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Harvard. Final Exam for International Trade and Tariff Policies. Taussig, 1921-22

 

Normally I double check the instructor listed in the course announcements (ex ante) with the instructor named in the Harvard presidential report for the year (ex post). For some reason this information for instruction during the academic year 1921-22 was not published in the annual presidential report. Fortunately Frank Taussig kept a scrap-book of all his course examinations, where we find a copy of the 1922 mid-year exam for Economics 9b. Thus we can be sure International Trade and Tariff Policy was actually taught by the grand old man of the Harvard economics department that year as well.

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Course Announcement
First Half-Year

9b 1hf. International Trade and Tariff Policies

Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., at 2.30.  Professor Taussig.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1921-22, 3rd edition, p. 110.

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1921-22
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 9b1
[Mid-Year Examination]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Answer all the questions.

I

One page at most for each of the following; one hour at most for the entire group.

  1. How did the reciprocity treaty with Hawaii affect the price of sugar to the consumer in the United States? the reciprocity treaty with Cuba?
  2. What is meant by the “compensating system” for woolens? Was it applied in 1909? In 1913?
  3. What might the development of the copper industry be supposed to show concerning the effects of the tariff? What does it show in fact?
  4. What do you conceive to be meant by a tariff for revenue with incidental protection? One for protection with incidental revenue?
  5. Explain:
    —comparative advantage,
    —superior advantage,
    —inferior disadvantage.
    Are the effects of the conditions described by these terms, on international trade, essentially similar or essentially different?

II

To be answered more fully.

  1. If there were universal free trade between nations, would there be a tendency toward
    1. Equalization of money wages?;
    2. equalization of “real” wages?;
    3. equalization of the price of commodities?
  2. Is the theory of international trade and international payments verified or not verified by (a) the course of events in Canada 1900-10? (b) the course of imports and exports in the United States 1900-10?
  3. “The real reason why Americans are more likely to hold their own where machinery is much used and where hand labor plays a comparatively small part in the expenses of production is”—what? Answer and explain.
  4. “Would it be a reasonable law to prohibit the importation of all foreign wines merely to encourage the making of claret and burgundy in Scotland? But if there would be a manifest absurdity in turning towards any employment thirty times more of the capital and industry of the country than would be necessary to purchase from foreign countries an equal quantity of the commodities wanted, there must be an absurdity, though not altogether so glaring, yet exactly of the same kind, in turning towards any such employment a thirtieth, or even a three-hundredth part more of either. Whether the advantages which one country has over another be natural or acquired is in this respect of no consequence. As long as the one country has those advantages, and the other wants them, it will always be more advantageous for the latter rather to buy of the former than to make. It is an acquired advantage only, which one artificer has over his neighbor, who exercises another trade; and yet they both find it more advantageous to buy of one another than to make what does not belong to their particular trades.”
    Who wrote this passage? [A. The quote is from Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.] Is there a manifest absurdity? Is it of “exactly the same kind” in the second case stated [a thirtieth or three-hundredth part]? Is it of no consequence whether the advantages of a given country be natural or acquired?
  5. In what way, if at all, does the existence of “non-competing groups” within a country operate to make the country’s international trade different from what it would be if there were no such groups?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 10, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1920-22.

Image Source: Frank Taussig, March 22, 1917. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

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Economic History Exam Questions Fields Harvard Sociology

Harvard. History/Government/Economics Division A.B. Examinations, 1917-18

 

Not all possible specific examination fields were selected in 1918. In particular it is worth noting that Economic Theory and Application and Agricultural Economics were apparently not chosen for examination.

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Previous Division A.B. Exams from Harvard

Division Exams 1916

Division Exams, January 1917

Division Exams 1931

Specific Exam for Money and Government Finance, 1939

Specific Exam Economic History Since 1750, 1939

Specific Exam for Economic Theory, 1939

Specific Exam for Labor and Social Reform, 1939

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DIVISION EXAMINATION

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

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

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

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

Specific field of concentration:

History

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

Government

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

Economics

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

Applied Economics

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

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

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION GENERAL EXAMINATION
April 23, 1918

PART I

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

  1. Write on three of the following: (a) Cavour, (b) Clay, (c) Cortez, (d) Diaz, (e) Fox, (f) Grotius, (g) Humboldt, (h) Marcus Aurelius, (i) Marshall, (j) Oxenstiern, (k) Turgot, (l) Wyclif.
  2. Does history show that Socialism and Democracy are compatible?
  3. What is meant by (a) “disarmament,” (b) “making the world safe for democracy,” (c) “freedom of the seas”?
  4. What were the effects of mechanical improvements upon national development between 1800 and 1850?
  5. What have been the implications and consequences of Puritanism?
  6. What have been the political and social by-products of the search for gold?
  7. Compare the nature and purposes of conservation in war and in peace.
  8. Trace the development of health service in its national and international aspects. On what grounds should it be supported?
  9. In how far may the rivalry between ancient Rome and Carthage be likened to that of Germany and England at the present day?

PART II

The treatment of one part of the following question will be regarded as equivalent to one-sixth of the examination and should therefore occupy one half-hour.

  1. (a) Mark on the map the territories which compose the British Empire today, and state very briefly in your blue book how and when they were acquired.
    or (b) Indicate clearly upon the map the location of any two of the following five groups:

    1. The chief wheat raising districts of North America in 1850, 1870, 1890, 1910.
    2. The primary sources of the world’s supply of copper, iron, wool, cotton, gold.
    3. The Federal Reserve districts and the location of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks.
    4. The extent of the railway net of the United States in 1850, 1870, and 1890; and the railroad groups as fixed by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
    5. The places or regions with which the following are to be primarily associated: (a) the Homestead strike; (b) the Black Death; (c) the Chartist movement; (d) the Bisbee deportations; (e) the Mooney case; (f) the Populist party.

or (c) Show the progress of Democracy by indicating by consecutive numbers upon the map of the world the chronological order of its spread. Explain why the progress has been as indicated.

PART III

Four questions only from the following groups, A, B, and C, are to be answered, of which two and not more than two questions must be from one group. The remaining questions must be taken, one from each of the other groups, or both from one of the other groups.

A

  1. Trace the history of the relations of the United States to England and France during the presidencies of Washington and of John Adams.
  2. Discuss the following: “The striking and peculiar characteristic of American society is that it is not so much a democracy as a huge commercial company for the discovery, cultivation, and capitalization of its enormous territory.”
  3. Why did the Greeks defeat the Persians, and the Romans the Greeks?
  4. What issues were at stake in the struggle between the mediaeval Emperors and Popes?
  5. Give a brief account of the enfranchisement of the lower classes of the rural population in the principal countries of Western Europe.
  6. What do you understand by the phrase “The enlightened despotism of the eighteenth century”? What names do you connect with it?

B

  1. Give a brief history of the public domain of the Federal Government.
  2. Describe the tariff controversy in Germany before the War. Has the War thrown any light upon any of the arguments employed?
  3. Write a brief analysis of the economic policies of the Federalists.
  4. Discuss: “The nineteenth century was the golden age of the capitalist.”
  5. Sketch the economic and political background of two of the following: (a) the defeat in 1911 of reciprocity with Canada; (b) the creation of the Zollverein; (c) the refusal of a renewal of charter to the First Bank of the United States; (d) the passage of the Clay Compromise Tariff; (e) the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act.
  6. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of “direct” and legislative action in effecting economic reforms.

C

  1. What political and economic theories have been particularly tested by events since July 1914, and with what results?
  2. Is there any reason why a presidential form of government should be preferable in the United States and a parliamentary or cabinet form in Great Britain?
  3. Give a brief sketch of three of the following, with name of author and date: (1) De Monarchia; (2) On Liberty; (3) The Republic; (4) Looking Backward; (5) De Civitate Dei; (6) Oceana; (7) The City of the Sun; (8) De Jure Belli ac Pacis; (9) Leviathan; (10) Vindiciae contra Tyrannos; (11) The Wealth of Nations.
  4. Compare the public services of two of the following: (a) Louis Blanc; (b) Burke; (c) Cobden; (d) Hamilton; (e) Jackson; (f) Metternich.
  5. Show in what respect and for what reasons any state has become a colonial power.
  6. What should be the method of obtaining peace at the end of the present war according to the principles or theories of one of the following: (a) Aristotle; (b) Cicero; (c) Franklin; (d) Gustavus Adolphus; (e) Lincoln; (f) Machiavelli; (h) Thomas Aquinas.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Modern European History
April 26, 1918

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

I

  1. What were the causes of the making and rupture of the Peace of Amiens? Is a similar temporary peace conceivable in the present war?
  2. What were the chief characteristics of the fifteen years immediately succeeding the Peace of Vienna? Can it be fairly argued that the fifteen years following the close of the present war will resemble them?
  3. Note the chief stages in the actual formation of a United Italy. How far did Napoleon III deliberately foster the growth of Italian unity?
  4. Compare the course of events during the three weeks previous to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 with those of the month of July 1914. What do you believe to have been the real object of German diplomacy in each case?
  5. Trace the careers of any two of the following: Blaine, Déak, Gambetta, Mazzini, Palmerston, Pinckney, Sherman, Stein.

II

  1. Who were the most prominent leaders in the States General of 1789, and what were their platforms and policies?
  2. Estimate the attitudes of the chief European powers and of the United States towards the question of Latin American independence.
  3. Give a brief account of the principal events in the history of England’s dealings with Ireland since the time of the French Revolution.
  4. What light is thrown by the history of the revolutionary movements of 1848 upon the relations of the fundamental principles of liberalism and nationality?
  5. What political principles worked at issue in the Carlist Wars?

III

  1. Trace the conflict between Napoleon and Pius VII.
  2. Estimate the influence of the universities upon the development of Germany since the period of the French Revolution.
  3. What light is thrown by the history of England and of the United States on the (a) possibility, (b) desirability of taking the tariff out of politics.
  4. Compare the nature, extent, and causes of social stratification in England, Germany, in the United States.
  5. In how far does the past history of Russia furnish an explanation of her condition today?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
American History
April 26, 1918

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

I

  1. Characterize the following colonies at the dates given: Rhode Island, 1640; Delaware, 1650; Louisiana, 1801; Florida, 1815.
  2. What connection may be traced between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution?
  3. Contrast the careers of Bolivar and San Martin.
  4. Describe the military and naval struggles for the control of the Mississippi during the Civil War.
  5. Give a brief account of the relations of Germany and United States from 1860 to 1914.

