Category: Harvard
An earlier posting provides lists of presenters for the Economic Seminary for the years 1891-1908. This posting provides the lists of announced presenters for the final three years of the seminary.
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Seminary Meetings in 1929-30
Professor Bullock
Sept. 30 Harvard Union
Oct. 14 S.E. Harris, “Monetary Policy of the British Dominions since 1914.”
Oct. 28 W. E. Beach, “Bank Policy and Gold Movements in England from 1880 to 1914.”
Nov. 4 J. P. Wernette, “Fiscal Reorganization in the United States of Colombia.”
Nov. 25 F. W. Taussig, “German Economic Periodicals and Works of Reference.”
Dec. 9 H. D. White, “International Balance of Payments of France.”
Feb. 3 W. Z. Ripley, “Railroad Consolidation.”
Feb. 17 C. S. Joslyn, “A Proposed Statistical Measurement of Vertical Occupational Mobility.”
March 8 T. J. Kreps, “The Chemical Phase of the Industrial Revolution.”
March 31 D. V. Brown, “Family Allowances.”
April 28 J. H. Williams, “Reparations and the International Flow of Capital.”
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Seminary Meetings in 1930-31
Professor Gay
Sept. 29 Harvard Union
Oct. 15 University Film Foundation, “The Availability of Motion Pictures for Instruction in Economic History and Economic Resources”.
Oct. 29 O. H. Taylor, “The Present Position and Prospects of Economic Theory”.
Nov. 5 Professors Bullock, Ripley, and Black, “Graduate Study and Research in Economics”.
Nov. 19 H. D. White, “The American Rayon Industry, a Product of Protection”.
Dec. 3 Professor Schumpeter, “Financial Policy of Germany since 1919″.
Dec. 17 Professor W. E. Eckblaw, Professor of Economic Geography, Clark University, “Russia To-day”.
Jan. 7 A. E. Monroe, “Land as a Consumers’ Good”.
Jan. 21 (Reading period)
Feb. 4 (Exam. period)
Feb. 18 D. H. Wallace, “The Aluminum Monopoly in the U.S.”
March 4 W. C. Mitchell, “Cyclical Behavior of Factors in Business”.
March 11 L. B. Currie, “The Commercial Loan Theory of Banking”.
March 25 Dr. B. M. Squires, “The Administration of Public Employment Offices”.
April 1 Dr. J. J. de Stoop, “The Merger Movement in Belgium”.
April 8 Dr. Mabel C. Buer, Lecturer in Economics at the University of Reading, England, “The Relation between Industrial Development and Vital Statistics in England”.
April 22 Major Lyndall Urwick, Director of the International Management Institute at Geneva, “The International Organization of Economic Study”.
April 29 Professor T. S. Adams, Yale University, “The Treatment of Capital Gains and Losses under the Federal Income Tax”.
May 6 Professor J. D. Black, “Interregional Competition in Production”.
May 20 (Reading period)
Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV 349.10), Box 25. Folder “Economics Seminary 1925-33”.
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Seminary Meetings in 1931-32
Professor Carver
Second and fourth Monday of month
Oct. 5 Members of teaching staff
Oct. 19 Dr. E. Dana Durand, United States Tariff Commission, “The Business Depression”.
Oct. 26 Mr. J. P. Wernette, “Politics and Finance in Peru”.
Nov. 9 Mr. J. B. Crane, “Aviation”.
Nov. 23 Professor W. Z. Ripley, “National Economic Planning.”
Dec. 14 Dr. J. F. Normano, “South America Today: An Attempt at an Economic ‘Characteristique’.
Jan. 11 Dr. L. B. Currie, “The Nature of Credit”.
Feb. 8 Dr. B. C. Hunt, “The English Joint Stock Company 1800-1862”.
Feb. 15 Dr. Mordecai Ezekiel, Assistant Chief Economist of the Federal Farm Board, “Stability vs. Flexibility as Means to Economic Adjustment”.
Feb. 29 Dr. C. J. Ratzlaff, “The Theory and Practice of the International Labor Organization of the League of Nations”
Mar 14 Dr. Leontief, “Postive and Normative Approaches in Economic Theory”
Mar 28 Mr. K. L. Anderson, “Thornstein Veblen’s Economics”.
Apr. 11 Mr. Ejnar Jensen, “International Monetary and Technological Influences on European Agricultural Development since 1870”.
Apr. 18 Dr. Wilhelm Kromphardt, A. O. Professor of Economics, University of Münster, “The Relation of Economic Evolution to Economic Theory and Its Application”.
Apr. 25 Mr. N. R. Danielian, “Recent Developments in the Electric Light and Power Industry in the U.S.”
May 9 Professor Charles S. Collier, Professor of Law in George Washington University, “Public Utility Valuation.”
Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV 349.10), Box 25. Folder “Economics Seminary 1925-33”.
In the artifacts posted here we see how student demand for a course on Marxian economics at Harvard that had been dropped for the academic year 1938-39 resulted in the course being offered.
Three of the undersigned went on to receive Ph.D.’s in economics at Harvard:
- Alexander, Sidney Stuart.D. 1946. Financial structure of American corporations since 1900.
- Carlson, Reynold Erland.D. 1946. Block grants and central-local financial relations in Great Britain.
- Vandermeulen, Daniel Carlson.D. 1947. Dissertation: Technological change in the paper industry—the introduction of the sulphate process.
A draft outline of the course exists in Wassily Leontief’s papers and has been transcribed at Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.
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[Economics 117 Course Listing 1st edition, 1938-39]
[Economics 117 1hf. Karl Marx]
Half-course (first half-year). Mon., 4 to 6. Asst. Professor Leontief.
Omitted in 1938-39.
Source: Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1938-39 (1st edition, p. 150.
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[Student petition to “unbracket” Economics 117]
[typed] We, the undersigned, observe that Economics 117 is bracketed in the Course Catalogue for 1938-39, and we understand that the reason for this is the very small election that the course has received in past years. We should like to signify our desire to take Economics 117 next year, and we hope that this indication of a sizable demand will induce the competent authorities to reconsider the advisability of offering the course in the year 1938-39.
[signed] S. S. Alexander
[signed] D. C. Vandermeulen
[signed] Wm. Glazier
[signed] David Feller
[signed] R. E. Carlson
[signed] John D. Wilson
Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV.349.10). Box 23, Folder “Course Offerings 1937-39-42”
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[Economics 117 Course Listing 2nd edition, 1938-39]
Economics 117 1hf. Karl Marx
Half-course (first half-year). Mon., 4 to 6. Asst. Professor Leontief and Dr. P. M. Sweezy.
Source: Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1938-39 (2nd edition). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 35, No. 42 (September 23, 1938), p. 150.
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[Economics 19 Course Enrollment, 1935-36]
[Economics] 19 1hf. Associate Professor Mason and Asst. Professor Leontief. –Karl Marx.
1 Radcliffe, 35 auditors. Total 36.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1935-36, p. 83.
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[Economics 117 Course Enrollment, 1936-37]
[Economics] 19 1hf. Associate Professor Mason and Asst. Professor Leontief. –Karl Marx.
1 Graduate, 1 Senior. Total 2.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1936-37, p. 93.
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[Economics 117 not offered 1937-38]
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[Economics 117 Course Enrollment, 1938-39]
[Economics] 117 1hf. Asst. Professor Leontief and Dr. P. M. Sweezy. –Karl Marx.
4 Graduates, 4 Seniors. Total 8.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1938-39, p. 99.
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[Economics 117 not offered 1939-40]
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One of the iron statistical laws of scheduling classes is that the probability of finding a Pareto improvement to a scheduling conflict ex post semester-start rapidly tends to zero with the size of the class that needs to be rescheduled. Here is a case of one such rare Pareto-improvement.
For the second semester of the academic year 1934-35 at Harvard E. B. Wilson’s Mathematical Economics rescheduled to eliminate the conflict with Fritz Machlup’s Money and Banking course.
