Category: History of Economics

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Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Graduate history of political economy course. Taylor, 1948-49

 

 

Overton Hume Taylor served as the Harvard economics department’s one-man show of PPE interdisciplinarity at both the undergraduate and graduate level for about two decades covering the middle of the 20th century. Materials from six of his courses have already been posted.

Econ 1. (with Leontief and Chamberlin) Honors Economic Theory, 1939-40
Econ 1b. Intellectual Background of Economic Thought, 1941, [Final Exam for the Course]
Econ 115. (with Leontief) Programs of Social and Economic Reconstruction, 1942-43
Econ 115. Economic and Political Ideas, 1948 , [Mid-year Exam for Economic and Political Ideas]
Econ 111. (with others) Economics of Socialism, 1950
Econ 111. Socialism, 1955

Here is a link to Taylor’s A History of Economic Thought (1960) that puts between two covers much, if not all, of what he had to say about the history of economics, politics and philosophy. 

Kindred spirits are to be found behind the course syllabi by Louis Putterman at Brown (1995) and Michael Piore at M.I.T (1977) posted earlier.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 205a (formerly Economics 105a). Main Currents of Thought in Economics and Related Studies over Recent Centuries (F). Dr. O. H. Taylor.

Total 15: 4 Graduates, 3 Seniors, 6 Public Administration, 2 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1948-49, p. 77.

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Course Syllabus

Main Currents of Thought in Economics and Related Studies over Recent Centuries
Economics 205a
1948-49

  1. September 30—October 7. Introduction: Plato and the Middle Ages; Hobbes and the Mercantilists

Reading: (1) Plato Republic, Book II; (2) Hobbes, Leviathan, Chs. 1, 6, 13, 14, 17, 18, 21, 24; (3) One of the following: Sir T. Mun, England’s Treasure; Sir J. Child, Discourses in Trade; Sir D. North, Discourse on Trade; or Locke, Interest and Money

Thursday, September 30, Introductory lecture.

Tuesday, October 5. Plato and the ancient-medieval antecedents of modern-western culture and economic thought. Modernity vs. medievalism; 17th century England; and Hobbes vs. Plato

Thursday, October 7. 17th century English mercantilism and economic theory

  1. October 14—21. Liberalism; Locke, the Physiocrats, and Adam Smith; and Benthamism

Reading: (1) O. H. Taylor, 2 articles on natural law ideas and economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 44; (2) Locke, Civil Government, II, Chs. 2, 5, 7-12, inclusive; and (3) Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Chs. 1-7.

[Tuesday, October 12, Holiday]

Thursday, October 14. Liberalism and economic thought-varieties of former and their effects on latter—from early-modern times to the present

Tuesday, October 19. Ethical natural law and early-modern liberalism. Locke vs. Hobbes. Locke, Newton, and 18th century ideas of the natural order. Philosophies and economic theories of the Physiocrats and Adam Smith

Thursday, October 21. Benthamism. Utility and natural law. Utilitarian liberalism and classical economics

  1. October 26—November 4. Malthus and Ricardo; the Romantic Reaction: Comte; Early Socialism and J. S. Mill

Reading: (1) Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy, Chs. 11-6; (2) Sabine, History of Political Theory, Chs. 28, 29, 30, 34; (3) A. Comte, Positive Philosophy (translation, Martineau), Introd. Ch. 1; Book VI, 1, 2; and (4) J. S. Mill, Logic, Book VI.

Tuesday, October 26. (1) Malthus vs. the anarchist-socialists; (2) Ricardo’s Economic theory

Thursday, October 28. The romantic reaction against rationalism, science and liberalism. Political and economic ideas of the English romanticists. Special development of this outlook in Germany

Tuesday, November 2. Romanticism, positivism, and the main 18th century outlook-interrelations. The positivism of August Comte vs. liberalism and economic science

Thursday, November 4. (1) Pre-Marxian socialism; (2) J. S. Mill’s attempted synthesis

  1. November 9—18. Marxism

Reading: (1) Burns, Handbook of Marxism, Chs. 1, 13, 14, 22, 26, 29, 30; (2) Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Part I.

Tuesday, November 9. “Utopian” socialism, Hegel, Ricardo, and Marx; and the Marxian theory of history

[Thursday, November 11, Holiday]

Tuesday, November 16. The Marxian economics—theory of capitalism

Thursday, November 18. The Marxian vision of the future beyond capitalism; and concluding remarks on Marxism

  1. November 23—December 7. Victorian Conservative Liberalism and Neo-Classical Economics

Reading: A. Marshall, Principles of Economics, Book I, Chs. 1 and 2; Appendices A, B; Book III; Book IV, Chs. 1-3 inclusive and 8-13 inclusive; Book V, Chs. 1-5 inclusive

Tuesday, November 23. How in late 19th century the classical liberalism, originally a radical, became a conservative ideology. Social Philosophy of conservative liberalism, and new developments of economic theory in this context after 1870

[Thursday, November 25, Holiday]

Tuesday, November 30. Utility economics and utilitarianism—the free price system and economic welfare. Marginal productivity and distributive justice—Clark and Carver. And neo-classical theories about capital, money, business cycles, monopoly, and economic progress.

Thursday, December 2. The development, value, and limitations of mathematical economics

Tuesday, December 7. The special views and system of Alfred Marshall

  1. December 9—16. Veblen; Chamberlin; and Keynes

Reading: Max Lerner; The Portable Veblen (Viking Library), pp. 215-297; 306-349; 377-395; 431-467

Thursday, December 9. Thorstein Veblen’s philosophy and sociology (called economics) vs. the main-tradition economics. His contributions to “institutional economics,” and to the “New Deal” and latter-day American  liberalism.”

Tuesday, December 14. Veblen vs. neo-classical theory of competition, and Chamberlin’s theory of monopolistic competition. Critique of latter as analysis, and in its bearings and problems of public policy.

Thursday, December 16. “Keynesianism” the decisive break with neo-classicism and the old economic-liberal orthodoxy. Its antecedents in the main tradition of economic theory, and relations to mercantilism, liberalism, and socialism. Its contribution to analysis and policy, and its limitations.

[Reading Period]

“Dr. Taylor will announce assignment in class.”

[Based on last examination question below, the reading period assignment would probably have been: David Wright, Democracy and Progress]

 

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

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Final Examination

ECONOMICS 205a
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
1948-49

Write on four questions, including the first and last in the following list. Devote one hour to the first question, and one hour to one of the others, marking as such your two one-hour essays.

