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Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Exams and enrollment for economics of socialism and communism. Edward Cummings, 1893-1900

The father of the American poet E.E. Cummings, Edward Cummings, taught courses in sociology, labor economics, and socialism at Harvard during the last decade of the 19th century before he resigned to become the minister at Boston’s South Congregational Church. In this post I have included all the exams for his course on ancient and modern  utopias (a.k.a. communism and socialism) that I have been able to find. A course description and enrollment data are readily available from internet archives and included below as well. 

Note: for only the 1893-94 academic year and the single-term version of the course offered in 1895-96 are the exams complete. For the other academic years when the course was offered I have only found the first term exams.

Analogous courses on schemes of social reconstruction were taught in one form or another later by Thomas Nixon Carver, Edward S. Mason, Paul Sweezy, Wassily Leontief,  Joseph Schumpeter, and Overton Hume Taylor.

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Course Description
(1897-98)

*14. Socialism and Communism, — History and Literature. Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.

[An asterisk (*) indicates that the course can be taken only with the previous consent of the instructor.]

Course 14 is primarily an historical and critical study of socialism and communism. It traces the history and significance of schemes for social reconstruction from the earliest times to the present day. It discusses the historical evidences of primitive communism, the forms assumed by private ownership at different stages of civilization, the bearing of these considerations upon the claims of modern socialism, and the outcome of experimental communities in which socialism and communism have actually been tried. Special attention, however is devoted to the recent history of socialism, – the precursors and the followers of Marx and Lassalle, the economic and political programs of socialistic parties in Germany, France, and other countries.

The primary object is in every case to trace the relation of historical evolution to these programmes; to discover how far they have modified history or found expression in the policy of parties or statesmen; how far they must be regarded simply as protests against existing phases of social evolution; and how far they may be said to embody a sane philosophy of social and political organization.

The criticism and analysis of these schemes gives opportunity for discussing from different points of view the ethical and historical value of social and political institutions, the relation of the State to the individual, the political and economic bearing of current socialistic series.

The work is especially adapted to students who have had some introductory training in Ethics as well as in Economics. A systematic course of reading covers the authors discussed; and special topics for investigation maybe assigned in connection with this reading.

 

Source: Harvard University. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1897-98, pp. 35-36.

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1893-94

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 14. Asst. Professor Cummings. – Ideal Social Reconstructions, from Plato’s Republic to the present time. 1 hour.

Total 22: 7 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 2 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1893-94, p. 61.

 

 

ECONOMICS 14.
Mid-year examination, 1893-94.

(Arrange your answers in the order of the questions. Omit one.)

  1. What is a Utopia? and what significance do you attached to the recurrence of such literature at certain historical ethics?
  2. “For judging of the importance of any thinker in the history of Economics, no matter is more important to us than the view he takes of the laboring population.” Judge Plato, More and Bacon by this standard.
  3. “Moreover, it is hardly too much to say that Plato never got to the point of having a theory of the State at all.” In the Republic “man is treated as a micropolis, and the city is the citizen writ large.” Explain and criticize.
  4. “In More’s Utopia we have a revival of the Platonic Republic with additions which make the scheme entirely modern.… The economical element in the social body receives for the first time its proper rank as of the highest moment for public welfare.” Explain. To what extent have the ideals of Utopia been realized?
  5. “Then we may say that democracy, like oligarchy, is destroyed by its insatiable craving for the object which defines to be supremely good?” What, according to the Republic are the peculiar merits and defects of the several forms of political organization? and how are these forms related in point of origin and sequence?
  6. “Sir Thomas More has been called the father of Modern Communism.” How does he compare in this respect with Plato? How far do you trace the influence of historical conditions in each case?
  7. “But in your case, it is we that have begotten you for the State as well as for yourselves, to be like leaders and kings of the hive,– better and more perfectly trained than the rest, and more capable of playing a part in both modes of life.” Criticise the method and purpose of the educational system of the Republic. How far does Plato’s argument as to the duty of public service apply to the educated man to-day?
  8. “The religious ferment produced by the Reformation movement had begun to show signs of abatement, when another movement closely connected with it made its appearance almost at the same time in England and Italy, namely, the rise of a new philosophy.” How was this new philosophy embodied in the social ideals of Bacon and of Campanella? and what is the distinguishing characteristic of it?
  9. What essential contrast between pagan and Christian ideals have you found in schemes for social regeneration?
  10. Is there any recognition of “Social Evolution” in the Utopian philosophies thus far considered?
  11. What in a word, do you regard as the chief defect of the social reconstruction suggested in turn by Plato, Lycurgus, More, Bacon and Campanella? To what main problems suggested by them have we still to seek an answer?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers. Mid-Year, 1893-94.(HUC 7000.55).

 

ECONOMICS 14.
Final examination, 1893-94.

(Arrange your answers in the order of the questions.)

  1. [“]The essential unity and continuity of the vital process which has been in progress in our civilization from the beginning is almost lost sight of. Many of the writers on social subjects at the present day are like the old school of geologists: they seem to think that progress has consisted of a series of cataclysms.” How far is this criticism true? Is the characteristic in question more or less conspicuous in earlier writers?
  2. “At the outset underneath all socialist ideals yawns the problem of population…. Under the Utopias of Socialism, one of two things must happen. Either this increase must be restricted or not. If it be not restricted, and selection is allowed to continue, then the whole foundations of such a fabric as Mr. Bellamy has constructed are bodily removed.” State carefully your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing. In which of the schemes for social reconstruction, ancient or modern, do you find any adequate recognition of the part which selection plays in progress?
  3. “If it is possible for the community to provide the capital for production without thereby doing injury to either the principle of perfect individual freedom or to that of justice, if interest can be dispensed with without introducing communistic control in its stead, then there no longer stands any positive obstacle in the way of the free social order.” Discuss the provisions by which Hertzka hopes to guaranteed this “perfect individual freedom.” Contrast him with Bellamy in this respect.
  4. “I perceive that capitalism stops the growth of wealth, not – as Marx has it – by stimulating ‘production for the market,’ but by preventing the consumption of the surplus produce; and that interest, though not unjust, will nevertheless in a condition of economic justice becomes superfluous and objectless.” Explain Hertzka’s reasoning and criticise the economic theory involved.”
  5. What is the gist of “News from Nowhere”?
  6. The condition which the social mind has reached may be tentatively described as one of realization, more or less unconscious, that religion has a definite function to perform in society, and that it is a factor of some kind in the social evolution which is in progress.” How far have you found a recognition of this factor in theories of social reconstruction?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Final Examinations, 1853-2001. (HUC 7000.28). Box 2, Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government and Law, Economics, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College, June 1894.

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1894-95

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 14. Asst. Professor Cummings.—Philosophy and Political Economy.—Utopian Literature from Plato’s Republic to the present time.  2 hours.

Total 8: 5 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 1 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1894-95, p. 62.

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1895-96

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 141. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.—Communism and Socialism.—Utopias, ancient and modern. Hf. 2 hours. 1st half-year.

Total 15: 1 Graduate, 10 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 2 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1895-96, p. 63.

 

ECONOMICS 14.
Mid-Year Examination, 1895-96.

(Arrange your answers in the order of the questions. Omit one.)

  1. The different senses in which the word Socialism is used. Where do you intend to draw the line between Socialism proper, and familiar forms of government interference and control – such as factory legislation, municipal water works, and government postal, telegraph or railroad services? Why?
  2. “National communism has been confused with the common ownership of the family; tenure in common has been confused with ownership in common; agrarian communism with village commons.” Discuss the evidence.
  3. “Just as Plato had his Republic, Campanella his City of the Sun, and Sir Thomas More his Utopia, St. Simon his Industrial System, and Fourier his ideal Phalanstery…. But the common criticism of Socialism has not yet noted the change, and continues to deal with the obsolete Utopias of the pre-evolutionary age.” What do you conceive to be the character of the change referred to? How far did earlier Utopias anticipate the ideals of the modern social democracy?
  4. What indication of Socialistic tendencies are to be found in the discipline of the Christian church? Explain the triple contract and its bearing on the doctrine of the usury.
  5. “The Communistic scheme, instead of being peculiarly open to the objection drawn from danger of over-population, has the recommendation of tending in an especial degree to the prevention of that evil.” Explained Mill’s argument. Do you agree?
  6. To what extent are the theories of Karl Marx indebted to earlier writers in the 19th-century?
  7. How far are the economic series of (a) Lasalle, (b) Marx related to the theories of the so-called orthodox Economists? Explain critically.
  8. How far do you trace the influence of historical conditions in the social philosophies of Plato, More, Bacon, Rousseau, St. Simon, Karl Marx?
  9. What connection do you see between the teachings of Rousseau and (a) modern Socialism, (b) modern Anarchism?
  10. What, according to Hertzka, is the economic defect of the existing social and industrial system, and what is the remedy? Contrast “Freeland” with “Looking Backward.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers. Mid-Year, 1895-96.(HUC 7000.55).

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1896-97

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 14. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.—Communism and Socialism.—History and Literature.2 hours.

Total 13: 10 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1896-97, p. 65.

 

ECONOMICS 14.
Mid-Year Examination, 1896-97.

(Arrange your answers in the order of the questions. Omit one.)

  1. The different senses in which the word Socialism is used. Where do you intend to draw the line between Socialism proper, and familiar forms of government interference and control – such as factory legislation, municipal water works, and government postal, telegraph or railroad services? Why?
  2. “National communism has been confused with the common ownership of the family; tenure in common has been confused with ownership in common; agrarian communism with village commons.” Discuss the evidence.
  3. “Just as Plato had his Republic, Campanella his City of the Sun, and Sir Thomas More his Utopia, St. Simon his Industrial System, and Fourier his ideal Phalanstery…. But the common criticism of Socialism has not yet noted the change, and continues to deal with the obsolete Utopias of the pre—evolutionary age.” What do you conceive to be the character of the change referred to? How far did earlier Utopias anticipate the ideals of the modern social democracy?
  4. What indication of Socialistic tendencies are to be found in the discipline of the Christian church? Explain the triple contract and its bearing on the doctrine of the usury.
  5. The contributions of Greek writers to the development of economic thought.
  6. To what extent are the theories of Karl Marx indebted to earlier writers in the 19th-century?
  7. How far are the economic series of (a) Lasalle, (b) Marx related to the theories of the so-called orthodox Economists? Explain critically.
  8. How far do you trace the influence of historical conditions in the social philosophies of Plato, More, Bacon, Rousseau, St. Simon, Karl Marx?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers. Mid-Year, 1896-97.(HUC 7000.55).

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1897-98

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 14. Asst. Professor E. Cummings.—Communism and Socialism.—History and Literature.2 or 3 hours.

Total 12: 3 Graduates, 5 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 2 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1897-98, p. 78.

 

ECONOMICS 14
Mid-Year Examination, 1897-98

Outline briefly the characteristics of socialistic theory and practice in ancient, medieval and modern times, — devoting about an hour to each epoch, and showing—

(a) so far as possible the continuity of such speculations; the characteristic resemblances and differences;

(b) the influence of peculiar historical conditions;

(c) the corresponding changes in economic theory and practice.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers. Mid-Year, 1897-98.(HUC 7000.55).

 

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Not offered 1898-99

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1898-99, pp. 72-73.

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1899-1900

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 14. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.—Communism and Socialism.—History and Literature.Lectures (3 hours); 6 reports or theses.

Total 22: 2 Graduates, 11 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

 

ECONOMICS 14
Mid-Year Examination, 1899-1900

  1. How, according to Plato, are economic organization, and the problems of production and distribution related (a) to social development; (b) to social and political degeneration?
  2. What do you conceive to be his most permanent contribution to social philosophy? What his chief defect?
  3. How far do the teachings of the Christian church and the Canon Law throw light on the gradual development of our fundamental economic ideas in regard to wealth, capital, trade, commerce?
  4. How far is there ground for the contention that the writings of Rousseau have been the chief arsenal of social and political revolutionists?
  5. “The right to the whole produce of labor—to subsistence—to labor:”
    What, according to Menger, have been the most important contributions to the successive phases of this discussion?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers. Mid-Year, 1899-1900.(HUC 7000.55).

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

 

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Undergraduate

Harvard. First Undergraduate General and Specific Exams in History, Government and Economics Division, 1916.

 

In this post we can read some of the history behind the establishment of Harvard’s undergraduate tutorial and divisional examination system for which the Division of History, Government, and Economics served as an early testing ground. The first general examination of that division along with the “specific” economics field examinations from 1916 are transcribed below.

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Backstories regarding the Division Examinations in History, Government, and Economics

History of Origin and Growth of the Tutorial System
Shows Gradual Incorporation in All Departments But Chemistry
Introduction of General Exams In Medical School Made Entrance Wedge
January 10, 1933

Excerpts from a brief history of the General Examinations and the Tutorial System recently published by the University follows below.

In the spring of 1910 a committee was appointed which examined the system prevailing in American medical schools of granting the degree upon an accumulation of credits in courses, and the European system of two general examinations, the earlier upon the general scientific or laboratory subjects and the final one upon the clinical branches. The committee recommended the adoption of the latter system, and after its provisional approval by the Faculty of Medicine in March of the following year, another committee, mainly of different members, worked out a plan which was adopted by that Faculty in October, 1911.

Adopted by Divinity School

Shortly after its adoption in the Medical School the idea of a general examination invaded departments at Cambridge. In the academic year 1911-12 it was adopted in the Divinity School for the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Theology; and in this case it seems to have worked well from the start. Meanwhile the division of History, Government and Economics had been considering the matter, and after a year of careful study formulated a plan which as sanctioned by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in the winter of 1912-13. The examination was to be conducted by the division and in fact by a committee of three of its members appointed by the President, who were to be relieved of one half of their work of instruction. It was to consist of both written and oral tests, was to be required of all college students concentrating in that division, in addition to their courses, and was to go into effect with the class entering the following autumn. Authority was also given to supplement by tutorial assistance the instruction given in the courses. Thus the complete system of a general examination and tutors was set up for all undergraduates in one division, and the one which at the time had the largest number of concentrators.

