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M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. First term core macro. National income and employment. Readings and Exams. Domar, 1965

 

For the previous posting I transcribed Robert Solow’s reading list and mid-term exam for M.I.T.’s second term of graduate core macroeconomics. That course reading list was lean, short & sweet. Today we turn to my Doktorvater, Evsey D. Domar, who taught the first term of that graduate sequence. Both my obligation to friends of  Economics in the Rear-view Mirror and my profound doctor-filial piety were needed to motivate me to transcribe Domar’s entire fourteen page course reading list. I am delighted to say I was able to find the midterm and final exams for the year and include them here.

___________________

THEORY OF NATIONAL INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT

E. D. Domar 14.451 Fall Term 1965-66
READING LIST

The purpose of this list is to suggest to the student the sources in which the more important topics of the course are discussed from several points of view. His objectives should be the understanding of these topics and not the memorization of opinions and details.

There now exists a good textbook on macroeconomics—Gardner Ackley, Macroeconomic Theory (The Macmillan Company, New York, 1961). Its knowledge is necessary but not sufficient for passing the course. While several copies are on reserve at Dewey, the acquisition of private copies is recommended.

It is also convenient to acquire the two National Income volumes published by the U.S. Department of Commerce and listed in Section I.

 

I. NATIONAL INCOME AND RELATED ITEMS
(September 21 – October 14)

REQUIRED

Ackley, Chapters 1-4.
Kuznets, S., National Income and Its Composition, Vol. I (New York, 1941). [handwritten note: Chap. 1]
National Income 1954 Edition, A Supplement to the Survey of Current Business, U.S. Department of Commerce (Washington, D.C., 1954), pp. 27-60, 153-58.
U.S. Income and Output, A Supplement to the Survey of Current Business, U.S. Department of Commerce (Washington, D. C., 1958), pp. 50-105. Browse through the statistical tables of both volumes to know what is available where.
Leontief, W. W., “Output, Employment, Consumption and Investment,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 58 (February, 1944), pp. 290-314.
Leontief, Studies in the Structure of the American Economy (New York, 1953), pp. 27-35.
Dorfman, R., “The Nature and Significance of Input-Output,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 36 (May, 1954), pp. 121-33.
Kendrick, J. W., Productivity Trends in the United States (Princeton, 1961), pp. xxxv-lii, 20-77.
Domar, E. D., “On Total Productivity and All That,” The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 70 (December, 1962), pp. 597-608. [This is a review of Kendrick’s book; several reprints are available in Dewey.]
Domar, E. D., “On the Measurement of Technological Change,” The Economic Journal, Vol. 71 (December, 1961), pp. 709-29. [Read only pp. 709-14, 726-29.]
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Industrial Production 1959 Revision (Washington, 1960), pp. iii-41. [Look for the method, not for statistical details.]
Sigel, S. J., “A Comparison of the Structures of Three Social Accounting Systems,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Input-Output Analysis: An Appraisal, The Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 18 (Princeton, 1955), pp. 253-89.

ADDITIONAL READINGS:

Jaszi, G., “The Statistical Foundations of the GNP,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 38 (May, 1956), pp. 205-14.
Domar, E. D., “An Index-Number Tournament,” mult., 1963. [Several copies are available in Dewey; your comments will be appreciated.]
Griliches, Zvi, “Notes on the Measurement of Price and Quality Changes,” and comments by Jaszi, Denison and Grove, in Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, Models of Income Determination (Princeton, 1964), Vol. 28, pp. 381-418.
Lewis, Wilfred, Jr., “The Federal Sector in National Income Models,” and comments by Hickman and Pechman, in Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, Models of Income Determination (Princeton, 1964), Vol. 28, pp. 233-78.
Bailey, M. J., National Income and the Price Level (New York, 1962), pp. 269-300.
Kuznets, S., National Income and Its Composition (New York, 1941).
Ruggles, R. and N., National Income Accounts and Income Analysis (New York, 1956).
Ruggles, “The U.S. National Accounts,” American Economic Review, Vol. 49, (March, 1959), pp. 85-95.
National Bureau of Economic Research, The National Economic Accounts of the United States, Review, Appraisal and Recommendations, General Series 64, (Washington, 1958).
Organization for European Economic Cooperation, A Standardised System of National Accounts, (Paris, 1952).
Gilbert, M. and I. B. Kravis, An International Comparison of National Products and the Purchasing Power of Currencies, A Study of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, Organization for European Economic Cooperation (Paris, 1954).
Gilbert, M., Comparative National Products and Price Levels, A Study of Western Europe and the United States, Organization of European Economic Cooperation, (Paris, 1958).
United Nations, Yearbook of National Accounts Statistics, the latest issue.
United Nations, National Income Statistics, the latest issue.
United Nations, World Economic Survey and other Economic Surveys.
Studenski, The Income of Nations. Theory, Measurement, and Analysis: Past and Present (New York, 1958). [A wealth of information, particularly of historical character.]
Nove, A., “The United States National Income A La Russe,” Economica, Vol. 23, 1956.
Bergson, A. The Real National Income of Soviet Russia Since 1928 (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1961).
Kravis, I. B., “Relative Income Shares in Fact and Theory,” American Economic Review, Vol. 49 (December, 1959), pp. 917-49.
Samuelson, P. A., “Evaluation of Real National Income,” Oxford Economic Papers (New Series), 1950, pp. 1-29.
Samuelson, “The Evaluation of ‘Social Income’: Capital Formation and Wealth,” in F. A. Lutz and D. C. Hague, editors, The Theory of Capital (London, 1961).
Leontief, W. W., The Structure of American Economy (New York, 1941).
Leontief, Studies in the Structure of the American Economy (New York, 1953).
Taskier, C. E., Input-Output Bibliography 1955-1960, United Nations (New York, 1961).
Evans, W. D., and M. Hoffenberg, “The Interindustry Relations Study for 1947,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 34, (May, 1952), pp. 97-142.
Stewart, I. G., “The Practical Uses of Input-Output Analysis,” Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 5, (February, 1958).
Dosser, D. and A. T. Peacock, “Input-Output Analysis in an Under-Developed Country: A Case Study,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 25 (October, 1957).
Input-Output Analysis: An Appraisal, Studies in Income and Wealth by the Conference on research in Income and Wealth, Vol. 18 (Princeton, 1955).
Solow, R. M. “Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 39 (August, 1957), pp. 312-20.
Abramovitz, M., “Resources and Output in the United States Since 1870,” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 46 (May, 1956), pp. 5-23, reprinted as National Bureau of Economic Research, Occasional Paper 52 (New York, 1956).
Kendrick, J. W., Productivity Trends in the United States (Princeton, 1961).
Denison, E. F., Sources of Economic Growth in the United States and the Alternatives Before Us (New York, 1962).
Abramovitz, M., “Economic Growth in the United States,” American Economic Review, Vol. 52 (September, 1962), pp. 762-82. [This is a review of Denison’s Book.]
Moorsteen, R. H., “On Measuring Productive Potential and Relative Efficiency,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 75 (August, 1961), pp. 451-67.
Fabricant, S., The Output of Manufacturing Industries, 1899-1937 (New York, 1940), particularly Chapter 1.
United Nations, Statistical Office, Index Numbers of Industrial Production, St/Stat/ Ser/ F1 (New York, 1950).
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Flow of Funds in the United States 1939-53 (Washington, D. C., 1955).
Powelson, J. P., National Income and Flow-Of-Funds Analysis (New York, 1960).
Measuring the Nation’s Wealth, National Bureau of Economic Research, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 29 (Washington, D. C., 1964).

