Category: Exam Questions

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Exam Questions Suggested Reading Syllabus Tufts

Tufts/Fletcher. International Economics, Readings and Final Exam. Samuelson, 1944

 

 

During the mid-1940s Paul Samuelson regularly taught courses at Tufts University in international economics and policy. Transcribed below are two reading lists and a final exam from the second term of the 1943-44 academic year. All the material comes from a single folder but at least the sections of the reading lists match well the exam questions for international economics so we can be reasonably sure that they belong together for Samuelson’s course at the Fletcher School. Unlike international economics courses today that typically start with real trade theory and commercial policy and then move on to international monetary/macroeconomics, the sequence in this course was clearly reversed. Also interesting to note that the first reading list here is nearly identical to that from M.I.T. from February 1943.

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READING LIST
January, 1944
P. A. Samuelson

Asterisks indicate required reading, other items suggested reading.

  1. NATIONAL INCOME, EMPLOYMENT & PRODUCTION

M. Gilbert, “War Expenditures & National Production,” Survey of Current Business, March, 1942.
S. S. Kuznets, National Income & Its Composition, 1919-1938, Vol. I.
W. L. Crum, J. F. Fennelly, L. J. Seltzer, Fiscal Planning for Total War.
S. Fabricant, Productivity of American Manufacturing Industries.
Federal Reserve Board Bulletin, August & September, 1940.
R. A. Nixon & P. A. Samuelson, “Estimates of Unemployment in the U. S.,” Review of Economic Statistics, August, 1940.

  1. NATURE OF BUSINESS CYCLE

(*) A. H. Hansen, Fiscal Policy & Business Cycles, Ch. 1-4.
(*) Wesley C. Mitchell, Business Cycles, 1941 Reprint of 1913 Edition, Ch. V, Part I.
(*) J. P. Wernette, The Control of Business Cycles, pp. 3-23 and Conclusion.
(*) J. R. Meade & H. Hitch, Economic Analysis & Policy, Ch. I.
(*) G. Haberler, Prosperity & Depression, Ch. IX, I & II.
(*) S. H. Slichter, Towards Stability, Ch. I.
A. H. Hansen, Business Cycle Theory, Chs. I, II, IV, & VI.
S. H. Slichter, Towards Stability, Chs. II & IV.
G. Haberler, Prosperity & Depression, any part, especially Ch. 8.
S. Harris, Postwar Economic Problems, Chs. by Hansen, Samuelson, Bissell and Kindleberger.

  1. SAVING AND INVESMENT

(*) Joan Robinson, Introduction to the Theory of Employment.
(*) T.N.E.C. testimony of Hansen and Currie.
(*) A. H. Hansen, Fiscal Policy, Chs. 11, 12, 15 & 24.
(*) L. V. Chandler, Introduction to Monetary Theory, Chs. VI & VII.
O. Altman, T.N.E.C. Monograph #37, Saving & Investment.

  1. THE PROPENSITY TO IMPORT & THE FOREIGN TRADE MULTIPLIER

(*) R. F. Harrod, International Economics, (Rev. Ed.) Ch. 6, 7, (8 & 9 optional).
(*) W. A. Salant, “Foreign Trade Policy in the Business Cycle,” in Public Policy II (editor E. S. Mason).
(*) J. M. Keynes, General Theory, Preface, Chs. 23 & 24.
(*) F. Machlup, International Trade & the National Income Multiplier, Chs. I-IV, IX.
I. DeVegh, Review of Economic Statistics, 1940.
C. Clark & J. Crawford, National Income of Australia.
L. Metzler, Journal of Political Economy, 1942.

  1. INTERNATIONAL PROPAGATION OF BUSINESS CYCLES

(*) G. Haberler, Prosperity & Depression, Ch. XII, pp. 455-473.
(*) J. Viner, Studies, pp. 432-436.
(*) League of Nations, Annual Survey, 1939-40.
(*) Sir A. Salter, Recovery, pp. 27-66, (101-195 optional).
R. Bennett, National Bureau, manuscript.
P. Einzig, Bankers, Statesmen & Economists.
League of Nations, B. Ohlin, Course & Phases of the World Economic Depression, especially pp. 116-215.
O. Morgenstern, Journal of Political Economy, August, 1943, “On the International Spread of Business Cycles.”

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[Handwritten note: “Fletcher”]

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
Reading List
March, 1944

  1. Mercantilism

Viner, Studies, Chs. I and II.
E. F. Heckscher, Mercantilism, Vol. I, Introduction, Vol. II, Chs. I and II of Part II.
A. Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book IV, Chs. I and II, Introduction, and glance through Ch. VIII.

  1. Tariffs and Import Quotas

G. Haberler, Theory of International Trade, pp. 169-174, and Chs. XV, XVI, XVII, XX, XXI.
F.W. Taussig, Some Aspects of the Tariff Question, Part I and one other part of your own choosing.
Sir W. Beveridge and others, Tariffs: The Case Examined, Chs. II-XI.
H. Heuser, Control of International Trade, Chs. I, II, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII, and pp. 150-151, 155-156, 158-159, 161-162.

  1. Exchange Control and Trade Agreements

P. Einzig, Exchange Control, Chs. I, II, VII, X, XI, XII, XIII, XVIII.
P. Einzig, Economic Warfare, Chs. VI, IX, X, XI.
H. S. Ellis, Exchange Control in Central Europe, Chs. I, IV, V.
Hearings before the Ways and Means Committee on Extension of Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, 76th Congress, 3rd Session, H.J. Res. 407 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1940), Vol. I. Go through testimony of Hull (4-15, 31-33), Wallace (116-122, 125, 142-143), Noble (169-171), Fox (491-503), Grady (713-750, 899-910) and anything else that interests you.

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ECONOMICS 1
Final Examination
May 18, 1944
Professor Samuelson

3 hours
Answer 3 out of 4 questions

  1. To what extent has the business cycle been international? Discuss the mechanisms whereby the cycle may be transmitted between countries.
  2. Analyze the pros and cons of one of the advantages claimed for the tariff, with specific reference to some American industry.
  3. Describe the successive steps by which a country extends exchange control. What problems is each designed to meet?
  4. Bring to bear the tools of analysis developed in this course upon some anticipated postwar problem of international economic relations.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, 1930s-2009, Box 33, Folder “Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1944-1947”.

Image Source:  Paul Samuelson faculty photo in MIT Technique 1950.

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Exam Questions M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Reading assignments and final exam for Business Cycles. Samuelson, 1948

 

The reading list and final exam questions for Paul Samuelson’s course on business cycles at M.I.T. that he taught during the second term of 1942-43 were posted earlier. In this posting I provide transcriptions for the reading list and final exam for the same course offered five years later. I have included a carbon copy of the first two questions that are different from the first two questions in the mimeographed copy. Maybe the carbon copy was preliminary, perhaps undergraduates and graduates received different questions. In any event the questions are different and clearly identified for the same examination date and same course. Note the tease in his illustration for Question 3 where he lists “in order of importance” “sunspots” and “anti-Keynesian” as Samuelson’s personal main theories.

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Reading Assignment, Economics 26
Spring Term 1948

  1. The student should buy J. M. Keynes, General Theory of Employment, Money and Interest; and if possible, G. Haberler, Prosperity and Depression (3rd revised edition).
  2. As background reading, the student may wish to consult J. A. Estey or E. Bratt on Business Cycles [James Arthur Estey, Business Cycles, New York: Prentice-Hall, 1941; Elmer Clark Bratt, Business Cycles and Forecasting, 3rd 1949] and Joan Robinson, Introduction to the Theory of Employment.

 

Reading Assignments
A

Wesley C. Mitchell, Business Cycles: The Problem and its Setting (1927), Chapters 1, 4.
A. H. Hansen, Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Chapters 1, 2
Wm. H. Beveridge, Full Employment in a Free Society, Appendix A.
J. A. Schumpeter, Business Cycles (1939), Chapters 4, 7C, 15G
S. Kuznets, National Income and its Composition, Vol. 1, Chapter 1
G. Haberler, Prosperity and Depression, Chapters 1, 9

Optional:

A. F. Burns and W. C. Mitchell, Measuring Business Cycles.

 

B

G. Haberler, op cit, Ch. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
A. H. Hansen, Business Cycle Theory, 1, 2, 4, 8
K. Wicksell, Interest and Prices, Introduction, Ch. 5, 7, 8, 11.

 

C

J. M. Keynes, General Theory
P. Samuelson, Ch. 13 on Savings and Investment in Economics
A. H. Hansen, Fiscal Policy, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
G. Haberler, Ch. 8, Part III
S. E. Harris, Postwar Economic Problems, Ch. 2, 5
S. E. Harris, Economic Reconstruction, Ch. 5
Selected Readings on Business Cycles, [Probably: American Economic Association. Gottfried Haberler, chairman of the selection committee. Readings in Business Cycle Theory. Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1944.] Lange, Clark, Tinbergen papers.

 

D

Financing American Prosperity. [Financing American prosperity : a symposium of economists. Editors: Paul T. Homan and Fritz Machlup. New York : The Twentieth Century Fund, 1945.] Read Ch. 1 and any other two
Federal Reserve Monograph No. 3. First Musgrave Article and Comments.

