Tag: Friedlaender

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Economics Programs Economists M.I.T.

M.I.T. Department of Economics Annual Report by E. Cary Brown, 1975-1976

The following annual report of the M.I.T. department of economics was most likely written for the care and feeding of administrators and the members of the department’s visiting committee. This report covers what was my second year of graduate school, so for folks from that time it reads like an annual Holiday newsletter to the family.

_______________________

Department of Economics
1975 – 76

Undergraduate Program

The long-run impact of the past year’s changes in the Institute Requirement in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences is not yet clear. Unquestionably they have increased the Department’s enrollment, but the precise amount is uncertain because simultaneously a major revision was made in the two introductory economics subjects. In the past year enrollments were larger than previously, but smaller than in the transition of the previous year. Nearly 200 of the Class of 1976 concentrated in economics for their Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Requirement. Of all students presently enrolled, 327 (primarily juniors and seniors) have elected to concentrate in economics.

Undergraduate majors remain steady in numbers. As in 1974-75, 20 degrees were awarded. In the spring term the Undergraduate Economics Association was reactivated. Its weekly meetings with faculty led to several proposals for revision of the undergraduate program, and several student-faculty socials were organized.

Graduate Program

Enrollment has been remarkably steady in the graduate program. The number of applications for admission was virtually identical to the average of the previous six years. Next year’s entering class of 32 will be slightly larger than average, and will have fewer foreign students and more women, reflecting a shift in the percentage of applications from these groups. Four students from minority groups are expected to be in this class.

Financial support for the graduate student has changed very little over the last several years. We are still fortunate in having from one-third to one-half of the entering students on National Science Foundation Fellowships. For the whole student body, there has been an increase in the support by US foundations (other than NSF) and a decrease in support provided by M.I.T.

The number receiving the Doctor of Philosophy increased somewhat in the past year to 21. For the first time, two American blacks received degrees.* The class fared well in placement, their median salary offer totaling 24 percent above that of 1971. Like the past average, 86 percent went into teaching and 14 percent into non-teaching positions.

*Samuel Myers, Jr. Ph.D. thesis: “A Portfolio Model of Illegal Transfers”, supervised by Robert Solow.
Glenn Loury. Ph.D. thesis: “Essays in the Theory of the Distribution of Income”, supervised by Robert Solow.
See: William Darity Jr. and Arden Kreeger, “The Desegregation of an Elite Economics Department’s PhD Program: Black Americans at MIT“, History of Political Economy 46 (annual suppl.)

The Graduate Economics Association awarded the outstanding teacher in the Department prize to Professor Stanley Fischer.

PUBLIC SERVICE ACTIVITIES

The faculty has always been involved in public service activities tying research to the public interest. In connection with M.I.T.’s participation in the Bicentennial Celebration, Professor Jagdish N. Bhagwati set up a recent conference on the New International Economic Order: Professor Ann F. Friedlaender is planning one for this fall on Air Pollution and Administrative Control. Through the German Marshall Fund, Professor Richard S. Eckaus is organizing a fall conference on economic problems of Portugal. Professor Franco Modigliani arranged a conference through the Bank of Finland on International Monetary Mechanisms.

Various Congressional committees and government agencies have been advised. Professor Peter A. Diamond served on the Consultant Panel on Social Security for the Congressional Research Service. Professors Rudiger Dornbusch and Fischer and Institute Professor Paul A. Samuelson prepared a report for the US Department of Commerce on international financial arrangements. Professor Robert E. Hall was a member of the Advisory Committee on Population Statistics, Bureau of the Census. Professor Jerry A. Hausman served on the Econometrics Advisory Committee to the Federal Energy Administration. Institute Professor Modigliani was a consultant and member of the Committee on Monetary Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Institute Professor Samuelson consulted with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the US Treasury, and the Congressional Budget Office. Professor Charles A. Myers was a member of the National Manpower Policy Task Force. Institute Professor Robert M. Solow served as Deputy Chairman, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Several faculty members have been involved with the National Academy of Sciences and its related organizations. Professor Eckaus prepared a report, Appropriate Technology for Developing Countries, for the Board on Science and Technology for Developing Countries of the National Academies of Science and Engineering. Professor Franklin M. Fisher served on a National Academy panel on the Effects of Deterrence and Incapacitation; Professor Friedlaender was on the Executive Committee, Assembly of Behavioral and Social Sciences, National Research Council; Institute Professor Modigliani was on the Finance Committee; Institute Professor Samuelson served on the Editorial Board of the Proceedings; and Institute Professor Solow chaired the Steering Committee on Environmental Studies.

Professor Eckaus led an OECD Mission to Portugal that included Professors Lance Taylor and Dornbusch.* Professor Paul L. Joskow was a consultant to OECD in energy. Professor Evsey D. Domar was a member of a delegation of economists sent by the American Economic Association to the Soviet Union. Institute Professor Modigliani, who gave much time to the problems of stabilization in Italy, was a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Council for Social Sciences.

*Along with several graduate students among whom were Paul Krugman, Andrew Abel and Jeffrey Frankel. Paul Krugman has written a short note about this experience with a picture!

The Brookings Institution Panel for Economic Activity included Professors Dornbusch and Hall, with Institute Professors Modigliani, Samuelson, and Solow as senior advisors to it. Professor Friedlaender served on the examining committee, Graduate Records Examination, Educational Testing Service. Institute Professor Modigliani served on the Committee on Economic Stabilization, Social Science Research Council. Professor Fisher is a member of the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University. Institute Professor Solow continues as Trustee for the Institute of Advanced Study.

RESEARCH

International topics seem to dominate the research interests of the faculty. Professor Bhagwati, in addition to his work in developing countries and international trade theory, has given attention to a proposal for applying taxation to the brain drain. Professor Eckaus studied the role of financial markets and their regulation and the behavior of income distribution in economic development. Professor Taylor had three major areas of research: the development of nutrition planning models in Pakistan, international food aid and reserve policies, and growth and income distribution in Brazil.

Professor Morris A. Adelman’s continuing research on the world oil market, Professor Joskow’s analysis of the international nuclear energy industry, and Professor Martin L. Weitzman’s examination of OPEC and oil pricing involve applied microeconomics with international implications.

