Tag: Haberler

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Harvard. Course outlines and reading lists. Business Cycles and Economic Forecasting, Haberler & Hansen, 1955-56

 

The pairing of Gottfried Haberler and Alvin Hansen at Harvard for business cycle teaching spanned decades.

For comparison, the reading list and final exam for the course 17 years earlier:   Haberler and Hansen, 1938.

________________

Economics 245a
Business Cycles

Professor Haberler — Fall Term, 1955

Part I. Basic Facts and Concepts.

Types of economic changes and fluctuations

Definition of business cycles

Constant and varying characteristics

Income, production, employment, unemployment
Prices, wages, interest rates, etc.

Cyclical phases

Amplitude, length

Short cycles, intermediate cycles, long waves

Cycles and crises

Cycle history

Approaches to the study of business fluctuations

Descriptive and historical
Statistical and econometric
Theoretical

Part II. Explanation of Business Cycles

Theory of business cycles and theory of employment

Economic fluctuations and long-term growth

Formal characteristics of cycle theories

Statics-dynamics
Exogenous-endogenous theories

Older Cycle Theories

“Monetary” theories vs. “real” theories
Savings — investment
Inventions, innovations; Schumpeter’s theory
Psychological factors: Pigou, Keynes
Agriculture and the business cycle

Modern Cycle Theories

Keynesian contribution
Multiplier — acceleration models
Harrod, Hansen, Samuelson, Kaldor, Kalecki, Metzler
Hicks’ “Contribution to the Theory of the Trade Cycle”
Inventory cycles
The role of wage and price rigidity in the cycle
Competition and monopoly and the business cycle
Many-cycle hypothesis
Is there still a business cycle?

Part III. Economic Growth

Part IV. Business Cycle Policy

Cycle Policy and Employment Policy

Can and should the Cycle be suppressed?

Have depressions a useful function?

Should business booms be prevented?

Preventive and curative depression policy?

Instruments of Policy

Monetary and credit policies
Fiscal policies
Price and wage policies
The role of business forecasting
Other measures

International aspects of business cycles and business cycle policy

Business cycles in planned economies

 

General Texts and Comprehensive Monographs

A. F. Burns, The Frontiers of Economic Knowledge (National Bureau of Economic Research, 1954)

Hansen, Business Cycles and National Income

Schumpeter, Business Cycles

Achinstein, Introduction to Business Cycles

Mitchell, Business Cycles

Bratt, Business Cycles and Forecasting

Pigou, Industrial Fluctuations (2ndedition, 1929)

Tinbergen and Polak, Dynamics of Business Cycles

Haberler, Prosperity and Depression

Gordon, Business Fluctuations

Readings in Business Cycle Theory (Blakiston)

Hansen-Clemence, Readings in Business Cycles and National Income

Readings in Monetary Theory (Blakiston)

N.B.E.R., Conference on Business Cycles

Speithoff, in International Economic Papers, III

Post Keynesian Economics. Kurihara, editor, Rutgers University Press, 1955.

 

Specific Readings

Part I.

Blakiston, Readings in Business Cycle Theory, Chs. 1, 2, 3.

Haberler, Prosperity and Depression, Ch. 9

Hansen, Business Cycles and National Income, Part I

Hansen-Clemence, Readings, Chs. 2, 3, 4 (for Part II: Chs. 11, 12, 16; for Part III: Chs. 28, 33, 36)

Mitchell, What Happens During Business Cycles? Chs. 2, 3, 4, 8, 10

N.B.E.R., Conference on Business Cycles, Gordon, Klein

Tinbergen-Polak, Dynamics of Business Cycles, Part I

H. L. Beales, “The Great Depression,” Economic History Review, October 1934

Slichter, “The Period 1919-1936….,” RES, 1937

Gordon, R. A., “Investment Behavior and Business Cycles,” RES, (to be published)

Ames, “A Theoretical and Statistical Dilemma—the Contributions of Burns, Mitchell, and Frickey to Business Cycle Theory, Econometrica, October 1948

K. D. Roose, “The Empirical Status of Business Cycle Theory,” Journal of Political Economy, October 1952

K. D. Roose, The Economics of Recession and Revival, New Haven, 1954

Part II.

(1) Haberler, Chs. 3, 8, 13
Hansen, Part III

(2) Schumpeter, Theory of Economic Development, Ch. 6
Frisch, “Propagation Problems and Impulse Problems….,” in Economic Essays in Honor of G. Cassel
Goodwin, “Innovations and Irregularity…,” RES, 1946

(3) Harrod, Toward a Dynamic Economics
Baumol, Economic Dynamics, Ch. 4

(4) Hicks, Trade Cycle
Goodwin, “Secular and Cyclical Aspects of Multiplier and Accelerator” in Income, Employment and Public Policy
Goodwin, “A Nonlinear Theory of the Cycle,” RES, Nov. 1950
Alexander, “Issues of Business Cycle Theory,” AER, Dec. 1951
Duesenberry, “Hicks on the Trade Cycle,” QJE, August 1950
Chenery, “Overcapacity and the Acceleration Principle,” Econometrica, Jan. 1952
Alexander, “Accelerator as a Generator of Steady Growth,” QJE, May 1949
Matthews, “Capital Stock Adjustement—Theories of the Trade cycle and the Problem of Policy” in Post-Keynesian Economics, Kurihara, ed.
Kaldor, “Economic Growth and Cyclical Fluctuations,” Economic Journal, March 1954
Meyer and Kuh, “Acceleration and Related Theories: An Empirical Inquiry,” RES, August 1955

(5) Keynes, General Theory…, Ch. 22
New Economics, Harris, ed., Ch. 36 (Goodwin), Ch. 39 (Smithies), Ch. 40 (Tobin)
Readings, Ch. 5 (Ohlin), Ch. 12 (Samuelson)
Kaldor, “A Model of the Trade Cycle,” Economic Journal, 1940
Kalecki, Essays in Theory of Economic Fluctuations
Fellner, “Employment Theories and Business Cycles,” in Survey of Contemporary Economics, 1948, Vol. I, Ellis, editor.

(6) Metzler, “Nature and Stability of Inventory Cycles,” RES, 1941
Abramovitz, Inventories and Business Cycles (and in Conference, above)
Nurkse, “The Cyclical Pattern of Inventory Investment,” QJE, August 1952

(7) Readings, Part IV, Monetary Theory
Haberler, Ch. 2
Wicksell, Lectures, II, pp. 209 ff.
Fisher, “Debt-Deflation…,” Econometrica, 1933

Part III.

Domar, “Capital Expansion, Rate of Growth and Employment,” Econometrica, April 1946
Harrod, Dynamic Economics
Harrod, “An Essay in Dynamic Theory,” in Harrod, Economic Essays
N.B.E.R., Studies in Income and Wealth, No. 16, Long-Range Economic Projection
L. B Yeager, “Some Questions about Growth Economics,” AER, March 1954
Meier, “Some Questions about Growth Economics—Comment,” and Yeager, “Reply,” AER, December 1954

Part IV.

Bishop, “Alternative Expansionist Fiscal Policies…,” in Income, Employment and Public Policy
Readings in Monetary Theory (Friedman)
Hansen, Part IV
N.B.E.R., Conference on Regularization of Business Investment, 1951
N.B.E.R., Studies in Income and Wealth, No. 17, Short-term Economic Forecasting Readings in Fiscal Policy (Richard Irwin).

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

BUSINESS CYCLES AND ECONOMIC FORECASTING
Economics 245b
Spring 1956
Professor Hansen

  1. Archibald, G.C., “Inventory Investment and the Share of Wages”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, June, 1955.
  2. Brems and Ozga, “Economic Growth and the Price Level”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, March, 1955.
  3. Kaldor, N., “The Relation of Economic Growth and Cyclical Fluctuations”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, March, 1954.
  4. Blyth, C.A., “The 1948-49 American Recession”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, September, 1954.
  5. Marris, R.L., “The Position of Economics and Economists in the Government Machine”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, December, 1954.
  6. Gordon, R.A., “Investment Behavior and Business Cycles”, REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS, February, 1955.
  7. Matthews, R.C.O., “The Saving Function and the Problem of Trend and Cycle”, REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES, Vol. XXII, 1954-55.
  8. Stigler, George J., “The Early History of Empirical Studies of Consumer Behavior”, THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, April, 1954.
  9. Brems, Hans, “Business Cycles and Economic Policy”, THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, June, 1954.
  10. Lewis, John P., “The Lull that Came to Stay”, THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, February, 1955.
  11. Brown, E. Cary, “The Static Theory of Automatic Fiscal Stabilization”, THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, October, 1955.
  12. Nurkse, Ragnar, “Period Analysis and Inventory Cycles”, OXFORD ECONOMIC PAPERS, September, 1954.
  13. Mills, E.S., “Professor Nurkse on Inventory Cycles”, OXFORD ECONOMIC PAPERS, June, 1955.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

BUSINESS CYCLES AND ECONOMIC FORECASTING
Economics 245b
Spring 1956
Professor Hansen

  1. National Bureau of Economic Research, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 16, LONG-RANGE ECONOMIC PROJECTIONS.
  2. Goldsmith, A STUDY OF SAVINGS IN THE U.S. 1955.
  3. Dewhurst, AMERICA’S NEEDS AND RESOURCES, 1955.
  4. Creamer, PERSONAL INCOME DURING BUSINESS CYCLES, (National Bureau of Economic Research), 1956.
  5. Fellner, TRENDS AND CYCLES IN ECONOMIC GROWTH, (Holt), 1956.
  6. Schumpeter, HISTORY OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.
  7. Klein, ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS IN THE U.S.
  8. Tinbergen, ECONOMETRICS.
  9. Abramovitz, INVENTORIES AND BUSINESS CYCLES.
  10. Baumol, ECONOMIC DYNAMICS.
  11. Harrod, TOWARDS A DYNAMIC ECONOMICS.
  12. Ricardo, Vol. II, NOTES ON MALTHUS, (ed. by Sraffa).
  13. Colean and Newcomb, STABILIZING CONSTRUCTION, (McGraw-Hill).
  14. Smithies, THE BUDGETARY PROCESS IN THE U.S.
  15. Smithies and Butters, READINGS IN FISCAL POLICY.
  16. Colm, ESSAYS IN PUBLIC FINANCE AND FISCAL POLICY.
  17. Burns, THE FRONTIERS OF ECONOMIC KNOWLEDGE.
  18. Hicks, THE TRADE CYCLE.
  19. Kurihara, POST-KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS.
  20. Lundberg, THE BUSINESS CYCLE IN THE POST-WAR WORLD.
  21. Wallich, MAINSPRINGS OF THE GERMAN REVIVAL.
  22. National Bureau of Economic Research, BUSINESS CONCENTRATION AND PRICE POLICY.
  23. Svenniloson, GROWTH AND STAGNATION IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY.
  24. Joint Committee on the Economic Report, (Nov. 9, 1955), FEDERAL TAX POLICY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH AND STABILITY.
  25. PRESIDENT’S ECONOMIC REPORT, 1956.
  26. Lane and Riemersma, ENTERPRISE AND SECULAR CHANGE.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1955-56 (2 of 2)”.