 

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Business Cycles
Ec 26 Examination
May 27, 1948
[from mimeographed copy]

20 minutes

  1. What postwar public policies should be followed in connection with business cycles? (If none, justify your answer.)

 

15 minutes

  1. Define in a paragraph or less:

acceleration principle
Say’s Law
marginal propensity to invest
“foreign trade multiplier”
Juglar cycle

 

15 minutes

  1. Next to each of the following writers fill in the appropriate letter and number (or numbers if more than one is called for).

Thus the correct answer for Samuelson might be as indicated:

Samuelson    A         2         9

if his principal contribution occurred in the last 20 years; and if the theories of the cycle for which he is best known were (in order of importance) “sunspots” and “anti-Keynesian.”

 

Time of Principal Contribution Main Theory or Theories
A. Last 20 years 1. monetary
B. Early 20th century (1900-27) 2. sunspots and weather
C. 19th century or earlier 3. underconsumption
4. self-generating, endogenous
5. exogenous investment fluctuation
6. Say’s Law of Markets
7. eclectic (some truth in most theories)
8. overinvestment
9. anti-Keynesian

 

 

Time of Principal Contribution

Main Theory or Theories
Cassel

_____

_____; _____
Catchings

_____

_____
Dewey and Dakin

_____

_____
Fisher (I.)

_____

_____
Foster

_____

_____
Haberler

_____

_____
Hawtrey

_____

_____
Hansen

_____

_____; _____
Hobson

_____

_____
Hayek

_____

_____; _____
Jevons

_____

_____
Anderson

_____

_____; _____
Keynes

_____

_____; _____
Pigou

_____

_____
Lauderdale

_____

_____
Mitchell

_____

_____; _____
Mises

_____

_____; _____
Malthus

_____

_____
Spiethoff

_____

_____
Ricardo

_____

_____
Tugan-Baranowsky

_____

_____; _____
Schumpeter

_____

_____

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Business Cycles
Ec 26 Examination
May 27, 1948
[from carbon copy]

 

20 minutes

  1. In retrospect what public policies seemed called for in the period between the two world wars in connection with “business cycles”?

 

15 minutes

  1. Define or describe in a paragraph:

natural rate of interest vs. real rate of interest
open market purchase
Kondratieff cycle
marginal efficiency of capital

 

Source: David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Paul A. Samuelson Papers: Box 33, Folder “14.451 Business Cycles, 1943-1955”.

Image Source: From the slideshow at the MIT Memorial Service for Paul A. Samuelson held on April 10, 2010.

 

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Exam Questions M.I.T.

M.I.T. Final exam for business cycles course taught by Paul Samuelson, 1943

 

The following exam questions come from the carbon paper copy in Paul Samuelson’s papers. Transcribed below are the final exam questions for his course on business cycles taught during the second term of the 1942/43 academic year at M.I.T. The reading list for this course was transcribed and posted earlier. The next posting will provide the reading assignments and final examination for his course five years later.

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Business Cycles
Ec 26 Examination
Thursday, May 20, 1943

Answer two or three questions not all from the same section.

I

  1. “The older economists regarded the trade cycle as a fluctuation around an undefined base. Modern economists have for the first time a theory of effective demand to determine that base.” Develop the last sentence, and weigh the accuracy of the whole quotation.
  2. Must savings equal investment? Discuss this problem, giving as little weight as possible to terminological and definitional matters. Go to the heart of the matter, and show how hoarding enters the picture if at all.
  3. What is the optimum amount of money in a system; the optimum marginal efficiency of capital; the optimum marginal propensity to consume? Explain.
  4. How can those who have lost faith in monetary control have so much confidence in the efficacy of fiscal policy?

 

II

  1. What is the effect on prices and wages of greatly increased effective demand? Illustrate with the policy problems raised during a war.
  2. Weigh the chances for boom and depression in the half decade after the war.
  3. Resolved: Secular stagnation is likely if not inevitable. Prepare a brief for the affirmative and for the negative.
  4. Discuss the problems raised by the public debt.

 

Source: David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Paul A. Samuelson Papers: Box 33, Folder “14.451 Business Cycles, 1943-1955”.

Image Source: From the slideshow at the MIT Memorial Service for Paul A. Samuelson held on April 10, 2010.

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Graduate Core Economic Theory, Readings and Exams. Schumpeter, 1936-37

 

The reading lists and exams for Schumpeter’s graduate economic theory course in 1935-36 have been posted earlier (the year Paul Samuelson took the course). It is worth noting that Keynes and the General Theory (at least Chapters 11, 13-16) were added to the readings for the second term of 1936-37.

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Course Announcement, 1936-37

Economics 101 (formerly 11). Economic Theory

Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2. Professor Schumpeter.

Source:  Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1936-37 (first edition). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXIII, No. 5 (March 2, 1936), p. 142.

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Course Enrollment, 1936-37

Primarily for Graduates:

[Economics] 101. (formerly 11). Professor Schumpeter.–Economic Theory.

Total 36:  30 Graduates, 3 Seniors, 3 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College for 1936-1937, p. 93.

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Economics 101

Following is a list of some of the most important works in English dealing with problems outside the range of perfect competition. They are not all assigned, but assigned reading is taken altogether from this list.

Pigou, A. C., Economics of Welfare, 3rd Edition.
Chamberlin, E. H., The Theory of Monopolistic Competition.
Chamberlin, E. H., On Imperfect Competition, in the March, 1934 Supplement of The American Economic Review, pp. 23-27.
Robinson, Joan, Economics of Imperfect Competition.
Robinson, Joan, What is Perfect Competition, Q. J. E., Nov. 1934.
Zeuthen, F., Problems of Monopoly and Economic Warfare.
Cournot, A. A., Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth.
Edgeworth, F. Y., The Pure Theory of Monopoly (Papers, Vol. I)
Hotelling, Harold, Stability in Competition, E. J., March 1929.
Shove, G. F., The Imperfection of the Market, E. J., March 1933.
Harrod, R. F., Doctrines of Imperfect Competition, Q. J. E., May 1934.
Hicks, J. R., The Theory of Monopoly, Econometrica, Jan. 1935.

The subjects, in the order in which they will be taken up, together with the assigned reading, are given below.

I.  The Technique and the Background.

Pigou, Part II, Ch. XIV.
Robinson, Chs. 1, 2.
Chamberlin, Chs. 1, 2.

  

V. Monopolistic Competition

Chamberlin, Chs. 4, 5, 6, 7.
Robinson, Ch. 7. Q.J.E., Nov. ‘34
Shove, E.J., March ’33.
Harrod, Q.J.E., May ’34.
II.  Simple Monopoly.

Pigou, Part II, Ch. XVI.
Robinson, Chs. 3, 4, 5.

 VI. Discrimination.

Pigou, Chs. XVII, XVIII (Part II).
Robinson, Chs. 15, 16.
III.  Duopoly and Oligopoly

Pigou, Part II, Ch. XV.
Chamberlin, Ch. 3.

  
IV. Bilateral Monopoly.

Hicks, Sect. 3.

  

Source: Harvard University Archives. Joseph Schumpeter Papers. Lecture Notes. Box 9, Folder “Ec 11, Fall 1936”.

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[Hand-written notes, neat, presumably to be typed]

  1. On Substitution

Marshall, V., Chs. 4, 8; VI, Ch.1.
Hicks, Theory of Wages, Ch. 6.
Robinson, Imperfect Competition, Ch. 22.
Machlup, “Commonsense of the Elast. of Subst.”, Rev. Econ. Stud., Vol II, No. 3. (on Econ. 1 shelf)

More Advanced

Hicks, Appendix.
Various notes on elast. of subs. In Vols I and II, Rev. Econ. Stud., by Hicks, Lerner, Kahn, Tarshis etc.
Hicks, Rev. Econ. Stud. Oct., 1936.
Pigou, Econ. Journal, June, 1934.

  1. On Period of Production

Böhm-Bawerk, E., Positive Theory of Capital, Bk II, Ch. 2, 3.
Knight, F. H., “Capital, Time + the Interest Rate,” Economica, August 1934 (on Econ. 151 shelf)
Hayek, F. A., Q. J. E., Feb., ‘36
Machlup, F. “Professor Knight + the Period of Production,” J. P. E., Oct. 1935.

More Advanced

Gifford, C.H.P., Econometrica, April 1935 (in Econ. 102 shelf).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Joseph Schumpeter Papers. Lecture Notes. Box 9, Folder “Ec 11, Fall 1936”.

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1936-37
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 101

(Answer any FIVE questions)

  1. What meaning can be attributed to
    1. Positively inclined demand curves?
    2. Negatively inclined long-run average cost curves?
  2. Define arc elasticity of demand and explain the usefulness or otherwise of the concept.
  3. From given demand curves for consumers’ goods we derive demand curves for the producers’ goods or factors of production. From these in turn we derive the prices of factors and hence incomes. And these incomes determine the demand curves for consumers’ goods. Does this involve circular reasoning?
  4. Why is the explanation of market price by means of the theory of marginal utility superior to the explanation of market price by means of the Ricardian theory of quantity of labor?
  5. Consider a commodity A which is the product of two factors of production B and C. Then “an increase in the supply of A raises the demand for B in terms of money if the elasticity of the demand for A is greater than the elasticity of substitution.” Prove.
  6. Show why and in what sense price is determinate in the case of bilateral monopoly.
  7. “Perfect competition exists to such a negligible extent in the modern economy that all theorizing based on this assumption must be regarded as sheer waste of time.” What have you to say to this?
  8. “The key to problems of imperfect competition lies in the conditions of demand. But it is precisely when we come to problems of imperfect competition that the ordinary demand curve apparatus ceases to have any clear meaning.” Comment.

