Month: April 2020

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Exam Questions Harvard Socialism Sociology

Harvard. Exams for Political Sociology and Socialism, Cummings, 1893

 

 

Examinations from Edward Cummings’ Harvard courses on socialism and communism 1893-1900 have been transcribed and posted earlier. Biographical information about him from 1899 has also been posted.

Thanks to Cummings’ examination style that used exact citations from the literature for students to explain or comment upon, I was able to reverse-engineer some of the key readings that were either assigned or discussed in class. Links to those readings follow the individual examination questions.

___________________

Enrollment

[Economics] 3. Mr. Cummings.—The Principles of Sociology. —Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. 3 hours.

Total 22: 5 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 3 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1892-1893, p. 67.

 

ECONOMICS 3
Mid-Year Examination (1893)

Answer the questions in the order in which they stand. Omit two.

  1. “We have just seen that a one-sided application of the conception that society is of organic growth leads to difficulties, as well as the conception of artificial making. These we can only escape by recognizing a truth which includes them both.”
    What are these difficulties, and what is this truth?
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Chapter 1, Herbert Spencer’s Individualism and his Conception of Society (London, 1891), pp. 49-50]
  2. “If societies have evolved, and if that mutual dependence of parts which coöperation implies, has been gradually reached, then the implication is that however unlike their developed structures may become, there is a rudimentary structure with which they all set out.”
    What evidence do you find of such a structure?
    [Herbert Spencer. The Principles of Sociology, Vol. 2, Chapter 5, Political Forms and Forces (New York, 1883), p. 311]
  3. According to Aristotle, “Man is by nature a political animal.” According to Thomas Aquinas, “homo est animal sociale et politicum.” How far is this insertion of “sociale” alongside of “politicum” significant of the different way in which the State presented itself to the mind of the Greek and to the mind of the mediaeval philosopher?
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Appendix Note A: The Distinction between Society and the State (London, 1891), p. 157]
  4. “The theory of the social contract belongs in an especial manner to the political philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But it did not originate with them. It had its roots in the popular consciousness of mediaeval society. As a philosophical theory, it had already been anticipated by the Greek Sophists.”
    Indicate briefly some of the important changes which the doctrine underwent.
    [David George Ritschie. Contributions to the History of the Social Contract Theory, Vol. 6 Political Science Quarterly (1891), p. 656.]
  5. “In primitive societies the person does not exist, or exists only potentially, or, as we might say, in spe. The person is the product of the State.” Explain. What is the theoretical and historical justification of this doctrine, as against the contention that the individual loses what the State gains?
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Chapter 1, Herbert Spencer’s Individualism and his Conception of Society (London, 1891), p. 29.]
  6. Discuss the relative preponderance of free and of un-free elements at different stages of social development.
  7. It has been remarked by Spencer that those domestic relations which are ethically the highest, are also biologically and sociologically the highest. Discuss the historical evidence on this point. What is the test of this ethical superiority?
    [Herbert Spencer. The Principles of Sociology, Vol. 1, Part III, Chapter 2, The Diverse Interests of the Species, of the Parents, and of the Offspring (New York, 1883), p. 630]
  8. To what extent is there ground for saying that the influence of militant and of industrial organization is traceable in the status of women and the duration of marriage in the United States and in other countries?
    [Herbert Spencer. The Principles of Sociology, Vol. 1, Part III, Chapter 10, The Status of Women (New York, 1883), p. 765]
  9. “We find ourselves applying the ideal of a Greek city to our vast and heterogeneous modern political structures—a tremendous extension of the difficulties. If we are not more successful than the Greeks, the task is greater and the aim higher.” Explain.
    [Frederick Pollock. The History of the Science of Politics, (1883), p. 13. Originally published serially in the Fortnightly Review (August 1882—January 1883).]
  10. “The unit of an ancient society was the family, of a modern society the individual.”
    Describe the tendencies which have brought about this change.
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Chapter 1, Herbert Spencer’s Individualism and his Conception of Society (London, 1891), p. 30.]
  11. “The ultimate responsibility of the ultimate political sovereign is a question for the philosophy of history; in other words, one may say it is a matter of ‘natural selection.’” Explain.
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Appendix Note B: The Conception of Sovereignty (London, 1891), pp. 165-166.]
  12. What is your criterion of social progress? Why?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1892-93.

 

ECONOMICS 3
Final Examination (June, 1893)

[Answer the questions in the order in which they stand. Omit one.]

  1. “The different forms of the State are specifically divided, as Aristotle recognized, by the different conceptions of the distinction between government and subjects, especially by the quality (not the quantity) of the ruler.” Explain. Indicate briefly the relation of the different forms of the State to one another.
    [Johann Caspar Bluntschli. The Theory of the State (translation from 6th German edition), Chapter IV, The Principle of the Four Fundamental Forms of the State (Oxford, 1885), p. 318.]
  2. “If there is any one principle which is clearly grasped in the present day, it is that political power is a public duty as well as a public right, that it belongs to the political existence of life of the whole nation, and that it can never be regarded as the property or personal right of an individual.” How far did this principle secure recognition in Greek, in Roman, and in mediaeval times?
    [Johann Caspar Bluntschli. The Theory of the State (translation from 6th German edition), Chapter XIV, Constitutional Monarchy (Oxford, 1885), p. 398.]
  3. “The past seems to prove that kings and aristocracies make States, and that left to themselves, the people unmake them.” State carefully your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the political philosophy here involved.
    [Paul Leroy-Beaulieu. The Modern State in Relation to Society and the Individual. (London, 1891), p. 100.]
  4. “This one of the curious phases of the railway problem in Europe, which has a tendency to show how multiform and various are the influences at work to modify and change the conditions of the railway problem, and how little can be gathered from mere government documents and laws to shed light upon this most interesting and intricate of all modern industrial questions.” What light does Italian, French and Austrian experience with railroads throw on the general question of State control?
    [Simon Sterne. Some Curious Phases of the Railway Question in Europe. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 1, No. 4 (July, 1887), p. 468.]
  5. “Expediency and the results of experience must determine how far to go. They seem to justify public ownership of gas works, water works and electric lights. The same would doubtless be true of the telegraph and telephone.” Discuss the evidence.
    [From conclusion of Edward W. Bemis. Municipal Gas Works in The Chautauquan, Vol. 16, no. 1 (October 1892), pp. 15-18. Cf. his Municipal Ownership of Gas in the United States published by the American Economic Association, Publications Vol. VI, Nos. 4 and 5 (July and September, 1891).]
  6. “We will first concentrate our attention on the economic kernel of socialism, setting aside for the moment the transitory aspect it bears in the hands of agitators, its provisional passwords, and the phenomena and tendencies in religion by which it is accompanied.” State and criticize this “economic kernel.”
    [Albert Schäffle. The Quintessence of Socialism, 3rd edition (London, 1891), p. 3]
  7. “The philanthropic and experimental forms of socialism, which played a conspicuous role before 1848, perished then in the wreck of the Revolution, and have never risen to life again.” What were the characteristics of these earlier forms; and what was their relation to the movements which preceded them and followed them?
    [John Rae. Contemporary Socialism. Chapter 1, Introductory (London, 1884), p. 2]
  8. How are the socialistic teachings of Lasalle and Marx related to the economic doctrines of Smith and Ricardo?
    [John Rae. Contemporary Socialism. Chapter 2, Ferdinand Lassalle; Chapter 3, Karl Marx (London, 1884)]
  9. What ground do you find for or against the contention that “socialism is the economic complement of democracy”?
    [E.g., Thomas Kirkup. An Inquiry into Socialism (London, 1887), p. 184; or his A History of Socialism, (London: 1892) p. 8.]
  10. “Not only material security, but the perfection of human social life is what we aim at in that organized co-operation of many men’s lives and works which is called the State…..But where does protection leave off and interference begin?”
    [Frederick Pollock. The History of the Science of Politics, (1883), p. 49. Originally published serially in the Fortnightly Review (August 1882—January 1883).]

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 4, Vol. Examination Papers, 1893-95. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government and Law, Economics, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1893), pp. 36-37.

Image Source: University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol II (1899), pp. 155-156.

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Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Socialism exams. John Graham Brooks, 1890-1891

 

According to the annual Report of the President of Harvard College for 1889/90 and 1890/91, “Prof. Taussig and Mr. Brooks” were the instructors for the course Political Economy 2. This post is dedicated to the second term of the Political Economy 2 in those years that was devoted to economic theories of socialism and taught by John Graham Brooks.  Four boxes of Brooks’ papers are to be found at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. Taussig’s exam scrapbook in the Harvard archives does not include exam questions for the second terms of 1890 and 1891 which is certainly consistent with Brooks being the instructor during the second term.

This post provides biographical information for John Graham Brooks followed by transcriptions of his two examinations.

Incidentally, W.E.B. Dubois was enrolled in Economics 2 in 1890/91 as a graduate student and was awarded a grade of A during the first term (one of six awarded to the twenty-two who received grades,  as recorded in Taussig’s scrapbook).

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Harvard Career

John Graham Brooks (see S.T.B. 1875), Lectr. On Socialism 1885-1886; Instr. in Political Economy 1898-1891.

Source: Harvard University. Quinquennial catalogue of the officers and graduates, 1636-1925, p. 45.

