Tag: Marget

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Columbia Economist Market Economists Harvard

Harvard and Columbia. President of Harvard headhunting conversation regarding economists. Mitchell and Mills, 1936

The following typed notes were based on a conversation that took place on February 21, 1936 regarding possible future hires for the Harvard economics department. President James B. Conant (or someone on his behalf) met with Columbia university professors Wesley C. Mitchell and his NBER sidekick, Frederick C. Mills. This artifact comes from President Conant’s administrative records in the Harvard Archives.

In the memo we find a few frank impressions of members of the Harvard economics departments together with head-hunting tips for established and up-and-coming economists of the day.

An observation that jumps from the paper is the identification pinned to the name Arthur F. Burns, namely, “(Jew)”. Interestingly enough this was not added to Arthur William Marget (see the earlier post Harvard Alumnus. A.W. Marget. Too Jewish for Chicago? 1927.) nor to Seymour Harris.  

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[stamp] FEB 25, 1936

ECONOMICS

Confidential Memorandum of a Conversation on Friday, February 21, with Wesley [Clair] Mitchell and his colleague, Professor [Frederick Cecil] Mills (?) of Columbia

General impression is that the Department of Economics at Harvard is in a better state today than these gentlemen would have thought possible a few years ago. The group from 35-50 which now faces the future is about as good as any in the country. [Edward Hastings] Chamberlin, [John Henry] Williams,[Gottfried] Haberler and Schlichter [sic, [Sumner Slichter] are certainly quite outstanding. Very little known about [Edward Sagendorph] Mason;  he seems to have made a favorable impression but no writings. [Seymour Edwin] Harris slightly known, favorable but not exciting.

[John Ulric] Neff admitted to be the best man in economic history if we could get him. Names of other people in this country mentioned included:

[Robert Alexander] Brady — University of California, now working on Carnegie grant on bureaucracy; under 40.

Arthur [F.] Burns at Rutgers (Jew) now working with the Bureau of Economic Research and not available for 3 or 4 years. Said by them to be excellent.

Henry Schultz of Chicago, about in Chamberlin’s class and age, or perhaps a little better.

[Arthur William] Marget of Minnesota, Harvard Ph.D., I believe; well known, perhaps better than Chamberlin. Flashy and perhaps unsound. (Mitchell and Mills disagree to some extent on their estimate of his permanent value but agree on his present high visibility).

Winfield Riffler [sic, Winfield William Riefler], recently called to the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, probably one of the most if not the most outstanding of the younger men.

Morris [Albert] Copeland of Washington; good man but not so good as Chamberlin.

Giddons [sic, Harry David Gideonse?] of Chicago, very highly thought of by Chicago people but has not written a great deal; supposed to be an excellent organizer.

C. E. [Clarence Edwin] Ayres, University of Texas, about 40; in N.R.A. at Washington. Mitchell thinks very highly of him.

England

[Theodore Emmanuel Gugenheim] Gregory, at London School of Economics, about 50, same field as Williams but not so good. Mills more favorable than Mitchell.

Other outstanding young Englishmen:

[Richard F.] Kahn, Kings College, Cambridge

F. Colin [sic, Colin Grant] Clark, of Cambridge

Lionel Robins [sic, Lionel Charles Robbins] of London, age 35, rated very highly by both Mills and Mitchell

F. A. Hayek, another Viennese now in London; spoken of very highly by both Mills and Mitchell.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Records of President James B. Conant, Box 54, Folder Economics, “1935-1936”.

Image Sources: Wesley Clair Mitchell (left) from the “Original Founders” page at the website of the Foundation for the Study of Business Cycles; Frederick C. Mills (right) from the Columbia Daily Spectator, Vol. CVIII, No. 68, 11 February 1964.

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Chicago Economic History Harvard NYU Pennsylvania Wisconsin

Minnesota. Interview about banking/financial historians. Heaton, 1955

In an earlier post we are provided with a glimpse of Minnesota professor Herbert Heaton’s wit in his answer to the question “What are economic historians made of?“. In preparing that post, I came across the following 1955 interview that provided some background assessments of economic historians who he judged might have been interesting for a Brookings project on the history of the Federal Reserve System.

A 2007 tribute from the Newsletter of the Economic History Association has been appended to this post for further biographical/career information.

