The following examinations were included in a publication of the Cambridge University Economics Tripos for 1931-33. Appended to the publication of the 1921-1926 Cambridge Economics Tripos Papers are the “Papers set in the qualifying examinations 1925 & 1926”. So the following three exams most likely served as an early hurdle to clear before being admitted to the Economics Tripos.

Intercollegiate Examination of Economics (June 1931)

Principles of Economics
Subjects for an Essay
Trade and Finance
Industry and Labour

Intercollegiate Examination of Economics (June 1932)

Economic Theory
Currency and Banking
Industry and Trade
Labour

Preliminary Examination in Economics (June 1933)

Principles of Economics
Industry, Labour and Money. Paper I
Industry, Labour and Money. Paper II
Modern Economic History

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INTERCOLLEGIATE EXAMINATION IN ECONOMICS.

Monday, June 8, 1931. 9—12.
PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS.

1. What is meant by a perfect market? To what extent must fundamental economic theory be modified in view of the fact that in practice markets are not perfect?
2. “The representative firm was devised to meet the difficulties occurring in the analysis of supply when there is a disparity of efficiency as between different producers.” Comment.
3. Are there any reasons, for purposes of economic analysis, for drawing a distinction between the royalties received by owners of mining properties and the interest received by debenture holders in mining companies?
4. “Increasing returns maybe due to external economies or to internal economies.” What are external and internal economies, and under what conditions, and in what sense, can increasing returns be said to be due to each?
5. “If we were content to dispense with further industrial progress we should no longer have to pay tribute in the form of profits to business men.” Discuss.
6. What is likely to be the effect on the price and output of agricultural produce of levying a land tax from which agricultural land is exempt?
7. In what circumstances is a rise in the general level of wages likely to be (a) compatible, (b) incompatible with full employment for labour?
8. Consider carefully under what conditions the control of an industry by a monopolist is likely to be in the social interest.
9. “The Theory of Distribution is but a particular application of the Theory of Value.” Elucidate this statement.
10. How far do economic and social considerations justify the right of private bequest?

Monday, June 8, 1931.  1. 30—4. 30.
SUBJECTS FOR AN ESSAY.

Write an essay on one of the following subjects:

1. “For our great-grandchildren the problem will be how to live rather than how to keep alive.”
2. The Electrification of the Railways.
3. “Democracy has had its chance and has failed: let us pass on.”
4. The Control of the World’s Wheat.
5. “The Five Years Plan.”
6. The Economics of Advertising.
7. “La République n’a pas besoin de Savants.”

Tuesday, June 9, 1931. 9—12.
TRADE AND FINANCE.

1. “Ten years of industrial depression measures the cost to this country of the Return to Gold.” Discuss.
2. Would you agree that the world price level of the next twenty years is at the discretion of the Central Banks in the chief industrial countries? Why, or why not?
3. What bearing has the proportion of their resources that people choose to hold in the form of money upon the value of money?
4. In October 1929 the market rate of discount was about 6¼ % while the yield of fixed-interest stocks was about 4¾ % in March 1931 the former was about 2½ % and the latter about 4½ %. How would you account for these facts?
5. “To-day, as in the middle of the last century, Free Trade is the best policy for this country: the reasons may be different, the conclusion is the same.” Investigate this argument.
6. What are the relative advantages or disadvantages for this country of a fixed fiduciary issue as compared with a proportional reserve system of note issue?
7. State clearly the differences in organisation between the money markets of London and New York, and indicate how these differences affect the nature and extent of the influence of the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the two markets respectively.
8. With what truth is it alleged that whereas before the war the sources of disturbance to the Foreign Exchanges automatically set in motion corrective forces, to-day this no longer tends to be so?
9. How do you account for the differences in the levels of wages normally prevailing between different countries?
10. What criteria should a Government hold in view in framing a system of taxes?

Tuesday, June 9, 1931.  1. 30—4. 30.
INDUSTRY AND LABOUR.

1. “It was once regarded as the duty of the State to curb the power of monopoly, but it now does everything possible to encourage it.” Discuss the truth of this statement and the desirability of the change to which it alludes.
2. Examine the effect that would be produced on the wages of skilled workers by the introduction of a national minimum weekly wage.
3. Give a reasoned account of what you imagine is likely to be the position of the British cotton industry in ten years time.
4. Describe the British Trade Boards system. What conditions are necessary for the establishment of a Trade Board in a particular industry and what conditions do you think ought to be necessary?
5. Consider how far the existence of surplus capacity in an industry can be regarded as socially undesirable.
6. “Since the war there has been a strong positive correlation between rates of real wages and unemployment.” Explain. Can any moral be drawn?
7. What are the factors that determine the size of firms? Illustrate your answer by reference to actual industries.
8. Discuss in the light of the experience of other countries the possibility of improving the efficiency of British farming on the side of (a) production, (b) marketing.
9. How far and for what reasons is labour in this country immobile at the present time? What benefits, if any, would you expect from increased mobility?
10. Is it possible for technical improvements in production to be adopted faster than is in the interests of the working classes? Illustrate your answer by reference to the conditions of to-day.

Monday, June 6, 1932. 9—12.
ECONOMIC THEORY.

1. Explain the difficulties involved in measuring the total utility derived from any commodity in terms of money.
2. “Under private enterprise the consumer is king.” How far do the teachings of modern psychology cast doubt upon the truth of this assertion?
3. Give examples of the way in which the development of economic theory has been moulded by the course of historical events.
4. Explain the forces which determine the value of a commodity “in the short period,” making plain what you mean by a “short period.”
5. Is the existence of monopoly (a) a necessary, (b) a sufficient condition for the existence of a system of differential prices?
6. “Since rents are merely transfer payments from one member of the community to another, it is impossible for an industry to be conducted under conditions of increasing cost from the standpoint of the community as a whole.” Discuss.
7. Is there any reason, from the standpoint of the public interest, why the freights and fares on the English railways should be maintained at a level sufficient to yield a normal rate of interest on the capital originally invested in the railways?
8. How far can the doctrine that each factor of production tends to be rewarded in accordance with its marginal productivity be applied to the factor risk-taking?
9. “Since cuts in wage-rates destroy purchasing-power, they are bound to prolong and aggravate a trade depression.” Comment.
10. Is the present pace of agricultural and industrial improvement likely in your opinion to make the problem of chronic unemployment greater in the 20th century than in the 19th?

Monday, June 6, 1932. 1. 30—4. 30.
CURRENCY AND BANKING.

1. “The Purchasing Power of Money is a phrase which admits, not of one, but of many meanings, some more useful than others.” Elucidate this statement.
2. Explain briefly the points at issue between the Currency and Banking Schools in the eighteen-forties. How far was the doctrine of the victorious school justified by the events?
3. What support does history afford to the contention that the gold standard leads to one set of results in theory, and to quite another set in practice?
4. “The duty of banks is to act merely as honest brokers between people who have made savings and people who want to use them.” Explain and discuss.
5. Discuss the relation between changes in long-term and in short-term rates of interest.
6. Why would you agree, or disagree, with the view that the price-level is the one passive element in the equation of exchange?
7. How do you account for the course which the prices of imported goods in this country have followed since our suspension of the gold standard in September last?
8. How far are existing arrangements as to bank reserves adapted to ensure efficient control by the Central Bank over the other banks in the London and New York money markets respectively? What alterations, if any, would you propose?
9. “The trade cycle constitutes recurrent proof of the absence of tendencies towards equilibrium in the economic system.” Examine the validity of this assertion.
10. Consider, with reference (a) to past experience, (b) to present circumstances, the relation of the export of capital to equilibrium in our balance of payments.

Tuesday, June 7, 1932. 9—12.
INDUSTRY AND TRADE.

1. Show the importance, in past years, of the emigration traffic to the shipping companies of this country and the railroad systems of the New World.
2. Give some account of the direction and composition of British overseas investment between 1850 and 1900.
3. “It is obviously to the general interest that sources of supply should grow up as near as possible to centres of consumption; subject to the condition that, where one source has a natural advantage in climate, mineral resources, or deep-set human aptitudes for a particular industry, it may be advantageously developed even at the cost of somewhat large expenditure of labour and material on marketing its products.” (Marshall.)
   Examine, in the light of this statement,
   Either (a) the aggregation of industries in Birmingham and the Black Country;
   Or (b) the location of the milling industry in North America and England.
4. Define a public utility. How would you approach the problem of whether a particular public utility should be owned and operated by the public?
5. What evidence would you require to convince you that the organised Produce Exchange renders an indispensable service to the farmer?
6. Why have the producers of agricultural staples in the New World and in England fared so badly in the last few years? What is the position in continental Europe?
7. “The 20th century has shown clearly that competitive industry never ends in complete monopoly.” Critically examine this statement.
8. Seeing that mass production gives decreasing costs, is it not reasonable to suppose that industrial progress and a falling price level will go hand in hand? Consider, in this connection, the price record of soap, automobiles, and electric power.
9. “Advertisement is a necessary business cost, but of no value to the community as a whole.” Criticise this.
10. Examine the various causes which may set a limit to the size of a business unit.

Tuesday, June 7, 1932.  1. 30—4. 30.
LABOUR.

1. “Our democratic age will be remarkable to posterity for having dimmed the time-honoured belief in the virtues of the poor” (Bosanquet). Is this fair comment on the extension of the Social Services during the past half century?
2. Discuss the effect of recent changes in the distribution of the National Income on the volume and direction of saving.
3. Discuss the probable effect on the earnings of workers in the electrical engineering industry of the introduction of a six-hour day coupled with the shift system.
4. Examine the view that the future of labour organisation lies in Industrial Unionism. Is it supported by the history of Trade Unions in this country?
5. An industrial combine employing some 30,000 people wishes to introduce a scheme for periodic consultation and discussion between management and employees. Draft an outline constitution. What subjects, if any, would you exclude from discussion?
6. Give a critical account of the history of government intervention in labour disputes in this country.
7. Consider the problems involved in the introduction of a means test for claimants to transitional payments under the Unemployment Insurance legislation.
8. Discuss the decay of apprenticeship. What alternative systems of recruitment are desirable and practicable?
9. Consider the probable effects of a permanent ban on immigration by the countries of North and South America.
10. What value do you attach to the suggestions which have been put forward for arresting the growth of unemployment by the speeding-up of expenditure on public works?

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PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION IN ECONOMICS.

Monday, June 5, 1933. 9—12.
PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS.

1. “Natura non facit saltum.” How far can this be regarded as a satisfactory axiom in Economics?
2. “It is easier to interpret the classical doctrine that ‘Rent does not enter into the cost of production’ in a sense in which it is not true, and to scoff at it, than in the sense in which it was intended and is true. It seems best therefore to avoid the phrase.” Explain and discuss.
3. State carefully the conditions which must be satisfied in order that an industry may be in long-period equilibrium.
4. In what circumstances could the distribution of the resources of a community between different uses be improved by government intervention?
5. On what theoretical grounds can the varying differences between the wages of skilled and unskilled workers in different countries be explained?
6. “The doctrine that the earnings of a worker tend to be equal to the net product of his work has by itself no real meaning: since in order to estimate net product we have to take for granted all the expenses of production of the commodity on which he works other than his own wages.” Explain the difficulty involved here.
7. What is the meaning of “normal profits”? How far is it true that profits in all industries tend to reach a uniform “normal” level?
8. If you had to calculate the most profitable method and rate of exploitation of a mine with a limited supply of ores of varying grades, what factors would you take into account?
9. Discuss the meaning which is to be attached to the word “utility” in the Theory of Value.
10. “Increasing and diminishing returns are attributes rather of production as a whole than of production in one individual industry.” Discuss.
11. In what circumstances if any would you regard it as desirable that a seller should discriminate in the prices charged to different consumers?
12. “The chief factors determining the rate of interest are the growth of population and the rate of invention.” Discuss.

Monday, June 5, 1933. 1½—4½ .
INDUSTRY, LABOUR AND MONEY.

Paper I.

