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Courses Princeton Suggested Reading Syllabus

Princeton. Money and Banking Syllabus. F.W. Fetter, 1933-34

 

Today’s posting takes us to the money and banking course at Princeton taught by Frank W. Fetter in the first semester of the 1933-34 academic year. The course outline along with the reading assignments come from his papers at Duke’s Economists’ Papers Archive. I have tracked down the assignments and have provided links where I have found them. What I particularly like about this course syllabus is that the reading assignments appear to be feasible, i.e. real and not nominal.

________________

List of Lectures, 1933-34
Economics 401 – Money and Banking

A. Money

  1. Nature and Evolution of Money
  2. Functions and Qualities of Money
  3. Characteristics of an Ideal Monetary System
  4. Credit (in general) and Commercial Bank Credit as Money
  5. The Value of Money
    1. The Quantity Theory
    2. Other Theories
    3. Synthesis
  6. Monetary History
    1. General
    2. In the United States
  7. Price Movements and their Consequences
  8. Foreign Exchange
  9. Monetary Standards
    1. The Gold Standard
    2. The Silver Standard
    3. Bimetallism
    4. Paper Standards
    5. The Tabular Standard

B. Banking

  1. Financial Institutions
  2. Commercial Banking
    1. Theory
    2. Social Effects
    3. Structure
    4. Federal Reserve System
    5. Branch Banking

C. Monetary and Banking Policy in Relation to Business Stability

  1. The Banks, the Money Market, and the Stock Exchange
  2. Banking and the Business Cycle

D. Monetary and Banking Reform

  1. Monetary Reform
  2. Banking Reform
  3. General Conclusions

________________

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Assignments in Money and Banking
1933-1934

Week of

1. Robertson: Money. Chs. 1-3 Oct. 2
2. White: Money and Banking. Pp. 79-139; 150-81 9
3. Warren & Pearson: Prices. Chs. 1-3, 22. 16
4. Bradford: Banking. Chs. 12, 13.
Griffin: Foreign Exchange. Pp. 61-72; 205-47. (Supplementary: To be read in case the subject is not clear from material in Bradford.)
The Business Section of a Newspaper.
23
5. Robertson. Ch. 4.
Gregory: The Gold Standard and Its Future. Pp. 1-83.
30
6. Graham: The Fall in the Value of Silver and Its Consequences. Nov. 6
7. Dunbar: The Theory and History of Banking. Pp. 9-58.
Robertson. Ch. 5
13
8. Bradford. Chs. 2-5. 20
9. Bradford. Chs. 8-11. 27
10. Burgess. Pp. 65-168. Dec. 4
11. Burgess. Pp. 169-296. 11
12. Bradford. Chs. 16-20
Vanderlip: What About the Banks?
18
13. Warren & Pearson. Chs. 9-17, 19. Jan. 8
14. Robertson. Chs. 9-17, 19.
Anderson: Equilibrium Creates Purchasing Power.
Magee: New Deal Legislation.
15
(The assignments for the last three meetings are subject to changes or additions.)

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library, Economists’ Papers Archive. Frank Whitson Fetter Papers, Box 55, Folder “Teaching, Ec 401-Money and Banking (Princeton University) 1933-1934”.

________________

 Course Bibliography and Links

D. H. Robertson. Money. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922.

Horace White. Money and Banking—Illustrated by American History. (Fifth edition). Boston: Ginn and Company, 1914.

George F. Warren and Frank Ashmore Pearson. Prices. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1933.

Frederick A. Bradford. Banking. New York: Longmans Green, 1932.

C. E. Griffin. Principles of Foreign Trade. New York: Macmillan, 1924. [pages from chapters V and XIII]

T. E. Gregory. The Gold Standard and Its Future (3nd ed.). New York: E. P. Dutton, 1935.

Frank D. Graham. The Fall in the Value of Silver and Its Consequences. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Aug. 1931), 425-470.

Charles F. Dunbar. The Theory and History of Banking. (3rd edition, enlarged by Oliver M. W. Sprague). New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1917.

W. Randolph Burgess. The Reserve Banks and the Money Market. New York: Harper & Bros., 1927.

Frank Arthur Vanderlip. What about the Banks? Saturday Evening Post (5 November 1932), 3-5, 64-66.

Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr.. Equilibrium Creates Purchasing Power. The Chase Economic Bulletin 11 (June 12, 1931), 3-16.