Trial Seems in Danger

The plan was put into effect without serious obstacles. The number of students concentrating in these subjects did, indeed, diminish, the weaker of more timid seeking departments where no such examination barred the way; out that was no harm, and proved to be in large part a temporary effect. The preparing of examination questions, which had been supposed very difficult, was exceedingly well done by an able committee. Yet the plan was not at once wholly successful. Tutorial work was new, and men equipped for it were not to be found. They had to learn the art by their own experience, and by what they derived from an exchange of tutors for a year with Oxford and Cambridge. In fact, after a few years of trial the plan seemed in danger of breaking down. The benefits were not at once evident; some of those formerly in favor of it became skeptical, while opponents were confirmed in their opinions. Until we entered the World War the only other field of concentration which had adopted a general examination of all students for graduation was that of History and Literature, although something of the kind had long been in common use in the case of candidates for distinction or honors.

Crisis Comes After War

The crisis came at the close of the war, when the changes made for military purposes in all instruction had left matters in a somewhat fluid state. A committee of the Faculty was appointed to consider what, if any, extension of the principle could profitably be made in other fields. There was a feeling that such a system ought not to be maintained in one class of subjects alone; that it should either be abolished or extended. After a study of the question in its various phases the committee reported, and in April, 1919, the Faculty voted, that general examinations should “be established for all students concentrating in Divisions or under Committees which signify their willingness to try such examinations,” and that they “be employed for the members of the present Freshman class.” Thereupon all the divisions under the Faculty, except those dealing with mathematics and the natural sciences, decided to make the experiment. Some of them did so reluctantly, with misgiving, and under a condition that they should not be obliged to employ tutors. By the academic year 1924-25, therefore, the students in all the divisions with a general examination had the benefit of tutoring.

Adopted by All Departments

Since that time the progress of the system has been gradual but continuous. In 1926 the departments of mathematics, biology, and bio-chemical sciences adopted it; and in 1928 geology and physics were added to the list; leaving chemistry as the only department with a large number of concentrators that still retains the older methods, and its work is done so much in laboratories that its position is peculiar. The only change in the system has come from a demand by the students themselves. There has been no desire on the part of the University to abandon teaching or examination in courses by copying the practice at Oxford and Cambridge of leaving instruction wholly to the tutor, as that would have seemed ill-adapted to the habits of the College.

Source: Harvard Crimson, January 10, 1933.

 

TUTORIAL SYSTEM HEREAFTER
Rules for Concentration in History, Government and Economics Will Apply Next Year.
April 10, 1914

Beginning with the class of 1917 and applying to all subsequent classes, a new rule in regard to concentration in the Division of History, Government and Economics has been adopted.

Concentration in this Division requires at least six courses which are related to each other. Under the new system all students concentrating in this division will be required to pass in their Senior year a final examination covering their special field within the Division, and consisting of a written examination early in the spring, and an oral examination toward the close of the year. In order to prepare students for these examinations the University will provide special tutors beginning with the Sophomore year.

Only Two Introductory Courses.

Every student intending to concentrate in History, Government, and Economics should state the Department in which he will take at least four courses and the Department in which he will take the remaining two. He will not be allowed to count towards his concentration more than two of the introductory courses, History 1, Government 1, and Economics A. The aim of the system is to enforce a more accurate knowledge and comprehension of studies as a whole. This aim has frequently not been achieved owing to the wide scattering of courses.

Source: Harvard Crimson, April 10, 1914.

 

 

THE TUTORIAL SYSTEM.
April 10, 1914

There are two new features in the recently announced requirements of the Division of History, Government and Economics, namely, the general examination and the tutorial system. And they are complementary. The task of the tutor is to intelligently guide the student in his preparation for the final examination, to assist him in that organization and correlation of his work which is the key-note of the plan. His work begins where the adviser’s work ends. The adviser still superintends the choice of courses made by the student although it is to be expected, probably, that a capable tutor will tend to influence this choice. It will be impossible so sharply to distinguish the task of choosing courses and correlating them as to prevent this. The sanction of the adviser may approximate formal permission, with the guiding force held by the tutor.

The general examination on the other hand, modelled after the plan in use for doctorate examinations, including a general examination for the division work and a supplementary special test for the department or field, reaches over the whole matter of choice and organization and focuses the work of the adviser, tutor and student.

One result is inevitable, that is, the effect of producing a more serious scientific attitude toward the work. The student who chooses this Division will be presumed to have made the choice with serious intent to perfect himself in that line. The student who chose that work because he had to concentrate in something may well feel he is getting more than he bargained for. This is not a criticism; the result-to make study in that division more in the way of laboratory work, to lift it out of the region of inconsequent eclectic undergraduate education may be more serious. The decline or increase in the number of men in the Division will show to what an extent the work there is taken for serious reasons, not as a line of least resistance.

The effect in minimizing course grades, cramming, and mechanical study can only be helpful. To produce capable and broad-minded students, with a wide grasp of their field and an accurate knowledge of their specialty is the very desirable end to which the system aims. And that not by more work but by better organization.

 

Source: Harvard Crimson, April 10, 1914.

 

From the Annual Reports of the President of Harvard College

… the single course is not, and cannot be, the true unit in education. The real unit is the student. He is the only thing in education that is an end in itself. To send him forth as nearly a perfected product as possible is the aim of instruction, and anything else, the single course, the curriculum, the discipline, the influences surrounding him, are merely means to the end, which are to be judged by the way they contribute and fit into the ultimate purpose. To treat the single course as a self-sufficient unit, complete in itself, is to run a danger of losing sight of the end in the means thereto…

…In the College the problem of making the student, instead of the course, the unit in education is more difficult than in the other parts of the University, because general education is more intangible, more vague, less capable of precise analysis and definition, than training for a profession. Nevertheless, in the College, some significant steps have been taken which tend in this direction. The first was the requirement that every student must concentrate six of his seventeen courses in some definite field, must distribute six more among the other subjects of knowledge, and must do so after consulting an instructor appointed to advise him….

…The rule of concentration, coupled with the provision that no tmore than two of the six courses shall be of an elementary character, is intended to compel every man to study some subject with thoroughness, and acquire a systematic knowledge thereof….

…The second step in treating the student, instead of the course, as the unit in education, was taken by the Division of History, Government, and Economics, when, and with the approval of the Faculty, it set up the requirement of a general examination at graduation for students concentrating in that division. The examination, which is entrusted to a committee representing the three departments within the division, is to be distinct from that in the courses elected, and is to include not only the ground covered in them, but also the general field with which they have dealt, and the knowledge needed to connect them. This is a marked departure from the plan of earning a degree by scoring courses; and it will take time to adjust men’s conceptions of education to a basis new to the American college, though familiar in every European university. To assist the students in preparing themselves for the general examination each of them at the beginning of his Sophomore year is assigned to the charge of a tutor who confers with him about his work and guides his reading outside of that required in the courses. As the plan could be applied only to men entering after it was established, the first examinations will be held next spring [1916], and then only for men who graduate in three years.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1914-15, pp. 8-10.

Courses are merely a means to an end, and that end is the education of the student. One method of placing courses in their true light as a means of education is the provision of comprehensive examinations for graduation, covering the general field of the student’s principal work beyond the precise limits of the courses he has taken. This has long been done in the case of the doctorate of philosophy; and in the year covered by this report [1915-16] it was applied for the first time to undergraduates concentrating in the Division of History, Government, and Economics. Only twenty-four students of the Class of 1917, who finished their work in three years and concentrated in this field, came under its operation; but they were numerous enough to give a definite indication of the working of the plan. To that extent the results were satisfactory. The examination papers were well designed for measuring the knowledge and grasp of the subject, with a large enough range of options to include the various portions of the field covered by the different candidates; and the examiners themselves were satisfied with the plan as a fair means of testing the qualification of the students. During the coming year a much larger number of men will come up for this comprehensive examination, which promises to mark a new departure in American college methods.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1915-16, p.19.

A significant event of the year [1915-16] was the inauguration by the Division of History, Government, and Economics of its new examination of candidates for the Bachelor’s degree who have concentrated in the Division. This examination was devised “not in order to place an additional burden upon candidates for the A.B., but for the purpose of securing better correlation of the student’s work, encouraging better methods of study, and furnishing a more adequate test of real power and attainment.” In their preparation students have from the beginning of the Sophomore year special tutorial instruction. The examination embraces three tests: first, a general paper, with a large number of alternative questions, treating comprehensively the subjects of the Division; second, a special paper, covering a chosen specific field; and lastly, a supplementary oral examination which may relate to either the general or the special paper, but ordinarily bears upon the specific field. The results of the first examination, taken by a comparatively small group of men graduating in three years, are in no way conclusive. The members of the examining committee, however, think them distinctly encouraging. Twenty-four candidates appeared, of whom twenty-two passed and two failed. Their selection of questions from the general paper indicated breadth of preparation and their bearing at the oral examination showed more than a little clearness and independence of thought.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1915-16, pp.75-76.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF A. B.
1915–16

GENERAL DIVISION EXAMINATION

Part I

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

  1. Compare the Empires of Rome and of Charlemagne.
  2. Discus the influence of religious ideas on national life and institutions in the Americas.
  3. What were the principal factors in the development of the United States from (a) 1776 to 1818, or (b) 1818 to 1861, or (c) 1861 to 1898, or (d) 1898 to the present?
  4. Discuss and illustrate the economic bases of political party allegiance.
  5. Explain the influence of British policy upon international law.
  6. Why do the peoples of the temperate zones tend to assume leadership among the peoples of the earth?
  7. How does the federal form of government affect the life of a nation?
  8. Sketch the political and economic careers of two of the following: (a) Cobden, (b) Bright, (c) Hamilton, (d) Chase, (e) Colbert, (f) Jaurès.
  9. Compare English, French, and Spanish colonial methods and policies in the New World.

 

Part II

Five questions only from the following groups, A, B, and C, are to be answered, of which three must be from one group. The remaining questions must be taken, one from each of the other groups, or both from one of the other groups.

 

A

  1. In what respects has Roman political organization influenced Western Europe of modern times?
  2. What has been the effect of the embodiment of nationalities in political unities during the nineteenth century?
  3. Why was the influence of Metternich so potent?
  4. Discuss as to municipalities: “The citizens may have as good government as they care to demand.”
  5. To what extent are the constitutional principles of the United States common among Central and South American States?
  6. Why were spheres of interest claimed in Africa and in Asia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?
  7. To what extent and why should national party preferences be followed in state and municipal elections?
  8. In what countries has municipal government been more highly developed; why and with what results for the citizen and for the municipality?

 

B

  1. The development of the idea of the Balance of Power up to the Peace of Utrecht.
  2. Show how Europe influenced the Far East in the second half of the nineteenth century.
  3. What services did the English colonies in America render to the mother country previous to 1763?
  4. Explain the influence of pro-slavery sentiment on the expansion of the United States.
  5. Explain causes and results of European immigration into the United States within the last fifty years.
  6. Show the development of steam transportation in Europe and its results.
  7. Why are recent constitutions of states in the United States generally lengthy documents?
  8. Write briefly on five of the following: (a) Abelard, (b) Copernicus, (c) Erasmus, (d) Vasco de Gama, (e) Grotius, (f) Huss, (g) Justinian, (h) Locke, (i) Petrarch, (j) Rousseau.

 

C

  1. Is the trust a desirable feature of modern economic organization?
  2. Should England modify her policy of free trade?
  3. Trace and explain the history of the Interstate Commerce Commission.
  4. What caused the failure of the Confederacy?
  5. Analyze the three most important political aspects of the socialist movement; the three most important economic aspects.
  6. To what extent was the failure of the first Bank of the United States to secure a renewal of its charter due to political factors; to what extent, to economic?
  7. What have been the economic and political consequences of state ownership of the railways of Prussia?
  8. Account for the modern increase of public expenditures in (a) Europe; (b) American city government; (c) the Federal government of the United States.

April 27, 1916.

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DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Economic history

Answer six questions.

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

  1. Considered in its theoretical aspects the tariff policy of the United States since 1845.
  2. What factors have contributed most to changes in the distribution of wealth in the United States since 1870?
  3. Trace the development of uniform accounting for railroads in this country. Indicate any connections between your uniform accounting and government regulation of the railroads.
  4. Analyze the merits and defects of our current statistics of (a) imports and exports; or (b) wholesale prices; or (c) wages; or  (d) industrial organization.

 

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

  1. Compare tariff changes in England and Germany during the nineteenth century.
  2. Discuss the essential features of the labor movement in England from 1825 to 1850.
  3. What have been the different lines of development in the combination movement in England?
  4. Discussing the economic aspects of the American Revolution with respect to (a) factors contributing to the revolution; (b) resources affecting the outcome; (c) consequences of the War.
  5. Explaining any important national policies developed in the United States between 1815 and 1830.
  6. Write the monetary history of United States during one of the following periods: (a) 1792-1837; (b) 1879-1893; (c) 1893-date.
  7. Trace the history of our mercantile marine, giving special attention to significant government policies.
  8. Give a brief account of organized labor in the United States.
  9. Indicate any important changes in American agriculture since 1900.

 

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

  1. Has private ownership of the railroads justified itself in the United States? What is the case for and against government ownership of railroads in this country?
  2. Explain and criticise the presence policy of the Federal government regarding industrial combinations.
  3. Discuss critically the project of a non-partisan Federal tariff board.
  4. Discuss the causes, extent, and consequences of the change in the price level since 1897.

