Category: Exam Questions

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Exam Questions Gender Harvard

Harvard. Political Economy Examination for Women, 1878

 

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

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

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

________________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY.
FAWCETT.

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

 

BLANQUI.

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

 

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

 

Image Sources:

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

 

 

 

Categories
Cambridge Exam Questions

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

 

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

______________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY.
[Moral Sciences Tripos, February 1856]

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

 

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

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

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

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

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

________________________

Teaching Assistants

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

________________________

Course Enrollment, 1938-39

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

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

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

________________________

Course Outline, 1938-39

ECONOMICS 81
LABOR PROBLEMS

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

Introduction

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

Part One
Wages and Labor Conditions Under Competition

  1. The Labor Force and the Labor Market

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

  1. Hours and Working Conditions

Required:

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

 

Part Two
Problems of Trade Unionism and Collective Bargaining

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

  1. Collective Bargaining—the Administration of Trade Agreements

Required:

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

 

Part Three
Public Policy and Collective Bargaining

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

________________________

Reading Period, First Term

Economics 81: Read the following:

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

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

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

________________________

ECONOMICS 81
LABOR PROBLEMS

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

Part Four

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

Part Five
The Problem of Unemployment

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

  1. Relations between Unemployment Compensation and Relief

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

  1. Problems of Relief and Relief Administration

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

 

Part Six
The Problem of Industrial Accidents and Occupational Disease

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

 

Part Seven
The Problem of Sickness Among Wage Earners

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

 

Part Eight
Security for Old Age

  1. The Problem of the Older Worker in Modern Industry

Required:

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

  1. Private Pension Plans

Required:

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

  1. State Old Age Assistance Plans

Required:

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

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

Required:

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

Suggested for Reference:

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

 

Part Nine
Personnel Administration

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

Required:

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

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

________________________

Reading Period, Second Term

Economics 81: No additional assignment.

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

________________________

Twelve Case Studies

Economics 81
1.

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

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

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

 

Economics 81
2.

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

 

Economics 81
3.

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

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

 

Economics 81
4.

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

 

Economics 81
5.

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

 

Economics 81
6.

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

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

 

Economics 81
7.

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

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

 

Economics 81
8.

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

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

 

Economics 81
9.

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

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

 

Economics 81
10.

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

What should the employer do about this situation?

 

Economics 81
11.

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

Vice President Campbell, speaking on this question, said:

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

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

Discuss the issues raised by this question.

 

Economics 81
12.

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

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

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

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

________________________

Final Examinations

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

(Answer five out of six, including Question IV)

I

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

II

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

III

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

IV

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

V

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

VI

What are the relations between collective bargaining and unemployment?

 

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

 

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

I

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

II

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

or

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

III

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

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

IV

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

(b) What are the merits of merit rating?

V

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

 

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

Image Sources:

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

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

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

 

Categories
Exam Questions M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Core Dynamic Macro Half-course. Readings and exam. Solow, 1973

 

 

Reading list and exam questions for the half-term course quantitative macroeconomics taught by Franco Modigliani  that preceded Solow’s dynamic macroeconomics course during the first term of 1927-73 were posted earlier.

Economics in the Rear-view Mirror thanks Juan C. A. Acosta who copied this course syllabus and final examination that are found in the Franco Modigliani Papers (Box T7) at the Duke University Economists’ Papers Project and has graciously shared them for transcription here. 

____________________

14.454
MACRO THEORY IV
Fall 1973, 2nd half

I. Growth Theory

background, if necessary: Solow, GROWTH THEORY, Ch. 1, 2

Burmeister and Dobell: MATHEMATICAL THEORIES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, Ch. 1-4

and/or

Wan: ECONOMIC GROWTH, Ch. 1, 2, 4 (sec. 3)

Kahn: “Exercise in the Analysis of Growth,”
OXFORD ECONOMIC PAPERS, New Series, Vol. 11, 1959
pp. 143-156
(reprinted in GROWTH ECONOMICS, ed. A. K. Sen, Penguin)

Wan: Ch. 4, sec. 4

II. Optimal Growth

background, if necessary: Solow, GROWTH THEORY, Ch. 5

Burmeister and Dobell: Ch. 11

and/or

Wan: Ch. 9, 10

Koopmans: “Objectives, Constraints and Outcomes in Optimal Growth Models”
ECONOMETRICA, Vol. 35, 1967
pp. 1-15
(reprinted in Koopmans, SCIENTIFIC PAPERS, pp. 548-5609)

III. Capital Theory

Malinvaud: LECTURES ON MICROECONOMIC THEORY, Ch. 10

Hirshleifer: INVESTMENT, INTEREST AND CAPITAL, Ch. 2, 3, 4, 6

Dougherty: “On the Rate of Return and the Rate of Profit”
ECONOMIC JOURNAL, December 1972
pp. 1324-1349

Burmeister and Dobell: Ch. 8, 9

Weizsäcker: STEADY-STATE CAPITAL THEORY,
pp. 1-22, 32-47, and passim

____________________

14.454 FINAL EXAM
R. M. Solow
19 Dec 1973

ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS, total time 1½ hours

  1. Suppose an economy with effectively unlimited supply of labor in the sense that any amount of labor is available (from an agricultural pool, say) at an institutionally determined real wage \bar{w} . In other respects the economy is like the standard one-sector model.
    1. Analyze the growth of such an economy if saving and investment are proportional to output. What might correspond to the “full employment, full utilization” assumption?
    2. What if saving and investment are proportional to profits?
    3. How does a once-for-all change in \bar{w} affect the growth path, and the share of wages in total output?
  2. Sketch an analysis of an optimal-capital-accumulation problem in which the criterion function values the capital stock (per worker) as well as consumption, for prestige or power reasons, say, so that instantaneous utility is written u(c,k). In particular, is it true, as we would expect, that such a society should save more than it would if it valued consumption only?
  3. Criticize the “neoclassical” theory of growth and capital; but do not be vague—where you have a complaint you should be prepared to suggest a better way.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Franco Modigliani, T7.

Image Source: Robert Solow in his office, MIT Museum Website.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams for the three courses in political economy. Laughlin and Taussig, 1882-1883

 

 

After Professor Charles Dunbar stepped down from his Harvard Deanship, he took sabbatical leave to go to Europe in 1882-83. Frank William Taussig was appointed instructor to help J. Laurence Laughlin cover the three course offerings for political economy that year. In Taussig’s course scrapbook in the Harvard archive, we find that he listed grades for 71 students in Political Economy 1 (1882-83), i.e., about half of the reported enrollment for that course. Thus we may presume that Laughlin and Taussig taught separate sections of the course with a common final examination.

______________________________

Course Announcements

Political Economy.

1.  Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Lectures on Banking and the Financial Legislation of the United States. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Mr. Taussig and Dr. Laughlin .

2.  Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. — History of Political Economy. – McKean’s Condensation of Carey’s Social Science. — Lectures. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2. Dr. Laughlin.

As a preparation for Course 2, it is necessary to have passed satisfactorily in Course 1.

3.  Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, Germany, and Russia. Once a week, counting as a half-course. Dr. Laughlin.

Source:  The Harvard University Catalogue, 1882-83, pp. 89-90.

______________________________

Course Enrollments

1.  Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Lectures. Dr. Laughlin and Mr. Taussig.

Total 155: 1 Graduate, 22 Seniors, 113 Juniors, 13 Sophomores, 6 Others. 3 hours/week.

2.  Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. — History of Political Economy. — McKean’s Condensation of Carey’s Social Science. — Lectures. Dr. Laughlin. 3 hours/week.

Total 35: 2 Graduates, 24 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Other.

3.  Studies in Land Tenures of England, Ireland, and France. — Theses. Dr. Laughlin. 1 hour/week.

Total 7: 1 Graduate, 6 Seniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1882-1883, p. 66.

______________________________

Course Examinations

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Mid-year 1882-83

I.
(Answer briefly all of the following.)

  1. What distinction does Mill draw between productive and unproductive labor? Discuss the value of this distinction. Distinguish between productive and unproductive consumption.
  2. What is the distinction between fixed and circulating capital? Is money part of the fixed or of the circulating capital of a country? Why?
  3. What are the classes among whom the produce is divided? Are these classes necessarily or usually represented in as many different sets of persons? How could you classify the peasant proprietor?
  4. Of what commodities are the values governed by the law of cost of production? Explain the process by which that law operates.
  5. “Rent does not enter into the cost of production of agricultural produce.” Explain.
  6. What regulates the value of an inconvertible paper currency? What cause it to depreciate? Discuss briefly the results of depreciation.
  7. Arrange the following items on the proper sides of the account:—

Circulation

315.0
Due to Bans

259.9
Legal Tender Notes

63.2
Loans

1,243.2
Bond for circulation

357.6
Due from Banks

198.9
Deposits

1,134.9
Specie

102.9

Compute just how much circulation is permitted by our laws; and give in figures both the (1) reserve required at 25%, and the (2) difference between the actual and required reserve, on the basis of the above account.

  1. Compare the plans of our National Bank system with those of the Bank of England and the Imperial Bank of Germany in regard to the security of note-issues.

