Tag: Harris

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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.

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Undergraduate International Trade. Enrollment, Readings, Exam. Harris, 1949

 

Seymour Harris was a Harvard man from his undergraduate years through his retirement from his alma mater. He served many terms as a government economic adviser and after Harvard moved on to be the chair of economics at the University of California, San Diego. This post provides a course description, enrollment data, reading list and examination questions for his winter semester course 1949-50 “International Trade”. An earlier post provides the outline the 1933 version of the course “International Trade and Tariff Policies”.

Seymour Edwin Harris was born September 8, 1897 in New York City. He received an A.B. in 1920 and a Ph.D. in 1926 from Harvard University. From 1922 to 1964, Dr. Harris taught economics at Harvard University, where he received a full professorship in 1954, and served as the chairman of the department of economics from 1955 to 1959. During World War II, Dr. Harris was involved in several wartime planning projects. From 1954 to 1956, Dr. Harris became chief economic advisor to Adlai Stevenson. He then served Senator John F. Kennedy in the same capacity and was chosen as a member of President Kennedy’s task force on the economy. In 1961, Dr. Harris was named as chief economic consultant to Douglas Dillon, Secretary of the Treasury. During the Kennedy administration. Dr. Harris, a proponent of Keynesian economics, was a member of Walter W. Heller’s New Frontiersmen, which persuaded President Kennedy that the stimulation of the economy was more important than a balanced budget and tax cuts and government spending could counter threats of a recession. In 1963, Dr. Harris became the chairman of the department of economics at the University of California at La Jolla. At the same time, he served as a chief economic advisor to the Johnson administration. [Source: John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Finding Aid to the Papers of Seymour E. Harris]

Harris had quite a reputation for grinding out volumes of edited papers (written by others):  From a 1962 or 1963 student skit:  Professor Gerschenkron’s alleged advice for Matthew (the Evangelist): “I wanted Matthew to rewrite his paper for the Quarterly Journal and call it ‘Christ as a proto-Keynsian’ [sic] But no, he was a very strong-willed boy and he brought it out in a syposium [sic] edited by Seymour Harris, called the Bible, essays in honor of God.”

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Course Description

Economics 143a (formerly Economics 43a). International Trade

Half-course (fall term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Professor Harris.

This course deals with the theory and practice of foreign trade and capital movements, including the importance of foreign trade, the manner of increasing its amount, its relation to the domestic economy, the problem of exchange rates, exchange control, international organizations in their relation to trade and capital movements. Political, economic, and administrative aspects are considered also.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Box 6, Courses of Instruction (HUC 8500.16), Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1948-49, p. 75

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 143a (formerly Economics 43a). International Trade. (F) Professor Harris.

Total 120: 9 Graduates, 46 Seniors, 36 Juniors, 11 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 12 Radcliffe, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments, 1949-1950, p. 43.

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Course Readings

Economics 143a
International Trade

  1. National Income and the Balance of Payments—4 weeks
    Relation of domestic policies and the balance of payments; the balance of payments of the United States and the United Kingdom; capital movements and reparations problems; dollar shortage and the E.R.P.
    Assignment

    1. *Harris; The European Recovery Program, pp. 1-120, 185-206, 272-276
    2. *Harrod; Are These Hardships Necessary? pp. 1-103
    3. United Nations; A Survey of the Economic Situation and Economic Prospects for Europe, pts. 2-5
  2. Regional Problems in the Balance of Payments—1 week
    No assignment.
  3. Industrialization and International Competition—1 week
    No assignment
  4. Monetary Aspects of International Trade—3 weeks
    Assignment

    1. Harris: The New Economics, pp. 246-293, 323-400
    2. *Ellsworth: International Economics, Part 1, Chs. 7, 9-11
  5. The Case for Free Trade and Obstacles to Trade—3 weeks
    Division of labor; comparative costs; tariffs and other obstacles; international commodity agreements and distribution of raw materials.
    Assignment
    Ellsworth, Part II, Chs. 1-5, 7-9
  6. The Problem of Allocation of Resources and Comparative Costs
    Assignment
    Ellsworth, Part I, Chs. 3-5

Reading Period Assignment—One of the Following:

  1. Staley: World Economic Development
  2. Buchanan and Lutz: Rebuilding the World Economy
  3. Marshall: Money, Credit, and Commerce, Pt. III
  4. Harris: Foreign Economic Policy for the United States

*To be bought.

Source:   :   Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1949-50 (2 of 3)

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Course Final Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 143a
International Trade

Spend forty-five minutes on each question. It is strongly suggested that you spend ten minutes assembling and organizing your thoughts before beginning each essay.

  1. Answer (a) or (b):
    1. It is a prerequisite for the establishment of interregional trade that relative prices would be different in one region from those in another if the regions were prevented from trading with one another. Why does this condition commonly occur, how does it lead to interregional trade, and in what way is that trade beneficial to the participating regions?
    2. Much of the theory of international trade attempts to explain how equilibrium in the balance of payments will be maintained by automatic tendencies. Present as fully as you can in the allotted time a classification and explanation of the forces working to frustrate these automatic tendencies and produce persistent dis
  2. Answer (a) or (b):
    1. Exchange depreciation has been resorted to in depression for reasons very different from those advanced for its use in periods of full employment. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of depreciation in these two situations, making use of specific illustrations.
    2. The incorporation of national income analysis into international trade theory has led economists to distinguish helpfully corrective international economic policies from so-called beggar-thy-neighbor policies. How would you make such a distinction, and how effectively can it be applied?
  3. Answer (a) or (b):
    1. Comment on the relevance of the domestic policies of ERP countries for the attainment of international equilibrium by 1952.
    2. Discuss the reciprocal trade agreements program of the United States with reference to (1) the general arguments for and against tariffs, and (2) the limitations of tariff policy as a means of achieving international economic equilibrium.
  4. Answer one of the following with reference to your reading period assignment:
    1. What basic changes in the world economic structure have resulted from two World Wars, and how do they obstruct the reestablishment of stable multilateral trade?
    2. On what conditions does Staley base his case that, for existing industrial areas, it is possible to make the advantages of the economic development of new areas far outweigh the disadvantages? Discuss these conditions critically.
    3. Diagnoses of the widespread “dollar problem” differ according to (1) the definition of equilibrium adopted, and (2) the particular country under discussion. Discuss both these sources of variation in analysis. (Treat either one at greater length than the other if you wish.)
    4. Marshall is noted for his development of the theory of international supply and demand (commonly called “reciprocal demand”) as the determining influence on the barter terms of trade. Develop this part of his theory, and comment on some aspect or aspects of its relevance to current problems discussed in this course.

Final. January, 1950.

 

Source: Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Papers Printed for Final Examinations; History, History of Religions, Government, Economics,…,Military Science, Naval Science. February, 1950.

Image Source: Seymour Harris in Harvard Class Album 1947.

 

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Funny Business Harvard M.I.T.

Harvard or MIT. Economics graduate student skit, ca. 1963.

 

Because of the reference to Jaroslav Vanek’s leaving Harvard, we are able to date the following script to 1962-63 since Vanek left Harvard to work at the State Department in 1963. Almost everything about this script would lead me to conclude that it was used in a Harvard graduate student skit that somehow wound up in the folder for the Graduate Student Association at the Department of Economics of M.I.T. The folder is otherwise filled with clearly M.I.T. skit material from the 1960s. One of the students is identified as “David” another “Bob” and the third looks like “Les”.  

Lester Thurow did get his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1964 and came to M.I.T. in 1968 so it is not inconceivable that the following transcription is indeed based upon his personal typed script copy with original pencil stage directions that made its way into the folder. 

One thing that I find rather surprising about the text is just how many Harvard professors’ names have been misspelled.

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D—This is a review with a message—a message no economist can afford to ignore. The year is 2000 A.D. 16 years have now passed since 1984, that Armageddon of the economics profession when Professor Wassily Leontief finally established that the world really was homogeneous of degree one. The then President of the United States, Mr. Norman Mailer, immediately issued the great Marginal Product Proclamation. Everyone was to receive their marginal product.

B— But there was nothing left over for the economists. Economists became the hand-loom weavers of the 20th. century.

L—Arthur Schlesinger Jr. vividly described their position in a 17-volume work entitled “The Coming of the Raw Deal.” Economists everywhere, after the first shock, set out upon new careers. Tonight we shall discover what happened to some of those whom we know and love.

D—Several of them went into the movie industry and we will now let you hear the soundtrack of the preview of one of their movies.

(Epic Music—Bruckner?)

[Insert: Stand]

L—Ladies and Gentlemen, 21st Century Fox are proud to present Arthur Smithies and Joan Robinson in….The Big Push, the story of the unbalanced growth of an economist….

B—Production by Karl [sic] Kaysen

D—Copyright by Edward Hastings Chamberlain [sic]

L—All labor disputes on location and with Elizabeth Taylor arbitrated by John Dunlop.

B—Continuity by Simon Kuznets

L—Editing by Seymour Harris, of course.

D—Costumes by Robert Dorfman.

B—This is the story of Ragnar Maynard von Eckstein (his parents had always wanted him to be an economist). After many struggles at last he got to Harvard Graduate School.

L—It is a tale of |horror. See him now at a seminar on the economics of Medical Care…..

D—This after-noon I am going to discuss the economics of Blood-banking. One of the crucial problems in this field is what proportion to maintain of liquid assets. In this category we have blood [Insert:   L. What about near blood] near-blood. We also have non-liquid assets—bonds in the form of pounds of flesh. Another problem is the current shortage of tellers, for we can only employ vampires with a strong liquidity preference. If we cannot get more it will clot up the flow of funds and reduce the velocity of circulation.

L—It is a tale of |ambition…..

