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Harvard. Year-end exams. Money, Banking, Commercial Crises. Young, 1921-27

 

Today’s artifacts come from the roaring ’20s. Besides his courses in economic theory, Allyn A. Young taught a year long course at Harvard, “Money, Banking and Commercial Crises”. Before presenting enrollment figures and the exams for Young’s Economics 3, I have assembled a chronology that identifies the course instructors over the entire period 1911-1946. Links are provided to the related artifacts that have been transcribed here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. 

The chronology is followed by Young’s course description for 1924-25. Presumably there was a mid-year exam for the course, but these were not included in the printed collection of final course examinations. It is possible that the questions have been limited to the second-semester’s course content. This is something that definitely deserves checking.

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Chronology of the Harvard economics course
“Money, Banking and Commercial Crises”

This two semester course was the product of merging the one semester course “Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade” (Economics 12) with the two semester sequence “Money” and “Banking and Foreign Exchange” (Economics 8a and 8b, respectively).

The new course “Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises” (Economics 8, then 3, and later 41) was a staple of economics course offerings for the next 35 years.

Economics 8

1911-12 taught by E.E. Day

Economics 3

1912-13, 1913-14 taught by E.E. Day.

Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises (1914-15) taught by Benjamin M. Anderson.

1915-16 taught by Norman John Silberling

Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises (1917-18) taught by Benjamin M. Anderson.

1918-19, 1919-20 taught by A. E. Monroe.

1920-21 through 1926-27 taught by Allyn A. Young. Year-end exams transcribed below.

1927-28 through 1931-32 taught by John H. Williams

1932-33 taught by John H. Williams, Joseph Schumpeter and Lauchlin Currie.

1933-34 [course title: Money, Banking, and Cycles] Seymour Harris

1934-35, 1935-36 taught by John H. Williams and Seymour Harris

Economics 41

1936-37  taught by John H. Williams and Seymour Harris

Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises (1937-38) John H. Williams and Richard V. Gilbert.

1938-39 to 1941-42 taught by John H. Williams and Seymour Harris

1942-43, 1943-44 taught by Alvin Hansen and John H. Williams

1944-45 first semester taught by Schumpeter, second semester by Hansen and Williams

1945-46 Economics 41 morphed back into a two semester course “Money and Banking” taught by John H. Williams with a new one term course “Business Cycles” taught by Alvin Hansen.

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Course Description, 1924-25

[Economics] 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2. Professor Young.

In this course money and credit will be studied with special reference to the part they play in the present economic system. The principal problems of public policy with respect to the control of money and banking will be discussed. Foreign exchange, organized speculation in its relation to the money market, and the characteristic phenomena of commercial crises will be considered in some detail. The course will be conducted by means of lectures, discussions, frequent short reports or exercises on assigned topics, and (in the second half-year) a thesis based on work in the library. Certain subjects, such as the monetary and banking history of the United States, will be covered almost wholly by assigned reading, tested by written papers.

Source:  Division of History, Government and Economics 1924-25 published in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 21, No. 22 (April 30, 1924), p. 67.

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Enrollment, 1920-21

[Economics] 3. Professor Young —Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.

Total 148: 6 Graduates, 34 Seniors, 67 Juniors, 26 Sophomores, 3 Freshmen, 30 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1920-21, p. 19.

 

Year-end examination, 1920-21
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

  1. What is a dollar?
  2. In what manner and why were bank reserves inelastic under the national banking system? What were the consequences?
  3. Discuss the relation of overproduction to crises, distinguishing carefully different types of overproduction.
  4. Outline the sequence of events in a typical business cycle.
  5. Define: federal reserve bank note, gold-exchange standard, “value of money.”
  6. In what different ways may federal reserve notes be issued?
  7. Explain and discuss the “equation of exchange.”
  8. Describe and explain the dominating position the London money market held before the war.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1921 (HUC 7000.28, No. 63), Papers Set for Final Examinations [in] History, Church History,…,Economics,…, Fine Arts, Music. June, 1921, p. 56.

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Course announcement, 1921-22

[Economics] 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises

Mon., Wed., Fri., at 1.30. Professor Young.

Source:  Harvard University, Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year, 1921-22 (Third Edition),p. 109.


Year-end examination, 1921-22
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

  1. Draw up a statement showing the condition of a national bank. Explain the meaning of the various items.
  2. Under what conditions is a large surplus an indication of a bank’s strength? How may it be an indication of weakness?
  3. To what classes of persons are rising prices advantageous? To what classes are they disadvantageous?
  4. Define: gold exchange standard, banker’s acceptance, finance bill, bimetallism, index number.
  5. What do you take to have been the causes of the fall of prices between 1874 and 1896?
  6. Why were “surplus reserves” under the national banking system normally exceedingly small?
  7. State and explain the Ricardian theory of gold movements. Are the recent movements of gold from Europe to the United States explainable by the Ricardian principle?
  8. What relation was there between the Bank Act of 1844 and the controversies of the restriction period?
  9. If the weight of the gold dollar were reduced by half would prices be doubled? Explain your reasoning.
  10. “The bulk of the acceptance business arising out of the foreign trade of the entire world has for many years been conducted in London.” Explain what this statement means and why it is true.

Final. 1922

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1922 (HUC 7000.28, No. 64), Papers Set for Final Examinations[in] History, Church History,…,Economics,…, Social Ethics, Education. June, 1922.

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Enrollment, 1922-23

[Economics] 3. Professor Young—Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.

Total 129: 6 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 75 Juniors, 11 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 3 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1922-23, p. 92.


Year-end examination, 1922-23
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

  1. Define: money of account, standard of deferred payments, inflation, gold-exchange standard, discounting.
  2. Give an account of the life-history of a typical commercial long bill of exchange, as used in international trade.
  3. Discuss the nature and significance of the par of exchange between two countries when one has a gold standard and the other has (a) a gold standard, (b) a silver standard, (c) inconvertible paper.
  4. Is New York City likely to become the center of the world’s foreign exchange markets? Discuss.
  5. In what ways are federal reserve notes and clearing-house loan certificates alike? In what ways are they unlike?
  6. Professor W. C. Mitchell holds that prosperity breeds a crisis because of (a) the gradual increase in the costs of doing business, and (b) the accumulating tension of the investment and money markets. Explain and discuss.
  7. Was the federal reserve system responsible for the rise of prices between 1917 and 1920 and for the subsequent drop? Discuss.
  8. In what ways do the federal reserve banks effect (a) regional and (b) national clearings?
  9. On what grounds is it generally held that a larger use of bank acceptances in this country is desirable?

Final. 1923.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1923 (HUC 7000.28, No. 65), Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions,…,Economics,…, Social Ethics, Anthropology. June, 1923.

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Enrollment, 1923-24

[Economics] 3. Professor Young—Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.

Total 119: 2 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 81 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 5 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1923-24, p. 106.

 

Year-end examination, 1923-24
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

Answer nine questions.

  1. Explain the first and either the second or the third of these theories of the business cycle: (1) the “banking theory”; (2) Hobson’s theory of over-saving; (3) Fisher’s theory of the lagging adjustment of interest.
  2. “It thus appears that the Bank of England’s official rate is often through long periods a mere empty symbol, leaving no actual relation to the real price of money in London; and only becomes effective, and a factor in the monetary position when…” When?
  3. Draw up a statement showing the principal items which enter into the balance of payments.
  4. What conditions must be fulfilled if New York is to become the center of the world’s foreign exchange markets?
  5. State and discuss the doctrine of purchasing-power parity.
  6. Discuss the open-market operations of the federal reserve banks, with special reference to (a) the provisions of the law, (b) the purposes of such operations, (c) their relation to possible changes in prevalent types of commercial paper.
  7. Why did national bank notes constitute an inelastic currency? in just what manner do federal reserve notes constitute an elastic currency?
  8. Discuss the effect of organized speculation on prices, taking account of the fact that different types of price variations cover different periods of time.
  9. G. Moulton lists as “fallacies,” (1) the notion that a nation’s capacity to pay a foreign debt (such as reparations) is measured by the excess of its annual production over its annual consumption, and (2) the notion that a country can pay such a debt by selling securities to other countries. Do you agree? Explain.
  10. “In the main, banks do not lend their deposits, but rather, by their own extensions of credit, create the deposits.” Explain.

Final. 1924.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1924 (HUC 7000.28, No. 66), Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…, Psychology, Social Ethics. June, 1924.

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Enrollment, 1924-25

[Economics] 3. Professor Young—Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.

Total 111: 1 Graduate, 22 Seniors, 72 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 3 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1924-25, p. 75.

 

Year-end examination, 1924-25
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

Answer eight questions.

  1. Some writers hold that business cycles are caused by the expansion and contraction of bank credit. Why and how, in their view, does bank credit expand and contract?
  2. “A country can pay a foreign debt only by exporting more than it imports.” Explain and discuss critically.
  3. What was the major defect of the old national banking system?
  4. Define: rediscount, trust company, par collections, gold standard, purchasing power parity.
  5. “The Bank of England has power to exert a decisive influence over the magnitude of the gold movements to and from England.”—Furniss.
  6. What are the distinguishing characteristics (economic or legal, not physical characteristics) of the following types of money: silver dollars, United States notes, national bank notes, federal reserve notes?
  7. What are the prerequisites to the stabilizing of a depreciated paper currency?
  8. In what measure was the federal reserve system responsible for the rapid rise of prices in 1919 and 1920 and for the subsequent collapse?
  9. The federal reserve banks hold nearly $3,000,000,000 in gold, amounting to about 75 per cent of their liability on account of deposits and note issues combined, and constituting a large idle investment. Under what conditions would a considerable part of this gold be exported to other countries?

