Author: Irwin Collier

Categories
Chicago Columbia Economists Transcript

Milton Friedman’s Coursework in Economics, Statistics and Mathematics

Before Milton Friedman could be a teacher of economics, he was of course the student of many teachers. This list of his relevant coursework and teachers is complete. I merely add here that his transcript also shows three semesters of college French and four semesters of college German and that he entered Rutgers with advanced credits in French.

Rutgers University
University of Chicago
Columbia University
Dept. of Agriculture Graduate School

Rutgers University (1928-32)

Principles of Economics E. E. Agger 1929-30
Money and Banking E. E. Agger 1930-31
Statistical Methods Homer Jones 1930-31
Business Cycles Arthur F. Burns 1931-32
Economic Research Ivan V. Emelianoff 1931-32
Principles of Insurance Homer Jones 1931-32
College Algebra 1928-29, 1st term
Analytical Geometry 1928-29, 2nd term
Calculus 1929-30
Advanced Calculus 1930-31
Theory of Numbers 1929-30, 2nd term
Theory of Equations 1930-31, 1st term
Differential Equations 1930-31, 2nd term
Analysis 1931-32
Elliptic Integrals 1931-32, 2nd term

 

University of Chicago (1932-33, 1934-35)

Econ 301 Prices and Distribution Theory Jacob Viner Autumn Quarter 1932
Econ 302 History of Economic Thought Frank H. Knight Winter Quarter 1933
Econ 303 Modern Tendencies in Economics Jacob Viner Spring Quarter 1933
Econ 311 Correlation and Curve Fitting Henry Schultz Winter Quarter 1933
Econ 312 Statistical Graphics Henry Schultz Spring Quarter 1933
Econ 330 Graduate Study of Money and Banking Lloyd W. Mints Autumn Quarter 1932
Econ 370 International Trade and Finance Jacob Viner Winter Quarter 1933
Econ 220 Economic History of the United States, not taken for credit Chester Wright Winter Quarter 1935
Econ 220 Economic History of Europe, not taken for credit John U. Nef Autumn Quarter 1934
Labor (visited) Paul H. Douglas  1934-35
Theory of Demand (visited) Henry Schultz  1934-35
Math 306 Introduction to Higher Algebra  E. Dickson Autumn Quarter 1932
Math 341 Calculus of Variations  G. Bliss Autumn Quarter 1932
Math 324 Theory of Algebraic Numbers  A. Albert Winter Quarter 1933
Math 310 Functions of a Complex Variable (not taken for credit) L. M. Graves

 Master’s thesis: An empirical study of the relationship between railroad stock prices and railroad earnings for the period 1921-31.

 

Columbia University (1933-34)

Stat 111-12 Statistical Inference Harold Hotelling Winter/Spring semesters
Econ 117-18 Mathematical Economics Harold Hotelling Winter/Spring semesters
Econ 119 Economic History V. G. Simkhovitch Winter semester
Econ 128 Currency and Credit James W. Angell Spring semester
Econ 211-12 Business Cycles Wesley Claire Mitchell Winter/Spring semesters
Econ 315-16 Economic Theory Seminar John M. Clark, James W. Angell, and Wesley C. Mitchell Winter/Spring semesters
Social Economics (visited) J. M. Clark
Labor (visited) Leo Wolman
Theory (visited) R. W. Souter

 

Department of Agriculture Graduate School (1936-37)

Statistics 17-18 Adjustment of Observations

Source: Assembled from transcripts and course lists kept by Milton Friedman. Hoover Institution Archives, Milton Friedman Papers, Box 5, Folders 11, 13 (Student years).

Image Source: Columbia University, Columbia 250 Celebrates Columbians Ahead of Their Time.

Categories
Chicago Courses Syllabus

Chicago Economics. Math Econ (Econ 402). Henry Schultz References. 1932

 

 

Albert G. Hart was a graduate student at the University of Chicago 1931-34. Among the courses he took was that of Henry Schultz in mathematical economics. In his papers are three sets of reading lists for the course along with Hart’s handwritten notes.

