Tag: Day

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Business Cycles Exam Questions Harvard Money and Banking

Harvard. Money, Banking, and Crises. Description, Enrollment, and Year-end Exam. Day, 1911-1912

I don’t know why the department of economics felt a need to merge two semester courses into a single two semester sequence,  but in 1911-12 Edmund Ezra Day’s two distinct courses were joined into a single sequence covering money, banking and crises. Maybe it was really a desire to reduce three semester courses (1) money (2) banking and foreign exchange (3) and commercial crises into two semesters.

The mid-year exam for the first term of the two-semester course on money, banking, and crises was not found with the other exams of the 1911-12 academic year in the Harvard archives. One has to make do with what one’s got.

Professor Edmund Ezra Day’s biographical timeline was posted earlier.

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Banking, Foreign Exchange and Crises pre-1911/12

Links to earlier course material for Banking, Foreign Exchange, and Crises from Harvard, 1902-03 through 1910-11.

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Meet the Course Teaching Assistant

Thomas York (1883–1941)

Dec. 22, 1883 — Born, Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, son of Walenty (“Valentine”) and Anna York, Polish immigrants.

1900 — Graduates Mount Carmel High School.

1903 — Enters Phillips Exeter Academy in preparation for Harvard; matriculates at Harvard College, 1903.

1903–06 — In residence at Harvard College.

1907 — Receives A.B., summa cum laude, with the Class of 1907 (having completed the course in three years).

1907–1910 (c.) — Teaches Latin and Greek at the Morristown School, a boys’ boarding school in Morristown, N.J.

1910 — Returns to Harvard, entering the Graduate School to study economics.

1911 — Receives A.M.

1911–1913 — Serves as Assistant in Economics, Harvard University, under Professor  Day, including work on Economics 8 (Money, Banking and Crises).

1913 (c.) — Leaves Harvard without pursuing the Ph.D.; joins the staff of the Wall Street Journal.

Sept. 4, 1918 — Marries Isabel Smith of Mount Carmel, in New York City (Mount Carmel Item, Sept. 6, 1918).

Sept. 12, 1918 — WWI draft registration; listed as reporter, Wall Street Journal; residence 609 West 127th Street, New York, with wife Isabel.

1920 — Publishes Foreign Exchange: Theory and Practice.

1920 (c.) — Leaves the Wall Street Journal after seven years on its staff (having risen to Foreign Exchange Editor); joins the Ronald Press Company, New York, publishers of business and financial books.

1920–1922 — Prepares an enlarged edition of his foreign-exchange book.

1923 — Publishes International Exchange, Normal and Abnormal; favorably reviewed in the New York Times (Apr. 8, 1923) and celebrated in his hometown paper, the Mount Carmel Item (Apr. 9, 1923).

1920–1941 — Serves twenty years on the editorial board of the Ronald Press Company, supervising numerous finance and business titles; contributes to financial periodicals and lectures at financial conventions; frequently consulted by banking and brokerage houses.

(undated, pre-1941) — Works on an unpublished manuscript on banking, accounting, and corporation law, left incomplete at his death.

Jan. 12, 1941 — Dies suddenly of a heart attack at his home, 5 West 65th Street, New York City, age 57.

Jan. 13–14, 1941 — Death reported in the Mount Carmel Item and the New York Times.

(after 1941) — Widow Isabel Smith York donates his unpublished manuscript to Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School.

Sources: Harvard College Class of 1907, Secretary’s First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth (Quindecennial) Reports; Cambridge, Mass. city directories (1912–13); Mount Carmel Item (Sept. 6, 1918; Apr. 9, 1923; Jan. 13, 1941); New York Times (Apr. 8, 1923; Jan. 14, 1941); WWI draft registration card (Sept. 12, 1918); Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School, finding aid (bak01111).

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THOMAS YORK [as of 1922]

BORN at Mt. Carmel, Pa., Dec. 22, 1883.
SON OF: Walter, Anna York.
PREPARED AT: Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, N.H.
YEARS IN COLLEGE: 1903-06.
DEGREES: A.B. 1907, Α.Μ. 1911.
MARRIED: Isabel Smith, September 1918, Mt. Carmel, Pa.
OCCUPATION: Publisher.
ADDRESS: c/o Ronald Press Co., 20 Vesey St., New York, N.Y.

                  I HAVE been engaged in sundry occupations since leaving College. For three years I taught Latin and Greek at the Morristown School, a private institution for boys at Morristown, N.J. The classics, however, offered little opportunity for my rising ambition, and I, therefore, decided to turn to matters of more up-to-date interest. So in the fourth year of graduation I came back to Harvard to enter the Graduate School, and there I spent three diligent years delving into the dismal science, otherwise known as economics. I still had teaching in view, but at the close of my graduate course I definitely abandoned the idea. I hasten to add, lest there be some misunderstanding, that I am not the possessor of the Ph.D. A constitutional dislike of the grind that is the condition precedent of obtaining that degree turned me away from pursuit of it.

                  Having accumulated a modicum of knowledge about banking and finance during my Graduate School days, I decided to try my fortune in financial journalism. So I am next found on the staff of the Wall Street Journal. Here I had a varied experience, marketwise and otherwise. I made valiant attempts during my first years in the Street to find the proverbial pot of gold. Not meeting with success I turned to less distracted, though more laborious, pursuits, visible evidence of which is furnished by a book on foreign exchange. Not satisfied with this maiden effort at authorship, I undertook to get out an enlarged edition of the book, and this has engaged my spare time for the last two years. I have in the meantime also been contributing to some financial periodicals.

                  I left the Wall Street Journal two years ago, after serving seven years on its staff. Since then I have been associated with the Ronald Press Company, 20 Vesey Street, New York, publishers of business and financial books.

                  In September of 1918 I joined the ranks of the benedicts. My wife was Miss Isabel Smith of my home town, Mt. Carmel, Pa.

Source: Secretary’s Fifth Report. Harvard College Class of 1907 (June, 1922), pp. 596-597.

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Course Description
1911-12

[Economics] 8. Money, Banking, and Crises. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 1.30. Dr. Day.

This course aims to analyze the principal problems of money and credit. An examination is first made of the more important existing monetary systems. This is followed by a careful review of the more instructive chapters in the monetary history of England, Germany, France, the United States, Austria, British India, Mexico, and the Philippines.

The nature, origin, and early growth of commercial banking are considered. A thorough investigation of present banking practice in England, France, Germany, and Canada is followed by a study of banking history and present banking problems in the United States. In this connection foreign exchange and the money markets of London, Paris, Berlin, and New York are examined.

Finally attention is turned to those problems of money and credit which appear most prominently in connection with economic crises. Though emphasis is thrown upon the financial aspects of the trade cycle, the investigation covers the more fundamental factors causing commercial and industrial fluctuations.

Short papers upon assigned topics will be required of all students. The course is open to those only who have passed in Economics 1.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 64.

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Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 8. Dr. E. E. Day, assisted by Mr. York. — Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.

Total 120: 7 Graduates, 16 Seniors, 70 Juniors, 22 Sophomores, 4 Freshmen, 1 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 64.

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ECONOMICS 8
Year-end Final Examination
1911-12

  1. Give (in not more than 100 words, using tabular form if you wish) the history of the silver dollar in the United States. What is its present position? Is it a source of weakness in our monetary system? If so, why? If not, why not?
  2. Describe the monetary experience of India from 1893 to 1901. What were the immediate and ultimate standards of value in India in (1) 1895, (2) 1899, (3) 1901?
  3. Compare the bank note issues of Germany and Canada with reference to (1) elasticity; (2) limitations upon the aggregate circulation; (3) ultimate security. Which system seems to you preferable for the United States? Why?
  4. Define discount market. Describe the English discount market. How has the absence of such a market affected banking in the United States? What provisions of the Aldrich Bill are designed to establish a discount market in this country?
  5. To what degree does the rate of discount vary in different parts of (1) Canada, (2) the United States? How in each case is the absence of perfect uniformity to be accounted for? If the Aldrich Plan were adopted, could the Reserve Association probably control the rate of discount in the United States? If so, how? If not, why not?
  6. Describe briefly the following phenomena in the crisis of 1907: (a) currency premium; (b) hoarding; (c) the domestic exchanges; (d) substitutes for cash.
  7. State concisely the theory of crises advanced by Professor Fisher in “The Purchasing Power of Money.” Discuss the theory critically.
  8. Indicate fully the significance of the following “indices” in an analysis of general business conditions:

(1) Value of the corn crop;
(2) Railway net earnings;
(3) Business failures;
(4) Gold exports.

In each case explain why the “index” has or has not significance.

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. 54-55.

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Exams from earlier years

1902/03-1907/08. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles (A.P. Andrew)
1906/07. Banking and Foreign Exchange (A.P. Andrew)
1907/08. Banking and Foreign Exchange (A.P. Andrew)
1908/09. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles (Wesley Clair Mitchell)
1908/09. Banking and Foreign Exchange (W.C. Mitchell)
1909/10. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles [Not offered].
1909/10. Banking and Foreign Exchange (O.M.W. Sprague)
1910/11. Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade (E.E. Day)
1910/11. Banking and Foreign Exchange (E.E. Day)

Source: Edmund Ezra Day (colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror) in the Harvard Class Album 1915.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Principles

Harvard. Principles of economics. Enrollment, description, exams. Taussig, 1911-1912

Today we begin a march through the economics course offerings at Harvard for the academic year 1911-12 with Frank W. Taussig’s Economics 1, Principles of Economics, an obvious starting point. 