Final. 1925.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1925 (HUC 7000.28, No. 67), Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History of Science, History, …, Economics,…, Anthropology, Military Science. June, 1925.

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Enrollment, 1925-26

[Economics] 3. Professor Young—Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.

Total 110: 31 Seniors, 64 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 6 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1925-26, p. 77.

 

Year-end examination, 1925-26
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

Answer eight questions.

  1. Define deposits, discount, monetary standard, bimetallism.
  2. Formulate the “quantity theory” in any way that you prefer, and discuss it critically.
  3. A Brazilian firm draws a 90-day bill upon a London banker on account of a shipment of coffee to Boston.

(1) Why should the London bill be preferred to a bill upon New York or Boston?
(2) What is done with the bill after it reaches London?
(3) How is the bill finally settled?

  1. Some writers hold that when a government issues inconvertible paper money it obtains what is virtually a “forced loan.” Others hold that such an issue is more like taxation. What is your opinion, and why?
  2. Give an account of one of the following:

The socialist theory of crises.
Hobson’s theory of over-saving.
The “banking theory” of crises.

  1. Explain briefly the meaning of any two of the following phrases:

Par-collections controversy.
Open market policy.
Gold settlement fund.
Rediscounting

  1. Compare the Bank of England and either the Bank of France or the Reichsbank with respect to

(a) restrictions on note issue;
(b) discount policy.

  1. Was the federal reserve system responsible for the inflation of 1919-20 and the ensuing collapse? Explain.
  2. Just why, in your opinion, did the mark (or the franc, or the greenback) depreciate?

Final. 1926.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1926 (HUC 7000.28, No. 68), Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics,…, Social Ethics, Military Science. June, 1926.

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Enrollment, 1926-27

[Economics] 3. Professor Young and Mr. Marget.—Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.

Total 125: 2 Graduates, 27 Seniors, 74 Juniors, 14 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 6 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1926-27, p. 74.

 

Year-end examination, 1926-27
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3

Answer eight questions.

  1. Explain and discuss critically some form of the “banking” or “credit” theory of business cycles.
  2. “If prices are rising” Hawtrey observes, “the mere holding of commodities in stock yields an additional profit over and above the usual dealer’s percentage on the turn-over. If traders are to be deterred from borrowing money to buy commodities, the rate of discount must be high enough to offset the additional profit. But, it may be asked, how is this possible when prices are rising at the rate of 30 per cent per annum?” Hawtrey’s answer? Your own?
  3. Discuss critically either (a) Fisher’s proposals for stabilizing the price level, or (b) proposals for attaining the same end by controlling the supply of bank credit.
  4. Select two of the following and discuss their significance as “causes” of the depreciation of inconvertible paper money: (1) excessive quantity; (2) ultimate redemption uncertain; (3) unbalanced budget; (4) adverse balance of foreign payments; (5) speculation.
  5. Define: rediscounts, purchasing-power parity, invisible exports, monetary standard, par collections.
  6. Compare the note-issue system of the Bank of England (as established by the Act of 1844) with the note-issue system of the federal reserve banks, with particular reference to (a) separation of “banking” and “issue” departments, and (b) the type of assets by which the notes are “covered.”
  7. In what way or ways do purchases and sales of government securities in the New York money market by the federal reserve banks affect the state of that market?
  8. If you were Dictator of France, and took account of considerations of justice as well as of expediency, would you plan to stabilize the franc at its present (gold) value? Or would you plan for a gradual recovery of its pre-war value? Why?
  9. Discuss the relation of international gold movements to changes of (a) relative price levels, (b) relative discount rates.

Final. 1927.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1927 (HUC 7000.28, No. 69), Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics,…, Social Ethics, Military Science. June, 1927.

Image Source: Allyn Young in Harvard Classbook 1925.

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Principles of Economics, Summer School. Syllabus and Exams, 1942.

Harvard Commencement, 1943. Military copy work from the Harvard ArchivesHarvard University. . Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer

 

 

Harvard University was able to switch into a three semester per year mode in the very first summer after the U.S. entered World War II. There were two versions of the standard Principles of Economics course offered, one which extended over the twelve week summer term and one very intensive version that covered the material of a normal year-long course in just six weeks by having the students in class for two hours per days for five days per week. There was also a Principles “Lite” version that ran for only six weeks and covered just half the material apparently.

The syllabus for the full twelve week version of Economics A lists 2,600 pages of assigned reading for the  course. Nominally there would be five one-hour sessions per week, so on average for the sixty sessions students were expected to read 40-45 pages per day. Call me cynical, but I would be surprised if the average of the distribution were even half that pensum.

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Summer enrollment in Principles of Economics, 1942

“The large number of course enrolments meant that individual classes were very much larger than in preceding years. The largest classes were Mathematics SAa, with 436 students, English SAa, with 347, English SAb, with 329, Mathematics SAb, with 299, and Economics SAa, with 222 students. Enrolment in 22 courses was 100 or more.”

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College for 1941-1942, p. 356.

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Course Announcements for Summer School 1942 

Economics SAa 1hf. Principles of Economics.
Half-course (first session). Mon. through Fri., at 11. Professor Burbank, and other members of the Department.

Economics SAa may be taken by properly qualified Freshmen with the consent of the instructor.
SAa and SAb provide an introductory study of the present organization of industry, money and the mechanism of exchange, the theory of value, foreign trade and tariff policy, the distribution of wealth; i.e., the forces governing the incomes of the laboring, land-owning, capitalist and business classes, and the relation of government to industry. The course is conducted entirely by oral discussion.

 

Economics SAb 2hf.Principles of Economics
Half-course (second session). Mon. through Fri., at 11. Professor Chamberlin, and other members of the Department.

Economics SAb may be taken by properly qualified Freshmen with the consent of the instructor.
Economics SAa is a prerequisite for the course.
For description see SAa.

 

Economics SA1(to count as a whole course in the first session). Principles of Economics
Whole course (first session). Mon. through Fri., 9 to 11.  Professor Burbank, and other members of the Department.

Economics SA1 is identical with SAa and Sab, the two, however, combined and completed in one session. Freshmen will not be admitted to this course. For description see SAa.

 

Economics SB 1hf. Principles of Economics
Half-course (first session). Mon. through Fri., at 11. Dr. Monroe.

If a Harvard student counts Economics SB for a degree, Economics A may be counted as a half-course only. Ordinarily students concentrating in History, Government, and Economics must take Economics A, SA, or SAa and SAb.
Course SB gives a general introduction to economic study, and a general view of Economics for those who have not further time to give to the subject.

 

Source:   Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered in the Summer Term 1942 published in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 39, No. 16 (April 20, 1942), pp. 21-22.

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ECONOMICS A
Summer Term, 1942

Sources: Arnold, Thurman The Bottlenecks of Business (1940)

*

 Benham and Lutz Economics, American Edition (1941)
Bidwell, P. Economic Defense of Latin America (1941)

**

 Federal Reserve System Federal Reserve Charts on Bank Credit, Money Rates and Business (1941)
Garver and Hansen Principles of Economics, Revised Edition (1937)
Golden and Ruttenberg The Dynamics of Industrial Democracy (1942)
Johnson, E.A.J. Some Origins of the Modern Economic World (1936)

**

 Luthringer, Chandler and Cline Money, Credit and Finance (1938)
Meyers, A.L. Elements of Modern Economics (1937)

**

 Neal, A.C., Editor Introduction to War Economics (1942)
Slichter, S.E. Modern Economic Society (1928)

-ditto-

 The Economics of Collective Bargaining (reprint)

-ditto-

 The Period 1919-1936 in the United States, Its Significance for Business Cycle Theory, in Review of Economic Statistics, Vol. XIX, Feb. 1937, No. 1, Part I

**

 Staff members Syllabus: Economics A
Taussig, F.W. Principles of Economics, Vol. I Third Edition Revised (1921)

**

 Taylor, H. Main Currents in Modern Economic Life (1941)
T.N.E.C. Price Behavior and Business Policy, Monograph No. 1 (1941)
T.N.E.C. Competition and Monopoly in American Industry, Monograph No. 21 (1940)

** To be purchased by students
* Suggested for purchase

Note:  Essay due at end of eight week.