  1. Discuss the statements (a), (b), and (c) below—each in turn, briefly, indicating with reasons your agreement or disagreement. Then either select the one (if any) which you agree with, or otherwise state your own position on the problem; and apply (illustrate) that position through relevant comments on any two of the general patterns of political-and-economic thought considered in the course.
    1. “Historical study of the co-variation of economic with political thought refutes the scientific claims of economics. Economists have always divided into ‘schools,’ on political lines; and each ‘school’ has developed its own system of economic theory, in conflict with all others, and in a close tie-up with its own partisan, political philosophy.”
    2. “Economists have too often mingled and confused suggestions of their personal, philosophical and political opinions with their contributions to scientific, economic theory or analysis. But in reality the former have been irrelevant, the latter independent of them; and the competent economists of all political persuasions have converged to agreement in the field of the science itself.”
    3. “The political philosophies of economists have not as a rule made their economic theories by any means wholly unscientific or non-scientific, nor—however sharp the oppositions between the former—irreconcilable. But they have produced biased concentrations on the special groups of economic-scientific problems seen as important from the standpoints of the political philosophies; and made all economic theories partial analyses, disclosing means to desired ends.”
  2. “Unqualified adherence to the premise that ‘natural’ human behavior is simply rational pursuit of individual self-interest, would have logically obliged Adam Smith and the classical economists after him to follow Hobbes in supporting a ‘Totalitarian,’ despotic government as indispensable for civil peace and order; and to follow the ‘mercantilist’ writers in supporting economic controls by such a government, as indispensable for national prosperity and an orderly working of the national economy. The ‘liberal,’ political and policy views of Adam Smith and his followers required and had as their ultimate foundation, a belief—shared with Locke but not with Hobbes—that moral self-restraint in deference to the rights of others is a ‘natural,’ human disposition, capable of limiting self-interested action to what is consistent with it.” Discuss.
  3. “The entire main tradition of economic theory, in its development from the eighteenth through the nineteenth into the twentieth century, retained, in defiance of growing factual evidence, a strong optimistic bias about the free-competition market economy—identification of its equilibrium with a social-economic optimum—which had its sole origin in the eighteenth century’s optimistic, metaphysical belief in an harmonious, natural order.” Discuss.
  4. Discuss the apparent and often alleged intellectual debts or similarities of basic elements of (a) Ricardian classical economic theory, (b) the later body of ‘neo-classical’ theory emphasizing ‘marginal utility’ etc., and (c) Pigou’s and more recent theories of ‘welfare economics,’ to Bentham’s psychological, ethical, and social theories. What elements of each (a, b, and c) might appear to derive from ‘Benthamism,’ and what real similarities and significant differences do you see between them and the corresponding elements of the latter?
  5. Describe and discuss either (a) the English and German ‘romantic’ or (b) August Comte’s ‘positivistic’ line of attack upon the classical-liberal pattern of political-and-economic thought and its ‘eighteenth century philosophical foundation.’
  6. Compare and discuss Ricardo’s and Marx’s “labor theory of value”—explaining how each author developed, supported, construed, and used the theory; the points wherein you think they agreed or differed; and the points you would make in defense and/or criticism of each author’s theory.
  7. Outline, explain briefly, and discuss critically the main philosophical and economic-theoretical ingredients of the Marxian “dynamic” theory of evolving capitalism.
  8. “In the development of economic theory since its early classical period, the prevalence of a too single-minded pursuit of increasing logical precision and rigor, mistakenly conceived as the whole of scientific progress, has made theory increasingly abstract and decreasingly useful in the study of concrete, real problems.”
  9. Compare and contrast the Veblenian with the Marxian theory of the modern ‘capitalist’ culture, the ‘class’ conflict within it, why and how ‘business’ injures the economic welfare of society, and the kind of régime which should (and will or may) replace ‘capitalism’ in the future; and develop your own appraisal or critique of Veblen’s views on these matters.
  10. Write your own summary of and commentary on the central thesis of David Wright’s “Democracy and Progress,” concerning the historic method or secret of modern economic progress, and the cultural and political trends now menacing its continuance.

 

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

Image Source:  Overton Hume Taylor, Lecturer on Economics and Tutor. Harvard Class Album, 1939.

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Columbia History of Economics Undergraduate

Columbia. Undergraduate History of Economics Syllabus, Assignments. Gregg, ca. 1951

 

 

In the Joseph Dorfman Papers Collection at Columbia University, the following materials for a General Studies economics course on the history of economics taught by Dorothy E. Gregg were found. Gregg was awarded an economics Ph.D. in 1951. Dissertation title: The exploitation of the steamboat–the case of Colonel John Stevens.

For the next post I have saved biographical and career information that I found in the process of my sleuthing to identify the mysterious “Dr. D. Gregg”. While she quite apparently never went farther in research concerning the history of economics, her course materials would indicate a fairly serious academic interest in the history of economics. Joseph Dorfman, who taught the graduate history of economics courses at Columbia, added her materials to his own teaching files.

 

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G.S. ECONOMICS 11
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
Fall Semester
GENERAL OUTLINE OF COURSE
(Dr. Gregg)

The chief object of this course “…is primarily to acquaint you with the way in which economics has developed as part of humanity’s struggle to deal with the problems that evolving social life has brought upon us, to deal with those problems by trying to think them out, by seeing how successive generations have faced their problems, what they thought to be the central points of difficulty, the matters of grave social concern, and how they have dealt with those problems to which they have attached such importance…One of the results of any survey of the development of economic doctrine is to show that in very large measure the important departures in economic theory have been intellectual responses to changing current problems. That is, the economic theorists who have counted most in the development of thought have been men who have been very deeply concerned with problems that troubled their generations. Their theories have…dealt definitely with what ought to be done…We have good ground for supposing that the further growth of our science will be shaped in very large measure by the appearance of how social problems and the reaction of trained minds toward those problems…The times in which we live are likely to produce a very considerable stimulus to the growth of economics…And those of you who are now young and looking forward to the future have…a peculiarly heavy responsibility to face, a responsibility of endeavoring to equip yourselves thoroughly for constructive work in a task which the world need to have solved fare more desperately than it needed such aid or was conscious of needing such aid in recent generations.”
(from class lecture by Professor Wesley Mitchell, Columbia University, 1934-35.)

Books and Materials

The required texts for the course are: (1) Eric Roll, A History of Economic Thought, 1947 ed., (Prentice-Hall), (2) Masterworks of Economics, edited by Leonard Dalton Abbott (Doubleday & Co.), (3) Selections from The Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Macmillan, 1 vol. edition).

Unless otherwise noted, the greater part of the reading in the course will be in reference books to be found either in Burgess Library on the fourth floor, southwest wing, of the Nicholas Murray Butler Library or in Business Library, second floor of Butler Library. The running outline of the course is supplied in a mimeographed syllabus.

Reading Assignments

(An asterisk (*) indicates the required readings; the other readings are recommended)

SECTION I – MEDIEVAL ECONOMICS

*Roll, Eric, pp. 33-57
Bloch, M. “Feudalism—European,” in E.S.S., vol. VI, pp. 203-210.
Pirenne, H., Economic and Social History of Medieval Europe, pp. 45-57, 58-67, ch. IV, chs. VI-VII; Medieval Cities (1939 ed.), chs. 7-8
*Tawney, R.H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, (35¢ Pelican ed.), ch. I, “The Medieval Background,” pp. 11-60

SECTION II—MERCANTILISM

*Roll, pp. 57-132
*Thomas Mun, “England’s Treasure by Foreign Trade,” in Masterworks in Economics, pp. 11-37
Hayes, C., “Nationalism,” E.S:S:, v. XI, pp. 241-8
Malynes, Gerald, Consuetudo, ch. 9
Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, vol. 2, pp. 1-20, 25-52, 214-223

SECTION III—THE PHYSIOCRATS

*Roll, pp. 132-142
*Turgot, “Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Wealth,” in Masterworks, pp. 39-61
Quesnay, F., Economic Works (ed, A. Oncken, 1888), pp. 305-378, 538

