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Exam Questions Harvard Undergraduate

Harvard. Final Exam for Theories and Problems of Economic Development. Baldwin, 1956.

 

In an earlier post I provided the syllabus for the undergraduate Harvard course “Theories and Problems of Economic Development” taught by Robert Baldwin in the second term of 1955-56. Career and other biographical information for this 1950 economics Ph.D. alumnus from Harvard are presented there.

This post adds the final examination for that course copied during a later visit to the Harvard Archives.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Economics 108

Answer two (2) questions from Part I and two (2) questions from Part II.

PART I.

  1. Post-Keynesian growth theorists conclude that in order to maintain a continuous state of full employment in the economy, investment must grow at a constant annual percentage rate.
    1. How do they reach this conclusion?
    2. Explain why this condition is not required in the neo-classical model of economic growth.
  2. “In the Ricardian system the rate of profit declines due to the absence of sufficiently rapid technological progress; in the Marxian model the rate of profit declines because of rapid technological progress.” Discuss.
  3. Explain and criticize Schumpeter’s analysis of the process of economic development. (Do not discuss in any detail his general sociological analysis of capitalist development).

PART II.

  1. What factors should be considered in determining investment criteria for poor countries?
  2. Discuss and appraise the arguments for tariff and exchange control policies in the poor countries.
  3. Explain the following concepts:
    1. the vicious circle of poverty
    2. disguised unemployment
    3. balanced growth
    4. underdevelopment and backwardness

Source: Harvard University Archives. Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 24, Volume: Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Naval Science, Air Science, June 1956.

Image Source: Selection from photograph (ca. 1975) of Robert E. Baldwin from the University of Wisconsin Archives/The University of Wisconsin Collection/The UW-Madison Collection/UW-Madison Archives Images.

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Economic History Exam Questions Fields Harvard

Harvard. History, Government, and Economics Division Exams, 1919

 

 

While during the fall of 1918 both Harvard and M.I.T. found themselves caught in the influenza epidemic, it is interesting to note that not a single question in the undergraduate divisional examinations for History, Government, and Economics was dedicated to that significant current event.

This post adds to the slowly growing Harvard divisional exams collection here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Previous Division A.B. Exams from Harvard

Division Exams 1916

Division Exams, January 1917

Division Exams, April 1918

Division Exams 1931

Special Exam for Money and Government Finance, 1939

Special Exam Economic History Since 1750, 1939

Special Exam for Economic Theory, 1939

Special Exam for Labor and Social Reform, 1939

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DIVISION EXAMINATION

Beginning with the Class of 1917, students concentrating in the Division of History, Government, and Economics will, at the close of their college course and as a prerequisite to the degree of A.B. and S.B., be required to pass an examination upon the field of their concentration. This examination ·will cover the general attainments of each candidate in the field covered by this Division and also his attainments in a specific field of study. The examination will consist of three parts:—

(a) A general examination, designed to ascertain the comprehensive attainment of the candidate in the subjects of this Division. The paper will be the same for all students, but there will be a large number of alternative questions to allow for differences in preparation.

(b) A special examination, which will test the student’s grasp of his chosen specific field (see list of fields below). The candidate will be expected to show a thorough understanding of the subject of this field; knowledge of the content of courses only will not suffice. The examination will be upon a subject, not upon a group of courses.

(c) An oral examination, supplementary to either or both of the written examinations, but ordinarily bearing primarily upon the candidate’s specific field. The specific field should ordinarily be chosen from the following list, which indicates also the courses bearing most directly upon each field. In special cases other fields or combinations of fields may be accepted by the Division. This field should be selected by the end of the Sophomore year.

Specific field of concentration:

History

  1. Ancient History
  2. Mediaeval History
  3. Modern History to 1789
  4. Modern History since 1789
  5. American History
  6. History of England
  7. History of France
  8. History of Germany
  9. History of Eastern Europe
  10. History of Spain and Latin America
  11. Economic History
  12. Constitutional and Legal History
  13. History of Religions

Government

  1. Modern Government—American
  2. Modern Government—European
  3. Municipal Government
  4. Political Theory
  5. Constitutional Law
  6. International Law and Diplomacy

Economics

  1. Economic Theory and its Application
  2. Economic History
  3. Economics and Sociology

Applied Economics

  1. Money and Banking
  2. Corporate Organization, including Railroads
  3. Public Finance
  4. Labor Problems
  5. Economics of Agriculture

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1917-18. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XIV, No. 25 (May 18, 1917), pp. 78-81.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION GENERAL EXAMINATION
[May 9, 1919]

PART I

The treatment of one of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-third of the examination and should therefore occupy one hour. Write on one question only.

  1. Compare the methods of guaranteeing private rights against the government in England, France, and the United States.
  2. How far is it true that agriculture is the most stable source of a country’s material prosperity?
  3. Show the effect of changes in the systems of land holding upon political life.
  4. What should be the foreign policies of a socialist state?
  5. Contrast Roman and English systems of legislation.
  6. Were American colonial institutions indigenous or exotic?
  7. Compare the administrations of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson with those of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson.
  8. To what extent do events since 1800 bear out the following proposition:
    “As the Creator is a being, not only of infinite power and wisdom but also of infinite goodness, he has been pleased so to contrive the constitution and frame of humanity that we should want no other prompter to enquire after…but only our self-love, that universal principle of action. For He has…inseparably interwoven the laws of external justice with the happiness of each individual.”
  9. Comment on the following quotation from de Tocqueville:
    “America is the country of the whole world where the Christian religion has conserved the most real power over the souls of men.”
  10. What are the arguments for and against a general agreement that “all states shall grant equal treatment to all aliens within their borders.”

Part II

Answers to questions 11 and 12 are required and will be regarded as equivalent to one-third of the examination, and should therefore occupy one-half hour each.

  1. Estimate the situation on August 4, 1914; on May 7, 1915; on April 6, 1917, and on November 11, 1918 with reference to:
    (1) Political power.
    (2) Military power.
    (3) Economic conditions.
    (4) National ideals.
  2. Give an outline and critical report upon some one standard work (not the course textbook) the whole of which you have studied as collateral reading with reference to this General Examination.

Part III

Three questions only from the following groups, A, B, and C are to be answered, of which two must be from one group and the third from either of the remaining groups.

A

  1. Give a brief account of the career of Alexander the Great. Why has it been so attractive to modern German scholars?
  2. Describe the relations of Innocent III to the sovereigns of his time.
  3. In his recent debate with President Lowell, Senator Lodge said, “I believe there are some thirty (leagues of nations) in the pages of history.” Mention, with approximate dates, as many of these thirty as you can, and give a full account of one of them.
  4. Discuss the rivalry of Russia and Austria in the Balkan peninsula since 1815.
  5. Wherein lies Lincoln’s right to a place in world history?