James D. Magee, W. E. Atkins and E. Stein. The National Recovery Program. New York: Crofts. 1933. (Magee writes about money, banking and finance. “Reprints of portions of recent legislation are included.”)

Image Source: (ca. 1937) John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

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Harvard. Memo on Master’s degree requirements in ten other departments, 1935

 

The following memo was found in the papers of the Harvard department of economics outlining the formal requirements for the award of a master’s degree in economics for ten other departments ca. 1935.  Harvard requirements for 1934-35 have been previously posted here at Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

____________________

REQUIREMENTS FOR A.M. IN ECONOMICS

University of Chicago
—Catalogue Vol. XXV, March 15, 1935—
No. 7, p. 293.

“The specific requirements for the Master’s degree are:

  1. A minimum of 8 courses, or their equivalent (of which at least 6 must be in Grades II and III above*). Either in his undergraduate or graduate work the candidate should cover the substantial equivalent of the requirements for the Bachelor’s degree in economics…(May be shown by examination.)
  2. A thesis involving research of at least semi-independent character.
  3. A final examination (either oral or written at discretion of the department). The examination is on the thesis and its field and on one other field chosen by the candidate.
  4. All candidates…are expected to show ability to think clearly…on abstract economic questions, and familiarity with terms and common concepts of economic science.

No language requirement for A.M. apparently.

No set time limit, but (p. 282) they seem to regard three of work in economics (either as graduate or as undergraduate) as “normal preparation” although “exceptionally capable” students may do it in less time.

* Grade II and III being respectively survey and problem courses (II), and Research, reading and seminar courses (III). Grade I includes intermediate courses.

 

Stanford University

  1. One academic year of graduate work (A “normal time” but also minimum).
  2. Thesis
  3. Examinations (general or final and at discretion of department).

 

Cornell University

  1. At least one full year of residence at Cornell.
  2. “No student may be admitted to candidacy for any of the degrees of A.M., M.S.,…, or Ph.D. whose training has not included work in a foreign language equivalent to three units of entrance in one language or two in each of two languages.
  3. A thesis or (at departmental discretion) an essay.
  4. Written or oral (at departmental discretion) final examination.

He must show a knowledge of:

Three special fields, such as: in Economic Theory and History:

(1) Good general knowledge of history of economic thought, including classical school and contemporary.
(2) Familiarity with economic analysis and controversial area of economic thought.
(3) A background knowledge of social and intellectual history.

or in Monetary Theory:

One requirement:
(1) A detailed understanding of the theory and history of money; monetary system of the United States, theory and history of banking; banking system of United States, foreign exchange, monetary aspects of cyclical fluctuations.

No specific course requirements as far as I can see.

 

University of Minnesota

  1. At least one full academic year’s work (in residence).
  2. Thesis required.
  3. Nine credit hours each quarter of graduate courses for three quarters.
  4. He must have done in three years (undergraduate) work in his major subject if it is open to freshmen, or two years otherwise.
  5. A reading knowledge of a foreign language to be determined by the department is necessary.
  6. An examination.

 

University of Michigan

  1. Residence requirement: One semester and one summer session, or three summer sessions; nine hours work a semester and six hours a summer session are minimum to establish residence at the respective sessions.
  2. A minimum of 24 hours of graduate work is required (i.e. necessary but not alone sufficient).
  3. Thesis may be required at discretion of department (apparently economics does not require it).

 

University of Wisconsin

  1. At least two semesters’ work, at least one of which to be at Wisconsin.
  2. An oral examination.
  3. A thesis may be required of students seeking to specialize in a definite line of study.

 

Princeton University

“After Commencement Day, 1935, the degree of M.A. will be awarded only to a student who has passed the general examination for the Doctor’s degree.” This implies a knowledge of French and German; and implies not less than two years graduate study. The examination may be written, oral, or both. One year of residence is required.

 

Yale University

  1. Two full years of resident graduate study required (but may be in less time in exceptional cases where unusual scholarship is demonstrated).
  2. Reading knowledge of either French or German.
  3. An essay is required of all candidates.
  4. (Apparently) A comprehensive written examination in field of concentration in Department of Economics (it is not specified for which degree so that it seems to apply to both M.A. and Ph.D.).

