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Chicago. Comprehensive Exams in Economics for B.A., 1941

 

 

One presumes that a departmental comprehensive examination would cover material that would be expected of any student going on to graduate studies in economics.  The comprehensive examination for Harvard economics majors from 1953 has been previously posted as has Swarthmore’s comprehensive examination for 1931.

A few things worth noting:

  • Henry Simons and Paul Douglas were apparently enough at odds with each other’s economics to be unable to come up with a single principles examination in Part I.
  • Both accounting and basic statistics shared equally in the quantitative Part II.
  • Either U.S. or European Economic History was required to be one of the three field examinations in Part III. A student could even take both economic history examinations, so one can say economic history was very much part of the common core for economists-in-training.
  • From today’s perspective it is interesting to find that “transportation” was a field still having equal status with “labor” and “government finance”.

According to a handwritten note attached to the following comprehensive exam was used four times:  Spring 1940, Winter 1941, Autumn 1941, and (with slight correction) Winter 1942.

__________________

PART I

COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION FOR THE BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN ECONOMICS

(Start each new subject in a new examination book)

The comprehensive examination in Economics is divided into three parts:

PART I — Time: Approximately 2 ½ hours.

(a) Principles of Economics
(b) Principles of Money and Banking

PART II — Time: Approximately 2 ½ hours.

(a) Elementary Accounting
(b) Statistics

PART III — Time: Approximately 3 hours.

Write on either (a) or (b) and two other subjects. One of these may be the second subject in Economic History.

(a) Economic History of the United States
(b) Economic History of Europe
(c) Labor
(d) Government Finance
(e) Transportation

 

 

PART I

(a) Economic Principles

Write on either examination A or examination B. In view of the difference in reading lists, examination A is offered primarily for those who did their work in Economics 209 with Mr. Douglas, while examination B is for those who had this course with Mr. Simons.

Examination A.
(Answer all questions.)

  1. Describe in some detail why the demand curves for the products of an industry are negatively inclined and give and illustrate the formula for the measurement of elasticity.
    Why, under atomistic competition, is the demand curve for the products of an individual firm of infinite elasticity and indicate by graphs what forces determine equilibrium for the individual firms (a) with no alternation in their number, (b) in the longer run, where the numbers of firms may vary but where there is no change of the scale of the individual plant, (c) in the still longer run when both the numbers and the scale of plants vary.
  2. Discuss and illustrate equilibrium under conditions of “imperfect competition,” showing (a) the role of average and marginal revenue curves, (b) average and marginal cost curves. Discuss both short-run and long-run equilibrium and the light such conclusions throw upon whether competition is or is not desirable, the proper role of the state, etc.
  3. Trace the theory of production, showing the relative effect upon product of changes in the quantities of the three factors of production, i.e., land, labor and capital, and the steps by which the theory of distribution can be derived from the theory of production.

 

Examination B.
(Answer both questions.)

  1. (50 points)
    In an isolated community there are two kinds of land, and only one product, wheat. There are 100 farms of each The labor supply is homogeneous—i.e., all workers are equally efficient. There is private property in land and free contract for labor. Labor services are bought and sold only in units of one laborer per year. The markets for both labor and land (unless otherwise specified) should be assumed to be freely competitive.
    The table below shows the amounts of wheat which can be obtained from onesingle farm of each grade, with different numbers of laborers per year.
Number of Laborers Output on A-grade Farm Output on B-grade Farm
1 1,000 900
2 1,800 1,200
3 2,400 1,400
4 2,900 1,550
5 3,300 1,650

The labor population is 450 — all workers will seek to be fully employed at any wage rate above zero.

a. What will be the wages per man? Explain why.

b. What will be the rent of farms of each grade?

c. Explain how the productivity (product increment) of an A-grade farm may be determined.

d. What would happen to wages and rents if an output tax of 5 per cent were imposed upon the production of wheat?

e. What would happen to wages and rents if a tax of 100 bushels per farm were levied, the tax being payable by owners?

f. Suppose a minimum wage law is passed and enforced, requiring the payment of at least 700 bushels per year for labor. What will be the effect on total employment and on rents?

g. Suppose that workers on the A-grade farms organize into a trade union and enforce a minimum wage of 700 bushels per year on the A-grade farms. What will happen to rents? To numbers of workers employed on A-grade farms? To the wages of workers not employed on A-grade farms?

h. Suppose that workers organize only on the B-grade farms and enforce there a wage of 700 bushels per year. What will happen to rents? To wages on the A-grade farms?

  1. (50 points)
    Indicate the conditions or circumstances under which each of the following relationships is likely to obtain, in the short run if not in the long run, and explain briefly in each case:

    1. Marginal revenue is equal to price.
    2. Price is equal to average expense (total cost per unit) but far in excess of marginal expense.
    3. Marginal expense, for the industry as a whole, fare exceeds marginal expense for the individual firm.
    4. All firms in a highly competitive industry are maintaining outputs at which their average-cost curves are falling (negatively sloped).
    5. All firms in a highly competitive industry are maintaining outputs at which their marginal-expense curves are falling.
    6. The price of a productive service is equal to its product increment times product price.
    7. The price of a productive service is much less than its product increment times product price.
    8. The price of a productive service is much less than its product increment times marginal revenue (for the firm).
    9. The total output of all firms in an industry is such that marginal revenue, for the industry as a whole, is negative.
    10. Marginal expense and average expense are equal but both are far in excess of product price.

 

(b) Principles of Money and Banking

(Answer all parts in questions 1 and 2; if time permits answer question 3.)

  1. (25 points)
    The following statements are to be completed by filling in the blanks with the most nearly correct of the suggested answers:

    1. Excess reserves of the member banks of the Federal Reserve System are currently about _______ million dollars. (100; 1,000; 1,500; 3,500; 18,700)
    2. The Federal Open Market Committee consists of _______ (5; 7; 9; 12;19) members, of which (1; 3; 5; 7; 12) are members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the remainder selected by ____________________ (President of the U.S.; Board of Governors; U.S. Secretary of the Treasury; directors of the Federal Reserve banks).
    3. In recent months holdings of U.S. Government securities (direct and guaranteed) by the Federal Reserve banks have totaled about _______ million dollars (25; 500; 2,500; 6,000).
    4. A member bank in downtown Chicago is at present required to hold with its Federal Reserve Bank an actual net balance equal to _______ (10; 13; 17½; 22¾; 26) per cent of its net demand deposits.
    5. If the U.S. Treasury were to shift its present deposits from member banks to the Federal Reserve banks, excess reserves of member banks would probably _______ (increase; decrease; remain unchanged) and excess reserves of the Federal Reserve banks _______ (increase; decrease; remain unchanged).
    6. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is authorized to decrease existing reserve requirements for reserve city member banks to a minimum level of _______ (5; 13; 17½; 20; 100) per cent against its net demand deposits.
    7. The total volume of hand-to-hand money in circulation in the U.S. (in the hands of the public and in banks’ vault cash) has recently been approximately _______ (600; 8,000; 10,000; 50,000) million dollars, of which approximately _______ (0; 5; 25; 30) per cent has consisted of gold coin.
    8. In recent years member banks have held approximately _______ (10; 25; 55; 85; 98) per cent of all demand deposits (excluding inter-bank deposits) in all commercial banks of the country.
    9. If the Federal Reserve banks sold their present holdings of U.S. Government securities to the public, excess reserves of banks in the country would probably _______ (increase; decrease; remain unchanged).
    10. In computing its demand deposits subject to legal reserve requirements, a member bank may deduct from its gross demand deposits _______ (U.S. deposits held with it; balances due from other domestic banks except Federal Reserve banks; its vault cash; balances due to other domestic banks).
    11. In giving a correct statement of the quantity theory of money, it is necessary to state among other things the assumption _______ (that wage rates remain constant; that the country is not on a paper monetary standard; that the economy to which it refers is perfectly competitive; that the theory may not be applicable in the short run).
    12. The monetary gold stock of the United States is currently approximately _______ (3.5; 7.0; 22; 25) billion dollars.
    13. Treasury purchases of imported gold will result in the greatest reduction in excessreserves of banks (not including Federal Reserve banks) when the Treasury pays for the gold by _______ (issuing new gold certificates; borrowing funds from the public; borrowing funds from commercial banks; borrowing funds from the Federal Reserve banks).
    14. Time and demand deposits (excluding interbank deposits) in all banks of the United States currently total about _______ (25; 40; 60; 75) billion dollars, of which amount approximately _______ (10; 25; 40; 60; 98) per cent is fully insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
    15. Under present conditions the Federal Reserve banks can most effectively reduce excess reserves of member banks by _______ (raising the discount rates of the Federal Reserve banks; selling their holdings of U.S. Government securities on the open market; raising the legal reserve ratios of member banks to 100%).
  2. (75 points)
    A recent annual report of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System contained the following statement:
    “Under existing conditions the Treasury’s powers to influence member bank reserves outweigh those possessed by the Federal Reserve System.”

    1. State briefly and concisely the powers of the U.S. Treasury to influence member bank reserves; evaluate and explain their importance with reference to:

(1) Increasing member bank excess
(2) Decreasing member bank excess reserves.

    1. If the Treasury were to use certain of its powers, it could increase its cash holdings (without borrowing or taxing) by 10 billion dollars. Assume that it does so today, and that it spends the 10 billion dollars for national defense goods (in addition to the expenditures previously budgeted) during the next two years. Analyze the effects of the spending, including in your analysis statements concerning the effects on:

(1) Employment and national income.
(2) The cash position of the public.
(3) The reserve position of commercial banks.
(4) The powers of the Federal Reserve System to reduce member bank excess reserves.
(5) Relative changes in important groups of prices.

Of what help is the quantity theory of money to you in explaining the price fluctuations of (5)?

  1. (30 points)
    (If time permits)
    Defend your answers to parts e, I, m, and o of question 1.

 

 

PART II

(a) Elementary Accounting

(Answer all questions; plan to spend at least 40 minutes on question 4.)

  1. Debits and Credits
    Directions: Read the data given and select from the “Numbers To Be Used” the appropriate debit and credit to be used. Write the numbers of these accounts in the appropriate column, indicating in each case the kind of account (A-L-P-E-I).

Numbers to be Used

(1) Accounts Payable (10) Notes Payable
(2) Accounts Receivable (11) Notes Receivable
(3) Bad Debts (12) Office Expense
(4) Cash (13) R. Smith, Capital
(5) Furniture and Fixtures (14) Purchases
(6) General Expense (15) Sales
(7) Interest Cost (16) Wages and Salaries
(8) Interest Income (17) Rent Expense
(9) Merchandise Inventory

 

Debit Credit
Sample: A customer pays us cash on account (4) (A) (2) (A)
1. R. Smith invested cash in a mercantile business 1.
2. Paid cash for rent of store building 2.
3. Bought fixtures for cash 3.
4. Bought merchandise on account 4.
5. Bought office supplies for cash 5.
6. Sold merchandise for cash, note, balance on account 6.
7. Gave a trade creditor a note on account 7.
8. Paid a trade creditor cash on account 8.
9. Paid note payable due a creditor, with interest 9.
10. Received cash on account from a customer 10.
11. Received payment of note due from customer, with interest 11.
12. Paid wages and salaries 12.
13. Paid miscellaneous expenses 13.
14. A customer goes bankrupt and pays only a part of his account, the rest being uncollectible 14.
15. Bought merchandise for cash, note, balance on account 15.
16. Traded merchandise for furniture and fixtures 16.

 

  1. The following statements are to be marked by circling “T” if true, or “F” if false. A statement which is in any part incorrect is to be considered false.

T or F. The declaration of cash dividends results in a current liability on the balance sheet.

T or F. For a corporation having only common stock outstanding, the book value of the common stock is equal to the result obtained by dividing the difference between the total assets and the total liabilities by the number of common shares outstanding.

T or F. Customers’ accounts with credit balances should be shown on the balance sheet as current liabilities.

T or F. If the ending raw materials inventory is valued at too low a figure (other data on the statements correct), the cost of goods sold will be too small.

T or F. If depreciation of an asset is overestimated, that asset will be overvalued on the balance sheet.

T or F. A partnership is always automatically dissolved by the death of any one of its members.

T or F. Stock-dividends declared but not yet issued are shown on the balance sheet as current liabilities.

T or F. If all the stockholders of a corporation die, the corporation ceases to exist.

T or F. Holders of cumulative preferred stock have an unconditional right to dividends that are in arrears.

T or F. If the goods in process inventory at the beginning of an accounting period is overstated (other data on the statements correct), the gross profit for that period will be too small.

T or F. A corporation with a $200,000 surplus account could have no difficulty in paying a $100,000 cash dividend to stockholders.

T or F. Patents are written off to factory expense over the period of their economic life which cannot be more than 17 years.

T or F. Capital surplus represents the amount of profits which the stockholders and directors have been willing to leave invested in the business.

T or F. Expenditures which increase the usefulness of an asset, or prolong its life, are capital expenditures.

T or F. The introduction of controlling accounts for expenses makes necessary some change in the form of the journals used by that business.

T or F. Discount on Stock may be correctly shown on the balance sheet as a deferred charge.

T or F. A sinking fund reserve is set up to prevent the use of sinking fund cash for dividend purposes.

T or F. Preferred stock is never entitled to preference in the distribution of assets in liquidation, unless specified in the stock agreement.

T or F. A firm which has incurred a loss for the year may have more cash on hand at the end of the year than it had at the beginning of that year.

T or F. The cost of repairing a second-hand machine, before it is put to use in the factory, should be charged to factory expense.

 

  1. You are given a Statement of Profit and Loss of the Northwestern Manufacturing Company for the year ended December 31, 1940. Profit is shown as $121,380 Upon investigation you find that the accountant had proceeded as follows:
    1. Inventory had been valued at Market, $180,000; Cost was $150,000.
    2. Depreciation had been calculated on new machinery (purchased January 1, 1940) at a 10% rate. The general experience of competitors indicated that the life of the equipment was five years. The cost of the machine under question was $38,000.
    3. Wages due salesman for services rendered, $8000, had been overlooked.
    4. A garage owned by the Company was destroyed by fire. The building had a book value of $30,000. The insurance company had agreed to pay $20,000. The Company had signed a release but no record had been made of the fire or agreement.
    5. Accounts Receivable were valued at Gross, $200,000.
    6. Competitors had found that about 2% of gross accounts were uncollectible. About $1000 in cash discounts applicable to 1940 were expected to be taken.

What changes would you make on the Balance Sheet and the Statement of Profit and Loss for each of the above items?

  1. List the problems associated with the valuation of fixed assets: (a) at the time of acquisition, (b) of changes subsequent to the time of acquisition. Explain the relationship between these problems and cost determination in a manufacturing enterprise. Suggest solutions which the accountant has used in the past and discuss these critically in terms of economic theory.

 

(b) Statistics

(If time permits, answer all questions; note the unequal weighting, however. Plan to spend approximately 30 minutes on question 3.)

  1. (25 points)
    In the space to the left of each of the following statements indicate whether the statement is true (T) or false (F). Do not guess; if you don’t know whether a statement is true or false, don’t market.

_____ a. In a series of positive numbers the algebraic sum of the deviations of the individual items from their arithmetic mean is positive.

_____ b. In a simple linear correlation the slopes of the two elementary regression lines are always the same.
_____ c. Fisher’s Ideal Index Number formula satisfies both the time reversal and factor reversal tests.
_____ d. A moving average of points which lie along a straight line will reproduce the line.
_____ e. The sum of the squared deviations from the median of the frequency distribution is less than the sum of the squared deviations from any other average of the same frequency distribution.
_____ f. In simple linear correlation the two elementary lines of regression are identical if the simple correlation coefficient (r) is plus one and perpendicular to each other if the simple correlation coefficient is -1.
_____ g. The time series of the population of the United States plots is a straight line on semi-log paper; therefore, we may conclude that the population of the United States has grown at a constant relative rate.
_____ h. The simple correlation coefficient (ryx) is the arithmetic mean of the two simple regression coefficients (bxy and byx).
_____ i. In every frequency distribution 68% of the cases lie within plus and minus one standard deviation from the arithmetic mean.
_____ j. If the simple linear correlation coefficient between X and Y is small, it shows that there is very little relationship of any kind between X and Y.
_____ k. The standard error of estimate for the regression of Y on X depends upon the units in which Y is measured.
_____ l. The aggregative price index with base year quantity weights is identical to the arithmetic index of price relatives weighted by values of the base year.
_____ m. The sampling distribution of means of samples (all of the same size) drawn at random from a normal universe is also normal.
_____ n. The product of the individual items of a series of numbers is unchanged if each of the items is replaced by the geometric mean.
_____ o. The ratios-to-trend method of obtaining an index of seasonal variation is valid only if the underlying trend his linear.
_____ p. If the probability of getting a tail in a single toss of a bias coin is 1/4, the probability of getting three heads in three independent tosses of the same coin is 3/4.
_____ q. The sampling distribution of means of samples (all of the same size) drawn at random from a non-normal universe is less normal than the universe itself.
_____ r. The standard deviation of the sampling distribution of means drawn at random depends upon the size of the samples.
_____ s. The simple geometric average of relative prices satisfies the time reversal test.
_____ t. If a frequency distribution is symmetric when plotted on the arithmetic scale, the geometric mean, the median, and the mode will all coincide.
_____ u. If a frequency distribution is symmetric when plotted with a logarithmic scale on the X-axis, it will be skewed when plotted on the arithmetic scale.
_____ v. The harmonic mean of a series of positive numbers is sometimes greater in the geometric mean.
_____ w. The median is less affected than the arithmetic mean by the magnitude of extreme observations.
_____ x. The probability that two independent observations drawn at random from the same normal universe will both deviate by more than one standard deviation from the arithmetic mean of the universe is approximately 0.32 (= 32%).