II.
(Answer more fully three of the following.)

  1. What are the constituent elements of what Mill calls “profits”? Explain what is meant in common language by the word “profits,” and discuss the nature of profits in this sense.
  2. “The laws of the production of wealth partake of the nature of physical truths…It is not so with the distribution of wealth. That is a matter of human institution solely.” Explain the distinction, and show its connection with the subjects of communism and socialism.
  3. Mention the methods by which it is attempted to keep gold and silver concurrently in circulation. Explain why “a double standard is alternately a single standard.” Does this tend to be the case now in the United States?
  4. Distinguish between real and proportional wages, and illustrate the distinction. In what sense is the word wages used when it is said that the profits depend on wages, rising as wages fall, and falling as wages rise?
  5. It is not a difference in the absolute cost of production which determines the international cost of exchange, but a difference in the comparative” Explain this proposition, and apply it to the trade between the United States and European countries. Is the trade between tropical and temperate countries based, in the main, on a difference of absolute or of comparative cost?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Mid-Year Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (February, 1883), pp. 8-10.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Year-end 1882-1883

I.
(Take all of this group.)

  1. Explain what is meant by a bill of exchange. What causes bills on a foreign country to be at a premium or discount? Show in what way the premium (or discount) is prevented from going beyond a certain point.
  2. Is there any connection between the rate of interest and the abundance or scarcity of money? Explain and illustrate the following: “The rate of interest determines the price of land and of securities.”
  3. Describe the three different kinds of cooperation, and say something of the success attained by each. What are the two classes of distributive cooperation, and wherein do they differ?
  4. Show under what circumstances the increase of capital brings about the tendency of profits to fall. What influences counteract this tendency?
  5. Explain what is meant by the rapidity of circulation of money. What is the effect of great rapidity of circulation on prices and on the value of money? What is the effect of the use of credit? Mention the more important methods in which credit is used as a substitute for money.

II.
(Omit one of this group.)

  1. Discuss the effect of the introduction of a new article of export from a given country on the course of the foreign exchanges in that country, on the flow of specie, and on the terms of international trade (i.e. on international values).
  2. What are the causes which enable one country to undersell another? Do low wages, or a low cost of labor, form one of those causes?
  3. Discuss the immediate and the ultimate effects on rents of the introduction of agricultural improvements. Do those ultimate effects which Mill describes necessarily take place?
  4. What is the immediate and what the ultimate incidence of a tax on houses? Show in what manner the incidence of a tax on building-ground differs, according as the tax is specific (so much on the unit of surface), or rated (so much on the value).

III.
(Omit one of this group.)

  1. Describe the situation which caused the banks in the United States to suspend specie payments in 1861.
  2. What is the difference between bonds and Treasury notes? Name and explain the different kinds of bonds issued during the war.
  3. Explain the causes which made possible the great sales of five-twenty bonds in 1863.
  4. What arguments were advanced for the continuance of the National Bank System in 1882?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1883), pp. 7-8.

 

______________________________

Course Examinations

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Mid-year 1882-83

  1. Give a careful statement of Mr. Cairnes’s theory of market and normal value.
  2. How far is it right to suppose that the competition of (1) capital and (2) of labor is effective?
  3. Explain and discuss the statement that “the wages-fund expands as the supply of labor contracts, and contracts as the supply expands.”
  4. Agricultural products in England are as dear as one hundred years ago; in the meantime there has been extraordinary industrial progress. What conclusion is to be drawn as to the increase of wages and profits from the first fact, and who has ultimately gained by the second?
  5. Mill thinks that, although “the great efficiency of English labor is the chief cause why the precious metals are obtained at less cost by England,” the “somewhat higher range of general prices in England” is accounted for by the foreign demand, and the unbulky character of her commodities.
    What different explanation is offered by Mr. Cairnes?
  6. Examine the following:—
    “It seems to me that protection is absolutely essential to the encouragement of capital, and equally necessary for the protection of the American laborer….He must have good food, enough of it, good clothing, school-houses for his children, comforts for his home, and a fair chance to improve his condition. To this end I would protect him against competition with the half-paid laborers of European countries.”— Cong. Globe.
  7. If there should be a considerable falling off in the foreign demand for the products of one group of industries, such as our bread-stuffs, how would that affect wages in this country?
  8. What is the argument against the theory that the Bank of England brought about resumption of specie payments in England in 1821 by a contraction of its note-issues?
  9. In what period in the history of economic doctrines would you place the writer of the following passage?
    “The strength of a community declines with increase in the rate of interest. That increase results from efflux of the precious metals.” Explain.
  10. Comment on the main doctrines held by Cantillon and Storch.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Mid-Year Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (February, 1883), pp. 10-11.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Year-end 1882-1883

[Do not change the order of the questions.]

  1. Examine the following doctrine:—
    “If invention and improvement still go on, the efficiency of labor will be further increased, and the amount of labor and capital necessary to produce a further increased, and the amount of labor and capital necessary to produce a given result further diminished. The same causes will lead to the utilization of this new gain in productive power for the production of more wealth; the margin of cultivation will be again extended, and rent will increase, both in proportion and amount, without any increase in wages and interest. And so,…will…rent constantly increase, though population should remain stationary.”—Henry George, Progress and Poverty (p. 226).
  2. What is meant by the “comparative costs of production,” on which international values are said to depend, and how is that dependence to be reconciled with the fact that any given sale of goods is found to be an independent transaction, determined by the price of the commodity?
  3. How does the doctrine of reciprocal demand between different industries apply to the argument in favor of a diversity of employments in a new country, as laid down by Hamilton in his Report on Manufactures?
  4. Of the economic doctrines generally accepted to-day which would you consider as having originated with Adam Smith?
  5. Discuss the following words of Mr. Carey:—
    “From 1810 to 1815 mills and furnaces were built, but with the return of peace, their owners…were everywhere ruined…From 1828 to 1834, such establishments were again erected, and the metallic treasures of the earth were being everywhere developed; but, as before, the protective system was again abandoned, with ruin to the manufacturers.” (Vol. II, p. 224.)
  6. Explain the relation, in Mr. Carey’s system, between “wealth,” “utility,” “value,” and “capital.” State clearly the “harmony of interests” between labor and capital, and the connection of this with the wages question.
  7. Point out Mr. Carey’s objections to the doctrine of Malthus. How far does his position on this question affect his acceptance of Ricardo’s law of rent?
  8. Discuss the following statement:—
    “If such [a] league be formed on a permanent basis between a considerable number of important commercial countries, even though it does not embrace all countries, the relative value of gold and silver will be kept close to the mint ratio so established.”—A.Walker, Political Economy (p. 408).
  9. Examine this position:—
    “The rent of mines is not governed wholly by the economic law of rent which, as stated, has reference to the native and indestructible powers of the soil….By the very nature of such deposits [i.e. in mines], the enjoyment of mining privileges diminishes the sum of the mineral in existence. The mine may be ‘worked out’ in ten years or in twenty….The rent must be increased sufficiently to compensate for the ultimate exhaustion of the deposits: the destruction of the value of the estate.”
  10. Describe the form in which Germany actually received the payment of the indemnity from France.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1883), pp. 8-9.

______________________________

Course Examinations

POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Mid-year 1882-83

  1. What is the usual legal conception of property in the increased value of land? How far is this justified?
  2. In the claims of tenants for compensation for unexhausted improvements what weight do you give to the argument of landlords that legislation on this subject would be an interference with freedom of contract?
  3. What was the Agricultural Holdings Act of 1875? What were its results?
  4. Discuss the present length of leases in England, and compare with that of a century ago. Are there any political causes affecting the question?
  5. What is the aim of the Registration of Titles Act of 1875? What is the system of transferring property in England now actually in use?
  6. State some of the effects of the practice of entails on the application of capital to land. Point out how this question has been discussed in its relation to wages.
  7. What change has been going on in the character of English agriculture within the last thirty years? What influences do you attribute to American competition in this matter?
  8. In the depression of English agricultural interests, which class connected with the land seems to have suffered most?
  9. What has been the relation of the agricultural laborer to the land, and how far has it been possible for him to improve his position?
  10. It is said that farmers can use their capital more profitably in farming hired land than in sinking it in the purchase of the soil. What do you think on the advantages to the cultivators of owning the land in England?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Mid-Year Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (February, 1883), pp. 11-12.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Year-end 1882-1883

  1. State what you believe to be the most important effects of the Repeal of the Corn Laws upon agriculture and the present system of land-holding in England.
  2. It has been asserted that “a peasant population, raising their own wages from the soil, and consuming them in kind, are universally acted upon very feebly by internal checks, or by motives disposing them to restraint. The consequence is, that unless some external cause, quite independent of their will, forces such peasant cultivators to slacken their rate of increase, they will, in a limited territory, very rapidly approach a state of want and penury, and will be stopped at last only by the physical impossibility of procuring subsistence.” What testimony on this question is offered by the experience of France and Germany?
  3. How does absenteeism (1) affect the production of agricultural wealth? (2) Does it modify the laws of distribution?
  4. Give an explanation of the fact that in Ireland custom forces the tenant, not the landlord, to carry out the improvements on the soil. How far does this affect the question of compensation for unexhausted improvements.
  5. To what do you ascribe the “land-hunger” and rack-rents in Ireland? Why have manufactures not aided the agricultural classes, as they have in the north of England?
  6. What were the “Bright clauses” of the Irish Land Act of 1870, and their results? Describe briefly the provisions of the Irish Land Act of 1881.
  7. In view of new legislation in favor of English tenants, it is stated by the journals that to-day the Irish stands on a better legal footing than the English tenant. If this is true, point out the different advantages by the former.
  8. Under the old régime in France it is clear not only that there were many peasant proprietors, but also that agriculture was not flourishing. What other economic forces were at work, and what causes would you assign as the ones unfavorable to agriculture?
  9. What were the facts as to the increase of population (1) under the old régime, and (2) after the extension of small holdings? What light does this throw on the Irish land question?
  10. Discuss the evils supposed to arise from the French law of equal partition of property among the heirs at the death of the owner.
  11. Describe briefly the reforms of Stein and Hardenberg in the land legislation of Germany. What parallel is drawn between this plan and the course followed by France?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1883), pp. 9-10.