Research in various applied microeconomics areas was responsible for the second largest fraction of faculty effort. Institute Professor Solow continued to research the economics of exhaustible resources, and Professor Weitzman completed his analysis of the optimal development of resource pools. Professor Joskow has explored the future of the electric utility industry and its financing, the future of the US atomic energy industry, and the pattern of energy consumption in the US. He is developing a simulation model of the energy industry, and is reviewing the regulatory activities of government agencies in general and the health care sector in particular. Professor Hausman examined the Project Independence Report and is analyzing the choice of new technologies in energy research.

In the transporation field, Professor Friedlaender surveyed the issues in regulatory policy for railroads and alternative scenarios in federal transporation policy. Professor Jerome Rothenberg examined such problems in urban transportation as pricing policies, demand sensitivity to price, and modeling locational effects. Professor William C. Wheaton considered an optimal pricing and investment policy in highways under a gasoline tax.

Inextricably intertwined with urban transportation are questions of urban location and housing. Professor Rothenberg carried out research in such aspects of this problem as microeconomics of internal migration, supply-demand for housing in multizoned areas, the impact of energy costs on urban location, and the development of a model of housing markets and of metropolitan development and location that can be applied to general policy questions. Professor Wheaton developed an equilibrium model of housing and locational choice based on Boston experience.

Institute Professor Modigliani also conducted research on the housing market, but his interest comes primarily from the side of stabilization policies and similar macroeconomic problems. He also participated in a review after 20 years of his life cycle hypothesis of saving, made monetary policy prescriptions for both the US and Italy, reflected on the description of financial sectors in econometric models, and explored more deeply the application of optimal control to the design of optimal stabilization policies in economic models. Institute Professor Samuelson reviewed the art and science of macromodels over the 50 years of their development. Professor Friedlaender completed a quarterly macromodel of the Massachusetts economy. Professor Hall developed a model to deal with income tax changes and consumption.

Public economics has both macro and micro aspects, both of which are represented in the Department’s research. With Visiting Professor James A. Mirrlees, Professor Diamond theorized about public shadow prices with constant returns to scale, and about the assignment of liability. He also has generalized the Ramsey tax rule and continued his research into an optimal Social Security system. Professor Hausman is reexamining the cost of a negative income tax; Professor Rothenberg analyzed the distributional impact of public service provision; and Professor Wheaton explored intertemporal effects of land taxes, fiscal federalism in practice, and the financial plight of American cities.

Besides such theoretical research, there was significant research of an entirely pure nature. Professor Robert L. Bishop reexamined the measurement of consumer surplus. Professor Fisher extended his exploration of the stability of general equilibrium and of aggregate production functions. Professor Weitzman investigated the welfare significance of national product in a dynamic economy. Professor Hal R. Varian further explored the theory of fairness, non-Walrasian equilibria, and macromodels of unemployment and disequilibrium. Professor Hausman examined the econometric implications of truncated distributions and samples, of probit models, and of simultaneous equation models. In historical research, Professor Domar was concerned with serfdom, while Professor Charles Kindleberger investigated the role of the merchant in nineteenth-century technologic transfer.

Publications

Professor Bhagwati edited Taxing the Brain Drain: A Proposal and Brain Drain and Taxation: Theory and Empirical Analysis, and coauthored Foreign Trade Regimes and Economic Development: India. Professors Dornbusch and Kindleberger published numerous papers on implications of the new international monetary exchange structure for exchange rates, price stability, international trade, and international capital movements. Professor Weitzman continued his study of the Russian economy with a paper on the new Soviet incentive model.

With Visiting Professor of Management Ezio Tarantelli*, Institute Professor Modigliani published Labor Market, Income Distribution and Private Consumption (in Italian) and various papers on stabilization policy in Italy. He also wrote papers on inflation and the housing market and edited New Mortgage Designs for Stable Housing in an Inflationary Environment. Professor Hall’s labor market research resulted in papers on persistence of unemployment, occupational mobility, and taxation of earnings under public assistance. Professor Michael Piore wrote on labor market stratification and the effect on industrial growth of immigration from Puerto Rico to Boston. Professor Fisher had several publications on indexation and adjustment of mortgages to inflationary episodes. In the realm of economic history, Professor Temin published Reckoning with Slavery and Did Monetary Force Cause the Great Depression?

*Ezio Tarantelli was the victim of a Red Brigades’ assassination in 1985.

Institute Professor Samuelson published theoretical papers on factor price equalization and trade pattern reversal. In the realm of pure research, he put out papers on nonlinear and stochastic population analysis, optimal population growth, and the optimal Social Security system implied in a lifecycle growth model. He also brought out the tenth edition of his famous text, Economics: An Introduction Analysis.

FACULTY

Visiting Professor John R. Moroney was here from Tulane University; Visiting Professor Mirrlees came in the spring term from Nuffield College, Oxford University. Regular faculty on leave were Professors Fisher and Joskow in the fall and Professor Weitzman in the spring.

It is a pleasure to report the promotion to Associate Professor of Jerry A. Hausman. A new appointee, Professor Jeffrey E. Harris, with the unusual background of an M.D. and a Ph.D. in economics, will provide long-sought coverage in health economics.

Professor Kindleberger will retire as Ford Professor and become a Senior Lecturer on a half-time basis. Since 1948, when he came as an Associate Professor, Professor Kindleberger has been an effective teacher, scholar, participant in faculty governance, and counselor to governments and the public. He has trained the leading international economists of the next generation; he has produced a dozen books and more than a hundred articles in international trade and finance and in economic history. He epitomizes the highest kind of academician.

Several honors were bestowed on members of the Department. Institute Professor Modigliani will complete his year as President of the American Economic Association. Professor Myers received a Distinguished Alumni award from Pennsylvania State University. Professor Fisher was F.W. Paish Lecturer to the Association of (English) University Teachers of Economics. Institute Professor Solow received a D. Litt. from Warwick University, and Institute Professor Samuelson, a D.Sc. from the University of Rochester.