  1. (35 points)
    State the reasoning behind your answer to the following parts (seven in all) of question 1:

(a or n)
(b, f, or h)
(c or s)
(i)
(j)
(p or x)
(r)

In each case, if you marked the statement true demonstrate its truth; if you marked it false, revise it so that it is correct, and demonstrate that your revision is true. Use mathematics where convenient.

  1. (40 points)
    The ABC Corporation which manufactures and sells over 1,000,000 packages of cigarettes (20 cigarettes per package) per year advertises of that on the average their cigarettes will burn for 15 minutes (per cigarette).
    The XYZ Corporation, making and selling over 2,000,000 packages of cigarettes per year (20 cigarettes per package) asserts that on the average its cigarettes will burn for 16 minutes (per cigarette).
    The Honesty-in-Advertising Association samples each manufacturer’s cigarettes, taking one sample of 145 cigarettes (not packages) of each Corporation’s. The following is a tabulation of their findings:
Maker of Cigarette Mean Burning Time
(in Minutes)
Sample of [sic] Standard Deviation of Burning Time
(in Minutes)
ABC Corporation 14.5 6.0
XYZ Corporation 15.0 4.0

On the basis of the above findings,

a. Do you feel that the claims of each manufacturer are justified?

b. Do you feel that XYZ cigarettes on the average burn longer than ABC cigarettes.In answering these questions make use of whatever relevant logical techniques you have learned. State your reasoning carefully; your reasoning is even more important than your arithmetic.
Note: The square root of 52 is 7.2.

 

 

PART III

Write on either (a) or (b) and two other subjects.
One of these may be the second subject in Economic History. (Approximately 3 hours).

(a) Economic History of the United States

(Answer the first three questions and, if time remains, the fourth.
Answer in outline form so far as possible.)

  1. Briefly describe or explain.

a. colonial indentured servant;
b. growth of slavery in the colonies;
c. coinage act of 1792;
d. rise of steamboats in the Mississippi Valley;
e. tariff of 1833;
f. railroad land grants of 1862-71;
g. transportation act of 1920;
h. War Industries Board;
i. Congress of Industrial Organization;
j. wages and hours act of 1938.

  1. Enumerate the chief causes for:

a. adoption of the public land act of 1820;
b. decline of canals after 1860;
c. decline of the general price level, 1865-1896;
d. shifted to a favorable balance of commodity trade after 1873;
e. restriction of immigration after 1921;
f. distressed condition of agriculture since 1920;
g. demand for a New Deal in 1933.

  1. Compare the chief exports and imports of about 1860 with those of the post-World War period. Carefully explain the chief economic developments responsible for the changes that took place.
  2. Outline and explain the history of the merchant marine, 1789-1940.

 

(b) Economic History of Europe

(Answer two questions.)

  1. Discuss the significance of any two of the following authors for the student of modern European economic history: Buckle, Tawny, Spengler, Clapham.
  2. Compare the role of the state in industrial enterprise in France and England during the seventeenth century. Did the French or the English government do the most for the general welfare of its people by its industrial policies?
  3. Compare the influence of either the railway or the canal upon the economic development of France, England, and Germany.

(c) Labor

(Answer both questions.)

  1. Discuss:

a. the main features of the various state minimum wage laws and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act;
b. the economic theories upon which they are based;
c. the constitutional issues involved.

  1. Discuss the issues involved as regards structure, membership, aims and methods in the following struggles:

a. The A. F. of L. versus the Knights of Labor.
b. The I.W.W. versus the A. F. of L.
c. Shop committees (or so-called employee representation plans or as sometimes termed “company” and “independent” unions) versus so-called “outside” unions.
d. The C.I.O versus the A.F. of L.

 

(d) Government Finance

(Answer all questions.)

  1. (35 points)

Mark each of the following propositions “True” or “False” and explain briefly (on separate paper):
The exemption, under federal personal-income tax, of interest on the obligations of state and local governments
_____ a. Involves a kind of federal subsidy or grant which is not commendable in terms of the basis on which the different states share relatively.
_____ b. Probably involve serious inequity as among large income receivers of similar income circumstances.
_____ c. Lowers the rate of interest which state and local governments must pay on their new borrowings.
_____ d. Probably serves to retard or delay recovery from severe depressions.
_____ e. Imposes indirectly a significant burden upon persons of small income in their capacity as savers.

  1. (25 points)
    It is often argued that income taxes, while having great merit in other respects, are ill-suited for a predominant place in revenue systems because their revenue-yield fluctuates so widely between years of prosperity and depression. Are such wide fluctuations a fault or virtue in a federal tax? Discuss.
  2. (25 points)
    In spite of its excellent cumulative features, the federal gifts tax leaves large opportunities for avoidance of estates tax through the distribution of property by gift. Explain “cumulative features”; and indicate the relevant facts about the law which have to do with the avoidance opportunities.

 

(e) Transportation

(Answer all questions. Note weighting of questions.)

  1. (10 points)
    In the following statements, underline the figure, or concept, that most nearly accords with accuracy.

    1. Operating expenses of a railroad may be expected to vary in accordance with:
      tons of freight carried; passenger-miles; train-Miles; car-mile; miles of track
    2. The standard gauge of American railroads is:
      3 ft. 6 in.; 4 ft.; 4 ft. 8 in.; 5 ft. 2 in.; 5 ft. 5 in.
    3. The average freight traffic density of American railroads is:
      100,000; 500,000; 1,000,000; 1,500,000; 5,000,000; 10,000,000
    4. The Interstate Commerce Commission was given power to prescribe actual railroad rates in:
      1906; 1903; 1887; 1911; 1920
    5. The carrying capacity of ocean ships is customarily expressed by:
      gross registered tons; deadweight tons; net registered tons; displacement tons; cargo tons of 40 cu. ft.
    6. The regulation of the rates of waterway common carriers in interstate commerce was authorized by Congress in:
      1900; 1916; 1920; 1933
  2. (15 points)
    The following diagram represents two railroad roots and 6 stations, the figures indicating the mileage between each pair of stations. The East and West Railroad serves all these points.

Indicate which of the rate situations stated below are departures from the provisions of the 4th Section of the Interstate Commerce Act:

a. A rate of 50¢ on commodity “X” from A to E, and 75¢ from E to B.

b. A rate of 25¢ on commodity “X” from A to B, and 20¢ from A to C.

c. A rate of 40¢ on commodity “X” from A to D, and 60¢ on commodity “Y” from A to C.

d. A rate of 45¢ on commodity “X” from A to C, and 50¢ on the same commodity from C to E.

e. A rate of 75¢ on commodity “X” from A to F via C, and 50¢ from A to F via E on the same commodity.

  1. (10 points)
    Draw up definitions of “common carrier” and “contract carrier” for the purpose of establishing a system of regulation of water carriers in interstate commerce of the United States.
  2. (20 points)
    The following diagram represents the line of a single railroad with 8 stations. The numbers represent the distances between stations:

Suppose that the rate structure on traffic between these points is represented by the 1st and 5th class rates, and commodity rates on furniture, and steel products, such as sheets, bars, rods.

From A
to
All rates are cents per 100 lbs.
1st Class 5th Class Furniture Iron and Steel
B 25 20 10 16
C 31 22 12 20
D 20 19 10 17
E 37 25 13 22
F 48 30 17 29
G 50 33 20 31
H 50 36 20 31

Assume neither water nor highway competition. What departures from principles of rate-making do you detect in this rate structure?

  1. (15 point)
    The Omnibus Transportation Bill which passed in the House of Representatives last Summer, inter alia, contain the following provisions: “In order that the public at large may enjoy the benefit and economy afforded by each type of transportation, the Commission shall permit each type of carrier or carriers to reduce rates so long as such rates maintain a compensatory return to the carrier or carriers after taking into consideration overhead and all other elements entering into the cost to the carrier or carriers for the service rendered…”Should such a provision be finally adopted into the law and seriously enforced by the Commission, what effect presumably would it have on the freight rate structures, and on the distribution of commodities? Why?
  1. (10 point)
    In which of the following cases is a certificate of public convenience and necessity required? Check the affirmative cases.

    1. A railroad desires to refund a maturing issue of bonds.
    2. Two motor highway common carriers wish to consolidate properties and operations.
    3. John Smith wishes to inaugurate a highway service between Chicago and St. Louis. He has a contract with a St. Louis manufacturer to haul enamel ware to Chicago; and this will take all his facilities northbound. But he desires to secure return loads and will haul any traffic that is offered.
    4. A railroad is about to acquire a new Diesel stream-lined train.
    5. A water common carrier, finding operations entirely unprofitable, decides to abandon operations.
  2. (10 points)
    A common carrier subject to the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission files a tariff containing new schedules of rates, embodying a number of changes. Which of the following statements most accurately describes the Commission procedure in dealing with the tariff.

    1. The tariff is passed around among the 11 commissioners, each of whom examines it for possible violations of the first four sections, and the 6 Section of the Act. If the majority of prove it, the tariff is accepted.
    2. The Commission refers it to the standing rate committees of the carriers for determination of the lawfulness of the rates contained therein.
    3. The tariff is received by the Terrace Bureau of the Commission, and checked by its rate clerks for conformance to the provisions of the sixth Section of the Act. If conforming thereto, it is accepted and is permitted to become effective.
    4. The tariff is returned to the carriers with the statement, that since the burden of proof rests upon the carriers to justify the new rates, they must prove that the rates are lawful under the Act before the tariff can be allowed to become effective.
  3. (10 points)
    An ocean steamship line quotes a rate of $10 W/M on automobiles, New York to Liverpool. What would be the ocean freight on an automobile so shipped, weighing 4,000 pounds boxed, and measuring 120 in. by 60 in. by 50 in.?

Source:  University of Chicago Archives. Department of Economics, Records. Box 39, Folder 28.

Image Source: Element from the Social Science Research Building. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-07449, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

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Exam Questions M.I.T. Principles Suggested Reading Undergraduate

M.I.T. Principles of Macroeconomics. 1995-2006

 

An earlier post provided links to assorted course materials for Principles of Microeconomics (14.01) taught at M.I.T. from 1994 to 2005.

Perhaps my productivity as an internet archive scavenger has simply improved with practice, but I suspect that the instructors and their teaching assistants for Principles of Macroeconomics (14.02) from 1995 through 2006 at M.I.T. were simply better organized in keeping copies of their syllabi, problem sets, exams etc. available for later cohorts. Anyhow, today I provide the results of several days of trolling (in a good way) the Wayback Machine internet archive for a decade long window spanning the most recent turn of a century.

Below you will find syllabi, class schedules, problem sets and solutions, exams and solutions plus links to lecture slides and supplementary readings where found. 

Fall 1995
Professor Olivier Blanchard

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1  (Solutions)

Problem Set 2  (Solutions)

Problem Set 3  (Solutions)

Problem Set 4  (Solutions)

Problem Set 5  (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions )

Problem Set 7 (Solutions )

Problem Set 8  (Solutions )

Problem Set 9 (Solutions)

Exams

Exam 1   (Solutions)

Exam 2 (Solutions)

Final Exam (Solutions not found)

Spring 1996
Professor Ricardo Cabellero

Exams

Exam 1 (Solutions)

Exam 2 (Solutions)

Final Exam (Solutions) [neither questions nor solutions found]

Fall 1996

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Problem Set 8 (Solutions)

Problem Set 9 (Solutions)

Exams

Exam 1 (Solutions)

Exam 2 (Solutions)

Final Exam (Solutions) [neither questions nor solutions found]

Spring 1997
Professor Ricardo Caballero

Home page

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Problem Set 8 (Solutions)

Problem Set 9 (Solutions)

Exams

Exam 1 (Solutions)

Exam 2 (Solutions)

Final Exam (Solutions) [neither questions nor solutions found]

Fall 1997
Professor Paul Krugman

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions) [questions not found]

Problem Set 2 (Solutions) [questions not found]

Problem Set 3 (Solutions) [questions not found]

Problem Set 4 (Solutions) [questions not found]

Problem Set 5 (Solutions) [questions not found]

Problem Set 6 (Solutions) [questions not found]

Problem Set 7 (Solutions) [questions not found]

Problem Set 8 (Solutions) [questions not found]

Problem Set 9 (Solutions) [neither questions nor solutions found]

Exams

Exam 1 (Solutions)

Exam 2 (Solutions)

Final Exam (Solutions)

Spring 1998
Professor Ricardo Caballero

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Problem Set 8 (Solutions)

Problem Set 9 (Solutions)

Exams

Exam 1 with Solutions

Exam 2, Parts I and II with Solutions

Exam 2, Part III (Solutions)

Final Exam with Solutions

Fall 1998
Professor Paul Krugman

For this term we have a cornucopia of material that includes lecture slides and handouts along with syllabus, reading assignments, problem sets and examination questions with solutions. This material has been put together for an earlier post.

 

Spring 1999
Roger Brinner

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard, Macroeconomics

Syllabus and schedule

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4  (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Exams

Exam 1 (Solutions)

Exam 2 (Solutions)

Final Exam [neither questions nor solutions found]

Fall 1999
Professor Ricardo Caballero

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard, Macroeconomics

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Lecture Slides

September 8 — Chapter 1: Tour of the World

September 13 — Chapter 2: Economic Data

September 15 — Chapter 2 and 3: Economic Data and the Goods Market

September 20 — Chapter 3 and 4: The Goods Market and Dynamics

September 22 — Chapter 5: The Financial Market

September 27 — Chapter 5: The Financial Market and the Role of Banks

September 29 — Chapter 6: The Role of Banks and the IS-LM Model

October 4 — Chapter 6: The IS-LM Model

October 6 — Chapter 6 : Review of the IS-LM Model

October 13 — Chapter 11: Openness in Goods and Financial Markets

October 18 — Chapters 11 and 12: Openness in Goods and Financial Markets

October 20 — Chapter 12: Openness in the Goods Market

October 25 — Chapters 12 and 13: Open Economy IS-LM

October 27 — Chapter 13: Open Economy IS-LM

November 1 — Chapters 13, 14.4 and 14.5: Fixed Exchange Rates and Crises

November 3 — Review: a collection of old transparencies, not posted

November 8 — Chapter 15: The Labor Market

November 10 — Chapters 15 and 16: Aggregate Supply and Demand

November 15 — Chapter 16: Aggregate Supply and Demand

November 17 — Chapter 16: Shifting the AS-AD

November 22 — Chapter 17: The Phillips Curve

November 24 — Chapters 18 and 19: Disinflation and Real Interest Rates

November 29 — Chapter 19: Inflation, Real Interest Rates and Exchange Rates

December 1 — Chapters 19, 22 and 23: AS-AD with Fixed Exchange Rates; Growth

December 6 — Chapters 22 and 23: Growth; Review I

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Problem Set 8 (Solutions)

Problem Set 9 (Solutions)

Exams

Exam 1 (Solutions)

Exam 2 with solutions

Final Exam  (Solutions)

Spring 2000
Professor Roger Brinner

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard, Macroeconomics(2nded).