Image Source:  Hansen (left) and Haberler (right). Harvard Class Album, 1942.

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Harvard. Curriculum vitae submitted by Albert O. Hirschman, ca. 1942

 

One of those serendipitous finds in rummaging through a department’s correspondence in search of one thing (curricular material in my case) is the artifact transcribed for this post, a c.v. submitted to the Harvard department of economics by a 27 or 28 year old Rockefeller Foundation fellow,  O. Albert Hirschmann. It is written in a narrative, autobiographical style as was the custom in Europe of the time. Because I had the great pleasure of having worked as Albert O. Hirschman’s assistant at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton during the 1980-81 academic year, I photographed his early c.v. in an act of filial piety. Of course all this and more can be found in the prize-winning biography written by Jeremy Adelman: Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman. Princeton University Press, 2013. Nonetheless, the c.v. possesses the charm of being the original words chosen by Hirschman to market himself back when he was just one of dozens of European economist émigrés looking for steady work.

Thanks to Adelman’s book I learned (p. 203) that one of my Yale mentors, William Fellner, taught a general seminar on the principles of economics at Berkeley that Albert Hirschman took during his Rockefeller Foundation fellowship. Historically speaking, it’s a small world! 

__________________

O. Albert Hirschmann
1751 Highland Place
Berkeley, Calif.

CURRICULUM VITAE

I was born on April 7th, 1915, in Berlin. My nationality is Lithuanian. In 1932 I began to study law and economics at the University of Berlin. In April, 1933, I left for Paris, where I registered at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (H.E.C.) and at the Institut de Statistiques de l’Université de Paris at the Sorbonne. In 1935 I had obtained the diplomas of both these institutions.

At the end of 1935, I went to England, in order to study for several months at the London School of Economics and Political Science under a scholarship granted to me by the International Student Service, which had already granted to me by the International Student Service, which had already helped me during my former studies. I had courses with Professors Robbins [1898-1984], T. E. Gregory [1890-1970] and B. A. Whale [Philip Barrett Whale, 1898-1950]. I worked in particular under Mr. Whale on French monetary policy since the stabilization of the Franc.

At the end of 1936, after a short stay at Paris, I applied for, and obtained a place as an assistant at the Institute of Statistics of the University of Trieste. I remained there until the middle of 1938, when I was compelled to return to Paris because of the anti-foreign and anti-semitic policy of the Fascist government. At Trieste, I worked under Professor P. Luzzatto-Fegiz [1900-1989]. I became much interested in Population Statistics and a part of my researches in this field was published in an article in the Giornale degli Economisti, January, 1938: “Nota su due recenti tavole di nuzialità della popolazione italiana.” (“A note on two recent nuptiality tables of the Italian population”.) I worked also on several problems of economic statistics and in particular on the statistics of the national income and of family budgets. At the same time I studied for my Doctor’s degree, which I obtained with the grade 120 points in a total of 120, in June, 1938. My thesis was a continuation and an expansion of the work on French monetary policy which I had begun at the London School of Economics. The thesis was to be printed in the Annals of the University, but this was rendered impossible by the subsequent political developments.

While still in Italy, during the first months of 1938, I tried to acquaint myself thoroughly with the Italian financial and economic situation. I finally sent an extensive report to Paris, which was published as a separate booklet, without naming the author, in June, 1938, by the Bulletin Quotidien de la Société d’Études et d’Informations Économiques, under the title: “Les Finances et l’Économie Italiennes – Situation actuelle et perspectives.” This report attracted some attention in Paris because by combining data from various sources I had thrown some light on the Italian economic and financial development which was surrounded by official secrecy. It was upon this report that Professor Charles Rist [1874-1955] offered me to collaborate in his Institut de Recherches Économiques et Sociales. Italy was my special field and from July, 1938, to April, 1940, I wrote regularly three-monthly reports on Italian economic development in L’Activité Économique, which was the publication of the Institute.

I also wrote a small booklet for the above named Bulletin Quotidian on the subject: “L’Industrie Textile Italienne et l’Autarcie.”

In November, 1938, Professor J. B. Condliffe [1891-1981], who was then acting as the director of studies for the International Studies Conference at Bergen, and in this capacity was organizing an international inquiry into the national systems of exchange control, entrusted me with the preparation of a report on the exchange control system of Italy. I also worked on other problems in connection with the Conference and, in particular, devised a new method of measuring the tendency toward bilateralism as completely distinct from the tendency towards equilibrium of foreign trade. Professor Condliffe encouraged me to write a small paper on this idea, and thus I presented two reports at the international Studies Conference at Bergen in 1939: (1) “Le Contrôle des Changes en Italie”—a report of ninety mimeographed pages by the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, which for various reasons was not signed, (2) “Étude Statistique de la Tendance du Commerce International [extérieur] Vers l’Équilibre et le Bilatéralisme”—a shorter paper also mimeographed and signed. A recent publication of the U.S. Tariff Commission on “Italian Commercial Policy (1922 – 1940)” has made an extensive use of my report on Italian Exchange Control, whereas Professor Condliffe has quoted my figures on bilateralism in his book “The Reconstruction of World Trade”.

I had registered as a volunteer for the French Army in case of war, in April, 1939. I was called as early as August, 1939. The stationary character of the war gave me the opportunity to prepare still two reports on the Italian economy, the necessary source-material being sent from Paris. After the armistice, in July, 1940, I was demobilized at Nîmes, in Southern France. From there I went to Marseilles, where I met Mr. Varian Fry [1907-1967], who had been sent to Marseilles by the Emergency Rescue Committee in order to evacuate political and intellectual refugees from France. I collaborated with him from August to December, 1940, when, upon the recommendation of Professor Condliffe, I obtained a Rockefeller fellowship, and thereupon the American visa. I arrived in this country on January 14, 1941.

After a short stay in the East, I went to the University of California at Berkeley to work in connection with a research project on Foreign Trade, directed by Professor Condliffe. Soon after my arrival at Berkeley, I met my wife and we were married in June 1941.

My original research plan was to give a statistical analysis of recent quantitative trends in world trade and my first months were spent in working out the specific problems which I intended to study. I wrote several papers on the measurement of concentration and related subjects in descriptive statistics which I hope to publish either as appendices to my main manuscript or as separate journal articles. The next step in my research was to apply the statistical methods which I had worked out to the foreign trade statistics. This required extensive calculations for which Professor Condliffe put an assistant at my disposal. I also participated in several graduate seminars and took a course in the theory of probability.

Upon the renewal of the Rockefeller fellowship for another year and after a two months illness during the winter of 1941-1942, I began to work at the theoretical and historical aspects of the problems which I had first studied from a purely quantitative point of view. The result of my research has now been embodied in a manuscript of 300 pages entitled “National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade”, of which only the concluding section remains to be written.

Professors Howard S. Ellis [1898-1992] and Condliffe have given me the assurance that the manuscript would be published by a series edited by the newly established Bureau of Economic and Business Research of the University of California. One chapter of the manuscript giving a new statistical analysis of the composition of world trade according to commodity groups, is somewhat loosely connected with the rest and it has been suggested to me to have it published as a separate article. The Rockefeller Foundation has granted me the expenses for a trip to the Middle West and East on which I have just had the opportunity to discuss my manuscript with Professor Viner [1892-1970] at Chicago, Professors Haberler [1900-1995] and Staley [Eugene Alvah Staley (1906-1989) was at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy] at Harvard, Professors Staudinger [1889-1980] and Lowe [1893-1995] at the New School of Social Research and with Professor Loveday [1888-1962] and Mr. [Folke] Hilgerdt [1894-1956] of the Economic Intelligence Service of the League at Princeton.

As a result of my training, I have acquired a certain specialization in statistical methods on the one hand and in the field of international economics on the other (theory and history of international trade, international monetary problems, exchange control, foreign trade statistics, etc.) Through my work in Europe I am well acquainted, in particular, with the economic problems of Italy and France.

Having studied for prolonged periods in Germany, France and Italy, I speak and write with complete fluency the languages of these countries. I also have a reading knowledge of Spanish.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950. Box 5, Folder “H”.

Image Source: Albert O. Hirschman before he was dispatched to North Africa, circa 1943. From Michele Alacevich’s Introduction to “Albert Hirschman and the Social Sciences: A Memorial Round-Table” posted July 25, 2015.

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Berkeley Economists Yale

Berkeley and Yale. Short c.v. of William Fellner. Haberler’s remembrance, 1983

 

In earlier posts I provided the reading lists for courses that my Yale mentor, William John Fellner, offered at Harvard in 1950-51 (History of Economics, Advanced Economic Theory). The last time I spoke with Mr. Fellner was at lunch in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., ca. 1976. He brought along his regular lunch companion, Gottfried Haberler. I had no idea at the time who Gottfried Haberler was, and Haberler wasted no words with me, but I did take away one impression. The man ate faster than any human that I had ever met before. There is a German proverb to the effect that you work the way you eat so I presumed Gottfried Haberler was a genuine Arbeitstier (work+animal). Anyhow today’s post offers transcriptions of two items about William Fellner from Gottfried Haberler having to do with my dear mentor William Fellner.