Course Description Econ 402
References for Econ. 402
References for Cost Theory
References for Monopolistic Competition

The same core reading list was used in the autumn quarter of 1935. The reading list for that quarter has been transcribed in a later post, with the added attraction of having many links to the individual items on the list!

________________________________

 

  1. Mathematical Economics.—A study of economic theory from the point of view of assumptions, range of problems, methods and tools, and validity and utility of results under present conditions. Consideration is given to the problem of “circular reasoning” in price theory, to the advantages and limitations of the mathematical approach, and to the possibility of developing a “statistical complement” to pure theory. Special attention is paid to the problem of price determination and to the mathematical theory of production. Readings will be assigned on special topics in the works of Cournot, Jevons, Walras, Pareto, Marshall, Moore, and others; and the class meetings will be devoted chiefly to discussion. Opportunity for investigation of particular problems is offered the student. Prerequisite: Economics 301 [Price and Distribution Theory], a reading knowledge of French, and consent of the instructor. Registration may be made for one or more courses each quarter. Summer, Spring, SCHULTZ.

 

Source: University of Chicago. Announcements, Social Sciences for the sessions of 1931-32. Vol. XXI, January 15, 1931, no. 11, p. 26

________________________________

[Spring Quarter 1932]

REFERENCES FOR ECON. 402

Mathematical Economics
By
Henry Schultz
University of Chicago

 

Amoroso, Luigi Lezioni di Economia Matematica
Le Equazioni Differenziali della Dinamica Economica—in Giornale degli Economisti, February, 1929.
La Curva Statica di Offerta—Giornale degli Economisti, January, 1930.
Annals of the American Academy of Political & Social Science July, 1892 (Paper by Walras)
Auspitz, Rudolf
Lieben, Richard		 Recherches sur la théorie du prix
Bentham, Jeremy Principles of Morals and Legislation
Bertolasi, Ellen Quittner Die Stellung der Lausanner Schule in der Grenznutzenlehre—in Arch. f. Sozialw. u. Sozialpol., 64. Band, Heft 1, August, 1930, pp. 16-44.
Black, J. O. Production Economics
Bonar, James Philosophy and Political Economy
Bousquet, G. H. Essai sur l’évolution de la Pensée économique
Précis de sociologie d’àpres Vilfredo Pareto
Vilfredo Pareto: Sa vie et son oeuvre
Boven, Pierre Les applications mathématiques à l’économie politique
Bowley, A. L. Mathematical Groundwork of Economics
Bridgman, P. W. The Logic of Modern Physics
Cassel, Gustav Theory of Social Economy
Fundamental Thoughts on Economics
Cournot, A. A. The Mathematical Theory of Wealth
Théorie des richesses
Cunynghame, H. Geometrical Political Economy
Del Vecchio, Gustavo La Dinamica Economica Di H. L. Moore—in Giornale degli Economisti, Anno XLV, Giugno, 1930, VIII, No. 6, pp. 545-554.
Dicey Law and Opinion in England
Edgeworth, F. Y. Mathematical Psychics
Papers relating to Political Economy
Evans, G. C. Mathematical Introduction to Economics
Fisher, Irving Mathematical Investigations in the Theory of Value and Prices,—in Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts & Sciences (9-10) pp. 1-125.
Giornale degli Economisti Aug. & Oct., 1924
Halévy, Élie La formation du radicalism philosophique
Hobson, E. W. The Domain of Natural Science
Jevons, W. S. Theory of Political Economy
Journal of the American Statistical Association Dec. 1923; March & Dec. 1924; Dec. 1926 (Papers by H. L. Moore)
Journal of Political Economy Oct. & Dec. 1925; April 1927
Marshall, Alfred Principles of Economics
Industry and Trade
Money, Credit and Commerce
Moore, Henry L. Laws of Wages
Economic Cycles
Forecasting the Yield & the Price of Cotton
Generating Economic Cycles
Synthetic Economics
Moret, Jacques L’emploi des mathématiques en économie politique
Nicol, A. J. Partial Monopoly and Price Leadership (Privately published)
Pantaleoni, M. Pure Economics
Pareto, Vilfredo Manuel d’économie politique
Cours d’économie politique
Anwendung der Mathematik auf National Ökonomie, —in Encycl. Mathematisch, Wissenschaft, I G 2, pp. 1094-1170
Économie mathématique, —in Encyclopédie des sciences mathématique, Tome I, vol. 4 (Fascicule 4, pp. 590-640)
The New Theories of Economics, —in Journ. Polit.Econ., Sept. 1897
Traité de sociologie générale
Pearson, Karl Grammar of Science
Pietri-Tonelli, Alfonso Traité d’économie rationelle
Pigou, Alfred [sic, Arthur] Economics of Welfare
Planck, Max A Survey of Physics
Poincaré, Henri Foundations of Science
Political Science Quarterly Vol. XXXIII, June, 1918, No. 2, pp. 164-5 (Paper by Mitchell)
Quarterly Journal of Economics Jan. 1898; Aug. 1925; Nov. 1926; March 1927
Revue d’histoire des doctrines économique et sociales 1910 (Article by Antonelli on Léon Walras)
Revue d’histoire économique et sociale 1924, pp. 225-43
Revue de metaphysique et de morale (13) 1905 (Section on Cournot)
Ricci, Umberto Die statistischen Gesetze des Gleichgewichtes nach Henry Schultz—in Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, January, 1931
Schultz, Henry Statistical Laws of Demand and Supply
Marginal Productivity and the General Pricing Process, —Journ. Polit. Econ., Oct. 1929
Der Sinn der statistischen Nachfragekurven
Vinci, Felice “Sui Fondamenti della Dinamica Economica”, Rivista Italiana di Statistica, Anno II, No. 3, Luglio-Settembre, 1930—VIII, pp. 222-268
Walras, Léon Économie politique appliquée
Économie sociale
Élèments d’économie politique
Wicksteed, Philip The Alphabet of Economic Science
Common Sense of Political Economy
Stephen, Leslie The Utilitarians
Zawadzki, Wl. Les mathématiques appliquées à l’économie politique
Zeuthen, F. L. Problems of Monopoly and Economic Welfare
[handwritten addition] Weinberger, Otto Mathematische Sozialwissenschaft