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Exams for principles (a.k.a. outlines)
of economics at Harvard
1870/71-1910/11

1871-75 1880-81 1890-91 1900-01 1910-11
1881-82 1891-92 1901-02
1882-83 1892-93 1902-03
1883-84 1893-94 1903-04
1884-85 1894-95 1904-05
1885-86 1895-96 1905-06
1876-77 1886-87 1896-97 1906-07
1877-78 1887-88 1897-98 1907-08
1878-79 1888-89 1898-99 1908-09
1879-80 1889-90 1899-00 1909-10

 Frank Taussig completed the first edition of his Principles of Economics [Volume I; Volume II] in March 1911 [Preface]. Links to the references from that first edition have been posted. Taussig expected his students to acquire a personal copy of the textbook and wrote a letter (transcribed and posted here) to Harvard President Lowell, dated October 6, 1911 giving his reasons for not putting a large number of copies into libraries as a reference book for students for them to consult. Taussig did allow one major exception to his textbook ownership policy: “I do not want to compel the poor fellows to buy my book. There is a text-book loan library in Phillips Brooks House, and this I have supplied with a sufficient number of copies for the use of the needy.”

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Course Announcement
1911-12

[Economics] 1.     Principles of Economics. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor [Frank William] Taussig, assisted by Dr. [Edmund Ezra] Day, and Messrs. [Eliot] Jones, [Alfred Burpee] Balcom, [Joseph Stancliffe] Davis, and [Harold Hitchings] Burbank.

Course 1 gives a general introduction to economic study, and a general view of Economics for those who have not further time to give to the subject. It undertakes a consideration of the principles of production, distribution, exchange, money, banking, international trade, and taxation. The relations of labor and capital, the present organization of industry, and the recent currency legislation of the United States will be treated in outline.

The course will be conducted partly by lectures, partly by oral discussion in sections. A course of reading will be laid down, and weekly written exercises will test the work of students in following systematically and continuously the lectures and the prescribed reading. Course 1 may not be taken by Freshmen without the consent of the instructor.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1911-12 (1st edition) published as number 23 in Volume VIII of the Official Register of Harvard University (June 14, 1911). Transcribed and posted here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Course Enrollment
1911-12

Economics 1. Professor Taussig, assisted by Dr. E. E. Day, and Messrs. Jones, Balcom, J.S. Davis, Burbank, and Jay Morrison. — Principles of Economics.

Total 438: 1 Graduate, 19 Seniors, 85 Juniors, 252 Sophomores, 54 Freshmen, 27 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 63. 

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ECONOMICS 1
Hour Examination.
Nov. 18, 1911.

  1. Explain what is meant by
    — capital,
    — producer’s goods,
    — consumer’s goods.

Can it be said that a monopolist has greater power over the price of producer’s goods than over that of consumer’s goods? If so, why? If not, why not?

  1. Explain briefly but carefully:—
    — vertical combination;
    — by-products;
    — steam-engine theory of the efficiency of labor;
    — quantity theory of money.
  2. “On grounds of general reasoning we are led to expect that the value of the precious metals will conform in the long run to their cost of production at the poorest mine, or at the poorest part of the better mines. It will conform, we should expect, to marginal cost of production.” What is the general reasoning here referred to? Does it apply to the precious metals as “we should expect”? If so, in what manner? If not, why not?
  3. —
    1. Is the marginal utility of water greater or less than that of molasses? Is its total utility?
      Is the marginal utility of copper greater or less than that of steel? Its total utility? (The price of copper per pound is usually about ten times that of steel.)
      Is the marginal utility of diamonds greater or less than that of glass? Its total utility?
    2. Is consumer’s surplus larger (or more significant) for water than for molasses? For diamonds than for glass?

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ECONOMICS 1
Mid-year Examination.
1911-12

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

  1. Is it for the advantage of the community, and if so, wherein, that there should be
    — standardizing,
    — grain exchanges,
    — brokers’ business?
  2. Is it for the advantage of the community, and if so wherein, that there should be
    — corporations,
    — transferability of corporate shares,
    — stock exchanges?
  3. Arrange the following in the order of elasticity of demand; setting down first that for which you think demand is least elastic, last for which you think demand is most elastic. Give concisely the reasons for your arrangement.
    — Wheat,
    — Shakespere’s works,
    — sugar,
    — eye-glasses.

Assume now that each of these is in the hands of monopoly: which of them would it be for the interest of the monopolist to market at a high price, which at a low price? (By “high price” is meant a price much in excess of cost of production). Illustrate by a diagram.

  1. Explain what is meant by
    — weighted index number,
    — specie premium,
    — “real depreciation” of paper money,
    — multiple standard.
  2. Is a period of rising prices advantageous (a) for the community at large, (b) for any classes or sections in the community?
  3. Is a low value of money, once settled, advantageous to the community at large? To any classes or sections in the community?
  4. What are the restrictions on the total amount of banknotes that may be issued in (1) the United States, (2) England, (3) France? What degree of elasticity is found in the banknote issue of each country? Are there grounds for saying that elasticity of note issue is more important in one of these countries than in the others?
  5. How is the volume of deposits in the United States affected by
    1. the quantity of lawful money (specie and its equivalent);
    2. the requirements of law;
    3. the temper of the business community.
  6. “We need not fear labor competition with Christendom. The readjustment would involve some temporary hardship, but it would be only temporary. But to compete with the wages paid in India, China, and Japan would be impossible. In some cases American wages would fall; in other cases the American manufactures would cease. Wages at three or four dollars a day could not be long kept up in competition with wages at twenty-five, fifty, or even seventy-five cents a day. Oriental wages would rise a little; American wages would fall a great deal.”
    Would you agree?

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ECONOMICS 1
Year-end Examination.
1911-12

  1. In what manner are saving and the formation of capital promoted or retarded by

(a) government borrowing;
(b) the corporate organization of industry;
(c) progressive inheritance taxes.

  1. What part is played by (1) savings banks, (2) commercial banks, in the creation of capital? In the creation of deposits? How, if at all, do these two sorts of banks influence the effectiveness of capital?
  2. The establishment of a postal savings system in the United States is expected to bring about a diminution in the remittances made to foreign countries by those who have recently immigrated to this country. Would such a change be to the advantage of the United States? If so, wherein? If not, why not?
  3. Explain carefully,

— increasing returns;
— monopoly profit;
— unfair competition;
— potential competition;
— “the earmarks of effective monopoly.”

  1. Suppose an urban site which, if utilized to best advantage, would secure an economic rent of $2000 a year; suppose an appropriate building to be erected on it, costing $50,000; suppose the current rate of interest to be 4%. What would be the net rental of the property (due allowance having been made for repairs, taxes, and the like), and what would be its capital value (selling price)?
    Suppose now that an inappropriate building had been erected on it, and that the property, thus utilized, had proved to command a net rental of $2500; what would be the capital value (selling price) of the property?
  2. Explain and illustrate

— equalizing differences of wages;
— real differences of wages.

Broadly speaking, are the differences which appear in existing society of the first kind or of the second?
What is the effect of immigration into the United States on these differences of wages?

  1. What is to be said for, what against,

— “making work”;
— insurance against unemployment;
— the employer’s power of discharge.

  1. In what sense, if in any, can it be said that government ownership and management (of railways, for example) is socialistic? In what sense, if in any, can it be said that compulsory arbitration between employers and workmen is socialistic?
  2. Explain progressive, regressive, degressive, and proportional taxation. Of which sort would you consider the following (discuss three only):

— the British income tax;
— the general property tax in the United States;
— the import duty upon sugar;
— a tax upon the unearned increment in urban sites?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Prof. F. W. Taussig, Examination Papers in Economics 1882-1935  (Scrapbook).

Image Source: Frank William Taussig, Harvard Class Album 1915.

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Business Cycles Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles. Description, enrollment, final exam. Day, 1910-11

After a year gap, a business cycle course was offered in 1910-11 with a new instructor, Edmund Ezra Day. One-third of the exam was devoted to “‘barometers’ or indices of general business conditions”.

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About Edmund Ezra Day

https://www.irwincollier.com/harvard-1909-phd-alumnus-edmund-ezra-day-cornell-memorial-minute-1951/

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Earlier Exams 

1902/03-1907/08. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles (A.P. Andrew)

1908/09. Commercial Crises and Trade Cycles (Wesley Clair Mitchell)

1909/10. Not offered.

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Course Announcement and Description
1910-11

12 1hf. Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Dr. Day.

            Course 12 begins with a brief review of the more important crises occurring before 1870. This is followed by an intensive study of the cycles of trade culminating in the crises of 1873, 1893, and 1907. The influence upon commercial fluctuations of the present organization of industry, of government finance, of foreign trade, of agricultural conditions, of the money supply, of speculation, of banking methods, and of other such factors is discussed. The so-called barometers of trade are examined. Finally some consideration is given to the theory of economic crises, to the methods which have been employed in different countries for relieving crises, and to proposed reforms designed to prevent them.

            Written work, in the preparation of short papers on assigned topics, will be required of all students.

            The course is open only to those who have passed satisfactorily in Economics 1.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VII No. 23 (June 21, 1910), p. 59.

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Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 12 1hf. Dr. E.E. Day. — Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade.

Total 99: 1 Graduate, 40 Seniors, 43Juniors, 10 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 12
Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

Give at least one-third of your time to Part II.
I
  1. “The real cause of the crisis of 1893 was the bungling and incompetent legislation of our Federal Government.” Was this so? If so, why? If not, why not?
  2. In what particulars were the conditions in the United States prior to the crisis of 1857 similar to those before 1907? In what respects were the conditions different?
  3. Describe accurately the relation between:—
    1. (1) Changes in the price level and (2) merchandise imports and exports.
    2. (1) Merchandise imports and exports and (2) international gold movements.
    3. (1) International gold movements and (2) banking reserves.
  4. In the theory of crises what is meant by overproduction? To what different causes may this overproduction be assigned?

II

  1. Arrange in the order of importance the following “barometers” or indices of general business conditions: —
    1. Wheat production.
    2. Cotton production.
    3. Railroad construction.
    4. Price of pig iron.
    5. New York bank clearings.
    6. Business failures.

Analyze the value and limitations of each of these indices. 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1910-11.

Image Source: “A dangerous bubble” by J.S. Pughe. Illustration published in Puck (22 October 1902). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard International Economics

Harvard. Banking and Foreign Exchange. Course description, enrollment, and examination. Day, 1910-1911

Edmund Ezra Day was awarded his Harvard economics Ph.D. in 1909 and he was subsequently appointed assistant professor of economics in 1910-11. This was a transition year for monetary economics at Harvard. In 1911-12 Day consolidated the three half-courses Econ 8a (Money), Econ 8b (Banking and Foreign Exchange), and Econ 12 (Commerical Crises and Cycles of Trade)into the full course “Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.”