II

  1. Compare the policies of England, France, and Spain relative to the treatment of the American Indians.
  2. What precedents have there been for a federation of states of Latin America? What are the prospects of such a federation today?
  3. Have the South a constitutional right to secede? How is the answer to this question to be determined?
  4. Does the Monroe doctrine applied to Asiatic as well as to European powers today? Give reasons for your answer.
  5. Comment on, discuss, or explain, as the case may require, four of the following: Dred Scott Decision, Ku-Klux Klan, Gerrymandering, New England Confederation, Tordesillas Line.

III

  1. “American independence was won in the dockyards of Ferrol and Toulon, and not on the battlefields of America.” Explain.
  2. Does the history of the United States show that is (a) desirable or (b) possible to take the tariff out of politics?
  3. Discuss the statement, “The West is preeminently a region of ideals.”
  4. Describe the platforms of the presidential candidates in the election of 1896.
  5. Are the initiative and referendum in accord with the American theory of representative government?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Economic History
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

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

  1. Employing historical illustrations, consider the advantages and disadvantages of the principal forms of agricultural land tenure.
  2. Describe and account for the major movements of the price level during the nineteenth century.
  3. Discuss the future of our meat supply.
  4. Draft a set of rules for the graphic presentation of historical series.

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

  1. Briefly compare the Industrial Revolution in England and Continental Europe.
  2. What was the effect of the Napoleonic Wars upon American economic development?
  3. Outline the history of the American Silver Dollar.
  4. Write a brief history of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.
  5. Trace the course of the relations between organized labor and the railways of the United States.
  6. Sketch the history of one of the following industries in United States (a) tin-plate; (b) fur-seal; (c) beet-sugar; (d) ship-building.
  7. Give a brief account of the economic relations of the United States and South America.

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

  1. In what particulars and for what reasons has labor legislation been backward in the United States?
  2. In what respects, if at all, is the present railway situation in the United States a natural development from conditions prevailing before the War?
  3. What conclusions are to be drawn from Germany’s experience with social insurance?
  4. What have been the chief problems of British government finance during the past generation? Wherein will the problems after the War different?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Economics and Sociology
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

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

  1. “The economic forces have no tendency whatever to direct my effort to the most widely important end or the supply of the most urgent individual need.” Discuss.
  2. “Free competition between labor and capital will result in just wages to labor.” Do you agree? What are “just wages”?
  3. Compare past and present theories of the justification of interest.
  4. Analyze the concept of “productivity” in economics.

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

  1. What statistical studies have been made of standards of living in the United States? What conclusions may be drawn from these studies?
  2. What are the chief causes of infant mortality? What are the most effective preventatives of infant deaths?
  3. Outline the history of poor relief in England. What light does English experience throw up on the relative advantages of “outdoor” and “indoor” relief?
  4. Give a critical account of recent developments in prison reform.

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

  1. In a few words indicate the most important contributions to sociology by three of the following: (a) Comte; (b) Darwin; (c) Galton; Space (d) Giddings; (e) Kidd; (f) Nietzsche; (g) Spencer; (h) Tarde; (i) Ward.
  2. What is social progress?
  3. Contrast North and Latin American views on the subject of race intermixture.
  4. What influence has the institution of private property upon prevailing tastes and social ideals?
  5. “A nation need not be bound by the scruples that most restrain an individual.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
  6. What are the principal forms of conflict? Upon what grounds are some forms to be preferred to others?
  7. “A strong revival of the more devout forms of religion has followed every great war.” Discuss

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Labor Problems
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

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

  1. “Free competition between labor and capital will result in just wages to labor.” Do you agree? What are “Just wages”?
  2. Who ultimately bears the burden of a system of industrial insurance?
  3. What are the principal difficulties encountered in the collection of wage statistics?
  4. What are the chief sources of unemployment statistics in the United States?

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

  1. Outline the evolution of the English agricultural laborer.
  2. Trace the history of minimum-wage legislation.
  3. Compare the experiences of the laboring classes in England and Germany during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
  4. Write a brief history of the Industrial Workers of the World.

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

  1. Discuss “non-competing groups” with reference to (a) sorts of work done; (b) age maximum earnings; (c) approximate scale of earnings in dollars per annum; (d) age of marriage; (e) birth-rates; (f) possibility of transition from group to group.
  2. What are the functions of the employment manager?
  3. What are the characteristics, evils and best treatment of the sweating system?
  4. Discuss the use of the injunction in labor disputes.
  5. Explain and criticize the work of the British labor exchanges. Are there similar organizations in the United States?
  6. Give a critical analysis of the Adamson Law.
  7. Describe the present influence of organized labor in English political and economic life.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Public Finance
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

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

  1. Under what conditions is a tax on rented buildings borne by (a) the tenant, (b) the owner, (c) neither?
  2. What accounting problems are involved in budgets for our state governments?
  3. Describe the scope, and estimate the importance, of the work of the New York Bureau of Municipal Research.
  4. What are the chief sources of taxation statistics in the United States?

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

  1. Sketch the history of the United States Post Office.
  2. Outline the history of state income taxes in the United States.
  3. Give a brief account of the use of fiscal monopolies by European governments.
  4. Compare the development of English and German increment taxes.

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

  1. If you were devising a balanced system of taxation for this country, what taxes would you assign to (a) the federal government, (b) the state governments, (c) the local governments? Give your reasons.
  2. To what extent would national prohibition necessitate changes in existing arrangements for government revenue? What changes would appear to be most desirable?
  3. What special problems are involved in the taxation of forest lands?
  4. Critically compare the taxation of “excess profits” by England, France, and the United States.
  5. “The practice of exempting government bonds from taxation is a pernicious American custom.” Discuss.
  6. What is the case for and against the “service-at-cost” plan of public utility regulation?
  7. From the point of view of public finance, what are the advantages and disadvantages of centralization of administrative powers?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Corporate Organization, including Railroads
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

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

  1. What are the social gains and losses of speculation on the stock exchanges?
  2. Discuss comparatively the public regulation of railway accounts in England, France, and the United States.
  3. The following data have been given for the freight service of a group of American railroads during December the past two years:
1916 1917
Tons per loaded car mile 26.5 29.2
Miles per car day 25.4 21.3
Per cent loaded car miles 69.8 70.9

How did the freight car performance of December, 1917, compare with that of December, 1916? What proportion of the changes is to be assigned to each factor?

  1. What difficulties are involved in a satisfactory definition of the following objects of statistical inquiry (a) manufacturers; (b) establishment; (c) capital; (d) employee; (e) wages?

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

  1. Give an account of an important corporate reorganization.
  2. Describe the evolution of the German kartell.
  3. Outline a history of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
  4. Briefly characterize the business careers of two of the following: (a) Andrew Carnegie; (b) E. H. Harriman; (c) James J. Hill; (d) Robert Owen; (e) Werner Siemens; (f) James Watt.

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

  1. What problems are involved in public regulation of security issues?
  2. Discuss the opening price association with reference to (a) its nature; (b) the reasons for its appearance; (c) its legal status; (d) its probable future.
  3. Discuss the consequences of the dissolution of the Standard Oil Company.
  4. Describe this criticize the Federal corporation tax.
  5. Analyze critically the present railroad situation in the United States.
  6. Consider the case for and against the “service-at-cost” plan for regulating local transit systems.
  7. What light is German experience throw up on the advantages and disadvantages of the government ownership of railways?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Money and Banking
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

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

  1. What is the relation of (a) investment banking, (b) commercial banking, to capitalistic production?
  2. Draft an income or profit and loss statement suitable for a large commercial bank.
  3. Discuss the equation of exchange with respect to (a) its formulation; (b) the possibility of its statistical verification; (c) its bearing upon the theory of prices.
  4. Describe a business barometer for banks with reference to (a) the purposes it may serve; (b) the method of construction; (c) the best available statistical method.

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

  1. At what times, and in what forms, has the “money question” been a political issue in the United States? Why is it no longer an issue?
  2. What factors contributed to the adoption by Germany of the single gold standard?
  3. Contrast, in outline, the history of banking in Canada and the United States.
  4. Give an account of the panic of 1890.

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

  1. “The maintenance of a monetary standard is a banking and not a government function.” Discuss.
  2. What was the trade dollar? What monetary principles were illustrated by experience with this coin?
  3. “The idle hoard of silver dollars at Washington is a serious defect in our monetary system.” Discuss. What obstacles stand in the way of any change in this feature of the system?
  4. Give a critical analysis of the working of the Federal Reserve System.
  5. Compare the conduct of banking in England and Germany since the beginning of the War.
  6. Discuss the financial problems involved in the floatation of an immense government war loan.
  7. Briefly describe and explain the foreign exchanges since July, 1914, in two of the following countries: (a) England; (b) Germany; (c) Italy; (d) Russia; (e) Switzerland; (f) United States.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
American Government
April 26, 1918

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

A

  1. What constitutional principles of the United States have exercised the most potent influence in the development of Latin America?
  2. Has the strain upon the Government of the United States since 1914 shown the need of amendment of the Constitution?
  3. “The great and radical vice in the construction of the existing Confederation (the United States of America, 1781) is in the principle of Legislation for States or Governments, in their corporate or collective capacities, and as contradistinguished from the Individuals of which they consist.” Discuss this statement with reference to its general validity and its applicability to problems of international reconstruction.
  4. Give three examples of “political questions.” What is the attitude of the courts toward such questions which have been brought before the courts?
  5. Compare the theories of the American constitutional system held by two of the following: Calhoun, Webster, Marshall, the Supreme Court in 1868.
  6. What has been the character of recent constitution making and has it brought about the desired results?

B

  1. Are the initiative and referendum in accord with the American theory of representative government?
  2. “Foreign politics demand scarcely any of those qualities which a democracy possesses; and they require, on the contrary, the perfect use of almost all those faculties in which it is deficient.” Discuss the above.
  3. Why has the United States acquired non-contiguous territory and what has been the effect of this acquisition upon subsequent national policy?
  4. Show the effects of the ideals of two Americans upon the development of the United States.
  5. Should the Government in a democratic country be prohibited by the Constitution from concluding treaties which would require it to go to war in certain contingencies?
  6. What is the responsible government? To what extent does it exist in Germany, the United States, France?

C

  1. What organ has the authority to interpret and to alter the Constitution in the following countries: the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France?
  2. Describe three methods by which state constitutions in the United States have been amended. In case a state constitution contains no provision for its own amendment and a majority of the citizens desire a change, what should be done?
  3. How far should the Government of the United States engage in manufacturing in time of war?
  4. What is the best method of selecting judges? Discuss with illustrations from the practice of the United States.
  5. How should the relations among the states of the American hemisphere be made more satisfactory?
  6. Congress (1) appropriates $500,000 for a national laboratory of chemical research, (2) passes a law regulating the hours of railway employees, (3) provides for the punishment of crimes committed on United States vessels at sea. What, if any, constitutional authority is there for these acts?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
International Law
April 26, 1918

Answer six questions.

