, A.M. and Perry, G.L., Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1973:3.

*Hicks, J.R., “A Suggestion for Simplifying the Theory of Money,” in AEA Readings in Monetary Theory, pp. 13-32.

*Miller, M.H. and Orr, D., “A Model of the Demand for Money by Firms,” QJE 80 (August 1966), 413-435.

*Modigliani, F., R. Rasche, and J.P. Cooper, “Central Bank Policy, The Money Supply and the Short-Term Rate of Interest,” JMCB, 2 (May 1970), 166-217.

*Tobin, J., “The Interest-Elasticity of Transactions Demand for Cash,” REStat. 38 (August 1956), 241-247.

___________, “Liquidity Preference as Behavior Toward Risk,” REStud 25 (Feb. 1958), 65-86. (Reprinted in Thorn, Ch. 7)

Whalen, E.L., “A Rationalization for the Precautionary Demand for Cash,” QJE (May 1966), 314-324.

 

IV. MONEY, INFLATION DYNAMICS AND GROWTH

*Brock, William A., “A Simple [Perfect Foresight] Model of Money and Growth,” on reserve.

*Cagan, Phillip, op. cit.

Fischer, Stanley, “Keynes-Wicksell and Neoclassical Models of Money and Growth,“ AER, Dec. 1972.

Friedman, Milton, “The optimum Quantity of Money,” in The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays, Aldine, 1969, 1-50.

*Foley, Duncan K. and Miguel Sidrauski, “Portfolio Choice, Investment and Growth,” AER, March 1970, 44-63.

Levhari, David and Don Patinkin, “The Role of Money in a Simple Growth Model,” AER, Sept. 1968, 713-753.

Mundell, Robert A., “Growth, Stability and Inflationary Finance,” JPE, 1965, 97-109.

*___________, Monetary Theory, Goodyear, 1971.

*Sidrauski, Miguel, “Inflation and Economic Growth,” JPE, Dec. 1967, 796-810.

*___________, “Rational Choice and Patterns of Growth in a Monetary Economy,” AER, Papers and Proceedings, May 1967, 534-544.

Dornbusch, Rudiger and Frenkel, Jacob, “Inflation and Growth Alternative Approaches,” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Feb. 1973, 141-156.

 

V. RATIONAL EXPECTATIONS

Barro, Robert J., “Rational Expectations and the Role of Monetary Policy,” Unpublished, 1975.

Black, Fischer, “Uniqueness of the Price Level in Monetary Growth Models With Rational Expectations,” JET, Jan. 1974, 53-65.

*Fama, E.F., “Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of Theory and Empirical Work,” JF, 25 (May 1970), 383-417.

*Fischer, S., “Long-Term Contracts, Rational Expectations, and the Optimal Money Supply Rule,” Unpublished, 1975.

*Lucas, Robert E., “Expectations and the Neutrality of Money,” JET, April 1972, 103-124.

__________, “Some International Evidence on Output-Inflation Tradeoffs,” AER June 1973, 326-334.

__________, “Econometric Policy Evaluation: A Critique,” Mimeo, on Reserve.

Muth, J.F., “Rational Expectations and the Theory of Price Movements,” Econometrica 29 (July 1961), 315-335.

Phelps, E.S. and J.B. Taylor, “Stabilizing Properties of Monetary Policy Under Rational Price Expectations,” Unpublished, 1975.

*Sargent, T.J. and N. Wallace, “’Rational’ Expectations, the Optimal Monetary Instrument, and the Optimal Money Supply Rule,” JPE (April 1975), 241-254.

__________, “Rational Expectations and the Theory of Economic Policy,” Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Part I and II.

 

VI. TEMPORARY EQUILIBRIUM, THE CONSUMPTION LOANS MODEL, AND THE BURDEN OF THE DEBT

*Barro, R.J., “Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?” JPE, Nov./Dec. 1974, 1095-1117.

Cass, D. and M. Yaari, “Individual Saving, Aggregate Capital Accumulation and Efficient Growth,” in K. Shell (ed.), Essays in the Theory of Optimal Growth, M.I.T. Press, 1967.

*Diamond, P.A., “National Debt in a neoclassical Growth Model,” AER, Dec. 1965, 1126-1135.

Feldstein, M., “Perceived Wealth in Bonds and Social Security: A Comment,” Unpublished, 1975.

Foley, D.K. and M. Sidrauski, “Monetary and Fiscal Policy in a Growing Economy, MacMillan, 1971, Ch. 11.

Grandmont, J. and G. Laroque, “Money in the Pure Consumption Loans Model,” JET, August 1973, 382-395.

__________, and Y. Younes, “On the Efficiency of a Monetary Equilibrium,” REStud., April 1973, 149-166.

Modigliani, F., “Long-Run Implications of Alternative Fiscal Policies and the Burden of the National Debt,” Economic Journal, Dec. 1961, 730-755.

Samuelson, P.A., “An Exact Consumption-Loan Model of Interest With or Without the Social Contrivance of Money,” JPE, 1958 (reprinted in Collected Scientific Papers, 219-234.)

 

VII. INDEXATION AND THE LABOR CONTRACT

*Azariadis, C., “Implicit Contracts and Underemployment Equilibria,” JPE, August 1975.

__________, “Asymmetric Wage Behavior,” Unpublished, 1975.

*Baily, M.N., “Wages and Employment Under Uncertain Demand,” REStud., Jan. 1974, 37-50.

Fischer, S., “The Demand for Index Bonds,” JPE, June 1975.

__________, “Wage-Indexation and Macro-Economic Stability,” Unpublished, 1975.

__________, “Non-Indexation in the Capital Markets,” Unpublished, 1975.

Gray, J.A., “Economic Aspects of Indexing and Contract Length,” Unpublished, 1975.