B—Coming from a family whose marginal product was zero, Ragnar Maynard realized that to get on quickly he must publish something. But what? He had not written anything. But our resourceful hero saw a way out: he would publish his first book before it was written. It was called First Draft, a revised tentative, preliminary, provisional text. It was based on Photostat copies of his blackboard notes.

L—It is a tale of |love….

D—Ragnar Manyrd fell passionately in love with a beautiful capital theorist, played in the movie by ravishing Joan Robinson. His demand for her love was infinitely elastic; her supply could not meet him—at least not at his price. The price was to join him in his exhausting search over peaks and through troughs for the elusive U-shaped cost curve.

L—It is a tale of |excitement

B—See Ragnar Maynard trying to free himself from the dreaded liquidity trap.

Insert: D—It’s true, it really is thicker than water

L—All this and more you can see in this movie—The Big Push is a take-off point in the development of the motion-picture.

B—See the exciting attempt on Professor Leontief’s life (with a 202 rifle) to try to prevent him revealing his startling discovery of a constant returns world.

D—See the world’s largest input-output table which proved it—drawn by the Economic Research project in the sand of the New Mexican desert.

L—You cannot afford to miss this motion picture. Filmed in wonderful new—Solocolor. An introducing revolutionary—Rostowscope.

(concluding epic music)

[Insert: Sit]

D—But the movies could not accommodate everybody…

[Insert: Bob in middle]

[Insert: one illegible word]

L—Professor Leontief, having escaped with his life, and using his input-output table from Scientific American as a testimonial, got into the business of designing bathroom tiles.

B—Professor Duesenbery [sic] was well qualified to go into the demonstration business. He drove Cadillacs around low-income districts to stimulate demand. And changed his name to Jones so that it would be him that everyone was keeping up with.

D—In England many economists went to work for the government where they produced a remarkable effect. Before 1984 political speeches had sounded something like this.

B—Good evening; I’m the Prime Minister. My name is….. [insert: ad lib] etc.

D—But now all this has changed…

B—Good evening…[insert: ad lib] etc.

L—Professor Tom Schelling took up a career in Madison avenue. It was he who was responsible for some of the following products…

D—Ladies, now you can wear the most powerful and alluring perfume in the world—First Strike—the only perfume with complete credibility. It also contains the only deodorant with overkill.

B—Now at last there is a product to take away the smell of deodorant—it is called Counterforce. Only Counterforce gives you 24-hour protection against odorlessness. [Insert: 5120 or S120]

[Insert: STAND]

L—For years girls have been searching for a perfume which will attract the men and yet prevent them from taking liberties—now they have it in the form of Deterrence—the perfume which is effective [Insert: only] if you don’t use it.

D—He also introduced a city wide deodorant campaign under the title of Civil defence.

L—And the only really safe method of birth control—Early Warning.

B—Meanwhile Professor Dunlop had become a truck driver and a shop steward for Jimmy Hoffa.

D—And Professor Kuznets took to selling abacuses.

[Insert: Some economists, not from Harvard opened a cafeteria.]

[Insert: Bob-Les—come forward]

L—Professor Galbraith first thought of becoming a rice farmer. But he soon saw that since there was no more need for economists he could now come into his own. After a coup d’etat he took over the Littauer building and changed it into the department of Affluent Studies. The idea was the ultra-popularization of economics; the main qualification for admission was to be a good phrase-monger. The new department published books like…

B—The Economics of Sex, with an appendix on the second derivatives of Jayne Mansfield. A geometric interpretation with diagrams.

D—The department became identified with a new theory of economic decline, published as a non-Rostovian manifesto. All countries, it said, tend to decline, and their speed of decline is determined by their relative degree of economic advancement. Its five stages of decline started with the age of mass consumption, through the age of preconditions for decline, coming then to the crucial landing stage.

B—Other books appeared like ‘The Naked Truth about Public Squalor, and so on.

[Insert: Pause—back to audience]

L—Only one of the redundant economists took the highest calling of all. Let us now eavesdrop on a sermon by [Insert: his eminence] Archbishop Gerschenkron…

[Insert: seated]

B—You know, when I was an economist one of my graduate students wrote a very good paper for my course. Matthew, [Insert: I said] why don’t you publish this paper, no, really why don’t you publish. But you know youll have to change the title. What journal is going to publish a paper called ‘the First Gospel’? But you know it really was a very good paper. There was a lot of interesting material about the farm problem in Egypt and about the almost miraculous elasticity of supply of loaves and small fishes in Gallillee [sic]. Then there was a very good section about Christ throwing the money-changers from the temple. Well, you see, the rate of interest was very high then. Don’t you think that the real reason why Christ did this was to reduce the rate of interest and to stimulate investment. You see, I wanted Matthew to rewrite his paper for the Quarterly Journal and call it ‘Christ as a proto-Keynsian’ [sic] But no, he was a very strong-willed boy and he brought it out in a syposium [sic] edited by Seymour Harris, called the Bible, essays in honor of God. But, you know, it was still required reading for my course.

D—Professor Harberler [sic] took to song writing, and here is a sample…

[Insert: stand behind table]

(tune: God bless America)

[Insert: All:] God bless free enterprise,
[Insert: MOC or HOC or NOC] System divine,
Stand beside her and guide her,
Just as long as the profits are mine.
[Insert: Salute]
Corporations may they prosper
Big business, may it grow!
[Insert: MOC or HOC or NOC] God bless Free Enterprise,
The Status quo!

L—Well, David, I guess that’s it. Do you think they’ll throw us out?

D—I dont know. But I dont suppose we’ll ever be allowed to pass generals. There are still some jobs you can get without a Ph.D.

B—No chance at all is there? I mean about generals….

D—Well they were all in it weren’t they—all the generals board.

L—What about Professor Vanek? He emerged unscathed.

D—That’s true but he’s leaving.

B—That’s fair, of course.

L—Yes, he hasn’t done much since he’s been here really.

D—Half a dozen good articles…

B—4 books, or is it 5?

L—He’s become an acknowledged expert on at least two major fields of economics…

D—A clear and stimulating teacher…
And a nice guy…

L—Not much really. [Insert: Clearly not a Harvard type]

B—Not surprised they’re letting him go

D—Well, that’s it then.

B—One more thing actually…The perpetrators of this entertainment would like it to be known that any resemblance of characters in this review to any person or persons living or half-dead is purely intentional.

L—So be it.

All—In the name of the Holy Trinity:

D—Dorfman,

L—Samuelson,

B—and Solow.

All—Amen

 

Source:   MIT Archives. Department of Economics Records, Box 2, Folder “GEA 1961-67”.

 

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Alumnus (A.B., Ph.D.) Professor Seymour Edwin Harris, 1945 and 1970

 

The Silver and Gold Anniversary Class Reunions (25th and 50th, respectively) of Harvard College publish reports sent by class members to the class secretary. For answering the question, whatever happened to X, Class of ‘YY, these class reunion volumes can be useful. While it is not hard to discover what happened to Seymour Harris, a member of the Harvard Class of 1920 who went on to become a professor of economics at Harvard, the personal notes from this Harvard man, crimson to the bone, provide us a glimpse at least of how he wanted himself to be viewed by his former classmates..

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SEYMOUR EDWIN HARRIS
[1945]

Home Address: Four Winds Farm, West Acton, Mass.
Office Address: Room 234, Littauer Center, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
Born: Sept. 8, 1897, New York, N.Y. Parents: Henry Harris, Augusta Kulick.
Prepared at: Morris High School, New York, N.Y.
Years in College: 1918-1920. Degrees: A.B. cum laude, 1920; Ph.D., 1926.
Married: Ruth Black, Sept. 3, 1923, Honesdale, Pa.
Occupation: Professor of economics, Harvard University.
Military or Naval Record: Harvard Unit, Students’ Army Training Corps, 1918.
Wartime Government Posts: Director, Office of Export-Import Price Control; member, Policy Committee of Board of Economic Warfare; member, Secretary of State’s Committee on Post-War Economic Policy; adviser on Price Control and Stabilization to several Latin American governments; economic adviser to vice-chairman, War Production Board.
Offices held: Managing Editor, Review of Economic Statistics.
Member of: Harvard Faculty Club.
Publications: Thirteen volumes in economics; Twenty Years of Federal Reserve Policy; Post-War Economic Problems; Economics of America at War; Price and Related Controls in American Economy; Economic Problems of Latin America; Inflation in War and Post-War.

SEYMOUR HARRIS gives us a reading time of five minutes for the following account: “We—my wife and I—live twenty-five miles outside of Boston. We have a 40-acre farm and an old colonial house. This offers a much-needed escape from Cambridge, as the latter in turn is an escape from wartime Washington. I wish that I could say that we were doing a good job on the farm. Actually, help is not available, and the amount of time to be squeezed out these days for its care is limited. Our only farming this year has been a 7000-foot vegetable garden, one spraying of our two apple orchards, and frequent encounters with millions of ants, potato bugs, skunks, bats, crickets, etc.

“My working hours are divided among the following: teaching, writing, editing, and war work for the government. The last is the most maddening and the most interesting—also the most futile, tiring, and exasperating, yet rewarding. The newsworthy fact is not that so little, but that so much is accomplished in Washington. In retrospect this is hard to understand, for the se-up is such that progress would seem impossible. Yet we have increased our national income by 125 per cent, put eleven millions into the armed services, and produced war goods twice the value of our whole national income in 1932. Tens of thousands of little bureaucrats (including the writer) and tens of thousands of ingenious business men and millions of loyal workers have achieved what to most experts seemed to be the impossible in 1940. We have produced the mightiest war machine and the highest standard of living in our modern civilization. Our number one economic problem of the post-war is to do an equally effective production and distribution job. Upon our success or failure rests the future of private enterprise.