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Backstory to Heaton Interview

In 1954, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded a grant to the Brookings Institution to undertake “a comprehensive history of the Federal Reserve System.” The collection consists of documents gathered or generated between 1954 and 1958, during the course of the Committee’s work.

MA (the interviewer below) was Mildred Adams “a New York journalist specializing in economic affairs”.

“Deputy Treasurer of the United States W. Randolph Burgess expressed his interest in writing a “definitive” history of the Federal Reserve System when he retired from federal service….”

“On January 21, 1954, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded a grant of $10,000 to the committee for an ‘exploratory study of the historical materials relating to the Federal Reserve System.’ The grant was to be administered by Brookings.”

“From January 1954 to June 1956, Mildred Adams served as research director of the project….Meanwhile, however, Burgess had been appointed under secretary of the Treasury and decided that he would not be able to start the planned comprehensive history any time soon. The committee spent the next two years searching for an able economic historian to assume direction of this major study.”

“By the spring of 1956, the committee’s failure to find a qualified scholar and Allan Sproul’s retirement from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and subsequent resignation as chairman of the committee caused problems. With no historian, the committee redefined its goals and requested the Rockefeller Foundation to relieve the committee of its obligation to write a ‘definitive’ major study and instead allow it to encourage smaller, topical studies of the Federal Reserve System.”

Source:  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. FRASER. Committee on the History of the Federal Reserve System: Guide to the Brookings Institution Archives.

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Notes from interview with Herbert Heaton

June 11, 1955

Internal Memorandum

Interview with Dr. Herbert Heaton, Professor of Economic History at the University of Minnesota

I went out to see Dr. Heaton on a Saturday morning at his home in Minneapolis and found him a charming Yorkshireman with a delightful sense of humor and a wide knowledge of both economics and history. Were he a little younger, he might prove to be the ideal person to do this work, although I have not yet read his books. I discussed the whole project with him in detail and then asked for any suggestions of people he might have for our purposes.

Dr. Heaton confirmed what we have already found, namely that the field is a rather arid one in the realm where history and economics meet. He himself had been on the committee which set up the economic history group with which Professor Arthur Cole of Harvard works. He agreed with Dr. [Walter W.] Stewart that that had rather worked itself out, though he said that the Hidys [Ralph Willard Hidy and Muriel E. (Wagenhauser) Hidy] were doing good work in their chosen field. They are to spend this summer in Minneapolis working on the Weyerhauser Lumber business.

Dr. Heaton said that John [K.] Langum was a brilliant student in the Harvard Business School. He had a minor in economic history and a fine historical sense.

He suggested that we talk to [Charles] Ray Whittlesey of the Wharton School who is interested in banking history. He thought that Whittlesey might have useful recommendations and called him one of the best insofar as historical interests in economic matters are concerned.

He spoke of Herman Kruse [sic, Herman E. Krooss] of New York University as someone who wrote well on financial history. He said that Mr. Kruse had energy, capacity and ability to handle material, but he seemed to think that he was lacking in tact, and he was not quite sure what he might do with an assignment in this project.

A young man named Robert Jost, now at Minnesota doing a doctor’s thesis on the Chatfield Bank, may be a possibility later on in the project, depending on what he makes of the Chatfield Bank. It is a small bank in Minnesota which, for some fortunate reason, has kept all its records and is making a very interesting study.

At the University of Wisconsin Dr. Heaton said that Rondo Cameron was working on the Credit Mobilier in Paris was worth watching. This again is a matter of seeing what he turns out.

He said that [Walter] Rostow at M.I.T., who has been devoting himself to business cycles, would ask the right questions of the material. Rostow has a quick mind and the right range of interests for this project. Oxford and Cambridge had both invited him for next year. His research expert is Mrs. [Anna] Schwartz. His brother [Eugene Rostow] is Dean of the Law School at Yale. In Dr. Heaton’s opinion, Mr. Rostow ought certainly to be explored.

Dr. Heaton says that Arthur Marget is someone he has known in the past as being brilliant on history or theory. He did not know that Mr. Marget had now gone to the Board and wondered if this might rule him out so far as the international sphere is concerned.

He also spoke of Frank A. Knox, who got his Ph.D at the University of Chicago and now writes reviews in the Canadian Journal of Economic and Political Science. Mr. Knox has not published much, but he is worth watching in Dr. Heaton’s opinion.