1. How far is it true to say that the world gold standard before the War was (i) automatic, (ii) managed, (iii) dependent upon the economic and financial policy of England?
2. “The Quantity Theory of Money throws no light upon the forces which most directly and actively influence the price level.” Discuss this statement.
3. “The limit of wealth is never deficiency of consumers but deficiency of productive power” (John Stuart Mill). Discuss.
4. To what extent do you consider that the progressive supersession of private businesses by joint stock companies has been a gain from the point of view of the community as a whole?
5. Compare, with reference to any industries with which you are familiar, the relative importance of proximity to the market and proximity to the source of raw materials as factors in determining industrial localisation.
6. Give an account of the difficulties which confront the Lancashire cotton industry in the world markets to-day. What remedies have been attempted or proposed in recent years for improving the position of the industry?
7. How far does the nature of the product determine the possibilities of success in the co-operative marketing of agricultural produce?
8. “In disputes between employers and workpeople, the stoppage of work is analogous to a war, or still more to a trade embargo, in disputes between nations.” Discuss.
9. Give a rough estimate of the proportions of workpeople whose wage-rates are laid down in collective agreements, or fixed by the various statutory wages boards. How far and in what way do these wage-rates affect the levels of wages in unorganised and unregulated trades and services?
10. Discuss compulsory arbitration in labour disputes from the standpoint of (a) principle, (b) practice, with illustrations from experience at home or abroad.

Tuesday, June 6, 1933. 1½—4½.
INDUSTRY, LABOUR AND MONEY.

Paper II.

1. What would be the probable effects on the economic system of a country which was previously in equilibrium, if the people were to decide to save an additional £100 million per annum and to put the whole of the money thus saved on deposit account with the banks?
2. Assuming that an important cause of the present depression in England lies in the fact that prices are below the level of costs, consider the relative merits of attempting (a) to raise prices to meet costs, (b) to lower costs to meet prices.

How do you account for the changes shown in the above table?

4. Do you consider that discrimination against road transport in favour of the railways would be advantageous to the community as a whole in England to-day?
5. “‘The optimum firm’ is a meaningless phrase unless we know the price of machinery, the rate of interest and the rate of invention in a given industry.” Discuss this statement.
6. “The typical manufacturer of the more elaborate goods tends to become little more than an assembler of components bought from specialist makers.” How far is this true? What effects, if any, is it likely to have on labour and industrial organisation?
7. Why have so many countries been compelled to take special steps for the re-organisation of their agriculture?
8. In a firm belonging to an industry in which employers and workpeople are well organised, a dispute arises between some of the workpeople and the management as to how many workers, of what grade, and at what wage, shall operate a new type of machine. Describe the kind of agreements that are likely to exist for settling the issue without a stoppage of work, and sketch the procedure.
9. “Under well organised production the distinction between payment by time and payment by results disappears. The manager who introduces or retains piece-work or bonus systems thereby stands confessed a second-rate organiser.” Discuss.
10. Discuss the changes in the functions and status of the foreman consequent upon “scientific management” and “labour control,” and the problems such changes create.
11. Recount briefly the history of any joint industrial council of employers and employed. Discuss the causes of its successes and failures and suggest any reforms you think desirable.

Tuesday, June 6, 1933. 9—12.
MODERN ECONOMIC HISTORY.

1. “Mercantilism was the economic expression of the militant nationalism which sprang out of the social and political changes of the sixteenth century.” Discuss this. Was mercantilism peculiar to England?
2. Estimate the importance of Spanish silver to the development of capitalism in Great Britain and Europe.
3. Why was England the mother country of the Industrial Revolution?
4. Did John Law seriously damage the economic and financial position of France?
5. Explain the steps by which England originally reached a gold standard.
6. What was the teaching of Malthus on the subject of population? Was his problem our problem?
7. Estimate the economic consequences of the Napoleonic regime to Western Europe.
8. Examine the points at issue between the Currency and Banking Schools in the 1840’s.
9. Show the relation between the corn law controversy (1813 to 1846) and the formation of economic theory.
10. How did German thought and policy between 1800 and the death of Bismarck react to English fiscal doctrine?
11. Give some account of the rise of Socialism on the continent of Europe.

Source:  Cambridge University. Economics Tripos Papers 1931-1933, with the Papers Set in the Intercollegiate and Preliminary Examinations 1931-1933. Cambridge, UK: University Press, 1933, pp. 71-83.

Source: Trinity College, Cambridge University. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Examination questions for the Cambridge Economics Tripos from 1921, 1931 and 1932 have been posted earlier. Today we add the 1933 Economics Tripos for good measure.

Economics Tripos Part I (1933)

General Principles I
Social Problems
General Principles II
Essay Subjects
English Economic History
Economic Structure

Economics Tripos Part II (1933)

Economic Principles
Industry
Money
Essay Subjects
Labour
Principles of Politics
Public Finance
The Economic Development of the United States
Statistics
International Law

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PART I.

Monday, May 29, 1933.  9—12.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES I.

1. “Economics may be described as a scientific study of the best means of avoiding waste.” Discuss.
2. “Value in all cases tends to equal cost.” Consider the most important ways in which this dictum requires modification or amplification, and bring out clearly what is meant by “cost.”
3. Is it possible for a community to save and invest too much for its own welfare?
4. “Since it is evident that any industry is liable in the course of expansion to flood the market with its products and find its profits falling to zero or below zero, it seems pointless to pick out particular industries, such as agriculture, as being special cases requiring the use of the classificatory term ‘Diminishing Returns.'” Comment.
5. What effects would you expect a great increase in the income of all classes to have upon (a) the rate of interest, (b) the size of the population?
6. How far is it true to say that capital is free to migrate from declining to expanding industries?
7. In what way does the true rent of land either resemble or differ from (a) the rent of buildings, (b) the high incomes of successful professional men?
8. “The rate of interest tends to equality with the marginal net yield on the capital in use.” How does this come about? Is it an adequate explanation of the forces governing the rate of interest?
9. Why do the prices of some commodities fluctuate much more than others?
10. What are the chief benefits that might accrue to the community as a whole if a highly competitive industry were compulsorily converted into a monopolistic corporation?

Monday, May 29, 1933. 1½—4½
SOCIAL PROBLEMS.

1. What evidence, if any, is there that poverty has diminished during the present century?
2. Discuss the difficulties involved in abolishing or modifying the “means test.”
3. Can relief of unemployment be dealt with on an insurance basis?
4. Would a uniform national reduction of wages increase employment?
5. Is England over-populated?
6. Discuss the proposal to build a million houses in five years and pay for them with new bank credits and notes.
7. By what chief methods are industrial disputes settled in Great Britain?
8. Could a general strike improve the position of the wage- earning class?
9. How do you account for the growing use of piece-rates in Russia since they seem inconsistent with the communist principle, “From each according to his capacity, to each according to his needs”?
10. Would you support the proposed international convention for a 40-hour week?

Tuesday, May 30, 1933. 9—12.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES II.

A.

1. Discuss the more important ways in which the world with which Economics is concerned differs from that of real life.
2. Explain what you mean by “the supply of labour” and discuss how far it is affected by changes in the rates of remuneration offered.
3. What do you understand by the phrase “the representative producer”? For what purposes is the idea useful?
4. Two commodities are produced under conditions of joint supply. A given tax per unit is laid upon the output of one. Consider the effect upon the price of the other.
5. What conditions are most favourable to the success of a combination of workpeople in order to raise the price of their labour?
6. In what ways is the burden of risk in production and trade distributed under present-day conditions?

B.

7. Give an account of the factors influencing the value of money.
8. Discuss the difficulties involved in the construction and use of index numbers of the cost of living.
9. How is the rate of exchange determined between two inconvertible paper currencies?
10. Describe the working of the London Discount Market and indicate where its importance lies for the student of monetary conditions.
11. Expand the statement that “the ability of any one bank to extend credit depends partly at least on the policy of the others.”
12. How far is “the stabilisation of the level of prices” likely to promote the stability of general business conditions?

Tuesday, May 30, 1933. 1½—4½.
ESSAY SUBJECTS.

Write an essay on one of the following subjects:

1. The final goal of society.
2. “A little college is a dangerous thing.”
3. Statesmanship and economics.
4. Hoarding.
5. The future of the English village.

Wednesday, May 31, 1933. 9—12.
ENGLISH ECONOMIC HISTORY.

1. “Until the end of the seventeenth century England’s economic position was only of secondary importance.”
   Account for this and for the change which took place in the ensuing century.
2. What was the “yeoman class”? When and why did it decline in importance?
3. What was the influence of the wars of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period on the economic development of England?
4. Outline the events and the discussions which preceded the Bank Charter Act of 1844 and consider the settlement then achieved.
5. Give a brief account of the “humanitarian movement” and indicate its rôle in the economic and social life of this country.
6. Give some account of the principal factors which influenced the history of British shipping in the second half of the nineteenth century.
7. What were the main features of the financial policy of Gladstone?
8. Indicate and account for the principal changes in the general level of gold prices between 1821 and 1873.
9. What is meant by “economic imperialism”? What forms did it take in this country in the generation preceding the outbreak of the World War?
10. Contrast the structure and general situation of British agriculture in 1850 and in 1914.

Wednesday, May 31, 1933. 1½—4½.
ECONOMIC STRUCTURE.

1. “A shift in the geographical distribution of industrial activities is usually associated with technical changes.” Discuss this, giving examples from recent changes in Great Britain.
2. How do you explain the rapid growth in the proportion of the population employed in the distributive trades?
3. “In expanding industries productive capacity can be created far more rapidly than of old.” Consider this statement, giving illustrations.
4. If to-morrow you were appointed dictator of the Lancashire cotton industry for ten years, what would you do? Give your reasons.
5. Give some account of recent developments in retail trading in this country.
6. Under what conditions will an increase in the total output of an industry be secured most cheaply (a) by the expansion of existing plants, (b) by the opening of branches, (c) by the establishment of new firms?
7. In what ways do you consider that public control over the provision of capital for industrial purposes can be improved?
8. In what circumstances will organised restriction of output in any one industry be in the public interest?
9. “It may be a true instinct which foresees the decadence of national prosperity in any special change of industry.” Comment.
10. “Business is becoming a profession which requires a professional training and outlook.” Discuss the truth of this, and its possible effect on the efficiency of management.

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PART II.

Monday, May 29, 1933. 9—12.
ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES.

1. State and criticise the case for the view that the conception of Utility is superfluous in economic theory.
2. With what qualifications is it legitimate to suppose that the quantity of a commodity demanded at a given place and time is a function of the price of that commodity only?
3. “The specious symmetry of the expressions ‘law of diminishing returns’ and ‘law of increasing returns’ conceals differences of fundamental importance.” Explain.
4. What part, if any, do the principles governing the increase of population play in the modern theory of value? If you hold that they play no part, show precisely how population theory has been extruded.
5. “Collective bargaining can only secure wage advances at the price of unemployment.” Discuss.
6. Is there any respect in which the laws which govern the rent of land differ from those which govern the value of other factors of production in equilibrium?
7. On what principles should a socialist state determine the optimum rate of saving for the community?
8. Construct, if possible, a general definition of normal profit that will cover the cases both of perfect and of imperfect competition. Or, if that is impossible, give specific definitions appropriate to each case. Justify your procedure.
9. On what grounds would you decide whether a practice of price discrimination was to be condemned?
10. If a particular factor of production is not fully employed in a community, its employment can normally be increased by a reduction in the price at which it is offered. What relevance has this for the problem of raising output in a community in which none of the factors is fully employed?
11. What facts would you need to know in order to measure the advantage which a country derived from its foreign trade?
12. “Monetary theory is destined soon to swallow up the general theory of value.” Discuss.

Monday, May 29, 1933. 1½—4½.
INDUSTRY.

