Month: August 2017

Categories
Courses Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Graduate Public Finance Final Exam. Bullock, 1914-15

 

 

Charles Jesse Bullock taught public finance and the history of economics at Harvard during the first third of the twentieth century. This posting contains the course announcement, enrollment figures, and the final examination questions for his graduate course in public finance from 1914-15. The information come from three different sources, all of which are available on-line. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting corresponding material from the twenty economics courses offered during the 1914-15 year for which the final examination questions had been printed and subsequently published.

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Course Announcement

Economics 31. Public Finance. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor Bullock.

The course is devoted to the examination of the financial institutions of the principal modern countries, in the light of both theory and history. One or more reports calling for independent investigation will ordinarily be required. Special emphasis will be placed upon questions of American finance. Ability to read French or German is presupposed. [p. 70]

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

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 31. Professor Bullock.—Public Finance.

Total 17: 16 Graduates, 1 Other.

Source: Report of the President of Harvard College, 1914-15, p. 60.

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Final Exam (2nd term)

ECONOMICS 31

  1. What sources of revenue has the Kingdom of Prussia? Discuss their comparative importance.
  2. How is land taxed in Great Britain, France, and Prussia? In your answer refer to all taxes directly affecting land.
  3. What would be the economic and financial effects of levying a tax on land that absorbed all speculative gains?
  4. Discuss critically the more important proposals made since 1870 for the reform of state and local taxation in the United States.
  5. How, according to Adam Smith, ought public charges to be distributed?
  6. Write a brief history of customs and excise taxation in Great Britain.
  7. What indirect taxes are now employed by France or the German Empire?
  8. Under what circumstances and for what purposes should a municipality resort to loans?

 

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. 57-58.

Image Source:  Charles Jesse Bullock in Harvard Class Album, 1915.

Categories
Courses Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Graduate Economic Theory, Social Valuation. Anderson, 1914-15.

 

 

Judging from the course description and from many of the exam questions below, the Harvard assistant professor, Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr., used his graduate economic theory course in 1914-15 to continue work on theoretical issues that he had investigated in his prize-winning Columbia University dissertation, Social Value–A Study in Economic Theory, Critical and Constructive (1911). The short vita posted in his published dissertation was transcribed for an earlier posting.

This posting contains the course announcement, enrollment figures, and the final examination questions for Anderson’s graduate course in 1914-15. The information comes from three different sources, all of which are available on-line. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting corresponding material from the twenty economics courses offered during the 1914-15 year for which the final examination questions had been printed and subsequently published.

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Course Announcement

Economics 17. Economic Theory: Value and Related Problems. Two consecutive evening hours on Monday. Asst. Professor Anderson.

The work of this course will include a critical reading of leading writers, particularly of the English and Austrian schools, on the theory of value, a consideration of the psychological and sociological premises underlying their theories, a reconstruction of these premises, and a constructive theory of value based on this reconstruction. The results of the investigations will then be tested by their application to certain related problems, as capitalization, the interest problem, the problem of the value of money, etc. Considerable attention will be given to contemporary literature and to recent controversies in the field of economic theory. Instruction will be by discussion, reports, and lectures. [p. 69]

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

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 17. Asst. Professor Anderson.—Economic Theory: Value and Related Problems.

Total 6: 6 Graduates.

Source: Report of the President of Harvard College, 1914-15, p. 60.

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 Final Examination

ECONOMICS 17

Answer eight questions, including number 9.

  1. Summarize the constructive theory of Social Value.
  2. Indicate all the different forms you have met of the relative conception of value. Discuss in detail the points at issue between relative and absolute conceptions of value.
  3. A law requiring proprietors of saw-mills to insure workmen against accident would lead to increased cost of production, and higher prices, for lumber. Would a law requiring all employers similarly to insure lead to higher prices all around? Why or why not?
  4. Give an analytical summary of the Seager-Fisher-Fetter-Brown controversy, and give, with reasons, your own conclusions on the points at issue.
  5. Contrast Walker, Kemmerer, Fisher and Taussig with reference to the statement of the quantity theory. What common elements are there in all four versions?
  6. Discuss the applications of the notions of (a) supply and demand, (b) cost of production, and (c) marginal utility, to the problem of the value of money.
  7. What is your own theory of the value of money?
  8. Explain the capitalization theory. Contrast its psychological presuppositions with those of the quantity theory. Are the two theories consistent?
  9. What are the differentia of economic value, legal value, moral value, aesthetic value, etc.
  10. In precisely what ways does exchange modify values? What possible substitutes for exchange could socialism develop?