What happens to make this particular case interesting in the history of economics is the list of distinguished (ex post) names among the undersigned of three foreign visitors to Harvard, namely Oskar Lange, Nicholas Georgescu, and Gerhard Tintner along with the graduate student Wolfgang Stolper and the undergraduate Sidney S. Alexander.
Six of the undersigned went on to receive Harvard Ph.D.’s in economics, they were:
- Sidney Stuart Alexander.D. 1946. Financial structure of American corporations since 1900. (note: Harvard S.B. 1936, so undergraduate)
- James Pierce Cavin, 1938 Ph.D. The sugar quota system of the United States, 1933-1937.
- Wolfgang Stolper, 1938 Ph.D. British monetary policy and the housing boom, 1931-1935
- Albert Leonard Meyers, 1936 Ph.D. Future trading on organized commodity exchanges
- Chih-Yu Lo, 1937 Ph.D. A statistical study of prices and markets for electricity
- Wilfred Malenbaum, Ph.D. 1941. Equilibrating tendencies in the world wheat market.
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[Memo: Econ. Chair to Dean, Carbon copy]
February 7, 1935
Dear Dean Murdock,
Because of the conflict of Economics 13b (Mathematical Economics) and Economics 50 (Principles of Money and Banking), which are scheduled for 3:00 on Tuesday and Thursday, Professor Wilson has requested that the hour for Economics 13b be changed to 2:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. I understand from Miss Higgs that rooms are available at this hour. The students registered in the course agree to this change.
I shall appreciate it if the change can be arranged before the next meeting of the class on Tuesday.
Sincerely yours,
H. H. Burbank
Dean Kenneth B. Murdock
20 University Hall
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[Memo: Dept. Secretary to E. B. Wilson, Carbon copy]
February 5, 1935
Dear Professor Wilson,
Dr. Machlup tells me that because of the conflict of Economics 13b and 50 you are willing to change the hour of meeting Economics 13b to 2:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. Until I am sure that the students who are taking the course for credit are agreeable, I cannot notify Dean Murdock of this change.
The simplest way to do this, I think, is for you to ask the class at its meeting on Thursday. There will be no trouble, I am sure, about securing a room at that hour. If you will let me know the outcome as soon as possible, I will make the necessary arrangements at the office.
Sincerely yours,
Secretary
Professor E. B. Wilson
55 Shattuck Street
Boston, Massachusetts
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[Petition signed by students/auditors in Econ 13b]
[Penciled in upper right: “Econ 13b]
[typed] We should like to attend both, unfortunately conflicting, courses: Economics 13b (Mathematical Economics) and Economics 50 (Money and Banking). It would be much appreciated if a change in schedule could be arranged.
[signed] Oskar Lange
[signed] Nicholas Georgescu
[signed] Gerhard Tintner
[added in handwriting] We also, though not taking Ec. 50, would be willing to change hours.
[signed] S. S. Alexander
Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV.349.10). Box 23, Folder “Course Offerings 1932-37-40”.
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[Petition signed by students/auditors in Econ 50]
[Penciled in upper right: “Econ 50]
[typed] We should like to attend both, unfortunately conflicting, courses: Economics 13b (Mathematical Economics) and Economics 50 (Money and Banking). It would be much appreciated if a change in schedule could be arranged.
[signed] W. Stolper
[signed] J. P. Cavin
[signed] A. L. Meyers
[signed] C. Y. Lo
[signed] T. Y. Wu [?]
[signed] S. Bolts [?]
[signed] P. Chanten [?]
[signed] W. Malenbaum
Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV.349.10). Box 23, Folder “Course Offerings 1932-37-40”.
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[Economics 13b: Course enrollment]
[Economics] 13b 2hf. Professor E. B. Wilson.—Mathematical Economics.
2 Graduates, 1 Junior. Total 3
[Economics] 50. Professors Williams and Dr. Machlup-Wolf.—Principles of Money and Banking.
16 Graduates., 10 Seniors, 1 Junior, 8 Radcliffe. Total 35.
Source: Annual Report of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College 1934-35, pp. 81-2.
“William James Ashley (1860–1927) was one of a group of economists (including, among others, William Cunningham, H. S. Foxwell, and W. A. S. Hewins) who at the turn of this century constituted the English school of economic history, the school which had been given its form in the 1870s and 1880s by Thorold Rogers and Arnold Toynbee. Ashley, alone of this group, also had ties with the German school of historical economists, which under the leadership of Gustav Schmoller had, from the 1870s on, posited a historical, statistical, and inductive method against the abstract, deductive method of the classical school of Ricardo.”
More can be found in the entry written by Bernard Semmel in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (1969).
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ASHLEY, William James, 1860-
Born in London, Eng., 1860; educated at Balliol College, Oxford; Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford; Lecturer in Modern History in Lincoln and Corpus Christi Colleges; Professor of Political Economy and of Constitutional History in the University of Toronto, Canada; Professor of Economic History at Harvard; Corresponding member of the Royal Historical Society (England); author of “Introduction to English Economic History and Theory.”
WILLIAM JAMES ASHLEY, A.M., Professor of Economic History at Harvard since 1892, is the son of James and Jane (Short) Ashley, and was born in London, England, February 25, 1860. His early education was obtained at St. Olave’s Grammar School, Southwark, London; and his collegiate training as a Scholar of Balliol College, Oxford, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1881, (obtaining the Lothian Prize in the next year), and the degree of Master of Arts in 1885. For the three years preceding 1888 he was a Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, and Lecturer in Modern History in Lincoln and Corpus Christi Colleges. From then until 1892 he was a Professor of Political Economy and Constitutional History in the University of Toronto, Canada. The last named year he was appointed Professor of Economic History at Harvard. Mr. Ashley is a Corresponding Member of the Royal Historical Society (England). As a writer as well as an Instructor he has won pronounced recognition. His chief work is An Introduction to English Economic History and Theory, of which the first volume was published in 1888 [Part I. The Middle Ages: first edition, 1888; second edition, 1892; third edition, 1894; fourth edition, 1909] and the second in 1893 [Part II. The End of the Middle Ages: first edition, 1888; second edition, 1893; fourth edition, 1906], several editions being put to press, and the book appearing both in England and America, as well as being translated into German and French. Various articles have also appeared from his pen in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, in the Political Science Quarterly, in the Economic Journal, in the Economic Review and in the English Historical Review. He married, on July 2, 1888, Annie Margaret, daughter of George Binkbeck Hill, D.C.L., the Editor of Boswell, and has three children: Annie, Alice Mary and Walter Ashley.
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), p. 595.
Frank W. Taussig took over this taxation course from Charles E. Dunbar in 1896/97. The course was a graduate course that juniors and seniors were permitted to attend. About a decade later the topic was absorbed into Charles Bullock’s teaching portfolio. The reading list is for the academic year 1897-98. It is not altogether obvious what Taussig intended with the pairings of readings within curly brackets. I presume he meant that students were allowed to choose from the two items.
After posting this material, I have added a transcription of the final examination for this course.
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[Course Announcement]
*71 hf. The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special reference to Local Taxation in the United States. Half-course (first half-year.) Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Professor Taussig.
Source: Harvard University, Announcement of the Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1897-98 (second edition, 1897), p. 39.
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[Course Enrollment]
[Economics ] 71. Professor Taussig.—The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special reference to Local Taxation in the United States. 2 or 3 hours. 1st half year.
Total 42: 5 Graduates, 27 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 1 Sophomore.
Source: Annual Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College 1897-98, (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1899), p. 78.
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ECONOMICS 71.
Seligman, [Edwin R. A.] — Essays in Taxation.
[1st edition, 1895; 2nd edition, 1897; 3rd edition, 1900; 4th edition, 1903; 5th edition, 1905; 6th edition, 1909; 7th edition, 1911; 8th edition, 1913; 9th edition, 1921; 10th edition, 1925]
Bastable, [C.F.] — Public Finance.