EDGAR CARY BROWN

Source: MIT Libraries, Institute Archives and Special Collections. MIT Department of Economics Records, Box 1, Folder “Annual Report 1975-6”.

Image Source: Building E52, Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Building, later Morris and Sophie Chang Building

 

https://mitmuseum.mit.edu/collections/subject/building-e52-alfred-p.-sloan-jr.-building-later-morris-and-sophie-chang-building-52

Categories
Chicago Funny Business Harvard M.I.T. Princeton

M.I.T. Faculty Skit, Playing Monopoly at Lunch, 1986

 

It has been a while since I have added an artifact to the MIT economics skits wing of the Funny Business Archives here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. Apparently the following script was a, if not the sole, late-20th century MIT faculty skit not written by Robert Solow. I can believe that. In any event, today’s post is further grist to the mill for social historians of economics.

Again a grateful tip of the hat to Roger Backhouse is in order.

__________________

1986 FACULTY SKIT

(Skit opens with Dornbusch, Fischer, Diamond, Eckaus and McFadden seated around MONOPOLY board. Farber is standing alongside, watching the game. Fisher and Hausman are in the wings to make walk-on appearances).

ANNOUNCER: One of the most important unwritten rules in the Economics Department is that no one but Bob Solow writes the skit. This year, Bob reportedly outdid himself and wrote a sitcom in which Bob Lucas is struck by a blinding light while driving to work and transformed into a neo-Keynesian. The skit, titled “I’m OK, You’re OK,” follows Lucas’ attempts to explain why he is estimating Phillips curves to Lars Hansen and Tom Sargent.

Unfortunately, Bob is unable to be with us tonight, since he is delivering the presidential address to the Eastern Economic Association in Philadelphia. When we opened the envelope marked “SKIT” which Bob left for us, we were surprised to discover only a copy of his presidential address. We suspect he had a somewhat bigger surprise when he opened his envelope in Philadelphia. [Address published as “What is a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? Macroeconomics after Fifty Years” Eastern Economic Journal, July-September 1986]

We were of course scared skitless when we realized our predicament, and we were tempted to re-run some of the great Solow skits of the past. There was the 1974 Watergate Skit, in which Paul Colson Joskow testifies to Senator Sam Peltzman that he would run over his grandmother to get a t-statistic above two. There was the 1978 Star Wars skit, in which Milton Vader and his minions capture the wookie Jerrybaca and hold him captive in the Chicago Money Workshop. And in the incredible 1973 MASH skit, Hawkeye Hall and Trapper Jerry Hausman find Radar Diamond and Hot Lips Friedlaender cavorting in the Chairman’s office. (If that doesn’t give Solow Rational expectations, what does?)

We guessed that you had all seen these re-runs on late-nite channel 56, however, and therefore decided to try something new and provide a partial answer to the age-old question: What Really Goes On in the Freeman Room at Lunchtime on Wednesdays? We now invite you to join us for a brief look at one of these infamous gatherings…

 

MCFADDEN: (Rolling dice). “Who owns Oriental Avenue?”

DORNBUSCH: Me. That’s six dollars.

FISCHER: My turn? (Rolls dice). Damn. Inflation tax again; Here’s ten percent of my cash balances. I passed go, didn’t I?

DIAMOND: Uh huh. Here’s $186 dollars.

FISCHER: I should get $200.

DIAMOND: Not since Gramm-Rudman. Everything’s reduced seven percent across the board.

DORNBUSCH: My turn. (Rolling dice). Four. (Reaches over and moves marker).

ECKAUS: No way, Rudi—you just moved six places. No overshooting in this game. (Hands Dornbusch Chance card)

DORNBUSCH: Ah. Go directly to Brazil. Do not return until the day classes start.

HAUSMAN: (Walking in from side of stage) How come you guys are playing MONOPOLY? I thought you usually played RISK…

DIAMOND: Oliver [Hart] took that game home. You know, his contract calls for RISK-sharing…

HAUSMAN: Can you believe the graduate students scheduled the skit party for the Friday before income taxes are due? The only people who’ll come are graduate students and people like theorists who file 1040 EZ’s. (walks off)

(FISHER walks in)

DIAMOND: (Rolling dice). My turn. Oriental again. Six more dollars for Dornbusch.

FISCHER: That’s a pretty profitable property, Rudi.

FISHER: How many times do I have to say it! You can’t possibly tell that from accounting numbers! (Pause). Why don’t we ever play fun games, like Consultant?

ECKAUS: I hear Jorgensen and Griliches play that all the time up at Harvard. Maybe you should give them a call.

FISHER: They’re never around.

DIAMOND: Of course not, Frank—that’s how you play consultant.

(FISHER exits.)

FARBER: Speaking of Harvard, how are we doing on graduate recruitment this year? I heard there was some Princeton scandal.

DIAMOND: The AEA put them on probation for recruiting violations. People could look the other way when they offered prospective students money and cars, but this year Joe Stiglitz promised to write a joint paper with all entering students.

FARBER: They’re really giving out cars?

DIAMOND: Sure. Yugo’s.

FARBER: All I got was a motorcycle…

MCFADDEN: Harvard and Princeton have been dumping all over us. Every prospective student has heard that Jerry Hausman cashed in his Frequent Flyer miles for a 727. And some even know that Marty Weitzman has a Harvard offer.

FISCHER: Well, that offer was certainly no surprise. The Harvard deans read THE SHARE ECONOMY and decided they should hire more workers.

DIAMOND: Still, we’re getting the best students. This morning I signed a Yale undergrad by offering him Solow’s office. I figured Bob can share E52-390 with Krugman, Eckaus, and Farber next year. But what happens when we run out of river-view offices?

FARBER: How’s Harvard doing on recruiting?

ECKAUS: Not too well. They’re on a big kick to look relevant. Mas-Collel’s going nuts—Dean Spence has a new rule that any agent in a theoretical model has to have a proper name. Andreu’s having real problems with his continuum papers…

MCFADDEN: I hear the Kennedy School’s helping their visibility. Have you heard about the new Meese Distinguished Service Medal?

DIAMOND: No. Who’s getting them?