 

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, p. 57.

Image Source: Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr. in Harvard Album, 1915.

 

 

Categories
Agricultural Economics Courses Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Agricultural Economics Exam. Carver, 1915.

 

This course on agricultural economics taught at Harvard during the second term of the 1914-15 academic year by Thomas Nixon Carver was listed in the course catalogue under “Applied Economics”, primarily for graduate students. The course announcement, enrollment figures, and the final examination questions come from three different sources, all of which are available on-line. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting corresponding material from the twenty economics courses offered during the 1914-15 year for which the final examination questions had been printed and subsequently published.

Carver’s autobiography Reflections of an Unplanned Life (1949) can be read online at the hathitrust.org website.

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Course Announcement

Economics 32. Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Professor Carver.

An intensive study of a number of special problems relating to rural economy and agricultural policy, such as land tenure, tenancy, intensive and extensive farming, the possibilities of national self-support, the economical distribution of farm products, farming for subsistence as compared with farming for profit, specialized as compared with diversified farming, selling farm products, purchasing farm supplies, agricultural credit, rural sanitation, communication, and recreation. [p. 70]

 

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

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 32 2hf. Professor Carver.—Economics of Agriculture.

Total 22: 5 Graduates, 6 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 2 Others.

Source: Report of the President of Harvard College, 1914-15, p. 60.

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 Final Examination

ECONOMICS 32

  1. Name the five most important crops in the United States, stating in each case the reasons why you consider them important. Name the chief areas of their production, describe the methods of cultivating them, and of combating their chief enemies.
  2. What are the chief areas of beef production in this country at the present time? What tendencies are showing themselves at the present time as to a territorial redistribution of the beef industry, and what are the reasons for these tendencies?
  3. Write a brief analysis of some important book which you have read in connection with this course or with your thesis.
  4. Give the main points in the report made by some member of this class, other than yourself, before the Class during this term.
  5. What are the essentials of coöperation, and what are the important distinctions between a coöperative society and a joint stock corporation, and the reasons for these distinctions?
  6. What is the difference between cooperative farming and coöperation among farmers? Which would you advocate and why?
  7. What would you say as to the probable source or sources of power for farm work in the United States during the next few decades? Give your reasons.
  8. It is commonly predicted that the United States will soon cease to be a wheat exporting country and become a wheat importing country. Do you think that this prediction is justified by existing tendencies? Why? Would it be a good or a bad indication if true? Why?

 

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. 58-59.

Image Source: Thomas Nixon Carver in Harvard Album, 1915.

 

 

Categories
Courses Princeton Suggested Reading Syllabus

Princeton. Money and Banking Syllabus. F.W. Fetter, 1933-34

 

Today’s posting takes us to the money and banking course at Princeton taught by Frank W. Fetter in the first semester of the 1933-34 academic year. The course outline along with the reading assignments come from his papers at Duke’s Economists’ Papers Archive. I have tracked down the assignments and have provided links where I have found them. What I particularly like about this course syllabus is that the reading assignments appear to be feasible, i.e. real and not nominal.

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List of Lectures, 1933-34
Economics 401 – Money and Banking

A. Money

  1. Nature and Evolution of Money
  2. Functions and Qualities of Money
  3. Characteristics of an Ideal Monetary System
  4. Credit (in general) and Commercial Bank Credit as Money
  5. The Value of Money
    1. The Quantity Theory
    2. Other Theories
    3. Synthesis
  6. Monetary History
    1. General
    2. In the United States
  7. Price Movements and their Consequences
  8. Foreign Exchange
  9. Monetary Standards
    1. The Gold Standard
    2. The Silver Standard
    3. Bimetallism
    4. Paper Standards
    5. The Tabular Standard

B. Banking

  1. Financial Institutions
  2. Commercial Banking
    1. Theory
    2. Social Effects
    3. Structure
    4. Federal Reserve System
    5. Branch Banking

C. Monetary and Banking Policy in Relation to Business Stability

  1. The Banks, the Money Market, and the Stock Exchange
  2. Banking and the Business Cycle

D. Monetary and Banking Reform

  1. Monetary Reform
  2. Banking Reform
  3. General Conclusions

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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Assignments in Money and Banking
1933-1934