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Exams from earlier years

1906-07. Banking and Foreign Exchange (A.P. Andrew)
1907-08. Banking and Foreign Exchange (A.P. Andrew)
1908-09. Banking and Foreign Exchange (W.C. Mitchell)
1909-10. Banking and Foreign Exchange (O.M.W. Sprague)

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Economics 8b
Course Description
1910-11

8b 2hf. Banking and Foreign Exchange. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 1.30. Dr. [Edmund Ezra] Day.

In Course 8b, after a summary view of early forms of the development, legislation, and present practice of banking in leading countries, — such as England, Scotland, France, Germany, and Canada, — are reviewed and contrasted. Particular attention is given to banking history and experience in this country: the two United States banks; the more important features of banking in the separate states before 1860; the beginnings, growth, operation, and proposed modification of the national banking system; and credit institutions outside that system, such as state banks and trust companies; and the growth and influence of the independent government treasury.

The peculiarities of the money markets of London, Paris, Berlin, and New York are examined, and the various factors, such as stock exchange dealings, and international exchange payments, which bring about fluctuations in the demand for loans, and the rate of discount in these markets will be considered.

Written work, in the preparation of short papers on assigned topics, and a regular course of prescribed reading will be required of all students.

The course is open to those who have taken Economics 1.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VI,I No. 23 (June 21, 1910), p. 58.

Economics 8b
Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 8b 2hf. Dr. E. E. Day. — Banking and Foreign Exchange.

Total 123: 1 Graduate, 26 Seniors, 55 Juniors, 27 Sophomores, 5 Freshmen, 9 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 49.

Economics 8b
Year-end Examination, 1910-11

  1. Carefully distinguish the clearing house certificate from the clearing house loan certificate. Describe the manner in which the loan certificate has been customarily issued.
    What is the primary function of the loan certificate? Explain Professor Sprague’s statement: “The result (from failure to equalize or pool reserves) has been to convert the clearing house loan certificate into an instrument which inevitably and immediately leads to the suspension of payments by the banks.”
    To what new uses was the loan certificate put in 1907? To what extent would you expect this practice of 1907 to be followed were another crisis to occur under our present banking laws?
  2. Describe the manner in which commercial banking in England arose from the business of the “new fashioned” goldsmiths.
  3. Contrast the banking systems prevailing in 1860 in New England and New York.
  4. In the English banking system, what are the functions of (1) the accepting house, (2) the bill-broker, (3) the discount house? What is the size and form of the English banking reserves? Are these reserves adequate? If so, why? If not, why not?
  5. Describe the following features of bank note issue in Canada: (1) number of issuing banks; (2) limitations upon issue; (3) security of notes; (4) current redemption of notes; (5) elasticity of issue.
  6. Describe the elasticity, from year to year, season to season, and during crises, of’ (1) gold coin, (2) bank notes, and (3) deposit currency, in the United States.
  7. Contrast Professor Sprague’s proposed central bank with the Reserve Association advocated by Senator Aldrich. Which, in your opinion, the better assures the banking reform needed in the United States? Why?

Source: Papers set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, …, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College. June 1911, p. 44. In Harvard University Archives, Examination papers, 1873-1915 (HUC 7000.25). Box 9. Examination Papers, 1910-11, p. 47.

Image Source: Edmund Ezra Day in Harvard Class Album 1915. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Principles

Harvard. Enrollment and semester examinations for principles of economics. Taussig, 1910-1911

After a pause dedicated to revising a paper, I return to the task of transcribing the economics mid-year and year-end examinations from Harvard University. The first table below provides links to four decades worth of introductory exams, ending in January and June 1910. Material for the other economics courses taught at Harvard in 1910-11 will be posted over the next couple of months.

In 1910-11 Frank Taussig was back in the saddle after a leave of absence taken during the previous year. He completed the first edition of his Principles of Economics [Volume I; Volume II] in March 1911 [Preface]. Links to the references from that first edition have been posted.

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Exams for principles (a.k.a. outlines)
of economics at Harvard
1870/71-1909/10

1871-75

 1880-81 1890-91 1900-01
1881-82 1891-92

1901-02

1882-83 1892-93 1902-03
1883-84 1893-94

1903-04

1884-85 1894-95 1904-05
1885-86 1895-96

1905-06

1876-77

 1886-87 1896-97 1906-07
1877-78 1887-88 1897-98

1907-08

1878-79

 1888-89 1898-99 1908-09
1879-80 1889-90 1899-00 1909-10

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Course Announcement
1910-11

  1. Principles of Economies. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor Taussig, assisted by Drs. Huse, Day, and Foerster, and Messrs. Sharfman, and Balcom.

Course 1 is introductory to the other courses. It is intended to give a general survey of the subject for those who take but one course in Economics, and also to prepare for the further study of the subject in advanced courses. It is usually taken with most profit by undergraduates in the second year of their college career. Students who plan to take it in their first year are strongly advised to consult the instructor in advance. History 1 or Government 1, or both of these courses, will usually be taken to advantage before Economics 1.

[…]

Course 1 gives a general introduction to economic study, and a general view of Economics for those who have not further time to give to the subject. It undertakes a consideration of the principles of production, distribution, exchange, money, banking, international trade, and taxation. The relations of labor and capital, the present organization of industry, and the recent currency legislation of the United States will be treated in outline.

The course will be conducted partly by lectures, partly by oral discussion in sections. A course of reading will be laid down, and weekly written exercises will test the work of students in following systematically and continuously the lectures and the prescribed reading.

Source: History and Political Science, Comprising the Departments of History and Government, and Economics, 1910-11. Published in the Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. VI,I No. 23 (June 21, 1910), pp. 51-2.

________________________

 Course Enrollment
1910-11

Economics 1. Professor Taussig, assisted by Drs. [Charles Phillips] Huse [Ph.D., 1907] , [Edmund Ezra] Day, [Ph.D. 1909] and [Robert Franz] Foerster [Ph.D. 1909], and Mr.  [Alfred Burpee] Balcom [A.M. 1909] — Principles of Economics.

Total 531: 5 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 96 Juniors, 272 Sophomores, 99 Freshmen, 45 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1910-1911, p. 48.

________________________

ECONOMICS 1
Mid-year Examination, 1910-11

Arrange your answers
strictly in the order of the questions.
Give your reasons in all cases.
  1. “Economic productivity is not a matter of piety or merit or deserving, but only of commanding a price. Actors, teachers, preachers, lawyers, [sic, “prostitutes,” was the last item on H. J. Davenport’s list on p. 112, see link.] all do things that men are content to pay for. So wages may be earned by writing libels against a rival candidate, or by setting fire to a competitor’s refinery. The test of economic productivity in a competitive society is the fact of private gain, irrespective of any ethical criteria.” [H.J. Davenport. Social productivity versus private acquisition. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol 25, No. 1 (Nov. 1910), pp. 96-118.]
    Would you agree? In which of the cases above-mentioned, if any, do you find economic productivity?
  2. Draw a diagram illustrating how the price of a commodity is related to its cost of production under conditions of diminishing return (i.e. increasing cost). Explain the diagram, and indicate rent on it.
  3. What is the influence of cost of production on value in the case of a copyrighted book? cotton seed? a bushel of wheat?
  4. Suppose prices to have been as follows: —
1909 1910
Wheat (bushel) $1.00 $1.20
Cotton (pound) 0.10 0.12
Iron (ton) 10.00 13.00
Copper (pound) 0.10 0.06
Quicksilver (pound) 1.00 0.50

(a) Construct an index number, using the simple arithmetic mean, to show how general prices in 1910 were related to prices in 1909.

(b) Next, weight the commodities,—

…giving to wheat a weight of 5
…giving to cotton a weight of 4
…giving to iron a weight of 4
…giving to copper a weight of 1
…giving to quicksilver a weight of 1

Construct a second index number, using the weighted arithmetical mean.

Which index number would you consider the more trustworthy!

  1. In spite of recent great increases in the world’s gold production, the price of an ounce of gold in the United States has remained steadily at $20.67; in England, at £3 17s. 10½d. How do you explain this steadiness? Has there been the same steadiness in the value of gold?
  2. Explain briefly: —

Free coinage.
Mint ratio.
Bimetallism.
Limping standard.
Subsidiary coin.

  1. In 1850 the United States coined silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to 1. The market ratio then was 15.7 to 1. Which metal would you expect to be brought to the mint for coinage, and why?
  2. Wherein is the regulation of note-issue for the Reichsbank of Germany similar to its regulation for the Bank of England? Wherein different? Which of the two plans of regulation has proved the more successful?
  3. Explain briefly: —

Legal reserves.
“The essential similarity of notes and deposits.”
“Deposits as currency.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1910-11.

________________________

ECONOMICS 1
Year-end Examination, 1910-11

Arrange your answers
strictly in the order of the questions.
Answer all the questions.
  1. Suppose a great issue of inconvertible paper money (fiat money) in the United States: what would be the effects, temporary or permanent, on the rate of interest; the value of money; the rate of foreign exchange; imports and exports?
  2. Is it true that “rent does not enter into the cost of production of agricultural produce”?
  3. A shop-keeper, on a side street off Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, advertised: “We can sell at low prices because we pay low rent.” Do you think it probable that he could?
  4. A corporation is formed, with a capital (paid in) of $1,500,000. It buys a city site for $1,000,000, and erects on it an office building which costs $1,000,000; the sum of $500,000 toward the cost of the building being borrowed at 5%. By good management it succeeds in paying to its stockholders from the rentals of the offices (after meeting all expenses and interest on the money borrowed) dividends of 8%.
    What determined the price at which the site was purchased? Is the return received by the stockholders interest, rent, business profits, wages?
  5. A business firm is made up of three partners, A and B, active partners, and C, an inactive (or silent) partner. The firm has $150,000 capital, contributed in equal shares by the three partners. Its articles of agreement provide that the net earnings shall be divided as follows: first, a dividend of 6% on the capital; second, if net earnings permit, a salary of $4,000 to each of the active partners; lastly, any remainder to be distributed as further dividend on the capital. The firm’s net earnings in 1908 were $23,000.
    What were the “business profits” of the firm? What were its “profits” in the sense in which Mill used that term?
  6. Explain: —

non-competing groups;
“real” differences of wages;
“the forces of environment”;
social stratification.

