This general exam from the Spring of 1974 was fished from Charles Kindleberger’s papers in the M.I.T. Archives. Probably the questions in the first part were of Jagdish Bhagwati’s doing and those in the second part were chosen by Kindleberger.
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Previously transcribed and posted
General Exams
for International Economics
1959
February and May 1966
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Previously transcribed and posted
Kindleberger’s Course Exams
for International Economics
1950-51
1954-55
1961-67
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[Handwritten note: “Wednesday May 22, 1974”]
GENERAL EXAMINATION IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
Three hours.
Part I answer two questions;
Part II answer two questions.
All questions have equal weight (45 minutes each).
Write your answers to Parts I and II in separate books.
Part I
- Murray Kemp believes that, with regard to factor price equalization,
“…the conditions never have been nor will be satisfied in practice… Nevertheless, the “factor price equalization theorem is important if only because it focuses attention on the obstacles to equalization.”
What is your opinion about the importance and relevance of the factor price equalization theorem?
- What Is the case for free trade?
- Assume that the price of oil relative to other goods will continue at its present level for at least the next half decade. What does international trade (and not balance of payments) theory predict about the effects of the price increase on importing countries?
Part II
- Describe and evaluate the monetarist explanation of the balance of payments of a single country. If you choose, you may include a discussion of the reasons why this explanation has made progress at the expense of others.
- With liberal policies in trade and capital movements and national responsibility for employment and inflation, is the international economic system overdetermined? Discuss in relation to international monetary arrangements on the one hand, and the possibility of giving up policy instrument on the other.
- Discuss the balance-of-payments problem, its origin and possible cure of one of the following: Germany, Italy, the United States, any Latin American country you choose, Saudi Arabia, India.
Source: Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries. Charles Kindleberger Papers, Box 22, Folder “Examinations International Economics 1959-75”.
Source: Portrait of Charles Poor Kindleberger at the MIT Museum website. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.