 

________________________________

Economics 402
Prof. Henry Schultz

REFERENCES ON COST THEORY

Marshall, A.—Principles of Economics, 8th ed., Book V, Chap. V.

Ricci, Umberto—“Curve piane di offerta dei prodotti”, Giornale degli Economisti, Vol. 33, September, 1906, pp. 223ff.

————- “Elasticita dei Bisogni delli Domanda e dell’ offerta,” Giornale degli Economisti, August and October, 1924.

Edgeworth, F. Y.—“The Laws of Increasing and Diminishing Returns”, in Papers Relating to Political Economy, Vol. I, pp. 61-99.

Young, Allyn A.—“Pigou’s Wealth and Welfare”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XXVII, 1913, pp. 672ff.

Fanno, Marco—Contributo alla Teoria dell’offerta a costi conqiunti, Rome, 1914.

Clapham, J. H.—“On Empty Economic Boxes”, Economic Journal, Vol. 32, September, 1922, pp. 304-314.

Pigou, Prof. A. C.—“Empty Economic Boxes: A Reply”, Economic Journal, Vol 32, December 1922, pp. 458 ff.

Clapham, J. H.—“The EconomiC Boxes—a Rejoinder”, Ibid.

Knight, F. H.—“Some Fallacies in the Interpretation of Social Costs”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 38, 1924, pp. 582ff.

Sraffa, P.—“Sulle relazioni fra costo e quantità prodotta,” Annali di Economia, Bd. II, 1925.

————- “The Laws of Return under Competitive Conditions”, Economic Journal, Vol. 36, December, 1926, p. 535.

Papi, G. U.—Sul costo di produzione nei cicli economica, Rome, 1926.