Grossman, H., “The Nature of Optimal Labor Contracts,” Unpublished, 1975.

Shavell, S., “Sharing Risks of Deferred Payment,” Unpublished, 1975.

Tobin, J., “An Essay on the Principles of Debt Management,” in Tobin’s Essays in Economics.

 

VIII. MICRO FOUNDATIONS OF MONEY

(This material will not be discussed in class; it is on the reading list for those who are interested)

*means most worthwhile

Brunner, Karl, and Allan Meltzer, “The Uses of Money: Money in the Theory of Exchange,” AER, Dec. 1971, 784-805.

*Clower, Robert W., Monetary Theory, Clower (ed.), Penguin, 1970, pp. 7-16.

Fischer, S., “Money and the Production Function,” on reserve.

Hahn, Frank, “On Transaction Costs, Inessential Sequence Economics and Money,” REStud., Oct. 1973, 449-462.

*__________, “On the Foundations of Monetary Theory,” in Parkin and Mobay (eds.), Essays in Modern Economics, Langman, 1973.

Heller, Walter P., “The Holding of Money Balances in General Equilibrium,” JET, Jan. 1974, 93-108.

*Johnson, Harry G., “Is There an Optimal Money Supply?” in Frontiers of Quantitative Economics, M.O. Intriligator, ed., North-Holland, 1971.

Niehans, Jurg, “Money in a Static Theory of Optimal Payment Arrangements,” JMCB, Nov. 1969, 706-726.

Ostroy, Joesph, “The Informational Efficiency of Monetary Exchange,” AER, Sept. 1973, 597-610.

Patinkin, Don, Money, Interest and Prices, Harper and Row, 1965, Part I.

*Samuelson, Paul A., “What Classical and Neo-Classical Monetary Theory Really Was,” Canadian Journal of Economics, Feb. 1968, 1-15; also in Clower, Readings, 170-190.

*__________, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Harvard University Press, 1947, 117-122.

Starr, Ross, M., “The Structure of Exchange in Barter and Monetary Economics,” QJE, May 1972, 290-302.

Starrett, David, “Inefficiency and the Demand for ‘Money’ in a Sequence Economy,” REStud., Oct. 1973, 437-448.

 

Source: Copy of mimeographed course reading list from the files of Irwin L. Collier. Provided by Robert Dohner (our friendship goes back to our internships at the Nixon Council of Economic Advisers in the year of Watergate).

Image Source: Rudiger Dornbusch from FAZ, April 12, 2014

Categories
Cambridge Exam Questions

Cambridge. Political economy exam from the moral sciences tripos, 1856

 

Here is a relatively early specimen of a university examination in economics. This jewel from the University of Cambridge in 1856 was recovered from the Internet archive where there are discoveries still to be made.

______________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY.
[Moral Sciences Tripos, February 1856]

  1. State any views of Political Economy, wholly or partly correct, which are found in Greek or Latin authors previous to the Christian Era, as to (1) Mines, (2) Money, (3) Commerce, (4) Banks of Deposit.
  2. Explain the origin and use of Metallic and of Paper money.
  3. What were the notions which prevailed in the early part of the 18th century as to enriching a country by means of the balance of trade? What were their foundation and error?
  4. Explain the way in which the National Wealth is increased, (1) by commerce between different parts of the same country, (2) between a country and its colonies, (3) between a country and foreign nations, and examine the exceptions thereto which Adam Smith suggests.
  5. What regulates the price of a commodity according to Ricardo? How far is his view reconcilable with that which supposes it to be regulated by supply and demand?
  6. Separate into its component parts the clear income derived by a farmer from the cultivation of his own land.
  7. On what do the wages of unskilled labour depend? Explain how they are affected by the increase or diminution of Capital.
  8. Explain the effect of the English Poor Laws upon population previously to the introduction of the present system in 1834.
  9. State Adam Smith’s view of productive and unproductive labour; and in what points and by what reasons Lord Lauderdale and Mr Garnier have endeavoured to shew its errors and imperfections.
  10. In what cases and to what extent does a tax imposed upon the production of any commodity immediately fall on the producer or on the consumer ultimately?
  11. Give the reasons for and against providing for a greatly increased national expenditure during one or a few years wholly by immediate taxation; or by loan with additional taxation sufficient only to pay the interest of the loan.

 

Source:  Cambridge Examination Papers Being a Supplement to the University Calendar for the Year 1856. Moral Sciences Tripos (February, 1856), pp. 78-79.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Labor Problems. Course outline, cases for discussion, exams. Slichter, 1938-1939

Sumner H. Slichter was in his day a really big gun in economics at Harvard. As an early “dean of labor economics”, he definitely deserves a post of his own, but one I’ll postpone for later. 

Fun Facts: One of the teaching assistants for the course, Spencer Drummond Pollard, was a Rhodes scholar, went on to teach at UC Berkeley and Los Angeles, Whittier College and has two filmwriting credits listed in the internet movie data base. He married the screenwriter Helen Deutsch in 1946, but that marriage lasted less than one year. Not incidentally he was James Tobin’s undergraduate economics tutor who suggested that they devote their sessions to “this new book from England,” The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.

________________________

Teaching Assistants

Spencer Drummond Pollard (1910-1989)
Harvard Economics Ph.D. (1939)

Spencer Drummond Pollard, A.B. (Harvard) 1932.

Subject, Economics. Special Field, Labor Problems. Thesis, “Some Problems of Democracy in the Government of Labor Unions, with special reference to the United Mine Workers of America and the United Automobile Workers of America.” Director, Educational Film Institute, New York University, and Supervisor, New York University Film Library.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1938-39, p. 197.

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

Lloyd George Reynolds (1910-2005)
Harvard Economics Ph.D. (1936)

Lloyd George Reynolds, B.A. (Univ. of Alberta) 1931, M.A. (McGill Univ.) 1933.