Mid-Year. 1937.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Joseph Schumpeter Papers. Lecture Notes. Box 9, Folder “Ec 11, Fall 1936”.

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ECONOMICS 101 [“37” is handwritten here]

The first month of the second term will be devoted to a study of the principles underlying the theory of distribution, with special emphasis on wages.

  1. Substitution and Relative Shares
    1. Hicks, J. R., The Theory of Wages, Ch. VI.
    2. Machlup, Fritz, “The Common Sense of the Elasticity of Substitution”, Review of Economic Studies, June, 1935.
    3. Hicks, J. R., “Distribution and Economic Progress: A Revised Version”, Review of Economic Studies, October, 1936.
    4. Also notes and articles on substitution and relative shares in Review of Economic Studies, Vol. I, Nos. 1 and 2, though not required reading, may be consulted.
  2. Theory of Wages and Marginal Productivity
    1. Marshall, Bk. VI, especially Ch. I.
    2. Hicks, J. R., Theory of Wages, Ch. I.
    3. ——-, Marginal Productivity and the Principle of Variation,” Economica, February, 1932.
    4. Schultz, Henry and Hicks, J. R., “Marginal Productivity and the Lausanne School: “A Reply” and “A Rejoinder”, Economica, August, 1932.
    5. Robertson, D. H., “Wage Grumbles” in the volume of essays entitled Economic Fragments.
    6. Chamberlin, E. H., On distribution under Imperfect Competition, pp. 23-27 of the Supplement to the American Economic Review, March, 1934.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Joseph Schumpeter Papers. Lecture Notes. Box 10, Folder “Ec 11, Spring 1937”.

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 ECONOMICS 101

            The next two or three weeks will be devoted to the discussion of capital and interest. A select bibliography and the assigned reading are listed below.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. Böhm-Bawerk, E., Capital and Interest (a history of interest theories) [: and] The Positive Theory of Capital (the third edition, available only in German, containing the polemical Excursi, is to be preferred to the English translation)
  2. Marx, Karl, Capital (especially Vol. I, Parts III and VII; Vol. II, Part III; Vol. III, Parts II and III)
  3. Wicksell, Knut, Über Wert, Kapital und Rente [, and] Lectures on Political Economy, Vol. I
  4. Fisher, Irving, The Rate of Interest (1907) [; and] The Theory of Interest (1930) (a rewriting of the earlier work)
  5. Taussig, F.W., Wages and Capital
  6. Knight, F.H., “Interest”, article in The Encyc. of Soc. Science
  7. For a rather complete list of the numerous recent articles on capital, interest and the structure of production, Cf. Machlup, Fritz, “Professor Knight and the Period of Production”, Journal of Political Economy, 1935, first footnote.
  8. For an exposition of Böhm-Bawerk, Wicksell and the later work along the same lines done in Sweden, particularly by Gustav Akerman, Cf. Kirchmann, Hans, Studien zur Grenzproduktivitätstheorie des Kapitalzinses.
  9. Keynes, J. M., General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money.

ASSIGNED READING

  1. Fisher, The Rate of Interest, Part I, Chs. 1,2,3; Part III, Ch. 10
  2. Böhm-Bawerk, Positive Theory, Book I, Ch. 2; Book II, Chs. 2,4,5; Book V, Chs. 1,2,3,4,5; Book VI, Chs. 5,6,7; Book VII, Chs. 1,2,3.
  3. Wicksell, Lectures, Vol. I, pp. 144-171; 185-195.
  4. Keynes, J. M., General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Joseph Schumpeter Papers. Lecture Notes. Box 10, Folder “Ec 11, Spring 1937”.

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1936-37
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 101

Answer FIVE questions. Arrange your answers in the order of the questions.

  1. Saving, by increasing the quantity of capital, will tend to increase its absolute and relative share. At the same time saving will tend to reduce the rate of interest and thereby to decrease capital’s absolute and relative share. State the conditions on which the net effect of saving on the absolute and relative share will depend. What do you think the actual effect is in practice?
  2. Classical economists spoke of a net benefit accruing from free trade. Have we any means to measure that benefit and to determine how it is divided between the trading nations?
  3. Which of the theories of interest which you have studied seems to you most acceptable and why?
  4. What warrant is there for the statement that in perfect competition and perfect equilibrium every firm will produce that quantity which corresponds to the point of minimum average cost?
  5. Discuss the problem of inequality of incomes from the following points of view: (a) measurement, (b) economic effects, (c) relation to welfare.
  6. Could unemployment exist with perfect competition?
  7. What do you regard as the most desirable railroad rate policy? State clearly and justify your criteria of desirability, and show how the policy selected meets these criteria.

Final. 1937.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Joseph Schumpeter Papers. Lecture Notes. Box 10, Folder “Ec 11, Spring 1937”.

Image Source: Harvard University Archives. HUGBS 276.90p(43) Irving Fisher and J. A. Schumpeter (May 12, 1934).

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

M.I.T. Economic Growth and Fluctuations. Readings and Midterm Exam. Solow, 1966

 

The readings for the second term MIT graduate core course in macroeconomics “Economic Growth and Fluctuations” was taught by Robert Solow in 1966. The reading list and midterm questions transcribed for this posting come from his papers at the Duke Economists’ Papers Archive. Solow was indeed listed for this course in the internal report “Department of Economics, Teaching Responsibilities” dated March 4, 1966 in Box 3 of the Department of Economics Papers in the M.I.T. archives.

The first term course that academic year was taught by Evsey D. Domar. His 14-page reading list (!) together with the midterm and final examinations have been transcribed and posted as well.

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Spring 1966

READING LIST          14.452

I. Economic Growth

  1. Stylized Facts

Kendrick and Sato, “Factor Prices, Productivity and Growth”, AER, December 1963.
Bureau of the Census, Long-Term Economic Trends (This is a compendium of data. Spend an hour or two leafing through it.)

  1. Aggregative Models

Hahn and Matthews, “The Theory of Economic Growth: A Survey”, Economic Journal, December 1964, Parts I, II, IV.
Modigliani, “Comment” in Behavior of Income Shares (NBER), pp. 39-50.
Tobin, “Money and Economic Growth”, Econometrica, October 1965.
Marty, “The Neoclassical Theorem”, AER, December 1964.
Diamond, “National Debt in a Neoclassical Growth Model”, AER, December 1965, pp. 1126-1135 only. Rest optional.
Findlay, “The Robinsonian Model…”, Economica, February 1963 and comments by Robinson and Findlay in Economica, November 1963.

  1. Sources of Potential Output

Nelson, “Aggregate Production Functions” AER, September 1964
Denison, Sources of Economic Growth in the U.S. (Don’t read every word, but try to grasp content.)
Abramovitz, “Review of Denison”, AER, September 1962.
Phelps, “The New View of Investment”, QJE, November 1962.
David and van de Kliendert, “Biased Efficiency Growth in the U.S.”, AER, June 1965.

II. Short-Run Macrodynamics

  1. Short-Run Movements in Productivity

Brechling: “The Relationship between Output and Employment…”, Review of Economic Studies, July 1965
Kuh, “Cyclical and Secular Labor Productivity…”, Review of Economics and Statistics, February 1965
Wilson and Eckstein, “Short-Run Productivity Behavior…”, Review of Economics and Statistics, February 1964.

  1. Measuring Potential Output and the Gap

Thurow & Taylor, “The Interaction between Actual and Potential Rates of Growth in the U.S. Economy”, Mimeo.
Kuh, “The Measurement of Potential Output”, mimeo.

  1. Cycles and Fluctuations

Samuelson, “Interaction between Multiplier Analysis and the Principle of Acceleration”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 1939, reprinted in AEA, Readings in Business Cycle Theory.
Metzler, “The Nature and Stability of Inventory Cycles”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 1941.
Kaldor, “A Model of the Trade Cycle”, EJ 1940, reprinted in Hansen and Clemence, Readings in Business Cycles and National Income.
DeLeeuw, “The Demand for Capital Goods by Manufacturers”, Econometrica, July 1962.
Eckstein, “Manufacturing Investment and Business Expectations”, Econometrica, April 1965.
Jorgenson, “Anticipations and Investment Behavior”, Ch. 2 in The Brookings Quarterly Econometric Model of the U.S., (optional).
Darling and Lovell, “Factors Influencing Investment in Inventories”, Ch. 4 in The Brookings Quarterly Econometric Model of the U.S.
Okun, Effects of the Tax Cut of 1964. To appear or else mimeo. [handwritten addition]

  1. Integration of Growth & Effective Demand [handwritten addition, no items listed]

________________________

First Examination     14.452           April 13, 1966

  1. Imagine a one-sector economy, satisfying all the standard simplifying assumptions, in a steady state with constant saving ratio, constant rate of population growth, and no technological change. Now let there be a sudden once-and-for-all shift in technology, with the property that output per man increases by 10% at each and every capital-per-man. There is no change in saving ratio or population growth.
    1. What happens along the full-employment path?
    2. In the new steady state, has capital per man increased by more or less than 10%? Has output per man increase by more or less than 10%?
    3. Describe roughly how the competitively imputed real wage, rate of interest, and relative distribution of income might differ between the new steady-state and the old. (You will not always be able to settle the direction of change.)
  2. In the same sort of economy, suppose that investment demand is such that businesses will quickly snap up all investment opportunities yielding at least some “target rate of return”, like 20%, but none yielding less. Discuss in terms of diagram or otherwise, whether the economy is likely to experience inadequate or excessive aggregate demand near the steady state. What effect would a sudden increase in the rate of population growth have (assuming that the saving ratio was not affected)?
  3. Denison has been described as a pessimist with respect to the possibility of raising the U.S. rate of growth through deliberate policy. Is that a fair description? If so, what are the main sources of his pessimism? What do you gather from Nelson, Abramovitz and Phelps on this subject?