Del Vecchio, G.—“Il costo quale element della theoria economica,” Giornale degli Economisti, Vol. 67, March, 1926, p. 167.

Robertson, D. H.—“Those Empty Boxes,” Economic Journal, Vol. 34, 1927.

Barone—Grunzüge der theoretischen Nationalökonomie, Bonn, 1927. (Translated by H. Staehle)

Cabiati—“Per riempire alcune ‘empty boxes’ finanziarie,” Giornale degli Economisti, 1928.

Pigou, A. C.—“An Analysis of Supply”, Economic Journal, Vol. 38, June, 1928, p. 238.

Shove, G. F.—“Varying Costs and Marginal Net Products,” Economic Journal, Vol. 38, June, 1928, p. 258.

Robbins, Lionel,–“The Representative Firm”, Economic Journal, Vol. 38, September, 1928, p. 387.

Young, Allyn A.—“Increasing Returns and Economic Progress”, Economic Journal, December, 1928.

Schultz, Henry—Statistical Laws of Demand and Supply, 1928, Chap. IV.

————- “Marginal Productivity and the General Pricing Process”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 27, October, 1929, p. 505.

Amoroso, Luigi—“La Curva Statica di offerta”, Giornale degli Economisti, January, 1930.

Robertson, D. H., Shove, G.F., and Sraffa, P.—“Increasing Returns and the Representative Firm: a Symposium”, Economic Journal, Vol. 40, March, 1930, pp. 79ff.

Morgenstern, Oskar—“Offene Problem der Kosten- und Ertragstheorie”, Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, Band II, Heft 4, March, 1931, pp. 481ff.

Harrod, R. F.—“Notes on Supply, Economic Journal, Vol. 40, June, 1930, pp. 232 ff.

 

________________________________

Economics 402

Prof. Henry Schultz

REFERENCES ON MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION

Cournot, A. A.—Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth, (1838) Bacon’s Translation, Chaps. V-VIII.

Edgeworth, F. Y.—Mathematical Psychics, London, 1881, pp. 20 ff.

————- “Teoria pura del monoplio”, Giornale degli Economisti, November, 1897, pp. 13-31.

————- “The Pure Theory of Monopoly” and

————- “Professor Seligman on the Theory of Monopoly”, in Papers Relating to Political Economy, Vol. I, pp. 111-171.

Bertrand, Joseph—“Review of Walras and Cournot”, Journal des Savants, Paris, September, 1883, pp. 499-508.

Marshall, Alfred—Principles of Economics, 8th edition, Chap. XIV.

Pareto, Vilfredo—Cours d’économie politique, 1909, pp. 595-602.

————- Manuel d’économie politique, 1909, pp. 595-602.

————- “Économie mathématique”, Encyclopédie de Sciences mathématiques, Tome I, Vol 4, Fascicule 4 (1911), paragraph 14, pp. 604-608.

Fisher, Irving—“Cournot and Mathematical Economics”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, January, 1898, p. 126.

Moore, Henry L.—“Paradoxes of Competition”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XX, 1906, pp. 211 ff.

Zawadski, Wl.—Les mathématiques appliquées à l’économie politique, Paris, 1914, pp. 68-75.

Amoroso, Luigi—Lezioni di Economia mathematica, 1921, pp. 254-272.

————- “La Curva Statica di offerta”, Giornale degli Economisti, January, 1930, especially pp. 11-20.

Edgeworth, F. Y.—Review of Amoroso’s Lezioni, Economie Journal, September, 1922, p. 400.

Clark, J. M.—Economics of Overhead Costs, 1923.

Bowley, Arthur L.—The Mathematical Groundwork of Economics, 1924, p. 38.

Young, Allyn A.—Review of Bowley, Journ. Amer. Stat. Assn., Vol. XX, March, 1925, p. 134.

Myrdal, Gunnar—“Prisbildnings Problemet och Föränderligheten”, Uppsala, 1927.

Wicksell, Knut—“Mathematische Nationalökonomie”, Arch. f. Sozialwiss. u. Sozialpol., 1927, pp. 252 ff.