Week of
1. Robertson: Money. Chs. 1-3 Oct. 2
2. White: Money and Banking. Pp. 79-139; 150-81 9
3. Warren & Pearson: Prices. Chs. 1-3, 22. 16
4. Bradford: Banking. Chs. 12, 13.
Griffin: Foreign Exchange. Pp. 61-72; 205-47. (Supplementary: To be read in case the subject is not clear from material in Bradford.)
The Business Section of a Newspaper.		 23
5. Robertson. Ch. 4.
Gregory: The Gold Standard and Its Future. Pp. 1-83.		 30
6. Graham: The Fall in the Value of Silver and Its Consequences. Nov. 6
7. Dunbar: The Theory and History of Banking. Pp. 9-58.
Robertson. Ch. 5		 13
8. Bradford. Chs. 2-5. 20
9. Bradford. Chs. 8-11. 27
10. Burgess. Pp. 65-168. Dec. 4
11. Burgess. Pp. 169-296. 11
12. Bradford. Chs. 16-20
Vanderlip: What About the Banks?		 18
13. Warren & Pearson. Chs. 9-17, 19. Jan. 8
14. Robertson. Chs. 9-17, 19.
Anderson: Equilibrium Creates Purchasing Power.
Magee: New Deal Legislation.		 15
(The assignments for the last three meetings are subject to changes or additions.)

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library, Economists’ Papers Archive. Frank Whitson Fetter Papers, Box 55, Folder “Teaching, Ec 401-Money and Banking (Princeton University) 1933-1934”.

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 Course Bibliography and Links

D. H. Robertson. Money. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922.

Horace White. Money and Banking—Illustrated by American History. (Fifth edition). Boston: Ginn and Company, 1914.

George F. Warren and Frank Ashmore Pearson. Prices. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1933.

Frederick A. Bradford. Banking. New York: Longmans Green, 1932.

C. E. Griffin. Principles of Foreign Trade. New York: Macmillan, 1924. [pages from chapters V and XIII]

T. E. Gregory. The Gold Standard and Its Future (3nd ed.). New York: E. P. Dutton, 1935.

Frank D. Graham. The Fall in the Value of Silver and Its Consequences. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Aug. 1931), 425-470.

Charles F. Dunbar. The Theory and History of Banking. (3rd edition, enlarged by Oliver M. W. Sprague). New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1917.

W. Randolph Burgess. The Reserve Banks and the Money Market. New York: Harper & Bros., 1927.

Frank Arthur Vanderlip. What about the Banks? Saturday Evening Post (5 November 1932), 3-5, 64-66.

Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr.. Equilibrium Creates Purchasing Power. The Chase Economic Bulletin 11 (June 12, 1931), 3-16.

James D. Magee, W. E. Atkins and E. Stein. The National Recovery Program. New York: Crofts. 1933. (Magee writes about money, banking and finance. “Reprints of portions of recent legislation are included.”)

Image Source: (ca. 1937) John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Categories
Courses New School Suggested Reading Syllabus

New School for Social Research. Elementary Mathematical Economics. Marschak’s Readings, 1940

 

The previous posting provided a list of economics courses announced for 1939-40 at the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science at the New School for Social Research. There we read that Dr. Jakob Marschak was to take over the courses taught by Gerhard Colm during the latter’s leave of absence to work in Washington, D.C. It just so happens that in the Papers of Franco Modigliani at Duke’s Economists’ Papers Archive I happened to have found the following reading list for Marschak’s course, Elementary Mathematical Economics, from the Fall term of 1940. Links to almost all of the books on Marschak’s list have been provided below. Those interested in the articles will need to go to a research library with access to jstor.org or having (gasp) hard-copy journal volumes in their collections.

