Arthur Eli Monroe was a 100% Harvard man from his undergraduate days through his retirement: a member of the Harvard class of 1908; at various times (senior) lecturer and (senior) tutor of economics in Kirkland House; held the rank of assistant professor of economics from 1922/23 through 1927-28; and served as managing editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics through the May 1948.
Monroe’s 1918 Ph.D. dissertation was published as Monetary Theory before Adam Smith (Harvard University Press, 1923). He edited a collection of writings from Aristotle through Hume in Early Economic Thought (1924). He published Value and Income (Harvard University Press, 1931) that is among the assigned readings for the course below.
Published biographical detail is pretty scarce. From his passport application (submitted in April 1922) we find that Monroe was born in West Brookfield, Massachusetts on August 2, 1885. His father Eli Monroe was born in Canada and emigrated to the United States in 1859. His mother (born in Vermont according to the U.S. Census), was Louise Arsino. He listed France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, and Czechoslovakia as the countries he intended to visit leaving on the Laconia from the port of Boston May 31, 1922. Monroe’s World War II Draft Registration Card (April 26, 1942) lists him as being 5-7 ½ inches tall, weighing 140 lbs., and having a ruddy complexion. I have been unable to determine exactly when and where Monroe died. He was still listed among the American Economic Association members as of 1966, having an address in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but he was no longer listed in 1969.
The “longer” undergraduate course in economic theory at Harvard (2 semesters) was taught by Edward Chamberlin, Economics 1. Interesting to note in Monroe’s course are the seven chapters assigned from Keynes’ General Theory already in December 1937.
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[Course description]
Economics 2a 1hf. Economic Theory (shorter course)
Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Dr. Monroe.
Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1937-38 (2nd edition). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 34, No. 44 (October 1, 1937), p. 148.
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[Course enrollment]
[Economics] 2a 1hf. Dr. Monroe.—Economic Theory (shorter course).
9 Seniors, 53 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 6 Other. Total 75.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1937-38, p. 84.
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ECONOMICS 2a
1937-38
October:
A. E. Monroe: Value and Income.
Chs. 5, 6, 7, 8
J. B. Clark: The Distribution of Wealth.
Chs. 8, 9, 12, 13, 19, 21, 22
Irving Fisher: The Theory of Interest
Chs. 4, 5, 6, 7
November:
J. R. Hicks: The Theory of wages
Chs. 1, 2, 5, 6
A. E. Monroe: Quarterly Journal of Economics
August, 1933, pp. 627-646
A. E. Monroe: Value and Income
Chs. 3 (secs. 1 and 2), 11, 13, 15
December:
F. H. Knight: Risk, Uncertainty and Profit
Chs. 7, 8, 9, 10
J. M. Keynes: The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
Chs. 2, 3, 10, 11, 13, 14, 19
Reading Period: One of the following:
A. Gray: The Development of Economic Doctrine
Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
A. G. B. Fisher: The Clash of Progress and Secuirty
Entire
P. T. Homan: Contemporary Economic Thought
Essays on Veblen, Marshall, Mitchell
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 2, Folder “1937-1938”.
Image Source: Harvard Album 1942.