“Writing has become a habit with me—a drug, if you will. I have written (had printed) at least two million words. As I look back, I am surprised that I have had the patience to write so much. As I look forward, I am impatient to write even more. I can scarcely wait to finish a book so that I can start another. At present one is in page proof, another is in press, a third is about to go to press, a fourth is being planned. I ask myself why. It is certainly not because I hold that the world is waiting for my pontificalia. In fact, I often wonder if books are ever read. But the publishers seem to find printing books profitable, and they have sold 6,000 to 7,000 copies of at least one book of mine—practically a best-seller for technical books. Perhaps a slight contribution to the world’s knowledge is made, and it is hoped that in some manner or other we do have a very small effect on public policy.

“My wife, who has always given me editorial and proofreading assistance, does her best to discourage me—perhaps in self-defense. But there is as little hope for me as for the alcoholic, cures of which, I am told, are less than ten per cent. So long as paper and pencil are to be found my energies will go into writing, and so long as Scotch is available, the alcoholic will go after it. A psychiatrist might cure me, but I shall not give him a chance. The cure would leave me with little to do.

“My views are not always orthodox. Even the Saturday Evening Post has editorialized against some of my unacceptable (to them) views. To state them: I would like to see a revival of capitalism. I am not sure that private enterprise can carry the ball. But we should give it the best possible milieu. Several years in government work have convinced me more than ever that regimentation is not for the American people. And the bureaucrat soon learns to hate controls even more than those whom he subjects to controls. I hope that we can have a minimum of government participation in our economic life. Yet I fear that unplanned capitalism will not work. Can we have a society half capitalistic and half socialistic? Here is hoping that the thirties were not so significant as many of us fear.

“Lest you conclude that I work and farm and that’s all, let me add that I like to play tennis, golf, and especially to ski. I learned how to ski at forty, when I took an enforced vacation. I ski cautiously as old men must, but I manage to ski everything and so far with few bad spills. I have covered as much as thirty miles downhill in one day—riding up, of course.

“All this proves once more that I write too much. I want to conclude by saying that I have had one good break—a fine wife.

“And here are an additional 1,000 words—writing time thirty minutes, reading time five minutes. I shall not read what I have written, for if I do, I shall never send it.”

Source:  Harvard Class of 1920. Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report (Cambridge, 1945), pp. 337-339.

_____________________

SEYMOUR HARRIS
[1970]

SEYMOUR HARRIS was born September 8, 1897, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Henry and August (Kulick) Harris. He prepared at Morris High School, New York City, and at Harvard received an A.B., cum laude, in 1920 and a Ph.D. in 1926. From Monmouth College in 1961 he received an LL.D. In Honesdale, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 1923, he married Ruth Black, who died September 9, 1965. In Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 27, 1968, he married Dorothy Heron. He reports the following offices held, honors and awards: member of executive board and vice-president, American Economic Association; David A. Wells Prize, Harvard; Alexander Hamilton award, U. S. Treasury, 1968; Gold Medal for contribution to New England Economy; joint winner, Post War Plan for Greater Boston. His publications include: fifty books, the latest, The Economics of Harvard, 800 pages (in press); and edited the McGraw-Hill Economic Handbook Series. A college professor and writer, and a professor at Harvard for forty-three years he writes:

“I am finishing my fiftieth year of teaching—two years at Princeton, forty-three at Harvard, and five years at the University of California, San Diego. Am now Littauer Professor, Political Economy, emeritus, Harvard (since 1946).

“I have been an editor of four journals, including twenty years as editor of the Harvard Review of Economics and Statistics.

“I served on eight committees at Harvard, inclusive of General Education, Athletics, and Fringe Benefits.

“Over a period of thirty years I served on twenty-three committees or departments of the U.S. government, including chief advisor of the secretary of the treasury, 1961-68, and testified and wrote statements for about fifty congressional committees; was an advisor to three Massachusetts governors, and to the Conference of New England Governors.

“I was an advisor of President Kennedy and also Governor Stevenson in three presidential campaigns.

“I have also served as president of the Harvard Chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

“Upon the occasion of my retirement from Harvard in December 1963, letters of congratulation and commendation were received from a number of eminent men, including, President Lyndon B. Johnson, Adlai E. Stevenson, United States Representative to the United Nations, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Clinton P. Anderson, United States Senate, Joseph S. Clark, United States Senate, Paul H. Douglas, United States Senate, Abe Ribicoff, United States Senate, Walter W. Heller, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, Washington, Sherman Adams, Lincoln, New Hampshire, Dennis J. Roberts, Providence, Rhode Island, and President Nathan Pusey of Harvard.”

Home Address, 9036 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, Calif. 92037. Office Address, Dept. of Economics, Univ. of California, San Diego, La Jolla, Calif. 92037.

 

Source:  Harvard Class of 1920. Fiftieth Anniversary Report (Cambridge, 1970), pp. 183-184.

Image Source:  Harvard Class of 1920. Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report (Cambridge, 1945), p. 1046.

 

Categories
Chicago Courses Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Hayek’s Seminar “Equality and Justice”, 1950-51

 

When Friedrich Hayek came to the University of Chicago in 1950, he organized a faculty seminar to run for two consecutive quarters on the subject “Equality and Justice”. A draft of his letter announcing the seminar as well as its schedule and suggested bibliography are transcribed below. I have added in brackets any handwritten additions found in this material that otherwise was typed.

_____________________

Hayek’s Seminar Announcement to Colleagues

To

Walter J. Blum ✓

Ronald S. Crane ✓

Aaron Director ✓

Milton Friedman ✓

Robert M. Hutchins ✓

Harry Kalven Jr. ✓

Wilber C. Katz ✓

Frank H. Knight ✓

Edward H. Levi ✓

Hans J. Morgenthau ✓

Charner M. Perry ✓

Max Rheinstein ✓

Leo Strauss ✓

W. Allen Wallis ✓

 [handwritten additions]

Peter H. von Blanckenhagen [sp?] ✓

Daniel J. Boorstin ✓

John U. Nef ✓

Robert Redfield ✓

Edw. Shils

Yves R. Simon ✓

James R. Smith ✓

Abram L. Harris

 

October 23, 1950

            The first meeting of the seminar on “Equality and Justice”, which I shall be conducting for the Committee on Social Thought, will be held on Wednesday, October 25, at S.S.302. For the following few weeks the seminar will be held on alternate Wednesdays at the same time and place (alternating with Mr. T.S. Elliot’s seminar) and from November 22 on each Wednesday during the Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters.

A provisional program for the discussions of the seminar is enclosed.

It is my hope that the seminar can be conducted with the participation of members of all the various departments concerned, particularly a number of lawyers, economists, and philosophers, and that the discussion will be to some extent a iscussion among faculty members in front of the students, though of course without excluding the students from active participation. My belated arrival in Chicago has unfortunately made it impossible for me to discuss this plan with all those I had hoped personally to invite, and I can thus only at this very late moment inform you of the plan and say that I very much hope that you will be sufficiently interested to take part and that I shall be greatly honored by your presence.

(F.A.Hayek)

_____________________

COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL THOUGHT
Seminar
on
Equality and Justice

Provisional Outline of Program (Oct. 18, 1950)

1) Oct. 25

 Introduction: The problems and outline of program [Hayek]

A. Historical

2) Nov. 8

 The Classical and Scholastic Tradition: Commutative and Distributive Justice [Simons]

3) Nov. 22

[3a) Nov. 29]

 The Egalitarianism of the American and French Revolutions [Boorstin & Simon]
[Rousseau, Kant & the Utilitarians (Bentham & J. S. Mill)]

B. Systemic

(a) Ethical (The Morals of Equality)

4)

 The Meanings of Equality [Hayek]

5)

 Value Judgments and the Analysis of Conflicts of Value Tests of Moral Rules [What is the Test of a desirable Society? Shils]

6)

 Does Justice Presuppose Abstract Principles? The “feeling of right” and the Logic of the Law

(b) Legal (The practice of equality)

7)

 Equality before the law, the Rule of Law (Government of Laws not of Men), Certainty of the Law

8)

 Safeguards: Rights of Men, Division of Powers, Due Process

9)

 The Continental Tradition of the “Rechtsstaat” [, “Verwaltungsrecht”, Common Law, Case Law, (illegible phrase)     Rheinstein]

10)

 Natural Justice and Positive Law [Strauss]

(c) Economic (The Effects of Equality)

11)

 “Equality of Opportunity,” “Equal Starting Point” [Equality & Education]

12)

[12a]

 Equality and Incentives, “Equal Pay for Equal Work”
[Equal Bargaining Power]
“Equalising Wages”
[(I.L.O.) F.E.P.C., “Parity”, Whole Produce of Labour, Equality and Progress, Technological Change, Capital Formation]

13)

 “Just Price” [Knight]

14)

 Equality and the Family, Inheritance, Effects of Property on Inequality, “Unearned Income”

15)

 Progressive Taxation

16)

 Equality and Trade Unionism (Corporativism) [Director]

17)

 The Contribution of Welfare Economics [Friedman]

18)

 International Aspects of Equality, esp. Migration.