MCFADDEN: Sammy Stewart for Distinguished Relief Pitching,
Martin Feldstein for Distinguished Empirical Work,
Larry Summers for Distinguished Dress,
NASA for distinction in Travel Safety,
Bob Lucas and Bob Barro for Distinguished Plausible Assumptions,
Ferdinand Marcos for Distinguished Contributions to Charity,
and John Kenneth Galbraith for Distinguished Use of Mathematics.

DORNBUSCH: Harvard’s visibility campaign’s paying off. Just last week one of their junior guys hit the cover of PEOPLE magazine with a paper about marriage rates among movie stars.

FISCHER: You read PEOPLE?

FARBER: The National Enquirer had a story about a Harvard student who claimed to have a picture of Jeff Sachs in Littauer. Just like the old days with Howard Hughes…

DORNBUSCH: Perhaps we should return to the game.

(MODIGLIANI walks on).

DIAMOND: My turn again? (Rolls dice and moves piece). Community Chest. (Looking at card) You are elected department head. Lose three turns.

(Someone walks up and hands DIAMOND a telephone message. He stands up.)

DIAMOND: I nearly forgot. I’m scheduled to join Mike Weisbach who is taking a prospective student windsurfing this afternoon. Figured it was the least I could do to convince him we were as laid back as Stanford. Franco—do you want to take my place?

MODIGLIANI: (Sitting down in Diamond’s place) So, what are the new developments on the Monopoly front? [Famous Modigliani paper “New Developments on the Oligopoly Front,” JPE, June 1958] (Pause) Now, which of these pieces is Peter’s?

MCFADDEN: The coconut. [Reference here to Diamond’s coconut model of a search economy.]

MODIGLIANI: My turn now?

FISCHER: No Franco—but go ahead. [presumably a reference to Modigliani’s propensity to talk, and talk, and talk.]

MODIGLIANI: (Rolls dice and moves marker). Chance. (McFadden hands him a card). What is this? You have won second prize in a Beauty Contest, Collect $10? This is NOT POSSIBLE. This year I win only FIRST PRIZES [reference to 1985 Nobel Prize for Economics].

DORNBUSCH: (To audience) Wait till he gets the bequest card… [cf. the JEP Spring 1988 paper by Modigliani that surveys the bequest motive]

FISCHER: Franco, I have a deal for you. I’ll trade you Mediterranean and the Water Works for North Carolina and an agreement that you never charge me rent on either property. If you renege, I’ll order Chinese food.

MODIGLIANI: No deal. But what’s this about Chinese food?

FISCHER: It’s a new thing I learned from Garth [Soloner]—it makes the deal sub-gum perfect.

MCFADDEN: My turn. (Rolls and draws a Chance card). My favorite card: Advance Token to the Railroad with the Highest Logit Probability Value. Let me see which one that is… (pulls out a calculator)

FISCHER: While we’re waiting for Dan to converge, how did we do in junior hiring? Did we get that Princeton theorist?

ECKAUS: No dice. All the Princeton guys told him not to come.

DORNBUSCH: Why?

ECKAUS: They said “Go to Yale, go directly to Yale.”

MODIGLIANI: What about senior appointments?

FARBER: Ask Peter [Temin]. He’s on the Search Committee.

MCFADDEN: (Looking up from calculator). I’m having convergence problems. Maybe we should postpone the game for a few minutes while I run down to the PRIME.

[the image of the last page at my disposal is very blurred, fortunately it is only the wrap-up by the announcer]

ANNOUNCER: As you all know, NOTHING takes a few minutes on the PRIME. So until next year, when the [?] [?] Solow who accompanied Stan, 3PO and R2D2 to [?] the [?] [?] from Chicago returns to produce another skit. Good night.

 

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Robert M. Solow, Box 83.

Categories
Economics Programs M.I.T. Regulations

MIT. Revising Economics Ph.D. General Examinations. E.C.Brown, 1975

 

What makes this memo from E. Cary Brown particularly useful is that it provides us with a list of the graduate economics fields along with the participating faculty members as of 1975. Also the major revision proposed was to have a system of two major fields (satisfied with general examinations) and two minor fields (satisfied by course work). Interesting to note that graduate student input was clearly integrated into the revision procedure.

________________________

Memo from Chairman E. Cary Brown
on a Revision of General Exams, 1975

April 28, 1975

To: Economics Department Faculty and Graduate Students
From: E. C. Brown
Re: Revision of General Examinations

While it has been left that a Committee would be appointed to review the procedures of the general examination (see minutes of the Department Meeting of April 23, 1975), further informal discussion has moved toward a proposed concept of these examinations that I am submitting for consideration and agreement.

  1. There seems reasonable satisfaction about the structure of the present examinations, subject to clarification of the final 2 field examinations and their relationship to the 2 field write-offs.
  2. It is proposed that the 2 fields satisfied by passing the “general” examinations be designated major The examination will be offered in a field, will cover the field in a general way, and will be separated from course examinations. Minor fields will be satisfied by course work. A somewhat lower standard will be imposed in minor fields than in major fields. The “generals” examination, therefore, would apply to the fields of the candidate’s expected expertise, and emphasis would be on a broad coverage of the field.
  3. Each field should, therefore, describe its general requirements for the field as a major one, and list the subjects that may reasonably be offered as a write-off to satisfy the field as a minor one. There should also be some details on the requirements when fields are closely linked (e.g., the proposal for the transportation field and its relationship to urban economics).
  4. Assuming this proposal to be agreeable, the question of term papers still needs settling.