Dr. Heaton promised to keep the project in mind. He will talk with his associates about it and will send us any other suggestions which come up in the course of his work at the University of Minnesota.

We explored the things which he himself was doing, and he said that he had just turned 65 and did not believe that one should take on these big projects after that age. I had the feeling that he might, however, be interested in the project sufficiently so that he would take a piece of it. I had no authority to discuss it with him at that time, but I think this is worth considering. As a beginning, it might be worthwhile to read his “Economic History of Europe.”

MA:IB

Source:  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. FRASER. Committee on the History of the Federal Reserve System.

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Past Presidents of the EHA:
Herbert Heaton

Herbert Heaton was one of the founding members of the Economic History Association, serving as one of its two inaugural vice presidents, ascending to the presidency in 1949, and remaining active in the association until his death. Along with E.A.J. Johnson and Arthur Cole, he drafted a grant application to the Rockefeller Foundation, which resulted in a $300,000 award in December of 1940. The grant financed research in economic history over the next four years. Heaton was a member of the original board of trustees of the EHA. Each of the five original members went on to serve as president of the association: Edwin F. Gay (1941-42), Heaton (1949-50), Earl J. Hamilton (1951-52), E.A.J. Johnson (1961-62), and Shepard B. Clough (1969).

Heaton was active in the formation of the EHA and was personally responsible for the recruitment of most of the members from the Midwest. He was an enthusiastic scholar of the evolution and applications of economic history, authoring several articles on the history of the discipline and a biography of Edwin Gay, the first president of the EHA. In an article entitled “Clio’s New Overalls,” published in The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science(November, 1954), Heaton was one of the first authors to discuss the marriage of clio and its metric partner in regard to the study of economic history. His discussion of the metric side of the equation was anything but enthusiastic however. Instead, he criticized the tendency of young scholars to use technical tools to make precise measurements of what he considered to be inaccurate data.

Heaton was born in England on June 6, 1890, the son of a blacksmith. He studied history and economics at the University of Leeds, earning his B.A. in 1911. He earned his M.A. in 1912 from the London School of Economics before accepting a position as assistant lecturer in economics under (Sir) William Ashley at the University of Birmingham. While there, he earned another Masters degree in 1914. He then moved to Australia and began a post as lecturer in history and economics at the University of Tasmania.

While in Tasmania Heaton developed the study of economics and encouraged research into Australian economic history. His controversial comments on the war provoked the censure of the more conservative elements of the Tasmanian press and public. In 1917 he moved to the University of Adelaide where he expanded the economics discipline and developed the diploma of commerce. Once again his liberal opinions aroused the ire of the conservative business class. Heaton argued that capitalism was the root of all the evils of individual and corporate life. He subscribed to the Marxist belief that capitalism would eventually give way to socialism. Consequently, the university refused to establish a degree in economics while Heaton led the discipline. As a means of preserving his academic career, he accepted a chair of economic and political science at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario in 1925. He stayed in Canada for two years before moving to the University of Minnesota, where he remained until he retired in 1958.

In 1936, Heaton compiled his research on Europe and published the Economic History of Europe, which was for a long time the standard text on the subject. Heaton said that he wrote the book especially for students with no background in economic history. He summed up economic history as the story of how man has worked to satisfy his material wants, in an environment provided by nature, but capable of improvement, in an organization made up of his relations with his fellows, and in a political unit whose head enjoys far-reaching power to aid, control, and appropriate. Such lofty views of the discipline were what made Heaton such a dedicated and valuable member of the Economic History Association.

Herbert Heaton died on January 24, 1973 in Minneapolis, survived by his three Australian-born children and his wife Marjorie Edith Ronson. He was an active scholar to the end of his life, publishing his ninth and final article in the JEH in June of 1969, nearly 28 years after his first JEH appearance.

Sources

Archives of the Economic History Association, Hagley Museum, Wilmington, DE.

Blaug, Mark, ed., Who’ s who in economics: a biographical dictionary of major economists, 1700-1986, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986, 2nd ed.

Bourke, Helen, “Heaton, Herbert (1890-1973),” Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 9, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp. 250-251.

Cole, Arthur H., “Economic History in the United States: Formative Years of a Discipline,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Dec., 1968), pp. 556-589.

de Rouvray, Cristel, “‘Old’ Economic History in the United States: 1939- 1954,” Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Vol. 26, No. 2 (June, 2004), pp. 221-39.