B

  1. What factors were most important in the earlier development of the modern city?
  2. What have been the interrelations of international balances of trade and national foreign policies?
  3. To what extent and for what reasons are monetary inflation and the financing of war inseparably connected?
  4. Trace the evolution of one of the following:
    (a) The eight-hour working day.
    (b) Syndicalism.
    (c) Vocational education.
    (d) Protectionism on the continent of Europe.
  5. To what extent and under what conditions does national well-being rest upon political control of essential raw materials?

C

  1. Does history show that law stifles originality and individuality? Use illustrations freely.
  2. Explain the ideas or movements, giving approximate dates, with which five of the following were associated:
    1. Fremont,
    2. Garibaldi,
    3. Kotzebue,
    4. Metternich,
    5. Moltke,
    6. Parnell,
    7. Raphael,
    8. Renan,
    9. Sully,
    10. Thiers.
  3. Distinguish the following terms: (a) federation, (b) confederation, (c) alliance, (d) league of nations, (e) federal state, (f) international union, (g) society of nations, (h) world state.
  4. Discuss the historical, political, and economic aspects of “freedom of the seas.”
  5. “Neighboring nations are naturally enemies to each other unless their common weakness forces them to league in a confederative republic.” Can this be supported by the history of the eighteenth century?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

MODERN HISTORY SINCE 1789
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions in all, taking at least one from each of the three sections into which the paper is divided.

I

  1. The years 1796-97 have been characterized as the most critical in the history of the British navy. What was the nature of the crisis? Account for the subsequent naval successes.
  2. Compare the attitudes of England and of the United States towards the movement for the independence of Latin America.
  3. Give a brief history of the Papacy from 1848 to 1870, with special reference to political affairs.
  4. Account for the revival of the Austrian Empire after the shocks it received in 1848-49.
  5. Give a brief account of the relations of China and Japan from 1890 to 1910.

II

  1. What are the origins and principal features of the present constitution of the French Republic?
  2. Outline the principal changes that have taken place in England’s outlying possessions since 1815 and in her relations to them.
  3. Give a brief account of the international questions which have arisen in connection with Venezuela in the past twenty-five years.
  4. What have been the principal issues between Madrid and the northeastern part of Spain during the past one hundred years?
  5. What do you understand by nationalism? Is it true that the proposed league of nations will safeguard it?

III

  1. Give a brief history of the Church in France from 1789 to 1815.
  2. What measures have been taken in England during the past one hundred years for the amelioration of the conditions of the working classes?
  3. What is Bolshevism? What is its probably future? Does the past history of Russia account for its presence there today?
  4. What are the principal natural resources of Latin America, and where are they located? In what natural resources is Latin America preeminently lacking?
  5. Do you think that clauses relative to labor and labor conditions ought to have a place in the peace treaty at present under discussion at Paris? Give your reasons for your answer.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

AMERICAN HISTORY
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions in all, taking at least one from each of the three sections into which the paper is divided.

I

  1. How were the English Colonies in North America affected by the course of events in Europe between 1650 and 1670?
  2. Compare the methods by which the United States acquired Texas with those by which she acquired Oregon.
  3. Describe the various projects for the annexation of Cuba by the United States, and give the reasons for their failure.
  4. Give a brief account of the military operations of 1864. What do you consider to be the turning point of that campaign?
  5. What are the principal international questions which have arisen in connection with Venezuela in the past twenty-five years?

II

  1. Compare the political organization of colonial Virginia with that of colonial New England, and explain the reasons for the differences.
  2. Is the Union older than the States?
  3. What were the effects of the administration and character of Andrew Jackson on the national government?
  4. Criticize the policy by which Reconstruction was carried out.
  5. Comment on, discuss or explain, as the case may require, eight of the following: Tordesillas Line, Mason and Dixon’s line, Greenback, Fundamental Constitutions, Barnburners, Drago Doctrine, Forty acres and a mule, Kitchen Cabinet, Bear Flag, Writs of Assistance.

III

  1. Give a short account of the Society of Jesus in the New World.
  2. “The development of transportation in the years following the treaty of Ghent is the most significant factor in American life between the inauguration of Washington and the firing on Fort Sumter.” Is this statement true? Explain at length.
  3. What arguments for the continuance of slavery could have been advanced by a conscientious slave holder in 1860?
  4. Describe the origin of Mormonism, and the importance of the Mormons in the western movement of population.
  5. Mention, with approximate dates, the names and principal works of four American poets, of three American painters, of three American inventors, of four American historians.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

ECONOMIC HISTORY
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Trace the course of the rate of interest in modern times. What probably will be the course of the rate during the next few years? Why?
  2. Give a brief history of the trade balance of the United States since 1850. Account for the changes noted.
  3. What factors have contributed most to changes in the distribution of wealth in the United States since 1870?
  4. What contribution has statistical method to make to historical research? Offer illustrative suggestions.

B

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Outline the history of the merchant marine of the United States.
  2. What was the Chartist movement? To what extent were its fundamental causes economic? To what degree was it associated with the trade union movement? the movement for the repeal of the Corn Laws?
  3. What part was played by the Zollverein, in the different stages of its development, in the struggle for the balance of power in the Germanic Confederation?
  4. Compare the economic life and organization of colonial Virginia with that of the New England colonies, and account for the differences.
  5. Trace the history of the public debt of the United States.
  6. What have been the most important developments in American agriculture since 1850?
  7. Sketch the development of the railway net of the United States.

C

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Discuss critically the “free silver” agitation of the nineties.
  2. In what particulars and for what reasons has labor legislation been backward in the United States?
  3. Describe the traditional German policy toward industrial combination. Analyze the more important consequences of the policy.
  4. In what respects is the present railway situation in the United States like, in what respects unlike, that prevailing before the War?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions. Take at least one question from each group.

A

  1. Discuss the distinction between “fair” and “unfair” competition.
  2. Analyze the probable economic after-effects of the War.
  3. What is the social justification of speculation?
  4. Discuss the following statement: “Products that are made for wages less than living and by hours longer than health endurance are anti-social and immoral products and express a ruinous social cost, no matter what the selling price may be. Such products are the result of parasitic industry and are filled with social poison. All industry of this nature is a leech upon the economic and race life and should be outlawed as we outlaw adulterations and fought as we fight pestilence.”

B

  1. Give a critical account of marriage and divorce statistics in the United States.
  2. Compare birth registration in the United States and Great Britain.
  3. What are the principal difficulties in the collection and subsequent use of statistics of crime?
  4. Discuss critically the decline of the birth rate during recent times.