 

Columbia University

  1. “The candidate shall have registered for and attended courses aggregating not less than thirty tuition points, distributed over a period of not less than one academic year or its equivalent.”
  2. “The candidate shall have satisfied the department of his choice that he has satisfied requirements specified by the department for the degree.” (May include courses, examination, an essay, seminars, or “other work”.)

 

University of California

“There are required 20 semester units and in addition a thesis.”

“At least eight of the 20 units must be strictly graduate work.”

“The student must spend one year of residence.”

Rate of taking units:

“Graduate students in the regular session taking only upper division courses are limited to a program of 16 units” (a semester or a year? probably a semester).

“Graduate students…taking only graduate courses are limited to 12 units.” Mixtures are regulated in proportion thereto.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers 1930-1961. (UAV 349.11) Box 13, Folder “Graduate Instruction, Degree Requirements.”

 

 

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Size distribution of graduate and undergraduate programs in economics. U.S., 1963-65

 

 

These are the last two statistical tables from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of leading economics departments in the U.S. intended to provide orientation for departmental chairpersons in salary negotiations. Today’s posting gives the numbers of undergraduate and graduate majors reported by 29 departments. 

Earlier postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors across departments. Two previous postings have the actual distributions for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s for 1964-65 and 1965-66 and the anticipated range of salary offers for new Ph.D.’s for 1966-67. Those first five reports from The Cartel provide distributions of median or average incomes or ranges of salary offers by ranks across departments. Table 6c from the summary report that gives the salary distributions by rank for 335 professors, 143 associate professors and 185 assistant professors from all 27 departments.

Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

____________________

 

TABLE 7c
Graduate majors in Economics – 29 institutions:

 

1963-64 1964-65 1965-66
(Estimate)
300 and over 2 2

1

200-299

0 0 2
150-199 3 4

5

100-149

6 5 6
80-99 4 4

3

60-79

5 7 5
40-59 6 4

4

20-39

2 1 0
1-19 1 1

1

Number of departments reporting:

29

28

27

Total number of students:

2,963

3,057

3,118

____________________

 

TABLE 8C
Undergraduate majors in Economics – 29 institutions

 

1963-64 1964-65
300 and over 4

4

250-299

1 1
200-249 3

2

150-199

4 6
100-149 8

5

80-99

1 1
60-79 2

1

40-59

2 3
20-39 1

1

1-19

1

1

Number of departments reporting:

27

25

Total number of students:

4,550

4,312

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: quick meme website.

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Economics Professors’ Salaries by Rank (6), 1965-66

 

 

This is the sixth table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. In the previous five tables The Cartel reports median or average incomes or ranges of salary offers by ranks across departments. In this posting we have Table 6c from the summary report that gives the salary distributions by rank for 335 professors, 143 associate professors and 185 assistant professors from all 27 departments.

Earlier postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors across departments. Two previous postings have the actual distributions for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s for 1964-65 and 1965-66 and the anticipated range of salary offers for new Ph.D.’s for 1966-67.

Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

 

____________________

TABLE 6c

Salaries of Economists (9-10 month, academic year, 1965-66) in 27 of the 29 Departments of Economics (The Cartel):
N = Number of Persons

MID POINT OF RANGE PROFESSORS ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS ASSISTANT PROFESSORS
26,750/and over 2
26,500 0
26,000 2
25,500 1
25,000 8
24,500 0
24,000 4
23,500 2
23,000 7
22,500 2
22,000 12
21,500 7
21,000 10
20,500 5
2,0000 22
19,500 10
19,000 13
18,500 11
18,000 24
17,500 8
17,000 19
16,500 23
16,000 27
15,500 20 1 0
15,000 21 2 1
14,500 14 2 0
14,000 22 10 0
13,500 10 12 0
13,000 10 13 1
12,500 7 18 2
12,000 6 20 1
11,500 3 21 7
11,000 3 13 9
10,500 0 18 18
10,000 0 9 35
9,750 1 9
9,500 2 28
9,250 1 11
9,000 0 24
8,750 0 8
8,500 0 13
8,250 2
8,000 15
7,750 1
N=335 N=143 N=185

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source:  “Me and my partner” by C. J. Taylor on cover of Punch, December 25, 1889. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

 

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Expected New PhD Starting Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (5), 1966/67

 

 

This is the fifth table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Table 5c give figures for the anticipated range of salaries for “freshly completed PhD’s” for the coming academic year (1966-67) across the departments reporting. Earlier postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors. The previous posting has the actual distributions for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s for 1964-65 and 1965-66. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

The copy of this table in the Johns Hopkins University archives has a useful handwritten addition. It is noted that the median lower bound of the range is $9,250 and the median higher bound of the range is $10,000. Thus one might say a measure of the range of the anticipated, as of December 1965), 9-10 month salary offers for “freshly completed PhDs” for 1966-67 was ($9,250 — $10,000), though such a range was not necessarily anticipated by any one of the 27 departments responding to that question.