Schumpeter, Joseph—“Zur Einführung der folgenden Arbeit Knut Wicksells”, Arch. f. Sozialwiss. u. Sozialpol., 1927.

Bowley, A. L.—“Bilateral Monopoly,” Economic Journal, Vol. 38, Dec., 1928, pp. 651 ff.

Schumpeter—“The Instability of Capitalism”, Economic Journal, 1928, pp. 369-70.

Hotelling, Harold—“Stability in Competition”, Economic Journal, Vol. 39, March, 1929, pp. 41-57.

Chamberlin, E. H.—“Duopoly: Value Where Sellers Are Few”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XLIV, No. 1, Nov., 1929.

Pigou, Alfred [sic, Arthur]—Economics of Welfare, 3d edition, 1929, Chaps. XIV-XVII.

Evans, G. C.—Mathematical Introduction to Economics, 1930, Chaps. I and III [handwritten note “add solutions (Duopoly)”]

Nichol, Archibald Jamieson—“Partial Monopoly and Price Leadership,” 1930. (Published by the author.)

Schneider, Erich—“Zur Theorie des mehrfachen Monopols, insbesondere der des Duopols”, Archiv. f. Sozialwiss. u. Sozialpol., Vol. 63, Heft 3, 1930, pp. 539-555.

————- “Drei Probleme der Monopoltheorie”, Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, Band II, Heft 3, January, 1931, pp. 376-386.

Zeuthen, F.—Problems of Monopoly and Economic Warfare, London, 1930.

 

 

Source: Albert G. Hart Papers. Box 60, Folder “H. Schultz. Math Ec”. Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Columbia University.

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions

Chicago Economics. Ph.D. Exam. Spring 1939

University of Chicago written examination questions. Part I: Economic Theory. Part II: Monetary and Cycle Theory.

 

ECONOMIC THEORY
Written Examination for the Ph.D. Degree

____________________

Spring Quarter, 1939

____________________

PART I

Time: 4 hours

Answer three questions in Group I and three questions in Group II—six questions in all.

____________________

Group I

  1. A competitive industry uses large enough fractions of the available stocks of several important types of productive services appreciably to influence the prices of these services by its own demand for them. Discuss: (a) the probable shape of the long-run supply curve of that industry’s product, and (b) the relationships between (1) that product’s long-run equilibrium price and (2) the long-run average and marginal costs for a particular concern in that industry and also for the industry as a whole.
  2. An industry produces a bulky standardized commodity, e.g., cement, and uses the base-point pricing system. Mill No. 1 is located at a base point which is one hundred miles away from the nearest mill, No. 2, and two hundred miles away from the next mill, No. 3, the three mills being situated in a straight line as follows: 1__________2____________________3. From No. 1 to No. 2 and from No. 2 to No. 3 are separate freight zones, with 25 cents a barrel rates within each zone for any distance, and 50 cents a barrel for shipments from any point in one zone to any point in the next zone regardless of distance. Mill No. 2, however, gets the 25 cents rate for shipment into either zone. You are asked by Mill No. 1 for advice as to (a) how to determine its optimum base point price, and (b) how far it should invade the market territories of Mills Nos. 2 and 3 through freight absorption, maximum net revenue being its sole objective.
    (a) How would you proceed? (What additional information would you need? How would you use it?)
    (b) Do you know of any industries whose price structure is fairly illustrated by this example?
    (c) What objections might be raised against this type of price structure from a social point of view?
  3. Suppose that frequency distributions of hourly money wage rates (a) in different crafts, (b) in different regions, in the United States were constructed for 1910 and for 1930 and that in each case the frequency distribution for 1930 showed a much greater concentration about the mean than the distribution for 1910.
    (a) Frame plausible hypotheses to explain such a trend.
    (b) Indicate in general lines how their validity might be tested.
  4. In a closed economy, with a paper standard currency fixed in quantity, a 10 per cent sales tax levied upon all final sales to consumers of tangible commodities is the only tax. There is substituted for this tax a uniform 15 per cent personal income tax, which produces and identical amount of revenue. Discuss the changes in the price structure which would probably result from the change in the method of taxation.