[Property and Inheritance]

[1) Reward & Merit]

_____________________

COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL THOUGHT
SEMINAR ON “EQUALITY AND JUSTICE”
(1950-51)

Bibliography

Lord Acton, The History of Liberty, 1904.
C. Bouglé, Les idées égalitaires, 1899.
E. F. Carrit, “Liberty and Equality,” Law Quarterly Review, 56, 1940.
F. S. Cohen, Ethical Systems and Legal Ideals, 1933.
A. V. Dicey, Relation between Law and Public Opinion, 1904.
F. D. Graham, Social Goals and Economic Institutions, 1945.
J. B. S. Haldane, The Inequality of Man.
F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, 1944 (esp. Chapt. VI).
“          Individualism and Economic Order, 1948 (First Essay)
“          “Scientism and the Study of Society,” Economica, 1942-44.
A. Huxley, Proper Studies, (Essay on Equality).
F. H. Knight, The Ethics of Competition, 1936.
“          Freedom and Reform, 1948.
J. S. Mill, Liberty, 1859.
“          Utilitarianism. 1863. (Chapt. on Justice).
Roscoe Pound, Spirit of the Common Law, 1921.
H. Sidgwick, Elements of Politics.
H. C. Simons, Economic Policy for a Free Society, 1948.
T. V. Smith, The American Philosophy of Equality, 1927.
J. F. Stephen, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, 1874.
J. Stone, The Province and Function of Law, 1950.
R. H. Tawney, Equality, 1931.
A. de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835.
“          Ancient Regime and the Revolution, 1856.
A. T. Williams, The Concept of Equality in the Writings of Rousseau, Bentham and Kant, 1907.
D. M. Wright, Democracy and Progress, 1948.

_____________________

COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL THOUGHT
Seminar on “Equality and Justice”
(Wednesday 8-10 p.m., SS 302)

PART II: Winter Quarter 1951

Provisional Date

Jan. 3

1. THE MEANINGS OF EQUALITY
D. Thompson, Equality, Cambridge University Press, 1949
R. H. Tawney, Equality, 3rd ed. London (Allen & Unwin) 1938
H. Rashdall, The Theory of Good and Evil, Oxford 1907, vol. I, ch. VIII
E. Brunner, Justice and the Social Order, New York (Harper) 1945
C. Bouglé, Les idées égalitaires, Paris 1899
G. Roffenstein, “Das soziologische Problem der Gleichheit”, Schmoller’s Jahrbuch, XLV, 1921

Jan. 17

2. VALUE JUDGMENTS AND SCIENCE. ANALYSIS OF CONFLICTS OF VALUE. TESTS OF DESIRABILITY OF SOCIAL SYSTEMS.
Max Weber, On the Methodology of the Social Sciences, ed. E. Shils, 1949.
Jan. 24

3. PRINCIPLES AND MORAL JUDGMENT. MORAL SENSE AND THE “FEELING OF JUSTICE”
J. H. Muirhead, Rule and End in Morals, Oxford 1932
J. Bonar, Moral Sense, London (Allen & Unwin) 1930
E. Riezler, Das Rechtsgefühl, Berlin (Walter de Gruyter) 1921
G. Ryle, “Knowing how and knowing that”, Proceed. Aristot. Soc., N.S. 46, 1945
Jan. 31 4. THE ETHICS OF SOCIALISM AND OF LIBERALISM
J. A. Hobson, Economics and Ethics (D. C. Heath) 1929
W. B. Gallie, “Liberal Morality and Socialist Morality”, Philosophy, XXIV, 1949
F. Tönnies, “Ethik und Sozialismus”, Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft, 1905
K. Pearson, The Moral Basis of Socialism. London 1885
Feb. 7 5. NATURAL JUSTICE AND POSITIVE LAW. CONCEPTS OF LAW AND JUSTICE
M. R. Cohen, Law and Social Order, 1933
J. Maritain, The Rights of Man and Natural Law, New York 1943
F. R. Bienenfeld, Rediscovery of Justice 1947
L. Duguit, Manuel de Droit Constitutionel, 1923
G. del Vecchio, La Guistizia, 1924 (trsl. Die Gerechtigkeit, Basel 1940)
F. S. Cohen, Ethical Systems and Legal Ideas, 1933
Feb. 21 6. THE “RULE OF LAW” (“RECHTSSTAAT”, “ETAT DU DROIT”, “STATO DI DIRITTO”) EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW. GENERALITY OF THE LAW (“RELEVANT DISTINCTIONS”). CERTAINTY OF THE LAW
J. Stone, The Province and Function of Law, Harvard Univ. Press 1950
W. I. Jennings, The Law and the Constitution, 3rd ed. 1943
W. Friedman, Legal Theory, 2nd ed. London 1949
F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, 1944
A. V. Dicey, Law of the Constitution, 7th ed. 1908
R. Gneist, Der Rechsstaat, Berlin 1872
F. Darmstaedter, Grenzen der Wirksamkeit des Rechtsstaates, 1930
F. Battaglia, “Stato Etico e Stato di Diritto”, Rivista Internationale di Filosofia di Diritto, XVII
G. Leibholz, Die Gleichheit vor dem Gesetz, Berlin 1925
C. A. Emge, “Sicherheit und Gerechtigkeit”, Abh. d. preuss. Akad. d. Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse, 1940, No. 9
H. W. R. Wadem, “The Concept of Legal Certainty”, Modern Law Review, IV, 1941
Feb. 28 LAW AND THE COURTS: DIVISION OF POWERS, APPLICATION AND CREATION OF THE LAW. DUE PROCESS
Literature as under 5 and 6
Mar. 7 8. ADMINISTRATION AND DISCRETION
J. Dickinson, Administrative Justice and the Supremacy of the Law, Harvard University Press, 1927
W. Robson, Justice and Administrative Law
J. Roland Pennock, Administration and the Rule of Law, New York, Farrar & Rinehart 1941

 

Source:  Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Friedrich A. von Hayek. Box 112, Folder 16.

Image Source: University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-02719, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final exam in Monetary Theory and Policy. Harris, 1934

 

The outlines and reading assignments for both the Fall and Spring terms of Seymour Harris’ undergraduate course “Money, Banking, and Cycles” have been transcribed for the academic year 1933-34. The final exam for the first term devoted to monetary theory and monetary policy has been posted separately..

 

_____________________________

Final Examination
Money, Banking, and Cycles
Seymour Harris

1933-34
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 3

Answer 1, 2, and THREE other questions.

  1. (One hour.) Contrast Keynes’ recent views on the value of money with his earlier views.
  2. Answer one of the following questions:
    1. What, in Akerman’s views, are the possibilities of averting economic crises? What are the most effective methods of doing so?
    2. Discuss the important issues raised by the restrictions of payments in Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars.
    3. Describe the attempts made in the last quarter of the nineteenth century to redress the Crime of 1873.
    4. What features of the early banking history of the United States contribute towards and explanation of the National Banking Act?
  3. Do movements in exchanges determine prices, or do prices determine the exchanges? Discuss and illustrate.
  4. What is the meaning of the purchasing power of money as used by three monetary theorists?
  5. “The severity of the World Depression may be attributed to the faulty working of the Gold Standard.” Discuss.
  6. Are monetary measures adequate to cope with a major business depression?

Final. 1934.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Examination Papers, Finals (HUC 7000.28, 76 of 284), [June?] 1934.

Image Source: Seymour Harris from Harvard Class Album, 1935.

Categories
Harvard Regulations

Harvard. M.A. and Ph.D. requirements in Economics, 1958

 

 

Some economists keep more extensive files from their departmental lives than others. John Kenneth Galbraith not only wrote faster than most folks read, but routine departmental business is laced with his  wit (when he writes) and fortified with other people’s memos and supplements that have been filed with as great a care as successive drafts of Galbraith’s own writings and correspondence.

For new visitors to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror, I should mention that my principal focus is the history of the organization and content of economics graduate education. Today we have an addition to the collection of “rules and regulations” governing the degree requirements for economists. It is only coincidental that this artifact has been recovered from the Galbraith papers. 

_____________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics, Littauer M-8

September 18, 1958

Dear Sir:

Enclosed is a copy of the latest departmental supplement. It includes all the latest revisions. Note especially the new requirement of the written General Examination, pp. 3-4.

Seymour E. Harris
Chairman

_____________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Supplement to the General Announcement*

[*To be read in conjunction with the Excerpts from the General Announcement and/or the General Announcement.]

 

Higher Degrees under the Department of Economics

The graduate program of the Department of Economics is designed both to provide students with a general graduate education in economics and to train them to undertake research in particular fields. While the Department has always stressed the importance of economic theory, history and statistics, its interest in abstract economics has always been tempered by its realization of the need to apply economics to the resolution of practical issues; it offers work also in mathematical economics and econometrics. As part of its empirical work, the Department, in cooperation with other branches of the University, operates and advanced statistical laboratory with the latest types of computational machines.

Students in economics are eligible for the regular Graduate School scholarships (see Excerpts from the General Announcement). The Henry Lee Memorial Scholarship is reserved specifically for students in Political Economy. At present, there are available ten to twenty scholarships yielding from $800 to $3,000. In addition, the Department hires annually about ten teaching fellows with stipends ranging from $880 to a maximum of $2,640. Ordinarily these appointments are available on a competitive basis to able student who have completed two years of graduate study in this Department.

The David A. Wells Prize is awarded annually for the best thesis on a subject which lies within the field of economics and is acceptable to the Department of Economics. Further details are available in the Department Office.

The Economics Club organized by graduate students meets regularly to hear speakers and to discuss problems of common interest.

 

HIGHER DEGREES IN ECONOMICS
Master of Arts (A.M.)

Prerequisites for Admission—Normally a distinguished undergraduate record and competence in a foreign language. Concentration in economics is not demanded, however, and persons with honor grades in their undergraduate work are welcomed. All applicants are urged to take the Aptitude Test of the Graduate Record Examination.

Residence—A minimum of two years: see General Announcement. The Department may waive up to one year of this requirement if a student has done graduate work elsewhere.

Program of Study—Four fields selected as follows from the fields listed below. Two fields, including Economic Theory, must be selected from Group A, and two must be chosen from Groups A, B and C (not more than one from group C).

GROUP A

(1) Economic Theory and Its History, with special reference to the Development of Economic Thought since 1776.
(2) Economic History since 1750, or some other approved field in Economic History.
(3) Statistical Method and Its Application.