Compared to Table 4c, this table tells us that the range of offers for “freshly completed PhDs” was anticipated to move up $250 about a 2.67% nominal increase from 1965-66 to 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

 

____________________

TABLE 5c
Departments Expect to Have to Offer to Get
“Freshly Completed PhD’s for Next Year, 1966-67

 

MID-POINT OF RANGE

FROM TO
13,000 0

0

12,500

0 0
12,000 0

1

11,500

0 0
11,000 0

6

10,500

0 7
10,000 5

6

9,750

0 0
9,500 8

4

9,250

1 0
9,000 8

2

8,750

1 0
8,500 1

1

8,250

0 0
8,000 3

0

N=

27

27

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source:  Caption under the drawing: “No class of labor feels the grip of grinding monopoly more than our underpaid, overworked ball-players.”  “The base-ball Laocoon” by L. M. Glackens. Cover of Punch, May 14, 1913. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

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New PhD Starting Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (4), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

This is the fourth table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Table 4c give figures for the distribution of salaries for “freshly completed PhD’s” across the departments reporting. Previous postings gave the distribution for full-professors, the distribution for associate professors, and the distribution for assistant professors. The next posting has the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

______________________

TABLE 4c
Entering Salaries of “Freshly Completed PhD’s” of New Staff Members
in the Fall of 1965-66 1964-65

 

MINIMUM MEDIAN MAXIMUM
MID-POINT OF RANGE 1965-66 1964-65 1965-66 1964-65 1965-66

1964-65

Over 10,999

0 0 0 0 1 0
10,500 0 0 0 0 2

1

10,000

2 0 4 3 7 0
9,750 2 0 4 0 1

0

9,500

4 1 2 0 2 4
9,250 1 2 3 3 1

3

9,000

3 6 0 5 3 6
8,750 1 1 3 5 0

1

8,500

4 5 3 5 2 5
8,250 1 1 0 2 0

1

8,000

2 3 1 0 1 0
7,750 0 0 0 0 0

1

7,500

0 1 1 2 0 1
7,250 1 1 0 0 0

0

N=

21 21 21 25 20 23
Median $9,000 $8,500 $9,250 $8,750 $9,750

$9,000

Mean

$8,952 $8,583 $9,190 $8,820 $9,600

$8,913

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

 

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Assistant Professors’ Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (3), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

This is the third table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Tables 3c give figures for the distribution of assistant professor salaries across the departments reporting. Last posting gave the distribution for full-professors and the distribution for associate professors. The next posting has the distribution for entering salaries for new Ph.D.’s. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

____________________

TABLE 3c
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Assistant Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

1965-66 1964-65
Over 11,249 0

1

11,000

0 0
10,500 3

0

10,000

7 1
9,750 2

0

9,500

6 6
9,250 3

2

9,000

4 5
8,750 1

6

8,500

1 2
8,250 1

3

8,000

1 2
7,750 0

0

7,500

0 0
7,250 0

1

N=

29 29
Median $9,500

$8,900

Mean

$9,402

$8,936

 

 

TABLE 3c
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)
Average Salaries
“Superior Assistance Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

1965-66 1964-65
Over 11,249 4

1

11,000

3 2
10,500 8

5

10,000

7 3
9,750 2

2

9,500 3 4
9,250 0

3

9,000

1 3
8,750 1

3

8,500

0 0
8,250 0

2

8,000

0 0
7,750 0

0

7,500

0 0
7,250 0

1

N=

 

29

 

29

Median $10,250

$9,500

Mean

$10,333

$9,575

 

 

TABLE 3c
ASSISTANT PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)
Average Salaries
“Average Assistant Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