SECTION IV—THE PRECONCEPTIONS OF ECONOMICS

  1. The Basic Preconceptions of Economics
    1. The various strains

*Veblen, Thorstein, “The Preconceptions of Economic Science, I, II, and III,” in The Place of Science in Modern Civilization, pp. 82-179
Ayres, C.E., The Theory of Economic Progress, chs. 1-4
Polanyi, Karl, The Great Transformation, chs. 5-6
*Hamilton, Walton, “Competition,” E.S.S., v. 4, pp. 141-47
*Laski, H.J., “The Rise of Liberalism,” E.S.S., v. 1, pp. 103-124
Brinton, Crane, “The Revolutions,” E.S.S., v. 1, pp. 124-144
*Beard, C.A., “Individualism and Capitalism,” E.S.S., v. 1, pp. 145-63
Mannheim, Karl, Ideology and Utopia, ch. 4
*Cole, G.D.H., “Laissez-faire,” E.S.S., v. 9, pp. 15-20
*Sombart, Werner, “Capitalism,” E.S.S., v. 3, pp. 195-202
“Economics”, “Liberalism”, “Natural Law”, “Natural Harmony”, “Natural Order”, “Utilitarianism”, “Hedonism”, “Social Darwinism”, “Freedom of Contract”, “Liberty”, “Rationalism”, “Nationalism”, “Social Contract”, “Natural Rights”, “Property”, “Vested Interests”, in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
*Becker, Carl, The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth Century Philosophers, ch. 2
*Hofstadter, Richard, Social Darwinism in American Thought, chs. 2-3, 10
Spencer, Herbert, “Poor Laws,” in Man Versus the State(1892 ed.), pp. 144-55
*Commons, J.R., Legal Foundations of Capitalism, chs. 7-9
Tawney, R.H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, ch. 4, pp. 164-226
Weber, Max, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, chs. 2, 4-5
Robertson, H.M., Aspects of the Rise of Individualism, ch. 7
Parsons, Talcott, “Capitalism” in Recent German Literature: Sombart and Weber(an essay)
Sombart, Werner, The Quintessence of Capitalism, chs. 1-6
*Arnold, Thurman, The Folklore of Capitalism, chs. 1-5, 8-12
*Hogben, Lancelot, Retreat from Reason, chs. 2-3
Hawkins, Willard E., Castaways of Plenty: A Parable of Our Times(Basic Books)
Sumner, W.G., Folkways, ch. 15

    1. Utilitarianism, or the “felicific calculus”

“For political economy, ever since Adam Smith, has rested entirely on the thesis of the natural identity of interests. By the mechanism of exchange and the division of labour individuals, without desiring or knowing it, and while pursuing each his own interest, are working for the direct realization of the general interest.” (Eli Halévy, The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism,p. 16)

      1. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
        *(1) Leslie Stephen, The English Utilitarians, [remaining half line smudged, illegible]
        (2) Eli Halévy, The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism, [remaining half line smudged, illegible]; Pt. II, ch. 3; Pt. III, ch. 1,4
        (3) Edwin A. Burtt, ed., The English Philosophers [remaining half line smudged, illegible]

(a) Bentham, “An Introduction to the Principles [remaining half line smudged, illegible] Legislation,” pp. 791-852

SECTION V—THE CLASSICAL SYSTEM

  1. Adam Smith (1725-1790)
    1. General

*Roll, pp. 143-183
*Smith, Adam, “The Wealth of Nations,” in Masterworks, pp. 63-189

    1. Value

Smith, Adam, The Wealth of Nations, Introduction and Plan of Work, and Bk. I, ch. 4 (last two pages), chs. 5-7 (Cannan’s ed., v. 1, pp. 30-40, 49-65)
Whittaker, Edmund, A History of Economic Ideas, pp. 95-108

    1. Wages

Smith, Adam, the Wealth of Nations, Bk. 1, chs. 8, 10, Pt. I (Cannan’s ed., v. 1, pp. 66-88, 101-120)
Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 199-200, 229-238, 359-362

    1. Profits

Smith, Adam, The Wealth of Nations, Bk. 1, ch. 9; Bk. 2, ch. 4 (Cannan’s ed., v. 1, pp. 89-100, 332-339)
Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 200-203, 276-279, 366-369

    1. Rent

Smith, Adam, The Wealth of Nations, Bk. 1, ch. 11, secs. 1 and 2, and “Conclusion of the Chapter” (Cannan’s ed., v. 1, pp. 45-175, 247-257)
Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 216-221, 310-312

    1. Capital

Smith, Adam, The Wealth of Nations, Bk. 2, “Introduction,” and chs. 1, 3, 5 (Cannan’s ed., v. I, pp. 259-269, 313-331, 340-354)
Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 53-89

MID-TERM EXAMINATION OF NOVEMBER 8. The questions on the exam will be drawn from the “Study Questions” at the end of the syllabus.

  1. The Period 1776-1817
    1. The Doctrine of Population

*Roll, pp. 207-211
*Malthus, T.R., An Essay on the Principle of Population, 1sted., chs. 1, 2, 8, 8-15; 7thed., Bk. 1, chs. 1-2; Bk. 2, ch. 13, Bk. 3, chs. 1-3; Bk 4, chs. 1, 3, OR Masterworks, pp. 191-270.
Bonar, J., “The Malthusiad: Fantasia Economica,” in Essays Contributed in Honor of John Bates Clark, pp. 22-28
Keene, James, “Two lectures on the subject of Machinery, delivered at the Bath mechanics’ institution; tending to prove that machinery is not the cause of the distress among the industrious classes; that the country is not over-populated; and that the real causes of the distress are within the power of the people to remove.” (1831, Seligman Library)

    1. The Doctrine of Diminishing Returns and of Rent

Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 147-168
*Whittaker, E., pp. 384-392
Malthus, T.R., “Observations on the Effects of the Corn Laws”
Malthus, T.R., “On the Policy of Restricting the Importation of Foreign Corn”
Malthus, T.R., “The Nature and Progress of Rent”

    1. Theories of Profit (Interest)
      1. The Residual Claimant Theory (Ricardo)
        *Whittaker, E., pp. 611-613
        Ricardo, D., “The Influence of a Low Price of Corn on the Profits of Stock” (reprinted in Ricardo’s Economic Essays, Gonner ed.)
      2. The Productivity Theory

Lauderdale, An Inquiry Into the Nature and Origin of Public Wealth
Boehm-Bawerk, Capital and Interest, Bk. 2, chs. 1-3 (to p. 149)
*Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 107-109, 203-204

  1. David Ricardo (1772-1823)
    1. General

*Roll, pp. 183-207
*Ricardo, “Principles of Political Economy and Taxation,” in Masterworks, pp. 271-342
Mitchell, W.C., “Postulates and Preconception of Ricardian Economics,” in Essays in Philosophy, ed. By T.V. Smith and W.K. Wright
Stephen, Leslie, The English Utilitarians, v. 2, ch. 5

    1. Value

Ricardo, D., Principles of Political Economy, chs. 1, 4, 20, 28, 30
Hollander, J.H., “The Development of Ricardo’s Theory of Value,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, v. 18, pp. 455-491, Aug., 1904
McCracken, H.L., Value Theory and Business Cycles, ch. 1
Whitaker, A.C., History and Criticism of the Labor Theory of Value, ch. 5

    1. Rent

Ricardo, D., Principles of Political Economy, chs. 2, 3, 24, 32
Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 225-227, 321-332

    1. Wages

Ricardo, D., Principles of Political Economy, ch. 5
Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 242-257
Wermel, M.T., The Evolution of Classical Wage Theory, pp. 153-161

    1. Profits

Ricardo, D., Principles of Political Economy, chs. 11, 21
Boehm-Bawerk, pp. 87-95
Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 279-291, 339-354