 

GROUP B

(4) Money and Banking
(5) Economic Fluctuations and Forecasting.
(6) Transportation.
(7) Business Organization and Control.
(8) Public Finance.
(9) International Trade and Tariff Policies.
(10) Economics of Agriculture or Land Economics.
(11) Labor Problems.
(12) Socialism and Social Reform.
(13) Economic History before 1750.
(14) Consumption, Distribution, and Prices.
(15) Economics of Public Utilities.
(16) Social Security.
(17) Location and Regional Economics.
(18) Economics of Underdeveloped Areas.
(19) Forestry Economics.
(20) Any of the historical fields defined under requirements for the Ph.D. in History.
(21) Certain fields in Political Science listed under requirements for the Ph.D. in Political Science.

 

GROUP C

(22) Jurisprudence (selected topics).
(23) Anthropology.
(24) Philosophy (selected topics).
(25) History of Political Theory.
(26) International Law.
(27) Certain fields in Sociology defined under the requirements for the Ph.D. in Sociology.

Each student is required to submit for Departmental approval a plan showing four fields. The plan must be filed at the beginning of the third term of study on an official departmental form. Students may present for consideration of the Department reasonable substitutes for any of the fields named in the several groups.

Generally, students will take six courses, including one or two seminars, and two reading courses. During their first year of graduate study, students will normally take formal courses in theory, history, and statistics; but during their second year they are encouraged to take reading courses. These may consist of work under the direction of a member of the Faculty, or of independent work; in the latter case, the student must secure the approval of the Chairman of the Department.

Languages—A fluent reading knowledge, to be tested by a rigorous two-hour written examination, of advanced economic texts in one of the following languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, a Scandinavian language, or Russian.

A student may substitute mathematics for this requirement, in which case he must take an examination to show his capacity to read and understand the more elementary mathematics used in economics. This includes knowledge of analytic geometry and differential and integral calculus.

Examinations are given by the Department in the first week of November and March. This requirement should be fulfilled during the first term of residence, and must be fulfilled before the General Written Examination. A student who has twice failed a language or mathematics examination must present to the Department proof of further study before he can take the examination a third time.

General Examinations—Each student will take a General Written and a General Oral Examination, normally during his fourth term of residence.

The General Written Examination precedes the General Oral Examination and will consist of a four-hour comprehensive test in Economic Theory and its History. This examination will be given in March. A student whose graduate record at Harvard does not average at least B will not be allowed to take the General Written Examination.

The General Oral Examination is a two-hour examination in four fields selected in accordance with the rules stated under Program of Study. In his preparation for the examination, the student’s main purpose should be to provide himself with tools of analysis, to be aware of the contributions that theory, history, and statistics can make to the solution of economic problems, and to appreciate the relation of economics to other disciplines. A student who has not passed the General Written Examination cannot present himself for the General Oral Examination.

The General Oral Examinations are held throughout the academic year. The student should consult the Secretary of the Department six weeks in advance of the date upon which he proposes to be examined.

Thesis—None required.

 

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Prerequisites for Admission—In general, same as for the A.M.

Residence—Minimum of two years; see General Announcement.

Program of Study—Same as for the A.M., except that five fields are required, to be selected as follows. The three subjects in Group A are required, and two subjects from Groups B and C (not more than one from Group C). The student should include as one of his five fields the subject within which his thesis falls.

Languages—Two foreign languages selected from those listed under the requirements for the A.M. A test in one language must be passed before taking the General Written Examination and the other passed at least six months before the Special Examination. All candidates must offer French or German.

Mathematics may be substituted for the second language. For such substitution refer to rules for the A.M.

A student whose native language is not English may petition the Department to be excused from examination in the second language. He will then normally be examined in either French or German before taking his General Written Examination. In considering such petitions, account is taken of the amount of original economic literature in the student’s native language as well as of his general academic standing.

            General Examinations—Same as for the A.M. except that the General Oral Examination will cover five fields. The requirement of the fifth field is usually fulfilled by completing a full-year graduate course, other than Theory, in the Department of Economics at Harvard with the grade of B+ or higher. Seminars offered by the Graduate School of Public Administration are not acceptable for such “write-off” purposes. One half-course must have been completed in the write-off field with a grade of B+ or higher before the General Oral Examination. If the requirement for the write-off is not met prior to the General Oral Examination, all five fields must be offered.

Ordinarily students who have completed three terms of residence at Harvard are excused from the final examination in courses included in the fields presented for the General Oral Examination, provided it is passed after December 1 in the fall term, or after April 1 in the spring term, and before final course examinations are held, and provided it is passed with at least a grade of “Good”.

Thesis—The thesis should be written in one of the fields offered in the General Oral Examination and must show an original treatment of the subject and give evidence of independent research. The candidate must obtain written consent for his proposed topic from the faculty member who has agreed to supervise his thesis and must submit it to the Chairman within six months after passing the General Oral Examination. A student must make a report of progress on his thesis to the Department once a year until the thesis is submitted for approval. The thesis in final form together with a brief summary (4-10pp.) must be submitted within five years from the date of the General Oral Examination. Two bound copies of the thesis (the original and first copy) must be in the hands of the Department by December 1 for a degree at Mid-year and March 1 for a degree at Commencement.

Special Examination—After approval of the thesis, the candidate must pass an oral examination of one and one-half hours, not less than one-half hour to be devoted to intensive examination in the special field without primary reference to the thesis. No examinations are held during the summer.

 

Ph.D. IN BUSINESS ECONOMICS

The purpose of this degree is to combine the more general training in Economics with the technical training in business courses and to prepare students to teach in schools of business administration.

Prerequisites for Admission—Same as for the Ph.D. in Economics.

Residence—Same as for the Ph.D. in Economics.

Program of Study—The student should prepare himself in five fields chosen from the groups given below. Only two fields, including Economic Theory and its History, may ordinarily be chosen from Group A. In all cases the program of study must be approved by the Chairman of the Department of Economics. For advice on courses relating to business subjects, students should see Professor John Lintner of the Business School.

 

GROUP A

(1) Economic Theory and Its History, with special reference to the Development of the History of Economic Thought since 1776.
(2) Economic History since 1750.
(3) Public Finance and Taxation.
(4) Economics of Agriculture.

 

GROUP B

(5) Accounting.
(6) Marketing.
(7) Foreign Trade.
(8) Production.
(9) Money and Banking.
(10) Business Organization and Control.
(11) Transportation.
(12) Insurance.
(13) Statistical Method and Its Application.
(14) Economics of Public Utilities.
(15) Labor.

 

Languages—Same as for the Ph.D. in Economics.

General Examinations—Same as for the Ph.D. in Economics.

Thesis—Same as for the Ph.D. in Economics.

Special Examination—Same as for the Ph.D. in Economics.

Further information regarding courses and programs of study in Economics may be obtained by writing directly to the Chairman, Department of Economics, M-8 Littauer Center, Cambridge 38, Massachusetts. Inquiries concerning admission and scholarships should be addressed to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge 38, Massachusetts.

 

Source:  John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. John Kenneth Galbraith Papers, Series 5 Harvard University File, 1949-1990, Box 525, Folder “Harvard Dept of Econ: [Departmental Documents]”.

 

Categories
Courses Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Economic Aspects of War Course Organised by Harris, 1940

 

Nine of the Harvard economics faculty pulled together to offer students a course on the Economic Aspects of War in the second semester of the 1939-40 academic year. According to the annual enrollment statistics, 25 students were registered for the course (perhaps there were auditors?). The enrollment jumped to 116 in 1940-41 and then dropped back down to 66 (1941-42) and fell to 34 (1942-43) as the number of concentrators (as well as instructional staff) fell during the course of WWII.

Addition: The final examination for Economics 18b from 1940.

________________________

WAR’S ECONOMIC PHASES STUDIED IN NEW COURSE
Harvard Crimson
December 19, 1939

Will Analyze Changes in Economics Incurred by War, With Emphasis on Present Conflict

Plans for a course on “Economic Aspects of War” to be given in the second semester were revealed yesterday by Seymour E. Harris ’20, associate professor of Economics, following approval by the Faculty Committee on Instruction.

Harris said, “This course will analyze the rapid dislocation of economic variables that occur in war times, and during the transition to peace. War economics is a branch of economics like Industrial Organization or Money and Banking, giving the department a chance to use Economics in the treatment of problems that face the world today.”

Contents of the Course

The course will use the tools of economic analysis, applying them to the present problem. Economics of past wars; market organization, price control and rationing; money and banking in war times; the relation of money and public and private capital markets; and the relation of war to economic fluctuations will be dealt with in the lectures and reading.

Included in the discussion will be a study of the effects of war on international balance of payments, on the distribution of gold and on commercial policy; repercussions on agriculture; methods of finance in the war and post-war periods; effects of war upon the distribution of income and wealth; trade unionism, money and real wages and employment in war times; and, finally, transition to peace.

Harris will be in charge of the course. Professor Harold H. Burbank, Professor William L. Crum, Professor Alvin H. Hansen, Professor Edward S. Mason, Professor Joseph H. Schumpeter, Professor Sumner H. Slichter, Professor John H. Williams, and Paul M. Sweezy ’32, instructor in Economics, will share in the teaching.

________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 18b 2hf. Associate Professor Harris.–Economic Aspects of War.

Total 25: 16 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other.

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

________________________

Economics 18b
1939-40

In order to assure more continuity in the course it has seemed expedient to assign virtually all of the following books.

Bresciani-Turoni, The Economics of Inflation (G. Allen & Unwin).

Cannan, E., An Economist’s Protest.

(Not an assignment in any part but is suggested strongly.) The book deals with numerous problems chronologically and hence is not easily apportioned over the various sections of the course.

Clark, J. M., The Cost of the Great War to the American People.

Pigou, A. C., Political Economy of War.

Stamp, J., The Financial Aftermath of the War

 

E.J. = British Economic Journal.
J.R.S. = Journal of the Royal Statistical Society.