 

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Papers of Robert M. Solow, Box 67, Folder “Exams”.

Image Source: Robert M. Solow (undated). MIT Museum .

Categories
Exam Questions Fields Harvard

Harvard. Money, Banking, and Crises. PhD General Exam, 1930s

 

While economics course examination questions are relatively abundant at Harvard, field examinations for Ph.D. candidates are not so common. The following is transcribed from a carbon-copy found in a departmental folder labeled “1935-37-38-42”.  Judging from the questions, I might have guessed the exam would have come earlier than the late 1930s. At least for now we’ll have to say “exact year unknown”.

________________

General Examination for the Ph.D. Degree.
Money, Banking, and Crises.

  1. Briefly compare the experience of France and the United States with bimetallism. What lessons can be drawn from the experience of the two countries?
  2. What factors worked in favor of, and what against, the successful operation of the Bland-Allison Act during the 80’s?
  3. Compare the general organization of banking in England with that in Germany. Which seems to you the stronger? Why?
  4. What features of the Canadian banking system affect the elasticity of note issue in that country? How elastic is the Canadian bank note issue? How has the note issue been affected by the “rest fund fad”? How do you account for the “rest fund fad”?
  5. Describe the use of call loans in banking in the United States. To what extent and for what reasons are such call loans made? Are they an element of strength or weakness in our system? Why!
  6. What is meant by a free gold market? Are the following such: (a) London; (b) Paris; (c) Berlin; (d) New York? In each case, why or why not?
  7. How will the rate of sterling exchange in New York be affected by: (a) a slump on the New York Stock Exchange; (b) low call money rates in New York; (c) a financial panic in the United States?
  8. What are the three best index numbers for the study of general prices since 1895 in England and the United States? What are the points of strength and weakness in each?
  9. Describe and criticize at length Professor Fisher’s plan for stabilizing or standardizing the gold dollar.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV.349.10), Box 23, Folder “Course Outlines 1935-37-38-42”.

 

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Galbraith’s Business Organization and Control. Syllabus and Exams. 1949-50

 

 

Materials for the undergraduate course “Business Organization and Control” taught by Sidney Alexander in 1948-49 has been transcribed and posted earlier. The course was taught the following year by John Kenneth Galbraith and others. Below you will find enrollment data followed by transcriptions of  the syllabi for both semesters along with the mid-year and final examinations for the course.

_______________________

 Course Enrollment

[Economics] 161 (formerly Economics 61a and 62b). Business Organization and Control. (Full Co.) Dr. Galbraith

(F) Total 179: 2 Graduates, 61 Seniors, 75 Juniors, 32 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 8 Radcliffe.
(Sp) Total 160:  2 Graduates, 56 Seniors, 70 Juniors, 24 Sophomores,  7 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of the Departments for 1949-59, p. 73.

_______________________

[Fall Term, 1949-50]

Economics 161
Business Organization and Control
Dr. Galbraith

Date

 Topic Lecturer

Reading
Sept. 28 Preview Galbraith Bain, Ch. 1,2 (omitting pp. 26-41), 4, 5, 6, 8.

TNEC No. 21, pp. 20-48, 113-121.
Sept. 30 Applied Theory of Markets Galbraith
Oct. 3

“

 Galbraith
Oct. 5

“

 Galbraith
Oct. 7 Section
Oct. 10 Section
Oct. 12 HOLIDAY
Oct. 14 Forms of Business Enterprise Gordon Guthmann & Dougall, Chapter 2
Oct. 17 24 The Corporation: Origin and Legal Characteristics Gordon Buchanan, Ch. 3; Berle & Means, Book II, Ch. 1; Dewing, Book I, Ch. 1-2.
Oct. 19 26

“

 Gordon
Oct. 21 28 Section
Oct. 24 31 Concentration & Market Organization: The Role and peration of the Large Corporation Galbraith Gordon, Chapters 2, 4, 5.
Berle and Means, Book I, Ch. 1;
Book IV, Chapters 1-4.
Oct. 26
Nov. 2

“

 Galbraith
Oct. 28
Nov. 4		 Section
Oct. 31
Nov. 7		 Concentration & Market Organization: Holding companies and interest groups Galbraith Purdy, Chapter 7. Structure of the American Economy, Part I, Appendix 13
Nov. 2
Nov. 9		 Concentration & Market Organization: Trade Associations Gordon TNEC No. 18, pp. 45-67
TNEC No. 21, pp. 234-258
Nov. 4

Nov. 11

 Section

 

Bain, Joe S., Pricing, Distribution, and Employment, 1948.

U.S., Temporary National Economic Committee Monographs:

No. 18, Trade Association Survey;
No. 21, Competition & Monopoly in American Industry.

Guthmann, H. G., & Dougall, H. E., Corporate Financial Policy, 1948.

Buchanan, N. S., The Economics of Corporate Enterprise.

Berle, A. A., & Means, G. C., The Modern Corporation and Private Property, 1932.

Dewing, A. S., Financial Policy of Corporations, 1941, 2-volume edition.

Gordon, R. A., Business Leadership in the Large Corporation, 1945.

Purdy, H. L., Lindahl, M.L., and Carter, W. A., Corporate Concentration & Public Policy, 1942.

U.S., National Resources Committee, Structure of the American Economy, Part I, “Basic Characteristics.

_______________________

[Fall Term (cont.), 1949-50]

Economics 161
Business Organization and Control
Messrs. Galbraith and Gordon

Topic

 Lecturer

Reading
November 14 Price Leadership and Market Sharing Gordon Burns, Ch. III (ex. pp. 118-140), and Ch. IV.
November 16 Patents and Trademarks Gordon T.N.E.C. Monograph No. 21, pp. 158-165; Edwards, pp. 216-248.
November 18 Section
November 21 Advertising Galbraith Burns, Ch. VIII
November 23 Price Discrimination Gordon Boulding, pp. 533-43
November 25 Section
November 28 Basing Point System—Exposition Galbraith Machlup, Ch. 1 (ex. Appendix) and Ch. 3;

Kaysen, “Basing Point Pricing and Public Policy”
November 30 Basing Point System—Consequences Kaysen
December 2 Section
December 5 Economic Norms of Public Policy Duesenberry Hansen, Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Ch. XV
December 7

“

 Duesenberry
December 9 Section Galbraith, Essay on Monopoly and Concentration of Economic Power in Ellis, Review of Contemporary Economics
December 12 Economic Norms of Public Policy Duesenberry
December 14 Promoting Competition: The Anti Trust Laws Gordon Purdy et al., Chs. 16, 17, 18 (omitting pp. 354-360), 20 (omitting pp. 393-401), 28;

Adelman, “Effective Competition and the Anti Trust Laws”;
Mason, “The Current Status of the Monopoly Problem in the United States
December 16 Section
December 19 Promoting Competition: The Anti Trust laws
December 22

“

 

Adelman, M. A., “Effective Competition and the Anti Trust Laws,” M.I.T., Publications in the Social Sciences, Series No. 1, Reprint from Harvard Law Review, Sept. 1948.

Boulding, Kenneth, Economic Analysis, Revised Edition.

Burns, A. F., The Decline of Competition, 1936.

Edwards, Corwin, Maintaining Competition, 1949.

Kaysen, Carl, “Basing Point Pricing and Public Policy,” Q.J.E., August, 1949, pp. 289-314.

Machlup, Fritz, The Basing Point System, 1949.

Mason, Edward S., “The Current Status of the Monopoly Problem in the U.S.,” Harvard Law Review, June, 1949, pp. 1265-1285.

Purdy, H. L., Lindahl, M. L., and Carter, W. A., Corporate Concentration & Public Policy, 1942.

U.S., T.N.E.C. Monograph No. 21, Competition and Monopoly in American Industry, 1940.

Hansen, Alvin, Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, 1941, First Edition.

Ellis, Howard, Review of Contemporary Economics, 1948.

_______________________

Final Examination, Fall Term 1949-50

1949-50
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 161

I.
(one hour)

Required

  1. A book published a couple of years ago entitled The American Individual Enterprise System, has the following to say about “the meaning of competition”;

“How a seller chooses to exercise his freedom, as long as he is independent, does not furnish a test of competition. The only true test, and the basic distinguishing feature of competition, is whether there are at least two suppliers of a market who make independent decisions on the prices and conditions at which they will offer their goods and services.”

Using the word “competition” in this sense, the book’s authors stat that “competition serves the public in the following ways”:

“It tends to assure that goods and services will be produced and distributed at the lowest possible cost.
“It tends to assure that profits will be held to the minimum.
“It tends to assure that the energy and raw materials and productive capacity of the nation will be used for providing those goods and services which the public wants, and in proportion to the relative demands of the public.
“It assures freedom of opportunity. Anyone at any time, if he has the necessary capital, can enter any line of business he desires.”

