Economics and Social Science
Visiting Committee (March 1947)
Present
Walter Jay Beadle (b. 1896). S.B. MIT (1917). Treasurer, Vice-President and Director at E. I. duPont deNemours & Co.
Beardsley Ruml (b. 1894). Ph.D. (Chicago, 1917). Chairman of the Board of R. H. Macy & Company, Inc. (formerly Chairman of the Federal Reserve of N.Y. City, a Director of NBER.
Charles Eldridge Spencer, Jr. (b. 1882). Chairman of the Board of the First National Bank of Boston. Life member of the Corporation of MIT. Began as clerk in a bank in his hometown New Brunswick, NJ at age 17.
Hugh G. Pastoriza, Sr. (b. 1886) . MIT Class of 1907, course VI. Was a representative of Coffin & Burr, investment bonds of New York City. Lived in Bronxville, NY, Board of Education
Samuel Sommerville Stratton (b. 1898). Ph.D. (Harvard 1930). Former member of Harvard School of Business. President of Middlebury College. [or his son as a recent alumnus, Hugh G. Pastoriza, Jr., B.S. MIT in Electrical Engineering, 1943]
Absent
Oscar Sydney Cox (b. 1905). Attended MIT 1924. PhB (Yale, 1927), LL.B. (Yale, 1929) Had been author of the Lend-Lease Act Member of the Law firm Cox, Langford, Stoddard & Cutler in Washington, DC. Fun Fact:according to his obituary (Washington Daily News, 6 October 1966, p. 56) he was a friend of composer Paul Hindemith who put two of Cox’s poems to music.
Ellis Wethrell Brewster (b. 1892). B.S. (MIT, 1913). President and treasurer of Plymouth Cordage Co.
Douglass Vincent Brown(b. 1904). PhD (Harvard, 1932). Alfred P. Sloan professor of industrial management, MIT.
Ralph Evans Freeman. (b. 1894). B.Litt. (University of Oxford). Head of Department of Economics and Social Sciences, MIT.
Douglas Murray McGregor. (b. 1906). PhD (Harvard, 1935). Associate Professor of psychology, MIT.
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Minutes of
the Visiting Committee Meeting
March 3, 1947
Department of Economics and Social Science
The Committee met at about 10:00 A.M. on Monday, March 3, in the Fabian Room of the Graduate House. The following members were present: Walter J. Beadle (Chairman), Beardsley Ruml, Charles E. Spencer, Jr., Hugh G. Pastoriza and Samuel S. Stratton. Absent were Oscar S. Cox and Ellis W. Brewster. In addition the following members of the Institute staff were present: Dean Robert G. Caldwell, and Professors Douglass V. Brown, Ralph E. Freeman, and Douglas M. McGregor.
The first topic taken up by the Committee was a survey of the courses currently being offered by members of the Department and the number of students enrolled in each. Statistics were submitted to show that 1780 students were attending 27 classes. A number of publications by the Department staff were presented to indicate the type of research upon which they have been engaged.
The next topic was the new undergraduate program (Course XIV). The content and objectives of this program were outlined. The point was made that the staff does not attempt to indoctrinate the students with the theories of any particular school of economists. They try to give a fairly general understanding of the major points of view In Economics so that students can adopt that philosophy and theory which they believe to be best.
Dean Caldwell outlined the Institute’s humanities program and explained the part played by the Department in this program. Professor McGregor, referring specifically to the Psychology option of the third year, explained the somewhat novel teaching techniques which he and his associates have developed.
The Chairman expressed a particular interest in the course in economic principles (Ec11) which is required of all students at the Institute. Professor Freeman explained that this subject is oriented around the general problem of full employment. This is a departure from the usual method. The analysis of demand and supply and other theories are introduced for their bearing on the central theme of maintaining a full employment national income. Such an approach seems to be more meaningful and interesting than the traditional one which had formerly been employed.
Mr. Ruml raised two questions – one as to the content of the program, the other as to the size of classes. He suggested the inclusion of an examination to test the students’ general knowledge of human physiology and of the functioning of the body. He raised the question as to whether it is economically desirable to try to teach in small sections rather than in large groups. He made the point that under proper conditions, and with a really competent lecturer, the large class may be superior to the small discussion section.
The Committee discussed the Research Institute for Group Dynamics and its program. The problems created by the sudden death of Kurt Lewin were discussed briefly. Mr. Ruml felt that it would be a mistake to close up the Research Center without very careful examination of possibilities for its continuance. The point was made that the activities of the Industrial Relations Section need to be supplemented by the kind of basic research on problems of group living which is being undertaken by the Research Center.
The Chairman expressed the sense of the Committee that it would be unwise to drop the Group Dynamics Center entirely, and suggested that the Committee might undertake to consider the problem in greater detail.
The activities of the Industrial Relations Section were briefly outlined to the Committee along with the current problems of its financial status. The Administration’s policy of maintaining the Industrial Relations Fund at approximately its present level, or at least of reducing it only very gradually, received general approval from the Committee. The long-range problem of financing the activity of the Section was briefly discussed but no conclusions were reached.
The members of the Committee raised various other questions as to the content of courses, methods of instruction, textbooks, employment opportunities for graduates and so forth. In fact, so much time was taken up by the process of getting acquainted with the various activities of the Department, that the Chairman felt the Committee should meet again. It was, however, decided to postpone the question of a fall meeting and it was agreed that the Chairman, through correspondence with members, would submit an interim report.
The Committee adjourned at 12:30 to attend the Corporation luncheon.
Source: M.I.T., Institute Archives and Special Collections. MIT Department of Economics Records (AC 394), Box 4, Folder “V.C. 47-64”.
Image: From the cover of the MIT yearbook The 1949 Technique.
The following reading list and final exam were found in the Peter Diamond papers at Duke University’s Economists’ Papers Archive. No instructor is named on either the reading list or the exam. While transcribing for this post, I thought I had better base the small detail of the course instructor on some evidence. Checking the published course catalogue for the 1980-81 academic year at M.I.T., I was able to confirm my suspicion that Peter Diamond was indeed a course instructor. Not surprising in hindsight was that the course was co-taught with Lawrence H. Summers (a.k.a. “Larry” Summers) of most recent infamy.
On Summers’ Jeffrey Epstein connection: see the series of articles in the Harvard Crimson by Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava, Exhibit #1, Exhibit #2, Exhibit #3 (with Elise A. Spenner).
Once I go to the trouble of preparing an artifact for posting, I cannot resist the compulsion to share it. I ask my visitors to accept this post as a tribute to Peter Diamond’s contribution to graduate economics education à la M.I.T. rather than a rehabilitative look at the young Larry Summers in the Rear-view Mirror.
The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with the archival records.
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14.476 Social Insurance
Prereq.: 14.121, 14.122
Year: G (2)
Theory of social insurance and examination of some of existing and proposed US programs including some subset of Social Security, Unemployment Compensation, Worker’s Compensation, National Health Insurance.
(x) M. Pauly, “Overinsurance and Public Provision of Insurance,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1974, 44-54. Also in Diamond and Rothschild.
Shavell, “On Moral Hazard and Insurance,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1979.
Adverse Selection
Diamond and Rothschild, Uncertainty in Economics, Chapters 14, 16.
Akerlof, “The Market for Lemons,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1970, 488-500. Also in Diamond and Rothschild.
Rothschild and J. Stiglitz, “Equilibrium in Competitive Insurance Markets,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1976, 269-650. Also in Diamond and Rothschild.
Property Insurance
Joskow, “Cartels, Competition and Regulation in the Property-Liability Insurance Industry,” Bell Journal, 1973, 375-427.
(x) Stone, J., “Opinion, Findings and Decision on 1978 Automobile Insurance Rates, Part II.” Also in Division of Insurance, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Automobile Insurance Risk Classification: Equity and Accuracy.
Smallwood, D., “Competition, Regulation, and Product Quality in the Automobile Insurance Industry,” in A. Phillips, ed., Promoting Competition in Regulated Markets.
Shavell, “On Moral Hazard and Insurance,” mimeo version, Section 6, Experience Rating.
State Farm Insurance Company, Research Department, “The Effect of a Suburban Driving Population on Urban Auto Insurance Premiums.”
DuMouchel, “Computing Territorial Relativities which Include the Effects of Travel Between Territories on Claims Costs.”
Pension and Social Security
(x) Munnell, A., The Future of Social Security, Brookings.
(x) Boskin, M., ed., The Crisis in Social Security, 1977.
(x) Myers, R.J., Social Insurance.
Pellechio, A., “Social Security Financing and Retirement Behavior,” AER, May 1979.
Boskin, M., “Social Security and Retirement Decision,” Economic Inquiry, 1977.
Quinn, J., “The Early Retirement Decision,” Journal of Human Resources, Summer 1977.
Bulow, J., “Analysis of Pension Findings under ERISA,” mimeo, 1979, National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.
Hagens, J., “Social Security as Retirement Insurance,” mimeo.
Crawford and Lilien, “Social Security and the Retirement Decision,” mimeo.
Mirrlees, J., “Intended Labour Supply.”
Mirrlees J. and Diamond, P., “A Model of Social Insurance with Variable Retirement,” Journal of Public Economics, 1979, 295-336.
__________ and __________, “Payroll Tax Financed Social Insurance with Variable Retirement.”
__________ and __________, “Social Insurance where the Value of Retirement Varies.”
__________ and __________, “Social Insurance with Variable Retirement and Private Savings.”
HEW Task Force on the Treatment of Women Under Social Security, Report.