I propose, therefore, the following procedures:

  1. Would each of you give Sue Steenburg a list of your graduate subjects for this academic year, with an indication of whether or not a term paper was required and, if so, the percentage of final grade it represented.
  2. Would faculty in each field submit a list of subjects that may be used to satisfy major and minor requirements in their field as it would ultimately appear in the brochure. The fields to be covered are as follows, the faculty in the field are listed, and the responsible member underlined.
Advanced Economic Theory Bishop, Diamond, Solow, Fisher, Samuelson, Varian, Hausman, Weitzman
Comparative Economic Systems Domar, Weitzman
Economic Development Eckaus, Bhagwati, Taylor
Economic History Kindleberger, Temin, Domar
Finance Merton
Fiscal Economics Diamond, Friedlaender, Rothenberg, Brown
Human Resources and Income Distribution Thurow, Piore
Industrial Organization Adelman, Joskow
International Economics Kindleberger, Bhagwati
Labor Economics Piore, Myers, Siegel
Monetary Economics Fischer, Modigliani
Operations Research Little, Shapiro
Russian Economics Domar, Weitzman
Statistics and Econometrics Hall, Hausman, Fisher, Kuh
Transportation Friedlaender, Wheaton
Urban Economics Rothenberg, Wheaton

If there are any difficulties with these suggestions, let me know right away. If we can proceed along these lines, it appears to be simply a clarification of our recent past and a substantial timesaver. The reports can be looked at this summer by a student-faculty group, with responsibility for faculty on me and for students on Dick Anderson.

Source:  M.I.T. Archives. Department of Economics Records, Box 2, Folder “Grad Curriculum”.

Image with identifications: Economics Faculty group portrait, 1976.

Categories
Exam Questions M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. National Income and Employment Theory. Readings and Final Exam. Domar, 1960-61

 

 

For this post I have transcribed Evsey Domar’s graduate core macroeconomics course outline/reading list along with the questions for the final examination from the first term of the 1960-61 academic year at M.I.T. Students from both course XIV (economics) and XV (management) took this course.

Note: Evsey Domar distributed a questionnaire to the students to obtain feedback on his course.  The next post provides the results from that survey. It is fairly apparent that Domar did not cover the last topic on the course reading list (economic growth).

Final exam grade distribution (50 exams)

A 16%
A- 12%
B+ 10%
B 20%
B- 14%
C 18%
D 8%
F 2%

Fun Fact. Among the students enrolled in the course and who took the final examination: Michael D. Intriligator, Peter A. Diamond, Ann Fetter Friedlaender, and Stephen Goldfeld.

The much expanded course reading list/bibliography and  both the midterm and final examinations from the 1965-66 academic year have been posted earlier.

_________________________

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

THEORY OF NATIONAL INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT
14.451 Reading List
E. D. Domar Fall Term 1960-61

The purpose of this list is to suggest to the student the sources in which the more important topics of the course are discussed from several points of view. His objectives should be the understanding of these topics and not the memorization of opinions and details.

Items marked with an * are strongly recommended. (I don’t like to use the expression “required” in a graduate reading list.)

No term paper will be required, but each student is expected, in addition to his general reading, to choose one of the eight major divisions of the course (except that Part VIII should not be taken without prior consultation with the instructor) as a field of concentration. A part of the final examination will be designed to test his broader knowledge of the chosen field.

 

I. NATIONAL INCOME AND RELATED ITEMS

*Kuznets, S., National Income and Its Composition, (New York, 1941), particularly Vol. 1, Chapter 1

*Jaszi, G., “The Statistical Foundations of the GNP,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 38, 1956)
Ruggles, R. and N., National Income Accounts and Income Analysis (New York, 1956)

*U.S. Department of Commerce, U. S. Income and Output, A Supplement to the Survey of Current Business, 1958

*National Bureau of Economic Research, The National Economic Accounts of the United States, Review, Appraisal and Recommendations, General Series 64, Washington, 1958

Ruggles, “The U.S. National Accounts,” American Economic Review, March, 1959
Organization for European Economic Co-operation, A Standardised System of National Accounts, Paris, 1952

Gilbert, M. and I. B. Kravis, An International Comparison of National Products and the Purchasing Power of Currencies, A Study of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, Organization for European Economic Cooperation, Paris, 1954

Nove, A., “The United States National Income A La Russe,” Economica, Vol. 23, 1956

Gilbert, M., Comparative National Products and Price Levels, A Study of Western Europe and the United States, Organization of European Economic Cooperation, Paris, 1958

*Leontief, W. W., “Output, Employment, Consumption and Investment,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Feb., 1944

Leontief, W. W. The Structure of American Economy (New York, 1951)

*Dorfman, R., “The Nature and Significance of Input-Output,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 36, 1954

Stewart, I. G., “The Practical Uses of Input-Output Analysis,” Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 5, (Feb. 1958)

Dosser, D. and A. T. Peacock, “Input-Output Analysis in an Under-Developed Country: A Case Study,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 25, Oct. 1957

*Sigel, S. J., “A Comparison of the Structures of Three Social Accounting Systems,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Input-Output Analysis: An Appraisal, The Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 18, pp. 253-89

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Flow of Funds in the United States 1939-53 (Washington, D. C., 1955)

 

II. GENERAL AGGREGATIVE SYSTEM

Students without prior training in this field are advised to study D. Dillard, The Economics of John Maynard Keynes (New York, 1948), A. H. Hansen, A Guide to Keynes (New York, 1953), or K. Kurihara, Introduction to Keynesian Dynamics (New York, 1956).

*Keynes, J. M., The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (New York, 1936)

*American Economic Association, Readings in Business Cycle Theory (Philadelphia, 1944), Essays 5, 7

Harris, S. E., The New Economics (New York, 1947), essays 8-19, 31-33, 38-46.

*Lerner, A. P., Economics of Control (New York, 1944), chapters 21-23, 25

*Kurihara, K. K., Post Keynesian Economics (New Brunswick, N. J., 1954), essays 1, 11*

*American Economic Association, Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution (Philadelphia, 1946), essay 24

Klein, L. R., The Keynesian Revolution, (New York, 1947), chapters 3-5.

Ellis, H. S., A Survey of Contemporary Economics (Philadelphia, 1948), Vol. 1, chapter 2

*Income, Employment and Public Policy, Essays in Honor of Alvin H. Hansen (New York, 1948), essay I

*Burns, A. F., “Economic Research and the Keynesian Thinking of Our Times,” in his The Frontiers of Economic Knowledge, (Princeton, 1954), or in the Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. (New York, 1946). See also the discussion by Hansen and Burns in the Review of Economic Statistics, November, 1947

Dillard, D., “The Influence of Keynesian Economics on Contemporary Thought,” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 1957

Patinkin, D., Money, Interest, and Prices (Evanston, Ill., 1956).