1. How do you account for the increase since the War in the proportion of the occupied population engaged in the distributive trades? Is this increase to be deplored from the economic standpoint?
2. Do you think it is correct to regard the last quarter of the nineteenth century as a period of stagnation for British industry, and the early years of the present century as a period of recovery? What evidence is available in support of or in opposition to this view?
3. How would you explain the spread of international industrial combinations since the War? Do the post-War international combinations differ in any important respect from the pre-War international combinations? Have they contributed to economic stability?
4. It is said that the State regulation of railway charges and services has been developed on the assumption that the railway companies are monopolists. Discuss this contention, and consider how State regulation affects the present distribution of traffic between railways and roads.
5. What are “secret reserves”? Does the provision of “secret reserves” afford any advantages to business concerns? Can they be justified from the standpoint of the investor and the public?
6. What is the economic significance of the recent extension of instalment selling? Has this development had an adverse or a favourable effect on the stability of economic life?
7. Discuss the broad changes in industrial localization within Great Britain during the last hundred years, and their bearing on the theory of industrial localization.
8. Do you think that the State is ever justified in enforcing rationalization on an industry? What evidence should the State regard as relevant in considering action of this kind?
9. It is said that certain costs which are variable or prime costs from the standpoint of the employer are overhead costs from the standpoint of the community. Discuss this contention, and consider its bearing on the question of State interference in industrial affairs.
10. Account for the progressive decline in the British cotton industry during the last decade.
11. Discuss the causes of the extension of valorization schemes in world agriculture during the post-War period. Estimate the main economic effects of these schemes.

Tuesday, May 30, 1933. 9—12.
MONEY.

1. What light, if any, does the experience of the last three years throw on the comparative merits of the British, German and American systems of deposit banking?
2. Examine the view that an index number of prices must be differently weighted according as to whether the forces determining the value of money are analysed with the aid of the conception of velocity of circulation or with the aid of the conception of a demand for “real balances.”
3. How do you account for the popular notion that money, to serve its purpose well, must be “backed by” some particular kind or kinds of asset? Give instances of the expedients which have been adopted to satisfy this notion in times of crisis.
4. Examine, with special reference to the course of events in the United States in 1922-29, the theory that economic crises are brought about by a deficiency of saving.
5. “The controversy which culminated in the Bank Act of 1844 was simply an episode in the agelong warfare between inflationist and deflationist.” Discuss.
6. Examine the nature, and estimate the strength, of the forces which, in the absence of pressure from a central bank, will tend to bring about adjustment in a country’s balance of payments.
7. Some people hold that, if productivity per head is increasing, the stabilisation by a world monetary authority of an index number of wholesale prices of raw materials would have seriously inflationary consequences. Do you agree with this view? Can you propose any better objective of international banking policy?
8. The present slump has been compared with that of the early ‘nineties. Explain the main points of resemblance and difference.
9. If a Government in a slump spends £100 million, raised by loan, on public works, would you expect the “indirect employment” created to last only as long as the “direct employment,” or to outlast it?
10. You are Finance Minister of an “off gold” country which has decided to re-adhere to an international gold standard. What considerations would you take into account in deciding upon the new parity of exchange?
11. “Foreign investment on a generous scale by the creditor countries was the root cause of the world crisis: it is also the only possible remedy.” Discuss.
12. Discuss the influence of central banking operations on the relation between long and short interest rates, with special reference to the maxim that a central bank should endeavour to secure the equality of natural to market rates of interest.

Tuesday, May 30, 1933. 1½—4½.
SUBJECTS FOR AN ESSAY.

1. Japanese Expansion in Asia.
2. Rivers.
3. The Economic Background of the Present Situation in Germany.
4. The Place of Technological and Psychological Factors in Economic Analysis.
5. Graft.
6. The Creative Artist in a Socialist State.
7. The Colour Problem in Africa.
8. Class War.

Wednesday, May 31, 1933. 9—12.
LABOUR.

1. Compare broadly the standard of comfort attained by the mass of the people in Great Britain with the standards attained in Germany and the United States of America; and briefly account for the differences.
2. “Unless drastic action is taken to effect a change in the ownership of property, no substantial advance can be made in the direction of equalizing incomes.” Discuss the grounds for this opinion.
3. Did the legislation passed by Parliament between 1832 and 1850 on balance promote or retard the material progress of the working class? Give reasons for your opinion.
4. Explain how the volume of employment in Great Britain would probably be affected if the hours of work for all manual workers in industry and commerce were reduced to 40 per week, without any reduction in weekly wage-rates, (a) in this country only, (b) in all countries.
5. “Experience shows that, while sickness is an insurable risk, unemployment is not, and ought therefore never to have been brought within the scope of social insurance.” Discuss this view.
6. In a recent enquiry into the Sheffield cutlery trade, relating to the period July—December 1931, information was obtained from 67 manufacturing firms (approximately one-third of those known to be engaged in the trade) selected at random, from the outworkers employed by them and from a number of other outworkers. It showed the following results for men and women of 21 years and over:

Of the 2,926 workpeople covered by the enquiry, 61.1% were males and 38.9% females. According to figures supplied by representatives of the trade unions, it would appear that in 1932 less than 20% of the workers in the trade were organized in trade unions. If you had been Minister of Labour, would you have regarded this information as affording sufficient ground for applying the Trade Board Acts to the trade? And how would you have defended your decision?

7. “To show that wages in a depressed industry with an international market are higher than those paid for similar work in the same industry abroad does not afford sufficient reason for thinking that a reduction of wages is an appropriate remedy for its depression: in order to establish that conclusion it must be shown also that they are higher than those paid for the same skill and efficiency in other industries at home.” Examine this contention.
8. It has been proposed that a national authority, constituted similarly to the railways’ National Wages Board, should be established to regulate wages and conditions of work in coal mines throughout the country. Discuss the merits of this proposal.
9. “The differences of structure and policy between the trade union movements of England and the United States are to be traced to historical accidents rather than to any differences in the present character or organisation of the industries of those countries.” How far is this true?
10. What statistical or other scientific evidence is there as to the effect of (a) noise, (b) rest-pauses, (c) temperature upon output?
11. Explain, with reference to the history and the underlying economic conditions of the two industries, why the “sliding-scale” principle of wage-settlement worked successfully in the iron and steel trade, but failed to preserve industrial peace in the coal trade.

Wednesday, May 31, 1933. 1½—4½.
PRINCIPLES OF POLITICS.

1. “The Nation, by its power and its duration, is an organism, with an existence, ends and means of action superior to that of the individuals, separate or grouped, who compose it.” (Italian Charter of Labour, 1927. ) Discuss this view.
2. “The normal course of improvement starts from origination by pure social invention, and passes subsequently, if at all, into adoption by the State” (Bosanquet). Discuss the view of the relation between Society and the State which is implied in this statement.
3. What are the limits, if any, to the application by the State of the principle of Equality among its members?
4. “Liberty is not one, but many, and its various forms may contradict one another.” Discuss this statement.
5. Discuss the idea that law is the enforcement by the community upon its members of a moral minimum of conduct.
6. How far can an international sovereign authority co-exist with national State-sovereignty?
7. Would you agree with the view that a system of representative institutions for the economic world ought to be placed by the side of representative political institutions?
8. On what principles may the State seek to regulate or control the freedom of thought of its members?
9. On what grounds would you seek to justify the necessity of party and party-organisation for the proper working of Government?
10. The French Declaration of Rights of 1789 includes the right of resistance among les droits de I’homme et du citoyen. In what sense, if any, can a citizen have a “right” to resist the State?
11. Discuss, with reference to your general conception of rights, the idea of a “right to work.”
12. Would you agree that the “separation of the powers” (or functions) of government is a necessary principle of politics?

Thursday, June 1, 1933.  9—12.
PUBLIC FINANCE.

1. Consider the attempts that have been made to frame general rules for Expenditure analogous to those established for Taxation. Account for the relatively backward condition of the former division of Public Finance.
2. Examine the views that have been put forward concerning the principle according to which motor-vehicle owners should be taxed, and consider the principle or principles to which the present taxes on motor-vehicle owners tend to conform.
3. Discuss the extent to which the main differences between the various theories of taxation may be attributed to divergent views of the functions and the nature of the State.
4. What is there to be said for and against having a quinquennial instead of an annual budget?
5. On what considerations is the maxim that a government should not issue loans below par based? Does the maxim admit of exceptions?
6. Discuss the view that the Government should spend the revenue derived from death duties on capital purposes.
7. As a means to increasing prosperity, it has been proposed (a) to reduce taxation without reducing government expenditure, or, alternatively, (b) to increase government expenditure without increasing taxation. Compare the probable effects of these two policies.
8. “The law of diminishing utility is sound enough when applied to a particular commodity, but it cannot be extended to wealth in general: consequently all the elaborate arguments and formulae for tax-graduation are without logical foundation.” Comment.
9. Explain exactly what is meant by Most Favoured Nation treatment, and examine the view that its prevalence constitutes an obstacle to the recovery of world trade.
10. Discuss, with reference to the practice of other countries, possible alternatives to the methods of local taxation at present in force in England.
11. Is there any foundation for the view that inter-governmental war-debts are more harmful to trade than (a) other debts owed by governments to foreigners, (b) internal war-debts?
12. Compare the effects, (a) on home producers, (b) on consumers, of an import duty and an import quota.

Thursday, June 1, 1933. 1½—4½.
THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

1. “America is really a federation of sections rather than of States.” Consider this statement from the economic point of view as applied to American conditions in 1789, 1850 and to-day.
2. Examine, in the light of the first half century of American history after 1789, the economic powers which the constitution gave to the National Government.
3. Discuss the policy of the United States Government in dealing with the Public Lands down to the Homestead Act of 1862.
4. Criticize the methods used by the North to finance the Civil War.
5. “Southern experience before and since the Civil War condemns slavery as an economic institution.” Discuss this statement.
6. Illustrate the influence of the westward movement within the continent on the economic outlook of the American.
7. What problems were created by the consolidation of the railways and what measures were taken as a consequence to protect the public interest?
8. Account for the leading position acquired by the United States in the iron and steel industry.
9. Explain the change that has taken place in the twentieth century in the American attitude towards immigration.
10. To what extent have economic motives influenced the oversea expansion of the United States?
11. “America has no national economic history, in the sense in which France or England has, until the generation after 1880.” Discuss this statement.

Thursday, June 1, 1933. 1½—4½.
STATISTICS.

Part A.

1. Estimate the average, mode and median for the group of rents in Table A. Criticise the use of the formula skewness = (average—mode) standard deviation in this case, and suggest or calculate an alternative measurement.

Table A. Three-roomed tenements.

2. Fit a straight line by least squares or any other method to the series of index-numbers in Table B.

Table B. Index of Production.

Make a graph of the figures, marking in (1) the straight line found and (2) moving averages based on eight successive quarters.
Comment on the results.

3. If are the averages of n observations of (x, y) pairs, and in the array at there are n_s cases with average , show that .

Work out r and the correlation ratio for the figures in Table C.

Table C.

Number of earners	Number of families	Average number of dependents
x	ns
0	8	1.5
1	54	2.1
2	19	1.8
3	11	2.0
4	5	2.2
5	3	2.5
	100

Make a graph of the averages showing the regression line. Comment on the utility of the procedure in this case.

4. From a large population 100 workmen are selected at random and are classified thus:

Do you find any relationship between skill and birthplace? Table D may be used if needed.

Table D. Values of P.

Number of Compartments	0	0.5	1.0	1.5	2.0
2	1	0.48	0.32	0.22	0.16
3	1	0.78	0.61	0.47	0.37
4	1	0.92	0.80	0.68	0.57

Part B.

5. What data are used for forecasting the future trend of population and what assumptions are made? Consider also the more limited question of determining whether a population is self-productive or is tending towards diminution.
6. Among the statistics used for studying the change of the industrial position are (a) an index of physical production, (b) the number of insured persons in employment, (c) an index of wage-rates, (d) occasional accounts of average earnings. What relationships do you expect to find between these statistics in a period of increasing depression or in a period of recovery?
7. Explain in some detail the construction of index-numbers of average prices and of volume of trade from statistics of exports and of imports. Describe some of the purposes for which these figures are used and consider whether they are sufficiently accurate for these purposes.
8. Examine carefully the question whether index-numbers of wages and of cost of living can be combined so as to show the relative movements of real wages in different countries.
9. Describe one of the mathematical methods of constructing “demand curves” from existing data, and consider in what sense they can be called demand curves.