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Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science
New School for Social Research, 66 West 12 Street, New York City

Fall 1940

Elementary Mathematical Economics
Dr. Jakob Marschak

*Available in New School Library

I. Introductory and General

*Allen, R.G.D. Mathematical Analysis for Economists. 1938
Thompson, S. Calculus Made Easy. 1919
Fisher, Irving A Brief Introduction to the Infinitesimal Calculus. 1897
Osgood Introduction to the Calculus. 1922
   “ Advanced Calculus. 1925.
Courant Differential and Integral Calculus. 2 volumes (1934, 1936)
[Volume One; Volume Two.]
Evans, G. Mathematical Introduction to Economics. New York. 1930
Bowley, A. Mathematical Groundwork of Economics. Oxford. 1924

 

II. Statics of National Output (Macro-Statics)

*Fisher, Irving The Purchasing Power of Money
Marschak, J. Stationary Society with Monetary Circulation. Econometrica. 1934.
Hicks, J. Mr. Keynes and the Classics. Econometrica. 1937

 

III. Statics of Consumers and Firms (Micro-Statics)

(a) Consumers

Edgeworth, F. W. Mathematical Psychics. 1883 (re-edited recently)
*Marshall, A. Principles of Economics. Mathematical Appendix (8th edition)
Hicks, J. and Allen, RGD A Reconsideration of the Theory of Value, Economica. 1934
Hicks, J. Capital and Value. Chapters I – IV 1939
Hotelling, H. Demand Functions with Limited Budgets. Econometrica. 1935
Marschak, J. Personal and Collective Demand Functions. Review of Economic Statistics. 1939

(b) Firms

*Cournot, A. Mathematical Theory of Wealth. 1838. American edition by Irving Fisher. 1927
Hicks, J. Survey of Economic Theory: Imperfect Competition. Econometrica. 1935
Brown, E. H. Phelps Efficacy of Factors of Production. Econometrica. 1936. (3 articles)

(c) General Equilibrium and Distribution

Fisher, I. Mathematical Investigations on Value. Re-edited 1925. New Haven
Walras, L. Éléments d’Économie Politique Pure. 1936
Pareto, V. Manuel d’Économie Politique
Hicks, J. & Walras L. Econometrica. 1934
*Wicksell, K. Lectures, Volume I
Kalecki, M. The Determinants of Income Distribution. Econometrica. 1938
*Douglas, P. The Theory of Wages. New York. 1934
Edelberg Production and Distribution. Econometrica 1936
Fisher, I. The Theory of Interest. 1930

 

IV. Dynamics

Whitman Dynamics of Costs. Econometrica. 1936
Kalecki, M. Essays in the Theory of Economic Fluctuations. London. 1939
*Tinberbergen, J. Verification of Business Cycles Theories. 2 volumes. Geneva. 1939

[Statistical Testing of Business-cycle Theories:
Part I: A Method and Its Application to Investment Activity. 
Part II: Business cycles in the United States of America, 1919-1932]
   “ Explanations: Review of Economic Studies 1940. Economic Journal. 1940
Frisch, R. Propagation in Dynamic Economics, in Economic Essays in Honor of Gustav Cassel, London, 1933.

 

V. Economics and Probabilities

Hagstroem. Pure Economics as a Stochastical Theory. Econometrica. 1936
*Knight, F. H. Risk, Uncertainty and Profit. New York. 1921 and 1933
Pigou, A. C. Economics of Welfare: Appendix on Risk
Marschak, J. Money and the Theory of Assets. Econometrica. 1938
Neyman, J. Lectures on Mathematical Statistics. Chapters on Time Series. Department of Agriculture, Washington

[Lectures and Conferences on Mathematical Statistics, mimeographed, 1938. Augmented second edition in 1952.]
Cowles, A. Can Stock Market Forecasters Forecast? Econometrica. 1933
Jones, H. E. Time Regression Analysis. Econometrica. 1937

 

Source: Duke University. Economists’ Papers Archive in David Rubenstein Library. Papers of Franco Modigliani. Box T1, Folder “Jacob Marschak’s Course, 1940-1949”.

Image Source: Carl F. Christ. History of the Cowles Commission, 1932-1952

Categories
Courses Curriculum Economists New School

New School for Social Research. Economics Courses, 1939-40

 

 

The Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science of the New School for Social Research was established in 1933.

The following announcement of economics course offerings for the academic year 1939-40 was published in the second three year report of the Dean of the Graduate Faculty that was published in September 1939. Two changes in the course staffing for the year were noted in the report:

  • Emil Lederer, died May 29, 1939.
  • Gerhard Colm was granted a leave of absence to serve as adviser on economic and fiscal affairs to Harry Hopkins, Secretary of Commerce, Washington, D. C., during the year 1939-1940.

Upon consulting a few genealogical websites I was able to determine that Richard Schüller only arrived in New York the following year.