May 5, 1916.

__________________

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Money and Banking

Answer six questions.

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

  1. State and criticise the quantity theory of money.
  2. Analyze a typical bank statement.
  3. Discuss index numbers of prices with reference to (a) the purposes they may serve; (b) various methods of construction; (c) the best index numbers for wholesale prices in the United States.
  4. Where should you look for statistics of the following : (a) bank clearings of England and the United States; (b) resources and liabilities of banks in Massachusetts; (c) foreign exchange rates in New York in 1903; (d) the monetary stock of the United States; (e) current changes in the value of gold?

 

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

  1. Compare the adoption of the single gold standard by England and by Germany.
  2. To what extent, and by what means, has the financial administration of the Federal government in the United States influenced our monetary history?
  3. Give a critical account of the greenbacks from 1862 to 1878. Indicate all factors, political and other, connected with this episode of monetary history.
  4. Analyze the factors leading to the adoption of the Federal Reserve banking system. Compare these factors with those leading to the establishment of the National banking system.

 

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

  1. Describe and criticise the existing monetary system of the United States.
  2. Explain and illustrate the gold exchange monetary standard.
  3. What different meanings have been suggested for stabilizing the value of our monetary standards? What objections, if any, are to be raised against each of the proposed measures?
  4. Distinguish the different kinds of banking. To what extent should they be conducted by the same institutions? To what extent have they been combined in the United States? In any other countries?
  5. What measures have been adopted before 1914 by the Bank of England to prevent or allay financial panics? What action was taken in 1914 to meet the banking conditions created by the outbreak of the European War?
  6. Indicate any connections which have existed between the banks and the railroads within the United States.
  7. How and why has the European War affected foreign exchange between United States and other countries?
  8. Account for the financial panic of 1907. To what extent, and by what means, does the Federal Reserve system promise to prevent the recurrence of the conditions of 1907?

May 5, 1916.

__________________

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Corporate Organization, including Railroads

Answer six questions.

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

  1. Discussed critically the “economies of industrial combination.”
  2. What official statistics throw light upon industrial organization in the United States? Criticize the available statistics of the subject.
  3. Trace the development of uniform accounting for railroads in this country. Indicate any connections between uniform accounting and government regulation of the railroads.
  4. Enumerate the principal sources of railway statistics at the present time, Shelbi and show the content, importance, and deficiencies (if any) of each.

 

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

  1. What has been the policy of American states with respect to business corporations?
  2. What have been the different lines of development in the combination movement in England?
  3. Compare the history of water transportation in the United States, England, and Germany.
  4. Give an account of the “trust movement” in the United States since 1898.

 

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

  1. Describe in detail how control is vested and exercised in a typical modern business corporation.
  2. Describes the formation of some large industrial combination effected in the United States since 1898.
  3. What have been the more important economic and social consequences of the corporate organization of industry?
  4. What connections exist between banks and industrial combinations in the United States? Contrast the situation here with that in Germany.
  5. Discuss the Federal Trade Commission with respect to (a) the reasons for its establishment; (b) its tenure of office and powers; (c) its probable future.
  6. Upon what different bases may railway systems be appraised? What are the merits and defects of each of the bases indicated?
  7. Discuss standards of reasonableness (a) for the general level of railway rates; (b) for rates on particular commodities.
  8. Give an account of the relations between organize labor and our railroads.
  9. What different relationships as to ownership, management, and regulation may exist between the government and public service industries? Criticise in turn each of these possible relationships.

May 5, 1916.

 

__________________

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
Public Finance

Answer six questions.

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

  1. Discuss critically the different theories of justice and taxation.
  2. From an accounting point of view, wherein are municipal accounts essentially unlike business accounts? What factors impair the value of municipal accounts?
  3. Outline a system of uniform municipal accounts. What provisions have been made in the United States for the use of the uniform municipal accounts?
  4. What are the chief sources of public finance statistics in the United States?

 

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

  1. Give the history of the Federal public land policy to 1835. Show any connections between the public land policy and the treatment of the public debt.
  2. Sketch the development and present status of the general property tax in this country.
  3. Givs a critical account of the Independent Treasury of the United States.
  4. Distinguish “direct” and “indirect” taxes. Describe the separation of direct and indirect taxation under our system of national and state governments. What were the reasons for this separation? What have been its consequences, economic and political?

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

  1. For what different objects has taxation been employed? Give illustrations. What is to be said for and against the employment of taxation for each of the purposes indicated?
  2. Formulate and defend a plan for a state income tax.
  3. Discuss inheritance taxes in the United States with reference to (a) the employment of inheritance taxes by state and Federal governments; (b) The rates applied; (c) the use of progressive rates; (d) the maximum advisable rates; (e) possible effects upon the distribution of wealth.
  4. What is the case for and against the partial or complete exemption of improvements from taxation under the general property tax? Where, if at all, have such a policy been adopted?
  5. What is “double taxation”? Under what circumstances, if any, is it objectionable? Why is the problem of double taxation a serious one today in the United States? What solution can be suggested?
  6. Suppose the Federal government abolishes all import duties upon sugar and substitutes equivalent bounties on sugar production in the United States. How, if at all, does this tend to affect the distribution of wealth? When, and for what reasons, has a change similar to that supposed been actually made in the United States?
  7. To what extent, and by what process, is a tax shifted to consumers when levied upon a commodity produced (a) at constant cost? (b) at decreasing cost? (c) at increasing cost? (d) by a monopoly? Illustrate by diagrams.

May 5, 1916.

 

__________________

OTHER DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATIONS (Not transcribed here)

Modern History since 1789 including American History
American Government
Municipal Government
Political Theory

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975(HUC 7000.18). Box 6, Bound Volume (stamped “Private Library Arthur H. Cole”) “Divisional Examinations 1916-1927”.

Image Source:  1875 Gate at Harvard Yard. From the Wallace Nutting photographic Collection at the Historic New England website.

Categories
Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Course Outline and Readings for Economics and National Security. Schelling, 1960

 

According to the Annual Report of the President of Harvard for 1959-60 the following economic seminar taught by Professor Thomas C. Schelling during the Spring term had only two graduate students officially registered for the course (and they were probably from the Graduate School of Public Administration). In the following year fourteen students were enrolled in the course.

______________________

ECONOMICS 207
Economics and National Security
Spring 1960

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Note: Reading indented items is optional; but all starred items should be looked at even if not read carefully.

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Washington Center for Foreign Policy Research (Arnold Wolfers, Director). Developments in Military Technology and Their impact on United States Strategy and Foreign Policy, Committee Print, Committee on Foreign Relations, U. S. Senate, Dec. 6, 1959. Part C, “Technological Developments and the Strategic Equation,” Chapters 1-4, pp. 30-85.

National Planning Association, “1970 Without Arms Control”, A Special Committee Report, Planning Pamphlet 104, May 1958.

Davidon, William C., Kalkstein, Marvin I., Hohenemser, Christoph. “Prerequisites for Nuclear Weapons Manufacture”, in National Planning Association, The Nth Country Problem and Arms Control, Planning Pamphlet No. 108, Jan. 1960, pp. 11-28.

Glasstone, Samuel (ed.). Effects of Nuclear Weapons; Dept. of Defense and Atomic Energy Commission, 1957 edition, pp. 18-33, 90-96, 103-111, 196-202, 209-11, 212-15, 237-8, 345-8, 390-429, 446-54, 524-31, 536-43, glossary p. 544 ff.

 

I. EFFICIENCY IN MILITARY DECISIONS

Hitch, Charles J., McKean, Roland. “Defense as an Economic Problem”, “Efficiency in Military Decisions”, mimeograph.

Morse, Philip M., Kimball, George E. Methods of Operations Research, New York, The Technology Press and John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1951, pp. 1-10, 38-60, 63-67 (scan 67-77), 77-80.

Hitch, Charles J. “Economics and Military Operations Research,”Review of Economics and Statistics, XL, 199-209, Aug. 1958.

Schelling, T.C. “Comment”, Symposium on Economics and Operations Research, Review of Economics and Statistics, XL, 221-224, Aug. 1958.

Hoag, Malcolm. “Some complexities in Military Planning,” World Politics, XI, 553-576, July 59.

Enke, Stephen. “Some Economic Aspects of Fissionable Material,”Quarterly Journal of Economics, LXVIII, 217-232, May 54.

Bowers, Robert D. (Col). “Fundamental Equations of Force Survival,” Air University Quarterly Review, X, 82-92, Spring 58.

Karchere, A. Hoeber, F.P. “Combat Problems, Weapons Systems, and the Theory of Allocation,” JORSA, Nov. 53.

Kahn, H. Mann, I. “Techniques of Systems Analysis,” The RAND Corporation, RM-1829-1, 3 Dec. 58 revised June 57, chapters 1, 2, 3, pp. 1-113.

*   *  *   *   *

Enke, Stephen. “An Economist Looks at Air Force Logistics,” Review of Economics and Statistics, XL, 230-39, Aug. 58.

Fisher, Gene H. “Weapon-System Cost Analysis,” Operations Research. Oct. 56, pp. 558-571.

Mendershausen, Horst. “Economic Problems in Air Force Logistics,” American Economic Review, Sept. 58, 632-648.

*Engel, J.H. “A Verification of Lanchester’s Law,” JORSA, May 54, II.

*Brackney, Howard. “The Dynamics of Military Combat,” Operations Research, VII, 30-44, Jan-Feb. 59.

*Firstman, Sidney I. “A Vulnerability Model for Weapon Sites with Interdependent Elements,” Operations Research, VII, 217-25, Mar-Apr. 59.

Weiss, Herbert K. “Lanchester-Type Models of Warfare,” Proceedings of the First International Conference on Operations Research. ORSA, Baltimore, 1957, pp. 82-99.

*   *  *   *   *

II. COPING WITH AN INTELLIGENT ADVERSARY

Kahn, Herman, Mann, Irwin. “Techniques of Systems Analysis,” Chapter 4, “The Two-Sided War,” pp. 114-131; Chapter 5, “Evaluation and Criticism,” pp. 132-161.

Schelling, T.C. “Assumptions About Enemy Behavior,” Lecture 12 in An Appreciation of Systems Analysis, The RAND Corporation, B-90, 1959. (Mimeograph).

Williams, John D. The Compleat Strategyst, New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., 1954. Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 1-85. Rest of book optional; suggest scan several of the problems in remaining chapters.

Alchian, Armen A. “The Meaning of Utility Measurement,” American Economic Review, XLIII, 26-50, Mar. 53.

Luce, R. Duncan, Raiffa, Howard. Games and Decisions(New York, 1957), Chapter 2, pp. 2-17, 19-38; Chapter 4, pp. 56-76, 85-87.

Morse, Philip M., Kimball, George E. Methods of Operations Research, “Measure and Countermeasure,” pp. 94-102; “Theoretical Analysis of Countermeasure Action,” pp. 102-109.

*   *  *   *   *

Haywood, O.G. “Military Decision and Game Theory,” JORSA, Nov. 54.

*Hale, J.K., Wicke, H.H. “An Application of Game Theory to Special Weapons Evaluation,” Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, IV, 347-56.

*Dobbie, James M. “On the Allocation of Effort Among Deterrent Systems,” Operations Research, VII, 335-46, May-June 59.

Isbell, J.R., Marlow, W.H. “Attrition Games,” Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, III, 71-94.

*Blackett, D.W. “Some Blotto Games,”Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, I, 55-60, Mar. 54.

Thompson, S.P., Ziffer, A.J. “The Watchdog and the Burglar,” Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, VI, 165-72, June 59.

Caywood, T.E., Thomas, C.J. “Application of Game Theory in Fighter vs. Bomber Combat,” JORSA, III, Nov. 55.

*Antosiewicz, H.A. “Analytic Study of War Games,” NRLQ, II, 181-208, Sept. 55.

Isaacs, Rufus. “The Problem of Aiming and Evasion,” NRLQ, II, 47-68, May-June 55.

Zachrisson, L.E. “A Tank Duel with Game-Theoretic Implications,” NRLQ, IV, 131-38, June 57.

*   *  *   *   *

III. EXPERIMENT AND SIMULATION

Specht, Robert D. “War Games,” The RAND Corporation, P-1041, March 18, 1957.

Thomas, Clayton J., Deemer, Walter L. “The Role of Operational Gaming in Operations Research,” Operations Research, Feb. 57, 1-27.

*   *  *   *   *

Rauner, R.M. Laboratory Evaluation of Supply and Procurement Policies, The RAND Corporation, Report R-323, July 1958.

Thomas, Clayton L. “The Genesis and Practice of Operational Gaming,” Proceedings of the First International Conference on Operations Research; Operations Research Society of America, Baltimore, 1957. Max Davies, et al., eds. pp. 64-81.

Young, John P. “A Survey of Historical Developments in War Games.” Operations Research Office, The Johns Hopkins University, Staff Paper ORO-SP-98, March, 1959. (Mimeo, 108 pages plus bibliography.)

*   *  *   *   *

IV. THE STRATEGY OF POTENTIAL FORCE

Schelling, T.C. “The Retarded Science of International Strategy,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March 60.

Brodie, Bernard. Strategy in the Missile Age, Princeton, 1959. Ch. 1, “Introduction,” 3-20; Ch. 6, “Is There a Defense,” 173-222; Ch. 8, “The Anatomy of Deterrence,” 264-304; Ch. 9, “Limited War,” 305-357.

Wohlstetter, Albert. “The Delicate Balance of Terror,” Foreign Affairs, Jan. 59, pp. 211-234.

Sherwin, C.W. “Securing Peace through Military Technology,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, XII, 159-165, May 56.