Image Source:  Harvard Library, Hollis Images. James Laurence Laughlin (left) and Frank W. Taussig (right).

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Examinations for both political economy courses. Dunbar and Laughlin, 1881-1882

 

Course offerings in economics at Harvard were pretty meager at the start of the 1880s. Two instructors covered two courses in 1881-82. Professor Charles Dunbar was serving his last year as Dean which probably explains why a young Ph.D., J. L. Laughlin (Harvard PhD, 1876), was even needed to share the burden of teaching the large introductory course.

Note: the mid-year examinations appeared to have been missed during my last visit to the Harvard archives, so  I’ll need to try to fill that gap during a future visit.

______________________

Course Announcement

POLITICAL ECONOMY.
ELECTIVE COURSES.

1. Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.—Financial Legislation of the United States.—Lectures. Three times a week. Professor Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin.

Course 1 may be taken twice a week, if notice to that effect is given in advаnсе.

2. Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy.—Giffen’s Essays in Finance.—Lectures. Three times a week. Professor Dunbar.

As a preparation for Course 2, it is necessary to have passed satisfactorily in Course 1 (three hours).

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1881-82, p. 84.

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Course Enrollments

Political Econ. 1. Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.— Lectures on Banking and the Financial Legislation of the United States (3 hours, 2 sections). Prof. Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin.

Total 147: 23 Seniors, 97 Juniors, 17 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 8 Others.

Political Econ. 2. Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy.— Giffen’s Essays in Finance.— Lectures and Theses. (3 hours, 1 section). Prof. Dunbar.

Total 32: 2 Graduates, 21 Seniors 9 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1881-82, p. 5.

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Course Examination

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Year-end 1881-1882

(Omit one question from each group.)

I.

  1. What conclusion is reached by Mr. Mill respecting the objections to the use of labor-saving machinery?
  2. Are railway shares, stocks of wine, wheat, munitions of war, and land considered capital, or not?
  3. Explain fully why it is that capitalists cannot compensate themselves for a general high cost of labor through any action on values and prices.
  4. What determines the rate of interest on loanable funds? Is the “current [or ordinary] rate of interest the measure of the relative abundance or scarcity of capital”?

II.

  1. How is it that some agricultural capital pays rent, even if resort is not had to different grades of land?
  2. What connection exists between the rate of wages in any country and the productiveness of its soil?
  3. Explain what is meant by the tendency of profits to a minimum, and by the stationary state.
  4. In what cases would duties on imported commodities fall on the producers?

III.

  1. What are the reasons for the change in the normal values of manufactured and of agricultural commodities, respectively, during the progress of society?
  2. In trying to explain high prices (as at the present time), point out what other factor than quantity of money is to be taken into account. As a matter of fact, how does the importation of specie enter the channels of trade and affect prices?
  3. Why is it necessary to make any different statements of the laws of value for foreign than for domestic products? What is the law of international value?
  4. In what way are gold and silver distributed among the different trading countries? Between different parts of the same country?

IV.

  1. How did depreciation of the currency facilitate the sale of five-twenty bonds in 1863-64?
  2. What advantage did the government obtain by giving the five-twenty form to so many of its bonds?
  3. What provision was made in the original National Bank Act as to reserves to protect circulation and deposits, and what reserves are now required by law
  4. In what cases can payments be legally made in greenbacks and in national bank-notes respectively?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1914, Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Annual Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1882), pp. 7-8.

______________________

Course Examination

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Year-end 1881-1882

In answering the questions do not change their order.

  1. What is the reason for Adam Smith’s proposition that “the price of corn, in the progress of society, reaches a maximum, beyond which it cannot advance”? Can you work out the same result by a different course of reasoning from that given by Cairnes?
  2. Explain the statement that “the high scale of industrial remuneration in America, instead of being evidence of a high cost of production in that country, is distinctly evidence of a low cost of production.”
  3. If the common saying that “the value of gold is the same all the world over” has no foundation, how does a supply of new gold distribute itself over all countries and over all commodities in each country?
  4. Malthus, Ricardo, Mill, Cairnes:—State their relation to each other in the development of economic science.
  5. How did the payment of the French indemnity to Germany affect the economic condition of Austria and of the United States?
  6. In a speech made in April, 1876, Senator Sherman says that, after the introduction of the gold standard by Germany in 1873 and the limitation of the coinage of silver by the Latin Union,—
    “A struggle for the possession of gold at once arose between all the great nations, because everybody could see that if $3,200,000,000 of silver coin were demonetized, and $3,500,000,000 of gold coin made the sole standard, it would enormously add to the value of gold, and the Bank of France, the Bank of England and the Imperial Bank of Germany at once commenced grasping for gold in whatever form. Therefore, what we have observed recently is not so much a fall of silver as it is a rise of gold, the inevitable effect of a fear of the demonetization of silver.”
    In what form would the process of “grasping for gold” manifest itself, and how do the facts bear out the above statement?
  7. To what extent is it, in the long run, a misfortune for England that her agriculture should be in part superceded by supplies of cheap food poured in from America?
  8. State your views as to the economic significance and probable permanence of the present excess of exports from the United States.
  9. How is the supposed accumulation of capital by England in the period from 1875 to 1881 to be reconciled.
    (1), with the great depression of business for most of the time;
    (2), with the remarkable excess of imports?
  10. Examine the reasoning of the following extract:—
    “About $11,000,000 is now spent in the United States annually for new ships, wooden and iron, and about $2,000,000 more for the repair of old ones….Under a policy of government encouragement, expenditures for iron and wooden ships would be increased at least to $40,000,000 a year….[and] the expenditures for American labor and supplies, in operating the ships, would be increased by $10,000,000 or $15,000,000, perhaps considerably more. That is to say, there would then be expended in the United States an immense sum of money not now expended, which might be as large as $40,000,000, which would diffuse itself throughout the community, and bless and quicken every department of human industry. Best of all, the money, thus spent, would be principally obtained from the foreigner. It would come from the earnings of the ships, which, in the export trade at least, are paid by consumers in foreign lands. In the import trade the money is paid by consumers here and is carried away from the country. The larger part of the money, therefore, would be a pure gain to the United States…These lines would save to the country at least one half of the $50,000,000 of freight money now paid on imported goods, and they would earn at least one half of the large sum paid by foreign nations on the goods exported from this country. Then, they would give encouragement to tens thousands more of American citizens on land and sea.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1914, Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Annual Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1882), pp. 8-9.

Image Source:  Harvard Library, Hollis Images. Charles F. Dunbar (left) and James Laurence Laughlin (right).

Categories
Exam Questions Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins. Doctoral exams taken by Helen Potter, 1942

 

The previous post introduced us to the life and professional career of Helen Potter, Vassar (AB, 1933) and Johns Hopkins (PhD, 1942). One is hard-pressed to explain the purpose of such (rather easy) exit exams administered six weeks before commencement. Perhaps as a crude way to document that the submitted dissertation was not merely bought and paid by someone with abolutely no knowledge of economics. Anyone have a clue?

_____________________

EXAMINATION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY
(Economic Theory)

Miss Helen Potter
April 21, 1942

  1. Explain Keynes’ theory concerning the factors that determine the volume of employment.
  2. Discuss the origin and development of four concepts that are basic in modern economic thinking.
  3. What are some of the more important forms of an equation of exchange showing the relationship between money and prices? Explain the meaning of the various forms and discuss critically.
  4. Discuss briefly: backward sloping supply curves; kinked demand curves; pure competition; indifference curves; monopsony; the coefficient of acceleration; the widening and deepening of capital; Hayek’s concept of the lengthening of the period of production.
  5. Explain the fundamental economic theories involved in the working of an international gold standard, and show their application to the problem of reestablishing such a standard.
  6. Discuss equilibrium.
  7. Explain the main features of Schumpeter’s theory of business cycles.
  8. Discuss price under monopolistic competition.

_____________________

EXAMINATION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY
(Applied Economics)

Miss Helen Potter
April 22, 1942

  1. Is there any justification for price increases in a war economy? Explain the more important problems involved in any attempt to put into effect a program of price-fixing.
  2. From an economic point of view wherein is the corporation superior to other forms of business organization?
  3. Explain the problem of war financing. What factors need to be taken into consideration? Suggest a program that you think meets the requirements.
  4. How does trading on the equity by a bank differ from trading on the equity by a public utility? How is a bank to protect itself when trading on the equity?
  5. Explain the nature of the control over credit exercised by the Federal Reserve System. Contrast the relative importance of Federal Reserve policy and fiscal policy under the New Deal. Consider only the situation prior to the inauguration of the defense program.
  6. What is the role of probability in the formulation of scientific laws?
  7. Analyze the probable effect of a general increase in wages upon business activity during a period of depression.
  8. Define: an average; an index number; frequency distribution; a trend; seasonal variation; random sampling:
  9. Discuss the most important problems that would arise in connection with national planning.