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Brief biography

John Graham Brooks attended the University of Michigan Law School for a short time, before changing his mind about being a lawyer. He then attended Oberlin College and Harvard Divinity School, graduating in 1875. Brooks was then ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister, preaching at a church in Massachusetts and speaking on the issues of the working poor. In 1882, Brooks resigned from his position as a minister and began studying history and economics at several German universities. He and his family then lived in London for a while, where Brooks lectured about the working class. He then returned to Massachusetts and preaching, while continuing to lecture about socialism and the lives of the working class. He also wrote articles for The Forum and The Nation. In 1891 he became an investigator of the conditions of workers for the U.S. Department of Labor, which led to him writing a book, The Social Unrest: Studies in Labor and Socialist Movements. Brooks wrote other books as well, in which he discussed class struggles. In 1904, he was the president of the American Social Science Association, and from 1899 to 1915 he was the first president of the National Consumers’ League.

Source: Brooks, John Graham (1846-1938) at the digital edition of the Jane Addams Papers Project.

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Boston Globe Obituary
February 9, 1938. Page 17.

JOHN G. BROOKS, 91,
ECONOMIST IS DEAD

Former Harvard Teacher,
Once Unitarian Cleric

John Graham Brooks, 91, labor champion, sociologist and political authority, died yesterday at his home at 8 Francis av., Cambridge.

During the early part of the century, he was extremely active as a friend of labor and a prolific lecturer throughout the country and in many universities on political and social economy.

He was born in Ackworth, N.H., and prepared for college in country schools. He was graduated from Oberlin College in 1872 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1875. He added to his education the following three years with courses at the Universities of Berlin, Jena and Freiburg.

Returning to this country, he entered the ministry as associate pastor with Dr. George Putnam at the Unitarian Church in Roxbury and later was for six years pastor of the Unitarian Church of Brockton. At the same time he conducted courses at Harvard on economic subjects.

Leaving the ministry in 1890. he devoted the major part of his time to investigations and lectures on political science and social economy. For several years he was lecturer for the extension departments of the Universities of Chicago and of California. He was for two years the expert of the United States Department of Labor, and compiled for that department, in 1893, an exhaustive report on workmen’s insurance in Germany, and since that time continued to lecture on economic and sociological subjects all over the United States, especially at the People’s Institute in New York. As an author his best-known works are “The Social Unrest,” “As Others See Us” and “An American Citizen [Life of William Henry Baldwin, Jr.].”

Prof. Brooks served as president on the American Social Science Association, and president of the National Consumers’ League and a member of the national committee on child labor. He was a member of the famous committee of 50, which, under the lead of Pres. Eliot of Harvard, made an investigation of the workings of the Gothenburg system of dealing with the liquor traffic.

In 1908 Prof. Brooks lectured with now Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis on the old age pension problems and at the time expressed some pessimism over the systems then in use.

In recent years, Mr. Brooks has been in retirement, little in public life.

He is survived by a wife, Mrs. Helen Lawrence Brooks; a son, Lawrence Brooks, and four grandchildren.

 

[Other books:

American Syndicalism: The I.W.W. New York: Macmillan, 1913.

Labor’s Challenge to the Social Order: Democracy its own Critic and Educator. New York: Macmillan, 1920.]

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Enrollment 1889-90

[Political Economy] 2. History of Economic Theory. First half-year: Lectures on the History of Economic Theory.—Discussion of selections from Adam Smith and Ricardo.—Topics in distribution, with special reference to wages and managers’ returns.—Second half-year: Modern Socialism in France, Germany, and England.—an extended thesis from each student. Prof. Taussig and Mr. Brooks.

Total 24: 7 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1889-90, p. 80.

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Political Economy 2.
Year-end Examination, June 1890.

  1. Characterize French Socialism, chiefly with reference to St. Simon and Louis Blanc.
  2. What general differences do you note between French and German Socialism?
  3. Summarize Lasalle’s theory of history development.
  4. State and criticize in detail Marx’s theory of surplus value. What follows as to Socialism, if this theory fails?
  5. Is Schaeffle a Socialist? If so, why? If not, why not?
  6. State the present attitude of English Socialism, with special reference to the Fabian Society. Note the most important changes from the Marx type.
  7. In what definite ways would Socialism modify the system of private property?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, 1890-92. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1890), pp. 11-12.

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Enrollment 1890-91

For Graduates and Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 2. Professor Taussig and Mr. Brooks. — History of Economic Theory. — Examination of selections from Leading Writers. — Socialism. 3 hours.

Total 23: 4 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source:   Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1890-91, p. 58.

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Political Economy 2.
Year-end Examination, June 1891.

  1. From Rousseau to the Fabians, what have been the chief historic changes in the Philosophy of Socialism?
  2. What was Lassalle’s conception of historic development?
  3. In detail, state the differences between the Marx type of Socialism and that of the Fabians.
  4. With reference to the “three rents” what are the most important objections to Socialism?
  5. What reasons can you give to show that Socialism is likely to have much further development in our society?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, 1890-92. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1891), p. 11.

Image Source: The Bookman vol. 27 (March-August, 1908), p. 119.

 

Categories
Economics Programs Johns Hopkins

John Hopkins. Economics Ph.D. completion rate, years to completion. 1956-1970

 

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that the numbers in this table (that come from archived departmental statistics) need to be transformed to adjust for  incomplete “spells” of graduate work reported for the most recent cohorts (e.g. 1967/8 through 1969/70) that are apparently included with the completed “spells” and program drop-outs in order to get a proper estimate of the completion rate and the distribution of times to completion for the Ph.D. It has been years since I made this sort of calculation for the distribution of unemployment spells by duration, so I’ll just leave this as an exercise for readers.

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JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Political Economy Department
Fall 1970

DISTRIBUTION OF GRADUATE STUDENTS ENTERING SINCE JULY 1956, SHOWING IN COLUMN (3) THE PERCENTAGE OF ALL ENTERING STUDENTS WHO TAKE THE Ph.D. WITHIN 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 and more YEARS AFTER STARTING GRADUATE WORK AT HOPKINS

 

Year since
starting
graduate
work at
Hopkins a		 Percentage of all entering students who took the Ph.D. during that yearb
Col. (6) – Col. (5)		 Cumulative percentage from
Col. (2)c		 Academic years during which the represented students entered Hopkins Number of students who entered during the years in Col. (4) Number of those in
Col. (5) who took the Ph.D. during the year given in
Col. (1)

(1)

 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
1st — — 56/7 thru 69/70 198

0

2nd

 1.7% 1.7% 56/7 thru 68/9 176 3
3rd 6.8% 8.5% 56/7 thru 67/8 162

11

4th

 14.0% 22.5% 56/7 thru 66/7 145 20
5th 4.5% 27% 56/7 thru 65/6 132

6

6th

 8.0% 35% 56/7 thru 64/5 118 8
7th & more 6.0% 41% 56/7 thru 63/4 108

6

a Not counting any previous graduate work elsewhere

b Including those who completed requirements by October at the end of the year given in Col. (1).

c About 59% (i.e. 100% — the total of 41%) of entering students do not take the Ph.D.

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Eisenhower Library. Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy Papers. Series 5, Box 6, Folder “Statistical Information (Dept, University National, 1927, 1956-1972”.

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Berkeley Economics Programs M.I.T. Race

M.I.T. Economics Chair’s Account of Early Efforts of Affirmative Action for Black Graduate Students. Cary Brown, 1974

 

Starting with the 1970/71 academic year, the M.I.T. economics department launched an initiative to increase the enrollment of black students in its graduate program. E. Cary Brown, the head of the M.I.T. economics department described the first four years experience of the initiative in his response to an inquiry from the chairperson of the Berkeley economics department, Albert Fishlow.

For considerably more on this subject, see:

William Darity, Jr. and Arden Kreeger. The Desegregation of an Elite Economics Department’s PhD Program: Black Americans at MIT in MIT and the Transformation of American Economics (Annual Supplement to Volume 46 of History of Political Economy, edited by E. Roy Weintraub. Duke University, 2014) pp. 371-335.

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M.I.T. Economics Department’s Experience With Expanding Graduate Enrollment of Black Students, 1970-74

September 18, 1974

Professor Albert Fishlow, Chairman
Department of Economics
University of California
Berkeley, California 94720

Dear Professor Fishlow:

This letter is in reply to your letter of August 9, 1974, requesting information on our procedures with respect to qualified minority students.

As background, you should know that we had no special programs for minority candidates (although we had a few such students) until the entering class of 1970. At that time we took seriously an experiment to see if the number in our student body could be expanded. In the admissions process we set aside criteria we had used in the past, on the assumption that they were not as relevant to minority candidates. With the help and advice of several of our Deans for Minority Students and our own contacts with minority groups, we selected three students that first year (1970-71). Subsequently we admitted 3 blacks in 1971, 4 in 1972, 2 in 1973 and 4 this year.

Initially we organized a summer tutorial program that worked on the development of their mathematical skills and gave them a serious taste of what was to come in theory and statistics. This was supervised and participated in by several faculty and graduate students. We now make this a standard offering at students’ options, and this summer, for example, only one entering student requested this special help.

The tutorial program was extended into the regular academic year when students required it. We are still prepared to carry this out, but, in general, it has diminished essentially to zero.

There has been no modification in the academic program or requirements for minority students, nor any tempering of standards. They have been urged to take a less heavy program than the ordinary student—to stretch out preparation for their examinations. Typically they added about a year to the preparations time, but that, too, seems to be less necessary.

We have had many discussions with black students to try to achieve better communication and awareness of mutual problems. What started as essentially a student-faculty committee has evolved into a Black Graduate Economics Association. This association, on its own volition, prepared a video tape presentation for the purposes of encouraging minority high school students to go on to college in economics, to encourage minority college student to go on to graduate school, and to encourage this group to come to M.I.T. There was much informal recruiting by the black students. When admitted candidates visited Cambridge to determine what graduate school to attend, the program would be essentially organized by some of our black students. They have been extremely important in establishing an environment congenial to black students, and conveying their enthusiasm about the program.