 

II. GENERAL AGGREGATIVE SYSTEMS
(October 19 – October 28).

REQUIRED:

Ackley, Parts II and III.
Keynes, J. M., The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (London and New York, 1936). [Omit the appendixes to Chapters 6 and 19.]
Note: Neither book is arranged in the order of this reading list. Hence these two assignments apply to other sections of it as well.
Wells, P., “Keynes’ Aggregate Supply Function: A Suggested Interpretation,” The Economic Journal, Vol. 70 (September, 1960), pp. 536-42.
Johnson, H. G. and the discussants, “The General Theory After Twenty-five Years,” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 60 (May, 1961), pp. 1-25.
Klein, L. R., “The Empirical Foundations of Keynesian Economics,” in K. K. Kurihara, ed., Post Keynesian Economics (New Brunswick, N. J., 1954), pp. 277-319.

ADDITIONAL READINGS:

Lekachman, Robert, Keynes’ General Theory: Reports of Three Decades, (New York and London, 1964).
Patinkin, D., Money, Interest, and Prices, Second Edition, (New York, 1965).
American Economic Association, Readings in Business Cycle Theory (Philadelphia, 1944), Essays 5, 7, 8.
American Economic Association, Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution (Philadelphia, 1946), Essay 24.
Metzler, “Three Lags in the Circular Flow of Income,” in Income, Employment and Public Policy, Essays in Honor of Alvin H. Hansen (New York, 1948), pp. 11-32.
Harris, S. E., The New Economics (New York, 1947), Essays 8-19, 31-33, 38-46.
Lerner, A. P., Economics of Control (New York, 1944), Chapters 21-23, 25.K
Kurihara, K. K., Post Keynesian Economics (New Brunswick, N. J., 1954).
Klein, L. R., The Keynesian Revolution, (New York, 1947), Chapters 3-5.
Ellis, H. S., A Survey of Contemporary Economics, Vol. 1, (Philadelphia, 1948), Chapter 2.
Burns, A. F., “Economic Research and the Keynesian Thinking of Our Times,” in his The Frontiers of Economic Knowledge, (Princeton, 1954), or in the Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. (New York, 1946). See also the discussion by Hansen and Burns in the Review of Economic Statistics (November, 1947).
Dillard, D., “The Influence of Keynesian Economics on Contemporary Thought,” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 1957.
Hutt, W. H., Keynesianism: Retrospect and Prospect (Chicago, 1963).
Friedman, Milton, and G. S. Becker, “A Statistical Illusion on Judging Keynesian Models,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 55 (February, 1957), pp. 64-75.

 

III. PRICE FLEXIBILITY AND EMPLOYMENT
(November 2-11)

REQUIRED:

Patinkin, D., Money, Interest, and Prices, Second ed., (New York, 1965), Chapters 9-11.
Pigou, A. C., “The Classical Stationary State,” Economic Journal (December, 1943).
Power, J. H., “Price Expectations, Money Illusion and the Real Balance Effect,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 67 (April, 1959).
Mayer, T., “The Empirical Significance of the Real Balance Effect,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 73 (May, 1959).

ADDITIONAL READINGS:

Readings in Monetary Theory, Essay 13.
Schelling, T. C., “The Dynamics of Price Flexibility,” American Economic Review (September, 1949).
Lange, O., Price Flexibility and Employment (Bloomington, Indiana, 1944). [Get the main idea and omit the details.]
Friedman, M., “Lange on Price Flexibility and Employment,” American Economic Review (September, 1946).
Patinkin, D., Money, Interest, and Prices (Evanston, Illinois, 1956).
Hicks, J. R., “A Rehabilitation of ‘Classical Economics’,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47, (June, 1957).

 

IV. THEORY OF INTEREST
(November 16-25)

REQUIRED:

Hicks, J. R., Value and Capital (Oxford, 1957), Chapters 11 & 12.
Lydall, H., “Income, Assets, and the Demand for Money,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 40 (February, 1958), pp. 1-14.
Gurley, J. G., and E. S. Shaw, “Financial Aspects of Economic Development,” American Economic Review, Vol. 65 (September, 1955), pp. 515-38.

ADDITIONAL READINGS:

Patinkin, the rest of his excellent book.
Gurley, J. G., and E. S. Shaw, Money in a Theory of Finance (Washington, 1960).
Tobin, J., “Liquidity Preference as Behavior Towards Risk,” The Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 25 (February, 1958), pp. 65-86.
Hart, A. G., and P. B. Kenen, Money, Debt and Economic Activity, Third Ed., (Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1961).
American Economic Association, Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution (Philadelphia, 1946), Essays 22, 23, 26.
American Economic Association, Readings in Monetary Theory, (New York, 1951), Essays 6, 11, 15.
Patinkin, D., “Liquidity Preference and Loanable Funds: Stock and Flow Analysis,” Economica, Vol. 25 (November, 1958).
Lutz, F. A., “The Interest Rate and Investment in a Dynamic Economy,” American Economic Review, (December, 1945).
Wright, A. L., “The Rate of Interest in a Dynamic Model,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 72 (August, 1958), pp. 327-50.
Matthews, R. C. O., “Liquidity Preference and the Multiplier,” Economica, Vol. 28 (February, 1961), pp. 37-52.
Supplement to the Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 45 (February, 1963) on “The State of Monetary Economics.”
Friedman, M. and A. J. Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States 1867-1960 (Princeton, N. J., 1963).
Friedman, M., ed., Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money (Chicago, 1956).

See also INVESTMENT DECISIONS.

 

V. CONSUMPTION AND SAVING
(November 30- December 9)

REQUIRED:

Crockett, Jean, “Income and Asset Effects on Consumption: Aggregate and Cross Section,” and comments by D. B. Suits, in Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, Models of Income Determination (Princeton, 1964), Vol. 23, pp. 97-136.
Duesenberry, J. S., Income, Saving, and the Theory of Consumer Behavior (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1949). Omit the details and get the main points.
Friedman, M., A Theory of the Consumption Function (Princeton, 1957), Chapter 9.
Friend, I., and I. B. Kravis, “Entrepreneurial Income, Saving and Investment,” American Economic Review, Vol. 47 (June, 1957), pp. 269-301.
Tobin, J., “On the Predictive Value of Consumer Intentions and Attitudes,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 41 (February, 1959), pp. 1-11.
Farrell, M. J., “The New Theories of the Consumption Function,” The Economic Journal, Vol. 69 (December, 1959), pp. 678-96.
Dobrovolsky, S. P., Corporate Income Retention 1915-43 (New York, 1951). [Omit the details.]
Lintner, J. and discussants, “Distribution of Income of Corporations Among Dividends, Retained Earnings, and Taxes,” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 46 (May, 1956), pp. 97-118.
Gordon, M. J., “The Optimum Dividend Rate,” presented at the 6th Annual International Meeting of the Institute of Management Sciences (Paris, September, 1959). [On library reserve.]
Domar, E. D., Essays in the Theory of Economic Growth (New York, 1957), pp. 154-67, 195-201.

ADDITIONAL READINGS:

Ferber, R., “The Accuracy of Aggregate Savings Functions in the Post-War Years,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 37 (May, 1955), pp. 134-48.
Friedman, the rest of his book.
Brown, E. C., Solow, R. M., Ando, A., and J. Karekan, “Lags in Fiscal and Monetary Policy,” in Commission on Money and Credit, Stabilization Policies (Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1963), pp. 1-165.
Modigliani, F., and R. Brumberg, “Utility Analysis and the Consumption Function: An Interpretation of Cross-Section Data,” in Kurihara, K. K., ed., Post Keynesian Economics (New Brunswick, N. J., 1954), pp. 388-436.
See also its discussion by Brown, B., and F. M. Fisher, “Negro-White Savings Differentials and the Modigliani-Brumberg Hypothesis,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 40 (February, 1958), pp. 79-81.
Friend, I., and S. Schor, “Who Saves?,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 41 (May, 1959), pp. 213-45.
Zellner, Arnold, “The Short-Run Consumption Function,” Econometrica, (October, 1957).
Dennison, E. F., “A Note on Private Saving,” Review of Economics and Statistics, (August, 1958).
Friedman, M., and G. Becker, “A Statistical Illusion in Judging Keynesian Models,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 65 (February, 1957).
Klein, L. R., “The Friedman-Becker Illusion,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 66 (December, 1958).
Morgan, J. N., Consumer Economics (New York, 1955).
Katona, G., and E. Mueller, Consumer Expectations 1953-56 (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1956).
Bailey, M. J., “Saving and the Rate of Interest,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 45 (August, 1957), pp. 279-305. Reprinted in Landmarks in Political Economy, edited by E. J. Hamilton, A. Rees, and Johnson, H. G., (Chicago, 1962), pp. 583-622.
Klein, L. R., ed., Contributions of Survey Methods to Economics (New York, 1954).
Goldsmith, R. W., A Study of Saving in the United States, Three volumes (Princeton, 1952).
Heller, W. W., Boddy, F. M., and C. L. Nelson, Savings in the Modern Economy, a Symposium (Minneapolis, 1953).
Mincer, J., “Employment and Consumption,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 42 (February, 1960), pp. 20-26.

