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Harvard. Money and Banking graduate course, readings and exam. Hansen, 1946-47

 

 

Today’s post is the first of three devoted to the year long graduate sequence “Principles of Money and Banking” taught by Alvin H. Hansen, John H. Williams, and Richard M. Goodwin (second semester) at Harvard in 1946-47.

The reading list for Econ 141a is transcribed below, along with the corresponding final examination questions as well as enrollment numbers for both semesters.

Following posts will provide transcriptions for the following semester’s list of readings and final examination (Econ 141b) plus the “General Reference Reading” list for both semesters.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 141a. (fall term) Professors J. H. Williams and Hansen.—Principles of Money and Banking.

Total 130: 88 Graduates, 1 Senior, 26 Public Administration, 15 Radcliffe.

 

[Economics] 141b. (spring term) Professors J. H. Williams and Hansen and Assistant Professor Goodwin.—Principles of Money and Banking.

Total 113: 75 Graduates, 23 Public Administration, 15 Radcliffe.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1946-1947, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 141
PRINCIPLES OF MONEY AND BANKING

 

Economics 141a — First Semester, 1946-47 (Professor Hansen)

  1. Central Banking: Current Problems and Policies
  2. Theory of Money, Liquidity-Preference, Interest and Prices

Economics 141b — Second Semester, 1946-47 (Professor Williams)

III. International Monetary Equilibrium

  1. Monetary and Fiscal Policy

 

 

READING LIST FOR ECONOMICS 141a
Principles of Money and Banking
1946-1947

Note: Pre-requisite reading (for those who are deficient in undergraduate preparation in Money and Banking:

  1. Banking Studies, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System, (1941).
  2. Southard, F. A., Foreign Exchange Practice and Policy, (McGraw-Hill, 1940).
  3. Any one standard textbook in Money and Banking, such as: Thomas, Our Modern Banking and Monetary System, (Prentice-Hall, 1942); or Reed, Money, Currency and Banking, (McGraw-Hill, 1942).

 

I. Central Banking: Current Problems and Policies.

A. Minimum Reading List:

I. Books and Pamphlets:

  1. International Currency Experience (League of nations, 1944), Chapters I-IV, pp. 7-112.
  2. World Economic Survey, 1942-44 (League of Nations, 1945), Chapter IV “Finance and Banking” (pp. 173-213).
  3. Money and Banking: 1942-44 (League of Nations, 1945).
  4. Ellis, H. S., (in Harris: Economic Reconstruction, McGraw-Hill, 1945), Chapter 13, “Central and Commercial Banking in Postwar Finance” (pp. 237-252).
  5. Hansen, Alvin H., America’s Role in the World Economy (Norton, 1945), Chapter XVII, “Gold, Exports and Liquidity” (pp. 144-157).
  6. Harris, S. E., Inflation and the American Economy (McGraw-Hill, 1945), Chapter XXIV, “Money and Savings” (pp. 372-383).
  7. Hawtrey, R. G., The Art of Central Banking (Longmans, 1933) pp. 116-207.
  8. Keynes, J. M., Treatise on Money, Volume II, Chapters 25, 32, 33.
  9. Robertson, D. H., Essays in Monetary Theory (King, 1940), Chapter II, “Theories of Banking Policy” (pp. 39-59); Chapter XII, “British Monetary Policy” (pp. 154-167).
  10. Williams, John H., Postwar Monetary Plans (Knopf, second edition, 1945), Chapter 6, “The Banking Act of 1935” (pp. 112-129); Chapter 8, “The Crisis of the Gold Standard” (pp. 154-172); Chapter 9, “Monetary Stability and the Gold Standard” (pp. 172-190).
  11. Financing American Prosperity (Twentieth Century Fund, 1945):
    1. Ellis, H. S., “Monetary Controls and the Business of Banking” (pp. 140-153).
    2. Hansen, Alvin, H., “Management of the Debt and Internal Stability” (pp. 246-256).
    3. Williams, John H., “Money and Banking” (pp. 381-5).
  12. Postwar Economic Studies, No. 3 (Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System, 1945):
    1. Robinson, R. I., “Monetary Aspects of National Debt Policy” (pp. 69-83).
    2. Wallich, H. C., “Public Debt and Income Flow” (pp. 84-100).
    3. Hansen, Alvin H., “Comments” (pp. 131-5).

