Category: Exam Questions

In this post I have assembled all the Harvard economics examinations I could find for the academic year 1915-16 and then supplement these with the annual enrollment data published in the President’s annual report which incidentally identifies the course instructors. Next I thought it would be even nicer to add course descriptions, but unfortunately I did not have access to the published 1915-16 announcement for the Division of History, Government, and Economics so I have added the course descriptions from 1914-15 or 1916-17 where the course titles and instructors exactly match.

For year-long courses, only the year-end final examination was included in the Harvard publication of examination papers, i.e. the mid-year final exams from January are missing for those courses. However, for the principles course and Taussig’s graduate theory course I have been able to find copies of those exams filed elsewhere in the Harvard archives (see notes).

Primarily for undergraduates:

Principles of Economics (Day with selected topics by Taussig)

For undergraduates and graduates
Statistics (Day)
Accounting (Davis)
European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century (Gay)
Economic and Financial History of the United States (Gay)
Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises (Anderson)
Economics of Transportation (Ripley)
Economics of Corporations (Ripley
Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation (Bullock)
Trade Unionism and Allied Problems (Ripley)
Economic Theory (Taussig)
Principles of Sociology (Carver)
Economics of Agriculture (Carver)

Primarily for graduates
Economic Theory (Taussig)
The Distribution of Wealth (Carver)
Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice (Day)
History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 (Bullock)
Analytical Sociology (Anderson)
Public Finance (Bullock)

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Principles of Economics (Day with selected topics by Taussig)

ECONOMICS A: Course announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] A. (formerly 1). Principles of Economics. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11.
Professor TAUSSIG and Asst. Professor DAY and five assistants.

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 a consideration of the principles of production, distribution, exchange, money, banking, international trade, and taxation. The relations of labor and capital, the present organization of industry, and the recent currency legislation of the United States will be treated in outline.

The course will be conducted partly by lectures, partly by oral discussion in sections. A course of reading will be laid down, and weekly written exercises will test the work of students in following systematically and continuously the lectures and the prescribed reading. Course A may not be taken by Freshmen without the consent of the instructor.

ECONOMICS A: Enrollment [1915-16]

 [Economics] A. Asst. Professor Day; and Dr. J. S. Davis and Mr. P. G. Wright, Dr. Burbank, and Messrs. Monroe, Lincoln, R.E. Richter, and Van Sickle. With Lectures on selected topics by Professor Taussig. — Principles of Economics.

Total 477: 1 Graduate, 28 Seniors, 111 Juniors, 278 Sophomores, 13 Freshmen, 46 Other.

ECONOMICS A: Mid-Year Examination [1915-16]

Plan your answers carefully before writing. Write concisely. Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions, beginning each on a new page.

1. What are the characteristic features of each of the following: (a) horizontal combination; (b) a bill of exchange; (c) bimetallism; (d) marginal cost; (e) subsidiary coinage?
2. Give four important economic advantages of (a) the complex division of labor; (b) large-scale production; (c) the corporate form of organization.
3. Indicate any important connections existing between (a) the corporation and large-scale production; (b) large-scale production and dumping; (c) dumping and a protective tariff; (d) a protective tariff and the geographical division of labor.
4. What conditions of demand and supply tend to promote, what to impede, organized speculation? What are the functions, and what the chief consequences of, organized speculation in agricultural products?
5. In what ways, if at all, is monopoly price affected by (a) cost of production per unit? (b) an elastic demand for the product? Illustrate by diagrams, assuming conditions of (1) constant cost, (2) decreasing cost.
6. Briefly describe the Panic of 1907 in New York. What provisions of the Federal Reserve Act do you consider most likely to be effective in preventing or allaying future financial panics in the United States? Give your reasons in detail.
7. What has been the general course of the sterling exchange rate since the beginning of 1914? What factors have been influential in causing changes in the rate? How has each factor operated?

Source note:  This mid-year examination was found at Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Course reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992. (UA V 349.295.6) Box 1, Folder “Economics I, Final Exams 1913-1939”.

ECONOMICS A: Final Examination [1915-16]

Plan your answers carefully before writing. Write concisely. Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions, beginning each on a new page.

1. What is meant by (a) marginal cost; (b) the representative firm? How, if at all, is marginal cost connected with the short- and long-time values of (a)fresh vegetables; (b) wheat; (c)a railroad rate; (d) a gold dollar?
2. Explain: (a) free coinage; (b) undervalued metal; (c) overissue; (d) “creation of deposits”; (e) bank reserve; (f) currency premium.
3. “Think of it! British ships are bringing in foreign tires; British money is going abroad to pay for them¹; and British motorists are using them. The available supplies of British-made tires are ample for all needs. Imported tires are inessentials; they hurt British credit², they lower the exchange of the English pound³, they increase freights⁴, they make necessities dearer⁵, and increase our national indebtedness⁶.” To what extent is the reasoning valid at the several points indicated?
4. Explain what is meant by (a) the unearned increment of land; (b) “the unearned increment of railways”; (c) increment taxes; (d)the incidence of taxes on land; (e) the Single Tax.
5. What effects upon wages, if any, should you expect to result from (a) free industrial education; (b) collective bargaining; (c) limitation of output by organized labor; (d) introduction of labor-saving machinery?
6. What should you expect to be the effect of immigration into the United States on (a) the increase of population here; (b) wages in the United States; (c) American urban rents; (d) profits of American business men?
7. What is to be said for and against (a) unemployment insurance; (b) compulsory arbitration for public service industries; (c) profit-sharing as an agency for industrial peace?
8. Explain: (a) restraint of trade at common law; (b) restraint of trade under United States statute law; (c) “rule of reason”; (d) “unfair competition”; (e) Kartel.