HEW, “Social Security and Changing Roles of Men and Women.
(x) 1979 Advisory Council on Social Security, Report.
(x) National Commission on Social Security, Report.
(x) Akerlof, G. and Main, B., “Pitfalls in Markov Modeling of Labor Market Stocks and Flows.”
(x) __________, “Unemployment Spells and Job Tenures.”
(x) National Commission on Unemployment Compensation, Report.
Gustman, National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.
Nickell, S., “The Effect of Unemployment and Related Benefits on the Duration of Unemployment,” Economic Journal, 89, 1979.
Atkinson, A., “Unemployment Benefits and Incentives,” unpublished.
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14.476
Spring 1981
Final Exam
Answer four questions. They all count equally.
“Unlike the case of adverse selection, with moral hazard but no adverse selection, competitive equilibrium is efficient.” Comment.
Using a two period model of labor supply with uncertain incidence of (unobserved) disability, explain the effect of private savings opportunities on the ability of the government to provide disability insurance.
Discuss the cases for and against cross-subsidization of different risk classes for automobile insurance (assuming that auto insurance as a whole breaks even).
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of annual sharing of husband’s and wife’s earnings for Social Security purposes.
Discuss the determinants of the optimal waiting period for unemployment benefits. Be clear about the criteria you are using and the separate moral hazard problems affected by the waiting period.
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Peter Diamond papers, Box 4. Folder “Teaching Material”.
Davis Rich Dewey was a visiting lecturer in economics at Harvard in 1909-10 from M.I.T. who taught the Money course. His assistant was a recent Harvard graduate who continued on to become a lawyer who practiced law, among other things, in Maine.
Description, enrollment and final examination for Dewey’s money course are posted below.
________________________
Teaching Assistant
George Randolph Grua
1883. Born 6 November 1883 in Green Valley, South Dakota. 1909. A.B. Harvard. 1912. LL.B. Harvard. 1913-76. Among his activities in Livermore Falls, Maine: lawyer; insurance salesman; operated an apple orchard and apiary. 1939, 1941, 1943. Representative to the Maine Legislature. 1953. Appointed Judge at the Livermore Falls Municipal Court. 1976. Died 22 July in Livermore Falls, Maine.
Source: Obituary in The Lewiston Daily Sun, July 23, 1976. Also “Who’s Who: George R. Grua, Attorney” in The Lewiston Daily Sun, June 25, 1953.
8a1hf. Money. — A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor [Davis Rich] Dewey (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), assisted by Mr. [George Randolph] Grua.
The course begins with a brief history of the precious metals, which is connected, in so far as possible, with the history of prices and the development of monetary theory. The evolution of currency legislation in England and Europe and the United States is traced, involving a consideration of various aspects of the bimetallic controversy, and a study of the experiences of several countries with paper money. Attention is also given to the non-monetary means of payment and the questions of monetary theory arising from their use. Among other subjects treated are the several methods of measuring exchange value, the explanation of price movements, the relations between prices and the rate of interest, the effects of appreciation and depreciation, the criteria of an ideal standard, and the reasons for divergences in the value of money as between different countries.
Course 8a is open to those only who have taken Course 1.
Source:Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VI, No. 29 (23 July 1909). History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1909-10, pp. 57-58.
State the various functions of money. Mention the different kinds of money in the monetary system of the United States, and describe the special functions performed by each kind.
Describe the characteristics of inconvertible paper money. How are prices affected by its issue? Is such money ever worth its face value?
Summarize the history of the debasement of the coinage in England, noting in particular:—
The ways in which it was debased.
Reasons for debasement.
Recoinage of William III.
Does an increased production of gold have any effect upon the rate of interest? Discuss.
Explain the statement: The quantity theory is simply an application of the general principle that value is determined by demand and supply.
Discuss the changes in prices due to causes connected with
Commodities.
Money.
What influences affected the value of greenbacks during the Civil War period?
Contrast the motives for the issue of government notes and of bank notes.
Sketch the history of bimetallism in the United States.
What was the Latin Union? State the results of its operation.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 9, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1910-11; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1910), p. 44.
ImageSource: Portrait of Professor of Economics and Statistics Davis R. Dewey in M.I.T. Technique 1910, published April 1909, p. 14.
Yesterday (May 31, 2025) I learned that another of my professors, Stanley Fischer, passed away. Many cohorts of the graduate program in economics at M.I.T. learned their macroeconomics as well as advanced monetary theory from him. My personal debt to Stan is that I finally “got” an understanding and intuition of macroeconomics from his courses. He was a phenomenal lecturer and we can all look forward to the coming testimonies from the legions of thesis advisees. With this post the fine line drawing of the young Stanley Fischer seen above enters the internet record for the first time.
The 1973 caricature of Stanley Fischer was drawn by the University of Chicago graduate student in economics Roger Vaughan and published in his series Great Moments in Economics. Roger Vaughan’s monumental work “The School of Chicago”can be viewed in an earlier post. Biographical information about the artist can be found at that link as well.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Papers of Zvi Griliches. Box 129, Folder “Posters, ca 1960s-1970s”.
This general exam from the Spring of 1974 was fished from Charles Kindleberger’s papers in the M.I.T. Archives. Probably the questions in the first part were of Jagdish Bhagwati’s doing and those in the second part were chosen by Kindleberger.
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Previously transcribed and posted General Exams
for International Economics
Part I answer two questions;
Part II answer two questions.
All questions have equal weight (45 minutes each).
Write your answers to Parts I and II in separate books.
Part I
Murray Kemp believes that, with regard to factor price equalization,
“…the conditions never have been nor will be satisfied in practice… Nevertheless, the “factor price equalization theorem is important if only because it focuses attention on the obstacles to equalization.”
What is your opinion about the importance and relevance of the factor price equalization theorem?
What Is the case for free trade?
Assume that the price of oil relative to other goods will continue at its present level for at least the next half decade. What does international trade (and not balance of payments) theory predict about the effects of the price increase on importing countries?
Part II
Describe and evaluate the monetarist explanation of the balance of payments of a single country. If you choose, you may include a discussion of the reasons why this explanation has made progress at the expense of others.
With liberal policies in trade and capital movements and national responsibility for employment and inflation, is the international economic system overdetermined? Discuss in relation to international monetary arrangements on the one hand, and the possibility of giving up policy instrument on the other.
Discuss the balance-of-payments problem, its origin and possible cure of one of the following: Germany, Italy, the United States, any Latin American country you choose, Saudi Arabia, India.
Source: Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries. Charles Kindleberger Papers, Box 22, Folder “Examinations International Economics 1959-75”.
Here we have another example of the sharing that goes on among leading economics departments. For some reason Zvi Griliches at Harvard had a copy of the general examination questions for both microeconomics and macroeconomics at M.I.T. that he kept in his files of Harvard prelim exams. Since anybody looking for M.I.T. economics exams would unlikely get all the way to Griliches’ papers (a goldmine for Chicago and Harvard exams by the way), Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has transcribed them for the digital historical record of the M.I.T. economics department.
____________________________
[Handwritten note:] MIT Prelim Return to Z.G.
February 8, 1967
General Examination Micro Theory — Two Hours
Answer any THREE questions (40 minutes each).
In a two-factor, two-product economy with fixed stocks of L and T, both industries use L and T in the same proportion when facing the same pair of factor prices. One industry is purely competitive, with constant returns to scale; but the other is a “natural monopoly,” with moderately increasing returns to scale. Every household always divides its income equally between the two goods.
What kind of transformation curve will the economy have?
If the monopoly is regulated so that price equals average cost, what will this imply as to the economy’s general equilibrium? Comment on the relationships among the prices and quantities of the two goods, the real wages and rents in terms of both goods, and the labor and land quantities allocated to the two industries.
Is there then any way in which the allocation of resources can then be improved? Explain.
An individual has an income from property of Y0 per year. If he faces a given wage rate, at which he chooses to work t1 hours for total wages of Y1 what will be the comparative revenues of the following alternative taxes, when each would have the same effect on the individual’s own welfare:
a lump-sum tax
a proportional tax on his wage income
a progressive tax on his wage income?
A monopolist faces a linear demand for his product, which is produced with just L and T subject to fixed coefficients. What can you say about his demand for L
in a short run when T is fixed in quantity, and
in the long run when T is available at a fixed price? Explain fully.
Discuss the welfare economics doctrines associated with at least three of the following economists:
Bergson
Arrow
Pigou
Hicks-Kaldor-Scitovsky
Discuss the similarities and differences between the problems of duopoly and bilateral monopoly. You may limit your discussion to the simpler standard instances of each.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
General Examination in Macroeconomics February 3, 1967
Answer three questions.
Suppose i) Net Saving is proportional to NNP; ii) Net Investment is an increasing function of NNP and a decreasing function of the interest rate, r, with the shape illustrated.
What justification is there for an investment function of this general shape?
Plot the implied IS curve.
Plot a conventional LM curve and discuss the determination and stability of macroeconomic equilibrium and the consequences of an increase in the money supply.
“The capitalist investor is fundamentally a friend of the worker, but the technical inventor can quite often be his enemy.” (Wicksell) Discuss.
Why has the average propensity to save not fallen as income per head has increased in the U.S.?