1965-66 1964-65
Over 10,749 0

1

10,500

1 0
10,000 5

0

9,750

2 0
9,500 4

3

9,250 7 1
9,000 2

8

8,750

4 3
8,500 1

5

8,250

2 3
8,000 1

1

7,750

0 2
7,500 0

1

7,250

0 1
N= 29

29

Median

$9,300 $8,800
Mean $9,251

$9,063

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: Brussells conference, cartel magnate (detail). Postcard from 1902. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

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Associate Professors’ Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (2), 1964/5-1965/66

 

This is the second table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Tables 2c give figures for the distribution of associate professor salaries across the departments reporting. Last posting gave the distribution for full-professors. Future postings include the actual salary distributions for assistant professors and freshly completed PhD’s 1964/65 and 1965/66. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

____________________

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Associate Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE
1965-66 1964-65
Over 13,749 3 0
13,500 2 0
13,000 2 1
12,500 6 3
12,000 5 2
11,500 4 3
11,000 3 11
10,500 2 4
10,000 0 0
9,750 0 1
9,500 0 2
N= 27 27
Median $12,000 $11,000
Mean $12,173 $11,093

 

 

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)
Average Salaries
“Superior Associate Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE
1965-66 1964-65
Over 16,249 0 1
16,000 1 0
15,500 1 0
15,000 2 0
14,500 2 0
14,000 5 2
13,500 6 4
13,000 4 6
12,500 3 3
12,000 0 4
11,500 1 3
 [sic, cell empty] 1 2
 [sic, cell empty] 0 1
N= 26 26
Median $13,000 $12,186
Mean $13,082 $12,159

 

 

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)
Average Salaries
“Average Assoc Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE
1965-66 1964-65
14,500 0 0
14,000 1 0
13,500 0 0
13,000 4 1
12,500 4 1
12,000 2 2
11,500 3 2
11,000 7 8
10,500 3 4
10,000 2 4
9,750 0 1
9,500 0 2
9,250 0 0
9,000 0 0
8,750 0 1
8,500 0 0
N= 26 26
Median $11,265 $10,775
Mean $11,640 $10,760

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: “The monopolists’ may-pole” by F. Opper.  Centerfold of Puck, vol. 17, no. 425 (April 29, 1885). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

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Professors’ salaries in U.S. economics departments (1), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

From my March 2017 expedition to the Johns Hopkins University archives’ collection of material from the Department of Political Economy, I came across one of those documents that help to provide an empirical baseline for the history of the market for economics professors. It is worth savouring the sets of tables one by one. In all, this so-called “cartel” summary with information collected from 29 departments in October 1965 consists of eight sets of tables.

On the last page of this summary for full-professor salaries can be found the name of the presumable compiler of the tables: Francis M. Boddy, Graduate School, University of Minnesota. It is dated December 21, 1965.

Two documents later in the same folder I found the list of 30 members of the Chairmen’s Group, dated December 13, 1965. With 29 responses to the salary questionnaire from which the “cartel” data have been assembled, it leaves only to guess which department did not report back to the “cartel”. I do believe that the ironic self-designation of cartel is not entirely contrary to functional fact here.

The salary distributions across the participating departments for associate professors, assistant professors, and for the starting salaries for newly minted Ph.D. hires have been posted in the meantime. Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

___________________________________

About Francis M. Boddy

Boddy, Francis M, 1115 Bus. Admin., West Bank, Dept. of Econs., U. of Minn., Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: Office (612)373-3583;Home (612)926-1063. Fields: 020, 610. Birth Yr: 1906. Degrees: B.B.A., U. of Minn., 1930; M.A., U. of Minn., 1936; Ph.D., U. of Minn., 1939. Prin. Cur. Position: Prof. Emer. Of Econs., U. of Minn. At Twin Cities. 1975-. Concurrent/Past Positions: Acting Exec. Secy., Bd. Of Investment, State of Minn., 1978-79; Assoc. Dean of Grad. Sch. U. of Minn., 1961-73.

Source: “Biographical Listing of Members.” The American Economic Review 71, no. 6 (1981): p. 67.

___________________________________

Research Hint:
Boddy’s data go back to 1957/58

“I have, over the past six years, conducted an informal survey of some 30 of the leading departments of economics in the country, defined largely as being those departments which have been major producers of Ph.D.’s in economics.”

Source:  Boddy, Francis M. “The Demand for Economists.” The American Economic Review 52, no. 2 (1962): 503-08.

