Comparative national taxation systems gave this Harvard public finance course dedicated to the nuts and bolts of taxation an international flair.
Fun fact: While Benjamin Franklin did indeed write in a 1789 letter that “Our new Constitution is now established, everything seems to promise it will be durable; but, in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” The certainty of death and taxes was a notion that had been in the air (indeed in print) earlier, e.g. in Christopher Bullock’s farce, The Cobler of Preston.
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Earlier Harvard courses
on Public Finance and Taxation
Links to earlier course material for Public Finance and Taxation 1883/4 through 1910/11.
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Course Description
1911-12
[Economics] 7b 2hf. The Theory and Methods of Taxation. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor Bullock.
In this course the theory of taxation is first examined; then the tax systems of the United States and leading countries of Europe are studied. Finally proposals for reforming the methods employed in the United States are considered historically and critically.
The course will be conducted in the same manner as Economics 7a, and admission is subject to the same conditions. Students who do not elect this course at the beginning of the year will be admitted in February only with the consent of the instructor.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), pp.63-64.
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Course Enrollment
1911-12
Economics 7b 2hf. Professor Bullock. — The Theory and Methods of Taxation.
Total 37: 2 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 9 Sophomores.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.
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ECONOMICS 7b
Year-end Examination
1911-12
- Discuss fully the doctrine that income is the normal source of taxation.
- Discuss the expediency of using taxation as a means of regulating the distribution of wealth.
- How should the burden of taxation be distributed?
- Discuss the incidence of the tax on mortgages in the American states.
- State and explain four criticisms urged by Seligman against the single tax. State and explain the replies Mr. Shearman has made to these criticisms.
- Discuss the taxation of personal property in the United States and in Switzerland.
- Compare the British and the Prussian income taxes.
- Compare the custom taxes of France, Great Britain, and Germany.
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 […], pp. 53-54.
Image Source: Origin of the observation of the the inevitability of death and taxes: “You lye, you are not sure; for I say, Woman, ’tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes — therefore hold your Tongue, or you shall both be soundly whipt—Sure I know my Office—Give me some Sack—Lord, how I sweat!” from The Cobbler of Preston by Christopher Bullock, p. 21.