Suppose investment behavior is such that all investment opportunities which offer a rate of return equal to or greater than some fixed target rate R are instantly adopted. Labor and capital are the only factors of production; constant returns to scale and diminishing returns prevail. The labor force grows exogenously at a fixed annual rate g.
What saving rate, relative to national product will just maintain full employment in the steady state?
How does that saving rate vary with g?
What do you make of the common notion that a rapidly-increasing labor force makes it harder to maintain full employment?
Suppose that scientific inventory control methods reduce the desired inventory/sales ratio. Construct a simple model of inventory cycles which will tell you the effect of this development on the damping of inventory fluctuations.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Papers of Zvi Griliches, Box 129, Folder “Preliminary Examinations, 1957-1965”.
Image Source: The MIT beaver from the cover of the 1949 yearbook Technique.
Plot-spoiler: Abraham George Silverman ultimately became a non-atomic spy for the Soviets, one of their useful American bureaucrats. Links to details of that story can be found at the end of this post. In an earlier post you can find the Harvard graduate economics record of Lauchlin Currie along with a link to his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
However for our purposes here, Silverman enters Economics in the Rear-view Mirror as a humble graduate student who succeeded in grinding through the requirements for a Harvard economics Ph.D. at the end of the Roaring ‘Twenties.
_______________________
HARVARD UNIVERSITY DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.
[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]
I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.
Abraham George Silverman. Poland, Feb. 2, 1900.
II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)
Boston University (College of Liberal Arts), Sept. 1917 to June, 1919.
Harvard College, Sept., 1919 to June, 1921.
Leland Stanford Jr. University, Sept. 1922 to Sept., 1923
Economic Research Assistant, Food Research Institute, Stanford University, June, 1922 to Oct. 1, 1923.
Inst. in Econ., M.I.T.
III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)
S.B. in Economics, Harvard College, June, 1921.
A.M. in Economics, Stanford University, Sept., 1923.
A.M. Harvard, 1924.
IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your under-graduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc. In case you are a candidate for the degree in History, state the number of years you have studied preparatory and college Latin.)
History: Medieval and Modern European History, English History, American History, and “History of Liberty.” Government: Principles of Popular Gov’t., Philosophy of the State. Economics: Principles, Statistics, Accounting, Ec. Hist. of U.S., Money and Banking, Transportation, Corporations, Public Finance, Ec. thought and Institutions, “Socialism Anarchism, and Single Tax.” Philosophy and Psych: Psychology (Principles), History of Philosophy, Philosophy of the State, Modern Philosophical Tendencies. French. Advanced Mathematics, etc.
V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)
Economics.
VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)
Economic Theory and its History.
Ec 10 (History of Ec. Thought and Institutions Dr. A. E. Monroe – 1920-21);
Ec 11 (1923-24);
Advanced Ec. Theory (J.M. Clark at Stanford);
Seminaries in Ec. Theory (Stanford);
Outside Reading.
Ec 15 (1924-25).
Teaching principles of economics 1924 – M.I.T.
Economic History since 1750.
Ec 23 (1st half 1923-24) Attended lectures 2nd half.
Ec 2b (Dr. E.E. Lincoln, Harvard, 1919-20).
Statistical Method and Its Applications.
Ec 1b (Dr. J. S. Davis at Harvard);
Ec 41 (1923-24);
Stat. assistant to Dr. J.S. Davis, Summer of 1920;
Ec. Research Assistant, Food Res. Ins., Stanford Univ. 1 1/2 yrs;
Stat. work in Fed. Res. Bank of Bos.;
A.M. Thesis on “Wheat Supplies, Distribution and Prices, May 1920 to July 1921”
Taught Statistics (1925-26) – M.I.T.
Money Banking & Crises.
Ec 3 (A.E. Monroe, Harvard);
Ec. 38 (1923-24);
Foreign Exchg. (A.C. Whitaker – Stanford);
Reading in History of Money and Banking & Crises in connection with Ec. 23;
Acquaintance with the methods of Harvard Econ. Service.
Transportation.
Ec 4a, 4b (Prof. Ripley, Harvard, 1920-21)
Lectures in “Overhead Costs” (J.M. Clark – Stanford);
Outside reading outlined by Prof. Cunningham.
American History since 1789.
Hist 32, 32b (Mr. Morrison, Prof. Channing – Harvard College (1920-21);
Lectures in Hist 17 (1923-24)
Hist 13b or 39 (1923-24, second half)
Outside reading.
VII. Special Subject for the special examination.
Money and Banking, and Crises.
VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)
The International Trade of Great Britain, 1880-1913. A statistical analysis of some aspects of the theory of international trade and prices (With Prof. Taussig)
IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)
General Examination — May 1924 (if adequately prepared by then). Last of March or first of April.
X. Remarks
Professors Taussig, Bullock, Williams
Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.
[signed] F. W. Taussig
* * * [Last page of application] * * *
[Not to be filled out by the applicant]
Name:Abraham George Silverman.
Approved: Janary 11, 1924.
Ability to use Frenchcertified by A. E. Monroe. 12 Jan. 1925
Ability to use Germancertified by A. E. Monroe. 12 Jan. 1925.
Date of general examination April 8, 1926. Passed T.N.C.
Thesis receivedApril 1, 1930
Read byProfessors Bullock, Taussig, Williams
ApprovedMay 1, 1930
Date of special examination May 5, 1930. Passed – F.W.T..
Recommended for the Doctorate [left blank]
Degree conferred [left blank]
Remarks. [left blank]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jan. 12, 1925
Mr. A. G. Silverman has this day passed a satisfactory examination in the reading of French and German, as required of candidates for the doctor’s degree.
[signed]
A. E. Monroe
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
HARVARD UNIVERSITY (INTER-DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENCE SHEET)
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Record of Abraham George Silverman in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
1923-1924
COURSE
HALF-COURSE
Economics 11
A
Economics 23 (1st hf)
A
Economics 38
A minus
Economics 41
A
History 392
A
Grade
1924-1925
COURSE
HALF-COURSE
Economics 151 (mid-year)
Abs
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Scheduling General Examination
(First Attempt)
15 May 1925
Dear Mr. Silverman:
This is to remind you that your general examination for the Ph.D. in Economics is to be held on Tuesday, 19 May, at 4 p.m. in Widener U.
Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division
Mr. Abraham G. Silverman
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Scheduling General Examination
(First Attempt)
15 May 1925
My dear Professor Young
This is to remind you that you are the chairman of the committee for the general examination of Mr. Abraham George Silverman for the Ph.D. in Economics, to be held on Tuesday, 19 May at 4 p.m. in Widener U. I enclose Mr. Silverman’s papers herewith. The other members of the committee are Professors Carver, Ripley, Merk and Cole.
Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division
Professor A.A. Young
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Failed General Examination, first try
22 Concord Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 19, 1925
As Chairman of the committee appointed to conduct the general examination of Mr. A. G. Silverman for the degree of Ph.D. in Economics, I have to report that Mr. Silverman failed to pass the examination.
The committee recommends, however, that Mr. Silverman be encouraged take another examination. On one subject (statistics) he was better prepared than the average candidate. Only in two subjects did his preparation appear to be distinctly inadquate. There is reason to believe, furthermore, that there may have been certain circumstances which counted against the candidate’s doing himself full justice.
[signed]
Allyn A. Young
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Scheduling General Examination
(Second Attempt)
March 24, 1926.
Dear Mr. Silverman:
This is to inform you that the date of your general examination has been set for Thursday, April 8, at four o’clock. The committee consists of Professors Carver (chairman), Persons, Ripley, Merk, and Cole.
Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division
Mr. Abraham G. Silverman
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Examiners for the
General Examination
(Second attempt)
March 24 1926
Dear Sir:
Will it be possible for you to serve as a member of the committee for the general examination in Economics of Mr. A. G. Silverman, to be held on Thursday, April 8, at four o’clock? Mr. Silverman’s subjects for the general examination are:
Economic Theory and its History
Economic History since 1750
Statistical Method and Its Application
Transportation
American History since 1789
Mr. Silverman’s special subject is Money, Banking, and Crises.
The committee consists of Professors Carver (chairman), Persons, Ripley, Merk, and Cole. Taussig.
Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division
[Pencil note added to bottom:] Professor Taussig would like to serve.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Responses to the request
to serve on the committee for the General Examination (2nd try)
[Postmark: Mar 29, 1926]
[The following responses to the card requesting participation by examiners:]
I can cannot serve on the committee for the general examination of Mr. Silverman on April 8.
Confirming Taussig as Examiner
for the General Examination
(Second attempt)
March 30 1926.
My dear Professor Taussig:
You have been kind enough to say you will serve as a member of the committee for the general examination in Economics of Mr. A. G. Silverman, to be held on Thursday, April 8, at four o’clock? Mr. Silverman’s subjects for the general examination are:
Economic Theory and its History
Economic History since 1750
Statistical Method and Its Application
Transportation
American History since 1789
Mr. Silverman’s special subject is Money, Banking, and Crises.
The committee consists of Professors Carver (chairman), Persons, Taussig, Ripley, and Merk.
Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division
Professor F. W. Taussig.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Passed General Examination, second try
HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics
Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 9, 1926
The Committee on the General Examination of Abraham George Silverman for the Ph.D. degree, held April 8, 1926, voted unanimously to accept the examination as satisfactory.
[signed]
T. N. Carver
Chairman of the Committee
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Passed Special Examination
HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics
Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 6, 1930.