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

  1. Discuss and illustrate the statement of Grotius: “To pretend to have a right to injure another, merely out of a possibility that he injure us, is repugnant to all the justice in the world.”
  2. Explain the origin and development of exterritoriality.
  3. Is there anything in the literature and experience of ancient Greece of practical value for the statement who will take part in settling the present world crisis? Why?
  4. Write upon three of the following: (a) Bynkershoek, (b) Gentilis, (c) Pufendorf, (d) Selden, (e) Vattel, (f) Wicquefort.
  5. What periods are significant for the development of international relations, and explain the most important factors in each period.

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

  1. Would it be possible to treat the foreign policies declared by Washington, Monroe, Polk, and Wilson as the development of permanent principles?
  2. In a protest to Sweden of August 30, 1916, the British government said: “The decree of the 14th July, 1916, reserving the route arranged through the mine-field established in the Kogrund passage to Swedish merchant vessels only, does not seem to be compatible with the provisions of Article 9 of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation of the 18th March, 1826, which secure to British merchant vessels in Swedish waters the treatment accorded to the most favored nation, in this case Italy, whose merchant vessels are permitted, in virtue of Article 3 of the Treaty of the 14th June, 1862, to participate in navigation of the coasts and to trade between Swedish ports on the same footing as Swedish vessels.”
    What defense for Sweden?
  3. To what extent and why should the integrity of small states be maintained?
  4. Granting that all Hague Conventions are in force, would a case such as that of the Alabama be similarly decided at the present time?
  5. What is the importance of the blockade as a method of warfare?

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

  1. How far does territorial propinquity justify one state in assuming authority over another? Illustrate by examples.
  2. “If a belligerent cannot retaliate against an enemy without injuring the lives of neutrals, as well as their property, humanity, as well as justice and a due regard for the dignity of neutral powers should dictate that the practice be discontinued.” Should this statement be qualified?
  3. Give a sketch of the questions involving international law arising from the relations of the United States and Mexico, 1912 to 1916.
  4. A was born in New York City of German parentage in 1875. He visited Germany in 1885 and returned in 1886. In 1897, on board an English steamer bound from New York to Russia, he entered the port of Hamburg but did not leave the steamer. The German police came on board and declined to allow the steamer to leave port until Mr. A should surrender, claiming Mr. A had evaded military service.
    Mr. A appeals to the ambassador of the United States. The master of the British vessel appeals to the British ambassador.
  5. What regulations should be made for the conduct of submarine warfare?
  6. States X and Y are at war. Neutral state M issues neutrality regulations forbidding all belligerent armed merchant vessels from entering its ports.
    When the war has progressed for two years.

    1. State X, being unable to import munitions of war, since its commerce has been driven from the seas, protests to state M that observance of neutrality requires that M forbid all export of munitions of war to belligerents.
    2. State Y, finding it expedient to arm its merchant vessels for defense against unwarded attacks by enemy submarines, protests that armed merchant vessels should not be excluded from the ports of M.
      What answer should M make to these protests?
  7. The case of the Three Friends.
  8. The treaty of 1871 between the United States and Italy guarantees to the citizens of either nation in the territory of the other “the most constant protection and security for their persons and property.” Property of Italian citizens is destroyed in a riot in New Orleans due to negligence on the part of the local policy authorities. What remedies may the sufferers pursue?

_______________________

DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Municipal Government
April 26, 1918

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

A

  1. How far have American cities adopted the budget plan and has it proven satisfactory?
  2. Describe the general characteristics of the cities of the twelfth centuries.
  3. Compare city government in France and Prussia as to (a) organization, (b) autonomy, (c) administrative efficiency, (d) popular control.
  4. Compare the principles underlying the different systems of municipal suffrage.
  5. Explain the following terms (a) borough, (b) prefect, (c) rates, (d) syndikus, (e) Local Government Board, (f) Bürgermeister.
  6. In what countries and to what extent may city officers be appointed or selected from non-residents?

B

  1. Where, how far, and with what success has the principle of the owner’s personal liability for fires been tried?
  2. To what extent should the following be controlled by the city: (a) education, (b) poor relief, (c) liquor licenses?
  3. Should a municipality own or control the railway terminals within its limits?
  4. (a) What is the most satisfactory system of municipal taxation and why?
    (b) Should a city levy an income tax?
  5. Should the system of initiative and referendum prevail in cities under commission form of government?
  6. Should the police force in cities of over 100,000 population be under the control of the city, state, or national government?

C

  1. Discuss the following propositions:
    1. To establish a municipal piggery for disposing of the city garbage.
    2. To establish a free ferry between parts of a municipality on opposite sides of a bay.
  2. Illustrate by reference to municipalities the methods of control and regulation of lighting.
  3. How and why should sanitation and health regulations differ in rural and urban communities?
  4. What has been the attitude of the courts in regard to protection of the claims of private individuals under municipal zoning ordinances?
  5. What are the most satisfactory building regulations, and in what cities are they in effect?
  6. What is the case for and against the “service-at-cost” plan for public utilities?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975.  Box 6. Bound volume [from the private library of Arthur H. Cole]: Divisional Examinations, 1916-1927. Division of History, Government and Economics for the Degree of A.B. Division Examinations, 1917-18.

Image Source: Widener Library, 1915. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Digital ID:  cph 3c14486

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Principles Suggested Reading Syllabus Teaching Undergraduate

Harvard. Principles of Economics. Reading assignments, Exams, 1928

 

Partial course outlines from Harvard’s principles of economics course from 1927-28 and 1928-29 were found filed with the economics course outlines for 1938-39 in the Harvard Archives. The principal instructors for the courses in both years were Harold Hitchings Burbank and Edward Hastings Chamberlin, so combining the first semester outline from 1928-29 with the second semester outline from 1927-28 as transcribed below gives us a synthetic syllabus for the 1927-29 years. This post also includes enrollment figures for the two academic years as well as the corresponding semester final exams for the course. Links to the assigned textbooks have been added to complete the package.

____________________________

Course Announcement and Description

ECONOMICS
GENERAL STATEMENT

Course A is introductory to the other courses. It is intended to give a general survey of the subject for those who take but one course in Economics, and also to prepare for the further study of the subject in advanced courses. It may not be taken by Freshmen without the consent of the instructor. Students concentrating in Economics should elect Course A in their Sophomore year, except in unusual cases. History 1 or Government 1, or both of these courses, will usually be taken to advantage before Economics A…

INTRODUCTORY COURSES
Primarily for Undergraduates

A. Principles of Economics

Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor [Harold Hitchings] Burbank, Dr. [Edward Hastings] Chamberlin, Dr. [Charles Holt] Taylor, and Messrs. [John Bever] Crane, [Melvin Gardner] de Chazeau, [Edgar Jerome] Johnson, [Delmar] Leighton, [Talcott] Parsons, [Carl Johann] Ratzlaff, [James Harold] Shoemaker, [Samuel Sommerville] Stratton, [John Phillip] Wernette, [Harry Dexter] White and [Earle Micajah] Winslow; with lectures on selected subjects by Professor [Frank William] Taussig and other Members of the Department.

Course A gives a general introduction to economic study, and a general view of Economics for those who have not further time to give to the subject. It undertakes an analysis of the present organization of industry, the mechanism of exchange, the determination of value, and the distribution of wealth.

The course is conducted entirely by oral discussion in sections. Taussig’s Principles of Economics is used as the basis of discussion.

Course A may not be taken by Freshmen without the consent of the instructor.

Source:  Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXV, No. 29 (May 26, 1928). Division of History, Government, and Economics 1928-29, pp. 63-64.

____________________________

Enrollment in Economics A, 1928-29

[Economics] A. Professor Burbank and Dr. Chamberlin, Dr. Taylor and Messrs. Leighton, Stratton, Winslow, O.H. Taylor, E.J. Johnson, de Chazeau, Parsons, Wernette, H.D. White, and Ratzlaff, Crane and Shoemaker. — Principles of Economics.

Total 477: 55 Seniors, 127 Juniors, 242 Sophomores, 26 Freshmen, 27 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1928-29, p. 71.

 

____________________________

EXHIBIT D
First Half

OUTLINE OF STUDY FOR ECONOMICS A
1928-29

Hubert D. Henderson. Supply and Demand. (New York: 1922).

D. H. Robertson. The Control of Industry (London: 1923).

Frank W. Taussig. Principles of Economics, Vol. I, 3rd edition, (New York: 1921).

Sept. 27
Sept. 29		 Lecture.
Lecture.
Oct. 1 – 6 Taussig, Principles 1. Wealth and Labor.
2. Labor in Production.
3. Division of Labor and Development of Modern Industry.
Oct. 8 – 13 ”
”
”
Robertson		 4. Large Scale Production.
5. Capital.
6. Corporate Organization of Industry.
1 – 3. Control of Industry.
Oct. 15 – 20 Taussig
”
“		 8. Exchange, Value, Price.
9. Value and Utility.
10. Market Value. Demand and Supply.
Oct. 22 – 27 ”
”
“		 17. Coinage.
18. Quantity.
19. Secs. 2, 3, 4: History of Prices.
Oct. 29 – Nov. 3 ”
”
“		 20. Bimetallism.
22. Changes in Prices.
23. Government Paper Money
Nov. 5 – 10 ”
“		 24. Banking and Medium of Exchange.
25. Banking Operations.
Nov. 12 – 17 ”
”
“		 27. Banking System of United States
28. Crises.
29. Panics.
Nov. 19 – 24 ”
”
Hour Exam		 30. Prices.
31. Reform.
Nov. 26 – Dec. 1 ”
”
”
Henderson		 Review 8, 9, 10.
12. Constant Cost.
13. Diminishing Returns.
Demand and Supply (Nov. 26 to Dec. 15).
Dec. 3 – 8 Taussig
“		 14. Varying Cost.
15. Monopoly.
Dec. 10 – 15 ”
Henderson:		 16. Joint Cost and Joint Demand.
Ch. 5. Demand and Supply.
Dec. 17 – 22 Taussig 32. The Foreign Exchanges
RECESS Dec. 23 to Jan. 2
Reading Period Jan. 2 to 16  [No additional reading requirements]
Jan. 2 – 7 Taussig
“		 33. International Payments.
34. International Trade.
Jan. 9 – 14 ”
“		 36. Protection.
37. Free Trade.
MIDYEARS:

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2; Folder “Economics, 1938-1939 [sic].”