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Statistics (Day)

ECONOMICS 1a¹: Course announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 1a ¹hf. Statistics. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 11. Asst. Professor DAY, assisted by Mr. F. E. RICHTER.

This course will deal primarily with the elements of statistical method. The following subjects will be considered: methods of collecting and tabulating data; the construction and use of diagrams; the use and value of the various types and averages; index-numbers; dispersion; interpolation; correlation. Special attention will be given to the accuracy of statistical material. In the course of this study of statistical method, examples of the best statistical information will be presented, and the best sources will be indicated. Population and vital statistics will be examined in some measure, but economic statistics will predominate.

Laboratory work in the solution of problems and the preparation of charts and diagrams will be required.

ECONOMICS 1a¹: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 1a ¹hf. Asst. Professor Day, assisted by Mr. Cox. — Statistics.

Total 44: 2 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 18 Juniors, 7 Other.

ECONOMICS 1a¹: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. What is meant by “the statistical method”? What is the scientific importance of the method? What are its limitations?
2. Describe concisely the essential steps in the preparation for a population census.
3. Sketch briefly the history of wage statistics in the United States.
4. Describe in detail, and criticize, the Babson method of forecasting business conditions.
5. Explain briefly: (a) law of statistical regularity; (b) probable error; (c) series; (d) mode; (e) the normal frequency curve; (f) skewness.
6. Formulate a set of rules for the construction of frequency tables and graphs.
7. By what different statistical devices may the structure — or distribution — of two different groups of data be compared?
8. Explain briefly: correlation; ratio of variation.
   Criticise fully the following statement: “A very large degree of regression — that is, a large deviation of the line of regression from the line of equal proportional variation — indicates a slight degree of correlation.”

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Accounting (Davis)

ECONOMICS 1b²: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 1b ²hf. Accounting. Half-course (second half-year). Lectures, Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30; problems and laboratory practice, two hours a week. Dr. J. S. Davis, assisted by Mr. F. E. RICHTER and—.

This course will deal with the construction and the interpretation of accounts of various types of business units, designed to show the financial status at a particular time, the financial results obtained during a period of time, and the relation between the results and the contributing factors. In other words, it will be concerned with the measurement, in terms of value, of economic instruments, forces, products, and surpluses.

Some attention will necessarily be given to the fundamentals of book-keeping, but emphasis will be placed chiefly upon the accounting principles underlying valuation and the determination of profits and costs. Problem work will be regularly assigned, and published reports of corporations will serve as material for laboratory work.

ECONOMICS 1b²: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 1b² hf. Dr. J. S. Davis, assisted by Mr. Cox. — Accounting.

Total 116: 49 Seniors, 62 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 2 Other.

ECONOMICS 1b²: Final Examination [1915-16]

Be concise. Reserve at least 45 minutes for Question 8. If desired, one of the first five questions may be omitted.

1. What purposes are served by a Journal? a Ledger? Is it possible to keep complete and accurate accounts with these books alone?
   b. Name five other account books commonly found, and indicate briefly the nature and special function of each.
2. Explain briefly: posting, contingent liability, corporate surplus, amortization table, secret reserve.
3. With respect to each of the following, indicate (preferably in tabular form) (a) whether it would normally show a debit or credit balance, (b) whether it would appear on balance sheet or income statement, and (c) what kindof account it represents.

Rentals of Properties Owned
Sinking Fund Securities
Insurance Unexpired
Reserve for Accrued Depreciation
Depreciation on Equipment
Premium on Stock Issued
Advances to Subsidiary Companies
Extraordinary Flood Damages

4. Draft journal entries (omiting explanations) for the following transactions of the General Utility Company:
   1. Sale of six desks to Jackson & Jackson, @ $15, 30 days, receiving in part payment their 30-day note for $50.
   2. Declaring dividends of $200,000, setting aside out of current income a fire insurance reserve of $100,000, and adding the balance of the year’s income ($60,000) to the surplus.
   3. Making the semi-annual interest payment on a million-dollar 6 per cent bond issue, the bond premium being simultaneously amortised to the extent of $2000.
   4. Loss by fire of a building which cost $60,000, and upon which depreciation of $10,000 had accrued and been allowed for.
5. What is the purpose of a balance sheet? What are its essential elements? What are the main items or groups of items on the balance sheet of a railroad company? At what points are balance sheets frequently defective, inaccurate, or misleading?
6. Do the following, in a railroad report, ordinarily signify improvement or retrogression? Under what circumstances, if any, might each signify the opposite? How could you ascertain which was actually signified?
   1. Decline in operating ratio.
   2. Increase in maintenance of freight cars per freight car.
   3. Decrease in freight train miles.
7. Explain the purpose of the “funding accounts peculiar” to governmental accounting, and illustrate their use.
   b. What accounting distinctions are of especial importance in municipal accounting?
8. Below are comparative figures (in thousands of dollars) of a company manufacturing railway equipment. Summarize what they reveal of its history, condition, and policy, commending or criticising the statements or policy as occasion requires.

*Included in “operating expenses.”  **Deficit.

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European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century (Gay)

ECONOMICS 2a¹: Course announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 2a¹hf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. Half-course(first half-year).Tu., Th., Sat., at 9. Professor GAY, assisted by—.

Course 2a undertakes to present the general outlines of the economic history of western Europe since the Industrial Revolution. Such topics as the following will be discussed: the economic aspects of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic régime, the Stein-Hardenberg reforms, the Zoll-Verein, Cobden and free trade in England, labor legislation and social reform, nationalism and the recrudescence of protectionism, railways and waterways, the effects of transoceanic competition, the rise of industrial Germany.

Since attention will be directed in this course to those phases of the subject which are related to the economic history of the United States, it may be taken usefully before Economics 2b.