 

Group II

  1. Discuss the pros and cons of (a) general, and (b) selective, wage-reductions as a means of procuring fuller employment at the present stage of the depression.
  2. Distinguish between “loan-fund,” “cash-balance” (Keynesian), and marginal productivity theories of the determination of the interest rate structure, and discuss the possibility (or the need) of harmonizing them.
  3. Discuss the differences and the resemblances between the objectives and the attitudes toward free economic enterprise of the seventeenth, eighteenth century mercantilists and the present-day advocates of comprehensive economic planning.
  4. Compare the doctrines of the German historical school and the American institutionalists.

Source: Columbia University Archives, Albert Gailord Hart Collection, Box 61, Folder “Sec 2. General Exams Chicago (Micro)”

 

____________________

PART II
MONETARY AND CYCLE THEORY

Written Examination for the Ph.D. Degree

____________________

Spring Quarter, 1939

____________________

Time: 2½ hours.

Answer all four questions.

  1. Explain the doctrine of “forced saving,” and discuss its applicability to the period since 1933.
  2. Discuss and appraise the various parts of the following quotation:
    “If the quantity theory of money is true, the demand for money is taken as perfectly elastic; because human wants are indefinitely extensible, the public’s demand for money is insatiable, and prices vary directly as the quantity of money offerable. When the Austrians began to apply the marginal analysis, this commodity money having unit elasticity—a perfectly flat horizontal demand curve—naturally attracted attention.”
  3. There is a current belief among many economists that investment opportunities for the future will be so restricted as to necessitate continuous spending by governments. Indicate the factors that would have to be considered in deciding upon the merits of this contention and give your conclusion.
  4. Formulate a set of rules in accordance with which you think the gold standard would operate with a considerable degree of acceptability today; or, if you do not believe this to be possible, indicate why. You may assume that a satisfactory redistribution of gold among the nations has been achieved.

Source: Columbia University Archives, Albert Gailord Hart papers, Box 61, Folder “Exams. Chicago.”

Image: University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-07443, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Irwin Collier

Somebody noticed

Peter Boettke of the Coordination Problem blog has the first posting  (June 25) in an economics blog to call attention to my Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. And for that first non-selfie signpost in the cloud, my thanks!

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions

Chicago Economics. Ph.D. Exam Questions by Viner in Theory. 1928

Transcription of handwritten draft of examination questions prepared by Jacob Viner.

Ph.D. Examination in Economic Theory

Spring, 1928             Viner[added and circled]

 

Answer questions 1 to 4, inclusive, and four others.

  1. Discuss the scope and method of the English classical school in the light of modern criticism therof.
  2. Explain, and discuss the validity, purpose, and usefulness of any three of the following Marshallian concepts:
    (a) quasi-rent;
    (b) consumers’ surplus;
    (c) unit elasticity;
    (d) maximum satisfaction;
    (e) representative concern.
  3. Describe the cost and supply aspects of the long-run equilibrium conditions under competition for two joint-products, when the proportions in which the two products are produced are: (a) non-variable, (b) variable.
  4. Discuss the contributions to economics of any five of the following:(a) Aristotle; (b) Cantillon ; (c) David Hume; (d) Cournot; (e) Senior; (f) J. B. Say; (g) Von Thunen; (h) Leon Walras.
  5. What is the significance of margins in price theory.
  6. “The price-processes of the market-place are a product of the institutional framework, and cannot be explained independently of the long evolution of the institutional framework of modern economic society which has molded them” Discuss.
  7. In what respects did the Canonists carry economic inquiry beyond its previous status?
  8. Discuss the problem of the relationship of the rate of physical productivity of capital goods to the rate of interest; or
    Discuss the supply curve of saving.
  9. Compare the wage theories of Adam Smith, Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill.
  10. Outline a research project for either:
    (a) The statistical verification of an important proposition in price theory, or
    (b) A statistical study in some phase of distribution theory.