For those wanting serious biographical data:  Harald Hagemann and Claus-Dieter Krohn (eds.), Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Emigration nach 1933 (2 vols.). Munich: K. G. Sauer, 1999.

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Announced Economics Courses by the Graduate Faculty, 1939-1940

EMIL LEDERER*

History of Economic Thought
Problems of the Business Cycle
Socialism, Communism, Fascism

ALFRED KAHLER

History of Economic Thought
History of American Labor and the Labor Movement
Applied Statistics

EDUARD HEIMANN

Economic Theory
Theory of Capital and Interest
Theory of a Planned Economy
History of Capitalism
Marxism

GERHARD COLM**

Basic Problems in Economics
Public Finance
Business and Taxation
Public Investments

RICHARD SCHULLER [sic]***

Strategy and Tactics in International Trade Negotiations
Studies in the Statistics of International Trade

HANS STAUDINGER

Principles of Economic Policy
Natural Resources in the National Economy
Economic Geography and International Distribution of Raw Materials
Modern Organization in Industry and Transportation
The Significance of Population Movements

ARTHUR FEILER

Current Economic Problems
Recent Trends in International Economic Relations
Economics of Bolshevism and Fascism

FRITZ LEHMANN

Advanced Monetary Theory
Selected Chapters in the Economics of Enterprises
Current Economic Problems
Money and Banking
The Financial Page

FRIEDA WUNDERLICH

Labor Problems
Labor Legislation and industrial Relations
Trade Unionism
Industrial Relations
Social Security

 

*Dr. Lederer’s Courses will be given by various members of the Faculty.

**These courses will be given by Dr. Jakob Marschak.

***Schüller did not leave England until July 1940.

 

SOURCE: Report of the Dean of the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science in the New School for Social Research, September 1939, pp. 36-57. Gerhard Colm Papers, Box 24, Folder 12 (Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.).

Image Source: Webpage, The New School History Project.

 

Categories
Fields Harvard

Harvard. Seven Ph.D. Examinees in Economics, 1911-12

 

 

For seven 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).

________________________________________

 

DIVISION OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D.
1911-12

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

 

Wilfred Eldred.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, April 29, 1912.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Turner, Bullock, Ripley, and Dr. Day.
Academic History: Washington and Lee University, 1906-09; Harvard Graduate School, 1910-12; A.B. Washington and Lee, 1909; A. M., ibid., 1909; A.M., Harvard, 1911.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance and Financial History. 4. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. 5. Transportation and Foreign Commerce. 6. History of American Institutions.
Special Subject: Economic History of the United States.
Thesis Subject: “Grain Trade and Grain Production since 1860.” (With Professor Carver.)

 

Melvin Chauncey Hunt.

General Examination in Economics (Social Ethics), Tuesday, April 30, 1912.
Committee: Professors Peabody (chairman), Ripley, Carver, Dr. Brackett, and Dr. Rappard.
Academic History: Nebraska Wesleyan University, 1902-06; Boston University, 1907-10; Harvard Graduate School, 1910-12. A.B., Nebraska Wesleyan, 1906; S.T.B., Boston University, 1910.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Ethical Theory. 3. Poor Relief. 4. Social Reforms. 5. Sociology. 6. Labor Problems.
Special Subject: (undecided).
Thesis Subject: “A Study of the Middle Class Home.” (With Professor Peabody.)

 

Yamato Ichihashi.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 1, 1912.
Committee: Professors Ripley (chairman), Taussig, Carver, Dr. Rozzer, and Dr. Day.
Academic History: Leland Stanford Junior University, 1904-08; Harvard Graduate School, 1910-12. A.B., Leland Stanford, 1907; A.M., ibid., 1908. Assistant in Economics, Leland Stanford, 1908-10.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Sociology and Social Reforms. 4. Statistics. 5. Anthropology. 6. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization.
Special Subject: Labor Problems.
Thesis Subject: “Emigration from Japan, and Japanese Immigration into the State of California.” (With Professor Ripley.)