Q.J.E. = Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Proceedings = Proceedings of Academy of Political Science.

R.E.S. = Review of Economic Statistics.

 

Week 1 (Feb. 5-9)
INTRODUCTORY.
Professor Harris.

Plan, readings, bibliography; war economics in historical retrospect; peace versus war economics in broad outlines.

Assignment:

Pigou, A. C., Political Economy of War, pp. 1-71.

Important suggestions:

Slichter, S. H., “The Present Nature of the Recovery Problem,” Proceedings, 1940, pp. 2-15.

United States Government, Industrial Mobilization Plan (revision of 1939). Senate Document No. 134.

War Office, Statistics of Military Efforts of British Empire during the Great War 1914-20.

Wolf, F. B. “Economy in War Tim” in the volume War in the Twentieth Century, pp. 363-408.

Other suggestions:

Clapham, J. H., An Economic History of Modern Britain—An Epilogue, pp. 511-554.

Einzig, P., Economic Problems of the Next War (1939).

Higgins, B., “The Economic War since 1918” in the volume War in the Twentieth Century, pp. 135-90.

Manual of Emergency Legislation (G.B.) with four Supplements, 1914-17.

Noyes, A. D., The War Period of American Finance, Chs. I-III, pp. 1-162.

Possony, S. T., Tomorrow’s War, pp. 135-235.

Speier, H., and Kahler, A., War in Our Times, Chs. 4-7, pp. 78-171.

United States Council of National Defense, Reports 1917-8.

War Cabinet, Report of 1918, Cmd. 325 (1919).

Weeks 2-3 (Feb. 12-23)
INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION.
Professor Mason and Dr. Sweezy.

Industry in war time. Industrial planning for war. Priorities, rationing and price control. The War Industries Board. Techniques of price fixing with special reference to the iron and steel industries. Present prospects for raw materials, industrial capacity and prices.

Assignment:

Clark, J. M., Costs of the World War, Chs. 19-21, pp. 262-291.

Heckscher, E., Sweden in the World War, Part I, pp. 3-42.

Keynes, J. M., “Policy of Government Storage of Foodstuffs and Raw Materials,” E.J., 1938, pp. 449-460.

Mason, E. S., “the Impact of the War on American Commodity Prices,” R.E.S., November, 1939.

Pigou, A. C., Political Economy of War, pp. 112-160.

Taussig, F. W., “Price Fixing as Seen by a Price Fixer,” Q.J.E., Vol. 33, p. 205.

Important suggestions:

Baruch, B., American Industry in the War (1921).

Beveridge, W., British Food Control (1928).

Report of War Industries Board, American Industry in the War (1921).

Other suggestions:

Birkett, M. S., “Iron and Steel Trade during War,” R.S.J., 1920.

Clarkson, G.B., Industrial America in the World War.

Clynes, J. R., “Food Control in War and Peace,” E.J., 1920, pp. 147-155.

Cunningham, W. J., “Railroads under Governemnt Operation,” Q.J.E., Vol. 36, pp. 188 et seq. and Vol. 36, pp. 30 et seq.

Day, E. E., “The American Merchant Fleet,” Q.J.E., Vol. 34, pp. 567 et seq.

Emeny, B., The Strategy of Raw Materials.

Final Report of the Chairman of the United States War Industries Board. (Feb. 1919), pp. 1-111.

Fontaine, A., French Industry during the War.

Great Britain Select Committee on High Prices and Profits, Special Report and Evidence (1917).

Great Britain Departmental Committee on Prices, Interim Report on Committee Appointed to Investigate Prices, Cmd. 8358, Cmd. 8483 (1917-18).

Hines, W. D., War History of American Railroads.

Litman, S., Prices and Price Control in Great Britain during the Great War.

Lloyd, E. M. H., Experiments in State Control.

Mitchell, W. C., Prices and Reconstruction (1920).

Morse, L. K., “The Price Fixing of Copper,” Q.J.E., Vol. 33, pp. 71 et seq.

Nolde, Russia in the Economic War.

Noyes, A. D., The War Period of American Finance, Ch. V (Mobilisation of American Industry), pp. 215-78.

Staley, E., Raw Materials in Peace and War (Council on Foreign Relations 1937).

Surface, M., Grain Trade during War (1921).

Scott, W. R., and Cunnison, J., The Industries of the Clyde Valley during the War.

War Industries Board, History of Prices during the War, W. C. Mitchell.

War Industries Board, International Price Comparisons, W. C. Mitchell.

War Trade Board, Government Control over Prices, P. W. Garrett.

Zagorsky, State Control of Industry in Russia during the War.

Zimmern, D., “The Wool Trade in War Times,” E. J., 1918, pp. 7-29.

Weeks 4-5 (Feb. 26-Mar. 8)
MONEY AND BANKING IN WAR TIMES.
Professors Williams and Hansen.

Objectives of monetary policy; weapons (including rationing); inflationary tendencies; relations of money and private and public capital markets.

Assignment:

Bresciani-Turoni, Economics of Inflation, Chs. 2 and 4, pp. 41-120, 145-182; VI, pp. 224-252.

Important suggestions:

Final Report, Committee on Currency and Foreign Exchange, (Cunliffe), (1919).

Hawtrey, Monetary Reconstruction.

Heckscher, Sweden in the World War, Part III (Monetary History), pp. 129-266.

Other suggestions:

Cannan, E., The Paper Pound of 1797-1821.

Cassel, G., Money and Foreign Exchanges after 1914, pp. 1-62.

Dulles, E. L., The French Franc 1914-28.

Edie, L. D., “The Influence of War on Prices,” Proceedings, 1940, pp. 34-46.

Edgeworth, Currency and Finance in Times of War.

Foxwell, H. S., Papers on Current Finance (1919), pp. 34-68.

Graham, F., and Whittlesey, R., Golden Avalanche.

Indian Exchange and Currency Commission, Report, Evidence and Appendices, Cmd. 527-9 (1920).

Rogers, J. H., Process of Inflation in France 1914-27, Ch. 1-4, 6-8.

Week 6 (Mar. 11-15)
RELATION OF WAR TO ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS.
Professor Schumpeter

Effects on consumption and investment demand; innovations; costs; employment, etc.

Assignment:

Bresciani-Turoni, Economics of Inflation, Chs. V, pp. 183-223; VII, pp. 253-281.

Important suggestions:

Clay, H., The Post-War Unemployment Problem, Ch. 1, pp. 1-24.

Other suggestions:

Graham, F. D., Exchange Prices and Production in Hyper-Inflation Germany. Part IV (Effects on German Economy), pp. 241-328.

Mills, F., Economic Tendencies in the United States, Ch. V., pp. 186-241.

 

Week 7 (Mar. 18-22)
EFFECTS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE.
Professor Harris

Balance of payments and gold; exchange policy; commercial policy.

Assignment:

Bresciani-Turoni, Economics of Inflation, Chs. 1, pp. 23-41; 3, pp. 120-145.

Bullock, Williams, and Tucker, “Balance of Trade during the War,” in Taussig, Readings in International Trade, pp. 198-206.

Harris, S. E., “Gold and the National Economy,” R.E.S., February, 1940.

Hawtrey, R.G., Monetary Reconstruction, pp. 12-22.

Pigou, A. C., Political Economy of War, pp. 161-89.

Important suggestions:

Einzig, P., “The Unofficial Market in Sterling,” E.J., 1939, pp. 670-77.

Keynes, J. M., Tract on Monetary Reform, Chs. III, IV, pp. 81-192.

Other suggestions:

Bergendal, Sweden in the World War: Trade and Shipping Policy, pp. 43-128.

Cassel, G., Money and Foreign Exchanges, pp. 63-100, 137-186.

Dulles, E. L., The French Franc, 1914-28, Ch. 8, pp. 322-361.

Ellix, H., German Monetary Theory, Part III.

Graham, F., Exchanges, Prices, etc. in Germany, Parts II-III, pp. 97-241.

Holden, G., “Rationing and Exchange Control in British War Finance,” Q.J.E., February, 1940.

Loans to Foreign Governments, Senate Document No. 86 (1921).

Reparations and Inter-Allied Debt. Cmd. 1812 (1923).

 

EFFECTS ON AGRICULTURE.
Professor Harris.

Supply, demand, prices, etc.

Assignment:

Clark, J. M., The Costs of the War, Ch. 15, pp. 227-35.

Important suggestions:

Black, J. D., “The Effect of the War on Agriculture,” Proceedings, 1940, pp. 54-60.

Other suggestions:

Bernhardt, J., “Government Control of Sugar during the War,” Q.J.E., Vol. 33, pp. 672 et seq; “Transition of Control of Sugar to Competitive Conditions,” ibid., Vol. 34, pp. 720 et seq.

Eldred, W., “the Wheat and Flour Trade under Food Administration,” Q.J.E., Vol. 33, pp. 1 et seq.

Hibbard, B. H., Effects of the Great War upon Agriculture in the United States and Great Britain.

Reconstruction Committee, Agricultural Policy, Cmd. 9079, (1918).

Royal Commission on Wheat Supplies, First Report, Cmd. 1544 (1921).

 

Weeks 8-9 (Mar. 25-29)
PUBLIC FINANCE.
Professor Burbank.

Methods of Financing a war: Borrowing vs. taxes; tax policies, distribution of burden; management of public debt.

Assignment:

Bullock, C. J., “Financing the War,” Q.J.E., Vol. 31, pp. 357 et seq.

Clark, J. M., The Costs of the World War to the American People, Chs. 5-8, pp. 69-118.

Keynes, J. M., “The Income and Fiscal Potential of Great Britain,” E.J., 1939, pp. 626-35.

Pigou, A. C., Political Economy of War, pp. 71-112.