Harte, N.B., “Herbert Heaton, 1890-1973: A Biographical Note and a Bibliography [Obituary],” Textile History Vol. 5 (1974), p. 7.

Payne, Elizabeth, “Herbert Heaton,” term paper for Professor Robert Whaples, Wake Forest University, 2006.

Selected writings of Herbert Heaton

“Heckscher on Mercantilism,” The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 45, No. 3 (June, 1937), pp. 370-93.

“Rigidity in Business Since the Industrial Revolution,” The American Economic Review, Vol. 30, No. 1, Part 2, Supplement, Papers and Proceedings of the Fifty-second Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (Mar., 1940), pp. 306-313.

“Non-Importation, 1806-1812,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Nov., 1941), pp. 178-98.

“The Early History of the Economic History Association,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 1, Supplement: The Tasks of Economic History (Dec., 1941), pp. 107-09.

“Recent Developments in Economic History,” The American Historical Review, Vol. 47, No. 4 (July, 1942) pp. 727- 46.

“The Making of an Economic Historian,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 9, Supplement: The Tasks of Economic History (1949), pp. 1-18.

“Clio’ s New Overalls,” The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Nov., 1954), pp. 467-77.

“Twenty-Five Years of the Economic History Association: A Reflective Evaluation,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Dec., 1965), pp. 465-79.

Modern economic history, with special reference to Australia, Melbourne: Macmillan & Co., 1925.

A history of trade and commerce, with special reference to Canada, Toronto: T. Nelson & Sons, 1928.

The British Way to Recovery: Plans and Policies in Great Britain, Australia, and Canada, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1934.

Economic History of Europe, New York: Harper, 1948.

A Scholar in Action, Edwin F. Gay, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952.

 

Source: Past Presidents of the EHA: Herbert Heaton, The Newsletter of the Economic History Association (ed. Michael Haupert), No. 31 (December 2007), pp. 16-18.

Image Source: Newsletter of the Economic History Association, No. 31 (December 2007), p. 16.

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Economists Harvard

Harvard. 24 Ph.D. candidates examined 1926-27

In one box at the Harvard Archives (Harvard University/Examinations for the Ph.D. [HUC7000.70]), I found an incomplete run of published Ph.D. examination announcements for the Division of History and Political Science [later Division of History, Government, and Economics] from 1903-04 through 1926-27. Earlier I transcribed the announcement for 1915-16. Today’s posting gives us (1) the date of the scheduled general or special Ph.D. examinations (2) the names of the examination committee (3) the subjects of the general examination, and (4) the academic history of the examinees for two dozen economics Ph.D. candidates examined during the academic year 1926-27.

The largest shadows cast by members of this cohort belong to the (later) Harvard economics professor Edward H. Chamberlin and the co-author of The Modern Corporation and Private Property, Gardiner C. Means. Laughlin Currie and Harry Dexter White also belonged to this cohort of examinees.

Fun fact: Richard Vincent Gilbert was the father of Walter Myron Gilbert, Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1980.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D.
1926-27

Notice of hour and place will be sent out three days in advance of each examination.
The hour will ordinarily be 4 p.m.

James Ackley Maxwell.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, October 25, 1926.
General Examination passed, October 30, 1923.
Academic History: Dalhousie University, 1919-21; Harvard College, 1921-23; Harvard Graduate School, 1923-27. B.A., Dalhousie, 1921; A.M., Harvard, 1923. Assistant Professor of Economics, Clark University, 1925-.
General Subjects: 1. Money and Banking. 2. Economic Theory and its History. 3. Economic History to 1750. 4. Statistics. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Burbank, A. H. Cole, and Usher.
Thesis Subject: A Financial History of Nova Scotia, 1848-99. (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock, Burbank, and Usher.

Kan Lee.

Special Examination in Economics, Thursday, October 28, 1926.
General Examination passed, January 6, 1926.
Academic History: Tsing Hua College, China, 1917-20; University of Missouri, 1920-22; University of Chicago, summer of 1921; Harvard Graduate School, 1922-27. B.J., Missouri, 1922; A.B., ibid., 1922; A.M., Harvard, 1924
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. Public Finance. 4. International Trade and Tariff Problems. 5. History of the Far East. 6. Socialism and Social Reconstruction.
Special Subject: Socialism and Social Reconstruction.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), James Ford, Mason, and Young.
Thesis Subject: British Socialists: Their Concept of Capital. (With Professor Carver.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Carver, Mason, and Young.