Questions:

(a) Do you concur in this definition of competition? Why or why not?

(b) Would an economic system which is “competitive” in the sense of the above quotation necessarily produce the results which the authors mention? Consider in turn each of the “results” mentioned above. Be specific, and make certain that you explain each step in your reasoning.

 

II.
(Seventy-five minutes)

Answer any three of the five.

  1. Give a concise, clear explanation of the mechanics of a multiple-basing point pricing using graphs if you wish.
  2. Under what circumstances and why are business firms likely to prefer non-price to price competition? Define your terms precisely.
  3. In what ways may it be argued that the American patent system is a stimulus and in what ways a deterrent, to invention and to realized technical progress in American industry?
  4. What is price discrimination? Outline a set of conditions under which discriminatory pricing operates to the advantage of buyers.
  5. State definitely but concisely the way in which each of the following cases affected the development of antitrust law.

C. Knight Case
Standard Oil Case
U. S. Steel Case
Aluminum Case

III.
(Forty-five minutes)

Required.

  1. Schumpeter and Clark appear to agree in advocating (or condoning) certain restraints on competition. Develop fully and discuss the lines of argument by which they arrive at their respective conclusions.

 

Mid-Year. January 1950.

_______________________

[Spring Term, 1949-50]

Economics 161
Business Organization and Control
Professor Galbraith and Mr. Gordon

Subject

 Lecturer

Reading
Feb. 8 Promoting Competition: Cartel Policy Gordon Mason, Controlling World Trade, Ch. 1, 2.
Feb. 10 Promoting Competition: The Recent Antitrust Cases Gordon Oppenheim, Cases on Federal Antitrust Laws, Ch. 5.
Nicholls, “The Tobacco Case of 1946,” American Economic Review, May 1949, pp. 284-96.
Feb. 13 Regulating Competition: Retail Trade and Regulation Galbraith TNEC Monograph 35, pp. 5-14, 145-160.
Adelman, “The A & P Case,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1949.
Feb. 15 Regulating Competition: Retail Trade and Regulation Galbraith
Feb. 17 Section
Feb. 20 Limiting Competition: Agriculture Galbraith Black, Parity, Parity, Parity, Ch. 5, 20, 21.
Schultz, Production and Welfare of Agriculture, Ch. 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15.
Feb. 22 HOLIDAY
Feb. 24 Limiting Competition: Agriculture Galbraith
Feb. 27 Limiting Competition: Agriculture Galbraith
Mar. 1 Regulated Monopoly: The Public Utility Concept Gordon Lyon, Abramson et al, Government and Economic Life, Vol. II, Ch. 21.
Mar. 3 Section
Mar. 6 Regulated Monopoly: Power and Transport Gordon
Mar. 8 Regulated Monopoly: Power and Transport Gordon Locklin, Economics of Transportation, Ch. VIII, XV, XVI.
Mar. 10 Section
Mar. 13 Regulated Monopoly: Power and Transport Gordon
Mar. 15 Corporate Financial Structure Gordon Dewing, Financial Policy of Corporations, Bk. I, Ch. 4 to p. 83, Ch. 7, 8, 9 to p. 218, and pp. 230-42; Bk. III, Ch. 1, 2.
Merrill, Lynch, How to Read a Financial Report (entire pamphlet)
Mar. 17 Section
Mar. 20 Corporate Financial Structure Gordon
Mar. 22 Corporate Financial Structure Gordon
Mar. 24 Section
Mar. 27 Regulation of Securities and Markets Gordon Stein, Government and the Investor, Ch. 2, 3, 4, 6.
Mar. 29 Regulation of Securities and Markets Gordon
Mar. 31 Section
Recess from April 2 through 9
Apr. 10 Conservation: Forest Products Nixon Jensen, Lumber and Labor, Ch. 1,2.
Apr. 12 Conservation: Oil and Gas Manne Rostow, A National Policy for the Oil Industry, Ch. 1-9, 13-15.
Apr. 14 Section
Apr. 17 Conservation: Oil and Gas Manne
Apr. 19 HOLIDAY
Apr. 21 Public Development: Housing Galbraith Fortune Magazine: The Industry Capitalism Forgot, August 1947, & Editorial, September 1947.

TNEC Monograph #8, Towards More Housing, Ch. IV, V, IX.
Apr. 24 Public Development: Housing Galbraith
Apr. 26 Economic Mobilization Galbraith Galbraith, “The Disequilibrium System,” American Economic Review, 1947.

Johnson, G. G., Economic Stabilization Program.
Apr. 28 Section
May 1 Economic Mobilization Galbraith
May 3 Reconciliation of Policy Galbraith
May 5 Summary Galbraith
Reading Period begins May 8

 

Mason, Edward S., Controlling World Trade, 1946.

Oppenehim, S. C., Cases on Federal Antitrust Laws.

Nicholls, W. H., “The Tobacco Case of 1946” in American Economic Review, May 1949, pp. 284-96.

Lyon, Abramson, et al, Government and Economic Life 1940.

Dewing, Arthur S., Financial Policy of Corporations, 1941, 2-volume edition.

Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Beane, How to Read a Financial Report (pamphlet).

Stein, Emanuel, Government and the Investor.

Locklin, D. Philip, Economics of Transportation, 1947.

TNEC Monograph #8, Toward More Housing.

TNEC Monograph #35, Large-Scale Organization in the Food Industries.

Adelman, M. A., “The A & P Case. A Study in Applied Economic Theory,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. LXIII, No. 2, May 1949.

Schultz, T. W., Production and Welfare of Agriculture, 1949.

Black, J. D., Parity, Parity, Parity, 1942.

Jensen, Vernon, Lumber and Labor.

Rostow, Eugene V., A National Policy for the Oil Industry, 1947.

Galbraith, J. K., “The Disequilibrium System,” American Economic Review, Vol. XXXVII, #3, June 1947.

Fortune Magazine, “The Industry Capitalism Forgot,” August 1947, “Editorial,” September 1947.

Johnson, G. G., Suggestions for the Development of an Economic Stabilization Program for a War Emergency, National Security Resources Board, Document 47.

_______________________

Economics 161
[Midterm] Examination
April, 1950

  1. Retailing and agriculture are both industries composed of many small firms. What are the similarities in government policy toward these industries? What are the important differences?
  2. What were the principal provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934? Discuss briefly in light of the abuses they were designed to remedy.

_______________________

Spring Term, Final Examination

1949-50
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 161

I.
(Forty-five minutes)

Required

  1. The special appeals court, which heard the Alcoa case in 1945, said that Congress, in passing the federal antitrust laws, “was not necessarily actuated by economic motives alone.” “It is possible,” the court said, “because of its indirect social or moral effect, to prefer a system of small producers, each dependent for his success upon his own skill and character, to one in which the great mass of those engaged must accept the direction of a few.”

Does this point of view seem to you to provide a persuasive argument for the fair trade laws, Robinson-Patman Act and the position of the government in the A & P cases? Explain.

II.
(Ninety minutes)

Answer three out of four.

  1. Explain the importance of the following in relation to public regulation of the petroleum industry:
    1. The rule of capture.
    2. The Connally “Hot Oil” Act.
    3. The Interstate Compact.
    4. Marginal well Acts.
    5. Compulsory unit operation.
  2. What are the Acts of Congress administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission? Outline the principal provisions of any three of them and the ends they were designed to achieve.
  3. Under what circumstances do you believe a certificate of convenience and necessity should be required for entry into a business? What industries would you add (or delete) from a list where such certificates are required and why?
  4. “The pricing system is not an appropriate means for stabilizing income from farming over time. To place this burden on the pricing system, as has been done in recent years can only reduce greatly its capacity [for allocating resources between alternative employments in agriculture and between agricultural and non-agricultural enterprise].”

What is the general character of the legislation “of recent years” to which Professor Schultz refers? Do you agree that it has inhibited resource allocation? Does the same objection hold for the Brannan Plan?

III.
(Forty-five minutes)

Required.

  1. Before signing or vetoing important legislation, the President customarily requests the Bureau of the Budget—or occasionally some other Executive department or agency—to prepare a confidential memorandum setting forth the main features of the proposed legislation, the principal groups favoring and opposing it together with their arguments and motives, a careful statement of the economic consequences of the legislation; and the recommendation to the President, properly defended, as to whether he should accept or veto the legislation.
    Would you prepare such a memorandum on the amendments to the Natural Gas Act of 1938 (the Kerr Bill), as passed by the Eighty-first Congress and keeping in mind the following:

    1. That you are asked to pass only on the economic questions posed by the legislation. You are at liberty to ignore any purely legal issues that may have been involved.
    2. That your concern is solely with the public welfare. You may ignore any political problems which the legislation poses for the President or his party.
    3. That the President is a busy man and should not be burdened with an unnecessarily long-winded discourse.

(The quality of your memorandum and its economic analysis and argument, not the particular recommendation you make, will be the guiding factor in marking your paper.)

 

Final. May 1950.

 

Source: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Papers of John Kenneth Galbraith. Box 519, Folder “Economics 161, 1949-50.”