  1. Would you regard a great extension of public ownership (to such industries as railways, street railways, gas works, coal mines) as “socialistic”? If so, in what sense? If not, why not?
    Would you regard a tax on the future increase of economic rent as “socialistic”? If so, in what sense? If not, why not?
  2. From a speech made in 1909 by a member of Congress: —
    “During the past few years the United States have imported from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 worth of antimony… largely from Japan, Mexico, China, and Labrador. Practically every ton of it is imported, notwithstanding the fact that in ten or twelve of the western states it is found in abundance…. I have no doubt that (with a proposed duty on antimony) within twelve months, instead of importing all our antimony, we shall produce every pound of it in the United States. We shall have the money and our antimony too.”
    What would you say of this reasoning?
  3. Can a country advantageously import a commodity in producing which its labor is more effective than labor is in producing that commodity in the country whence it is imported?
    Can a country (A) send exports to a country (B) if the current rate of wages is $2.00 a day in country A and $1.00 a day in country B?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 9, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1910-11 (HUC 7000.25) Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1911), pp. 38-39.

Image Source: From the cover of the Harvard Class Album 1946.

Categories
Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Course Readings for Economics and Social Ethics, 1920-1921

Old Gate at Harvard College (August 6, 1920)

The artifact transcribed and linked for this post was found in last of ten boxes in the Harvard Archives collection “Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003”. I had worked through the previous nine boxes containing folders chronologically ordered by academic year. Box 10 contained five folders of poorly sorted course materials that were undated, requiring some effort to establish a probable time range for any of the artifacts. 

In the first folder I found an eight page typed list of courses, with the names and assigned readings (for most of the courses offered to both undergraduate and graduate students, though no reading lists for the courses that were primarily offered for graduate students) which was relatively easy to date by looking at the course staffing announced in the annual catalogue for the Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1920-21. There is one reference to Taussig’s third edition (Dec. 1921) in the list which would suggest that the list was probably prepared for the 1921-22 or 1922-23 year using materials gathered from the earlier 1920-21 academic year. But the perfect correspondence of course staffing between the transcribed list below and the published announcement for 1920-21 is sufficient for me to assign the 1920-21 academic year to the post.

Square brackets […] have been used to distinguish additional information from the typed list. All explicit titles have been linked, increasing the value of this post considerably.

______________________

Course Descriptions for
Economics and Social Ethics,
1920-21

Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1920-21 published in the Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XVII (May 22, 1920) No. 27.

______________________

One Harvard Graduate’s Memoir
of the 1920s

Carlson, Valdemar. “The Education of an Economist before the Great Depression: Harvard’s Economics Department in the 1920’s.” The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 27, no. 1, 1968, pp. 101–12.

______________________

ASSIGNED READINGS IN ECONOMICS

A. PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS

[Assistant] Professor [Harold Hitchings] Burbank and assistants

Readings:

Taussig, [Frank William], Principles of Economics

[First Edition (1911): Volume I; Volume II]
[Second Edition, Revised (1915): Volume I; Volume II]
[Third Edition, (Dec. 1921): Volume I; Volume II]
[Fourth Edition (1939) requires readers to set up an individual account at archive.org for temporary access: Volume I; Volume II]

[Questions on the Principles of Economics by Edmund Ezra Day and Joseph Stancliffe Davis (Revised for the thrid edition of Taussig’s Principles of Economics) edition, 1922.]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

1a. ACCOUNTING

Asst. Professor [Joseph Stancliffe] Davis

Readings:

[none listed]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

1b. STATISTICS

Asst. Professor [Joseph Stancliffe] Davis

Readings:

Secrist, Introduction to Statistical Methods, 1-77, 116-424

King, Elements of Statistical Method, pp.1-19, 64-82, 167-196

Elderton, W. P. and E. M., Primer of Statistics, ch. 1-4

U.S. Census, The Story of the Census, 1790-1915

Field, “Some Advantages of the Logarithmic Scale in Statistical Diagrams,” Journ. Pol. Econ., Oct. 1917

Persons, W. M., Measuring and Forecasting General Business Conditions

Joint Committee on Graphic Standards, Preliminary Report
[Publications of the American Statistical Association 14, no. 112 (1915): 790–97. https://doi.org/10.2307/2965153]

Additional;

Unprescribed portions of King and Secrist

List of references appended to chapters in King and Secrist

References for Statistical Work (Prepared for Economics 1b, 1920)

Questions and Exercises in Statistics (Prepared for Economics 1b, 1920)

The Review of Economic Statistics

Lists of references in specific fields

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

2a. EUROPEAN INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

Dr. [Edmund Earle] Lincoln

Readings:

See printed bibliography on file in Tutorial Library

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

2b. ECONOMIC HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

Dr. [Edmund Earle] Lincoln

Readings:

See printed bibliography on file in Tutorial Library

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

3. MONEY, BANKING, AND COMMERCIAL CRISES

Professor [Allyn Abbott] Young

Readings:

[none listed]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

4a. ECONOMICS OF TRANSPORTATION

Professor [William Zebina] Ripley

Readings:

Ripley, Railroad Rates, vol. 1, (not vol. II)

Ripley, Railway Problems

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

4b. ECONOMICS OF CORPORATIONS

Professor [William Zebina] Ripley

Readings:

Ripley, Trusts, Pools, and Corporations

Haney, Business Organization and Combination

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

5a. PUBLIC FINANCE, EXCLUSIVE OF TAXATION

Asst. Professor [Harold Hitchings] Burbank

Readings:

Bastable, Public Finance

Bullock, Selected Readings in Public Finance
[Second edition, 1921]

Daniel [sic], Public Finance [Possibly: Winthrop More Daniels, Elements of Public Finance (1899)]

Adams, H. C., Public Finance [sic]
[Probably: The Science of Finance, An Investigation of Public Expenditures and Public Revenues (1912)]

Seligman, Essays in Taxation

Darwin, Municipal Trade

Stourm, The Budget

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

5b. THE PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF TAXATION

Asst. Professor [Harold Hitchings] Burbank

Readings:

Bastable, Selections on Public Finance

Bullock, Selected Readings in Public Finance
[Second edition, 1921]

Seligman, Essays in Taxation

Means, Methods of Taxation

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

6a. TRADE-UNIONISM AND ALLIED PROBLEMS

Professor [William Zebina] Ripley

Readings:

Webb, Industrial Democracy

Commons, Trade Unionism

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

7a. THEORIES OF VALUE AND DISTRIBUTION

Professor [Edmund Ezra] Day

Readings:

Marshall, Principles of Economics

Carver, The Distribution of Wealth

Taussig, Principles of Economics (1921 edition)
[Third Edition, (Dec. 1921): Volume I; Volume II]

Clark, The Distribution of Wealth

Walker, Political Economy

Fisher, The Rate of Interest

Böhm-Bawerk, Capital and Interest

Fetter, Economic Principles

Davenport, Economics of Enterprise

Veblen, The Theory of Business Enterprise

Hobson, Work and Wealth

Anderson, Social Value

Anderson, The Value of Money

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

7b. SOCIALISM, ANARCHISM, THE SINGLE TAX

Professor [Thomas Nixon] Carver

Readings:

See printed circular on file in the Tutorial Library

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

8. PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY

Professor [Thomas Nixon] Carver

Readings:

Bristol, Social Adaptation

Carver, Sociology and Social Progress

Sumner, Folkways

Spencer, Principles of Sociology [Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3]

Carver, Essays in Social Justice

Giddings, Sociology

Tardl [sic], Social Gains [sic]   [Looks like a typographical error. Probably Social Laws, An Outline of Sociology by Gabriel Tarde (1899 translation from the French)[

Kidd, Social Evolution

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

9a. ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURE

Professor [Thomas Nixon] Carver

Readings:

Carver, Principles of Rural Economics

Carver, Selected Readings in Rural Economics

Various bulletins and reports

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

9b. INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND TARIFF POLICIES

Professor [Frank William] Taussig

Readings:

Taussig, Free Trade, the Tariff and Reciprocity

Mill, Principles of Political Economy

Smith, Wealth of Nations

State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff

Taussig, Selected Readings (to appear shortly)

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

10. ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND INSTITUTIONS

Dr. [Arthur Eli] Monroe

Readings:

Aristotle, Politics, Bk. I, ch. 1-11; Bk. II, ch. 1-6; IV, ch. 11-13; V, ch. 1-9

Maine, Ancient Law, ch. 5-8

Ashley, Economic History of England, vol. I, ch. 3

Mun: England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade

Turgot, Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Wealth

Smith, Wealth of Nations, Bk. I, 1-3, 5-9, 11 (secs. 1,2)

Smith, Wealth of Nations, Bk. II, 3-5; IV, 1, 2, 9

Malthus, Essay on Population, [Vol. I, 6th ed. ] Bk I, 1, 2; Bk. II, 13; [Vol. II, 6th ed.] III, 2, 3; Bk. IV, 1, 2, 3. (Or selections in Ashley’s Classics)

Mill, Political Economy [Vol. I], Bk. I, 5; Bk: II, 11; Bk. III, 1-5

Mill, Political Economy [Vol. II], Bk. IV, 3,4; Bk. V, 8, 10, 11 (sec. 1-9)

List, National System of Political Economy, Bk. II, 2-5, 7

Carlyle, Past and Present (selected chap.) or
Ruskin, Unto this Last, ch. 1, 3

 Bücher, Industrial Evolution, chs. 3, 4

Ashley, Economic Organization of England, ch. 1-7

Wells, Mankind in the Making

(Several optional assignments to be announced later)