Syllabus

Schedule

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Problem Set 8 (Solutions)

Exams

Exam 1 (Solutions)

Exam 2 (Solutions)

Final Exam (Solutions not found)

Fall 2000
Professor Ricardo Caballero

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard, Macroeconomics

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Problem Set 8 (Solutions) (Graphs)

Problem Set 9 (Solutions)

Exams

Exam 1 (Solutions)

Exam 2 (Solutions)

Exam 2, conflict (Solutions)

Exam 3 (Solutions)

Exam 3, conflict (Solutions)

Spring 2001
Professor Roger Brinner

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard, Macroeconomics(2nd edition)

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions not found)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions not found)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions not found)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Exams

Quiz #1 (Solutions)

Quiz #1 Conflict (Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Solutions, htm; Solutions, pdf)

Final Exam:  Book One (.doc); Book Two (.doc)

Fall 2001
Professor Ricardo Caballero

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard, Macroeconomics (2nded)

Syllabus

Schedule

Lecture slides

September 5 — Chapter 1: Tour of the World

September 10 — Chapter 2: Tour of the Book

September 12 — Chapter 3: The Goods Market

September 19 — Chapter 3: The Goods Market (continued)

September 24 — Chapter 4: Financial Markets

September 26 — Chapter 4: Financial Markets (continued)

October 1 — Chapter 5: The IS-LM Model

October 3 — Review Session

October 10 — Chapter 18: The Open Economy

October 15 — Chapter 19: The Goods Market in an Open Economy

October 17 — Chapter 20: Output, the Interest Rate and the Exchange Rate

October 22 — Chapter 20: Output, the Interest Rate and the Exchange Rate (continued)

October 24 — Chapter 21.2: Exchange Rate Crises

October 29 — Chapter 6.3-6.4: Building the Aggregate Supply: The Labor Market

October 31 — Chapter 6.5-7.1: Building the Aggregate Supply (continued)

November 5 — Chapter 7.1-7.3: Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply

November 7 — Review Session

November 14 — Chapter 7.4-7.7: AD-AS, Canonical Policy Shocks

November 19 — Chapter 8: The Phillips Curve

November 21 — Chapter 9: The Phillips Curve and the Natural Rate

November 26 — Chapter 14.1, 14.3-14.4: Nominal and Real Interest Rates
Chapter 21.1: Open Economy AS-AD

November 28 — Chapter 13.1-13.2: Productivity Growth in AD-AS.  Chapter 10: Growth – The Facts

December 3 — Chapter 11.1-11.2: Growth – Saving, Capital Accumulation and Output

December 5 — Review

Problem Sets (best seven of nine for 25% of grade)

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions) (Graphs)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions) (Graphs)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Problem Set 8 (Solutions)

Problem Set 9 (Solutions) (Graphs)

Exams (note no final exam, three quizzes for 75% of grade)

Quiz 1 (Solutions)

Quiz 2 (Solutions)

Quiz 3 (Solutions)

Spring 2002
Professor Roger Brinner

Lectures

February 06: Course Objectives and Introductions

February 11: The Policy Tradeoff: Unemployment vs. Changes in Inflation

February 13: The Fiscal Policy

February 19: National Income Accounts and the Government Budget

February 20: Core Growth Theory

February 25;&27: Basic Econometric Tools Used in Macroeconomics

March 1: Basic Econometric Tools Used in Macroeconomics- Handout

March 06: IS-LM Introduction

March 08: Aggregate Supply and Demand

March 11: Review

March 13: Review

March 18: Consumer Spending & House Demand

March 20: Business Investment

April 01: Foreign Trade & Exchange Rates

April 03: Inflation

April 08: Money Demand

April 10: Review by Prof. Brinner

April 17: Growth

April 22: Integrating IS-LM and the Modern Phillips

April 24: Fiscal Policy in the 1990s

April 29: International Growth & Crises

May 01: Stock & Bond Markets

May 06: Monetary Policy in the 1990s

May 08: Social Security and the National Debt

May 13: US Business Cycles: Experience vs. Theory

May 15: Review

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Exams

Quiz #1 (Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Solutions)

Quiz #3 (Solutions)

Fall 2002
Professor Huntley Schaller

Syllabus

Schedule

Readings

Recitations

Recitations by Samer HajYehia (PDF)
“Consumption and Housing” Recitation (PDF)
Class Notes Part 1 (PDF)
Class Notes Part 2 (PDF)

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Problem Set 8 (Solutions)

Exams

Quiz #1 (Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Solutions)

Quiz #3 (Questions and Solutions)

Spring 2003
Professor Olivier Blanchard

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard’s Macroeconomics, 3rd ed.

Course Home Page

Syllabus

Schedule

 REQUIRED READINGS:

 REVIEW ARTICLES:

 ADDITIONAL READINGS:

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Exams

Quiz #1 (Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Solutions)

Quiz #3 (Solutions)

Fall 2003
Professor Ricardo Cabllero

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard’s Macroeconomics.

Course Home Page

Syllabus

Schedule

Ha Yan Notes (zip)

Lectures

Lecture 1. Introduction

Lecture 2. Basic Definitions

Lecture 3. Basic Aggregate Demand Model

Lecture 4. Goods/Financial Markets

Lecture 5. Financial Markets (Cont.)

Lecture 6. IS-LM

Lecture 7. IS-LM (Cont.)

Lecture 8 (review)

Lecture 9. Open Economy

Lecture 10. Goods Market in the Open Economy

Lecture 11. Goods Market and the Exchange Rate

Lecture 12. The Open Economy IS-LM (II)

Lecture 13. Exchange Rate Systems

Lecture 14. Building Aggregate Supply

Lecture 15. Aggregate Supply–Aggregate Demand

Lecture 16. Aggregate Supply, Aggregate Demand (cont.)

Lecture 17. AD-AS + The Phillips Curve

Lecture 18. Inflation and Unemployment

Lecture 19. Devaluations in an AD-AS framework (.ppt)

Lecture 20. Productivity growth (.ppt)

Lecture 21. Growth (.ppt)

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Exams

Quiz #1 (Questions and Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Questions and Solutions)

Quiz #3 (Questions and Solutions)

Spring 2004
Professor Olivier Blanchard

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard’s Macroeconomics, 3rd edition.

Syllabus

Schedule

Readings

Week of 2/9:

Article 1:  “Easy Money”  (The Fed and inflation)

Article 2: “Competitive Sport in Boca Raton”  (Questions about the strength of the dollar)

Week of 2/16:

Article 3: “Irrational Exuberance”

Article 4:  Insanity in the Japanese stock market?

Article 5:  The Unemployment Rate and Economic Health

Article 6: Soaring stocks in Southeast Asia

Article 7:  Are the tech stocks back?

Week of 2/23:

Article 8: Macroeconomic performance in Germany

Week of 3/15:

Article 9: Unemployment rates in Spain and Portugal

Week of 4/5:

Article 10:  Economic Recovery in the U.S.

Week of 4/19:

Article 11:  Chinese economic outlook

Article 12:  U.S. economic outlook

Article 13:  Interest rates in the US

International Monetary Fund’s semi-annual report

Week of 5/3:

Reading (not required): Overview of Argentina

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions) [note: dated 3/17/03, but not same as problem 3 of Spring 2003]

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Exams

Quiz #1 (Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Solutions) (Graphs)

Quiz #3 (Solutions)

Fall 2004
Professor Richard Caballero

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard’s Macroeconomics, 3rd edition.

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

All course materials as zip file

Lectures

Lecture 1. Introduction

Lecture 2. Definitions and First Model

Lecture 3. Basic Aggregate Demand Model

Lecture 4. Financial Markets

Lecture 5. IS-LM (1)

Lecture 6. IS-LM (2)

Lecture 7. Open Economy

Lecture 8. Goods Market and Exchange Rate

Lecture 9. Review

Lecture 10. Open Economy IS-LM

Lecture 11. Mundell-Fleming

Lecture 12. Aggregate Supply

Lecture 13. Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand

Lecture 14. AD-AS and the Phillips Curve

Lecture 15. Phillips Curve

Lecture 16. Review

Lecture 17. Real Interest Rates/Open economy AD-AS framework

Lecture 18. Growth

Lectures 19 and 20. Solow model (apparently available in zipped files above)

Lecture 21. Technological Progress and Unemployment

Lecture 22. Expected Present Discounted Values

Lecture 23. Bond Prices and Yields

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Exams

Quiz #1 (Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Solutions)

Quiz #3 (Solutions)

Spring 2005
Professor Olivier Blanchard

Textbook:  Olivier Blanchard, Macroeconomics, 3rd edition.

Course Home Page

Syllabus

Schedule

Lectures (only seven found)

Lecture 1 (Feb 2): Introduction and a Tour of the World (Ch 1)

Lecture 6 (Feb 22): The 2001 Recession

Lecture 20 (Apr 20): Open Economy (Ch 18)

Lecture 21 (Apr 25): Open Economy–The Goods Market (Ch 19)

Lecture 22 (Apr 27): Open Economy–The Goods Market (Ch 19)

Lecture 23/24 (May 2/4): Output, Interest Rate, and the Exchange Rate (Ch 20)

Lecture 25/26 (May 9/11): Exchange Rate Regimes (Ch 21)

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Problem Set 7 (Solutions)

Exams

Quiz #1 (Questions and Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Solutions)

Quiz #3 (Questions and Solutions)

Fall 2005
Professor Francesco Giavazzi

Textbook:  Olivier Blanchard. Macroeconomics, 4th ed.

Course Material Folder

Syllabus

Schedule

Lectures. (Only last lecture found)

December 14. Using the book to understand the state of the U.S. economy

Problem Sets

Problem Set 1 (Solutions)

Problem Set 2 (Solutions)

Problem Set 3 (Solutions)

Problem Set 4 (Solutions)

Problem Set 5 (Solutions)

Problem Set 6 (Solutions)

Exams

Quiz #1 (Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Solutions)

Quiz #3 (Solutions)

Spring 2006
Olivier Blanchard

Textbook: Olivier Blanchard. Macroeconomics 4/E (2006)

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Problem Sets with Solutions

Problem set 1

Problem set 2

Report of the President (B4)

Report of the President (B5)

Fed. Funds Rates

Japan (OECD)

Problem set 3

Problem set 4

Spreadsheet for SQ.1

Problem set 5

Problem set 6

ps6sq3.xls

Practice exercise for Chapter 20

Exams

Quiz #1 (Solutions)

Quiz #2 (Solutions)

Quiz #3 (Solutions)

 

Image:  Mr. Peabody (dog) and Sherman (boy) activating the original WABAC Machine.

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Johns Hopkins Undergraduate

Johns Hopkins. Undergraduate economics course exams, 1923

 

The archival collection of examinations in economics at Johns Hopkins University is extensive, if not complete. This post provides transcriptions for all the available copies of undergraduate examinations (along with course descriptions and staffing information) for the 1922-23 academic year. The Elements of Economics course was taught in three sections, the first of which (a) was designated as “academic” and the second (b?) was designated as “engineering”. It is not clear what the third section was except that it was taught by the lowest on the totem pole, the graduate student Robert C. Gillies, for whom a memorial from his Princeton Class of 1918 has been inserted into this post.

___________________

From the Princeton Alumni Weekly

ROBERT CARYLE GILLIES ‘18

In 1917, Bob Gillies left Princeton for war service. He rose to the rank of captain and served overseas with the 8th F.A. in WW I. Returning to the U.S. and Princeton, he graduated in 1920 and later earned a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins. Bob became a research man in economics. He worked for the Assoc. of Railroad Executives and the Bell System.

About his subsequent life, during which we seldom saw or heard from him, we quote from a recent letter from his son Robert Gillies ’48:

“I am writing to tell you that my father died in West Berlin, Germany, on April 8. He was 86 years old. He moved to Washington in 1932 and worked for the government. In 1946 he went to Austria and Germany as an economist for the office of U.S. Military Government. He married while in Salzburg and had a daughter in 1950. His wife died in 1968. Shortly after this he retired and lived in West Berlin until his death.

“He returned to this country only once—when my wife and I were married in the University Chapel in 1947. However, his letters frequently referred to Princeton and his 1918 classmates.”

Source: Princeton Alumni Weekly, Volume 78 (September 26, 1977, p. 20).

___________________

Faculty and assistants providing undergraduate economics instruction in 1922-23

George Ernest Barnett, Ph.D., Professor of Statistics.
A. B., Randolph Macon College, 1891; Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, 1899-1900, and Ph.D., 1901.

William Oswald Weyforth, Ph.D., Associate Professor in Political Economy.
A.B., Johns Hopkins University, 1912, and Ph.D., 1915; Instructor, Western Reserve University, 1915-17.

Broadus Mitchell, Ph.D., Associate in Political Economy.
A.B., University of South Carolina, 1913; Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, 1916-17, and Ph.D., 1918.

Miss Theo Jacobs, Associate in Social Economics
A.B., Goucher College, 1901; Federated Charities of Baltimore (District Assistant, 1905-07, District Secretary, 1907-10, Assistant General Secretary, 1910-17, Acting General Secretary, 1917-1919.

Robert Carlyle Gillies, Graduate Student in Economics
A. B., Princeton University, 1920.

___________________

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES ANNOUNCED FOR 1922-23
(ex ante)

  1. Elements of Economics. Particular attention is given to the theory of distribution and its application to leading economic problems.
    Three hours weekly through the year. Associate Professor Weyforth and Dr. Mitchell.
  2. (a) Statistical Methods. After a preliminary study of the value and place of statistics as an instrument of investigation, attention is directed to the chief methods used in statistical inquiry.
    Three hours weekly, first half-year. Professor Barnett.
    (b) Money and Banking. The principles of monetary science are taught with reference to practical conditions in modern systems of currency, banking, and credit.
    Three hours weekly, second half-year. Associate Professor Weyforth.
  3. (a) Labor Legislation. The theory and practice of labor legislation are studied, with attention given to legal, economic and social considerations.Three hours weekly, first half-year. Dr. Mitchell.(b) Investments.Includes historical and analytical description of the more important forms of investments and theories of valuation and amortization.
    Three hours weekly, second half-year. Professor Barnett.
  4. (a) Labor Problems. The problems growing out of modern industrial employment will be studied. Three hours weekly, first half-year. Dr. Mitchell. (b) Corporation Finance. The theory and practice of corporation finance are considered, with particular reference to the problems presented in the United States.
    Three hours weekly, second half-year. Professor Barnett.[Course 4 will not be given in 1922-23.]
  5. (a) Foreign Trade and Exchange. The economic principles of international commerce, the methods of conducting foreign trade, and the theory and practice of foreign exchange will be studied.
    Three hours weekly, first half-year. Associate Professor Weyforth.
    (b) Economic History of the United States. This course deals with the economic development of the country and with the way in which the economic motive has influenced our history.Three hours weekly, second half-year. Dr. Mitchell.
  6. (a) Applied Statistics. The applications of statistics to business and economic problems, such as price levels, cost of living, wage adjustments, business cycles, and business forecasting, are considered.
    Three hours weekly, first half-year. Associate Professor Weyforth.
    (b) Public Finance. The theory and practice of finance are considered, with particular reference to the problems of taxation presented in the experience of the United States.
    Three hours weekly, second half-year. Dr. Mitchell.[Course 6 will not be given in 1922-23.]
    Note—Course 2 is open only to such students as have completed or are pursuing Course 1; Courses 3, 4, 5 and 6 only to students who have completed 1 and 2.

Source: The Johns Hopkins University Circular 1922 (Volume XLI, Whole Nos. 335-341), pp. 344-345.

___________________

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES REPORTED FOR 1922-23
IN ANNUAL JHU PRESIDENT’S REPORT
(ex post)

Professor Barnett, Associate Professor Weyforth, Miss Jacobs, Dr. Mitchell, and Mr. Gillies conducted the following undergraduate courses:

Political Economy I. Three hours weekly, through the year. Particular attention was given to the theory of distribution and its application to leading economic problems. (Associate Professor Weyforth, Dr. Mitchell, Mr. Gillies.)

Political Economy II. Three hours weekly, through the year. In the first half-year a preliminary study of the value and place of statistics as an instrument of investigation was made; attention was directed to the chief methods used in statistical inquiry. In the second half-year the principles of monetary science were taught with reference .to ·practical conditions in modern systems of currency, banking and credit. (Mr. Gillies and Associate Professor Weyforth.)

Political Economy III. Three hours weekly, through the year. In the first half-year, the theory and practice of labor legislation were studied. In the second half-year, attention was given to the theory of investments. (Professor Barnett.)

Political Economy V. Three hours, weekly, through the year. In the first half-year, the economic principles of international commerce, the methods of conducting foreign trade, and the theory and practice of foreign exchange were studied. In the second half-year, the course was designed not only to show the structure of typical business entities, but their methods of formation and expansion. Common forms of securities were examined. Operation and administration of business units were studied in detail. (Associate Professor Weyforth and Mr. Gillies.)

Political Economy VII. Two hours weekly, through the year. The history and development of charitable and social agencies were traced. Causes and treatment of cases of dependency and delinquency were discussed. (Miss Jacobs.)

Political Economy VIII. Three hours weekly, through the year. The course was designed to furnish a background for the study of economic principles and special phases of economic activity. The particular purpose of the course was to show the relationship between economic fact and economic and political theory and practice. (Dr. Mitchell.)

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Annual Report of the President, 1922-1923. In The Johns Hopkins University Circular, New Series, 1923, No. 7 (November 1923), pp. 57-58.

___________________

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
POLITICAL ECONOMY I A
Friday, Feb. 2, 1923 – 2-4 p.m.