Donald Wood Gilbert.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, October 29, 1926.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Crum, Gay, McIlwain, and Williams.
Academic History: University of Rochester, 1917-21; Harvard Graduate School, 1923-25. A.B., Rochester, 1921; M.A., ibid., 1923. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1924-25; Instructor in Economics, Rochester, 1925-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Statistical Method and its Application. 4. History of Political Theory. 5. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 6. Commercial Crises.
Special Subject: Commercial Crises.
Thesis Subject: Undecided.

Arthur William Marget.

Special Examination in Economics, Thursday, January 20, 1927.
General Examination passed, May 24, 1923..
Academic History: Harvard College, 1916-20; Cambridge University, England, fall term, 1920; London School of Economics, winter term 1920-21, University of Berlin, summer term 1921; Harvard Graduate School, 1921-27 A.B., Harvard, 1920; A.M., ibid., 1921. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1923-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Socialism and Social Reform. 3. Public Finance. 4. Statistical Method and its Application. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money and Banking.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), A.H. Cole, Taussig, and Williams.
Thesis Subject: The Loan Fund: A pecuniary approach to the problem of the determination of the rate of interest.. (With Professor Young.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Young, Taussig, and Williams.

Richard Vincent Gilbert.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, February 9, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Crum, Monroe, Usher, and Woods.
Academic History: University of Pennsylvania, 1919-20; Harvard College, 1920-23; Harvard Graduate School, 1923-. B.S., Harvard, 1923; M.A., Harvard, 1925. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1923-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Money and Banking. 3. Statistics. 4. Economic History since 1776. 5. History of Ancient Philosophy. 6. Theory of International Trade.
Special Subject: Theory of International Trade.
Thesis Subject: Theory of International Trade. (With Professor Taussig.)

Melvin Gardner deChazeau.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, February 21, 1927.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), A.H. Cole, Crum, Demos, and Young.
Academic History: University of Washington, 1921-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. A.B., Washington, 1924; M.A., ibid., 1925. Instructor and Tutor, Harvard, 1926-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Statistics. 4. Money and Banking. 5. Ethics. 6. Regulation of Public Utilities.
Special Subject: Regulation of Public Utilities.
Thesis Subject: Undecided.

Donald Milton Erb.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, February 25, 1927.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Burbank, Gay, Morison, and Williams.
Academic History: University of Illinois, 1918-22, 1923-25; Harvard Graduate School. 1925-. S.B., Illinois, 1922; S.M., ibid., 1924. Assistant in Economics, Illinois, 1923-25.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Sociology. 4. Public Finance. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Transportation.
Special Subject: Transportation.
Thesis Subject: Railroad Abandonments and Additions in the United States since 1920. (With Professor Ripley.)

Douglass Vincent Brown.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, March 2, 1927.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, Ford, Persons and Schlesinger.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1921-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. A.B., Harvard, 1925; A.M., ibid., 1926.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistics. 3. Sociology. 4. Money, Banking, and Crises. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Labor Problems.
Special Subject: Labor Problems.
Thesis Subject: Restriction of Output. (With Professors Taussig and Ripley.)

Mark Anson Smith.

Special Examination in Economics, Friday, April 8, 1927.
General Examination passed, May 11, 1916.
Academic History: Dartmouth College, 1906-10; University of Wisconsin, 1911-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1915-17. A.B., Dartmouth, 1910; A.M., Wisconsin, 1913. Instructor in Economics at Simmons College, 1916-17.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Money, Banking, and Crises. 4. Economics of Corporations. 5. American Government and Constitutional Law.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, Usher, and Williams.
Thesis Subject: Economic Aspects of the Duties on Wool, with special reference to the period, 1912-1924. (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Taussig, A. H. Cole, and Usher.

Lauchlin Bernard Currie.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, April 11, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Burbank, A.H. Cole, Usher, and Wright.
Academic History: St. Francis Zavier College, 1921-22; London School of Economics, 1922-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. B.Sc., London, 1925.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking, and Crises.
Thesis Subject: Monetary History of Canada, 1914-26. (With Professor Young.)