First, three other obituaries:

____________________

November 1982

William Fellner

Born in Budapest, Hungary, May 31, 1905. Citizen of the United States since 1944. Studied at the University of Budapest; at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (Dipl. Ing. Chem. 1927); and at the University of Berlin (Ph.D., Econ., 1929). Partner in a family enterprise in the Hungarian manufacturing industries 1929-38; member of the Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, 1939-52; Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1952-73 (Sterling Professor of Economics 1959-73; Emeritus since 1973). Member of President’s Council of Economic Advisers, 1973-75; at present Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C., also Project Director of and contributor to Contemporary Economic Problems (a volume of studies published yearly since 1976 by the American Enterprise Institute).

Past President (1969) of the American Economic Association; fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; consultant of the Congressional Budget Office.

Honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa since 1952. Awarded Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the German Federal Republic, 1979. Awarded Bernhard-Harms Prize of the Institute of World Economics, University of Kiel (1982). Corresponding Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.

Publications include among others: Monetary Policies and Full Employment (1946), Competition Among the Few (1949), Trends and Cycles in Economic Activity (1955),Emergence and Content of Modern Economic Analysis (1960), Probability and Profit (1965), Towards a Reconstruction of Macroeconomics: Problems of Theory and Policy (1976).

In addition, articles in scientific journals and contributions to symposia. Some recent items among these are Correcting Taxes for Inflation (with Kenneth W. Clarkson and John H. Moore), American Enterprise Institute, June 1975; “Lessons from the Failure of Demand-Management Policies: A Look at the Theoretical Foundations”, Journal of Economic Literature, March 1976; “The Valid Core of Rationality Hypotheses in the Theory of Expectations”, Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, Supplement to November 1980 issue; and “The Bearing of Risk Aversion on Movement of Spot and Forward Exchange Relative to the Dollar”, Flexible Exchange Rates and the Balance of Payments: Essays in Memory of Egon Sohmen, edited by John S. Chipman and Charles P. Kindleberger (1980). “Economic Theory Amidst Political Currents: The Spreading Interest in Monetarism and in the Theory of Market Expectations” (Bernhard-Harms Award lecture, published also in Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, September 1982). Also “The High-Employment Budget and Potential Output” in Survey of Current Business, U. S. Department of Commerce, November 1982.

Source:  Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Gottfried Haberler. Box 43, Folder: “Blue”

____________________

Gottfried Haberler
October 1, 1983

Dear Valerie, Dear Friends, Ladies, and Gentlemen:

We are gathered here to pay tribute to the memory of a great man. William Fellner was a giant among economists. This is not the occasion to go deeply into Willy’s economic work, but a few highlights must be mentioned. His work covers a large area, ranging from problems of abstract theory to questions of current economic policy. He was a prolific writer and hard worker, active and alert to the very end. My memories go back almost fifty years to when I met Willy for the first time in the summer of 1934 in Stresa, Italy, at a conference that was attended by, among others, Friedrich A. von Hayek and by Luigi Einaudi, the Italian economist who after the war became the first president of Italy. I met Willy the next time and you, Valerie, for the first time four years later, when you came to the United States. We saw each other from time to time when Willy taught at the University of California and Yale University, and we were in daily contact after he came to Washington ten years ago until his death.

Recalling our first meeting, I am struck by how little he changed over these fifty years. The same impeccable manners, the same old-world courtliness, the same sharpness of mind, the same dignified appearance and demeanor, the same courteous and conciliatory tone, even in heated discussions—up to the day of his death.

Willy was an indefatigable worker. His bibliography lists seven books and more than fifty important papers in professional periodicals and books. His major field of interest was what is now called macroeconomics, including money, business cycles, inflation, and unemployment. His first writings appeared during the heyday of the Keynesian revolution. His second book, Monetary Policy and Full Employment (1946), shows the influence of Keynes. Willy admired Keynes but not uncritically. In fact, his criticism of Keynes anticipated or foreshadowed much of what has come to be known as the monetarist counterrevolution, as well as of the modern theory of rational expectations. In later writings he referred to these two schools extensively and gave them their due. But he was too modest to let his readers know that he himself had discussed those issues years before.

In recent years he concentrated on the problem of inflation. He was one of the first to recognize that there can be no permanent trade-off between inflation and unemployment. If inflation is not brought down to near zero, he argued, we will be condemned to continue the vicious pattern of stop and go, with the stops—recessions—becoming increasingly severe. The consequences would be ever-increasing government expenditures and deficits and more and more controls of wages and prices. As a convinced liberal in the classical nineteenth-century tradition, he was a staunch advocate of free enterprise, free markets, and free trade. He opposed government central planning and controls not only on grounds of economic efficiency but also because in the long run central planning and comprehensive controls are incompatible with a free, democratic society.

Like all great economists, Willy was more than an economist. He had a keen sense of history; he put current events and policies in historical perspective. Willy was a man of great culture, fluent in several languages, and well versed in Hungarian, English, and German literature.

Willy held strong views on many issues; he was a shrewd and often stern judge of people. But Willy was at the same time one of the most generous, kind, and considerate persons I have met. He had many friends, even among those with whom he strongly disagreed on important questions. His untimely death leaves a great void. But his scientific work will endure and will inspire future generations of economists.

Ladies and gentlemen, I know I speak for all of us when I thank you, Valerie, for all you have done to make Willy’s imposing lifework possible. Without your loving care and understanding, he could not have achieved as much as he did. Please accept this expression of our profound gratitude.

Source:  Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of J. Herbert Fürth. Box 5.

Image Source:  William Fellner’s Presidential portrait, American Economic Association.

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final Exams for International Economic Relations. Haberler and Harris, 1936-37

 

 

Reading lists for Harvard’s International Economic Relations two semester sequence for the academic year 1939-40 taught by Gottfried Haberler, Seymour Harris, and Wassily Leontief have been transcribed and posted earlier.  For the 1936-37 course I have only found the reading period assignments and the final exams for both semesters. 

________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 43a 1hf. (formerly 9a). Associate Professors Haberler and Harris, and other members of the department.—International Economic Relations, I. Theory of International Trade.

Total 70: 4 Graduates, 48 Seniors, 11 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 4 Others.

 

[Economics] 43b2hf. (formerly 9a). Associate Professors Haberler and Harris, and other members of the department.—International Economic Relations, II. Commercial Policy.

Total 62: 5 Graduates, 45 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 4 Others.

 

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1936-37, p. 92.

________________________

Reading Period First Semester
Economics 43a

Read one from each group:

  1. Marshall, Money, Credit and Commerce, pp. 98-190.
    Ohlin, Interregional and International Trade, pp. 1-138.
  2. Graham, Exchanges, Prices and Production in Hyper-Inflation Germany, pp. 97-238.

Reading Period Second Semester
Economics 43b

Read one of the following:

  1. Rope, German Commercial Policy
  2. Iverson, International Capital Movements, pp. 1-301 and pp. 454-512.
  3. World Trade Barriers in Relation to Agriculture
  4. a. Haight, French Import Quotas and
    b. Beverage, Tariffs, the Case Examined Chs. 1 thru 10.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. HUC 8522.2.1) Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1936-37”.

________________________

1936-37
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 43a

Answer one question from Group I, one question from Group II, and two questions from Group III.

Group I

  1. What use does Marshall make of the relation of demand and supply in international trade?
  2. What is the difference, if any, between Ohlin’s and the Classical approach?

Group II

  1. What is the meaning of the “comparative cost doctrine” if there are not two, but many export and import goods
    1. with constant cost in all industries
    2. with increasing cost in all industries
    3. in terms of opportunity cost?
  2. The market condition of demand, supply, price and quantity for a particular commodity in two countries A and B is given by this diagram.

    1. Suppose trade is opened between the two countries. What will be the influence on the price, quantities produced and consumed in both countries and how much will be exported from A to B, assuming that there is no transportation cost involved.
      Answer in words and show graphically.
    2. After trade has been opened, a duty is imposed in B whose height (on this diagram) is measured by a vertical distance of, say, one half inch. What will be its influence on prices and quantities produced, consumed and traded between A and B?
      Answer in words and sketch graphically.

Group III

  1. Assume you calculate the balance of international payments for a country during a particular year. The result is the following:
Net debits Net credits
Merchandise and Services 200
Tourist expenditures 100
Long-term capital 100
Short-term capital 200
Interest, Dividends 150
Gold movements 50 ….
Total 450 350

a) Enumerate a few possible explanations of the discrepancy between credits and debits.
b) In a recent book by J. E. Meade, Economic Analysis and Policy, you find the following statement: “If all the items in the Balance of Payments are properly and completely recorded, the total of all the items on the receipt side must be equal to the total of all the items on the payments side; the Balance of Payments must balance” (p. 216). Give your comments on this statement.
c) How can the above statement be reconciled with the statement frequently found that “the balance of payment is in disequilibrium?”

  1. Discuss the effects of exchange depreciation upon prices.
  2. Is the breakdown of the gold standard to be associated primarily with internal developments or with such external factors as large capital movements? Discuss.

Mid-Year.  1937.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Examination Papers (HUC 7000.28 vol. 79). Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. January-June, 1937.

 

________________________

1936-37
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 43b

Answer THREE of the first five questions, and ONE of the questions 6 to 9.