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

11. ECONOMIC THEORY

Professor [Frank William] Taussig
[“Maurice Beck Hexter’s notes from Harvard University, 1921-22” and “Supplemental notes from F.W. Taussig’s Course in economic theory with contributions by A.A. Young” edited by Marianne Johnson and Warren J. Samuels in Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, Vol. 28-C (2010), pp. 11-176]

Readings:

Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy
[Third edition, 1821]

Mill, Principles of Political Economy

Marshall, Principles of Economics

Clark, Distribution of Wealth

Böhm-Bawerk, Positive Theory of Capital

Fetter, Principles of Economics

Hobson, Work and Wealth

Veblen, Theory of Business Enterprise

Divers separate articles and chapters in other books

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

9a. THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH

Professor [Thomas Nixon] Carver

Readings:

Carver, Distribution of Wealth

Marshall, Principles of Economics

Böhm-Bawerk, Positive Theory of Capital

Fisher, The Rate of Interest

Clark, The Distribution of Wealth

Taussig, Work [sic] and Capital [Wages and Capital]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

14. HISTORY AND LITERATURE OF ECONOMICS TO THE YEAR 1848

Professor [Charles Jesse] Bullock

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

15. MODERN SCHOOLS OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT

Professor [Allyn Abbott] Young

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

31. PUBLIC FINANCE

Professor [Charles Jesse] Bullock

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

32. ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURE, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO AMERICAN CONDITIONS

Professor [Thomas Nixon] Carver

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

33.  INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND TARIFF PROBLEMS

Professor [Frank William] Taussig

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

34. PROBLEMS OF LABOR

Professor [William Ripley] Ripley

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

35a. BUSINESS CORPORATIONS

Asst. Professor Davis

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

35b. BUSINESS COMBINATIONS

Asst. Professor [Joseph Stancliffe] Davis

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

36a. PUBLIC OWNERSHIP: HISTORICAL, THEORETICAL, AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS

Dr. [Edmund Earle] Lincoln

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

36b. PUBLIC REGULATION AND CONTROL OF PRIVATE INDUSTRY WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO PUBLIC SERVICE INDUSTRIES

Dr. [Edmund Earle] Lincoln

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

37. COMMERCIAL CRISES

Professor [Warren Milton] Persons

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

38. SELECTED MONETARY PROBLEMS

Professor [Allyn Abbott] Young

PRIMARILY FOR GRADUATES

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

[ASSIGNED READINGS]
IN SOCIAL ETHICS

1. SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND SOCIAL POLICY

Asst. Professor [Robert Franz] Foerster and Asst. Professor [James] Ford

Readings:

Booth, Life and Labour of the People of London, vol. 1 of Series 1, 3-8, 24-73, 131-171

Conklin, Heredity and Environment, rev. ed. pp.197-242, 256-258, 297-306, 416-456, 475-497

Dewey, and Tufts, Ethics, ch. 15, pp. 297-304; ch. 18-26, pp. 364-606

Flexner, and Baldwin, Juvenile Courts and Probation, Pts.1, 2, pp. 3-78

Oppenheimer, The Rationale of Punishment, pp. 1-4, 171-175, 234-295

Spencer, Principles of Sociology, vol. 1, pt. 3, ch. 9 and 12, pp. 686-724, 745-756

Warner, American Charities, 3rd ed., ch. 4, 6-10, 12, 14-15, 17-22, pр. 64-90, 113-225, 248-284, 305-346, 363-476

Wines, Punishment and Reformation, ch. 8, 10, 12-14 (3rd ed.) pp. 133-167, 199-234, 265-412

Committee of Fifty to Study the Liquor Problem, Summary of Investigations, pp. 15-134

Burritt, Dennison, Gay, Heilman, and Kendall, Profit Sharing, pp. 159-257

Commons and Andrews, Principles of Labor Legislation, pp. 1-414, 454-464

Fay, Cooperation at Home and Abroad, pp. 273-285, 310-354

Foerster, A Promising Venture in Industrial Partnership, Annals American Academy of Political and Social Science, Pub. 703, November 1912, pp. 97-103

Hoxie, Scientific Management and Labor, pp. 25-139

King, Industry and Humanity, ch. 7, 8, pp. 167-303; ch. 10, pp. 364-390

British Labor party, Sub-committee on Reconstruction, report, Labor and the New Social Order, reprint from the New Republic, Feb. 16, 1918, pp. 12

Lee, Play in Education, pp. 319-391, 423-494

Schaeffle, Quintessence of Socialism, pp. 39-127

Schloss, Industrial Remuneration, pp. 286-309

Spargo, Applied Socialism, pp. 87-325

Veiller, Housing Reform, pp. 3-190

Williams, Profit-sharing, pp. 17-42, 146-171

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

4. AMERICAN POPULATION PROBLEMS: IMMIGRATION AND THE NEGRO

Asst. Professor [Robert Franz] Foerster

Reading:

Byington, Homestead: The Households of a Mill Town, ch. 9-11, pp.131-157

Fairchild, Immigration, ch. 1-5, 7, 9, 10, 12-14, 16, pp. 1-105, 123-143, 163-212, 233-368, 393-415

Foerster, The Italian Emigration of Our Times, ch. 21-24, pp. 415-525

Ibid. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Aug.1913, Review of Hourwich’s book on immigration, pp. 656-671

Hourwich, Immigration and Labor, ch. 4, 5, 12-15, 18, 23, pp. 82-112, 284-352, 375-383, 489-501, 414-431 and in chapter 21, Report of the MASS. COMMISSION ON IMMIGRATION, 1914, pp. 54-104

Millis, The Japanese Problem in the United States, ch. 1, pp. 1-29

Reely, Selected Articles on Immigration (Debaters’ Handbook) pp. 131-134, 200-204, 219-222, 225-229

Roberts, The New Immigration, ch. 9, 11-13, pp. 124-138, 156-199

Ross, The Old World in the New, ch. 1-4, 6, 11, pp. 1-92, 120-140, 259-281

U. S. Immigration Commission, vol. 39, pp. 5-81, 127-129

Walker, Discussions in Economics and Statistics, vol. 2, pp. 417-426

Warne, Slav Invasion, pp. 28-38, 47-83

U. S. Immigration Commission, vol. 1, pp. 491-541; vol. 4, pp. 239-281, 337-348

Ovington, Half a Man, ch. 4-8, pp. 75-217

Shaler, The Neighbor, pp. 278-336

Stone, Studies in the American Race Problem, pp. 149-208

Tillinghast, The Negro in Africa and America, Amer. Econ. Review, May 1902, pp. 28-45, 60-79, 102-170

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

6. UNEMPLOYMENT AND RELATED PROBLEMS OF THE WORKING CLASSES

Asst. Professor [Robert Franz] Foerster

Readings:

Beveridge, Unemployment, pp. 1-237

Webb, Seasonal Trades, ch. 1, 2, pp. 1-90

U. S. Bureau of Labor, Report on Women and Child Wage-Earners, vol. 7, pp. 43-60, 64-67, 177-192

Barnes, The Longshoremen, pp. 55-92, 199-206, 210-227

Chicago, Report of the Mayor’s Commission on Unemployment, 1914, pp. 107-165

U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bulletin 206, B. Lasker, British System of Labor Exchanges, pp. 1-56

Kellor, Out of Work, Ch. 6, pp. 157-193

Gibbon, Unemployment Insurance, pp. 187-203

Dawson, Vagrancy Problem, ch. 4, 11, pp.104-132; 229-249

Ibid. Social Insurance in Germany, ch. 2-4, 7-9, pp. 22-127,182-265

Gibbon, Medical Benefit …Germany and Denmark, ch. 2, 6, 9, 12, 18 pp. 10-14, 43-52, 81-106, 125-131, 192-203

Rubinow, Standards of Health Insurance, Ch. 5-9, pp.67-152

Belloc, The Servile State, pp. 155-189

24th Annual Report of the U.S. Commissioner of Labor, 1909, Vol. 2, pp. 1499-1530, 1540-1544

Foerster, The British National Insurance Act, Q. J. of Econ., Feb. 1912, pp. 275-298, 305-312

Bernhard, Undesirable Results of German Social Legislation, pp. 39-75

Mass. Commission on Old Age Pensions, 1910 Report, pp. 112-122, 164-203, 224-259, 268-284, 300-344

U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin 195, Unemployment in the United States, 1916

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 10, Folder “Economics, undated (1 of 5)”.

Image Source: Old Gate at Harvard College (Leon H. Abdalian, photographer). Boston Public Library Arts Department.  [No Copyright – United States]

Categories
Economists Harvard Math Michigan

Harvard. Application for PhD candidacy and graduate records. Olin Winthrop Blackett, 1926

The first two items posted below from the graduate records of Olin Winthrop Blackett (Harvard PhD 1926) are of particular significance, marking what appears to be the very first time that Mathematics was accepted as a field in the General Examination for a PhD in economics at Harvard. The decision to accept Mathematics as a minor field was made in November 1920, Blackett’s general examination took place in May 1922 and his PhD was awarded in 1926. The title of Blackett’s doctoral thesis was “The Cyclical Movements of the Prices of Raw materials in the Iron and Steel Industry.”

 

_________________________

Requesting approval of a mathematics minor in the General Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
A. A. Young
W. M. Persons
E. E. Day
J. S. Davis
H. H. Burbank
A. S. Dewing
E. E. Lincoln
A. E. Monroe
A. H. Cole		  

 

 

 

Cambridge, Massachusetts

November 5, 1920

Prof. C. H. Haskins,
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Mr. Haskins,

I enclose herewith O. W. Blackett’s application for candidacy for the degree of Ph.D. in Economics. Blackett’s program is perfectly regular with the possible exception of the offering Mathematics as his minor. It seems to me that even in this particular the program is normal. I have talked over the Mathematics minor with the Department of Mathematics, particularly with Professor Huntington and have come without difficulty to an understanding which seems to assure a minor in that Department fully the equivalent of any of the other more common minors, and particularly serviceable for men who propose to specialize, as does Blackett, in the field of Statistical Method.

