An interesting difference between the final exams for this course is that all the earlier exams included a translate-from-German question or two. This time around the presumed “moderate reading knowledge” was not put to the test.
This picture of the young Gustav Schmoller with his hairless chin reveals what would appear to have been an incel long before it was fashionable.
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Gay’s Earlier Courses
on French and German Economists
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Course Description
1911-12
[Economics] 22. German and French Economists of the Nineteenth Century. Two consecutive evening hours per week, to be arranged with the instructor. Professor Gay.
In this course selections from the works of a number of the more important German and French economists will be read and informally discussed. The influence of the English classical school will be traced, together with the criticism directed against this school by the socialists and the historical economists. Attention will also be given to the question of methods in economic investigation.
A moderate reading knowledge of German and French will of course be necessary.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 60.
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Course Enrollment
1911-12
Economics 22. Professor Gay. — French and German Economists of the Nineteenth Century
Total 5: 5 Graduates.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.
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ECONOMICS 22
- Discuss the value theories of Hermann, Cournot, Marx, and von Wieser.
- Trace the development of the theory of business profits.
- The views of Bastiat, List, Schmoller and Wagner on a protective tariff policy.
- Compare the English classical school and the German historical school as to motives, methods, and results.
- Assuming that you are writing a text-book on economics, how would you outline the chapters on capital and interest?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], p. 64.
Previously offered
1902-03. Exam for 19th century German Economic Thought
1904-05. No exam found for 19th century French and German Economics.
1906-07. Exam for 19th century French and German Economics
1908-09. Enrollment, description, final exam for 19th century French and German Economists.
Image Source: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. Webpage “Gustav (von) Schmoller” of the Universitätsarchiv.