[1st edition, 1892; 2nd edition, 1895; 3rd edition, 1903]
Leroy-Beaulieu, [Paul] —Science des Finances, Vol. I [Des Revenus Publics]
[3rd edition (1883); 5th edition (1892); 6th edition (1899)]
Say, [Léon] — Dictionnaire des Finances. [1889]
[Tome I: A — D (1889); Tome II: E — Z (1894)]
Quarterly Journal of Economics, cited as Q. J. E.
Dowell, [Stephen] — History of Taxation and Taxes in England [1884].
Vol. I (Taxation, From the Earliest Times to the Civil War); Vol. II (Taxation, From the Civil War to the Present Day); Vol. III (Direct Taxes and Stamp Duties); Vol. IV (Taxes on Articles of Consumption)]
[Palgrave, R. H. Inglis (editor). Dictionary of Political Economy (1899).
Vol. I, A — E; Vol. II, F — M; Vol. III, N — Z]
PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS: CLASSIFICATION.
Seligman, Ch. IX.
Bastable, Bk. II, Ch. I; Bk. III, Ch. 1
TAXES ON LAND.
{Leroy-Beaulieu. Bk. II, Ch. VI;
Say, article “Foncière (Contribution).” 233-241.}
Bastable, Bk. IV, Ch. I.
Dictionary of Political Economy, article “Land Tax.”
HABITATION TAXES.
{Leroy-Beaulieu, Bk. II, Ch. VII.
Say, article “Personelle-Mobilière,” 850-857.}
Dowell, Vol. III, 186-192.
INCOME TAXES.
Leroy-Beaulieu, Bk. II, Ch. X.
Bastable, Bk. IV, Ch. IV.
{Dowell, Vol. III, 99-122;
Article “Income Tax in the United Kingdom,” in Dictionary of Political Economy, Vol. II.}
J. A. Hill, The Prussian Income Tax, Q. J. E., January, 1892.
Seligman, Ch. X, iii, iv.
BUSINESS TAXES.
{Say, article “Patentes,” pp. 743-752;
Leroy-Beaulieu, Bk. II, Ch. VIII.}
J. A. Hill—The Prussian Business Tax, Q. J. E., October, 1893.
SUCCESSION TAXES.
Seligman, Ch. V; Ch. IX, i.
Bastable, Bk. III, Ch. III.
PROGRESSION.
{Leroy-Beaulieu, Bk. II, Ch. II;
Bastable, Bk. III, Ch. III.}
Seligman, Progressive Taxation [1894], pp. 190-200; pp. 39-53 (Switzerland). [2nd edition, 1908]]
DIRECT TAXES BY THE UNITED STATES.
C. F. Dunbar, The Direct Tax of 1861, Q. J. E., July, 1889; Vol. III, pp. 436-446.
J. A. Hill, The Civil War Income Tax, Q. J. E., July, 1894.
C. F. Dunbar, The New Income Tax, Q. J. E., October, 1894.
LOCAL TAXES IN ENGLAND.
Blunden, Local Taxation and Finance, Ch. III, IV, V.
LOCAL TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
Seligman, Ch. II, IV, VI, XI.
Ely, Taxation in American States, part III, Ch. VII.
Plehn, The General Property Tax in California, (Economic Studies, Vol. II, No. 3), Part II, 151-178.
Angell, The Tax Inquisitor System in Ohio, in Yale Review, February, 1897.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 1, folder “1897-1898”.
Image Source: Harvard College Album, 1900.
Image Source: Frank W. Taussig (Original black and white image from of Frank William Taussig from a cabinet card photograph, 1895, at the Harvard University Archives HUP.
Arthur Eli Monroe was a 100% Harvard man from his undergraduate days through his retirement: a member of the Harvard class of 1908; at various times (senior) lecturer and (senior) tutor of economics in Kirkland House; held the rank of assistant professor of economics from 1922/23 through 1927-28; and served as managing editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics through the May 1948.
Monroe’s 1918 Ph.D. dissertation was published as Monetary Theory before Adam Smith (Harvard University Press, 1923). He edited a collection of writings from Aristotle through Hume in Early Economic Thought (1924). He published Value and Income (Harvard University Press, 1931) that is among the assigned readings for the course below.
Published biographical detail is pretty scarce. From his passport application (submitted in April 1922) we find that Monroe was born in West Brookfield, Massachusetts on August 2, 1885. His father Eli Monroe was born in Canada and emigrated to the United States in 1859. His mother (born in Vermont according to the U.S. Census), was Louise Arsino. He listed France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, and Czechoslovakia as the countries he intended to visit leaving on the Laconia from the port of Boston May 31, 1922. Monroe’s World War II Draft Registration Card (April 26, 1942) lists him as being 5-7 ½ inches tall, weighing 140 lbs., and having a ruddy complexion. I have been unable to determine exactly when and where Monroe died. He was still listed among the American Economic Association members as of 1966, having an address in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but he was no longer listed in 1969.
The “longer” undergraduate course in economic theory at Harvard (2 semesters) was taught by Edward Chamberlin, Economics 1. Interesting to note in Monroe’s course are the seven chapters assigned from Keynes’ General Theory already in December 1937.
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[Course description]
Economics 2a 1hf. Economic Theory (shorter course)
Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Dr. Monroe.
Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1937-38 (2nd edition). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 34, No. 44 (October 1, 1937), p. 148.
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[Course enrollment]
[Economics] 2a 1hf. Dr. Monroe.—Economic Theory (shorter course).
9 Seniors, 53 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 6 Other. Total 75.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1937-38, p. 84.
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ECONOMICS 2a
1937-38
October:
A. E. Monroe: Value and Income.
Chs. 5, 6, 7, 8
J. B. Clark: The Distribution of Wealth.
Chs. 8, 9, 12, 13, 19, 21, 22
Irving Fisher: The Theory of Interest
Chs. 4, 5, 6, 7
November:
J. R. Hicks: The Theory of wages
Chs. 1, 2, 5, 6
A. E. Monroe: Quarterly Journal of Economics
August, 1933, pp. 627-646
A. E. Monroe: Value and Income
Chs. 3 (secs. 1 and 2), 11, 13, 15
December:
F. H. Knight: Risk, Uncertainty and Profit
Chs. 7, 8, 9, 10
J. M. Keynes: The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
Chs. 2, 3, 10, 11, 13, 14, 19
Reading Period: One of the following:
A. Gray: The Development of Economic Doctrine
Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
A. G. B. Fisher: The Clash of Progress and Secuirty
Entire
P. T. Homan: Contemporary Economic Thought
Essays on Veblen, Marshall, Mitchell
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 2, Folder “1937-1938”.
Image Source: Harvard Album 1942.
The inspiration for the research workshop goes back to the German tradition of the research seminar for which the English word “seminary” was used. A sole economics seminary was announced at Harvard for the period 1892-1933 according to the annual Announcement of Courses of Instructions. One presumes the division of workshops is limited by the extent of the graduate program and that, by the early 1930s, the scale and scope of the Harvard department supported greater differentiation of its research seminars. The later Hansen-Williams Fiscal Seminar is an example of the kind of specialized workshop that was to develop.
This posting provides the names and topics of presenters at the seminary in economics as published in the Harvard University Catalogues up through the academic year 1907/08 after which time we need to draw on other sources, e.g. announcements of individual seminars published in the Harvard University Gazette or the Harvard Crimson. Where invited guest lecturers for the public were announced, e.g. John Commons and Thorstein Veblen, I have included the information for the corresponding year.
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[First announcement of the Seminary in Economics, 1892-93]
Economics 20. Seminary in Political Economy.
Professors Dunbar and Taussig, and Mr. Cummings, will guide competent students in research on topics assigned after consolation. The Seminary will hold weekly meetings; and in addition each student will confer individually, once a week, with the instructor under whose guidance he carries on his investigations.
Source: Harvard University, Announcement of Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1892-93, p. 32.
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[Last announcement of the Seminary in Economics, 1932-33]
The Seminary in Economics. Mon., at 7.45 P.M.
