Today we have the reading list for an early iteration of Lloyd A. Metzler’s second advanced course in international economics: the theory of foreign trade and commercial policy. The course was held in the Winter quarter of 1948 at the University of Chicago. I have used squared brackets and bold-blue text to indicate additions and other changes or deletions for his Spring Quarter 1950 reading list.
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[Course Description]
[Economics] 371. INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND COMMERCIAL POLICY. Price theory and international trade; the gains from international specialization. International trade and the distribution of income. Historical and theoretical discussion of the theory of tariffs. Commercial policies of particular countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Commodity agreements and cartels. The growth of state trading. The new mercantilism. Prereq: Econ 330 or equiv. Spr: TuThS 9:30; Metzler.
Source: University of Chicago Announcements Division of the Social Sciences, 1949-1950. p.28.
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[Handwritten] Winter 1948
[Date noted with course title in 1950]
ECONOMICS 371
[Spring Quarter – 1950]
Major Topics and Selected Reading
I. Mercantilism and the Classical Theory of the Gains from Trade.
J. Viner, Studies in the Theory of International Trade, Chapters 1, 2.
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book IV.
David Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Chapter 7.
J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book III, Chapters 17, 18.
J. M. Keynes, General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Chapter 23.
II. Modern Price Theory and the Gains from Trade.
Alfred Marshall, Money, Credit and Commerce, Appendix J.
Gottfried Haberler, The Theory of International Trade, Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12.
J. Viner, Studies in the Theory of International Trade, Chapters 8, 9.
W. W. Leontief, “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1933. [reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade]
P. A. Samuelson, “Welfare Economics and International Trade,” American Economic Review, 1938.
[F. D. Graham, “The Theory of International Values Reexamined,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1923, reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade.
F. D. Graham, The Theory of International Values, Princeton, N. J., 1948.
E. F. Heckscher, “The Effect of Foreign Trade on the Distribution of Income,” Ekonmish Tidshrift, 1919, reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade.
P. A. Samuelson, “International Trade and the Equalization of Factor Prices,” Economic Journal, June, 1948.
P. A. Samuelson, “International Factor Price Equalization Once Again,” Economic Journal, June, 1949.]
III. The Theory of Tariffs
Gottfried Haberler, The Theory of International Trade, Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.
Alfred Marshall, Money, Credit and Commerce, Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Tibor de Scitovsky, “A Reconsideration of the Theory of Tariffs,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 9, 1941-42.[reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade.]
F. W. Taussig, International Trade, Chapter 13.
W. F. Stolper and Paul A. Samuelson, “Protection and Real Wages,” Review of Economic Studies, 1941. [reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade.]
F. D. Graham, “Some Aspects of Protection Further Considered,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1923. [Item replaced by: F. D. Graham, Protective Tariffs, Princeton, N. J., 1942.]
IV. Some Aspects of Commercial Policy
F. W. Taussig, Some Aspects of the Tariff Question.
F. W. Taussig, Tariff History of the United States.
F. Benham, Great Britain Under Protection.
E. B. McGuire, The British Tariff System.
F. A. Haight, French Import Quotas.
V. The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Program of the United States [Section title changed: Recent Developments in Commercial Policy]
H. J. Tasca, The Reciprocal Trade Policy of the United States, 1938.
G. Beckett, “The Effect of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements upon the Foreign Trade of the U. S.,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1940.
[J. M. Letiche, Reciprocal Trade Agreements in the World Economy, 1948.
U. S. Department of State, Analysis of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Washington, D. C., 1947.
U. S. Department of State, Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization, 1948.]
VI. Cartels and Commodity Agreements.
C. Edwards, International Cartels, 1945.
E. S. Mason, Controlling World Trade, 1946.
J. S. Davis, International Commodity Agreements: Hope, Illusion, or Menace?, 1947.
[G. W. Stocking and M. W. Watkins, Cartels or Competition?, 1948.]
VII. The International Trade Organization [This section dropped in 1950]
Draft Charter of Proposed International Trade Organization, Geneva, 1947.
VIII. International Relations and the Structure of World Trade.
A. O. Hirschmann [sic], National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade, 1945.
J. Viner, “International Relations Between State Controlled National Economies,” American Economic Review, 1944 Supplement.
H. S. Ellis, Bilateralism and the Future of International Trade, Princeton University Essays in International Finance.
J. M. Keynes, “National Self Sufficiency,” Yale Review, 1933. [Keynes dropped in 1950]
D. H. Robertson, “The Future of International Trade,” Economic Journal, 1938.
Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Lloyd Appleton Metzler Papers, Box 9, Folder: “Econ. 371”.