 

III. THEORY OF INTEREST

Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution, essays 22, 23, 26

*Hicks, J. R., Value and Capital (Oxford, 1957), Chapters 11-12

Readings in Monetary Theory, essays 6, 11, 15

*Gurley, J. G., and E. S. Shaw, “Financial Aspects of Economic Development,” American Economic Review, September, 1955)

Hart, A. G., Money, Debt and Economic Activity, Second Ed., (New York, 1953)

Patinkin, D., “Liquidity Preference and Loanable Funds: Stock and Flow Analysis,” Economica, Vol. 25, November, 1958

Patinkin, D., Money, Interest, and Prices (Evanston, Ill., 1956).

*Lydall, H., “Income, Assets, and the Demand for Money,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 40, Feb. 1958

Lutz, F. A., “The Interest Rate and Investment in a Dynamic Economy,” American Economic Review, Dec. 1945

See also Section VI — INVESTMENT DECISIONS

 

IV. CONSUMPTION FUNCTION

*Duesenberry, J. S., Income, Saving, and the Theory of Consumer Behavior (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1949)

Haley, B. F., A Survey of Contemporary Economics (Homewood, Illinois, 1952), Vol. II, essay 2

Davis, T. E., “The Consumption Function as a Tool of Prediction,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, August 1952

Heller, W. W., Boddy, F. M., and C. L. Nelson, Savings in the Modern Economy, a Symposium (Minneapolis, 1953)

*Friend, I., and S. Schor, “Who Saves?,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 41, May, 1959, Part 2

*Friend, I., and I. B. Kravis, “Entrepreneurial Income, Saving and Investment,”American Economic Review, June, 1957, pp. 269-301

Zellner, Arnold, “The Short-Run Consumption Function,” Econometrica, (Oct. 1957

*Ferber, R., “The Accuracy of Aggregate Savings Functions in the Post-War Years,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 37, May, 1955

*Tobin, J., “On the Predictive Value of Consumer Intentions and Attitudes,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 41, Feb., 1959

Dennison, E. F., “A Note on Private Saving,” Review of Economics and Statistics, August, 1958
Post-Keynesian Economics, essay 15

Friedman, M., A Theory of the Consumption Function (Princeton, N. J., 1957)

Friedman, M., and G. Becker, “A Statistical Illusion in Judging Keynesian Models,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 65, Feb., 1957

Klein, L. R., “The Friedman-Becker Illusion,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 66, Dec., 1958

Morgan, J. N., Consumer Economics (New York, 1955)

Katona, G., and E. Mueller, Consumer Expectations 1953-56 (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1956)

Klein, L. R., ed., Contributions of Survey Methods to Economics (New York, 1954)

 

V. MULTIPLIER AND ACCELERATOR

*Kahn, R. F., “The Relation of Home Investment to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, 1931. Republished in Hansen and Clemence, Readings in Business Cycles and National Income (New York, 1953), essay 15

*Readings in Business Cycle Theory, essays 11-12

*Haavelmo, T., “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget,” Econometrica, 1945; reprinted in Readings in Fiscal Policy, pp. 335-343

*Salant, William A., “Taxes, Income Determination, and the Balanced Budget Theorem,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, May, 1957

Peston, M. H., “Generalizing the Balanced Budget Multiplier,” and “Comment” by W. A. Salant, The Review of Economics and Statistics, August, 1958

Bowen, W. G., “The Balanced-Budget Multiplier: A Suggestion for a More General Formulation,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, May, 1957

*Kuznets, S., “Relation Between Capital Goods and Finished Products in the Business Cycle,” in Economic Essays in Honor of Wesley Clair Mitchell, (New York, 1935)

*Knox, A. D. “The Acceleration Principle and the Theory of Investment: A Survey,” Economica, Vol. 19, 1952

*Tsiang, S. C., “Accelerator, Theory of the Firm, and the Business Cycle,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 65, 1951

*Tinbergen, “Statistical Evidence on the Acceleration Principle,” Economica, Vol. 5, 1938

Harrod, R. F., Towards a Dynamic Economics (London, 1948)

Hicks, J. R., A Contribution to the Theory of the Trade Cycle (Oxford, 1950)

Goodwin, R. M., “Problems of Trend and Cycle,” Yorkshire Bulletin, Vol. 5, August, 1953

Ott, A. E., “The Relation Between the Accelerator and the Capital Output Ratio,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 25, June, 1958

Minsky, H., “Monetary Systems and Accelerator Models,” American Economic Review, Vol. 47, 1957

See also VI — INVESTMENT DECISIONS.

 

VI. INVESTMENT DECISIONS

Lutz, F. A., and V., The Theory of Investment of the Firm (Princeton, 1951)

*Heller, W. W., “The Anatomy of Investment Decisions,” Harvard Business Review, March, 1951, pp. 95-103

*Pitchford, J. D. and A. J. Hagger, “A Note on the Marginal Efficiency of Capital,” The Economic Journal, Vol. 48, 1958

*Meade, J. E., and P. W. S. Andrews, “Summary of Replies to Questions on Effects of Interest Rates,” and “Further Inquiry into the Effects of Rates of Interest,” Oxford Economic Papers, No. 1, 1938 and No. 3, 1940

*Ebersole, J. F., “The Influence of Interest Rates,” Harvard Business Review, Vol. 17, 1938, pp. 35-39

*Henderson, H. D., “The Significance of the Rate of Interest,” Oxford Economic Papers, October, 1938, pp. 1-13

Andrews, P. W. S., “Further Inquiry into the Effects of Rates of Interest,” Oxford Economic Papers, Feb., 1940, pp. 32-73

Sayers, R. S., “Business Men and the Terms of Borrowing,” Oxford Economic Papers, Feb., 1940, pp. 23-31

*White, W. H., “Interest Inelasticity of Investment Demand—The Case from Business Attitude Surveys Re-examined,” American Economic Review, Sept. 1956, pp. 565-587

Brockie, M. D., and A. L. Gray, “The Marginal Efficiency of Capital and Investment Programming,” Economic Journal, Vol. 46, December, 1956

White, W. H., “The Rate of Interest, the Marginal Efficiency of Capital, and Investment Programming,” Economic Journal, Vol. 48, March, 1958

Grey, A. L., and M. D. Brockie, “The Rate of Interest, Marginal Efficiency of Capital and Net Investment Programming: A Rejoinder,” Economic Journal, June, 1959

Spiro, A., “Empirical Research and the Rate of Interest,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 40 (February, 1958).