 

ECONOMICS A
Outline and Reading Assignments
Summer Term, 1942

 

Weeks Pages
1st Part I. EMERGENCE OF MODERN ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS
The economic problem; historical development of social and legal institutions; their effect on the economic problem.
Johnson,  Ch. 1, Economic Activity and Economic Development 7
_______, Ch. 2, The Late-Medieval Background 21
_______, Ch. 3, The Emergence of Capitalism 34
_______, Ch. 4, The Beginnings of Scientific Technology 32
_______, Ch. 5, The Formulation of Capitalist Theory 23
_______, Ch. 6, Protection and the Transplantation of Industrialism 24
_______, Ch. 7, The Export of Capital and the Genesis of Economic Imperialism 15
156
Part II. MODERN ECONOMIC INSTITUTIONS
A—The economic problem again; how it is solved today; the concept of useful production.
Benham, Ch. 1, General Survey 17
Taussig, Ch. 2, Of Labor in Production 13
30
B—Description of money flows and goods flows in a capitalist society; the relation of the division of labor to these flows; the forms of business organization and their relation to the division of labor.
Taylor, Ch. 6, Vol. I, The National Income and its Distribution 18
2nd _______, Ch. 12, Vol. I, Industrial Techniques 16
Taussig, Ch. 3, Division of Labor 18
_______, Ch. 4, Large Scale Production 15
Slichter, Ch. 8, (M.E.S.) Modern Business Organization 26
93
Part III. THE DIVISION OF LABOR AND MONEY
Division of Labor necessitates exchange; exchange is facilitated by the use of money; digression to explain the working of the monetary system in the United States.
Luthringer, Ch. 1, Functions and Significance of Money 24
_______, Ch. 2, Kinds of Money 23
_______, Ch. 3, Credit and Credit Instruments 15
_______, Ch. 4, Investment Institutions and Commercial Banking 23
Pamphlet, Credit Expansion, in Economics A Syllabus 14
Luthringer, Ch. 5, Central Banking and the Federal Reserve System 20
_______, Ch. 6, The Quantitative Control of Bank Credit 18
3rd _______, Ch. 7, Meaning of the Value of Money 14
_______, Ch. 8, Equation of Exchange and the Quantity of Money 16
_______, Ch. 9, Velocity of Money and the Volume of Trade 17
184
Part IV. THE SOLUTION TO THE ECONOMIC PROBLEM
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 A—The Markets for Commodities
Analysis in this section refers only to the determination of prices and quantities of commodities produced by a business firm. No answers are given to the questions: Why are wages, rents, interest high or low?
A.1 The Business Firm vis-à-vis Consumers in an unregulated market
A.1.a Consumer Demand
Why consumers spend their incomes as they do, the process whereby consumer demand is transmitted to the market.
Benham, Ch. 2, Markets 25
_______, Ch. 3, Demand 16
_______, Ch. 4, Prices with a Fixed Demand 10
_______, Ch. 5, Changes in Demand 10
61
A.1.b The Business Firm
The final relationship of cost to price depends on the competitive conditions in each commodity market; the profit motive the main determinant of the firm’s decisions.
Benham, Ch. 12, The Controlling Power of Demand 8
_______, Ch. 13, The Problems of the Firm (omit Sec. 11) 37
_______, Ch. 14, Monopoly 18
Monograph 21, Ch. 1, the Nature and Significance of Competition 18
Monograph 1, Part 1, Ch. 2, Nonprice Competition 53
4th _______, 1, Part 2, Ch. 1, Types of Geographical Price Structures 14
148
A.2 Effect of Government Regulation on the unregulated market
A.2.a Introduction
General analysis of regulation and impediments to free markets. Sections b, c, and d elaborate more completely some issues presented here.
Arnold, Ch. 1, The Basic Problem of Distribution 19
_______, Ch. 2, How Restraints of Trade Affect your Standard of Living 25
_______, Ch. 3, How Restraints of Trade Unbalance the National Budget 13
_______, Ch. 4, A Free market in time of National Emergency or War 30
_______, Ch. 5, An Elastic Procedure…to Prevent…Seizure of…Power… 24
_______, Appendix I and II 20
_______, Ch. 6, The Test is Efficiency and Service—not size 15
_______, Ch. 7, Procedure Under the Sherman Act… 31
5th _______, Ch. 8, The Clarification of Law through public enforcement 26
_______, Ch. 9, Antitrust Enforcement for the Betterment of the Consumer 21
_______, Ch. 10, Bottlenecks between the Farm and the Table 26
_______, Ch. 11, Labor—Restraints of Trade among the Underdogs 19
_______, Ch. 12, The Rise of a Consumer Movement 37
306
A.2.b Regulation and the Consumer
Taylor, Vol. II, Ch. 37, Consumption Standards 15
____________, Ch. 38, Consumers and the Business System 19
____________, Ch. 39, Consumer Cooperation 20
54
6th A.2.c Regulation and the Business Firm
(1) Monopoly
Taylor, Vol. I, Ch. 15, The Growth of Big Business 18
___________, Ch. 16, The Trend Toward Monopoly 17
___________, Ch. 17, Monopolies and Public Policy 16
51
(2) Public Utilities
Techniques of regulation different for firms classified as public utilities; the TVA—an example of a new regulatory device.
Taylor, Vol. II, Sec. 13, pp. 363-364 Introduction 2
____________, Ch. 48, The Nature and Scope of Public Regulation 15
___________, Ch. 49, The Price of Utility Services 16
___________, Ch. 50, Recent Expansion of Federal Control 19
___________, Ch. 51, The State as Operator 17
69
A.2.d Agriculture—a special problem
Taylor, Vol. II, Sec. 8, Agriculture and the Market 3
____________, Ch. 30, The American Farmers 18
____________, Ch. 31, Farmers in the Market System 19
____________, Ch. 32, Agriculture and Public Policy 24
64
7th B. The Markets for Productive Agents (Factors of Production)
The Analysis in this section refers to the determination of the prices of the factors of production, land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship in the markets where they are bought and sold. The entrepreneur’s reward, profit, is decided for him by the success or failure of his production plan. This market is, of course, not independent of the commodity markets. The unclassified reading discusses the productive agents of the United States:
Taylor, Vol. I, Ch. 8, How Productive Resources are Used 17
___________, Ch. 9, Population 19
___________, Ch. 10, Land 15
___________, Ch. 11 Localized Natural Resources 21
___________, Ch. 13 Capital 19
91
B.1 The Factors vis-à-vis Firms in an Unregulated Market
B.1.a. The Pricing Process in General
Benham, Ch. 9, Combination of Factors (omit sec’s 5,6) 18
Meyers, Ch. 11, The Distribution of Income 11
29
B.1.b. The Prices of Each Factor of Production
Benham, Ch. 15, The Mobility of Factors of Production 10
_______, Ch. 16, Wages, pp. 258-269 20
_______, Ch. 18, Rent 13
Garver and Hansen, Ch. 26, Interest 23
_______________, Ch. 27, Profits 12
78
8th B.2 Effects of Government Regulation and other Institutional Aspects of Distribution on the Markets for Factors.
B.2.a The Labor Market
Taylor, Vol. II, Ch. 33, The American Labor Market, pp. 75-89 14
___________, Ch. 35, The Labor Movement 24
Slichter (pamphlet). The Economics of Collective Bargaining 23
Taylor, Vol. II, Ch. 36, Public Policy Regarding Labor 22
Benham, Ch. 16, Wages, pp. 269-275 (section 9) 6
Golden, entire book. Write an essay of not more than 1200 words evaluating the ideas in the book. 347
436
9th B.2.b The Market for Savings
It is to be noted that firms and others may secure funds from credit created by commercial banks.
Taylor, Vol. I, Ch. 23, pp. 431-434 only (self financing by corporations) 4
__________, Ch. 24, Investment Credit Institutions 19
__________, Ch. 25, The Security Markets 17
__________, Ch. 26, Regulation of Securities and Exchanges 18
58
C. Public Finance and the Economic Problem
The State not only regulates markets as described above but also influences the prices of factors and commodities in the process of financing the production of public goods (roads, protection, etc.). The effects of government finance on the level of national income to be postponed to Part VI.
Luthringer,  Ch. 12, The Public Economy 13
_________, Ch. 13, The Revenue System 20
_________, Ch. 14, Tax Incidence 26
_________, Ch. 15, The Income Tax 20
_________, Ch. 16, Property and Other Taxes 18
_________, Ch. 17, Public Credit 14
_________, Ch. 18, Principles of Public Credit 16
127
Part V. INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF MARKETS AND FINANCE
Analysis of international trade and finance; the free market and the regulated market. Previous analysis emphasized only domestic markets although the principle of international trade is applicable to regions within a country to some extent; Latin America and the War.
10th Benham,  Ch. 25, The Theory of International Trade 22
_______, Ch. 26, Balances of Payments 10
_______, Ch. 27, Free Exchange Rates 10
_______, Ch. 28, The Gold Standard 22
_______, Ch. 29, Exchange Control 8
_______, Ch. 30, Import Duties and Quotas 9
Bidwell, Ch. 1, War and the Monroe Doctrine 16
______, Ch. 2, Propaganda and Politics 13
______, Ch. 3, German Economic Penetration 12
______, Ch. 4, The Weapons of Economic Defense 33
______, Ch. 5, The Fallacy of Hemisphere Self-Sufficiency 14
169
Part VI. PROSPERITY AND DEPRESSION
Analysis of the reasons why all prices move together; why all factors tend to become unemployed—hence the emphasis on the movements of national income. Previously, the analysis of prices was chiefly concerned (with the exception of the value of money) with relative prices. Existence of international markets tends to spread the cyclical pattern.
A. Explanation and Verification of Business Cycle Theories
Benham, Ch. 7, The Volume of Production, pp. 113-125 13
Garver and Hansen, Ch. 21, Business Cycles 18
11th Benham, Ch. 20, Economic Progress and the Trade Cycle, pp. 347-356 9
Slichter, R.E.S., The Period 1919-1936 in the U.S. Its Significance for Business Cycle Theory 19
59
B. Governmental Policy and Business Cycles
Taylor, Vol. II,  Ch. 44, Deficit Spending 16
____________, Ch. 12, The State as Provider (Introduction) 2
____________, Ch. 45, Providing Minimum Needs 17
____________, Ch. 46, Social Security 19
____________, Ch. 47, Public Housing 17

71
Part VII. TOTALITARIAN ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITALISM
Analysis of the solution to the economic problem in totalitarian economic systems.
Taylor, Vol. II, Sec. 14, Totalitarian Alternatives to Free Markets (Introduction) 2
____________, Ch. 52, Economic Basis of Totalitarianism 16
____________, Ch. 53, The Soviet Economy 23
____________, Ch. 54, The Fascist Economy in Italy 19
____________, Ch. 55, The National Socialist Economy in Germany 20
80
12th Part VIII. THE ECONOMICS OF WAR
Neal,  Ch. 1, Basic Economic Problems of War 15
____, Ch. 2, Economic War Potential 23
____, Ch. 3, Problems of War Production 21
____, Ch. 4, War Labor Problems 25
____, Ch. 5, Financing the War Effort 19
____, Ch. 6, Financing the War Effort, Business Finance 27
____, Ch. 7, Wartime Management of the Monetary and Banking System 28
____, Ch. 8, The Control of Individual Prices 31
____, Ch. 9, Economic Warfare 20
____, Ch.10, Post-War International Economics 19
228

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Randall Hinshaw Papers, Box 1, Folder “Schoolwork, 1940s”.