  1. When did the United States adopt the principle of the unconditional most-favored-nation treatment? Discuss the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the conditional and unconditional most-favored-nation clause.
  2. Discuss the differences and similarities between quotas and duties and the comparative merits of the two systems as methods for the restriction of imports and protection of home industries.
  3. Suppose an industry subject to decreasing cost; if production could be increased, costs per unit of output would fall. Production can, however, not be increased, because of foreign competition. Discuss whether and when in such circumstances an import duty can be justified on economic grounds.
  4. Discuss the mechanism of capital movements or reparation payments under a gold and under a paper standard. How do you account for wide difference of opinion among authorities concerning the practicability of large transfers of capital or reparations? Have recent discussions added anything new to the theory of capital movements? In answering, relate your discussion as much as possible to a concrete experience.
  5. Comment on one of the following:
    1. The international position of the United States in the thirties;
    2. The international position of Great Britain in the thirties;
    3. The international position of Great Britain at the end of the nineteenth century.In giving your answer, make some practical suggestions for attaining international equilibrium.
  6. Discuss (1) Germany’s recent commercial policies or (2) the operation and effects of clearing agreements.
  7. Can protection mitigate unemployment? (Beveridge.)
  8. Discuss briefly Iverson’s criticism of the classical approach towards capital movements, and comment on Iverson’s own contributions.
  9. What has the effect of trade barriers been upon trade in agricultural commodities and upon prices of these commodities? Relate your answers to the policies of one country.

Final. 1937.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Examination Papers (HUC 7000.28 vol. 79). Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. January-June, 1937.

Image Source:  Harvard Class Album 1942.

Categories
Economists Harvard Radcliffe Swarthmore

Harvard. Wolfgang Stolper describes his training in letter to Hobart College, 1941

 

This post provides Wolfgang Stolper‘s own description of his academic training, teaching and research interests as of early 1941 in a letter to the President of Hobart College regarding his application for an assistant professorship. Stolper’s Harvard coursework for 1934-37 was transcribed for an earlier post. He was on the job market for the 1941-42 academic year after having taught a wide range of courses at Harvard since completing his Ph.D. in 1938. 

Hobart’s offer ended up being only 73% of the offer he was to receive from  Swarthmore (and which he accepted). From the April 29, 1941 letter from President’s office at Swarthmore:  “I realize that the salary which we are offering you [$3300] is considerably under what you have been receiving this year. It is, however, the equivalent of your combined Harvard and Radcliffe salaries for the past two years…” A follow-up letter from the President of Swarthmore College dated May 7, 1941 confirmed the approval of Stolper’s appointment as Assistant Professor of Economics at Swarthmore for 1941-42 at a salary of $3300 ($900 higher than the Hobart offer).

Also of some interest is the rather casual/modest mention of what ultimately was to become Wolfgang Stolper’s greatest hit: “Right now I am finishing another article on Protection and Real Wages.”

________________

Carbon copy of Wolfgang Stolper’s letter
to President of Hobart College

Wolfgang F. Stolper

19 Ware Street
March 18, 1941

Mr. Brooks Otis
Hobart College
Geneva, N.Y.

 

Dear Mr. Otis,

I am writing this letter to you about my background and training, as you suggested at our meeting on March 17. If you think it desirable either you or I can ask the Harvard appointment office to send you all the documents concerning me.

First about my background. I was born in Vienna in May 1912. There I went to elementary school and through the first three years of high school. We then moved to Berlin where I finished high school (humanistisches Gymnasium) in 1930, and where I also studied law for three semesters. I then went to Bonn, where I studied law and economics in about the same proportions. My economics teachers were Professors Spiethoff, who is now retired, H. v. Beckerath, who is now at Chapel Hill, and Schumpeter who is now in Harvard. From Bonn I went to to Zürich where I wrote a thesis under Professor Eugen Grossmann on the reasons, economic and otherwise, which lead the various nations to defend different economic policies during the World Economic Conference in London in 1933.

In August 1934 I came to Harvard as a Holtzer fellow, and I held a University fellowship during the next year 1935/36. Since 1936 I have been teaching. I took somewhat more than the required eight courses, my main interests within the field of economics being: Theory, Money and Banking, Business Cycles, International Economic Relations, and Building.

In May, 1935 I took my M.A., and in May, 1938 I got my Ph.D.. My thesis was on the British housing boom from 1931-36, and its connection with monetary policy in the widest sense.

My teaching experience has been quite extensive, more so, I believe, than that of most of my colleagues. Besides the usual complement of tutees and the principles course I have been giving half of the lectures in the course on International Economic Relations [Econ 43a,  Report of the President of Harvard College 1938-39, p. 98;  Report of the President of Harvard College 1939-40, p. 99;  Report of the President of Harvard College 1940-41, p. 58,], and I am this year assisting Professors Haberler and Hansen in the course on Business Cycles [Econ 45a, Report of the President of Harvard College 1940-41, p. 58]. In Radcliffe College I am also giving a section of the course on principles, half of the course on International Economic Relations, and also half of the course on Business Cycles [Radcliffe College. Courses of Instruction 1940-41, pp. 43, 45.]. This year I was also asked to give a University Extension course on International Economic Relations [Report of the President of Harvard College 1940-41, p. 347].

The list of my publications does not look too impressive. I have published a number of short book reviews in the American Economic Review, a short theoretical article in the Quarterly Journal. My thesis which I have revised and brought up to date will be published by the Harvard University Press. I also just signed a contract with Blakiston Co. to write a text on International Trade together with my friend, Dr. H.K. Heuser who is Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Right now I am finishing another article on Protection and Real Wages.

Perhaps I should add that I am married and have a ten-year old son.

I hope that this information is what you wanted. My teachers and senior colleagues will of course be glad to give you any information about me which you might want. I need hardly add that I am very interested in the position, and that I, therefore, hope very much to hear from you again in the not too distant future.

Yours very sincerely,

________________

Job Offer to Wolfgang Stolper from Hobart College

HOBART COLLEGE
Geneva, New York

April 29, 1941

The President

 

Mr. Wolfgang F. Stolper
19 Ware Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts

 

Dear Mr. Stolper:

I regret to think that more than a month has passed since I talked with you at Cambridge. Doubtless you have gathered that we had entirely lost interest in you in the interim. That is, however, by no means the case. Since we have to appoint three men at this time, a sociologist, a political scientist and an economist we have, necessarily, had to proceed rather slowly. Our major preoccupation so far has not been Economics simply because we have had to concentrate on one thing at a time. We have now, however, reached a point where the Economics appointment is directly concerning us.

I am writing this letter to you to find out more definitely what your expectations would be. The plain fact is that we find that we cannot offer the salary that we should like to. The best thing that we can do for next year in Economics is an Assistant Professorship at twenty-four hundred dollars ($2400.00). I might also add, as I think I said to you personally, that anyone appointed to this position would have considerable freedom in the choice of courses and in the teaching, and a considerable opportunity to influence the operation and planning of the whole Social Science curriculum here in cooperation with his colleagues in Sociology and Political Science,–that is, of course, if he cared to do so.

If it is not too much trouble, would you drop me a line stating whether you would still be interested in the job as outlined above?

Very truly yours,
[signed]
Brooks Otis

BO/bg

________________

Carbon copy of Stolper letter
declining Hobart offer

Wolfgang F. Stolper

19 Ware Street
May 2, 1941

Mr. Brooks Otis
Hobart College
Geneva, N.Y.

 

Dear Mr. Otis,

Thank you very much for your letter of April 29. I regret very much that I have to reject your offer to come to Hobart next year since I have just accepted a position as Assistant Professor at Swarthmore College.

I was very glad to have had a chance of meeting you, and I hope very much that this letter will not be the end of our relationship.

Very truly yours,

 

Source:Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Wolfgang F. Stolper Papers, Box 23, Folder “[illegibly marked]”

Image Source: Wolfgang F. Stolper from  John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (Fellow, 1947).

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. Business cycle theory. Reading list and exam. Hansen and Haberler, 1938

 

This is one of those instances where I really would like to try to dig deeper to see what the actual course content was. From the 1940-41 Division announcements we have the following description of the Business Cycle course at Harvard:

The broad facts about the business cycle will be discussed first. The distinction between trend movements, seasonal fluctuations, long waves and the business cycle in various time series will be analyzed. Then various theories of the cycle will be reviewed and the principles of cycle policy and possibilities of mitigating or avoiding depressions considered.

For now we at least have a bibliographic list for the subject and the exam questions from the first time that Alvin Hansen and Gottfried Haberler co-taught the course together.

________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 45a 2hf. Professor Hansen and Associate professor Haberler.— Business Cycles.

Total 37: 2 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other.

 

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1937-1938, p. 85.

________________

[Penciled Note: 1937-38]

[Penciled Note: Ec. 45a]

BUSINESS CYCLE THEORY

I.

Haberler, Gottfried: Prosperity and Depression, League of Nations, Geneva, 1937
Hansen, Alvin H.: Business Cycle Theory, Ginn and Co., 1927
Röpke, Wilhelm: Crises and Cycles, William Hodge and Co., London, 1936.

 

II.

Selected List of Books, Articles and Forecasting Services

A. Books

Adams, A. B. 1. Economics of Business Cycles

2. Profits, Progress and Prosperity
Ayres, L. P. Economics of Recovery
Bellerly Control of Credit
Brookings Institution The Recovery Problem in the United States
Cassel, G. The Theory of Social Economy, Book IV.
Clark, J. M. 1. Strategic Factors in Business Cycles

2. Economics of Planning Public Works, (Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.)
Copeland, Douglas Australia in the World Crises
Dickinson, F. G. Public Construction and Cyclical Unemployment
Douglas, Paul H. Controlling Depressions
Durbin, E. M. F. 1. Purchasing Power and Trade Depressions

2. The Problem of Credit Policy
Economic Reconstruction (Report of Columbia University Commission)
Economic Essays in Honour of Gustav Cassel
Fisher, Irving 1. Booms and Depressions

2. 100% Money
Foster and Catchings 1. Profits, Part V.