Important suggestions:

Clapham, J. H., “Loans and Subsidies in Times of War, 1793-1914,” E.J., 1917, pp. 493-501.

Edgeworth, Currency and Finance in Time of War.

Foxwell, H. S., Papers on Current Finance, pp. 1-33.

Great Britain Select Committee on National Expenditures, Reports 1917-22, Present and Pre-War Expenditures, Cmd. 802 (1920).

Keynes, J. M., Monetary Reform, Ch. II, pp. 46-81.

Keynes, J. M., Essays in Persuasion, Part I, pp. 3-76.

“Report of Committee on War Finance of the American Economic Association, A.E.R., Supplement, 1919, pp. 1-128.

Other suggestions:

Bogart, E. L., Direct and Indirect Costs of the Great World War (1919).

Fraser, Sir D., “The Maturing Debt,” R.S.J., 1921.

Jeze, G., and Truchy, H., The War Finance of France.

Mallet and George, British Budgets 1913-21.

May, G. O., “Economic Effects of Tax Policy in Peace and War,” Proceedings, 1940, pp. 61-68.

Moulton and Pasvolsky, World War Debt Settlements, pp. 1-425.

Noyes, A.D., The War Period of American Finance, Ch. IV, pp. 162-214.

Rogers, J. H., The Process of Inflation in France, Ch. V., pp. 48-88.

Silberling, N. J., “Financial and Monetary Policy of Great Britain during Napoleonic Wars,” Q.J.E., Vol. 38, pp. 214 et seq., 397 et seq.

Speier, H., and Kahler, A., War in Our Times, Chs. 8-11, pp. 171-245.

Sprague, O. M. W., “Conscription of Income,” E.J., 1917, pp. 1-25.

Stamp, J., Taxation during the War.

Warren, R., “War Financing and Its Economic Effects,” Proceedings, 1940, pp. 69-76.

 

EFFECTS OF WAR ON DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME AND WEALTH
Professor Crum

Assignment: Read two of the following:

Allen, J. E., “Some Changes in Distribution of National Income during War,” R.S.J., 1920.

Clark, J. M., The Costs of the Great War to the American People, Chs. 10-12, pp. 150-80.

Ezekiel, M., “An Annual Estimate of Savings by Individuals,” R.E.S., 1937, pp. 178-191.

Keynes, J. M., Tract on Monetary Reform, Chs. 1 (Consequences to Society of Changes in Value of Money), pp. 3-45.

Samuel, H., “Taxation of Various Classes of People,” R.S.J., 1919.

Select Committee on Increase of Wealth, Proceedings, Evidence, Appendices, H.C. 102 (1920).

Important suggestions:

Mitchell, W., C., Income in the United States (1921).

Other suggestions:

Bowley, A. L., “Measurement of Changes in Cost of Living,” R.S.J., 1919.

Leven, M., Moulton, and Warburton, America’s Capacity to Consume (1934), Chs. I-IX.

Stamp, J., Wealth and Taxable Capacity, pp. 1-191.

 

Week 10 (April 15-18)
EFFECTS ON LABOR.
Professor Slichter.

Trade unionism; money and real wages and employment.

Assignment:

International Labour Review, November 1939: Articles on “Labour in War Times,” pp. 589-615, 654-687.

Monthly Labour Review, October, 1939: “American Labour in World War,” pp. 785-95.

Slichter, S. H., Economic Factors Affecting Industrial Relations Policy in War Period (Industrial Relations Counselors), 32 pp.

Robinson, E. A. G., “Wage Policy in War Time,” E.J., 1939, pp. 640-55.

Important suggestions:

Cannan, E., “Industrial Unreset,” E.J., 1917, pp. 453-70.

Makower, H., and Robinson, H. W., “Labour Potential in War-Time,” E. J., 1939, pp. 656-662.

Other suggestions:

Bowley, Arthur L., Prices and Wages in the United Kingdom (Oxford, 1921).

Cole, G. D. H., Trade Unionism and Munitions.

Cole, G. D. H., Self-Government in Industry (1918).

Douglas, P., Real Wages in the United States (selected parts).

Gompers, Samuel, American Labor and the War (1919).

Hammond, M. B., British Labor Conditions and Legislation during the War (1919).

Hanna, Hugh S., and Lauck, W. Jett, Wages and the War (1918).

Industrial Unrese, Cmd. 8696 (1917-18).

Kirkaldy, A. N., ed., British Association for Advancement of Science: Labour, Finance and War (1917).

Lescohier, Don D. The Labor Market (1919), Part II.

Lorwin, Lewis L., The American Federation of Labor, Part III.

National Industrial Conference Board, Changes in Wages, September, 1914 to March, 1920.

National Industrial Conference Board, Problems of Labor and Industry in Great Britain, France and Italy (1919).

Proceedings, 1918-1920, “War Labor Policies and Reconstruction,” pp. 139-358.

Speier, H., and Kahler, A., War in Our Times, Ch. 12, pp. 245-269.

United States Council of National Defense, An Analysis of the High Cost of Living Problem.

United States Council of National Defense, Shortage of Skilled Mechanics (1918).

United States Department of Labor, Bulletins No. 244 and 257. Labor Legislation of 1917 and 1918.

United States Department of Labor, History of the Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board, 1917 to 1919.

United States Department of Labor, Reports 1918-1921.

United States Department of Labor, The New Position of Women in American Industry (1920).

United States Department of Labor, Industrial Efficiency and Fatigue in British Munition Factories.

United States Railroad Administration, Report of the Railroad Wage Commission.

Watkins, Gordon S., Labor Problems and Labor Administration in the United States during the World War (1919).

Webb, Sidney, The Restoration of Trade Union Conditions (B. W. Huebsch, 1917).

Wolman, L., Ebb and Flow of Trade Unionism, Chs. 2-3, pp. 15-32.

Wolman, L., Growth of American Trade Unions 1880-1923, Chs. 3-4, pp. 67-97.

 

Weeks 11-12 (April 22-)
TRANSITION TO PEACE (an attempt at integration).
Professor Harris.

Problems of costs, prices, money, international trade, public debt and taxation, wages, employment and output, agriculture and the distribution of the burden.

Assignment:

Bresciani-Turoni, The Economics of Inflation, Ch. X (Stabilization Crisis), pp. 359-98.

Clapham, J. H., “Europe after the Great Wars, 1816-1920”, E. J., 1920, pp. 423-36.

Pigou, A. C., Political Economy of War, pp. 161-182, 189-238.

Stamp, J., Financial Aftermath of War, Chs. I-III, V, pp. 9-88, 117-37.

Important suggestions:

Committee on National Debt and Taxation (Colwyn) Report.

Hawtrey, R. G., Monetary Reconstruction, pp. 55-91, 122-175.

Keynes, J. M., Economic Consequences of Peace.

Report of Committee on National Debt and Taxation, pp. 233-246 (Burden of Debt), 246-297 (Capital Levy), 297-351 (Taxes and Debt Redemption)

Scott, W. R., Economic Problems of Peace after War. Second Series.

Other suggestions:

Bonn, M. J., Stabilisation of Mark (1922).

League of Nations, Austria Financial Reconstruction, Summary Report 1926.

Macrosty, H. W., “Inflation and Deflation in the United States and United Kingdom 1919-23,” R. S. J., 1927.

Moulton and Pasovolvsky, World War Debt Settlements (Brookings).

Snowden, P., Labour and national Finance.

Stamp, J., Current Problems I Finance and Government, Ch. XI (The Capital Levy), pp. 227-71.

 

READING PERIOD.
Read one of the following:

Committee on National Debt and Taxation (Colwyn) Report.

Graham, F., Exchanges, Prices, etc. in Germany.

Hawtrey, Monetary Reconstruction.

Keynes, Economic Consequences of Peace.

Mitchell, W., Income in the United States (1921).

Moulton and Pasvolvsky. World War Debt Settlements.

Rogers, Process of Inflation in France, 1914-27.

Scott, W. R., Economic Problems of Peace after War, Second Series.

Speier, H., and Kahler, A., War in Our Times.

Stamp, J., Wealth and Taxable Capacity.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. HUC 8522.2.1 Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1939-40 (1 of 2)”.

Image Source: Seymour E. Harris from Harvard Class Album 1942.

Categories
Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Money, Banking, and Cycles, Seymour Harris, 1933-34

The course at Harvard on Money, Banking and Commercial Crises was usually co-taught by Professor John Williams with junior people. In 1933-34 Assistant Professor Seymour Harris was solely responsible for teaching the course. Interesting to note is that Harris clearly preferred to speak of “cycles” to “crises”, at least judging by the slight change in the course title for that year alone.

The mid-year exam is posted here.

The final exam for the course in May or June of 1934 has been transcribed in a later post.

Here a link to the syllabus for the Williams/Harris 1937-38 syllabus and exam.

_______________________________

 

[From the Course Catalogue]

Economics 3. Money, Banking, and Cycles

Th., Th., at 12, and a third hour to be arranged. Asst. Professor Harris.

Source: Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 1933-34 (Second Edition). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 30, No. 39, Sept. 20, 1933, p. 125.