If Blackett’s program is approved, one or two others of similar kind will be submitted at an early date. I doubt not, furthermore, that Mathematics minors will become common among those expecting to specialize along statistical lines. Statistical method clearly is developing in directions that make a sound mathematical training an indispensable element in an adequate professional equipment.

Should Mathematics be accepted for men specializing in Statistics, I would suggest that you try to obtain the services of Professor Huntington as examiner when the field is up at the General Examinations. Professor Huntington has a definite interest in the application of Mathematics to Statistical Methode and is thoroughly acquainted with the material upon which candidates in Economics may most profitably be examined.

Sincerely yours,
[signed] Edmund E. Day

EED A
Encl.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Request Granted

8 November 1920

Dear Day:

I cordially approve of Blackett’s programme, with the explanation given in your letter. It seems to me that when we accept Mathematics, we should be sure of men’s general Economics preliminary training, and that these men in particular get the courses in Economic History. Our plans ought always to be flexible enough to include the acceptance of an outside subject, where it is essential to the student’s work. What you say about the necessity of Mathematics for statisticians is sound, and I hope we shall encourage other men to take the same field. I shall bring the plan up at the next meeting of the Division.

Sincerely yours,
[unsigned copy of C. H. Haskins]

Professor E. E. Day.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Olin Winthrop Blackett. July 12, 1895. Winthrop, Mass.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Wesleyan University, 1914-17, & 1919-20.
Rich Fellow and Assistant in Economics, Wesleyan, 1919-20.

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

B.A. Wesleyan, 1917.
M.A. Wesleyan, 1920.

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc. In case you are a candidate for the degree in History, state the number of years you have studied preparatory and college Latin.)

Economic Theory —1 year elementary —3 years advanced.
Money and Banking —1 year. Corporations —1 year.
Tariff and International Trade —1 year. Labor Prob. —1 year.
Socialism, Single Tax, etc. —2 years. Statistics — 1 year.
American History —1 year. English & European History —1 year.
Philosophy —2 years. German —2 years. Math —4 years.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Economic Theory. — This was my major study during three years of undergraduate work and one year of work for the masters degree. Taught theory 1 year in Wesleyan U. Eco. 11 & 14 at Harvard this year.
  2. Money, Banking, and Crises. — 1 year course in Wesleyan University. Auditor in Eco. 3 this year.
  3. Public Finance. — Eco. 31 this year at Harvard.
  4. Statistics. — 1 year in Wesleyan University. Private study during the summer of 1920.
  5. Economic History. — Studied in connection with courses in economics and history in Wesleyan U. Econ. 2a & 2b this year at Harvard.
  6. Mathematics. — 4 years work in Wesleyan U. including algebra, trig. analytic geom., calculus, finite differences, reduction of observations, interpolation, theory of errors, least squares, moments. 

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Statistics

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

The Machine Tool Industry. Cyclical Price Movements of Raw Materials in the Iron and Steel Industry.
Prof. Persons.

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

As late as possible in the spring of 1921 for the general examination.

X. Remarks

 [left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] Edmund E. Day — Chairman

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Olin W. Blackett.

Approved: January 25, 1921.

Ability to use French certified by C. J. Bullock. 3 March, 1922.

Ability to use German certified by  C. J. Bullock. 3 March, 1922.

Date of general examination May 19, 1922. Passed.

Thesis received October, 1925.

Read by Professors Persons, Crum, and Young.

Approved November 1925.

Date of special examination Monday. April 12, 1926.

Recommended for the Doctorate [left blank]

Degree conferred [left blank]

Remarks.  Mr. O. W. Blackett was examined on Monday, April 12, at 4 p.m. in room 404 College House by Professors Persons (chairman), Crum, Huntington and W.M. Cole. The committee unanimmously voted that the examination be accepted as satisfactory.
[signed] Warren M. Persons, Chairman.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Postponing General Examination from Spring to Fall 1921

15 Park Vale
Brookline, Mass.,
March 2, 1921

My dear Miss Cogswell:

Please pardon the delay in returning the copy you sent me. The material is as complete as I am able to make it at the present time. I shall not be a candidate for the General Examination this spring but shall present myself probably in the fall.

Yours truly,
[signed] Olin W. Blackett.

[NOTE: The General Examination was in fact postponed to the following Spring, May 19, 1922]

  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Draft of Planned General Examination Announcement (undated)

OLIN WINTHROP BLACKETT.

GENERAL EXAMINATION in Economics

COMMITTEE [left blank].

ACADEMIC HISTORY: Wesleyan University, 1914-17, 1919-20; Harvard Graduate School, 1920-. A.B., Wesleyan, 1917; A. M., ibid., 1920. Assistant in Economics, Wesleyan University, 1919-20.

GENERAL SUBJECTS: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. Public Finance. 4. Statistics. 5. Economic History. 6. Mathematics.

SPECIAL SUBJECT: Statistics.

THESIS SUBJECT: [left blank].

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
A. A. Young
W. M. Persons
E. E. Day
H. H. Burbank
A. S. Dewing
J. H. Williams
A. E. Monroe
A. H. Cole
R. S. Tucker
R. S. Meriam		  

 

 

 

Cambridge, Massachusetts

March 3, 1922

Dear Haskins:

This certifies that I have examined Mr. O. W. Blackett and find that he has such a reading knowledge of French and German as we require of candidates for the Degree of Philosophy [sic].

Very truly yours,
[signed] Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Date and Place of General Examination

16 May 1922

My dear Mr. Blackett:

Your General Examination on Friday, 19 May, will be held in Widener U at 4 P.M.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

Mr. O. W. Blackett.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Committee of General Examination

23 May 1922

My dear Sir:

Your general examination will come Friday, 19 May, unless otherwise notified. Professors Day, Huntington, Young, Burbank, and Dr. Clark, have ben appointed to examine you. Of course, the committee is tentative, not final.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned copy]
Secretary of the Division

Mr. O. W. Blackett.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

General examination passed

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
A. A. Young
W. M. Persons
E. E. Day
H. H. Burbank
A. S. Dewing
J. H. Williams
A. E. Monroe
A. H. Cole
R. S. Tucker
R. S. Meriam		  

 

 

 

Cambridge, Massachusetts

May 22, 1922

Dear Young,

For the purposes of final record may I report that Mr. Olin W. Blackett’s General Examination in Economics was conducted on the afternoon of the 19th by the following Committee: Professors Day (chairman), Huntington, Young, Burbank,and Dr. Clark. This Committee voted unanimously that the examination be accepted. I return herewith the papers covering Mr. Blackett’s candidacy.

Very truly yours,
[signed by “K” for] E. E. Day

Professor A. A. Young

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Special Examination Date
When exactly?

Februrary 1, 1926

My Dear Mr. Blackett:

Mr. Robinson, the Secretary of the Graduate School, has communicated to me the contents of your letter to him in which you say that vou will not be able to reach Cambridge until April 12. Do you mean thet you would like to have your special examination on that date, or on some day later in the month? Your thesis has been approved.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned Gladys E. Campbell]
Secretary.

Mr. O. W. Blackett

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Request for Special Examination during week of April 12th

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor
School of Business Administration

February 4, 1926.

Miss Gladys E. Campbell
Div. of History, Gov. and Econ.
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.

My dear Miss Campbell,

I have your letter of February 1st and would appreciate it very much if you would make arrangements for my special examination in Statistics during the week of April 12th.

Very truly yours,
[signed] O. W. Blackett

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Request to Confirm Special Examination during week of April 12th

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor
School of Business Administration

March 18, 1926.

Miss Gladys E. Campbell
Div. of History, Gov. and Econ.
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass.

My dear Miss Campbell,

I have not heard from you whether arrangements have been made for my special examination in Statistics during the week of April 12th. Would you let me know as soon as final arrangements can be made?

Very truly yours,
[signed] O. W. Blackett.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Date and Committee
for Special Examination

March 18, 1926.

My dear Mr. Blackett:

I have your note of March 13 asking if arrangements had been made for your special examination. The date has been arranged for April 12 at four o’clock and the committee consists of Frofessors Persons (chairman), Crum, Cole, and Huntington. The place will be named later.

Letters addressed to Professor Haskins or to me will reach us more quickly if sent to 774 Widener Library.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned Gladys E. Campbell]
Secretary of the Division.

Mr. O. W. Blackett

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Record of Olin Winthrop Blackett in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
(2 November 1925)

1920-21
Grades
Course Half-Course
Economics 2a1 B
Economics 2b2 C
Economics 11 A
Economics 14 A minus
Economics 31 A
1921-22
Grades
Course Half-Course
Economics 151 A
Economics 41 A
1922-23
Grades
Course Half-Course
Economics 20 A
1923-24
Grades
Course Half-Course
Economics 20 (1st half) A

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics. PhD. Examinations, Box 6: 1924-26.

__________________________

Course Names and Instructors

1920-21

Economics 2a 1hf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. Dr. E. E. Lincoln assisted by Mr. Hyde.

Economics 2b 2hf. Economic and Financial History of the United States. Dr. E. E. Lincoln assisted by Mr. Hyde.

Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Taussig.

Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Professor Bullock.

Economics 31. Public Finance. Professor Bullock.

1921-22

Economics 15 1hf. Modern Schools of Economic Thought. Professor Young.

Economics 41. Statistical Theory and Analysis. Professor Day.

1922-23, 1923-24

Economics 20. Economic Research.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College for 1920-21. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Announcements of the Courses of Instruction, 1921-22.