ECONOMICS 2a¹: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 2a¹hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Messrs. A. H. Cole and Ryder.— European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.

Total 94: 23 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 33 Juniors, 16 Sophomores, 5 Other.

ECONOMICS 2a¹: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. Speaking of the industrial revolution in England, a writer says: “It is to a revolution in three industries, — agriculture, cotton and iron, — that this transformation is principally due.” Do you agree? Give your reasons.
2. Account historically for the present condition of the agricultural laborer in England, in East Prussia. What have been the social consequences in both cases?
3. Hadley says of railway construction: “The Englishman built for the present and future both; the American chiefly for the future.” Account for this difference, and show its effect on capitalization, on service and on inter-railway relations.
4. Trace the influence of the agrarian and industrial interests on tariff legislation in Germany and France since 1880.
5. Give an account of the development of the iron and steel industry in England and Germany in the last half of the nineteenth century. Account for the later development in the latter country, and trace the competition between the Ruhr and Lorraine districts.

(Take one of the following two questions)

6. Comment on Ashley’s statement regarding English exports:

“We shall more and more exhaust our resources of coal, and we shall devote ourselves more and more to those industries which flourish on cheap labor.”

7. How have the laboring people of England by voluntary collective action tried to meet the exigencies of the modern industrial system? Compare with Germany.

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Economic and Financial History of the United States (Gay)

ECONOMICS 2b²: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 2b ²hf. Economic and Financial History of the United States. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 9. Professor GAY, assisted by —.

The following are among the subjects considered: aspects of the Revolution and commercial relations during the Confederation and the European wars; the history of the protective tariff policy and the growth of manufacturing industries; the settlement of the West and the history of transportation, including the early canal and turnpike enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building and the establishment of public regulation of railways; banking and currency experiences; various aspects of agrarian history, such as the public land policy, the growth of foreign demand for American produce and the subsequent competition of other sources of supply; certain social topics, such as slavery and its economic basis, and the effects of immigration.

ECONOMICS 2b²: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 2b ²hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Messrs. A. H. Cole and Ryder. — Economic and Financial History of the United States.

Total 94: 23 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 33 Juniors, 16 Sophomores, 5 Other.

ECONOMICS 2b²: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. “The expulsion of the French from Canada made it possible (for the American colonies) to dispense with English protection. The commercial restrictions made it to their interest to do so.” Do you agree? Give your reasons for or against.
2. “As to the strength of slavery as an institution in Southern society after it had been thoroughly established, its basis was partly economic and partly social.” Explain. Which do you think the more fundamental? Why?
3. (a) Give the reasons for the turn in our favor of the balance of trade in the seventies. (b) Into what periods would you divide the history of our export trade since that time? Characterize each period. What do you think are the probabilities for the future? Give your reasons.
4. Compare the marketing of grain with the marketing of wool. Why the difference?
5. In how far were the policies of the national government responsible for the panics of 1837 and 1893? Give your reasons.
6. (a) Describe briefly the development of the iron industry in the United States. (b) What effect has this development had upon American shipping before and after 1870?

The following questions are for graduates who did not take the tests:

7. Take one of the following subjects: (a) the history of American agriculture since 1860; or (b) Manufacturing development in the United States before 1860; or (c) the history of American transportation since 1860. Outline the periods and topics you would discuss in lecturing on it. Give also a short list of the chief books or papers you would consult, with critical estimates.
8. What criteria would you hold most significant in determining the successful application of protection to young industries. Draw your evidence from the manufactures we have considered.

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Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises (Anderson)

ECONOMICS 3: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Asst. Professor ANDERSON, assisted by —.

This course undertakes a theoretical, descriptive, and historical study of the main problems of money and banking. Historical and descriptive materials, drawn from the principal systems of the world, will be extensively used, but will be selected primarily with reference to their significance in the development of principles, and with reference to contemporary practical problems. Foreign exchange will be studied in detail. Attention will be given to those problems of money and credit which appear
most prominently in connection with economic crises. Though emphasis will be thrown upon the financial aspects of crises, the investigation will cover also the more fundamental factors causing commercial and industrial cycles.

ECONOMICS 3: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 3. Asst. Professor Anderson, assisted by Mr. Silberling. — Money, Banking and Commercial Crises.

Total 69: 2 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 31 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 8 Other.

ECONOMICS 3: Final Examination [1915-16]

Omit either question 6 or 7.

1. State and discuss Fisher’s version of the quantity theory of money.
2. Discuss the relations of the banks and the stock exchange.
3. Contrast the Bank of England with the Banque de France:
   (a) with reference to reserves;
   (b) with reference to the discount rate;
   (c) with reference to specie payments;
   (d) with reference to relations with the government;
   (e) with reference to foreign exchange policy.
4. In precisely what ways does our Federal Reserve system seek to remedy the defects in our banking system?
5. Discuss the development of State banking since the Civil War. Compare it with the development of the National Bank system. Explain the tendencies.
6. Give an account of the main movements in the prices of the war stocks since Oct. 1, 1915, and explain these movements as far as you can: (a) by reference to general causes; (b) by reference to factors affecting particular securities as far as you know them.
7. Explain the movements in demand sterling since the outbreak of the War. Give figures and dates as accurately as you can.
8. Summarize Wesley Mitchell’s theory of business cycles.
9. For what purposes does the farmer need credit? What is the extent of agricultural indebtedness in different sections in the United States? What agencies supply credit to the farmer? What rates of interest does the farmer pay in different parts of the country?
10. Contrast the Panic of 1893 with the Panic of 1914.

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Economics of Transportation (Ripley)

ECONOMICS 4a¹: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 4a ¹hf. Economics of Transportation. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor RIPLEY, assisted by —.