____________________________

1928-29
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS A
[Mid-Year Examination, 1929]

  1. Many business men are hoping for a period of rising prices; some financial writers are prophesying that it is inevitable. Assuming no change in our existing monetary and banking laws, what causes might lead to an increase in prices? How would such rising prices tend to affect the holders of various types of securities?
  2. “Some people argue that price is determined by cost of production; and yet they admit that producers with too high costs have to drop out. Thus it is clear that in reality a producer’s cost is determined by the price he can get, consequently price cannot be determined by cost of production.” Comment on this statement.
  3. What influence has the existence of joint cost upon the development of large scale production?
  4. It has been stated that with the Federal Reserve System in operation there will never be a recurrence in the United States of such (a) crises and (b) panics as occurred in 1893 and 1907. Do you agree?
  5. What attitude toward the tariff would you expect to be taken by a banker who has made large loans abroad, by a manufacturer of woolen cloth, by a professor of economics, by a Louisiana politician?
  6. Explain briefly:
    1. The principles of subsidiary coinage.
    2. The relation between markets and the division of labor.
    3. The distinction between consumers’ goods and producers’ goods.
    4. The significance of the following: “The plentifulness of money is in itself a matter of indifference.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-Year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 11, Bound volume: Examination Papers: Mid-Years 1929, Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations [in] History, New Testament, Government, Economics….Military Science, Naval Science. January-February, 1929.

____________________________

Enrollment in Economics A, 1927-28

[Economics] A. Professor Burbank and Dr. Chamberlin and Messrs. K.W. Bigelow, [Theodore John] Kreps, Stratton, Winslow, O.H. Taylor, E.J. Johnson, de Chazeau, Parsons, Wernette, H.D. White, and D.V. Brown, with lectures on selected subjects by Professor Taussig and other Members of the Department. — Principles of Economics.

Total 532: 61 Seniors, 165 Juniors, 258 Sophomores, 20 Freshmen, 28 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1927-28, p. 74.

____________________________

OUTLINE OF ASSIGNMENTS FOR ECONOMICS A
1927-28, 2nd. Half year.

Thomas Nixon Carver. The Distribution of Wealth (New York: 1921).

Hubert D. Henderson. Supply and Demand. (New York: 1922).

D. H. Robertson. The Control of Industry (London: 1923).

Frank W. Taussig. Principles of Economics, 3rd edition, (New York: 1921). Volume I, Volume II.

Feb. 6

Feb. 11

 Review
Value
Diminishing Returns		 Carver:
”
“		 Distribution of Wealth
Ch. I. Value
Ch. II. Diminishing Returns
Feb. 13

Feb. 18

 Rent Carver:
Taussig:
“		 V. Rent
Ch. 44. Rent (esp. Capitalization)
Ch. 43. Urban Site Rent
Feb. 20

Feb. 25

 Interest Carver:
Taussig:		 Ch. VI. Interest
Ch. 40. Interest
Feb. 27

Mar. 3

 Wages Carver:
Taussig:		 Ch. IV. Wages
Ch. 47. Social Stratification
Mar. 5

Mar. 10

 Profits, Population Carver:
Taussig:
“		 Ch. VII. Profits
Ch. 53. Population
Ch. 54. Population, continued
Mar. 12

Mar. 17

 Inequality Taussig:
”
”
“		 Ch. 7. Productiveness
Ch. 45. Monopoly
Ch. 51. Great Fortunes
Ch. 55. Inequality
Mar. 19

Mar. 24

 Land, Risk, Labor, etc. Henderson:
”
”
”
“		 Ch. VI. Land
Ch. VII. Risk Bearing Enterprise
Ch. VIII. Capital
Ch. IX. Labor
Ch. X. Real Costs of Production
Mar. 26

Mar. 31

 Labor Taussig:
”
“		 Ch. 56. Wages system
Ch. 57. Labor Unions
Ch. 58. Labor Legislation
Apr. 2

Apr. 7

 Labor ”
”
“		 Ch. 59. Industrial Peace
Ch. 60. Workmen’s Insurance
Ch. 61. Coöperation
RECESS April 8-14
Apr. 16

Apr. 21

 Railways ”
“		 Ch. 62. Railways
Ch. 63. Railway Problems, continued.
Apr. 23

Apr. 28

 Public Ownership & Combinations ”
“		 Ch. 64. Public Ownership & Control
Ch. 65 Combinations & Trusts
Apr. 30

May 5

 Industry and Capitalism Robertson:
”
”
Review		 Ch. V. Capitalism of Industry
Ch. VI. Finance and Industry
Ch. VII. Survey of CapitalismCh. X. Workers’ Control
May 7
READING PERIOD BEGINS
May 12		 Socialism Taussig:
“		 Ch. 66. Socialism
Ch. 67. Socialism, continued.
May 14

May 19

 Social Reform Robertson:
”
“		 Ch. IX. Collectivism
Ch. X. Workers Control
Ch. XI. Joint Control
May 21

May 26

 Taxation

Taussig:

“

 Ch. 68. Principles Underlying Taxation
Ch. 69 Income and Inheritance Taxes
REVIEW
EXAMINATIONS

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2; Folder “Economics, 1938-1939 [sic].”

____________________________

1927-28
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS A
[Final End-year Examination]

Allow one hour and one-half for the first question.

  1. Explain how the distribution of wealth is affected by the following:
    1. Large and rapid changes in the supply of money.
    2. Labor saving inventions.
    3. A rise in the standard of living of the wage earning classes.
    4. The opening for settlement of new areas of good agricultural land.
    5. The government regulation of public utilities.
  2. Discuss the accuracy of the following statements:
    “Three generations from shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves.”
    “The rich are becoming richer and the poor poorer.”
    “To abolish wage slavery we must abolish the wages system; only through socialism can the wages system be forced to disappear.”
    “The one way a union can help its members is by limitation of the supply of hands.”
  3. What does each of the following propose: collectivism, single tax, producers’ coöperation, syndicalism?
  4. Explain briefly the case for and against minimum wage laws, unemployment insurance, progressive taxation of incomes, the restriction of immigration.

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

Image Source: Harold Hitchings Burbank from Harvard Class Album 1934.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final Exams for Railways and Other Public Works. Meyer, 1901

Hugo Richard Meyer

 

Hugo Richard Meyer received his A.M. in economics from Harvard and went from his instructorship in political economy there (1897-1903) to an assistant professorship in political economy at the University of Chicago (1904-05). While at Harvard he taught courses involving the regulation of railways and municipal utilities. This post provides the examination questions for his two-semester sequence “Railways and other Public Works” that was offered in 1900-01 at Harvard.

________________________

Course Enrollments

[Economics] 51 hf. Mr. Meyer.— Railways and other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management.

Total 86: 4 Graduates, 52 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 9 Others.

[Economics] 52 hf. Mr. Meyer.— Railways and other Public Works (advanced course).

Total 9: 3 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1900-1901, p.64.

________________________

Final Examination
(First half-year, 1900-01):
Railways and other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management

ECONOMICS 51

Omit the last question if the paper seems too long

  1. The construction put upon the long and short haul clause: by the Interstate Commerce Commission; by the Supreme Court.
  2. The decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission on group rates.
  3. The railway rate situation in Germany [Prussia]; does it throw any light on the railway problem in the United States?
  4. “If pooling produces any beneficial result, it necessarily does so at the expense of competition. It is only by destroying competition that the inducement to deviate from the published rate is wholly removed….By the legalizing of pooling the public loses the only protection which it now has against the unreasonable exactions of transportation agencies.”—Give your reasons for accepting or rejecting this statement.
    Alternative:—
    The reasons for the instability of pools in the United States.
  5. The Iowa Railroad Commission.
    Alternative:—
    To what extent was the long and short haul clause of the Interstate Commerce Act enforced; what was the effect of that enforcement: on railway revenues; on intermediate shipping or distributing points?
  6. The body of administrative law to be found in the decisions of the Massachusetts Gas and Electric Light Commission’s decisions upon petitions for reductions in the price of gas.
  7. (a) Is it to the public interest to insert in street railway charters provisions seeking to secure to the municipality or the state a share in any excess of profit over the normal rate?
    Alternative: (b) and (c).
    (b) The evidence as to the return on capital obtainable in street railway ventures.
    (c) What questions of public policy were raised in the case of the Milwaukee Street Railway and Electric Light Co. vs. The City of Milwaukee?
  8. What statistics were used in illustrating in a general way the statement that railway charges are based upon what the traffic will bear; in discussing the bearing of stock-watering upon railway rates; in discussing the return obtained by capital invested in railway enterprises in the United States?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College. June, S. Pages 24-25.

Final Examination
(Second half-year, 1900-01)
Railways and other Public Works
(advanced course)

ECONOMICS 52

  1. The railways and the national finances in Prussia and Australia.
  2. Railway rates and the export trade of the United States since 1893, or, 1896.
  3. The economic situation in Australia since 1892, and the Australian railways.
  4. “A fatal objection to the income or preference bond is that it is an attempt to combine two contradictory commercial principles.”
    Discuss this statement fully. What does it mean? Is it true?
  5. If you had access to all the accounts of a railroad, how should you determine the value to it of one of its branch lines?
  6. To what accounts would you charge the following expenditures? (If you do not remember the exact Interstate Commerce Commission classification, use your best judgment.) State reasons in each case.
    Engineer’s wages on a special train conveying the general manager to an extensive flood covering the line.
    Fireman’s wages on an engine employed exclusively in switching to and from the repair shops.
    Conductor’s wages on a worktrain engaged in taking up rails on an abandoned branch.
    Brakeman’s wages on a train engaged solely in hauling company’s coal for company’s use.
    Cost of taking up comparatively new sound rails judged too light for heavy rolling stock.
    Cost at a competitive point of a new station to replace an old one which was large enough but old-fashioned.
  7. State the commonest problems facing a reorganization committee for an insolvent road, and then suggest and defend one course of procedure for each problem.
  8. Combine and arrange the following items so as to give the best information about the operation and condition of the road. (Do not rewrite the names but use the corresponding numbers where possible.)
1. Passenger train miles

2,000,000
2. Freight train miles

3,400,000
3. Passenger train earnings

$2,400,000
4. Freight train earnings

$5,500,000
5. Income from investments

$100,000
6. Dividends

$500,000
7. Operating expenses

$4,700,000
8. Av. no. pass. cars per train

4
9. Av. no. passengers per car

11
10. Tons freight carried

2,800,000
11. Av. load per car (loaded and empty), tons

8.2
12. Av. no. loaded cars per train

12.3
13. Av. no. empty cars per train

6.7
14. Interest charge for year

$2,200,000
15. Due other roads

$100,000
16. Stocks and bonds owned

$4,900,000
17. Supplies on hand

$500,000
18. Taxes for the year

$300,000
19. Accounts receivable

$500,000
20. Cash

$1,000,000
21. Surplus for the year

$300,000
22. Profit and loss account

$1,000,000
23. Taxes accrued but not due

$100,000
24. Capital stock

$50,000,000
25. Interest due

$700,000
26. Funded debt

$45,000,000
27. Due from other roads

$100,000
28. Interest accrued not due

$300,000
29. Franchises and property

$90,400,000
30. Bonds of the company in its treasury

$800,000
31. Accounts payable

$1,000,000
32. No. of passengers carried

2,300,000

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College. June, 1901. Pages 25-27.