__________________________

Olin Winthrop Blackett
His life and career

Olin Winthrop Blackett, Obituary

Olin Winthrop Blackett, born July 12, 1895 in Winthrop, MA, died peacefully on Sept. 12, 1993 [sic, September 7 is correct] in Tacoma, WA. He attended Wesleyan University, the United States Naval Academy and served in the U.S. Navy in World War I. He received a PhD in economics from Harvard University where he continued on to teach in the Harvard Business School. He moved to Ann Arbor, MI, in 1924 where he was Professor of Business Statistics at the University of Michigan Business School until his retirement in 1965. He then lived in Key Alegro, TX until the death of his wife, Ruth E. Blackett in 1978 when he moved to Tacoma…

Source: The News Tribune (Tacoma WA) 9 September 1995

Image Source: Portrait from the Anne Olson family tree, “Olin Winthrop Prof. Blackett” at ancestry.com

Categories
Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Application for PhD candidacy. James Waterhouse Angell, 1921

The empirical questions behind most of the collection of archival artifacts found here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror can be reduced to i) what was being taught ii) who was teaching it, and iii) what was the pattern of the courses actually taken by young economists. These artifacts can be thought of as occupying cell(s) in a matrix of year by academic institution, e.g. this post deals with question (iii) and will be filed in the Harvard, early 1920’s cell.

James Waterhouse Angell (1898-1986) was a Harvard and Chicago trained economist who joined the Columbia faculty upon receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1924. He was a member of Columbia’s faculty for over forty years, interrupted by government service during World War II at the War Production Board and the Foreign Economics Administration.  More about his life and career can be read in his New York Times obituary (April 1, 1986)

With this post we have the record for Angell in Harvard’s Division of History, Government, and Economics. It provides us with a wealth of information about his academic training. There will be a flow of such records for other graduate students that promises to match the flow of syllabi and exams, the stock of which constitute the core of archival material.

 You  should subscribe to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror if you are working on the history of economics. To do so scroll down (or search “Subscribe” on this page from your web browser).

_______________________

Autobiographical snippet

Angell’s personal statement in the 25th year anniversary report of the Harvard Class of 1918

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

James Waterhouse Angell. May 20, 1898. Chicago.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

Undergraduate: Harvard 1914-18. Graduate: University of Chicago, March 1919-June 1920; Harvard, September 1920-date. Teaching: Assistant in Economics, Univ. of Chicago, October 1919-June 1920.

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B. Harvard, 1918. [magna cum laude]

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.) In case you are a candidate for the degree in History, state the number of years you have studied preparatory and college Latin.)

History. Harvard: Hist. A, 30a. Government. Univ. of Chicago: Elementary Comp. Govt. Economics. Harvard: Economics A, 2a, 2b, 4b, 5a, 5b. Univ. of Chicago: Labor Problems, Money and Banking, Statistics.

Greek: Harvard: Greek G, A, 2, 8. Latin. Harvard: Latin B, 8. French. Harvard: French 2. Philosophy. Univ. of Chicago: Social and Political Philosophy. Psychology. Harvard: Psychology A, Univ. of Chicago: Social Psychology.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Economic Theory and Its History. Harvard: Economics A, 11, 14; Univ. of Chicago: History of Econ. Thought. Teaching: Univ. of Chicago: 2 quarters of elementary theory, 1920.
  2. Economic History since 1750. Harvard: Economics 2a and 2b.
  3. Public Finance. Harvard: Economics 5a, 5b, 31
  4. Money and Banking. Harvard: Economics 38. Univ. of Chicago: Elementary Money & Banking. Also private reading.
  5. International Trade and Tariff Policy. Harvard: Economics 33; and private reading.
  6. [Constitutional] History of the U.S., 1789-1914. Univ. of Chicago. 3 quarters of graduate study. (A. D. Mr. Laughlin)

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

Special subject either Economic Theory or Public Finance; to be specified later. Money and Banking

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

International Price Levels (With Professors Taussig and Young)

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

General: Last week in October, 1921.

X. Remarks

[Left blank]

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] Edmund E. Day

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: James W. Angell

Approved: April 29, 1921

Ability to use French certified by Charles J. Bullock. 10 March, 1922 B.S.M.

Ability to use German certified by Charles J. Bullock, 10 March, 1922 B.S.M.

Date of general examination June 2, 1922 Passed A.A.Y.

Thesis received Oct. 15, 1923

Read by Professors Taussig, Young, and Persons

Approved October 29, 1921

Date of special examination Thursday, March 6, 1924. Passed A.A. Young 

Recommended for the Doctorate[left blank]

Degree conferred  [left blank]

Remarks.  [left blank]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Record of James Waterhouse Angell in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University

1920-21
Economics 11.
[Economic Theory, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 14
[History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848, Prof. Bullock]		 A minus
Economics 31
[Public Finance, Prof. Bullock]		 A
Economics 331 [half course]
[International Trade and Tariff Problems, Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 382 [half course]
[Selected Monetary Problems, Prof. Young]		 A
Attained the degree of Master of Arts.
1921-22
Economics 20 (F.W.T.)
[Economic Research (for Ph.D. candidates)]		 A

Note: A transcript can also be found in Harvard University Archives, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Aab—Belcher (UAV 161.2722.5). File I, Box 1, Record Card of James Waterhouse Angell.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Committee on Economic Research
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Charles J. Bullock, Chairman

Charles F. Adams
Nicholas Biddle
Frederic H. Curtiss
Wallace B. Donham
Ogden L. Mills
Eugene V. R. Thayer

W.M. Persons, Editor
Review of Economic Statistics

J.B. Hubbard, Editor
Harvard Economic Service

F.Y. Presley
General Manager

March 10, 1922.

Professor Charles H. Haskins,
23 University Hall,
Cambridge, Mass.

This is to certify that I have examined Mr. J. W. Angell and find that he has such a knowledge of French and German as we require of candidates for the doctor’s degree.

[signed] Charles J. Bullock

CJB/AMB

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Cambridge, Massachusetts
6 June 1922

I beg to report that Mr. James W. Angell passed the General Examination in Economics held on Friday, 2 June. Mr. Angell’s examination clearly earned a pass, but it is proper to say that the examination was not as distinguished and the margin was not as large as Mr. Angell’s brilliant course record indicated it would be.

[signed by D.C. for] Allyn A. Young

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

[Carbon copy]

26 February 1924

My dear Professor Young:

We are arranging J.W. Angell’s special examination for Thursday, 6 March, at 4 p.m. I will let you know the place later. The committee will consist of Professors Taussig, Williams, Sprague, and yourself as chairman.

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division.

Professor A. A. Young

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Cambridge, Massachusetts
March 7, 1924

Dear Haskins:

On behalf of the committee appointed to conduct the special examination of Mr. J. W. Angell, I beg to report that Mr. Angell successfully passed the examination. I may add that the examination as a whole was unusually satisfactory.

Very truly yours,
[signed by k. for] Allyn A. Young

Dean C. H. Haskins

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics. Ph.D. exams and records of candidates, study plans, lists, etc. pre-1911-1942. Box 5. Folder “J. W. Angell.”

_______________________

Annotated Typescript for
Division of History, Government, and Economics
Examinations for the Degree of Ph.D. 1923-1924
JAMES WATERHOUSE ANGELL.

SPECIAL EXAMINATION in Economics, passed. Thursday, March 6, 1924.

GENERAL EXAMINATION passed June 2, 1922.

ACADEMIC HISTORY: Harvard College, 1914-18; University of Chicago, March, 1919, to June, 1920; Harvard Graduate School, 1920-23. A.B., 1918; A.M., 1921. Assistant in Economics, University of Chicago, 1919-20; Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, Harvard, 1921-22; Frederick Sheldon Travelling Fellow, Harvard, 1922-23; Instructor in Economics and Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, Harvard, 1923-4.

GENERAL SUBJECTS: 1. Economic Theory and Its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Money and Banking. 5. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 6. American History since 1789.

SPECIAL SUBJECT: Money and Banking.

COMMITTEE: Professors Young (chairman), Taussig, Williams,
and Sprague.

THESIS SUBJECT: The Theory of International Prices and its History.

COMMITTEE ON THESIS: Professors Taussig, Young, and Persons.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government, and Economics. Ph.D. exams and records of candidates, study plans, lists, etc. pre-1911-1942. Box 5. Unmarked Envelope/Folder

_______________________

Image Source:  James Waterhouse Angell’s July 18, 1922 U.S. passport application. National Archives.

 

Categories
Cornell Dartmouth Economists Harvard Michigan Teaching Undergraduate

Harvard. Recitation section work described. Day, 1914

About 110 years ago the structure of a common lecture and smaller recitation sections for large college courses was novel enough to warrant a description with explanation. The assistant professor of economics and statistician, Edmund Ezra Day (Harvard Ph.D., 1909) penned a two page article for the Harvard Illustrated Magazine that is transcribed following a brief overview of Day’s career. 

Day went on to professorships at Harvard and the University of Michigan followed by a detour through the Rockefeller Foundation that took him to the Presidency of Cornell University. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror begins this post with a chronology of Edmund Ezra Day’s life.

___________________________

Biographical Timeline

1883. Born December 7 to Ezra Alonzo and Louise Moulton (Nelson) Day at Manchester, New Hampshire.

1905. B.S., Dartmouth College (Phi Beta Kappa).

1906. A.M., Dartmouth College.

1906-10. Instructor of economics, Dartmouth College.

1909. Ph.D., Harvard University. Thesis: “The History of the General Property Tax in Massachusetts.”

1910-20. Assistant professor of economics, Harvard University.

1912. Married June 5 to Emily Sophia Emerson (daughter of Dean Charles F. Emerson of Dartmouth College). Two sons and two daughters.

1915. Questions on the Principles of Economics (with Joseph Stancliffe Davis). New York: Macmillan.

1918. Seven months as statistician of the division of planning and statistics of the U. S. shipping board. Director, in 1919.

1918. September to December 1918 as statistician of the central bureau of planning and statistics of the war industries board.

1920-23. Professor of economics, Harvard University.

1920. “An Index of the Physical Volume of Production”. The Review of Economic Statistics (September 1920—January 1921).

1922. Revised edition of Questions on the Principles of Economics (with Joseph Stancliffe Davis). New York: Macmillan.

1920-23. Chairman of the department of economics.

1923-27. Professor of economics, University of Michigan. Beginning second semester of 1922-23 academic year)

1923-24. Chairman department of economics, University of Michigan.