Dear dear Professor Carver:–
As chairman of the committee appointed to conduct the special examination for the Ph.D. degree of Mr. Silverman I beg to report that Mr. Silverman passed the examination.
Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig
Professor T. N. Carver
772 Widener Library
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, PhD. DegreesConferred, Box 10.
__________________________
Course Names and Instructors
Harvard, 1919-20
Economics 1b.Dr. J. S. Davis. – Statistics.
Economics 2b.Dr. E.E. Lincoln.– Economic History of the United States.
Economics 3. A. E. Monroe. – Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.
Harvard, 1920-21
Economics 10.Dr. A.E. Monroe.– History of Economic Thought and Institutions.
Economics 322. Professor Carver. – Economics of Agriculture.
Economics 4a. Professor Ripley. – Economics of Transportation.
Economics 4b. Professor Ripley. – Economics of Corporations.
History 32a. Dr. Morrison. – American History: The Formation of the Union, from 1760 to 1829.
History 32b. Professor Channing. – American History: The Development of the Nation, 1830 to the Present Time.
Stanford, 1922-23
John M. Clark. – Advanced Economic Theory.
A. C. Whitaker. – Foreign Exchange
Audited lectures by J. M. Clark on Overhead Costs
Harvard, 1923-24
Economics 11. Professor Taussig. – Economic Theory.
Economics 23. Asst. Professor Usher. – Modern Economic History since 1750. Registered in the first term, audited lectures second term.
Economics 38. Professor Young. – Principles of Money and Banking.
Economics 41. Asst. Professor Crum. – Statistical Theory and Analysis.
History 39b. Professor Turner – History of the United States, 1880-1920.
History 17. Professor Turner and Dr. Merk. – The History of the West. Audited lectures.
1924-25
Economics 15.Professor Young. – Modern Schools of Economic Thought.
1931-32. National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, N.Y. September 1931 to August 1932.
1932-33. Brown University and Rockefeller Foundation, Providence, Rhode Island, September 1932 to June 1933.
1933-34. Labor Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration. Sept. 1933 to July 1934.
1934-36. United States Tariff Commission. November 1934 to February 1936.
1936-42. Chief Econmist and Director of research at the Railroad Retirement Board, Washington, D.C. March 1936 to March 1942.
1941. Loaned to U.S. Treasury Department. Frozen funds policy.
1942-45. Civilian economic advisor and Chief of Analysis and Plans to the Assistant Chief of the Army Air Forces Air Staff for Material and Service. March 25, 1942 to August 18, 1945.
1945. August. Left the Pentagon to work for the French Supply Council in Washington, D.C.
The lifespan of the sub-field of labor economics, industrial relations (collective bargaining and arbitration), very neatly coincided with the career of Douglass Vincent Brown (1904-1986). He was educated at Harvard College (A.B., 1925) and trained in the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (A.M., 1926; Ph.D., 1932). After a few years of teaching at the Harvard Medical School, Brown was hired by M.I.T. in 1938 as an assistant professor of industrial relations and there rose through the ranks to become its first Sloan Professor of Management in 1946. He became professor emeritus in 1969.
What makes this post relatively unique is that it provides a complete picture of Brown’s educational progress from his college preparation through Harvard undergraduate years and graduate school as seen in his transcripts. Names of courses and professors have been added. A timeline of Douglass Vincent Brown’s life has also been appended to the post.
_______________________________
On Industrial Relations
Issues in Labor Policy. Essays in Honor of Douglass Vincent Brown. Edited by Stanley M. Jacks, M.I.T. Press, 1971. Publications and papers listed pp. xii-xiii.
Chapter 1. Douglas Vincent Brown and Charles Myers, “Historical Evolution”, in Public Policy and Collective Bargaining, ed. by Joseph Shister, Benjamin Aaron, and Clyde W. Summers, Industrial Relations Research Association, Publication No. 27, 1962, pp. 1-27.
Fun fact: Douglas Vincent Brown was George Shultz’s thesis advisor.
_______________________
HARVARD UNIVERSITY DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.
[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]
I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.
Douglass Vincent Brown, Wilkes-Barre, Penn. May 16, 1904.
II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)
Harvard University, 1921-27
III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)
A.B., Harvard 1925
A.M., Harvard 1926
IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your under-graduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc. In case you are a candidate for the degree in History, state the number of years you have studied preparatory and college Latin.)
Economics A, Economics B, Economics C, Ec. 6a, Economics 2a, Economics 3, Economics 5, Economics 6b, Economics 8.
History 1, History 32b, Gov’t 1. English A, English 31, English 41.
Social Ethics 4, German A, Philosophy 1a, Anthropology 1.
V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)
Economics.
VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)
Economic Theory & Its History. Ec. 11, Ec. 14, Ec. 15. Private Reading.
Statistics. Ecc. 1a, Ec. 41. Private Reading.
Sociology. Ec. 8, Ec. 12a. Private Reading.
Money and Banking. Ec. 3, Ec. 38. Private Reading.
American History, since 1789. History 32b, History 55. Private Reading.
(Labor Problems.) Ec. 6a, Ec. 6b, Ec. 34
VII. Special Subject for the special examination.
Labor Problems
VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)
Restriction of Output. Family Allowances. Professors Taussig and Ripley.
IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)
Early in the second half-year, 1926-7. [Added later:] Wednesday, March 2, 1927. Thurs. April. 28/32.
X. Remarks
[Added later:]
Professors Taussig, chairman
Bullock
Ford (James)
Schlesinger
Persons.
Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.
[signed] F. W. Taussig
* * * [Last page of application] * * *
[Not to be filled out by the applicant]
Name:Douglass Vincent Brown.
Approved: January 21, 1927.
Ability to use Frenchcertified by Professor A. E. Monroe. February 7, 1927.
Ability to use Germancertified by Professor A. E. Monroe. February 7, 1927.
Date of general examinationMarch 2, 1927, Passed – F.W.T.
Thesis receivedApril 1, 1932
Read byProfessors Taussig and Ripley
ApprovedApril 25, 1932
Date of special examinationThursday, April 28. Passed – F.W.T.
Recommended for the Doctorate June 9, 1932
Degree conferredJune 23, 1932
Remarks. [left blank]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German for Ph.D.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Feb. 7, 1927
Mr. D. V. Brown has this day passed a satisfactory examination in the reading of French and German as required of candidates for the doctor’s degree.
[signed]
A. E. Monroe
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Passed General Examination
HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics
Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 4, 1927
To the Chairman of the
Division of History, Government, and Economics,
As chairman of the committee for the general examination in economics of Mr. Douglass V. Brown, I have to report that the committee unanimously voted to accept the examination as satisfactory. Mr. Brown’s showing was in every respect creditable.
Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Passed Special Examination
HARVARD UNIVERSITY Department of Economics
Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 30, 1932
Dear Professor Carver,
As chairman of the committee appointed for the examination in the special field of Douglass V. Brown, candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, I have to report that Mr. Brown passed the examination to the entire satisfaction of the committee. His showing was excellent. The committee also agreed that his thesis was of high quality.
Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig
Professor T. N. Carver
772 Widener Library
Cambridge, Massachusetts
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Undergraduate Transcript
of Douglass V. Brown
HARVARD COLLEGE
Record of Douglas V. Brown
for the years 1921-25
(Date) February 28, 1927
ADMISSION RECORD
SUBJECT
Elementary
Advanced
Grade
Units
Grade
Units
English. Part A, II
90
85
3
Greek
Latin (1.2.4)
90
3
German
French
80
2
74
1
History (anc.)
68
1
Algebra
100
2
92
½
Plane Geometry
93
1
Solid Geometry
Plane Trig.
72
98
½
½
Physics
A
97
1
Chemistry
Geography
70
½
Admission Conditions:— [left blank]
YEAR 1921-22
Freshman
Grade
Subject
Course
Half-course
English A
B
Chemistry A
B
German A
B
History 1
B
Mathematics C
A
YEAR 1922-23
Sophomore
Grade
Subject
Course
Half-course
Anthropology 1
B
Economics A
B
English 31
B
Government 1
B
Mathematics 2
A
YEAR 1923-24
Junior
Grade
Subject
Course
Half-course
Economics 3
B
Economics 8
A
Economics 6a1
B
Economics 6b2
A
English 41
A
Philosophy 1a2
A
Social Ethics 4a1
A
YEAR 1924-25
Senior
Grade
Subject
Course
Half-course
Economics B1
A
Economics C hf
B
Economics 2a1
B
Economics 52
Exc(C)
Economics 12a1
A
History 32b2
Exc(B)
Concentration Subject:— Economics
Passed General Examinations in:— History, Government, and Economics
[…]
Received A.B. Degree:— magna cum laude at Commencement 1925
[…]
The standing of every student in each of his courses is expressed, on the completion of the course, by one of five grades, designated respectively by the letters A,B,C,D, and E; A and B are honor grades; C is passing; D passing but unsatisfactory; E failure. “Abs” indicates failure to obtain credit for the course, owing to absence from the final examination.
[…]
( ) indicates the quality of the work in the course up to the time of the final examination, from which the student was excused.
Sixteen full courses, in addition to the prescribed English Composition, are required for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, or Bachelor of Science. From four to six full courses (or their equivalent in half-courses) constitute a full year’s work. An average of nine hours each week (normally three hours of classroom work and six hours of preparation) for thirty-six weeks is the approved amount of work for the ordinary student in a single full course.