  1. Describe the main features of the manorial system and the guild system in England.
  2. Explain the following terms: goods, face goods, economic goods, capital utility, diminishing utility, marginal utility, value, price, supply, demand, elasticity of demand.
  3. What is meant by the division of labor? Explain its advantages. What is the roundabout or capitalistic method of production? What are the requirements for the formation of capital?
  4. What are the more important types of business organization? Explain their respective advantages and disadvantages.
  5. What is meant by the gold standard? By the bimetallic standard? What factors led to the demand for the bimetallic standard in the United States between 1875 and 1896?
  6. Explain how changes in the quantity of money and in bank deposits may cause changes in the general level of prices.
  7. Explain the principal functions and the importance of commercial banks in our economic system.
  8. Outline the organization of the Federal Reserve System. How does it remedy some of the principal defects of the old national banking system.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
POLITICAL ECONOMY I A (ACADEMIC)
May 28, 2-4 p.m.

  1. (a) What are the outstanding defects of the competitive system?
    (b) What did Marx say would result from competition?
  2. (a) What are the varieties of Socialism?
    (b) What is the difference between State Socialism and Guild Socialism?
  3. (a) Give reasons for the advance of labor unionism.
    (b) Why are unions justifiable?
    (c) Distinguish between craft and industrial unions, and comment upon the advantages of each.
  4. Should railroads in the Unites States be publicly owned? Give full reasons for your answer.
  5. What are the cardinal principles of taxation as stated by Adam Smith?
  6. What is the justification for the progressive income tax?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
POLITICAL ECONOMY I B
Friday, Feb. 2, 1923 – 2-5 p.m.

  1. If you chose to pursue graduate work in political economy as a major subject, and were asked why you did not select history, political science, or psychology instead, what reasons would you give?
  2. What are the large divisions of the subject of political economy? Under which of the heads does the theory of rent fall?
  3. What is meant by the division of labor, when did it become a characteristic feature of our economic life, and what have been its chief consequences to workers? In what ways does the division of labor increase product?
  4. What do you think of the statement: “Value depends upon utility”? Explain fully.
  5. Arthur Young found the farmers in a part of England following inefficient methods of cultivation, and advised that the best remedy lay in a raising of the rents by landlords. hat do you think of his plan?
  6. What is the argument for the Single Tax?
  7. Were the Southern slaves capital?
  8. Name some items which are wealth in the individual sense but not in the social sense.
  9. Name some respects in which our present economic system is not competitive.
  10. Construct supply and demand schedules so as to show how a market price is determined.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
POLITICAL ECONOMY I (Engineering)
May 28, 1923.

  1. What is credit? Explain its importance in business operations. Distinguish between commercial and investment credit. Define and illustrate a promissory note and a bill of exchange.
  2. Explain the theory that each factor in production tends to receive a share of the product corresponding to its marginal productivity.
  3. What is the principle that determines what goods a country imports and what goods it exports? Why is a high tariff in the United States detrimental to the exporting interest in this country?
  4. What is capital? How does it come into existence? What principles determine the return received by it?
  5. What are some of the outstanding economic characteristics of railroad transportation? Explain their bearing upon the following: (a) practice of charging what the traffic will bear; (b) large variations in net earnings with small variations in traffic; (c) cut-throat nature of the competition that has at times developed.
  6. Explain the theory of rent.
  7. Describe the various types of labor organizations. What are the arguments for and against the boycott, and the closed shop?
  8. What is socialism, anarchism, syndicalism? Give briefly the arguments for and against socialism.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
POLITICAL ECONOMY I C
Friday, Feb. 2, 1923 – 2 p.m.

  1. (a) Which do you consider most important in the study of economic science: credit toward a college degree; training for business; culture; or preparation for citizenship? Just how do you think your study will contribute toward that end?
    (b) Discuss the proposition: Good ethics, good art, or good politics on the part of the masses is well nigh impossible without sound economics.
  2. Robinson Crusoe on his island was able to work out an efficient personal economy because he knew what he needed most and what to do next. Are the American people at a disadvantage in this respect? Are strikes and depressions partly a manifestation of that disadvantage? If so, how would you as a practical economist seek to remedy this situation? Defend your remedy.
  3. A small savage tribe gradually develops into a great nation. What would be the accompanying evolution in economic practice?
  4. Discuss the following statement: “In 1770 Arthur Young reckoned the income of England to be £120,000,000; in 1901 the income may be roughly set down at £1,600,000,000. Making correct allowances for population and for prices, this growth of income would signify a large increase of commodities per head; but would it tell us that we are working and living better than our ancestors?”
  5. It is said that the spender is a greater asset to economic society than the saver, because he puts his money back into circulation. Discuss.
  6. (a) A new labor-saving device is put into operation, throwing a large class of skilled workmen out of employment. To what extent is this a hardship to labor, a benefit, or both? Explain.
    (b) Criticize the cost of production theory of value.
  7. Name a large industry in which there holds a condition of increasing expenses. How does introduction at successive intervals of labor-saving machinery and more scientific technique affect this condition? Draw what you consider a unit expense curve for this industry over several such intervals. Are monopolies likely to occur in a field of increasing expenses? Would the ratio of fixed to total expenses of the typical business unit be high or low in such a field?
  8. What is the fallacy of bi-metallism? Of fiat money? Connect the value of an elastic currency (from the standpoint of the nation’s business) with the quantity theory of money.

    *  *  *  *  *  *  *

EXAMINATION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY I C. MR. GILLIES
May 28, 1923

  1. (a) A small increase in the supply of a certain article results in a heavy decrease in price. Does this signify an elastic or an inelastic demand?
    (b) A reduction in price of an article from 12¢ to 10¢ results in increased sales of 10 per cent. What is the numerical measure of the elasticity of demand?
    (c) What is the difference in the usual methods of weighting commodity price index numbers and cost of living index numbers?
  2. Define (a) bill of exchange (b) long bill (c) purchasing power parity (d) doctrine of comparative costs.
    How are exchange rates kept approximately normal?
    Draw up a “balance sheet” for a year’s transactions between the United States and Europe, including the principal invisible exchanges.
  3. What is your view point concerning protection? Support and defend your position.
  4. How is the apportionment of the total product among the various factors of production determined?
  5. Why do we distinguish between the “intensive” and the “extensive” margins? To which factors of production do they apply? Are they usually found in conjunction? Give reasons.
    What are some of the conditions affecting the supply of labor? How is it affected by legislation enacted already? What is the philosophy of workmen’s compensation laws?
  6. What determines the rate of interest? What is meant by a “free production good”? Is the accumulation of capital a help or a menace to labor? Are waste, loss, destruction of property by fire, etc., a benefit to labor in the long run? In the short run? Explain.
  7. Why do we call the railway industry one of increasing returns? Of joint costs? Is the proportion of fixed capital high or low? What have these facts to do with rates?
    Roughly, how are railway revenues divided up among the four factors of production? Do you think physical valuation should determine railway profits? If so, would you take original cost or present value? Why?
  8. What has been the tendency of public expenditures in the last century as to (a) purposes (b) proportion of national income absorbed? Does an increase in this proportion indicate inefficiency or extravagance? Are there any dangers in such an increase? Explain.
    What policy do you favor for the disposal of our remaining public land?
    If a tax policy were founded upon the more nearly equal distribution of wealth, would it meet with your approval? Why? What forms of taxes do you think would be emphasized under this policy? Why?CAUTION. This examination will be used Friday, June 1, 1923 also. Do not, therefore, discuss or divulge its contents in any way.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
EXAMINATION IN STATISTICS (POL. ECON. II)
Feb. 1, 1923, 9 a.m. – 12 m.

  1. (a) Under what circumstances is it best for the statistician to carry out his own primary investigations? Are there any disadvantages in this method?
    (b) You have an appropriation of $100,000 with which to investigate the degree of education attained by adults in a community. You decide to employ enumerators. Salaries and expenses of enumerators is estimated at $40,000 and printing the report of your inquiry will cost $10,000. Each question asked by the enumerators will cost $10,000 to tabulate. Draft a form for them to use, with such questions as you think suitable.

20 minutes

ARRAY OF LEAF-LENGTHS
(in millimetres)

Item

Item Item Item Item Item Item Total
15 19 21 21 23 26 29

154

16

19 21 21 23 26 29 155
16 19 21 21 23 26 29

155

16

19 21 21 23 26 29 155
17 19 21 22 23 26 30

158

17

20 21 22 24 26 30

160

17

20 21 22 24 27 30 161
18 20 21 22 24 27 31

163

18

20 21 22 24 27 31 163
18 20 21 22 24 27 32

164

18

20 21 22 24 27 32 164
18 20 21 22 25 27 32

165

19

20 21 22 25 28 33 168
19 20 21 23 25 28 33

169

19

20 21 23 25 28 35

171

2425

a = 23.5

  1. The above is a tabular representation of an array of leaf lengths. Work up this information as a frequency table, both simple and cumulative, in seven classes.
    a. Cross check the given table and find if the value of a shown is correct. (This work may be done on the question paper, which should then be submitted at close of examination. Or, describe what you did on answer paper).
    b. The items in the given table are correct to the nearest millimeter. How many decimals would be justified as accurate in a? (Probable error equals possible error divided by the square root of n).
    30 minutes
  2. Plot the data in your frequency table as a histogram. Smooth and estimate the mode. How would you convert your data to plot as a percentage histogram? Plot as an ogive and smooth. Locate the median and quartiles.
    20 minutes
  3. What method would you use to locate the model class when poorly defined? What is the easiest way to locate the mode within a given class? Give formula.
    Find the coefficient of dispersion, using the average deviation from the mode. How would you modify procedure if using the median or the arithmetic average? Calculate the quartile coefficient of dispersion.
    20 minutes
  4. Compute the standard coefficient of dispersion. Give formula for the coefficient of skewness based upon this coefficient. Calculate the coefficient of skewness based upon the average deviation from the mode, also that based upon the quartiles.
    30 minutes
  5. Draw a grid to scale for a logarithmic historigram. How do you plot points for this historigram? Find the weighted index number of prices for the following group of commodities, using 1913 as a base:

COMMODITY PRICES

Article

Production Unit 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920
Wheat 100 bushel $1.04 $1.09 $1.29 $1.47 $2.35 $2.31 $2.34

$2.65

Corn

300 bushel .71 .79 .84 .93 1.78 1.84 1.77 1.67
Cotton 1.2 bale 64.00 55.50 50.50 72.00 117.50 158.50 161.50

173.00

Pig Iron

3.2 tons 15.00 13.40 13.60 18.70 40.00 36.50 32.00 44.00
Copper 130 pounds .15 .13 .17 .27 .27 .25 .19

.17

Note: Production used is that for year 1919 (approximate) and is in tens of millions.
Plot the weighted index and apply Marshall’s method comparing the proportional rates of increase from 1913 to 1915 and from 1916 to 1920.

30 minutes

 

7. Compute Karl Pearson’s coefficient of short time correlation between supply and price in following table:

INDICES OF SUPPLY AND PRICE

Date

Supply Price Date Supply Price
1880 80 146 1890 91

103

1881

82 140 1891 94 94
1882 86 130 1892 100

75

1883

91 117 1893 105 66
1884 83 133 1894 102

75

1885

85 127 1895 96 91
1886 89 115 1896 98

87

1887

96 95 1897 106 81
1888 93 100 1898 114

76

1889

90 106 1899 112

82

Probable error = ?

Indicate your procedure in case concurrent deviations are used. Formula?
Show how you would find the ratio of variation for long time changes in this data by the Galton graph. Does the Galton graph apply wholly to historical variables ? Why is it necessary for this graph that both variables be reduced to index numbers?

30 minutes

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
[POLITICAL ECONOMY 2B]
MONEY AND BANKING
TUESDAY, MAY 29, 1923, 9-12 AM.

  1. What is standard money? State the requisites of:
    (a) A gold standard
    (b) A bimetallic standard
    (c) A paper standard.
    State the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  2. Outline the principal legislation in the monetary history of the United States.
  3. Explain the importance of credit in our present economic system. How does a bank judge of the credit standing of a borrower?
  4. Classify and describe the different kinds of loans made by commercial banks. What is the general type of loan that is most suitable for a commercial bank?
  5. Describe the operations of a commercial paper house. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of this method of financing.
  6. Explain the need for elasticity in currency and elasticity in credit. How did the Federal Reserve System remedy the defects of the old National Banking System in these respects?
  7. Describe the organization of the Federal Reserve System.
  8. What is the need for control of bank credit. How may this control be effected under the Federal Reserve System?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3 [A. Labor Legislation]
Thursday – February 1, 1923

  1. What provisions in the Federal Constitution are important with respect to labor legislation, state and national?
  2. On what grounds were the two Federal child labor laws declared unconstitutional?
  3. How far may the states go in regulating hours of labor? Trace the constitutional history of such legislation.
  4. Discuss the economic arguments for and against immigration.
  5. When is a strike illegal?
  6. Distinguish the trade union “minimum” wage and the legal “minimum” wage.
  7. Discuss the economic considerations relating to a reduction of hours of adult laborers from nine to eight in a particular trade.
  8. Describe the Liverpool Dock Scheme. What economic result is effected? How fare is the scheme applicable to other industries?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3 [B. Investments]
May 29th, 1923. 9—12 A.M.

  1. Distinguish capital, capital stock and capitalization.
  2. How much (roughly) is $1000 in 1930 worth now? How much is $1000 in 1940 worth now? Explain.
  3. Under what circumstances is a city justified in incurring a debt? Is the City of Baltimore justified in borrowing money to pay for school houses?
  4. Distinguish speculation from investment.
  5. What are the elements in an investment which the purchaser buys? Why are there no “absolutely” good investments?
  6. Appraise a savings bank deposit as an investment by breaking it up into its elements. A bond of the State of Maryland.
  7. To what extent are the obligations of the State of Maryland enforceable?
  8. Discuss the tests of “ability to pay” applicable respectively to states and private corporations.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Dr. Weyforth.
POLITICAL ECONOMY V
FOREIGN TRADE AND EXCHANGE
Monday – January 29, 1923 – 9 a.m.

  1. How do you account for England’s unfavorable balance of trade prior to the war and the favorable balance of the United States? What is likely to be the future of the balance of trade of the United States?
  2. What selling policies are open to a manufacturer contemplating foreign business? Explain their respective advantages and disadvantages.
  3. In quoting terms of sale the seller may require any of the following: (a) advance payment by importer; (b) payment by importer upon delivery of goods; (c) deferred payment by importer. What methods of international payment can be used for carrying out these various terms?
  4. Describe the operation of an import credit on New York from the beginning to the end of the transaction.
  5. What are the factors determining the actual rates of exchange between a gold standard country and a paper standard country?
  6. Explain the operations involved in drawing a sterling draft on South America.
  7. What factors contributed to the preeminence of sterling exchange as an international medium of exchange?
  8. What is the importance of a wide discount market in maintaining and extending the use of dollar exchange?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

POLITICAL ECONOMY 5.
Business Organization
June 1, 1923

  1. Have you completed the assigned reading including the supplementary forms in Stockder? If not, indicate the extent of completion.
  2. Define (a) business establishment, (b) entrepreneur, (c) circulating capital, (d) securitization, (e) common law, (f) treasury stock, (g) municipal corporation, (h) voting trust, (i) court of equity, (j) underwriter, (k) scientific management.
  3. Compare the individual proprietorship, the partnership, the joint stock company and the corporation as to
    (a) place in the development of the capital concept;
    (b) extent of present day use;
    (c) suitability for various types of business;
    (d) legal status and requirements;
    (e) control, and liability of the component members.
  4. (a) What is the participation association and how did it originate?
    (b) What types of partners may bind the firm? Which types have limited liability?
    (c) and (d) Describe the operating structure of the corporation.
  5. (a) Describe the characteristics of the business trust that distinguish it from the forms of business organization already mentioned.
    (b) Distinguish associations from federations and illustrate by examples.
  6. (a) How do control companies control their subsidiaries? Does this form of business organization lend itself more readily to vertical or to horizontal combination? What purposes do finance and assumption companies serve?
    (b) Name some abuses of “big business” and show how the law has attempted to curb them.
  7.  -8. You are the organizer, and, later, the general administrator of a large manufacturing plant, employment both men and women. (a) Whom would you bring in to assist the promotion? (b) How would you determine the location of your plant? (c) How would you lay it out? (d) How would your buildings be designed? What type of construction would you use, and how would you give your contracts for them? (e) How would you organize the shop forces? (f) What plans of wage payments would you use in the various departments? (g) What welfare work would you institute? (h) How would you organize your selling department? (i) What accounting systems would you use?