Meetings are held by instructors and advanced students for the presentation of the results of investigation.
Source: Harvard University, Announcement of Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1932-33 (second edition), p. 130.
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1891-92
At the Seminaries of Political Economy and American History (Joint Meetings):
Colonial Tariffs. Mr. William Hill.
Periodical Literature and Collections. Professor Taussig.
Suppression of the African Slave Trade. Mr. W. E. B. DuBois.
The Episcopal Church and Slavery. Mr. W. L. Tenney.
The Pacific Railways. Mr. H. K. White.
The Central Pacific Railway. Mr. W. Olney.
Impeachment Trials. Mr. Melville E. Ingals, Jr.
Some Early Anti-Immigration Laws. Mr. E. E. Proper.
Reconstruction in South Carolina. Mr. D. F. Houston.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1892-93, p. 122.
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1892-93
At the Seminary in Economics:
The economic periodicals of France and England. Prof. C. F. Dunbar.
The economic periodicals of Germany and the United States. Professor F. W. Taussig.
Georgia’s experiment in state railway management. Mr. G. Walcott.
The theory of gluts, with special reference to earlier discussions. Mr. C. W. Mister.
Public works in Pennsylvania. Mr. A. M. Day.
Postal subsidies in Great Britain. Mr. H. C. Emery.
Internal improvement in Indiana. Mr. H. H. Cook.
Railway Pools in the United States. Mr. G. L. Sheldon.
The earlier history of the anthracite coal industry. Mr. G. O. Virtue.
The construction of the Union Pacific Railway. Mr. H. K. White.
The organization of Poor Relief in Massachusetts. Mr. H. K. White.
At the Seminaries of American History and Institutions and of Economics. (Joint Meetings):
Study of History and Economics in English Universities. Professor W. J. Ashley.
The Mark theory. President E. A. Bryan.
Tariff legislation in the United States from 1783-1789. Mr. William Hill.
The federal import and the tariff act of 1879. Mr. William Hill.
The currency situation in the United States. Professor F. W. Taussig.
Legislation by the states on the issue of bank notes. Mr. D. F. Houston.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1893-94, pp. 129-130.
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1893-94
At the Seminary of Economics:
The economic congresses and meetings at Chicago. Professors Cummings and Taussig.
The economic and statistical meetings at Chicago. Professor Taussig.
Combinations among anthracite coal producers since 1873. Mr. Virtue.
Results of recent investigations on prices in the United States. Professor Taussig.
Some phases of public management of railways in Victoria (Australia). Mr. H. R. Meyer.
Local rivalry in the earlier development of internal improvements in the United States. Mr. A. M. Day.
Forestry legislation in the United States. Mr. C. C. Closson.
The Trunk Line Pool, and its effects on railway rates. Mr. G. L. Sheldon.
Sismondi and the theory of gluts. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
The earlier stages of the operation of the Erie canal. Mr. W. R. Buckminster.
The income tax of the civil war. Mr. J. A. Hill.
Internal improvements in Illinois. Mr. G. S. Callender.
Changes in the factory population of the United States. Mr. E. H. Vickers.
The Canadian Pacific Railway. Mr. G. W. Cox.
Public railway management in New South Wales. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The development of the theory of gluts and over-accumulation. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
Compulsory insurance in Germany. Mr. J. G. Brooks.
The Erie canal. Mr. W. R. Buckminster.
The factory system in the United States. Mr. E. H. Vickers.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1894-95, p. 136.
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1894-95
At the Seminary of Economics:
Wilhelm Roscher. Professor Ashley.
The factory operatives in the United States. Mr. E. H. Vickers.
The classification of the Political Sciences. Professor Ashley.
The English Budget of 1894. Mr. F. R. Clow.
The antecedents of J. S. Mill’s “Principles.” Messrs. Aldrich, Estabrook, and Harper.
The theory of “House-Industry.” Mr. O. M. W. Sprague.
Definition and history of statistics. Mr. H. H. Cook.
The distribution of mediaeval fairs. Mr. J. Sullivan.
The United States and its mineral lands Mr. G. O. Virtue.
Child labor in the early factories. Mr. Hisa.
The economic condition of the South. Dr. E. von Halle.
The Chicago strike. Professor Ashley.
Legislation on arbitration in the United States. Rev. T. P. Berle.
The taxation of sugar in Germany. Mr. G. E. Chipman.
State railroads in New South Wales. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
Economic teaching in Germany. Rev. W. L. Bevan.
English industrial organization in the 17th and 18th centuries. Mr. O. M. W. Sprague.
Mediaeval fairs and the law merchant. Mr. J. Sullivan.
The antecedents of Mill’s “Doctrine of Value.” Mr. E. H. Harper.
The financing of internal improvements in the Northwest. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The antecedents of Mill’s chapters on Property and Land-Tenure. Mr. H. K. Estabrook.
Technical education in England. Mr. G. W. Cox.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1895-96, p. 139.
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1895-96
Eight lectures by Francis A. Walker, LL.D., on Bimetallism since the Discovery of America.
Lecture. The Present Condition of the Currency of the United States. Professor F. W. Taussig.
At the Seminary of Economics: —
Economics in Italy. Professor Taussig.
The study of economics in German universities. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
The theory of the standard of living, from Adam Smith to J. S. Mill. Mr. R. Ware.
Financial operations by the loyal states during the Civil War (1861-1865). Mr. H. H. Cook.
International borrowing in its early stages, with special reference to England and the United States, 1820-1840. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The workman in the textile industries of England and the United States. Mr. S. N. D. North.
Attainment of the income tax in England. Mr. A. M. Chase.
Public management of railways in Victoria. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The organization and regulation of certain domestic industries in England in the 18th century. Mr. O. M. W. Sprague.
The taxation of personal property in Massachusetts. Mr. E. W. Hooper.
The annual appropriation bill of the city of Boston. Mr. W. H. King.
The legal tender acts of 1862. Mr. D. C Barrett.
Fundamental errors in sociology. Dr. Frederick H. Wines.
International borrowing before 1850. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The tonnage laws and the shipping policy of the United States. Mr. P. D. Phair.
The internal revenue act of 1862. Mr. G. Thomas.
The beginning of liquor legislation. Mr. A. P. Andrew.
The international trade of the United States in its relation to recent currency legislation. Mr. A. Sweezey.
Beginnings of trade and industry in Scotland, with some account of the early Guilds. Mr. T. Allison.
The bimetallic situation. President Francis A. Walker.
The Intercolonial Railway of Canada. Mr. C. E. Seaman.
The railway situation in California. Mr. H. C. Marshall and Dr. F. E. Haynes.
The taxation of sugar in the United States since 1860. Mr. C. S. Griffin.
The economic basis of Irish emigration 1650-1850. Mr. H. H. Cook.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1896-97, pp. 138-9, 141-42.
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1896-97
Eight lectures on the Income Taxes in Germany, Switzerland, and England, by Dr. J. A. Hill. Subjects as follows: —
Income Taxes in Germany: Historical Development. The Taxpayers, the Taxable Income, and the Rates.
The Methods of Assessment. Income and Property Taxes in Switzerland: Their Development. The Rate and Exemptions. The Methods of Assessment.
The English Income Tax: Its History. The Assessment.
At the joint meetings of the Seminary of American History and Institutions and the Seminary of Economics:
Methods and experience of historical investigation. Mr. J. F. Rhodes.
The financial procedure of a state legislature. Mr. F. C. Lowell.
At the Seminary of Economics:
French economic periodicals and other aids to economic study. Professor Dunbar.
Periodicals and other aids to economic study, in France. Professor Dunbar.
Periodicals and other aids to economic study, in England and the United States. Professor Ashley.
John Rae: A neglected economist. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
Some impressions of reformatories. Mr. W. H. Gratwick.
Sir Robert Giffen on prices in relation to material progress in England. Mr. F. Atherton.
The woolen manufacturer and the tariff. Mr. A. T. Lyman.