Source:  University of Chicago. Department of Economics. Records, [Box 35, Folder 14], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Image: University of Chicago Photographic Archive, [apf1-08489], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Economists Michigan Research Tip

Michigan Economics

The University of Michigan’s Faculty History Project provides brief biographies of its economics faculty and/or good portraits.

Hint: To get all the economists, when you search faculty, only enter “economics” into the space provided for “Position”.

A few examples:

Henry Carter Adams (1880-1921)

Frederick Manville Taylor (1893-1930)

Kenneth Eward Boulding (1949-1968)

Richard A. Musgrave (1947-1959)

Wolfgang F. Stolper (1949-1982)

 

 

 

Categories
Chicago Courses Economists

Chicago Economics. Econ 332. Business Cycle Theory (Lange). Minsky Notes. 1942

Notes taken by Hyman Minsky in Spring, 1942, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. The notes are from the class, “Economics 332: Business Cycle Theory” taught by Oscar R. Lange.

I was going to send a graduate student of mine to check the notes in the Minsky Archive at Bard College. Imagine my delight when I was told that the kind folks there would scan the material and post it for all in their Bard Digital Commons. Note there are five files total.

________________

[Course Description]

E. MONEY, BANKING, AND BUSINESS CYCLES
[…]

332. Business Cycle Theory.–Historical and systematic analysis of business cycle theory. The main types of explanation. Equilibrium theory and analysis of economic processes. The role of time in the analysis of economic processes. The significance of anticipations. Theoretical and observed fluctuations. The factors which determine the general level of output and employment. The fluctuations of investment and of employment. The role of technical progress. Business-cycle policy. Prerequisite: Economics 211, 301, and 330, or equivalents. Spring, 2:30, LANGE.

Source: From The University of Chicago, Announcements,Vol. XLI, No. 10, April 25, 1941.   The College and the Divisions for the Sessions of 1941-1942. (p. 310).

Categories
Courses Harvard Syllabus

Harvard Economics. Econ 7b. Single Tax, Socialism, Anarchism. Readings. Carver. 1919-20

According to the Harvard Annual President’s Report (p. 90), this course was taught by Thomas Nixon Carver in the second semester of the academic year 1919-20. Attending the course were 10 graduate students; 13 seniors, 29 juniors, 11 Sophomores, 1 Freshman; 14 students from other departments/divisions.

Course final examination questions are available here.

____________________________________

 

In the Official Register of Harvard University (Vol. XVI, October 30, 1919, No. 45) Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1919-20 (Second Edition, p. 64): The official course title was “The Single Tax, Socialism, Anarchism” and met Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 10 a.m.

Economics 7b: “A critical study of the theories which underlie some of the more radical programmes of social reform. An examination also of the social utility of private property in its various forms; also some attention to the concept of justice in economic relations; the concept of progress; the significance of conservatism and radicalism.”

 

____________________________________

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. HUC 8522.2.1. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 1. Folder: 1919-1920.

 

ECONOMICS 7b
SOCIALISM

Starred references are required

GENERAL WORKS, HISTORICAL

  1. *R. T. Ely. French and German Socialism.
  2. Bertrand Russell. German Social Democracy.
  3. John Rae. Contemporary Socialism.
  4. Thomas Kirkup. A History of Socialism.
  5. William Graham. Socialism, New and Old.
  6. Jessica B. Peixotto. The French Revolution and Modern French Socialism.
  7. B. Guthrie. Socialism Before the French Revolution.
  8. Hillquit. History of Socialism in the United States.
  9. Jessie W. Hughan. American Socialism of the Present Day.