The relations have been good with the black students, especially as between faculty and black students. There have been some student problems, feelings of exclusion and the like, that existed last year. The precise source of these difficulties we have not been able to ascertain. We are also aware that black women have had special complaints that neither the black males nor the faculty could fully understand. Our keeping communications open has perhaps depended on luck, but certainly also depended heavily on particular black students here and on particular faculty and the administrative officer who have made substantial amounts of time available to them and who have helped with their social and living problems.

One problem should be pointed out to you. Much of graduate instruction is self instruction by students in study groups. The black students complained at first that they had no leader, no one they could emulate, no one who could answer their problems. This has changed as the quality of preparation has improved, but it is something that I would urge you to keep in mind. A second problem with high incidence is the difficulty of family adjustment (and most of our minority students have families) to the demands of academic life (including work for many of the wives).

We have no special departmental resources for minority students. M.I.T. has some resources, usually for new students, and there are the national minority fellowships that many of our students have won. Otherwise, they are supported by general graduate financial aid at M.I.T. or in the Department.

Finally, you might look briefly at the record of the minority students. Of the three who entered in 1970, on went to another University to get a Master’s degree (after two years here), another transferred to a Master’s program in Urban Studies at M.I.T. (after two years). The third passed his general examinations a year ago, but has made little progress on his dissertation. Of the second year admittees, two have passed generals and are at work on theses, the third is still in school after being out for a year. The 1972 group includes two who partially failed their generals, two who will be taking them this year. Of the 1973 group, one transferred to another graduate school and one will take generals this year.

I am not sure how I would describe our program. It is viable; there are enough students as a group so they do not feel they should drop out or transfer; morale seems to be high. On the other hand, we have put much time and resources into the program and do not yet have candidates who have completed the program. We have had the satisfaction of seeing the quality of preparation and the enthusiasm rise. We are also sure that we will have a half dozen Ph.D.’s from this minority group in the next three or four years.

I am sending you a copy of our current graduate brochure which contains more detailed information than the catalogue. Professor Robert L. Bishop is Chairman of the Graduate Committee on Admissions, and Professor Peter A. Diamond is Chairman of the Graduate Committee.

Sincerely yours,

E. Cary Brown, Head

ECB/ss
Enclosure

 

Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections. Department of Economics Records. Box 1, Folder “Women + Minorities”.

Image Source: “E. Cary Brown, fiscal policy expert, dies at 91“. M.I.T. News. June 27, 2007.

Categories
Exam Questions Johns Hopkins Suggested Reading Syllabus

Johns Hopkins. Reading List and Exam for Aggregate Income Theory. Machlup, 1951

 

Materials (reading list and exams) for Fritz Machlup’s course on income distribution, 18-603, have been transcribed and posted earlier. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror also has a transcription of the final exam for his 1956 course on methodology.

________________________

 

Course Announcement

Theory of Aggregate Income 604. Professor Machlup.
Two hours weekly, second term.

A study of the theory of income formation, linking an analysis of the supply and circulation of money with a dynamic process analysis of autonomous and induced disbursements for consumption and investment; an attempt to explain the level and fluctuations of national income.

Source: Johns Hopkins University. School of Higher Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy, Announcements of Courses 1950-51 (The Johns Hopkins Circular, April 1950), p. 99.

________________________

 

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
THE THEORY OF AGGREGATE INCOME
18-604

Prof. Fritz Machlup

READING LIST
Spring Term 1951

Books:

Required:

J. M. Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. (London: Macmillan, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1936) pp. 1-384.

Recommended:

Richard Ruggles, An Introduction to National Income and Income Analysis. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1949)

Thomas C. Schelling, National Income Behavior. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1951)

A.E.A., Readings in Business Cycle Theory. (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1944)

Seymour E. Harris (ed.), The New Economics. New York: Knopf, 1947)

 

I. Static and Dynamic Analysis

Paul A. Samuelson, “Dynamic Process Analysis,” A Survey of Contemporary Economics, ed. Howard S. Ellis. (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1948) pp. 352-387.

 

II. Savings, Investment, and National Income

Bertil Ohlin, “Some Notes on the Stockholm Theory of Saving and Investment,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 87-131.

Friedrich A. Lutz, “The Outcome of the Saving-Investment Discussion,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 131-157.

Abba P. Lerner, “Saving and Investment: Definitions, Assumptions, Objectives,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 158-168.

Oscar Lange, “The Rate of Interest and the Optimum Propensity to Consume,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 169-192.

Fritz Machlup, “Forced or Induced Saving,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 25 (1943), pp. 26-39.

Dennis H. Robertson, “A Survey of Modern Monetary Controversy,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 311-329.

 

III. The Multiplier

Fritz Machlup, International Trade and the National Income Multiplier (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1943) Chapters 1-7, 10.

Gottfried Haberler, “Mr. Keynes’ Theory of the ‘Multiplier’: A Methodological Criticism,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 193-202.

Fritz Machlup, “Period Analysis and Multiplier Theory,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 203-234.

Robert Eisner, “The Invariant Multiplier,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 17 (1949-50), pp. 198-202.

 

IV. Velocity and Time Lags

James W. Angell, “The Components of Circular Velocity of Money,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 51 (1937), pp. 224-272.

Lloyd Metzler, “Three Lags in the Circular Flow of Income,” Income, Employment, and Public Policy. (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1948), pp. 11-32.

Alvin H. Hansen, “The Robersonian and Swedish Systems of Period Analysis,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 32 (1959), pp. 24-29.

Harold M. Somers, “A Theory of Income Determination,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 58 (1950), pp. 523-541.

 

V. Wage Rate Reductions and Employment

A. C. Pigou, “Real and Money Wage Rates in Relation to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47 (1937), pp. 405-422.

N. Kaldor, “Professor Pigou on Money Wages in Relation to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47 (1937), pp. 745-762.

A. C. Pigou, “Money Wages in Relation to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, Vol. 48, (1938), pp. 134-137.

James Tobin, “Money Wage Rates and Employment”, in The New Economics, pp. 572-587.

 

VI. Tax-Financed Government Expenditures

Trygve Haavelmo, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget,” Econometrica, Vol. 13 (1945), pp. 311-318.

Gottfried Haberler, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: Some Monetary Implications of Mr. Haavelmo’s Paper,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 148-149.

R. M. Goodwin, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: The Implications of a Lag for M. Haavelmo’s Analysis,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 150-151.

Everett E. Hagen, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: Further Analysis,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 152-55.

T. Haavelmo, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: Reply,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 156-58.

 

VII. The Accelerator

John M. Clark, “Business Acceleration and the Law of Demand: A Technical Factor,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 235-260.

Paul A. Samuelson, “Interactions Between the Multiplier Analysis and the Principle of Acceleration,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 261-269.

F. A. Hayek, Profits, Interest, and Investment. (London: Routledge and Sons, 91939) Chapter I, pp. 3-72.

F. A. Hayek, “The Ricardo Effect,” Economica (1942), pp. 126-152.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Evsey D. Domar Papers, Box 15, Folder “Macroeconomics: Old Reading Lists”.

 

________________________

 

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Theory of Aggregate Income
(18-604)
Final Exam, May 29, 1951

Professor Fritz Machlup

Answer three questions, one of each group, as concisely as possible without omitting significant steps in your reasoning. Write in English rather than in algebra or geometry.

I.

  1. Explain the possibilities of a general cut in money wage rates bringing about an increase in aggregate employment.
  2. Explain the increase in employment that can be brought about by an increase in tax-financed government expenditures, emphasizing alternatively the significance in the causal sequence of changes in (a) the quantity of money or velocity of circulation, (b) liquidity preference, (c) the propensity to consume, (d) the difference between investment and saving.

 

II.

  1. Explain the meaning of the distinctions between the “consumption lag”, the “output lag”, and the “earnings lag”, and their importance, or lack of importance, in the determination of income.
  2. Explain the meaning of the distinctions between “intended” and “unintended” saving, and “intended” and “unintended” investment, and their importance, or lack of importance, in the determination of income.

 

III.

  1. Explain the interactions between multiplier and accelerator.
  2. Explain the meaning of the “Ricardo Effect” and its importance, or lack of importance, in the determination of the accelerator and of the turning points of the business cycle.

 

Source: The Johns Hopkins University. The Eisenhower Library, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 6, Box 3/1, Folder “Graduate Exams, 1933-1965”.

Image Source: Fritz Machlup is seen presenting in a seminar (note: Evsey Domar is leaning forward on the right side of the table, third from the left). From the Johns Hopkins Yearbook Hullabaloo 1956, p. 15.

Categories
Bibliography Teaching Undergraduate Wisconsin

AEA Publications. Bibliography from article “Economics as a School Study”. Clow, 1899

 

This post provides (i) information on the life and career of Harvard’s tenth Ph.D. in economics, Frederick Redman Clow and (ii) the useful bibliography to his AEA publication, “Economics as a School Subject”. 

______________________

Frederick Redman Clow
(From his Oshkosh obituary)

Born Nov. 29, 1864 in Lysle, Minnesota.

High school in Austin, Minnesota.

Classical A.B. from Carleton college in 1889

1889-1890. Editor of the Weekly Independent at Northfield, Minnesota.

A.B. from Harvard university in 1891.

1892-93. Editor of Clow’s Political Circular and the Literary Northwest.

A.M. from Harvard in 1892.

Ph.D. from Harvard in 1899.

Instructor of economics at Harvard 1893-1895.

Oshkosh Normal 1895 through 1930.

Married Minnie Baldwin at Northfield Minnesota in 1895.

Daughters: Lucia Baldwin Clow (b. 1896) and Bertha Cochrane Clow (b. 1902). Son Nathan Clow (b. ca. 1904)

Summer 1904. Taught economics at the University of Chicago.