C. N. GREENOUGH, Dean
By [signed] G. G. Benedict
Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics, Ph.D. Degrees Conferred 1929-30. (UA V 453.270), Box 12.
_______________________________
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Record of Douglass Vincent Brown
First Registration: 25 September 1925
1925-26
Grades
First Year
Course
Half-Course
Economics 1a
A
Economics 11
A
Economics 38
A
Economics 412
A
History 55
A minus
1926-27
Grades
Second Year
Course
Half-Course
Economics 14
cr.
Economics 151
A
Economics 20 (F.W.T.)(2 co.)
AA
Economics 34 (1st half)
A
Henry Lee Memorial Fellowship
1927-28
Grades
Third Year
Course
Half-Course
Economics 20 (F.W.T.)
A
Inst. in Economics and Tutor in the Div. of H., G & E.
$1500
1928-29. Sheldon Fellow.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students 1895-1930. (UA V 161.272.5), Box 2, Belding-Burton.
__________________________
Harvard Course Names and Instructors
1921-22
English A. Rhetoric and English Composition, Oral and Written. Professor Murray, general direction of Course A.
Chemistry A. Elementary Chemistry. Professor Lamb and others.
German A.Elementary Course. Professor Bierwirth and others.
History 1. European History from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the Present Time. Professor Haskins and others.
Mathematics C. Analytic Geometry; Introduction to the Calculus. Section I: Associate Professor Bouton and Mr. LaPaz; Section II: Associate Professor Kellogg and Dr. Walsh.
1922-23
Economics A. Principles of Economics. Asst. Professor Burbank, and Messrs. Masson, Blackett, Fagg, Heath, and Chamberlin, with lectures on selected subjects by Professor Taussig.
Anthropology 1. General Anthropology. Professors Dixon and Tozzer, and Asst. Professor Hooton, assisted by Mr. Ghua.
English 31. English Composition. Professor Hurlbut.
Government 1. Constitutional Government. Professors Munro and Holcombe, assisted by Messrs. Wells, McClintock, McKaughan, and Pollock.
Mathematics 2. Differential and Integral Calculus; Analytic Geometry. Professors Huntington, Birkhoff, and Asst. Professor Graustein..
1923-24
Economics 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. Professor Young.
Economics 8. Principles of Sociology. Professor Carver.
Economics 6a1. Trade-Unionism and Allied Problems. Professor Ripley.
Economics 6b2. The Labor Movement in Europe. Dr. Meriam.
English 41. English Literature from the Elizabethan times to the present. Professor Bliss Perry, assisted by Mr. Bacon and Taeusch.
Philosophy1a2. Introduction to Philosophy. Asst. Professor Lewis.
Social Ethics 4a1. Problems of Race and Immigration in America: Americanisation. Dr. Carpenter.
1924-25
Economics B1. Economic Thought and Institutions. Asst. Professor A. E. Monroe.
Economics C hf. Theses for Distinction. Members of the Department.
Economics 2a1. European Industry and Commerce since 1750. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. Gilbert.
Economics 52. Public Finance. Associate Professor Bullock.
Economics 12a1. Problems in Sociology and Social Reform. Professor Carver.
History 32b2. American History: The Development of the Nation, 1840 to the Present Time. Professor Schlesinger (University of Iowa).
1925-26
Economics 1a. Statistics. Asst. Professor Crum.
Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Taussig.
Economics 38. Principles of Money and Banking. Professor Young.
Economics 412. Statistical Theory and Analysis. Asst. Professor Crum.
History 55. Social and Intellectual History of the United States. Professor Schlesinger.
1926-27
Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Professor Bullock.
Economics 151. Modern Schools of Economic Thought. Professor Young.
Economics 20. Two Research Seminars with Frank William Taussig.
Economics 34. (First half) Problems of Labor. Professor Ripley.
1927-28
Economics 20. Research Seminar with Frank William Taussig.
1933-38. Assistant professor of medical economics, Harvard Medical School.
1938-40. Assistant professor of industrial relations, M.I.T.
1940-43. Associate professor of industrial relations, M.I.T.
1941. Member of presidential mission sent to Moscow under W. Averell Harriman to organise Lend-Lease deliveries.
1942-45. Consultant to Departments of Labor and War. Advisory posts for the Council of National Defence and Office of Production Management.
1943-46. Professor of industrial relations, M.I.T.
1944-45. Public member of the New England Regional War Board.
1944. Named as Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
1946-. Named first Albert P. Sloan Professor of Management at M.I.T. Switched from “Economics and Social Science” to “Business and Engineering Administration.”
1947. Member of the Slichter Commission that issued a report leading to the 1948 “Slichter Law” which had the goal of reducing industrial disputes. It would have allowed the governor of Massachusetts to seize an industry if after 15 days there was “a menace to public health or safety” due to a strike.
1947. Charter member of National Academy of Arbitrators.
1948. Appointed by the governor of Massachusetts as a moderator to resolve a major trucking strike in New England. Application of the “Slichter Law” was avoided when the truckers agreed to continue moving food and fuel.
1959-60. Ford Foundation visiting professorship of industrial relations at the University of Chicago School of Business.
Paul A. Samuelson, end of 1960 or early 1961, seen here reading between the lines.
As the following documents show, by 1961 the M.I.T. administration fully appreciated the development of its department of economics from a humble source of curricular enrichment for engineers and natural scientists to a powerhouse of modern economic analysis that was a respected player in the academic major league. Indeed the hope was for political science, psychology, and linguistics to follow suit.
REPORT OF THE VISITING COMMITTEE 1960-61
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
In a well-attended, one-day meeting on April 27, 1961, the Visiting Committee of the Department of Economics and Social Science met with a representative group of the senior faculty of the department to discuss the progress of its teaching and research programs. Since the department embraces a number of distinct fields, key faculty members in those fields reported separately on their activities, plans, and problems. A summary of those reports is attached [Perhaps to be found elsewhere in the archives.], with an appended list of persons attending the meeting.
The Committee was favorably impressed by the past progress and the future prospects of the Social Sciences at M.I.T. The following highlights may be singled out for the consideration of the Corporation and the administrative officers:
The older Ph.D. program in Economics and the newer one in Political Science are both thriving. Fellowships are a continuing need at the graduate level, especially in fields such as these in which there are limited opportunities for teaching or research assistantships in the first two years. Economics has attracted many students with outside fellowships for their first year, and Political Science has a Carnegie Foundation grant which provides support for graduate students in the area of political development. This leaves an unfilled need for Economics fellowships in the second year and for Political Science fellowships in areas not covered by the Carnegie grant.
Now that the area of political development is as strong as it is, the Political Science Section’s next target is a comparable strength in the areas of government, science, and defense policy. This is an especially appropriate field for the Institute to cultivate, and it deserves support.
The undergraduate “double majors” in a combination of Economics or Political Science with a field of Science or Engineering are holding their own, but the department feels considerable difficulty in dramatizing the attractions of these courses to entering undergraduates — in contrast to its outstanding success in attracting graduate students.
An excellent start has been made toward the introduction of a new Ph.D. program in Psychology. The Institute already has considerable strength not only in that field but also in certain adjacent and supporting fields such as Biology, Mathematics, Linguistics, Communications, and Industrial Management. The next few years will be critical ones for this new graduate program.
When the Ph.D. program in Psychology is solidly established, consideration should be given toward adding the option of Psychology as an undergraduate major within the framework of Course XIV.
The Industrial Relations Section has been an active and constructive part of the department’s overall effort. We note with approval that preliminary steps have been taken to protect the Industrial Relations Fund against excessive drain in support of other departmental activities.
We learn with interest that the department has been experimenting with lectures in the introductory Economics course, as a means of exposing more beginning students to senior faculty. We recommend that other teaching aids also be considered, such as video-recorded lectures and demonstrations.
Since library facilities are so very important in the Social Sciences, continuing and enhanced support is recommended in this area.
The foregoing recommendations should be interpreted as tentative rather than definitive; for, in the nature of the case, your Committee’s visit consisted of a friendly hearing of the department’s point of view rather than a searching audit of its performance. At the same time, we should like to express our appreciation for the cooperation shown us by Dean Burchard, Professor Bishop, and the other department members who met with us.
Respectfully submitted,
James M. Barker
David F. Cavers
Jasper E. Crane
Davis R. Dewey
George P. Edmonds
Robert L. Moore
Willard L. Thorp
Teddy F. Walkowicz
Theodore V. Houser, Chairman
From the Annual Report of the President of M.I.T. for 1960-61
The Social Sciences
In the light of the concerns of the Centennial for the larger influences of science upon society, I think it appropriate to review this year the state of the social sciences at the Institute. That we should have become occupied with these areas was inevitable, and the Institute has a clear obligation to cultivate especially those that relate most directly to modern developments in engineering, science, and mathematics. M.I.T. has recognized this responsibility and has responded with strong and growing support to work in the social sciences in the School of Humanities and Social Science and elsewhere. These activities are giving to the Institute an entirely new dimension that few not associated intimately with M.I.T. yet appreciate.
It is a simple truth that the interests of the great physical and social sciences were never more interwoven than today. The overriding practical problems of our time — defense; disarmament; the economics of change; the politics of peace; the relationships among industry, science, and government — require joint technical and social analysis. The very progress of science is influenced by the broader social context, and the advances of engineering affect all our human institutions.