Image: John Kenneth Galbraith in Harvard Class Album 1952.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Graduate Money and Banking, Reading List, Final Exam. Williams and Goodwin, 1947

 

Today’s post is the second of three devoted to the year long graduate sequence “Principles of Money and Banking” taught by Alvin H. Hansen, John H. Williams, and Richard M. Goodwin (second semester) at Harvard in 1946-47.

The reading list for Econ 141b is transcribed below, along with the corresponding final examination questions. The previous post provided  transcriptions for the first semester’s list of readings and final examination (Econ 141a) and course enrollments in each semester. The next post will have the “General Reference Reading” list for both semesters.

____________________________

SECOND SEMESTER
ECONOMICS 141b: PRINCIPLES OF MONEY AND BANKING

III. International Monetary Equilibrium:

  1. Cassel, G., The Downfall of the Gold Standard (1936).
  2. Copland, Douglas, Australia in the World Crisis (1934).
  3. Ellis, H. S., Exchange Control in Central Europe (1941).
  4. Graham and Whittlesey, Golden Avalanche (1939).
  5. Hall, M. F., The Exchange Equalization Account (1935).
  6. Hahn, George, International Monetary Cooperation (1945).
  7. Hansen, Alvin, H., America’s Role in the World Economy (1945).
  8. Hardy, C. O., Is There Enough Gold (1936).
  9. Harris, S. E., Exchange Depreciation (1936).
  10. Harris, S.E., Economic Problems of Latin America (1944).
  11. Iverson, Carl, International Capital Movements (1936).
  12. Kindelberger, C. P., International Short-term Capital Movements (1937).
  13. League of Nations: Final Report on Gold (1932).
  14. League of Nations: Economic Fluctuations in the United States and the United Kingdom, 1918-22 (1942).
  15. Nurkse, R., International Currency Experience (1944).
  16. Warren and Pearson: (a) Gold and Prices (1935);
    (b) World Prices and the Building Industry (1937).
  17. Williams, John H., Postwar Monetary Plans (Second Edition, 1945)

IV. Monetary and Fiscal Policy:

  1. Beveridge, Sir William, Full Employment in a Free Society (1945).
  2. British White Paper on “Employment Policy” (1944).
  3. de Chazeau, Hart, and Others, Jobs and Markets (1946).
  4. Economics of Full Employment. Six Oxford Economists (1945).
  5. Fellner, W., Monetary Policies and Full Employment (1946).
  6. Financing American Prosperity, Twentieth Century Fund (1945).
  7. Groves, H. M.: (a) Production, Jobs and Taxes (1944).
    (b) Postwar Taxation and Economic Progress (1946).
  8. Hansen, Alvin, H., Economic Policy and Full Employment (1946).
  9. Harris, S. E., Postwar Economic Problems (1943).
  10. Harris, S. E., Economic Reconstruction (1945).
  11. Hayes, H. Gordon, Spending, Saving and Employment (1945).
  12. League of Nations: Anti-Depression Policy (1945).
  13. Langum, John K., Postwar Banking Problems (1946).
  14. Postwar Economic Studies No. 3, Public Finance and Full Employment (1945).
  15. Postwar Economic Studies No. 8, Federal Reserve Policy (1946).
  16. Ruml and Sonne, Fiscal and Monetary Policy (1944).
  17. Terborgh, George, The Bogey of Economic Maturity (1945).
  18. Williams, John H. Postwar Monetary Plans (Second Edition, 1945), Chapters 4, 5.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Alvin Harvey Hansen Papers. Box 1 of Lecture Notes and Other Course Material, Folder “Econs 141”. Also found in Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1946-47 (2 of 2)”.

____________________________

1946-47
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 141b

PRINCIPLES OF MONEY AND BANKING

(Three hours)

Discuss one question in each part.

I

  1. Your own appraisal of Keynes’ “General Theory.”
  2. The consumption function as a guide to monetary and fiscal policy.

 

II

  1. The treatment of the interest rate in modern monetary theory.
  2. Hayek’s criticism of the Foster and Catchings thesis.
  3. Hawtrey’s theory of the business cycle.

 

III

  1. The problem of international monetary and trade adjustment in the postwar world.
  2. One of the following:

(a) The International Monetary Fund;
(b) The International Bank for Reconstruction and development;
(c) The ITO Charter.

  1. Keynes’ paper on the “Balance of Payments of the United States,” Economic Journal, June, 1946.

 

Final. May, 1947.

 

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

Image Source: John H. Williams in Harvard Class Album, 1950.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Money and Banking graduate course, readings and exam. Hansen, 1946-47

 

 

Today’s post is the first of three devoted to the year long graduate sequence “Principles of Money and Banking” taught by Alvin H. Hansen, John H. Williams, and Richard M. Goodwin (second semester) at Harvard in 1946-47.

The reading list for Econ 141a is transcribed below, along with the corresponding final examination questions as well as enrollment numbers for both semesters.

Following posts will provide transcriptions for the following semester’s list of readings and final examination (Econ 141b) plus the “General Reference Reading” list for both semesters.

____________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 141a. (fall term) Professors J. H. Williams and Hansen.—Principles of Money and Banking.

Total 130: 88 Graduates, 1 Senior, 26 Public Administration, 15 Radcliffe.

 

[Economics] 141b. (spring term) Professors J. H. Williams and Hansen and Assistant Professor Goodwin.—Principles of Money and Banking.

Total 113: 75 Graduates, 23 Public Administration, 15 Radcliffe.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1946-1947, p. 71.

____________________________

ECONOMICS 141
PRINCIPLES OF MONEY AND BANKING

 

Economics 141a — First Semester, 1946-47 (Professor Hansen)

  1. Central Banking: Current Problems and Policies
  2. Theory of Money, Liquidity-Preference, Interest and Prices

Economics 141b — Second Semester, 1946-47 (Professor Williams)

III. International Monetary Equilibrium

  1. Monetary and Fiscal Policy

 

 

READING LIST FOR ECONOMICS 141a
Principles of Money and Banking
1946-1947

Note: Pre-requisite reading (for those who are deficient in undergraduate preparation in Money and Banking:

  1. Banking Studies, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System, (1941).
  2. Southard, F. A., Foreign Exchange Practice and Policy, (McGraw-Hill, 1940).
  3. Any one standard textbook in Money and Banking, such as: Thomas, Our Modern Banking and Monetary System, (Prentice-Hall, 1942); or Reed, Money, Currency and Banking, (McGraw-Hill, 1942).

 

I. Central Banking: Current Problems and Policies.

A. Minimum Reading List:

I. Books and Pamphlets:

  1. International Currency Experience (League of nations, 1944), Chapters I-IV, pp. 7-112.
  2. World Economic Survey, 1942-44 (League of Nations, 1945), Chapter IV “Finance and Banking” (pp. 173-213).
  3. Money and Banking: 1942-44 (League of Nations, 1945).
  4. Ellis, H. S., (in Harris: Economic Reconstruction, McGraw-Hill, 1945), Chapter 13, “Central and Commercial Banking in Postwar Finance” (pp. 237-252).
  5. Hansen, Alvin H., America’s Role in the World Economy (Norton, 1945), Chapter XVII, “Gold, Exports and Liquidity” (pp. 144-157).
  6. Harris, S. E., Inflation and the American Economy (McGraw-Hill, 1945), Chapter XXIV, “Money and Savings” (pp. 372-383).
  7. Hawtrey, R. G., The Art of Central Banking (Longmans, 1933) pp. 116-207.
  8. Keynes, J. M., Treatise on Money, Volume II, Chapters 25, 32, 33.
  9. Robertson, D. H., Essays in Monetary Theory (King, 1940), Chapter II, “Theories of Banking Policy” (pp. 39-59); Chapter XII, “British Monetary Policy” (pp. 154-167).
  10. Williams, John H., Postwar Monetary Plans (Knopf, second edition, 1945), Chapter 6, “The Banking Act of 1935” (pp. 112-129); Chapter 8, “The Crisis of the Gold Standard” (pp. 154-172); Chapter 9, “Monetary Stability and the Gold Standard” (pp. 172-190).
  11. Financing American Prosperity (Twentieth Century Fund, 1945):
    1. Ellis, H. S., “Monetary Controls and the Business of Banking” (pp. 140-153).
    2. Hansen, Alvin, H., “Management of the Debt and Internal Stability” (pp. 246-256).
    3. Williams, John H., “Money and Banking” (pp. 381-5).
  12. Postwar Economic Studies, No. 3 (Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System, 1945):
    1. Robinson, R. I., “Monetary Aspects of National Debt Policy” (pp. 69-83).
    2. Wallich, H. C., “Public Debt and Income Flow” (pp. 84-100).
    3. Hansen, Alvin H., “Comments” (pp. 131-5).

II. Reports and Articles:

  1. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances:
    1. Fiscal year ended June 30, 1944 (pp. 1-10).
    2. Fiscal year ended June 30, 1945 (pp. 1-10).
  2. Federal Reserve Bulletins:
    1. May 1946 (pp. 461-8), “Treasury Financing and Banking Developments.”
    2. July 1946 (pp. 707-15), “Postwar Business Finance”.
    3. February 1946 (pp. 122-3), “Estimated Liquid Assets of Individuals and Business”.
  3. Bopp, K. R., “Central Banking at the Crossroads”, Supplement, American Economic Review, March 1944 (pp. 260-77).
  4. Hansen, Alvin H., “Inflation”, Yale Review, Summer 1946.
  5. Macmillan Report, Royal Commission on Industry and Commerce, Cmd. 3897 (1931), pp. 2-45; 106-160.
  6. Samuelson, Paul, “The Effect of Interest Rate Increases on the Banking System”, American Economic Review, March 1945.
  7. Seligman, H. L., “The Problem of Excessive Commercial Bank Earnings”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1946.
  8. Whittlesey, C. R., “Federal Reserve Policy in Transition”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1946.