C

  1. What is social progress? Indicate the importance of racial factors in social progress.
  2. Discuss “freedom of speech” as the right of every individual in a democratic society.
  3. Contrast the different bases of morality.
  4. Discuss the origin and effect of “fashion” on social and economic life.
  5. In a few words indicate the most important contributions to sociology by three of the following: (a) Comte, (b) Darwin, (c) Spencer, (d) Galton, (e) Kidd, (f) Ward, (g) Tarde, (h) Giddings.
  6. What are the most serious evils of modern social life? Why are these “most serious”?

D

  1. What are the principal causes of interruptions of family income? How are such interruptions to be prevented, or their evil consequences reduced to a minimum?
  2. What are the essentials of a satisfactory system of poor relief?
  3. What are the principal problems of rural community life in the United States?
  4. What is Bolshevism? What is its probable future?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

LABOR PROBLEMS
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. What are “fair wages”? Consider the question with reference to (a) the effects of unrestricted competition; (b) the influence of collective bargaining; (c) the problems of compulsory arbitration; (d) the ideals of socialism.
  2. Discuss the following analogy: “Like machinery, the immigrants have relieved native laborers of heavy and disagreeable toil and have elevated them to an aristocracy of labor.”
  3. What are the principal difficulties in the statistical analysis of the course of real wages?
  4. What are the chief sources of industrial accident statistics in the United States?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Contrast the development of social insurance in England, Germany, and the United States before the War. How do you account for the differences?
  2. Sketch the history of one of the following: (a) Knights of Labor; (b) American Federation of Labor; (c) British Labor Party; (d) German Social Democrats.
  3. Give an account of one of the following strikes: (a) Homestead; (b) Pullman; (c) Patterson; (d) Lawrence (1912); (e) French railway employees (1910); (f) British coal miners (1912).
  4. Compare the positions and policies of labor in the United States, England, and France during the War

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Describe and criticize the organization and work of the United States Department of Labor.
  2. What are the present relations between the labor and socialist movements?
  3. Analyze critically the results of compulsory arbitration in Australia.
  4. What are the functions of the employment manager?
  5. Classify and characterize the different types of labor union.
  6. Discuss the nature and uses of sabotage.
  7. Discuss critically the present attempt to internationalize labor policies.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

PUBLIC FINANCE
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Discuss “conscription of income” as a measure of war finance.
  2. What is the case for and against a tax on capital in England at the present time?
  3. To what extent and by what methods are statistics regarding the distribution of income and wealth in the United States to be derived from the present Federal income tax returns?
  4. Describe critically the form of budget employed by some important city, American or foreign.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Trace the evolution of the taxation of land in England.
  2. What has been the history of the fee system of compensating public officials?
  3. Give a brief history of the state income tax in the United States.
  4. Compare British war finance during the past five years with the policies of the Napoleonic period.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. What is meant by “classification of property for purposes of taxation”? What are the reasons for such classification? What obstacles have stood in its way in American states?
  2. What have been the effects of the Congressional committee system upon national finance in the United States?
  3. State the case for and against the increment tax. What is the best mode of levying increment taxes?
  4. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the protective customs duty and the bounty as a means of encouraging home industry.
  5. Discuss the chief problems of inheritance taxation.
  6. What is the science of public finance? What is its relation to (a) economic theory? (b) political science? (c) administrative law?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

CORPORATE ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING RAILROADS
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Discuss the following statement: “When you find a business in staples attaining size, you may be sure that in some broad economic way it makes for increased efficiency and gives a very fundamental service to consumers. In no other way could it continue to exist.”
  2. What theoretical problems are involved in government regulation of corporate security issues?
  3. Enumerate and explain the more important statistical units employed in analyses of railroad operations.
  4. What is the present practice of American railroads in regard to depreciation of equipment under the Interstate Commerce Commission regulations?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Give an account of the organization and subsequent career of one of the large American industrial combinations.
  2. Compare the history of water transportation in the United States, England, and Germany.
  3. Trace the evolution of English policy toward industrial combination.
  4. Outline the history of the railroads of France.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Discuss critically the financial results of government operation of the railroads in the United States since January 1, 1918.
  2. In what particulars, if at all, should the Sherman Anti-Trust Law be amended?
  3. Describe and criticize the Federal Income Tax insofar as it applies to corporations.
  4. Discuss the organization and work of the Federal Trade Commission.
  5. Should concerns doing an interstate business be compelled to incorporate under the Federal government? Why, or why not?
  6. Upon what different bases may railway systems be appraised? In what ways, if at all, is railway valuation related to railway rate regulation?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

MONEY AND BANKING
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Of what concretely do uninvested, of what do invested, savings consist? Can they accumulate to an indefinitely large amount? Can saving be carried to excess?
  2. Indicate the means by which the amount of monetary inflation is to be measured.
  3. Describe the principal books of a large city commercial bank.
  4. Draft an income or profit and loss statement suitable for a commercial bank.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Trace the evolution of modern coinage practices.
  2. What kinds of money circulated in the United States in 1800? 1840? 1860? 1870? 1880? 1895? Explain any changes noted.
  3. Outline the history of the Bank of France.
  4. Give a brief account of the office of Comptroller of the Currency.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. “The pivotal thing in sound banking is the character of the bank’s assets.” Is this statement correct? What kind of assets, if any, are of particular importance?
  2. Describe critically the use of gold during the War.
  3. Explain briefly the functions of the following officers and departments in a large bank: (a) note teller; (b) collection department; (c) credit department; (d) cashier; (e) loan department.
  4. Wherein, if at all, might the monetary system of the United States be substantially improved?
  5. Discuss the banking problems involved in the flotation of an immense government war loan.
  6. What is to be said for and against the separation of commercial and investment banking? How extensively are the two combined today in (a) the United States, (b) England, (c) France?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

POLITICAL THEORY
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. “In every body politic there is a maximum strength which it cannot exceed and which it only loses by increasing in size. Every extension of the social tie means its relaxation; and generally speaking, a small state is stronger in proportion that a great one.” Has this opinion been accepted by any political philosophers? Does history support it?
  2. How has political theory been influenced at different periods by the prevailing economic doctrines?
  3. Who were the authors of the following: (a) Oceana, (b) The Prince, (c) A Fragment on Government, (d) Democracy in America, (e) The Republic, (f) The Wealth of Nations. In what order should these be recommended to a student of government? Justify this order.
  4. Name and give with brief criticism the ideas of the leading political theorist of (1) France, (2) Germany, (3) America.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Discuss “He who serves the state should rank above all others.”
  2. Could Plato’s ideas of a republic be applied in the twentieth century?
  3. State in outline your own theory of the state and show how this would apply to the United States.
  4. How far has the war of 1914-19 a justification in political theory?