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Eisenhower Library, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives, Department of Political Economy. Series 6. Box 3/1, Folder “Graduate Exams, 1933-1965”.

Image Source: Gilman Hall, Johns Hopkins University from the 1924 yearbook Hullabaloo.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Labor economics courses taught by Charles E. Persons, 1928-1929

In the previous post we met the Harvard Ph.D. alum (1913) Charles E. Persons whose career transitioned from the life of an academic economist to that of a labor policy activist/government official right after he covered labor economics courses for William Z. Ripley who was on leave due to health reasons (more to report on Ripley, but later). This post puts together the materials (enrollment statistics, reading period assignments and two course exams) I could find for the courses taught by Persons during his three semesters teaching at Harvard during the spring term 1928 and the full academic year 1928-29.

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Courses taught by Charles E. Persons at Harvard

Enrollment, Economics 6a2
Spring Term, 1928

[Economics] 6a 2hf. Professor Charles E. Persons (Boston University), assisted by Mr. Joslyn.—Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.

Total 31: 15 Seniors, 14 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1927-1928, p. 74.

 

Course Assignment for Reading Period
Economics 6a2
Spring 1928

Economics 6b [sic, should be is “6a”] [Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.]

Select one of the following groups.

  1. Historical
    1. Webb, S. & B.: History of Trade Unionism, Chs. I, II, III, IV and VII.
    2. Perlman, S.: History of Trade Unionism in the United States.
  2. Trade Union Function.
    1. Webb, S. & B.: Industrial Democracy, Pt. II, pp. 145-599.
  3. Employer’s Programs.
    1. Hoxie, R. F.: Scientific Management and Labor, pp. 1-140.
    2. Burritt, A. W., et al.: Profit Sharing; the Principles and Practice. New Edition, 1926).
  4. Government Control.
    1. Selekman, B.: Postponing Strikes.
    2. Wolf, H. D.: The Railroad Labor Board.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1927-1928”.

 

1927-28
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 6a2
[Final Examination, Spring 1928]

Group I
Answer one. Forty minutes to one hour.

  1. When and under what circumstances were the first unions formed? Sketch the development of labor organizations before 1850. What special conditions did they meet in the United States?
  2. What, according to the Webbs, are the methods used by trade unions in actual operation? Discuss the Standard Rate and more briefly other trade union policies, stating your own conclusions.
  3. What are the special methods of scientific management in dealing with labor? How are wages determined? Are Trade Unionism and Scientific Management necessarily incompatible?
    State the general features of Profit-sharing plans as applied in the United States. Contrast this plan with that applied in Scientific Management plants.
  4. Contrast the methods of strike control applied by the United States Railroad Labor Board and The Canadian Industrial Disputes Investigation Act. Were these plans successful in operation? What features of either act do you think worthy of adoption in the United States?

Group II
Answer ALL questions; follow the order given.

  1. Describe the organization of the present union groups in the United States.
  2. A western state enacts a law providing:
    1. Children under 18 years of age shall not work more than seven hours a day, nor forty hours a week. These hours must be included between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
    2. Females over 18 years of age shall not be employed more than eight hours a day and forty hours a week. These hours must be included between 7 a.m. and 5 p. m.
    3. Males over 18 years of age shall not be employed over eight hours a day nor forty-four hours a week.

The act is attacked as unconstitutional. State the probably line of attack and defense. What do you think the present supreme court would decide on each of the three articles?

  1. To what extent can unemployment be prevented? Which of the methods proposed for the prevention of unemployment seem to you most practical and effective? Outline and justify a program for dealing with such unemployment as is not preventable.
  2. In 1923 the receiver of a certain railroad petitioned the Railroad Labor Board for authority to reduce wages below those paid by the railroads generally under rulings by the Board. It was shown that the railroad was not earning enough to cover operating expenses, that the stock and bond holders had received no return for several years, “that the necessity of a discontinuance of operations had been greatly threatened for some time,” and that “such shutdown of the carrier would be disastrous for the 31 counties of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas through which its lines ran.” The workers decline to accept any reduction in pay and show that their incomes do not suffice to cover the cost of a living wage on a health and comfort standard. As a member of the railroad board render decision on this issue.
  3. (a) Suppose all workers were persuaded to join unions giving us a complete system of closed shops. What would be the effect on wages and social conditions generally?
    (b) Suppose the Open Shop drive should be completely successful and trade unionism reduced to local and partial organization. What results would follow?
  4. In what respects does a shop committee afford less adequate protection to the workers than does a trade union? What, if any, useful functions may a shop committee perform which are not now performed by trade unions?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers Finals 1928 (HUC 7000.28, Vol. 70). Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, Church History, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, June, 1928.

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Enrollment, Economics 6a1
Fall Term, 1928

[Economics] 6a 1hf. Dr. C. E. Persons.—Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.

Total 50: 1 Graduate, 22 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 3 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1928-1929, p. 72.

 

Course Assignment for Reading Period
Economics 6a1
Fall Term, 1928

Economics 6a [Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.]

Select one of the following groups.

  1. Webb, S. & B.: History of Trade Unionism, Chs. I-IV incl., Chs. VII, VIII.
  2. Commons, John R. and Associates: History of Labour in the United States, Vol. II, pp. 3-194, 301-430, 521-541.
  3. Webb, S. & B.: Industrial Democracy, Pt. II, pp. 152-221, 279-353, 393-558.
  4. Hoxie, R. F.: Scientific Management and Labor, pp. 1-140.
    Burritt, A. W., et al.: Profit Sharing, Chs. I-VII incl. XI, XII, XIII, XVII. (1926 edition).
  5. Selekman, B.: Postponing Strikes. (Canadian Industrial Disputes Act.)
  6. Wolf, H. D.: The Railroad Labor Board, Pts. II, III.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1928-1929”.

1928-29
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 6a1
[Final Examination, Fall 1928-29]

Group I
Answer one. Forty minutes to one hour.

  1. Write brief essays on two of the following subjects:
    1. The origin of trade unionism in Great Britain.
    2. Trade Unionism under the Combination Laws.
    3. The “New Model” and its importance in trade union history.
  2. Write a summary history of the development of national trade unions in the United States. This should include the formation and development of the American Federation of Labor.
  3. Discuss the method of Collective Bargaining as practiced by the trade unions of Great Britain. Follow the exposition of the Webbs but do not fail to state your own conclusions.
    On what grounds have trade unions based their claims of a “right to a trade”? Discuss the attempts of the unions to settle demarcation disputes and the solution offered by the Webbs for dealing with this problem.
  4. (a) State definitely how scientific management proposes to handle questions which concern wage earners. Are these proposals necessarily incompatible with trade unions? What is to be said by way of critical comment of the following quotation: “(Scientific management) substitutes exact knowledge for guess work and seeks to establish a code of natural laws equally binding upon employer and workman.”
    (b) What are the essential features of profit sharing plans? What is, and what should be, the attitude of trade unions toward such proposals? How large is the promise of such plans regarded as aids in solving the labor problem?
  5. State, with some precision, the provisions of the Canadian Industrial Disputes Investigation Act. In what respect has the administration of the act departed from the intent of the authors? What is to be said of its success or failure? Its constitutionality? And its standing in the opinions of the wage earners, employers and the general public?
  6. State the important features of the law establishing the Railroad Labor Board, and of the act of 1926 which superseded it.
    Briefly summarize the work of the Railroad Labor Board, pointing out its successes and failure. What conclusions do you draw from this experience with governmental control of labor conditions.