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Final examination first half of course

SUMMER SCHOOL OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY
[First Session. Summer, 1942]
ECONOMICS SAa

Part I

(One hour)

Write on BOTH of the following in this section:

  1. Analyze carefully the effects of the following on average cost, marginal cost, marginal revenue and price for the individual firm in the short run:
    1. A tax of ten cents per unit of output on a monopolist.
    2. A subsidy of ten cents per unit of output to firms in a purely competitive industry.
  2. Trace the repercussions on member bank reserve balances, Treasury deposits with the Federal Reserve System and reserves of the Federal Reserve System caused by:
    1. The purchase and sterilization of gold by the Treasury.
    2. The purchase of U.S. government bonds by the Federal Reserve System.
    3. A transference of Treasury deposits from the Federal Reserve System to member banks.

Part II

(Two hours)

Write on any FOUR of the following in this section:

  1. “Regulation of public utility rates may be effected by limiting charges to yield a fair return on a fair value of the property. This will result in prices comparable to competitive conditions. An alternative type of rate regulation may be accomplished by using as a ‘yardstick’ the rates which a government-owned plant could economically charge.”
    1. Does the use of the fair return formula approximate the price which would evolve in a competitive market for the same commodity?
    2. May the rates fixed by the Tennessee Valley Authority be used as a “yardstick” for privately-owned power companies?
  2. “There seems to be a common belief that banks, by some process of sleight of hand, contrive to create a multiple of the amount of money they receive. The truth is that they can lend not more, but less than the amount of money that comes into their hands.”
    Do you agree? Explain fully.
  3. “It is not size in itself that we want to destroy….What ought to be emphasized is…the evil of industries which are not efficient or do not pass (the gains from) efficiency on to consumers.” Arnold.
    Examine the consistency of this statement.
  4. Contrast carefully the industrial economic world of nineteenth century England with the industrial economic world of fourteenth century England.
  5. Write a letter to your congressman briefly explaining what you believe to be the basic American farm problems and critically evaluating the New Deal attempts to alleviate them.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Course reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992 (UA V 349.295.6), Box 1, Folder “Economics 1, Exams 1939-1962”.

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Final examination second half of course

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
[Second Session. Summer, 1942]
ECONOMICS SAb

Part I

(One hour)

Write on BOTH of the questions in this section:

  1. “The main fiscal problem of the war is the diversion of a large share of the national income from the private economy to the public fisc for war purposes.” Outline and defend a plan of taxation and borrowing which in your opinion effectively will solve this problem.
  2. Analyze the effects of an increase in the supply of labor on (a) the remuneration of the various productive factors and (b) the changes in output of those industries whose costs are mainly labor and those whose costs are mainly capital.

Part II

(Two hours)

Write on any FOUR of the questions in this section:

  1. Write an essay on the topic of cyclical unemployment emphasizing (a) the processes by which full employment is supposed to be effected in a free enterprise economy and (b) the reasons why these processes have failed to operate.
  2. What controls are necessary for the orderly and equitable distribution of goods during war time in the markets for factors of production and the markets for consumers’ commodities? Indicate the results likely to follow from partial rather than complete controls in these two major groups of markets.
  3. “Labor unions cannot raise the wages of labor within an occupation without reducing the number employed in that occupation since the entrepreneur cannot afford to pay labor more than the value of its marginal product.” Do you agree? Explain fully.
  4. Discuss carefully three methods of correcting an adverse balance of payments. Indicate the effects of each method on the level of domestic money incomes, the foreign exchange rate, merchandise exports and imports and short-term capital movements.
  5. Explain the chief methods of regulating securities markets in the United States. State concisely the functions of securities markets and evaluate the success of regulation in aiding the orderly functioning of these markets.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Course reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992 (UA V 349.295.6), Box 1, Folder “Economics 1, Exams 1939-1962”.

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Final Exam Intensive Course, First Session 1942

SUMMER SCHOOL OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY
[First Session. Summer, 1942]
ECONOMICS SA1

I

(One hour)

  1. Reply fully to the following questions:
    1. Which are the main problems confronting the economy of this country during the present war?
    2. What measures of economic policy would you propose to cope with them?

II

(About one half hour each)

  1. What are the effects of the practice of self-financing by corporations upon
    1. the rate of interest;
    2. the allocation of the nation’s resources;
    3. the prevalence of competition, or of monopoly, in the economy as a whole?
  2. Let a tax be imposed upon a monopolist and the amount due be determined by either of the following methods:
    1. a fixed percentage of his profits;
    2. a fixed money amount per unit of output;
    3. a fixed percentage of the total money value of his sales;
    4. a global fixed sum, independent of either output or sales.

In which of these cases will he be able to shift the tax forward? Prove your conclusions by a graphical analysis.

  1. Criticize the following statement carefully:
    “The average citizen is inclined to think that there is nothing at all which he himself can do to check inflation. He considers the anti-inflationary fight a task for Uncle Sam only and therefore urges control of prices and labor and the draining off of excessive purchasing power. Actually, the citizen himself can do a great deal, and the efforts of the government will be far less effective unless he does.
    “He can co-operate with the government by putting money in the bank and making it work for him, instead of drawing it out, letting it lie idle and exposing it to the danger of theft, fire and forgetfulness, He can pay his debts. He can discharge his mortgage more rapidly. He can make larger down payments on installment purchases than he has to. He can be more generous to poor relatives. He can see his oculist, dentist or family doctor more often, and pay cash. He can contribute more liberally to local and national charities. He can refuse to hoard goods. He can refrain from rushing to buy the very articles of which there is a shortage….” (The Boston Herald, July 28, 1942, p. 14)
  2. Trace the main effects that the abolition of the tariff on beef (one of the major export articles of Argentina) would, in peacetime, have upon the economies of the United States and of Argentina. Distinguish the short-run and the long-run consequences.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001. (HUC 7000.28) Box 6, Papers Printed for Summer Examinations First Session, August, 1942.

____________________

Final Examination for Principles of Economics “Lite”

SUMMER SCHOOL OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY
[First Session. Summer, 1942]
ECONOMICS SB

I

(About one hour)

  1. Write an essay on one of the following topics:
    1. Long-run value under competition,
    2. The rate of wages,
    3. Investment and interest,
    4. Profits

II

(Answer TWO questions from this group.)

  1. How should you expect the following to affect the selling price of a farm: an increase in population; a fall in the rate of interest; the opening of a new market for its products; a bad crop failure?
  2. Explain the meaning of the following terms and show how one of them enters into the explanation of economic phenomena: comparative advantage; bank reserves; the gold points; marginal revenue.
  3. What are the principal factors responsible for cyclical fluctuations in business activity?

III

(Answer TWO questions from this group.)

  1. Explain the nature and operation of the forces which cause variations in the purchasing power of the dollar.
  2. Outline the principal forms of unemployment and discuss one of them in some detail.
  3. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods available for financing a war.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001. (HUC 7000.28) Box 6, Papers Printed for Summer Examinations First Session, August, 1942.

Image Source: Harvard’s Commencement in 1943. From The Harvard Gazette, November 10, 2011.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams from Principles of Economics. Day, Davis, Burbank et al., 1917-18

 

 

For most students who go on to concentrate in economics, the principles of economics course is the first contact with the discipline. Like they say, you have only one try to make a first impression. We’ll see in a coming post that Taussig’s textbook Principles of Economics still served as the backbone of the Harvard principles course twenty years later.

________________________

Course Description

INTRODUCTORY COURSES
Primarily for Undergraduates

[Economics] A. Principles of Economics. , Th., Sat., at 11. Asst. Professor Day and Dr. Davis, Dr. Burbank and Messrs. P. G. Wright, Monroe, Lincoln, and Van Sickle.

Course A gives a general introduction to economic study, and a general view of Economics for those who have not further time to give to the subject. It undertakes an analysis of the present organization of industry, the mechanism of exchange, the determination of value, and the distribution of wealth.

The course is conducted partly by lectures, more largely by oral discussion in sections. Taussig’s Principles of Economics is used as the basis of discussion.

Course A may not be taken by Freshmen without the consent of the instructor.

 

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics. 1917-18. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XIV, No. 25 (May 18, 1917) p. 58.

________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] A. Asst. Professor Day and Asst. Professor J. S. Davis, Dr. Burbank, Mr. Monroe, and Dr. E. E. Lincoln.—Principles of Economics.

Total 258: 1 Graduate, 8 Seniors, 73 Juniors, 150 Sophomores, 3 Freshmen, 23 Other.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1917-18, p. 53.