Re-examination in Business Organization
A. L. Tuvin

  1. Discuss the joint stock company. Point out the similarities between it and the partnership; and also between it and the corporation.
  2. Discuss the conditions which are conducive to successful combination.
  3. What is meant by fair competition? Give an illustration of unfair competition.
  4. Describe the agencies in the U. S. which are designed to secure fair competition.
  5. What is a holding Company? Give its advantages and disadvantages. Discuss briefly the various forms.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
January 29, 1923, 9 A.M.—12 M.
[POLITICAL ECONOMY (12?)]
Economic History

  1. What is the importance of economic history, and why do we place more emphasis upon English than upon American economic history?
  2. What was the significance of Doomsday Book? What were the differences that distinguished the problems of the Norman kings from those of the Saxon kings?
  3. How did serfdom originate and how did it disappear in England? Give a full answer.
  4. How did the economic practices of the gilds differ from those of industry nowadays? Distinguish briefly between the domestic system, the factor system, and the factory system.
  5. What were the results of inflation following the Black Death?
  6. What is the fallacy of mercantilism? What economic writer gave chief opposition to the mercantilist philosophy?
  7.  Name as many books as you can, that you have read, which, although not in the field of economic history proper, yet contain information of interest to the student of this subject? The books may concern either English or American conditions.

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives, Eisenhower Library. Department of Political Economy, Series 5/6. Box: 6/1. Folder: Department of Political Economy, Exams, 1907-1924.

Image Source: Webpage “Gilman Hall circa 1920” in the Hopkins Perspective, 1876-Today collection.

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions Problem Sets

Chicago. Problems and exam. Income and Employment Theory. Friedman, 1966-67

 

In an earlier post we saw that Milton Friedman resisted the move to relabel the Chicago courses in (aggregate) income and employment theory “macroeconomics”. Below we have the take-home problem sets for 1966 and 1967 together with the final examination questions for the 1966 version of the course transcribed from copies in Friedman’s papers at the Hoover Institution Archives.

Pro-tip: Incomplete transcripts of his taped lectures for the course are filed at the Hoover Archives along with the material posted here. These await the caring editorial hand of some (other) historian of economics.

_______________

ECONOMICS 332
Winter, 1966
Problems for Reading Period

(Due at Final Exam, Monday, March 14, 1966, 1:30 P.M.)

  1. In an economy using fiduciary money, it costs nothing to create additional cash balances. Hence, it is desirable to encourage wealth-holders to hold additional cash balances so long as they get any additional non-pecuniary return from them. One way to do so is through a deliberate policy of announced deflation.
  2. For individuals, additions to cash balances are a substitute for real saving in the form of direct investment or loans to finance direct investment; hence, the larger the additions to cash balances, the lower will tend to be the volume of real capital formation. Since economic growth depends on the volume of real capital formation, it is desirable to discourage the hoarding of cash. One way to do so is through a deliberate policy of announced inflation.
    Both statements offer plausible, yet they lead to precisely opposite policy conclusions. Can you reconcile them? If not, which, in your opinion, is in error? What is the source of the mistake?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Milton Friedman

ECONOMICS 332
Final Examination. Winter, 1966
March 14, 1966

[25 Points]

  1. Indicate in each box whether the change in the indicated variable would, under the specified conditions, tend to be an increase (+), decrease (-), no change (0), or is uncertain (?). In each case, of course, assume other relevant variables unchanged.
    Make usual assumptions about behavior functions.

Assumed change

Underemployment
Rigid Wages

Full Employment
Flexible Wages
Employ-
ment
Interest
rate
Real
stock
of
money
Con-sump-tion Price level Interest rate Real stock of money

Consump-tion

(1) Rise in tariff
(2) Increase in government taxes, no change in government expenditures
(3) Reduction in legal reserve requirements of member banks
(4) Discovery of vast oilfields
(5) Substitution of tax on land values for tax on wages, no change in revenue
(6) Emergence of widespread fear of civil disturbances

 

[30 Points]

  1. An earthquake destroys half the physical capital in a country but miraculously there is negligible loss of life. The earthquake was most unusual, was unexpected and no one expects a repetition.
    1. Show graphically the effect on (1) the stock demand and supply for capital; (2) the flow demand and supply curves.
    2. Assuming flexible prices and full employment throughout, what, if anything, can you say about the initial effects on (1) rental rate on capital goods; (2) sales price of capital goods; (3) interest rate [i.e., ratio of (1) to (2)]; (4) real wage rate; (5) fraction of income consumed; (6) absolute level of investment.
    3. What about ultimate effects on these variables?
    4. Assuming initially rigid wages and underemployment, what, if anything, can you say about initial effects on items listed in (b)?

[15 Points]

  1. “The relation between the volume of economic activity and the price level is not simple. As a first approximation, the classical law of supply and demand leads one to expect that the change in the price level will depend mainly on the size of the gap between capacity and actual output” 1966 Annual Report, Council of Economic Advisers, pp. 63-64.
    “Money prices, as opposed to relative prices, can never be governed by the conditions of the commodity market itself (or of the production of goods)” K. Wicksell, Interest and Prices (1898), p. 24.
    In your opinion, does this shift in economic theory over the past 68 years reflect progress or retrogression? Justify your answer.

[15 Points]

  1. Consider a hypothetical economy in which initially, government expenditures (G) are 100, private investment (I) is 50, and private consumption (C) is 350, so that national product (Y) is 100 + 50 + 350 = 500, and tax receipts (T) are 90. Assume that G and T are both reduced by 10 to 90 and 80 respectively, and that wage rates are rigid.
    1. If you neglect any effects on the rate of interest, what would be the resulting values of C, I, and Y? Prove your answer in general by a simple algebraic analysis.
    2. Would you expect any effects on the interest rate if nominal quantity of money is constant? If so, what effect? How would this in turn affect I, C, and Y? Give hypothetical numbers that might correspond to final outcome.
      Again, prove your answer.
    3. What additional complications, if any, are relevant in generalizing these effects of a balanced budget change to actual circumstances?

[15 Points]

  1. Discuss the “real balance effect,” indicating what you think to be its meaning, and what role it has played in discussions of the possibility of under-employment equilibrium. In the course of your answer indicate what economists have been the main contributors to the discussion and what their specific contributions have been.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Milton Friedman
Spring Quarter, 1967
Economics 332

ECONOMICS 332
Problem for Reading Period
Due at Final Exam, Wed., June 7, 1967
(Maximum length = 1,000 words)

MONETARY vs. FISCAL POLICY

Define fiscal policy as deliberate changes in the government tax structure or expenditure structure for a given behavior of the quantity of money; monetary policy as a change in the rate of change of the quantity of money for a given tax and expenditure structure.

  1. Using the standard income-expenditure model, and assuming prices are rigid, analyze the effect on real income and interest rates of an increase in taxes which would raise the full-employment surplus (or lower the full-employment deficit) by X billion dollars. Specify the parameters on which the result depends and indicate limiting cases.
  2. Using the same model, indicate how to determine the change in monetary policy that would have the same effect on real income. How would other effects of the two policies differ?
  3. The standard model is in terms of comparative statics, so (1) and (2) would be analyzed in terms of a comparison of two alternative positions at a single date. In addition, the only stock variable in the standard model is the quantity of money. Modify the analysis in (1) in both respects. That is, indicate the time path of adjustment you might expect and why, taking into account any effects on such stock variables as total holdings of government and private securities.
  4. Similarly, analyze the time path of the effect of a decline in the rate of monetary growth by, say, X percentage points, again allowing for effect on stocks.

Source: The Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman, Box 77, Folder “University of Chicago, Econ. 331 [sic]”.

Image Source: Milton Friedman at Pepperdine University in 1977.

 

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

M.I.T. Reading list and final exam for core graduate growth and capital theory. Solow, 1973

 

Core macroeconomic theory was taught in a sequence of four half-semester courses at M.I.T. In this post we have material from the final course of the sequence (typically taken in the fall term of the second year of residency) that was dedicated to growth and capital theory and taught by Robert Solow in 1973.

The course syllabus and final examination for the third course in the sequence on Macroeconometric Models taught by Franco Modigliani were transcribed for the previous post.

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

___________

14.454
MACRO THEORY IV
Fall 1973 2nd half

  1. Growth Theory

background, if necessary: Solow, GROWTH THEORY, Ch. 1,2
Burmeister and Dobell: MATHEMATICAL THEORIES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, Ch. 1-4
and/or
Wan: ECONOMIC GROWTH, Ch. 1, 2, 4 (sec. 3)
Kahn: “Exercise in the Analysis of Growth,” OXFORD ECONOMIC PAPERS, New Series, Vol. 11, 1959, pp. 143-156 (reprinted in GROWTH ECONOMICS, ed. A. K. Sen, Penguin)
Wan: Ch. 4, sec. 4

  1. Optimal Growth

background, if necessary: Solow, GROWTH THEORY, Ch. 5
Burmeister and Dobell: Ch. 11
and/or
Wan: Ch. 9, 10
Koopmans: “Objectives, Constraints and Outcomes in Optimal Growth Models” ECONOMETRICA, Vol. 35, 1967, pp. 1-15 (reprinted in Koopmans, SCIENTIFIC PAPERS, pp. 548-560)

  1. Capital Theory

Malinvaud: LECTURES ON MICROECONOMIC THEORY, Ch. 10
Hirschleifer: INVESTMENT, INTEREST AND CAPITAL, Ch. 2, 3, 4, 6
Dougherty: “On the Rate of Return and the Rate of Profit” ECONOMIC JOURNAL, December 1972, pp. 1324-1349
Burmeister and Dobell: Ch. 8, 9
Weizsäcker: STEADY-STATE CAPITAL THEORY, pp. 1-22, 32-47, and passim

Source:  Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Robert M. Solow, Box 68. Also in Franco Modigliani Papers, Box T7.

 

14.454 FINAL EXAM
19 Dec 1973
R. M. Solow

ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS, total time 1 ½ hours

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

 

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

Image Source:  Robert Solow pictures at the MIT Museum Website.

 

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

M.I.T. Macroeconometric models. Reading list and final exam. Modigliani, 1973

 

Core macroeconomic theory was taught in a sequence of four half-semester courses at M.I.T. In this post we encounter the third course of the sequence (typically taken in the fall term of the second year of residency) that was dedicated to Keynesian macroeconometric models and taught by Franco Modigliani in 1973.

In the same folder is a qualifying exam for 14.454, Macro IV which would be a waiver examination given before the term begins. There is no year indicated on this exam, but the content of the questions clearly matches that of the empirical macro course 14.453 offered in 1973. In the fall term of 1973, the quantitative macro and the dynamic macro switched their order which is probably the reason for the confusion about the course number at the start of the term.

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

___________

14.453 MACRO THEORY III
Fall 1973, 2nd Half

I – ECONOMETRIC MODELS

Tinbergen, J. Statistical Testing of Business Cycles, Theory II. Business Cycles in the U.S.A.
Klein, L. R. & A. S. Goldberger. An Econometric Model of the United States, 1955; Impact Multipliers & Dynamic Properties of the K-G Model, 1959.
Suits, D. B. “Forecasting and Analysis with an Econometric Model”, AER, March, 1962. Reprinted in Readings in Business Cycles.
Hymans, S. H. & H. T. Shapiro. The Michigan Quarterly Econometric Model of the U.S. Economy, 1973.
_____________, Revision as of June, 1973 – Mimeo
Green, G. R., M. Liebenberg, A. A. Hirsh. “Short and Long Term Simulations with the OBE Econometric Model” in Econometric Models of Cyclical Behavior, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 36.
Fair, R. C. A Short Run Forecasting Model of the United States Economy, 1971.
Adams, G. F. & David M. Rowe, “Forecasts and Simulations from the Wharton Econometric Model”, Multilith.

ECONOMETRIC FORECASTING SYSTEM

1 – DR1 Quarterly Model
2 – Operations Overview

Fromm, G. & L. R. Klein. “A Comparison of Eleven Econometric Models of the United States”, AER, Papers and Proceedings, May, 1973, pp. 385-393.
Fair, R. C. “Forecasts from the Fair Model and Comparison of the Recent Forecasting Record of Seven Forecasters – July, 1973”. Princeton University – Multilith. 
Tsurumi, H. “A Comparison of Econometric Macro Models in Three Countries”, AER, May 1973.
Moriguchi, C. “Forecasting and Simulation Analysis of the World Economy”, AER, May, 1973.

THE MPS MODEL

Equations in the MIT-Penn-SSRC Model of the United States, January, 1973.
Data Directory, January, 1973.
Ando & Modigliani, “Econometric Analysis of Stabilization Policy,” AER, May, 1969.
Ando, A. K. “Basic Structure of the MPS Model” –Multilith.
Modigliani, F. “The Channels of Monetary Policy in the FMP Econometric Model of the U. S.” – Multilith.

II – THE CONSUMPTION FUNCTION

Keynes, J. M. The General Theory of Employment, Interest & Money, Ch. 8 & 9.
Modigliani, F. Lecture Notes on Monetary Theory, Part IV, Section A&B, (especially A.4 to B.2)
Brady, D.S. & Friedman, R. D. “Savings and the Income Distribution”, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. X, pp. 247-265.
Duesenberry, J. S. Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior.
Modigliani, F. “Fluctuations in the Saving Income Ratio: A Problem in Economic Forecasting”, in Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. XI, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1949.
_____________, “The Life Cycle Hypothesis of Saving Twenty Years Later”, Multilith.
_____________ and Brumberg, F. “Utility Analysis and the Consumption Function: An Interpretation of Cross-Section Data”, in K. Kurihara, (ed.) Post-Keynesian Economics, New Brunswick, 1954.
_____________ and _____________, “Utility Analysis and Aggregate Consumption Functions: An Attempt at Integration”, unpublished.
Merton, R. C. “Optimum Consumption and Portfolio Rules in a Continuous-Time Model”, Journal of Economic Theory, December, 1971.
Dreze and Modigliani, “Consumption Decisions under Uncertainty”, Journal of Economic Theory 5, 1972.
Modigliani, F. “The Life Cycle Hypothesis of Saving, the Demand for Wealth and the Supply of Capital” Social Research, Summer 1966.
_____________, “The Life Cycle Hypothesis of Saving and Inter-country Differences in the Saving Ratio”, in Induction, Growth and Trade, Essays in Honor of Sir Roy Harrod, 1970.
Ando, A. and Modigliani, F. “The Life Cycle Hypothesis of Saving: Aggregate Implications and Tests,” American Economic Review, March, 1963.
Modigliani, F. “Monetary Policy and Consumption: Linkages via Interest Rate and Wealth Effects in the FMP Model”, in Consumer Spending and Monetary Policy: the Linkages, The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 1971; and Appendix by Ando and Modigliani, “Consumption and Consumer Expenditure”.
Kaldor, N. Essays in Value and Distribution, London, 1960.
Tobin, J. “Life Cycle Saving and Balanced Growth”, in Ten Economic Essays in the Tradition of Irving Fisher, 1967.
_____________ and Dolde, W. C. “Wealth, Liquidity and Consumption”, in Consumer Spending and Monetary Policy: the Linkages, The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 1971.
Mayer, T. Permanent Income, Wealth, and Consumption, 1972.

III – THE INVESTMENT FUNCTION

Keynes, J. M., General Theory, Chapters 11 and 12.
Jorgenson, D. W. “Econometric Studies of Investment Behavior”, Journal of Economic Literature, Dec. 1971.
_____________ and R. E. Hall, “Application of the Theory of Optimum Capital Allocation” in Tax Incentives and Capital Spending, (edited by Fromm).
Bischoff, C. W. “The Effects of Alternative Lag Distributions”, in Tax Incentives and Capital Spending, G. Fromm, ed., Brookings Institution, 1971.
Ando, Modigliani, Rasche & Turnovsky, “On the Role of Expectations of Price and Technological Change in an Investment Function”. Multilith.
Eisner, E., and M. I. Nadiri, “Investment Behavior and Neoclassical Theory.” Review of Economics and Statistics. Vol. 50, August 1968.
_____________, “Neoclassical Theory of Investment Behavior: A Comment.” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 52, May 1970.
Bischoff, C. W., “Hypothesis Testing and the Demand for Capital Goods,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, August 1969.
_____________, “Business Investment in the 1970’s: A Comparison of Models”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, 1971.
Nadiri, I. M. “An Alternative Model of Business Investment Spending”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 3, 1972.
Kalchbrenner, J. H. “A Model of the Housing Sector”, Chapter 6, in Savings, Deposits, Mortgages and Housing, Studies for the Federal Reserve-MIT-Penn Economic Model, (eds. Gramlich and Jaffee), 1972.
Ando and Modigliani, “Consumption and Consumer Expenditure”, pages 9-17, (APPENDIX A), Multilith.

IV – FINANCIAL MARKETS

Tobin, J. “A General Equilibrium Approach to Monetary Theory”, JMCB, February, 1969.
Brainard, W. and J. Tobin. “Pitfalls in Financial Model Building”, AER, May, 1968.
Ando and Modigliani. “Some Reflections on Describing Structures of Financial Sectors”. Multilith.
Ando, A. K. “Some Comments on Brainard-Tobin Framework for Financial Analysis”. Multilith.
Modigliani, F., Rasche, R. and J. P. Cooper, “Central Bank Policy, the Money Supply, and the Short-Term Rate of Interest,” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 2, 1970.
Modigliani, F. and R. Shiller, “Inflation, Rational Expectations, and the Term Structure of Interest Rates,” Economica, February, 1973.
Jaffee, D. M., and F. Modigliani, “A Theory and Test of Credit Rationing”, American Economic Review, December, 1969.
_____________, Credit Rationing and the Commercial Loan Market, John Wiley and Sons, 1971.
Gramlich, & Jaffee, editors, Saving Deposits, Mortgages and Housing, Chapters 1 to 5, and 7.
Modigliani, F. “The Valuation of Corporate Stock”. Multilith.