British capital and American resources, 1815-1850. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The taxation of sugar in the United States, 1789-1861. Mr. C. S. Griffin.
Recent immigration into the United States. Mr. E. H. Warren.
Apportionments of national bank currency. Mr. T. Cooke.
Some phases of the history of the Union Pacific Railway. Mr. S. P. West.
Some recent phases of economic thought in the United States. Mr. J. A. Tirrell.
The condition of coal-miners in the bituminous districts. Mr. H. E. George.
Certain phases of the history and literature of industrial depression from 1873 to 1886. Mr. C. Beardsley, Jr.
The financial history of the Pennsylvania Railway. Mr. R. D. Jenks.
Some aspects of the financial history of the Union Pacific Railway. Mr. S. P. West.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1897-98, p. 387-388, 391-392.
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1897-98
At the joint meetings of the Seminary of American History and Institutions and the Seminary of Economics:
Some results of an inquiry on taxation in Massachusetts. Professor F. W. Taussig.
The Making of a Tariff. Mr. S. N. D. North.
The currency reform plan of the Indianapolis convention. Professor Dunbar.
At the Seminary of Economics:
Trade-unions in Australia. Dr. M. A. Aldrich.
The coal miners’ strike of 1897. Mr. J. E. George.
An analysis of the law of diminishing returns. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
The Secretary of the Treasury and the currency, 1865-1879. Mr. H. C. Marshall.
An inquiry on government contract work in Canada. Mr. W. L. M. King.
The sugar industry in Europe as affected by taxes and bounties. Mr. C. S. Griffin.
The security of bank notes based on general assets, as indicated by experience under the national bank system. Mr. A. O. Eliason.
The inter-colonial railway. Mr. C. E. Seaman.
Some results of the new method of assessing the income tax in Prussia. Dr. J. A. Hill.
Antonio Serra and the beginnings of political economy in Italy. Mr. D. F. Grass.
The American Federation of Labor. Dr. M. A. Aldrich.
The earlier stages of the silver movement in the United States. Mr. Randolph Paine.
The land grant to the Union Pacific Railroad. Mr. R. W. Cone.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1898-99, pp. 400-1.
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1898-99
Fifteen lectures on Life Insurance by Charlton T. Lewis, of New York City.
At the Seminary of Economics:
Aids in economic investigation. Professor Taussig.
Economic study in England. Dr. O. M. W. Sprague.
The growth and the constituent elements of the population of Boston. Mr. F. A. Bushée (2).
Some operations of the United States Treasury in 1894-96. Professor Taussig.
The Interstate Commerce Act as interpreted by the courts. Mr. F. Hendrick.
The English industrial crisis of 1622. Dr. O. M. W. Sprague.
The earlier history of the English income tax. Dr. J. A. Hill.
The theory of savers’ rent and some of its applications. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
The working of the French Railway Conventions of 1883. Mr. F. Hendrick.
The adoption of the gold standard by England in 1816. Mr. D. F. Grass.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1899-1900, pp. 412, 417.
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1899-1900
Lecture. The United States census. Professor W. F. Willcox, of the Census Office.
At the Seminary of Economics:
Aids in Economic study: (1) Specialized publications in Germany. Professor F. W. Taussig.
(2) English and American literature. Professor Ashley.
(3) American publications. Professor Taussig.
The conference on trusts at Chicago. Mr. John Graham Brooks.
Legislation on combinations and trusts in the United States. Mr. R. C. Davis.
Judicial decisions on statutes relating to combinations and trusts. Mr. R. C. Davis.
The tenement house exhibition, and tenement conditions in Boston. Mr. F. A. Bushée.
The influence of the tariff on the iron and steel industry. Mr. D. S. Bobb.
The duties on wool and their effects, 1870-1899. Mr. F. W. Wose.
The duty on copper and its effects. Mr. W. D. Shue.
The duties on sugar and their effects. Mr. G. H. Johnston.
The economic aspects of close commercial relations with Hawaii. Mr. U. S. Parker.
The discussion of value at the hands of English writers before Adam Smith. Mr. C. Bowker.
The silk manufacture and the tariff. Mr. S. S. Fitzgerald.
The commercial crisis of 1857. Mr. C. Hobbs.
The economic significance of the Hebrew year of jubilee. Mr. R. J. Sprague.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1900-1, pp. 429, 432.
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1900-01
Six lectures on Statistics of Wages, by the Hon. Carroll D. Wright:—
Methods and Difficulties in Collecting Statistics of Wages.
Difficulties and Fallacies in Presentations of Wages.
Chief Sources of Statistical Information on Wages.
Value of the Various Collections of Wages Statistics.
Money Wages as shown by Statistics during last Half Century.
Real Wages for the same period.
At the Seminary of Economics:
The trusts and the tariff. Mr. Charles Beardsley.
Civil service reform in Australia: its successes and its failures. I. Victoria; II. New South Wales. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The early history of the Standard Oil Combination. Mr. G. H. Montague.
Manufacturing industries in the South End of Boston. Mr. R. F. Phelps .
Notes on a transcontinental journey. Professor Taussig.
Relations of employers and workmen in the Boston building trades. Mr. W. H. Sayward.
Changes in the geographical distribution of the Southern negroes since the Civil War. Mr. R. J. Sprague.
Changes in the tenure and ownership of land in the South since the Civil War. Mr. R. J. Sprague.
The early history of the Erie Railway. Mr. A. J. Boynton.
The early history of banking in Massachusetts. Mr. F. L. Bugbee.
The work of the United States Industrial Commission. Professor E. D. Durand, of Stanford University.
The cotton-seed oil industry. Mr. W. D. Shue.
Combinations in the German iron trade. Mr. E. B. Stackpole.
Are the English payments to mail steamships subsidies? Mr. W. E. Stilwell.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1901-02, pp. 414, 419-420.
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1901-02
Seminary in Economics. Mon., at 4.30. Professor Ashley and Asst. Professor Carver.
In the Seminary, the instructors undertake the guidance of students in independent investigation, and give opportunity for the presentation and discussion of the result of investigation. Members of the Graduate School who propose to conduct inquiries having in view the preparation of theses to be presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, may select subjects agreed upon after conference with the instructors, and may carry on investigations on such subjects, as part of the work in the Seminary.
The general meetings of the Seminary are held on the first and third Mondays of each month. The members of the Seminary confer individually, at stated times arranged after consultation, with the instructors under whose special guidance they are conducting their researches.
At the regular meetings, the results of the investigations of members are presented and discussed. The instructors also at times present the results of their own work, and give accounts of the specialized literature of Economics. At intervals, other persons are invited to address the Seminary on subjects of theoretic or practical interest, giving opportunity for contact and discussion with the non-academic world.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902. Box 1. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science (June 21, 1901), University Publications, New Series, No. 16, p. 48.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Four lectures by Professor Edward A. Ross, on “The Growth and present Stage of the Literature of Sociology”:—
The Building of Sociology.
The Recent Tendencies of Sociology.
The Moot Points of Sociology.
The Desiderata of Sociology.
At the Seminary of Economics:
The Rise of the Oil Monopoly. Mr. G. H. Montague.
The Conditions of Employment and Housing of South End (Boston) Factory Operatives. Mr. R. Morris.
Principles Underlying the Demarcation between Public and Private Industries. Mr. R. Morris.
Restriction of Municipal Gas and Electric Plants in Massachusetts. Mr. A. D. Adams.
Economic Conditions in Nicaragua. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
Some Theoretical Possibilities of Protective Tariffs. Professor Carver.
A Study of some Records of the Associated Charities of Boston. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The Rise and Regulation of Municipal Gas and Electric Plants in Massachusetts. Mr. A. D. Adams.
Le Solidarisme social de M. Leon Bourgeois. Professor Léopold Mabilleau.
A Review of the French and Italian Economic Journals. Professor Ripley, Dr. A. P. Andrew, Mr. C. W. Doten, and Mr. R. F. Phelps.