_______________________________

 

[Course Enrollment: Economics 3, 1933-34]

3. Asst. Prof. Harris.—Money, Banking, and Cycles.

2 Graduates, 40 Seniors, 73 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 3 Others:   Total 127

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments for 1933-34, p. 84

_______________________________

 

ECONOMICS 3
Outline, 1933-1934

Important Books

Burgess: Reserve Banks and the Money Market.
Clare: The ABC of Foreign Exchanges.
Dunbar: Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking.
Fisher: The Purchasing Power of Money.
Hardy: Credit Policies of the Federal Reserve System.
Harris: Twenty Years of Federal Reserve Policy.
Hawtrey: Currency and Credit (Third edition).
Hawtrey: Trade Depression and the Way Out.
Keynes: Tract on Monetary Reform.
Keynes: Treatise on Money.
Lavington: The English Capital Market.
League of Nations: Final Report on Gold.
Pigou and Robertson: Economic Essays and Addresses.
Robertson: Money (Revised edition—Seventh). [1926 edition]
Withers: Meaning of Money.  [3rd ed. 1914]

 

A. BANKING

I. The Banks and Industry (September 26—October 14)

Lecture 1. The banks and industry.
Lecture 2. The banks and the price level.
Lecture 3. Forced savings.
Lecture 4. Banks and the capital market.
Lecture 5. The banks and speculation.
Lecture 6. The movement of bank deposits and the problem of bank failures.

Assignment:

Dunbar: Chapters 1-5.
Keynes, Treatise on Money: Vol. I, pp. 23-43; Vol. II, pp. 49-79.
Robertson: Chapter 5 (Money and Saving), pp. 85-108.

 

II.  Central Banking and Banking Policy (October 17—November 18)

Lecture 7. Peculiarities of central banking
Lecture 8. Rate policy
Lecture 9. Open market policy
Lecture 10. Moral suasion
Lecture 11. Eligibility
Lecture 12. Policy in boom times
Lecture 13. Policy in war times
Lecture 14. Policy in depressed times
Lecture 15. Coöperation between central banks
Lecture 16. The Federal Reserve Act

Assignment:

Burgess: Chapters 3-5, 9-14.
Hardy: Pp. 74-179.
Harris: Chapters 8, 9, 42, 44.

 

III. Banking Abroad (November 21—December 23)

Lecture 17. English banking before 1844
Lecture 18. The Bank Act of 1844
Lecture 19. English banking, 1844-1914
Lecture 20. English banking, 1914-1928
Lecture 21. English banking, 1928-1933
Lecture 22. German banking before the War
Lecture 23. German banking since the War
Lecture 24. French money market and the Bank of France
Lecture 25. Canadian Banking

Assignment:

Withers: Meaning of Money.
Keynes, Treatise: Vol. II, pp. 225-262.
Lavington: Pp. 125-182.

 

HOUR EXAMINATION: Thursday, November 2

Reading Period:

Read ONE of the following:

Sprague: Crises.
Andreades: History of the Bank of England: Pp. 1-72, 161-407.
Hawtrey: The Art of Central Banking: Pp. 116-303.

________________

 

B.  MONEY

IV. The Pure Theory of Money (February 6—March 3)

Lecture 1. What is money?
Lecture 2. How to measure the value of money.
Lecture 3. The Fisherian quantity theory.
Lecture 4. The old Cambridge quantity theory.
Lecture 5. Keynes’ theory of the value of money—the level of efficiency earnings.
Lecture 6. Keynes, continued—Savings and investments and the value of money.
Lecture 7. Keynes, continued—The price level of investment goods.

Assignment:

Robertson: Chapters 1-3, pp. 1-63.
Fisher: Pp. 8-73.
Keynes, Treatise: Vol. I, Pp. 53-79, 221-233.
Hawtrey, Currency and Credit: Chapters 3-4, pp. 30-60.

 

V. Monetary Policy (March 13—April 21)

Lecture 8. The gold standard before the War
Lecture 9. The gold standard since the War
Lecture 10. The silver standard
Lecture 11. The gold exchange standard in theory
Lecture 12. The gold exchange standard in practice
Lecture 13. Inconvertible paper money—value at home
Lecture 14. Inconvertible paper money—value abroad
Lecture 15. Inconvertible paper money—other problems
Lecture 16. Problems of stabilization
Lecture 17. Monetary and non-monetary factors in the British situation
Lecture 18. The British situation, continued, and some discussion of the French situation
Lecture 19. Monetary problems of the British Dominions
Lecture 20. Monetary and non-monetary factors in the American situation

Assignment:

Keynes: A Tract on Monetary Reform: Chapters 1, 3, 4.
Pigou and Robertson: Pp. 116-138.
Hawtrey, Trade Depression and the Way Out: Pp. 1-84.
League of Nations, Final Report on Gold: Pp. 1-57.

 

VI. The Theory of the Cycle (April 24—May 5)

Lecture 21. A monetary theory of the cycle–Hawtrey
Lecture 22. Non-monetary theories of the cycle—Schumpeter and Pigou
Lecture 23. Semi-monetary theory—Keynes.
Lecture 24. Robertson’s criticisms of the monetary theories

Assignment:

Clare: The ABC of the Foreign Exchanges (Discussed under V—Monetary Policy)

HOUR EXAMINATION: Thursday, March 15

Reading Period:

Read ONE of the following:

Hawtrey, Currency and Credit: Part 2.
Ackerman, Economic Progress and Economic Crises
Laughlin, History of Bimetallism.
https://archive.org/details/historybimetall00goog
White, Money and Banking: Pp. 60-193, 232-369.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. HUC 8522.2.1, Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1933-1934”.

Image Source: Seymour Harris from the Harvard Album 1935.

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Harvard

Harvard. Economics Seminary Schedules. 1929-32.

An earlier posting provides lists of presenters for the Economic Seminary for the years 1891-1908.  This posting provides the lists of announced presenters for the final three years of the seminary.

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Seminary Meetings in 1929-30
Professor Bullock

Sept. 30          Harvard Union

Oct. 14            S.E. Harris, “Monetary Policy of the British Dominions since 1914.”

Oct. 28            W. E. Beach, “Bank Policy and Gold Movements in England from 1880 to 1914.”

Nov. 4              J. P. Wernette, “Fiscal Reorganization in the United States of Colombia.”

Nov. 25           F. W. Taussig, “German Economic Periodicals and Works of Reference.”

Dec. 9            H. D. White, “International Balance of Payments of France.”

Feb. 3             W. Z. Ripley, “Railroad Consolidation.”

Feb. 17           C. S. Joslyn, “A Proposed Statistical Measurement of Vertical Occupational Mobility.”

March 8          T. J. Kreps, “The Chemical Phase of the Industrial Revolution.”

March 31       D. V. Brown, “Family Allowances.”

April 28          J. H. Williams, “Reparations and the International Flow of Capital.”

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Seminary Meetings in 1930-31
Professor Gay

Sept. 29         Harvard Union

Oct. 15           University Film Foundation, “The Availability of Motion Pictures for Instruction in Economic History and Economic Resources”.

Oct. 29            O. H. Taylor, “The Present Position and Prospects of Economic Theory”.

Nov. 5            Professors Bullock, Ripley, and Black, “Graduate Study and Research in Economics”.

Nov. 19          H. D. White, “The American Rayon Industry, a Product of Protection”.

Dec.   3           Professor Schumpeter, “Financial Policy of Germany since 1919″.

Dec. 17           Professor W. E. Eckblaw, Professor of Economic Geography, Clark University, “Russia To-day”.

Jan. 7             A. E. Monroe, “Land as a Consumers’ Good”.

Jan. 21            (Reading period)

Feb. 4              (Exam. period)

Feb. 18           D. H. Wallace, “The Aluminum Monopoly in the U.S.”

March 4         W. C. Mitchell, “Cyclical Behavior of Factors in Business”.

March 11       L. B. Currie, “The Commercial Loan Theory of Banking”.

March 25       Dr. B. M. Squires, “The Administration of Public Employment Offices”.

April 1             Dr. J. J. de Stoop, “The Merger Movement in Belgium”.

April 8             Dr. Mabel C. Buer, Lecturer in Economics at the University of Reading, England, “The Relation between Industrial Development and Vital Statistics in England”.

April 22          Major Lyndall Urwick, Director of the International Management Institute at Geneva, “The International Organization of Economic Study”.

April 29          Professor T. S. Adams, Yale University, “The Treatment of Capital Gains and Losses under the Federal Income Tax”.

May 6            Professor J. D. Black, “Interregional Competition in Production”.

May 20          (Reading period)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV 349.10), Box 25. Folder “Economics Seminary 1925-33”.

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Seminary Meetings in 1931-32
Professor Carver

Second and fourth Monday of month

Oct. 5          Members of teaching staff

Oct. 19        Dr. E. Dana Durand, United States Tariff Commission, “The Business Depression”.

Oct. 26        Mr. J. P. Wernette, “Politics and Finance in Peru”.

Nov. 9          Mr. J. B. Crane, “Aviation”.

Nov. 23       Professor W. Z. Ripley, “National Economic Planning.”

Dec. 14        Dr. J. F. Normano, “South America Today: An Attempt at an Economic ‘Characteristique’.

Jan.  11        Dr. L. B. Currie, “The Nature of Credit”.

Feb.  8         Dr. B. C. Hunt, “The English Joint Stock Company 1800-1862”.

Feb. 15        Dr. Mordecai Ezekiel, Assistant Chief Economist of the Federal Farm Board, “Stability vs. Flexibility as Means to Economic Adjustment”.

Feb. 29       Dr. C. J. Ratzlaff, “The Theory and Practice of the International Labor Organization of the League of Nations”

Mar  14       Dr. Leontief, “Postive and Normative Approaches in Economic Theory”

Mar  28       Mr. K. L. Anderson, “Thornstein Veblen’s Economics”.

Apr.  11       Mr. Ejnar Jensen, “International Monetary and Technological Influences on European Agricultural Development since 1870”.

Apr.  18       Dr. Wilhelm Kromphardt, A. O. Professor of Economics, University of Münster, “The Relation of Economic Evolution to Economic Theory and Its Application”.

Apr. 25       Mr. N. R. Danielian, “Recent Developments in the Electric Light and Power Industry in the U.S.”

May 9          Professor Charles S. Collier, Professor of Law in George Washington University, “Public Utility Valuation.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV 349.10), Box 25. Folder “Economics Seminary 1925-33”.