Harry Dexter White.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, April 14, 1927.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Dewing, Elliott, Monroe, and Usher.
Academic History: Columbia University, 1921-23; Stanford University, 1924-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. A.B., Stanford, 1924; A.M., ibid., 1925. Instructor in Economics, Harvard, 1926-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. Economic History since 1750. 4. Economics of Corporations. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. International Trade .
Special Subject: International Trade.
Thesis Subject: Foreign Trade of France. (With Professor Taussig.)

Margaret Randolph Gay.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, April 15, 1927.
Committee: Professors Usher (chairman), A.H. Cole, McIlwain, Taussig, and Young.
Academic History: Radcliffe College, 1918-22, 1922-23, 1925-. A.B., Radcliffe, 1922; A.M., ibid., 1923.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. International Trade. 4. Economic History after 1750. 5. Political Theory. 6. English Economic History before 1750.
Special Subject: English Economic History, 1485-1750.
Thesis Subject: The Statute of Artificers, 1563-1811. (With Professor Gay.)

(Mary) Gertrude Brown.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, April 28, 1927.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Elliott, Taussig, Williams, and Young.
Academic History: Mount Holyoke College, 1920-24; Columbia University, summer of 1924; Radcliffe College, 1924-. A.B., Mount Holyoke, 1924; A.M., Radcliffe, 1926. Assistant in Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1924-26. Tutor, Bryn Mawr Summer School, 1926.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 3. Money, Banking, and Crises. 4. Comparative Modern Government. 5. Labor Problems. 6. Economic History since 1750.
Special Subject: Economic History since 1750.
Thesis Subject: The History of the American Silk Industry. (With Professor Gay.)

Eric Englund.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, May 2, 1927.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Black, Dickinson, Usher, and Young.
Academic History: Oregon Agricultural College, 1914-18; University of Oregon, summers of 1915, 1916, and 1917; University of Wisconsin, 1919-21; University of Chicago, summer of 1920; Harvard Graduate School, 1926-. B.S., Oregon Agricultural College, 1918; A.B., University of Oregon, 1919; M.S., Wisconsin, 1920. Professor of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State Agricultural College, 1921-26.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. Economics of Agriculture. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Thesis Subject: Studies in Taxation in Kansas. (With Professor Bullock.)

Walter Edwards Beach.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 4, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Baxter, A.H. Cole, Dewing, and Williams.
Academic History: State College of Washington, 1919-20; Stanford University, 1920-22; 1923-24, Harvard Graduate School, 1925-26. A.B., Stanford, 1922; A.M., Harvard, 1926. Instructor in Economics, Bowdoin, 1926-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economics of Corporations. 3. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking, and Crises.
Thesis Subject: International Gold Movements in Relation to Business Cycles. (With Professor Young.)

Ram Ganesh Deshmukh.

Special Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 5, 1927.
General Examination passed, May 13, 1926.
Academic History: Wilson College, India, 1912-17; Bombay University Law School, 1917-20; Harvard Graduate School, 1922-27. B.A., Bombay University, 1917; LL.B., ibid., 1920; A.M., Harvard, 1924.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Economics of Agriculture. 4. Sociology. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Burbank, A.H. Cole, and Williams.
Thesis Subject: State Highways in Massachusetts. (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock (chairman), Burbank, and A.H. Cole.

Charles Donald Jackson.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 5, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Black, Crum, Merk, and Taussig.
Academic History: Leland Stanford Junior University, 1915-16; Northwestern University, 1916-17, 1919-21; University of Wisconsin, summer of 1920 and 1921; Harvard Graduate School, 1921-22, 1924-. S.B., Northwestern, 1920; M.B.A., ibid., 1921; A.M., Harvard, 1925.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Agricultural Economics. 3. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 4. Statistics. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking, and Crises.
Thesis Subject: Agricultural Credit. (With Professor Young.)

Elmer Joseph Working.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 6, 1927.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Crum, Morison, Williams, and Young.
Academic History: University of Denver, 1916-17, 1918-19; George Washington University, 1917-18; University of Arizona, 1919-21; Iowa State College, 1921-23; University of Minnesota, 1922-23, second half-year; Brookings Graduate School, 1924-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-26. B.S., Arizona, 1921; M.S., Iowa, 1922. Assistant professor of Economics, University of Minnesota, 1926-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistical Method and its Application. 3. Money, Banking, and Crises. 4. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Economics of Agriculture.
Special Subject: Economics of Agriculture.
Thesis Subject: The Orderly Marketing of Grain. (With Professor Taussig.)