Summer 1912. Taught sociology at the university of Michigan.

1927 Quiver (Oshkosh Normal Yearbook) dedicated to Frederick Clow.

Died July 6, 1930. Following nine months’ illness.

Memberships.

National Society for the Study of Educational Sociology
American Economics Association
Philosophical Club
Pi Gamma Mu (National social science honor society)
Phi Beta Kappa (national honorary scholastic fraternity)
Phi Beta Sigma (educational fraternity)

Books:

Introduction to the Study of Commerce (Silver, Burdett and company, 1901).

A Syllabus for an Elementary Course in Economics, 3rd ed. (Castle-Pierce Printing Company, 1908).

Principles of Educational Sociology (Macmillan, 1920)

Book manuscripts completed before death (unpublished?) according to his obituary:

The School and Its Institutional Background

Personology: The Great Synthesis.

 

Source: The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) July 7, 1930 pp. 1,4.

______________________

From Annual President’s Report of Harvard College

1890-1891

Appointed Proctor, June 23, 1891.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1890-1891. Page 206

 

1892-1893.

Appointed Instructor in Political Economy, June 27, 1893.

Appointed Proctor, June 27, 1893.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1892-1893. Pages 228-9.

 

1893-1894.

Listed among teachers for Economics 1. Professors Taussig and Ashley, Asst. Professor Cummings and Mr. Clow.

Appointed Instructor in Political Economy, May 28, 1894.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1893-1894. Page 61; Ibid., 1893-1894. Page 232.

 

1894-95.

Listed among teachers for Economics 1. Professor Ashley, Asst. Professor Cummings, Dr. Cummings, and Mr. Clow.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1894-1895. Page 62.

 

1898-1899.

Awarded Ph.D., Political Science.  (Political Economy) in 1899

Frederick Redman Clow.

Public Finance.—A.B. (Carleton Coll., Minn.) 1889, A.B. 1891, A.M. (Carleton Coll., Minn.) 1892, A.M. 1892.—Res.Gr. Stud., 1891-92 and 1893-95.

Teacher of history and Economics, State Normal School, Oshkosh, Wis.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1898-1899. Page 144.

______________________

Bibliography from Clow’s “Economics as a School Study” (1899)

PREFACE.

The following sources have contributed most of the information given in this paper or used in its preparation:

  1. The books and articles named in the bibliography, especially the Report of the Committee of Ten, and the writings of Professors J. Laurence Laughlin, Richard T. Ely, Edmund J. James, and Simon N. Patten. Much use has been made of an article by Dr. Frank H. Dixon, now of Dartmouth College.
  2. My own experience as a teacher of economics — for two years as instructor in charge of two sections of the beginning class in economics in a university, and for three years in a normal school.
  3. Data in manuscript. In the spring of 1897 I sent out a circular letter of inquiry to over two hundred educational institutions, and to a few university professors. The institutions included medium-sized colleges, public normal schools, and high schools in the larger cities, all so selected as to represent the various sections of the country. To the scores of people who so kindly responded to my inquiries, I am deeply indebted. Dr. Dixon generously allowed me to use a similar mass of material collected by him from schools which prepare students for the University of Michigan, and granted permission to use the data to controvert his own conclusions.

I have tried to include in the bibliography all books and articles relating to economics as a school study, or to methods of teaching economics, and also all text-books now offered by publishers. With a few exceptions, the bibliography is restricted to works published in the United States.

My chief aim has been to promote the further investigation of the place of economics in the school curriculum and of the methods to be employed in teaching it. Therefore much space has been given to the statement of the views of others, even when they conflict with each other and with my own. As far as possible these views are presented in the original words, although the result has been to introduce an excessive number of quotations.

F. R. CLOW.

State Normal School, Oshkosh, Wis.,
May, 1898.

[…]

APPENDIX B.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.

(The date after a title is the author’s date. All books are 12mo. unless otherwise indicated. Prices marked with an asterisk (*) are net; from others discounts will be given to schools or for introduction.)

BOOKS AND ARTICLES ON TEACHING ECONOMICS.

American Economic Association. Economic Studies, Vol. III, No. I, supplement, 50¢. Discussions: The relation of the teaching of economic history to the teaching of political economy, pp. 88-101; methods of teaching economics, pp. 105-111.

Ashley, W. J., of Harvard. On the Study of Economic History, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, VII: 115-136. States the position of the Historical School of Economists.

Barnard’s American Journal of Education, X: 105-115, from the British Almanac for 1860. Describes the work in economics in the school founded by William Ellis at Birbeck, England.

Bullock, C. J. Political Economy in the Secondary School, in Education, XI: 539-47. Excellent discussion of methods.

Clow, F. R. Elementary Economics in Schools and Colleges, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, XII: 73-75. Statistics of schools, teachers, and text-books.

Committee of Ten. Report of the Committee on Secondary School Studies, including the report of the Conference on History, Civil Government and Political Economy, pp. 29, 181-3. Government printing office, Washington, for the United States Bureau of Education. Also by the American Book Co., 25¢. See Appendix A.

Commons, J. R. Political Economy and Sociology in the High School, in The Inland Educator, December, 1895. Favors observational study.

Cossa, Luigi. Introduction to the Study of Political Economy. Macmillan. 1893. pp. 587. $2.60. Treats well the value of economic knowledge and the relation of economics to other studies.

Dixon, F. H., of Dartmouth College. The Teaching of Economics in the Secondary Schools, in the third Year-Book of the National Herbartian Society, pp. 128-137; also in the School Review for January, 1898. Favors substituting economic history for economics in the secondary schools.

Ely, Richard T., of University of Wisconsin. On Methods of Teaching Political Economy, pp. 61-72, in Methods of Teaching and Studying History, edited by G. Stanley Hall. 2d ed., 1885. Heath: Boston. Contains useful practical hints.

________ Political Economy in the High School, in School Education, March, 1895. Treats educational value and methods.

Fulcomer, Daniel. Instruction in Sociology in Institutions of Learning, in report of Commissioner of Education, 1894-5, Vol. II, pp. 1211-1221. A collection of opinions and statistics.

James, Edmund J., of Chicago University. The Education of Business Men: a View of the Organization and Courses of Study in the Commercial High Schools of Europe. The University of Chicago Press, 1898. 8vo. pp. xxi, 232. 50¢. Also in Report of Commissioner of Education, 1895-6, Vol. I, pp. 721-831. A detailed account.

________ Place of the Political and Social Sciences in Modern Education, in Annals, Vol. X, No. 3; also Publications, No. 216. American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia. 1897. pp. 30. 25¢. A strong article; urges greater prominence for the social sciences, including economics, in all grades of our educational system.

Jostad, B. M. How and What May We Teach of Political Economy in Grades below the High School? Wisconsin Journal of Education, XXIX, 12-14. Suggests several topics.

Keynes, J. N., of Cambridge, England. The Scope and Method of Political Economy. Macmillan. 1890. pp. xiv, 359. $2.25. Though not treating directly of methods of teaching, it gives the best discussion of the nature of economic science that exists in English.

Dunbar, C. F., of Harvard. The Academic Study of Political Economy, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, V: 397-416. Its place in colleges and universities.

Laughlin, J. L., of Chicago University. Teaching of Economics, in Atlantic Monthly, LXXVII: 682-688. Urges teaching of economics in secondary schools. Trenchant criticism of methods.

________ The Study of Political Economy. American Book Co. 1885. 16mo. pp. 153. $1.00. Designed for students and teachers. The best book of the kind. Contains brief bibliography, including French and German works.

Macvane, S. M., of Harvard. The Economists and the Public, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, IX: 132-150. Favors making the study concrete and working from actual facts.

Newcomb, Simon. The Problem of Economic Education, in Quarterly Journal of Economics, VII: 375-399. Discusses the low popular estimate of economic science and shows the value of studying economic theory.

Patten, Simon N., of University of Pennsylvania. Economics in Elementary Schools, in Publications, No. 136. American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia. 1894. 8vo. pp. 29. 25¢. A philosophical discussion of the ethical value of economic study. Substantially the same ideas are given in a paper by Professor Patten in Addresses and Proceedings of the National Educational Association for 1892, pp. 415-421.

________ The Educational Value of Political Economy, in Publications of the American Economic Association. 8vo. pp. 36. 75¢. Confined to mental discipline; profound and original.

Sherwood, Sidney, of Johns Hopkins University. The Philosophical Basis of Economics, in Annals, Vol. X, No. 2; also Publications, No. 209. American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia. 1897. 8vo. pp. 35. 35¢. Claims for economics the position of master-science in the group which includes ethics, aesthetics, politics, and sociology.

Taussig, F. W., of Harvard University. The Problem of Secondary Education as regards Training for Citizenship, in Educational Review, XVII: 431-439. Favors teaching economics and explains the poor results so far obtained.

Taylor, W. G. L., of the University of Nebraska. Write Your Own Political Economy, in The Northwestern Monthly, Lincoln, Neb. September, 1898. Each student is to develop economic theory in a series of essays.

Thurston, H. W. The Teaching of Economics in Secondary Schools, in School Review, IV: 604-616. Favors the laboratory method.

Thwing, C. F., President of Western Reserve University. The Teaching of Political Economy in Secondary Schools, in Addresses and Proceedings of the National Educational Association, 1895, pp. 370-374. Shows how the subject can be made intelligible to the young.

 

TEXT-BOOKS.

Andrews, E. B. Institutes of Economics. 1889. Silver, Burdett & Co., Boston, pp. xii, 227. $1.30. New arrangement. Contains references to works in foreign languages. Excessively condensed.