II. Reports and Articles:

  1. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances:
    1. Fiscal year ended June 30, 1944 (pp. 1-10).
    2. Fiscal year ended June 30, 1945 (pp. 1-10).
  2. Federal Reserve Bulletins:
    1. May 1946 (pp. 461-8), “Treasury Financing and Banking Developments.”
    2. July 1946 (pp. 707-15), “Postwar Business Finance”.
    3. February 1946 (pp. 122-3), “Estimated Liquid Assets of Individuals and Business”.
  3. Bopp, K. R., “Central Banking at the Crossroads”, Supplement, American Economic Review, March 1944 (pp. 260-77).
  4. Hansen, Alvin H., “Inflation”, Yale Review, Summer 1946.
  5. Macmillan Report, Royal Commission on Industry and Commerce, Cmd. 3897 (1931), pp. 2-45; 106-160.
  6. Samuelson, Paul, “The Effect of Interest Rate Increases on the Banking System”, American Economic Review, March 1945.
  7. Seligman, H. L., “The Problem of Excessive Commercial Bank Earnings”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1946.
  8. Whittlesey, C. R., “Federal Reserve Policy in Transition”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1946.

B. Supplementary Reading List:

I. Books

  1. Arndt, H. W., The Economic Lessons of the Nineteen Thirties, (Oxford, 1944).
  2. Coulborn, W, A. L., An Introduction to Money, (Longmans, 1938) Chapters 5, 13-14 (pp. 48-64, 209-241).
  3. Fisher, Irving, 100 Per Cent Money, (Adelphi, 1935; Third Edition City Printing Co., New Haven, 1945).
  4. Johnson, G. G., The Treasury and Monetary Policy, (Harvard 1939), Chapter I-V (pp. 3-160).
  5. Hawtrey, R. G., The Gold Standard in Theory and Practice (Longmans, Fourth Edition, 1939).
  6. Hawtrey, R. G., A Century of Bank Rate. (Longmans, 1938).
  7. Lewinski, J., Money, Credit and Prices, (King, 1929) Chapters IV-V (pp. 99-144).
  8. McCracken, Paul W., The Future of Northwest Bank Deposits, Federal Reserve Bank, Minneapolis, 1946.
  9. Mints, L. W., A History of Banking Theory (Chicago, 1945), Chapters VI and X (pp. 74-100; 178-197).
  10. Morgan, E. V., The Theory and Practice of Central Banking, (Macmillan, 1943).
  11. Niebyl, Karl H., Studies in the Classical Theories of Money, (Columbia, 1946).
  12. Sayers, R. S., Modern Banking, (Oxford, 1938), Chapters 4-5 (pp. 70-145).
  13. Viner, J. Studies in the Theory of International Trade, (Harper, 1937), Chapter V, “English Currency Controversies” (pp. 218-289).
  14. Wernette, P., Financing Full Employment, (Harvard, 1945), Chapter 3 (pp. 33-61).

II. Articles

  1. Abbott, C. C. (Review articles on Financing Problems and Bank Liquidity), Review of Economic Statistics, February 1946 (pp. 48-51).
  2. Abbott, C. C., “Management of the Federal Debt”, Harvard Business Review, Autumn 1945.
  3. Goldenweiser, E. A., “Commercial Banking After the War”, Federal Reserve Bulletin, September 1944.
  4. Seltzer, Lawrence, “Is a Rise in Interest Rates Desirable or Inevitable?”, American Economic Review, December 1945.
  5. Treasury Bulletin, April 1946, “Federal War-time Financing and the Growth of Liquid Assets”.
  6. Keynes, J. M., “The Objective of International Price Stability”, Economic Journal, June-September 1943.