Friday, June 2, 1933. 9—12.
INTERNATIONAL LAW.

1. Comment upon the international status (if any) of the following:

(a) The Dominion of Canada;
(b) The Saar Basin;
(c) The State of California;
(d) Switzerland.

2. What are the main legal consequences that flow from the independence of States?
3. Show in what respects a mandated territory differs from (a) a colony, (b) a protectorate. What (if any) is the sanction for the enforcement of the terms of a mandate?
4. Describe the constitution and purpose of the International Labour Organisation and the method of the composition of the delegations sent by members to its Conferences. Mention any two of the Labour Conventions adopted by it and now in force.
5. How far has the process of codification been applied to international law? What are the difficulties in the way of further codification?
6. Describe the three principal methods for the settlement of disputes prescribed by the Covenant of the League.
7. Discuss the lawfulness and the effectiveness of an economic boycott,

(a) when applied by the nationals of one State against the commerce of another;
(b) when applied by the international community against a wrongdoing State.

8. Summarise the effect of the outbreak of war upon

(a) treaties to which all the belligerents and no neutrals are parties, and
(b) contracts between the nationals of opposing belligerents.

9. How much of the Declaration of Paris, 1856, has in your opinion survived the developments of maritime warfare in the Great War?
10. In what respects do you consider that the Covenant of the League, the Kellogg-Briand Pact, and the Convention on Financial Assistance (1930) have modified the law of neutrality?

Source:  Cambridge University. Economics Tripos Papers 1931-1933. Cambridge, UK: University Press, 1933, pp. 53-70.

Image Source: King’s College, Cambridge, England. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540.

The following eighteen examinations constituted the Economics Tripos at Cambridge University in 1921. Fifteen exams covered economic theory, policy, history and statistics with three exams covering politics and international law.

Previously posted Cambridge economics exams have been posted at the following links:

Guide to Moral Sciences Tripos 1891
Economics Tripos 1931
Economics Tripos 1932

___________________

ECONOMICS TRIPOS
PART I

Monday, May 30, 1921. 9–12.
GENERAL ECONOMICS. I.

1. Comment on the following passage: “Les vérités d’économie politique pure fouruiront la solution des problèmes les plus importants, les plus débattus et les moins éclairés d’économie politique appliquée et d’économie sociale.”
2. “Prices may be determined over a short period by demand and supply; but in the long run they are governed by the superior force, Cost of Production.” Comment on this statement.
3. What do you understand by the term, Joint Products? Would you apply the term to the production of chocolate and cocoa by the same factory? What principles govern the prices of Joint Products?
4. “The ordinary progress of a society, which increases in wealth, is at all times tending to augment the incomes of landlords.” Discuss this statement. What effect would you expect a great development of internal transport facilities to exert upon urban rents?
5. Consider the relative advantages of wages settlements for any industry (a) upon a uniform national basis, (b) upon varying district bases.
6. Compare the attempts of trade unions to raise wages with those of combinations to raise prices as regards (a) the methods which they employ, (b) the economic conditions of their success.
7. Distinguish the various types of business which it is customary to describe as Cooperative, indicating in each case the strong and weak points and potentialities of future development.
8. Comment on the following passage: “General low wages never caused any country to undersell its rivals; nor did general high wages ever hinder it from doing so.”
9. Is there any inconsistency between the views that the foreign exchanges are determined (a) by the demand for and supply of bills of exchange, (b) by the relative purchasing power of the currencies of the countries concerned? What do you consider the correct view of the matter?
10. “It is impossible for any country to finance a great war without an inflation of the currency.” Discuss this statement.

Monday, May 30, 1921. 1½–4½
RECENT ECONOMIC AND GENERAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

1. Show how Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations influenced the economic policy of England. What influence had it outside England?
2. Outline the different measures which have been taken since 1783 for reducing the burden of the National Debt.
3. What were the main objects which Mr. Gladstone had in view, when selecting the sources from which his revenue was to be derived?
4. What light is thrown by railway and banking history on the attitude of Parliament towards monopoly?
5. How far was the distress of the hand-loom weavers and frame-work knitters in the middle of the nineteenth century caused by the introduction of steam power?
6. What happened to the surplus agricultural population which before the Poor Law of 1834 was maintained, wholly or in part, at the expense of the parish?
7. (a) “Down to 1870 England’s colonial policy was a policy of drift.”
   (b) “The theorists of 1830 were animated by a mastering passion for liberty, and it is because they succeeded in making it the basic principle of England’s colonial policy that the British Empire is to-day a fact of such cardinal importance in the world.”
   Which seems to you the more correct view, and why?
8. “The discovery of gold precipitated Australia into manhood.”
   Discuss this; and point out the social problems confronting a new country which possesses precious metals in abundance.
9. Describe the chief forms of land tenure existing in India, and account for their diversity.
10. Examine the methods which have been adopted in different parts of the British Empire for the avoidance and settlement of industrial disputes.

Tuesday, May 31, 1921. 9–12.
SUBJECTS FOR AN ESSAY.

1. “Une extrême justice est souvent une injure.”
2. “In all essentials the problem of industrial peace resembles that of international peace.”
3.  “The economic relationship of nations is essentially one of cooperation, rather than of rivalry: the prosperity of each country is to the advantage of the others.”
4. “The nineteenth century was the outcome of French ideas and English technique.”
5. The Restoration of the Gold Standard.

“From this unrest, so, early wrecked,
A future staggers crazy,
Ophelia of the Ages, decked
With woeful weed and daisy.”

Tuesday, May 31, 1921. 1½–4½.
RECENT ECONOMIC AND GENERAL HISTORY OF EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES.

1. Contrast the map of Europe, as it was in 1815, with the map of Europe as it is to-day.
2. To what causes do you attribute the instability of the political institutions of France between 1789 and 1870?
3. “The German Empire was built more truly on coal and iron than on blood and iron.”
   What evidence is there to support this statement?
4. “Le Gouvernement provisoire de la République française s’engage à garantir l’existence de l’ouvrier par le travail;
   Il s’engage à garantir du travail à tous les citoyens.” (Moniteur du 26 fevrier 1848.)
   What was the origin of this decree, and to what did it lead?
5. “Gewiss ist es der Kaiser gewesen und konnte nur der Kaiser sein, der den Fürsten schliesslich entlassen hat, aber die moralische Autorität des Mannes, der das deutsche Reich geschaffen und 27 Jahre an der Spitze der Regierung gestanden hatte, war so ungeheuer, dass es für den Kaiser, der noch so wenig Regierungserfahrung hatte, eine moralische Unmöglichkeit gewesen wäre, sich von ihm zu trennen, wenn nicht eben der Kanzler durch sein Verhältniss zur Majorität des Reichstags sich in eine unhaltbare Position gebracht hätte.”
   Do you agree with this explanation of Bismarck’s dismissal? Give reasons for your answer.
6. “In France the average unit of agriculture remains as small as ever it was, and its typical manager is still the working peasant or the very small farmer.”
   Why is it that the small farmer has held his own so successfully in France?
7. Outline the main stages in the growth of the German Zollverein.
8. Compare the railway systems of Germany and the United States, with particular regard to
   (a) the purposes for which they were planned;
   (b) the part played by the State in their development and control.
9. How was it that the United States, which Huskisson regarded as our most serious shipping rival, had so small a mercantile marine in the second half of the nineteenth century?
10. Why were the attractions of Canada, as a field for immigration, inferior to those of the United States during the greater part of the nineteenth century?
11. What were the chief issues between North and South which led to the American Civil War?

Wednesday, June 1, 1921. 9–12.
GENERAL ECONOMICS. II.

1. “If we wish to get a clear view of English industrial inefficiency at the present time we have only to contrast the average output per worker in American industrial establishments with the average output in English establishments; or to set side by side the average output of each cotton spindle employed in Japan with the corresponding figure for English spindles. In both comparisons England’s position is unsatisfactory almost beyond belief.” Criticise this argument.
2. What meanings can be attached to the statement that a country is “over-populated”? In what sense, if any, can the statement be applied to this country at the present day?
3. “The socialistic activities of modern states, by checking the natural play of those forces that tend to bring about the elimination of the relatively unfit, threaten a progressive deterioration of the qualities of the race.” Discuss this statement.
4. Indicate the chief difficulties in the way of estimating accurately the change in the real earnings of any group of wage-earners in 1921, as compared with 1914.
5. Are trade unions well advised (a) in attempting to prohibit the entry of female workers into specific occupations, (b) in insisting on equal pay for male and female workers in occupations where both are normally employed?
6. “Plasticity of wage rates would be the sovereign remedy for the evil of unemployment.” Discuss this view.
7. Analyse the various causes, both temporary and relatively permanent, which may bring about a disparity between a country’s recorded exports and imports. Illustrate from actual instances.
8. Discuss the effects of increasing supplies of gold upon the short period and the long period rate of interest in a gold-standard country.
9. “It is not an essential part of the principle of a gold standard that gold coins should freely circulate within the community adopting that principle, or even that gold coins should be freely minted.” Discuss this statement.
10. “If all citizens were intelligently alive to their own interests and could also be depended on to be strictly honourable in all their dealings with the State, no taxes on commodities would be tolerated.” Comment.

Wednesday, June 1, 1921. 1½–4½.
EXISTING POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS.

1. “Distrust of the elected legislature is the outstanding feature of the new German constitution.” Discuss this statement.
2. Compare the functions and the effective powers of the Senate of the United States with those of any one other existing Senate.
3. Indicate the limitations under which the Referendum is usually instituted, giving reasons for the precautions adopted.
4. Contrast, in broad outline, the stages by which responsible government has been developed in the Dominions with the steps taken towards its establishment in India.
5. Describe the relations of the Executive and the Legislature in modern Switzerland. What are their chief advantages and drawbacks? How far could the same system be made applicable in England?
6. “British and American constitutionalism especially safe- guards the independence of the judiciary in order to ensure the liberty of the subject; European practice aims rather at rendering the powers of the administrators of the law effective against the individual with a view to the safety of the State.” Indicate the extent to which this may be considered a correct statement.
7. “In America the President and his Cabinet possess executive and administrative functions only; the British Cabinet’s essential functions are of a widely different character.” Comment.
8. “A written constitution is not the same as a rigid constitution.” Explain this dictum, illustrating from existing constitutions.
9. Compare Canada with either Australia or the United States as a type of federal state.
10. In what various ways are the powers of local authorities limited and controlled in the United Kingdom?
11. “In a unitary state it is impossible to maintain two co-equal legislative chambers.” Comment on this.

Thursday, June 2, 1921. 9–12.
GENERAL ECONOMICS. III.

1. “Eine Grubenabgabe keine Rente ist, mag sie auch oft so genannt werden. Denn ausgenommen den Fall, dass Gruben, Steinbrüche und so weiter praktisch unerschöpflich sind, muss der Überschuss ihres Ertrages über die direkten Auslagen zum Teil wenigstens als der Preis aus dem Verkaufe aufgespeicherter Güter angesehen werden.” Comment on this statement.
2. “C’est un fait remarquable dans le cas de l’or, que d’un côté les prix des marchandises ayant augmenté depuis 1914 à cause de la diminution sur le marché et pour des autres raisons, la puissance d’achat de l’or à l’égard de ces marchandises a diminué et que d’un autre côté, l’or fait prime parce que de nombreux pays—spécialement les pays d’Asie—montrent une préférence marquée en sa faveur.” Indicate the phenomena thus summarised and investigate the conclusions arrived at.
3. “It is often said that a high rate of interest hampers production and makes it dearer. This is false.” Examine this view.
4. Is it to the advantage of a country like Great Britain that its people should invest abroad a large proportion of their annual savings? Discuss the probable economic consequences of attempts to restrict the export of capital.
5. Examine the effect upon international trade of the payment of a large indemnity by one country to other countries. Is it the case that Great Britain could only receive an indemnity from Germany by increasing her imports of German goods to a corresponding extent?
6. “A vast unfunded debt is a standing menace to the stability of the banking and currency position.” Discuss.
7. What data would you require in order to form an opinion as to whether the inhabitants of any European country were under-taxed or over-taxed in comparison with those of other countries?
8. “Monopolistic combinations promise both steadier levels of prices and steadier conditions for the wage earner than can be expected under the present system of anarchic competition.”
   Discuss this opinion.
9. “There can be no rise in the value of labour without a fall of profits.” Ricardo. Critically examine this theory.
10. Discuss the economic significance and consequences of modern advertising.
11. Comment on the following: “The art of making yourself rich in the ordinary sense is equally and necessarily the art of keeping your neighbour poor.” Ruskin.