V – WAGES, PRICES, EXPECTATIONS

Phillips, A. W. “The Relation between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wages in the U. K.” Economica, November 1958.
Lipsey, R. G. “The Relation between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rate in the U. K.: A Further Analysis”, Economica, 1961.
Phelps et al. Macro Economic Foundations of Employment and Inflation Theory, See especially the two contributions of Holt.
The Econometrics of Price Determination Conference, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and SSRCs.

De Menil and Enzler, “Prices and Wages in the FR-MIT-Penn Econometric Model”.
Tobin, “The Wage-Price Mechanism: Overview of the Conference”.
Hyman, “Prices and Price Behavior in Three U.S. Econometric Models”.
Nordhaus, “Recent Developments in Price Dynamics”.
Lucas, “Econometric Testing of Natural Rate Hypothesis”.

Modigliani and Tarantelli, “A Generalization of the Phillips Curve for a Developing Country”, Review of Economic Studies, April, 1973.
Eckstein and Brinner, “The Inflation Process in the United States”, Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the U.S., 92 Congress, 2ndSession.
Modigliani, “New Developments on the Oligopoly Front”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 66, June 1958.
Lucas, R. “Some International Evidence on Output-Inflation Tradeoffs”, AER, June, 1973.
Sargent, T. J. “Rational Expectations, The Real Interest Rate and the ‘Natural’ Rate of Unemployment.” Multilith—forthcoming in Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2, 1973.
Gordon, R. J. “The Welfare Cost of Higher Unemployment”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, 1973.
Turnovsky, S. J. “Empirical Evidence on the Formation of Price Expectations”, J.A.S.A., December 1970.
de Menil and Bhalla, “Direct Measurement of Popular Price Expectations”—Princeton University Econometric Research Program, Memorandum No. 149.
de Menil, G. “Rationality in Popular Price Expectations”. Multilith.

______________________

QUALIFYING EXAM FOR 14.454 (sic)
MACRO IV (sic)

Time Period: Less than two hours
Answer at least 2 questions

  1. Tests carried out for a number of countries of the major alternative models purporting to explain aggregate consumption (Duesenberry-Modigliani, permanent income, life cycle, Kaldorian model) are typically found to fit the data quite well, and the difference in fit is generally not large.
    1. give a brief description of each of the above models
    2. what explanation, if any, can be advanced for the empirical finding that there are no substantial differences in the closeness of fit in the various models
    3. does the fact that the alternative models fit roughly as well imply that it makes little difference which of these equations is incorporated in an econometric model
      1. rom the point of view of forecasting
      2. from the point of view of predicting the effect of alternative monetary and fiscal policies
  2. Consider the coefficient estimates of the St. Louis “reduced form model”.
    1. what are possible and likely sources of biases in these coefficients? (Be sure to explain what you mean by bias in this context.)
    2. are these estimates consistent with the monetarist view of the working of the economy?
    3. with the view embodied in the standard econometric models of the U.S.?
    4. with the view embodied in the MPS model? (optional)
  3. The “multiplier” played an important role in early Keynesian thinking.
    1. review how this notion has developed since that time.
    2. in the light of (i), describe the kind of simulations you would perform in order to evaluate the “multiplier effect of an increase in government expenditure” implied by one of the major contemporary econometric models of the U.S.
    3. can an estimate of the above multiplier be inferred from the coefficients of the St. Louis “reduced form model”?

______________________

14.453 MACRO THEORY
FINAL EXAMINATION

Franco Modigliani
Wednesday, 12/19/73

1 ½ hours

Answer Question I and at least one other question

  1. Enclosed is a forecast for the U.S. economy generated by the MPS Model in October 1973, before the so-called oil crisis. Assume an exogenous reduction in oil imports of 3 million barrels per day (representing somewhat over 15% of the consumption of oil implicit in the above forecast) beginning in the fourth quarter of ’73, and becoming fully effective from the first quarter of ’74.
    1. analyze the likely effects of this event on the above projections of real and money GNP and its components, assuming no change in monetary and fiscal policy.
    2. what changes in economic policy, if any, would you recommend, and why?
    3. can the MPS model (or analogous macro-econometric models) be used without major modification, to simulate the effects of the reduction in oil supply? Explain.

(Note: the monetary policy assumed in the projection is a growth of the money supply at 6% in ’73.4, at 6.5% in the first half of ‘74, and 7% thereafter.)

  1. The “multiplier” played an important role in early Keynesian thinking.
      1. review how this notion has developed since that time.
      2. in the light of (i.), describe the kind of simulations you would perform in order to evaluate the “multiplier effect of an increase in government expenditure” implied by one of the major contemporary econometric models of the U.S.
      3. can an estimate of the above multiplier be inferred from the coefficients of the St. Louis “reduced form model”?
  2. Formulate your model of the short and long run determinants of the price level. Use your theory to evaluate the often expressed view that fiscal policy should be used to control real output and monetary policy to control prices.
  3. Discuss the role of price expectations in macro-economic analysis, and review the present state of knowledge with respect to the modeling of price expectational variables in macro-econometric models.

1973_14453_exam_MPSoutputReduced

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

Image Source: Franco Modigliani picture from the MIT Museum Website.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. Exams and Reading Lists for Latin American Economies. Bradley, 1944/1948/1949

 

 

 

An earlier post provided the reading list for a course taught at Harvard by Philip Durgan Bradley, Jr., Economics 38b “Economic Problems of Latin America” in the Spring Term of 1944. In the meantime, I have found a copy of the exam that I have transcribed for this post.

A few years and a course number change later, Bradley taught a course with the title “The Economy of Latin America” (Econ 14b). The reading list provided for the course in the spring semesters of 1948 and 1949 were identical except for a single item and is provided below as are the final examination questions from 1948 and 1949.

____________________

Final Exam, June 1944

1943-44
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 38b

One hour

  1. “Variations in the international balance of payments are the principal factors determining the level of economic activity is the Latin American area.” What were the principal variations in the Latin American balance of payments during the period 1923-43? In what specific respects and by what means did these variations in the balance of payments affect the internal level of economic activity in the Latin American countries during this period? (Treat the area as a whole.) Do you agree that the above quotation is substantially correct?

Choose ONE question. 50 minutes

  1. The returns earned on United States Direct Investments guarantee two things for the future: (1) a substantial share of total private United States capital sent abroad in any year will go to Latin America and (2) every country and every major type of industry in Latin America will be assured of an adequate future flow of United States private capital. Discuss.
  2. “One essential difference between petroleum and mineral products on the one hand and the products of agriculture and industry on the other consists of the fact that the former products represent the exploitation of non-replaceable, wasting-assets while the latter do not. The domestic requirements for petroleum and mineral products in industrially backward countries are small, and these products are produced primarily for export purposes. The continued or increased exploitation of these wasting-assets for export purposes constitutes a drain upon the national wealth which must necessarily prevent the realization of higher levels of national income in such countries.” Discuss, including a statement of your agreement or disagreement with the foregoing conclusion.

Choose TWO. 35 minutes each

  1. “The high cost of living in Venezuela is a direct consequence of that nation’s petroleum policy.” Discuss.
  2. What were the principal objectives of the Brazilian coffee control programs? Of the Inter-American Coffee Agreement? Do you believe that an international approach to coffee control promises more hope of success than the methods used in the past? Explain your answer to this last question.
  3. Discuss what you consider to be the more important economic consequences of the land tenure system in Latin America.
  4. Write an essay on the principal topics discussed in your reading period selection.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 9, Papers Printed for Final Examinations, History, History of Religions,…Economics,…, Military Science, Naval Science. June, 1944.

____________________

Enrollment 1948

[Economics] 14b. Assistant Professor Bradley.—The Economy of Latin America (Sp.)

Total 49: 1 Graduate, 24 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 1 Business School, 2 Radcliffe.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1947-48, p. 89.

 

Enrollment 1949

[Economics] 114 (formerly Economics 14b). Assistant Professor Bradley.—The Economy of Latin America (Sp.)

Total 58: 1 Graduate, 26 Seniors, 23 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 1 Public Administration, 1 Business School, 2 Radcliffe.

 

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

 

____________________

“Short” Reading List

Economics 14b
Spring Term, 1949
[mimeographed copy]

Readings related to Latin American economic problems+

  1. Royal Institute for International Affairs, Republic of South America, Chs. 1 and 2.
  2. George Soule, Efron and Ness, Latin America in the Future World, Chs. 1-6.
  3. L. Schurz, Latin America, pp. 155-178.
  4. H. Barber, “Land Problems in Mexico,” Foreign Agriculture, Vol. III, pp. 99-120.
  5. M. McBride, Chile: Land and Society, Ch. 5.
  6. George Wythe*, Industry in Latin America, Part I, Part II—Choose one: Argentina, Brazil or Mexico, Part III.
  7. M. Phelps, Migration of Industry to South America, Chs. 2, 4, 7.
  8. T. Ellsworth*, Chile: An Economy in Transition.
  9. Triffin, R., “Central Banking,” Ch. 4 in Economic Problems of Latin America, ed. By S. E. Harris.
  10. Robert Triffin, Money and Banking in Colombia, pp. 1-33.
  11. C. Wallich, “Cuba: Sugar and Currency,” Ch. 14 in Economic Problems of Latin America.
  12. Central Bank of Argentina, Annual Reports(from 1935).
  13. Spiegel, H. W., The Brazilian Economy.

* To be purchased

+ Other readings of a more general nature may be assigned later.

[Note: the “short” reading list for 1948 was identical except for the last item by H. W. Spiegel that was not included.]

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1948-1949 (1 of 2).

____________________

“Long” reading list

Economics 14b
Spring Term, 1948
[carbon copy]

  1. Royal Institute for International Affairs, Republic of South America. [Chs. 1 and 2]
  2. M. McBride, Chile: Land and Society.
  3. L. Schurz, Latin America.
  4. George Soule, Efron and Ness, Latin America in the Future World. [Chs. 1-6]
  5. Foreign Agriculture, Vols. II, III.
  6. D. Wickizer, The World Coffee Economy.
  7. George Wythe, Industry in Latin America.
  8. Lloyd D. Hughlett, Industrialization of Latin America.
  9. W. Cooke, Brazil on the March.
  10. M. Phelps, Migration of Industry to South America.
  11. T. Ellsworth, Chile: An Economy in Transition.
  12. Economic Problems of Latin America, edited by S. E. Harris.
  13. N. Simpson, The Ejido.
  14. J. Brown, Industrialization and Trade.
  15. Olson and Hickman, Pan American Economics.
  16. Robert Triffin, Money and Banking in Colombia.
  17. Central Bank of Argentina, Annual Reports(from 1935).
  18. S. Tariff Commission, Foreign Trade of Latin America.
  19. American Advisory Economic Mission to Venezuela, Report to the Minister of Finance.
  20. G. Hanson, Utopia in Uruguay.
  21. Ernesto Galarza, Labor Trends and Social Welfare in Latin America.
  22. Virgil Salera, Exchange Control and the Argentine Market.
  23. S. Buchanan and Fred A. Lutz, Rebuilding the World Economy.
  24. L. Phelps, International Economic Position of Latin America.
  25. H. Williams, Argentine International Trade under Inconvertible Paper.
  26. Feuerlein and E. Hannan, Dollars in Latin America.
  27. M. Phelps, Economic Relations with Latin America.
  28. Cleona Lewis, America’s Stake in International Investment.
  29. F. Bain and T. T. Read, Ores and Industry in South America.
  30. Edgar Turlington, Mexico and Her Foreign Creditors.
  31. F. Rippy, Latin America and the Industrial Age.
  32. Fortune, March, 1933; December, 1935; January, 1942.
  33. Enke and V. Salera, International Economics.
  34. Triffin, Monetary and Banking Reform in Paraguay.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1947-1948 (1 of 2).

____________________

Final exam, May 1948

1947-48
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 14b

Part I

Answer BOTH questions. One hour each.

  1. Develop the evolution of Argentine monetary policy in response to the course of the trade cycle in the period from 1936 to 1945. Evaluate the success or failure achieved through the execution of monetary policy and provide an explanation for the results attained.
  2. Write an essay on “the determinants of economic progress in Venezuela.” Extract from your discussion and state in summary fashion those economic principles which you believe constitute conditions of economic progress in all nations.

Part II

Choose TWO. 30 minutes each.

  1. Would you as the manager of a firm incorporated in the United States build a branch plant in Argentina, Brazil, or Chile? Base your answer upon an analysis of our experience with branch plants in that area. (Do notselect this question if you are a citizen of a Latin American country.)
  2. Would you as a citizen of Argentina, Brazil, or Chile favor or oppose the construction of additional branch plants owned by firms incorporated in the United States of America? Base your answer upon an analysis of the experience of those countries with branch plants. (Do notanswer this question unlessyou are a citizen of a Latin American nation.)
  3. Describe the problems encountered and the policies pursued in the Argentine securities market in the period 1936-1944.
  4. Analyze, as an economist, the objectives of Chilean Development (Fomentao) Corporation and the powers granted to the Corporation for the realization of those objectives.
  5. Explain in the most fundamental terms possible the economic significance of imports to any Latin American country now endeavoring to promote economic development.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 15, Papers Printed for Final Examinations, History, History of Religions,…Economics,…, Military Science, Naval Science. May, 1948.

____________________

Final Exam, June 1949

1948-49
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 114b

(Three hours)

I.

Write on BOTH the following questions. One hour each.

  1. Compare the economic experiences and policies of two of the following countries in the period 1929-1934: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. Was recovery in any one of these nations to be imputed to the economic policies adopted? Include in your discussion a description of the forces which generated economic events during this period.
  2. Explain as fully as you can the causes of the difference between the rates of economic development in the United States and in any one major Latin American nation.

II.

Write on TWO of the following topics. Thirty minutes each.

  1. The justification for policies of monetary autonomy in Latin America. Choose one country for illustrative purposes.
  2. The present economic situation in Argentina is to be explained in terms of international factors.
  3. Government deficit finance as a method for increasing living standards in Latin America.
  4. The considerations that would guide you as a United States business man in deciding whether or not to do business in Latin America. Which country is the most attractive from this standpoint?

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

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Methodology

Harvard. Final Exam for Scope and Method of Economics. Taussig, 1896.

 

Frank Taussig returned from a sabbatical to teach a course on the scope and method(s) of economics at Harvard during the second term of 1895-96. The following years his colleague, the economic historian William Ashley, taught the course.

The enrollment figures and final examination questions for Taussig’s course are provided below.

____________________

COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT

[Economics] 132 hf. Scope and Method in Economic Theory and Investigation. Half-course. Wed., Fri., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Mon., at 1.30 (second half-year). Professor Taussig.

Source: The Harvard University Catalogue, 1895-96,p. 100.

 

COURSE ENROLLMENT

[Economics] 132. Professor Taussig.—Scope and Method in Economic Theory and Investigation. hf. 2 hours, 2d half-year.

Total 14: 11 Graduates, 3 Seniors.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-1896, p. 63.

 

1895-96
ECONOMICS 13.
[Final examination]

  1. Compare Wagner’s enumeration of the problems within the scope of economic science with Keynes’s; and consider what doubts or objections there may be in regard to any of the problems mentioned by either writer.
  2. Explain and examine critically one of the following passages in Wagner:

Section 63 (pp. 158-163).
Section 70 (pp. 180-182).

  1. Illustrate the mode in which use is advantageously made of the deductive and the inductive method in regard to two of the following topics:

the causes which determine the general range of prices;
the prospects of socialism;
the prospects of cooperation.

  1. What peculiarities and difficulties appear for economic science in the choice of terminology and in definition? Illustrate.
  2. Is there ground for saying that the economic history of very recent times is of greater value for economic theory than the economic history of remote periods?
  3. What do you conceive to be the position in regard to method in economics of Ricardo? J.S. Mill? Roscher? Schmoller?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Prof. F. W. Taussig Examination Papers in Economics, 1882-1935, (HUC 7882), p. 55.

Image Source: Harvard Portfolio, vol. VI, 1895 .

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions Suggested Reading Undergraduate

Chicago. Undergraduate Money and Banking. Exams, readings. Friedman, 1946-49

 

Besides teaching in the core graduate price theory course at Chicago, Milton Friedman also covered undergraduate money and banking upon joining the faculty of the economics department. Below some material transcribed from a folder of course material found in Milton Friedman’s papers at the Hoover Institution Archives. Where answers were provided to some examination questions, they have been transcribed [and placed in square brackets] and included below.

