During the first quarter of the 20th century at Harvard, the academic study of the history of economics extended back to ancient Greece. Charles Jesse Bullock brought enough classics cred to teach such a course, having himself taught Greek and Latin in New England schools before going off to get his Ph.D. (1895) at the University of Wisconsin.
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Earlier versions of the course
by year and instructor
1899-1900. The History and Literature of Economics to the close of the Eighteenth Century. [William James Ashley]
1901-02. History and Literature of Economics, to the opening of the Nineteenth Century. [Charles Whitney Mixter]
1903-04. History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the Nineteenth Century [Charles Jesse Bullock]
1904-05. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. [Charles Jesse Bullock]
1905-06. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. [Charles Jesse Bullock]
1906-07. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 [Charles Jesse Bullock]
1907-08. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 [Charles Jesse Bullock]
1908-09. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 [Charles Jesse Bullock]
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Course Description
1909-10
151. History and Literature of Economies to the year 1848. First half-year. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 11, and two additional hours to be arranged by the instructor. Professor Bullock.
The purpose of this course is to trace the development of economic thought from classical antiquity to the middle of the nineteenth century. Emphasis is placed upon the relation of economics to philosophical and political theories, as well as to political and industrial conditions.
A considerable amount of reading of prominent writers will be assigned, and opportunity given for the preparation of theses. Much of the instruction is necessarily given by means of lectures.
No undergraduates will be admitted to the course who are not candidates for honors in economics.
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, p. 54.
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Course Enrollment
1909-10
Economics 151. Professor Bullock. — History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848.
Total 6: 6 Graduates.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1909-1910, p. 44.
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ECONOMICS 15
Mid-year Examination, 1909-10
- Discuss Aristotle’s criticism of Plato’s communism.
- Give an account of Xenophon’s “Revenues of Athens.”
- At what points were the economic theories of the Schoolmen most influenced by Aristotle’s economic theories?
- What do you think of Ingram’s account of the economic ideas of the Middle Ages?
- Name six of the more important mercantilist writers and summarize the views of the one you consider to be most representative.
- “The earth is the source or matter whence all riches are produced. … The intrinsic worth of everything is proportioned to the value of the land, labor, risk and time necessarily had in producing it into use and form.”
Who wrote this and how do you classify him? - State the doctrine of the wage fund as you have found it in the writings of its leading exponents. Why and in what sense was it given up, and how is it related to more recent theories of wages?
- So far as you have read the evidence, to what extent was Adam Smith indebted to the Physiocrats, and to what extent did he make original contributions in the field of economics?
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. 49.
Image Source: Portrait of Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Demidoff Altarpiece by Carlo Crivelli (1476). The National Gallery website.