PART II

Monday, May 30, 1921. 9–12.
ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES.

1. Write short notes on (a) elasticity of demand and supply, (b) consumer’s surplus, (c) economic rent, (d) quasi-rent.
2. What determines the selling price of an article under conditions of (a) free competition of purchasers and producers, (b) monopoly?
3. Examine the relation between the rate of interest and the supply of capital in various classes of investment.
4. Define “normal profits,” and explain the part played by this conception in Marshall’s theory of distribution.
5. Consider the advantages of fixing wages on a sliding scale based (a) on the cost of living, (b) on the selling price of the product of the industry, (c) on the aggregate output of the industry. Give instances of each method.
6. Consider the arguments for and against a countervailing import duty on goods imported from a country, of which the currency is greatly depreciated in terms of the currency of the importing country.
7. Would it be beneficial if a State Bank, having the right to issue inconvertible notes, were to make loans for all approved purposes without interest, provided the borrower was able to furnish war loan or similar stock with a 10 per cent, margin as security? Frame your answer so as to persuade a person inclined to hold the opposite view to your own.
8. What would be your test of over-population? Apply it in a general way to present conditions in India, Germany, England and the United States.
9. “On peut trouver entre les faits d’ordre économique des relations de dépendance que l’on peut essayer d’exprimer par des formules algébriques, alors même qu’on ne pourrait pas les traduire en chiffres.”
   Give three or four examples of this.
10. “Kapital ist der Teil des Vermögens, welcher, selbst Produkt menschlicher Arbeit, wieder zur Produktion bestimmt ist. Nach dem Sprachgebrauche liegt sowohl der Begriff des Vorrats für künftige Nutzung, wie der des Erwerbsmittels darin doch erscheint es richtiger, das Kapital im Gegensatz zur Natur als bestimmten Teil des Vermögens hinzustellen und den Nachdruck auf die Art der Verwendung zu legen, welche die Güter finden sollen, weil sich so die schärfste Abgrenzung des Begriffs durchführen lässt. Es sind nicht darunter zu begreifen die Güter, deren Wert nicht geschätzt werden kann, wie persönliche Fähigkeiten, der Staat usw. und die freien Güter.”
    Restate the salient points of this definition in your words, and point out the respects in which a different view has been or might be taken.

Monday, May 30, 1921. 1.30–4.30.
THE ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT.

1. “Now that Public Finance is deliberately used as an engine for the redistribution of wealth, the conception of justice in taxation has become meaningless.” Examine this view.
2. On what principles should the cost of elementary education be distributed between the National Exchequer and the Local Authority concerned?
3. Consider the case for the State endowment of motherhood.
4. “Taxes on business transactions are open to all the same objections as taxes on commodities, and should be entirely abolished.” Consider this contention.
5. Investigate the view that even in ordinary times the State should control the price and ration the supplies of essential articles of food.
6. How far can the allocation of public funds be made in such a way that the marginal pound will yield equal advantage in each direction of public expenditure?
7. Discuss with illustrations the obligation which rests on a modern State to take steps to conserve the wasting natural resources contained within its borders.
8. “A municipality should not undertake to supply any article or service unless it is prepared to become the sole supplier.” Do you consider that this advice is sound?
9. “In einer Zeit, in der man eifrig nach neuen Steuereinnahmen Umschau zu halten hat, ist es begreiflich, dass insbesondere angesichts der Umwerfungen der Werte in rasch aufblühenden Gemeinwesen nicht nur bei radikalen Bodenreformern, die zunächst eine Verstaatlichung des Bodens, eine Wertzuwachsteuer immerhin als Abschlagszahlung wünschten, sondern über diese Kreise hinaus der Ruf ertönte nach einer Steuer die 1. mühelos erworbene Gewinne für die Gesamtheit möglichst stark mit Beschlag belegen sollte, 2. auf die Benützer des Bodens nicht überwalzbar erschien.” Discuss.
10. “Entre les trois procédés de couvrir les dépenses de la guerre par l’impôt, par l’emprunt, ou par l’association des deux, M. Helfferich est demeuré bien en arrière de ses collègues d’Angleterre et même de Russie. L’Angleterre a couvert par les recettes de l’impôt 25% des énormes dépenses de guerre.”
    Consider the arguments for the various policies pursued by the belligerents in this respect.

Tuesday, May 31, 1921. 9–12.
STRUCTURE AND PROBLEMS OF MODERN INDUSTRY.

1. “The liner she’s a lady.”
   “The black Bilbao tramp.”
   Explain the problem of ocean freights, as between these two services.
2. Discuss the advantages of the holding company and the merger respectively as methods of combination, (a) with reference to industrial efficiency, (b) from the financial standpoint.
3. Consider the problem of “Key industries,” (a) as to definition, (b) as to a right policy of development.
4. Describe the prevailing systems of land tenure in England. What is there to be said in favour of the landlord?
5. “Unfair methods of competition are hereby declared un- lawful.” (Federal Trade Commission Act, Sect. 5.)
   By what principles should a Court be guided in enforcing this clause? Illustrate by reference to special practices.
6. What features of the existing structure of industry lead to proposals for the limitation of profits ? Give instances of such proposals, and discuss their effects.
7. Suppose a scheme to be established for the benefit of operatives, e.g. in the cotton or in the engineering industry; how would you define the “industry” for this purpose? Show by examples the problems which would arise.
8. Compare the organisation of the Cotton and the Wool Textile Industries as regards (a) the market for the raw material, and (b) the market for the finished articles.
9. On what grounds has the present organization of the British coal industry been criticised from the standpoint of efficiency?

Tuesday, May 31, 1921. 1.30–4.30.
DISTRIBUTION AND LABOUR.

1. Examine the probable effect on the real incomes of house-owners if the cost of building increases, other prices generally remaining unchanged, (a) when there is no legal restriction on rent, (b) under such an act as is now in force.
2. Suppose a gradual transference in income, owing to rising prices and wages, from owners of securities bearing fixed rates of interest to workmen. How is the rate of saving affected, and what are likely to be the ultimate effects on national income if the transference results in a higher standard of living for workmen?
3. Discuss the incidence of compulsory provision of insurance against (a) unemployment, (b) sickness, if the contributions are paid in part by the state, in part by employers and in part by wage-earners.
4. Examine the conditions under which the establishment of a minimum wage in an industry does not result in diminution of employment, illustrating your answer from the experience of Australia or of the Trade Boards Acts in the United Kingdom.
5. Among the effects of the wage-changes in 1915 to 1920 were the diminution of inequalities of wages between industries, between occupations and between localities. How far were such inequalities due to economic causes and how far to custom or to accident?
6. A workman’s needs generally increase between the ages of 20 and 40, while in many occupations wages are irrespective of age. Can any methods be suggested by which this anomaly can be avoided?
7. The causes of poverty can be roughly classified as economic or personal. Indicate some methods by which trade organisation can remove the former and state organisation the latter.
8. Analyse the difference between the methods of settling wage disputes by compulsory arbitration, voluntary arbitration, and such organisations as Whitley Councils, giving illustrations from the practice of this or any other country.
9. During the generation before the war there is evidence of a steady increase of the number of salaried persons relatively to the number of wage-earners. Consider the effects of this tendency on the statistics of the growth of the national income as they are usually classified.

Wednesday, June 1, 1921. 9–12.
MONEY, CREDIT, AND PRICES.

1. Write a brief essay on the Quantity Theory of Money, describing in outline at least two methods of approach, and stating which you yourself prefer.
2. State the chief theoretical difficulties in compiling an index number of the cost of living which shall be valid for comparisons between different places over a considerable period of time. Is there any important theoretical distinction between “cost of living” index numbers and index numbers of the value of money generally?
3. Analyse and compare the different ways in which the term inflation is used by the wise and the foolish.
4. How do you explain the fall of prices during the past twelve months? Do you expect it to continue?
5. Compare the position of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board in the banking system of the U.S. with that of the Bank of England in the British system.
6. Give an account of the probable career from start to finish of a cotton bill drawn to finance the purchase of American cotton by a Liverpool merchant.
7. Give a careful account of the chief factors which influence the foreign exchanges, and forecast, with your reasons, the probable level of the dollar, franc and mark exchanges six months hence.
8. Restate the theory of international trade for the case of a set of countries of which the currencies are not on a gold basis but consist of unrelated inconvertible paper moneys.
9. Make practical proposals for obtaining from Germany as large as possible a sum in payment of Reparation.

Wednesday, June 1, 1921. 1.30–4.30.
SUBJECTS FOR AN ESSAY.

1. The Money Motive.
2. Business men in politics.
3. Frontiers.
4. Types of national leadership in Industry.
5. Education and Industry.
6. Bolshevism.

Thursday, June 2, 1921. 9–12.
MISCELLANEOUS ECONOMIC QUESTIONS.

1. “Light is the sovereign antiseptic, and the best of all policemen.” Do you regard this maxim as an adequate guide for the State to follow in its dealings with industrial combinations?
2. Consider how far the ordinary arguments against artificial interference with prices are relevant to arrangements for controlling the price and rationing the supplies of bank loans.
3. “The great national Trade Unions, by their insistence on uniformity of conditions, are really hindering the workman in his attempt to better his lot and to secure a greater share in the government of industry.” Comment on this opinion.
4. Examine the view that there is a danger of experiments in scientific management being carried further than the true interest of the nation demands.
5. “The policy of giving subsidies to unemployed workmen necessarily involves inflation of currency, and therefore aggravates the evils it is designed to cure.” Discuss this statement.
6. In what ways, if any, could the State usefully intervene to check the wastes caused by competitive advertisement?
7. Examine the arguments for compelling railway companies to carry workmen going to and from their work at unremunerative rates.
8. Consider the proposal that wage agreements negotiated by bodies representing the majority of employers and employed in any trade should be made legally binding on the remainder of the trade.
9. Can you suggest any practicable scheme for the issue of an international currency by the League of Nations, in order to facilitate the resumption of international trade?

Thursday, June 2, 1921. 1.30–4.30.
THE THEORY OF STATISTICS.

1. “The precision of the average of the measurements of n objects selected at random from a large group is proportional to .” Explain carefully the meaning of this statement, discuss the conditions under which it is true, and give examples of its use.
   What modification is needed if n/N is not negligible, where N is the number of objects from which selection is made?
2. How does the analysis, which gives the ordinate of the normal curve of error as the limit of _nC_pn+xp^pn+xq^qn-x when n is great, break down if pn is not great, and what is the resulting form?
3. Distribution according to age of railway guards.

Estimate by any method of interpolation the relative numbers in the age groups 30 to 35 and 35 to 40 years. State the hypotheses on which the method rests.

4. For the frequency group in question 3 calculate the average, median and mode, and obtain one measurement of deviation and of asymmetry.
   Give a verbal description of the group, using your results, in language which avoids technicalities as far as possible.
5. A six-faced die is thrown seven times; the numbers of the pips shown in the first five throws are added (x) and also of those shown in the last five (y). Show that if the experiment is repeated the value of the product-sum coefficient of correlation between x and y tends to be 3/5.
   Discuss the question whether any useful meaning can be given to the coefficient of correlation (obtained by the product-sum formula) in a case where nothing is known of the genesis of x and y and their distribution is not normal.
6. Describe any one method by which association between non-measurable attributes (such as intellectual ability of pairs of brothers) can be tested, and consider whether a valid numerical measurement of association can be obtained.
7. Find (by any method) the equation of a regression plane applicable to the following table, regarding each of the 15 entries as of equal importance.
   Compute the corresponding values from the equation and comment on the differences between the observed and computed numbers.
   What further information would be needed to calculate regression coefficients’?