 

VI. INVESTMENT DECISIONS
(December 14 – January 6)

REQUIRED:

Ackley, Chapter 17.
Solomon, E., ed., The Management of Corporate Capital (Glencoe, Ill., 1959), pp. 48-55, 67-73.
White, W. H., “Interest Inelasticity of Investment Demand—The Case from Business Attitude Surveys Re-examined,” American Economic Review, Vol. 46 (September, 1956), pp. 565-587.
Meyer, J. R., and E. Kuh, The Investment Decision (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1957), Chapter 12.
Penrose, E., “Limits to the Growth and Size of Firms,” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 45 (May, 1955), pp. 531-43.
Foss, M. F., and Natrella, V., “Ten Years’ Experience with Business Investment Anticipations,” Survey of Current Business (January, 1957).
Schultz, T. W., “Capital Formation by Education,” The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 68 (December, 1960), pp. 571-83.

ADDITIONAL READINGS:

Lerner, A. P., “On the Marginal Product of Capital and the Marginal Efficiency of Investment,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 51 (February, 1953), pp. 1-14. Reprinted in Landmarks in Political Economy edited by E. J. Hamilton, Rees, A., and H. G. Johnson (Chicago, 1962), pp. 538-58.
Pitchford, J. D. and A. J. Hagger, “A Note on the Marginal Efficiency of Capital,” The Economic Journal, Vol. 48 (September, 1958), pp. 597-600.
Duesenberry, J., Business Cycles and Economic Growth (New York, 1958), Chapters 4-7.
Meyer and Kuh, the rest of the book.
Hirschleifer, J., “On the Theory of Optimal Investment Decision,” The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 66 (August, 1958), pp. 329-352. [An excellent but difficult paper.]
James, E., A Reconsideration of the Theoretical Criteria for Optimum Investment Planning (M.I.T. doct. diss., 1961). [A good survey of the literature.]
Lovell, M. C., “Determinants of Inventory Investment,” in Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, Models of Income Determination (Princeton, 1964), Vol. 28, pp. 177-232.
Penrose, E. T., The Theory of the Growth of the Firm (Oxford, 1959).
The Quality and Economic Significance of Anticipations Data, A Conference of the Universities—National Bureau Committee for Economic Research (Princeton, 1960).
Foss, M. F., “Investment Plans and Realizations—Reasons for Differences in Individual Cases,” Survey of Current Business (June, 1957).
Foss, M. F., “Manufacturers’ Inventory and Sales Expectations—A Progress Report on a New Survey,” Survey of Current Business (August, 1961).
Robinson, J., The Accumulation of Capital (London, 1956). [Wish we had time for it.]
Lutz, F. A., and V., the Theory of Investment of the Firm (Princeton, 1951).
Heller, W. W., “The Anatomy of Investment Decisions,” Harvard Business Review, (March, 1951), pp. 95-103.
Meade, J. E., and P. W. S. Andrews, “Summary of Replies to Questions on Effects of Interest Rates,” and “Further Inquiry into the Effects of Rates of Interest,” Oxford Economic Papers, No. 1, 1938 and No. 3, 1940.
Ebersole, J. F., “The Influence of Interest Rates,” Harvard Business Review, Vol. 17, 1938, pp. 35-39.
Henderson, H. D., “The Significance of the Rate of Interest,” Oxford Economic Papers (October, 1938), pp. 1-13.
Andrews, P. W. S., “Further Inquiry into the Effects of Rates of Interest,” Oxford Economic Papers, (February, 1940), pp. 32-73.
Sayers, R. S., “Business Men and the Terms of Borrowing,” Oxford Economic Papers (February, 1940), pp. 23-31.
Brockie, M. D., and A. L. Grey, “The Marginal Efficiency of Capital and Investment Programming,” Economic Journal, Vol. 46 (December, 1956).
White, W. H., “The Rate of Interest, the Marginal Efficiency of Capital, and Investment Programming,” Economic Journal, Vol. 48 (March, 1958).
Grey, A. L., and M. D. Brockie, “The Rate of Interest, Marginal Efficiency of Captial and Net Investment Programming: A Rejoinder,” Economic Journal (June, 1959).
Spiro, A., “Empirical Research and the Rate of Interest,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 40 (February, 1958).
Cunningham, N. J., “Business Investment and the Marginal Cost of Funds,” Metroeconomica, Vol. 10 (August, 1958).
Cunningham, N. J., “Business Investment and the Marginal Cost of Funds,” Part II, Metroeconomica (December, 1958).
Wilson, T., “Cyclical and Autonomous Inducements to Invest,” Oxford Economic Papers, Vol. 5, 1953.
Lydall, H. F., “The Impact of the Credit Squeeze on Small and Medium Sized Manufacturing Firms,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47 (September, 1957).
Friend, I., and J. Bronfenbrenner, “Business Investment Programs and Their Realization,” Survey of Current Business (December, 1950).
Schultz, T. W., “Investment in Human Capital,” American Economic Review, Vol. 60 (March, 1961) pp. 1-17.
Houthakker, H. S., “Education and Income,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 41 (February, 1959), pp. 24-28.
Eckhaus, R. S., “On the Comparison of Human Capital,” Center for International Studies, M.I.T., mult.
Becker, G. S., Human Capital: a Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education (New York, 1964).

See also THEORY OF INTEREST and MULTIPLIER AND ACCELERATOR

 

VII. MULTIPLIER AND ACCELERATOR
(January 11 – 18)

REQUIRED:

Kahn, R. F., “The Relation of Home Investment to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, 1931. Republished in Hansen and Clemence, Readings in Business Cycles and National Income (New York, 1953), Essay 15.
Readings in Business Cycle Theory, Essays 9-12.
Haavelmo, T., “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget,” Econometrica, 1945, reprinted in Readings in Fiscal Policy, pp. 335-343.
Salant, William A., “Taxes, Income Determination, and the Balanced Budget Theorem,” The Review of Economics and Statistics (May, 1957).
Tsiang, S. C., “Accelerator, Theory of the Firm, and the Business Cycle,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 65, 1951.