National Corporation Laws for Industrial Organizations. Mr. James B. Dill.
The Budgetary System of Canada. Mr. R. C. Matthews.
The Elements of Labor and Relief Departments in Railway Expenditure. Mr. A. L. Horst.
The Economics of Colonization. Professor E. A. Ross.
Elizabethan Mercantilism as seen in the Corn Trade. Mr. R. G. Usher.
The Present Position of Economics in Japan. Mr. Nobushiro Sakurai.
The Economic Theories of Josiah Tucker. Mr. Robert Morris.
Urban and Suburban Residence of South End (Boston)
Factory Employés. Mr. R. F. Phelps.
The Recent History of the Standard Oil Monopoly. Mr. G. H. Montague.
State v. Local Control of the Boston Police. Mr. F. R. Cope.
The Laws regulating Muncipal Gas and Electric Plants in Massachusetts. Mr. A. D. Adams.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1902-03, pp. 431, 434-435.
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1902-03
Eight lectures on “Some Leading Principles of Political Economy and Statistics,” by Professor F. Y. Edgeworth, of Oxford University, as follows: —
The Theory of Value applied to International Trade.
The Exceptions to the Rule of Free Trade.
Value in a Regime of Monopoly.
The Value of Land and other Factors of Production.
The Taxation of Urban Site Values.
The Higher Theory of Statistics.
Index Numbers.
Supplementary.
At the Seminary of Economics:
Reports on Current American and English Economic Periodicals, respectively by Messrs. R. W. Magrane and H. M. Kallen.
Gas Profits in Massachusetts. Mr. Alton D. Adams.
Economic Problems and Conditions in the Far Northwest. Professor C. Beardsley.
Report on Economics in Italy. Mr. D. H. Webster.
Reforms in Economic Teaching in the English Universities. Professor F. Y. Edgeworth.
Reports on Current German Periodicals and Literature. Messrs. W. H. Price and G. R. Lewis.
Recent Changes in the Rate of Wages. Dr. E. D. Durand.
Classification of Occupations in Relation to the Tariff. Mr. Edward Atkinson.
A Study of the Boston Ghetto. Mr. H. M. Kallen.
Report on Current French Literature. Mr. A. B. Wolfe.
The Anatomy of a Tenement Street. Mr. H. M. Kallen.
Railroad Reorganization in the United States. Mr. S. Daggett.
The Inclosure Movement and the English Rebellions of the Sixteenth Century. Dr. E. F. Gay.
A Stock Exchange Day. Mr. Sumner B. Pearmain.
The Lodging House Problem in Boston. Mr. A. B. Wolfe.
Jewish Trade Unions in Boston. Mr. Philip Davis.
Economics of the American Corn Belt. Mr. A. J. Boynton.
Movement of Real Estate Values in American Cities. Mr. Henry Whitmore.
Report on Labor Journals and Trades Union Publications. Mr. V. Custis.
Some Phases of the American Copper Mining Industry. Mr. G. R. Lewis.
The Determination of Franchise Values. Mr. C. W. Wright.
Initiation Ceremonies among Primitive Peoples. Mr. D. H. Webster.
The Indebtedness of English Mercantilism to Holland. Mr. E. T. Miller.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1903-04, pp. 466, 469.
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1903-04
At the Seminary of Economics:
A Trip through the Corn Country of the West. Professor Carver.
Early History of Economic Studies in American Colleges. Professor Bullock.
The Growth of Labor Organization in the United States. Professor Ripley.
Industrial Combinations in Germany, with special reference to Coal. Dr. F. Walker.
Our Trade Relations with Canada. Mr. Osborne Howes.
Supervision of National Banks, solvent and insolvent, by the Comptroller of the Currency. Mr. William A. Lamson (H. U. ’81), National Bank Examiner.
The Effect of Trade Unions upon Industrial Efficiency. Mr. Henry White, Secretary of the United Garment Workers of America.
The Financing of Corporations. Hon. Charles S. Fairchild.
A Remedy for Some Industrial Troubles. Hon. William B. Rice.
The Elizabethan Patents of Monopoly. Mr. W. H. Price.
The English Miner in the Middle Ages. Mr. G. R. Lewis.
The Northern Securities Case and the Supreme Court Decision. Mr. E. B. Whitney.
Progress in Manufactures in the United States. Hon. S. N. D. North, Director United States Census Bureau.
The Expansion Periods of 1878-85 and 1897-02 compared. Mr. Sumner B. Pearmain, ’83.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1904-05, p. 457.
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1904-05
Under the auspices of the Department of Economics, Professor W. F. Willcox, of Cornell University, gave three lectures on some results of the United States census enumeration of 1900: —
1. The Population of the United States.
2. Some Statistical Aspects of the Negro Problem.
3. The Birth Rate and Death Rate of the United States.
Three lectures on the “Relations between Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations,” by Professor John R. Commons, of the University of Wisconsin: —
1. The Teamsters’ Organizations in Chicago.
2. Industrial Organizations in the Window-glass Manufacture.
3. Industrial Organizations in the Stove Manufacture.
At the Seminary of Economics:
The Forces in Industrial Consolidation. Mr. V. Custis.
Railroad Reorganization. Mr. S. Daggett.
The Specialized Literature of Economics: Periodicals, Dictionaries, and the Like. I. German Publications. Professor Taussig.
II. English and American. Professor T. N. Carver.
The French Corn Laws from 1515 to 1660. Mr. A. P. Usher.
The Meeting of the American Economic Association at Chicago. Professor Taussig.
Trade Unionism and Politics. Mr. Ray Stannard Baker.
Social Problems of American Farmers. President Kenyon L. Butterfield, of Rhode Island College of Agriculture.
Wool-growing in the United States. Mr. C. W. Wright.
Public Opinion as a Factor in Industrial Consolidation. Mr. V. Custis.
Marx’s Theory of Value. Mr. F. W. Johnston.
The Atchison System. Mr. S. Daggett.
Wool-growing in the United States since 1860. Mr. C. W. Wright.
The Negro in Boston. Mr. J. Daniels.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1905-06, pp. 456-457, 460-1.
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1905-06
Lecture. Followers of Karl Marx. Professor T. B. Veblen, of the University of Chicago.
Lecture. The Diffusion of Economic Knowledge. Professor Simon Newcomb.
At the Seminary of Economics:
Railroad Reorganization, The Philadelphia and Reading R. R. Mr. Stuart Daggett.
The Railway Rate Situation. Mr. C. A. Legg.
Stages of Economic Growth. Professor E. F. Gay.
The Finances of Boston, 1820-1860. Mr. C. P. Huse.
The Intendants and the Organization of the Corn Trade in France, 1683-1715.
Mr. A. P. Usher. Collateral Bond Issues. Mr. Thomas Warner Mitchell.
The Earlier History of the English Post-office. Mr. J. C. Hemmeon.
The Meeting of the American Economic Association at Baltimore. Professor Taussig.
The Organization of a Cooperative Business. Mr. E. A. Filene.
The Development of English Trade to the Levant. Miss G. F. Ward.
The Telephone Situation in Great Britain. Mr. A. N. Holcombe.
Characteristics of Railroad Reorganizations. Mr. Stuart Daggett.
The Distribution of Socialistic Sentiment. Professor T. B. Veblen, of the University of Chicago.
Transportation in Modern England, to 1830. Mr. W. Jackman.
The Dutch-English Rivalry, with Special Reference to Fisheries. Mr. H. L. Drury.
Recent History of the Glass Manufacture in the United States. Mr. D. F. Edwards.
A Discussion of Distribution. Mr. F. W. Johnston.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1906-07, pp. 536-7, 540.
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1906-07
Lectures on Municipal Ownership. Major Leonard Darwin, of London, England, gave a series of lectures on Municipal Ownership: —
1. The Main Issues connected with Municipal Ownership. The Regulation of Private Trade. Municipal Ownership and Local Taxation.