2. Business Without a Buyer

3. Road to Plenty
Gayer, Arthur D. 1. Monetary Policy and Economic Stabilization

2. Public Works in Prosperity and Depression
Haney, L. H. Business Forecasting
Hansen, A. H. 1. Economic Stabilization in an Unbalanced World

2. The Problem of Unemployment Insurance and Relief in the U.S., Part IV.
Hardy, C. O. and Cox, G. V. Forecasting Business Conditions
Harrod The Trade Cycle
Hawtrey 1. Good and Bad Taste [sic, “Trade”]

2. Trade Depression and the Way Out

3. Capital and Employment
Hayek, F. A. Prices and Production
Hobson, J. A. Economics of Unemployment
Hull Industrial Depressions
Keynes, J. M. 1. A Treatise on Money

2. The Means to Prosperity

3. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

4. Unemployment as a World Problem, pp. 1-42
Kuznets, S. S. Cyclical Fluctuations
Lavington Trade Cycle
Lundberg Economic Expansion
McCracken, H. L. Value Theory and Business Cycles
Meade  Economic Analysis and Policy
Mitchell, Wesley Business Cycles, the Problem and its Setting
Moore, Henry L. 1. Economic Cycles

2. Generating Economic Cycles
Moulton, H. G. 1. The Formation of Capital

2. Income and Economic Progress
Newman, William H. The Building Industry and Business Cycles
Ohlin, Bertil Course and Phases of the Depression (League of Nations)
Persons, Warren Forecasting Business Cycles
Persons, Foster and Hettinger The Problem of Business Forecasting
Pigou, A. C. Industrial Fluctuations
Robbins, Lionel The Great Depression
Robertson, D. H. 1. Money

2. Industrial Fluctuations

3. Banking Policy and the Price Level
Schmidt, C. T. German Business Cycles, 1924-1933
Schumpeter, Joseph A. The Theory of Economic Development
Slichter, S. H. Towards Stability
Smith, W. B. and  Cole, A.H. Fluctuations in American Business, 1790-1860
Snyder, Carl Business Cycles and Business Measurements
Timoshenko, V. 1. World Agriculture and the Depression

2. The Role of Agriculture Fluctuations
Tintner, Gerhard Prices in the Trade Cycle
Warren and Pearson Gold and Prices
World Prices and the Building Industry
Veblen, T. [1.] Theory of Business Enterprise

[2.] The Engineers and the Price System
Wagemann Economic Rhythm
Wicksell Interest and Prices

 

B. Articles

Aftalion, Albert in Review of Economic Statistics, October 1927

Haberler, Gottfried, “Some Reflections on the Present Situation of Business Cycle Theory,” Review of Economic Statistics, February, 1936

Hansen, Boddy and Langum, “Recent Trends in Business Cycle Literature,” Review of Economic Studies, May, 1936

Hansen and Tout, “Investment and Saving in the Business Cycle,” Econometrica, April 1933

Hansen, A. H., “Mr. Keynes in Under-employment Equilibrium,” Journal of Political Economy, October, 1936

Hansen, A. H., Harrod on the Trade Cycle,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1937

Hansen, A. H., “The Consequences of Reducing Expenditures,” Proceedings, Academy of Political Science, January, 1938

Kondratieff, M. D., “The Long Waves in Economic Life,” Review of Economic Statistics, November, 1935

Robertson, D. H., “The Trade Cycle—An Academic View,” Lloyds Bank Review, September, 1937

Schumpeter, Joseph, “An Analysis of Economic Change,” Review of Economic Statistics, May, 1935

 

C. Forecasting Services

  1. Annalist (Weekly)
  2. Brookmire Economic Service (Weekly and Special)
    Councillor; Annalist; Investor; Technician; Forecaster; Purchaser (outlook for commodity prices); Executive; Income Map; Special Reports on Industries.
  3. London and Cambridge Economic Service (Quarterly)
  4. Moody’s Investors Service (Weekly and Bi-weekly)
  5. Review of Economic Statistics; Harvard (Quarterly)
  6. Standard Statistics (Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly and Special)
    Business Prospects; Outlook for Security Market; Industry Reports A, B, C, etc.; Basic Statistics.
  7. United Business Service (Weekly)

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1). Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1937-38”.

________________

1937-38
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 45a2
BUSINESS CYCLES

[Final Exam]

(Write on THREE questions)

  1. Write briefly on each of the following:
    1. Summarize and evaluate the analyses of “the long waves” made by (1) Schumpeter, and (2) Kondratieff.
    2. Compare Robertson and Aftalion with respect to the role of fixed capital in the business cycle.
  2. Show the significance and implications of (a) the “principle of accelerations” and (b) the “multiplier” with respect to the “pump-priming” theory.
  3. “The turning point from prosperity to depression is caused not by a shortage of capital but by inadequate consumption expenditures.”
    (In answering this question discuss, among other items, the following: (1) Is saving deflationary? (2) What is the effect of an increase in savings (a) upon the value of real investment? (b) upon consumption? (3) Is over-investment a cause of recession?
  4. Discuss the part played by monetary factors in the trade cycle, drawing particularly upon the analyses of Hawtrey and Hayek.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 4. Papers Printed for Final Examinations. History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…, Military Science, Naval Science. June, 1938.

Image Source: Alvin Hansen (left) and Gottfried Haberler (right) from Harvard Class Album 1942.

Categories
Cambridge Chicago Columbia Economic History Economists Germany Harvard NBER Stanford

Chicago. Friedman memo regarding Karl Bode and Moses Abramovitz, 1947

 

In the following 1947 memo from Milton Friedman to T.W. Schultz we can read two talent-scouting reports on potential appointments for the University of Chicago economics department. One candidate, Karl Bode had been vouched for by Allen Wallis, a trusted friend and colleague of Milton Friedman, but we can easily read Friedman’s own less than enthusiastic report on the meager published work examined, certainly compared to Friedman’s glowing report for his friend from Columbia student days, Moses Abramovitz. But comparing the publications listed in the memo, I certainly wouldn’t fault Friedman’s revealed preference for Abramovitz.

Abramovitz went on to have a long and distinguished career at Stanford and Bode left Stanford for government service with his last occupation according to his death certificate “Planning Director, Agency for International Development (A.I.D.)”

Since Karl Bode turned out to have cast a relatively short academic shadow, I have appended some biographical information about him at the end of this post. But for now just the vital dates: Karl Ernst Franz Bode was born November 24, 1912 in Boennien, Germany and he died March 18, 1981 in Arlington, VA.

__________________

Milton Friedman on Bode and Abramovitz

January 10, 1947

[To:] Mr. Schultz, Economics
[From:] Mr. Friedman, Economics
[Re:] Staff appointments

In connection with staff appointments, I thought it might be helpful if I put down on paper for you the information I have on two persons whose names I have casually mentioned: Karl Bode and Moses Abramovitz.

  1. Karl Bode (Assoc. Prof. of Economics, Stanford)

I know about Bode primarily from Allen Wallis. Allen considers him absolutely first-rate in all respects and recommends him very highly.

Bode, who is now in his early thirties, was born in Germany and, though Catholic of Aryan descent, and the holder of a highly-prized governmental fellowship, left Germany almost immediately after Hitler’s accession. He went first to Austria, then to Switzerland, where he took his Ph.D., in 1935, then to England, where he studied at Cambridge and at the London School. Bernard Haley met him while at Cambridge, was highly impressed with him, and induced him to come to Stanford, where he has been since 1937. He has been on leave of absence since early 1945, first with the Tactical Bombing Survey, then with the Allied Military Government in Berlin. He is expected back sometime this summer.

At Stanford, Bode is responsible for American and European Economic History, and, in addition, has taught advanced courses in Economic Theory. His original interest was in International Trade. He has a contract to write a text on Economic History, but I do not know whether on American or European Economic History.

I have obtained a list of his publications, most of which are fragments or reviews. Three of more general interest are:

(a) A. W. Stonier: “A New Approach to the Methodology of the Social Sciences”, Economica, Vol. 4, p. 406-424, Nov., 1937.

(b) “Plan Analysis and process analysis: AER, 33-348-54, June 1943.

(c) “A Note on the Mathematical Coincidence of the instantaneous and the serial multiplier”, Review of Economic Statistics, 26: 221-222, Nov. 1944.

I have read these. They are too slight to permit a reliable and comprehensive judgment about his capacities; but they are sufficient to demonstrate a clear, logical mind.

Allen tells me that Schumpeter, Haberler, Howard Ellis, and of course, the Stanford people all know him and could provide evidence about his abilities.

 

  1. Moses Abramovitz (member of research staff in charge of business cycle unit, National Bureau of Economic Research.)

Abramovitz got his bachelor’s at Harvard, his Ph.D. at Columbia. He has done some part-time teaching of Theory at Columbia. During the war he was with the Office of Strategic Services, where he worked on foreign economic conditions. He was a member of the reparations commission staff at both the Moscow and Paris Conferences.

Abramovitz and I were fellow graduate students at Columbia, and I have known him rather well ever since. I think him extremely capable, with an excellent mind, broad interests, and an extraordinary capacity for forming a sound judgment from conflicting evidence.

His academic and private research background is mostly in Economic Theory and Business Cycles; but the war years gave him a considerable background, and generated a real interest, in foreign economic relations.

Some of his writings are:

Selected Publications:

An Approach to a Price Theory for a Changing Economy, Columbia University Press, 1939.

Monopolistic Selling in a Changing Economy, Q.J.E., Feb., 1938.

Saving vs Investment: Profits vs Prosperity?Supplement on papers relating to the TNEC, Am. Econ. Rev., June, 1942.

Book on Cyclical behavior of inventories completed and scheduled to be published shortly by Nat’l Bureau of Economic Research.

M.F.

ab

* * * * *

PUBLICATIONS OF KARL BODE

A new approach to the methodology of the social sciences. (With A.W. Stonier): Economica, vol. 4, pp. 406-424, November, 1937.

Prosperität und Depression: Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, vol. 8, pp. 597-614, December, 1937.

Review of: Plotnik, M.J. Werner Sombart and his type of economics. 1937. American Economic Review, 28: 522-523, September, 1938.

Review of: Sombart, Werner. Weltanschauung, Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft. 1938. Ibid., 28: 766, December, 1938.