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. “Law is regarded as a truth to be discovered not as a command to be imposed.” Discuss critically giving conclusions with reasons.
  2. Contrast the political ideas of (1) Hobbes, (2) Rousseau, (3) Kant.
  3. Has progress in Europe been more rapid since than before the thirteenth century.” What is progress?
  4. “Who is wise and prudent, cannot or ought not to keep his parole, when the keeping of it is to his prejudice and the causes for which he promised removed.” Discuss the theory based on and give the source of this quotation.
  5. Give a brief outline of two of the following and name the authors: (a) City of the Sun, (b) The Federalist, (c) On Liberty, (d) Philosophical Theory of the State, (e) Principles of Political Obligation, (f) Patriarcha, (g) Two Treatises of Government, (h) Politics.
  6. What has been the relation of Common Law to national development?
  7. Compare the following methods of study of political theories: (a) Metaphysical, (b) Analytical, (c) Historical, (d) Comparative.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURE
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Discuss the significance of joint cost in the calculation of the cost of production of agricultural staples.
  2. To what extent have American farming methods been characteristically wasteful?
  3. Describe a model system of accounts for a large dairy farm.
  4. Give an account of the organization and work of the International Institute of Agriculture.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Describe the part played by the American farmer in the (a) Granger movement; (b) Populist Party; (c) Free Silver campaign of 1896; (d) Non-Partisan League.
  2. Outline the history of wheat-growing on the North American continent.
  3. Describe in detail the methods of agriculture in England during the Middle Ages.
  4. Trace the development of the manufacture of farm implements.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Analyze the problem of farm labor.
  2. Discuss critically the work of the United States Food Administration during the War.
  3. Describe the present organization of the meat-packing industry in the United States.
  4. To what extent and in what particulars is agricultural credit different from mercantile credit?
  5. What are the opportunities for cooperation in agriculture?
  6. Discuss the principal problems of rural community life in the United States.

_______________________

DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

STATISTICS
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions. Take at least one question from each group.

A

  1. What is meant by “statistical method”? What is the scientific importance of the method? What are its limitations?
  2. What is the logical distinction, if there be any, between a weighted and a simple arithmetic mean? What are the reasons for and against weighting? Under what circumstances may weighing safely be omitted?
  3. Discuss the standard deviation of a series with reference to (a) its meaning; (b) its computation; (c) its merits and defects as compared with other measures of dispersion; (d) its use in graphic analysis and presentation.
  4. Criticise the following statement: In the case of historical variables, “no coefficient equals the graphic method for demonstrating whether correlation does or does not exist.”
  5. Describe the methods of obtaining an approximation to the value of r without actually computing the coefficient.

B

  1. What are the more important steps in preparing for the actual field count of a population census?
  2. Describe the successive steps of machine tabulation. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such tabulation?
  3. Explain the nature of, and indicate the best form for, each of the following varieties of statistical table:
    (a) historical,
    (b) cumulative frequency,
    (c) contingency,
    (d) correlation.
  4. Draft a set of rules for the graphic presentation of historical series.
  5. In a few words indicate the contributions to statistics of three of the following: (a) Petty; (b) Achenwall; (c) Süssmilch; (d) Quételet; (e) Pearson; (f) F. A. Walker; (g) A. Bertillon; (h) Levasseur; (i) Edgeworth.

C

  1. Trace the development of the United States Census.
  2. Compare the present status of birth registration in the United States and Great Britain.
  3. Discuss the different statistical devices now in use for the forecasting of general business conditions.
  4. Enumerate and criticize the chief sources of wage statistics in the United States.
  5. Give a brief account of the organization and work of the International Institute of Agriculture.

_______________________

DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions. Answer at least one question in each group.

A

  1. Compare the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.
  2. Give brief sketches of five of the following: (a) T. H. Benton, (b) Louis Cass, (c) Cyrus Field, (d) John Jay, (e) William L. Marcy, (f) S. F. B. Morse, (g) Richard Rush, (h) M. P. Trist, (i) William Walker, (j) Eli Whitney.
  3. Discuss the following statement attributed to President Jackson: “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” Show the application of this quotation.
  4. Explain four of the following: (a) “Era of good feeling,” (b) “The Battle of the Maps,” (c) “The Great Expounder of the Constitution,” (d) “Fifty-four, forty or fight,” (e) “Millions for defence but not one cent for tribute,” (f) “They ask of me a town, I give them an empire.”
  5. “The Northern Hive would excite the same ideals and sensations in more southern parts of America which it formerly did in the more southern parts of Europe. Nor does it appear to be a rash conjecture that its young swarms might often be tempted to gather honey in the more blooming fields and milder air of their luxurious and more delicate neighbors.” (From the Federalist discussing a proposal that the American colonies divide themselves into three or four nations.) To what events in European history does the above quotation allude? Is the conjecture sound? Why?
  6. What constitutional questions have arisen in the United States in regard to the acquisition of territory and how have these been decided?

B

  1. Give the reasons for and against the appointment of the following to negotiate a treaty: (a) the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, (b) the Commanding General of the Army, (c) the Secretary of the Navy, (d) the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, (e) the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
  2. Discuss “Our peculiar security is in the possession of a written constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction.”
  3. What extraordinary powers may be exercised by the President and by Congress in time of war?
  4. What lines should be drawn in limiting the powers of municipalities?
  5. “The Fourteenth Amendment does not enact Mr. Herbert Spencer’s Social Statics.” Explain.
  6. Name five important acts of Congress for the regulation of business. To what extent have these attained their object?

C

  1. What readjustment of governmental functions should be made in the United States?
  2. Have recent state constitutions containing detailed provisions proven more satisfactory than the older constitutions?
  3. “A war declared by Congress can never be presumed to be waged for the purpose of conquest or the acquisition of territory, nor does the law declaring the war imply an authority in the President to enlarge the limits of the United States by subjugating the enemy country.” Discuss with reference to international law and the constitutional law of the United States.
  4. What are the defects in the method of taxation in the United States, and what are the proposed remedies?
  5. Would it be advantageous for the United States to substitute for the system of geographical representation, a greater degree of class representation?
  6. What conclusions can be drawn from the recent experience of the United States in operating public utilities?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

INTERNATIONAL LAW
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions, of which at least three must be from Group B, and one from each of the other Groups.

A

  1. What did three of the following contribute to the development of International Law: (a) Bentham, (b) Bluntschli, (c) Hobbes, (d) Machiaevelli, (e) Pufendorf, (f) Suarez, (g) Wolff?
  2. Compare the Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes with the League of nations Covenant.
  3. Compare the state of international law at the following periods: 100, 800, 1414, 1914.
  4. Does the rule of Jus Sanguinis or Jus Soli most widely prevail? Which doctrine should prevail? Why?
  5. “Sea Power is essentially a defensive weapon.”
    “To be master of the sea is an epitome of monarchy.”
    Are these statements accurate? Are they compatible?