In our decision to encourage the growth of certain key social sciences at M.I.T., we determined not only to build on strength, but also to exploit particularly those that have special relevance to our central concerns with science and engineering. We hope to create more points of contact between the social and physical sciences and to foster more fruitful collaboration between them. In this way, in spite of enormous pressures for growth, we can delimit the domain of our interests and the way in which we allocate our resources to them.
We have given special attention to those fields in which mathematics and statistical techniques are playing an increasingly important role. This is, of course, completely compatible with our M.I.T. style, with our desire to be quantitative, the analytical, the mathematical. But by no means are we seeking to build our social sciences in the image of the physical. We recognize full well the many differences in set and attitude that distinguish them. An exaggerated insistence on emphases that are too narrow or criteria that are too rigid will only defeat our long-range objective of making the social sciences an integral part of the modern scientific university. Each field must be free to develop in its own way, to follow with complete freedom its own professional instincts.
From this point of view, the flowering of the social sciences at M.I.T. represents a new experience for us. Accustomed as we are to the demonstrable factual data of the physical sciences, we must accept the larger subjective element of judgment that enters into the social sciences in their present state. Since developments in many of these areas are open to a variety of interpretations, we must foster, within the limits of our aims and resources, a range of views and interests. The ultimate safeguard, however, lies not in seeking an impossible balance among modes of thought, but in recruiting a faculty of the highest intellectual power and integrity. This we have done.
In my report of a year ago I touched on a faculty survey of the social sciences which gave highest priority for development to fields of economics and economic history, political science, and psychology. I want now to comment briefly on the current status of these fields at the Institute and to examine in passing our commitments and our hopes in these areas.
ECONOMICS
The oldest social science at M.I.T., economics is still by a sizable margin the largest. The teaching of economics goes back to 1881 and Francis Amasa Walker. General Walker, the Institute’s third president and one of its great builders, was an authority on political economy — as economics was then called — and his understanding of the processes in American industrial development notably influenced his views on the education of engineers. He gave an outstanding lecture course on political economy and was the author of a distinguished text in the field. He also brought other economists to the Institute.
Yet, until well into the modern era of M.I.T., economics remained largely a service department for the School of Engineering. Only since World War II has the department matured and assumed a truly professional character. Today it is universally conceded to be among the most distinguished. Indeed, by any of the usual measures — the stature of its teachers, the quality of its research, the achievements of its graduates — it ranks in the small handful of leaders. This year the president of the American Economic Association and the presidents-elect of the Econometric Society and of the Industrial Relations Research Association are members of this department. This year, too, M.I.T. was selected as first choice by more Woodrow Wilson Fellows in economics — eighteen out of eighty — than any other school in the country. The strengths which have won this kind of recognition within the profession are substantial indeed. They were achieved, essentially, by encouraging Economics at M.I.T. to chart its own professional course; by the development of a distinguished graduate curriculum and of a major research program; and by insistence on the same standards of excellence we demand of our scientific and engineering departments. As a consequence, we have accomplished in economics the same kind of comprehensive renovation of purpose that Karl Compton undertook at an earlier date for the School of Science.
Economics at M.I.T. is also an important resource for other areas of teaching and research, and for the School of Industrial Management in particular. Management education at M.I.T. grew out of our teaching in economics, and today the teaching and research of the Department and the School reinforce one another more strongly than ever. Much of the research of the Department bears directly on the interests of the School — research on the economics of particular technologies; on the problems of measurement of productivity and output; on the contribution of technical progress to economic growth; on the origin and growth of new enterprises. Through this close relationship between the Department and the School, we also enjoy a fruitful interchange of theoretical and practical points of view.
The history and current role of economics at M.I.T. is the model for our development of other social sciences. We have now established sections of political science and of psychology within the Department of Economics and Social Science. Both are fields in which student and faculty interest is keen and in which we have unusual opportunities to make important contributions.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Because of the interweaving of technology with all the affairs of the modern world, and especially with those of government, we have set high priority on the development of political science. It is an area in which we have been moving rapidly ahead. This June we awarded our first Ph.D. degrees in this field, and there are now about thirty doctoral candidates within the Section. In addition, some five hundred undergraduates take elective courses in political science each year.
The Section now offers courses in six fields of political science, all of which are related to other interests of the Institute: international relations and foreign policy, political communication, defense policy, government and science, political and economic development, and political theory and comparative politics. Besides providing opportunities for combining work in political science with a scientific or engineering field, the faculty of the Section maintain close ties with their colleagues in economics, psychology, industrial management, and city and regional planning.
In the past two years, we have developed superlative strength in the field of comparative politics of developing areas, and through the association of the Section with the Center for International Studies we probably have as strong a faculty as is to be found anywhere in the politics of development. In support of this work, the Institute received two notable gifts this year. One, the donation of $500,000 from Dr. Arthur W. Sloan and Dr. Ruth C. Sloan of Washington, D.C., establishes a professorship in political science with emphasis on African studies. Not only does this gift provide an important new endowed professorship, but it also recognizes in a most dramatic way the growing stature of political science at the Institute.
The second grant is one of $475,000 from the Carnegie Corporation for research in training on the politics of transitional societies. The grant will make possible expansion of our research on the problems of nation-building in transition countries such as the newly emerged African and Asian nations. It, too, gives substantial recognition to the quality of our program. The Carnegie grant, among other benefits, establishes graduate fellowships both for course work at M.I.T. and for field work towards the doctoral thesis. We are enthusiastic about the values to be derived from this aspect of the grant which will permit us to send our students overseas for on-the-spot research in developing areas.
We have enjoyed magnificent opportunities for field studies in other areas of our political science activities through the generous support of the Maurice and Laura Falk Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The Ford Foundation has also underwritten much of our work on government and science, and the Rockefeller Foundation this year supported a new seminar on arms control. This seminar brought together some thirty individuals in the Cambridge academic community with strong interests in both the technological and political aspects of this subject. We very much hope that this may prove to be the beginning of a substantial new research program on defense policy.
This brief sampling of our progress in political science is intended only to suggest the vitality of this field at the Institute. It has grown quickly, but without overstretching itself. It has set high standards in research, and it has developed both its undergraduate and graduate courses in a most creative and constructive spirit. This new venture for M.I.T., in sum, has met with outstanding success.
PSYCHOLOGY
The example of political science has encouraged us to press forward even more vigorously with our plans to establish a psychology section within the Department of Economics and Social Science. The Institute already has great strength in psychology, both within the Department and elsewhere; and we have made marked progress this year in planning for a graduate program. This effort is being led by Professor Hans-Lukas Teuber, whose appointment I reported last year and who has now moved his research projects in physiological psychology from New York to Cambridge. Professor Teuber has brought with him a number of research associates and four postdoctoral fellows. In addition, we hope to make two additional faculty appointments in psychology soon.
To provide space for the new Section, the Institute has acquired the Central Scientific Company building at the corner of Amherst and Ames Streets. All three floors of this structure, which is located adjacent to our main academic group, will be devoted to an expansion of our teaching and research in psychology. When the necessary renovations are completed during the coming year, the building will be equipped with undergraduate and graduate laboratories, seminar rooms, animal quarters, and testing, observation, and office facilities.
The work of the Psychology Section will encompass three general areas: social and developmental; experimental; and physiological and comparative psychology. Our teaching in all three areas will put special emphasis on the experimental and the mathematical. And in our research we hope to create new opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation. This hope reflects the fact that psychology, especially in its quantitative aspects, is already intimately associated with many areas of Institute activity.
The relations of our experimental group with other M.I.T. activities, for example, have already had an important influence on the development of experimental psychology in this country. Our collaborative efforts include studies in such fields as communication and coding theory, automatic pattern recognition, signal detection theory, computer simulation of intelligent behavior, and others. There are many psychologists at the Institute concentrating on problems of this kind, and there are more at Lincoln Laboratory who are also concerned with problems of perception and observation and man-machine interactions.
The new Section’s work in physiological and comparative psychology will have similar opportunities for collaboration with research in progress in the Department of Biology and in the Center for the Communication Sciences, where investigations in communication biophysics are focused on the principles of organization of the central nervous system and on biophysical information handling. There are also a number of psychologists in the School of Industrial Management, and it is to be hoped that the work of the Section in social and developmental psychology will develop complementary ties with this management group. The latter is working on problems of morale and motivation, of executive leadership, and of creativity in the industrial setting; while the former is primarily concerned with the process of socialization.
Even a cursory review of the sites of interest in psychology at M.I.T. is impressive. The discipline has prospered on this campus, even though we have taken few systematic steps in the past to promote its growth. It has insisted upon recognition, really, and we are now committed to a sound program of development. No one here doubts the wisdom of this decision. The chief problem, indeed, will be to achieve a sense of professional unity among our psychologists without weakening those productive interdisciplinary ties that have given M.I.T. psychology a stamp and style that is all but unique.
LINGUISTICS
The decision was also made this year to offer a program leading to the Ph.D. in linguistics beginning in the fall of 1961, and we are in the process of establishing appropriate new sequences of work in linguistics for both undergraduate and graduate students. This work will be directed by the Department of Modern Languages, which has been carrying out important basic research in linguistics for a number of years. It is significant that among the first students we have accepted for this graduate program are majors in mathematics and physics as well as in linguistics.