Bowen, F. American Political Economy. 1870. Scribner. 8vo. pp. ix, 495. Formerly a popular text-book for colleges. Protectionist.

Bullock, C. J., of Cornell University. Introduction to the Study of Economics. Silver, Burdett & Co. 1897. pp.511. $1.28. Contains much descriptive matter, bibliography, and references. An excellent all-around text-book.

Cannan, E. Elementary Political Economy. Macmillan. 16mo. 25¢.

Champlin, J. T. Lessons in Political Economy. 1868. American Book Co. pp. 219. 90¢. Gives much attention to the financial question of thirty years ago.

Davenport, H. J. Outlines of Elementary Economics. Macmillan. 1897. pp. xiv, 280. 80¢. Contains excellent pedagogical helps. No descriptive matter is given, and the work is strictly theoretical. New arrangement. The same author has written Outlines of Economic Theory. 1896. $2.00.*

Devine, E. T. Economics. Macmillan. 1898. pp.404. $1.00. Designed as an introduction to the study of social problems.

Ely, R. T., of the University of Wisconsin. Outlines of Economics. 1893. Flood & Vincent, Meadville, Pa., Chautauqua edition, pp. xi, 347, $1.00. Hunt & Eaton, now Eaton & Main, Boston, college edition, 1893, pp. xii, 432, $1.25. Extensively used. Contains questions and references to other authorities. The college edition contains a list of topics for special work and a bibliography.

Fawcett, Mrs. Political Economy for Beginners. Macmillan. 2nd edition, 1872. 18mo. pp. xii, 216. 90¢. An English work for secondary schools. With questions and problems.

Gregory, J. M. New Political Economy. 1882. American Book Co. pp. 394. $1.20. By an experienced teacher. Numerous suggestive diagrams and tables.

Jevons, W. S. Political Economy (Primer). American Book Co. 35¢.

Laughlin, J L. The Elements of Political Economy. 1887. American Book Co. pp. xxiv, 363. $1.20. Contains pedagogical questions at end of each chapter, charts and other descriptive matter, and the same bibliography as the Study of Political Economy. Part II treats of practical questions of the day.

Laveleye, Emil de. The Elements of Political Economy. 1888. Putnams. pp. xxxvii, 288. $1.50. By the eminent French economist. With introduction and supplementary chapter by Professor Taussig.

Macvane, S. M., of Harvard University. The Working Principles of Political Economy. Maynard, Merrill & Co. 1889. pp. x, 392 $1.00. Intended for high schools, “with a constant eye on actual affairs.”

Mason and Lalor. The Primer of Political Economy. 1875. McClurg, Chicago, pp. 67. 60¢. Definitions and propositions to be memorized.

Newcomb, Simon. Principles of Political Economy. Harper. 1885. pp. xvi, 548. $2.50. Purely theoretical; contains pedagogical questions. Some portions are unsurpassed for clearness.

Perry, A. L., of Williams College. Principles of Political Economy. Scribner. 1898. pp. 600. $2.00. New arrangement. Nearly thirty years ago the same author wrote Elements of Political Economy and Introduction to Political Economy, which are still in use as text-books.

Seligman, E. R. A., of Columbia. Elements of Political Economy; with Special Reference to American Conditions. In preparation. Longmans, Green & Co.

Steele, G. M. Rudimentary Economics. 1891. Leach, Shewell & Sanborn, now Sibley & Ducker. pp. xvi, 213. 80¢. Based on Carey. Suitable for high schools. Simple enough to use as a reader.

Symes, J. E., of England. Political Economy. Longmans, Green, & Co. pp. 204. 90¢.* With problems for solution and hints for supplementary reading.

Thompson, R. E. Political Economy. 1895. Ginn. pp. 108. 55¢. Intended for secondary schools. Protectionist.

Thurston, H. W. A Beginner’s Book in Economics and Industrial History. In preparation. Scott, Foresman & Co. Part I, a laboratory study of existing economic structure. Part II, economic history of England and the United States. Part III, theory. Based on the author’s experience in a high school. Discusses methods of teaching and contains much pedagogical matter; also bibliography.

Walker, F. A. Political Economy. Holt. Briefer course, 1884, pp. 415, $1.20.* Advanced course, 3rd ed., 1887, pp. 537, $2.00.* First Lessons in Political Economy. pp. x, 323. $1.00. Contain the author’s peculiar view of distribution. Were the most popular text-books in existence for a decade.

 

Source: Frederick Redman Clow, A.M. Economics as a School Study. Economic Studies, Vol. IV, No. 3 (June, 1899), pp. 242-246

Image Source: Faculty portrait of Frederick R. Clow in Quiver, Yearbook of Oshkosh Normal School 1906, p. 16.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Applied Economic Analysis, Readings and Exams. Duesenberry, 1955-56.

 

The Harvard economics professor, James Stemble Duesenberry (b. 18 July 1918; d. 5 October 2009) was best known for his relative-income hypothesis or at least that hypothesis was something I can recall from my undergraduate course taught by James Tobin almost exactly a half-century ago. Following the official Harvard obituary, you will find the reading lists and exams for his two-term course “Applied Economic Analysis” as taught in 1955-56.

____________________

Duesenberry’s Harvard Obituary

Economist Duesenberry dies at 91
by Amy Lavoie

James Stemble Duesenberry, an eminent economist who was an authority on monetary policy and a faculty member of Harvard University’s Department of Economics for more than half a century, recently passed away at his home in Cambridge at the age of 91.

Duesenberry came to Harvard in 1948 as assistant professor of economics and became associate professor in 1953. He received tenure in 1955, and became professor of economics.

An economic theorist who strove to affect policy and improve economic conditions, Duesenberry was a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors from 1966 to 1968, in Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration. From 1969 to 1974 he was chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and he led the bank during the construction of the First National Bank Building in downtown Boston.

“Jim Duesenberry was a very insightful man who thought deeply about problems in a way that was relatively unconstrained by the fashionable conditions of the day,” said Benjamin Friedman, William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy, who was a colleague of Duesenberry’s. “He thought that the purpose of economics was to speak to the way the economy behaves and what policy can do to improve economic performance.”

In 1969, Duesenberry was named William Joseph Maier Professor of Money and Banking. He was chair of the Department of Economics from 1972 to 1977, and led the department at a time when some called for greater intellectual diversity among the faculty. He retired in 1989, and became William Joseph Maier Professor of Money and Banking Emeritus.

Duesenberry’s first book, “Income Consumption and the Theory of Consumer Behavior” (Harvard University Press), was published in 1949. He is also the author of “Business Cycles and Economic Growth” (McGraw-Hill, 1957), “Money and Credit: Impact and Control” (Prentice-Hall, 1964), “Capital Needs in the Seventies” with Barry Bosworth and Andrew Carron (Brookings Institution, 1975), and “Money, Banking and Economy” with Thomas Mayer and Robert Z. Aliber (W.W. Norton, 1981).

Born in Princeton, W.Va., Duesenberry received his B.A. in 1939, his M.A. in 1941, and his Ph.D. in 1948, all in economics from the University of Michigan.

Duesenberry was a research fellow with the Social Science Research Council in 1941. During World War II, Duesenberry was a statistician in the Air Force, and reached the rank of captain. He was an instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1946, and in 1954, he was a Fulbright fellow at Cambridge University.

Duesenberry is survived by his son John of Brookline, Mass., and daughters Holly of Gouldsboro, Maine, and Peggy of Stirling, Scotland, as well as four grandchildren.

Source: Harvard Gazette, October 15, 2009.

_______________________

Enrollment

[Economics] 106. Applied Economic Analysis. Associate Professor Duesenberry. Full course.

(F) Total 25: 1 Graduate, 1 Other Graduate, 20 Seniors, 3 Juniors.
(S) Total 19: 16 Seniors, 3 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1955-1956, p. 76.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 106

Fall Term, 1955

  1. Wages and Labor Allocation and Efficiency
    1. A. Marshall, Principles of Economics, Bk. VI, Chs. 1-5.
    2. Shister, Economics of the Labor Market, Chs. 14, 15, 16.
    3. M. Friedman, “Significance of Labor Unions for Economic Policy,” Ch. X, in Wright, The Impact of the Union.
    4. Meade and Hitch, Introduction to Economic Analysis and Public Policy, Part II, Ch. 3.
    5. Peterson, Economics, Revised Edition, Ch. 20.
    6. Taussig, Principles of Economics, Vol. II, Ch. 52.
    7. M. Friedman and S. Kuznets, Income from Independent Professional Practice, Ch. 4.
    8. T. Parsons, “The Motivation of Economic Activity,” Ch. IX, in Essays in Sociological Theory.
    9. Sanders, Effects of Taxation on Executives, Chs. I and II.

Reading Period Assignment
Fall Term, 1955-56

Economics 106: O. Lange, “Scope and Method of Economics,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 13 (1943-46)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1955-1956 (1 of 2).

 

1955-56
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 106

Mid-year Examination
(January, 1956)

Answer question 1 and four others

  1. (one hour)
    1. The appearance of unions in an otherwise perfectly competitive labor market with perfect mobility of labor is likely to distort the allocation of resources. Why?
      (Assume that unions do influence wages.)
    2. In the type of labor market which actually exists the adverse effect of unions on resource allocation is much less certain. Why?
  2. Wage differentials attributable to the cost of training both help to determine and are determined by the distribution of income. Discuss.
  3. Outline some of the fundamental factors which make an area a low wage area.
  4. Friedman argues that unions do not influence wages. What evidence does he cite in support of his position? What considerations cast doubt on the proposition?
  5. What are the major reasons for the narrowing of skill differentials in American industry? What evidence would you look for to determine whether any misallocation of resources has resulted?
  6. Wages tend to be higher in rapidly growing industries than in others. Why?
  7. Outline Schumpeter’s views on the influence of monopoly on static efficiency (resource allocation) and progress.
  8. Discuss the effects of income taxes on personal incentives to work.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 23. Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…Naval Science, Air Science. January, 1956.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 106

Spring Term, 1955-56

Bain, Pricing, Distribution, and Employment, Chs. 5, 6.