________________________

1917-18
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS A
Mid-year Final Examination

Plan your answers carefully before writing. Write concisely. Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions, beginning each on a new page.

  1. What is labor? To what extent is it irksome? How, if at all, is the irksomeness of labor to be minimized?
  2. Explain “producers’ surplus.” Under what conditions of cost does it arise? How is monopoly profit to be distinguished from producers’ surplus? Illustrate throughout by diagram.
  3. “Before the war started the bullion value of the U.S. silver dollar, measured in gold, was about 42c. At this rate it took 37 ounces of silver to equal one of gold. Today [October, 1917], with silver bullion at about $1.00 an ounce, the value of a silver dollar is 77c., a ratio of about 20 to 1. It would only take another advance such as occurred within the last month for silver to reach the U.S. coinage ratio of ‘16 to 1.’”
    In this case what would happen, and why? Would the consequences be objectionable? If so, on what grounds? If not, why not?
  4. Explain briefly: (a) commercial banking; (b) “deposits as currency”; (c) bank reserves; (d) Federal Reserve notes; (e) Gold Settlement Fund.
  5. Analyze the factors contributing to the present “high cost of living.”
  6. “The nations of the world should adopt a uniform system of currency with a common standard. This would do away with all this bother about ‘par of exchange,’ ‘gold points,’ ‘rate of exchange,’ etc.”
    To what extent is this conclusion warranted? Explain.
  7. To what extent does the following offer a solution of the tariff problem?
    “In all tariff legislation the true principle of protection is best maintained by the imposition of such duties as will equal the difference between the cost of production at home and abroad.”
  8. Comment briefly upon the following:
    “During the days and weeks and months ahead there must be no cessation or lessening of effort on the part on any one of us—man or woman—to keep business healthy and normal.
    “Industries of every kind must be maintained to their fullest capacity. Money must be kept in circulation. There must be no hysterical, misguided retrenchment, masquerading under the cloak of economy.
    “The nation calls for every encouragement and support that the commercial and industrial forces can supply—and that means everybody doing his bit to keep business booming.”

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Course reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992 (UA V 349.295.6). Box 1, Folder “Economics I, Final Exams 1913-1939”.

________________________

 1917-18
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS A
Year-end Final Examination

Plan your answers carefully before writing. Write concisely. Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions, beginning each on a new page.

  1. What factors tend to limit the extension of (a) large-scale production in agriculture? (b) large-scale production in manufacture? (c) large-scale management, or industrial combination?
  2. Explain briefly: (a) demand; (b) decreasing cost; (c) internal economies; (d) “dumping.”
  3. State carefully: (a) Gresham’s law; (b) the law of diminishing returns; (c) the law of monopoly price; (d) Malthus’s law of population.
  4. To what extent and for what reasons should taxes be employed in financing the present war?
  5. In what respects are business profits like, in what unlike, (a) wages? (b) rent?
  6. What practical expedients would you suggest for raising the wages of workers in the lowest social group?
  7. Discuss the following contention: “One objection to having the state pay people when they are ill or old or out of work is that it saps that personal initiative and prudence and foresight which lie at the basis of an orderly civilization.”
  8. What grounds are there for saying that under a socialistic régime the efficiency of the rank and file of workers would be (a) greater? (b) less?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Course reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992 (UA V 349.295.6). Box 1, Folder “Economics I, Final Exams 1913-1939”.

Categories
Economists Fields Harvard

Harvard. Economics Ph.D. candidates, fields, examiners, thesis committees, 1917-18

 

 

For eleven Harvard economics Ph.D. candidates this posting provides information about their respective academic backgrounds, the six subjects of their general examinations along with the names of the examiners, the subject of their special subject, thesis subject and advisor(s) (where available).

Note: 1916-17 list was not found in the collection.

________________________________________

 

DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D.
1917-18

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

Henry Bass Hall.

Special Examination in Economics, Thursday, January 10, 1918.
General Examination passed May 4, 1916.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1904-05; Amherst College, 1906-07; Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1911-12; Harvard Graduate School, 1913-17. S.B., Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1912; A.M., Harvard, 1916. Assistant in Economics, 1916—.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Money and Banking. 3. International Trade. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. Agricultural Economics. 6. American History since 1789.
Special Subject: Agricultural Economics.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Turner, Bullock, and Ford.
Thesis Subject: “A Description of Rural Life and Labor in Massachusetts at Four Periods.” (With Professors Carver and Gay).
Committee on Thesis: Professors Carver, Day, and Dr. Morison.

 

Hermann Franklin Arens.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, April 29, 1918.
General Examination passed May 15, 1914.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1903-06; Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, 1906-08; General Theological Seminary, New York, 1908-09; Harvard Graduate School, 1912-16. A.B., Harvard, 1907; A.M., ibid., 1913. Assistant in Economics, 1912-13; Assistant in Social Ethics, 1913-14; Assistant in Economics, 1914-15.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Sociology. 3. Socialism and Labor Problems. 4. Philosophy. 5. Agricultural Economics. 6. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.
Special Subject: Sociology.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Day, Anderson, and Foerster.
Thesis Subject: “The Relation of the Group to the Individual in Political Theory.” (With Professor Anderson.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Anderson, Carver, and Yeomans.

 

John Emmett Kirshman.

Special Examination in Economics, Friday, May 3, 1918.
General Examination passed May 12, 1916.
Academic History: Central Wesleyan College, 1901-04; Syracuse University, 1907-08; University of Wisconsin, 1908-09; University of Illinois, 1914-15; Harvard Graduate School, 1915—. Ph.B., Central Wesleyan, 1904; Ph.M., Syracuse, 1908. Assistant Professor of History, North Dakota Agricultural College, 1909-14; Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Illinois, 1914-15; Instructor in Economics, Simmons College, 1916—.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Public Finance. 3. Economic History since 1750. 4. Comparative Modern Government. 5. Economics of Corporations. 6. Socialism and Social Reform.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Day, Anderson, and Dr. Burbank.
Thesis Subject: “The Taxation of Banks and Trust Companies in New England.” (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock, Sprague, and Day.

 

James Washington Bell.

Special Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 15, 1918.
General Examination passed May 3, 1916.
Academic History: University of Colorado, 1908-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914—. A.B., Colorado, 1912; A.M., ibid., 1913. Assistant in Economics, University of Colorado, 1912-14; Assistant in Government, Harvard, 1916-17; Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1916—; Austin Teaching Fellow in Government, 1917.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Labor Problems. 5. Sociology. 6. Municipal Government.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Ripley, Day, and Dr. Burbank.
Thesis Subject: “Taxation of Railroads in New England.” (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock, Ripley, and Cunningham.

 

Marion O’Kellie McKay.

Special Examination in Economics, Friday, May 17, 1918.
General Examination passed May 13, 1915.
Academic History: Ohio Northern University, 1904-07; Ohio State University, 1908-10; Harvard Graduate School, 1911-12, 1913-16. S.B., Ohio Northern, 1907; A.B., Ohio State, 1910; A.M., Harvard, 1912. Assistant Professor of Economics, New Hampshire College, 1916—.
General Subjects: 1. Sociology. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. Economic Theory. 4. Public Finance. 5. Economic History since 1750. 6. Municipal Government.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Carver, Day, and Dr. Burbank.
Thesis Subject: “The History of the Poll Tax in the New England and the Middle and South Atlantic States.”
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock, Turner, and Day.

 

Arthur Eli Monroe.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, May 20, 1918.
General Examination passed October 13, 1915.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1904-08; Harvard Graduate School, 1913—.A.B., Harvard, 1908; A.M., ibid., 1914. Teacher of Latin and German, Kent School, Connecticut, 1909-13; Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1914-Feb., 1916; Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1915—; Instructor in Economics, Williams College, Feb.-June, 1916; Instructor in Economics, Harvard, 1916—.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Statistical Method and its Application. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. History of Economic Thought (1500-1776).
Special Subject: History of Economic Thought (1500-1776).
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Carver, McIlwain, and Day.
Thesis Subject: “The Theory of Money Before 1776.” (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock, Carver and Anderson.

 

Robert Herbert Loomis.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 22, 1918.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Ripley, Carver, Day, and Foerster.
Academic History: Clark College, 1908-11; Harvard Graduate School, 1914—. A.B., Clark, 1911. Teacher, Fay School, Southboro, 1912-14; Assistant in Social Ethics, 1915-16; Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1916-17.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistical Method and its Application. 3. Labor Problems. 4. Socialism and Social Reform. 5. Anthropology. 6. Economic History since 1750.
Special Subject: Economic History since 1750.
Thesis Subject: “Development of the Boot and Shoe industry in Massachusetts since 1875.” (With Professor Gay.)

 

Albert John Hettinger, Jr.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 23, 1918.
Committee: Professors Ripley (chairman), Turner, Cole, Day, and Gras.
Academic History: Leland Stanford Jr. University, 1912-17; Harvard Graduate School, 1917—. A.B., Stanford, 1916; A.M., ibid., 1917. Assistant in Economics, Stanford University, 1915-17.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. American History since 1789. 3. Accounting. 4. Statistical Method and its Application. 5. Economic History since 1750. 6. Transportation.
Special Subject: Transportation.
Thesis Subject: “A Study of the Rock Island Railroad.” (With Professor Cunningham.)

 

Thomas Henry Sanders.