Our concern with linguistics actually derives from the efforts of Professors Norbert Wiener and Claude Shannon in their pioneering work on the mathematical theory of communication. The study of the logical relationships within languages employs mathematical techniques comparable to those used in the general area of information theory. Moreover, recent developments in computer design, switching theory, and other similar areas are of first importance in the field of applied linguistics and in linguistic analysis.
It is not surprising, therefore, that much of our research in linguistics has taken place in the Center for the Communication Sciences, where linguists work in close association with mathematicians, electrical engineers, and physicists as well as with biologists and psychologists. This cooperative research has been carried forward in both theoretical and applied linguistics. We have a central concern with the structure and logic of language. We have also undertaken a number of promising applied projects, including work on mechanical translation and on machine perception and synthesis of human speech. These examples are typical of the kind of research through which M.I.T. has gained an international reputation in linguistics. Now, with our new doctoral program, the prospects for the rapid further development of this field at the Institute are exceedingly bright.
M.I.T., home of the heretic Paul Samuelson, proved to be ground zero of this anti-Keynes reaction. This story is well-known now thanks to Yann Girard. The artifact transcribed for this post is a short essay published by Ralph Freeman who was head of the M.I.T. economics department from 1933 to 1958. In it Freeman defended the honor of his department much as Lloyd Reynolds’ essay did for Yale economics.
Thank you for the Atlantic Monthly with McGeorge Bundy’s article which I have. I wish that his defense could have a wider circulation than it received in the Atlantic.
The Buckley book concerns me mainly because of its attack on Samuelson’s text and because of the wide distribution the Buckley book is receiving it is going to stir up a lot more people.
I venture to send you some of the things that come to my desk simply by way of keeping, you informed of the steady bombardment on Paul Samuelson’s text. This bombardment has been increasing in intensity. Yesterday a member of the Corporation came to see me about it. He had not previously had contact with the book, but he had been approached by various business people who were bitterly critical of the book and who brought to him a publication issued down south which raked over the old Namm comments [Benjamin Namm, “Would You Enter a Door Marked ‘Socialism’?” in Collier’s Weekly (April 29, 1950), pp. 34-49] upon the book.
I have just received a copy of the Brooking Institution study, “A Survey of Economic Education” by McKee and Moulton. I am afraid that the comments made in this study on page 17 in regard to economics textbooks will still further stir people up despite the qualifications which the authors carefully include in their statement.
I hasten to reassure you that despite the mounting criticism I stand no less steadfastly behind Samuelson’s right to take the point of view that seems right and proper to him. I think our best defense against criticism is the one that I repeatedly make, and which I assume to be wholly true, and that is that in our own teaching of economics at the Institute we do not follow any line, that we seek to present a balanced point of view and to give the student the tools so that he can reach his own conclusions. I was interested in Bundy’s statement in his Atlantic article that in attacking Mr. Buckley’s book, he did not wish to maintain that Yale was perfect and that “it is possible that Yale…..would benefit from the appointment of a strongly right-wing economist.
I am sure that so long as we can show that our own teaching of economics is not distorted in any direction and that we are not subtly indoctrinating students with any biased point of view, that we have an unimpregnable and sound position.
Yours cordially,
J. R. Killian, Jr.
JRK: mh
* * * * * * * * * *
Department Chair to President “We’re cool kids, really”
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Economics and Social Sciences
Cambridge, Mass.
November 19, 1951
President James R. Killian
Room 3-208
Dear Jim:
As I indicated to you in a recent conversation, a group of the Department staff is preparing a new book of readings to supplement the textbook which we use in Economic Principles (14.01 and 14.02). I have been delaying writing you about this until final decision has been made as to the contents of this new book. However, a tentative table of contents is now available and I enclose it herewith.
As you will observe, the projected book of readings aims to present a variety of points of view ranging from radical to conservative, from Marx and Engels to Pope Leo XIII. There are also readings from classical economists such as Adam Smith, Ricardo and Bastiat. Articles criticizing recent government policies are included as well as various opinions on the economics of the defense program. The use of this book will enable us to do on a large scale what we are already doing with a limited number of collateral readings.
I should like to emphasize once more that the members of the Department as a group range around the center in their economic thinking. There are no extreme radicals or extreme conservatives among us. We try to take a view toward economic problems which is balanced and objective, and in class we try to present both sides of the controversial problems that come up for discussion.
From some of the attacks aimed at Samuelson’s book, I get the impression that economists are to be condemned if they do not unequivocally approve of everything now being done in the name of private enterprise. This attitude, of course, is absurd. If the economic system is to be kept in working order it must be subjected to a critical analysis. In fact it is the job of the economist to do just this.
Some of the more extreme conservatives who are today attacking the teaching of economics are inclined to adopt an ostrich-like attitude. After all we do live in a mixed economy — one that is partly private enterprise and partly government control. This is a fact. Should this fact be hidden from students? The answer is clear. But some of our critics talk as though any discussion of what they regard as undesirable trends should be eliminated or reduced to a minimum.
I can assure you that no member of this Department is trying to undermine the system of freedom. In fact, it is quite the reverse. We are all trying to understand it with a view to making it work better and last longer. Though there is disagreement amongst us on particular issues, we are in agreement on that basic issue.
I am not sure there is much more that I can say. We would be glad to meet any of our critics face to face in a friendly discussion of any points on which they think we are in error. We do not claim to have all the answers. Our analysis might well be improved as the result of more exchange of ideas with intelligent business men.
Yours sincerely,
[signed] Ralph
Ralph E. Freeman
REF:rw
[in pencil]
Copies of this letter sent to:
Mr Gray [Daniel M. Gray?] of Stoner Mudge [Stoner-Mudge Co., Inc. of Pittsburgh]
Bradley Dewey [Life Member of MIT Corporation, 1932-74]
Dr. Warner, Pres. Carnegie Tech [John Christian Warner (1897-1989), President 1950-65]
Donald Carpenter [Life Member of MIT Corporation, 1943-95]
John Hancock [Member of MIT Corporation, 1949-55]
Walter Beadle [Life Member of MIT Corporation, 1943-88]
* * * * * * * * * *
President to Department Chair
“Be like Yale.”
November 28, 1951
Professor Ralph E. Freeman
Economics Department
Dear Ralph:
Professor Shultz sent me a copy of an article by Lloyd G. Reynolds entitled “The State of Economics at Yale.” This article seemed to me to be a first-rate exposition of the philosophy and methods of the department at Yale. The material is set forth not in a defensive manner at all, and to me was fairly convincing.
This is the kind of statement that I have been hoping that someone might prepare on our own department program here. I think it would be of great help to the Visiting Committee and to the department and the administration in supporting the interests of the department.
I have returned the Reynolds article to Professor Shultz. If you haven’t seen it, you may be interested in borrowing it from him.
Yours cordially,
J. R. Killian, Jr.
JRK: mh
* * * * * * * * * *
Department Chairman to President “You asked for it.”
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Economics and Social Sciences
January 17, 1952
Dr. James R. Killian
Room 3-208
M.I.T.
Dear Jim:
I have had sent to you a little article entitled
“Economies at M.I.T.” You may recall that you suggested I try my hand at an article of this sort.
I hope it will be of some help in dealing with correspondence regarding the operations of the Department. Several others of the staff have read and expressed general approval of the contents. It has been suggested that it might be submitted to The Technology Review which might be willing to supply us with some reprints.
I welcome any criticisms or suggestions for additions or omissions.
Yours sincerely,
[signed:] Ralph
Ralph E. Freeman
REF: TW
cc: Dean Burchard
Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Office of the President, Records, 1930-1959, Box 93, Folder “8. Freeman, R.E., 1945-54”
__________________________
Note: the following is a transcription of the printed article found in the archive with Freeman’s letter. The typed draft sent to M.I.T. President Killian is identical, only minor editorial changes were made for publication.
Economics at M.I.T.
[1952]
The Economics Staff, with Diverse Backgrounds and Views, Aims to Impart a Technique of Logic for Solving Economic Problems in a Complex Society
By Ralph E. Freeman
One of the most difficult problems confronting the professional teacher of economics is the competition he meets from other and more effective teaching agencies. The writer refers to the educational impact of the home, the press, and the radio, as well as the propaganda coming from special-interest groups of one kind or another. These agencies have a competitive advantage. The teacher may be in contact with his class for only two or three hours a week for a part of a year, while his nonacademic competitors have been working on these students since their early childhood.
This disadvantage may seem to raise the question as to whether the economist can really teach the subject at all. Doubts on this score are further increased by the unsettled condition of the world during the last decade — a state of affairs that has created many uncertainties for the individual. A student worried about his future can hardly be blamed for indifference toward a subject which often seems dull and remote from his immediate interests. Another disadvantage is the youth and inexperience of the average college student. Favorable experience with the veterans who came to the Institute after World War II indicates that maturity is a great advantage in the study of economics. All these difficulties in the way of the teacher tend to make him humble when appraising the impression he leaves on the minds of the younger generation.
These obstacles, however, are also a challenge to the economist to improve his teaching techniques. The Economics staff at the Institute has been continually experimenting with new materials and methods and, though it is not fully satisfied with the results, progress has been achieved. We have tried to keep up with the increasing mass of quantitative data becoming available and to keep abreast of improvements in analytical techniques and of shifts in emphasis resulting from changing economic conditions.