   Age of wife at marriage	Children born per 100 couples by age of husband
   	15 – 25	25 – 35	35 – 45
   15–20 years	813	714	629
   20–25	661	595	540
   25–30	498	462	434
   30–35	364	341	322
   35–40	171	160	150

8. In a certain population the number of males over 25 years old is 875712, and the numbers who were 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 years last birthday respectively 29556, 29336, 29078, 28816, 28542. From these data, fill in the following, where the letters have the meanings usual in life tables:
   

   Age	lx	Lx	dx	qx	mx
   24
   26
   27
   28
   29

If q_x is the rate of mortality, m_x the central death rate, and  the force of mortality, show that and approximately .

9. What data are necessary for measuring how far a low birth-rate is compensated by low infant and child mortality? Show in some detail the form of statistical results obtainable.

Thursday, June 2, 1921. 1.30–4.30.
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN ENGLAND 1823-1828,
AND CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL THOUGHT.

1. Give an account of Place’s efforts to defeat the reactionary intentions of the Government in 1825 with regard to the Combination Act of 1824.
   How far is he justified in his statement that “Ultimately the Act (of 1825) differed very little from Mr Hume’s Act. It is substantially the same”?
2. On what grounds did Huskisson advocate
   (a) the retention of the “long haul” clause in the Navigation Act,
   (b) imperial preference?
   Was the U.S.A. justified in regarding the latter as a continuance of the old tariff discriminations?
3. “The question, then, looking at it practically, is this: In what degree is Prohibition better, as against smuggling, than a well-regulated duty?—by which I mean, a duty sufficient to protect the British manufacturer, without being so high as to afford a premium to the smuggler.” (Huskisson: Speech on the Silk Manufacture, Feb. 1826.)
   Show how this consideration guided Huskisson in the changes which he made in the customs tariff.
4. What were the leading ideas in the programme of the early London Cooperators, and from what source or sources were they derived?
5. Why were the problems of the Irish Poor and the English Hand-loom Weavers treated by the Emigration Committees of 1826 and 1827 as a single problem?
6. Show how the fear of a redundant population dominated the recommendations of the Emigration Committees of 1826 and 1827.
7. “In Lancashire there appear to be among the Hand-loom Weavers two classes almost wholly distinct from each other; the one who, though they take in work in their own homes or cottages, are congregated in the large manufacturing towns; and the other, scattered in small hamlets or single houses in various directions throughout the manufacturing country.” (Emigration Committee, 1827.)
   Was this distinction of long standing? Was it peculiar to Lancashire?
8. Illustrate from the Rural Rides Cobbett’s first-hand acquaintance with agricultural conditions.
9. “The Ricardian Socialists, though fairly unanimous in their criticisms of the existing system, differed greatly as to remedies.”
   Illustrate this from the writings of William Thompson, Thomas Hodgskin and J. F. Bray.
10. If you were engaged in an investigation into social conditions in England (1823-8), which are the trades about which you would find it most difficult to obtain information, and why?

Thursday, June 2, 1921. 1.30–4.30.
INTERNATIONAL LAW.

1. Describe the system of Colonial Mandates in the Covenant of the League of Nations. Indicate what are the important changes introduced and, in particular, consider the question of the sovereignty over the mandated areas.
2. How far do you consider that the principle of “Self- Determination” has a basis in International Law?
   Comment on the following statement of Mr Lansing: “It is an evil thing to permit the principle (i.e. of Self-Determination) to continue to have the apparent sanction of the nations when it has been thoroughly discredited.”
3. Compare the position in International Law of the Suez and Panama Canals.
4. Examine the following statement of Lord Stowell: “In my opinion there exists a general rule in the maritime jurisprudence of this country by which all trading with the public enemy, unless with the permission of the sovereign, is interdicted. It is not a principle peculiar to the maritime law of this country.”
   On what grounds is such a principle to be justified?
5. Comment on one of the following passages:
   (a) “II y a donc, voulue par la conscience universelle, une certaine limitation aux moyens d’hostilités, limitation encore bien imparfaite et qu’il est ambitieux de décorer du nom pompeux de lois de la guerre. Disons, plus modestement, qu’il existe des usages de la guerre dont le droit international demeure le guide moral et l’inspirateur.”
   (b) “Gegenüber der rechtmässigen Ausübung des Anhaltungs-, Durchsuchungs- und Wegnahmerechts gibt es für das Kauffahrteischiff kein Recht der Notwehr. Die Notwehr ist begrifflich die Verteidigung gegenüber einem rechtswidrigen Eingriff in ein Rechtsgut. Dies gilt allgemein für die neutralen wie für die feindlichen Kauffahrteischiffe. Die letzteren nehmen keine Ausnahmestellung ein. Auch sie besitzen kein Recht der Notwehr.”
6. To what treatment are merchant ships belonging to the citizens of a belligerent state which are in the ports of the other belligerent at the outbreak of war subjected by International Law?
   What course was taken by Great Britain, with regard to German and Austrian ships in British ports at the outbreak of the war in 1914?
7. Discuss the origin and development of the doctrine of “Continuous Voyage.”
8. Do you consider that any violation of neutrality has been committed in any of the following cases?
   (a) The export of munitions by neutral manufacturers to one of two belligerents.
   (b) The granting permission by a neutral state for the passage through its territory of the sick and wounded of a belligerent’s army.
   (c) The granting of permission by a neutral state to belligerent warships to effect repairs in its ports.
9. Discuss the propriety of the use of the term “Blockade” in relation to the measures taken by Great Britain under the Order in Council of 11 March 1915.
10. What is the effect of lapse of time upon the binding force of a treaty?
    Discuss the action of Austria in annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908.

Friday, June 3, 1921. 9–12.
POLITICAL SCIENCE.

1. “By Liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in what he believes his duty, against the influence of authority and majority, custom and opinion.” (Acton.)
   Use this opinion to show how you define Liberty.
2. How has the argument regarding the rights of property been affected by the development of modern industrial conditions?
3. State and examine Rousseau’s distinction between the General Will and the Will of All.
4. Discuss Mill’s view of the conditions essential to the success of representative government.
5. What are the conditions or grounds of objection which give a minority the strongest right to refuse obedience?
6. On what principle should the relations between a first and a second chamber be regulated in a modern democracy?
7. Give a critical estimate of the position which has developed between the State and Labour, through the Social Reform movement of the last generation in England.
8. Explain the alternative implied in Weltmacht oder Niedergang. What reactions on the life of the great State have been attributed to the development of colonial possessions?
9. What are the main considerations which determine a sound theory of punishment?
10. “The separation of powers in politics corresponds to the fixity of species in natural science; and both ignore evolution.”
    Comment on this statement.

Source: Cambridge University Economics Tripos Papers, 1921-1926. With the papers set in the Qualifying examinations 1925 & 1926. Cambridge at the university press 1927, pp. 1-21.

Image Source: Kings College, Cambridge England. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540.

While Economics in the Rear-view Mirror’s ambition is to be the boutique blog of economics education  in the United States up through the 1960s, from time to time I’ll venture off the North American continent to explore English and German departments, seminars etc.  Earlier I have transcribed and posted the 1891 guide to the Cambridge Moral Tripos that preceded the Economics Tripos but did have a Political Economy component. Also I have transcribed and posted the exams from Oxford’s Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) program for 1931 that I found in Wesley Clair Mitchell’s papers. As serendipity would have it, my trip last year to the Library of Congress yielded several years’ worth of exams from the Cambridge Economics Tripos. Below you will find the examination papers for 1931 that conveniently coincide with the PPE papers from Oxford. 

I recently found that a copy of the 1931-1933 Cambridge Economics Tripos is available at hathitrust.org.

________________________

ECONOMICS TRIPOS
PART I.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES I.
(NEW REGULATIONS.)

MONDAY, JUNE 1, 1931. 9—12.

1. Explain clearly the meaning of the term Marginal Utility and its relation to the conception of Consumer’s Surplus.
2. How far can a theoretical distinction be drawn between the rent of a house and the rent of a field? Is the distinction in all cases valid?
3. “There is no real connection between price and cost of production throughout an industry as a whole.” Discuss.
4. In what conditions would competition be said to be perfect? How far and for what reasons is competition in practice often imperfect?
5. Explain in what circumstances it is possible that a commodity will be produced under conditions of Diminishing Returns. Is it conceivable that the same commodity should be produced at one time under Diminishing, at another under Increasing Returns?
6. “Russia can grow wheat more cheaply than England because all rents have been abolished in Russia, while rents must still be paid in England.” Examine the validity of this argument.
7. In what sense can it be said that labour has (a) a demand price, (b) a supply price, (c) a cost of production?
8. What is likely to be the influence upon the rate of interest of improvements of industrial technique?
9. Explain, if possible with diagrams, what considerations will influence a monopolist in determining the price that he should charge for his product. In what circumstances will the price be considerably higher than the competitive price?
10. How would you explain the differences (a) between the wages of coal miners and agricultural workers in this country, (b) between the wages of coal miners in this country and coal miners in Poland?

ECONOMIC STRUCTURE.
(NEW REGULATIONS.)

MONDAY, JUNE 1, 1931. 1.30—4.30.

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of limited liability?
2. Explain the factors which determine the size of the productive unit in different industries, giving examples.
3. What are the functions of a merchant, particularly in the export trades? When is it likely to be to the advantage of a British manufacturer to become his own merchant?
4. “Left to himself, the consumer would never welcome mass production.” Comment.
5. Classify the relative importance of the different industries in any neighbourhood with which you are acquainted, explaining how they came there and why they stay there.
6. In what ways do the problems of management set a limit to the size of the unit of control in industry?
7. Critically examine the argument for and against vertical combination.
8. Outline proposals for the reorganization in this country of either shipbuilding or cotton manufacture.
9. Describe the economic functions of the London Stock Exchange.
10. Figures published by the Ministry of Labour suggest that industrial employment in Great Britain is moving south-eastwards. Can you account for this?
11. Under what conditions is an industry likely to become a monopoly? Describe briefly methods for the State control of industrial monopoly.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES II.
(NEW REGULATIONS.)

TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1931. 9—12.

A.

1. “If an increase in cost of production causes the price of a commodity to rise, the resulting fall in demand will lower its price again and cause it to return eventually to its former level.” Point out the confusion involved in this statement, and illustrate your answer if possible by a diagram.
2. Consider the nature and importance of the distinction between real wages and nominal wages, and between wage rates and total earnings.
3. What is likely to be the effect of an increased demand for mutton on the prices of (a) mutton, (b) beef, (c) wool, (d) the wages of woolen workers? Give reasons in each case for your views.
4. What are the chief characteristics of the English system of land tenure? What do you consider to be the main advantages and disadvantages of this form of tenure?
5. What causes determine the normal rate of interest in England? What would be the effects of a fall in this rate of interest on the price of (a) War Loan, (b) land, (c) houses, (d) vintage port?
6. Under what conditions will a check to the supply of a factor of production cause a large increase in its price?

B.

7. Give a brief account of the modern English banking system, explaining the conditions under which the joint-stock banks can increase their funds in emergency.
8. What do you understand by the purchasing power of money?
9. What is meant by the balance of trade? Under what conditions is it possible for a country’s trade returns to show a continuous excess of exports over imports?
10. What is the difference between a gold standard and a gold-exchange standard? Give examples.
11. What determines the rate of exchange between the pound sterling and the American dollar?
12. Is it possible for a country to be undersold all round by its competitors?

ESSAY.
(NEW REGULATIONS.)

TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1931. 1.30—4.30.

Write an essay on one of the following subjects:

1. “It is a kind of Proverb attending the Character of English Men, that they are better to improve than to invent” (Defoe).
2. Soviet Farming.
3. “That outpost of economic empire—the Argentine Republic.”
4. The United States of Europe.
5. “Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, where wealth accumulates and men decay.”
6. England’s Decline and Fall.