  1. Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834)
    1. General

*Roll, Eric, pp. 212-226
Patten, T.N., “Malthus and Ricardo,” in Essays in Economic Theory
Stephen, Leslie, The English Utilitarians, chs. 4, 6

    1. Value

*Malthus, T.R., Principles of Political Economy, 2nded., Bk. 1, chs. 2,6

    1. Rent

Malthus, T.R., Principles of Political Economy, Bk. 1, ch. 3
Whittaker, E., pp. 502-503

    1. Wages

Malthus, T.R., Principles of Political Economy, Bk. 1, ch. 4
Cannan, Theories of Production and Distribution, pp. 257-259
Wermel, M.T., The Evolution of Classical Wage Theory, pp. 139-152

    1. Profits and Capital

Malthus, T.H., Principles of Political Economy, Bk. 1, ch. 6; Bk. 2, ch. 1; secs. 3,5

SECTION VI—REACTION AGAINST CLASSICISM

  1. The Romantics.

*Roll, Eric, pp. 226-248
Dorfman, Joseph, The Economic Mind in American Civilization, v. 1, pp. 382-397; OR Johnson, E.A.J., Some Origins of the Modern Economic World, pp. 126-141

  1. Early Social Criticism
    1. General

*Roll, pp. 248-270

    1. Utopian Socialism
      1. Robert Owen

*Owen, Robert, “A New View of Society”, in Masterworks, pp. 343-378
Beer, M., History of British Socialism, v. 1, pp. 160-181
Laidler, H.W., History of Socialist Thought, ch. 10
“Owen and Owenism”, in E.S.S.

      1. Fourier

Fourier, C., Selections from the Works of Fourier (esp. “Introduction”)
Laidler, H.W., History of Socialist Thought, pp. 69-74, 123-133
Ely, R.T., French and German Socialism, ch.. 5
**Fourier and Fourierism” and “Brook Farm” in E.S.S.

  1. Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)
    1. General

*Roll, Eric, pp. 271-324.
*Marx, Karl, „Capital“ in Masterworks, pp. 453-614

    1. Marxian Philosophy and Interpretation of History

Handbook of Marxism, ed. by Emile Burns, pp. 21-59, 209-231, 240-301, 370-401, 537-547, 634-673.
Strachey, John, The Theory and Practice of Socialism, chs. 28-32
___________, The Coming Struggle for Power, chs. 1,2

    1. Value and Surplus Value; the Machinery of Capitalist Exploitation

Handbook of Marxism, pp. 405-275, 547-552.
Marx, Capital, v. 3, chs. 1-3, 8-10.
Engels, F., Herr Eugen Dühring’s Revolution in Science (International Publishers, ed.), pp. 211-250
*Dobb, Maurice, Political Economy and Capitalism, chs. 1, 3
Cole, G.D.H., What Marx Really Meant, chs. 7,8
*Sweezy, Paul, The Theory of Capitalist Development, ch. 4

    1. The Laws of Capitalist Development

Handbook of Marxism, pp. 475-547, 552-570
*Dobb, Maurice, Political Economy and Capitalism, ch. 4
*Sweezy, chs. 8, 9, 12
*Lenin, N., “Imperialism”
Cole, G.D.H., What Marx Really Meant, chs. 3,4
Strachey, John, The Coming Struggle for Power, Pt. II, Pt. IV

    1. Criticism of Marxian Theory

*Veblen, T., “The Socialist Economics of Karl Marx, I and II,” in The Place of Science in Modern Civilization, pp. 409-456.
Skelton, O.D., Socialism: A Critical Analysis, chs. 5-7
Boehm-Bawerk, Karl Marx and the Close of His System

  1. Heterodox Socialism
    1. Revisionism

Loucks, and Hoot, Comparative Economic Systems, ch. 15
*Laidler, H.W., History of Socialist Thought, chs. 20-21
Bernstein, E., Evolutionary Socialism

    1. Fabian Socialism

Fabian Tracts, No. 7, 70, 142, 147, 159, 164
*Fabian Essays, pp. 3-29, 131, 149, 173-201
Webb, S. and B., A Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain
Laidler, H.W., History of Socialist Thought, chs. 17-18, 29

    1. Revolutionary Socialism (non-Marxist brand)

Laidler, H.W., History of Socialist Thought, ch. 22
Estey, J.A., Revolutionary Syndicalism, ch. 5
*Sorel, G., Reflections on Violence

 

G.S. HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
Fall Semester
STUDY QUESTIONS

SECTION I-MEDIEVAL ECONOMICS

    1. Outline the social structure of medieval Europe and the economic organization of the manorial economy.
    2. Trace the development of the medieval concept of “just price” as the beginning of a theory of value.
    3. Trace the evolution of the attitude of the medieval church toward usury.
    4. Trace the evolution of the attitude of the medieval church toward commerce and trade.
    5. What were the most powerful economic forces leading to the breakdown of medieval society?

SECTION II—MERCANTILISM

    1. Discuss the thesis that mercantilism can be explained primarily in terms of state-making. Do you agree?
    2. Discuss the thesis that mercantilism can be explained primarily in terms of the national and international power struggles of the rising bourgeoisie. Do you agree?
    3. Discuss the mercantilist attitude toward; (a) money (b) interest (c) international trade (d) domestic industry (c) wages (f) population.
    4. Distinguish between bullionism and mercantilism proper.
    5. Compare and contrast mercantilism and the classical economic system.

SECTION III—THE PHYSIOCRATS

    1. Discuss the meaning of the phrase “produit net.” Compare this concept with the labor theory of value and surplus value.
    2. Analyze the circulation of this “produit net” as set forth in Quesnay’s “Tableau oeconomique”
    3. What role did agriculture play in the physiocratic theoretical structure? Give reasons for this.
    4. Compare and contrast physiocracy and the classical economic system.

SECTION IV—THE PRECONCEPTIONS OF ECONOMICS

  1. The Basic Preconceptions
    1. The various strains
      1. Trace the importance of the following concepts for the development of the classical economic system:
        (1) Protestant Ethics
        (2) rationalism
        (3) natural order
        (4) individualism
        (5) laissez-faire
        (6) liberalism
        (7) competition, scarcity, and the survival of the fittest
        (8) Social Darwinism
      2. Compare Sombart’s and Weber’s explanations of the main forces leading to the rise and development of capitalism.
    2. Utilitarianism, or the “felicific calculus”
      1. Distinguish between the “Westminster philosophy” and the “Manchester philosophy”, showing the utilitarian roots of each. What major differences in policy flowed from these two schools?
      2. Which school triumphed in England? What social and economic forces brought this about and what were the consequences of the triumph?
      3. According to Bentham, what are the forces which control human behavior and how are these forces to be measured?
      4. What are the major difficulties in Bentham’s theory of human nature? Explore the full implications of Bentham’s theory of human nature.
      5. Discuss Halévy’s statement that “political economy, ever since Adam Smith has rested entirely on the thesis of the natural identity of interests.”
      6. What is the basic paradox of the thesis of the natural identity of interests?