Image Source: Portrait of Hugo Richard Meyer from the Minneapolis Messenger (October 12, 1905), p. 4. Wikimedia Commons.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Syllabus and exams for Government Policy Toward Business. Kaysen, 1961

 

Carl Kaysen
from the 1958 Harvard yearbook

Carl Kaysen, who just this year [1958] was promoted to the position of Professor of Economics, has risen quickly up the educational ladder and has a distinguished record of non-academic accomplishments as well. At the age of 20, he served on the National Bureau of Economic Research, two years later he joined the Office of Strategic Services, and he served in the Air Force from 1943 to 1945. At thirty, he became an Assistant Professor of Economics at Harvard, and was promoted to Associate Professor two years ago. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and a Guggenheim Fellow.

Professor Kaysen is primarily interested in industrial organizations and monopoly practices. He is a co-author of The American Business Creed and is currently engaged in a study of the complexity of modern business firms.

Source: Harvard Class Album 1958.

______________________

Course Description

Economics 144. Government Policy Toward Business
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 10. Professor Kaysen.

This course surveys the major areas of government regulation of the functioning of markets in the United States. Anti-trust policy, agricultural policy, public utility regulation, and the regulation of transportation are examined with an eye to both their underlying economic rationale and their outcome in practice.

Source: Courses of Instruction: Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. LVII, No. 21 (August 29, 1960), p. 96.

______________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 144. Government Policy Toward Business. Professor Kaysen. Half course.

(Spring) Total 88: 2 Graduates, 29 Seniors, 32 Juniors, 19 Sophomores, 5 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1960-61, p. 76.

______________________

Economics 144
Government Policy Toward Business

Professor Kaysen        Littauer 212    MW 11-12
Dr. Fromm                  Littauer 214    MW 11-12
Mr. Wilson                  Littauer 214 Tues 4-6

  1. Policy Goals, Economic Systems, and Policy Instruments (Feb. 6-17)

Watson, Donald S., Economic Policy: Business and Government, Part I, pp. 3-196.

  1. Competition: Enough and Just Enough (Feb. 20 – March 20)

Wilcox, Clair, Public Policies Toward Business, Revised Edition, Chapters 3-5, pp. 49-123.

Bain, Joe S., Industrial Organization, Chapter 13, pp. 477-539.

United States, Department of Justice, Report of the Attorney General’s National Committee to Study the Antitrust Laws, Chapters 1 and 3, pp. 1-64 and 115-128.

Stelzer, Irwin M., Selected Antitrust Cases: Landmark Decisions in Federal Antitrust, Chapter 1 (except Yellow Cab Company, et al.) pp. 3-40, 44-59, Chapter 3, pp. 79-94, Chapter 4, pp. 95-105.

Oppenheim, S. Chesterfield, Recent Cases on Federal Anti-Trust Laws, 1951 Supplement to Cases on Federal Anti-Trust Laws;

United States v. American Can Co., pp. 434-451
Tag Mfrs. Institute, et al. v. Federal Trade Commission, pp. 304-318
United States v. Aluminum Company of America, pp. 209-289

Federal Supplement, United States v. Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co., 168 F. Supp. 576.

Levitan, Sar A., Federal Assistance to Labor Surplus Areas, A Report to the Committee on Banking and Currency, United States House of Representatives, 85th Congress, 1st Session, April 15, 1957, pp. 5-35.

Watson, Donald S., Economic Policy: Business and Government, Chapter 25, pp. 658-691.

Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Staff Report on Employment, Growth, and Price Levels, December 24, 1959, Chapter 7, pp. 189-204.

  1. Monopolies, Near Monopolies (March 22 — April 17)

Wilcox, Clair, Public Policies Toward Business, Revised Edition, Chapters 19-22, pp. 539-642.

Watson, Donald S., Economic Policy: Business and Government, Chapter 16, pp. 391-421.

Meyer, J.R., Peck, M.J., Stenason, J., and Zwick, C., The Economics of Competition in the Transportation Industries, Chapters 6-9, pp. 145-273.

  1. External Effects and Ignorance (April 19-28)

Rostow, Eugene V., A National Policy for the Oil Industry, Chapters 3-6, pp. 16-53.

Bain, Joe S., The Economics of the Pacific Coast Petroleum Industry, Volume III, Chapter III, pp. 23-67.

Owen, Wilfred, Cities in the Motor Age, Chapter 2, pp. 18-41, Chapter 8, pp. 138-150.

Haar, Charles M., “The Master Plan: An Inquiry in Dialogue Form,” Journal of the American Institute of Planners, August 1959, pp. 133-142.

  1. General Overview (May 1-3)

To be announced.

Reading Period assignment to be announced.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 7, Folder “Economics, 1960-1961 (1 of 2)”.

______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Reading Period Assignments
Spring Term, 1960-61

Ec. 144:

J. E. Meade, Planning and the Price Mechanism, Ch. I, III, IV, AND W.A. Lewis, Principles of Planning, Ch. I, II, IV, VI, VII-IX
OR E. Devons, Planning in Practice.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 8, Folder “Economics, 1960-1961 (2 of 2)”.

______________________

ECONOMICS 144
Hour Examination
April 14, 1961

Answer ALL questions.

PART I
20 Minutes

  1. Some economists have suggested that a “market power” standard should be used in judging monopolization cases under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. What would the differences between this standard and the exiting performance standard be? What would be achieved by adopting the proposed standard? What new problems might it create?

 

PART II
30 Minutes

  1. Outline the role of government economic policy as interpreted by:
    1. reform liberals
    2. neo-liberals
    3. conservatives
  2. What is the essential economic problem presented by the agricultural sector and the depressed areas? [handwritten note: “allocation of resources + factor mobility”]
  3. There is wide agreement that some regulation of the utility industries, such as electric power, is necessary. What economic facts and judgments underlie this agreement?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 7, Folder “Economics, 1960-1961 (1 of 2)”.

______________________

ECONOMICS 144
Final Examination

PART I

Answer both questions.

  1. (a) Some problems in anti-trust regulation are:
    1. Parallel pricing vs. collusive behavior
    2. Monopolizing vs. monopoly
    3. Market power vs. monopoly

Discuss each in the light of Sherman Act enforcement and the cases you have read.

  1. Assume that you were an economic adviser to the Anti-trust Division during the Dupont Cellophane case. After you had heard Dupont present its defense, what arguments would you have given the Government’s lawyers in order to help them prepare their reply?
  1. (a) Why does the market fail to allocate resources properly in the oil industry? What possible remedies would you recommend and why?

(b) Discuss briefly the arguments why interference with the market mechanism is necessary in order to achieve an optimal allocation of land uses in a city. What do you consider to be the most difficult problems that an urban planning authority would face?

 

PART II

Answer one question only.

  1. (a) What are some of the difficulties encountered by the regulatory authorities when they attempt to set utility rates so as to guarantee a “fair return on investment”?

(b) Give reasons why the present system of pricing by electric utilities leads to misallocation of power uses. Set up a utility pricing scheme that would remove this misallocation.

  1. (a) What accounts for the existence of natural monopoly elements in the transportation industries? What distinguishes these industries from “pure” natural monopolies, such as electric utilities?

(b) Some economists have argued that railroads should be subject to less rather than more regulation. What arguments can be used to support their position? What problems would arise if the railroads were subject to no special regulation at all?

 

PART III

Answer one question only.

  1. Evaluate some of the arguments put forward by Meade and by Lewis to support their contention that some state planning is necessary to improve the functioning of the economic system. Discuss to what extent each of their proposals is an attempt to improve the functioning of competitive markets and to what extent it is an attempt to supplant market determined goals.
  2. Discuss Devon’s account of the problems that arise when planning is carried out in the absence of prices. Why would the use of prices help to solve some of these problems?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28). Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [for] History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…Naval Science, Air Science  in (Bound) Volume 134, Social Sciences. Final Examinations, June 1961.

Image Source:  Carl Kaysen in the Harvard Class Album 1958.

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions

Chicago. Graduate prelim exams in economic theory. Metzler, Friedman and Knight, 1951

 

The previous post provided the names of the examination committee members for the economics preliminary exams for the Ph.D./A.M. by field at the University of Chicago for the summer quarter of 1951. The names of the students registered for the respective examinations were transcribed as well. The economic theory examining committee for that round consisted of Lloyd Metzler (chair), Milton Friedman, and Frank Knight. This post provides a transcription of both economic theory exams along with Friedman’s hand-written answer to Question 5 of Part I.

_____________________

ECONOMIC THEORY
Part I
Summer Quarter, 1951

(Do not write your name on your paper. Use only the number in the top right-hand corner of this examination.)

Ph.D. candidates. Write 3½ hours. Answer all questions.

A.M. candidates. Write 2½ hours on questions #1 and #2 and one other.

  1. Discuss the probable shape of the long-run cost curve for an industry operating under approximately perfect competition. How would it differ in the short run, i.e., in response to an unanticipated shift in the demand-curve for the product, assumed not to be permanent?
  2. Briefly discuss the Ricardian conception of capital, specifically in relation to his theory of wages. Argue the question whether wages are paid out of (pre-existing) capital or out of (current) product.
    Can you find any relation between the Böhm-Bawerk production-period theory of interest and the Ricardian theory of capital and profit? What is the crucial assumption about the nature and source of capital which underlies the production-period theory, and is it sound? How does diminishing returns to investment enter into Ricardo’s and Böhm-Bawerk’s theories?
  3. Consider a trade union that is strong enough to prevent nonmembers from working at the trade in question and whose membership, for simplicity, will be supposed unaffected by the level of returns to members within broad limits (e.g., future membership consists of present membership minus members who die plus male children of present members). Analyze what its position would be toward the immigration of unskilled labor if it took account solely of the effect of such immigration on the incomes of its members. What considerations, if any, should lead it to favor more extensive immigration? What considerations, if any, to favor restriction on immigration? Is there a clear balance in favor of the one position or the other?
  4. “The orthodox tools of supply and demand assume that sellers and buyers are free to buy or sell any quantities they wish at the price determined by the market. This assumption cannot validly be made when price controls or rations are imposed by government. It follows that these tools are useless in analyzing the effects of such governmental actions. Economists should free themselves from slavish adherence to outmoded concepts and fashion new tools for the new problems raised by the modern Leviathan.” Discuss.
  5. The following figures represent the prices and quantities of two commodities, A and B, consumed by three individuals having the incomes stated in two different periods of time.