ENGLISH ECONOMIC HISTORY.
(NEW REGULATIONS.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1931. 9—12.

1. Give some examples of the way in which economic events have left their impress on economic doctrine.
2. Contrast the fiscal policy of Gladstone with that of Joseph Chamberlain.
3. Examine the reasons which led to the localization of the major portion of the woolen industry in the West Riding of Yorkshire.
4. Estimate the importance of the Chartered Companies for the expansion of England’s foreign trade after 1600.
5. Illustrate the attitude of Parliament during the nineteenth century towards
   (a) Monopolies, (b) Joint-stock enterprise.
6. Estimate the services rendered to England by Lord Shaftesbury.
7. “The industrial revolution was the precursor of a commercial revolution, which was just as important.” Comment.
8. Illustrate from English history the qualities required from a great inventor.
9. “War always brings prosperity to agriculture, and Peace, when it comes, depression.” Comment.
10. Account for the rise of the domestic system in England.
11. “The repeal of the Corn Laws was the most important political event between the first and second Reform Bills.” Discuss.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
(NEW REGULATIONS.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1931. 1.30—4.30.

1. Explain the difficulties involved in any attempt to measure exactly the National Dividend of Great Britain, and to compare it at two dates.
2. Describe briefly the results of any one investigation into the extent and causes of poverty.
3. Give some account of the changes in the level of real wages in this country since 1800, with particular attention to changes since 1914.
4. Consider the importance of the following as causes of unemployment: (1) labour turnover, (2) the need for a reserve of labour, (3) immobility of labour. In what ways can their effects be diminished?
5. Compare the efficacy of different methods of wage payment as incentives to increase output.
6. In what conditions do your think it desirable that a government should intervene to fix minimum wages in a trade? What powers of intervention does the Minister of Labour at present possess?
7. Examine briefly the following methods of dealing with the present unemployment problem: (1) public works, (2) emigration, (3) leaving it to private enterprise.
8. What means have been suggested for making industry more democratic? How far have they been successful?
9. Do you consider that the real incomes of workers can be increased more effectively by a rise of wages or by an increased expenditure upon social services?
10. “The strength of Trade Unionism has been the greatest obstacle to improvements of industrial methods.”
    “The most powerful incentive to improvement has been the encroachment of wages upon the profits of employers.”
    Where does the truth lie?
11. Give some account of the system of Unemployment Insurance in this country. Subject to what conditions may a man or woman draw benefit? What changes would you suggest in the present regulations?

PART II.

ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES.
(OLD AND NEW REGULATIONS.)

MONDAY, JUNE 1, 1931. 9—12.

1. How far do you consider the theory of Economics still to depend upon the hypothesis of an economic man?
2. “The theory of rent is nowadays not even of academic interest.” Discuss.
3. “The mechanism of increasing returns is not to be discerned adequately by observing the effects of variations in the size of an individual firm or of a particular industry, for the progressive division and specialization of industries is an essential part of the process by which increasing returns are realized.” Discuss the truth and significance of this conclusion of Professor Allyn Young.
4. If an employer finds it necessary to reduce output temporarily, what are the factors he should take into account when deciding whether
   1. to dismiss some of his employees,
   2. to maintain the working-force on short time?
5. “The doctrine that the earnings of a worker tend to be equal to the net product of his work has by itself no real meaning; since in order to estimate net product we have to take for granted all the expenses of production of the commodity on which he works, other than his own wages.” Comment.
6. Examine the argument that reductions in wage-rates, since they diminish the purchasing power of important bodies of consumers, can only aggravate a trade depression.
7. “A wise national policy would seek to maintain an economic return on the vast capital invested in the English railways by attracting back to them a large part of the traffic which in recent years has been diverted to the roads.” Discuss this contention, making plain the economic principles involved.
8. Examine the arguments for a monetary policy which permits the commodity price-level to fall in proportion to increases in general productivity.
9. In a world in which no net annual addition is being made to the stock of capital, would you expect the rate of interest to fall to zero?
10. “The emphasis laid in modern economic treatises on the theory of exchange value is misplaced. The true subject of economics is not the terms on which goods exchange for one another, but the forces which determine the magnitude of a country’s productive resources and the uses to which they are put.” Discuss.
11. How much truth, if any, is there in the statement that “exports pay for imports”?

STRUCTURE AND PROBLEMS OF INDUSTRY.
(OLD REGULATIONS.)

MONDAY, JUNE 1, 1931. 1½ —4½.

1. What are the main changes in the localisation of manufacturing industry in Great Britain since the War? To what influences do you attribute them?
2. What difficulties would you meet in attempting to compare costs of production in the same industry in different countries?
3. In the English cotton industry the typical firm is specialised either to spinning or to weaving; in other countries the typical firm combines spinning and weaving. How do you account for this difference? and do you expect it to persist?
4. “Rationalisation is merely a new name for monopoly.” “Rationalisation is merely a euphemism for company-promoting.” Criticise these statements, and explain, with reference to some one industry, what you understand by Rationalisation.
5. British exports to the East of tobacco, oil and fertilisers are distributed by subsidiaries of the producing companies; most other exports are sold by export merchants to merchants at the ports, who in turn leave the internal distribution to native dealers. What are the reasons for this difference of practice? Could the former method be applied with advantage to other exports?
6. If you were engaged by an American investment trust to advise them on the investment of a portion of their funds in ordinary shares in this country, in what industries, and for what reasons, would you recommend investment?
7. “Wage-rates in 1929 were approximately at the same level as in 1924, while the cost of living had fallen 5 per cent.; real wages had, therefore, risen about 5 per cent. But the Board of Trade index of industrial production showed an increase in 1929 of 11 per cent. over 1924; therefore there was a case for raising money wages.” Examine this argument.
8. Explain the operation of either the Federal Farm Board or the Canadian Wheat Pool or the San Paulo Coffee Institute or the British Australian Wool Realisation Association. To what do you attribute its failure or success?
9. Compare broadly the English and the German attitudes to Restraint of Trade… Explain the functions of the German Kartels Court, and discuss the suitability of such a Court to English conditions.
10. In what sense, if at all, is there a Science of Management? Can Industrial Administration be taught?
11. In England Local Authorities are obliged to arrange for the amortization within a definite period of all loans raised for the purpose of financing productive undertakings. Do you regard this as an undesirable handicap on public as compared with private enterprise?

STRUCTURE AND METHODS OF GOVERNMENT IN THE MODERN WORLD.
(OLD REGULATIONS.)

MONDAY, JUNE 1, 1931. 1½ —4½.

1. Describe some of the methods by which central control of local government is provided for in modern States, and discuss their success.
2. Discuss the view that the Referendum and the Initiative, whatever may be their merits under other systems, are incompatible with Cabinet government.
3. Compare the means for securing that effective government shall be carried on in an emergency in the United Kingdom and the German Reich respectively.
4. Compare the system of relationships between politicians and civil servants in England with that in France or any other country.
5. Explain the unique strength of the United States Senate among contemporary Second Chambers, and discuss the part it plays in American government.
6. Discuss whether the German Reich should more correctly be described as a federal or a unitary State.
7. Compare the parts played by parties in the systems of government of the United Kingdom and the United States respectively.
8. How far may Great Britain be said to fall behind continental countries in providing the individual with legal remedies against State action?
9. “The constitutional position of the President in the post-war European republics follows the French rather than the American model.” How far is this true, and how do you account for what has occurred?
10. Illustrate by reference to the respective constitutional positions of the Governor of a Crown Colony, the Viceroy of India, the Governor of an Indian Province, the Governor of an Australian State, and the Governor-General of a Dominion, the development in the office of the “royal governor.”
11. Illustrate from the constitutions of the British Empire possible methods of safe-guarding the interests of racial or religious minorities (or majorities) where the population is not homogeneous.

MONEY, CREDIT AND PRICES.
(OLD REGULATIONS.)

TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1931. 9—12.

1. “I am never wary of preaching in the wilderness ‘the only very important thing to be said about currency is that it is not nearly as important as it looks.’” (Marshall.) Do you agree?
2. Indicate the circumstances in which a Central Bank can most effectively enforce its policy by (a) changes in the bank-rate, (b) open-market operations, (c) rationing of credit.
3. Has the recent growth of the hire-purchase system for consumption-goods either precipitated or aggravated the slump in the U.S.A.?
4. “It is even conceivable that the cash-deposits may remain the same, the savings-deposits may remains the same, the volume of monetary transactions may remain the same, and the volume of output may remain the same; and yet the fundamental price-levels may change.” (Keynes.) Is this conceivable? And if so, does it mean that the traditional version of the quantity theory of money is not merely a truism but an error?
5. In what circumstances would the successful stabilization of the purchasing power of money in terms of an index-number of prices tend to increase or to diminish the fluctuations in the prices of individual commodities?
6. Factors affecting the general price-level have been distinguished as acting “on the side of money” and “on the side of goods.” Criticize this distinction, or define it so as to avoid ambiguities.
7. “The belief that the elasticity of demand for currency can ever be different from unity is based on a misunderstanding of what elasticity of demand is.” Discuss.
8. During 1930 the imports of gold into France have exceeded the world output of gold. What were the causes of this influx?
9. If central banks fixed their buying and selling prices of gold wider apart, would the diffusion of trade fluctuations from country to country be checked?
10. How would the internal price-level of this country be affected by a special tax on incomes from foreign investments?
11. “The joint-stock banks have attracted to their custody a larger volume of the country’s savings than can be economically employed in short-term commercial credits. Some modification in the traditional practice of English deposit banking is therefore required.” Discuss.

INTERNATIONAL LAW.
(OLD REGULATIONS.)

TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1931. 9—12.

1. Estimate the present international status (if any) of
   1. Canada;
   2. Bavaria;
   3. the State of Virginia;
   4. the Vatican City;
   5. the Territory of the Saar Basin.
2. Describe the present state of the movement for the codification of International Law (a) as to Peace, (b) as to War and Neutrality. What are in your opinion the chief obstacles in each case?
3. You are private secretary to a member of Parliament who sits for a fishing constituency bordering on the Moray Firth and who is requested by his constituents to address them upon what they describe as “the invasion of our waters” by Dutch fishing trawlers. He asks you to coach him upon the law (apart from any statutes) relating to fishing by foreign trawlers (a) in territorial waters and (b) in bays, and also (c) upon a proposal to fix by international convention the breadth of all territorial waters at twelve miles. Advise him.
4. Explain the expression occurring in Article 15 of the Covenant of the League: “a matter which by International Law is solely within the domestic jurisdiction” of one party to the dispute. Give some illustrations of such matters and refer to any judicial discussion of the expression. Is the category of such matters a fixed one?
5. Discuss the assertion that “the mandate system adopted at the end of the Great War differs in name only from the old-fashioned system of annexation by the victor of the colonies of his defeated enemy.”
6. Explain the operation of, and the difference between, “national treatment” and “most-favoured nation treatment” stipulated for in commercial treaties. What are the two principal interpretations of the usual “most-favoured-nation treatment” clause?
7. Discuss the rules of International Law which are relevant to the growth of trading by Governments, including the rules governing the status of State-owned merchant ships in foreign ports.
8. Describe, with illustrations, the different ways in which the Permanent Court of International Justice may acquire jurisdiction in respect of a dispute. What do you understand by “non-justiciable disputes”?
9. Discuss the extent to which the conception of Contraband has changed since the beginning of the Great War, and the effect of that change upon the Declaration of Paris of 1856.
10. A Government White paper published in 1929 concludes an argument with the sentence: “In other words, as between Members of the League, there can be no neutral rights because there can be no neutrals.” Discuss the accuracy of this statement, having regard both to the Covenant and to the Peace Pact of Paris.

SUBJECTS FOR AN ESSAY.
(OLD AND NEW REGULATIONS.)

TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1931. 1½ —4½.

1. Business Forecasting.
2. The Decline and Fall of the British Empire.
3. The Rights of Shareholders.
4. “Buy British.”
5. Republicanism.
6. Arnold Bennett, the interpreter of industrialism.