Group II
Answer all questions: follow the order given

  1. Contrast the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor. Include in your answer a clear statement of: plans of organization; program for the attainment of results; governing philosophy; and effectiveness as agencies to advance the interest of wage earners.
  2. A strike was declared against the Mills restaurants in Arizona by the Amalgamated Cooks and Waiters Unions. The strikers maintained pickets who appealed to cooks and waiters not to accept employment or to leave it if employed, and to customers not to patronize the restaurants. The pickets allege that the proprietors are “unfair to organized labor,” that hours are excessive and wages below the living standard. They picket in groups of six and employ vigorous, but generally peaceful, persuasion. There are minor cases of coercion and intimidation. The state has enacted laws declaring picketing legitimate and denying to the state courts the power to issue writs of injunction in labor disputes. The employers enter suits for damages against the union and attack the constitutionality of the law in both state and federal courts.
    Discuss these issues from the standpoint of legality, governmental policy and the legitimate exercise of trade union functions.
  3. Discuss the use of writs of injunction in labor disputes. Why has the employment of such writs become increasingly common and why have the trade unions vigorously opposed their use? What issues were involved in the Buck’s Stove case? The Bedford Stone decision?
  4. Does the introduction of machinery, e.g., the linotype machine or the automatic glass bottle machine benefit or injure: the wage earner, the capitalist and the consuming public? Answer both as to the immediate and the “long run” effect, and analyze the long run process of adjustment.
  5. A certain national building trade’s union established the following rules:
    1. Apprenticeship shall not begin before the age of 16 years and shall be four years long. The ratio of apprentices shall be: “one to each shop irrespective of the number of journeymen employed, and one to every five members thereafter.”
    2. A generally understood standard for a day’s work is in effect, which union members are expected not to exceed. This is based upon the average output of the union members when working without restriction.
    3. The introduction of new machines and processes is not opposed. However, the union insists that its members be given preference on the new machines, and that full union wages be paid. The industry pays to journeymen a straight time wage of 85 cents per hour; runs open shop though the great majority of the workers are union men and has been largely reorganized because of the invention and introduction of labor saving machinery.
      * *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * * *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
      Discuss these union practices from the standpoint of industrial efficiency and social welfare. If in your opinion some of them are unsound or unreasonable, what steps would you recommend with a view of having them modified?
  6. Discuss the general subject of compulsory arbitration. Has it been successful in operation? Does it eliminate strikes? Strengthen or weaken trade unionism? Mean an increase or decrease in governmental control of industry? To what extent would you think it desirable that such a policy be adopted by our federal and state governments?
  7. What conclusion do you draw from your study of trade unionism? Is the movement worthy of support on its past record? Would you suggest modification of its plans or purposes? Do alternative plans such as company unionism seem to you of greater promise?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943 (HUC 7000.55). Box 11: Examination Papers Mid-Years 1929. Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations [in] History, New Testament, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, January-February, 1929.

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Enrollment, Economics 6a2
Spring Term, 1929

[Economics] 6a 2hf. Dr. C. E. Persons.—Labor Legislation and Social Insurance.

Total 13: 4 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1928-1929, p. 72.

 

Course Assignment for Reading Period
Economics 6b2
Spring Term, 1929

Economics 6b [Labor Legislation and Social Insurance.]

Select one of the following groups.

  1. Minimum Wage.

A. F. Lucas, The Legal Minimum Wage in Massachusetts. [The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, March 1927, Supplement]
—and either—
D. Self, The British Trade Board System.
—or—
M.B. Hammond, Wage Boards in Australia, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 29: pp. 98, 326, 563.

  1. Health Insurance.

Illinois Health Insurance Commission Report, pp. 1-168.
I.M. Rubinow, Standards of Health Insurance.

  1. Unemployment.

J. L. Cohen, Insurance Against Unemployment, pp. 159-332, 430, 494.
—and either—
W.H. Beveridge Unemployment a Problem of Industry, Chs. V, VIII, IX, XI.
—or—
H. Feldman, Regulation of Industry, Chs. V, VI, VIII, XIII, XIV, XVI.

  1. Old Age Provision.

1925 Report of the Massachusetts Commission on Pensions.
L. Conant, A Critical Analysis of Industrial Pension Plans, Chs. I, II, VII, VIII, IX, X.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1928-1929”.

________________________

Enrollment, Economics 342
Spring Term, 1929

[Economics] 34 2hf. Dr. C. E. Persons.—Problems of Labor.

Total 5: 1 Graduate, 3 Seniors, 1 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1928-1929, p. 72.

 

Course Assignment for Reading Period
Economics 342
Spring Term, 1929

Economics 34. [Problems of Labor.]

Individual reading assignments.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1928-1929”.

 

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

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Syllabus and Examination for International Trade. Haberler, 1949

 

The following course outline with readings and final examination for Gottfried Haberler’s 1949 (spring term) course in international trade can be compared to the following material transcribed earlier for the pair of semester courses he taught subsequently covering international trade, finance and policy.

__________________________

Course Announcement

Economics 243a (formerly Economics 143a). International Trade

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor Haberler.

[Economics 243 b (formerly] Economics 143b). International Trade]

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professors Haberler and Harris.

Omitted in 1948-49; to be given in 1949-50.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Courses of Instruction, Box 6, Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1948-49, p. 79.

__________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 243 a (formerly Economics 143a). International Trade (Sp). Professor Haberler.

Total: 25: 15 Graduates, 1 Senior, 4 Public Administration, 1 M.I.T., 4 Radcliffe.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1948-1949, p. 78.

__________________________

Spring 1949
Economics 243a
Professor Haberler

Outline

First Four Weeks

  1. The Importance of International Trade for the Economy of Various Countries. Measures of Importance
  2. International Accounts and National Accounts.
    International Transactions in National Economic Budgets
  3. Balance of Payments and Foreign Exchange
    Demand and Supply for Exports and Imports
    Demand and Supply of Foreign Currency
  4. Balance of Payments Mechanism
    The Transfer Problem

Second Four Weeks

  1. International Division of Labor
    The Theory of Comparative Cost
  2. Ohlin’s Theory of “Interregional and International Trade”
  3. Various Criticisms and Objections to Classical and Neoclassical Theories
  4. Location Theory

Last Four Weeks

  1. The last four weeks will be devoted to a discussion of problems of trade policy. Evolution of trade policies; Modern methods of trade regulation; The Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization (I.T.O.).

 

Reading Assignments and Suggestions
General

The literature in the subject is so rich that students can acquire the knowledge necessary for the course in many different ways. Students are invited to make their own detailed choice from the suggestions below. Two extensive bibliographies have been prepared in former terms for other courses. One may be obtained from Ms. Buller, Littauer 322; the other from Professor Williams’ secretary, Littauer 231. Each student is expected to have read one or the other of the following general monographs or texts:

Ellsworth: International Economics
Haberler: Theory of International Trade
Whale: International Trade
Enke and Salera: International Economics
Meade and Hitch: Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy (Part III)
Harrod: International Economics (3rd edition, 1939)
Tinbergen: International Economic Cooperation (1945)
An excellent discussion of recent developments will be found in: Metzler: “The Theory of International Trade,” Chapter. 6, Survey of Contemporary Economics (1948)
It is hoped that the volume, Readings in the Theory of International Trade will appear in March or April.

Assignments and Suggestions to Subjects Listed Above in Addition to Relevant Chapters in General Texts

  1. There is hardly any specific reading on this subject. See, however, The Post-War Foreign Economic Policy of the United States. 6th Report of the House Special Committee on Post-War Economic Policy and Planning. House Report No. 541. Washington, 1945. (This report was written by Lloyd Metzler.)
    The United States in the World Economy, U. S. Department of Commerce, 1943.
    Buchanan, N.S., and Lutz, E.A.: Rebuilding the World Economy, 1947)
  2. Hicks: The Social Framework of the American Economy, Ch. XII, “Foreign and National Income.”
    The United States in the World Economy (U.S. Department. of Commerce, 1943).
    The Survey of Current Business (Monthly publication of Department of Commerce) has frequent articles on trade and balance of payments statistics.
  3. R. Nurkse: International Currency Experience (League of Nations, 1944).
    J. Robinson: “Foreign Exchanges,” Essays on the Theory of Employment (1st ed., 1938; 2nd ed., 1947), Part III.
    Machlup: “The Theory of Foreign Exchanges,” Economica, 1939 (two articles).
    Pigou: “The Foreign Exchanges,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1922, Reprinted in Essays in Applied Economics, 1927.
    Metzler: op. cit.
  4. Williams: Post-War Monetary Plans and Other Essays, 3rd edition, 1947.
    The New Economics (ed. S. E. Harris), Part V, especially the essays by Bloomfield and Nurkse.
    Machlup: International Trade and the National Income Multiplier (1943).
    Keynes and Ohlin on German Reparations in Economic Journal, 1929 (to be reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade).
  5. In addition to general texts, see: Ricardo: Principles; J. S. Mill, Principles
    Marshall: Money, Credit and Commerce
    Taussig: International Trade
    J. Viner: Studies in the Theory of International Trade
    Leontief: “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1933 (to be reprinted in Readings).
  6. Ohlin: op. cit. Parts I, II, and possibly III.
    Ellsworth: “A Comparison of International Trade Theories,” American Economic Review, June, 1940.
  7. J. Viner: Studies (last two chapters).
    F. D. Graham: Theory of International Values (Princeton 1948).
    Williams: Postwar Monetary Plans, 3rd ed., 1937, Ch. 12.
  8. E. Hoover: Location of Economic Activity (Economic Handbook, ed., S.E. Harris, 1948).
    Relevant chapters in Ohlin, op. cit.
  9. Buchanan and Lutz: op. cit.
    Foreign Economic Policy for the United States (ed., S.E. Harris, 1948).
    M. Gordon: Barriers to World Trade (description of trading methods).
    Clair Wilcox: A Charter for World Trade, 1949.
    Text of I.T.O. Charter

Further assignments for 9 to be made later.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1). Box 5, Folder “Economics 1949-1950, 3 of 3”.

_____________________

1948-49
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 243a
[Final Examination]

Answer 4 questions

(Please write legibly!)