Subject, Economics. Special Field, Labor Problems. Thesis, “The British Immigrant: his Social and Economic Adjustment in Canada.” Instructor in Economics and Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics.

Source: Harvard University.  Report of the President of Harvard College, 1935-36, p. 161.

________________________

Course Enrollment, 1938-39

[Economics] 81a. Professor Slichter, Mr. Pollard and Dr. Reynolds.—Labor Problems.

Total 63: 1 Graduate, 30 Seniors, 25 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1938-39, p. 98.

________________________

Course Outline, 1938-39

ECONOMICS 81
LABOR PROBLEMS

Outline and Readings for the First Term
[Pencil: “38-39”]

Introduction

  1. The Subject Matter of the Course—the Operation of the Institution of Wages under Private Capitalism

Part One
Wages and Labor Conditions Under Competition

  1. The Labor Force and the Labor Market

Required:

Goodrich, Carter, Migration and Economic Opportunity, Appendix A.
Lynd, R.L., Middletown in Transition, Chap. 2.
Woytinsky, W.S., Labor in the United States, pp. 16-24, 30-42.

Suggested for Reference:

Douglas, P.H., Real Wages in the United States, Chaps. 1 and 32.
Florence, P.S., Theory and Fatigue and Unrest, Chaps. 2,3.
Fortune, “Labor and Steel”, May, 1936.
Hammond, J.L., The Town Labourer
Lescohier, D., The Labor Market, Chaps. 1,6.
MacDonald, Labor Problems and the American Scene, Part 2.
Recent Social Trends, v. I, Chap. 6.

  1. The General Factors determining Wage Rates and the Income of Wage Earners
    1. The trend of real wages since 1890
    2. The marginal productivity theory of wages
    3. Factors influencing the supply of labor
    4. Factors influencing the demand for labor
    5. Technical progress, wages, and employment
    6. Cyclical fluctuations of wages

Required:

Douglas, P.H., Theory of Wages, pp. 34-49, 68-96
Hansen, A. Economic Stabilization in an Unbalanced World, Chap. X.
Meade, J.E., Economic Analysis and Policy, Part 1, Chap. 7.
Recent Social Trends, v. I, Chaps. 1, 2.
Slichter, S.H., Towards Stability, pp. 114-24, 133-42.

Suggested for Reference:

Florence, P.S., Economics of Fatigue and Unrest, Chaps. 6-11
Hicks, J.R., Theory of Wages, Chap. 1
Jerome, H., Mechanization of Industry, Chaps. 3, 6, and pp. 326-403
Recent Economic Changes, v. I. pp. 96-146
Slichter, S.H., Modern Economic Society, Chap. 24

  1. Wage Differences
    1. Bargaining advantages of employers
    2. Bargaining strength of workers, strategic position of some workers, reductions in supply
    3. Differences among industries—growing, declining industries, differences in labor cost, etc.
    4. Selling competition and wage rates
    5. Wage differences between occupations
    6. Wage differences between regions

Required:

Dobb, M., Wages, Chaps. 5, 6
Mathewson, Restriction of Output among Unorganized Labor
Taussig, F.W., Principles of Economics, v. II, Chap. 47

Suggested for Reference:

Dollard, Caste and Class in a Southern Town
Edwards, A.M., “Social-Economic Grouping of the Gainful Workers of the United States”, Journal of the American Statistical Association, December, 1933, pp. 377-397.
Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Article on the Company Town
Feldman, H., Racial factors in American Industry
Frain, H., Machine-tool Occupations in Philadelphia
Mathewson, Restriction of Output among Unorganized Labor
Pigou, A.C., Economics of Welfare, Part III, Chaps. 9 and 14

  1. Hours and Working Conditions

Required:

Millis, H.A. and Montgomery, R.E., Labor’s Progress and Problems, v. I, pp. 488-516.
Slichter, S.H., Modern Economic Society, Chap. 25

 

Part Two
Problems of Trade Unionism and Collective Bargaining

  1. The Development of Labor Unions in the United States
    1. Origin and form of the earliest unions
    2. Fluctuation of membership with business activity 1800-1885
    3. The three business upswings accounting for most of the present membership of labor unions
      1896-1903
      1914-1918
      1933-1938
    4. Comparison of three major union groups
      Knights of Labor
      F. of L.
      C.I.O.

Required:

Perlman, S., History of Trade Unionism in the United States, Chaps. 12, 13 and 14
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, 15 pages selected from the following articles: American Federation of Labor (7 pages), Knights of Labor (3), Labor Parties (12), Labor Movement (14), Trade Unions (52).

Suggested for Reference:

Gompers, Samuel, The American Labor Movement—its Makeup, Achievements, and Aspirations
Gompers, Samuel, Seventy Years of Life and Labor

  1. The Contemporary Scene in American Unionism
    1. The principal industries organized
    2. The focal areas of organization
    3. Kinds of inter-union organizations—federations, city centrals, regional groups, etc.
    4. Major areas of struggle in the present situation
    5. Changes in the pressure-alignments of community life in the unionized areas

Suggested for Reference:

Brooks, R.R., When Labor Organizes, Chap. 6
Walsh, R., The C.I.O.