*Duesenberry, J., Business Cycles and Economic Growth (New York, 1958), Chapters 1-8

Meyer, John R., and Edwin Kuh, The Investment Decision (Cambridge, Mass., 1957)

Cunningham, N. J., “Business Investment and the Marginal Cost of Funds,” Metroeconomica, Vol. 10, August, 1958

Cunningham, N. J., “Business Investment and the Marginal Cost of Funds,” Part II, Metroeconomica, Dec., 1958

Wilson, T., “Cyclical and Autonomous Inducements to Invest,” Oxford Economic Papers, Vol. 5, 1953

Hirschleifer, J., “On the Theory of Optimal Investment Decision,” The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 66, Aug., 1958

Lydall, H. F., “The Impact of the Credit Squeeze on Small and Medium Sized Manufacturing Firms,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47, Sept., 1957

*Penrose, E., “Limits to the Growth and Size of Firms,” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, May 1955, pp. 531-43

Friend, I., and J. Bronfenbrenner, “Business Investment Programs and Their Realization,” Survey of Current Business, December, 1950

*Foss, M. F., and V. Natrella, “Ten Years’ Experience with Business Investment Anticipations,” Survey of Current Business, January, 1957

*Foss, M. F., and V. Natrella, “Investment Plans and Realizations—Reasons for Differences in Individual Cases,” Survey of Current Business, June, 1957

See also III—THEORY OF INTEREST and V—MULTIPLIER AND ACCELERATOR

 

VII. PRICE FLEXIBILITY AND EMPLOYMENT

*Pigou, A. C., “The Classical Stationary State,” Economic Journal, Dec., 1943

*Lange, O., Price Flexibility and Employment (Bloomington, Indiana, 1944)

*Friedman, M., “Lange on Price Flexibility and Employment,” American Economic Review, Sept., 1946

Readings in Monetary Theory, Essay 13

Schelling, T. C., “The Dynamics of Price Flexibility,” American Economic Review, Sept. 1949

Patinkin, D., Money, Interest, and Prices (Evanston, Illinois, 1956)

Hicks, J. R., “A Rehabilitation of ‘Classical Economics’,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47, June, 1957

*Power, J. H., “Price Expectations, Money Illusion and the Real Balance Effect,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 67, April, 1959

*Mayer, T., “The Empirical Significance of the Real Balance Effect,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 73, May, 1959

 

VIII. THEORY OF GROWTH

*Domar, E. D., Essays in the Theory of Economic Growth (New York, 1957), Foreword, Essays I, III-V

Fellner, W., Trends and Cycles I Economic Activity, (New York,1956)

Hansen, A. H., Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles (New York, 1941)

*Harrod, R. F., Towards a Dynamic Economics (London, 1948), Part III

Leontief, W. W., Studies in the Structure of the American Economy, (New York, 1953)

Robinson, J., The Accumulation of Capital, (London, 1956)

*Kuznets, Simon, “Towards a Theory of Economic Growth,” R. Leckachman, ed., National Policy for Economic Welfare at Home and Abroad, (New York, 1955)

*Solow, R. M., “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Feb. 1956, pp. 65-94

*Solow, R. M., “Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function,” Review of Economics and Statistics, August, 1957, pp. 312-320

 

Source:  Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Papers of Evsey D. Domar, Box 15, Folder “Macroeconomics, Old Reading Lists”.

 

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Economics 14-451
E. D. Domar

FINAL EXAMINATION—Three Hours
January 24, 1961

Please use a separate book for each question.

 

Part I—One Hour

Write an essay in the field of your concentration as instructed in class. Please be specific.

 

Part II—Two Hours

Answer the THREE questions which are furthest removed from the topic discussed in Part I. They carry equal weights.

  1. “Thus the rate of interest is what it is because it is expected to become other than it is: if it is not expected to become other than it is, there is nothing left to tell us what it is…”
    1. Can you identify the author of this famous statement?
    2. Can you recognize whose interest theory he referred to?
    3. Explain and evaluate that theory critically.
    4. Present your own (original or otherwise) theory of interest.
  2. Write an essay on the subject of “The treatment of intermediate products in:
    1. National Income and Product Accounting
    2. Input-output method
    3. Flow-of Funds system
    4. Federal reserve Index of Industrial Production.” (Don’t panic if you can’t do (d), but if you can you’ll get a premium.
      Hint: there is more in this question, and particularly in part (a) than meets the eye. Consider the whole rationale of the methods.
  3. Write a comprehensive essay on the subject of “The Rationale of Investment Decisions.” Consider as many cases as you can, but in each case specify clearly the assumptions made. (Don’t forget to include an undeveloped country case.) Can you generalize?
  4. Write a comprehensive and critical essay on the subject of “Price Flexibility and Employment.” Survey the relevant literature beginning with Keynes’ General Theory, and indicate clearly the nature of the assumptions, the definition of the concepts (hint: money), and the essence of the conclusions. What practical recommendations follow from your discussion?

 

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Papers of Evsey D. Domar, Box 16, Folder “Macroeconomics, Final Exams”.

Image Source: Evsey D. Domar photo at the M.I.T. Museum website.

Categories
Economists Exam Questions M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

MIT. Robert Solow’s Advanced Economic Theory Course, 1962

Robert Solow taught the course Advanced Economic Theory at MIT in the Spring of the 1961/62 academic year. Of the dozen graduate students who took the course for credit were a future Nobel prize winner (Peter Diamond), a future Princeton professor and later member of Jimmy Carter’s Council of Economic Advisers (Stephen Goldfeld), a future professor at University of Pennsylvania/Washington University (Robert Pollak), a future professor and later chairman of Hebrew University (David Levhari), and a professor of economics and the first woman to head an MIT academic department, economics! 1984-1990 and MIT’s first female academic dean, School of Humanities and Social Science (Ann Friedlaender).