A brief outline of the historical development of rail and water transportation in the United States will be followed by a description of the condition of transportation systems at the present time. The four main subdivisions of rates and rate-making, finance, traffic operation, and legislation will be considered in turn. The first deals with the relation of the railroad to shippers, comprehending an analysis of the theory and practice of rate-making. An outline will be given of the nature of railroad securities, the principles of capitalization, and the interpretation of railroad accounts. Railroad operation will deal with the practical problems of the traffic department, such as the collection and interpretation of statistics of operation, pro-rating, the apportionment of cost, depreciation and maintenance, etc. Under legislation, the course of state regulation and control in the United States and Europe will be traced.

ECONOMICS 4a¹: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 4a ¹hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Cameron. — Economics of Transportation.

Total 121: 3 Graduates, 47 Seniors, 54 Juniors, 7 Sophomores, 10 Other.

ECONOMICS 4a¹: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. Discuss the propriety of the capitalization by a railroad of a surplus which had gradually accumulated during a period of twenty or more years. Would the recency of the surplus make any difference? How about the geographical location of the road?
2. Describe the existing situation as concerns the relation of American railroads to their employees.
3. What are the prime essentials of a railroad reorganization, necessary to insure its success?
4. In case of the creation of a Congressional commission on railway legislature, what are the topics which it would probably consider?
5. Outline the means which have been employed to bring about unity of action among the hard coal roads as to prices.
6. State briefly for the leading countries which have taken over their railways as government enterprises, the peculiar circumstances which have no counterpart in the American situation.
7. What is the trouble with the so-called basing point system?
8. What is the present condition of affairs concerning the relation of railroads to water lines, coastwise or lake?
9. When and how did the conflict of Federal and state powers over regulation of common carriers first become acute?
10. Why was the United States Commerce Court ‘abolished’ judging by the tenor of its decisions?

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Economics of Corporations (Ripley)

ECONOMICS 4b²: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 4b ²hf. Economics of Corporations. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor RIPLEY, assisted by —.

This course will treat of the fiscal and industrial organization of capital, especially in the corporate form. The principal topic considered will be industrial combination and the so-called trust problem. This will be broadly discussed, with comparative study of conditions in the United States and Europe. The development of corporate enterprise, promotion, and financing, accounting, liability of directors and underwriters, will be described, not in their legal but in their economic aspects; and the effects of industrial combination upon efficiency, profits, wages, prices, the development of export trade, and international competition will be considered in turn.

ECONOMICS 4b²: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 4b ² hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Cameron. — Economics of Corporations.

Total 115: 9 Graduates, 39 Seniors, 49 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 8 Other.

ECONOMICS 4b²: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. Discuss critically the “economics of Industrial Combination.”
2. What peculiarity of the American situation has given especial prominence to the holding company, in contrast with European countries?
3. What principle of corporate finance, not of commercial practice, is illustrated by the experience of the following companies? Limit each answer to five words.
   1. U.S. Leather Co.
   2. International Mercantile Marine Co.
   3. American Ice Co.
   4. U.S. Steel Corporation.
   5. American Tobacco Co.
   6. The Glucose combination.
   7. The Asphalt combination.
4. What is the most insistent feature in an industrial reorganization? How is the desired result commonly brought about?
5. Outline the relation of organized labor to the amendment of the Sherman Act in 1914.
6. “Competitors must not be oppressed or coerced. Fraudulent or unfair, or oppressive rivalry must not be pursued….Then, too, prices must not be arbitrarily fixed or maintained … an artificial scarcity must not be produced….The public is also injured if quality be impaired….Other injuries are done, if the wages of the laborer be arbitrarily reduced, and if the price of raw material be artificially depressed.”
   Associate each of the foregoing practices named in a recent judicial opinion with some particular industrial combination.
7. How successful has the Department of Justice been in effecting the corporate dissolution of combinations? Outline the experience.
8. Describe those factors of British corporate financial practise which are essentially different from our own.
9. Compare the organization of the American and German combinations in the iron and steel industries; briefly, point by point.
10. If high prices constitute a grievance of the public against industrial combination, what are the objections to an attempt to regulate these prices directly by law? Discuss the proposition from as many points of view as possible.

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Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation (Bullock)

ECONOMICS 5: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 5. Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor BULLOCK.

This course covers the entire field of public finance, but emphasizes the subject of taxation. After a brief survey of the history of finance, attention is given to public expenditures, commercial revenues, administrative revenues, and taxation, with consideration both of theory and of the practice of various countries. Public credit is then studied, and financial legislation and administration are briefly treated.

Systematic reading is prescribed, and most of the exercises are conducted by the method of informal discussion. Candidates for distinction will be given an opportunity to write theses.

Graduate students are advised to elect Economics 31.

ECONOMICS 5: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 5. Professor Bullock. — Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation.

Total 60: 27 Seniors, 28 Juniors, 5 Other.

ECONOMICS 5: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. Trace historically the position occupied by the customs revenue in the finances of the United States. What principles should be observed in establishing a system of customs duties? Discuss the incidence of these duties.
2. To what extent and for what reasons has the working of the general property tax in Switzerland been different from the working of the same tax in the United States?
3. Discuss briefly and concisely the characteristic features of three of the following: (a) The impôt-personnel mobilier; (b) The French business tax; (c) The Prussian business tax; (d) inheritance taxes in the United States.
4. Explain and discuss critically the methods employed in the taxation of incomes in England and in Prussia.
5. (a) What are the different theories regarding the best method of apportioning taxes?
   (b) Distinguish between “funded” and “unfunded” incomes. On what grounds can the heavier taxation of funded incomes be urged?
6. What principles should govern the prices charged for the services of public commercial undertakings?
7. Enumerate and discuss critically all the maxims, or canons, of taxation, with which you are familiar.
8. State either the case for or the case against the single tax.