1925. Statistical Analysis. New York: Macmillan.

1924-28. Founding dean of the school of business administration, University of Michigan. (leave of absence during 1927-28).

1927. Dean of Administration, University of Michigan.

1927. President of the American Statistical Association.

1927-28. Leave of absence to act as administrative head of Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial for the promotion of social sciences in New York City.

1928. The Growth of Manufactures, 1899 to 1923. A Study of Indexes of Increase in the Volume of Manufactured Products (with Woodlief Thomas). Census Monographs VIII. Washington, D.C.: USGPO.

1928-37. Director for the social sciences of the Rockefeller Foundation.

1930-37. Director for general education and for the social sciences with the General Education Board.

1932-33. U.S. representative on the preparatory commission of experts for the economic conference, held in London in 1933.

1937-49. President of Cornell University.

1941. The Defense of Freedom: Four Addresses on the Present Crisis in American Democracy. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.

1941 or 1942. Oncoming Changes in the Organization of American Public Education.  By Edmund E. Day, Chairman of the Committee on Teacher Education of the Association of Colleges and Universities of the State of New York.

1949-50. Chancellor, Cornell University.

1951. March 23. Died from a heart attack.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Other misc. facts: Edmund Ezra Day was president of the New York State Citizens Council, the Association of Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, the World Student Service Fund; he was chairman of the American Council on Education, director of the National Bureau of Economic Research, director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (appointed January 1937), Councillor of the National Industrial Conference Board, and a trustee of Tuskegee institute beginning 1939. He held fifteen honorary degrees.

Sources:

  • Memorial minute. Cornell, 1951.
  • Ithaca Journal, March 23, 1951. p. 1. “Dr. Day, President Emeritus of Cornell, Dies at 67 of heart Attack in his Car.”
  • The National Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1942.

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Section Work in Economics

EDMUND E. DAY, ’09, Assistant Professor in Economics.

Among the methods of undergraduate instruction, the section-meeting is of large importance. By the section-meeting is meant an exercise attended by only a fraction of the men enrolled in the course. Usually it stands combined in varying proportions with the lecture. Usually, too, it is not in charge of the instructor “giving the course” (sic), but rather of an assistant. But neither of these common features is essential to the section idea.

The most important single question raised by the section method is: What is its purpose? Undoubtedly the section may, and does, serve many ends. It clearly is valuable in the grading of undergraduate work. It is in this rôle that, in many courses, the section is really significant. Such are the cases in which one-half of the only section-hour each week is devoted to a written test, and the balance of the hour to remarks by the assistant. But the section may certainly be made more than an adjunct to the College Office. Obviously, the section-meeting fosters that familiarity between student and instructor which should invariably exert a wholesome influence; serving the same purpose in undergraduate instruction that publicity does in politics.

Furthermore, in many courses the section-meeting offers the only opportunity for open discussion, for a free give and take between instructor and instructed. Such discussion is the sine qua non of effective teaching in many, if not in most, subjects. It develops clear thinking, power in logical analysis, and effective speech. It stimulates that interest which encourages faithful work from day to day, instead of hasty cramming at examinations. In general, it makes for permanent intellectual power as against temporary mental acquisition.

Such being the opportunities of the section-meeting, by what organization and methods may they best be seized? The immediate interest of the student might seem to demand that the instructor in charge of the course should conduct its sections. But this would violate every rule of good economy. Professors of scholarly and scientific experience and reputation, while they would probably give section instruction better than most assistants, have a vastly greater advantage in the work they are at present doing. In the long run they best advance undergraduate instruction by delegating section work to the younger men. Nor is this so generally to the disadvantage of the section as is commonly supposed. As a rule, the young instructor of promise brings to his task a zest, a sympathetic knowledge of college ways and ideals, an appreciation of the difficulties of the beginner which the older man has long since lost. And after all, teaching ability is in large measure a gift which needs little polishing by experience, good teachers are just as rare among older men as among the younger.

Section instructors and students should be, as we have noted, on terms of familiarity. Therefore assistants should be selected with great care. Appointments in the past have perhaps too little emphasized the need of certain human qualities not weighted in the Ph.D. examination. The leaven of a little sympathy, of more good humor, and of still more downright fairness and good sense works wonders in raising the level of section instruction.

Grading seems an essential element in section work, but it should be reduced to a minimum. This does not mean that it should be confined to a written test. Some grading had best accompany work in discussion. This seems necessary to compel intelligent discussion. Too often discussion degenerates into what the undergraduate expressively calls “drool.” Upon the other hand, so-called discussion sometimes is narrowed into mere drill upon the text. The assistant must steer the difficult course between the two extremes. In this endeavor a reasonable amount of inconspicuous “policing” is desirable.

Spirited and stimulated discussion is, after all, the most significant aim of the section-meeting. This imposes responsibilities upon instructor and student alike. The instructor must be able to direct and control discussion, the student must contribute his share of thought and interest; together they coöperate to make section work a success. The test of the section work in any course lies in the quality of the discussion provoked.

The weaknesses of the section are such as to call for improvement, rather than abolition, of the method. Improvement is in large measure a question of money cost. Adequate outlay would probably guarantee section instructors satisfactory alike to students and department staffs. Sufficient outlay to secure assistants with a firm grasp of their subjects is absolutely essential. But some improvements probably are within reach without much additional cost. Thus, by careful provision for standardizing grading, we may reduce the risks involved in the assignment of different students to assistants in the same course but of different experience and temperament. The value of section work may be more generally recognized and upheld. Greater emphasis may be laid on teaching ability in selecting assistants. And finally, possibly in coöperation with the Education Department, assistants may be helped to acquire the gentle art of section work.

Other improvements of the section method will undoubtedly be suggested. But to give it up entirely seems unwise; the section has probably come to stay. It seems, for the present, an advisable concession to large-scale education.

Source: The Harvard Illustrated Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 6 (March 1914), 295-296.

Image Source: Edmund Ezra Day in Harvard Class Album 1915.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Economics Transcript for Edward Hastings Chamberlin, 1922-1927

In the previous post we have the academic backstory found in Edward Hastings Chamberlin’s application to the economics graduate program at Harvard. This post provides the academic record of Chamberlin while a graduate student at Harvard. He entered Harvard with an M.A. degree in economics from the University of Michigan which probably is sufficient explanation for his seemingly light graduate coursework at Harvard.

Edward Hastings Chamberlin’s papers can be consulted at Duke University’s David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library’s Economists’ Papers Archive. It is interesting to note that he seems to have audited Allyn Young’s Ec 15 course (which does not appear on his graduate transcript) since notes to that course are included in Chamberlin’s papers.

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Ph.D. in Economics Awarded 1927

Edward Hastings Chamberlin, S.B. (State Univ. of Iowa) 1920, A.M. (Univ. of Michigan) 1922, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1924.
Subject, Economics. Special Field, Economic Theory. Thesis, “The Theory of Monopolistic Competition.”
Instructor in Economics and Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, Harvard University.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1926-1927, p. 102.

___________________________

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Record of Edward Hastings Chamberlin

Years: 1922-23, 1923-24, 1924-25, 1925-26, 1926-27

[Previous] Degrees received. Where? When?

S.B. State Univ. of Iowa 1920
A.M. Univ. of Michigan 1922

First Registration: 25 Sept. 1922

1922-23

 Grades
First Year Course

Half-Course
Economics 11

A
Economics 41

A-
Division: Economics
Scholarship, Fellowship:
Assistantship:
Austin Teaching Fellowship:
Instructorship:
Proctorship:
Degree attained at close of year:

 

1923-24

 Grades
Second Year Course

Half-Course
Economics 14

inc./exc.
Economics 23

exc.
Government 6

exc.
Marketing Problems

85%

Passed General Exam. in Economics,
22 May 1924
Division:
Scholarship, Fellowship: Henry Lee Mem’l Fellow
Assistantship:
Austin Teaching Fellowship:
Instructorship:
Proctorship:
Degree attained at close of year: A.M.

 

1924-25

 Grades
Third Year Course

Half-Course
Economics 20 (A.A.Y.)

—
Division:
Scholarship, Fellowship:
Assistantship:
Austin Teaching Fellowship:
Instructorship: in Economics
Proctorship:
Degree attained at close of year:

 

1925-26

 Grades
Fourth Year Course

Half-Course
Economics 20 (A.A.Y.)

A
Division:
Scholarship, Fellowship:
Assistantship:
Austin Teaching Fellowship:
Instructorship: in Economics.

Tutor in the Div. of History, Government, and Economics
Proctorship:
Degree attained at close of year:

 

1926-27

 Grades
Fifth Year Course

Half-Course
Economics 20 (A.A.Y.)

A
Division:
Scholarship, Fellowship:
Assistantship:
Austin Teaching Fellowship: $1500
Instructorship: in Economics.

Tutor in the Div. of History, Government, and Economics $1200.
Proctorship:
Degree attained at close of year: Ph.D.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Record Cards of Students, 1895-1930, Burtt—Cook. Record Card of Edward Hastings Chamberlin.

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Course Names and Instructors

Pro-tip for linking course numbers to course names and instructors.

Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Course of instruction. 1879-2009.

1922-23

Economics 11. Economic Theory. Professor Frank W. Taussig

Economics 41. Statistical Theory and Analysis. Professors Allyn Abbott Young and Edmund Ezra Day

1923-24

Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Professor Charles Jesse Bullock

Economics 23. Modern Economic History since 1750. Assistant Professor Abbott Payson Usher

Government 6. History of Political Theory. Professor Charles Howard McIlwain.

Marketing Problems. [First Year, First Half course at the Graduate School of Business Administration]

1924-27.

Economic Research. Graduate students pursuing research may register in the following course, which has the same status as any of the other graduate courses in Economics. Such research will be under the direction of members of the Department, and may lie within any of the fields recognized as appropriate for candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Economics 20. Professors Taussig, Carver, Ripley, Gay, Bullock, Young, and Persons. Members of the Faculty of the Graduate School of Business Administration will also guide research lying within their respective fields

___________________________

Image Source: Faculty picture of Edward H. Chamberlin from the Harvard Class Album, 1932.