SECTION V—THE CLASSICAL SYSTEM

  1. Adam Smith
    1. State or describe the preconceptions and assumptions of Adam Smith’s system of economic thought.
    2. How did Adam Smith define and measure the wealth of a nation? Can you suggest reasons for his particular definition and measurement? Summarize briefly what Smith regarded as the causes of the wealth of nations and note the implications of his argument.
    3. Develop Smith’s theory of economic order.
    4. State Smith’s theory (or theories) of value.
    5. Develop in some detail Smith’s theory of distribution, noting his concepts of the distributive shares, the determinants of each, and contradictory elements in this theory.
    6. Develop and analyze critically Smith’s theories (a) of saving, and (b) of capital.
    7. Discuss Smith’s theory of production.
  1. The Period 1776-1817
    1. Account for Malthus’ first essay on population and develop the doctrine expounded in the first essay.
    2. What are the chief differences between the first and the second essays?
    3. Appraise the validity of Malthus’ doctrine of population.
    4. Discuss the development during this period of the doctrines of diminishing returns and of rent. Explain both doctrines.
    5. Describe the evolution of the doctrine of diminishing returns.
    6. Why did the classical economists develop the doctrine of diminishing returns solely in relation to production on land? On what grounds did West argue that technological progress could not offset diminishing returns in agriculture? Note weaknesses in this argument.
    7. Compare the theory of rent developed by Sir Edward West in his Essay on the Application of Capital to Land with Malthus’ theory as developed in his essay on The Nature and Progress of Rent.
    8. Discuss the development of Ricardo’s theory of profits ad describe its nature.
    9. State and criticize Lauderdale’s productivity theory of interest.
  1. David Ricardo
    1. State or describe the preconceptions and assumptions of Ricardo’s system of economic thought.
    2. Explain carefully Ricardo’s theory of value, noting its nature, the assumption on which it is based, the problems involved in this type of theory and Ricardo’s solution of them.
    3. What is the significance of the labor theory of value as found in Adam Smith and Ricardo? What are the major differences? Account for the decline of the labor theory of value after Ricardo.
    4. How did Ricardo explain the nature, the existence and the amount of rent? What was his explanation of the relation between ret and prices?
    5. Develop and criticize Ricardo’s theory of wages.
    6. Develop Ricardo’s theory of capital. In what sense is classical theory essentially a theory of capital? How do you account for the particular form which the classical theory of capital formation assumed? On what grounds is this theory subject to criticism?
    7. Explain Ricardo’s theory of economic development. Give the theoretical reasons for his conclusions.
  1. Thomas Robert Malthus
    1. Compare Malthus’ theory of value with that of Ricardo, and account for the difference between them.
    2. With reference to the theory of rent, what were the points of difference between Ricardo and Malthus? What conclusions did each draw from his rent theory?
    3. Develop Malthus’ theory of wages.
    4. Develop Malthus’ theories of saving, capital, and profits. Compare the theories of profits of Ricardo and Malthus. How do you account for the differences between them?
    5. Compare Ricardo and Malthus as to their theories of the effects of capital formation on economic progress and the functioning of the capitalist economy.
    6. Show how in Ricardian economics the business cycle is impossible and how in Malthusian economics it is inevitable.

SECTION VI—REACTION AGAINS CLASSICISM

  1. The Romantics
    1. What were the chief economic forces leading to the rise of the German romantic movement?
    2. Trace a similar development in American economic history in the writings of Mathew Carey and Henry Carey.
    3. What were the major economic doctrines of: (a) Adam Muller, (b) J.G. Fichte, (c) Friedrich List.
  2. Early Socialist Criticism
    1. General
      1. It is sometimes claimed that economic theory is a rationalization of class interests. With reference to classical theory, is there any evidence that this characterization is warranted? If so, what? Would you agree that economic theory can properly be so characterized? Support your position.
      2. Discuss the major criticisms of the weaknesses of capitalism as set forth by Sismondi and evaluate his remedies.
      3. Discuss the major criticisms of the weaknesses of capitalism as set forth by Proudhon and evaluate his remedies.
    2. Utopian Socialism
      1. Outline succinctly Owen’s economic theory.
      2. Outline clearly Fourier’s economic system
      3. Discuss the major differences between Fourier and Owen
      4. What are the chief criticisms of utopian socialism? How valid do you think these criticisms are? Why?
  3. Karl Marx and Friederich Engels
    1. What does Marx mean by (a) forces of production (b) relations of production (c) the class struggle (d) classes? How does he use these concepts in his system of thought?
    2. Define the following terms as used by Marx: (a) use value, (b) exchange value (c) value (d) constant capital (e) variable capital (f) surplus value (g) price of production.
    3. Discuss Marx’s labor theory of value and compare it with Ricardo’s and Smith’s theories of value.
    4. Describe the so-called “great contradiction” in Marx’s labor theory of value and the way in which Marx resolved the contradiction.
    5. Discuss the origin of surplus value and the significance of this concept for Marxian theory.
    6. Discuss Marx’s theory of capitalist competition and the consequences of this. Do you find anything comparable in Ricardo?
    7. Discuss Marx’s theory of economic development and also Lenin’s contribution.
    8. Contrast Ricardo’s explanation of the falling tendency of the rate of profits with Marx’s explanation of the falling tendency of the rate of profits. What conclusions did Marx draw from this theory?
    9. Compare Marx’s theory of crises with Malthus’ theory of market gluts.
    10. Discuss: “Marxist economics is the economics of capitalism; orthodox economics of socialism.”
  4. Heterodox Socialism
    1. What is meant by evolutionary socialism? Describe briefly the chief points of difference between evolutionary socialism and Marxian socialism.
    2. Develop or outline the economic theory of the Fabian socialists. Criticize carefully the main arguments.
    3. On what grounds and in what respects did the revisionists and evolutionary socialists criticize the Marxian analysis and program? What programs of change did these critics set forth? Evaluate these programs.
    4. Describe briefly the chief points of difference between Marxism and the non-Marxist brand of revolutionary socialism (such as syndicalism). In what places in the world has revolutionary socialism had an important following? Why?

*  * *  *  *  *

HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
[Handwritten: “D. Gregg”]

Selected List of Histories of Economic Thought and Other Reference Works

Ashley, W.J., “Introduction to English Economic History and Theory.”
Beer, Max, “An Inquiry into Physiocracy.”
Beer, Max, “Early British Economics.”
Beer, Max, “History of British Socialism.”
Blanqui, J.A., “History of Political Economy.”
Bonar, James, “Philosophy and Political Economy.”
Boucke, O.F., “The Development of Economics, 1750-1900.”
Burtt, Edwin A., “Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science.”
Cannan, Edwin, “A Review of Economic Theory.”
Commons, J.R., “Legal Foundations of Capitalism.”
Cunningham, William, “Early Writings on Politics and Economics.”
Feguson, J.M., “Landmarks of Economic Thought.”
Gambs, “Beyond Supply and Demand.”
Gide, C., and C. Rist, “History of Economic Doctrines.”
Gray, Alexander, “The development of Economic Doctrine.”
Gruchy, A.G., “Modern Economic Theory.”
Halévy, Elie, “Growth of Philosophical Radicalism.”
Haney, L.H., “History of Economic Thought.” (3rdrev. ed.)
Heckscher, Eli F., “Mercantilism.”
Homan, P.T., “Contemporary Economic Thought.”
Ingram, J.K., “History of Political Economy.”
Johnson, E.A.J., “Predecessors of Adam Smith.”
Laidler, H.W., “History of Socialist Thought.”
Loucks, W.N., and J.W. Hoot, “Comparative Economic Systems”
Palgrave, R.T. (ed), “Dictionary of Political Economy.”
Patterson, S.H., “Readings in the History of Economic Thought.”
Peck, Harvey W., “Economic Thought and its Institutional Background.”
Price, L.L., “A Short History of Political Economy in England from Adam Smith to Alfred Marshall.”
Robertson, H.M. “Aspects of the Rise of Individualism.”
Roll, Eric, “A History of Economic Thought.” (1947 rev. ed.)
Scott, W.A., “Development of Economics.”
Seligman, E.R.A., and A. Johnson (eds.), “Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences.””
Sombart, Werner, “The Quintessence of Capitalism.”
Spann, Othmar, “The History of Economics.”
Spann, Othmar, “Types of Economic Theory.”
Stephen, Leslie, “The English Utilitarians.”
Strong, Gordon, B., “Adam Smith and the 18thcentury Conception of Progress.”
Tawney, R.H., “The Acquisitive Society.”
Tawney, R.H., “Religion and the Rise of Capitalism.”
Weber, Max, “General Economic History.”
Weber, Max, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.”
Wermel, “The Evolution of Classical Wage Theory.”
Whittaker, Edmund, “A History of Economic Ideas.”
Dorfman, “The Economic Mind in American Civilization”