  1. Comparison with Labor Movements in Other Countries
    1. The major periods of the English Labor Movement
    2. Major events and trends in the English Movement 1920-1938
    3. Characteristics of French, German, and Scandinavian Unionism
    4. The spread of unionism to industrially outlying regions
    5. Special factors molding the course of unionism in the United States
    6. The future of the relation between Labor and Politics in this country

Required:

Norgren, P.H., “Sweden, Where Employers Compromise”, Harvard Business Review, Summer Issue, 1938.
Report of the President’s Commission on Industrial Relations in Great Britain

Suggested for Reference:

Clapham, J.H., Economic History of Modern Britain, Machines and National Rivalries, Chap. 8 and Epilogue
Perlman, S., A Theory of the Labor Movement, Chaps. 1, 3, and 4
Richardson, J.H., Industrial Relations in Great Britain
Saposs, D.J., The Labor Movement in Post-War France

  1. Trade Union Structure and Government
    1. The parts of a trade union—locals, districts, nationals
    2. How local unions function
    3. How national unions function
    4. Trends in trade union government
      1. Centralization of finances
      2. Centralization of control over strikes
    5. The leaders and the rank and file—democracy in trade unions

Required:

Hoxie, R.F., Trade Unionism in the United States, Chap. 7

Suggested for Reference:

Brooks, R.R., When Labor Organizes, Chap. 9
Furniss, E.S., Labor Problems, pp. 280-303
Hoxie, R.F., Trade Unionism in the United States, Chap. 5
Mitchell, John, Organized Labor, Chap. 10

  1. Collective Bargaining—the Regulation of Working Conditions
    1. Trade agreements
      1. What are the problems with which trade agreements attempt to deal
      2. Local, regional, and national agreements
      3. Procedure agreements v. regulating agreements
      4. Handling cases under trade agreements
    2. The regulation of the opportunity to work
      1. Control of hiring
      2. The control of layoffs
      3. The conflict between the worker’s interest in opportunity and his interest in security
      4. Problems of seniority and equal-division-of-work
      5. Efforts of unions to protect the older worker
    3. The efforts of unions to deal with technological change
      1. Opposition
      2. Competition
      3. Control of new processes and machines
      4. Compensation
      5. Make work
    4. The attitude of unions toward “scientific management”
    5. Union-management-cooperation

Required:

Block, Louis, Labor Agreements in Coal Mines, Chaps. 2, 3, 5, and 6, and pp. 217-247.
Slichter, S.H., “The Contents of Collective Agreements”, Journal of the Society for the Advancement of Management, January, 1938

Suggested for Reference:

Barnett, G.E., Chapters on Machinery and Labor
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, Articles on Coal Industry (18), Collective Bargaining (4), Construction Industry (17), Garment Industries (12), Glass and Pottery Industries (7), Iron and Steel Industry (7), Labor-Capital Cooperation (5), Railroads (7), Textiles (6), Trade Agreements(3)
McCabe, D.A., Industrial Relations in the Pottery Industry
Monthly Labor Review, September, 1936, “Collective Bargaining in the Hosiery Industry”
Nyman, R.C., Union-Management Cooperation in the Stretch-Out
Perlman, S., A Theory of the Labor Movement, Chaps. 6 and 7
Whitehead, T.N., Leadership in a Free Society
Wood, L.A., Union-Management Cooperation on the Railroads, Chaps. 7, 8, 9, and 14

  1. Collective Bargaining—Fixing the Price of Labor
    1. The movement of bargained wages and “free” wages
    2. The effect of bargained wage rates upon employment and unemployment
    3. The effect of bargained wage rates upon saving
    4. The effect of bargained wage rates upon the credit of employers and upon investment opportunities
    5. Some problems of price fixing under collective bargaining
      1. Problems presented by non-union competition
      2. Problems presented by market shifts and inter-industry competition
      3. Problems presented by the business cycle

Required:

Feldman, H., Problems in Labor Relations, Problems 5 and 65
Palmer, Gladys, Union Tactics and Economic Change, Chaps. 3, 4, & 6
Slichter, S.H., “The Adjustment to Instability”, Proceedings of the American Economic Association, March, 1936

Suggested for Reference:

Blum, S., Labor Economics, Chap. 18
Robertson D.H., “Wage Grumbles” in Economic Fragments
Slichter, S.H., “Notes on Collective Bargaining” in Explorations in Economics

  1. Collective Bargaining—the Administration of Trade Agreements

Required:

Metcalf, H.C., and Others, Collective Bargaining for Today and Tomorrow, Chaps. 4, 5, and 6
Gilbertson, H.S., “Management and Collective Bargaining”, Harvard Business Review, Summer Issue, 1938
Leiserson, W.M., Right and Wrong in Labor Relations
Slichter, S.H., “Collective Bargaining at Work,” Atlantic Monthly, January, 1938
Steel Workers Organizing Committee, How to Handle Grievances
Taylor, Don H., “Problems in Collective Bargaining”, in Collective Bargaining and Cooperation
Taylor, George W., “Experiences in Collective Bargaining” in Collective Bargaining and Cooperation

 

Part Three
Public Policy and Collective Bargaining

  1. Protection of the Right to Organize
    1. The principle of non-interference by employers
    2. The adjustment of disputes over representation
    3. The obligation to bargain
    4. Should the worker’s freedom of choice be protected against interference from other workers

Required:

Brooks, R.R., When Labor Organizes, Chaps. 3 and 5
Douglas, P.H., “American Labor Relations Boards”, American Economic Review, December, 1937
Feldman, H., Problems in Industrial Relations, Problems 56 and 57
Slichter, S.H., “The Government and Collective Bargaining”, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, March 1935, v. 178, pp. 107-122.