  1. Analyze the probably effect of a currency depreciation of a particular country upon (a) the balance of payments and (b) the terms of trade. List the main factors on which the outcome depends and give attention to income as well as to price effects.
  2. List and discuss the main theoretically tenable arguments for protection. Indicate their order of importance (a) from the scientific point of view and (b) from the point of view of practical politics.
  3. Describe Ohlin’s theory of International Trade and compare it with the classical and neo-classical theory.
  4. “The existence of a large home market in the U.S. protected by taste, connections, and a high tariff, which enables the development of mass-production methods, secures advantages which cannot be challenged except by countries having complete state monopoly of their foreign trade. This makes it impossible for Western Europe to adopt a policy of nondiscriminatory trade using no protective devices except tariffs.” (Th. Balogh) Discuss and analyze.
  5. Discuss the probable influence of international trade upon the distribution of income, say, between labor and non-labor income. Pay attention to the theories of Heckscher-Ohlin, Stolper-Samuelson and L. Metzler.
  6. After World War I, Germany had to pay reparations and the Western allies had to pay debts to the United States. After World War II, the corresponding problem for Europe is to get along without American aid.
    Analyze the possible mechanisms of adjustment, indicating the similarities and differences of the two cases.

 

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: Gottfried Haberler in Harvard Class Album, 1950.

 

 

Categories
Cambridge Exam Questions Gender

Cambridge. Local Examinations Syndicate’s Political Economy and Logic Exams, 1870-72

This post provides three years’ worth of exams for the subjects of political economy and logic that constituted Group D of a battery of exams created and graded by fellows and tutors of the University of Cambridge that were taken by women wishing to become teachers and needed to have their educational achievements certified. The volume from which the following information has been transcribed covers the period 1870-1872. Miscellaneous examination rules/procedures and examiners’ reports have been included as well. Texts by John Stuart Mill,  John Elliott Cairnes and Adam Smith were the primary material for the political economy examinations with John Stuart Mill’s Logic and works by Richard Whately, William Thomson and Alexander Bain covered in the logic examinations.

____________________________

Backstory of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate.

Cambridge Assessment was established as the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) by the University of Cambridge in 1858. [It was] set up to administer local examinations for students who were not members of the University of Cambridge, with the aim of raising standards in education. [UCLES] also inspected schools.

[…]

1858

UCLES, The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate was formed to set school leaving examinations for non-members of the university. The Syndicate comprised thirteen university academics (one as Secretary) who would set regulations, write question papers, preside over examinations, mark scripts and make the awards. The examinations were held in December to avoid conflict with the Oxford Examinations in July and the first centres were in Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Grantham, Liverpool, London and Norwich.

1862

It was decided that the Syndicate’s remit be extended to offer inspections to schools as part of the examination programme offered by the University of Cambridge.

1864

The first overseas examinations were held by UCLES in Trinidad where six candidates took the Cambridge Senior Examinations.

1868

After a successful trial in 1863 by candidates from the North London Collegiate School and a subsequent petition to the University, girls were officially allowed to enter for the Cambridge Local Examinations on the same basis as boys.

1869

The Higher Local Examinations were introduced, initially for women over eighteen who wished to become teachers. Although the HLE was discontinued in 1922 it had, by then, spawned the Certificate of Proficiency in English, the longest surviving of all UCLES examinations.

http://web.archive.org/web/20200719152624/https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/about-us/who-we-are/our-heritage/

____________________________

University of Cambridge. Examination for Women.
Examination Papers for the Examination held in July, 1870
with lists of Syndics and Examiners
to which are added the Regulations for the Examination in 1871.

Cambridge: Printed at the University Press, 1870.

https://archive.org/details/examinationforw00unkngoog/page/n7/mode/2up

EXAMINATION FOR WOMEN.
[p. 4]

The following Scheme of Examinations for Women was sanctioned by Grace of the Senate, Oct, 29, 1868.

  1. That an Examination be held once in every year for women who have completed 18 years of age before the 1st of January of the year in which the Examination takes place.
  2. That this Examination be under the superintendence of the Syndicate constituted by Grace of the Senate February 11, 1858 for the conduct of the Examinations of Students who are not members of the University.
  3. That the Examinations be held in such places as the Syndicate may approve.
  4. That the Candidates be required to pay fees at the discretion of the Syndicate.
  5. That every Candidate be examined in Religious Knowledge unless she declare in writing her objection to such Examination.
  6. That neither the names of the Candidates nor any Class Lists be published.
  7. That the Candidates who have satisfied the Examiners receive Certificates, and those who have passed the Examination with credit. Certificates of Honour.
  8. That this Scheme continue in force for three years, so as to include the Examinations of 1869, 1870, and 1871.

RECOMMENDATIONS TO LOCAL COMMITTEES.
[p. 7]

  1. The Examination room must be large enough to accommodate all the Candidates.
  2. Desks must be provided so as to allow to all the Candidates at least four feet in length apiece, without requiring them to be seated on opposite sides.
  3. The desks for drawing must be so placed that the Candidates may have the light upon their left hand, unless the room be lighted from the top.
  4. A table in each of the Examination rooms, and one drawer or cupboard furnished with lock and key, will be required for the use of the Examiner.
  5. Pens, ink, writing and blotting paper must be provided. The paper must be of the size called “Cambridge Scribbling Demy.” Each sheet should be cut in four, and may be ruled or not. If ruled, the ruling of each quarter-sheet should be parallel to the shorter sides. Paper of this size can be procured from Spalding and Hodge, 145, Drury Lane; King and Loder, 239, Thames Street; Batty, Partington and Son, 174, Aldersgate Street, London; and from all Stationers in Cambridge.
    The quarter-sheets must have a hole punched in the left-hand top corner, and pack thread or the metal binders sold by Perry and Co. should be provided in order to fasten each student’s papers together.
  6. The Local Committee should arrange so that at least one of their number may attend in the Examination room.
    The writing-paper, &c. should be distributed for the use of the Candidates ten minutes before the hours fixed for the commencement of work.

Examiners for Political Economy and Logic for July 1870
[p. 6]

The following gentlemen were appointed by the Syndicate

Examiner in Political Economy for July 1870:  Rev. J. B. Mayor, M.A. late Fellow of St. John’s College.

Examiner in Logic: Ref. F. J. A. Hort, M.A. late Fellow of Trinity College.

Examination Questions for July, 1870

GROUP D.
Thursday, July 7, 1870. 4 to 6 ½

Political Economy.
[p. 50]

  1. Classify the advantages derived from Division of Labour.
  2. Distinguish between Price, Cost, Value in Use, and Value in Exchange. On what does the last depend?
  3. Examine the consequences of the substitution of machinery for hand labour in general, and particularly in the case of agriculture.
  4. Give an account of Cottier Tenure, explaining what is meant by Conacre and Tenant Right.
  5. Give a short account of the English Poor Law at the present time. What objections have been made to it?
  6. What are the principles which should guide the practice of Almsgiving?
  7. What are the uses of a Circulating Medium? Point out the mischiefs arising from its depreciation. What were the French Assignats?
  8. The use and abuse of Trades Unions.
  9. What regulates International Values?
  10. Discuss whether the expenses of a war should be met by Loan or Tax.
  11. Mention the principal errors of the Political Economists who preceded Adam Smith.
  12. The influence of Political Economy upon English legislation during the last forty years.

 

Wednesday, July 6, 1870. 12 to 2.

Logic.
[p. 51]

  1. Distinguish the several uses of language for purposes of thought. What are meant by First and Second Intentions?
  2. In what sense have words been compared to counters? Shew to what extent the comparison is just, and where it is misleading.
  3. What is meant by Division in Logic? State and exemplify its rules. Give instances of cross-division.
  4. Explain the saying that the subject of a judgement is in the predicate, and the predicate in the subject. Point out the various aspects of the double relation here intended.
  5. Explain and exemplify the Fallacy of Interrogation. What is meant by its being classified as a Fallacy of Ambiguous Middle?
  6. A. “The sky is cloudy; so we may expect rain.” B. “Yet it has been cloudy for some days, and not a drop has fallen.” A. “All the more reason for the rain to come now.” Put these three arguments into a logical form, supplying whatever is assumed; and examine the validity of each.
  7. What do you understand by Deduction, and what is its use in scientific investigation?
  8. Describe the characteristics of Empirical Laws. Why are they called laws, and why empirical?
  9. What are the respective advantages of observation and experiment?
  10. Explain distinctly what is meant by a classification according to Natural Groups. How is such a classification related to the classification involved in all use of general names?

Regulations for the Examination in 1871.
[pp. 63-66]

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
EXAMINATIONS FOR WOMEN.

There will be an Examination, commencing on Monday, July 3, 1871, open to Women who have completed the age of 18 years before Jan. 1, 1871.

Candidates will be examined in such places as the Syndics appointed by the University may determine.

The Syndicate will entertain applications from places where 25 fees at the least are guaranteed. Application must be made not later than April 1, 1871.

Before any application for an Examination can be approved, the Syndicate must be satisfied as to the following points:—

That there is a Committee of ladies who will efficiently superintend the Examination, one of whom will undertake to act as Local Secretary.

That this Committee will see that suitable accommodation can be obtained by Candidates who are strangers to the place.

That a responsible person will be at hand to receive the Examination papers from the conducting Examiner and collect the answers.