Selected List of Critical Works

Ayres, C.E., “The Theory of Economic Progress.”
Boehm-Bawerk, E. von, “Capital and Interest.”
Boucke, O.F., “A Critique of Economics. ”
Cannan, E., “A History of the Theories of Production and Distribution in English Political Economy from 1776 to 1848.”
Cannan, E., “A Review of Economic Theory.”
McCracken, H.L., “Value Theory and Business Cycles.”
Polanyi, Karl, “The Great Transformation.”
Spann, Othmar “The History of Economics.”
Taussig, F.W., “Wages and Capital.”
Triffin, R., “Monopolistic Competition and General Equilibrium Theory.”
Veblen, Thorstein, “The Place of Science in Modern Civilization.”
Whitaker, A.C., “History and Criticism of the Labor Theory of Value,” in Columbia Univ. Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, vol. 19.

Source:  Columbia University Libraries, Manuscript Collections. Joseph Dorfman Collection. Box 13

 

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Economists Harvard History of Economics Northwestern

Harvard. Economics Ph.D. alumnus Homer Bews Vanderblue, 1915

 

Homer Bews Vanderblue (Harvard Ph.D., 1915) won his academic spurs for work on the economics of railroads. He went on to become the Dean of the School of Commerce at Northwestern. Before leaving for Northwestern in 1939 he donated his personal collection of Adam Smith materials to the Harvard Business School’s Baker Library.

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Homer Bews Vanderblue’s Ph.D. exams at Harvard

General Examination in Economics, Monday, May 11, 1914.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Turner, Sprague, Day, and Dr. Copeland.
Academic History: Northwestern University, 1907-12; Harvard Graduate School, 1912—. A.B., Northwestern, 1911; A.M. ibid., 1912. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1913—.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistics. 3. History of American Institutions since 1789. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. Commercial Organization. 6. Transportation.
Special Subject: Transportation.
Thesis Subject: “Railroad Valuation.” (With Professor F. W. Taussig and Mr. E. J. Rich.)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1913-14”.

Note:  Thesis published as Railroad Valuation, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1917.  It was awarded second prize ($500) in Class A of the Hart, Schaffner & Marx competition.

_______________________

From the 1941 Harvard Business School Yearbook

Homer Bews Vanderblue
Honorary Curator of Early Economic Literature

Degrees: A.B., 1911; A.M., 1912, Northwestern University; Ph.D., 1915 Harvard University.

History in Brief: Instructor in Economics, Harvard College, 1914-15; Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor of Transportation, Northwestern University, 1915-22; Research Director, Denver Civic and Commercial Association, 1920-21; Economist and Director, Harvard University Committee on Economic Research, 1922-29; Professor of Business Economics, 1922-29; Vice President, Tri-Continental Corporation, New York City, 1929-37; Member, Library Committee, College of William and Mary since 1936; Member, Committee on Economic Bibliography, British Academy since 1937; Honorary Curator of Early Economic Literature since 1936; Dean of College of Commerce, Northwestern University since 1939.

Source: Harvard University, The Harvard Business School Yearbook, 1941, page 37.

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Death notice from Harvard College President’s Annual Report

Homer Bews Vanderblue, Honorary Curator of Early Economic Literature in the Baker Library, died on July 12, 1952, in his sixty-fourth year. His first appointment at the University was as Assistant in Economics and Proctor in 1913-14. He became Instructor in Economics in 1914-15. Until 1922, he taught at Northwestern University as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor of Transportation. From 1922 until his resignation in 1929, he was Professor of Business Economics, and from 1936 until his death he filled the post of Honorary Curator of Early Economic Literature in the Baker Library. He returned to Northwestern as Professor of Business Economics and Dean of the School of Commerce (1939-49).

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments, 1951-52, pp. 49-50.

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Vanderblue as Head of Northwestern’s School of Commerce

Homer Vanderblue becomes the fifth dean of the School of Commerce. Vanderblue proves to be a successful academic and administrative leader, keeping the school functioning during the resource shortages associated with World War II when most business schools curtailed their operations or suspended instruction entirely.

Under Dean Vanderblue, the school shifts away from technical specialization toward a broader managerial education. To accomplish this shift—which would take years to complete—Vanderblue introduces the “rotating chairs” system for academic department heads, thus sidestepping department rigidity. He recruits faculty sympathetic to his goals and ideals of “liberal business education.”

Vanderblue also works to bridge the fiscal gap between what the school generates for the university and what it earns to meet its expenses. Among other things, Vanderblue proposes raising faculty salaries, which had declined during the depression, and constructing new buildings in Evanston and Chicago. Vanderblue admits that to retain the best faculty, he has to draw upon loyalty to Northwestern by “playing on the ‘I love Evanston’ key” to retain the best senior professors, something he is able to do in many cases.

Dean Vanderblue retires due to ill health in 1949.

 

Source: Northwestern University, Webpage: “Kellogg School History: 1938-1947.”

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Adam Smith—Vanderblue Collection

Baker Library has brought together one of the most comprehensive collections of the works of Adam Smith in the world, with a special focus on The Wealth of Nations. This collection contains virtually all published editions in English of this work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, and Essays on Philosophical Subjects as well as translations into Chinese, French, Russian, and numerous other languages. Further, it holds many of Smith’s other published materials, manuscript letters, and several volumes from Smith’s own library. Harvard Business School Professor Homer B. Vanderblue donated the collection in 1939.

Source: https://www.library.hbs.edu/Find/Collections-Archives/Special-Collections/Collections/European-Economic-History-Philosophy-Kress-Collection/Adam-Smith-Vanderblue-Collection

Image Source: Homer Bews Vanderblue from the 1946 volume of the Northwestern University yearbook Syllabus. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Columbia Economists Exam Questions History of Economics

Columbia. Classical Economics Exam by J.M. Clark. 1951

John Maurice Clark

John Maurice Clark taught a history of economic theory sequence at Columbia University that had its origins in a similar course that had been taught earlier by Wesley Clair Mitchell. On the back of Clark’s examination questions for the first session of the 1950-51 academic year one finds a list of names and grades that we can strongly presume constitute the grade distribution for the course. 43 students were listed by John Maurice Clark in his handwritten grade sheet for the first semester of formative types of economic theory, of whom 26 received grades (3.12 average on a 4 point scale, median 3.17). Mark Blaug, whose magnum opus Economic Theory in Retrospect has served as a staple of the analytic narrative of the evolution of economics, received only a grade of B- (2.67) which put him tied with two other students at rank 21. A few years later Blaug was to find his mentor and dissertation adviser, George Stigler.