C. General Reference Reading (see below).

II. Theory of Money, Liquidity Preference, Interest and Prices.

A. Minimum Reading List:

I. Books:

  1. Haberler, G., Prosperity and Depression, (League of Nations, 1939), Chapters 8, 13, (pp. 168-254; 455-507).
  2. Hansen, Alvin H.:
    1. Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, (Norton, 1941), Chapters 1-5; 11-15; (pp. 13-105; 225-338).
    2. Full Recovery or Stagnation, (Norton, 1938), Chapters 1-5 (pp. 13-133); Appendix, pp. 331-343.
  3. Hayek, F. A., Prices and Production, (Routledge, 1935), Chapters 1 and 4 (pp. 1-31; 105-128).
  4. Hicks, J. R., Value and Capital, (Oxford, 1939), Chapters 12-13 (pp. 153-170).
  5. Keynes, J. M., Monetary Reform, (Harcourt, 1924), pp. 81-95; 152-191.
  6. Keynes, J. M., A Treatise on Money, (Harcourt, 1930), Chapters 9-13 and 30 (Volume I, pp. 123-220; Volume II, pp. 148-208).
  7. Keynes, J. M., General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, (Harcourt, 1936), pp. 3-45; 61-65; 74-221; 245-271; 292-332; 372-384.
  8. Lerner, A. P., The Economics of Control, (Macmillan, 1944), Chapters 22-25 (pp. 271-345).
  9. Marget, Arthur W., The Theory of Prices, Volume I, (Prentice-Hall, 1938), Chapters 12 and 15 (pp. 302-343, 414-459).
  10. Marget, Arthur W., The Theory of Prices, Volume II, (Prentice-Hall, 1942), Chapter 3 (pp. 89-133).
  11. Marshall, A., Official Papers, (Macmillan, 1926), pp. 19-31.
  12. Pigou, A. C., Lapses from Full Employment, (Macmillan, 1945), Chapters 1-5; 8-9; 12. (pp. 1-29; 38-51; 69-73).
  13. Robertson, D. H., Money, (Harcourt, 1929), chapters 2-4; 7-8 (pp. 18-91; 144-197).
  14. Robertson, D. H., Essays in Monetary Theory, (King, 1940), Chapters 1, 6, 11 (pp. 1-38; 92-7; 113-153).
  15. Schumpeter, J. A., Business Cycles, (McGraw-Hill, 1939), Volume II, Chapter 8, (pp. 449-482).
  16. Wicksell, K., Interest and Prices, (Macmillan, 1936), Introduction by Bertil Ohlin; also author’s Preface; Chapters 5, 7-8, 11 (pp. 38-50; 81-121; 165-177).
  17. Wicksell, K., Money: Lectures on Political Economy, Volume II, (Macmillan, 1935), Chapter IV (pp. 127-228).
  18. Wright, David McC., The Creation of Purchasing Power, (Harvard, 1939), Chapters 4-6 (pp. 60-121).
  19. Macmillan Report, Royal Commission on Finance and Industry, Cmd. 3897 (1931), Part I, Chapter 11.

II. Articles:

  1. Clark, Colin, “Public Finances and Changes in the Value of Money”, Economic Journal, December 1945.
  2. Hicks, J. R., “Mr. Keynes and the Classics: A Suggested Interpretation”, Econometrica, April 1937.
  3. Hawtrey, R. G. and Hicks, J. R., “Interest and Bank Rate”, The Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies, October 1939.
  4. Keynes, J. M., “Relative Movement of Real Wages and Output”, Economic Journal, March 1939.
  5. Lange, O., “The Rate of Interest and the Optimum Propensity to Consume”, Economica, February 1938.
  6. Lerner, A. P., “Alternative Formulations of the Theory of Interest”, Economic Journal, June 1938.
  7. Lerner, A. P., “Interest Theory: Supply and Demand for Loans or Supply and Demand for Cash”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1944.
  8. Lerner, A. P., “Ex Ante Analysis and Wage Theory”, Economica, November 1939.
  9. Lerner, A. P., “Some Swedish Stepping Stones in Economic Theory”, Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, November 1940.
  10. Mints, Hansen, Ellis, Lerner, Kalecki, “A Symposium on Fiscal and Monetary Policy”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1946.
  11. Modigliani, F., “Liquidity Preferences and the Theory of Interest and Money”, Econometrica, January 1944.
  12. Pigou, A. C., “Employment Policy and Sir William Beveridge”, Agenda, August 1944.
  13. Reder, M. W., “Interest and Employment”, Journal of Political Economy, June 1946.
  14. Simons, H. C., “Debt Policy and Banking Policy”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1946.