The acceptance of defeat in Germany: Journal of abnormal and social psychology, 38: 193-198, April, 1943.

Plan analysis and process analysis: American Economic Review, 33: 348-354, June, 1943.

Review of: Day, C. Economic Development in Europe. 1942:Journal of economic History, 2: 225-227, November, 1942.

Catholics in the postwar world: America, 71: 347-348, July, 1944

Economic aspects of morale in Nazi Germany: Pacific Coast Economic Association: Papers, 1942. pp. 29-34, 1943.

Reflections on a reasonable peace: Thought, 19: 41-48, March, 1944

Review of: Dempsey, B.W. Interest and usury. 1943: Ibid., 18: 756-758, December, 1943.

German reparations and a democratic peace: Thought, 19: 594-606, December, 1944

A note on the mathematical coincidence of the instantaneous and the serial multiplier: Review of Economic Statistics, 26: 221-222, November, 1944.

 

Source:Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman, Box 79, Folder 1 “University of Chicago, Minutes. Economics Department 1946-1949”.

__________________

Karl F. Bode
AEA 1969 Directory of Members, p. 41.

Bode, Karl F., government; b. Germany, 1912; student, U. Bonn-Germany, 1931-33, U. Vienna-Austria, 1933-34; Ph.D., U. Bern-Switzerland, 1935; Cambridge-England, 1935-37. DOC.DIS. The Concept of Neutral Money, 1935. FIELDS 2abc, 1c, 4a. Chief, Regional Organization & Program Staff, Intl. Cooperation Adm., 1955-60, asst. dep. dir. for planning, 1960-62; chief, Planning Assistance & Research Div., Agy. for Intl. Dev., 1962-67; dir., Research, Evaluation & Information Retrieval, Agy. for Internat. Dev. since 1967. ADDRESS Vietnam Bur., Agy. for Internat. Dev., Dept. State, Washington, DC 20523.

__________________

 Haberler Report of Mises’s Private Seminar

Regular participants of the seminar were several members of the Mont Pelerin Society – notably Hayek, Machlup, the late Alfred Schutz and in the very early days, John V. Van Sickle. Visiting scholars regarded it a great honor to be invited to the seminar – among them Howard S. Ellis (University of California), Ragnar Nurkse (late Professor of Economics in Columbia University, New York) whose untimely death occurred three years ago, Karl Bode (later in Stanford University and now in Washington), Alfred Stonier (now University College in London), and many others. There was Oskar Morgenstern (now Princeton University), the late Karl Schlesinger and Richard Strigl, two of the most brilliant economists of their time…the unforgettable Felix Kaufmann, philosopher of the Social Sciences in the broadest sense including the law and economics – he also wrote a much debated book on the logical foundation of mathematics – who after his emigration in 1938 joined the Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York where he taught with great success until his premature death twelve years ago.

Source: Mises’s Private Seminar: Reminiscences by Gottfried Haberler. Reprint from The Mont Pelerin Quarterly, Volume III, October 1961, No. 3, page 20f. Posted at the Mises Institute website.

__________________

 From the Preface of Felix Kaufman’s 1936 book

For the critical editing of the manuscript and of the galleys, I wish to thank most heartily a number of friends in various countries, expecially Dr. Karl Bode, presently of St. John’s College, Cambridge and Dr. Alfred Schütz of Vienna. Dr. Bode has also taken upon himself the great labor of preparing both indexes.

Source: Felix Kaufmann. Theory and Method in the Social Sciences. [English translation of Methodenlehre der Sozialwissenschaften. Wien: Julius Springer, 1936.] from Felix Kaufmann’s Theory and Method in the Social Sciences, Robert S. Cohen and Ingeborg K. Helling (eds.). Boston Studies in the Philosophy and  History of Science, 303. Springer: 2014.

__________________

 Reports from The Stanford Daily

The Stanford Daily, Volume 93, Issue 47, 29 April 1938

Several distinguished scholars from other universities will join the Stanford faculty next year…Dr. Karl Franz Bode, formerly on the faculty of St. John’s College, Cambridge University, England, was appointed assistant professor of economics to succeed Dr. Donald M. Erb who was appointed president of the University of Oregon….

 

The Stanford Daily, Volume 100, Issue 02, 23 September 1941, p. 1.

Econ Department Changes Classes… History of Currency Problems, 118, will he given in fall quarter rather than in the spring quarter. It is a five-unit course, taught MTWThF at 11 a.m. in Room 200Q by Karl F. Bode. Economics 1 and 2 are prerequisites….

 

The Stanford Daily, Volume 103, Issue 86, 28 May 1943, p. 1.

Wilbur Names New Faculty Promotions. Promotions and appointments of faculty members for the academic year 1943-1944 were announced yesterday by Chancellor Ray Lyman Wilbur. … Those promoted from assistant professor to associate professor are … Dr. Karl F. Bode, economics….

 

The Stanford Daily, Volume 111, Issue 20, 7 March 1947, p. 3

President Donald B. Tresidder yesterday announced 37 faculty promotions. The promotions include 11 faculty members to full professorships, six to associate professorships, and two to assistant professorships, together with promotion of 18 members of the clinical faculty at the Stanford School of Medicine in San Francisco….

To professorships … Karl F. Bode, in economics…

 

The Stanford Daily, Vol 119, Issue 7, 13 February 1951, p. 1.

Dr. Karl F. Bode, Stanford economics professor on leave for government duty in Germany, has been appointed deputy economic adviser, Office of Economic Affairs, it has been announced by the office of the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany. Dr. Bode will be stationed in Bonn, Germany. He has been acting chief of the program division in the Office of Economic Affairs.

 

Image Source: Karl Bode from the 1939 Standford Quad.

Categories
Austria Economists

Austrian economist mugshots. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek

 

The Austrian National Library (Österreichische National Bibliothek) has impressive digital resources online that include books, E-books, photographs, newspapers, and journals etc. Below I provide slightly edited copies and links to photographs of nine Austrian economists of note. I have not conducted an exhaustive search, but thought visitors to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror might find the sample below useful for presentation purposes. 

Rudolf Auspitz (1837-1906)
Carl Menger (1840-1921)
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851-1914)
Friedrich von Wieser (1851-1926)
Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)
Josef Alois Schumpeter (1883-1950)
Friedrich von Hayek (1899-1992)
Gottfried von Haberler (1900-1995)
Oskar Morgenstern (1902-1977)

 

 ________________________

Rudolf Auspitz (1837-1906)

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

 

________________________

Carl Menger (1840-1921)

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

 

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Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851-1914)

[1896]

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

 

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

 

________________________

Friedrich von Wieser (1851-1926)

28 February 1914

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

 

________________________

Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

1935

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

 

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Josef Alois Schumpeter (1883-1950)

State Secretary for Finance in the Second Cabinet of Renner.

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

 

Welt-Press-Photo, 1920.

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

 

________________________

Friedrich von Hayek (1899-1992)

Ca. 1930.

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

 

________________________

Gottfried von Haberler (1900-1995)

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

________________________

Oskar Morgenstern (1902-1977)

Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

Categories
Harvard Seminar Speakers

Harvard. International Economic Relations Seminar. Haberler and Harris, 1940-45

 

The most famous economics seminar at Harvard University in the history of economics is undoubtedly the fiscal policy seminar run by John Williams and Alvin Hansen. A list of that seminar’s speakers and their topics was included in an earlier post. Below I provide the reported speaker’s and topics for the “younger” international economic relations seminar jointly organized by Gottfried Haberler and Seymour Harris during the War years.

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EXPANSION OF THE SEMINAR PROGRAM

Several additions have been made in the seminar program of the School [of Public Administration] for the year 1940-1941. Professors Haberler and Harris are presenting a seminar on international economic relations. We planned our seminar program in 1937 on the assumption that it was wise to begin with domestic problems despite the fact that a number of the Faculty had special interests in the international field. In view of the events of the last few years, it seems highly important to develop these interests. The seminar given by Professors Haberler and Harris deals with the application of the principles of international trade to current problems…

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1939-40, p. 306.

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1940-41
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS SEMINAR
[partial list]

[Seven of the meetings of the Fiscal Policy Seminar were held jointly with other seminars – four with the International Economic Relations Seminar and three with the Agricultural, Forestry, and Land Policy Seminar.]

 

October 11. SVEND LAURSEN, Student, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University.

Subject: International Trade and the Multiplier. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy Seminar.)

February 21. HARRY D. WHITE, Director, Division of Monetary Research, United States Treasury Department.

Subject: Blocked Balances. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy Seminar.)

March 21. RICHARD V. GILBERT, National Defense Advisory Commission.

Subject: The American Defense Program. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy Seminar.)

May 2. GUSTAV STOLPER, Financial Adviser.

Subject: Financing the American Defense Program. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy Seminar.)

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1940-41, p. 323 ff.

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INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS SEMINAR:
1941-1942. Professor Haberler and Associate Professor Harris

In 1941-42 the seminar devoted its attention to war and post-war problems in the field of International Economic Relations. A few meetings were spent on the discussion of fundamental theoretical problems. During the first semester all meetings were taken up by papers of outside consultants and their discussion. In the second semester student reports were presented and discussed, and a few extra meetings were arranged for outside speakers. The consultants and their topics were as follows:

 

October 1. EUGENE STALEY, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Economic Warfare.

October 8.[**] CHARLES P. KINDLEBERGER, Federal Reserve Board. Canadian-American Economic Relations in the War and Post-War Period.

October 15.[**] A. F. W. PLUMPTRE, University of Toronto. International Economic Position of Canada in the Present Emergency.

October 22. HEINRICH HEUSER, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Exchange Control.

October 29. FRITZ MACHLUP, University of Buffalo. The Foreign Trade Multiplier.

November 5. HENRY CHALMERS, United States Department of Commerce. Trade Restrictions in Wartime.

November 12. ARTHUR R. UPGREN, United States Department of Commerce. International Economic Interest of the United States and the Post-War Situation.