Schelling, T.C. “Bargaining, Communication, and Limited War,”Journal of Conflict Resolution, I, 19-36, Mar. 57.

Schelling, T.C. “The Strategy of Conflict: Prospectus for a Reorientation of Game Theory,” Journal of Conflict Resolution, II, 203-264, Sept. 58.

Rapoport, Anatol. “Lewis F. Richardson’s Mathematical Theory of War,” Journal of Conflict Resolution, I, 249-99, Sept. 57; Part IV, ‘The Mathematics of Arms Races,’ pp. 275-82.

Washington Center for Foreign Policy Research (Arnold Wolfers, Director), “Developments…” Part C. Chapters 5, 6; pp. 85-97.

Schelling, T.C. “Surprise Attack and Disarmament,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, XV, 413-18, Dec. 59

*   *  *   *   *

Luce, R. Duncan, Raiffa, Howard. Games and Decisions, New York, 1957, Chapters 5, 6, pp. 88-154.

Washington Center for Foreign Policy Research (Arnold Wolfers, Director), “Developments…” etc. Part D, “The Development of Deterrent and Counterdeterrent Strategies,” pp. 98-104. Part E, “The Crisis of Strategic Nuclear Deterrence,” pp. 105-118.

Schelling, T.C. “Randomization of Threats and Promises,” The RAND Corporation, P-1716, June 5, 1959.

Schelling, T.C. “The Threat That Leaves Something to Chance,” Mimeograph, Center for International Affairs, Harvard University (no date).

Schelling, T.C. “The Reciprocal Fear of Surprise Attack,” The RAND Corporation, P-1342, revised May 58.

Rathjens, George. Ch. 4, in Klaus Knorr (ed.), NATO and American Security, Princeton 1959. “NATO Strategy: Total War,” pp. 65-97.

Hoag, Malcolm. “The Place of Limited War in NATO Strategy,” Ch. 5 of Klaus Knorr (ed.), NATO and American Security, Princeton 1959, pp. 98-126.

Szilard, Leo. “Disarmament and the Problem of Peace,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Vol. II, Oct. 55.

Kaplan, Morton. “Some Problems in the Strategic Analysis of International Politics,” Research Monograph No. 2, Center of International Studies, Princeton, Jan. 1959.

Kaplan, Morton A. “The Strategy of Limited Retaliation,” Policy Memorandum No. 19, Center of International Studies, Princeton, April 1959.

Kaplan, Morton A. “The Calculus of Nuclear Deterrence,” World Politics, XI, 20-43, Oct. 58.

Burns, Arthur Lee. “From Balance to Deterrence: A Theoretical Analysis,” World Politics, IX, 494-529, July 57.

Burns, Arthur Lee. “The Rationale of Catalytic War,” Research Monograph No. 3, Princeton Center of International Studies, Apr. 2, 59.

Rapoport, Anatol. “Lewis F. Richardson’s Mathematical Theory of War,” Journal of Conflict Resolution, I, 249-299, Sept. 57.

*   *  *   *   *

V. ECONOMICS OF DISASTER

Hirschleifer, Jack. “Some Thoughts on the Social Structure After a Bombing Disaster,” World Politics, VIII, 206-227, Jan. 56.

Tiryakian, Edward A. “Aftermath of a Thermonuclear Attack on the United States,” Social Problems, VI, 291-303, Spring 1959.

Enke, Stephen. “Controlling Consumers in Future Wars,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, LXXII, 558-573, Nov. 58

*   *  *   *   *

Bear, Donald V.T., Clark, Paul G. “Which Industries Would Be Most Important in a Postwar U.S. Economy?” (Mimeograph).

Hirschleifer, J. “War Damage Insurance, “Review of Economics and Statistics, May 53.

*   *  *   *   *

VI. EXTREMES AND INTANGIBLES IN SOCIAL CHOICE

Hitch, Charles J., McKean, Roland N. “Incommensurables, Uncertainty, and the Enemy,” (Mimeograph, 39 pages).

Kahn, Herman. “How Many Can Be Saved?” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, XV, 30-34, Jan. 59.

Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, “Biological and Environmental Effects of Nuclear War,” Summary Analysis of Hearings, June 22-26, 1959.

Committee on Government Operations, “Atomic Shelter Programs,” Thirty-fourth report of the committee, Aug. 12, 1958.

Deer, James W. “Whatever Happened to Civil Defense,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, XV, 266-7 June 59.

Lapp, Ralph. “Local Fallout Radioactivity,” “Fallout and Home Defense,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, XV, 181-86, 187-91, May 59.

Morgenstern, Oskar. The Question of National Defense. New York 1959, Ch. 5, “Attrition, Shelters and Recovery,” 104-133.

*   *  *   *   *

Schubert, Jack, Lapp, Ralph. Radiation: What It Is and How It Affects You, New York, 1957. Ch. 3, 4, 11, 12.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Radiation and Man. Special Issue, XIV, 1-64, Jan. 58.

The RAND Corporation, Report on a Study of Non-Military Defense, Report R-322-RC, July 1, 1958. 48 pages.

Ramsey, F. A., Jr. “Damage Assessment Systems and their Relationship to Post-Nuclear-Attack Damage and Recovery,” Naval Research Logistics Quarterly, V, 199-219, Sept. 58.

*   *  *   *   *

VII. DESIGN OF EFFICIENT MILITARY INSTITUTIONS

Smithies, Arthur. The Budgetary Process in the United States. New York 1955. Ch. 12: The Defense Budget: Economy and Efficiency in the Defense Program, pp. 278-325.

Lindblom, C.E. “Decision Making in Taxation and Expenditure,” Mimeograph, National Bureau of Economic Research: Conference on Public Finance, April 1959.

Enthoven, Alain, Rowen, Henry. “Defense Planning and Organization,” The RAND Corporation, Paper P-1640, March 17, 59, revised July 28, 59.

Knorr, Klaus. The War Potential of Nations. Princeton, 1956. Ch. 1: “War Potential in the Nuclear Age,” pp. 3-15; Ch. 6: “Wartime Administration,” pp. 99-118; Ch. 7: “The Allocation of Resources,” pp. 119-141.

Schelling, T.C. International Economics, Chapter 30, “Economic Warfare and Strategic Trade Controls,” pp. 487-511.

*   *  *   *   *

Livingston, J. Sterling. “Decision-Making in Weapons Development,” Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb. 58.

Klein, Burton H. “A Radical Proposal for R and D,” Fortune, May 58, 112-.

Schelling, T. C. Internaitonal Economics. Ch. 31, “Trade Controls and National Security,” 511-532.

Breckner, Norman. “Government Efficiency and the Military ‘Buyer-Seller’ Device,” The RAND Corporation, P-1744, 8 July 1959.

Enthoven, Alain. “Supply and Demand and Military Pay,” RAND P-1186, 30 Sept. 1957.

Cordiner, Ralph. “A Modern Concept of Manpower Management and Compensation for Personnel of the Uniformed Service,” (The Cordiner Report), Defense Advisory Committee on Professional and Technical Compensation, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1957.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1). Box 7, Folder: “Economics, 1959-1960”.

Image Source: From an internet page of the Rio Theatre in Vancouver.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Political Economy Examinations. Bowen, Green, and Dunbar, 1868-1872.

 

Today’s post provides transcriptions for five examinations in political economy used at Harvard between 1868 and 1872. Links to two previously transcribed examinations from that time are provided as well. Information about course enrollments and textbooks come from the annual reports of the President of Harvard College.

Before Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy were assigned beginning with the 1870-71 academic year, the following textbooks were listed for Harvard’s  political economy courses:

As an introductory textbook for the junior year course in political economy:

James E. Thorold Rogers, A Manual of Political Economy for Schools and Colleges. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1868.

“Advanced” Textbooks in political economy for senior year courses by Francis Bowen:

The Principles of Political Economy applied to the Condition, the Resources, and the Institutions of the American People (2ndedition, 1859). American Political Economy; including Strictures of the Currency and the Finances since 1861 (1870). One might presume Bowen’s lectures were closer to what is found in the later of these two books. 

About the instructors…

Harvard Crimson’s obituary for Francis Bowen. Profile of “Francis Bowen, 1811-1890” at the History of Economics Website.

Obituary for Nicholas St. John Green in the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 12 (May, 1876-May 1877), pp. 289-291.

Frank Taussig’s 1900 obituary for Charles Franklin Dunbar. Profile of  “Charles Franklin Dunbar, 1830-1900” at the History of Economics Website.

_________________

Academic Year 1867-68.

Seniors.

“During the First Academic Term, the Senior Class recited six times a week in Bowen’s Logic, and Bowen’s Political Economy.”

Source: Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1867-68, p. 24.

_________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY

SENIORS, JANUARY, 1868.

  1. Wherein does value differ from utility? What are the two elements of value, and what becomes of the value, when either of these elements is wanting?
  2. Explain the nature of Capital, wherein it differs from Wealth, and what is its source or the means of its increase. Distinguish productive from unproductive consumption.
  3. Which are the three functions of banks, and which of these three is unessential, so that banks could exist and do their work without it? Wherein do our present National Banks differ from the old State banks?
  4. What is the operation of funding a National Debt? By what vicious method of funding was the English National Debt made over 40 per cent. larger than the amount actually received by the government as a loan? In what different way was our own National Debt, contracted during the Civil War, made largely to exceed the amount received?
  5. Distinguish Direct from Indirect Taxes? Why is our present Income Tax said to be unconstitutional? Why are legacy taxes and other taxes on succession to property said to be the best of all forms of taxation?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943 (HUC 7000.55), Box 1, Folder “Mid-year examinations, 1867-1868”.

_________________

Academic Year 1868-69.

Seniors.

“During the First Academic Term the Senior Class recited three times a week in Bowen’s Ethics and Metaphysics, and Bowen’s Political Economy.”

Source: Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1868-69, p. 32.

 

Exam Questions in Political Economy for Seniors, June 1869.

 

_________________

Academic Year 1869-70.

Seniors. First Term.

Prof. Bowen. Political Economy.

Text-Book: Bowen’s Political Economy.
Number of students: 129
Number of Sections: 2 & 3
Number of exercises per week: 3
Number of hours per week: 3

Source: Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1869-70, p. 36.

_________________

Academic Year 1869-70.

POLITICAL ECONOMY

SENIORS, DECEMBER, 1869.

  1. Explain the distinction between Property and Wealth; between Wealth and Capital; between the Price of a commodity and its natural Exchangeable Value; between Simple and Complex Coöperation, the two kinds of Division of Labor. What are the two elements of Exchangeable Value, and what is its measure?
  2. What is Wakefield’s theory of Colonization, and how did it work? In what respects was an ancient Colony unlike a modern one? Explain the United States system of disposing of the public lands.
  3. What were the old guilds of trade, and the old meaning of the word University? How does Caste, or the fixity of ranks and classes, affect the Increase of Capital?
  4. Explain briefly the Malthusian theory of population; refute it by facts and arguments.
  5. Give an outline of Ricardo’s theory of Rent, Wages, and Profits, showing the connection in each case with Malthusianism. How does Ricardo explain the steady decline of the rate of Profit? What better explanation can be given of this phenomenon?
  6. Explain Bills of Exchange; the course and par of exchange between London, New York, and Paris; the difference between the nominal and the real par.
  7. Prove that a gradual decline is now taking place in the value of money, — e.of the two precious metals; and show how this decline will affect the value of different investments and various kinds of property.
  8. What change was made in the dollar by the law of 1834, and again by the law of 1853? Why was the gold dollar altered in the former case, and the silver dollar in the latter?
  9. Distinguish Paper Money properly so called from Bank Currency; and trace the causes and consequences of the issue of the former in Revolutionary times.
  10. Explain the three functions of a Bank: prove that convertible Bank-bills cannot be issued in excess. What was the “Allied Bank” system in Boston, and what circumstances led to its adoption?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943 (HUC 7000.55), Box 1, Folder “Mid-year examinations, 1869-1870”.

_________________

Academic Year 1869-70.

Juniors. Second Term.

Mr. N. St. John Green. Instructor in Philosophy

Text-Books: Hamilton’s Metaphysics and Rogers’s Political Economy.
Number of students: 158
Number of Sections: 3
Number of exercises per week: 3
Number of hours per week [for instructor]: 9

Source: Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1869-70, p. 38.

 

Examination questions in Political Economy for Juniors, June 1870.

_________________

Academic Year 1870-71.

Seniors.

Mr. N. St. John Green. Instructor in Political Economy.

Text-Books: Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. — J. S. Mill’s Political Economy.
Number of students: 99
Number of Sections: 2
Number of exercises per week for students: 3
Number of hours per week for instructor: 6

Source: Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1870-71, p. 52.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY.

SENIORS, FEBRUARY 1871.

  1. What are the laws which fix the natural rate of wages?
  2. What are the laws which fix the natural rate of profit?
  3. What is the nature of rent?
  4. How does rent enter into the price of commodities?
  5. What is capital, and what is the difference between fixed and circulating capital?
  6. What are the principles which determine the rate of interest?
  7. What are the advantages of a division of labor, and how far can the division of labor be carried to advantage?
  8. What is price and what [is] the difference between nominal and real, natural and market price?
  9. Suppose a prosperous people hitherto untaxed. It becomes necessary to raise a moderate amount of money by taxation. What kind of tax should, in your opinion, be resorted to? Why? To what objections would such a tax be liable?
  10. Boswell, in his Life of Johnson, says, “I put a question to him (Johnson) upon a fact in common life which he could not answer, nor have I found any one else who could: What is the reason that women servants, though obliged to be at the expense of purchasing their own clothes, have much lower wages than men servants, to whom a great proportion of that article is furnished, and when in fact our female house servants work much harder than the male?” How do you answer Boswell’s question?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943 (HUC 7000.55), Box 1, Folder “Mid-year examinations, 1870-1871”.