Fun Fact: According to class rolls kept by Friedman, Marc Nerlove was a student in the Autumn 1951 Money and Banking class taught by Friedman.

_________________

Course Announcement and Description

[Economics] 230. Introduction to Money and Banking. Study of factors which determine the value of money in the short and in the long run; and operation of the commercial banking system and its relation to the price level and general business activity. Prereq: Soc Sci 2 and Econ 210, or equiv. Aut: MWF 10:30 Friedman; Win: MWF 2:30; Mints.

Source:   University of Chicago. Announcements. The College and the Divisions, Sessions of 1947-1948. Vol. XLVII, No. 4 (May 15, 1947), p. 224.

_________________

Text for Economics 230:

L. V. Chandler, The Economics of Money and Banking. Harper & Brothers.

The Book will be used again as a text when the course is given in the Winter Quarter. Give the number in class as that of the Autumn, 1947.
Reserve List & Bookstore.

_________________

Economics 230
Autumn 1947
Library Book List

Robertson, D. H. Money

Gregory, T. E. The Gold Standard and Its Future (3rd)

Board of Governors. Federal Reserve System.Its Purposes and Function

_________________

Economics 230
Autumn 1951

Supplementary Readings and Problem for Reading Period

Readings

Text: Lester Chandler, Economics of Money and -Banking

  1. American Economic Association, Readings in Monetary Theory, edited by Friedrich Lutz and Lloyd W. Mints.
  2. Goldenweiser, E.A., American Monetary Policy.
  3. Gregory, T.E., The Gold Standard and Its Future.
  4. Hardy, C.O., Credit Policies of the Federal Reserve System.
  5. Keynes, J.M., Essays in Persuasion.
  6. Mints, Lloyd W., Monetary Policy for a Competitive Society.
  7. Robertson, D.H., Money.
  8. S. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, The Federal Reserve System, Its Purposes and Functions.

 

Problem

            For a convenient date in 1951, estimate the maximum amount of currency and deposits that would have been outstanding if the banking system had used all the possibilities of monetary expansion available under the then existing laws and regulations about reserve requirements of member and non-member banks and about reserve requirements of Federal Reserve Banks. For purposes of the computation, assume (a) an unchanged amount of Treasury currency outstanding; (b) elimination of Treasury deposits with Federal Reserve Banks through purchase of government securities held by the Federal Reserve Banks. With respect to all other factors—such as percentage distribution of public’s money holdings among currency, demand deposits, and time deposits—you are to choose your own assumptions, the choice of reasonable assumptions and the presentation of evidence for them being an essential part of the problem.

_________________

MIDQUARTER EXAMINATION IN ECONOMICS 230
[no date, though likely 1947]

  1. Indicate the factors that principally determine—
    1. (15 points) The ratio of the amount of currency in circulation to the amount of bank deposits.
    2. (15 points) The ratio of the amount of bank deposits to the amount of reserves held by the banking system when there are no legal reserve requirements.
  2. (35 points) In country A, important new discoveries of oil are made, driving down the price of oil in that country relative to the world price. Assume that this is the only important change relevant to international trade. Trace the effects of this change on exchange rates, gold flows, price levels, imports and exports, and incomes, in country A and in the rest of the world on the assumption (a) that a strict gold standard is in operation; (b) that inconvertible paper standards and fluctuating exchanges are in operation.
  3. (35 points) Explain in detail the effects on Bank A and on the banking system as a whole arising from the deposit in bank A of $100 of newly-printed currency. The deposit is made by a worker who has just received the currency from the government. Assume the bank is fully exploiting its lending power.

_________________

Economics 230
Midquarter Examination
November 5, 1948

  1. (25 points) It has been argued that it would be profitable for a member bank to borrow from its Federal Reserve bank even at a rate of interest considerably higher than the rate the member bank charges to its customers; and that this is so because one dollar of additional reserves can support several dollars of additional deposits. For example, if $1 of additional reserves can support $5 of additional deposits, it is argued that it would be profitable (if we neglect the cost of making the loan) for a member bank that can lend at 6% to borrow at any rate up to 30%. Evaluate this argument.
  2. (25 points)
    1. Nondeposit currency currently in circulation in the United States include Federal Reserve notes, silver certificates, United States notes (greenbacks) and National Bank Notes. In addition, there is a large volume of gold certificates outstanding but not in circulation. Indicate brieflythe historical origin of each of these types of currency, and the major episode in our monetary development each one symbolizes.
    2. What is the FDIC? What, in your view, is its essential function (which may not be the same as its announced purpose) in our current monetary structure?
  3. (50 points) Indicate whether the operation described in the first column would, in the first instance, increase (+), leave unchanged (0), or reduce (-) the item listed at the top of each column. For simplicity, assume (a) that nonmember banks are notinvolved in any of the transactions, (b) that the Treasury deposits all funds received in a Reserve Bank and pays for all expenditures by checks on a Reserve Bank, (c) that all nondeposit currency is in the form of Federal Reserve Notes. Take account only of the essentially bookkeeping effects of the operation, not of subsequent effects. For example, in operation (1) the decline in currency outside banks and the Treasury might so disturb the public’s relative holdings of deposit and nondeposit currency as to lead subsequently to a conversion of deposits into nondeposit currency. Do nottake such subsequent effects into account.
    [+1 for each correct, -1 for each wrong, 0 for no entry]

 

Operation Currency outside banks and Treasury Member bank Federal Reserve Bans
Demand Deposits Excess Reserves Deposits Excess Gold Reserves
Purchase of government bond by public
From Federal Reserve Bank
(1) with non deposit currency [-] [0] [0] [0] [+]
(2) by check [0] [-] [-] [-] [+]
From Treasury
(3) with non deposit currency [-] [0] [0] [+] [0]
(4) by check [0] [-] [-] [0] [0]
From public
(5) with non deposit currency [0] [0] [0] [0] [0]
(6) by check [0] [0] [0] [0] [0]
Purchase of government bond by Treasury from
(7) public a [0]
b [+]
[+]
[0]
[+]
[0]
[0]
[-]
[0]
[0]
(8) member bank [0] [0] [+] [0] [0]
(9) Federal Reserve bank [0] [0] [0] [-] [+]
Conversion of demand deposit by public into
(10) non deposit currency [+] [-] [+] and [0]
[-] and [-]
[only if both]
[0]
(11) time deposit [0] [-] [0] [0] [0]

_________________

Final Examination for Economics 230
Autumn, 1946
3 hours and overnight.

Part I

  1. Define briefly the following terms:
    1. Required reserves
    2. Open market policy
    3. Gold points
    4. Rediscount rate
    5. Inconvertible paper currency
    6. Transactions velocity of circulation
    7. The equation of exchange
  2. What techniques are available to the Federal Reserve System for controlling the total volume of currency? How does each technique work? Under what conditions is each technique likely to be effective?
  3. It is often asserted that in returning to gold at the pre-first-world-war parity Britain “overvalued” the pound. What does this statement mean? What kind of evidence would be required to test its validity and how should this evidence be interpreted? If the statement is true, what effects would overvaluation of the pound be expected to have on Great Britain? What factors would operate to remove these effects and to correct the overvaluation? What kinds of governmental policy, if any, would speed up the process of correcting the overvaluation?

Part II

  1. (20 points) What is the 100% reserve proposal? Discuss its advantages and disadvantages as compared with the present system.
  2. (30 points) A newspaper story of January 21, 1946, on President Truman’s budget message, had the following headlines and first two paragraphs:

“TRUMAN MAPS FIRST DEBT CUT SINCE 1930
CASH ON HAND TO OFFSET ’47 DEFICIT

“Washington—President Truman’s first budget proposes to spend $4,300,000,000 more than the government will collect, but for the first time since 1930, it won’t increase the national debt.
“Mr. Truman proposes to withdraw from the Treasury cash balance sufficient funds not only to offset this deficit but also to reduce the debt by $7,000,000.”

In answering this question assume that Government cash balances are held on deposit in member banks, and that no reserves are required for government balances.

(a) What is the monetary effect of financing the deficit by use of cash balances? Would this effect be deflationary or inflationary compared with such alternatives as raising additional revenue from taxes, or borrowing additional sums from (1) the nonbanking public, (2) member banks, (3) reserve banks.

(b) What is the monetary effect of using cash balances to reduce the debt? Discuss the effects if the bonds are purchased from 81) the nonbanking public, (2) member banks, (3) reserve banks.

_________________

FINAL EXAMINATION, ECONOMICS 230, FALL, 1947

Part I

  1. In speaking of monetary developments in the United States at the beginning of the nineteenth century, H. L. Reed remarks, “the country was so inadequately provided with specie that the advantages of a money economy were not sufficiently extended and diffused.” What do you think this statement means? Does it make sense as it stands? If not, can you suggest an interpretation of it that makes sense?
  2. Explain in detail how, in a fractional reserve system, a given deficit in reserves may force a much larger contraction in currency. In your statement, indicate the factors that set a limit to the contraction and contrast the single bank with the banking system.
  3. To what causes does Gregory attribute the breakdown of the Gold Standard in Great Britain in 1931?

 

Part II

  1.    a. Assume that there is a free market in which English pounds exchange for American dollars. Indicate whether each of the following would, by itself, tend to raise or lower the price of a pound in terms of dollars.

1) An increase in tourist travel by Americans in England. [A. Raise]
2) A rise in dividend payments on American common stocks owned by British. [A. Raise]
3) A sudden craze in Britain for American films leading to increased showings of American films. [A. Lower]
4) Increased repayment by Britain of loans from the U.S. [A. Lower]
5) The raising of abnormally large amounts of relief funds in the United States to finance the shipment of special food packages to Great Britain. [A. Raise]

b. If England and the United States were both on a gold standard what words would it be reasonable to substitute for “raise the price of a pound in terms of dollars”? [A. “ship gold to Britain”] for “lower the price of a pound in terms of dollars”? [A.“ship gold to U.S.”]

c. You are asked what the total amount of money in the United States is. Discuss the problems of definition that would arise, indicating the considerations that would be relevant in deciding what to count as money.

d. Marriner Eccles, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, recently proposed to Congress that member banks be required to set up a special reserve of 25 per cent of deposit liabilities in addition to existing reserves. Three members of the Federal Advisory Council—a council composed of private bankers who advise the Federal Reserve Board—testified against the proposal. The N. Y. Times reports them as maintaining that “it would reduce loans needed to finance production, and thus prove inflationary.” Discuss this statement.

_________________

Economics 230
Final Examination
December 16, 1949

  1. (100 points) Indicate whether each of the following statements is true (T), false (F), or uncertain (U) and state briefly the reason for your answer.
    1. Legal reserves held by a bank are a liability of the bank.
    2. Banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System may not count cash in their vault as part of their legal reserves.
    3. Every bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System must carry Federal Deposit Insurance.
    4. Every bank that carries Federal Deposit Insurance must be a member of the Federal Reserve System.

5 and 6. Bank A sells a government bond to Bank B, both banks being members of the Federal Reserve Stem. This…

    1. …increases total member bank reserves.
    2. …does not change total deposit liabilities of member banks.

7, 8, 9. Bank A, which is a member of the Federal Reserve System sells a government bond to Mr. Jones. Bank A deposits the proceeds in its account with a Federal Reserve Bank. This…

    1. …increases total member bank reserves.
    2. …does not change total deposit liabilities of member banks.
    3. …increases the ratio of reserves to deposit liabilities.
      *  *  *  *  *
    4. Since banks can expand loans by several times the amount of excess reserves, a bank that could make additional sound loans at 5 per cent, could afford to pay much more than 5 per cent to induce individuals to deposit currency in the bank, since such a deposit would increase the bank’s excess reserves.
    5. The economic function of legal reserve requirements is to protect depositors in a bank against undue extensions of loans by banks.
    6. An expansion of investments and an expansion of loans by commercial banks have identical effects on the quantity of money.

13 through 16. Mr. Jones pays his Federal income tax with a check on a member bank. The Federal government uses this check to buy a government bond from a Federal Reserve Bank. This operation…

    1. …reduces total member bank deposit liabilities.
    2. …reduces total member bank reserves.
    3. …increases the ratio of member bank reserves to member bank deposit liabilities.
    4. …increases the excess gold reserves of the Federal Reserve System.
      *  *  *  *  *
    5. The post-war rise in prices in the United States was one of the factors making necessary the recent devaluation of the British pound.
    6. Any phenomena that would lead to an outflow of gold from the United States under a gold standard would lead to a fall in the price of the dollar in terms of foreign currencies under a system of inconvertible currencies and flexible exchange rates.

19, 20, 21. Suppose that under an international gold standard, foreign payments and receipts by the United States balance so that there is no net outflow or inflow of gold.

    1. A sudden increase of gifts by residents of the United States to non-residents would tend to lead to an outflow of gold from the United States.
    2. A reduction in the tariffs imposed by France on goods imported into France would tend to lead to an outflow of gold from the United States.
    3. A large technological advance in Great Britain lowering the price of automobiles produced in Great Britain would lead to an outflow of gold from the United States.
      *  *  *  *  *
    4. Under a gold standard, a decline in the rate of interest will tend to narrow the spread between the gold points.
    5. Under existing laws governing bank reserve requirements, a tendency for people to move from farms and small communities to large cities is, by itself, a factor tending to reduce the total quantity of money.
    6. A lengthening in the average pay-period (through, say, an increase in the proportion of workers paid monthly instead of weekly) is, by itself a factor tending to reduce the price level.
    7. K, in the cash balance equation, will be increased by anything that leads people to expect price to fall.
    8. The numerical value of V in the transactions type of equation of exchange depends on the definition of M.
    9. The equation of exchange demonstrates that an increase in the quantity of money must lead to an increase in prices.
    10. Since one man’s receipts are another man’s expenditures, it follows that the quantity of money can be changed only by capital transactions.
    11. The rediscount rate is used by the Federal Reserve system to discourage purchase of government securities.
    12. Monetary policy can be more effective in preventing inflation than in preventing deflation.

 

  1. (50 points) “In the early history of our country there was a dearth of currency and specie. It was difficult to have cash on hand, especially when most of the specie was used to pay for imports.” (E. R. Taus, Central Banking Functions of the United States Treasury, 1789-1941, p. 22).

Discuss the economic meaning of these sentences. Do they make sense as they stand? If so, explain. If not, can you suggest any interpretation of them that does make sense? In your answer, emphasize analysis, not economic history.

  1. (50 points)

“One method proposed for bringing the reserve position under control while protecting the market for government securities held by banks is to require banks to keep a reserve of government securities against deposits, in addition to present cash reserves…..In all essential respects, raising required reserve ratios by adding a security-reserve requirement is identical with a straight increase of cash reserve requirements, combined with an equivalent purchase of government securities by the Reserve Banks. The only significant difference is that the security-reserve proposal provides the member banks with the equivalent of a subsidy (in the form of interest on the bonds) to compensate for the loss of earnings on additional assets tied up as reserves.”
Do you agree? Justify your answer.

  1. (50 points) Under our present monetary system, a desire on the part of the pubic to hold an increased fraction of its money in the form of currency and a decreased fraction in the form of deposits is said to be a factor making for a decrease in the total amount of money (currency plus deposits) in existence. Explain this statement in detail. In your explanation, distinguish between the effect of an outflow of cash on the individual bank and on the system.
  1. (50 points) Currency in public circulation (“cash in pocket”) was approximately one-sixth of the total amount of money (currency plus demand deposits plus time deposits) in the United States in 1892, it fell fairly steadily to about one-twelfth in 1930, and then rose more or less steadily until it is again approximately one-sixth, or about the same level as in 1892. The initial decline was interrupted by a rise during the first World War; and the subsequent rise was accelerated during the second World War.
    How would you explain the long decline to 1930? The subsequent rise? This tendency for the ratio to rise during war time? (Note that there is no unambiguously “right” answer to this question. So far as I know, those movements have not been exhaustively studied, and hypotheses to explain them have not been tested. You are being asked to construct hypotheses about them).

 

Source:  Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman, Box 76, Folder 8 “University of Chicago, Econ. 230”.

Image Source:  Cropped from a photograph of Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and Aaron Director at the founding meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society, 1947, Milton Friedman papers, Hoover Institution Archives,

 

 

Categories
Agricultural Economics Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Marketing of agricultural commodities. John D. Black, 1947-48.

 

 

John D. Black took over the agricultural economics courses at Harvard that were previously the responsibility of Thomas Nixon Carver. The course of this post was co-taught by Professor Black and Dr. Charles D. Hyson and was simultaneously taught to both Harvard undergraduates and graduate students. Following the course syllabus for 1947-48 are the midyear exams for both the undergraduate and graduate courses and the final year-end exam for the undergraduates. I have been unable to find the graduate examination questions for the year-end final (they were not included in the collection of examinations archived at Harvard).