Committees wishing to have Examinations held in their several districts, may obtain all necessary information from the

Rev. G. F. BROWNE.
St Catharine’s College, Cambridge.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

  1. Every one admitted to Examination will be required to pay a fee of forty shillings. After a Certificate has been obtained, the fee in any subsequent year will be twenty shillings.
  2. Papers will be set in the subjects grouped and numbered as below. Every Candidate who has not already passed in group A is required to satisfy the Examiners in all the papers set in that group, with the exception that the papers in Religious Knowledge may be omitted by any Candidate who at the time of her application for admission to the Examination declares her objection to be examined in Religious Knowledge.
  3. The Candidates who satisfy the Examiners will receive Certificates to that effect, and those who pass the Examination with credit, Certificates of Honour. Every Certificate will specify the subjects in which the Candidate has passed.
  4. No Certificate will be granted to any Candidate who has not passed in group A and also in one of groups B, C, D and E.
  5. The names of the Candidates who pass in each group will be placed alphabetically in three classes. If a Candidate specially distinguishes herself in particular parts of the Examination, the fact will be notified by endorsement on her Certificate. After each Examination notice of the result will be sent to the home of each Candidate.
  6. A Candidate who passes in group A, but not in the further subjects necessary for obtaining a Certificate, will not be examined in the papers in that group in any future year in which she may go in to the Examination for the purpose of obtaining her Certificate.
  7. No Candidate will be examined in more subjects than the subjoined Time-table will allow.
    After passing in group A, Candidates may be examined in other groups in subsequent years.
    A schedule of books recommended by the Syndicate is appended to each group. But it is to be understood that such schedules are not intended to limit the studies of the Candidates or the range of questions in the papers set by the Examiners.

GROUP A.

  1. *Religious Knowledge.
  2. Arithmetic.
  3. Outlines of English History from the Norman Conquest to the reign of George IV. inclusive. Detailed knowledge of the period from the accession of Charles I. to the death of Cromwell will be required. A knowledge of Geography, so far as it bears on this subject, will be expected.
  4. *English Language and Literature.
  5. Every Candidate in this group will be required to write a short English Composition.

*The papers in these subjects may be taken again in subsequent years by Candidates who wish to obtain distinction in them.

GROUP B.

1. Latin. 2. Greek. 3. French. 4. German. 5. Italian.

Passages will be given for translation into English from the books mentioned in the subjoined schedule, and questions will be set on the language and subject matter of the books. In each language passages will be given for translation from some other authors, and passages of English prose for translation into each.

A knowledge of one of the five languages will enable Candidates to pass in this group. For a Certificate of Honour a knowledge of two will be required.

In the papers in French and Italian, the connexion between these languages and Latin will be included; but a knowledge of Latin will not be insisted upon as necessary for either the Pass or the Honour Certificate.

GROUP C.

  1. Euclid, Books I. II. III. IV. VI. And XI. to Prop. 21 inclusive.
  2. The elementary parts of Algebra; namely, the Rules for the Fundamental Operations upon Algebraical Symbols, with their proof; the solution of Simple and Quadratic Equations; Arithmetical and Geometrical Progression, Permutations and Combinations, the Binomial Theorem and the principles of Logarithms.
  3. The elementary parts of Plane Trigonometry, so far as to include the solution of Triangles.
  4. The simpler properties of the Conic Sections, treated either geometrically or analytically.
  5. The elementary parts of Statics, including the equilibrium of Forces acting in one plane, the properties of the Centre of Gravity, the laws of Friction, and the Mechanical Powers.
  6. The elementary parts of Astronomy, so far as they are necessary for the explanation of the more simple phenomena.
  7. The elementary parts of Dynamics, including the laws of Motion, Gravity, and the Theory of Projectiles.

A knowledge of the first two of these subjects will be required to enable a Candidate to pass in this group. For a Certificate of Honour, a knowledge of two at least of the remaining five will be required in addition.

GROUP D.

1. Political Economy. 2. Logic.

A knowledge of one of these subjects will enable a Candidate to pass in this group. For a Certificate of Honour, a knowledge of both will be required.

GROUP E.

1. Botany. 2. Geology and Physical Geography. 3. Zoology. 4. Chemistry (theoretical and practical).

A knowledge of one of these subjects will enable a Candidate to pass in this group. For a Certificate of Honour, a knowledge of two of them will be required.

GROUP F.

1. Music 2. Drawing.

A paper will be given in the latter subject containing questions on the History of Art

Every Candidate in Drawing is required to bring with her to the Examination one finished drawing, or painting, executed by herself, of such a kind as may best shew her proficiency, and which must be described as a “study from Nature,” an “original drawing,’* or a “copy from a drawing,” as the case may be.

Two hours will be allowed for a sketch, or copy, of some portion or detail of the above work, and this exercise will be judged with the finished work.

The sketch together with the finished drawing will be sent to the Examiner in Drawing. The latter will he returned to the Candidate after inspection by him.

Candidates will also be required to draw from a model.

Proficiency in these subjects will not count towards a Certificate, but will be notified on the Certificate in cases where the Candidate obtains one.

[…]

[Readings for 1871 Examinations]

“It may be expected that about two-thirds of the questions set in each paper will have reference to the books mentioned under the Group to which it belongs.”

[…]

GROUP D.

  1. Mill, Political Economy. Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations.
  2. Mill, Logic. Thomson, Outlines of the Laws of Thought. Whately, Logic, Books II. and III. with App. 2.

[…]

DIRECTIONS TO CANDIDATES.
[p. 69]

  1. Be at your seat in the Examination Room five minutes before the time fixed in the preceding table for the Examination in the several subjects.
    [Note: For Group D, Logic and Geology examinations scheduled for Wednesday July 5 (1871) 12 to 2; Political economy and German examinations scheduled for Thursday, July 6 (1871), 4 to 6 ½.]
  2. Write your index number in the right-hand top corner (not the one with the pinched hole) of every sheet of paper which you use, and your name as well as your number on the first sheet of each set of papers.
  3. Write only on one side of the paper. Fill each sheet before you take another. Leave a blank space after each answer.
  4. Answer the questions as nearly as you can in the order in which they are set, and write the number of each question before the answer.
  5. As soon as notice is given (which will be five minutes before the end of the time allowed), arrange your papers in proper order, so that the first page may be at the top, see that they all have the number by which you are known written upon them, fasten them according to the direction of the Examiner, and give them unfolded to him.
  6. No Candidate can be allowed to give up her papers and leave the room until half an hour has expired from the time at which the papers are given out. A paper will not be given to any Candidate who is more than half an hour late.
  7. No Candidate can be allowed to remain in the Examination Room after her paper is given up to the Local Examiner.

____________________________

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

EXAMINATION FOR WOMEN
ABOVE EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE

Report of the Syndicate Presented to the Senate, Oct. 30, 1871 with Supplementary Tables.

Cambridge: Printed at the University Press, 1871.

https://archive.org/details/examinationforw00unkngoog/page/n89/mode/2up

GROUP D
Political Economy, Logic
[p. 4]

Number of candidates: 13

Passed in Class I: 2

Passed in Class II: 4

Passed in Class III: 5

Failed: 2

Examiners’ Comments
[p. 7]

Logic. The Examiner finds fault with the manner in which the answers were given. They were marked by a lack of decision and of terseness of expression, arising probably from the want of practice in writing out the answers to definite questions. Some Candidates wasted time in giving reasons for their inability to answer parts of the questions.

Political Economy. The Examiner reports as follows:—I think the examination in Political Economy very satisfactory on the whole. I have met with no brilliant or striking performance; but the majority of papers gave evidence of conscientious and intelligent study of the subject, and shewed an apprehension of principles lively and clear as far as it went, though not profound. There was rarely any irrelevance in the answers; but I noticed sometimes a want of proportion, a disposition to dilate at length on comparatively unimportant points, against which it may be worth while to warn Candidates.

____________________________

University of Cambridge. Examination for Women.

Examination Papers for the Examination held in July 1871
with lists of Syndics and examiners
to which are added the Regulations for the Examination in 1872.

https://archive.org/details/examinationforw00unkngoog/page/n107/mode/2up

Examiners for July 1871
[p. 8]

Logic:  [no one named]

Political Economy: [no one named]

Examination Questions for July 1871
GROUP D
[pp. 46-49]

Thursday, July 6, 1871. 4 to 6½.
Political Economy

  1. Define Labour. Distinguish Productive/Unproductive Labour.
    Under which head would you class the labour of (1) Professors, (2) Policemen?
    Examine the causes of the difference of wages in different employments: explaining, for the sake of illustration,

    1. The low average wages of poets, governesses, plough-boys,
    2. The high average wages of solicitors and navvies.
  2. Why do we pay no wages to Members of Parliament?
  3. Define Capital. Is champagne ever Capital? Is the stock of a theatre? Explain carefully, with whatever qualifications appear necessary, the principle
    “That demand for commodities is not demand for labour.”
    Why then are wages high when trade is good? and what would be the loss to Paris if the spendthrifts of Europe ceased to go there for amusement?
  4. Explain how the kind of wealth produced, and the place and manner of its production, are determined under a system of Free Competition. It has been sometimes thought that the mode of employing capital which would most benefit individual capitalists does not always coincide with that which would most benefit the state. Discuss briefly any opinions of this kind with which you are acquainted, and any legislative measures to which they have given rise.
  5. Explain the distribution of wealth under a system of Free Competition. Mention any other methods of distribution that have historically existed or have been recently proposed: and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the latter.
    If the Metayer system were suddenly made compulsory in England, what would be the probable effects?
  6. Compare Rent with the profit gained by a patent, and that gained by a monopoly.
    It has been said that what is ordinarily called rent is really profit on the capital that has been employed in reclaiming and improving land. Discuss this assertion.
  7. Explain how, and to what extent, Exchange value can be said to be determined both by cost of production and by supply and demand. How is the value (1) of partridges, (2) of mutton, determined in England at present?
    Why is there anything peculiar in the determination of the value of foreign commodities? Sketch the probable effect on our trade with France of an immense discovery of coal in that country.
  8. Discuss the changes in the relative values of different articles, due to the progress of European civilization up to the present time: inquiring how far they are to be explained by general laws and how far by special circumstances. What similar changes are to be expected in the future?
    Illustrate by referring to bullion, com, beef, cloth.
  9. What restrictions are at present imposed on the lending of money or credit? Mention any other restrictions that have actually existed or have been proposed. Discuss the advisability of any of these restrictions.
  10. Give general principles of taxation: and apply them to determine the propriety of

(1) The Income-tax as it at present exists.
(2) The Malt-tax.
(3) A tax on matches.