POLITICAL THEORY.
(OLD REGULATIONS.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1931. 9—12.

1. In what sense, and to what extent, do you regard it as the place of the State to allot their provinces to other associations?
2. In what circumstances, if any, would you justify the refusal by the individual of a demand on the part of the State for his military service, and on what grounds?
3. “La liberté est le droit de faire tout ce que les lois permettent.” Montesquieu.
   “By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.” Acton.
   Discuss the adequacy of these definitions.
4. Wherein do you consider the originality and importance of Rousseau as a political theorist to lie?
5. Compare and contrast Mazzini’s doctrine of nationality with those of present-day Italian nationalists.
6. “The citizen should be moulded to suit the form of government under which he lives.” To what extent do you accept this principle of Aristotle’s?
7. Examine the implications and discuss the validity of the theory of a “right to work or maintenance.”
8. What circumstances are required, in your opinion, to justify a demand for “national self-determination” on the part of a community?
9. Consider the arguments for increased public control of the Press in England.
10. How far, in your opinion, does (a) illiteracy, (b) failure to vote, (c) ecclesiastical influence justify the withholding or withdrawal of the political franchise?

DISTRIBUTION AND LABOUR.
(OLD REGULATIONS.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1931. 9—12.

1. Examine critically the policy of reducing unemployment by settling new industries in districts where older industries appear to be permanently depressed.
2. Contrast conventional and “scientific” methods of determining “fair” piece-rates. What are the reasons for varying the rate degressively or progressively according to the total output produced?
3. Discuss the difficulties of demonstrating statistically that wages tend to equality in trades “which are of equal difficulty and disagreeableness, which require equal natural abilities and an equally expensive training.”
4. “In the past he had often had occasion to speak of ‘insurance popularly miscalled the dole.’ To-day he was afraid that it might be truer to speak of ‘the dole officially miscalled insurance.’” Discuss this view of Sir William Beveridge expressed in his evidence before the Royal Commission on Unemployment Insurance.
5. Show by reference to specific trades the reasons for which (a) Trade Boards, (b) Joint Industrial (“Whitley”) Councils have been established in some trades and not in others. Can you suggest possible extensions of either to any further trades?
6. What effect would (a) the growth of trade unionism among women, (b) the repeal of legal restrictions upon women’s employment, be likely to have upon the wages and employment of men?
7. What measures may any one employer take to reduce labour costs besides reducing wage-rates or substituting machines for men? Is there any statistical evidence of the exact effect of such measures?
8. What considerations would you take into account in adjudicating on a claim for reduction of wages in an industry in which no return is being earned on ordinary capital and there is over 15 per cent. unemployment?
9. How far do you consider the marginal theory of distribution a full and adequate explanation of the actual distribution of incomes among persons?
10. Analyse the problem of regulating wages and hours in the coal-mining industry as illustrated by events since the war.

PUBLIC FINANCE.
(OLD AND NEW REGULATIONS.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1931. 1½ —4½.

1. Examine the view that the budgetary problems of the creditor countries concerned would be lightened rather than aggravated by a general remission of reparations and war-debts.
2. The Royal Commission on Transport, reporting at the end of 1930, proposed that the present proportion in which the cost of the roads is shared between Local Authorities and the users of mechanical transport should be reversed, the share of the latter being brought up to two-thirds by the payment into the Road fund of the then existing duty on petrol and of that part of the licence duties on motor vehicles which is at present diverted to the Exchequer. Discuss this proposal.
3. If you were in charge of the finances of the U.S.S.R., on what part, if any, of the capital employed in the various nationalized industries would you require the payment of interest?
4. Is there any ground for the opinion that taxation imposed for the purpose of paying interest on internal debt is less onerous to the nation than taxation imposed for the purpose of paying the salaries of Government officials?
5. Examine the view that improvements in the means of transport, such as suburban Tube extensions, should be financed out of confiscatory taxes on the resultant increments in the site value of surrounding land.
6. If, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, you had £10 millions a year to dispose of, what considerations would you take into account in deciding between the claims for a further subsidy to working-class housing and those of a subsidy to domestic wheat-growing?
7. “The arguments again the taxation of imported food which were valid in the early years of the twentieth century have one and all ceased to be valid today.” Comment.
8. “As soon as the services financed by Government come to exceed the minimum requirements of security and order, the whole notion of equity in taxation becomes unreal and meaningless.” Discuss.
9. How should the maintenance of those unemployed persons who cannot be brought within the framework of a self-supporting insurance scheme be financed?
10. “The annual repayment of a substantial block of the National Debt is a fetish to which successive Chancellors of the Exchequer pay lip service, but which no sensible person either expects or desires to see carried out.” Comment.
11. Discuss broadly the special problems of Public Finance which arise in countries with a Federal form of Government, illustrating your answer by reference to any one of the following countries: The United States, Germany, Australia, India.

STATISTICS.
(OLD AND NEW REGULATIONS.)

THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1931. 9—12.

1. Define the terms median and quartiles, and discuss the uses, advantages and disadvantages of the median as an average and of the semi-interquartile range as a measure of dispersion.
   Find the medians and quartiles of the two series of index-numbers for prices of twenty foodstuffs below, and use the work to illustrate your comments.

2. Sketch the forms of frequency distributions most commonly met with in practice, and name sources from which examples of each can be drawn.
   Find the mean and standare deviation of the distribution below. Earnings were given to a penny.

3. State the formula for the correlation coefficient and deduce its principal properties.
   The correlation coefficient between the two series of index-numbers given in Question 1 was calculated, and the following figures obtained:

Find the coefficient, and the regression equations.

4. Give any deduction you prefer of the normal curve of errors, and prove its principal properties. Describe the tables of functions of the normal curve that are available in such a volume as Tables for Statisticians and Biometricians, and their uses in solving problems in sampling.
5. Show that if random samples of n observations are drawn from an indefinitely large record in which the proportion of A’s is p and of not-A’s is q, the standard deviation of the numbers of A’s in the samples is .
   You are given the following data:
   Father skilled worker:—36 boys: 24 classed as intelligent.
   Father unskilled: —64 boys: 32 classed as intelligent.
   Would you say that the difference was significant?
6. Give a description and critical discussion of the methods available for investigating the relations between two quantities varying with the time.
7. Argue the case for the use of the geometric mean in connection with index-numbers of wholesale prices, comparing the advantages and disadvantages against other methods. Name any existing index-number for which it is used, and describe the detailed method of construction.
8. Indicate the difficulties that are met with in obtaining from Census and Registration data reasonably accurate measures of the mortalities of men engaged in different occupations, and describe the technical methods that are used for indicating relative mortalities.
9. The following are the ages returned at the Census of 1921 by a sample of male Hindus in Madras. By some process of graduation, make an estimate of the true numbers at 30 and 31 years of age.

INDUSTRY.
(NEW REGULATIONS.)

MONDAY, JUNE 1, 1931. 1½ —4½.

1. What difficulties would you meet in attempting to compare costs of production in the same industry in different countries?
2. In the English cotton industry the typical firm is specialised either to spinning or to weaving; in other countries the typical firm combines spinning and weaving. How do you account for this difference? and do you expect it to persist?
3. British exports to the East of tobacco, oil and fertilisers are distributed by subsidiaries of the producing companies; most other exports are sold by export merchants to merchants at the ports, who in turn leave the internal distribution to native dealers. What are the reasons for this difference of practice? Could the former method be applied with advantage to other exports?
4. “Wage-rates in 1929 were approximately at the same level as in 1924, while the cost of living had fallen 5 per cent.; real wages had, therefore, risen about 5 per cent. But the Board of Trade index of industrial production showed an increase in 1929 of 11 per cent. over 1924; therefore there was a case for raising money wages.” Examine this argument.
5. Explain the operation of either the Federal Farm Board or the Canadian Wheat Pool or the San Paulo Coffee Institute or the British Australian Wool Realisation Association. To what do you attribute its failure or success?
6. Compare broadly the English and the German attitudes to Restraint of Trade. Explain the functions of the German Kartels Court, and discuss the suitability of such a Court to English conditions.
7. In what sense, if at all, is there a Science of Management? Can Industrial Administration be taught?
8. “The only trades which it seems possible for a joint-stock company to carry on successfully, without an exclusive privilege, are those, of which all the operations are capable of being reduced to what is called a routine, or to such a uniformity of method as admits of little or no variation” (Adam Smith).
   Examine this statement in the light of the subsequent development of the joint-stock company.
9. What features has the present depression in British industry in common with those of the nineteenth century?
10. In what directions, and with what results, did England export capital in the half-century before the War?
11. In England Local Authorities are obliged to arrange for the amortization within a definite period of all loans raised for the purpose of financing productive undertakings. Do you regard this as an undesirable handicap on public as compared with private enterprise?

MONEY.
(NEW REGULATIONS.)

TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1931. 9—12.

1. “I am never wary of preaching in the wilderness ‘the only very important thing to be said about currency is that it is not nearly as important as it looks.’” (Marshall.) Do you agree?
2. Indicate the circumstances in which a Central Bank can most effectively enforce its policy by (a) changes in the bank-rate, (b) open-market operations, (c) rationing of credit.
3. “It is even conceivable that the cash-deposits may remain the same, the savings-deposits may remains the same, the volume of monetary transactions may remain the same, and the volume of output may remain the same; and yet the fundamental price-levels may change.” (Keynes.) Is this conceivable? And if so, does it mean that the traditional version of the quantity theory of money is not merely a truism but an error?
4. Factors affecting the general price-level have been distinguished as acting “on the side of money” and “on the side of goods.” Criticize this distinction, or define it so as to avoid ambiguities.
5. “The adoption of Ricardo’s currency plan in 1925, as well as its rejection a hundred years before, point to the same conclusion: the economic ideas of legislators are always a century out of date.” Comment.
6. Describe the main fluctuations in the value of silver during the last sixty years, and state their causes.
7. What are the chief changes in the organization of the London money market since the publication of Bagehot’s Lombard Street?
8. During 1930 the imports of gold into France have exceeded the world output of gold. What were the causes of this influx?
9. If central banks fixed their buying and selling prices of gold wider apart, would the diffusion of trade fluctuations from country to country be checked?
10. How would the internal price-level of this country be affected by a special tax on incomes from foreign investments?
11. “The joint-stock banks have attracted to their custody a larger volume of the country’s savings than can be economically employed in short-term commercial credits. Some modification in the traditional practice of English deposit banking is therefore required.” Discuss.

LABOUR.
(NEW REGULATIONS.)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 1931. 9—12.

1. Examine critically the policy of reducing unemployment by settling new industries in districts where older industries appear to be permanently depressed.
2. Contrast conventional and “scientific” methods of determining “fair” piece-rates. What are the reasons for varying the rate degressively or progressively according to the total output produced?
3. What effect would (a) the growth of trade unionism among women, (b) the repeal of legal restrictions upon women’s employment, be likely to have upon the wages and employment of men?
4. What measures may any one employer take to reduce labour costs besides reducing wage-rates or substituting machines for men? Is there any statistical evidence of the exact effect of such measures?
5. What considerations would you take into account in adjudicating on a claim for reduction of wages in an industry in which no return is being earned on ordinary capital and there is over 15 per cent. unemployment?
6. How far do you consider the marginal theory of distribution a full and adequate explanation of the actual distribution of incomes among persons?
7. What is the statistical evidence as to changes in the real earnings of the wage-earning classes and their living conditions during the last hundred years? How far do you think this evidence conclusive?
8. Compare the post-war attitude of governments and governing classes to the relief of poverty with the attitude prevailing in the Victorian era.
9. Analyse the problem of regulating wages and hours in the coal-mining industry as illustrated by events since the war.
10. Account for the fluctuations in the emphasis placed by Trade Unions upon the policies of mutual insurance, political action and the strike, respectively, during the last hundred years.

Source: Cambridge University. Economics Tripos Papers 1931-1933. Cambridge: 1933, pp. 5-27.

Image Source: King’s College dining hall, Cambridge, from Wikipedia Commons.