The three A’s awarded in the course went to Diamond, Levhari and Goldfeld.

The comprehensive exam questions for advanced economic theory from May 1962 were transcribed in the previous post.

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14.123—Advanced Economic Theory
Spring 1962—Professor Solow

FIRST READING LIST: LINEAR PROGRAMMING AND RELATED SUBJECTS

This should occupy 6-9 weeks. Most of the reading is in Gale: The Theory of Linear Economic Models and Dorfman, Samuelson, Solow: Linear Programming and Econmic Analysis, referred to below as G and D respectively.

  1. Mathematical background: I hope to avoid spending any time on this. Mainly elements of matrix algebra—14.102 should be enough. For review, see D (Appendix B) and G (Ch. 2, more difficult).
  2. Elements of Linear Programming; D (Ch. 2,3), G (Ch. 1,3).
  3. Algebra and Geometry of Linear Programming, Simplex Method; D (Ch. 4, Sec. 1-11), G (Ch. 4).
  4. Applications; D (Ch. 5-7), Manne: Economic Analysis for Business Decisions (Ch. 4,5).
  5. Two-person zero-sum games; D (Ch. 15), G (Ch. 6,7).
  6. Leontief and similar systems; G (Ch. 8, 9 Sec. 1-3), D (Ch. 9, 10).
  7. Activity analysis; G (Ch. 9, Sec. 4), Koopmans: Three Essays on the State of Economic Science (pp. 66-104).
  8. Von Neumann’s model; D (Ch. 13, Sec. 6), G (Ch. 9, Sec. 5-7).
  9. Sraffa: Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities.
    Robinson: “Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory”, Oxford Economic Papers, February 1961, 53-58.
  10. If time permits, the turnpike theorem; D (Ch. 12), Hicks: “Prices and the Turnpike”, Review of Economic Studies, February 1961, 77-88.
    Radner: “Paths of Economic Growth that are Optimal, etc.”, Review of Economic Studies, February 1961, 98-104.

(Further references may follow.)

 

SECOND READING LIST: PUBLIC INVESTMENT CRITERIA

  1. Hirshleifer: “On the Theory of Optimal Investment Decision”, Journal of Political Economy, August 1958, pp. 329-352.
  2. Graaff: Theoretical Welfare Economics, Chs. 6-8.
  3. Eckstein: “A Survey of the Theory of Public Expenditure Criteria”, in Public Finances: Needs, Sources and Utilization, with “Comments” by Hirshleifer.
  4. Margolis: “The Economic Evaluation of Federal Water Resource Development”, AER, March 1959, pp. 96-111.
  5. Steiner: “Choosing Among Alternative Public Investments”, AER, Dec. 1959, pp. 898-916.
  6. Maass, al.: Design of Water-Resource Systems, Chs. 2, 13 (and passim).
  7. Eckstein: Water Resource Development, Ch. 1-4.

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April 11, 1962

14.123—Exam

Answer all questions.

  1. A function f of vectors x,y,… is called subadditive if f(x+y) ≤ f(x) + f(y) for all vectors x, y, and called superadditive if the inequality is reversed.
    Consider the LP problem of maximizing C′x subject to Ax ≤ b. The value of the maximum is a function of C, b, and A. Show that it is a subadditive function of C and a superadditive function of b.
  2. A firm can produce n commodities with a linear technology involving one activity for each commodity. Production involves only fixed factors, m in number, m<n, of which specified amounts are available. The output is sold at market prices p, and the firm chooses non-negative vector x of outputs to maximize p′x subject to the fixed-factor limitations.
    (a) Prove that the supply curve is not negatively sloped; that is, prove that if p1 increases, other prices constant, the optimal x1 must increase or remain unchanged, but cannot decrease. (Hint: a straightforward procedure is to consider closely the final simplex tableau, the signs of various elements, and what can happen to require further iteration if p1 There is a much simpler proof, comparing the before-and-after optima.)
    (b) State and interpret the dual to the theorem just proved.
  3. Consider a simple linear model of production, with 2 goods, and with 2 fixed factors, land and labor, available in specified amounts.
    (a) Sketch possible shapes for the set of feasible net outputs, or net production-possibility curve.
    (b) Suppose demand conditions are such that consumption expenditures on the two commodities are always equal. Give a complete analysis of the determination of the prices of the two goods and also the rent of land and the wage of labor. Graphical methods will help. (Hint: at one key point the construction of an isosceles triangle is very useful.)

 

Source: Duke University. Rosenstein Library. Robert M. Solow Papers, Box 67, Folder “14.123 Final Exam Fall-1969[sic|”.

Image Source: Robert Merton Solow at the M.I.T. Museum website.

Categories
Economists M.I.T.

MIT. Department of Economics Group Photo, 1976

Back Row:  Harold FREEMAN, Hal VARIAN, Jerome ROTHENBERG, Peter DIAMOND, Jerry HAUSMAN

4th Row: Paul JOSKOW, Anne FRIEDLAENDER, JOHN R. MORONEY (VISITOR TO DEPARTMENT)

3rd Row: Stanley FISCHER, Jagdish BHAGWATI, Rudiger DORNBUSCH, Robert SOLOW, Robert HALL

2nd Row: Edward KUH, Morris ADELMAN, Abraham J. SIEGEL, Richard ECKAUS, Martin WEITZMAN

1st Row: Evsey DOMAR, Paul SAMUELSON, Charles KINDLEBERGER, E. Cary BROWN, Franco MODIGLIANI, Sydney ALEXANDER, Robert BISHOP

1976_MITEcon_blogCopy

Apparently didn’t get the memo and/or not pictured: Michael PIORE, Frank FISHER, Peter TEMIN.

Thanks to Robert Solow, the photo-bomber standing to Solow’s left in the picture has been identified as a guest from Tulane University, John Moroney. It is possible that I forgot some other person not included in this faculty picture.

I note that the entire front row has gone to that great Department of Economics in the Cloud.

Source: A graduate student buddy of mine who entered the MIT Ph.D. program in 1975/76.

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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled of which this is the 250th. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….