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Academic Year 1871-72.

Seniors.

Prof. Dunbar. Political Economy. (elective)

Text-Books: Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. — J. S. Mill’s Political Economy.
Number of students: 75
Number of Sections: 2
Number of exercises per week for students: 3
Number of hours per week for instructor: 6

Source: Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1871-72, p. 48.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY.

SENIORS, January 1872.

  1. What is the distinction between wealth and capital?
  2. What is the difference between fixed and circulating capitals? — and to which does money belong?
  3. When either of the precious metals becomes more abundant, and the remedy of over-valuation and limitation of the right of tender is to be applied, does it make any difference which metal is over-valued, and if so, what difference?
  4. On what basis is the circulation of the Bank of England established?
  5. How does Smith distinguish between productive laborers and unproductive?
  6. Explain the paradox that “what is annually saved is as regularly consumed as what is annually spent?”
  7. What was the error of Locke and Montesquieu as to the supposed connection between the depreciation of value of gold and silver and the lowering of the rate of interest?
  8. What is Adam Smith’s view as to the point at which the rate of interest should be fixed by law, and what is his mistake?
  9. How can a paper currency be kept at a par with gold?
  10. What was the theory of the balance of trade, and in what respect was it fallacious?
  11. Why do manufactures often flourish while a nation is carrying on a foreign war?
  12. What was the theory of the agricultural system, and what was its great error?
  13. State the general objection to any system for the extraordinary encouragement of a particular branch of industry, and such partial or complete answers to that objection as may occur to you.
  14. What is the chronological relation of the several systems of Political Economy?

For Consideration.

[From a Report of the Comptroller of the Currency, December, 1871.]

“The tenacity with which the Pacific States adhere to a gold currency is quite notable. Whether it is equally praiseworthy, is another thing. It is not clear that those States derive any substantial benefit from the course they have pursued, and it is beginning to be manifest that the United States are not at all benefited by it. The substitution of a paper currency in California and the other gold-producing States for their present hard money would probably set free for the use of the government and the whole country some thirty or forty millions of gold, and at the same time provide those communities with a more economical, active, and accommodating circulating medium.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943 (HUC 7000.55), Box 1, Folder “Mid-year examinations, 1871-1872”.

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Academic Year 1871-72.

Juniors.

Prof. Dunbar. Political Economy [required course]

Text-Books: Rogers’s Political Economy.
Number of students: 128
Number of Sections: 3
Number of exercises per week for students: 1
Number of hours per week for instructor: 3 (for a half-year)

Source: Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1871-72, p. 46.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY.

Juniors, February 1872.

  1. What is the difference between price and value?
  2. What is capital, and whence is it derived?
  3. Is a legal tender note of the United States money? If not then what is it?
  4. What effect has an excessive issue of paper currency upon prices?
  5. In an estimate of public wealth, what kinds of individual wealth are excluded? And why?
  6. Why is the rate of interest high in a newly settled western state?
  7. What determines the rate of wages?
  8. What was the theory of Malthus as to the growth of population?
  9. What effect has the introduction of machinery upon the rate of wages?
  10. What is rent and how does it depend upon the cost of production?
  11. In the trade between nations, how is the transmission of gold and silver for the most part avoided?
  12. If there is a scarcity of some article of which there are several qualities of different prices, will the cheapest or the dearest quality rise most? And why?
  13. What is the difference between direct and indirect taxation, and what are their respective advantages?
  14. Why is a tax on raw materials a bad tax?
  15. How does our national debt differ in form from the English, and what advantage has either form?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943 (HUC 7000.55), Box 1, Folder “Mid-year examinations, 1871-1872”.

Image: Memorial Hall (ca. 1900), Harvard University from Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Principles of Money and Banking, Midyear Exam. Schumpeter, 1927-1928

 

 

I just returned from a recent trip that included 5.5 working days in the Harvard University Archives. Among the images of treasures for transcription that I have brought back are the mid-year examinations for several decades of Harvard’s year-long economics courses. My first order of business now  has been to add the corresponding mid-year examinations to material already posted for Harvard courses here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

We now add a course taught by the ever popular and ultimate click-bait, Joseph Schumpeter. The final examination questions for his 1927-28 course, Principles of Money and Banking, have been posted earlier. Now we also learn something about what was covered in the first semester of that course.

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1927-28
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 38

Mid-Year Examination

  1. Write as fully as possible on either one or the other of the following subjects:
    1. What is the monetary system set up by the English Gold Standard Act of 1925, and how does its working differ from either an unrestricted gold system or the gold exchange standard?
    2. If a bank creates new credit in order to grant a loan, then, so long as the loan remains outstanding, it acts like a tax or compulsion to save imposed on the community jointly by the borrower and the bank. (D. H. Robertson, Money. p. 90) Explain and criticize.
  2. Answer shortly two out of the four following questions:
    1. Some authors think that a system of paper circulation would work more, others that it would work less in accordance with the quantity theorem than the gold standard. Which view is the correct one?
    2. What is the difference between the ‘equation of exchange’ as constructed respectively by Irving Fisher and by Marshall-Pigou-Keynes?
    3. Why and in what sense is bimetallism unstable?
    4. What difference is there between choosing some commodity as a ‘standard of value’ and actually using it as a means of exchange, which physically changes hands?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1927-28 (HUC 7000.55), Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations. History, History of Religions,… , Economics,… , Military Science, Naval Science. January-February, 1928.

Image Source: Harvard University Archives. “Joseph A. Schumpeter seated on bench in forested area, ca. 1931“.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Modern Schools of Economic Thought, Midyear Exam. Schumpeter, 1927-1928.

 

 

I just returned from a recent trip that included 5.5 working days in the Harvard University Archives. Among the images of treasures for transcription that I have brought back are the mid-year examinations for several decades of Harvard’s year-long economics courses. My first order of business now  is to add the corresponding mid-year examinations to material already posted for Harvard courses here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

We begin with a course taught by the ever popular and ultimate click-bait, Joseph Schumpeter. The final examination questions for his 1927-28 course, Modern Schools of Economic Thought, have been posted earlier. Now we know something about what was covered in the first semester of that course.

________________________

1927-28
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 15

Mid-Year Examination

  1. Write as fully as possible on either one or the other of the following subjects:
    1. What is the distinctive characteristic of Capitalism and how does the view we have about it influence our capital concept?
    2. The evolution and basic function of the Entrepreneur.
  2. Answer shortly two out of the four following questions:
    1. The substitution of capital for labor means the substitution of labor assisted by much waiting for labor assisted by little waiting. (Marshall) Criticize.
    2. What is meant by the ‘superior bargaining power’ of the entrepreneur and how much does what is meant by it amount to in explaining entrepreneur’s gains?
    3. According to the theory of marginal utility, prices are proportional to marginal utility. According to the Ricardian theory of value prices are—fundamentally—proportional to quantities of labor necessary for the production of commodities. Prove that the second proposition, upon the introduction of suitable assumptions, turns out to be a special case of the first.
    4. A rise in any element of expenses of production is generally held to raise the prices of products. Interest is an element of expenses of production. The rate of discount is obviously a rate of interest. Yet it is held that raising the rate of discount will depress prices. Explain and criticize.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1927-28 (HUC 7000.55), Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations. History, History of Religions,… , Economics,… , Military Science, Naval Science. January-February, 1928.

Image source: Joseph A. Schumpeter at table with books, photograph, ca. 1930. Detail from image posted at Harvard University Archives. Joseph Schumpeter Papers. HUGBS 276.90p (38).

Categories
Bryn Mawr Economists Gender Harvard Stanford Tufts

Radcliffe/Harvard. Economics Ph.D. Alumna. Maxine Yaple Sweezy, 1940.

 

In our continuing series of Get-to-Know-an-Economics-Ph.D., we meet a Radcliffe Ph.D. from 1940, Maxine Yaple Sweezy. Her dissertation was on the Nazi economy and incidentally she was the first wife of the American Marxian economist, Paul Sweezy. This post adds a few details about her life (she was a debater at Stanford) and career (minimum wage work). I take particular pride in finding youthful pictures of this economist of yore.

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Greatest Hit

In his historical retrospective of the concept of “privatization”,  Germà Bel identifies Maxine Yaple Sweezy’s published Radcliffe dissertation, The Structure of the Nazi Economy (1941), as having introduced “reprivatization” into the vocabulary of economic policy.

Source: Bel, Germà. The Coining of “Privatization” and Germany’s National Socialist Party. Journal of Economic Perspectives. Vol. 20, No. 3 (Summer, 2006), p 189.

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Encyclopedia entry

Pack, Spencer J. “Maxine Bernard Yaple Sweezy Woolston” in A Biographical Dictionary of Women Economists, Robert W. Dimand, Mary Ann Dimand and Evelyn L. Forget (eds.). Cheltenham UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2000. pp. 472-475

Pack lists the following schools where Maxine Y. Woolston taught: Sarah Lawrence, Tufts, Vassar, Simmons, Haverford, Swarthmore, Wellesley, University of Pennsylvania, University of New Haven, with Bryn Mawr as the longest position.

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Basic life data

Born. 16 September 1912 [in Missouri].

Source: Social Security Claims Index, 1936-2007.

First marriage: Paul M. Sweezy and Maxine Yaple were married 21 March 1936 in Manhattan, New York.

Source: New York City Department of Records/Municipal Archives. Index to New York City Marriages, 1866-1937.

Second marriage:  to William Jenks Woolston, lawyer (b. 30 Jan. 1908, d. 25 Dec. 1964) [date of marriage: 11 Mar 1944]

Source: Family Tree “Morris, Wells and collateral lines” at ancestry.com, though date of marriage is unsourced there and could not be verified.

Death. 29 April 2004. Last residence: New Haven, Ct.

Source: Social Security Claims Index, 1936-2007.

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American Economic Association Membership Listing, 1957

Woolston, Maxine Yaple, (Mrs. W. J.), R. 2 Harts Lane, Conshohocken, Pa. (1953) Bryn Mawr Col., lecturer, teach.; b. 1912; A.B., 1934, M.A., 1935, Stanford; Ph.D., 1939, Radcliffe Col. Fields 14bd, 12ab, 2. Doc. Dis. Nazi economic policies. Pub. Economic program for American economy (Vanguard Press, 1938); Structure of Nazi economy (Harvard Univ. Press, 1941); La Economia Nacional Socialista (translation) (Stackpole, 1954). Res. Wages at the turning points. Dir. Amer. Men of Sci. III.

Source:  The American Economic Review, Vol. 47, No. 4, Handbook of the American Economic Association (Jul., 1957), p. 329

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Women’s Debate Team at Stanford

From the 1932 Stanford yearbook page on the Women’s debate team: sometime around the end of February, 1932 Maxine Yaple and Lucile Smith debated with a team from the College of the Pacific the resolution “The United States should enact legislation provided socialized medical service”.

In 1933 a debating section of (male) athletes was assembled and in their second debate (“Resolved, That a separate college for women should be stablished at Stanford”) with Helen Ray and Maxine Yaple constituting the Women’s Team was called a draw.

For the source of the pictures used for this post, see the Image Source below.

Research Tip:  The Stanford Daily student newspaper archive.  Search on her last name “Yaple“.

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“Maiden” publication in the AER

Yaple, Maxine. The Burden of Direct Taxes as Paid by Income Classes. American Economic Review, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Dec., 1936), pp. 691-710.

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Rebecca A. Greene Fellowship at Radcliffe

Maxine Yaple Sweezy, A.B. (Stanford Univ.) 1933, A.M. (ibid.) 1934. Subject, Economics.

Source: Report of the President of Radcliffe College, 1936-37, p. 17.

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Political Book:  An Economic Program for American Democracy

Contributors: Richard V. Gilbert; George H. Hildebrand Jr. ; Arthur W. Stuart; Maxine Yaple Sweezy ; Paul M. Sweezy; Lorie Tarshis and John D. Wilson. New York: Vanguard Press, 2nd printing, 1938

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Teaching appointment at Tufts

Mrs. Paul Sweezy (Maxine Yaple) has been appointed instructor in the department of economics at Tufts College for the year 1938-1939.

Source: Notes. American Economic Review, Vol. 28, No. 2 (June, 1938), p. 438.

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Economics at Radcliffe, 1939
(from the yearbook)

“Don’t you think he’s a little radical?”, a girl asked her tutor about one of his colleagues in the Ec. Department. The tutor roared with laughter and gave her The Coming Struggle for Power [by John Strachey, London, 1932] to read.

Ec. Professors like to refer to their colleagues and then tear into their arguments. They should have a contest sometime to see whose masterpiece could withstand concentrated criticism. We enjoyed Mason’s reference to his “friend”. We’ve entered with glee on Chamberlin’s campaign to exterminate the word “imperfect” competition and we almost had hysterics over William’s blasting of all economists from Keynes to Hajek [sic].

The life of the Ec. Professors is constantly being interrupted by the press. The Crimson demanded a profound statement on the effect of import duties on German goods before they would let Galbraith go back to sleep in the middle of the night. Since a group collaborated on a book called An Economic Program for American Democracy, “seven men and a blonde” is the favorite characterization of the Ec. Department by the press. The blonde is Mrs. Paul Sweezy.

Source: Radcliffe College. Upon a Typical Year… Thirty and Nine. Cambridge, MA (1939).

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First article carved from dissertation research

Maxine Yaple Sweezy. Distribution of Wealth and Income under the Nazis. Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Nov., 1939), pp. 178-184.

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Radcliffe A.M. conferred in June, 1939.

Source: Report of the President of Radcliffe College, 1938-39, p. 20.

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Ph.D. conferred in February, 1940

Maxine Yaple Sweezy, A.M.