B. Supplementary Reading List:

I. Books:

  1. Adarkar, B. P., The Theory of Monetary Policy, (King, 1935), Chapter 1-8; 13-15 (pp. 3-52; 101-122).
  2. Chandler, L. V., An Introduction to Monetary Theory (Harper, 1940), pp. 1-205.
  3. Coulborn, W. A. L., An Introduction to Money, (Longmans, 1938), Chapters 6-8; 15-16 (pp. 65-116; 242-264).
  4. Lindahl, Erik, Studies in the Theory of Money and Capital, (Allen and Unwin, 1939), Part II, Chapters 4-6, (pp. 199-268).
  5. Myrdal, Gunnar, Monetary Equilibrium, (Hodge, 1939), Chapters 1-3 (pp. 1-48).
  6. Polanyi, M. Full Employment and Free Trade, (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1945), Chapters 1, 4, (pp. 1-66; 87-103).
  7. Sayers, R. S., Modern Banking. (Oxford, 1938), Chapter 6 (pp. 146-164).
  8. Thomas, Brindley, Monetary Policy and Crises, (Routledge, 1936), Chapters 3-4 (pp. 62-156).

II. Articles:

  1. Lange, O., “Economic Controls After the War,” Political Science Quarterly, March 1945.
  2. Marschak, J., “Wicksell’s Two Interest Rates”, Social Research, November 1941.
  3. Simons, H. C., “On Debt Policy”, Journal of Political Economy, June 1945.
  4. Warburton, Clark, “The Volume of Money and the Price Level Between the World Wars”, Journal of Political Economy, June 1945.
  5. a. Warburton, Clark, “The Monetary Theory of Deficit Financing”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1945.
    b. Arndt, H. W., “The Monetary Theory of Deficit Financing; A Comment”, Review of Economic Statistics, May 1946.

C. General Reference Reading (see below).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Alvin Harvey Hansen Papers. Box 1 of Lecture Notes and Other Course Material, Folder “Econs 141”. Also found in Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1946-47 (2 of 2)”.

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Mid-Year Final Examination

1946-47
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 141a

(Write on any THREE questions.)

    1. Give a thorough discussion of current monetary and banking problems including in your essay the following topics:
      1. The increase in the quantity of money in the U. S. since 1934; causes and effects.
      2. War-time financing; the role of the Federal Reserve Banks and of the commercial banks.
      3. Recent and prospective trends in interest rates; causes and effects.
      4. New proposals with respect to reserve requirements, composition of bank assets, and control of bank credit.
      5. Management of the public debt.
    1. Write an essay on Keynes’ theory of interest, explaining the significance and role of the marginal efficiency schedule, the consumption function, liquidity preference, and monetary policy. In connection with Keynes’ interest theory, discuss the ideas and contributions of Hicks, Lerner and Modigliani.
    2. Compare Fisher, Marshall (Cambridge cash-balance school), Wicksell and Keynes with respect to the role of the quantity of money in the theory of money and prices.
    3. Write an essay (about an hour) on any two of the following:
      1. Hayek: Prices and Production
      2. Keynes: A Treatise on Money; or General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
      3. Marget: The Theory of Prices
      4. Robertson: Money; or Essays in Monetary Theory
      5. Wicksell: Money; or Interest and Prices
      6. Hansen: Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles; or Economic Policy and Full Employment

Final. January, 1947.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Final Examinations 1853-2001. Box 13. Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions…, Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, January, 1947.

Image Source: Alvin Hansen from Harvard Class Album 1952.

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final Exams 2nd semester of graduate money and banking course, John Henry Williams. 1939-41

 

 

John Henry Williams was professor of economics at Harvard (1921-57) and served from 1936-48 as the first dean of its Graduate School of Public Administration. Together with Alvin H. Hansen he taught a graduate course with the nominal title “Principles of Money and Banking” that from judging from detailed notes taken in 1938-39 by R. W. Bean (Harvard Class of 1939) and in 1939-40 by James Tobin (likewise Harvard Class of 1939), also included generous doses of Keynesian macroeconomics and fiscal policy as well as of international monetary economics. From these notes we learn that Hansen and Williams taught the first and second semesters, respectively. To date I have only been able to find the semester final examination questions for the second semesters. A future posting will provide the reading list for the course.