2. English Municipal Statistics. The Probability of Profit-Making by Municipal Ownership. Municipal Management.
3. Municipal Corruption. Wages under Municipal Ownership. The Direct Employment of Labour by Municipalities.
4. Municipal Ownership without Direct Employment. Municipal Ownership and Socialistic Ideals.
Through the courtesy of the National Civic Federation, a series of five public lectures on Socialism and the Allied Social and Economic Questions was given by W. H. Mallock, A.M.
Lecture. The New Interstate Commerce Act. Professor F. H. Dixon.
At the Seminary of Economics:
Impressions of Sociological Study in Foreign Countries. Mr. J. A. Field.
Field Observations on the Tobacco Industry. Mr. S. O. Martin.
The Financial Policy of Massachusetts from 1780 to 1800. Professor Bullock.
The Financial Policy of Alabama from 1819 to 1860. Mr. W. O. Scroggs.
The Finances of Boston, 1820-1860. Mr. C. P. Huse.
Some Aspects of the History of the English Mining Classes. Dr. G. R. Lewis.
Some Aspects of the Early Railway Era in Great Britain. Mr. William Jackman.
Land and Capital. Professor Fetter.
The Theory of Interest. Professor Fetter.
The Beet-Sugar Industry in the United States. Mr. M. H. Salz.
The Recent Tariff History of Canada. Mr. W. W. McLaren.
Commercial Education in American Universities. Mr. F. V. Thompson.
The English Board of Trade during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, and its Records. Mr. J. R. H. Moore.
The Cotton Manufacture in the United States since 1860. Mr. M. T. Copeland.
Some Discoveries in Economic History. M. le vicomte Georges d’Avenel.
A Course of Instruction in Business Management. Mr. H. S. Person.
Bank Reserves in England, Canada, and the United States. Mr. F. S. Mead.
A Journey into the Tobacco-raising Districts of the West and South. Mr. S. O. Martin.
Sketch of the Legislative History of Massachusetts Business Corporations. Mr. W. E. Rappard.
The English Fisheries, 1500-1800. Mr. H. L. Drury.
Municipal Ownership of Telephones in Great Britain. Mr. A. N. Holcombe.
Researches in a Manufacturing Suburb. Mr. E. L. Sheldon.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1907-08, pp. 431, 437-438.
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1907-08
Under the auspices of the Department of Economics, Dr. Victor S. Clark gave two lectures on Australian Economic Problems: —
1. Railways: History and Administration.
2. Railways: Description and Statistics.
Dr. Clark also gave two public lectures: —
1. State and Federal Finance in Australia.
2. The Tariff Policy of Australia.
At the Seminary of Economics:
General Principles of Railroad Reorganization. Dr. Stuart Daggett.
The Silk Manufacture. Mr. F. R. Mason.
The Silk Manufacture and the Tariff. Mr. F. R. Mason.
Certain Phases of the Theory of Population since Malthus. Mr. J. A. Field.
The Commercial Use of Credit Instruments previous to 1724. Mr. A. P. Usher.
The Conduct of Public Works in English Towns in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Miss S. L. Hadley.
The Growth of the Knit Goods Industry. Mr. M. T. Copeland.
The Foreign Trade of England during the Thirteenth Century, especially with regard to the Italian. Miss G. F. Ward.
A Statistical Survey of Italian Emigration. Mr. R. F. Foerster.
The Meetings of the Economic and Sociological Associations at Madison. Professor Carver and Mr. J. A. Field.
The Canadian Reciprocity Treaty of 1854. Mr. W. W. McLaren.
Factory Labor in Massachusetts: Legislation and Economic Condition, 1810-1880. Mr. C. E. Persons.
Tax Administration in New York City. Mr. Lawson Purdy.
The Recent History of the Standard Oil Company. Mr. H. B. Platt.
The Wool and Woolens Act of 1867. Mr. P. W. Saxton.
The Causes of the Rise in Prices since 1898. Mr. H. L. Lutz.
The Corn Law Policy in England up to 1689. Mr. N. S. B. Gras.
Agrarian Conditions in Southwest Germany from the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Century. Mr. H. C. Dale.
The Land Policy of Australia. Dr. Victor S. Clark.
Proposed Old Age Pension Legislation in England. Mr. R. M. Davis.
The Anthracite Coal Roads and the Coal Companies. Mr. E. Jones.
The Greenback Movement, with Special Reference to Iowa and Wisconsin. Mr. C. O. Ruggles.
Fibres and Fibre Products. Mr. B. S. Foss.
A Study of the Population of Cambridgeport. Mr. A. J. Kennedy.
Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1908-09, pp. 450, 455-6.
Today’s posting is a transcription of the “correlation examination” questions for mathematical economic theory given at Harvard in May 1939.
A printed copy of questions for twelve A.B. examinations in economics at Harvard for the academic year 1938-39 can be found in the Lloyd A. Metzler papers at Duke’s Economists’ Papers Project.
Concentrators in Economics will have to pass in the spring their Junior year a general examination on the department of Economics, and in the spring of their Senior year an examination correlating Economics with either History or Government (this correlating exam may be abolished by 1942), and a third one on the student’s special field, which is chosen from a list of eleven, including economic theory, economic history, money and banking, industry, public utilities, public finance, labor problems, international economics, policies and agriculture.
Courses in allied fields, including Philosophy, Mathematics, History, Government, and Sociology, are suggested by the department for each of the special fields. In addition, Geography 1 is recommended in connection with international policies or agriculture.
[Source: Harvard Crimson, May 31, 1938]
- One Departmental Examination from the Department of Economics.
- Five Division Special Examinations.
Economic Theory,
Economic History Since 1750
Money and Finance,
Market Organization and Control,
Labor Economics and Social Reform.
- One of the Six Correlation Examinations given to Honors Candidates. (May 12, 1939; 3 hours)
Economic History of Western Europe since 1750,
American Economic History,
History of Political and Economic Thought,
Public Administration and Finance,
Government Regulation of Industry,
Mathematical Economic Theory.
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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….
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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
CORRELATION EXAMINATION
Mathematical Economic Theory
(Three hours)
Answer either FOUR or FIVE questions, but not more than THREE from either group. If you answer only FOUR questions, write about one hour on ONE of the questions in Group B and mark your answer “Essay.” This question will be given double weight.
A
- A consumer’s indifference map for two goods X and Y is defined by
Draw a graph showing the five indifference curves for the values 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of the parameter a. Verify that they are of “normal” form. - A business produces an income of $x this year and $y next year, where these values can be varied according to the relation
. Show how
can be interpreted as the marginal rate of return over cost. Show that the value of this marginal rate is
when this year’s income is $x.
- The market demand for a good is given by
. The market is supplied by two duopolists with cost functions
and
. Assuming that the “conjectural variations” are zero, show that the reaction curves are straight lines. Deduce the equilibrium output of each duopolist.
- (a) A steel plan is capable of producing x tons per day of a low grade steel and y tons per day of a high grade steel, where
. If the fixed market price of low grade steel is half of that of high grade steel, show that about 5½ tons of low grade steel are produced per day for maximum total revenue.
(b) The steel producer described in Section (a) monopolizes the sale of both quality steels. If the prices of low and high grade steel are $px and $py per ton, the demands areand
. Find an equation giving the output x of low grade steel for maximum total revenue. Show, by a graphical method, that just under 6 tons of this steel are produced per day.
- Given the marginal utility equations
,
,
for which the indifference curves are the rectangular hyperbolasand
, given initial amounts a1, b1, and a2, b2 for the individuals (1) and (2) respectively, show that the equilibrium point for a single price transaction is
,
, where
.
- The demand for tea is
and for coffee
thousand lbs. per week, where p1 and p2 are the respective prices of tea and coffee in pence per lb. At what relative prices of tea and coffee are the demands equal? Draw a graph to show the shifts of the demand curve for tea when the price of coffee increases from 2s to 2s 6d and to 3s per lb.