 

Wednesday, July 5, 1871. 12 to 2.
Logic

  1. Why has the name of Organon been given to Logic? A recent treatise on Logic has been described as “based on a combination of the Old and the New Organon”: what do you understand by this?
  2. Logic is “the science of the operations of the understanding which are subservient to the estimation of evidence.” Is this definition co-extensive with Thomson’s? Does it appear to you a satisfactory one?
  3. What is Language? Shew by examples how it enables us to analyse complex impressions, and to abbreviate the processes of thought.
  4. What is “a system of cognate genera”?
  5. Give an account of the controversy between the Nominalists and the Realists, and explain what is meant by describing it as a question of Method rather than of Metaphysics.
  6. Interpret the judgment — No tyranny is secure — according to Extension, Intension, and Denomination.
  7. What is meant by the Quantification of the Predicate? What are its advantages?
  8. Shew the use of the lines commencing Barbara. Construct examples of Camestres and Bokardo, and reduce them to the First Figure. Discuss the propriety of retaining the Fourth Figure, and the necessity of rules for the reduction of the Second and Third Figures.
  9. Explain and exemplify the fallacy of Division, and that of Composition. To what class are they to be referred? In what way does the ambiguity of the word all sometimes give occasion to one of these fallacies?
  10. Test the following by logical rules:
    1. If the parks were closed, some persons would be aggrieved: but the parks are not closed, therefore no persons are aggrieved.
    2. It is possible that John may come to-morrow ; it is very probable that William will come to-morrow ; it is absolutely certain that Thomas will come to-morrow; therefore it is probable that John, William, and Thomas will come to-morrow.
  11. What is a Law of Nature? When may a Law of Nature be said to be explained? ls it possible that all the sequences of nature will ultimately be resolved into one law?
  12. Discuss one of the following questions: —
    1. What makes “the Exact Sciences” exact?
    2. Are the methods of physical inquiry applicable to moral and political phenomena?
    3. Is it desirable for a scientific man to have a lively imagination ?

Readings for 1872 Examinations
GROUP D
[p. 64]

1. Political Economy. 2. Logic.

1. Mill, Political Economy. *Cairnes, Logical Method of Political Economy. *Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations(McCulloch’s edition).

2. Mill, Logic [Omitting the following: Book I. ch. 3 (except §1); Book II. Ch. 4-7; Book III. Ch. 5 §9 and note, ch. 12, ch. 18, ch 23, ch. 24 (except §1,2); Book V. ch. 3 §3-6; Book VI. Ch. 2]. Whately, Logic, Books II. And III. With App. 2. *Thomson, Outlines of the Laws of Thought. *Mansel, Prolegomena Logica. *Bain, Inductive and Deductive Logic.

___________________

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
EXAMINATION FOR WOMEN

Examination Papers For the Examination Held in June 1872
to which are added The Regulations for the Examination in 1873.

https://archive.org/details/examinationforw00unkngoog/page/n178/mode/2up

Examiners for June 1872
[p. 8]

Logic: Rev. J. B. Pearson, M.A., Fellow of St John’s College.

Political Economy: Rev. W. M. Campion, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Queen’s College.

Examination Questions for June 1872
GROUP D
[pp. 51-54]

Wednesday, June 19, 1872. 12 m. to 2 p.m.
Logic

  1. Assuming that Logic is correctly defined as ‘the Science of the Laws of Formal Thinking,’ investigate the relation between Logic and Psychology, and between Logic and Grammar.
  2. Discuss briefly from Mill’s point of view the statements (a) that Logic is entirely conversant about language, (b) that it is the art of discovering truth, (c) that it is an a priori
  3. How does Mill distinguish between abstract and concrete terms? Is the distinction as drawn by him identical with that drawn by Thomson between abstract and concrete representations? Does he regard adjectives as abstract or concrete?
  4. Give an account of the logical processes known by the name of Conversion.
  5. Construct original concrete syllogisms in Festino, Darapti, Bokardo. Express each according to Hamilton’s method of notation. Reduce them to the First Figure, explaining how the various letters in the words guide you in doing so.
  6. Explain the terms Dilemma, Enthymeme, Sorites, Differentia, Cross-division, Undistributed Middle, Petitio Principii.
  7. ‘The sole invariable antecedent of a phenomenon is probably its cause.’ Of which of Mill’s four methods of Experimental Inquiry is this a statement? Discuss its utility as an instrument for the investigation of Nature.
  8. Distinguish between the Terminology and the Nomenclature of a science. Can the Terminology of a science be satisfactory, when its Nomenclature is unsatisfactory ?
  9. How does Mill classify Fallacies? Give an account of the class under which he includes ‘attempts to resolve phenomena radically different into the same.’
  10. Give Bain’s account of the method of arranging a ‘Science of Classification.’
  11. State the following arguments in simple and complete logical form, test them by recognised logical rules, and give the name of the argument or fallacy as the case may be:
    (a) His imbecility of character might have been inferred from his proneness to favourites; for all weak princes have this failing.
    (b) Improbable events happen almost every day; but what happens almost every day is a very probable event ; therefore improbable events are very probable events.
    (c) By what means did he gain that high and honourable place? Certainly not by integrity and devotion to duty, for unfortunately many consummate scoundrels are successful applicants for such posts of trust.
  12. Give the heads of such an essay as you would write in two hours upon the application of the Deductive Method to the Science of Society.

Thursday, June 20, 1872. 4 to 6½.
Political Economy

  1. What is the province of Political Economy? What definitions of the science have been suggested? State which you prefer, and give reasons for your preference.
  2. State the requisites of production; and distinguish between productive and unproductive labour.
    How would you class the labour of Actors, Literary Lecturers, Professors, Barristers?
  3. Define Capital, fixed Capital, circulating Capital.
    What phenomena may be expected to be exhibited during the rapid conversion of circulating Capital into fixed Capital and to that conversion?
  4. Establish the principle:
    “Demand for commodities is not demand for labour.”
    Can you mention any case in which this principle is not applicable?
  5. Examine the effect on production caused by the separation of employments.
    Account for the different rates of wages in different employments, and for the different rates of gross profits in different trades.
  6. What was “the mercantile system”?
    Give a brief account of the agricultural systems of Political Economy as they are described by Adam Smith.
  7. State Ricardo’s theory of rent. What objections have been made to it? Examine their validity. How does Adam Smith’s theory of farm-rents differ from Ricardo’s?
  8. “It may and often does happen that a country imports an article from another, though it might be possible to produce the imported article with less cost in the importing country than in that from which it is imported.”
    How do you explain this seeming paradox?
  9. What is the Malthusian doctrine of population?
    What result do you consider would follow in England if the mortality among young children of the labouring class were very materially reduced?
  10. “Ireland pays dearer for her imports in consequence of her absentees.”
    Establish this proposition.
  11. Discuss the policy of the English poor-law from an economical point of view.
  12. “There are no public institutions for the education of women, and there is accordingly nothing useless, absurd, or fantastical in the common course of their education.”
    What was Adam Smith’s opinion with respect to endowments for educational purposes? To what extent do you conceive that he was influenced in making the foregoing statement by his individual experience?
  13. Discuss one of the following assertions:

(1) A country will always have as much pauperism as it chooses to pay for.
(2) Educational endowments are employed more advantageously in assisting learners than in paying teachers.

Readings for 1873 Examinations
GROUP D
[pp. 67-68]

1. Political Economy. 2. Logic.

A knowledge of one of these subjects will enable a Candidate to pass in this group. For a Certificate of Honour, a knowledge of both will be required.

1. Mill, Political Economy. *Cairnes, Logical Method of Political Economy. *Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations(McCulloch’s edition).

2. Mill, Logic [Omitting the following: Book I. ch. 3 (except §1); Book II. Ch. 4-7; Book III. Ch. 5 §9 and note, ch. 13, ch. 18, ch 23, ch. 24 (except §1,2); Book V. ch. 3 §3-6; Book VI. Ch. 2]. Whately, Logic, Books II. And III. With App. 2. *Thomson, Outlines of the Laws of Thought. *Bain, Inductive and Deductive Logic.

 

Source: Excerpts from several University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate publications.