The later Congressional Research Service economist John P. Hardt (Columbia Ph.D., 1954) was  on the list but not awarded a grade for the course.

Oops it happens every so often, I have repeated myself. The original posting along with another year’s examination can be found here.

_____________________

Course Announcement

Economics 115-116 — Formative types of economic theory.
3 points each session. Professor Clark.
M. W. 12. 313 Fayerweather.

Readings and critical discussion of outstanding examples of the parent stock of classical economics with some regard to historical setting, and of subsequent outstanding contributions.

Source: Columbia University. Announcement of the Faculty of Political Science for the Winter and Spring Sessions 1950-51, p. 46.

_______________________________

Course Description

Economics 115-116—Formative types of economic theory. 3 points each session. Professor Clark.

M.W. 12.         313 Fayerweather.

Readings and critical discussion of outstanding examples of the parent stock of classical economics, with some regard to historical setting, and of subsequent outstanding contributions.

Source:   Columbia University. Announcement of the Faculty of Political Science for the Winter and Spring Sessions 1950-51, p. 46.

_______________________________

Take-Home Examination Questions

Economics 115
Final Examination
January, 1951

Answer any two questions, taking about the time for the actual writing that a regular examination would take. Those who do the work during Christmas holidays will please return papers January 8; others Friday, January 26, unless otherwise specified.

  1. Do the views of ancient writers (Hebrew, Greek or Roman) afford the same kind of evidence as the writings of modern economists as to economic conditions and practices of their time?
  2. Discuss extent of applicability of medieval doctrine on price; variations or relaxations; and how far the doctrine was effective in practice.
  3. Explain and appraise Quesnay’s “Tableau Économique”.
  4. State key doctrines of the Physiocrats and indicate how they could be regarded as adaptations to an historical situation.
  5. Compare views of Smith and Ricardo on the relation of labor to value.
  6. Compare treatment of rent in Smith, Malthus and Ricardo.
  7. On what grounds did Adam Smith sanction departures from laissez-faire?
  8. Topic: dominant conceptions of what economic activity is for. Compare the dominant conception (or at most a few dominant conceptions) of as many of the following as you feel you can reasonably cover: typical Mercantilists, Physiocrats, Ricardo, John Stuart Mill.
  9. What does Bentham’s theory contribute to the basic rationale of economics, aside from his ideas on economic matters themselves? (Book V of J. S. Mill’s “Principles of Political Economy” might contain hints.)
  10. State doctrines of Ricardo which had roots in historical conditions of the time, and indicate the connection.
  11. Compare Ricardo’s treatment of value with either Adam Smith’s or John Stuart Mill’s.
  12. What were the sources of J. S. Mill’s departure from strict Ricardianism?

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Probable Grade Distribution

Letter Grade

 Number of students
A

2

A to A-

 1
A-

5

B+

 5
B

6

B to B-

 1
B-

2

C+

 1
C

3

Note:  Mark Blaug received the B to B- grade.

Source: Columbia University Archives. John M. Clark Papers. Box 24 (Courses Misc.), Unlabeled Folder.

Image Source: Portrait of John Maurice Clark from the collection of portraits of economists presented in 1997 as a gift to the Department of Economics of Duke University by Professor Warren J. Samuels of Michigan State University. Free use of these portraits in Web documents, and for other educational purposes, is encouraged: users are requested to acknowledge that the images come from The Warren J. Samuels Portrait Collection at Duke University.

Categories
Bibliography Courses Harvard History of Economics Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. History of Economic Thought. Fellner, 1950

 

 

To William John Fellner (1905-1983) I personally owe my career-long interest in the history of economics. He agreed to meet with me for a year in a one-on-one tutorial upon my request since Yale did not offer a course in the history of economics then (1971-72). 

I discovered the following Harvard syllabus that I only recently realized was for a course actually given by my mentor, apparently to help satisfy the continuing demand of Harvard undergraduates for history of economics following Schumpeter’s death in January 1950.

Because I owe so much to William Fellner, in his honor I have gone to the trouble of providing links to as many of the items on his syllabus and bibliography as I could find (in a half-day).

Between us, this is not a particulary well-crafted or imaginative selection of assigned readings and the bibliography is clearly a rush-job. But this nonetheless demonstrates that Fellner was on a mission to integrate the history of economics with the teaching of the principles of economics which he did at Yale through ca. 1970 as reflected in his book Emergence and Content of Modern Economic Analysis, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.

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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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Economics 100.
History of Economic Thought

Half-course (fall term). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor Fellner (University of California).

 

Source: Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. XLVII, No. 23 (September 1950): Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of the Arts and Sciences During 1950-51, p. 79.

______________________________________

 

1950-51
Economics 100
Fall Term

History of Economic Thought

In addition to the textbook assignments here listed, students will be required to do some amount of reading in the works of the writers who will be discussed in the course. The students will have a limited range of choice in this respect.

The textbook assignments here listed are not quite final. Some adjustments will presumably be made to include writers who will be discussed in the course but are not covered, or are covered inadequately, by the present assignments. Also, Assignment XI is too long and will be shortened so as to have it correspond to the classroom discussion.

 

I. Economic Ideas of Greek Philosophers

Gray, Ch. 1

II. Economic Ideas of St. Thomas Aquinas

Gray, Ch. 2

III. Mercantilism

Gray, Ch. 3

IV. The Physiocrats

Gide-Rist, Book I, Ch. 1

V. Adam Smith

Gide-Rist, Book I, Ch. 2

VI. Malthus and Ricardo

Gide-Rist, Book I, Ch. 3

VII. Early Expressions of “Neo-classical” Ideas

Gray, Ch. 7, pp. 190-197; Ch. 8, pp. 238-248; Ch. 10, pp. 266-277.

VIII. Mill

Gide-Rist, Book III, Ch. 2

IX. Protectionist Views and the National Outlook

Gray, Ch. 8, pp. 227-238; Ch. 9, pp. 248-260.

X. Forerunners of Socialism (Simondi; the Ricardian Socialists)

Gide-Rist, Book II, Ch. 1

XI. French Pre-Marxian Socialists

Gide-Rist, Book II, Chs. 2, 3, and 5.

XII. Marxism

Gray, Ch. 11 and Roll’s chapter on Marx

XIII. The Historical School and Institutionalism

Gide-Rist, Book IV, Ch. 1

XIV. Early Expressions of the Welfare State Ideology

Gide-Rist, Book IX, Ch. 2, Ch. 4

XV. The Neo-classical School

Gray, Ch. 12

XVI. Neo-classical, Historical-Institutionalist and Socialist Influences on Contemporary Thought

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1950-51
Economics 100
History of Economic Thought

List of Books and Articles

I. General

Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Edwin R. A. Seligman, Ed.: Alvin Johnson, Assoc. Ed.) [Vol. I; Vol. II ; Vol. III ; Vols.III & IV ; Vol. V ; Vols. VI & VI ; Vol. VII ; Vol. VIII ; Vol. IX ; Vol. X ; Vol. XI ; Vols. XI & XII ; Vol. XIII ; Vols. XIII & XIV ; Vol. XV .
Gide, Charles and Rist, Charles, History of Economic Doctrines
Gray, Alexander, The Development of Economic Doctrine
Haney, Lewis H., History of Economic Thought
Roll, Eric, A History of Economic Thought
Whittaker, Edmund, History of Economic Ideas [Schools and Streams of Economic Thought (1960)]
Schumpeter, Joseph, Epochen der Dogmengeschichte [1954 English translation]