General Examination in Business Economics, Friday, May 24, 1918.
Committee: Professors Sprague (chairman), Bullock, Cole, Carver, and Mr. McCarty.
Academic History: University of Birmingham, England, 1902-05; Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, 1917—. B.Com., Birmingham, 1905; M.Com., ibid., 1914. Instructor in Commercial Practices, Higher Commercial School, Yamaguchi, Japan, 1911-17.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Economics of Agriculture. 3. Accounting. 4. Marketing. 5. Foreign Trade. 6. Money and Banking.
Special Subject: Money and Banking.
Thesis Subject: “Banking in Japan.” (With Professor Sprague.)

 

Hebert Knight Dennis.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, May 27, 1918.
General Examination passed February 29, 1916.
Academic History: Allegheny College, 1907-08; Brown University, 1910-12; Princeton University, 1912-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-16.Ph.B., Brown, 1912; A.M., Princeton, 1914; A.M., Harvard, 1915. Assistant in Sociology, University of Illinois, 1916—.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Ethical Theory and its History. 3. Poor Relief. 4. Social Reforms. 5. Sociology. 6. Anthropology.
Special Subject: Social Psychology.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Dearborn, Anderson, and Foerster.
Thesis Subject: “The French Canadians: A Study in Group-Traits, with Special Reference to the French Canadians of New England.” (With Professor Foerster.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Foerster, Turner, and Ripley.

 

Frank Dunstone Graham.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, June 3, 1918.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Carver, Yeomans, Day, and Gras.
Academic History: Dalhousie University, 1906-07, 1910-13; Law School of Dalhousie University, 1913-15; Harvard Graduate School, 1915-17. A.B., Dalhousie, 1913; LL.B., ibid., 1915; A.M., Harvard, 1917. Tutor in the Classics, Dalhousie University, 1913-14; Assistant in Political Science, Rutgers College, 1917—.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Sociology. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. International Trade and Tariff Policy.
Special Subject: International Trade and Tariff Policy.
Thesis Subject: Undetermined.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1917-18”.

Image Source: Sever Hall, Harvard University (ca 1904). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

 

Categories
Courses Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Introductory Economics, Final Exams. Taussig, 1914-1915

 

Frank W. Taussig played a central role in Harvard’s economics at two important stages. He was the lecturer for the entry-level Principles of Economics course for undergraduates and the core economic theory course for graduate students. In addition he covered the field of international economics.

The course announcement, enrollment figures, and the final examination questions for his principles course come from four different sources, three of which are available on-line. Over the past few weeks, I have posted corresponding material from the twenty economics courses offered at Harvard during the 1914-15 year for which the final examination questions had been printed and subsequently published.

The following year (1915) Edmund E. Day and R. S. Davis (who belonged to the team of instructors and assistants for this principles course) published their Questions on the Principles of Economics (New York, Macmillan) that was arranged by topics to follow Taussig’s own textbook Principles of Economics (Second, revised edition of 1915: Volume One; Volume Two).

______________________ 

Course Announcement

Economics A. (formerly 1). Principles of Economics. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11.
Professor Taussig and Asst. Professor Day and five assistants.

Course A is introductory to the other courses. It is intended to give a general survey of the subject for those who take but one course in Economics, and also to prepare for the further study of the subject in advanced courses. It is usually taken with most profit by undergraduates in the second year of their college career. It may not be taken by Freshmen without the consent of the instructor. History 1 or Government 1, or both of these courses, will usually be taken to advantage before Economics A. [p. 61]

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

The course will be conducted partly by lectures, partly by oral discussion in sections. A course of reading will be laid down, and weekly written exercises will test the work of students in following systematically and continuously the lectures and the prescribed reading. [p. 62]

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1914-15. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XI, No. 1, Part 14 (May 19, 1914).

______________________ 

Course Enrollment

[Economics] A. Professor Taussig and Asst. Professor Day, assisted by Dr. J. S. Davis, and Messrs. P. G. Wright, Burbank, Vanderblue, W. C. Clark, and Monroe.—Principles of Economics.

Total 491: 1 Graduate, 30 Seniors, 137 Juniors, 260 Sophomores, 11 Freshmen, 52 Others.

Source: Report of the President of Harvard College, 1914-15, p. 59.

______________________ 

Mid-year Examination

ECONOMICS A

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Answer all the questions; be concise; plan your answers with care; and leave time for revision at the close.]

  1. In what ways, if at all, is the development of the complex division of labor connected with (a) the monotony of labor; (b) the Industrial Revolution; (c) integration of industry; (d) the recurrence of industrial crises?
  2. Explain: external economies; internal economies. Which set of economies is most significant for the explanation of (a) the localization of industry; (b) increasing returns; (c) the development of monopoly?
  3. If possible distinguish between

(a) diminishing returns and diminishing utility;
(b) by-product and joint product;
(c) joint cost and joint demand;
(d) “corners” and monopolies;
(e) median and arithmetical mean.

  1. Explain briefly the immediate and the ultimate effects (if any) which each of the following changes, taken separately, will tend to have on the price of cotton, cotton-seed oil, and cotton-mill machinery; (a) prohibition of organized speculation; (b) a change of fashion toward greater use of cotton fabrics; (c) doubling of the population of the country. (Assume for all three cases that there is no international trade, and that the quantity of money remains the same.)
  2. In what direction and by what process, if at all, would the following tend to affect the value of money in the United States; (a) increased demand for gold ornaments; (b) increasingly lavish expenditures by spendthrifts; (c) a continued drain of specie to the East; (d) a larger output of silver in the United States; (e) abolition of all legally required banking reserves?
  3. Under what conditions does inconvertible paper money circulate as readily as specie? Under what conditions, not as readily?
    Under what conditions is the value of inconvertible paper money as great as that of specie? Under what conditions is its value less than that of specie?
    State two indications of its having less value than specie. Which of the two is the more significant? Which is the more easily ascertained?
  4. State points of similarity, points of difference, between the Federal Reserve system and the English banking system as regards (a) centralization of reserves; (b) centralization of note issue; (c) measures available for preventing panics.
  5. Under what circumstances, if any, can a country have a permanent excess of imports? Under what circumstances, if any, a permanent outflow of specie? Does an excess of imports lead to an outflow of specie?
    Wherein, if at all, does a country gain or lose in its foreign trade (a) if prices and money incomes are higher than in foreign countries; (b) if prices and money incomes are lower?

Mid-Year. 1915.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers in Economics, 1882-1935. Prof. F. W. Taussig. (HUC 7882). Scrapbook, p. 106.

______________________ 

Final Examination

ECONOMICS A

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.
Answer all the questions.

  1. Explain concisely: —

diminishing returns,
margin of cultivation,
equilibrium of supply and demand,
economic rent.

  1. Construct a simple index number of prices for 1914, using 1908 as the base.

 

1908

1914
Wheat, bbl.

$8.00

$12.00
Coal, ton

8.00

8.00
Iron, ton

18.00

9.00
Lumber, 1000 feet

20.00

15.00
Meat, lb.

.20

.30
Sugar, lb.

.10

.10

(1) Would the index-number point to a rise or a fall in the value of money? (2) Would a Board of Arbitration be justified in recommending a change in wages? If so, on what basis? If not, why not?

  1. Under what circumstances, if under any, will the imposition of a import duty cause the price of the dutiable commodity to fall? Under what will it fail to affect the price? Under what will it cause the price to rise?
  2. To what cause or causes should you ascribe: —

(a) the high level of general wages in the United States;
(b) the high wages of skilled workmen such as plumbers;
(c) the high wages of domestic servants in the United States;
(d) the high wages of trained nurses.

  1. Why is saving no less advantageous for laborers than lavish expenditure? Why do laborers usually favor ” making work “?
  2. “The standard of living affects wages not directly, but ” — how?
    What evidence of varying standards of living appears in the statistics of births and deaths for different countries? for different social classes?
  3. “The special question presented in this regard by the trust movement seems to be whether large-scale management adds something to the gains from large-scale production in the narrower sense. Here, too, it would appear at first sight that the matter may be allowed to settle itself. Let them fight it out and let that form of organization survive which does the work most cheaply.”
    Explain (a) what is meant by large-scale management and large-scale production; (b) what grounds there are for saying that they should be allowed to fight it out, what grounds for saying that they should not; (c) what legislation has recently been enacted in the United States on this subject.
  4. “Important distinctions exist between full-fledged socialism and public management of selected industries.” What are the distinctions?

Final. 1915.

 

Source: Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Psychology, Social Ethics, Education, Fine Arts, Music in Harvard College. June 1915, pp. 39-59.

Image Source: Frank W. Taussig in Harvard Class Album, 1915.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Monroe’s Final Exams for Intermediate Economic Theory, 1948

 

I try not to be judgmental as curator of the artifacts that I post, but I do have to say, even allowing for the fact that Arthur Eli Monroe was about to retire from Harvard, the examination questions he wrote down for his intermediate economic theory course offer very little to think about and much to regurgitate. The course outline and reading assignments have already been transcribed for Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.  

Not all artifacts here have been created equal.

_____________________________

 

Final Examination
Economic Theory and Policy
Arthur Eli Monroe

1947-48
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 1a

Discuss FOUR topics.

  1. Individual demand curves.
  2. The cost curve of the firm.
  3. The supply curve of an industry.
  4. Oligopoly
  5. Adjustment to changes in demand.
  6. Selling cost.
  7. Freedom of entry.
  8. Some topic covered by the Reading Period assignment.

Final. January, 1948.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, Box 15 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, January, 1948.