- The production function is
, where A,
and
are constants. If the factors are increased in proportion, show that the product increases in greater or less proportion according as
is greater or less than unity. How is this property shown on a vertical section of the production surface through 0 and a given point on the surface? What is the special property of the case
?
- Examine the utility function
, where a, b and c are positive constants, and show that the indifference map is a set of parabolic arcs and of normal form for certain ranges of values of the purchases x and y.
- If
= constant is the transformation function for two goods X and Y, that the marginal rate of substitution of Y production for X production is
and that the elasticity of substitution is always unity.
- A monopolist produces cheap razors and blades at a constant average cost of 2s per razor and 1s per dozen blades. The demand of the market per week is
thousand razors and
thousand dozen blades when the prices are p1 (shillings per razor) and p2 (shillings per dozen blades). Show that the monopoly prices, fixed jointly, are 4s. per razor and 2s. per dozen blades.
B
- (a) A radio manufacturer produces x sets per week at a total cost of
. He is a monopolist and the demand of his market is
, when the price is $p per set. Show that the maximum net revenue is obtained when about 30 sets are produced per week. What is the monopoly price? Illustrate by drawing an accurate graph.
(b) In the case of Section (a), a tax of $k per set is imposed by the government. The manufacturer adds the tax to his cost and determines the monopoly output and price under the new conditions. Show that the price increases by rather less than half the tax. Find the decrease in output and monopoly revenue in terms of k.
Express the receipts from the tax in terms of k and determine the tax for maximum return. Show that the monopoly price increases by about 33 per cent. when this particular tax is imposed. - (a) If
is an individual’s utility function for two goods, show that his demands for the goods are
and
where px and py are the fixed prices and
the individual’s fixed income. Deduct that the elasticity of demand for either good with respect to income or to its price is equal to unity.
(b) The incomes of an individual in two years areand and
his utility function for incomes is
for loans this year decreases as the given market rate of interest 100r per cent. increases. Deduce that the individual will not borrow this year at any (positive) rate of interest if
.
- Discuss this quotation from Chamberlin: “We must conclude that the problems of proportion [among the factors] and of size cannot ordinarily be separated. The goal of the entrepreneur is not to discover the most efficient proportions and then to reproduce these continuously until the most efficient size is secured.”
- Discuss this quotation from Douglas: “Since the demand curves for labor and capital tend to approximate and to conform to the respective marginal productivity curves, it follows that an increase of 1 per cent in the quantity of labor would, other things being equal, normally tend to be followed by a decrease of ¼ per cent in the rate of wages.”
[He uses a production function]
- Discuss this quotation from Broster: “Secondly, the chief concern of the railways is the maximization not of gross but of net revenue the maximum values of which are not the simultaneous product of the same level of fares. As is well known, the fare that attracts the former is that which corresponds to unit elasticity. It is perhaps not so well known—especially amongst the managers of sales departments—that except where the total cost remains constant for different rates of output of services, the fare that attracts the maximum net revenue is necessarily higher.”
- Discuss this quotation from Hicks: “The elasticity of substitution of labor for capital is the same as the elasticity of substitution of capital for labor.”
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Lloyd Appleton Metzler Papers. Box 7. [Harvard University], Division of History, Government and Economics. Division Examinations for the Degree of A.B., 1938-39.
In this posting I first provide links to six successive editions of Charles F. Dunbar’s textbook on the theory and history of banking (four of which revised and expanded posthumously).
Next, following President Eliot’s memoir from the last posting, I append here the obituary for Charles F. Dunbar written by Frank W. Taussig published February 3, 1900 in the Cambridge Tribune.
Another memoir (written by Edward H. Hall) regarding Dunbar was published in vol. 14 (1900-01) of the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, pp. 218-228.
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Dunbar, Charles F. Chapters on Banking, privately printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Zero edition, 1885. Eight chapters printed for the use of classes in Harvard University.
Dunbar, Charles F. Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking. New York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, The Knickerbocker Press.
First edition, 1891. Added introductory chapter, chapter on combined reserves or the system of Clearing-House loan certificates and one on the Bank of Amsterdam.
Note: title shortened for second through fourth edition to The Theory and History of Banking.
Second edition, 1901. Enlarged and edited by O. M. W. Sprague.
Third edition, 1917. Enlarged by Oliver M. W. Sprague to include three new chapters on Foreign Exchange, Central Banks and on the Federal Reserve System.
Fourth edition, 1922. With chapters on foreign exchange and central banks by Oliver M. W. Sprague and a supplementary chapter presenting the record of the Federal Reserve System by Henry Parker Willis.
Fifth edition, 1929 With supplementary chapter presenting the record of the Federal Reserve System by Henry Parker Willis. Revised and in part rewritten with additional material by Oliver M. W. Sprague. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
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Charles Franklin Dunbar.
Charles Franklin Dunbar, professor of Political Economy in Harvard University, died at his house, on Highland street, on the night of Monday, January 29. He had been ill for some weeks, but his friends had not thought the end would come so soon.
Professor Dunbar was born July 28, 1830, and graduated from Harvard College in 1851. Among his class-mates were Professors Goodwin and Langdell, and Dr. S. A. Green; and, among those whom death has already carried away, Professor W. F. Allen of the University of Wisconsin, General Francis W. Palfrey, and Messrs. George O. Shattuck and Augustus T. Perkins of Boston. Professor Dunbar studied law after graduation, but in a few years became connected with the Boston Advertiser. To that paper he gave some of the best years of his life. He became editor-in-chief in 1862, and so was in charge of the paper during the greater part of the civil war. While always independent in his judgments, he was a fervid supporter of the Union cause, and many of his editorials rang through New England like a trumpet blast. In 1869 the paper changed hands, and Professor Dunbar resigned as editor and disposed of his interest. He was invited shortly to accept the professorship in Harvard University, and after two years spent in travel and study in Europe, assumed the duties of the professorship, in 1871. For the rest of his life he was in active service, and a resident of Cambridge through these thirty years.
Professor Dunbar’s sagacity and tact led to his selection for important administrative offices. He was dean of the Faculty of Harvard College from 1876 to 1882, and was the first dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in Harvard University when that body was organized in 1890. He remained its dean till 1895. From 1886 to 1896 he was editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, established by the University in the first named year.
Professor Dunbar was distinguished by solidity of learning, sanity of judgment, independence of views, and scholarly thoroughness in probing to the bottom every subject he took up. His favorite topics were banking, currency and financial administration. He was interested alike in the history of these subjects and in current problems connected with them. Probably no man was better equipped by attainments and by justness of views to give advice on the financial questions which have been before the American community for the last thirty years. His writings on them gave but fragmentary indication of his attainments. He published a compact volume on the “Theory and Practice of Banking,” [sic, correct title is “The Theory and History of Banking”] which, though brief, is the best book on this subject in the English language, and in some respects perhaps the best in any language. To the Quarterly Journal of Economics he contributed frequent articles on financial subjects, and on some questions of theory; and he had abundance of material for others which he had planned but unhappily was not able to prepare. His administrative duties absorbed a large share of his strength, and stood in the way of the execution of his literary plans.
Professor Dunbar was a member of the Massachusetts Historical society, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was at one time president of the American Economic association. His reputation abroad was at least as high as it was in the United States: among economists the world over he was known as a scholar of the first rank.
An easy and graceful writer, he was also a clear and attractive lecturer, with a remarkable faculty for the consecutive and systematic exposition of difficult subjects. The weakness of his voice was the only obstacle which ever stood in the way of the interest and easy comprehension of his lectures. With small classes of advanced students he was at his best, and no one who came in contact with him under such circumstances failed to cherish feelings of admiration and affection far him. Staunch in his own opinions, open-minded as to those of others, free from all vanity or ostentation, strong in his affection for those with whom he came into close association, he left a memory which will be cherished by his associates and former students. F. W. Taussig.
Source: Cambridge Tribune, Vol. XXII, No. 48 (February 3, 1900), p. 4.
Image Source: From cover of the 1885 copy privately published Chapters of Banking.