 

Philip Benjamin Kennedy.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 2, 1912.
Committee: Professors Ripley (chairman), Gay, Carver, and Drs. Day and Holcombe.
Academic History: Beloit College, 1900-02, 1903-05; Occidental College, 1905-06; Harvard Graduate School, 1909-12. A.B., Beloit, 1905; Litt.B., Occidental, 1906; A.M., Harvard, 1911.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Modern Economic History. 3. Sociology and Social Problems. 4. American Institutions. 5. Money and Banking. 6. Transportation and Corporations.
Special Subject: Transportation and Corporations.
Thesis Subject: “Railroad Valuation.” (With Professor Ripley.)

 

Selden Osgood Martin.

Special Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 8, 1912.
General Examination passed December 1, 1905.
Academic History: Bowdoin College, 1896-97, 1900-03; Harvard Graduate School, 1903-07. A.B., Bowdoin, 1903; A.M., Harvard, 1904. Frederick Sheldon Travelling Fellow, 1910-11. Instructor in the Graduate School of Business Administration, 1910-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistics. 3. Economic History of the United States. 4. Money, Banking, and Financial History. 5. American History. 6. Constitutional History of England to the Sixteenth Century.
Special Subject: Economic History of the United States.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Turner, Gay, and Sprague.
Thesis Subject: “Recent Water-Power Development in the United States.”
Committee on Thesis: Professors Taussig, Gay, and Clifford.

 

Alfred Burpee Balcom.

Special Examination in Economics, Friday, May 10, 1912.
General Examination passed May 1, 1911.
Academic History: Acadia College, 1904-07; Harvard Graduate School, 1908-12. S.B., Acadia, 1907; A.M., Harvard, 1909. Austin Teaching Fellow in Economics, 1910-12.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Sociology and Social Reform. 4. Public Finance and Financial History. 5. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization. 6. Philosophy.
Special Subject: Economic Theory in England from Adam Smith to the present time.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, Carver, Sprague, and Dr. Rappard.
Thesis Subject: “The Development of the English Poor Law Policy.” (With Professor Taussig.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Taussig, Bullock, and Carver.

 

Ralph Emerson Heilman.

Special Examination in Economics (Social Ethics), Friday, May 17, 1912.
General Examination passed May 11, 1911.
Academic History: Morningside College, 1903-06; Northwestern University, 1906-07; Harvard Graduate School, 1909-12; Ph.B., Morningside, 1906; A.M., Northwestern, 1907.
General Subjects: 1. Ethical Theory. 2. Economic Theory and its History. 3. Poor Relief. 4. Social Reforms. 5. Sociology. 6. Labor Problems.
Special Subject: The Control of Municipal Public Service Corporations.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Peabody, Munro, and Dr. Holcombe.
Thesis Subject: “Chicago Traction.” (With Professor Taussig.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Taussig, Ripley, and Munro.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1911-12”.

Image Source: John Harvard Statue (1904). Library of Congress. Photos, Prints and Drawings.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Single Tax, Socialism, and Anarchism. Final Exam. Anderson, 1918

 

 

Perhaps some last-minute re-staffing of courses was required during the 1917-18 academic year because of colleagues joining the war effort in Washington, D.C. All I know is that the survey course on schemes of social reform that was solidly in the teaching portfolio of Thomas Nixon Carver was taught by Benjamin M. Anderson during his last year at Harvard. Carver’s own  course outline with reading assignments for 1919-20 and the corresponding final examination questions from 1920 have been posted earlier. This posting shows the deviation between the original course announcement (Carver to teach Economics 7b) and the ex post staffing and course enrollment report for the year in the annual report of the Harvard president (Anderson taught Economics 7b). 

Judging from the examination questions, it would appear that the Russian Revolution was not yet incorporated into the Harvard economics curriculum. Marxian economics did rate one of the ten questions on its own and shared another question with everyone from Henry George Single Taxers through Anarchists, Utopians up to and including the American Federation of Labor.

____________________________

Course Announcement

7b 2hf. The Single Tax, Socialism, Anarchism. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Professor Carver.

A critical study of the theories which underlie some of the more radical programmes of social reform. An examination also of the social utility of private property in its various forms; also some attention to the concept of justice in economic relations; the concept of progress; the significance of conservatism and radicalism.

Source:   Division of History, Government, and Economics 1917-18, Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XIV, No. 25 (May 18, 1917), p. 62.

____________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 7b 2hf. Asst. Professor Anderson.—The Single Tax, Socialism, Anarchism.

Total 21: of which 5 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1917-18, p. 54.