November 19. OSKAR MORGENSTERN, Princeton University. International Aspects of the Business Cycle.

November 28.[*] NOEL F. HALL, British Embassy. Economic Warfare.

December 5.[*] ROBERT BRYCE, Department of Finance, Canada. International Economic Relations with Special Reference to the Post-War Situation.

January 26.[*] PER JACOBSSEN, Bank for International Settlements. The Problem of Post-War Reconstruction.

February 13.[*] JACOB VINER, University of Chicago. Monopolistic Trading and International Relations.

February 18. H. D. FONG, Director, Nankai Institute of Economics, Chungking, China. Industrialization of China.

February 25. MICHAEL HEILPERIN, Hamilton College. International Aspects of the Present and Future Economic Situation.

March 11. JACOB MARSCHAK, New School for Social Research. The Theory of International Disequilibria.

March 14.[*] RICHARD M. BISSELL, JR., Yale University and the United States Department of Commerce. Post-War Domestic and International Investment.

March 18. ANTONIN BASCH, Brown University. International Economic Problems of Central and Southeastern Europe.

March 20.[*] ALBERT G. HART, University of Iowa. The Present Fiscal Situation.

April 10. ABBA P. LERNER, University of Kansas City. Post-War Problems.

May 8. HORST MENDERSHAUSEN, Bennington College. International Trade and Trade Policy in the Post-War Period.

 

Six of these were joint meetings with the Fiscal Policy Seminar [*] and two were joint meetings with the Government Control of Industry Seminar[**].

Student reports were presented on the following subjects:

Argentine International Trade.
Exchange Control in Argentina.
Some Aspects of Sino-Japanese Trade.
International Effects of Price Ceilings.
Location Theory and the Reconstruction of World Trade.
Some Post-War Politico-Economic Problems of the Western Hemisphere.
Economic Problems and Possibilities of a Pan Europe, Pan America and Similar Schemes.
The Balance of Payments of China.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1941-42, pp. 344-346.

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INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS SEMINAR
1942-43. Professor Haberler

A larger portion of the time of the seminar than usual was devoted to the discussion of fundamental principles of international trade and finance. This was due to the fact that the graduate course on international trade (Economics 143) was not offered, and the seminar had to take over to some extent the functions of the graduate course.

There were eleven meetings with outside consultants, of which eight were joint meetings with the Fiscal Policy seminar. The smaller number of students made it advisable to combine the two seminars more frequently than usual. The consultants and the topics discussed with them were as follows:

 

November 13. Professor FRITZ MACHLUP, University of Buffalo. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy seminar.)

Subject: National Income, Employment and International Relations; the Foreign Multiplier.

November 18. Dr. THEODORE KREPS, Economic Adviser, Board of Economic Warfare, Office of Imports.

Subject: Some Problems of Economic Warfare.

November 27. Hon. GRAHAM F. TOWERS, Governor, Bank of Canada. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy seminar.)

Subject: Canadian War Economic Measures.

December 4. LYNN R. EDMINSTER, Vice-Chairman, U. S. Tariff Commission. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy seminar.)

Subject: Post-War Reconstruction of International Trade.

December 11. Professor SEYMOUR E. HARRIS, Director, Office of Export-Import Price Control, Office of Price Administration. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy seminar.)

Subject: Trade Policy in Wartimes.

February 12. THOMAS MCKITTRICK, President, Bank for International Settlements. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy seminar.)

Subject: The Bank for International Settlements.

February 24. Dr. LEO PASVOLSKY, State Department. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy seminar.)

Subject: Post-War Problems in International Trade.

March 3. P. T. ELLSWORTH, War Trade Staff, Board of Economic Warfare.

Subject: The Administration of Export Control.

April 12. EMILE DESPRES, Office of Strategic Services, Washington, D. C. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy seminar.)

Subject: The Transfer Problem and the Over-Saving Problem in the Pre-War and Post-War Worlds.

April 16. Dr. ALBERT HAHN. (Joint meeting with Fiscal Policy seminar.)

Subject: Planned or Adjusted Post-War Economy.

April 20. Dr. ALEXANDER LOVEDAY, League of Nations.

Subject: European Post-War Reconstruction.

 

Student reports were presented on the following subjects among others: practice and theory of an international bank; post-war industrialization of China; coordination of fiscal policy in different countries; international position of the Brazilian economy; international commodity agreements; international implications for fiscal policy; British exchange equalization account; and Argentine exchange control.

Twelve students were enrolled in the seminar of which four were Littauer fellows, seven graduate students from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and one from the College.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1942-43, pp. 246-247.

 

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INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS SEMINAR
1943-44. Associate Professor Harris

A new approach was tried in the International Economic Relations Seminar this year. We paid particular attention to the international economic problems of Latin America and especially to the problems raised by the great demand for Latin American products for war, the expansion of exports and of money, and the resulting inflation. Attention was also given to the transitional problems in the postwar period, particularly to the adjustments that will be required in exports, imports, capital movements, exchange rates, and the allocation of economic factors. In the course of the year leading government authorities on Latin American economic problems were invited to address meetings of the seminar, which were frequently joint meetings with the Fiscal Policy Seminar or the students of the graduate course in international organization.

The schedule of meetings for 1943-44 was as follows:

 

November 12. Professor HARRIS.

Subject: Inflation in Latin America.

December 9. Dr. CORWIN EDWARDS, Chairman, Policy Board of the Anti-Trust Division of the Department of Justice and Chief of Staff of the Presidential Cooke Commission to Brazil.

Subject: Brazilian Economy.

December 17. Dr. HARRY WHITE, Director of Monetary Research, Treasury Department.

Subject: Problems of International Monetary Stabilization.

January 6. Professor HARRIS.

Subject: International Economic Problems of the War and Postwar Period.

January 10. Professor HABERLER.

Subject: Reparations.

January 14. Dr. N. NESS, Member, Mexican-U. S. Economic Commission.

Subject: Mexico.

January 17. Dr. BEARDSLEY RUML, Chairman, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Subject: Economic Budget and Fiscal Budget.

January 21. Dr. P. T. ELLSWORTH, Economic Studies Division, Department of State.

Subject: Chile.

January 24. Dr. DON HUMPHREY, Special Advisor on Price Control to Haitian Government; Chief, Price Section, O.P.A.

Subject: Haiti.

January 31. Dr. ROBERT TRIFFIN, Member, U. S. Economic Commission to Paraguay.

Subject: Money, Banking, and Foreign Exchanges in Latin America.

February 4. Dr. MIRON BURGIN, Office of Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs.

Subject: Argentina.

February 9. Dr. FRANK WARING, Director, Research Division, Office of Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs.

Subject: Broad Aspects of Latin-American Economics.

February 10. Dr. BEN LEWIS, Head of Price Control Mission to Colombia, Special Assistant to the Price Administrator.

Subject: Colombia.

March 9. Dr. HENRY CHALMERS, Department of Commerce.

Subject: Inter-American Trade Practices.

March 31. Mr. HENRY WALLICH.

Subject: Fiscal Policy and International Equilibrium.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1943-44, pp. 271-2.

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INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS SEMINAR
Professor Haberler and Associate Professor Harris

The seminar meetings in the year 1944-1945 may be arranged under the following headings:

  1. Exchanges, Controls, and International Trade (8 meetings)
  2. Regional Problems (8 meetings).
  3. Regional and International Aspects of Domestic Problems (8 meetings).
  4. Lectures and Discussions on International Trade by Professors Haberler and Harris (8 meetings).

Four of the papers presented at these meetings were subsequently published in economic journals.

The schedule of meetings for 1944-1945 was as follows:

November 16. Dr. RANDALL HINSHAW, Federal Reserve Board.

Subject: American Prosperity and the British Balance-of-Payments Problem. (Published in the Review of Economic Statistics, February 1945.)

December 11. EDWARD M. BERNSTEIN, Assistant Director, Division of Monetary Research, Treasury Department.

Subject: The Scarcity of Dollars. (Published in The Journal of Political Economy, March 1945.)

December 15. Dr. FRANCIS MCINTYRE, Representative of the Foreign Economic Exchange on Requirements Board of the War Production Board.

Subject: International Distribution of Supplies in Wartime.

December 21. Dr. ALEXANDER GERSCHENKRON, Federal Reserve Board.

Subject: Some Problems of the Economic Collaboration with Russia.

January 11. Dr. WOLFGANG STOLPER, Swarthmore College.

Subject: British Balance-of-Payments Problem After World War I.

January 22. Dr. WALTER GARDNER, Federal Reserve Board.

Subject: Some Aspects of the Bretton Woods Program.

January 26. Dr. WILLIAM FELLNER, University of California.

Subject: Types of Expansionary Policies and the Rate of Interest.

January 29. Professor WALTER F. BOGNER, Dr. CHARLES R. CHERINGTON, Professors CARL J. FRIEDRICH, SEYMOUR E. HARRIS, TALCOTT PARSONS, ALFRED D. SIMPSON, and Mr. GEORGE B. WALKER.

Subject: The Boston Urban Development Plan.

March 5. Dr. ROBERT TRIFFIN, Federal Reserve Board.

Subject: International Economic Problems of South America.

March 19. Dr. LOUIS RASMINSKY, Foreign Exchange Control Board, Ottawa, Canada.

Subject: British-American Trade Problems from the Canadian Point of View. (Published in the British Economic Journal, September I945.)

March 22. Dr. ROBERT A. GORDON, War Production Board.

Subject: International Raw Materials Control: War and Postwar.

March 26. Dr. HERBERT FURTH, Federal Reserve Board.

Subject: Monetary and Financial Problems in the Liberated Countries.

April 2. Dr. LLOYD METZLER, Federal Reserve Board.

Subject: Postwar Economic Policies of the United Kingdom. (An article based on this paper and written in collaboration with Dr. RANDALL HINSHAW was published in The Review of Economic Statistics, November 1945.)

April 16. Professor EDWARD S. MASON, State Department, Washington.

Subject: Commodity Agreements.