_____________________________

 

Final Examination
Economic Theory and Policy
Arthur Eli Monroe

1947-48
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 1a

Discuss FOUR topics.

  1. Versions of the marginal productivity theory.
  2. Keynes on the rate of interest.
  3. Böhm-Bawerk.
  4. Capital and the rate of wages.
  5. Rent.
  6. Monopoly and wages.
  7. The “going rate” of interest.
  8. Hicks on inventions.
  9. Profit.
  10. Gardiner C. Means.
  11. Sée on industrial capitalism.
  12. Investment and the level of employment.

Final. May, 1948.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, Box 15 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, May, 1948.

Image Source: Arthur Eli Monroe in Harvard Album, 1942.

Categories
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.

________________________________________

 

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
Courses Harvard Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Intermediate Economic Theory and Policy. Monroe, 1947-48

Before heading off to the pastures of retirement, Harvard’s Arthur Eli Monroe taught a year-long undergraduate intermediate economics course, Economic Theory and Policy. His syllabi for 1947-48 show a serious attempt to weave contemporary textbook material with readings from major contemporary works and links to the history of economics.

A less than serious attempt was made, it appears to me, in writing the questions for the final examination for the two terms. They appear to be of the give-the-student-enough-rope-to-hang-himself variety.

More biographical information for Monroe can be found in the earlier posting:

Harvard. Undergraduate Economic Theory (Shorter Course). Monroe, 1937-8

 

_________________________________

Monroe’s 1948 AEA Listing

Monroe, Arthur Eli, 5 Concord Ave., Cambridge 38, Mass. (1915) Retired, teach., edit.; b. 1885; A.B., 1908, A.M., 1914, Ph.D., 1918, Harvard. Fields 1ab, 7, 9. Doc. dis. Monetary theory before Adam Smith(Harvard Univ. Press, 1923). Pub. Early economic thought (1924), Value and income (1931) (Harvard Univ. Press); “Demand for labor,” Q.J.E., 1933. Dir. W.W. in Amer.

 

Source: American Economic Association, Alphabetical List of Members (as of June 15, 1948). The American Economic Review, Vol. 39, No. 1 (January 1929), p. 131.

_________________________________

 

Course Staffing and Enrollments: Economics 1a and 1b, 1947-48

[Economics] 1a. Dr. Monroe.—Economic Theory and Policy (F)

Total 74: 1 Graduate, 45 Seniors, 19 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 6 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

 

[Economics] 1b. Dr. Monroe.—Economic Theory and Policy (Sp)

Total 46: 2 Graduates, 38 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 3 Radcliffe.

 

Source: Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of the Departments for 1947-48, p. 89.

_________________________________

Harvard University
Economics 1a
Fall Term — 1947-48

J. F. Due: Intermediate Economic Analysis*, Chs. I – IV, incl.
G. J. Stigler: Theory of Price, Chs. 5, 6.
N. Kaldor: Economic Journal, March, 1934. [The equilibrium of the Firm, Vol. 44, No. 173, pp. 60-76.]
A. E. Monroe: Value and Income, Ch. XV.

HOUR EXAMINATION—October 30.

Due: Intermediate Economic Analysis, Chs. V, VI.
K. E. Boulding: Economic Analysis, Chs. 24, 25.
E. H. Chamberlin: Monopolistic Competition, Chs. III, V.
Joan Robinson: Economics of Imperfect Competition, Chs. 17, 18, 19.

HOUR EXAMINATION—December 4.

Chamberlin: Monopolistic Competition, Chs. VI, VII.
R. Triffin: Monopolistic Competition…pp. 78-108.

READING PERIOD—One of the following:

A. Gray: Development of Economic Doctrine, Chs. III – X, incl.
P. T. Homan: Contemporary Economic Thought, Essays on Veblen, Marshall, Mitchell
A. G. B. Fisher: Class of Progress and Security, Chs. I – VIII, incl.

Conference periods: Saturdays, 9:30 – 12:30, Littauer M-14.

*Authorized for Veterans’ purchase.

_________________________________

 

Economics 1b
Spring Term — 1948

 

J. F. Due: Intermediate Economic Analysis*, Chs. 8, 11.
J. B. Clark: Distribution of Wealth, Chs. 11, 12.
J. R. Hicks: Theory of Wages, Chs. 1, 4, 6.
A. E. Monroe: Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1933. [The Demand for Labor, Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 627-646.]
E. H. Chamberlin: Theory of Monopolistic Competition, Ch. 8

HOUR EXAMINATION—March 4.

J. F. Due: Intermediate Economic Analysis, Chs. 9, 10.
E. v. Böhm-Bawerk: Positive Theory of Capital, Book V.
A. E. Monroe: Value and Income, Ch. 8.
J. M. Keynes: General Theory of Employment…, Chs. 13, 15.
C. R. Bye: Developments…in the Theory of Rent, Chs. 1, 2, 3.

HOUR EXAMINATION—April 15.

J. F. Due: Intermediate Economic Analysis, Ch. 12.
F. H. Knight: Risk, Uncertainty and Profit, Chs. 8, 9.

*READING PERIOD—One of the following:

A. G. Gruchy: Modern Economic Thought, Chs. 5, 7, 8.
Theodore Morgan: Income and Employment, Chs. 1 – 15, incl.
Henri Sée: Modern Capitalism

CONFERENCE PERIODS: Saturdays, 9:30 – 12:30, Littauer M-14.

 

*Authorized for Veterans’ purchase.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1947-48 (1 of 2)”.

Image Source:  Harvard Album, 1942.

Categories
Economists Fields Harvard

Harvard. Thirteen Ph.D. Examinees, 1915-16

For thirteen Harvard economics Ph.D. candidates this posting provides information about their respective academic backgrounds, the six subjects of their general examinations along with the names of the examiners, the subject of their special subject, thesis subject and advisor(s) (where available). Of particular note are the records for Harvard historian of early economic thought, Arthur Eli Monroe, and the soon to become distinguished Chicago (later Princeton) economist, Jacob Viner.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D.
1915-16

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

 

Arthur Eli Monroe.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, October 13, 1915.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Taussig, Gay, Day, and Holcombe.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1904-08; Harvard Graduate School, 1913-February, 1916. A.B., Harvard, 1908; A. M., ibid., 1914. Teacher of Latin and German, Kent School, Connecticut, 1909-13; Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1914-February, 1916; Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1915-February, 1916; Instructor I Economics, Williams College, February, 1916-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Statistical Method and its Application. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Topic in the History of Economic Thought.
Special Subject: Some topic in the History of American Economic Thought.

 

Merton Kirk Cameron.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, November 17, 1915.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Ripley, Taussig, Anderson, and Day.
Academic History: Princeton University, 1904-08; Harvard Graduate School, 1913-. A.B., Princeton, 1908; A. M., Harvard, 1914. Head of Department of History, Lanier High School, Montgomery, Alabama, 1911-13; Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1915-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Money, Banking, and Crises. 4. Transportation. 5. Economics of Corporations. 6. American History.
Special Subject: Economic History of the United States.
Thesis Subject: “The History of the Tobacco Growing Industry in the United States.” (With Professor E. F. Gay.)

 

Herbert Knight Dennis

General Examination in Economics, Tuesday, February 29, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Perry, Tozzer, Ford, Foerster, and Anderson.
Academic History: Allegheny College, 1907-08; Brown University, 1910-12; Princeton University, 1912-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. Ph.B., Brown, 1912; A. M., Princeton, 1914; A.M. Harvard, 1915.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Ethical Theory and its History. 3. Poor Relief. 4. Social Reforms. 5. Sociology. 6. Anthropology.
Special Subject: Social Psychology.
Thesis Subject: “The French Canadians—A Study in Race Psychology.” (With Professor Foerster.)

 

James Washington Bell.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 3, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Ripley, Munro, Anderson, and Copeland.
Academic History: University of Colorado, 1908-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., Colorado, 1912; A.M., ibid., 1913. Assistant in Economics, University of Colorado, 1912-14.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Labor Problems. 5. Sociology. 6. Municipal Government.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Thesis Subject: “Taxation of Railroads in New England.” (With Professor Bullock.)

 

William Burke Belknap.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 4, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Gay, Ripley, Anderson, and Dr. Morison.
Academic History: Yale College, 1904-08; University of Chicago, 1913-14 (two terms); Haverad Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., Yale, 1908; A.M. Harvard, 1915.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Labor Problems. 4. Money and Banking. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Thesis Subject: “History of the State Finances of Kentucky.” (With Professor Bullock.)

 

Henry Bass Hall.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 5, 1916.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Taussig, Turner, Day, and Anderson.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1904-05; Amherst College, 1906-07; Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1911-12; Harvard Graduate School, 1912-. S.B., Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1912.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Money and Banking. 3. International Trade. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. Agricultural Economics. 6. American History since 1789.
Special Subject: Agricultural Economics.
Thesis Subject: “Economic History of Massachusetts Agriculture.” (With Professors Carver and Gay.)

 

Charles Cloyd Creekpaum.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, May 8, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Day, Anderson, Copeland, and Holcombe.
Academic History: University of Nebraska, 1908-12; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A. B., Nebraska, 1912. Principal of High School, Alvo, Nebraska, 1912-13; Principal of High School, McCool Junction, Nebraska, 1913-14.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Sociology. 4. Statistics. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Thesis Subject: “The Financial Results of Public Ownership of Railways.” (With Professor Bullock.)