B. Supplementary Reading List:

I. Books

  1. Arndt, H. W., The Economic Lessons of the Nineteen Thirties, (Oxford, 1944).
  2. Coulborn, W, A. L., An Introduction to Money, (Longmans, 1938) Chapters 5, 13-14 (pp. 48-64, 209-241).
  3. Fisher, Irving, 100 Per Cent Money, (Adelphi, 1935; Third Edition City Printing Co., New Haven, 1945).
  4. Johnson, G. G., The Treasury and Monetary Policy, (Harvard 1939), Chapter I-V (pp. 3-160).
  5. Hawtrey, R. G., The Gold Standard in Theory and Practice (Longmans, Fourth Edition, 1939).
  6. Hawtrey, R. G., A Century of Bank Rate. (Longmans, 1938).
  7. Lewinski, J., Money, Credit and Prices, (King, 1929) Chapters IV-V (pp. 99-144).
  8. McCracken, Paul W., The Future of Northwest Bank Deposits, Federal Reserve Bank, Minneapolis, 1946.
  9. Mints, L. W., A History of Banking Theory (Chicago, 1945), Chapters VI and X (pp. 74-100; 178-197).
  10. Morgan, E. V., The Theory and Practice of Central Banking, (Macmillan, 1943).
  11. Niebyl, Karl H., Studies in the Classical Theories of Money, (Columbia, 1946).
  12. Sayers, R. S., Modern Banking, (Oxford, 1938), Chapters 4-5 (pp. 70-145).
  13. Viner, J. Studies in the Theory of International Trade, (Harper, 1937), Chapter V, “English Currency Controversies” (pp. 218-289).
  14. Wernette, P., Financing Full Employment, (Harvard, 1945), Chapter 3 (pp. 33-61).

II. Articles

  1. Abbott, C. C. (Review articles on Financing Problems and Bank Liquidity), Review of Economic Statistics, February 1946 (pp. 48-51).
  2. Abbott, C. C., “Management of the Federal Debt”, Harvard Business Review, Autumn 1945.
  3. Goldenweiser, E. A., “Commercial Banking After the War”, Federal Reserve Bulletin, September 1944.
  4. Seltzer, Lawrence, “Is a Rise in Interest Rates Desirable or Inevitable?”, American Economic Review, December 1945.
  5. Treasury Bulletin, April 1946, “Federal War-time Financing and the Growth of Liquid Assets”.
  6. Keynes, J. M., “The Objective of International Price Stability”, Economic Journal, June-September 1943.

C. General Reference Reading (see below).

II. Theory of Money, Liquidity Preference, Interest and Prices.

A. Minimum Reading List:

I. Books:

  1. Haberler, G., Prosperity and Depression, (League of Nations, 1939), Chapters 8, 13, (pp. 168-254; 455-507).
  2. Hansen, Alvin H.:
    1. Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, (Norton, 1941), Chapters 1-5; 11-15; (pp. 13-105; 225-338).
    2. Full Recovery or Stagnation, (Norton, 1938), Chapters 1-5 (pp. 13-133); Appendix, pp. 331-343.
  3. Hayek, F. A., Prices and Production, (Routledge, 1935), Chapters 1 and 4 (pp. 1-31; 105-128).
  4. Hicks, J. R., Value and Capital, (Oxford, 1939), Chapters 12-13 (pp. 153-170).
  5. Keynes, J. M., Monetary Reform, (Harcourt, 1924), pp. 81-95; 152-191.
  6. Keynes, J. M., A Treatise on Money, (Harcourt, 1930), Chapters 9-13 and 30 (Volume I, pp. 123-220; Volume II, pp. 148-208).
  7. Keynes, J. M., General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, (Harcourt, 1936), pp. 3-45; 61-65; 74-221; 245-271; 292-332; 372-384.
  8. Lerner, A. P., The Economics of Control, (Macmillan, 1944), Chapters 22-25 (pp. 271-345).
  9. Marget, Arthur W., The Theory of Prices, Volume I, (Prentice-Hall, 1938), Chapters 12 and 15 (pp. 302-343, 414-459).
  10. Marget, Arthur W., The Theory of Prices, Volume II, (Prentice-Hall, 1942), Chapter 3 (pp. 89-133).
  11. Marshall, A., Official Papers, (Macmillan, 1926), pp. 19-31.
  12. Pigou, A. C., Lapses from Full Employment, (Macmillan, 1945), Chapters 1-5; 8-9; 12. (pp. 1-29; 38-51; 69-73).
  13. Robertson, D. H., Money, (Harcourt, 1929), chapters 2-4; 7-8 (pp. 18-91; 144-197).
  14. Robertson, D. H., Essays in Monetary Theory, (King, 1940), Chapters 1, 6, 11 (pp. 1-38; 92-7; 113-153).
  15. Schumpeter, J. A., Business Cycles, (McGraw-Hill, 1939), Volume II, Chapter 8, (pp. 449-482).
  16. Wicksell, K., Interest and Prices, (Macmillan, 1936), Introduction by Bertil Ohlin; also author’s Preface; Chapters 5, 7-8, 11 (pp. 38-50; 81-121; 165-177).
  17. Wicksell, K., Money: Lectures on Political Economy, Volume II, (Macmillan, 1935), Chapter IV (pp. 127-228).
  18. Wright, David McC., The Creation of Purchasing Power, (Harvard, 1939), Chapters 4-6 (pp. 60-121).
  19. Macmillan Report, Royal Commission on Finance and Industry, Cmd. 3897 (1931), Part I, Chapter 11.

II. Articles:

  1. Clark, Colin, “Public Finances and Changes in the Value of Money”, Economic Journal, December 1945.
  2. Hicks, J. R., “Mr. Keynes and the Classics: A Suggested Interpretation”, Econometrica, April 1937.
  3. Hawtrey, R. G. and Hicks, J. R., “Interest and Bank Rate”, The Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies, October 1939.
  4. Keynes, J. M., “Relative Movement of Real Wages and Output”, Economic Journal, March 1939.
  5. Lange, O., “The Rate of Interest and the Optimum Propensity to Consume”, Economica, February 1938.
  6. Lerner, A. P., “Alternative Formulations of the Theory of Interest”, Economic Journal, June 1938.
  7. Lerner, A. P., “Interest Theory: Supply and Demand for Loans or Supply and Demand for Cash”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1944.
  8. Lerner, A. P., “Ex Ante Analysis and Wage Theory”, Economica, November 1939.
  9. Lerner, A. P., “Some Swedish Stepping Stones in Economic Theory”, Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, November 1940.
  10. Mints, Hansen, Ellis, Lerner, Kalecki, “A Symposium on Fiscal and Monetary Policy”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1946.
  11. Modigliani, F., “Liquidity Preferences and the Theory of Interest and Money”, Econometrica, January 1944.
  12. Pigou, A. C., “Employment Policy and Sir William Beveridge”, Agenda, August 1944.
  13. Reder, M. W., “Interest and Employment”, Journal of Political Economy, June 1946.
  14. Simons, H. C., “Debt Policy and Banking Policy”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1946.

B. Supplementary Reading List:

I. Books:

  1. Adarkar, B. P., The Theory of Monetary Policy, (King, 1935), Chapter 1-8; 13-15 (pp. 3-52; 101-122).
  2. Chandler, L. V., An Introduction to Monetary Theory (Harper, 1940), pp. 1-205.
  3. Coulborn, W. A. L., An Introduction to Money, (Longmans, 1938), Chapters 6-8; 15-16 (pp. 65-116; 242-264).
  4. Lindahl, Erik, Studies in the Theory of Money and Capital, (Allen and Unwin, 1939), Part II, Chapters 4-6, (pp. 199-268).
  5. Myrdal, Gunnar, Monetary Equilibrium, (Hodge, 1939), Chapters 1-3 (pp. 1-48).
  6. Polanyi, M. Full Employment and Free Trade, (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1945), Chapters 1, 4, (pp. 1-66; 87-103).
  7. Sayers, R. S., Modern Banking. (Oxford, 1938), Chapter 6 (pp. 146-164).
  8. Thomas, Brindley, Monetary Policy and Crises, (Routledge, 1936), Chapters 3-4 (pp. 62-156).

II. Articles:

  1. Lange, O., “Economic Controls After the War,” Political Science Quarterly, March 1945.
  2. Marschak, J., “Wicksell’s Two Interest Rates”, Social Research, November 1941.
  3. Simons, H. C., “On Debt Policy”, Journal of Political Economy, June 1945.
  4. Warburton, Clark, “The Volume of Money and the Price Level Between the World Wars”, Journal of Political Economy, June 1945.
  5. a. Warburton, Clark, “The Monetary Theory of Deficit Financing”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1945.
    b. Arndt, H. W., “The Monetary Theory of Deficit Financing; A Comment”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1946.

C. General Reference Reading (see below).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Alvin Harvey Hansen Papers. Box 1 of Lecture Notes and Other Course Material, Folder “Econs 141”. Also found in Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1946-47 (2 of 2)”.