ADDITIONAL READINGS:

Tinbergen, “Statistical Evidence on the Acceleration Principle,” Economica, Vol. 5, 1938.
Eisner, R., “Capital Expenditures, Profits, and the Acceleration Principle,” and comments by G. H. Hickman, in Conference on Research in Income and Wealth, Models of Income Determination, (Princeton, 1964), Vol. 28, pp. 137-176.
Peston, M. H., “Generalizing the Balanced Budget Multiplier,” and “Comment” by W. A. Salant, The Review of Economics and Statistics (August, 1958).
Bowen, W. G., “The Balanced-Budget Multiplier: A Suggestion for a More General Formulation,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, (May, 1957).
Goodwin, R. M., “The Multiplier” in Seymour E. Harris, ed., The New Economics (New York, 1947), pp. 482-99.
Chenery, H. B., “Overcapacity and the Acceleration Principle,” Econometrica, Vol. 20 (January, 1952), pp. 1-28.
Caff, J. T., “A Generalization of the Multiplier-Accelerator Model,” The Economic Journal, Vol. 69 (March, 1961), pp. 36-52.
Kuznets, S., “Relation Between Capital Goods and Finished Products in the Business Cycle,” in Economic Essays in Honor of Wesley Clair Mitchell, (New York, 1935).
Knox, A. D. “The Acceleration Principle and the Theory of Investment: A Survey,” Economica, Vol. 19, 1952.
Harrod, R. F., Towards a Dynamic Economics (London, 1948).
Hicks, J. R., A Contribution to the Theory of the Trade Cycle (Oxford, 1950).
Goodwin, R. M., “Problems of Trend and Cycle,” Yorkshire Bulletin, Vol. 5 (August, 1953).
Ott, A. E., “The Relation Between the Accelerator and the Capital Output Ratio,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 25, (June, 1958).
Minsky, H., “Monetary Systems and Accelerator Models,” American Economic Review, Vol. 47, 1957.
Friedman, M. and D. Meiselman, “The Relative Stability of Monetary Velocity and the Investment Multiplier in the United States, 1897-1958,” Stabilization Policies, Commission on Money and Credit, (New Jersey, 1963), pp. 165-268.
Hester, D. D., “Keynes and the Quantity Theory: a Comment on the Friedman-Meiselman CMC Paper,” the reply by Friedman and Meiselman, and the rejoinder by Hester, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. XLVI (November, 1964), pp. 364-377.

See also INVESTMENT DECISIONS.
This subject will also be discussed in Economics 14.452.

 

VIII. MISCELLANEOUS (If time permits)

Ackley, Chapters 16, 20.
Mincer, Jacob, “Investment in Human Capital and Personal Income Distribution,” The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 66 (August, 1958), pp. 281-302.
Goldsmith, Selma F., “Size Distribution of Personal Income, 1956-59,” Survey of Current Business (April, 1960).
Liebenberg, M., and J. M. Fitzwilliams, “Size Distribution of Personal Income, 1957-60,” Survey of Current Business (May, 1961).

A few other sources may be added from time to time.

 

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Papers of Evsey D. Domar, Box 15, Folder “Macroeconomics, Old Reading Lists”.

___________________

 MIDTERM EXAMINATION
(One hour and twenty minutes)

THEORY OF INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT
E. D. Domar ….. 14.451 ….. December 9, 1965

 

Please answer all questions. Use a separate book for each question.

  1. [25%] The economy consists of carrots, rabbits and dogs. Rabbits cultivate and eat carrots, while dogs breed and eat rabbits.
    You are asked to compute the national income and product for this economy from the point of view of:

(a) The rabbits
(b) The dogs

Explain your methods carefully and indicate the basic philosophy underlying them. [handwritten note:  Too easy]

  1. [25%] “Existing methods of national product computations exaggerate the rate of growth of real product over time in a given country, and overstate the ratio between the real product of highly developed and of underdeveloped countries.”
    Comment fully and critically. [handwritten note: explain better in class]
  2. [30%] Write a comprehensive essay on the subject of “Keynes and Patinkin on the Relation between the Quantity of Money on the one hand, and Interest Rate, Price Level and National Income on the other.”
  3. [20%] Discuss the treatment of intermediate products in several indexes of industrial productions. Give examples.

 

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Papers of Evsey D. Domar, Box 15, Folder “Examinations (1 of 3)”.

___________________

FINAL EXAMINATION
Three Hours 

E. D. Domar ….. 14.451 ….. January 26, 1966

Please answer any FIVE questions out of six. Whenever you feel that the questions do not provide sufficient information for you to answer, add the necessary assumptions and state them clearly. Read each question through before answering any part of it.

  1. (a) “The best cure against inflation is a balanced budget.”
    (b) “The more each individual or corporation tries to save, the smaller will be the total savings for the economy as a whole.”

Comment on each statement separately.

  1. “The best cure against inflation is increased production.”

Comment fully. Assume that there are unemployed resources to allow for increased production. (Hint: production of what?)
In the light of your answer, do you think a prolonged strike in some industry is inflationary or deflationary? Explain your position.

  1. (a) Explain the several definitions of MONEY used in Price Flexibility and Employment discussions. In each case indicate the specific reasons for that particular definition.
    (b) For each definition of money given by you in (a), examine the effects on the stock of money of central bank purchases of (i) government securities, (ii) private securities, (iii) gold from the public.

Comment on your results.

  1. (a) Explain the meaning of PRODUCTIVITY from a private and from a social point of view.
    (b) In the light of your explanation given in (a), comment on the productivity of the following persons and on the treatment of their incomes in the national income and product accounts:

(i) A public relations employee of a private corporation

(ii) A public relations employee of the U.S. Department of Defense

(iii) A recipient of interest from the General Electric Company. (You happen to know that he has inherited his bonds from his great uncle who was a great swindler.)

(iv) A recipient of interest on U.S bonds issued in order to finance aid to schools.

(v) A lawyer defending a bookmaker in court

(vi) A nasty professor whose course was a complete waste of time.

Look over your answers and try to generalize (unless you have already said all you want to say in part (a)).

  1. Applying (a) such consumption theories as you know, and (b) your own common sense and empirical knowledge, discuss the effects on consumer spending of the following measures. Assume that the amounts of tax reduction in the first three cases and the amount of dividend in the fourth are all equal in a given year.

(i) A reduction in the Federal income tax (Specify the kind of reduction.)

(ii) A reduction in the Federal capital gains tax

(iii) A reduction in the Federal estate (inheritance) tax

(iv) A declaration of a national dividend (specify the kind) for a given year

(v) A redistribution of income from the rich to the poor

(vi) A redistribution of income from landlords to businessmen (in some underdeveloped country).

Any generalizations?

  1. (a) “Technological progress raises the level of income and employment by making existing assets obsolete and thus shortening their economic life.”

Comment on this statement. Assume that the economy has unemployed resources.

(b) Alvin Hansen used to argue that one reason for the stagnation of the American economy in the nineteen-thirties and for the high level of UNEMPLOYMENT then existing consisted in the slow growth of population at the time.

Do you agree? Comment fully. Should an underemployed economy encourage immigration or emigration, or neither?

 

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Papers of Evsey D. Domar, Box 16, Folder “Macroeconomics, Final Exams”.

 

Image Source: Evsey D. Domar at the MIT Museum.

Categories
Exam Questions M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Economic Growth and Fluctuations. Readings and Midterm Exam. Solow, 1966

 

The readings for the second term MIT graduate core course in macroeconomics “Economic Growth and Fluctuations” was taught by Robert Solow in 1966. The reading list and midterm questions transcribed for this posting come from his papers at the Duke Economists’ Papers Archive. Solow was indeed listed for this course in the internal report “Department of Economics, Teaching Responsibilities” dated March 4, 1966 in Box 3 of the Department of Economics Papers in the M.I.T. archives.

The first term course that academic year was taught by Evsey D. Domar. His 14-page reading list (!) together with the midterm and final examinations have been transcribed and posted as well.

________________________

Spring 1966

READING LIST          14.452

I. Economic Growth

  1. Stylized Facts

Kendrick and Sato, “Factor Prices, Productivity and Growth”, AER, December 1963.
Bureau of the Census, Long-Term Economic Trends (This is a compendium of data. Spend an hour or two leafing through it.)

  1. Aggregative Models

Hahn and Matthews, “The Theory of Economic Growth: A Survey”, Economic Journal, December 1964, Parts I, II, IV.
Modigliani, “Comment” in Behavior of Income Shares (NBER), pp. 39-50.
Tobin, “Money and Economic Growth”, Econometrica, October 1965.
Marty, “The Neoclassical Theorem”, AER, December 1964.
Diamond, “National Debt in a Neoclassical Growth Model”, AER, December 1965, pp. 1126-1135 only. Rest optional.
Findlay, “The Robinsonian Model…”, Economica, February 1963 and comments by Robinson and Findlay in Economica, November 1963.