 

Mark Anson Smith.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 11, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Hart, Gay, Ripley, and Dr. Davis.
Academic History: Dartmouth College, 1906-10; University of Wisconsin, 1911-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., Dartmouth, 1910; A.M., Wisconsin, 1913.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Money and Banking. 4. Economics of Corporations. 5. Public Finance. 6. American Government and Constitutional Law.
Special Subject: Public Finance.

 

John Emmett Kirshman.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 12, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Ripley, Gay, Munro, and Foerster.
Academic History: Central Wesleyan College, 1901-04; Syracuse University, 1907-08; University of Wisconsin, 1908-09; University of Illinois, 1914-15; Harvard Graduate School, 1915-. Ph.B., Central Wesleyan, 1904; Ph.M. Syracuse, 1908. Assistant Professor of History, North Dakota Agricultural College, 1909-14; Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Illinois, 1914-15.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Public Finance. 3. Economic History since 1750. 4. Comparative Modern Government. 5. Economics of Corporations. 6. Socialism and Social Reform.
Special Subject: Public Finance
Thesis Subject: “Taxation of Banking Institutions.” (With Professor Bullock)

 

Zenas Clark Dickinson.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, May 15, 1916.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Gay, Yerkes, Day, and Dr. Burbank
Academic History: University of Nebraska, 1910-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., Nebraska, 1914.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Statistical Method and its Application. 4. Public Finance. 5. Psychology. 6. Suitable Field in Economic Theory and its History, with special reference to Psychology.
Special Subject: Suitable Field in Economic Theory.

 

Arthur Harrison Cole.

Special Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 18, 1916.
Committee:
General Examination passed January 7, 1915.
Academic History: Bowdoin College, 1907-11; Harvard Graduate School, 1911-. A.B., Bowdoin, 1911; A.M., Harvard, 1913. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1913
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. 4. Public Finance and Financial History. 5. International Trade and Tariff History. 6. Political and Constitutional History of the United States.
Special Subject: Economic History of the United States.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Taussig, Turner, and Sprague.
Thesis Subject: “History of the Wool Manufacturing Industry in the United States, to the year 1830.” (With Professors Gay and Taussig.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Gay, Taussig, and Sprague.

 

Jacob Viner

General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 19, 1916.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, R. B. Perry, Anderson, and Gras.
Academic History: McGill University, Montreal, 1911-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., McGill, 1914; A.M., Harvard, 1915.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. International Trade. 3. Public Finance. 4. Sociology. 5. Economic History since 1750. 6. Theory of Value (Philosophy).
Special Subject: International Trade.
Thesis Subject: “International Balance of Payments” (With Professor Taussig)

 

Percy Gamble Kammerer.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, May 22, 1916.
General Examination passed May 14, 1914.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1904-06, 1910-12; Harvard Graduate School, 1912-. A. B., 1908 (1913).
General Subjects: : 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Ethical Theory. 3. Poor Relief. 4. Social Reforms. 5. Sociology. 6. The Labor Question.
Special Subject: The Family considered Historically and in its Relation to Social Institutions.
Committee: Professors Foerster (chairman), Ripley, Feguson, Tozzer, Ford, and Anderson.
Thesis Subject: “The Unmarried Mother: a Study of Case Histories.” (With Professor Foerster.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Foerster, Taussig, and Dearborn.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1915-1916”.

Image Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Digital ID:  cph 3c14486

Categories
Courses Harvard Syllabus

Harvard. O.H. Taylor’s undergraduate course, Intellectual Background of Economic Thought, 1941

 

 

Starting in the academic year 1940-41, Harvard’s advanced undergraduate honors course in economic theory (Economics 1) was split into two semester courses Economics 1a (Chamberlin: Economic Theory) and 1b (This post. Taylor: Intellectual Background of Economic Thought). The last time Economics 1 was offered as a year course (1939-40), it was taught by Professor Chamberlin, Associate Professor Leontief and Instructor O.H. Taylor. Two years later, 1941-42, the second semester course 1b was taught by Professor Haberler and Associate Professor Leontief under the title “Theory of Production and Distribution of the National Income”. In 1942-43, Economics 1b as “Theory of Production and Distribution of the National Income” was taught a last time by Professor Leontief and Dr. Monroe.

Only for the second semester of 1940-41 was Dr. Overton Hume Taylor to offer Economics 1b according to the syllabus transcribed for this posting. Not a mover and shaker within the Harvard economics department, he was clearly a serious scholar-economist, though out of step with the economics profession of his day. Most historians of economics will recognize a soulmate in Taylor.

Overton Hume Taylor (1897-1987) was born in Colorado, received his B.A. at the University of Colorado in 1921 and Ph.D. from Harvard in 1928. He held the rank of instructor 1929-1960, promoted to professor, 1960-64. He retired from Harvard in 1964, going on to teach at Vanderbilt University.

Here is a link to Taylor’s A History of Economic Thought (1960). 

Recent addition: the final examination questions for “The Intellectual Background of Economic Thought” from the Spring term of 1940-41. 

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[Course Listing]

Economics 1b 2hf. The Intellectual Background of Economic Thought.

Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri. at 11. Dr. O. H. Taylor.

 

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1940-41, Second Edition, p. 55.

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[Course Enrollment]

[Economics] 1b 2hf. Dr. O. H. Taylor.—The Intellectual Background of Economic Thought.

14 Juniors, 1 Sophomore:   Total 15.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1940-41, p. 58.

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Economics 1b

The Intellectual Background of Economic Thought

Reading, Lectures, and Discussions. February – May, 1941

 

Read during semester

G. H. Sabine: A History of Political Theory

 

During February

Morris Cohen: Reason and Nature, pp.
A. N. Whitehead: The Function of Reason
Carl Becker: The Heavenly City of the 18th C. Phil’s
O. H. Taylor: Two Articles, Econ. and Nat. Law, Q.J.E. vol. 44, p. 1 and 205.

 

During March

Crane Brinton: The Pol. Ideas of the Eng. Romanticists
Othmar Spann: A History of Econ. Theory
Sidney Hook: The Meaning of Marx
and others

 

During April

Crane Brinton: Eng. Pol. Thought in the 19th Cent. Sections (see Table of Contents) on Bentham, Coleridge, Mill, Cobden, Carlyle, Bagehot, T.H. Green, Spencer.
Alexander Gray: The Development of Econ. Doctrine
R. G. Tugwell and Others: The Trend of Economics. Chapters by Mitchell, Tugwell, Wolfe, Clark, and Knight
Henry Simons: A Positive Program for Laissez-Faire

 

Lectures and Discussions

February 3. Introductory Lecture. Ideologies and Economics. Classical Economics and Liberalism, Marxism, Romantic Nationalism, Modern Liberalism and Positivism. General Background of Intellectual History. Beginnings of Modern Science, Liberalism, Positivism, and Romanticism.
February 5. Lecture. A Criticism of the Economic Interpretation of History.
February 7. Class Discussion of Two Previous Lectures.
February 10. Lecture. Classical Economics and the Moral Basis of Free Enterprise Liberalism.
February 12. Lecture. The Defects of the Old Liberalism, and the Present Crisis.
February 14. Class Discussion of Two Previous Lectures.
February 17. Lecture. Western Positivism and German Romanticism.
February 19. Lecture. Western Positivism and German Romanticism – continued.
February 21. Class Discussion.
February 24. Lecture. The Origins of Positivism and the Mechanistic Cosmology and Sociology.
February 26. Lecture. Teleology and Mechanism, Moral and Natural Science, Mediaeval and Modern Phil.
February 28. Class Discussion.
March 3. Lecture. The Transition from the Moral to the Social Sciences. Ambiguities in the Transition Period. Classical Economics and Liberalism.
March 5. Lecture. The recent Growth of Pure Positivism, and the Change in Liberalism.
March 7. Class Discussion.
March 10. Lecture. The Origins and Nature of the Romantic Movement.
March 12. Lecture. Kant, and Romanticism in German Philosophy and Social Science.
March 14. Class Discussion.
March 17. Lecture. Adam Mueller, Frederich List, and the Historical School: Organicism, Nationalism, and Historical Relativity.
March 19. Lecture. Spiritual-Cultural Science, Culture Epochs; Sombart and Weber; Spann and the Nazis.
March 21. Class Discussion.
March 24. Lecture. The Backgrounds of Marx: Utopian Socialism, Classical Economics, and Hegel. Contributions of Each.
March 26. Lecture. The Essentials of Marxism, and its Relations to the Liberal and Romantic Traditions.
March 28. Class Discussion.
April 7. Lecture. The Physiocrats and Adam Smith. Economic Self-Interest and a Moral, Social Order.
April 9. Lecture. Utilitarianism and Classical Economics.
April 11. Class Discussion.
April 14. Lecture. Ricardian Economics, Utility Economics, and Mathematical Economics.
April 16. Lecture. Marginal Productivity and Distributive Justice.
April 18. Class Discussion.
April 21. Lecture. Monopolistic Competition and its Implications for Public Policy.
April 23. Lecture. The Positivist—and—Modern-Liberal Trend in Monetary and Cycle Theory. J. M. Keynes.
April 25. Class Discussion.
April 28. Lecture. Capitalism, Democracy, Class Struggle, and Liberalism.
April 30. Lecture. Economic Planning in a Free Society.
May 2. Class Discussion.

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Reading Period
May 5-27, 1941

Economics 1b:   Read the following:

Robbins, Nature and Significance of Economic Science.

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Source: Harvard University Archives (HUC 8522.2.1). Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003: Box 2. Folder “1940-41”.

Image Source: Harvard Album, 1952.