First Period

 Second Period
Pa Qa Pb Qb Income Pa Qa Pb Qb

Income
Arthur

$1

 20 $2 10 $40 $2 10 $1 20

$40
John

$2

 20 $1 10 $50 $1 10 $2 20

$50
Paul

$2

 20 $1 10 $50 $2.50 10 $1.25 20

$50

Assuming that each individual spends his whole income on the two commodities, and assuming also that there is no change in tastes between the two periods, indicate for each individual what the above information reveals as to whether the bundle of goods consumed in Period I represents a lower or a higher level of satisfaction that the bundle consumed in Period II. Explain your conclusions fully. (It is recommended that a diagram be used in answering this question.)

 

[Answers to Question 5 in pencil: Arthur “Can’t tell”; John “Inconsistent”; Paul: “First period better”]

From sketch in Milton Friedman’s copy of the exam.

 

 

ECONOMIC THEORY II
Summer Quarter, 1951

Time: 2½ hours.

  1. (a) Describe and discuss briefly the circumstances that gave rise to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System and the major events (including its actions) in its history.
    (b) In light of this survey of the record, comment on the following conclusion of one student: “The Federal Reserve System should be abolished. It served as an engine of inflation in two World Wars and post-war periods, hindered the re-establishment of satisfactory monetary standards throughout the world in the 1920’s, and failed to prevent the Great Depression, if indeed it was not itself largely responsible for the severity of that depression. The United States would have had a happier history if the pre-1913 monetary arrangements had been continued thereafter.”
  2. “From the preceding considerations it would be seen, even if it were not otherwise evident, how great an error it is to imagine that the rate of interest bears any necessary relation to the quantity or value of the money in circulation. An increase in the currency has in itself no effect, and is incapable of having any effect, on the rate of interest.” (J.S. Mill)
    “We can sum up the above in the proposition that in any given state of expectation there is in the minds of the public a certain potentiality towards holding cash beyond what is required by the transactions-motive or the precautionary-motive, which will realize itself in actual cash holding in a degree which depends on the terms on which the monetary authority is willing to create cash…Corresponding to the quantity of money created by the monetary authority, there will, therefore be set.  par. a determinate rate of interest.” (J. M. Keynes)
    “The saving schedule tells us what part of income the community desires to save. The technical conditions…expressed by the marginal-efficiency-of-investment function, determine the marginal efficiency of the amount of investment that the giving up of consumption permits undertaking. (The intersection of the two schedules determines) the equilibrium rate of interest.” (F. Modigliani).
    Can you reconcile these opinions concerning the determinants of the interest rate? Explain fully, making and stating any assumption you like as to the conditions of production, the time period under consideration, and the flexibility of prices and costs.
  3. What measures would you advocate—and give your reasons for inclusion and omission—for controlling the inflationary tendency in the U.S. under present conditions?

 

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman, Box 76, Folder “76.2 University of Chicago, ‘Economic Theory’”.

Image Source: Social Science Research Building. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-07490, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams on socio-economic conditions of working people. Edward Cummings, 1893

 

This post piggybacks on the previous one. I suppose it comes as no surprise that instructors for courses on socialism also typically taught courses in labor economics and/or sociology. Edward Cummings covered these courses in the Harvard economics department at the end of the nineteenth century. Below I have transcribed the examination questions for his course “The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the United States and in other Countries” from 1892-93. As for the previous post, I have added links to the works that are directly cited in the examination questions. Until I come across notes for his course or a syllabus, these links provide a peek into the material taught to Cummings’ students.

The examinations for the academic year for 1893-94 have been transcribed for an earlier post.

____________________

Enrollment

[Economics] 9. Mr. Cummings.—The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the United States and in other countries. 3 hours.

Total 24: 3 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1892-1893, p. 68.

_____________________

ECONOMICS 9.
Mid-Year Examination (1893)

[Arrange your answers in the order in which the questions stand. So far as possible illustrate your discussions by a comparison of the experience of different countries. Omit two questions.]

  1. “In a society adjusted to manual labor, it is absolutely impossible that a labor problem, as a class problem, should take its origin; but in a society adjusted to machinery, provided the English law of property be maintained, the development of class lines will surely make its appearance in industries.”
    State fully your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with these assertions.
    [Henry Carter Adams. An Interpretation of the Social Movements of our Time. International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 2 (October, 1891), pp. 39-40.]
  2. “First, government must regulate the plane of competition, for without legal regulation the struggle between men for commercial supremacy will surely force society to the level of the most immoral man who can maintain himself.”
    What evidence does the history of factory legislation furnish upon these points?
    [Henry Carter Adams. An Interpretation of the Social Movements of our Time. International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 2 (October, 1891), p. 43.]
  3. Comment upon the following passage: “The object held in view by workmen, when they organized themselves into unions, was to gain again that control over the conditions of labor which they lost when machinery took the place of tools.”
    [Henry Carter Adams. An Interpretation of the Social Movements of our Time. International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 2 (October, 1891), p. 48.]
  4. “The English public has had the courage and strength to leave workingmen’s associations full freedom of movement, at the risk even of temporary excesses and acts of violence, such as at one time stained the annals of trades-unions.” Explain.
    How far is this true of France? Of the United States?
    [Josef Maria Baernreither. English Associations of Working Men. (London, 1891), p. 143]
  5. Describe briefly the origin, growth, and present tendencies of the English Friendly Society movement.
    [Josef Maria Baernreither. English Associations of Working Men. Part II. Friendly Societies (London, 1891), pp. 155-337.]
  6. To what extent do trade organizations and friendly societies constitute an aristocracy of labor?
    [Josef Maria Baernreither. English Associations of Working Men. (London, 1891), pp. 20ff.]
  7. To what forms of remuneration can the evils of “sweating” be traced?
    [David Frederick Schloss, Methods of Industrial Remuneration. (New York, 1892), especially Chapter XIV. On the Objections Entertained to the “Method” of Sub-Contract; and Herein of “The Sweating System,” 122-135.]
  8. “The aim of Coöperation is at the same time the aim of Trade Unionism.” In what sense?
  9. Sketch briefly the course of factory legislation during the present century either in England or in the United States.
    [This is a guess: though clearly would provide sufficient information to provide the English history. The English Factory Legislation from 1802 till the Present Time by Ernst von Plener (London, 1873).]
  10. Comment on the following passage: “the fact that the ignorant masses are enabled by the factory to engage in what it once took skilled labor to perform has given the widespread impression that factory labor has degraded the skilled, when in truth it has lifted the unskilled; and this is the inevitable result of the factory everywhere.”
    [United States Census Office. 10th Census, 1880. Report on the Factory System of the United States by Carroll D. Wright (Washington, D.C., 1884) p. 34.]

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1892-93.

_____________________

ECONOMICS 9.
Final Examination (June, 1893)

[Arrange your answers in the order in which the questions stand. So far as possible illustrate your discussions by a comparison of the experience of different countries. Omit two questions.]

  1. How is the burden of contribution distributed in each of the three departments of the German system of compulsory insurance? What theoretical or practical objections have you to the system?
  2. “In England especially the State is not in a position to compete effectively with energetic Insurance Companies or with the Friendly Societies, pulsating with the vigour of social life; and still less can it so compete when hampered by restrictions which handicap its powers.” Discuss the evidence on this point furnished by English experience with government workingmen’s insurance. Are there any indications that German ideas are gaining ground in England?
    [Josef Maria Baernreither. English Associations of Working Men. (London, 1891), pp. 348-349.]
  3. “What, we will ask, is the relation of Profit-sharing to the ordinary wage system; and to what extent does Profit-sharing constitute an improvement upon the ordinary wage system?” Are there grounds for the assertion that Profit-sharing is “inferior in point of equity and expediency to the ordinary non-coöperative wage system”?
    [David Frederick Schloss. Methods of Industrial Remuneration. (New York, 1892), especially Chapter XXII, Critical Examination of the Method of Profit-Sharing, 195.]
  4. “Besides the militant trade unionist workmen, that very shrewd class of workingmen, the coöperators, regard Profit-sharing with marked disapprobation; so much so that, although Profit-sharing forms and essential part of the professed principles of Industrial Coöperation, yet by far the greater part of Industrial Coöperation is carried on upon the system of altogether excluding the employees from participation in profits.” What are the facts referred to, and how do you account for them?
    [David Frederick Schloss. Methods of Industrial Remuneration. (New York, 1892), especially Chapter XXII, Critical Examination of the Method of Profit-Sharing, 199.]
  5. “Here it is necessary to interpolate a protest against the assertion almost universally made by previous writers on this subject, that ‘Industrial Coöperation has succeeded in distribution, but has failed in production,’— an assertion generally coupled with the explanation that ‘production’ is too difficult to be, as yet, undertaken by workingmen.” What are the facts?
    [David Frederick Schloss. Methods of Industrial Remuneration. (New York, 1892), especially Chapter XXVII, Critical Examination of the Theory of Industrial Co-operation, p. 233.]
  6. “But the enthusiastic Coöperator will ask: why not develop the voluntary system of democratic Coöperation until it embraces the whole field of industry?” Why do you conceive to be the economic limits to such extension by consumers’ associations?
    [Beatrice Potter (Webb). The Co-operative Movement in Great Britain. Chapter VIII, Conclusion (1891) p. 225.]
  7. “Having considered the social and economic position of workers in the coal, iron and steel industries in several countries, let us now by proper combination ascertain the average conditions prevailing in the two continents.” What are the probably conclusions to be drawn from these comparative statistics of family budgets in the United States and other countries?
    [Elgin Ralston Lovell Gould. The Social Condition of Labor (Baltimore: January, 1893), p. 24.]
  8. “The Hungarians, Italians, Bohemians and Poles, who throng our gates give most concern…Up to the present time there seems no ground to fear that such new comers have wielded a depressing influence. There seems rather reason for congratulation in the fact that instead of their having lowered the American standard of living, the American standard of life has been raising them.” Discuss the evidence. What light do recent change in the character and volume of immigration from different countries throw on this problem?
    [Elgin Ralston Lovell Gould. The Social Condition of Labor (Baltimore: January, 1893), p. 38.]
  9. Indicate briefly the course of short-hour legislation in Massachusetts. How does it compare with the legislation in other states and other countries?
  10. Indicate carefully how far there has been any approximation to compulsory arbitration in Massachusetts; in New York; in other countries. What are the objections to compulsory arbitration?
  11. What do you conceive to be the significance of the Farmers’ Alliance and the Single Tax movements in the United States? And how are they related to each other?
  12. Precisely what evidence is there for and against the contention that the employment of “private armed forces” has been largely responsible for violence and bloodshed during strikes? Give concrete examples.