B

  1. A, the United States sheriff is pursuing X, a horse-thief, near the Mexican border. Just before X reaches the border Mr. A lassos him, but X has sufficient impetus to get across the border. There he falls down and Mr. A drags him back. Mexico demands the return of X.
  2. After neutral state X has issued regulations forbidding all foreign submarines in its ports, a submarine of the navy of neutral state Y enters in stress of weather. A cruiser of X opens fire and the submarine is damaged. State Y demands reparation and a salute of her flag.
  3. A, B, and C living in states X, Y, and Z respectively are in partnership, the business of the firm being the shipping of raw products from X and Y to Z where they are manufactured. War breaks out between X and Y. A cruiser of X captures a vessel flying the flag of X loaded with cotton shipped by the firm to Mr. C. They are placed before the prize court.
  4. Is it ever justifiable under international law to employ armed forces on the territory of a friendly state? If so, under what circumstances?
  5. States X and Y being at war, an armed merchant vessel of X enters a port of neutral state N and takes on a cargo of guns and ammunition. It captures a merchant vessel of Y on the high seas and brings it in to port where it is condemned. State Y demands the value of the vessel from state N.
  6. What exemptions from territorial jurisdiction and exceptions to the theory of territorial jurisdiction are recognized by international law?

C

  1. Explain (a) sovereignty, (b) independence, and (c) equality of states. Should these conceptions be maintained?
  2. “The theory that the treaty (guaranteeing the rights of sovereignty and property of Colombia in the Isthmus of Panama) obliged the government of the United States to protect the government of Colombia against domestic insurrection or its consequences, is in its nature inadmissible.” Is this good law?
  3. In what respects does the right of the United States over the Panama Canal Zone differ from its right over Porto-Rico?
  4. To what extent are the following doctrines recognized in international law: (a) most favored nation treatment, (b) the open door, (c) the Monroe Doctrine, (d) intervention, (e) freedom of immigration.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
[May 15, 1919]

Answer six questions of which three questions must be from one group, two must be from another group and one must be from the remaining group.

A

  1. Explain the rules governing the legal liability of a municipal corporation for the torts of its employees.
  2. Give reason why the city manager plan is suitable or is not suitable for cities with over 200,000 population.
  3. What are the essentials of a satisfactory street railway franchise?
  4. What are the relative merits of the sinking-fund and serial bond methods of municipal borrowing?
  5. Describe the framework of government in any one of the following cities: (1) Des Moines, (2) Dayton, (3) San Francisco, (4) Washington, (5) Philadelphia.
  6. Granting a condition similar to that of a former industrial city in a devastated war area in Europe, what methods of reconstruction should be adopted?

B

  1. Give a sketch of municipal government in the United States before 1850.
  2. Explain the system of administration of municipal corporations in Colonial America.
  3. Give an idea of conditions in English municipalities before 1835. What is the source of information for this period?
  4. When New York had a population of 60,000 the city expenditure was about $100,000. When Ann Arbor had a population of 15,000 the city expenditure was about $150,000. Why?
  5. Explain three methods of election of municipal officials and show why one is best.
  6. Under what conditions was the present system of city administration in France established? What are its merits?

C

  1. Should American cities adopt a segregated budget system, and what should be its main divisions?
  2. Can civil service principles be applied in all city departments, and with what advantages and disadvantages?
  3. Should the city of Boston own the docks, and railroad terminals?
  4. What principles of valuation for tax purposes should be applied to land or to buildings in municipalities?
  5. How far would the Prussian system of municipal government as it existed in 1914 be suitable for American cities?
  6. (a) Should there be a limit on campaign expenses for municipal office? What should this limit be? (b) Has there been a relatively greater misuse of municipal than of other public funds? Why?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975.  Box 6. Bound volume [from the private library of Arthur H. Cole]: Divisional Examinations, 1916-1927. Division of History, Government and Economics for the Degree of A.B. Division Examinations, 1918-19.

Image Source:  Sever Hall, Harvard University, ca. 1904. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Year-end exam on Practical Economic Questions. Laughlin, 1884

 

 

The 1883-84 academic year at Harvard marked a notable expansion in economics course offerings. That year the third course (on practical economic questions) was taught by J. Laurence Laughlin. According to the brief description included in the annual report of the Harvard College President, it appears that the first semester was devoted to “the general question of Bimetallism”. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found the mid-year final examination for the first semester. However, I have found a copy of the end-of-year final exam covering government policy regarding sea transportation and paper currency. Those questions have been transcribed and are included below.

_____________________

Course Enrollment

Political Economy 3. Prof. Laughlin. Discussion of Practical Economic Questions. — Theses and lectures on the general question of Bimetallism, on its history, and on the production of gold and silver. — Lectures on the Navigation Laws and American shipping, and on the relative advantages of government issues and national bank notes.

Total 7: 1 Graduate, 6 Seniors.

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

_____________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Year-end Examination. June 1884]

  1. Discuss the effects of the English Navigation Acts of 1651 on English and Dutch shipping.
  2. Explain the following terms: enumerated articles, Pacte colonial, droit de tonnage, surtaxe de pavillon, surtaxe d’entrepôt.
  3. Describe the causes which led to the American Navigation Laws. State some of the existing anomalies in their provisions.
  4. To what do you ascribe the decline of our merchant marine? What is our position in regard to wooden sailing vessels since 1869?
  5. Discuss the argument that so long as foreigners carry our goods, this country is paying them a tribute for freight which is an utter loss to us.
  6. In looking at the history of the issues of paper money by the two United States Banks and the State Banks, which have furnished the safest currency? Why?
  7. Describe the workings of the New York Banking Act of 1838, and its results. Of what was this legislation the natural outcome?
  8. In the provisions of the National Banking Act of 1864, what are the exact provisions as to immediate, and ultimate redemption of notes? Is convertibility secured?
  9. Explain the operations by which the national banks can now contract their issues. Does this furnish an “elastic currency” since the passage of the Free Banking Law?
  10. Discuss the main disadvantages of a government paper money. By what interpretation of the Constitution has the recent decision of the Supreme Court declared the post-bellum issues constitutional?
  11. What are the merits of the Potter Bill now pending in the present Congress?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1883-1886. Papers set for Final Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1884), pp. 9-10.

Image Source: Portrait (1885-88) of James Lawrence Laughlin. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Transfer from the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts.