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Trade Unionism and Allied Problems (Ripley)

ECONOMICS 6a¹: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 6a ¹hf. Trade Unionism and Allied Problems. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Professor RIPLEY, assisted by —.

This course will deal mainly with the economic and social relations of employer and employed. Among the topics included will be: the history of unionism; the policies of trade unions respecting wages, machinery, output, etc.; collective bargaining; strikes; employers’ liability and workmen’s compensation; efficiency management; unemployment, etc., in the relation to unionism, will be considered.

Each student will make at least one report upon a labor union or an important strike, from the original documents. Two lectures a week, with one recitation, will be the usual practice.

ECONOMICS 6a¹: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 6a ¹ hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Weisman. — Trade-Unionism and Allied Problems.

Total 61: 24 Seniors, 29 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 7 Other.

ECONOMICS 6a¹: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. Illustrate by a sketch the interrelation between the constituent parts of the American Federation of Labor.
2. Criticise the following premium wage plans for mounting “gem” electric lamp bulbs.

3. Have you any impression whether Webb favors craft or industrial unionism? What instances does he cite?
4. Define (a) Federal union; (b) Device of the Common Rule? (c) Jurisdiction dispute.
5. Is there any real difference between an “irritation strike ” of the I. W. W.and the British “strike in detail”?
6. Contrast the British and American policies of trade union finance, showing causes and results.
7. Describe the Hart, Schaffner and Marx plan of dealing with its employees.
8. Is the Standard Wage merely the minimum for a given trade or not? Discuss the contention that it penalizes enterprise or ability.
9. Is there any relation logically between the attitude of labor toward piece work and the relative utilization of machinery?
10. What is the nature of the business transacted at the annual convention of the American Federation of Labor?

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Economic Theory (Taussig)

ECONOMICS 7a¹: Course Announcement [1916-17]

[Economics] 7a¹ hf. Economic Theory. Half-course(first half-year). Tu., Th., at 2.30, and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 11. Professor TAUSSIG.

Course 7a undertakes a survey of economic thought from Adam Smith to the present time. Considerable parts of the Wealth of Nations and of J. S. Mill’s Principles of Political Economy will be read, as well as selected passages from the writings of contemporary economists. No theses or other set written work will be required. The course will be conducted chiefly by discussion. It forms an advantageous introduction to Economics 7b.

Students who have attained in Economics A a grade sufficient for distinction (A or B) are admitted without further inquiry. Others must secure the consent of the instructor.

ECONOMICS 7a¹: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 7a ¹hf. Professor Taussig. — Economic Theory.

Total 27: 12 Graduates, 5 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 4 Other.

ECONOMICS 7a¹: Final Examination [1915-16]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

1. “The wages of the inferior classes of workmen, I have endeavored to show in the first book, are everywhere necessarily regulated by two different circumstances: the demand for labor, and the ordinary or average price for provisions. The demand for labor, according as it happens to be either increasing, stationary, or declining, or to require an increasing, stationary or declining population, regulates the subsistence of the laborer and determines in what degree it shall be either liberal, moderate, or scanty.”
   Explain (1) in what way Adam Smith analyzed the “demand for labor”; (2) the nature of the reasoning which led to his conclusions regarding the influence on wages of increasing or declining national wealth.
2. Explain in what way J. S. Mill analyzed the demand for labor, and wherein his analysis resembled Adam Smith’s, wherein it differed; and consider whether Mill’s conclusions regarding the influence of increasing national wealth on wages were similar to Adam Smith’s.
3. Explain:
   (a) The Physiocratic notion concerning productive labor;
   (b) Adam Smith’s distinction between productive and unproductive labor;
   (c) Adam Smith’s doctrine as to the way in which equal capitals employed in agriculture, in manufactures, in wholesale or retail trade, put in motion different quantities of productive labor.
   What reasoning led Adam Smith to arrange industries in the order of productiveness indicated in (c) and what have you to say in comment on it
4. Why, according to Adam Smith, is there rent from land used for growing grain? from land used for pasture? from mines? What would a writer like Mill say of these doctrines of Adam Smith’s?
5. How does Mill (following Chalmers) explain the rapid recovery of countries devastated by war? Do you think the explanation sound?
6. Wherein is Mill’s analysis of the causes of differences in wages similar to Adam Smith’s, wherein different?
7. What, according to Mill, is the foundation of private property? What corollaries does he draw as regards inheritance and bequest? What is your instructor’s view on the justification of inheritance and bequest?
8. Explain wherein there are or are not ” uman costs” in the savings of the rich, of the middle classes, and of the poor; and wherein there are or are not “economic costs” in these several savings.
9. Hobson says: (a) that” the traditional habits of ostentatious waste and conspicuous leisure . . . induce futile extravagance in expenditure”; (b) that “the very type of this expenditure is a display of fireworks; futility is of its essence”; (c) that “the glory of the successful sportsman is due to the fact that his deeds are futile. And this conspicuous futility is at the root of the matter. The fact that he can give time, energy, and money to sport testifies to his possession of independent means.” Consider what is meant by “futility” in these passages; and give your own opinion on the significance of “sport.”
10. Explain the grounds on which Hobson finds little promise for the future in (a) consumers’ cooperation; (b) producers’ cooperation; (c) syndicalism.

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Principles of Sociology (Carver)

ECONOMICS 8: Course Announcement [1916-1917]

[Economics] 8. Principles of Sociology. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor CARVER, assisted by Mr. —.

A study in social adaptation, both passive and active. Problems of race improvement, moral adjustment, industrial organization, and social control are considered in detail.  [Note: in 1916-17 this became a two-term course]

ECONOMICS 8¹: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 8 ¹hf. Professor Carver, assisted by Mr. Bovingdon.— Principles of Sociology.