April 23. Dr. ABBA P. LERNER, New School for Social Research, N. Y.

Subject: Postwar Policies.

April 27. Professor JOHN VAN SICKLE, Vanderbilt University.

Subject: Wages and Employment: A Regional Approach.

May 14. Dr. E. M. H. LLOYD, United Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, British Treasury.

Subject: Inflation in Europe.

May 28. Professor LEON DUPRIEZ, University of Louvain, Belgium.

Subject: Problem of Full Employment in View of Recent European Experience.

May 29. Professor SEYMOUR E. HARRIS, Professor WASSILY W. LEONTIEF, Professor GOTTFRIED HABERLER, Professor ALVIN H. HANSEN.

Subject: The Shorter Work Week and Full Employment.

 

Source:   Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1944-45, pp. 285-6.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. International Trade and Commercial Policy. Haberler, Harris, Leontief 1940

 

Of the fields with a deep bench at Harvard in the immediate pre-WWII era, international trade could boast three faculty members and two post-docs of great distinction: Gottfried Haberler, Wassily Leontief, Seymour Harris; and Wolfgang Stolper and Heinrich (a.k.a. “Henry”) Heuser. This post has the course outlines with assigned readings for both the trade theory and commercial policy semesters and the final examination questions for commercial policy. 

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Henry Heuser from AEA List of Members 1948

HEUSER, HENRY KARL-MARIA, 1747 F St., N.W., Washington, D.C. (1942) Int. Monetary Fund, econ., res., govt serv.; b. 1911; B.A., 1932, McGill; M.A., 1933, Ecole des Science Economiques et Politiques (Paris); Ph.D., 1938, Univ. of London. Fields 10, 1a, 7. Doc. dis.  Economics of exchange control. Pub. Control of international trade (Rutledge, London, 1938; Blakiston, Philadephia, 1939).

Source:  Alphabetical List of Members (as of June 15, 1948) in the 1948 Directory of the American Economic Association (Jan., 1949). American Economic Review, Vol. 39, No. 1.p. 85.

 

Obituary for Henry Heuser (1911-95) from the Washington Post
April 21, 1995

Henry K. Heuser, 83, an economist who retired in the early 1970s from the Agency for International Development, died of cancer April 18 at the Washington Hospice.

Mr. Heuser was born in Berlin. In the mid-1920s, he immigrated to Canada. He graduated from McGill University and also studied at Ecole des Sciences Economiques in Paris and at the London School of Economics, where he received a doctorate.

In the late 1930s, he taught economics and international trade at the University of Minnesota, Harvard University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He was author of a book, “Control of International Trade,” which was published in 1939.

During World War II, he was an intelligence officer with the Office of Strategic Services, then after the war he worked in Paris on the Marshall Plan for the economic rehabilitation of postwar Europe.

In the late 1940s, he worked for the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund, then joined U.S. foreign assistance programs. He served in Italy, Korea, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan and the Ivory Coast.

On retiring from AID, Mr. Heuser lived in the Tuscany region of Italy, where he restored a 16th-century monastery and grew grapes for Chianti wine. He returned to Washington about 1987.

Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Maria Heuser of Washington; five children, Chilla Heuser-Rousselle of Paris, Alice Heuser of Potomac, Stephen Heuser of London, Tayo Heuser Shore of Narragansett, R.I., and Michael Heuser of Beverly Hills, Calif.; and 13 grandchildren. MARK LEE PATTEN Carpenter

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Course Enrollment
1940-41

[Economics] 43a 1hf. Professor Haberler and Associate Professor Leontief.—International Economic Relations, I. Theory of International Trade.

Total 22: 1 Graduate, 13 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 3 Others.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1940-41, p. 63.

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Course Description
1940-41

Economics 43a 1hf. International Economic Relations, I. Theory of International Trade. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructors) Fri., at 9. Professor Haberler and Dr. Stolper.

The course will deal with the following subjects: Monetary problems of international trade; the pure theory of international trade.

 

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics Containing an Announcement for 1940-41. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXVII, No. 51 (August 15, 1940), p. 56.

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Economics 43a
International Trade and Commercial Relations
[1939-40]

During the first half of the term the monetary problems of International Trade will be discussed in the following order:

The theory and measurement of the balance of payments
Gold Standard
Paper standard and purchasing power parity theory
Exchange Depreciation
The transfer problem and capital movements
The present gold problem
Problems of exchange control

Assignments of the first six weeks:

Haberler, Theory of International Trade, pp. 1-117.
Whale, International Trade, Chs. 17-19, 21-23
Department of Commerce, The Balance of International Indebtedness of the United States for 1938.
Graham and Whittlesey, “The Gold Problem,” Foreign Affairs, January, 1938.
Meade and Hitch, Economic Analysis, Part V, pp. 307-355.

 

The second half of the term will be devoted to the pure theory of international trade and to some of its applications. The classical theory will be discussed and confronted with Ohlin’s approach. The concept of the terms of trade will be taken up and some applications of monopoly theory, especially to the problem of dumping, will be treated.

Assignments for the second half of the term:

Meade and Hitch, Economic Analysis, Part V, pp. 356-408.
Haberler, International Trade, Chs. IX-XII, and Ch. XVIII.
Ohlin, Interregional and International trade, Parts I and II.
Viner, J., Memorandum on Dumping (League of Nations).

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1940-1941”.

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Final Examination
Economics 43a 1hf.
1940-41

[Not found (yet).]

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Course Enrollment
1939-40

[Economics] 43b 2hf. Associate Professor Harris , Drs. Heuser and Stolper.—International Economic Relations, II. Commercial Policy.

Total 18: 11 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 1 Other.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1939-40, p. 99.

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Course Description
1940-41

[Economics 43b 1hf. International Economic Relations, II. Commercial Policy.] Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., at 12, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructors. Professor Haberler, Associate Professor Harris, and Dr. Stolper.

Omitted in 1940-41.

 

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics Containing an Announcement for 1940-41. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXVII, No. 51 (August 15, 1940), p. 56.

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Economics 43b
1939-40

Week Subject Reading
Feb. 5-10 General case for free trade and criticism
(Dr. Stolper)		 Haberler, Chs. 13, 14.
Robertson, “The Future of International Trade,” Economic Journal, March, 1938.
Feb. 12-17 General effect of tariffs, partial analysis. Preferential tariffs.
(Dr. Stolper)		 Haberler, Ch. 15
Feb. 19-March 9 Special tariff arguments. Discussion of some of the Hutchins Committee Report. Schüler and Keynes arguments. Foreign Trade Multiplier.
(Dr. Stolper)		 Beveridge, Tariffs, the Case Examined, Chs. 5, 9, 10, 13.
Haberler, Chs. 16, 17, and Ch. 12, §4 review Macmillan Report, Addendum I.
Copland, D.B., “A Neglected Phase of Tariff Controversy,” Q.J.E., 1931.
Anderson, Karl, “Protection and the Historical Situation,” Q.J.E., 1938.
Samuelson, Marion Crawford, “The Australian Case for Protection Re-examined,” Q.J.E., 1939.
Taussig, Chs. 13 and 16.
Suggested reading: Taussig, Chs. 14, 15.
March 11-16 Dumping, anti-dumping duties
(Dr. Stolper)		 Haberler, Ch. 18, omitting the graphs.
Robinson, J., Economics of Imperfect Competition, Ch. 15, sec. 1-4.
Viner, J., Memorandum on Dumping (League of Nations).
March 18-April 20 Other measures, particularly quotas. Exchange Control and Clearing. Exchange Agreements, etc.
(Dr. Heuser)		 Haberler, Chs. 19, 20, 21.
Heuser, Control of International Trade, Ch. VI.
Ellis, Exchange Control, Supplement to Q.J.E., 1939, Ch. I.
Ellsworth, Chs. IX, X.
April 22-27 Tariff History: The glass industry.
(Dr. Davis)		 Probably Taussig, Tariff History.
April 29-May 4 Reciprocal Trade Agreements
(Dr. Stolper)		 Tasca, Reciprocal Trade Policy, selected chapters.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 2, Both in Folders “Economics, 1939-1940 (2 of 2)” and “Economics, 1940-1941”.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 43b2
1939-1940

Part I
(One hour and a half)

Take both questions. Write one hour on one of them and one-half hour on the other.

  1. “Territorial jurisdiction over a particular area can never be of economic advantage as long as there is free trade in commodities.” Do you agree?
  2. Discuss the relative merits of general depreciation, discriminating exchange rates, and export subsidies as means of restoring equilibrium after a period of strict exchange control.

Part II
(One hour and a half)

Answer question 3 and two other questions.

  1. Take (a), (b), (c), or (d) only.
    1. Do you think that Marshall’s argument for free trade are applicable to the United States of to-day?
    2. Outline the reciprocal trade agreements program of the U. S. A. and its probable effects on various sectors of the American economy. Do you think the program leads towards increased bilateralism or towards greater free trade?
    3. “Increased competition from newly industrialised countries compels the older industrial countries to choose between higher tariffs or lower standards of living.”
    4. It has been claimed that the protective effect of an import quota and a tariff combined are cumulative. Discuss with regard to the effects in the importing country as well as in the exporting countries.
  2. If a country’s exports are subject to foreign tariffs it cannot improve its position by levying tariffs on its imports. Give your considered opinion of this assertion.
  3. Under conditions conducive to a flight of capital [,] restrictions on capital exports may fail completely to bring about a permanent improvement in the balance of payments. Discuss.
  4. The total volume of trade between two countries under exchange clearing is just as likely to increase as to decrease. Discuss with respect to clearings between (a) a free country and a control country, (b) two control countries.
  5. “The operation of the foreign trade multiplier necessitates reconsideration of the proposition that employment and national income can never be increased by the introduction of tariffs.” Discuss.

Final. 1940.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Papers Printed for Final Examinations. History, History of Religions,…Economics,…Military Science, Naval Science (June, 1940) in Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28) Box 5.

Image:  Haberler, Leontief and Harris from Harvard Album 1942.