This posting gives the course announcements, enrollments and the final examination questions for the 1938-39 through 1940-41 years.

Research Tip:  a typed copy of the Bean notes [missing pp. 98-99] can be found in the Wolfgang Stolper papers at Rubenstein Archive at Duke University (Box 29 ). A neatly handwritten bound copy of Tobin’s notes can be found in Box 6 of his papers at the Yale Archives.

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1938-39 Academic Year

Course Announcement

Economics 141. Principles of Money and Banking. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professors WILLIAMS and HANSEN, and Associate Professor HARRIS.

Source: Harvard University. Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1938-39, 2nd edition. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXV, No. 42 (September 23, 1938), p. 151.

 

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 141. Professors WILLIAMS and HANSEN, and Associate Professor HARRIS—Principles of Money and Banking.

Total 40: 18 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 6 School of Public Administration, 5 Radcliffe, 1 Others

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1938-39, p. 99.

 

Second Semester Final Exam, 1938-39

1938-39
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 141
PRINCIPLES OF MONEY AND BANKING

(Three hours)

Answer THREE questions

  1. Discuss the elements of instability in our monetary and banking mechanism, and the suggestions in recent years for making it more stable.
  2. Discuss the “pump-priming” theory versus the “compensatory” theory of deficit spending.
  3. Discuss the relation of fiscal policy to long-run economic progress.
  4. Discuss the merits and defects of monetary policy as an instrument of business cycle control.

Final. 1939

Source: Harvard University Examinations. Final examinations, 1853-2001, Box 4 (HUC 7000.28). Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Papers Printed for Final Examinations in History, History of Religions, … , Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science (June, 1939).

 

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1939-40 Academic Year

Course Announcement

Economics 141. Principles of Money and Banking. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professors WILLIAMS and HANSEN.

Source: Harvard University. Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1939-40, 2nd edition. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXVI, No. 42 (September 22, 1939), p. 158.

 

 

Course Enrollment 

[Economics] 141. Professors WILLIAMS and HANSEN.—Principles of Money and Banking.

Total 65: 38 Graduates, 13 Seniors, 2 School of Public Administration, 6 Radcliffe, 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1939-40, p. 100.

 

 

Second Semester Final Exam, 1939-40

1939-40
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 141
PRINCIPLES OF MONEY AND BANKING

(Three hours)

Discuss question ONE and TWO others.

  1. Keynes’ “General Theory” as a basis for long-run economic stability.
  2. The views of Foster and Catchings and Hayek on the “dilemma of thrift.”
  3. Hawtrey’s analysis of the business cycle and its control.
  4. The American gold problem.

 

Final. 1940

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

 

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1940-41 Academic Year

Course Announcement

Economics 141. Principles of Money and Banking. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professors WILLIAMS and HANSEN.

The subject as a whole will be systematically reviewed. Selections from important writings dealing with monetary principles will be read and critically discussed. Particular attention will be given to the theory of the value of money and to the policy and operations of central banks.

Source: Harvard University. Division of History, Government, and Economics, Containing an Announcement for 1940-41. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXVII, No. 51 (August 15, 1940), p. 61.

 

Course Enrollment 

[Economics] 141. Professors WILLIAMS and HANSEN.—Principles of Money and Banking.

Total 45: 28 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 7 School of Public Administration, 2 Radcliffe, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1940-41, p. 60.

 

Second Semester Final Exam, 1940-41

 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 141
PRINCIPLES OF MONEY AND BANKING

(Three hours)

Discuss THREE topics.

  1. The uses and limitations of the multiplier concept.
  2. Compare the “over-saving” and “under-investment” theories as guides to fiscal policy.
  3. Monetary and fiscal policies under conditions of war or defense.
  4. “Full employment” as a criterion of fiscal policy.
  5. Discuss: “Deficit spending is the logical sequel to central bank policy, and it was entirely logical that its first phase should be pump-priming.”

Final. 1941

Source: Harvard University Examinations. Final examinations, 1853-2001, Box 5 (HUC 7000.28). Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Papers Printed for Final Examinations in History, History of Religions, … , Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science (June, 1941).

 

Image Source:  John Henry Williams from the Harvard Class Album 1950.