  1. Sources of Potential Output

Nelson, “Aggregate Production Functions” AER, September 1964
Denison, Sources of Economic Growth in the U.S. (Don’t read every word, but try to grasp content.)
Abramovitz, “Review of Denison”, AER, September 1962.
Phelps, “The New View of Investment”, QJE, November 1962.
David and van de Kliendert, “Biased Efficiency Growth in the U.S.”, AER, June 1965.

II. Short-Run Macrodynamics

  1. Short-Run Movements in Productivity

Brechling: “The Relationship between Output and Employment…”, Review of Economic Studies, July 1965
Kuh, “Cyclical and Secular Labor Productivity…”, Review of Economics and Statistics, February 1965
Wilson and Eckstein, “Short-Run Productivity Behavior…”, Review of Economics and Statistics, February 1964.

  1. Measuring Potential Output and the Gap

Thurow & Taylor, “The Interaction between Actual and Potential Rates of Growth in the U.S. Economy”, Mimeo.
Kuh, “The Measurement of Potential Output”, mimeo.

  1. Cycles and Fluctuations

Samuelson, “Interaction between Multiplier Analysis and the Principle of Acceleration”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 1939, reprinted in AEA, Readings in Business Cycle Theory.
Metzler, “The Nature and Stability of Inventory Cycles”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 1941.
Kaldor, “A Model of the Trade Cycle”, EJ 1940, reprinted in Hansen and Clemence, Readings in Business Cycles and National Income.
DeLeeuw, “The Demand for Capital Goods by Manufacturers”, Econometrica, July 1962.
Eckstein, “Manufacturing Investment and Business Expectations”, Econometrica, April 1965.
Jorgenson, “Anticipations and Investment Behavior”, Ch. 2 in The Brookings Quarterly Econometric Model of the U.S., (optional).
Darling and Lovell, “Factors Influencing Investment in Inventories”, Ch. 4 in The Brookings Quarterly Econometric Model of the U.S.
Okun, Effects of the Tax Cut of 1964. To appear or else mimeo. [handwritten addition]

  1. Integration of Growth & Effective Demand [handwritten addition, no items listed]

________________________

First Examination     14.452           April 13, 1966

  1. Imagine a one-sector economy, satisfying all the standard simplifying assumptions, in a steady state with constant saving ratio, constant rate of population growth, and no technological change. Now let there be a sudden once-and-for-all shift in technology, with the property that output per man increases by 10% at each and every capital-per-man. There is no change in saving ratio or population growth.
    1. What happens along the full-employment path?
    2. In the new steady state, has capital per man increased by more or less than 10%? Has output per man increase by more or less than 10%?
    3. Describe roughly how the competitively imputed real wage, rate of interest, and relative distribution of income might differ between the new steady-state and the old. (You will not always be able to settle the direction of change.)
  2. In the same sort of economy, suppose that investment demand is such that businesses will quickly snap up all investment opportunities yielding at least some “target rate of return”, like 20%, but none yielding less. Discuss in terms of diagram or otherwise, whether the economy is likely to experience inadequate or excessive aggregate demand near the steady state. What effect would a sudden increase in the rate of population growth have (assuming that the saving ratio was not affected)?
  3. Denison has been described as a pessimist with respect to the possibility of raising the U.S. rate of growth through deliberate policy. Is that a fair description? If so, what are the main sources of his pessimism? What do you gather from Nelson, Abramovitz and Phelps on this subject?

 

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Papers of Robert M. Solow, Box 67, Folder “Exams”.

Image Source: Robert M. Solow (undated). MIT Museum .

Categories
Barnard Columbia Courses Curriculum

Columbia. Economics Courses with Descriptions, 1905-07

 

 

From time to time I mistakenly repeat the preparation of an artifact, as is the case with this list of instructors and courses offered in economics and social sciences by the Columbia University Faculty of Political Science in 1905-07. Still, I am getting better with respect to formatting, so I am replacing the V1.0 with this V2.0 today.

________________________________

OFFICERS OF INSTRUCTION
FACULTY OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
[Economics and Social Sciences (1905-07)]

EDWIN R. A. SELIGMAN, Ph.D., LL.D., McVickar Professor of Political Economy
[Absent on leave in 1905-06.]
FRANKLIN H. GIDDINGS, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Sociology
JOHN B. CLARK, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Political Economy
HENRY R. SEAGER, Ph.D., Professor of Political Economy, and Secretary
HENRY L. MOORE, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Political Economy
VLADIMIR G. SIMKHOVITCH, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Economic History
EDWARD THOMAS DEVINE, Ph.D., LL.D., Professor of Social Economy

OTHER OFFICERS

ALVIN S. JOHNSON, Ph.D., Instructor in Economics
GEORGE J. BAYLES, Ph.D Lecturer in Ecclesiology [A.B., Columbia, 1891; A.M., 1892; LL.B., 1893; Ph.D., 1895.]
ELSIE CLEWS PARSONS, Ph.D., Lecturer in Sociology in Barnard College

________________________________

GROUP III—ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

GRADUATE COURSES

It is presumed that students who take economics, sociology or social economy as their major subject are familiar with the general principles of economics and sociology as set forth in the ordinary manuals. Students who are not thus prepared are recommended to take the courses in Columbia College or Barnard College designated as Economics 1 and 2 (or A and 4) and Sociology 151-152.

The graduate courses fall under three subjects: A—Political Economy and Finance; B—Sociology and Statistics; C—Social Economy.

Courses numbered 100 to 199 are open to Seniors in Columbia College.

Courses numbered 200 and above are open to graduate women students upon the same terms as to men.

All the courses are open to male auditors. Women holding the first degree may register as auditors in Courses numbered 200 and above.

Subject A—Political Economy and Finance

ECONOMICS 101-102—Taxation and Finance. Professor SELIGMAN.
M. and W. at 1.30. 422 L.

This course is historical, as well as comparative and critical. After giving a general introduction and tracing the history of the science of finance, it treats of the various rules of the public expenditures and the methods of meeting the same among civilized nations. It describes the different kinds of public revenues, including the public domain and public property, public works and industrial undertakings, special assessments, fees, and taxes. It is in great part a course on the history, theories, and methods of taxation in all civilized countries. It considers also public debt, methods of borrowing, redemption, refunding, repudiation, etc. Finally, it describes the fiscal organization of the state by which the revenue is collected and expended, and discusses the budget, national, state, and local. Although the course is comparative, the point of view is American. Students are furnished with the current public documents of the United States Treasury and the chief financial reports of the leading commonwealths, and are expected to understand all the facts in regard to public debt, revenue, and expenditure contained therein.

Given in 1906-07 and in each year thereafter.

ECONOMICS 103—Money and Banking. Professor H. L. MOORE.
Tu. and Th. at 10.30, first half-year. 415 L.

The aim of this course is (1) to describe the mechanism of exchange and to trace the history of the metallic money, the paper money, and the banking system of the United States; to discuss such questions as bi-metallism, foreign exchanges, credit cycles, elasticity of the currency, present currency problems, and corresponding schemes of reform; (2) to illustrate the quantitative treatment of such questions as variations in the value of the money unit, and the effects of appreciation and depreciation.

ECONOMICS 104—Commerce and Commercial Policy. Dr. JOHNSON.
Tu. and Th. at 10.30, second half-year. 415 L.

In this course the economic bases of modern commerce, and the significance of commerce, domestic and foreign, in its relation to American industry, will be studied. An analysis will be made of the extent and character of the foreign trade of the United States, and the nature and effect of the commercial policies of the principal commercial nations will be examined.

ECONOMICS 105—The Labor Problem. Professor SEAGER.
Tu. and Th. at 11.30, first half-year. 415 L.

The topics considered in this course are: The rise of the factory system, factory legislation, the growth of trade unions and changes in the law in respect to them, the policies of trade unions, strikes, lockouts, arbitration and conciliation, proposed solutions of the labor problem, and the future of labor in the United States.

Given in 1906-07 and in alternate years thereafter.

ECONOMICS 106—The Trust Problem. Professor SEAGER.
Tu. and Th. at 11.30, second half-year. 415 L.