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Economists Exam Questions Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins. Career of economics Ph.D. alumnus (plus doctoral exams), George H. Evans, 1925

 

This post began as a straightforward transcription of the final Ph.D. examinations of George Heberton Evans, Jr. who was to stay on at Johns Hopkins, becoming professor of political economy, then long serving chairman of the department (1942-1960), and finally serving as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy (1959-1966).  But as I was typing the questions below, I had the feeling that I had seen these questions before and began to fear that maybe I was senselessly duplicating a previous post at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. 

It turns out that the Johns Hopkins Department of Political Economy engaged in a fairly vigorous recycling of final Ph.D. examination questions over the years. I remember wondering what sense there was in having written final doctoral examinations in May for a degree to be awarded in June, literally weeks away. This practice of posing virtually identical examination questions would seem to indicate that the department did not regard the examinations as much more that an academic formality.

Cf. the very high correspondence of questions with those of the 1933 examinations. Incidentally the economic theory questions below are completely identical to those of the May 19, 1927 exam and in the applied economics questions below six of the questions are the same as the May 21, 1927 exam.

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Vital dates, George Heberton Evans, Jr.

Born January 20, 1900 and died October 12, 1979 in Baltimore, Maryland.

_______________________

Awarded the Ph.D. at the 1925 Commencement
of Johns Hopkins University

George Heberton Evans, Jr., of Maryland, A.B. Johns Hopkins University 1920. Political Economy, Political Science, Psychology

Dissertation Title: Apartment Rents in Baltimore, January 1917 Through October 1923.

Source: Johns Hopkins University, Conferring of Degrees at the Close of the Forty-Ninth Academic Year (June 9, 1925), p. 8.

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AEA 1969 Biographical Listing

Evans, George Heberton, Jr., academic; b. Baltimore, Md., 1900; A.B., Johns Hopkins U., 1920, Ph.D., 1925. DOC DIS. Apartment Rents in Baltimore January 1917 through October 1923, 1925. FIELDS 1bc, 7a, 6b. PUB. Business Incorporations in the United States, 1800-1943, 1948; Principles of Investment, 1940; British Corporation Finance, 1775-1850: A Study of Preference Shares, 1936. RES. History of American Business Corporations, 1800-1950. Prof. political economy, Johns Hopkin U. since 1942, dean, Faculty of Philosophy, 1959-66. ADDRESS Political Economy Dept., Johns Hopkins U., Gilman Hall 411, Charles and 34th Sts., Baltimore, MD 21218.

Source: American Economic Review, Vol. 59, No. 6. 1969 Handbook of the American Economic Association (January, 1970), p. 127.

_______________________

G.H. EVANS, JR.
May 21, 1925

EXAMINATION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY AS A PRINCIPAL SUBJECT
(Principles of Political Economy)

  1. What is the relation of Political Economy to economic history in scope and method of investigation?
  2. What important economic doctrines had been clearly formulated prior to the year 1600? [sic, in several other exams with nearly identical content “1800” so probably “1800” is correct]
  3. Discuss the personal contacts and doctrinal contrasts of Quesnay and Adam Smith.
  4. Contrast the theories of distribution formulated by (a) Adam Smith, (b) David Ricardo, (c) Alfred Marshall.
  5. What has been the development of the principle of population since the time of Malthus?
  6. Discuss the origin and development of the wage fund theory.
  7. What have been the most important contributions of the Austrian economists?
  8. What scientific theory of wages have your own studies of wage conditions tended to confirm?
  9. What assignable limit is there to the size of the modern industrial unit?
  10. What would be the theoretical effects of a horizontal increase of ten per cent in general wages upon the several classes of society?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

G.H. EVANS, JR.
May 22, 1925

EXAMINATION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY AS A PRINCIPAL SUBJECT
(Applied Economics)

  1. What principles should govern the governmental commission in the fixture of railway rates?
  2. Outline the history of (a) metallic and (b) paper money in the United States since the adoption of the federal constitution.
  3. Discuss the history, the defects and the incidence of the General Property Tax.
  4. State and criticize the Quantity Theory of Money.
  5. On what grounds can the sale of protected manufactures in foreign markets at less than domestic prices be justified?
  6. Discuss modern industrial combinations in the light of an assignable limit to the growth in the size of the modern industrial unit.
  7. Trace the progress of the U.S. Tariff since the Civil War.
  8. State the theory of large numbers and explain the relation of the theory to the logic of chance.
  9. Compare the administrative organization of the Bank of France and the Reichsbank.
  10. What is the relation of labor legislation to economic organization? What are the natural limits of labor legislation?

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Eisenhower Library, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives, Department of Political Economy. Series 6. Box 3/1, “Graduate Exams 1903-1932.”

Image Source: Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Libraries, Graphic and Pictorial Collection. George Heberton Evans at approximately 40 years old.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final examination for Chinese Economic Problems. Lindsay, 1947

 

Michael Francis Morris Lindsay, 2nd Baron Lindsay of Birker, taught “Chinese Economic Problems” (Economics 14a) at Harvard during the Spring term 1947. The short bibliography of course readings has been posted earlier along with details of Lindsay’s interesting life.

Reading list and final exam for the 1955 course taught by Douglas Seymour Paauw have also been transcribed and posted.

This post adds a transcription of the course final examination.

_____________________

1946-47
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 14a

Chinese Economic Problems
[Final Examination, May 1947]

(Answer at least three, preferably four, of the following questions, not more than one from each section.)

(a)

  1. How far has China got the natural resources necessary to develop into an important industrial power?
  2. Discuss the possibilities of economic development in the West and Northwest of China.
  3. Discuss the transportation system of China and give some suggestions as to the most urgently required improvements and the most suitable plans for future development.

(b)

  1. How far can China be taken as an illustration of the Malthusian theory?
  2. Discuss the evidence for the view that the population of China has not increased appreciably during the last century.
  3. To what extent is there a surplus of unemployed labour available in China?

(c)

  1. “There is no want of available land in this country which is more than sufficient for distribution among the population…The question of exploitation and readjustment is therefore, in my opinion, more important than that of distribution.” (Chiang Kai-shek in 1933) Discuss this view of the agrarian problem.
  2. How far can food production be increased in China?
  3. What are the essentials for a programme of rural economic reconstruction?

(d)

  1. What part can co-operatives and handicraft industry play in the future economic development of China?
  2. What are the difficulties that have hindered the development of industry in China?
  3. To what extent is government action necessary to secure industrialization in China?

(e)

  1. Discuss the problem of China’s balance of payments.
  2. What are the main differences between the monetary system of China and those of Western countries?
  3. What are the main problems in getting a satisfactory taxation system in China?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Final Examinations 1853-2001, Box 14. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. May, 1947.