 

Also of interest from about the same time is the AER Supplement:

Tolles, N. Arnold, and Emanuel Melichar. “Studies of the Structure of Economists’ Salaries and Income” The American Economic Review 58, no. 5 (1968):

___________________________________

MEMBERS OF THE CHAIRMEN’S GROUP, 1965-66
December 13, 1965

  1. Professor Gerard Debreu
    University of California
    Berkeley, California 94720
  2. Dean R. M. Cyert
    Carnegie Institute of Technology
    Pittsburgh 13, Pennsylvania
  3. Professor Arnold C. Harberger
    University of Chicago
    1126 East 59th Street
    Chicago 37, Illinois
  4. Professor Carl McGuire
    University of Colorado
    Boulder, Colorado
  5. Professor William Vickrey
    Columbia University
    New York 27, New York
  6. Professor Douglas F. Dowd
    Acting Chairman
    Cornell University
    Ithaca, New York
    (Professor Frank H. Golay, the Chairman, is on leave in 1965-66.)
  7. Professor Robert S. Smith
    Duke University
    Durham, North Carolina
  8. Professor John Dunlop
    Harvard University
    Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
  9. Professor John F. Due
    University of Illinois
    Urbana, Illinois 61803
  10. Professor George Wilson
    Indiana University
    Bloomington, Indiana 47405
  11. Professor Karl A. Fox
    Iowa State University
    Ames, Iowa 50010
  12. Professor Carl F. Christ
    Johns Hopkins University
    Baltimore, Maryland
  13. Professor Robert F. Lanzilotti
    Michigan State University
    East Lansing, Michigan
  14. Professor Warren L. Smith
    University of Michigan
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
  15. Professor E. Cary Brown
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Cambridge 39, Massachusetts
  16. Professor Emanuel Stein
    New York University
    New York 3, New York
  17. Professor John Turnbull
    University of Minnesota
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
  18. Professor Ralph W. Pfouts
    university of North Carolina
    Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  19. Professor Robert Eisner
    Northwestern University
    Evanston, Illinois
  20. Professor Paul G. Craig
    Ohio State University
    Columbus, Ohio
  21. Professor Irving B. Kravis
    University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia 4, Pennsylvania
  22. Professor Richard A. Lester
    Princeton University
    Princeton, New Jersey
  23. Dean Emanuel T. Weiler
    Purdue University
    Lafayette, Indiana
  24. Professor Lionel McKenzie
    University of Rochester
    Rochester 20, New York
  25. Professor Edward S. Shaw
    Stanford University
    Stanford, California
  26. Professor Carey Thompson
    University of Texas
    Austin, Texas
  27. Professor James W. McKie
    Vanderbilt University
    Nashville, Tennessee
  28. Professor Alexandre Kafka
    Acting Chairman
    University of Virginia
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    (Professor Warren Nutter, the Chairman, is on leave in 1965-66.)
  29. Professor David B. Johnson
    University of Wisconsin
    Madison, Wisconsin
  30. Professor Raymond Powell
    Yale University
    New Haven, Connecticut

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

 

___________________________________

 

CARTEL
SUMMARY of the October-1965 Questionnaire to Departments of Economics in the United States

SUMMARY of the salary (1965-66 and 1964-65 academic years, 9-10 month basis) and other data of 29 (out of 29) Departments of Economics. N = Number of Departments reporting.

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

1965-66

1964-65

Over 20,249

2 1
20,000 4

0

19,500

0 1
19,000 3

1

18,500

2 3
18,000 2

1

17,500

3 1
17,000 2

4

16,500

2 4
16,000 1

4

15,500

2 0
15,000 2

1

14,500

0 2
14,000 3

1

13,500

0 1
13,000 1

4

N=

29 29
Median $17,500

$16,500

Mean

$17,377

$16,319

 

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)

Average Salaries
“Superior Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

1965-66

1964-65

Over 23,749

3 1
23,500 2

0

23,000

0 0
22,500 3

0

22,000

1 2
21,500 4

3

21,000

1 2
20,500 4

2

20,000

0 3
19,500 2

2

19,000

2 4
18,500 1

0

18,000

3 1
17,500 1

2

17,000

0 0
16,500 2

1

16,000

0 4
15,500 0

1

15,000

0 0
14,500 0

1

14,000

0 0
N= 29

29

Median

$20,600 $19,500
Mean $20,677

$19,093

 

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)

Average Salaries
“Average Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

1965-66

1964-65

Over 18,749

4 2
18,500 0

1

18,000

3 1
17,500 1

1

17,000

3 1
16,500 3

2

16,000

5 8
15,500 1

4

15,000

2 1
14,500 1

1

14,000

2 0
13,500

2

2

13,000

1 4
12,500 1

0

12,000

0 1
11,500 0

0

N=

29 29
Median $16,100

$15,390

Mean

$16,192

$15,119

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image: From left to right: Monopolies, Uncle Sam, Trusts.