Subject, Economics. Special Field, Industrial Organization and Control. Dissertation, “Nazi Economic Policies.”

 

Source: Report of the President of Radcliffe College, 1939-40, p. 22.

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Second article carved from dissertation research

Maxine Yaple Sweezy. German Corporate Profits: 1926-1938. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 54, No. 3 (May, 1940), pp. 384-398.

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Published Dissertation

Maxine Yaple Sweezy. The Structure of the Nazi Economy. Harvard studies in monopoly and competition, no. 4. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1941.

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Vassar and then OPA

Maxine Y. Sweezy, assistant professor of economics at Vassar College, is on leave for the year 1942-43 to serve as senior economist for the Office of Price Administration in Washington.

Source: Notes. The American Economic Review, Vol. 32, No. 4 (Dec., 1942), p. 964.

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Bryn Mawr and Philadelphia City Planning Commission

“The Social Economy Department also has one new member, Miss Maxine Woolston Ph.D. Radcliffe and member of the City Planning Commission, Philadelphia, has entered the department as Lecturer.”

Source: The College News, Ardmore and Bryn Mawr, PA., Wednesday, October 9, 1946, p. 2.

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Return [?] to Bryn Mawr

Maxine Y. Woolston has been appointed lecturer in political economy at Bryn Mawr College for the current year.

Source: Notes. The American Economic Review, Vol. 40, No. 1 (March, 1950), p. 266.

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Publications in 1950

Economic Base Study of Philadelphia, Philadelphia City Planning Commission, 1950.

World Economic Development and Peace, American Association of University Women. Washington, D.C.: 1950. [30 pages]

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Course at Haverford

Maxine Woolston to Give Course “Urban Planning”

Sociology 38, a study of the modern urban community, will be taught this semester by Dr. Maxine (William Jenks) Woolston. Mrs. Woolston comes to Haverford from Bryn Mawr College with experience both as an educator and as a public administrator.

Planning Commissioner

She is currently a consultant for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, and was a member of that commission from 1945 to 1948. During the five years previous Dr. Woolston served in turn with the OPA, the Foreign economic Administration, and the American Association of University Women.

Dr. Woolston received her A.B. and M.A. degrees in History at Stanford University in 1934. The following two years she attended the London School of Economics. In 1940 [sic] she went to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and earned degrees of M.A. and Ph.D. in economics at Radcliffe-Harvard.

Source: Haverford News. Tuesday, February 13, 1951, p. 1.

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Textbook

Maxine Y. Woolston. Basic Information on the American Economy. Harrisburg, Pa., Stackpole Co., 1953. [186 pages]

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Minimum Wage Commission for Restaurant, Hotel, and Motel industries

“The state Labor and Industry Department has named a new nine-member board to recommend minimum wage rates for women and minors employed in the restaurant hotel and motel industries”. Dr. Maxine Woolston, of Bryn Mawr College and Mrs. Sadie T. M. Alexander, Philadelphia attorney were public representatives.

Source: The Daily Courier, Connellsville, PA, 16 July 1958, p. 1.

 

Image Sources: Maxine Yaple, portrait from Stanford University Quad Yearbook, 1932. Page. 160. Standing picture from the 1933 yearbook, p. 152.

 

 

Categories
Curriculum Economics Programs Fields Harvard Statistics

Harvard. Report on statistics and national income courses. Crum and Frickey, 1945

Crum Frickey

 

William Leonard Crum and Edward Frickey taught Harvard’s economic statistics courses in the 1930s and 1940s.  Paul Samuelson recounted his second semester (Spring 1936) as a graduate student following his previous semester’s worth of Crum: “…I was able to learn genuine modern statistics from E. B. Wilson, bypassing Edwin Frickey (who with Leonard Crum taught at Harvard courses against modern statistics!)” [On this, Roger E. Backhouse’s Vol I: Becoming Samuelson, 1915-1948, p.101].

Reading the following intradepartmental report on economic statistics courses and how to integrate national income and product accounting into the graduate curriculum that was written by a committee of two (Crum and Frickey), one discovers that even a decade after Samuelson’s experience, the proper preparation of “ink charts” was a subject that warranted faculty discussion.  Harvard Ph.D. Robert Solow later went to Columbia to play catch-up ball with respect to statistical analysis before starting his M.I.T. contract.  Harvard economics was a full generation behind the times with respect to statistical method at mid-20th century.

A 1947 Crum/Frickey  joint memo regarding preparation for taking the comprehensive field exam in statistics has been posted earlier.

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6 March 1945

Report on the course offerings in Statistics, and in National Income

At the Department meeting of 13 February, 1945, the undersigned were named a committee to study course offerings and proposed offerings in Statistics and in National Income, discuss their findings with the Chairman, and report to the Department. Attached are the two reports: I, on Statistics; II, (page 10) on National Income.

W.L. Crum
Edwin Frickey

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

I. The Offering in Statistics

At the meeting of the Harvard Economics Department on 13 February, 1945. W. L. C. and E. F. sought opinions from colleagues as to additional instruction needed in statistics and as to changes needed in existing instruction. The following is in part a report of the informal discussion, in part an indication of what W. L. C. and E. F. think can advisedly be done. The present statement is preliminary; a more definitive report will be prepared, after consultation with H. H. B., for submission to the Department at a later meeting.

  1. Opinion was expressed that many of our graduate students show conspicuous lack of ability to present statistical material in the form of chart or table, for example, in theses. Instruction in statistics here has for several years relied upon capacity of students to learn by emulation—they have abundant opportunity to acquaint themselves with good statistical presentation, both tabular and graphic, in our courses in statistics and in the source materials of other courses. In course 21a, some instruction is incidentally given in orderly tabulation of limited sorts, but we make no attempt to teach students to prepare ink charts. Apparently, something more is needed; and three suggestions, perhaps all to be followed together, are made:
    1. By compressing some other parts of the work, we can include a small amount of instruction on presentation in course 21a. This should help put those graduate students who are required to take that course here on the right track.
    2. For students not required to take 21a, because they have had the “equivalent” elsewhere, one possibly helpful device is to require in course 121b a written report involving presentation in tabular and graphic form. Such report could be graded if sufficient funds are available to cover the grading, and the instructors could make a moderate effort to advise particular students about defects in their reports. The reports would presumably be required of all students in 121b, whether or not they had had 21a.
    3. The Department’s specialists in statistics could advise any graduate student, whose thesis involved matters of statistical presentation, concerning such matters. When the Department acquires a general research laboratory, with a regular supervisor, the supervisor could give such advice. In the meantime, the instructors in statistics could stand ready to give such advice in appropriate cases. The undersigned emphasize that this advice should be understood to concern presentation of statistical materials: they do not feel but they should be called upon ordinarily to advise such as student about sources of statistics for his thesis, or about the methods of analyzing the statistics, or about their interpretation. They have often given advice on such matters in certain cases, and will continue to do so, but take the stand that they should not be regarded as under the obligation to give such advice to all comers. The point is that; if the candidate proposes to write a statistical thesis in any field of economics, a vital part of his job is to obtain, analyze, and interpret his data. We see no reason why faculty specialists in statistics should make an extraordinary contribution to a thesis which happens to have quantitative aspects.
  2. Little emphasis appeared, in any opinions expressed, on the need for laboratory instruction in statistics in our graduate offering. Some suggestion was advanced that the “homework” type of problem task could helpfully be employed. W. L. C. and E. F. have a little faith that much could be accomplished in this way – the great advantage of the supervised laboratory is that the supervisor can get students actively started on the task and can catch and clear away difficulties as they arise. (We assume, of course, any problem work of this sort, in graduate courses, should be on an advanced – not elementary – level.) To meet this suggestion, we propose only that point A2 above be put into effect, and that the following change in present operations be considered. At present, course 121a includes two home-work problems, which stretch over several weeks, but are not graded and are not used as bases for specific advice to individual students. The proposed change is that these problems be handed in, and treated like the problem described in A2. (In these cases, as in that case, grading of the reports would be feasible if funds are available for the purpose.)

An emphatic suggestion was made that graduate students have the use of laboratory equipment, and be made welcome in the laboratory. We do not believe this can be managed with the laboratory facilities of course 21a. We note, however, that a moderate chance now exists that the University will presently provide the Department with a research laboratory in statistics, adequately equipped, and under competent supervision. If and when this is done, no difficulty will arise in making ample place for work by graduate students on any statistical tasks in which they may properly be interested. We remark that the arguments in favor of a general research laboratory in statistics are much more likely to bring conviction in responsible quarters that the argument, however strongly put, in favor of facilities merely for the occasional use of graduate students.

  1. Supposing we are to give an additional half graduate course in statistics, opinions pointed toward three alternatives:
    1. A course in theory, intermediate between course 121a and Prof. Wilson’s course 122b. This does not appear a good use of our manpower, for the election in such a course would inevitably be small, especially as the mathematics prerequisites would necessarily be much more severe than those – almost nil – on which we now limp through 121a.
    2. A further course was suggested – beyond 121b and perhaps alternating with it – in topics in the application of statistics to economic fields. Economics 121b now includes a selected list of such topics, which varies moderately from year to year; but it is by no means a comprehensive coverage of all even of the major possibilities. We could readily prepare an additional half course to be called 121c of further topics in the applied fields, and many students would probably like such a course. Such a course can be described as follows:

Economics 121c will be a half-course which might be entitled Topics in Applied Economic Statistics. Economics 21a or its equivalent will be a prerequisite. Properly qualified undergraduates may, with the consent of the instructor, be admitted to economics 121c.

Economics 121c will deal with statistical problems arising in connection with the use of basic statistical data in a selected list of economic topics. (As compared with 121b this course will lay more emphasis on the basic material and less emphasis on statistical theory.)

On each topic each student will be expected to familiarize himself with the immediate and the basic sources of the main materials, through actual examination of such materials, and to present a critical appraisal of these fundamental statistics. The instructor will give a succinct historical background – an outline of the principal work which is already been done on the topic. The instructor and the class will work out together conclusions as to what are the leading issues involved, and will consider what it is that statisticians are trying to measure and what they should be trying to measure.

Such topics as the following will be included:

Consumption
Commodity prices
Cost-of-living
Employment and unemployment
Wages
Money and Banking
Production and Trade (certain phases)
Balance of international payments
Public Finance

        1. The subordinate suggestion that, in this case, basic preparation for the oral exam and also the write-off field might consist of 121a and either 121b or 121c, was advanced. A strong objection to this appears in the fact that 121b, although made up largely of topics in applied statistics, now includes – and should continue to do so – certain topics which need to be covered by every general economist (we do not here have in mind the statistical specialist) who is to have “literacy” in the field of economic statistics today. Several of the “applied” topics now in 121b include in fact fundamental matters of statistical theory needed by all economists, and not elsewhere covered in our instruction. These include, for example: the theory of index numbers, statistical deflation, secular trends in business cycles, the basic theory of measuring production and income, and at least demand and cost curves not to mention more sophisticated matters of econometrics. These essentially theoretical topics in statistics should remain part of the basic graduate year course in statistics. (This goes also for our present topic of national income: even if the Department offer a course in that subject, the course will not be taken by all students, and all should have at least the brief survey now in 121b). For the foregoing reason, we emphatically urge that 121a and 121b stand as the basic year course in the field, and that the new course 121c be regarded as an additional – but not an alternative–half course.
        2. The subordinate suggestion at 121b and 121c be given in alternate years appears to fall for the same reason given in C2a.

 

    1. Instead of the course described under C2 suggestion was made that we introduce a course in administrative (we use this word provisionally, for want of a better) statistics – mainly, but not exclusively, governmental statistics. We have not outlined such a course in full, but can suggest its nature by indicating that it would emphasize the problems encountered in actually doing statistical work in government or private agencies. Such topics as the preparation and use of index numbers of prices and production; the compilation and use of data on employment and the labor force; statistics of farm production and operation; the gathering of and analysis of facts concerning trade, both foreign and domestic; financial data such as are developed by the treasury, the S. E. C, the F. R. B., and private agencies; statistics used in the analysis of particular enterprises; the rapidly developing field of quality control in industry, suggest themselves for inclusion. The nature of the course can also be indicated by somewhat loose contrast with the course described under C2 above: in that course, the point of view is of the user (economist, or other analyst) of statistics, and attention is given to the origin of the statistics only in so far as it is needed to guide and inform the user. In this course, the point of view is of the maker of statistics, and attention is given to the use of the statistics only in so far as it is needed to guide the maker in his work. This course would go far toward meeting the contention that our students, while well founded in statistical theory, are not ready to handle the kind of statistical tasks which they encounter in government or other research agencies.

At the moment we are not ready to choose between the courses described under C2 and C3, the former (and obviously the latter) being understood as in addition to, and not alternative to, 121b.

 

  1. No opinion was expressed concerning course 122b, and we think it should continue to be given in alternate years.

No opinion was offered concerning the content of course 121a. We have in mind some compression of one of the topics know given. This, plus the longer term under the peace-time schedule, will enable us to give more satisfactory attention to the topic of small samples.

We were commissioned to report also on national income. This is covered in a separate memorandum.

 

  1. We layout now, in tentative form and subject to revision by the Department, our recommendation as to the entire offering in statistics in the early post-war years.

21a. Substantially as at present, but with the change outlined in A1.

121a. Substantially as at present, but with the change outlined in B and the change noted in D.

121b. Substantially as at present, but with the change outlined in A2.

(Courses 121a and 121b to be regarded as the core of the preparation in the field of statistics, and to be recommended to the candidates for the general oral in statistics as the most helpful unit in their preparation.)

121c. A new half course, either that described under C2 or that under C3. To be open to graduate students who have had 21a or by consent of the instructor to those who have had the equivalent of 21a, and by consent of the instructor to properly qualified undergraduates who have had 21a.