Gardiner Coit Means.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 12, 1927.
Committee: Professors Williams (chairman), Baxter, A.H. Cole, Dewing, and Gay.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1914-18; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. A.B., Harvard, 1918.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 3. Economics of Corporations. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking, and Crises.
Thesis Subject: Fluctuations in New England’s Balance of Trade. (With Professor Williams.)

Bishop Carleton Hunt.

Special Examination in Economics, Friday, May 13, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), W.M. Cole, Gay, McIlwain, and Williams.
Academic History: Boston University, 1916-20; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-27, summers of 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1925. B.B.A., Boston University, 1920; A.M., Harvard, 1926. Professor of Commerce, Dalhousie University, 1920-; Lecturer in Economics, Nova Scotia Technical College, 1920-23.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. International Trade. 4. Accounting. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Money and Banking.
Special Subject: Money and Banking.
Thesis Subject: Underwriting Syndicates and the Supply of Capital. (With Professor Young.)

Edward Hastings Chamberlin.

Special Examination in Economics, Friday, May 20, 1927.
General Examination passed, May 22, 1924.
Academic History: State University of Iowa, 1916-20; University of Michigan, 1920-22; Harvard Graduate School, 1922-27. B.S., Iowa, 1920; M.A., Michigan, 1922. Instructor in Economics, Iowa, summer of 1921. Assistant in economics, Harvard, 1922-. Tutor in Economics, ibid., 1924-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistics. 3. Accounting. 4. Economic History. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Modern Theories of Value and Distribution.
Special Subject: Modern Theories of Value and Distribution.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Monroe, Taussig, and Williams.
Thesis Subject: The Theory of Monopolistic Competition. (With Professor Young.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Young, Carver, and Taussig.

Christopher Roberts.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, May 23, 1927.
General Examination passed, April 3, 1925.
Academic History: Haverford College, 1916-18, 1919-21; Harvard Graduate School, 1921-27. S.B., Haverford, 1921; A.M., Harvard, 1922. Assistant in Economics, Harvard 1922-25; Tutor in Economics, ibid., 1925-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. International Trade and Finance. 3. Statistics. 4. International Law. 5. Public Finance. 6. Economic History since 1750.
Special Subject: Economic History since 1750.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Burbank, A.H. Cole, and Usher.
Thesis Subject: The History of the Middlesex Canal. (With Professor Gay.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Gay, A.H. Cole, and Cunningham.

Clayton Crowell Bayard.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 25, 1927.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), James Ford, Hanford, Taussig, and Usher.
Academic History: University of Maine, 1918-22; Harvard Graduate School, 1924-. A.B., Maine, 1922; A.M., Harvard, 1925. Assistant in Social Ethics, Harvard, 1925-26; Tutor in Social Ethics, ibid., 1926-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History before 1750. 3. Socialism and Social Reform. 4. American Labor Problems. 5. Municipal Government. 6. Sociology.
Special Subject: Sociology and Social Problems.
Thesis Subject: Undecided.

Dorothy Carolin Bacon.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 26, 1927.
Committee: Professors Persons (chairman), Carver, Crum, Gay and Holcombe.
Academic History: Simmons College, 1918-19; Radcliffe College, 1919-22, 1923-24, 1926-. A.B., Radcliffe, 1922; A.M., ibid., 1924. Assistant in Economics, Vassar College, 1924-25. Instructor in Economics, ibid., 1925-26.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Sociology. 3. History of Political Theory. 4. Statistics. 5. Economic History. 6., Money, Banking and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking and Crises.
Thesis Subject: A Study of the Dispersion of Wholesale Commodity Prices, 1890-1896.  (With Professor Persons.)

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1926-1927”.

Image Source:  Photo of Emerson Hall (1905). Harvard Album, 1920. 

Categories
Chicago Economists Harvard

Harvard Alumnus. A.W. Marget. Too Jewish for Chicago? 1927.

Harvard economics Ph.D. (1927), Arthur William Marget (1899-1962), went on to teach at the University of Minnesota (ca 1927-1941) after which he began his second career as an economist at the Fed in Washington, D.C. Of particular interest in this posting is the reference letter sent by Allyn Young to the University of Chicago that is both glowing and explicit about his assistant’s handicap—“one of the chosen people”, i.e. a Jew.