Taylor, Charles Jay, Artist. In the hands of his philanthropic friends / C.J. Taylor. , 1897. N.Y.: Published in Puck, March 10, 1897. . Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . (Accessed May 12, 2017). https://www.loc.gov/item/2012647652/

Categories
Economists Harvard Princeton

Harvard. Economics Ph.D. Alumnus. Robert Franz Foerster, 1909


Robert Franz Foerster (b. July 8, 1883; d. July 29, 1941) was the son of the American composer Adolph Martin Foerster, earned his BA from Harvard a year ahead of his class and went on at Harvard to earn a Ph.D. in economics on the topic of Italian emigration. The first twenty years of his career following his undergraduate education is sketched in the following four notes he submitted to the secretary of the Class of 1906. Foerster went on to become Professor of Industrial Relations at Princeton University. Some details about his undergraduate years can be gleaned from the Secretary’s First Report Harvard College Class of 1906, Cambridge, Crimson Printing, June 1907.

_______________________________

1912

ROBERT FRANZ FOERSTER

Graduating in 1905, as of 1906, I spent in Europe fourteen months of 1905-1906, travelling in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Holland and Belgium. For four months I was in Italy, for five in Berlin, where I took courses at the university. In the fall of 1906 I returned to Harvard, where for three years I was in the Graduate School. In 1909 I received the degree of Ph.D. in economics, my thesis dealing with Italian emigration. From 1908-1909 I was an assistant at Harvard in social ethics, from 1909-1911 an instructor, and since 1911 an instructor on the Faculty. I am chairman of the Immigration Committee of the American Unitarian Association and director of the Social Research Council of Boston. The latter has recently been affiliated with the department of social ethics, with offices in Emerson Hall, Cambridge. Books or plays of my authorship: “A Statistical Survey of Italian Emigration,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1908; “The French Old Age Insurance Law of 1910,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1910; “The British National Insurance Act,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, February, 1912; reviews and translations in economic journals; bibliographies in “A Guide to Reading in Social Ethics and Allied Subjects,” Harvard University, 1910. Member: American Economic Association, American Statistical Association, American Association for Labor Legislation. Business address: Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Present residence: 71 Perkins Hall, Cambridge, Mass.

 

Source:   Secretary’s Second Report Harvard College Class of 1906, Cambridge, Crimson Printing, June 1912, pp. 99-100.

_______________________________

1916

ROBERT FRANZ FOERSTER

Born              Pittsburgh, Pa., July 8, 1883.

Parents         Adolph Martin Foerster, Henrietta Margaret Reineman.

School           Central High School, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Years in College 1902-1905.

Degrees         A.B., 1905 (1906); Ph.D., 1909.

Occupation   University Professor.

Address        (home) 11 Shady Hill Square, Cambridge, Mass. (business) Emerson Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

I have continued to teach in the department of social ethics at Harvard. In 1913 I was promoted to an assistant professorship. Upon the retirement of Dr. Peabody, early in that year, Professor Ford and I took over the conduct of the course “Social Ethics 1” which our predecessor had for many years given as “Philosophy 5″—the first course of a department, established in 1906, which has continued to grow both in courses and in student enrolments. In 1912 I was appointed by Governor Foss chairman of a commission to study the question of the dependency of widows’ families. Our report was presented to the legislature in January of the following year. In the spring, after a considerable fight, a measure providing a system of “mothers’ aid,” based partly on the commission’s bill, was enacted. During the summer of 1913, in an absence from America of six or seven weeks, I journeyed, via the Azores, Madeira, and Algiers, to Sicily, Calabria, and Basilicata, regions in which I had become interested in a study of Italian emigration; I returned via the Tyrol, Switzerland, and France. The summer of 1914 I spent largely in Cambridge, doing a piece of work for Dr. Mackenzie King in connection with the department of industrial relations newly established by the Rockefeller Foundation. In these several years I have maintained connections with various social and philanthropic enterprises. In 1915 I became engaged to Miss Lilian Hillyer Smith, Radcliffe 1915, of Forest Hills, Mass, subsequently of Princeton, N. J. After our marriage, we expect to settle, in the fall, in No. 11 Shady Hill Square, Cambridge. I have written: Report (majority) of the Massachusetts Commission on the Support of Dependent Minor Children of Widowed Mothers (Boston, 1913). Member: Colonial Club, Cambridge, Harvard Club of Boston, American Economic Association, American Association for Labor Legislation, American Statistical Association.