122b. Substantially as at present, and to be given in alternate years as at present.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

II. Offering in National Income

The suggestion is made that a half course, at the graduate level, in National Income be offered. The main purpose of such a course would be to give our students an extensive factual basis for their use of national income concepts and data in a wide range of our theoretical and applied fields. The course by itself could provide only a beginning for specialization the subject of national income for its own sake, and we do not understand that the Department contemplates recognizing the field in that subject.

While the course should be concerned primarily with the facts of national income, we understand that some attention could properly be given to the interpretation of those facts into their economic and social implications. Moreover, even to handle properly the factual side, the course would need give much attention to matters of definition and concept, matters which actually stand at the root of most of the “problems” of measuring national income and its chief constituents.

The core of the course would consist of the presentation, discussion, and criticism of the existing statistical facts on the national income and its constituents. These materials would presumably be limited to the United States; although some of the critical portions of the course, dealing with concepts and the like, would necessarily make large drafts on studies in certain other countries. Emphasis would be on the problems of measurement, the effectiveness and validity of the methods used, and the appropriateness of the results obtained as answers to questions posed by the economist.

In addition to the over-all aggregate of national income, viewed in real and money terms and in its variations over time, the course would examine the chief constituents of national income. These would include:

  1. Contributions to national income by various types of economic activity.
  2. Contributions from various geographical regions (much less is known on this.)
  3. Allocation, so far as it is known, to the several factors of production.
  4. Distribution according to size of income (money income) received by individuals.
  5. Distribution of income according to use: consumption expenditures of individuals (perishable, semi-durable), consumption through government, savings (by individuals, by enterprises, by government).
  6. Capital formation, and its relation to savings.
  7. Relation of taxes and public expenditures to the flow of income.

Your committee makes no recommendation as to the personnel to be assigned the task of conducting such a course. It does recommend: that the course be limited to graduate students, and to those advanced concentrators who receive permission from the instructor(s); that all students who take the course be required to have completed one half year course at the graduate level in economic theory and in statistics; that the course be given each year, rather than in alternate years; that the course be considered as a pro-seminar in statistics for the purpose of excuse – under our existing rules for reducing the oral examination to three fields – from the oral examination in statistics.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers, 1902-1950. Box 23. Folder “Course Announcement 1945-46”.

Image Source: Crum and Frickey in the Harvard Class Album, 1942 and 1950.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Undergraduate

Harvard. Examination questions for Political Economy I, 1884-1888.

 

 

 

With this post we add about fifty new questions to our growing stock of Harvard economics examinations. Nine of the sixty-three questions transcribed below are identical or nearly identical to those found in the 310 questions appended to Laughlin’s abridged version of John Stuart Mill’s Principles that served as the course textbook at Harvard at the end of the 19th century.

See:  Principles of political economy, by John Stuart Mill. Abridged with critical, bibliographical, and explanatory notes, and a sketch of the history of political economy by, J. Laurence Laughlin. New York: D. Appleton, 1884.

The new questions come from what we would today call a “Student’s Guide” to the Mill/Laughlin textbook. He called the printed 72-pages a “Synopsis”.

________________________

About Laughlin’s “Student’s Guide to John Stuart Mill”

This Synopsis is intended to replace the text book in preparing for the examinations, but it will also be found extremely useful during the year in answering the weekly written questions. The index at the end has been prepared especially for use in connection with the examination papers contained in the appendix to this book, and in the second appendix to the text book.

A Synopsis of the First Three Books of John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy, as revised by Prof. J. L. Laughlin with an appendix containing the recent examination papers in Political Economy I. Cambridge, Mass.: W. H. Wheeler, 1888.

________________________

PAPERS SET FOR EXAMINATION IN POLITICAL ECONOMY I.
[# in Laughlin’s list of 310 questions (1884)]

1883-1884.

  1. Explain carefully the following terms: production, consumption, effectual demand, margin of cultivation, cost of production, value of money, cost of labor, wealth, and abstinence. [#2, virtually identical]
  2. What conclusion as to the limit to the increase of production does Mr. Mill deduce from his investigation of the laws of the various requisites of production? [#54]
  3. Explain clearly how it is possible for the land of a country which is all of a uniform fertility to pay rent. [#105]
  4. Point out distinctly the connection between the money wages of laborers in the United States and the productiveness of the soil. [#244]
  5. Explain the operation of the laws of value by which the relative prices of wool and mutton would be regulated. [#194]
  6. Why is it necessary to make any different statement of the laws of value for foreign than for domestic products? What is the cause for the existence of any international trade? [#199]
  7. (1) What is the true theory of one country underselling another in a foreign market? (2) What weight should be attributed to the fact of generally higher or lower wages in one of the competing countries? [#241]
  8. If capital continued to increase and population did not, explain the proposition that “the whole savings of each year would be exactly so much subtracted from the profits of the next and of every following year.” [#254, virtually identical]
  9. Give the arguments for and against the income tax. Would the tax on any kinds of income not fall upon the persons from whom it was levied? Explain.
  10. Define the term banking-reserve. What is the theory on which only a small part of the total resources is constantly kept as a reserve? What relation exists between the items of deposits, loans, and reserve?
  11. Explain the provisions of the Resumption Act, and show how the actual results were produced.
  12. Was the issue of greenbacks in February, 1862, an actual necessity?

 

1885-1886.

  1. Explain what is meant by the “standard of living” of the laboring class. In a densely populated country would the standard of living have any influence on the general rate of wages?
  2. Show clearly why there must be land in cultivation which pays no rent.
  3. Explain carefully the relation between Cost of Labor and Real Wages. How can an increase of population affect Cost of Labor?
  4. Under what conditions can it be said that normal value depends on the “expenses of production”? State the law of market and normal value for commodities affected by the law of diminishing returns.
  5. Explain the reason for the existence of foreign trade. Is there any different reason for the exchange of goods in domestic trade?
  6. What is inconvertible paper money? From the history of the United States notes state the main events showing the attitude of Congress towards their issue, while the notes were inconvertible.
  7. Why is a bank obliged to limit its loans when its cash reserve is seriously impaired?
  8. Why is it that the products of extractive industries are liable to great variations of market value?
  9. Upon whom would a tax on Rent fall? Would such a tax be a discriminating tax on the agricultural interests?
  10. What are the advantages of direct taxation? State by what kinds of taxation, direct or indirect, the United States gets its revenue.
  11. Is it correct to say that high wages alone prevent us from selling manufactured goods in foreign markets!

 

1886-1887.

  1. Compare the economic effects of defraying war expenditures by loans and by taxation. [#33, virtually identical]
  2. Does the rent of a factory building affect the value of the goods made in it? Does the rent of a farm affect the value of the grain grown on it? Does the rent paid for a lot near a great city, from which gravel is taken, affect the value of the gravel?
  3. It has been said that “the laws and conditions of the production of wealth partake of the character of physical truths. There is nothing optional or arbitrary in them.” State briefly the laws of the production of wealth here referred to, and whether the statement in regard to them is true.
  4. It has been said that the law of population and the law of diminishing returns from land point inevitably to misery and want as the destiny of the mass of mankind. What influence affecting the operation of these laws are to be taken into account; and if they are taken into account, are the laws of population and diminishing returns from land thereby shown to be invalid?
  5. Explain briefly the nature of the remuneration received by the following persons: a farmer tilling his own land; a merchant carrying on business with his own capital; a manufacturer carrying on business with borrowed capital; a holder of railway stocks; a holder of government bonds; a patentee.
  6. Wherein is the value of metallic money governed by different principles from those that regulate the value of commodities in general? And wherein is the value of inconvertible paper money governed by different principles from those that regulate the value of coin?
  7. Credit is said to be purchasing power. Explain what is meant by this proposition, and in what manner it bears on the theory of the value of money. Point out in what form credit, as purchasing power, is most likely to affect prices in the United States and in France.
  8. (a) Suppose that:
    In the U. S. one day’s labor produces 2 bushels of corn;
    In the U. S. one day’s labor produces 10 yards of cotton cloth;
    In England one day’s labor produces 1 bushel of corn;
    In England one day’s labor produces 5 yards of cotton cloth.
    Would trade arise between England and the United States? If so, how?
    (b) Suppose that in England one day’s labor produced 8 yards of cotton cloth, other conditions remaining the same as in (a). Would trade arise? If so, how?
    (c) Suppose that in England one day’s labor produced 2 yards of cotton cloth, other conditions remaining the same as in (a). Would trade arise? If so, how?
  9. Suppose a new article to appear among the exports of a given country. Trace the effects in that country on the course of the foreign exchanges; on the flow of specie; on the value of money; on the terms of international exchange. Would the results be the same if, instead of a new article of export, some article previously exported were to be sold abroad in larger quantity because of a lowering of its cost and price?
  10. (a) Arrange in proper order the following items of a bank account: Loans, $538,000; Bonds and Stocks, $40,000; Capital, $200,000; Real Estate, $26,000; other assets, $26,000; Surplus, $65,100; Deposits $440,000; Notes, $101,550; Cash, 124,000; Cash Items, $52,650.
    (b) Suppose the bank to discount four months paper (at 6 per cent) to the amount of $10,000 of which it purchases one-half by promises to pay the bearer on demand, and one-half by cash. How would the account then stand?
    (c) Suppose a borrower to have repaid a loan of $2000 by giving $1000 in cash, and $1000 in a cheque on the bank. How would the account then stand?
    (d) Suppose the bank to be confronted, in a time of general embarassment, with demands from depositors for cash, and from borrowers for discounts. What policy would be adopted if it were the Bank of England? if it were a United States national bank?

 

1886-1887.

DIVISION A.

  1. If taxes levied on the rich cause a diminution in their unproductive expenditure, would that in any way affect the employment offered for labor? Discuss fully.
  2. What principle does Mr. Mill furnish by which the respective shares of labor and capital are determined? Has his Wages-Fund Theory any connection with his exposition of the dependence of “profits” on Cost of Labor?
  3. In discussing the distribution of the product, why is it that the relative shares of labor and capital can be discussed independently of rent? Would an increase of rent affect the share of labor or of capital?
  4. Why is it that city banks make a greater use of the deposit liability than of the note liability? Why is the fact just the reverse with country banks?
  5. State fully the difference between Cost of Labor and Cost of Production. Would a decrease in Cost of Production affect Cost of Labor in any way?
  6. If the returns, and consequently wages, in our extractive industries were to decline, how would the course of our foreign trade probably be affected?
  7. Explain carefully how, and under what conditions, Reciprocal Demand regulates Normal Value.
  8. How do you reconcile the doctrine of comparative cost in international trade with the fact that a merchant regulates his conduct by a comparison of prices at home with prices abroad?
  9. Explain how a tax on “profits” may fall either (1) on the laborer, or (2) on the landlord.
  10. Discuss the argument that protection raises wages.
  11. Is the customs-duties on sugar economically justified?

 

DIVISION B.

  1. Suppose the price of silver to rise to such a point that the ratio of silver to gold would be 15 to 1, what change would take place in the money at present in use in the United States? Is such a change probable? if so, why? if not, why not?
  2. State the essential differences between the coinage acts of 1792, 1834, and 1878.
  3. “All experience has shown that there are periods when, under any system of paper money, however carefully guarded, it is impracticable to maintain actual coin redemption. Usually contracts will be based on current paper money, and it is just that, during a sudden panic or an unreasonable demand for coin, the creditor should not be allowed to demand payment in other than the currency in which the debt was contracted. To meet this contingency, it would seem to be right to maintain the legal tender quality of United States notes. If they are not at par with coin, it is the fault of the Government and not of the debtor, or rather it is the result of an unforeseen stringency not contemplated by the contracting parties.” From the Report of the Treasury, dated December, 1887.
    Under what circumstances was this passage written? Is the recommendation made by it a wise one? Has it been acted on?
  4. Ten men club together to buy flour at wholesale, each taking a part and paying his share of the price. Ten others club together, borrow money jointly, and lend it out to themselves for aid in carrying on their trades. A third ten club together, set up a work shop on joint account and work in it, and periodically divide the net proceeds. What kinds of cooperation are typified, respectively, by these proceedings? In what countries has each kind been most widely applied? Which seems to you to be of greatest intrinsic interest for the social question?
  5. What is meant by the eight-hour law? Wherein does it resemble, and wherein differ from, factory legislation in England?
  6. Compare the regulations of the Knights of Labor in regard to strikes with those of an English Trades-Union.
  7. “The present doctrine is that the workman’s interests are linked to those of other workmen, and the employer’s interests to those of other employers. Eventually it will be seen that industrial divisions should be perpendicular, not horizontal.” Explain what is meant by this passage; state by what devices it is endeavored to promote the ” horizontal ” and the “perpendicular” divisions, respectively; and give an opinion as to which line of division is likely to endure.
  8. The declaration of principles of Knights of Labor demands “the enactment of laws providing for arbitration between employers and employed, and to enforce the decision of the arbitrators.” Is it desirable to comply with that demand in whole, in part, or not at all?
  9. Suppose a tax were levied of ten per cent on the house-rent paid by every person, those who occupied their own houses being assessed for the letting value of their dwellings. Would such a tax be direct or indirect? Would it conform to the principle of equality of taxation? Give your reasons.

 

1887-1888.
Mid-year. 1888.

