The following course outline with readings and final examination for Gottfried Haberler’s 1949 (spring term) course in international trade can be compared to the following material transcribed earlier for the pair of semester courses he taught subsequently covering international trade, finance and policy.
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Course Announcement
Economics 243a (formerly Economics 143a). International Trade
Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor Haberler.
[Economics 243 b (formerly] Economics 143b). International Trade]
Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professors Haberler and Harris.
Omitted in 1948-49; to be given in 1949-50.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Courses of Instruction, Box 6, Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1948-49, p. 79.
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Course Enrollment
[Economics] 243 a (formerly Economics 143a). International Trade (Sp). Professor Haberler.
Total: 25: 15 Graduates, 1 Senior, 4 Public Administration, 1 M.I.T., 4 Radcliffe.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1948-1949, p. 78.
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Spring 1949
Economics 243a
Professor Haberler
Outline
First Four Weeks
- The Importance of International Trade for the Economy of Various Countries. Measures of Importance
- International Accounts and National Accounts.
International Transactions in National Economic Budgets - Balance of Payments and Foreign Exchange
Demand and Supply for Exports and Imports
Demand and Supply of Foreign Currency - Balance of Payments Mechanism
The Transfer Problem
Second Four Weeks
- International Division of Labor
The Theory of Comparative Cost - Ohlin’s Theory of “Interregional and International Trade”
- Various Criticisms and Objections to Classical and Neoclassical Theories
- Location Theory
Last Four Weeks
- The last four weeks will be devoted to a discussion of problems of trade policy. Evolution of trade policies; Modern methods of trade regulation; The Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization (I.T.O.).
Reading Assignments and Suggestions
General
The literature in the subject is so rich that students can acquire the knowledge necessary for the course in many different ways. Students are invited to make their own detailed choice from the suggestions below. Two extensive bibliographies have been prepared in former terms for other courses. One may be obtained from Ms. Buller, Littauer 322; the other from Professor Williams’ secretary, Littauer 231. Each student is expected to have read one or the other of the following general monographs or texts:
Ellsworth: International Economics
Haberler: Theory of International Trade
Whale: International Trade
Enke and Salera: International Economics
Meade and Hitch: Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy (Part III)
Harrod: International Economics (3rd edition, 1939)
Tinbergen: International Economic Cooperation (1945)
An excellent discussion of recent developments will be found in: Metzler: “The Theory of International Trade,” Chapter. 6, Survey of Contemporary Economics (1948)
It is hoped that the volume, Readings in the Theory of International Trade will appear in March or April.
Assignments and Suggestions to Subjects Listed Above in Addition to Relevant Chapters in General Texts
- There is hardly any specific reading on this subject. See, however, The Post-War Foreign Economic Policy of the United States. 6th Report of the House Special Committee on Post-War Economic Policy and Planning. House Report No. 541. Washington, 1945. (This report was written by Lloyd Metzler.)
The United States in the World Economy, U. S. Department of Commerce, 1943.
Buchanan, N.S., and Lutz, E.A.: Rebuilding the World Economy, 1947) - Hicks: The Social Framework of the American Economy, Ch. XII, “Foreign and National Income.”
The United States in the World Economy (U.S. Department. of Commerce, 1943).
The Survey of Current Business (Monthly publication of Department of Commerce) has frequent articles on trade and balance of payments statistics. - R. Nurkse: International Currency Experience (League of Nations, 1944).
J. Robinson: “Foreign Exchanges,” Essays on the Theory of Employment (1st ed., 1938; 2nd ed., 1947), Part III.
Machlup: “The Theory of Foreign Exchanges,” Economica, 1939 (two articles).
Pigou: “The Foreign Exchanges,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1922, Reprinted in Essays in Applied Economics, 1927.
Metzler: op. cit. - Williams: Post-War Monetary Plans and Other Essays, 3rd edition, 1947.
The New Economics (ed. S. E. Harris), Part V, especially the essays by Bloomfield and Nurkse.
Machlup: International Trade and the National Income Multiplier (1943).
Keynes and Ohlin on German Reparations in Economic Journal, 1929 (to be reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade). - In addition to general texts, see: Ricardo: Principles; J. S. Mill, Principles
Marshall: Money, Credit and Commerce
Taussig: International Trade
J. Viner: Studies in the Theory of International Trade
Leontief: “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1933 (to be reprinted in Readings). - Ohlin: op. cit. Parts I, II, and possibly III.
Ellsworth: “A Comparison of International Trade Theories,” American Economic Review, June, 1940. - J. Viner: Studies (last two chapters).
F. D. Graham: Theory of International Values (Princeton 1948).
Williams: Postwar Monetary Plans, 3rd ed., 1937, Ch. 12. - E. Hoover: Location of Economic Activity (Economic Handbook, ed., S.E. Harris, 1948).
Relevant chapters in Ohlin, op. cit. - Buchanan and Lutz: op. cit.
Foreign Economic Policy for the United States (ed., S.E. Harris, 1948).
M. Gordon: Barriers to World Trade (description of trading methods).
Clair Wilcox: A Charter for World Trade, 1949.
Text of I.T.O. Charter
Further assignments for 9 to be made later.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1). Box 5, Folder “Economics 1949-1950, 3 of 3”.
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1948-49
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 243a
[Final Examination]
Answer 4 questions
(Please write legibly!)
- Analyze the probably effect of a currency depreciation of a particular country upon (a) the balance of payments and (b) the terms of trade. List the main factors on which the outcome depends and give attention to income as well as to price effects.
- List and discuss the main theoretically tenable arguments for protection. Indicate their order of importance (a) from the scientific point of view and (b) from the point of view of practical politics.
- Describe Ohlin’s theory of International Trade and compare it with the classical and neo-classical theory.
- “The existence of a large home market in the U.S. protected by taste, connections, and a high tariff, which enables the development of mass-production methods, secures advantages which cannot be challenged except by countries having complete state monopoly of their foreign trade. This makes it impossible for Western Europe to adopt a policy of nondiscriminatory trade using no protective devices except tariffs.” (Th. Balogh) Discuss and analyze.
- Discuss the probable influence of international trade upon the distribution of income, say, between labor and non-labor income. Pay attention to the theories of Heckscher-Ohlin, Stolper-Samuelson and L. Metzler.
- After World War I, Germany had to pay reparations and the Western allies had to pay debts to the United States. After World War II, the corresponding problem for Europe is to get along without American aid.
Analyze the possible mechanisms of adjustment, indicating the similarities and differences of the two cases.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 16, Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science, June, 1949.
Image Source: Gottfried Haberler in Harvard Class Album, 1950.