 

Source:   Secretary’s Third Report Harvard College Class of 1906, Cambridge, Crimson Printing, 1916, pp. 139-40.

_______________________________

1921

ROBERT FRANZ FOERSTER

Address:       (home) 11 Shady Hill Sq., Cambridge, Mass.

Occupation: University Professor.

Married:       Lilian Hillyer Smith, Princeton, N. J., June 5, 1916.

I continued after the War broke out to teach at Harvard, and by the Spring of 1918 was the only person left teaching in my department. I had been overworking for a considerable period and suffered a breakdown in April, 1918. Though I continued to teach for the remainder of the Spring Term, I found it impossible to return to the University in the Fall. The Fall and Winter were devoted to the effort to regain my health and included a considerable stay in Johns Hopkins Hospital. At the end of March, 1919 I returned to Harvard to teach. Last Summer (1920) I went abroad with my wife, returning in much sounder health than when I went away, and to-day I regard myself as quite restored to health. (But what an absurdly common thing it is for professor folk at some stage or other to go to pieces!) Late in 1919 I published a comprehensive volume on Italian emigration, which had been on my hands for some years and which I had virtually completed, except for seeing through the press, by the Spring of 1918.

Have written: “The Italian Emigration of our Times” (558 pages). (Published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., December, 1919.)

Member: American Economic Association; American Association for Labor Legislation; American Statistical Association.

 

Source:   Harvard College Class of 1906, Fifteenth Anniversary Report (No. 4), Cambridge, Massachusetts: University Press, 1921, pp. 112-113.

_______________________________

1926

ROBERT FRANZ FOERSTER

Address:       4 College Rd., Princeton, N. J.

Occupation:  Economist.

Married:       Lilian Hillyer Smith, Princeton, N. J., June 5, 1916.

Children:      Lilian Egleston, born April 16, 1922; Margaret Dorothea, born October 15, 1924.

In the summer of 1920 I went with my wife to Europe, visiting scenes familiar and unfamiliar. In the late summer of the following year I entered upon various field studies dealing with labor relationships, first in Colorado and subsequently in Western Pennsylvania, and chiefly concerned with the coal industry.

In the summer of 1922 I was appointed to a professorship of economics in Princeton University, where my duties were essentially those of a director of the Industrial Relations Section, an organization interested mainly in constructive action in the field of industrial relations. My immediate duty here was the assembling of documentary information on labor relationships. I have had unusual opportunities for contact with employers and with representatives of the employed and have traveled considerably to places where interesting activities were being carried on.

During my free time in recent years I have undertaken advisory or research work in labor subjects. The results of one such employment, undertaken for the Secretary of Labor, were published in 1925 under the title “The Racial Problems Involved in Immigration from Latin America and the West Indies to the United States,” and brought a variety of interesting reactions.

            Have written: “The Italian Emigration of our Times” (558 pages). (Published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., December, 1919.) Various articles; and a report, “The Racial Conditions Involved in Immigration from Latin America and the West Indies to the United States,” published by the Department of Labor, Washington, 1925.

Member: American Economic Association; American Statistical Association; American Association for Labor Legislation; American Management Association; Advisory Committee, Washington Branch Internal Labor Office; Committee on Immigration of Social Science Research Council; Committee on Personnel Management of American Management Association.

 

Source:   Harvard College Class of 1906, Twentieth Anniversary Report (No. 5), Cambridge, Massachusetts: University Press, 1926, pp. 95-96.

Image Source: Assistant Professor of Social Ethics, Robert Franz Foerster in Harvard Album 1920.