  1. Is productive consumption necessarily consumption of capital? Can there be unproductive consumption of capital?
  2. Distinguish which of the following commodities are capital, and, as to those that are capital, distinguish which you would call fixed capital and which circulating.
    A ton of pig iron; a plough; a package of tobacco; a loaf of bread; a dwelling-house.
    Can you reconcile the statement that one or other of these commodities is or is not capital with the proposition that the intention of the owner determines whether an article shall or shall not be capital?
  3. Suppose an inconvertible paper money to be issued, of half the amount of specie previously in circulation. Trace the effects (1) in a country carrying on trade with other countries, (2) in a country shut off from trade with other countries.
  4. Explain in what manner the proposition that the value of commodities is governed by their cost of production applies to wheat, to iron nails, and to gold bullion.
  5. Explain the proposition that rent does not enter into the cost of production. Does it hold good of the rent paid for a factory building? Of the rent paid for agricultural land?
  6. It has been said that wages depend (a) on the price of food, (b) on the standard of living of the laborers, (c) on the ratio between capital and population. Are these propositions consistent with each other? Are they sound?
  7. Suppose that
    One day’s labor in the United States produces 10 pounds of copper,
    One day’s labor England produces 8 pounds of copper,
    One day’s labor in the United States produces 5 pounds of tin,
    One day’s labor England produces 5 pounds of tin,
    Would trade arise between England and the United States, and if so, how?
    Suppose that, other things remaining as above, one day’s labor in England produced 12 pounds of copper, would trade arise, and if so, how?
  8. Explain what is meant when it is said that “there are two senses in which a country obtains commodities more cheaply by foreign trade: in the sense of value, and in the sense of cost.”
  9. Arrange in proper order the following items of a bank account: Capital, $300,00; Bonds and Stocks, $35,000; Real estate and fixtures, $20,000; Other assets, $20,000; Surplus, $80,000; Undivided Profits, $10,500; Notes, $90,000; Cash, $110,000; Cash items, $90,000; Deposits, $850,000; Loans, $1,050,000; Expenses, $5,500. ,
    Suppose loans are repaid to this bank to the amount of $100,000. One half by cancelling deposits, one quarter in its own notes, and one quarter in cash; how will the account then stand?
  10. What is the effect of the use of credit on the value of money? Wherein does credit in the form of bank deposits exercise an effect on the value of money different from that of credit in the form of bank notes?

 

Source: A Synopsis of the First Three Books of John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy, as revised by Prof. J. L. Laughlin with an appendix containing the recent examination papers in Political Economy I. Cambridge, Mass.: W. H. Wheeler, 1888.

Image Source: James Laurence Laughlin. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-03687, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Outline and final exam. Economic and Political Ideas, Taylor. 2nd term, 1947-48

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overton H. Taylor described his book, A History of Economic Thought: Social Ideals and Economic Theories from Quesnay to Keynes (McGraw-Hill, 1960), as “an outgrowth from, or reduction to book form of, a part of the course of lectures, covering the same ground, which I have given annually for many years at Harvard University.”  This post provides the undergraduate course outline and final examination for the second half of his course that began with mercantilism and ended with New Deal liberalism and Keynesian economics.

Material from the first half of the course for the immediately following academic year (covering much the same material but stopping at the end of the 19th century) has been posted earlier:

Syllabus. Economics 115 (Fall Term, 1948-49). Economics and Political Ideas in Modern Times.

Final Exam. Economics 115 (Fall Term, 1948-49). Economics and Political Ideas in Modern Times

A much earlier version of the material for a one semester course has likewise been posted:

Syllabus. Economics 1b (Spring Term, 1940-41). The Intellectual Background of Economic Thought.

Final Exam. Economics 1b (Spring Term, 1940-41). The Intellectual Background of Economic Thought.

Greater emphasis on the economic theory was given in his graduate course:

Syllabus. Economics 205a (Fall Term, 1948-49). Main Currents of Thought in Economics and Related Studies over Recent Centuries.

In the Preface to his 1960 book Taylor described his purpose in writing as follows:

Perhaps I have a desire to be a ‘missionary’ in both directions–to convert as many noneconomist or lay readers as I can into interested students of economic theory and its history, and to convert more fellow-economists into interested students, also, of the diverse, general views or perspectives on all human affairs which formerly concerned all philosophical political economists.

 

________________________

 

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 15a. Dr. Taylor.—Economics and Political Ideas in Modern Times (F).

Total 100: 5 Graduate, 44 Seniors, 40 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 1 Radcliffe, 2 Other.

 

[Economics] 15b. Dr. Taylor.—Economics and Political Ideas in Modern Times (Sp).

Total 33: 2 Graduates, 18 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 2 Radcliffe, 2 Public Administration.

 

Source: 15a, Fall term ; 15b, Spring term: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1947-48, pp. 68, 89.

________________________

Economics 15b (115)
Spring Term, 1948
Outline

I. February 5 — 14. 17th Century Political Absolutism and Mercantilism. Liberalism.

Reading due February 14:

(1) Hobbes Leviathan, Chs. 1-6, incl.; 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 24;
(2) Locke, Civil Government II, Chs. 2, 3, 5, and 7-12, Incl.; and
(3) Gray, Economic Doctrines, Chs. 1-3.

Lectures

Th., Feb. 5, Introductory lecture about the course.

Sat, Feb. 7, Western civilization in the 17th Century, and the philosophy and political theory of Hobbes.

Tu., Feb. 10, Mercantilism and its economic theory.

Th., Feb. 12, 18th Century liberalism vs. political absolutism and mercantilism; and Locke’s theory of the free society.

Discussion

Sat., Feb. 14, Class discussion of the reading in Hobbes, Locke, and Gray.

II. February 17 — 28. 1705-1850. Foundations of the Classical, Liberal Theory of Political Economy.

Reading due February 28:

(1) Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments: Part I, sec. I, and Part II, secs. I, II or (1a) Selby-Bigge, British Moralists, Selection from A. Smith, Moral Sentiments;
(2) Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book I, 1-7, incl.

Lectures

Tu., Feb. 17 Newton, Locke, and the 18th century’s vision of “the natural order.”

Th., Feb. 19 The philosophy and economic theory of the Physiocrats.

Sat., Feb. 21 Adam Smith’s philosophy, theory of morals and law, and economic theory.

Tu., Feb. 24 Hume and Bentham vs. natural law. Utilitarian liberalism.

Th., Feb. 26 Malthus and Ricardo. The classical theory of political economy.

Discussion

Sat., Feb. 28 Class discussion of the Adam Smith reading.

III. March 2 — 13. Early 19th Romantic and Positivistic Attacks and Alternatives.

Reading due March 13

(1) Spann, History of Economics, Chs. [no chapters given, but would appear to be Spann’s Chapter 8A of the 1930 translation “Types of Economic Theory”]
(2) Comte, Positive Philosophy, pp.[no pages given, but note Introd. Ch. 1; Book VI, 1, 2 were assigned by Taylor in his graduate course Econ 205a]
(3) J. S. Mill, Essays, Utilitarianism, and Liberty.

Lectures

Tu., March 2, The romantic movement and the anti-liberal reaction.

Th., March 4, Carlyle and Ruskin vs. the economists and utilitarians.

Sat., March 6, The romantic reaction in Germany, and types of political and economic thought it produced there.

Tu., March 9, August Comte’s philosophy, and critique of the classical, liberal economic theory.

Th., March 11, Early socialism; and J. S. Mill’s attempted synthesis.

Discussion

Sat., March 13, Class discussion of the Spann, Comte, and Mill reading.

IV. March 16 — 27. Marxism.

Reading due March 27:

Burns, Handbook of Marxism, Chs. [no chapters given here, but note Chs. 1, 13, 14, 22, 26, 29, 30 were assigned by Taylor in his graduate course Econ 205a]

Lectures

Tu., March 16, Antecedents and elements of Marxism: “utopian” socialism, Hegel’s philosophy of history, and Ricardo’s economic theory.

Th., March 18, Marx: theory of history.

Sat., March 20, Marx: economic theory of capitalism: value, wages, and profits.

Tu., March 23, Marx: theory of capitalism’s destined evolution and self-destruction.

Th., March 25, Marx: theory of the revolution and the new society.

Discussion

Sat., March 27, Discussion of the Marx reading.

March 28—April 4, Spring Recess

V. April 5 — 17. 1870-1914. Victorian Conservative Liberalism and Neo-Classical Economics.

Reading due April 17:

(1)  C. Brinton, English Political Thought in the 19th Century, Ch. III, Secs. 1, 2; IV, 1, 2, 3, 4; and
(2) A. Marshall, Principles of Economics, Book I, Chs. 1-3; III; IV, Chs. 1-3 and 8-13; and V, Chs. 1-5.

Lectures

Tu., April 5, The epoch and ideology of Victorian conservative liberalism.

Th., April 7, The renaissance and new ideas of liberal economic theory in this epoch. The discoverers of “marginal utility”—Jevons, the Austrians, Walras, and Marshall.

Sat., April 9, The market mechanism of the free economy and its equilibrium.

Tu., April 13, Marginal productivity and incomes; Clark and Carver.

Th., April 15, Alfred Marshall.

Discussion

Sat., April 17, Discussion of the political ideas of Brinton’s Victorians, and Marshall’s economics.

VI. April 20 — May 1. Present Day Ideologies and Economic Theory.

Reading due May 1:

(1) Sabine, History of Political Theory, Chs. 28 to end of book, omit 31;
(2) John Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action; and
(3) Beveridge, Full Employment in a Free Society, Part II, Sec. 2, and III through Sec. 5.

Lectures

Tu., April 20, Russian Communism versus Democracy and Liberal Capitalism or Liberal Socialism.

Th., April 22, Ideas of and about Fascism.

Sat., April 24, From 19th century to present day Liberalism.—continuity and contrast. The New Deal and the American tradition.

Tu., April 27, The economic theory of monopolistic competition, and liberal policy.

Th., April 29, “Keynesian” economic theory, and liberal policy.

Discussion

Sat, May 1, Discussion of the Sabine, Dewey, and Beveridge reading.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Reading Period
May 3—15, 1948

Economics 15b: Read one of the following:

Schumpeter: Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Parts 1, 2, and 4.

Lionel Robbins: Nature and Significance of Economics.

 

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

________________________

1947-48
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 15b
[Final examination, May 1948]

Answer in all five questions, including 7a or 7b; and make one of your answers a one hour essay, so marked in your blue book.

  1. “Although the classical economists were free market liberals, the picture presented in their economic theory of the ‘natural’ working of the free market economy was not a picture of utopian perfection. They acknowledged a number of real flaws in the system. Then Marx, professing to build on but actually distorting the classical theory, exaggerated those flaws into evils held to be destined to destroy the system. And later the neo-classical economists, in opposition to Marx and in the effort to buttress laissez-faire more thoroughly, revised the old classical theory into one which appeared to support an unqualified optimism.”
    Explain and discuss each part of the statement. What flaws did old classical theory find in the system? What graver ones did Marx impute to it, and what were the chief similarities and differences between his and Ricardo’s doctrines in this connection? What novel concepts and doctrines in neo-classical theory contributed to its purer optimism; and how did they do so, and how legitimately?
  2. “The trouble with the free enterprise or free market economic system is that its long-run effects on a society’s culture and internally prevailing human attitudes, eventually destroy the kind of milieu which alone can enable this economic system to serve the general welfare, and survive. Where and as long as there is a real community, held together by a real moral consensus holding the competition of private interests within the bounds of mutual fair play, the free market system can develop and function well. But in time the growth of competitive, acquisitive ambitions and skills, in the mass of individuals and private groups, breaks through and dissolves the moral consensus and the bonds uniting the community. Competition then becomes warfare and anarchy, and coercive public controls must be developed to take the place, if possible, of the agreement in self-control by all severally, which has broken down.”
    What truth if any do you think is contained in this argument? What might be cited as some times of historical and contemporary evidence at least appearing to support it, and help convincingly in your judgment can it be thus supported? How might an economic theorist still thoroughly devoted to free-market liberalism, reply to the argument, and how if at all would you criticize his (best) reply to it?
  3. “The theory of monopolistic competition proves that, instead of harmonizing all private interests with the public interests, most actual business competition has characteristics which make the maximizing of private gains decidedly injurious to the economic welfare of society.”
    Explain and discuss. What characteristics of “most actual business competition” are referred to? Explain the proof of their socially undesirable consequences, and discuss any criticisms or limitations of this proof that you think may be valid. Do you think “decidedly injurious” is an overstatement? Why or why not?
  4. “Classical economics denied that there ever could be any deficiency of total demand for a full-employment output of the economy. Marx saw inevitable, chronic deficiency of total demand as one of the ‘internal contradictions’ bound eventually to destroy private capitalism. Keynes agreed with Marx about the deficiency, but, having a different theory of its causes, thinks it can be remedied by a simple type of governmental action within the capitalist framework.”
    Explain and discuss. How did the classical view support its denial of the possibility of deficient demand? Why is demand deficient according to Marx? Wherein does Keynes agree, and disagree with Marx? On what assumptions may the Keynesian remedy be held come consistent with retention of private capitalism; on what other assumptions, inconsistent with that?
  5. Describe and discuss all the main, admitted, and (in your opinion) likely ultimate, curtailment of individual freedoms in the Beveridge program for assuring “full employment in a free society.” Would you fear an eventual loss of virtually all freedom – “totalitarian” outcome – if the whole program were adopted in this country? Why or why not?
  6. Discuss the common and the divergent elements of the old classical liberalism, the liberalism of the Roosevelt New Deal, and the outlook of the average present day American exponent of “free enterprise.” As between our “New Dealers” and conservative “free enterprisers,” which group more nearly represents the main essentials of the older liberalism, in your opinion? Explain and defend your opinion on the last point carefully.
  7. (a) If you read Schumpeter in the reading period, explain and discuss his theory of the ways in which capitalism is preparing its own demise and the way for socialism.
    (b) If you read Robbins, state in your own words, and discuss critically, his definition of what economic science deals with and accomplishes.

 

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.

Image source: O. H. Taylor in the Harvard Class Album, 1942.