Suggested for Reference:

Frankfurter, F., Mr. Justice Holmes and the Supreme Court
National Labor Relations Board, Annual Report, 1937
National Labor Relations Board, Governmental Protection of Labor’s Right to Organize

  1. The Adjustment of Industrial Disputes
    1. Mediation
      1. Why can mediation sometimes help
      2. The machinery and methods of mediation
    2. Arbitration
      1. The uses of arbitration
      2. Should mediators arbitrate or arbitrators mediate
      3. Some problems of arbitration—does it tend to interfere with the process of negotiation
    3. Emergency boards

Required:

Either Witte, E.E., The Government in Labor Disputes, Chap. 11 and Appendix A or
Twentieth Century Fund, Labor and the Government, pp. 114-122, and Chap. 8

Suggested for Reference:

Barnett, G.E., and McCabe, D.A., Mediation, Investigation, and Arbitration in Industrial Disputes
Maclaurin, W.R., “Compulsory Arbitration in Australia”, American Economic Review, March, 1938, v. XXVIII, pp. 65-82
Selekman, B., Law and Labor Relations—a Study of the Industrial Disputes Investigations Act of Canada

  1. The Control of Industrial Warfare
    1. The legality of strikes and lockouts
    2. The legality of boycotts
    3. The legality of strike activities
    4. Remedies—injunctions, damage suits

Required:

Baldwin and Randall, Civil Liberties and Industrial Conflict
Feldman, H., Problems in Labor Relations, Problem 58
Witte, E.E., The Government in Labor Disputes, Chaps. 2, 3, and 4

  1. The Enforcement of Trade Agreements
    1. The legal status of trade agreements
    2. Scattered experience in the United States
    3. The experience of the National Boards of Adjustment on the Railroads
    4. Foreign experience

Suggested for Reference:

Rice, W.G., Jr., “Collective Agreements”, Harvard Law Review, v. 14, pp. 572-608
Witte, E.E., The Government in Labor Disputes, pp. 14-17

  1. The Regulation of Trade Unions
    1. Incorporation; Suability
    2. Registration
    3. Publication of accounts
    4. Safeguarding the democratic process within trade unions
    5. Civil rights within trade unions
    6. Government control versus self-regulation

Required:

City Club of New York, The Responsibility of Trade Unions
Witte, E.E., The Government in Labor Disputes, pp. 149-150

Suggested for Reference:

Black, F.R., “Should Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations Be Made Legally Responsible”, Special Report of the National Industrial Conference Board
Brandeis, L.D., Greenbag, v. 15, pp. 11-14
Landis, J.M., The Administrative Process
Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics, Annual Report, 1906, pp. 125-144
Swabey, Marie, Theory of the Democratic State

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2. Folder “Economics, 1938-39”.

________________________

Reading Period, First Term

Economics 81: Read the following:

Pigou, A.C., Economics of Welfare, Part III, Chap. IX, XIV, XVI;
and 200 pages from one of the following:

      1. Barnett, G.E., Chapters on Machinery and Labor.
      2. McCabe, D.A., The Standard Rate in American Trade Unionism.
      3. Ward, L.A., Union-Management Cooperation in the Railroads.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2. Folder “Economics, 1938-39”.

________________________

ECONOMICS 81
LABOR PROBLEMS

Outline and Readings for the Second Term
[Pencil: “38-39”]

Part Four

  1. The Public Regulation of Wages and Hours
    1. Minimum wages as a substitute for collective bargaining
    2. Minimum wages as a basis for collective bargaining
    3. The economic principles involved in the setting of minimum rates
    4. The pressure politics of minimum rate setting
    5. The economic consequences of specific rates for other wage rates, for employment and for non-wage groups
    6. Special problems in minimum wage setting
      1. Problems of applying a minimum in piece working plants
      2. The competition of home work
      3. The problem of geographical differentials
      4. The problem of allowances for learners and handicapped workers
    7. Some problems of law in the Federal regulation of wages
    8. Some problems of administration under the Wages and Hours Act of 1938
    9. Net experience with minimum wage regulation in other countries

Required:

Millis, H.A., and Montgomery, R.E., Labor’s Progress and Some Basic Labor Problems, pp. 278-375

Suggested for Reference:

Burns, E.M., Wages and the State
Commons, J.R., and Andrews, J.A., Principles of Labor Legislation
Foenander, O. deR., Toward Industrial Peace in Australia (1937 edition)
Pound, Roscoe, ed., The Supreme Court and Minimum Wage Legislation
Riches, E.J., “Conflicts of Principle in Wage Regulation in New Zealand”, Economica, August, 1938
Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, “Special Studies of Wages Paid to Women and Minors in Ohio Industries Prior and Subsequent to the Ohio Minimum Wage Law”, Bulletin 145

Part Five
The Problem of Unemployment

  1. The Kinds of Unemployment
    1. Seasonal unemployment
    2. Technological unemployment
    3. Frictional unemployment
    4. Cyclical unemployment
    5. Stranded areas
    6. Who are the unemployed
    7. Why unemployment is difficult to measure

Required:

Millis, H.A., and Montgomery, R.E., Labor’s Risks and Social Insurance, Chap. 1

Suggested for Reference:

Douglas, P.H., and Director, A., The Problem of Unemployment, Chaps. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11
Gilboy, E., “Unemployed: Income and Expenditure,” American Economic Review, 1937
Lubin, I., The Absorption of the Unemployed by American Industry
Myers, R.J., “Occupational Readjustment of Displaced Skilled Workers”, Journal of Political Economy, August, 1929, v. XXXVIII, pp. 473-489

  1. Unemployment Policies
    1. Policies designed to reduce unemployment
      1. Public employment exchanges
      2. Transference and training
      3. Planning of public works
    2. Policies designed to support the unemployed
      1. Work spreading
      2. Flexible working week
      3. Direct relief
      4. Work relief
      5. Unemployment compensation

Required:

Davison, R.C., British Unemployment Policy, Chap. 6
Millis, H.A., and Montgomery, R.E., Labor’s Risks and Social Insurance, Chaps. 2 and 3, or Hill, A. C. C., and Lubin, I., The British Attack on Unemployment, Chaps. 4, 5, 6

Suggested for Reference:

Atkinson, R. C., Adencrantz, L.C., and Deming, B., Public Employment Service in the United States, Chaps. 1 and 3
Beveridge, W.H., Unemployment
Chegwidden, T.S., and Myrddin-Evans, G., The Employment Exchange Service of Great Britain
Davison, R.C., British Unemployment Policy
Douglas, P.H., and Director, A., The Problem of Unemployment, Chaps. 6-11, 18-21
Gilson, M.B., Unemployment Insurance in Great Britain
Kiehel, C.A., Unemployment Insurance in Belgium
Spates, T.G., and Rabinovitch, G.S., Unemployment Insurance in Switzerland
Stewart, B.M., Unemployment Compensation in the United States, Chaps. 19 and 22

  1. Some Problems of Unemployment Compensation
    1. Coverage
    2. Contributions
      1. Should employees contribute
      2. Should the state contribute
      3. The incidence of unemployment contributions
    3. Pooled versus plant reserve funds
    4. Merit rating
    5. Benefits
      1. Amount
      2. The waiting period
      3. Duration
      4. Partial unemployment
      5. Flat rate v. credits for dependents
      6. Eligibility for benefits
      7. Testing the willingness to work
      8. Problems presented by seasonal industries
    6. Interstate workers
    7. Federal-state relations
    8. Coordination of employment service and unemployment compensation service
    9. Protecting the solvency of the reserve fund

Required:

Haber, W. Some Current Problems in Social Security
Hill, A.A.C., Jr., and Lubin, I., The British Attack on Unemployment, Chaps. 11, 12, 13, 15, and 16
Lewisohn, Sam A., “Some Major Issues in Unemployment Insurance”, Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, June, 1935, pp. 339-345
Stewart, Bryce M., “Federal and State Unemployment Insurance”, Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, June, 1935, pp. 346-364

Suggested for Reference:

Davison, R.C., British Unemployment Policy
Kulp, C.A., Social Insurance Coordination
Kulp, C.A., “European and American Social Security Parallels”, American Labor Legislation Review, March, 1938
Matcheck, Walter and Atkinson, R.C., The Administration of Unemployment Compensation Benefits in Wisconsin
Neuberger, Otto, The Administration of Short-Time Benefits in Germany
Simpson, Smith, “Should Unemployment Compensation be Based on Earnings or Need”, American Labor Legislation Review, September, 1938, pp. 136-140
Stewart, B.M., Planning and Administration of Unemployment Compensation in the United States
Weiss, H., “Unemployment Prevented Through Unemployment Compensation”, Political Science Quarterly, March, 1938, pp. 14-35
Wunderlich, Frieda, “What Next in Unemployment Compensation”, Social Research, February, 1938, pp. 37-54

  1. Relations between Unemployment Compensation and Relief

Required:

Hill, A.C.C., and Lubin, I., The British Attack on Unemployment, Chaps. 11 and 12
Somers, H.M., “Job Finding Joins Relief”, Survey, August, 1938, pp. 263-264

Suggested for Reference:

Burns, E.M., and Malisoff, H., “Administration Integration of Unemployment Insurance and Relief in Great Britain”, Social Service Review, September, 1938
Davison, R.C., British Unemployment Policy, Chaps. 2 and 4

  1. Problems of Relief and Relief Administration

Required:

Eckler, A. Ross, and Fairley, L., “Relief and Reemployment”, Harvard Business Review, Winter, 1938
Haber, William and Somers, H.M., “The Administration of Public Assistance in Massachusetts”, Social Service Review, v. XII, September, 1938
Hill, A.C.C., and Lubin, I., The British Attack on Unemployment, Chap. 15

Suggested for Reference:

Fortune Magazine, “Relief”, February, 1936
MacNeil, D.H., Seven Years of Unemployment Relief in New Jersey

 

Part Six
The Problem of Industrial Accidents and Occupational Disease

  1. The Magnitude of the Problem
  2. Employers’ Liability
  3. Workmen’s Compensation
    1. Rights
    2. Standards
    3. Administrative problems
    4. Medical care
  4. Accident Prevention
  5. Rehabilitation of Injured Workers

Suggested for Reference:

Dodd, W.F., Administration of Workmen’s Compensation
Downey, E.H., Workmen’s Compensation
Millis, H.A., and Montgomery, R.E., Labor’s Risks and Social Insurance, Chap. 4
Vernon, H.M., Accidents and their Prevention

 

Part Seven
The Problem of Sickness Among Wage Earners

  1. The Amount and Incidence of Sickness
  2. Insurance Against Loss of Time
  3. Medical Care and Benefits
  4. Compulsory Health Insurance Abroad
  5. Problem of Health Insurance

Required:

Millis, H.A., and Montgomery, R.E., Labor’s Risks and Social insurance, Chaps. 5, 6, and 7
Syendstricker, E., “Health Insurance and the Public Health,” Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, June, 1935, pp. 284-292

Suggested for Reference:

Committee on the Costs of Medical Care, Final Report, Chaps. 1-6
Williams, P., The Purchase of Medical Care, Chap. 1

 

Part Eight
Security for Old Age

  1. The Problem of the Older Worker in Modern Industry

Required:

Brown, D., “Proposals for Federal and State Cooperation for Old Age Security”, Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, June, 1935, pp. 276-281
Twentieth Century Fund, More Security for Old Age, Chap. 1

  1. Private Pension Plans

Required:

Twentieth Century Fund, More Security for Old Age, pp. 69-73

  1. State Old Age Assistance Plans

Required:

Twentieth Century Fund, More Security for Old Age, pp. 69-73

  1. The Federal Old Age Pension Plan
    1. An outline of the plan
    2. Why a federal plan
    3. Why a contributory plan
    4. Problems of the Reserve Fund
    5. Some proposed modifications of the law

Required:

Advisory Council on Social Security, Final Report
Brown, J. Douglas, “The Development of the Old Age Insurance Provisions of the Social Security Act”, Law and Contemporary Problems, April, 1936
Brown, J. Douglas, “Old Age Security, a Problem of Industry and Government”, American Management Association, Economic Security, Pensions and Health Insurance, Personnel Series 20, pp. 3-9
Haber, W., Some Current Problems in Social Security
Linton, M.A., “The Quest for Security in Old Age”, Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, June, 1935, pp. 373-389
Twentieth Century Fund, More Security for Old Age, pp. 73-158, and 31-68

Suggested for Reference:

Aldrich, W.W., “An Appraisal of the Federal Social Security Act”
Witte, E.E., “Old Age Security in the Social Security Act”, Journal of Political Economy, February, 1937, pp. 1-44

 

Part Nine
Personnel Administration

  1. Should Business Enterprises Formulate Definite Labor Policies
  2. The Matters with which a Labor Policy should Deal
  3. The Determination of Personnel Policies
  4. The Execution of Personnel Policies—the Relation between the Personnel Department and Operating Officials
  5. Some Problems of Personnel Administration
    1. Selection of employees
    2. Training of employees
    3. Handling discharge cases
    4. Problems in making layoffs
  6. The Role of Personnel Administration under Collective Bargaining with Trade Unions
  7. The Contribution of Personnel Administration to the Improvement of the Conditions of Labor

Required:

Bergen, H.B., “Basic Factors in Present-Day Industrial Relations”, Personnel, November, 1937
Bergen, H.B., Fundamentals of a Personnel and Industrial Relations Program
Tead, Ordway and Metcalf, H.C., Principles of Personnel Administration, Chaps. 4, 12 and 25

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2. Folder “Economics, 1938-39”.

________________________

Reading Period, Second Term

Economics 81: No additional assignment.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2. Folder “Economics, 1938-39”.

________________________

Twelve Case Studies

Economics 81
1.

A labor manager of a large plant recently expressed the opinion that he would rather have a national union among his employees than so-called “independent” association.

Recently the C.I.O. attempted to organize the plant by typical organizing methods. It had loud speakers outside the plant at the noon hour and it passed out literature containing strong and none-too-accurate attacks on the company and its management. The personnel manager of the plant had made it his business to become acquainted with the international president of the union. He got the president on long distance and said: “If I didn’t know any better how to organize the plant than you do, I would go out of business. Let me know when you will be in town at the Statler Hotel. I will see that twenty-six of our men come down to see you. If you can’t organize them into a union, you are no good.”

Discuss from the point of view of management, the advantages and drawbacks of national and “independent” unions. What do you think of the personnel manager’s technique in handling the organization problem?

 

Economics 81
2.

During the summer of 1937 negotiations in the railroad industry were carried on first with the non-transportation employees and later with the transportation employees. Suppose there are several unions of varying strength in the same plant. Discuss from the point of view of (1) the unions, and (2) the employer the desirability of (1) negotiating with each union separately, or (2) negotiating with them all simultaneously. It is quite usual in the building trades, for example, for the contractors to negotiate changes in wages and hours with all or most of the crafts simultaneously. The six unions in the railroad shops have pursued the policy of negotiating as a unit. On the other hand, in the printing industry, the photo-engraving union has pursued the policy of negotiating independently of the other unions. Can you suggest an explanation for these differences?

 

Economics 81
3.

In the railroad industry it is customary to make trade agreements of indefinite duration—that is, the agreement remains in effect until one side or the other gives notice of desiring a change. The agreements require notice of not less than a certain number of days or weeks.

What advantages to each side do you see in this type of agreement? Do you think that agreements of indefinite duration, such as cancelation on given notice, would be advisable in the building trades, in the shoe industry, in the street railway industry, in department stores?

 

Economics 81
4.

A large airplane line has three shops. In one of them virtually all of the employees belong to the machinists’ union. In each of the other two, the men have organized an independent union. The management wishes to negotiate agreements with its employees. In your judgment, does it make any difference where the management begins?

 

Economics 81
5.

The manager of a company complains that the employees take their grievances to the business agent rather than settling them through the shop steward. This suggests that something is wrong somewhere. What would you look for?

 

Economics 81
6.

For years the manager of a leather plant has taken some pains to avoid the risk of a strike because a large amount of product might be spoiled by the workers going out. The plant manager was not sure whether the president of the company would back him in case a strike occurred or whether the president might hold him responsible for the large losses and, in consequence, remove him from his job. The union gradually discovered that by taking a strong stand it could bulldoze the manager on many matters. It has succeeded in preventing the management from introducing machines into the finishing department. It has also succeeded in preventing the management from revising its piece rates in certain departments. As a result, the piece rates are far above what they should be in view of changes that have been made in methods and working conditions.

Assume that you are the president of the company and that you have just discovered this situation. What possible lines of action might you pursue?

 

Economics 81
7.

Some unions attempt to restrict the employers’ freedom to make layoffs by enforcing equal-division-of-work; others by enforcing layoff in accordance with seniority (sometimes modified by recognition of ability), and some by a combination of equal-division-of-work and seniority. In the women’s garment industry there are two principal busy seasons in the course of the year. The peak demand in each season lasts from four to six weeks. Between the busy seasons, the volume of employment becomes very low. Goods are produced in the main by small plants; a considerable proportion of the plants go out of business each year—in fact, in the New York market during the twenties the annual business mortality rate was over 30 per cent.

Do you think that the union in this industry would be well advised to attempt to regulate layoffs by seniority rule? If not, what kind of rule would you suggest to the union?

 

Economics 81
8.

Among the questions which arise in administering seniority rules is whether seniority shall be on a plant basis, a department basis, an occupational basis, or, in the case of multiple plant companies, on a plant basis. Discuss from the standpoint of both labor and employer the advantages and disadvantages of the different bases. Some employers have said that any seniority rule which suits the union will suit them provided it permits the employer to take some account of ability. Subject to this qualification, some employers have offered to let the union write its own seniority rule. What do you think of this position?