_________________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 7a. Professor Black and Dr. Hyson.—Consumption, Distribution and Prices (F)

Total 86: 43 Seniors, 30 Juniors, 11 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 1 Radcliffe.

 

[Economics] 7b. Professor Black and Dr. Hyson.—Consumption, Distribution and Prices (Sp).

Total 44: 25 Seniors, 15 Juniors, 4 Sophomores.

 

[Economics] 107a. Professor Black and Dr. Hyson.—Consumption, Distribution and Prices (F)

Total 13: 5 Graduates, 5 Public Administration, 3 Radcliffe.

 

[Economics] 107b. Professor Black and Dr. Hyson.—Consumption, Distribution and Prices (Sp).

Total 8: 1 Graduate, 4 Public Administration, 3 Radcliffe.

 

Source.  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1947-1948, pp. 89.

_________________________________

SYLLABUS FOR ECONOMICS 7 AND 107
1947-1948

The required readings for Economics 7 and Economics 107 will be chosen from the references given below. The symbols used for frequently cited references are as follows:

**S.D.—Stewart and Dwehurst, DOES DISTRIBUTION COST TOO MUCH?, Twentieth Century Fund, 1942.

**Shep.—Shepherd, G.S., AGRICULTURAL PRICE ANALYSIS, Iowa State College Press, 1947 (revised edition).

**Waite—Waite and Cassady, THE CONSUMER AND THE ECONOMIC ORDER, McGraw-Hill Co., 1939.

*Cassels—Cassels, J.M., A STUDY OF FLUID MILK PRICES, Harvard University Press, 1937.

**T.N.E.C.—PRICE BEHAVIOR AND BUSINESS POLICY, Temporary National Economic Committee, Monograph No. 1, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1941.

**Nourse—Nourse, E.G., PRICE MAKING IN A DEMOCRACY, Brookings Institution, 1944.

**Dew.—Dewhurst and Associates, AMERICA’S NEEDS AND RESOURCES, Twentieth Century Fund, New York, 1947.

**Stig.—Stigler, G.J., THE THEORY OF PRICE, Macmillan Company, 1946.

**M.B.—Maynard and Beckman, PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING, Ronald Press, 1947.

*Nicholls—Nicholls, W.H., IMPERFECT COMPETITION WITHIN AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES, Iowa State College Press, (reprinted 1947).

**Com.—Department of Commerce, MARKET ANALYSES FOR BUSINESS, May, 1947.

 

PART I—INTRODUCTION

Ch. 1. Definition of the Field

M.B., Ch. 1.
Black, J.D. and Galbraith, J.K., “The Quantitative Position of Marketing in the United States”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1935.
S.D., pp. 3-14; 115-123.

Ch. 2. The Importance of the Field

Cassels, J.M., “The Significance of Early Economic Thought on Marketing,” Journal of Marketing, October 1936, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 129-133.
S.D., pp. 15-22; 123-126.

Ch. 3. The Evolution of Markets and Marketing

Marshall, A., PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS, 8th ed., Bk. V, Ch. 1.
M.B., Ch. 2.

PART II—CONSUMPTION ASPECTS

Ch. 4. The Field of Consumption Economics Considered in Relation to Marketing.

M.B., Chs. 3, 4, and 5.

Ch. 5. The Nature and Classification of Human Wants and Goods or Utilities

Dew., Chs. 5, 6, 7.
Waite, Chs. 1 and 14.
Scope and Method Bulletin No. 11, Research in Farm Family Living. Social Science Research Council, (1933), pp. 3-8; 45-58.

Ch. 6. The Dimensions of Utility and Its Measurement

Stig., Ch. 5.
Dew., Ch. 4.
The Review of Economic Statistics, November 1946, Five Views of the Consumption Function”.
Inadequate Diets and Nutritional Deficiencies in the U.S. Their Prevalence and Significance. Bulletin of National Research Council, November 1943.
Scope and Method Bulletin, cited above, pp. 13-18; 31-42.

Ch. 7. Levels of Consumption

Scope and Method Bulletin, cited above, pp. 8-18.
Dew.—Ch’s. 8, 9, and 10.
Waite—Ch’s. 3, 12, and 13.

Ch. 8. Consumer Income and Income Elasticity

Dew.—Ch’s. 11 and 12.
Woytinsky, W.S., “Relationship Between Consumers’ Expenditures, Savings, and Disposable Income”, Review of Economic Statistics, February, 1946.

Ch. 9. The Consumer Purchases and Related Studies

Waite—Ch’s. 9, 13, 16, and 17.

Ch. 10-11. Administration of Income

Dew.—Ch’s 13 and 14.
Waite—Ch’s 20 and 21.

Ch. 12. The Cost of Living and its Measurement

Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Cost of Living Index of the BLS, and appraisal of “The Cost of Living” by George Meany and R. J. Thomas, labor members of the President’s Committee on the Cost of Living, February 28, 1944.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Report of the President’s Committee on the Cost of Living, Monthly Labor Review, January, 1945.
Mills, Bakke, Cox, Reid, Schultz, and Stratton (Special Committee of the American Statistical Association), “An Appraisal of the BLS Cost of Living Index”, Journal of the American Statistical Association, December, 1943.
National Industrial Conference Board. A Critical Analysis of the Meany-Thomas Report on the Cost of Living, April 1944.
Waite—Ch. 5.

Ch. 13. Consumer Sovereignty

Dew.—Ch. 15.

PART III—MARKETING ORGANIZATION

Ch. 14. Production Economics Aspects of Marketing

M.B.—Ch’s 6 to 8.

Ch. 15. Approaches to Marketing Organization Analysis

[note: no reading item listed here]

Ch. 16. The Definition of a Market

Fetter, “The Economic Law of Market Areas”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1924.
Price, Marketing of Farm Products, Ch. 16.
Shepherd, MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS, Appendix A.

Ch. 17. Marketing Agencies

M.B.—Ch’s. 9 to 11.

Ch. 18. Classification by Commodities

M.B.—Ch’s. 13 to 15.

Ch. 19. The Census of Distribution

M.B.—Ch’s. 16 to 18.

Ch. 20. The Location of Markets

Dean, W.H., THE THEORY OF THE GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES, Edward Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1938.
S.D.—Ch. 4.

Ch. 21. Inter-Unit Marketing Organization

M.B.—Ch. 19 and 20.

Ch. 22-23. Intra-Unit Marketing Organization

M.B.—Ch. 36.
S.D.—Ch. 2, pp. 33, 36, 37.
Com.—pp. 86-91.

 

PART IV—MARKET PRICE

Ch. 24. The Function of Market Prices

M.B.—Ch. 32.
Stig.—Ch. 2.
S.D.—Ch. 2.
Waite—Ch’s. 14, 15.

Ch. 25. The Behavior of Prices

Shep.—Ch’s. 1, 2, and 3.
Cassels, J.M.—Ch’s 1, 5, and 9.
Com.—pp. 43-50.
Nicholls—Ch. 18.

Ch. 26. Demand

Stig.—Ch. 6.
Shep.—Ch’s. 4, 5, and 6.
Cassels—Ch’s 1, 6, and 9.
Working, E.J.—“What Do Statistical Demand Curves Show?” Quarterly Journal of Economics, February, 1927.
Waite—Ch. 10.

Ch. 27. Supply

Stig.—Ch’s 7 to 10, inclusive
Shep.—Ch’s. 10 and 11
Black, J.D., “The Elasticity of Supply of Farm Products”, Journal of Farm Economics, 1924.
Cassels—Ch’s 1 and 2.
Cassels, J.M., “The Nature of Statistical Supply Curves”, Journal of Farm Economics, April, 1933.
Mighell, R.L. and Allen, R.H., “Supply Schedules—Long Time and Short Time”, Journal of Farm Economics, August, 1940.
Reynolds, L.G., “The Canadian Baking Industry: A Study of an Imperfect Marekt,”Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1938.
Reynolds, L.G., “Competition in the Rubber Tire Industry,” American Economic Review, September 1938.
Waite—Ch. 6.

Ch. 28. Selling Prices under Imperfect Competition

Cassels—Ch’s. 9 and 10.
Nicholls—Ch’s 5 to 11, inclusive
Stig.—Ch’s 11 to 14, inclusive
TNEC—Part I, Ch’s 2 and 3.
Hyson, G.D. and Sanderson, F.H., “Monopolistic Discrimination in the Cranberry Industry”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1945.
Waugh, F.V. et al, “The Controlled Distribution of a Crop Among Independent Markets”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1936.
Waite—Ch. 6.

Ch. 29. Buying Prices under Imperfect Competition

Nicholls, Ch’s—16 and 17.
TNEC—Part III, Ch’s 1 and 2.

Ch. 30. Futures markets and Speculation

M.B.—Ch’s. 28 and 29.
Howell, L.D., Cotton Prices in Spot and Futures Markets, USDA Technical Bulletin No. 6851, 1939.
Shepherd, THE MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS, Ch’s 9 and 10.

Ch. 31. Price Forecasting

Shep.—Ch’s 7, 8, 9, and 13.

 

PART V—SELLING AND BUYING

Ch. 32. The Selling Function

TNEC—Part I, Ch. 4[?].
S.D.—p. 225.

Ch. 33. Advertising

M.B.—Ch. 23.
S.D.—pp. 225-229.
Borden, Neil, “Findings of the Harvard Study on the Economic Effects of Advertising”, Journal of Marketing, April, 1942.
Waite—Ch. 11.

Ch. 34. The Buying Function

M.B.—Ch. 22.
TNEC—Part I, Appendix 2.
Nicholls, Ch’s. 12-15, inclusive.

Ch. 35-36. Price Policy

S.D.—Ch. 2.
Cassels—Ch. 6.
Nourse—Ch’s 6, 10, and 11.
TNEC.—Part I, Preface and C-h. 1.

 

PART VI—MARKETING MARGINS, COSTS, INCOME, AND EFFICIENCY

Ch. 37. Margins and Costs

S.D.—Ch’s. 2, 6, and 7.
TNEC.—Part III, Ch’s. 2 and 3.

Ch. 38. The Incidence of Marketing Costs

S.D.—Ch’s. 10 and 11, pp. 333-349[?].
Nourse—Ch’s. 8 and 9.
TNEC., Part II, Ch. 1.

Ch. 39. Incomes in Commodity Distribution

S.D.—Ch. 5.

Ch. 40. Marketing Efficiency

M.B.—Ch’s. 37 and 38.

 

PART VII—AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS

Ch. 41. Transportation

M.G.—Ch. 24.
S.D.—Ch. 8, pp. 210-222.

Ch. 42. Warehousing and Storage

M.B.—Ch. 25.
S.D.—p. 225.

Ch. 43. The Financing of Marketing

M.B.—Ch. 27.
S.D.—pp. 229-244.

Ch. 44. The Insurance of Commodity Distribution

[note: no reading item listed here]

 

PART VIII—COOPERATION IN COMMODITY DISTRIBUTION

Ch. 45. Principles and Philosophy of Cooperation as Exhibited in Commodity Distribution

Black, J.D., Cooperative Central Marketing Organization, University of Minnesota Exp. Sta. Bulletin No. 211, April, 1924.
Childs, Marquis, SWEDEN: THE MIDDLE WAY, 1938, (conclusions only).

Ch. 46. Cooperative Selling

M.B.—Ch. 21.
S.D.—pp. 85-94.

Ch. 47. Cooperative Buying and Consumer Organization

M.B.—Ch. 12.
Sorenson, THE CONSUMER MOVEMENT, Ch’s 1, 4-9, inclusive.
Waite—Ch. 18.

 

PART IX—PUBLIC ACTIVITY IN COMMODITY DISTRIBUTION

Ch. 48. The Functions of Government in Commodity Distribution and Prices

M.B.—Ch’s. 37 to 39.
S.D.—Ch. 11, pp. 349-367.
Nourse—Ch’s. 1 to 5 inclusive.

Ch. 49. The Marketing Services

M.B.—Ch’s. 26 and 30.
Waite—Ch’s 6 and 7.

Ch. 50. Government Controls

Nourse—Ch’s 12 to 14, inclusive.
S.D.—Ch. 11; pp. 333-348.

Ch. 51. Price Control

Shep.—Ch’s 14 and 155.
TNEC.—Part III, Ch. 1.

Ch. 52. Marketing Operations

Shepherd, G.S., MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS, Ch. 14.

Ch. 53. Intergovernmental Commodity Agreements

Mason, Edward, CONTROLLING WORLD TRADE, McGraw-Hill, 1946, Part II.
Davis, J.S., INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY AGREEMENTS: HOPE, ILLUSION, OR MENACE?, The Committee on International Economic Policy, New York, 1947.
REPORT OF THE DRAFTING COMMITTEE OF THE PREPARATORY COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT, United Nations Economic and Social Council. Lake Success, New York, January 20 to February 25, 1947, Ch’s 5 to 7, inclusive.

 

PART X—CONCLUSION

Ch. 54. Outlook and Policy

Com.—pp. 1-42; 51-85.
Dew.—Ch’s 6 and 26.
S.D.—Ch. 11.
Hyson, C.D., “Savings in Relation to Potential Markets”, American Economic Review, December, 1946.
Hyson, C.D., “Maladjustments in the Wool Industry and Need for New Policy,” Journal of Farm Economics, May, 1947.
Waugh, F.V., “Does the Consumer Benefit From Price Stability?”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1944.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003.   Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1947-1948 (1 of 2)”.

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1947-48
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
MIDYEAR EXAMINATION
January 1948
ECONOMICS 7a

Commodity Consumption, Distribution and Prices

Answer No. 1, and 5 of the remaining 6.

  1.      a.  Cite all the conditions that may make competition “imperfect”.
    1. Point out the differences between Maynard and Beckman’s and Stigler’s sets of conditions.
    2. Why do Maynard and Beckman object to the term “imperfect” competition?
    3. Is their objection valid? Give reasons for your answer.
  2.      a.  Explain the statement that “utility has a time dimension,” and show the relevance of this time dimension to determination of the relative productivity of four or five different types of marketing operations or activities.
    1. Comment on the statement: Introducing the time dimension into measurement of utility does not introduce ethical considerations.
  3.      a. Explain and illustrate by a diagram unit elasticity of demand, elastic demand, and inelastic demand.
    1. Explain income elasticity.
    2. Show how demand elasticity and income elasticity are related to each other.
  4.     Outline the four approaches to analysis of marketing organization and indicate the advantages of each.
  5.      a. Make a classification of markets on two or more bases.
    1. Outline briefly the principles that are involved in the location of major types of markets.
  6.      Contrast the marketing systems for farm products and for manufactured products, defining the functions performed by the marketing agencies engaged in each.
  7.     Explain briefly 4 of the following 5:
    1. Standard of living.
    2. Consumer sovereignty.
    3. Inter-unit marketing organization.
    4. Regular wholesaler.
    5. Supplementary relationship.

MIDYEAR EXAMINATION
January 1948
ECONOMICS 107a

Commodity Consumption, Distribution and Prices

Answer No. 1; 4 questions out of the remaining 6 listed above; and 2 out of the following 3.

  1. Explain the aggregate consumption function and the individual consumption function, and show their significance in marketing analysis.
  2. Comment on the several attempts to determine the relative growth of marketing and other forms of economic activity in the United States.
  3. Explain briefly 3 of the following 4:
    1. Indifference curves (as explained, for example, in Stigler’s Chapter 5.)
    2. LePlay’s approach to consumption analysis.
    3. Principal features of the Consumer Purchases Study.
    4. Either Wicksteed’s or Patton’s main lines of thought on consumption economics.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001.Box 15. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations, History, History of Religions, …,Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. January, 1948.

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1947-48
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
FINAL EXAMINATION
May 1948
ECONOMICS 7b

Commodity Consumption, Distribution and Prices

(Answer No. 1, and any 5 of the remaining 6)

  1. Outline the basic doctrines of a sound price policy as presented by Nourse. Appraise his doctrines and discuss them critically with particular reference to the price policy and business behavior of the individual firm. (45 minutes)
  2. Explain how the relative elasticities of the demand for Class I and for Class II milk are related to the practice of discriminative marketing. Illustrate with diagram. (27 minutes)
  3. What is the effect of speculation in futures contracts upon commodity prices? Does speculation stabilize prices? Appraise. (27 minutes)
  4. Prices of what types of commodities are flexible, inflexible? Why these differences? (27 minutes)
  5. Outline a group of measures and procedures that will promote efficiency in commodity distribution. (27 minutes)
  6. Discuss cost analysis as a tool of marketing analysis. (27 minutes)
  7. In what ways can cooperation contribute most effectively to efficiency in commodity distribution? (27 minutes)

[Note: examination questions for Economics 107b not included in collection]

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001.Box 15. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations, History, History of Religions, …,Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. May, 1948.

Image Source:  Professor John D. Black in Harvard Class Album 1945.