Total 130: 14 Graduates, 51 Seniors, 45 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 15 Other.

ECONOMICS 8¹: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. How would you distinguish between progress and change?
2. Just what is meant by self-centered appreciation? Should the range of the average individual’s appreciations be widened? Give reasons for your answer.
3. What do you think of the economic test of the individual’s fitness for survival?
4. What is the function of religion? To what extent do you think that it is performing its function in the United States?
5. What is the function of an educational institution? To what extent do you think that Harvard University is performing its function?
6. What effect do you think that the increase of government ownership and operation of industrial capital in the United States will have upon the “open road to talent”?

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Economics of Agriculture (Carver)

ECONOMICS 9¹: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 9 ¹hf. Economics of Agriculture. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor CARVER.

A study of the relation of agriculture to the whole industrial system, the relative importance of rural and urban economics, the conditions of rural life in different parts of the United States, the forms of land tenure and methods of rent payment, the comparative merits of large and small holdings, the status and wages of farm labor, the influence of farm machinery, farmers’ organizations, the marketing and distribution of farm products, agricultural credit, the policy of the government toward agriculture, and the probable future of American agriculture.

ECONOMICS 9¹: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 9 ¹hf. Professor Carver, assisted by Mr. Shaulis.— Economics of Agriculture.

Total 58: 4 Graduates, 32 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 3 Other.

ECONOMICS 9¹: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. What are the factors which determine the migration of rural people; of urban people?
2. What are the chief periods in the development of American Agriculture, and how would you characterize each period?
3. In what ways could a citizen acquire title to a piece of the public land of the United States at the following dates, 1850, 1870, 1900?
4. What do you regard as the necessary steps to the solution of the problem of rural credit in the United States? Explain your reasons.
5. What are the essentials to be achieved in the building up of a market for agricultural products?
6. Discuss the place of animal husbandry in the economy of the farm and also in the economy of food production from the standpoint of society in general.
7. Summarize the effects of modern farm machinery. Discuss the degree of its utilization in different sections of the United States.
8. Outline briefly a scheme for the organization of a rural community, and give your reasons for the main features of your scheme.
9. Outline the chief areas of production in the United States of the following crops: Potatoes, wheat, oats, hay and forage.
10. What are the chief forms of tenancy in the United States, and where is each form most common?

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Economic Theory (Taussig)

ECONOMICS 11: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 11. Economic Theory. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Professor TAUSSIG.

Course 11 is intended to acquaint the student with some of the later developments of economic thought, and at the same time to train him in the critical consideration of economic principles and the analysis of economic conditions. The exercises are accordingly conducted mainly by the discussion of selected passages from the leading writers; and in this discussion the students are expected to take an active part. The writings of J. S. Mill, Cairnes, F. A. Walker, Clark, Marshall, Böhm-Bawerk, and other recent authors, will be taken up. Attention will be given chiefly to the theory of exchange and distribution.

ECONOMICS 11: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 11. Professor Taussig. — Economic Theory.

Total 29: 18 Graduates, 1 Grad.Bus., 6 Seniors, 3 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

ECONOMICS 11: Mid-year Examination [1915-16]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

1. On what grounds is it contended that there is a circle in Walker’s reasoning on the relation between wages and business profits? What is your opinion on this rejoinder: that Walker, in speaking of the causes determining wages, has in mind the general rate of wages, whereas in speaking of profits he has in mind the wages of a particular grade of labor?
2. According to Ricardo, neither profits of capital nor rent of land are contained in the price of exchangeable commodities, but labor only.” — Thünen.
   Is there justification for this interpretation of Ricardo?
3. “Instead of saying that profits depend on wages, let us say (what Ricardo really meant) that they depend on the cost of labour. . . . The cost of labour is, in the language of mathematics, a function of three variables: the efficiency of labor; the wages of labour (meaning thereby the real reward of the labourer); and the greater or less cost at which the articles composing that real reward can be produced or procured.”   — J. S. Mill.
   Is this what Ricardo really meant? Why the different form of statement by Mill? What comment have you to make on Mill’s statement?
4. State resemblances and differences in the methods of analysis, and in the conclusions reached, between (a) the temporary equilibrium of supply and demand (e.g. in a grain market), as explained by Marshall; (b) “two-sided competition,” as explained by Böhm-Bawerk; (c) equilibrium under barter, as explained by Marshall.
5. Explain concisely what is meant in the Austrian terminology by “value,” “subjective value,” “subjective exchange value,” “objective exchange value.”
   Does the introduction of “subjective exchange value” into the analysis of two-sided competition lead to reasoning in a circle?
6. “Suppose a poor man receives every day two pieces of bread, while one is enough to allay the pangs of positive hunger, what value will one of the two pieces of bread have for him? The answer is easy enough. If he gives away the piece of bread, he will lose, and if he keeps it he will secure, provision for that degree of want which makes itself felt whenever positive hunger has been allayed. We may call this the second degree of utility. One of two entirely similar goods is, therefore, equal in value to the second degree in the scale of utility of that particular class of goods. . . . Not only has one of two goods the value of the second degree of utility, but either of them has it, whichever one may choose. And three pieces have together three times the value of the third degree of utility, and four pieces have four times the value of the fourth degree. In a word, the value of a supply of similar goods is equal to the sum of the items multiplied by the marginal utility.” — Wieser.
   Do you think this analysis tenable? and do you think it inconsistent with the doctrine of total utility and consumer’s surplus?
7. “If the modern theory of value, as it is commonly stated, were literally true, most articles of high quality would sell for three times as much as they actually bring.” What leads Clark to this conclusion? and do you accept it?