Suppose that the general rule is that seniority in a company will be based upon length of service in a department. How would you handle the case of a man transferred from one department to another at (1) his own request; (2) at the company’s request. Would your answer depend upon whether the transfer is temporary or permanent?

 

Economics 81
9.

A small furniture manufacturer writes: “We are negotiating for the renewal of our contract with the union and are not making the progress which we should. Heretofore the union has always stipulated and insisted that foremen are not eligible and should not become members of the union. This year they have reversed their position and insist that all foremen become members.”

The company has a closed shop contract with the union. Competition in the industry is intense. Would you advise the employer to concede the demand? If not, what line of action would you suggest that he pursue?

 

Economics 81
10.

A union in a factory making a food product limits itself to 180 batches in eight hours. The men are working under the Bedaux system which means that for output above a given amount they receive a bonus. The production of 180 batches enables the men to earn a small bonus. Improved machinery introduced since the Bedaux standards were set makes it possible for the men to turn out considerably more than 180 batches.

What should the employer do about this situation?

 

Economics 81
11.

At the 1934 Convention of the Glass Bottle Blowers Association, the Committee on Feed and Flow Automatic Machines recommended that “No firm with whom we have contractual relations shall be given any special privileges either by our National President or by any member of the Executive Board.” This would have prevented the union officers from signing agreements which gave some employers lower wages than other employers were paying.

Vice President Campbell, speaking on this question, said:

“This is an important question and I ask the privilege of speaking. I came in contact with it many places in the trade last year, and statements made here seem to refer to it. Some delegates are in favor and others are opposed, so it is a debatable question—this separate agreement; but if we go back in our history, we always had a separate agreement. We used to meet the Owens Company from year to year in a separate conference, which was necessary at that time; and the manufacturers used it in our conferences. President Maloney yesterday told you that it was pointed out to us that the ‘Big Boys’ were not in the conference; ‘Bring them in,’ they said. Before we organized the Owen-Illinois the Independent Manufacturers pointed out to us that this particular company was not paying the same wages they and other plants were. In some instances that was true. A few years ago the wage scale in some of their plants was not equal to our minimum rate. There was not so much complaint, because their wage scale in the Flow and Feed Department was on a par with ours. But in recent years, after the organization of the Owens-Illinois plants, we were able to secure better wages and the time came when they were paying better wages than our independent manufacturers. Then we began to hear complaints, and naturally so. But I think the separate agreement will work to our advantage, especially now, more so than in years gone by.”*

*Minutes of Proceedings of Fifty-Second Convention, Glass Bottle Blowers Association, July 9-16, 1934, p. 241.

Discuss the issues raised by this question.

 

Economics 81
12.

“When the number of employees in a department is increased or decreased the employer agrees to give consideration to the relative merit and ability of all employees in such department, and where, in the opinion of the employer, merit and ability are equal, then the factor of length of service in such department shall be recognized. In the case of a transfer from one department to another, an employee shall not lose any of the recognition herein referred to.”

Employee X is employed in a factory for six years having worked four years in Department A, and was thereafter transferred to Department B where he worked for the ensuing two years. Because of slowness of business in Department B, it becomes necessary to reduce the personnel of that department and the person with the least seniority (merit and ability being equal) is laid off.

Under the seniority rule quoted, how many years seniority does Employee X have. Assuming that Employee X is laid off in Department B, would he be permitted (merit and ability being equal) to “bump” an employee in Department A with (1) five years’ seniority, or (2) three years’ seniority?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2. Folder “Economics, 1938-39”.

________________________

Final Examinations

1938-39
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 81a
[Mid-Year Examination, January or February 1939]

(Answer five out of six, including Question IV)

I

In 1936, the index of real wages was approximately 250 for the United States, 100 for Great Britain, 40 for Roumania and Poland. What factors would you take into account in explaining these differences?

II

“The introduction of new machinery appears to reduce the number of jobs. Its true effect, however, is to widen the opportunities for employment and to raise real wages.” Do you agree? Explain.

III

Analyze the conditions which determine the ability of a labor organization to practice successfully the policy of controlling new machines. What do you mean by a policy of control?

IV

Through years of experience in the negotiation and administration of trade agreements, certain practices, procedures, and organization arrangements have been developed which have contributed substantially to the smoother operation of collective bargaining. Indicate some of the more important of these, explaining their significance, and, where their application is limited, explaining what these limitations are.

V

Union-management cooperation involves certain problems which, unless properly handled, lead to strained industrial relations. Point out some of the more important of these problems and indicate what an employer might do about them.

VI

What are the relations between collective bargaining and unemployment?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001. Box 4, Bound volume: Mid-Year Examinations—1939. Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. January-February, 1939.

 

1938-39
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 81a
[Final Examination, June 1939]

I

Discuss the issues which arise in attempting to write a satisfactory seniority rule for a collective agreement.

II

“Collective bargaining is both a necessary and a dangerous institution.” Discuss.

or

“Industrial democracy is essential to make political democracy effective, but industrial democracy poorly operated can bring about the downfall of political democracy.” Discuss.

III

(a) Discuss the incidence of the old age pension contributions.

(b) State and comment briefly on the arguments for the large pension reserve.

IV

(a) Discuss the desirability of replacing the present schemes of unemployment insurance benefit with flat rate payments.

(b) What are the merits of merit rating?

V

Discuss some of the problems of policy created by the interrelation of unemployment compensation and relief.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001. Box 4, Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. June, 1939.

Image Sources:

Sumner H. Slichter (left) Harvard Class Album 1947-48.

Spencer D. Pollard (middle) from the Harvard Class Album 1932.

Lloyd G. Reynolds (right). Photo from the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Library Photography Collection (April, 1940).