P.W.S. Andrews, Manufacturing Business.

T. Scitovsky, Welfare and Competition Ch. 9.

Lutz, Theory of Investment of the Firm, Chs. 2, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16.

Hart, Anticipations, Uncertainty and Dynamic Planning.

Boulding, Economic Analysis, 3rd Edition, Ch. 38.

Durand, “Costs of Debt and Equity Funds” in Conference on Business Finance (National Bureau of Economic Research).

MacLaurin, Invention and Innovation in the Radio Industry.

E.S. Mason, “Current Status of Monopoly Problems,” Harvard Law Review, June 1949.

Butters and Lintner, Effects of Taxation on Corporate Mergers, Chs. IX, X.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Economics 106
Reading List (Cont.)

Federal Inter-Agency River Basin Committee, Subcommittee on Benefits and Costs, Proposed Practices for Economic Analysis of River Basin Projects, Chs. 1-5, pp. 1-56.

Smithies, A., The Budgetary Process in the United States, Ch. XIII.

Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, Water Resources and Power, June 1955, Vol. I, pp. 1-85.

Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, Task Force Report on Water Resources and Power, pp. 1-164.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1955-1956 (1 of 2).

 

 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 106

Final Examination (May, 1956)

PART I.
(One Hour)

Required.

  1. Discuss the differences between monopoly and oligopoly in terms of (a) relation of prices to costs (b) investment behavior.

PART II.
(Half Hour)

Answer question 2 or 3.

  1. “The possibility that new firms will enter the industry influences the price and investment policies of firms in oligopolistic industries.” Discuss.
  2. The rivalry among oligopolists is more likely to result in product improvement than in price reduction. Why?

PART III.
(45 minutes for each question)

Answer two questions.

  1. What measures would you recommend for the improvement of the Federal Water Resource Program? Give reasons for your recommendations.
  2. The supply of any collective service by government action is likely to involve a redistribution of income. Discuss the possible effects of this on (1) the level at which these services may be supplied; (2) the degree of efficiency of the allocation of resources within a program.
  3. Even in an economy governed by the strongest preferences against government activity some economic needs will be met collectively. Why?

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 24. Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…Naval Science, Air Science. June, 1956.

 

Categories
AEA

American Economic Association. Economic Studies, 1896-1899

 

A few posts ago I put together a list of links to the contents of eleven volumes of monographs published by the American Economic Association from 1886 through 1896.

Those eleven published volumes were briefly followed (1896-1899) by two series of AEA publications, viz.: the bi-monthly Economic Studies, and an extremely short “new series” of larger monographs that would be printed at irregular intervals. In 1900 the American Economic Association reverted to the policy of issuing its monographs, called the “third series” of the publications, at quarterly intervals.

This post provides links to the 1896-1899 intermezzo of AEA publications.

______________________

American Economic Association
ECONOMIC STUDIES.

Price of the Economic Studies $2.50 per volume in paper, $3.00 in cloth. The set of four volumes, in cloth, $10.00.

VOLUME I, 1896
[prices in paper]

No. 1 (Apr., Supplement) Eighth Annual Meeting: Hand-Book and Report. Pp. 178. Price 50 cents.

No. 1 (Apr.). The Theory of Economic Progress, by John B. Clark, Ph.D.; The Relation of Changes in the Volume of the Currency to Prosperity, by Francis A. Walker, LL.D. Pp. 46. Price 50 cents.

No. 2 (Jun.). The Adjustment of Wages to Efficiency. Three papers: Gain Sharing, by Henry R. Towne; The Premium Plan of Paying for Labor, by F.A. Halsey; A Piece-Rate System, by F.W. Taylor. Pp. 83 Price 50 cents.

No. 3 (Aug.). The Populist Movement. By Frank L. McVey, Ph.D. Pp. 81 Price 50 cents.

No. 4 (Oct.). The Present Monetary Situation. An address by Dr. W. Lexis, University of Göttingen translated by Professor John Cummings. Pp. 72. Price 75 cents.

Nos. 5-6 (Dec.). The Street Railway Problem in Cleveland. By W.R. Hopkins. Pp. 94. Price 50 cents.

 

VOLUME II, 1897

No. 1 (Feb., Supplement). Ninth Annual Meeting: Hand-Book and Report. Pp. 162. Price 50 cents.

No. 1 (Feb.). Economics and Jurisprudence. By Henry C. Adams, Ph.D. Pp. 48. Price 50 cents.

No. 2 (Apr.). The Saloon Question in Chicago. By John E. George, Ph.B. Pp. 62. Price 50 cents.

No. 3 (Jun.). The General Property Tax in California. By Carl C. Plehn, Ph.D. Pp. 88. Price 50 cents.

No. 4 (Aug.). Area and Population of U. S. at Eleventh Census. By Walter F. Willcox, Ph.D. Pp. 60. Price 50 cents.

No. 5 (Oct.). A Discourse Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America, etc. By William Douglass. Edited by Charles J. Bullock, Ph.D. Pp. 228. Price 50 cents.

No. 6 (Dec.). Density and Distribution of Population in U.S. at Eleventh Census. By Walter F. Wilcox, Ph.D. Pp. 79.Price 50 cents.

 

VOLUME III, 1898

No. 1 (Feb., Supplement). Tenth Annual Meeting: Hand-Book and Report. Pp. 136. Price 50 cents.

No. 1 (Feb.). Government by Injunction. By William H. Dunbar, A.M., LL.B. Pp. 44. Price 50 cents.

No. 2 (Apr.). Economic Aspects of Railroad Receiverships. By Henry H. Swain, Ph.D. Pp. 118. Price 50 cents.

No. 3 (Jun.). The Ohio Tax Inquisitor Law. By T. N. Carver, Ph.D. Pp. 50. Price 50 cents.

No. 4 (Aug.). The American Federation of Labor. By Morton A. Aldrich, Ph.D. Pp. 54. Price 50 cents.

No. 5 (Oct.). Housing of the Working People in Yonkers. By Ernest Ludlow Bogart, Ph.D. Pp. 82. Price 50 cents.

No. 6 (Dec.). The State Purchase of Railways in Switzerland. By Horace Micheli; translated by John Cummings, Ph.D. Pp. 72. Price 50 cents.

 

VOLUME IV, 1899

No. 1 (Feb.). I. Economics and Politics. By Arthur T. Hadley, A.M.; II. Report on Currency Reform. By F. M. Taylor, F.W. Taussig, J.W. Jenks, Sidney Sherwood, David Kinley; III. Report on the Twelfth Census. By Richmond Mayo-Smith, Walter F. Willcox, Carroll D. Wright, Roland P. Falkner, Davis R. Dewey. Pp.70. Price 50 cents.

No. 2 (Apr.). Eleventh Annual Meeting: Hand-Book and Report. Pp. 126. Price 50 cents.

No. 2 (Apr.). Personal Competition: Its Place in the Social Order and Effect upon Individuals; with some Consideration upon Success. By Charles H. Cooley, Ph.D. Pp. 104. Price 50 cents.

No. 3 (Jun.). Economics as a School Study. By Frederick R. Clow, A.M. Pp. 72. Price 50 cents.

Nos. 4-5 (Aug.-Oct.). The English Income Tax, with Special Reference to Administration and Method of Assessment. By Joseph A. Hill, Ph.D. Pp. 162. Price $1.00.

No. 6. (Dec.) The Effects of Recent Changes in Monetary Standards upon the Distribution of Wealth. By Francis Shanor Kinder, A.M. Pp.91. Price 50 cents.

______________________

NEW SERIES

No. 1 (Dec., 1897). The Cotton Industry. By M. B. Hammond. Pp. 382. (In cloth $2.00.) Price $1.50.

No. 2 (Mar., 1899). Scope and Method of the Twelfth Census. Critical discussion by over twenty statistical experts. Pp. 625. (In cloth $2.50.) Price $2.00.

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Core economic theory. Readings and Exams. Carver, 1900/01-1902/03

Thomas Nixon Carver

 

 

For the academic years 1900/01 through 1902/03 the core course in economic theory at Harvard was taught by Thomas Nixon Carver. He was substituting for Frank Taussig, who later wrote that he had been “compelled by ill health to withdraw from teaching” (1901-03). [Chapter IX Economics (1871-1929) by The Development of Harvard University since the Inauguration of President Eliot, 1869-1929 Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1930. p. 191].  

Schumpeter provided more detail: “We speak of nervous breakdown in such cases, which indeed are more frequent in the academic profession than one would infer from the general conditions of a professor’s life. He [Taussig] took leave and went abroad for two years, relaxing completely and spending one winter at Meran in the Austrian Alps, another on the Italian Riviera, and the summer between (1902) in Switzerland. Catastrophe was thus avoided, and in the fall of 1903 he was able to return to teaching and the editorship of the Quarterly Journal.” [Joseph A. Schumpeter, Chapter 7 “Frank William Taussig (1859-1940)” in Ten Great Economists from Marx to Keynes. p. 206.]

During the first term of 1903/04 Taussig resumed teaching the core economic theory course with Carver teaching the second term.  Beginning 1904/05 Taussig once again taught the course by himself.

___________________________

Economics 2.
Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century
1900-01

Enrollment
1900-01

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 2. Asst. Professor Carver.— Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century.