Source:Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 4, Vol. Examination Papers, 1893-95. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government and Law, Economics, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1893), pp. 40-42.

Image Source: University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol II (1899), pp. 155-156.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism Sociology

Harvard. Exams for Political Sociology and Socialism, Cummings, 1893

 

 

Examinations from Edward Cummings’ Harvard courses on socialism and communism 1893-1900 have been transcribed and posted earlier. Biographical information about him from 1899 has also been posted.

Thanks to Cummings’ examination style that used exact citations from the literature for students to explain or comment upon, I was able to reverse-engineer some of the key readings that were either assigned or discussed in class. Links to those readings follow the individual examination questions.

___________________

Enrollment

[Economics] 3. Mr. Cummings.—The Principles of Sociology. —Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. 3 hours.

Total 22: 5 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 3 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1892-1893, p. 67.

 

ECONOMICS 3
Mid-Year Examination (1893)

Answer the questions in the order in which they stand. Omit two.

  1. “We have just seen that a one-sided application of the conception that society is of organic growth leads to difficulties, as well as the conception of artificial making. These we can only escape by recognizing a truth which includes them both.”
    What are these difficulties, and what is this truth?
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Chapter 1, Herbert Spencer’s Individualism and his Conception of Society (London, 1891), pp. 49-50]
  2. “If societies have evolved, and if that mutual dependence of parts which coöperation implies, has been gradually reached, then the implication is that however unlike their developed structures may become, there is a rudimentary structure with which they all set out.”
    What evidence do you find of such a structure?
    [Herbert Spencer. The Principles of Sociology, Vol. 2, Chapter 5, Political Forms and Forces (New York, 1883), p. 311]
  3. According to Aristotle, “Man is by nature a political animal.” According to Thomas Aquinas, “homo est animal sociale et politicum.” How far is this insertion of “sociale” alongside of “politicum” significant of the different way in which the State presented itself to the mind of the Greek and to the mind of the mediaeval philosopher?
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Appendix Note A: The Distinction between Society and the State (London, 1891), p. 157]
  4. “The theory of the social contract belongs in an especial manner to the political philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But it did not originate with them. It had its roots in the popular consciousness of mediaeval society. As a philosophical theory, it had already been anticipated by the Greek Sophists.”
    Indicate briefly some of the important changes which the doctrine underwent.
    [David George Ritschie. Contributions to the History of the Social Contract Theory, Vol. 6 Political Science Quarterly (1891), p. 656.]
  5. “In primitive societies the person does not exist, or exists only potentially, or, as we might say, in spe. The person is the product of the State.” Explain. What is the theoretical and historical justification of this doctrine, as against the contention that the individual loses what the State gains?
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Chapter 1, Herbert Spencer’s Individualism and his Conception of Society (London, 1891), p. 29.]
  6. Discuss the relative preponderance of free and of un-free elements at different stages of social development.
  7. It has been remarked by Spencer that those domestic relations which are ethically the highest, are also biologically and sociologically the highest. Discuss the historical evidence on this point. What is the test of this ethical superiority?
    [Herbert Spencer. The Principles of Sociology, Vol. 1, Part III, Chapter 2, The Diverse Interests of the Species, of the Parents, and of the Offspring (New York, 1883), p. 630]
  8. To what extent is there ground for saying that the influence of militant and of industrial organization is traceable in the status of women and the duration of marriage in the United States and in other countries?
    [Herbert Spencer. The Principles of Sociology, Vol. 1, Part III, Chapter 10, The Status of Women (New York, 1883), p. 765]
  9. “We find ourselves applying the ideal of a Greek city to our vast and heterogeneous modern political structures—a tremendous extension of the difficulties. If we are not more successful than the Greeks, the task is greater and the aim higher.” Explain.
    [Frederick Pollock. The History of the Science of Politics, (1883), p. 13. Originally published serially in the Fortnightly Review (August 1882—January 1883).]
  10. “The unit of an ancient society was the family, of a modern society the individual.”
    Describe the tendencies which have brought about this change.
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Chapter 1, Herbert Spencer’s Individualism and his Conception of Society (London, 1891), p. 30.]
  11. “The ultimate responsibility of the ultimate political sovereign is a question for the philosophy of history; in other words, one may say it is a matter of ‘natural selection.’” Explain.
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Appendix Note B: The Conception of Sovereignty (London, 1891), pp. 165-166.]
  12. What is your criterion of social progress? Why?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1892-93.

 

ECONOMICS 3
Final Examination (June, 1893)

[Answer the questions in the order in which they stand. Omit one.]

  1. “The different forms of the State are specifically divided, as Aristotle recognized, by the different conceptions of the distinction between government and subjects, especially by the quality (not the quantity) of the ruler.” Explain. Indicate briefly the relation of the different forms of the State to one another.
    [Johann Caspar Bluntschli. The Theory of the State (translation from 6th German edition), Chapter IV, The Principle of the Four Fundamental Forms of the State (Oxford, 1885), p. 318.]
  2. “If there is any one principle which is clearly grasped in the present day, it is that political power is a public duty as well as a public right, that it belongs to the political existence of life of the whole nation, and that it can never be regarded as the property or personal right of an individual.” How far did this principle secure recognition in Greek, in Roman, and in mediaeval times?
    [Johann Caspar Bluntschli. The Theory of the State (translation from 6th German edition), Chapter XIV, Constitutional Monarchy (Oxford, 1885), p. 398.]
  3. “The past seems to prove that kings and aristocracies make States, and that left to themselves, the people unmake them.” State carefully your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the political philosophy here involved.
    [Paul Leroy-Beaulieu. The Modern State in Relation to Society and the Individual. (London, 1891), p. 100.]
  4. “This one of the curious phases of the railway problem in Europe, which has a tendency to show how multiform and various are the influences at work to modify and change the conditions of the railway problem, and how little can be gathered from mere government documents and laws to shed light upon this most interesting and intricate of all modern industrial questions.” What light does Italian, French and Austrian experience with railroads throw on the general question of State control?
    [Simon Sterne. Some Curious Phases of the Railway Question in Europe. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 1, No. 4 (July, 1887), p. 468.]
  5. “Expediency and the results of experience must determine how far to go. They seem to justify public ownership of gas works, water works and electric lights. The same would doubtless be true of the telegraph and telephone.” Discuss the evidence.
    [From conclusion of Edward W. Bemis. Municipal Gas Works in The Chautauquan, Vol. 16, no. 1 (October 1892), pp. 15-18. Cf. his Municipal Ownership of Gas in the United States published by the American Economic Association, Publications Vol. VI, Nos. 4 and 5 (July and September, 1891).]
  6. “We will first concentrate our attention on the economic kernel of socialism, setting aside for the moment the transitory aspect it bears in the hands of agitators, its provisional passwords, and the phenomena and tendencies in religion by which it is accompanied.” State and criticize this “economic kernel.”
    [Albert Schäffle. The Quintessence of Socialism, 3rd edition (London, 1891), p. 3]
  7. “The philanthropic and experimental forms of socialism, which played a conspicuous role before 1848, perished then in the wreck of the Revolution, and have never risen to life again.” What were the characteristics of these earlier forms; and what was their relation to the movements which preceded them and followed them?
    [John Rae. Contemporary Socialism. Chapter 1, Introductory (London, 1884), p. 2]
  8. How are the socialistic teachings of Lasalle and Marx related to the economic doctrines of Smith and Ricardo?
    [John Rae. Contemporary Socialism. Chapter 2, Ferdinand Lassalle; Chapter 3, Karl Marx (London, 1884)]
  9. What ground do you find for or against the contention that “socialism is the economic complement of democracy”?
    [E.g., Thomas Kirkup. An Inquiry into Socialism (London, 1887), p. 184; or his A History of Socialism, (London: 1892) p. 8.]
  10. “Not only material security, but the perfection of human social life is what we aim at in that organized co-operation of many men’s lives and works which is called the State…..But where does protection leave off and interference begin?”
    [Frederick Pollock. The History of the Science of Politics, (1883), p. 49. Originally published serially in the Fortnightly Review (August 1882—January 1883).]

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 4, Vol. Examination Papers, 1893-95. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government and Law, Economics, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1893), pp. 36-37.

Image Source: University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol II (1899), pp. 155-156.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Socialism exams. John Graham Brooks, 1890-1891

 

According to the annual Report of the President of Harvard College for 1889/90 and 1890/91, “Prof. Taussig and Mr. Brooks” were the instructors for the course Political Economy 2. This post is dedicated to the second term of the Political Economy 2 in those years that was devoted to economic theories of socialism and taught by John Graham Brooks.  Four boxes of Brooks’ papers are to be found at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. Taussig’s exam scrapbook in the Harvard archives does not include exam questions for the second terms of 1890 and 1891 which is certainly consistent with Brooks being the instructor during the second term.

This post provides biographical information for John Graham Brooks followed by transcriptions of his two examinations.

Incidentally, W.E.B. Dubois was enrolled in Economics 2 in 1890/91 as a graduate student and was awarded a grade of A during the first term (one of six awarded to the twenty-two who received grades,  as recorded in Taussig’s scrapbook).

_____________________

Harvard Career

John Graham Brooks (see S.T.B. 1875), Lectr. On Socialism 1885-1886; Instr. in Political Economy 1898-1891.

Source: Harvard University. Quinquennial catalogue of the officers and graduates, 1636-1925, p. 45.

_____________________

Brief biography

John Graham Brooks attended the University of Michigan Law School for a short time, before changing his mind about being a lawyer. He then attended Oberlin College and Harvard Divinity School, graduating in 1875. Brooks was then ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister, preaching at a church in Massachusetts and speaking on the issues of the working poor. In 1882, Brooks resigned from his position as a minister and began studying history and economics at several German universities. He and his family then lived in London for a while, where Brooks lectured about the working class. He then returned to Massachusetts and preaching, while continuing to lecture about socialism and the lives of the working class. He also wrote articles for The Forum and The Nation. In 1891 he became an investigator of the conditions of workers for the U.S. Department of Labor, which led to him writing a book, The Social Unrest: Studies in Labor and Socialist Movements. Brooks wrote other books as well, in which he discussed class struggles. In 1904, he was the president of the American Social Science Association, and from 1899 to 1915 he was the first president of the National Consumers’ League.