Image Source:  Michael Lindsay tuning a radio receiver at the Jinchaji base in Hebel province, sometime between 1941 and 1944. China Daily April 8, 2015.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard Socialism Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Economy of Russia. Enrollment, Outline, Readings, Final Exam. Leontief, 1949

 

The course outline for Leontief’s The Economy of Russia course taught in the Spring term of 1949 is identical to that of the previous year’s version (only the Dobb book has been updated to a more recent edition). The value-added of this post is found in the course enrollment numbers, links to most readings, and the final exam questions.

Fun fact: Jacob Marschak was an editor of the Bienstock et al. book Management in Russian Industry and Agriculture assigned in Leontief’s course.

______________________

Enrollment

[Economics] 112b (formerly Economics 12b). The Economy of Russia (Sp). Professor Leontief.

Total 44: 19 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Public Administration, 6 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1948-49, p. 76.

______________________

Economics 112b
The Economy of Russia
Spring Term, 1949

  1. From the Emancipation to the Revolution
    1.  Agricultural development and reforms
    2.  First stages of industrialization

Reading assignments:

Bowden, Karpovich, and Usher, An Economic History of Europe since 1750, Ch. 29, pp. 598-615.
Hubbard, L. E., The Economics of Soviet Agriculture, Chs. 1-8, pp. 1-63.
Maynard, J., The Russian Peasant, Chs. 1, 2, pp. 13-62.

  1. War and Revolution
    1. War economy up to the October Revolution
    2. Agrarian revolution and the nationalization of industries

Reading assignments:

Maynard, Ch. 6, pp. 63-81.
Baykov, A., The Development of the Soviet Economic System, Chs. 1, 2, 3, pp. 1-48.

  1. War Communism
    1. Industrial collapse
    2. Agricultural contraction

Reading assignments:

Dobb, M. Russian [sic, “Soviet” is used in the later edition] Economic Development since the Revolution, Ch. 5, pp. 97-125.

  1. The New Economic Policy
    1. Private enterprise and the socialized sector
    2. Agricultural recovery
    3. Industrial reconstruction

Reading assignments:

Maynard, Ch. 10, pp. 148-182.
Baykov, Chs. 4-9, pp. 49-152.

  1. The Economics of High Pressure Industrialization
    1. Capital accumulation
    2. Structural change

Reading assignments:

Yugow, A., Russia’s Economic Front for War and Peace, Ch. 2, pp. 30-42, and Ch. 9, pp. 198-219.
Baykov, A., Ch. 10, pp. 153-158.
Dobb, M., Ch. 8, pp. 177-208.

  1. Socialist Agriculture
    1. The process of socialization (collectivization)
    2. The Kolkhoz
    3. The Sovkhoz and machine-tractor station
    4. Development of agricultural output and its allocation

Reading assignments:

Baykov, Ch. 13, pp. 189-311; Ch. 17, pp. 309-334.
Yugow, Ch. 3, pp. 43-81.
Maynard, Ch. 15, pp. 279-309.
Bienstock, Schwarz, and Yugow, Management in Russian Industry and Agriculture, Chs. 10-17, pp. 127-179.

  1. Industrial Expansion
    1. The three Five-Year Plans
    2. Industrial organization
    3. Labor and unions

Reading assignments:

Yugow, Ch. 2, pp. 13-30; Chs. 7 and 8, pp. 149-197.
Bienstock…, Chs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 9.
Baykov, Ch. 11, pp. 159-187; Ch. 13, pp. 212-233; Ch. 16, pp. 277-308; and Ch. 18, pp. 335-363.
Bergson, A., The Structure of Soviet Wages, Chs. 1, 2, pp. 3-25; Chs. 11, 12, 13, and 14, pp. 159-210.
Report of the C.I.O. Delegation to the Soviet Union, 1947.
Dobb, M., Ch. 16, pp. 407-453.

  1. Functional Structure of the Economic System
    1. Prices, wages, taxes, and profits
    2. The governmental budget as an instrument of economic policy
    3. Methods of planning
    4. Principles of planning

Reading assignments:

Baykov, Ch. 15, pp. 251-276; Ch. 20, pp. 423-479.
Yugow, Ch. 4, pp. 82-95; Ch. 10, 11, pp. 219-243.
Bienstock…, Ch. 4, pp. 47-57; Ch. 6, pp. 66-90; Introduction, pp. xiii-xxxii.
Lange, Oscar, The Working Principles of Soviet Economy, American-Russian Institute.
Dobb, M., Chs. 13 and 14, pp. 313-348.

  1. War and Post-War
    1. Soviet war economy
    2. The new Five-Year Plan
    3. Soviet economy and world economy

Reading assignments:

Schwartz, Harry, Russia’s Postwar Economy
Gerschenkron, A., Economic Relations with the U.S.S.R.
Yugow, Ch. 5, pp. 96-122.
Dobb, M., Ch. 12, pp. 290-312.

General reading:

Gregory, J., and Shave, D. W., The U.S.S.R., A Geographical Survey, Part I, pp. 1-250.

Reading Period Assignments
May 8-May 27, 1949

Economics 112b: Read both N. Voznesnesky, The Economy of the U.S.S.R. during World War II, Public Affairs Press, 1948, and The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, May, 1949, “Soviet Union since World War II,” read all articles on economic subjects contained in this issue.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics 1948-49 (1 of 2)”

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1948-49
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 112b
[Final Examination]

Please Write Legibly

Answer FOUR questions

  1. Describe the organization of Russia’s agriculture on the eve of 1861, outline the economic basis of the Reform, and indicate its principal economic consequences.
  2. Describe the New Economic Policy, discuss the reasons for its adoption and the causes of its liquidation.
  3. Compare the successive Five Year Plans and indicate the principal distinctive features of each one of them.
  4. Describe the structure of the Soviet price system and compare its role in the operation of the planned economy with the role of the competitive price mechanism in a capitalist economy.
  5. Analyze the use of economic incentives in the operation of Soviet industry and agriculture.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001. Box 16. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. June, 1949.

Image Source: Drawn from the J. F. Horrabin poster “The Workers’ Country Must Be Built by Work”. Frontispiece for Maurice Dobb’s special trade union edition of Russian Economic Development since the Revolution. London: 1928.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Economics of Socialism. Outline, Readings, Final Exam. Schumpeter, 1949

 

This post provides the course outline, reading assignments and final exam for Joseph Schumpeter’s Economics of Socialism from the last time he taught the course (he died January 8, 1950).

______________________

Transcriptions of socialism course materials à la Harvard

Socialism. (Ec 111) taught by O.H. Taylor in 1954-55.

Economics of Socialism (Ec 111) taught by Taylor in 1952-53

Economics of Socialism (Ec 111) taught by Schumpeter, Taylor with lectures by Gerschenkron and Galenson in 1949-50.