____________________________

Mid-Year Final Examination

1946-47
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 141a

(Write on any THREE questions.)

    1. Give a thorough discussion of current monetary and banking problems including in your essay the following topics:
      1. The increase in the quantity of money in the U. S. since 1934; causes and effects.
      2. War-time financing; the role of the Federal Reserve Banks and of the commercial banks.
      3. Recent and prospective trends in interest rates; causes and effects.
      4. New proposals with respect to reserve requirements, composition of bank assets, and control of bank credit.
      5. Management of the public debt.
    1. Write an essay on Keynes’ theory of interest, explaining the significance and role of the marginal efficiency schedule, the consumption function, liquidity preference, and monetary policy. In connection with Keynes’ interest theory, discuss the ideas and contributions of Hicks, Lerner and Modigliani.
    2. Compare Fisher, Marshall (Cambridge cash-balance school), Wicksell and Keynes with respect to the role of the quantity of money in the theory of money and prices.
    3. Write an essay (about an hour) on any two of the following:
      1. Hayek: Prices and Production
      2. Keynes: A Treatise on Money; or General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
      3. Marget: The Theory of Prices
      4. Robertson: Money; or Essays in Monetary Theory
      5. Wicksell: Money; or Interest and Prices
      6. Hansen: Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles; or Economic Policy and Full Employment

Final. January, 1947.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Final Examinations 1853-2001. Box 13. Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions…, Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, January, 1947.

Image Source: Alvin Hansen from Harvard Class Album 1952.

Categories
Economists Exam Questions Gender Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins University. Economics Ph.D. Examination Questions for Gertrude Schroeder, 1947

 

From time to time in rummaging through folders in archival boxes, I come across a random artifact that is linked to a old professor of mine, a professional colleague or even a classmate  from graduate school. The Department of Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University wrote Ph.D. examination questions targeted to the individual candidate, as we see in the nine hours worth of examinations taken over two days by then 27 year old Gertrude Guyton Schroeder at the end of September 1947.

Gertrude Elsa Guyton was born in New Mexico February 20, 1920, married twice (first husband: William Schroeder, second husband Rush Varley Greenslade). According to her Washington Post obituary (below), she worked as an economist for the CIA from 1954 to 1969. From 1969 to 1993 she was a professor of economics at the University of Virginia. She died March 30, 2007, leaving an endowment of nearly $10 million to the University of Virginia for international studies (see below).

These 1947 examination questions are interesting as artifacts associated with one of the relatively small number of woman of her generation who pursued Ph.D. studies in economics. My professional connection to Gertrude Schroeder (as I knew her) was as the lead author of a comparative study of US and Soviet consumption à la International Comparison Project (Kravis, Heston and Summers):

Schroeder, Gertrude E. and Edwards, Imogene. 1981: Consumption in the USSR: An international comparison. Joint Economic Committee, US Congress. US Government Printing Office: Washington, DC., 1981.

The purchasing-power-parities published there along with the Soviet personal consumption statistics were an essential ingredient for the calculations in my paper for the Abram Bergson memorial issue, The ‘Welfare Standard’ and Soviet Consumers, Comparative Economic Studies, Vol. 47, issue 2, June 2005, pp. 333-345. I spoke to her only once or twice about her data, and she was indeed delighted that these data proved of use for empirical analysis nearly a quarter of century later.

I was unable to find a picture of Gertrude Schroeder Greenslade for this posting so I figured the quote from Brecht’s Threepenny Opera was appropriate for this former CIA analyst:(with apologies to Bertolt Brecht) “While some stand in the darkness and others stand in light, you see the latter clearly, the former hide in night.” 

________________________

AER Membership Listing, 1970

SCHROEDER, GERTRUDE E., academic, government; b. Albuquerque, N.M., 1920; B.A., Colo. State Coll., 1940; M.A., Johns Hopkins, 1948, Ph.D., 1953. DOC. DIS. The Growth of Major Basic Steel Companies, 1900-1950, 1952. FIELDS 2b, 9, 7d. PUB. The Growth of Major Basic Steel Companies, 1900-1950, 1954; “Industrial Labor Productivity,” JEC, Dimensions of Soviet Economic Power, 1962; “”Soviet Economic Reforms: A Study in Contradictions,” Soviet Studies, July 1968. RES. Soviet Wage Statistics and Real Wages. Economist, various U.S. Govt. Agencies, 1943-48; sr. economist, Dept. of Labor and Dept. of Health, Edn. and Welfare since 1950 [sic, cf. obituary below]; part-time tchg., U. Md. and American U., 1966-68. ADDRESS 3051 Porter St. NW., Washington DC 20008.

Source: Biographical Listings of Members, The American Economic Review, Vol. 59, No. 6 (Jan., 1970) p. 389.

________________________

AER Membership Listing, 1974

SCHROEDER, GERTRUDE E., academic; b. Albuquerque, N.M., 1920; Educ. B.S., Colo. State Coll., 1936 [sic]; M.A., Johns Hopkins, 1948, Ph.D., 1953. Doc. Dis. The Growth of Major Basic Steel Companies, 1900-1950, 1952. Fields 050, 110, 800. Pub. “Consumer Problems in the Soviet Union”, Problems of Communism, 1973; “Recent Developments in Planning and Incentives in the Soviet Union”, Soviet Econ. Prospects for the seventies, 1973; “The Reform of the Indsl. Supply System in the USSR”, Soviet Studies, 1972. Res. A study of the Soviet fin. system. Prev. Pos. Sr. Econs., various U.S. Govt. Agencies, 1943-69; Cur. Pos. Prof. of Econs., U. of Va. since 1969. Address Univ. of Va., Dept. of Econs., Charlottesville, VA 22901.

Source: Directory of Members, The American Economic Review, Vol. 64, No. 5 (Oct., 1974) p. 359.

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Obituary. Washington Post

Gertrude Greenslade, Economist

Gertrude Schroeder Greenslade, 87, an economist at the CIA and the University of Virginia, died of renal failure March 30 at Powhatan Nursing Home in Fairfax County. She lived in McLean.

Mrs. Greenslade was an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1954 until 1969 and worked as a consultant to the CIA from 1993 until her death. She was a member of the faculty at the University of Virginia from 1969 until 1993, when she retired.

She was born in Albuquerque and graduated from Colorado State University. She received two degrees in economics from Johns Hopkins University, a master’s in 1948 and a doctorate in 1953.

Her specialty was the study of Soviet and Eastern European economies. Mrs. Greenslade was fluent in Russian and was a former president of both the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies and the Association for Comparative Economics.

Her first husband, William Schroeder, died in 1966. Her second husband, Rush V. Greenslade, died in 1978….

Source: Washington Post, April 12, 2007.

________________________

Gift to the University of Virginia

Professor emeritus Gertrude Schroeder Greenslade designated the University as the beneficiary of a revocable trust and two individual retirement accounts. Her gift of more than $7 million will support interdisciplinary international studies in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

Source: The Cornerstone Society Report, 2007-2008.

 

Professor donates to international studies
University international studies centers benefit from $9.8 million endowment

By Virginia Terwilliger

The Center for South Asian Studies and the East Asia Center, along with several other international studies programs, recently received more than $386,000 to strengthen and elevate their programs for the 2009-10 school year, thanks to late Economics Prof. Gertrude Greenslade.

Prior to her death in March 2007, Greenslade arranged to leave $9.8 million in an endowment to the University’s international studies programs. Now, those funds are beginning to be distributed to various University beneficiaries, College Dean Meredith Woo said, adding that the terms of the endowment mandate that only 5 percent may be distributed immediately.

The money also will contribute to exchange programs between the University and the University of Rome, […end of webpage]

Source: The Cavalier Daily, October 12, 2009.

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COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
POLITICAL ECONOMY
[Johns Hopkins University]

Gertrude Guyton Schroeder

Monday morning, Sept. 29 [1947]
Three hours

Answer 3

  1. Prepare an essay on the theory and measurement of productivity.
  2. Compare the development and behavior of American and European unionism.
  3. Analyze the theoretical and empirical relation between economic growth and fluctuation.
  4. Write a review of a book in economics that has appeared since World War II.

 

Monday afternoon, Sept. 29 [1947]
Three hours

Answer 3

  1. Develop the history of banking and of theory about banking; and indicate their relevance to present-day problems and policies.
  2. Explain the theory of interest; what it is, how it gets determined, and what is its significance for economic statics and dynamics. Do not neglect a review of its actual behavior.
  3. Compose a short article on the corporation—its history, legal status, its quantitative position, and its impact on the economy.
  4. What are the major tools of monetary and fiscal policy? Evaluate them.

 

Tuesday morning, Sept. 30 [1947]
Three hours

Answer 3

  1. Set forth the doctrine of comparative advantage using arithmetic models and explaining both the assumptions on which the doctrine rests and the limitations on the conclusion that may be drawn from it.
  2. Write for an hour on monopoly.
  3. Compare on all major points the theories of Alfred Marshall and J. M. Keynes. Show what both these synthesizers owe to earlier thinkers. What ideas of theirs, if any, have been rejected?
  4. In what sense may it be argued that the competitive allocation of resources is an optimum allocation?

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy Series 5/6. Box 6/1, Folder “Comprehensive Exams for Ph.D. in Political Economy, 1947-65”.