The course at Harvard on Money, Banking and Commercial Crises was usually co-taught by Professor John Williams with junior people. In 1933-34 Assistant Professor Seymour Harris was solely responsible for teaching the course. Interesting to note is that Harris clearly preferred to speak of “cycles” to “crises”, at least judging by the slight change in the course title for that year alone.
The mid-year exam is posted here.
The final exam for the course in May or June of 1934 has been transcribed in a later post.
Here a link to the syllabus for the Williams/Harris 1937-38 syllabus and exam.
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[From the Course Catalogue]
Economics 3. Money, Banking, and Cycles
Th., Th., at 12, and a third hour to be arranged. Asst. Professor Harris.
Source: Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 1933-34 (Second Edition). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 30, No. 39, Sept. 20, 1933, p. 125.
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[Course Enrollment: Economics 3, 1933-34]
3. Asst. Prof. Harris.—Money, Banking, and Cycles.
2 Graduates, 40 Seniors, 73 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 3 Others: Total 127
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments for 1933-34, p. 84
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ECONOMICS 3
Outline, 1933-1934
Important Books
| Burgess: | Reserve Banks and the Money Market. |
| Clare: | The ABC of Foreign Exchanges. |
| Dunbar: | Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking. |
| Fisher: | The Purchasing Power of Money. |
| Hardy: | Credit Policies of the Federal Reserve System. |
| Harris: | Twenty Years of Federal Reserve Policy. |
| Hawtrey: | Currency and Credit (Third edition). |
| Hawtrey: | Trade Depression and the Way Out. |
| Keynes: | Tract on Monetary Reform. |
| Keynes: | Treatise on Money. |
| Lavington: | The English Capital Market. |
| League of Nations: | Final Report on Gold. |
| Pigou and Robertson: | Economic Essays and Addresses. |
| Robertson: | Money (Revised edition—Seventh). [1926 edition] |
| Withers: | Meaning of Money. [3rd ed. 1914] |
A. BANKING
I. The Banks and Industry (September 26—October 14)
| Lecture 1. | The banks and industry. |
| Lecture 2. | The banks and the price level. |
| Lecture 3. | Forced savings. |
| Lecture 4. | Banks and the capital market. |
| Lecture 5. | The banks and speculation. |
| Lecture 6. | The movement of bank deposits and the problem of bank failures. |
Assignment:
Dunbar: Chapters 1-5.
Keynes, Treatise on Money: Vol. I, pp. 23-43; Vol. II, pp. 49-79.
Robertson: Chapter 5 (Money and Saving), pp. 85-108.
II. Central Banking and Banking Policy (October 17—November 18)
| Lecture 7. | Peculiarities of central banking |
| Lecture 8. | Rate policy |
| Lecture 9. | Open market policy |
| Lecture 10. | Moral suasion |
| Lecture 11. | Eligibility |
| Lecture 12. | Policy in boom times |
| Lecture 13. | Policy in war times |
| Lecture 14. | Policy in depressed times |
| Lecture 15. | Coöperation between central banks |
| Lecture 16. | The Federal Reserve Act |
Assignment:
Burgess: Chapters 3-5, 9-14.
Hardy: Pp. 74-179.
Harris: Chapters 8, 9, 42, 44.
III. Banking Abroad (November 21—December 23)
| Lecture 17. | English banking before 1844 |
| Lecture 18. | The Bank Act of 1844 |
| Lecture 19. | English banking, 1844-1914 |
| Lecture 20. | English banking, 1914-1928 |
| Lecture 21. | English banking, 1928-1933 |
| Lecture 22. | German banking before the War |
| Lecture 23. | German banking since the War |
| Lecture 24. | French money market and the Bank of France |
| Lecture 25. | Canadian Banking |
Assignment:
Withers: Meaning of Money.
Keynes, Treatise: Vol. II, pp. 225-262.
Lavington: Pp. 125-182.
HOUR EXAMINATION: Thursday, November 2
Reading Period:
Read ONE of the following:
Sprague: Crises.
Andreades: History of the Bank of England: Pp. 1-72, 161-407.
Hawtrey: The Art of Central Banking: Pp. 116-303.
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B. MONEY
IV. The Pure Theory of Money (February 6—March 3)
| Lecture 1. | What is money? |
| Lecture 2. | How to measure the value of money. |
| Lecture 3. | The Fisherian quantity theory. |
| Lecture 4. | The old Cambridge quantity theory. |
| Lecture 5. | Keynes’ theory of the value of money—the level of efficiency earnings. |
| Lecture 6. | Keynes, continued—Savings and investments and the value of money. |
| Lecture 7. | Keynes, continued—The price level of investment goods. |
Assignment:
Robertson: Chapters 1-3, pp. 1-63.
Fisher: Pp. 8-73.
Keynes, Treatise: Vol. I, Pp. 53-79, 221-233.
Hawtrey, Currency and Credit: Chapters 3-4, pp. 30-60.
V. Monetary Policy (March 13—April 21)
| Lecture 8. | The gold standard before the War |
| Lecture 9. | The gold standard since the War |
| Lecture 10. | The silver standard |
| Lecture 11. | The gold exchange standard in theory |
| Lecture 12. | The gold exchange standard in practice |
| Lecture 13. | Inconvertible paper money—value at home |
| Lecture 14. | Inconvertible paper money—value abroad |
| Lecture 15. | Inconvertible paper money—other problems |
| Lecture 16. | Problems of stabilization |
| Lecture 17. | Monetary and non-monetary factors in the British situation |
| Lecture 18. | The British situation, continued, and some discussion of the French situation |
| Lecture 19. | Monetary problems of the British Dominions |
| Lecture 20. | Monetary and non-monetary factors in the American situation |
Assignment:
Keynes: A Tract on Monetary Reform: Chapters 1, 3, 4.
Pigou and Robertson: Pp. 116-138.
Hawtrey, Trade Depression and the Way Out: Pp. 1-84.
League of Nations, Final Report on Gold: Pp. 1-57.
VI. The Theory of the Cycle (April 24—May 5)
| Lecture 21. | A monetary theory of the cycle–Hawtrey |
| Lecture 22. | Non-monetary theories of the cycle—Schumpeter and Pigou |
| Lecture 23. | Semi-monetary theory—Keynes. |
| Lecture 24. | Robertson’s criticisms of the monetary theories |
Assignment:
Clare: The ABC of the Foreign Exchanges (Discussed under V—Monetary Policy)
HOUR EXAMINATION: Thursday, March 15
Reading Period:
Read ONE of the following:
Hawtrey, Currency and Credit: Part 2.
Ackerman, Economic Progress and Economic Crises
Laughlin, History of Bimetallism.
https://archive.org/details/historybimetall00goog
White, Money and Banking: Pp. 60-193, 232-369.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. HUC 8522.2.1, Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1933-1934”.
Image Source: Seymour Harris from the Harvard Album 1935.