In this course special attention is given to the trust problem as it presents itself in the United States. Among the topics considered are the rise and progress of industrial combinations, the forms of organization and policies of typical combinations, the common law and the trusts, anti-trust acts and their results, and other proposed solutions of the problem.

Given in 1906-07 and in alternate years thereafter.

[ECONOMICS 107—Fiscal and Industrial History of the United States. Professor SELIGMAN.
M. and W. at 3.30, first half-year. 415 L.

This course endeavors to present a survey of national legislation on currency, finance, and taxation, including the tariff, together with its relations to the state of industry and commerce. The chief topics discussed are: The fiscal and industrial conditions of the colonies; the financial methods of the Revolution and the Confederation; the genesis of the protective idea; the fiscal policies of the Federalists and of the Republicans; the financial management of the War of 1812; the industrial effects of the restrictive and war periods; the crises of 1819, 1825, and 1837; the tariffs of 1816, 1824, and 1828; the distribution of the surplus and the Bank war; the currency problems before 1863; the era of “free trade,” and the tariffs of 1846 and 1857; the fiscal problems of the Civil War; the methods of resumption, conversion and payment of the debt; the disappearance of the war taxes; the continuance of the war tariffs; the money question and the acts of 1878, 1890, and 1900; the loans of 1894-96; the tariffs of 1890, 1894, and 1897; the fiscal aspects of the Spanish War. The course closes with a discussion of the current problems of currency and trade, and with a general consideration of the arguments for and against protection as illustrated by the practical operations of the various tariffs.

Not given in 1905-07.]

[ECONOMICS 108— Railroad Problems; Economic, Social, and Legal. Professor SELIGMAN.
M. and W. at 3.30, second half-year. 415 L.

These lectures treat of railroads in the fourfold aspect of their relation to the investors, the employees, the public, and the state respectively. A history of railways and railway policy in America and Europe forms the preliminary part of the course. The chief problems of railway management, so far as they are of economic importance, come up for discussion.

Among the subjects treated are: Financial methods, railway constructions, speculation, profits, failures, accounts and reports, expenses, tariffs, principles of rates, classification and discrimination, competition and pooling, accidents, and employers’ liability. Especial attention is paid to the methods of regulation and legislation in the United States as compared with European methods, and the course closes with a general discussion of state versus private management.

Not given in 1905-07.]

ECONOMICS 109 — Communistic and Socialistic Theories. Professor CLARK.
Tu. and Th. at 2.30, first half-year. 406 L.

This course studies the theories of St. Simon, Fourier, Proudhon, Rodbertus, Marx, Lassalle, and others. It aims to utilize recent discoveries in economic science in making a critical test of these theories themselves and of certain counter-arguments. It examines the socialistic ideals of distribution, and the effects that, by reason of natural laws, would follow an attempt to realize them through the action of the state.

ECONOMICS 110 — Theories of Social Reform. Professor CLARK.
Tu. and Th. at 2.30, second half-year. 406 L.

This course treats of certain plans for the partial reconstruction of industrial society that have been advocated in the United States, and endeavors to determine what reforms are in harmony with economic principles. It treats of the proposed single tax, of the measures advocated by the Farmers’ Alliance, and of those proposed by labor organizations, and the general relation of the state to industry.

ECONOMICS 201—Economic Readings I: Classical English Economists. Professor SEAGER.
Tu. and Th. at 11.30, first half-year. 415 L.

In this course the principal theories of the English economists from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill are studied by means of lectures, assigned readings and reports, and discussions. Special attention is given to the Wealth of Nations, Malthus’s Essay on Population, the bullion controversy of 1810, the corn law controversy of 1815, and the treatises on Political Economy of Ricardo, Senior, and John Stuart Mill.

Given in 1905-06 and in alternate years thereafter.

ECONOMICS 202—Economic Readings II: Contemporary Economists. Professor SEAGER.
Tu. and Th. at 11.30, second half-year. 415 L.

In this course the theories of contemporary economists are compared and studied by the same methods employed in Economics 201. Special attention is given to Böhm-Bawerk’s Positive Theory of Capital and Marshall’s Principles of Economics.

Given in 1905-06 and in alternate years thereafter.

ECONOMICS 203-204—History of Economics. Professor SELIGMAN.
M. and W. at 3.30. 415 L.

In this course the various systems of political economy are discussed in their historical development. The chief exponents of the different schools are taken up in their order, and especial attention is directed to the wider aspects of the connection between the theories and the organization of the existing industrial society. The chief writers discussed are:

I. Antiquity: The Oriental Codes; Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, Cato, Seneca, Cicero, the Agrarians, the Jurists.

II. Middle Ages: The Church Fathers, Aquinas, the Glossators, the writers on money, trade, and usury.

III. Mercantilists: Hales, Mun, Petty, Barbon, North, Locke; Bodin, Vauban, Boisguillebert, Forbonnais; Serra, Galiani ; Justi, Sonnenfels.

IV. Physiocrats: Quesnay, Gournay, Turgot, Mirabeau.

V. Adam Smith and precursors: Tucker, Hume, Cantillon, Stewart.

VI. English school: Malthus, Ricardo, Senior, McCulloch, Chalmers, Jones, Mill.

VII. The Continent: Say, Sismondi, Cournot, Bastiat; Herrmann, List, von Thünen.

VIII. German historical school: Roscher, Knies, Hildebrandt.

IX. Recent Development—England: Rogers, Jevons, Cairnes, Bagehot, Leslie, Toynbee, Marshall; Germany: Wagner, Schmoller, Held, Brentano, Cohn, Schäffle; Austria: Menger, Sax, Böhm-Bawerk, Wieser; France: Leroy Beaulieu, Laveleye, Gide, Walras; Italy: Cossa, Loria, Pantaleoni; America: Carey, George, Walker, Clark, Patten, Adams.

Given in 1906-07 and in alternate years thereafter.

ECONOMICS 205—Economic Theory I. Professor CLARK.
M. and W. at 2.30, first half-year. 406 L.

This course discusses, first, the static laws of distribution. If the processes of industry were not changing, wages and industry would tend to adjust themselves according to certain standards. A study of the mechanism of production would then show that one part of the product is specifically attributable to labor, and that another part is imputable to capital. It is the object of the course to show that the tendency of free competition, under such conditions, is to give to labor, in the form of wages, the amount that it specifically creates, and also to give to capital, in the form of interest, what it specifically produces. The theory undertakes to prove that the earnings of labor and of capital are governed by a principle of final productivity, and that this principle must be studied on a social scale, rather than in any one department of production. The latter part of this course enters the field of Economic Dynamics, defines an economic society and describes the forces which so act upon it as to change its structure and its mode of producing and distributing wealth.

ECONOMICS 206—Economic Theory II. Professor CLARK.
M. and W. at 2.30, second half-year. 406 L.

This course continues the discussion of the dynamic laws of distribution. The processes of industry are actually progressing. Mechanical invention, emigration and other influences cause capital and labor to be applied in new ways and with enlarging results. These influences do not even repress the action of the static forces of distribution, but they bring a new set of forces into action. They create, first, employers’ profits, and, later, additions to wages and interest. It is the object of the course to show how industrial progress affects the several shares in distribution under a system of competition, and also to determine whether the consolidations of labor and capital, which are a distinctive feature of modern industry, have the effect of repressing competition. It is a further purpose of the course to present the natural laws by which the increase of capital and that of labor are governed and to discuss the manner in which the earnings of these agents are affected by the action of the state, and to present at some length the character and the effects of those obstructions which pure economic law encounters in the practical world.

ECONOMICS 207—Theory of Statistics. Professor H. L. MOORE.
Tu. and Th. at 1.30, first half-year. 418 L.

The aim of this course is to present the elementary principles of statistics and to illustrate their application by concrete studies in the chief sources of statistical material. The theoretical part of the course includes the study of averages, index numbers, interpolation, principles of the graphic method, elements of demography, and statistical principles of insurance. The laboratory work consists of a graded series of problems designed to develop accuracy and facility in the application of principles. (Identical with Sociology 255.)