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From the AEA 1957 Handbook of Members

Marget, Arthur William, Bd. of Gov. Fed. Res. System, Washington 25, D.C. (1926 [began membership in AEA]) Bd. of Gov. of Fed. Res. System, dir., Div. of Int. Fin.; b. 1899; A.B., 1920, A.M., 1921, Ph.D., 1927, Harvard; 1920, Univ. of Cambridge; 1921, Univ. of London; 1921, Univ. of Berlin. Fields 7a [Money, Credit, and Banking: Monetary Theory and Policy], 9b [International Economics: Foreign Exchange, International Finance], 2c [History of Economic Thought]. Doc. dis. Loan fund: pecuniary approach to problem of determination of rate of interest. Pub. Theory of prices (Prentice-Hall, 1938, 1942); “Leon Walras and ‘Cash balance approach’ to problem of value of money,” J. P. E., 1931; “Monetary aspects of Schumpeterian system,” Rev. of Econ. and Statis., 1951. Dir. W. W. in Amer., Dir. of Amer. Schol.

 

Source: American Economic Review, Vol. 47, No. 4. Handbook of the American Economic Association (July, 1957), p. 189.

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[ALLYN ABBOTT] YOUNG’S COMMENTS ON A. W. MARGET

[undated, Either 1926 or 1927. A typed copy of an excerpt from a letter by Young]

“The man who has been my assistant for the past three years is taking his degree this year. He has written a very brilliant thesis on “The Loan Fund: A Pecuniary Theory of Interest.” In erudition and cleverness he is as good as any man I have ever had, although I do not think he strikes as deeply in his thinking as the best of them. He graduated at the head of his class at Harvard, and was Phi Beta Kappa Marshal. Harvard sent him abroad on a traveling fellowship for a year, and he has been here for five subsequent years. He writes well and teaches well. All in all he is easily the best product we are turning out this year, and with the exception of James Angell he is as good as we have turned out in years. Now you will ask, ‘What’s wrong?’ His name is A. W. Marget and he is one of the chosen people. More than that he looks it. He is brilliant, loyal, and so good a teacher that he is quite popular among the Harvard undergraduates. The only thing that stands between him and success is his race. If you don’t fill your place next year, you might do worse than to take him on for a year’s trial.”

Source: University of Chicago Archives. Department of Economics, Records. Box 38, Folder 1.

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PRICE GREENLEAF AWARDS MADE
Fifty-Four Freshmen Received Benefits From Endowment Fund.

Fifty-four members of the Freshman Class have been awarded Price Greenleaf aid assignments for 1916-17. These awards represent part of an annual appropriation of $16,000 given to the University by the bequest of Ezekiel Price Greenleaf, of Quincy, who is also the founder of ten Price Greenleaf scholarships.

The income of the Price Greenleaf fund is distributed in sums from $100 to $250 a year, to undergraduates in the first year of their residence and to deserving students who have not succeeded in the competition for scholarships.

A subsequent award will be made in February to some other first year students of high standing. Following are those who have received the awards:

…Arthur William Marget…

 

Source: The Harvard Crimson, November 1, 1916.

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ADMISSION EXAMINATION HONOR LIST ANNOUNCED
Boston Latin School Leads Number With Exeter Second and St. Paul’s and Newton Third.

The Committee on Admission has issued a list of the Freshmen whose entire entrance examination records have attained an average grade of work worthy of honorable mention. This is published in accordance with a vote of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, June 2, 1914, authorizing the Committee on Admission to publish each year after the September examinations, a list of those candidates for admission who passed this examination with high grades. This list also gives the names of the students’ schools and the titles of any scholarships they may have received. Boston Latin School leads this year with nine representatives on the list. Exeter is second with seven, and St. Paul’s School, of Concord, N. H., and Newton High School come next with four apiece….

… Arthur William Marget, Boston Latin, (Price Greenleaf Aid)…

 

Source: The Harvard Crimson, November 25, 1916.

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Marget Elected Marshal of Scholars

Arthur William Marget 1G, of Roxbury, has been elected First Marshal of the Phi Beta Kappa Society at the University, an office which each year goes to the student ranking highest in his studies. Marget completed the College course in three years, graduated with the class of 1919, and is now attending the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Source: The Harvard Crimson, November 12, 1919.

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Image Source: Arthur William Marget in Harvard Album 1928.