An interesting example of such a shift is to be found in the treatment of unemployment and price levels. Prior to the 1930’s, these problems were of secondary interest to most economists. A great deal of what they wrote and taught was based on the assumption of full employment and relatively stable prices. The attention of economists was directed mainly to the way in which productive agencies were allocated among various industries and enterprises. The leading problem was to discover that distribution of human and material resources which would best promote the material well being of the people.
In recent years the economist’s inquiry has focused on economic fluctuations. Unemployment of resources has thus become a major problem for investigation along with a study of changes in the level of prices. Because ups and downs in employment and periods of inflation and deflation are associated with changes in income available to purchase goods and services, the spotlight has been turned on income analysis. The study of national income has been stimulated by the publication of improved statistics emanating chiefly from the Federal Government and by the development of new and better techniques of analysis.
These statements are not meant to imply that the traditional subjects have been abandoned. The economist is still trying to explain what the economic system is and how it operates. He is still concerned with the role of prices and profits in organizing economic activity and with the functions of money and markets in assigning labor and capital to their more productive uses. What has happened is a reorientation of these traditional inquiries around the problems of income, employment, and price levels. This new approach seems to have brought the study of economics nearer to the daily lives of people and closer to the problems with which businessmen are most vitally concerned.
The fact that the beginner in economics is normally young and inexperienced makes it necessary for the teacher to spend a good deal of time describing the facts of economic life. National income, for example, only becomes meaningful as it is broken down into components and expressed in quantitative terms. It is usually desirable, therefore, to start with a discussion of the income of individuals, corporations, and governments. How is the total income of the nation divided among families and groups? How are corporations organized? How do they compute their earnings? What is the role of government and what changes are taking place in the relation of the government to the individual and to business? These are among the questions with which the student of economics is confronted in the early stages of his study. In addition, in most of the subjects offered, time is devoted to describing various institutions such as banks, labor unions, and farmers’ organizations which help determine the nature and direction of economic activity.
The main objective of economic education, however, is not to fill the minds of students with facts and statistics, but to impart to them a technique of thinking by means of which they can analyze and solve economic problems for themselves. General principles must be developed that are applicable to a broad range of situations. Among these principles are those that can be applied in understanding changes in the price of goods, changes in wages, interest, and profits, in the general price level and in the national income.
The economist is concerned, for example, not so much with what the price of wheat is or has been, as he is with the forces that interact to determine the price of wheat or any other commodity. Though he may study past changes in national income, he is primarily interested in the reason why the national income shifts from one level to another. In other words, he tries to develop an integrated theoretical framework which can be used in the analysis of economic problems.
At M.I.T., the economist is regarded as a teacher, not a preacher. His function is not to radiate his own political views nor to propagandize for his own particular social philosophy. His job is to encourage students to form their own opinions. He is not too concerned with what these opinions are. His main job is to ensure that the opinions, whatever they may be, are reached through a logical process of thought, rather than as a result of prejudice or hearsay.
The Economics staff of about 30 full-time members has been recruited with this objective in view. When a new man is taken on, we ask two main questions. Is he equipped by training, experience, and intelligence to carry on creative, scholarly work in his chosen field? Is his personality such as to hold out the promise that he will be a competent teacher and a congenial and co-operative colleague? As the result of this method of selection, the group we now have includes no freaks or extremists. Though there is a broad diversity of view on many of the controversial issues of our times, all of the members of the Department share a desire to preserve and improve the free institutions of America. These men rank high in the profession and compare very favorably with economists in other leading institutions.
Some people may find it hard to accept the idea that divergence of opinion should be regarded as a healthy condition. Why, it may be asked, should I tolerate a colleague who disagrees with me on government controls, the merits of labor unions, taxation, monetary policy and other questions? My answer would be that differences of opinion give rise to a lively interchange of ideas which is an important element in the educational process. Progress in economics, or in any other scientific discipline, would be stifled if an effort were made to enforce conformance to a single pattern of thought.
No matter how firmly we may believe that a given policy is the correct one, there is always a good chance that the man with a different opinion may have something meritorious to propose on his side. A story is told of Al [Alfred E.] Smith who was traveling in upper New York State with two companions, a Protestant and a Catholic. It was early on a bitterly cold Sunday morning when the two Catholics arose to attend mass. Looking at the Protestant sleeping peacefully in his warm bed, Al Smith said to his friend: “Wouldn’t it be awful if he were right and we were wrong!”
The chance that the other fellow may be right, or partly right, makes it inadvisable to strive for unanimity of thought and opinion. Tolerance of diversity is necessary for the preservation of the spirit of free inquiry which is the breath of life of an institution devoted to education and research. Such tolerance is one of the main features distinguishing a democratic from a totalitarian society.
As indicated above, this concept is applied in the Institute’s educational practices. In all courses, whether they are offered to undergraduates or graduates, the Department of Economics and Social Science tries to present contrasting views and opinions. In the beginning course in Economic Principles, which has been required of all students at the Institute, this procedure is subjected to severe time limitation. But even here this practice is followed. For several years we have been using supplementary readings presenting divers points of view and a new collection of such readings to accompany the textbook has just been prepared — a compilation that includes extracts from economic writings of all sorts, ranging from Karl Marx to the National Association of Manufacturers.
Besides this course in Economic Principles, there are many others, both on the undergraduate and the graduate level. These include several in the fields of labor relations, statistics, finance, theory, and international economics. There are courses in business cycles, technological innovation, and in the economics of particular industries. The Department also offers courses in psychology and international relations. As the name implies, the Department of Economics and Social Science is one that covers a wide field. It is a part of the School of Humanities and Social Studies and has close ties with the activities of historians and others who come under the same administrative direction. The bringing together of a number of different social studies exerts a broadening influence on both staff and students. It tends to make us look at human beings as members of an ever-changing, complex society subject to many influences in addition to those of an economic nature.
Virtually every student at the Institute takes economics at some point in his program. In addition to those subjects included in the Humanities Program, designed for the Institute as a whole, other subjects are tailored to fit the needs of professional courses such as those offered by the Department of Business and Engineering Administration. The Department also offers a four-year curriculum for undergraduates — Course XIV — leading to a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Engineering. Through emphasis on relationships among engineering, economics, and human relations problems, this Course aims to provide students with an understanding of both technical and non-technical aspects of our industrial society.
There is also a graduate division. There are about 50 students in this group, most of whom are candidates for the Ph.D. degree. Many of these men have come to M.I.T. from liberal arts colleges. They go into government, business, labor unions, and teaching as professional economists.
Because the training of the professional economist, normally requiring about seven years, is spent mainly in the classroom and the library, his knowledge of actual business practices is more limited than if he were actively employed in industry. This limitation of experience is a handicap of which the men on the Department’s staff are acutely conscious. We do not have as much direct contact, as might be desired, with what goes on in the factories, banks, railroads, public utilities, and other business enterprises whose activities we study.
Efforts are being made to bridge the gap between economic theory and business practice. Graduate students are encouraged to find summer employment in industry. Some of the staff members have had temporary jobs in business or government. Others have had an opportunity to get into close touch with industry through research projects. In recent years they have undertaken investigations in textiles, shoes, coal, housing, electronics equipment, and a variety of other industries. Several of our instructors act as consultants to business firms and have had ample opportunity to rub shoulders with businessmen and get a better idea of their operations and problems.
The Department also brings in businessmen to meet with classes and join in round-table discussions. The system of Visiting Committees is also helpful in getting the staff into touch with leaders in industry, finance, and the professions. But more of these contacts are needed. If we are to keep our feet on the ground, we must have the counsel and criticism of men of practical affairs.
The development of the new School of Industrial Management should be of material assistance in strengthening our contacts with leaders in the business world. Though the Department of Economics and Social Science will not be administratively a part of this School, it will be housed in the same building and will co-operate in carrying out its educational and research program. E. P. Brooks, ’17, Dean of the School, who is now in charge, is consulting with business leaders and hopes to enlist their aid not only in planning the project but also in executing the plans. The Department of Economics and Social Science should benefit, at least indirectly, from these extensive outside relationships.
We are grateful to the Alumni and other friends of the Institute who have taken an interest in our work. The Department is indebted to the companies which have supported our Industrial Relations Section, and have helped finance graduate fellowships and research activities; it hopes for a continuation of this interest and support. Such support will be needed if the Department is to maintain its position and to improve and expand its operations.
The number of students being graduated from Course XIV is now relatively small. and the demand for their services is high; but in the future we hope to increase the enrollment, and employment conditions are not likely to continue as favorable as they are today. This Course is new and therefore not yet widely known. Because it combines basic education in engineering and science, as well as in economics, and other social studies, its graduates have a broad background that should make them useful in a wide variety of jobs.
This spring the Department of Economics and Social Science expects to move into the recently acquired Sloan Building along with the School of Industrial Management. Readers of this article are invited to come and visit us in our new quarters. We will show you our Industrial Relations Library and our Psychological Laboratory. We will tell you about the Scanlon Plan that is making a valuable contribution to the betterment of employer-employee relations. We will describe research projects under way and point with pride to a growing list of publications by members of the Department. We would like to discuss with you the plans we have for future development in psychology and political science. The reader may be interested in meeting some of the staff or in talking to groups of students and if he can bear it, we will also tell him about some of our trials and tribulations. And perhaps he may have something on his mind he would like to tell us. If so, we will gladly listen. Our new address will be 50 Memorial Drive.
Image Source: This portrait of Ralph Freeman can be found in the 1950 yearbook. The copy used here comes from the MIT Museum website where it no date has been provided. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.