Source note: Mid-term exam from Harvard University Archives, Prof. F. W. Taussig, Examination Papers in Economics 1882-1935 (Scrapbook).

ECONOMICS 11: Final Examination [1915-16]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Allow time for careful revision of your answers.

1. “The productivity of capital is, like that of land and labor, subject to the principle of marginal productivity, which is, as we have seen, a part of the general law of diminishing returns. Increase the number of instruments of a given kind in any industrial establishment, leaving everything else in the establishment the same as before, and you will probably increase the total product of the establishment somewhat, but you will not increase the product as much as you have the instruments in question. Introduce a few more looms into a cotton factory without increasing the labor or the other forms of machinery, and you will add a certain small amount to the total output…. That which is true of looms in this particular is also true of ploughs on a farm, of locomotives on a railway, of floor space in a store, and of every other form of capital used in industry.” Is this in accord with Clark’s view? Böhm-Bawerk’s? Marshall’s? Your own?
2. What is the significance of the principle of quasi-rent for
   (a) the “single tax” proposal;
   (b) Clark’s doctrine concerning the specific product of capital;
   (c) the theory of business profits.
3. Explain what writers use the following terms and in what senses: Composite quasi-rent; usance; implicit interest; joint demand.
4. On Cairnes’ reasoning, are high wages of a particular group of laborers the cause or the result of high value (price) of the commodities made by them? On the reasoning of the Austrian school, what is the relation between cost and value? Consider differences or resemblances between the two trains of reasoning.
5. “This ‘exploitation theory of interest’ consists virtually of two propositions: first, that the value of any product usually exceeds its cost of production; and, secondly, that the value of any product ought to be exactly equal to its cost of production. The first of these propositions is true, but the second is false. Economists have usually pursued a wrong method in answering the socialists, for they have attacked the first proposition instead of the second. The socialist is quite right in his contention that the value of the product exceeds the cost. In fact, this proposition is fundamental in the whole theory of capital and interest. Ricardo here, as in many other places in economics, has been partly right and partly wrong. He was one of the first to fall into the fallacy that the value of the product was normally equal to its cost, but he also noted certain apparent ‘exceptions,’ as for instance, that wine increased in value with years.” Is this a just statement of Ricardo’s view? Of the views of economists generally? In what sense is it true, if in any, that value usually exceeds cost?
6. Explain carefully what Böhm-Bawerk means by

(a) social capital;
(b) the general subsistence fund;
(c) the average production period;
(d) usurious interest.

In what way does he analyze the relation between (b) and (c)?

7. Suppose ability of the highest kind in the organization and management of industry became as common as ability to do unskilled manual labor is now; what consequences would you expect as regards the national dividend? the remuneration of the business manager and of the unskilled laborer? Would you consider the readjusted scale of remuneration more or less equitable than that now obtaining?
8. What grounds are there for maintaining or denying that “profits” are (a) essentially a differential gain, (b) ordinarily capitalized as “common stock,” (c) secured through “pecuniary,” not “industrial” activity? What method of investigation would you suggest as the best for answering these questions?

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The Distribution of Wealth (Carver)

ECONOMICS 12¹: Course Announcement [1916-17]

[Economics] 12. ¹hf. The Distribution of Wealth. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor CARVER.

An analytical study of the theory of value and its applications, the law of diminishing utility, the nature and meaning of cost, the significance of scarcity and its relation to the general problem of social adjustment, the law of variable proportions and its bearing upon the problem of a better distribution of wealth.

ECONOMICS 12¹: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 12 ¹hf. Professor Carver. — The Distribution of Wealth.

Total 6: 3 Graduates, 1 Senior, 2 Juniors.

ECONOMICS 12¹: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. Is there any close connection between economic value and moral value? Explain and justify your answer.
2. How would you harmonize the Ricardian doctrine of rent with the doctrine that rent is determined by the specific or net productivity of land?
3. What is cost and what are its leading forms at the present time? How is it related to wages, interest, and profits?
4. What is meant by the intensive and by the extensive margins of cultivation and how are they related each to the other?
5. Can you see any connection between the wage fund doctrine and the doctrine of non-competing groups? Explain and justify your answer.
6. What would be the main items of your program for improving the present distribution of wealth? Give your reasons for each item.

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Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice (Day)

ECONOMICS 13: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 13. Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Asst. Professor DAY.

The first half of this course is intended thoroughly to acquaint the student with the best statistical methods. Such texts as Bowley’s Elements of Statistics, Yule’s Introduction to the Theory of Statistics, and Zizek’s Statistical Averages, are studied in detail. Problems are constantly assigned to assure actual practice in the methods examined.

The second half of the course endeavors to familiarize the student with the best sources of economic statistical data. Methods actually employed in different investigations are analyzed and criticized. The organization of the various agencies collecting data is examined. Questions of the interpretation, accuracy, and usefulness of the published data are especially considered.

ECONOMICS 13: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 13. Asst. Professor Day. — Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice.

Total 10: 8 Graduates, 2 Radcliffe.

ECONOMICS 13: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. Explain and criticize the following statistical table:

¹These per cents apply only to the incomes of families having wage earners of the specified class.
²Based on incomes of two families, each having one child under 12 at work.

2. Enumerate the means by which a bureau, charged with the administration of a state registration law, may ascertain the completeness of birth registration in any registration district.
3. Describe and illustrate the construction of a logarithmic curve. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a curve for the purpose of graphic presentation?
4. What is the logical distinction, if there be any, between a weighted and a simple arithmetic mean? What are the reasons for and against weighting? Under what conditions may weighting safely be omitted?
5. Retail price quotations for two articles are reported from fifty markets as follows:

Measure by the standard deviation the relative variability in price of these two commodities. Employ the short-cut method.