ECONOMICS 208—Quantitative Economics I: Advanced Statistics. Professor H. L. MOORE.
W. and F. at 11.30, second half-year. 418 L.

Quantitative Economics I and II (see Economics 210) investigate economics as an exact science. This course treats economics from the inductive, statistical side. It aims to show how the methods of quantitative biology and anthropology are utilized in economics and sociology. Special attention is given to recent contributions to statistical theory by Galton, Edgeworth, and Pearson. Economics 207, or an equivalent, is a prerequisite.

Given in 1905-06 and in alternate years thereafter.

ECONOMICS 210—Quantitative Economics II: Mathematical Economics. Professor H. L. MOORE.
W. and F. at 11.30, second half-year. 418 L.

This course treats economics from the deductive side. It aims to show the utility of an analytical treatment of economic laws expressed in symbolic form. The work of Cournot is presented and used as a basis for the discussion of the contributions to the mathematical method by Walras, Marshall, and Pareto. Economics 207, or an equivalent, is a prerequisite.

Given in 1906-07 and in alternate years thereafter.

ECONOMICS 241—The Economic and Social Evolution of Russia since 1800. Professor SIMKHOVITCH.
M. and F. at 9.30, first half-year. 418 L.

This course describes the economic development of the country, the growth of slavophil, liberal and revolutionary doctrines and parties, and the disintegration of the autocratic régime. (Identical with History 281.)

ECONOMICS 242—Radicalism and Social Reform as Reflected in the Literature of the Nineteenth Century. Professor SIMKHOVITCH.
M. at 9.30 and 10.30, second half-year. 418 L.

An interpretation of the various types of modern radicalism, such as socialism, nihilism, and anarchism, and of the social and economic conditions on which they are based.

ECONOMICS 291-292—Seminar in Political Economy and Finance. Professors SELIGMAN and CLARK.
For advanced students. Tu., 8.15-10.15 P.M. 301 L.

 

Subject B—Sociology and Statistics

SOCIOLOGY 151-152—Principles of Sociology. Professor GIDDINGS.
Tu. and Th. at 3.30. 415 L.

This is a fundamental course, intended to lay a foundation for advanced work. In the first half-year, in connection with a text-book study of theory, lectures are given on the social traits, organization, and welfare of the American people at various stages of their history and students are required to analyze and classify sociological material of live interest, obtained from newspapers, reviews, and official reports. In the second half-year lectures are given on the sociological systems of important writers, including Montesquieu, Comte, Spencer, Schäffle, De Greef, Gumplowicz, Ward, and Tarde. This course is the proper preparation for statistical sociology (Sociology 255 and 256) or for historical sociology (Sociology 251 and 252).

SOCIOLOGY 251—Social Evolution—Ethnic and Civil Origins. Professor GIDDINGS.
F. at 2.30 and 3.30, first half-year. 415 L.

This course on historical sociology deals with such topics as (1) the distribution and ethnic composition of primitive populations; (2) the types of mind and of character, the capacity for coöperation, the cultural beliefs, and the economic, legal, and political habits of early peoples; (3) early forms of the family, the origins, structure, and functions of the clan, the organization of the tribe, the rise of the tribal federations, tribal feudalism, and the conversion of a gentile into a civil plan of social organization. Early literature, legal codes, and chronicles, descriptive of the Celtic and Teutonic groups which combined to form the English people before the Norman Conquest, are the chief sources made use of in this course.

SOCIOLOGY 252—Social Evolution—Civilization, Progress, and Democracy. Professor GIDDINGS.
F. at 2.30 and 3.30, second half-year. 415 L.

This course, which is a continuation of Sociology 251, comprises three parts, namely: (1) The nature of those secondary civilizations which are created by conquest, and of the policies by which they seek to maintain and to extend themselves; (2) an examination of the nature of progress and of its causes, including the rise of discussion and the growth of public opinion; also a consideration of the policies by which continuing progress is ensured,—including measures for the expansion of intellectual freedom, for the control of arbitrary authority by legality, for the repression of collective violence, and for the control of collective impulse by deliberation; (3) a study of the nature, the genesis, and the social organization of modern democracies, including an examination of the extent to which non-political associations for culture and pleasure, churches, business corporations, and labor unions, are more or less democratic; and of the democratic ideals of equality and fraternity in their relations to social order and to liberty. The documents of English history since the Norman Conquest are the chief sources made use of in this course.

SOCIOLOGY 255—Theory of Statistics. Professor H. L. MOORE.
Tu. and Th. at 1.30, first half-year. 418 L.

This course is identical with Economics 207 (see [above]).

SOCIOLOGY 256—Social Statistics. Professor GIDDINGS.
Tu. and Th. at 1.30, second half-year. 418 L.

Actual statistical materials, descriptive and explanatory of contemporaneous societies, are the subject-matter of this course, which presupposes a knowledge of statistical operations (Sociology 255) and applies it to the analysis of concrete problems. The lectures cover such topics as (1) the statistics of population, including densities and migrations, composition by age, sex, and nationality, amalgamation by intermarriage; (2) statistics of mental traits and products, including languages, religious preferences, economic preferences (occupations), and political preferences; (3) statistics of social organization, including families, households, municipalities, churches, business corporations, labor unions, courts of law, army, navy, and civil service; (4) statistics of social welfare, including peace and war, prosperity, education or illiteracy, vitality, and morality, including pauperism and crime.

SOCIOLOGY 259—Ecclesiology. Dr. BAYLES.
Tu. and F. at 4.30, first half-year. 405 L.

The purpose of this course is to define the present relations of the ecclesiastical institutions to the other institutions of American society: the state, the government, marriage, family, education, and public wealth. An analysis is made of the guarantees of religious liberty contained in the federal and commonwealth constitutions; of the civil status of churches in terms of constitutional and statute law; of the methods of incorporation, of the functions of trustees, of legislative and judicial control; of denominational polity according to its type; of the functional activity of churches in their departments of legislation, administration, adjudication, discipline, and mission; of the influence of churches on ethical standards; of the distribution of nationalities among the denominations, of the territorial distribution of denominational strength, of the relation of polity to density of population, and of the current movements in and between various organizations tending toward changes of functions and structure.

SOCIOLOGY 279-280—Seminar in Sociology. Professor GIDDINGS.
W. at 3.30 and 4.30, bi-weekly. 301 L.

The Statistical Laboratory, conducted by Professors GIDDINGS and H. L. MOORE, is equipped with the Hollerith tabulating machines, comptometers, and other modern facilities.

Subject C—Social Economy

SOCIAL ECONOMY 281—Poverty and Dependence. Professor DEVINE.
Th. and F. at 4.30, first half-year. 418 L.

The purpose of this course and of Social Economy 282, which follows, is to study dependence and measures of relief, and to analyze the more important movements which aim to improve social conditions. An attempt is made to measure the extent of dependence, both in its definite forms, as in charitable and penal institutions, and in its less recognized and definite forms, as when it results in the lowering of the standard of living or the placing of unreasonably heavy burdens upon children or widows. Among the special classes of social debtors which are studied, besides the paupers, the vagrants, the dissipated, and the criminals, who require discipline or segregation as well as relief, are: Orphans and other dependent children; the sick and disabled; the aged and infirm; the widow and the deserted family; the immigrant and the displaced laborer; the underfed and consequently short-lived worker.

Given in 1905—06 and in alternate years thereafter.

SOCIAL ECONOMY 282—Principles of Relief. Professor DEVINE.
Th. and F. at 4.30, second half-year. 418 L.

In this course the normal standard of living is considered concretely to secure a basis from which deficiencies may be estimated. A large number of individual typical relief problems are presented, and from these, by a “case system,” analogous to that of the modern law school, the principles of relief are deduced. Among the larger movements to be considered are: Charity organization; social settlements; housing reform; the elimination of disease; the restriction of child labor; and the prevention of overcrowding, and especially the congestion of population in the tenement-house districts of the great cities.