Total 45: 6 Graduates, 15 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 3 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

 

Reading list [previously posted]  for the first term

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Mid-year examination, 1901]

  1. Define value and explain why one commodity possesses more value in proportion to its bulk than another.
  2. Explain the various uses of the term diminishing returns, and define it as you think it ought to be defined.
  3. In what sense does a law of diminishing returns apply to all the factors of production.
  4. State briefly Böhm-Bawerk’s explanation of the source of interest.
  5. What, if any, is the relation of abstinence to interest.
  6. Would you make any distinction between the source of wages and the factors which determine rates of wages? If so, what? If not, why not?
  7. Discuss the question: Is a demand for commodities a demand for labor?
  8. What is the relation of the standard of living to wages.
  9. Discuss briefly the following questions relating to speculators’ profits. (a) Do speculators as a class make any profits? (b) Are speculators’ profits in any sense earned?
  10. In what sense, if any, does the value of money come under the law of marginal utility?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Final examination, June 1901]

Discuss the following topics.

  1. The bearing of the marginal utility theory of value upon the questions of wages and interest.
  2. The definitions of capital as given by Taussig and Clark.
  3. Clark’s explanation of the place of distribution within the natural divisions of economics.
  4. Clark’s method of distinguishing between the product of labor and the product of capital.
  5. Clark’s distinction between rent and interest.
  6. Böhm-Bawerk’s theory of the nature of capital.
  7. The origin of capital, according to Böhm-Bawerk and Clark.
  8. The meaning of the word “productive” in the following proposition: “Protection is an attempt to attract labor and capital from the naturally more productive, to the naturally less productive industries.”
  9. The incidence of tariff duties.
  10. The theory of production and the theory of valuation as the two principal departments of economics.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 23-24.

___________________________

Economics 2.
Economic Theory
1901-02

Enrollment
1901-02

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 2. Asst. Professor Carver.— Economic Theory.

Total 32: 5 Graduates, 6 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1901-02, p. 77.

ECONOMICS 2.
1901-1902

General Reading. Prescribed.

Marshall. Principles of Economics.
Taussig. Wages and Capital.
Böhm-Bawerk. Positive Theory of Capital.
Clark. The Distribution of Wealth.

References for Collateral Reading. Starred references are prescribed.

I. VALUE.

1. Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Chs. 5, 6, and 7.

2. Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 1 and 4.

3. Mill.          “        “     Book III. Chs. 1-6.

4.  Cairnes     “        “     Part I.

5.*  Jevons. Theory of Pol. Econ. Chs. 2-4.

6.   Sidgwick. Pol. Econ. Book II. Ch. 2.

7.   Wieser. Natural Value.

8.* Clark. Philosophy of Wealth. Ch. 5

II. DIMINISHING RETURNS.

1.    Senior. Pol. Econ. Pp. 81-86.

2*.  Commons. The Distribution of Wealth. Ch. 3.

III. RENT.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nation. Book I. Ch. 2. Pts. 1-3.

2.* Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 2 and 3.

3.   Sidgwick. “     “       Book II. Ch. 7.

4.   Walker.     “     “       Pt. IV. Ch. 2.

5.   Walker. Land and its Rent.

6.  Hyde. The Concept of Price Determining Rent. Jour. Pol. Econ. V.6. p. 368.

7.  Fetter. The Passing of the Old Rent Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 416.

IV. CAPITAL

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book II.

2.   Senior. Pol. Econ. P. 58-81.

3.   Mill.        “       “       Book I. Ch. 4-6.

4.   Roscher. “      “       Book I. Ch. 1. Secs. 42-45.

5.   Cannan. Production and Distribution. Ch. 4.

6.   Jevons. Theory of Political Economy Ch. 7.

7.  Fisher. What is Capital? Economic Journal. Vol. VI. P. 509.

8.  Fetter. Recent Discussion of the Capital Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 1.

9.* Carver. Clark’s Distribution of Wealth. Q.J.E., Aug. 1901.

V. INTEREST.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 9.

2.   Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 6.

3.   Sidgwick.  “     “        Book II. Ch. 6.

4*.  Carver. Abstinence and the Theory of Interest. Q.J.E, Vol. VIII. P. 40.

5.    Mixter. Theory of Saver’s Rent. Q.J.E. Vol. XIII. P. 345.

VI. WAGES.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 8.

2*. Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 5.

3.   Senior.       “       “      Pp. 141-180 and 200-216.

4.   Senior. Lectures. Pp. 1-62.

5.   Mill. Pol. Econ. Book II. Chs. 11, 12, 13, and 14.

6.   Cairnes. Pol. Econ. Part II. Chs. 1 and 2.

7. Sidgwick.  “       “      Book II. Ch. 8.

8.  Walker.     “       “      Part IV. Ch. 5.

9.  Hadley. Economics. Ch. 10.

10*. Carver. Wages and the Theory of Value. Q.J.E. Vol. VIII, P. 377.

VII. PROFITS.

1.   Walker. Pol. Econ. Part IV. Ch. 4.

2.   Hobson. The Law of the Three Rents. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. V. P. 263.

3.   Clark. Insurance and Business Profits. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 40.

4*.  Hawley, F. B. in Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 459; Vol. XV. Pp. 75 and 603.

5.    MacVane, in in Quar. Jour. Econ.,  Vol. II. P. 1.

6.   Haynes, in               “     “       “     Vol. IX, P. 409.

Source: Harvard University Archives. HUC 8522.2.1, Box 1 of 10 (Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003). Folder: 1901-1902.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Mid-year examination, 1902]

Discuss the following topics.

  1. The relation of utility to value.
  2. The price of commodities and the price of services.
  3. Various uses of the term “diminishing returns.”
  4. The law of diminishing returns as applied to each of the factors of production.
  5. Prime and supplementary cost: illustrate.
  6. Joint and composite demand and join and composite supply.
  7. Quasi rent.
  8. Real and nominal rent.
  9. Consumer’s rent.
  10. The equilibrium of demand and supply

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1901-02.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Final examination, June 1902]

  1. State some of the different meanings which have been given to the law of diminishing returns, and define the law as you think it ought to be.
  2. Can you apply the law of joint demand to the wages fund questions?
  3. What is meant by an elastic demand and how does it affect monopoly price.
  4. Discuss Clark’s distinction between capital and capital goods.
  5. Under what conditions would there be no rent, and how would these conditions affect the value of products?
  6. Explain Clark’s theory of Economic Causation.
  7. What is the source of interest?
  8. What is the relation of the standard of living to wages?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1902-03. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College (June, 1902), p. 21.

___________________________

Economics 2.
Economic Theory
1902-03

Enrollment
1902-03

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 2. Professor Carver.— Economic Theory.

Total 25: 5 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 67.

 

Course Description
1902-03

For Undergraduates and Graduates

[Economics] 2. Economic Theory. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30 Professors Taussig [sic] and Carver.

Course 2 is intended to acquaint the student with some of the later developments of economic thought, and at the same time to train him in the critical consideration of economic principles and the analysis of economic conditions. The exercises are accordingly conducted mainly by the discussion of selected passages from the leading writers: and in this discussion of selected passages from the leading writers; and in this discussion the students are expected to take an active part. Lectures are given at intervals outlining the present condition of economic theory and some of the problems which call for theoretical solution. Theories of value, diminishing returns, rent, wages, interest, profits, the incidence of taxation, the value of money international trade, and monopoly price, will be discussed. Marshall’s Principles of Economics [4th ed., 1898], Böhm-Bawerk’s Positive Theory of Capital [1888; William Smart translation, 1891], Taussig’s Wages and Capital [1896], and Clark’s Distribution of Wealth [1899] will be read and criticized.

Course 2 is open to students who have passed satisfactorily in Course 1.

Source: Harvard University.  Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1902-03. The University Publications, New Series, No. 55 (June 14, 1902), pp. 40-41.

 

ECONOMICS 2.
1902-1903

General Reading. Prescribed.

Marshall. Principles of Economics.
Taussig. Wages and Capital.
Böhm-Bawerk. Positive Theory of Capital.
Clark. The Distribution of Wealth.

References for Collateral Reading. Starred references are prescribed.

I. VALUE.

1.  Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Chs. 5, 6, and 7.

2.  Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 1 and 4.

3.   Mill.          “        “     Book III. Chs. 1-6.

4.   Cairnes     “        “     Part I.

5.*  Jevons. Theory of Pol. Econ. Chs. 2-4.

6.   Sidgwick. Pol. Econ. Book II. Ch. 2.

7.   Wieser. Natural Value.

8.* Clark. Philosophy of Wealth. Ch. 5

II. DIMINISHING RETURNS.

1.  Senior. Pol. Econ. Pp. 81-86.

2.  Commons. The Distribution of Wealth. Ch. 3.

3*. Bullock. The Variation of Productive Forces, Q.J.E., August, 1902.

III. RENT.

1.  Adam Smith. Wealth of Nation. Book I. Ch. 2. Pts. 1-3.

2.* Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 2 and 3.

3.  Sidgwick. “     “       Book II. Ch. 7.

4.  Walker.     “     “       Pt. IV. Ch. 2.

5.  Walker. Land and its Rent.

6.  Hyde. The Concept of Price Determining Rent. Jour. Pol. Econ. V.6. p. 368.

7.  Fetter. The Passing of the Old Rent Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 416.

IV. CAPITAL

1.  Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book II.

2.  Senior. Pol. Econ. P. 58-81.

3.  Mill.        “       “       Book I. Ch. 4-6.

4.  Roscher. “      “       Book I. Ch. 1. Secs. 42-45.

5. Cannan. Production and Distribution. Ch. 4.

6.  Jevons. Theory of Political Economy Ch. 7.

7.  Fisher. What is Capital? Economic Journal. Vol. VI. P. 509.

8.  Fetter. Recent Discussion of the Capital Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 1.

9.* Carver. Clark’s Distribution of Wealth. Q.J.E., Aug. 1901.