6. “Imagine an ideal republic, in some respects similar to that designed by Plato, where not only were all the children removed from their parents, but where they were all treated exactly alike. In these circumstances none of the differences between the adults could have anything to do with the differences of environments and all must be due to some differences in inherent factors. In fact, the environment correlation coefficient would be nil, whilst the heredity correlation coefficient might be high.”
   Comment upon the italicized statement.
7. Outline a correlation study of two economic variables both of which tend to increase steadily with the growth of population, and both of which are sensitive to the fluctuations of the seasons and of the business cycle.
8. What conditions are essential to simple sampling?
   The expected proportion of accidents per year in a certain industry is 150 per 1000 workers. A company employing 2500 workers reports 405 accidents during the year 1913. Assume that the conditions of simple sampling are met; analyze the returns to determine whether the difference between the actual and expected number of accidents is significant.

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History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 (Bullock)

ECONOMICS 14: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 11. Professor BULLOCK.

The purpose of this course is to trace the development of economic thought from classical antiquity to the middle of the nineteenth century. Emphasis is placed upon the relation of economics to philosophical and political theories, as well as to political and industrial conditions.

A considerable amount of reading of prominent writers will be assigned, and opportunity given for the preparation of theses. Much of the instruction is necessarily given by means of lectures.

ECONOMICS 14: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 14. Professor Bullock. — History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848.

Total 14: 13 Graduates, 1 Radcliffe.

ECONOMICS 14: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. What did the mercantilists teach concerning: (a) economic structure; (b) economic functions; (c) economic ideals; and (d) economic policies?
2. At what important points does Adam Smith draw upon the works of earlier writers? What important original contributions does he make?
3. At what points are Smith’s ideas inadequately developed or inconsistent?
4. What important changes were made in English economic doctrines by Ricardo and Mill?
5. Give the rest of the examination period to writing an essay upon the life, works, and economic doctrines of any economist prior to Adam Smith.

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Analytical Sociology (Anderson)

ECONOMICS 18a¹: Course Announcement [1916-17]

[Economics] 18a ¹hf. Analytical Sociology. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 3.30. Asst. Professor ANDERSON.

The centre of this course will be in the problems of social psychology: the raw stuff of human nature, and its social transformations; imitation, suggestion and mob-mind; the individual and the social mind; social control and the theory of social forces; the relation of intellectual and emotional factors in social life. These problems will be studied in their relations to the whole field of social theory, which will be considered in outline, with some emphasis on the influence of physiographic factors and of heredity. Leading contemporary writers will be studied, and some attention will be given to the history of social theory. Instruction will be by lectures, discussion, and reports.

ECONOMICS 18a²: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 18a ²hf. Asst. Professor Anderson. — Analytical Sociology.

Total 18: 16 Graduates, 2 Seniors.

ECONOMICS 18a²: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. What is the bearing of the Mendelian theory on social problems?
2. What difference does it make for sociology whether or not we accept the doctrine of the inheritance of acquired characters? To what extent, if at all, and in what connections, does Giddings make use of this doctrine? How far, if at all, are his conclusions incompatible with Weismann’s doctrine?
3. Explain what is meant by the “social mind.” By “social values.”
4. Summarize the theory of McGee as to the origin of agriculture.
5. Compare the views of Boas and W. B. Smith as to the comparative roles of race and environment in the case of the American negro. What is your own view?
6. What did you get from your reading of Tarde? Of Le Bon? of Ross’ Social Psychology? Let your summaries be brief, but not vague! Differentiate the books.
7. Summarize Giddings’ chapter on Demogenic Association.
8. Illustrate the social transformation of the raw stuff of human nature by the case of either the instinct of workmanship, the sex instinct, or the instinct of flight and hiding.
9. What reading have you done for this course?

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Public Finance (Bullock)

ECONOMICS 31: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 31. Public Finance. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor BULLOCK.

The course is devoted to the examination of the financial institutions of the principal modern countries, in the light of both theory and history. One or more reports calling for independent investigation will ordinarily be required. Special emphasis will be placed upon questions of American finance. Ability to read French or German is presupposed.

ECONOMICS 31: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 31. Professor Bullock. — Public Finance.

Total 16: 14 Graduates, 2 Seniors.

ECONOMICS 31: Final Examination [1915-16]

1. If you were writing a treatise on public finance how far would you utilize Adam Smith’s chapter on taxation?
2. What is Eheberg’s opinion concerning any two of the following taxes: the Ertragssteuern, the Wehrsteuer, and the property tax?
3. What is Leroy-Beaulieu’s opinion concerning any two of the following taxes: octrois, increment taxes, and the French patente?
4. With what different opinions concerning the incidence of the house tax are you familiar? State briefly your own opinion.
5. Discuss the doctrine that consumption taxes tend to be “absorbed,” and state your opinion concerning the practical conclusions that follow from it.
6. What is the incidence of the usual tax on mortgages in the United States?
7. Compare French and British direct taxation.
8. State the principles upon which a policy of public borrowing should be based. Should public debts be extinguished?

Sources:

Enrollment data: 

Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1915-1916, pp. 59-61.

Examinations (except where noted):

Harvard University. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, History of Religions, History of Science, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Psychology, Social Ethics, Education, Fine Arts, Music in Harvard College (June, 1916), pp. 45-63.

Course Announcements: 

Division of History, Government, and Economics 1914-15 printed in Official Register of Harvard University, Volume XI, No. 1, Part 14 (May 19, 1914), pp. 62-70.

Division of History, Government, and Economics 1916-17 printed in Official Register of Harvard University, Volume XIII, No. 1, Part 11 (May 15, 1916), pp. 61-69.

Image Source:

Card catalog in Widener Library at Harvard University, ca. 1915. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.