Source: Brooks, John Graham (1846-1938) at the digital edition of the Jane Addams Papers Project.

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Boston Globe Obituary
February 9, 1938. Page 17.

JOHN G. BROOKS, 91,
ECONOMIST IS DEAD

Former Harvard Teacher,
Once Unitarian Cleric

John Graham Brooks, 91, labor champion, sociologist and political authority, died yesterday at his home at 8 Francis av., Cambridge.

During the early part of the century, he was extremely active as a friend of labor and a prolific lecturer throughout the country and in many universities on political and social economy.

He was born in Ackworth, N.H., and prepared for college in country schools. He was graduated from Oberlin College in 1872 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1875. He added to his education the following three years with courses at the Universities of Berlin, Jena and Freiburg.

Returning to this country, he entered the ministry as associate pastor with Dr. George Putnam at the Unitarian Church in Roxbury and later was for six years pastor of the Unitarian Church of Brockton. At the same time he conducted courses at Harvard on economic subjects.

Leaving the ministry in 1890. he devoted the major part of his time to investigations and lectures on political science and social economy. For several years he was lecturer for the extension departments of the Universities of Chicago and of California. He was for two years the expert of the United States Department of Labor, and compiled for that department, in 1893, an exhaustive report on workmen’s insurance in Germany, and since that time continued to lecture on economic and sociological subjects all over the United States, especially at the People’s Institute in New York. As an author his best-known works are “The Social Unrest,” “As Others See Us” and “An American Citizen [Life of William Henry Baldwin, Jr.].”

Prof. Brooks served as president on the American Social Science Association, and president of the National Consumers’ League and a member of the national committee on child labor. He was a member of the famous committee of 50, which, under the lead of Pres. Eliot of Harvard, made an investigation of the workings of the Gothenburg system of dealing with the liquor traffic.

In 1908 Prof. Brooks lectured with now Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis on the old age pension problems and at the time expressed some pessimism over the systems then in use.

In recent years, Mr. Brooks has been in retirement, little in public life.

He is survived by a wife, Mrs. Helen Lawrence Brooks; a son, Lawrence Brooks, and four grandchildren.

 

[Other books:

American Syndicalism: The I.W.W. New York: Macmillan, 1913.

Labor’s Challenge to the Social Order: Democracy its own Critic and Educator. New York: Macmillan, 1920.]

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Enrollment 1889-90

[Political Economy] 2. History of Economic Theory. First half-year: Lectures on the History of Economic Theory.—Discussion of selections from Adam Smith and Ricardo.—Topics in distribution, with special reference to wages and managers’ returns.—Second half-year: Modern Socialism in France, Germany, and England.—an extended thesis from each student. Prof. Taussig and Mr. Brooks.

Total 24: 7 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1889-90, p. 80.

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Political Economy 2.
Year-end Examination, June 1890.

  1. Characterize French Socialism, chiefly with reference to St. Simon and Louis Blanc.
  2. What general differences do you note between French and German Socialism?
  3. Summarize Lasalle’s theory of history development.
  4. State and criticize in detail Marx’s theory of surplus value. What follows as to Socialism, if this theory fails?
  5. Is Schaeffle a Socialist? If so, why? If not, why not?
  6. State the present attitude of English Socialism, with special reference to the Fabian Society. Note the most important changes from the Marx type.
  7. In what definite ways would Socialism modify the system of private property?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, 1890-92. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1890), pp. 11-12.

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Enrollment 1890-91

For Graduates and Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 2. Professor Taussig and Mr. Brooks. — History of Economic Theory. — Examination of selections from Leading Writers. — Socialism. 3 hours.

Total 23: 4 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source:   Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1890-91, p. 58.

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Political Economy 2.
Year-end Examination, June 1891.

  1. From Rousseau to the Fabians, what have been the chief historic changes in the Philosophy of Socialism?
  2. What was Lassalle’s conception of historic development?
  3. In detail, state the differences between the Marx type of Socialism and that of the Fabians.
  4. With reference to the “three rents” what are the most important objections to Socialism?
  5. What reasons can you give to show that Socialism is likely to have much further development in our society?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, 1890-92. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1891), p. 11.

Image Source: The Bookman vol. 27 (March-August, 1908), p. 119.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Johns Hopkins Suggested Reading Syllabus

Johns Hopkins. Reading List and Exam for Aggregate Income Theory. Machlup, 1951

Machlup presenting, Domar, in profile, 3rd person to Machlup's right.

 

Materials (reading list and exams) for Fritz Machlup’s course on income distribution, 18-603, have been transcribed and posted earlier. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror also has a transcription of the final exam for his 1956 course on methodology.

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Course Announcement

Theory of Aggregate Income 604. Professor Machlup.
Two hours weekly, second term.

A study of the theory of income formation, linking an analysis of the supply and circulation of money with a dynamic process analysis of autonomous and induced disbursements for consumption and investment; an attempt to explain the level and fluctuations of national income.

Source: Johns Hopkins University. School of Higher Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy, Announcements of Courses 1950-51 (The Johns Hopkins Circular, April 1950), p. 99.

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JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
THE THEORY OF AGGREGATE INCOME
18-604

Prof. Fritz Machlup

READING LIST
Spring Term 1951

Books:

Required:

J. M. Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. (London: Macmillan, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1936) pp. 1-384.

Recommended:

Richard Ruggles, An Introduction to National Income and Income Analysis. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1949)

Thomas C. Schelling, National Income Behavior. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1951)

A.E.A., Readings in Business Cycle Theory. (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1944)

Seymour E. Harris (ed.), The New Economics. New York: Knopf, 1947)

 

I. Static and Dynamic Analysis

Paul A. Samuelson, “Dynamic Process Analysis,” A Survey of Contemporary Economics, ed. Howard S. Ellis. (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1948) pp. 352-387.

 

II. Savings, Investment, and National Income

Bertil Ohlin, “Some Notes on the Stockholm Theory of Saving and Investment,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 87-131.

Friedrich A. Lutz, “The Outcome of the Saving-Investment Discussion,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 131-157.

Abba P. Lerner, “Saving and Investment: Definitions, Assumptions, Objectives,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 158-168.

Oscar Lange, “The Rate of Interest and the Optimum Propensity to Consume,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 169-192.

Fritz Machlup, “Forced or Induced Saving,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 25 (1943), pp. 26-39.

Dennis H. Robertson, “A Survey of Modern Monetary Controversy,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 311-329.

 

III. The Multiplier

Fritz Machlup, International Trade and the National Income Multiplier (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1943) Chapters 1-7, 10.

Gottfried Haberler, “Mr. Keynes’ Theory of the ‘Multiplier’: A Methodological Criticism,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 193-202.

Fritz Machlup, “Period Analysis and Multiplier Theory,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 203-234.

Robert Eisner, “The Invariant Multiplier,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 17 (1949-50), pp. 198-202.

 

IV. Velocity and Time Lags

James W. Angell, “The Components of Circular Velocity of Money,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 51 (1937), pp. 224-272.

Lloyd Metzler, “Three Lags in the Circular Flow of Income,” Income, Employment, and Public Policy. (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1948), pp. 11-32.

Alvin H. Hansen, “The Robersonian and Swedish Systems of Period Analysis,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 32 (1959), pp. 24-29.

Harold M. Somers, “A Theory of Income Determination,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 58 (1950), pp. 523-541.

 

V. Wage Rate Reductions and Employment

A. C. Pigou, “Real and Money Wage Rates in Relation to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47 (1937), pp. 405-422.

N. Kaldor, “Professor Pigou on Money Wages in Relation to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47 (1937), pp. 745-762.

A. C. Pigou, “Money Wages in Relation to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, Vol. 48, (1938), pp. 134-137.

James Tobin, “Money Wage Rates and Employment”, in The New Economics, pp. 572-587.

 

VI. Tax-Financed Government Expenditures

Trygve Haavelmo, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget,” Econometrica, Vol. 13 (1945), pp. 311-318.

Gottfried Haberler, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: Some Monetary Implications of Mr. Haavelmo’s Paper,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 148-149.

R. M. Goodwin, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: The Implications of a Lag for M. Haavelmo’s Analysis,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 150-151.

Everett E. Hagen, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: Further Analysis,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 152-55.

T. Haavelmo, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: Reply,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 156-58.

 

VII. The Accelerator

John M. Clark, “Business Acceleration and the Law of Demand: A Technical Factor,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 235-260.

Paul A. Samuelson, “Interactions Between the Multiplier Analysis and the Principle of Acceleration,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 261-269.

F. A. Hayek, Profits, Interest, and Investment. (London: Routledge and Sons, 91939) Chapter I, pp. 3-72.

F. A. Hayek, “The Ricardo Effect,” Economica (1942), pp. 126-152.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Evsey D. Domar Papers, Box 15, Folder “Macroeconomics: Old Reading Lists”.

 

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THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Theory of Aggregate Income
(18-604)
Final Exam, May 29, 1951

Professor Fritz Machlup

Answer three questions, one of each group, as concisely as possible without omitting significant steps in your reasoning. Write in English rather than in algebra or geometry.

I.

  1. Explain the possibilities of a general cut in money wage rates bringing about an increase in aggregate employment.
  2. Explain the increase in employment that can be brought about by an increase in tax-financed government expenditures, emphasizing alternatively the significance in the causal sequence of changes in (a) the quantity of money or velocity of circulation, (b) liquidity preference, (c) the propensity to consume, (d) the difference between investment and saving.

 

II.

  1. Explain the meaning of the distinctions between the “consumption lag”, the “output lag”, and the “earnings lag”, and their importance, or lack of importance, in the determination of income.
  2. Explain the meaning of the distinctions between “intended” and “unintended” saving, and “intended” and “unintended” investment, and their importance, or lack of importance, in the determination of income.

 

III.

  1. Explain the interactions between multiplier and accelerator.
  2. Explain the meaning of the “Ricardo Effect” and its importance, or lack of importance, in the determination of the accelerator and of the turning points of the business cycle.

 

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

Image Source: Fritz Machlup is seen presenting in a seminar (note: Evsey Domar is leaning forward on the right side of the table, third from the left). From the Johns Hopkins Yearbook Hullabaloo 1956, p. 15.