II. On Problems of Methodology

Schumpeter, Joseph, Science and Ideology, American Economic Review, March 1949
Keynes, John Neville, Scope and Method of Political Economy
Robbins, Lionel, Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science
Hutcheson, T. W., Significance and Basic Postulates of Economic Theory
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., The Historical vs. the Deductive Method in Political Economy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1890
Cairnes, J. E., The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy
Senior, Nassau W., Four Introductory Lectures on Political Economy
Sidgwick, Henry, Scope and Method of Economic Science
Bagehot, Walter, Economic Studies
Myrdal, Gunnar, Das politische Element in der nationaloekonomischen [Doktrinbildung]

II. On Specific Topics

O’Brien, G., An Essay on Mediaeval Economic Teaching
Laistner, M. L. W., Greek Economics
Tawney, R. H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., Capital and Interest
Heckscher, Eli F., Mercantilism [Volume I; Volume II]
Horrocks, J. W., A Short History of Mercantilism
Hull, Charles H., Petty’s Place in Economic Theory, Q. J. E., 1900
Monroe, A. E., Monetary Theory before Adam Smith
Johnson, E. A. J., Predecessors of Adam Smith
Schmoller, Gustav, The Mercantile System and Its Historical Significance
Angell, James W., The Theory of International Prices
Viner, Jacob, Studies in the Theory of International Trade
Higgs, H., The Physiocrats
Oncken, August, Geschichte der Nationaloekonomie (on the Physiocrats)
Spengler, J. J., The Physiocrats and Say’s Law of Markets, Journal of Political Economy, September and December, 1945.
Rae, John, The Life of Adam Smith
Bonar, James, Malthus and his Work
Bowley, Marian, Nassau Senior and Classical Economics
Viner, Jacob, Bentham and Mill, American Economic Review, March 1949
Knight, F. H., The Ricardian Theory of Production and Distribution (Canadian Journal of Economics, 1935)
Williams, John H. The Theory of International Trade Reconsidered (Economic Journal, 1929)
Dicey, A. V., Law and Public Opinion in England
Cannan, Edwin, Theories of Production and Distribution
Stephen, Leslie, The English Utilitarians [Vol I Jeremy Bentham; Vol II James Mill; Vol III John Stuart Mill]
Halevy, Elie, The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism
Schumpeter, Joseph, The Communist Manifesto in Sociology and Economics, Journal of Political Economy, June 1949
Kautsky, Karl, The Economic Doctrine of Karl Marx [German original]
Carr, E. H., Karl Marx: A Study in Fanaticism
Mehring, Franz, Karl Marx
Keynes, J. M., Essays in Biography (Alfred Marshall)
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., Karl Marx and the Close of His System
Schumpeter, Joseph A., Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Gray, Alexander, The Socialist Tradition
Sweezy, Paul, The Theory of Capitalist Development
Croce, Benedetto, Historical Materialism
Stigler, George J., Theories of Production and Distribution
Schumpeter, Joseph, Vilfredo Pareto, Q.J.E., May 1949
Mulcahy, Richard E., The Welfare Economics of Heinrich Pesch, Q.J.E., August, 1949

IV. Some Important Works in the History of Economic Thought

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Monroe, A. E., Early Economic Thought
Petty, Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, edited by Charles Henry Hull
King, Two Tracts of Gregory King, edited by George E. Barnett
Steuart, Sir James, Principles of Political Economy
Quesnay, François, Oeuvres Économiques et Philosophiques
Hume, David, Political Discourses
Smith, Adam, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Malthus, T. R., Essay on Population (7th ed.) [eighth edition]
Malthus, T. R., Parallel chapters from the first and second edition of the “Essay” (edited by W. J. Ashley)
Malthus, T. R., Principles of Political Economy
Ricardo, David, Political Works (Ed. J. R. McCulloch, with a short biography by idem)
Ricardo, David, Principles of Political Economy
Ricardo, David, Letters of David Ricardo to the Rev. T. R. Malthus
Say, Jean Baptiste, Traité d’Économie Politique [2nd ed. 1814]
Say, Letters of J. B. Say to the Rev. T. R. Malthus
Sismondi, S. de, Nouveaux Principes d’Économie Politique
Senior, Nassau William, Outline of Political Economy
Carey, Henry Charles, Principles of Political Economy
List, Friedrich, Das Nationale System der politischen Oekonomie [German; 1909 English translation]
Cournot, Augustin, Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth (N. Bacon, translator)
von Thuenen, Heinrich, Der Isolierte Staat
Mill, John Stuart, Principles of Political Economy
Mill, John Stuart, Autobiography
Smith, Adam, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Cairnes, J. E., Some Leading Principles of Political Economy
Mill, John Stuart, Dissertations and Discussions [Vol. I ; Vol. II ; Vol. III ; Vol. IV]
Marx, Karl, Capital
Marx, Karl, Capital and other works (Selections)
Marx and Engels, The Correspondence of Marx and Engels, 1846-95 (collected by the Marx-Lenin Institute)
Marx and Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party
Hilferding, Rudolf, Das Finanzkapital
Luxemburg, Rosa, Die Akkumulation des Kapitals
Lenin (Vladimir Ulianov), Imperialism; The State and the Revolution
Gossen, Hermann Heinrich, Entwicklung der Gesetze des menschlichen Verkehrs
Jevons, W. S., The Theory of Political Economy (2nd or later edition)
Menger, Carl, Grundsaetze der Volkswirtschaftslehre
Walras, Leon, Élements d’Économie Politique Pure
Pareto, Vilfredo, Manuel d’Économie Politique
Pareto, Vilfredo, The Mind and Society (A. Livingston, Ed.) [Vol. I & Vol. II ; Vols. III & IV]
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., Capital and Interest; and The Positive Theory of Capital
Wieser, F. v., Natural Value
Marshall, Alfred, Principles of Economics
Marshall, Alfred, Money, Credit and Commerce
Marshall, Alfred, Official Papers
Wicksteed, Philip, Commonsense of Political Economy
Wicksteed, Philip, The Coordination of the Laws of Distribution
Wicksell, Knut, Lectures on Political Economy [Vol. I ; Vol. II], [German translation 1913]
George, Henry, Poverty and Progress
Walker, Francis A., The Wages Question
Clark, J. B., The Distribution of Wealth
Clark, J. B., Essentials of Economic Theory
Fisher, Irving, The Purchasing Power of Money
Fisher, Irving, The Theory of Interest
Davenport, H. J., The Economics of Enterprise
Davenport, H. J., Value and Distribution
Veblen, Thorstein, The Theory of Business Enterprise
Veblen, Thorstein, The Place of Science in Civilization
Commons, John R., Institutional Economics
Schmoller, Gustav, Grundriss der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre [Erster Teil (1908); Zweiter Teil (1904)]
Wagner, Adolf, Grundlegung der Politischen Oekonomie [Vol. I, part 1. 1892, 3ed. ; (Vol 1, part 2. 1894 3ed]
Weber, Max, Theory of Social and Economic Organization
Rerum Novarum (Papal encyclical of May 15, 1891, Leo XIII)
Quadragesimo Anno (Papal encyclical of May 15, 1931, Pius XI)

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 5, Folder “Economics, 1950-1951, (1 of 2)”.

Image Source: AEA portrait of William Fellner, Number 71 of a series of photographs of past presidents of the Association, in American Economic Review, Vol. 60, No. 1 (1970).