V. INTEREST.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 9.

2.   Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 6.

3.   Sidgwick.  “     “        Book II. Ch. 6.

4*. Carver. Abstinence and the Theory of Interest. Q.J.E, Vol. VIII. P. 40.

5.   Mixter. Theory of Saver’s Rent. Q.J.E. Vol. XIII. P. 345.

VI. WAGES.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 8.

2*. Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 5.

3.  Senior.       “       “      Pp. 141-180 and 200-216.

4.   Senior. Lectures. Pp. 1-62.

5.   Mill. Pol. Econ. Book II. Chs. 11, 12, 13, and 14.

6.   Cairnes. Pol. Econ. Part II. Chs. 1 and 2.

 7.  Sidgwick.  “       “      Book II. Ch. 8.

8.  Walker.     “       “      Part IV. Ch. 5.

9.  Hadley. Economics. Ch. 10.

10*. Carver. Wages and the Theory of Value. Q.J.E. Vol. VIII, P. 377.

VII. PROFITS.

1.   Walker. Pol. Econ. Part IV. Ch. 4.

2.   Hobson. The Law of the Three Rents. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. V. P. 263.

3.   Clark. Insurance and Business Profits. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 40.

4*.  Hawley, F. B. in Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 459; Vol. XV. Pp. 75 and 603.

5.   MacVane, in in Quar. Jour. Econ.,  Vol. II. P. 1.

6.   Haynes, in               “     “       “     Vol. IX, P. 409.

Source: Harvard University Archives. HUC 8522.2.1, Box 1 of 10 (Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003). Folder: 1902-1903.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Mid-year examination, 1903]

Explain and illustrate any twelve of the following subjects.

  1. Marginal utility.
  2. Elasticity of wants.
  3. The law of diminishing returns from land.
  4. The extension of the law of diminishing returns to other factors than land.
  5. The law of economy of organization (Bullock).
  6. The law of varied costs (Bullock).
  7. The cause of rent.
  8. The law of rent.
  9. Quasi rent.
  10. Joint and composite demand.
  11. Joint and composite supply.
  12. Prime and supplementary cost.
  13. The relation of rent to the price of products.
  14. The effect of the shortening of the working day upon the demand for labor.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1902-03.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Final examination, June 1903]

  1. Explain the principal of marginal utility.
  2. Explain the law of diminishing returns and extend it to other factors than land.
  3. What is the relation of cost to value?
  4. What is the relation of rent to value?
  5. What is the relation of waiting to interest?
  6. What is capital?
  7. What is the relation of capital to wages?
  8. Explain joint and composite demand and joint and composite supply.
  9. Does the home consumer necessarily pay the whole of the tariff duty?
    Give reasons for your answer.
  10. Is the value of money determined in all particulars as the value of any other commodity?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1902-03. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College (June, 1903), p. 21.

Source Image: Thomas Nixon Carver, Harvard Class Album 1906.

 

Categories
Economists Gender Radcliffe Wellesley Yale

Yale. Economics Ph.D. alumna Sarah Scovill Whittelsey, 1898

 

This post adds a few details to Claire H. Hammond’s sketch of the life and brief academic career of the second woman to have received a Ph.D. in economics in the United States (note: Sarah Scovill Whittelsey tied for second place with Hannah Robie Sewall at the University of Minnesota). A link to Whittelsey’s 1894 Radcliffe portrait, note of her success in women’s college tennis, testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, and her newspaper obituary are among the tidbits to be found below.

_____________________

Life and Career of Sarah Scovill Whittelsey

Claire H. Hammond. American Women and the Professionalization of Economics. Review of Social Economy. Vol. 51, No. 3 (Fall 1993), 347-370.   (here pp. 362-366)

_____________________

1892, College women’s tennis champion

The first intercollegiate tennis invitational for women is held at Bryn Mawr College. Radcliffe College’s Sarah Whittelsey wins the tournament. Vassar, Wellesley, and Smith Colleges turn down the invitation; many faculty members fear women cannot handle the competitive nature of sports.

Source: From the milestone timeline at the ITA Hall of Fame.

_____________________

1898, Yale Ph.D.

Sarah Scovill Whittelsey (Mrs. Percy T. Walden), B.A. Radcliffe College. In how far has Massachusetts labor legislation been in accordance with teachings of economic theory? Ann. Amer. Acad. Pol. and Soc Sci., Supplement, 1901, 1:1-157. 210 St. Ronan St., New Haven, Conn.

Source: Doctors of Philosophy of Yale University With the Titles of Their Dissertations, 1861-1927. New Haven, p. 65.

_____________________

President Hadley’s Introduction
to the published dissertation

Amid the many things which are valuable in the earlier reports of the Massachusetts Labor Bureau, none possess more permanent importance than the dispassionate analyses of the effects of labor laws which were prepared by Colonel Wright and his associates. The investigation of the workings of the ten-hour law in Massachusetts mills is a historic example of economic study which is as good as anything of its kind that has been done in the United States. But in more recent years the work of the Massachusetts Bureau has run in somewhat different channels. It has been to some degree crowded out of the fields of legislative investigation by the mass of purely statistical work which has been entrusted to its charge. And while the activity of its former chief is continued in his work as the head of the United States Bureau of Labor, the very breadth of the investigations which he is conducting forbids that complete treatment of any one field of legislation which was possible in his earlier labors.
Under these circumstances, the economic effects of Massachusetts labor legislation as they had worked themselves out in recent years seemed an appropriate subject for a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Yale. In her treatment of this theme Miss Whittelsey has presented the subject under three distinct aspects: an analysis, a history, and a criticism. Her analysis shows what is the present condition of the Massachusetts statute books on the various subjects connected with labor. The history shows when these statues were passed, and what were the motives and causes which led to their passage. The criticism undertakes to show what have been the effects, economic, social and moral, of the various forms of statutory regulation.
In a field of this kind it is hardly to be expected that the results will be startling. If they were, the method and the impartiality of the thesis would be open to great distrust. It is for the serious student of legislation rather than for the doctrinaire or the agitator that a painstaking criticism of this kind is intended. It has special value at the present day, when so many other states are following the example of Massachusetts in this line, and when there is a tendency to introduce similar methods of regulation into other departments of economic life besides those which are involved in the contract between the employer and the wage earner. Whether this tendency is to be regarded as a good or an evil thing is a matter of opinion on which thoughtful men differ; but there can be no question among thoughtful men of all parties that the maximum of good and the minimum of evil are to be obtained by studying dispassionately the results of past experience before we make experiments in new fields.

Arthur T. Hadley.
Yale University.

Source: Ann. Amer. Acad. Pol. and Soc Sci., Supplement, 1901, 1:5-6.

_____________________

CALLED TO WELLESLEY.

Miss Sarah Scovill Whittelsey Will Probably Accept.

NEW HAVEN. Jan 16—Miss Sarah Scovill Whittelsey of this city has been offered the chair of political economy at Wellesley college for one year. She has been summoned to Boston for a conference with the Wellesley authorities relative to the offer. She is to take the place of Miss Balch, who will leave Wellesley next fall to go to Europe for her Sabbatical year. Miss Whittelsey will, it is understood, accept the position.

She is the daughter of Joseph T. Whittelsey of this city, of national prominence as an authority in tennis, golf and college sports.

Source: The Boston Globe, 17 January 1902, p. 8.

________________________

Sarah Scovill Whittelsey (Mrs. Percy T. Walden)
B.A. Radcliffe College 1894.

Miss Whittelsey received her Doctor’s degree in 1898. During the year 1902-1903 she was Instructor in Economics at Wellesley College.

In 1905 she married Percy T. Walden, Ph.D. Yale 1896, now Professor of Chemistry in the University. They have two children, Sarah Scovill, born in 1906, and Joseph Whittelsey, born in 1911.

Since 1914 Mrs. Walden has served on the New Haven Board of Education.

Her dissertation was published in 1901, in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Supplement I, under the title “Massachusetts Labor Legislation : An Historical and Critical Study.”

Her present address is 210 St. Ronan Street, New Haven, Connecticut.

Source: Alumnae Graduate School, Yale University. 1894-1920 (New Haven: Yale University, 1920), pp. 46-47.

_____________________

Statement of Mrs. Percy T. Walden, New Haven, Conn., Chairman of Child Welfare, National League of Women Voters

Source: Hearing before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, House of Representatives. Seventieth Congress, Second Session. H.R. 14070 to provide a child welfare extension service and for other purposes.  Washington, D.C.: January 24 and 25, 1929. Pages 86-87.

_____________________

Obituary

Mrs. Sarah Walden.

New Haven, Aug. 7. — (AP.) — Mrs. Sarah Walden, 73, former economics teacher at Wellesley College, first woman member of the New Haven Board of Education and founder and long time president of the Connecticut Child Welfare Association, died at a hospital here yesterday after a short illness. She was the widow of Professor Percv T. Walden of Yale University.

Mrs. Walden. who was born In Paris but spent nearly all her here, was graduated from Radcliffe College in 1894, the year she won the women’s intercollegiate tennis championship at Byrn Mawr, Pa. She was a trustee of Wellesley College. She leaves a son, Joseph Walden of Elizabeth, N.J.; a daughter, Mrs. Richmond H. Curtiss of New Haven, and a sister, Mrs. Frank Dunn Berrien of New Haven.

Source: Hartford Courant. August 8, 1945, page 5

 

Image Source:  Radcliffe Archives. Portrait of Sarah Scovill Whittelsey by James Notman. Radcliffe College, Class of 1894.