Economics of Socialism (Ec 11b) taught by Schumpeter in 1945-46

Economics of Socialism (Ec 11b) taught by Schumpeter in 1943-44

Economics of Socialism (Ec11b) taught by Sweezy in 1939-40

Economics of Socialism (Ec11b) taught by Mason and Sweezy in 1937-38

Programs of Social Reconstruction  (Ec 7c) taught by Mason  in 1933

Economics of Socialism, Anarchism and the Single Tax  (Ec 7b) taught by Carver  in 1920

Socialism and Communism (Ec 14) taught by Carver and Bushnee in 1901-02

Socialism and Communism (Ec 14) taught by Edward Cummings. Exams from 1893-1900.

______________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 111b (formerly Economics 11b). Economics of Socialism (Sp). Professor Schumpeter.

Total 72: 16 Graduates, 20 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 7 Sophomores, 8 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1948-49, p. 76.

_________________________

Economics 111b
Spring 1949
Outline and Assignments

After an introduction that is to cover briefly the development of pre-Marxist socialist thought (one week), Marxist and neo-Marxist sociology and economics will be discussed (five weeks). Then the modern theory of centralist socialism will be developed (four weeks). Finally, the problems of imperialism, revolution, and transition and the actual situation and prospect of socialist groups will be touched upon (two weeks).

  1. Pre-Marxist Socialist Thought

Assignment: H. W. Laidler, Social-Economic Movements, Parts I and II.

  1. Marxist Sociology and Economics

M. M. Bober, Karl Marx’s Interpretation of History, 2nd edition 1948, Part I, Chapter 6; Part IV.
Karl Marx, Capital (Modern Library Edition), Volume I, Chs. 1, 4, 5, and 6.
P. M. Sweezy, The Theory of Capitalist Development, Chs. II-XII.
M. Dobb, Political Economy and Capitalism, Chs. I and IV.

  1. The Modern Theory of Centralist Socialism.

A. P. Lerner, Economics of Control, 1944, Chs. V-XIV.
Meade and Fleming, “Price and Output Policy of State Enterprise,” Economic Journal, 1944.
Abram Bergson, Structure of Soviet Wages, Ch. II:
M. Dobb (as above) Ch. VIII (with Appendix).

  1. Imperialism; the State and the Revolution; Problems of Transition.

M. Dobb (as above) Ch. VII.
Lenin, State and Revolution, 1926.

Suggestions:
Lenin, What is to be Done?
P. M. Sweezy, (as above) Chs. XIII-XIX.

Reading Period: Evolutionary Socialism, 1909.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics 1948-49 (1 of 2)”

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1948 –49
Harvard University
Economics 111b
[Final Examination]

Answer five out of seven questions. At least two must be chosen from group I.

I

  1. Discuss Marx’s theory of cycles, organizing your answer around the following foci:
    1. falling tendency of the rate of profit
    2. the reserve army of unemployed
    3. capital accumulation and replacement cycles.
  2. What was Bernstein’s point of view about the breakdown of capitalism? What was the significance of the controversy for Marxist economics?
  3. Discuss the economic aspects of the proportions in which factors are combined in a centrally directed economy with reference to marginal substitution, indivisibilities, and pricing.

II

  1. What was the tactical significance of three of the following issues that arose within the 2nd International:
    1. Millerandism
    2. Revisionism
    3. participation in the World War
    4. timing and leadership of revolution (Lenin)
  2. Discuss the dependence, if any, of Marxian economics on Marxian sociology.
  3. Describe the role of the rate of interest in the allocation of resources between present consumption and investment for future production in a socialist economy.
  4. Discuss the rule that prices should equal marginal cost with special reference to intervals of increasing and decreasing costs.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001. Box 16. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. June, 1949.

Image Source: Harvard Classbook 1947.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

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

 

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

___________________________

Course Enrollment

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

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

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

___________________________

Assignments for Economics 51
First Half-Year 38/39

Attention is directed particularly to the following books:

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

 

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

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

SUGGESTED:

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

Bullock, Readings, Ch. 2, 3.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Smith, Deficits and Depressions, Ch. III.

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

 

October 10  – 28; Depression expenditures and Finance.

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

SUGGESTED:

Current Economic Policies, Slichter on Public Works.

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

Gayer, Public Works in Prosperity and Depression.

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

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

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

Mallet, British Budgets, 21-33.

National Resources Committee, Public Works Planning.

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

Bastable, Public Finance, Bk. V.

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

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

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

Hargreaves, The National Debt.

Hendricks, The Federal Debt, 1919-30.

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

Pigou, Public Finance, Part III.

Matsushita, Economic Effects of Public Debts.

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

Studensky, P., Public Borrowing.

Burns, E.M., Social Security.

Douglas, Social Security in the United States.

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

Social Security Board, Social Security in America.

 

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

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

SUGGESTED:

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

Pigou, Public Finance, Part I.

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

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

 

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

The Possibilities of Expenditure Control.

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

Revenues other than Taxes

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

The Public Domain and Public Borrowing.

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

___________________________

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

(For general references see outline for first term.)

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

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

February 20 – 27. Incidence and Effects of Taxation.

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

March 1 – 6. Property Taxation and its Reform

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

March 8 – 24. Income Taxation: Personal and Business

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

 

March 27 – 31. Other Business Taxation

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

April 3 – 10. Vacation.

April 10 – 14. Death Duties

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

April 17 – 19. Commodity Taxation.

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

April 21 – May 6. Current Problems.

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

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

___________________________

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

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

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

 

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

___________________________

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

I

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

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

II

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

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

 

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

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

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

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

 

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

________________________

Course Enrollment:

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

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

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

 

 

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

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

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

 

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

Categories
Chicago Economists Exam Questions

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

 

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

_____________________________________

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

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

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

There were 2 examinees for Economic Theory II.

_____________________________________

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

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

_____________________________________

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

Time: 4 hours.

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

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

 

 

ECONOMIC THEORY II
Preliminary Examination
WINTER 1955

Time: 2½ hours.

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

Answer question 1, and two others.

 

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

TABLE

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

 1929

1933

 1937 1941 1945 1949

1953
A. Unemployment as percentage of civilian labor force

3.2

 24.9 14.3 9.9 1.9 5.0

2.5
B. Civilian employment 103

84

 100 109 114 127

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

67

 100 164 346 376

441
D. National income (non-deflated) 119

55

 100 142 246 294

414
E. Consumer price index 119

90

 100 102 125 166

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

41

 100 160 281 165

262
G.  D/C 134

82

 100 87 71 78

94
H.  D/E 100

61

 100 139 197 178

222
I.  H/B 97

72

 100 128 172 140

166
J.  F/H 100

67

 100 115 146 93

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

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

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