 

____________________________

1917-18
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 7b2

Answer nine questions

  1. “Society is to blame when the individual goes wrong.” Discuss critically.
  2. Indicate resemblances and differences: Single Taxers; Kropotkin; Emma Goldman; Marxists; Syndicalists; Fabians; American Federation of Labor; Fourier.
  3. Discuss the theory of price-fixing under war conditions in America today.
  4. Explain the contract theory of society. What ideas are usually associated with this theory? Criticise this body of ideas.
  5. Outline the main argument of Progress and Poverty. Indicate the points of strength and weakness in the argument.
  6. What reading have you done for this course?
  7. Outline A. S. Johnson’s plan for the public capitalization of the inheritance tax.
  8. Discuss the doctrine that the unearned increment is a stimulus to the building trade.
  9. Discuss the doctrine that all taxes except the land tax are a burden on industry and raise prices.
  10. Outline the main points in Marx’s system. How much of it can stand?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, History of Religions, … ,Economics, … , Fine Arts, Music in Harvard College. June, 1918. (HUC 7000.28, vol. 60 of 284).

Image Source: Benjamin M. Anderson, Jr. from Harvard Class Album 1915.

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final Examination for Economics of Socialism, Mason and Sweezy, 1937 and 1939

 

 

The Harvard undergraduate course, The Economics of Socialism, evolved from Thomas Nixon Carver’s course, Methods of Social Reform, (exam questions from 1920) that had been introduced into the curriculum in 1902-03. The Economics of Socialism course was taught from 1935-36 through 1938-39 by Edward S. Mason and Paul Sweezy. The 1937-38 course outline and reading assignments along with final exam questions have been posted earlier. In this posting I have transcribed the final examination questions from the second terms of 1936-37 and 1938-39. I have not been able to locate a copy of the 1935-36 exam questions yet.

 In subsequent years this course was taught by Sweezy, Schumpeter, and Taylor. 

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1936-37
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 11b2

I
Write about one hour

  1. If you were setting out to write a book on the Soviet economic system on what questions would you concentrate your attention? To what extent do the Webb’s provide adequate answers to these questions and in what respects do you regard their treatment as deficient?

II
Answer four questions

  1. Discuss briefly Utopian Socialism and Chartism and indicate what, if any, relation they bear to each other and to the modern socialist movement.
  2. For what types of economic problems would you consider the Marxian method of analysis superior to the orthodox (equilibrium) method?
  3. To what extent, if at all, does Marx’s analysis of the decline of capitalism depend upon the growth of large scale enterprise?
  4. What is Lenin’s theory of imperialism? How is it related to Marx’s analysis of capitalism?
  5. “The proper goal for socialist economic planners is that disposition and use of resources which is supposed to be achieved by the perfectly competitive market.” Discuss.

 

Final. 1937.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Papers Printed for Final Examinations, History, History of Religions, … ,Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science. Jan—June, 1937. (HUC 7000.28, vol. 79 of 284).

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1938-39
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 11b2

I
(Reading Period — one hour)

  1. From your reading in the Webbs and your general knowledge of American conditions, what do you take to be the fundamental differences between the economic systems of the Soviet Union and the United States? Support your answer by justifying the criteria which you have selected for the purpose of judging what are the fundamentally significant characteristics of an economic system.

II
(Answer TWO — one hour)

  1. What is the relation, if any, of Marx’s “Tendency toward concentration and centralization of capital,” to monopoly problems as now understood?
  2. What elements of Marx’s thought impress you as having been influenced by the writing of his Utopian predecessors?
  3. On the basis of Marxian analysis how would you judge the political future of a farmer-labor affiliation in the United States?

III
(Answer TWO — one hour)

  1. “Take away the labor theory of value and the whole of Marx’s gigantic structure crashes to the ground.” Discuss.
  2. In your judgment does the rise of fascism in post-war Europe tend to confirm or refute Lenin’s theory of imperialism?
  3. “Mises is wrong; Lange and Taylor are right. But the whole dispute is very much a tempest in a teacup. It has very little to do with either the desirability or the workability of a socialist society.” What dispute? Do you agree that “Mises is wrong; Lange and Taylor are right”? What is your own judgment as to the importance of the dispute?

Final. 1939.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Papers Printed for Final Examinations, History, History of Religions, … ,Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science. Jan—June, 1939. (HUC 7000.28, in Box 4 of 284)