Given in 1903-06 and in alternate years thereafter.

SOCIAL ECONOMY 283—Pauperism and Poor Laws. Professor SEAGER.
M. at 3.30 and 4.30, first half-year. 418 L.

This is an historical and comparative course intended to supplement Social Economy 281 and 282. Lectures on the history of the English poor law are followed by discussions of farm colonies, the boarding-out system for children, old-age pensions, and other plans of relief currently advocated in England. On this basis the public relief problems of New York State and City and the institutions attempting their solution are studied by means of excursions, lectures, and discussions.

SOCIAL ECONOMY 285—The Standard of Living. Professor DEVINE.
Th. and F. at 4.30, first half-year. 418 L.

A concrete study of the standard of living in New York City in the classes which are above the line of actual dependence, but below or near the line of full nutrition and economic independence. While this course will not be given in the year 1905-06, assignments will be made in the School of Philanthropy for research in such portions of this field as suitably prepared students may elect to undertake.

Given in 1906-07 and in alternate years thereafter.

SOCIAL ECONOMY 286—The Prevention and Diminution of Crime. Professor DEVINE.
Th. and F. at 4.30, second half-year. 418 L.

This course will deal with the social function of the penal and police systems. Special attention will be given to such subjects as juvenile courts; the probation system; indeterminate sentence; treatment of discharged prisoners; the system of local jails; segregation of incorrigibles, and prison labor.

Given in 1906-07 and in alternate years thereafter.

SOCIAL ECONOMY 290—Crime and Criminal Anthropology. Professor GIDDINGS.

Students desiring to make a special study of crime, criminal anthropology, and the theory of criminal responsibility may take the lectures of Sociology 256 or of Social Economy 286 and follow prescribed readings under the direction of Professor GIDDINGS.

SOCIAL ECONOMY 299-300—Seminar in Social Economy. Professor DEVINE.
Two hours a week. Hours to be arranged.

The work of the Seminar for 1905-07 will be a study of recent developments in the social and philanthropic activities of New York City; e. g., the social settlements; parks and playgrounds; outside activities of public schools; children’s institutions; relief societies; agencies for the aid of immigrants, and the preventive work of organized charities.

COURSES IN THE SCHOOL OF PHILANTHROPY

The School of Philanthropy, conducted by the Charity Organization Society, under the direction of Professor Devine, offers courses* aggregating not less than ten hours a week throughout the academic year, and also a Summer School course of six weeks in June and July. These courses are open to regular students of Columbia University who satisfy the director that they are qualified to pursue them with profit, and are accepted as a minor for candidates for an advanced degree.

The program of studies for 1905-06 is as follows:

            A—General survey (forty lectures) ; B—Dependent families (fifty lectures); C—Racial traits and social conditions (thirty-five lectures); D—Constructive social work (fifty lectures) ; E—Child-helping agencies (forty lectures); F—Treatment of the criminal (thirty lectures); G—Administration of charitable and educational institutions (thirty lectures); H—The State in its relation to charities and correction (forty lectures).

* These courses are given in the United Charities Building, corner Fourth Avenue and 22d Street.

 

COURSES IN COLUMBIA COLLEGE

ECONOMICS 1-2—Introduction to Economics—Practical Economic Problems. Professors SELIGMAN and SEAGER, and Dr. JOHNSON.
Section 1, M. and W. at 9.30, and F. at 11.30. Section 2, M., W., and F. at 11.30. M. and W. recitations in 415 L. F. lecture in 422 L.

 

COURSES IN BARNARD COLLEGE

ECONOMICS A—Outlines of Economics. Professor MOORE and Dr. JOHNSON.
Three hours, first half-year.
Section 1, Tu., Th., and S. at 9.30. Section 2, Tu. and Th. at 11.30, and S. at 9.30.

ECONOMICS 4—Economic History of England and the United States. Professor MOORE and Dr. JOHNSON.
M., W., and F. at 10.30, second half-year.

ECONOMICS 105—The Labor Problem. Professor SEAGER.
Tu. and Th. at 1.30, first half-year.

The topics treated in this course are the rise of the factory system, factory legislation, the growth of trade unions and changes in the law in respect to them, the policies of trade unions, strikes, lockouts, arbitration and conciliation, proposed solutions of the labor problem, and the future of labor in the United States.

ECONOMICS 120—Practical Economic Problems. Professor SEAGER.
Tu. and Th. at 1.30, second half-year.

The topics treated in this course are the defects in the monetary and banking systems of the United States, government expenditures and government revenues, protection vs. free trade, the relation of the government towards natural monopolies, and federal control of trusts.

ECONOMICS 121—English Social Reformers. Professor MOORE.
W. and F. at 1.30, first half-year.

A critical study of the social teachings of Carlyle, Ruskin, John Stuart Mill, Kingsley, and Thomas H. Green.
Open to students that have taken Course A or an equivalent.

ECONOMICS 122—Economic Theory. Professor MOORE.
W. and F. at 1.30, second half-year.

A critical study of Marshall’s Principles of Economics. The principal aim of this course is to present the methods and results of recent economic theory.
Open to students that have taken Course A or an equivalent.

ECONOMICS 109—Communistic and Socialistic Theories. Professor CLARK.
Tu. and Th. at 11.30, first half-year.

In this course a brief study is made of the works of St. Simon, Fourier, Proudhon, Owen, and Lassalle, and a more extended study is made of Marx’s treatise on capital. Recent economic changes, such as the formation of trusts and strong trade unions, are examined with a view to ascertaining what effect they have had on the modern socialistic movement.

ECONOMICS 110—Theories of Social Reform. Professor CLARK.
Tu. and Th. at 11.30, second half-year.

In this course a study is made of modern semi-socialistic movements and of such reforms as have for their object the improvement of the condition of the working class. Municipal activities, factory legislation, the single tax, recent agrarian movements and measures for the regulation of monopolies are studied.

SOCIOLOGY 151-152—Principles of Sociology. Professor GIDDINGS.
Tu. and Th. at 2.30.

This is a fundamental course, intended to lay a foundation for advanced work. In the first half-year, in connection with a text-book study of theory, lectures are given on the social traits, organization, and welfare of the American people at various stages of their history, and students are required to analyze and classify sociological material of live interest, obtained from newspapers, reviews, and official reports. In the second half-year, lectures are given on the sociological systems of important writers, including Montesquieu, Comte, Spencer, Schäffle, De Greef, Gumplowicz, Ward, and Tarde.

SOCIOLOGY 153-154 —Family Organization. Dr. ELSIE CLEWS PARSONS.
Tu. at 3.30, bi-weekly.

Field work in the study of family groups. Consultations.
Open to Seniors.

In connection with the lectures and field work of this course opportunities are given to students to become acquainted with the more important private institutions for social betterment in New York City, and to study the organization and activity of the various public agencies charged with the welfare of the community.

 

COURSES IN THE SUMMER SESSION

sA—Economic History of England and America. Lectures, recitations, and essays. Dr. JOHNSON.
Five hours a week at 1.30. 501 F. Credit I
(Equivalent, when supplemented by prescribed reading, to Economics 4.)

sB—Principles of Economics. Lectures and class discussions. Dr. JOHNSON.
Five hours a week at 2.30. 501 F. Credit I.
(Equivalent, when supplemented by prescribed reading, to Economics 1.)

sA1—Principles of Sociology. Descriptive and theoretical. Professor GIDDINGS.
Five hours a week at 10.30. 415 L. Credit I, II.
(Equivalent to Sociology IS1-)

sA2—Principles of Sociology. History of sociological theory. Professor GIDDINGS.
Five hours a week at 9.30. 415 L. Credit I, II.
(Equivalent to Sociology 152.)

Source: Columbia University. Bulletin of Information. Courses Offered by the Faculty of Political Science and the Several Undergraduate Faculties. Announcement 1905-07. pp. 3, 24-36.

Image Source: Roberto Ferrari, Unveiling Alma Mater [Sept 23, 1903]. Columbia University Libraries. July 15, 2104.