 

GENERAL WORKS, EXPOSITORY AND CRITICAL

  1. *O. D. Skelton. Socialism, A Critical Analysis.
  2. E. Le Rossignol. Orthodox Socialism.
  3. Albert Schaeffle. The Quintessence of Socialism.
  4. Albert Schaeffle. The Impossibility of Social Democracy.
  5. T. Ely. Socialism: an Examination of its Nature, Strength and Weakness.
  6. James Mackaye. The Economy of Happiness.
  7. Henry M. Hyndman. The Economics of Socialism.
  8. Gustave Simonson. A Plain Examination of Socialism.
  9. Werner Sombart. Socialism and the Social Movement in the Nineteenth Century.
  10. Émile Vandervelde. Collectivism.
  11. Flint. Socialism.
  12. D. P. Bliss. A Handbook of Socialism.
  13. Jessie W. Hughan. The Facts of Socialism.
  14. de Laveleye. The Socialism of Today.
  15. Böhm-Bawerk. Karl Marx—The End of his System.
  16. E. Walling. The Larger Aspects of Socialism.
  17. P. Orth. Socialism and Democracy in Europe.
  18. John Spargo. Socialism.

 

TYPES OF SOCIALISTIC PROPAGANDA

I. IDEALISTIC. The appeal is made to all classes on the ground of piety, a sense of justice, or of sympathy for the laboring classes.

A. Religious. The religious motive is invoked in behalf of human brotherhood.

  1. Les Paroles d’un Croyant.
  2. Washington Gladden. Tools and the Man.
  3. Josiah Strong. Our Country.
  4. Josiah Strong. The New Era.

B. Fulminations. A thundering discontent with things as they are, with no very definite program for improvement.

  1. William Morris, Poet, Artist, Socialist. Edited by Francis Watts Lee. A collection of the socialistic writings of Morris.
  2. John Ruskin, the Communism of John Ruskin. Edited by W. D. P. Bliss. Selected chapters from Unto this Last, The Crown of Wild Olive, and Fors Clavigera.
  3. Thomas Carlyle, The Socialism and Unsocialism of Thomas Carlyle. Edited by W. D. P. Bliss. Selected chapters from Carlyle’s Various Works.

Socialism and everything resembling it were even more abhorrent to Carlyle than the present system.

   C. Utopian. Pictures of ideal Commonwealths.

  1. Plato’s Republic.
  2. Sir Thomas More. Utopia.
  3. Francis Bacon. New Atlantis.
  4. Tommaso Campanella. The City of the Sun. (Numbers 2, 3, and 4 may be found in convenient form in Morley’s Ideal Commonwealth.)
  5. Etienne Cabot. Voyage en Icarie.
  6. William Morris. News from Nowhere.
  7. Edward Bellamy. Looking Backward.
  8. Laurence Gronlund. The Cooperative Commonwealth.
  9. H. G. Wells. A Modern Utopia.

 

D. Experimental.

There were men and women who had so much confidence in socialism as to believe that it was only necessary to start it to insure its success. They believed that if the world could be given an example of socialism in operation, it would be led to adopt it.

  1. Charles Nordhoff. The Communistic Societies of the United States.
  2. Karl Kautsky. Communism in Central Europe in the Time of the Reformation.
  3. *W. A. Hinds. American Communities.
  4. H. Noyes. History of American Socialisms.
  5. T. Codman. Brook Farm Memoirs.
  6. Albert Shaw. Icaria.
  7. B. Landis. The Separatists of Zoar.
  8. O. Randall. History of the Zoar Society.

E. Opportunist.

  1. *Bernard Shaw and others. The Fabian Essays in Socialism.
  2. The Fabian Tracts.
  3. Edward Bernstein. Ferdinand Lassalle.
  4. Sidney and Beatrice Web. Problems of Modern Industry.
  5. C. K. Gonner. The Socialist Philosophy of Rodbertus.
  6. C. K. Gonner. The Socialist State.
  7. Vladimir G. Simkhovitch. Marxism versus Socialism.
  8. Ramsay Macdonald. Socialism.
  9. Sidney A. Reeve. The Cost of Competition.
  10. Edward Bernstein. Evolutionary Socialism.
  11. H. G. Wells. New Worlds for Old.

 

II.  MARXIAN. Believing that every man will work for his own material interests, and that in any capitalistic society, the laboring classes must sooner or later outnumber all others, the appeal is made, not to idealistic sentiments, but to the conscious self interest of the laboring classes. In their own interest they are to overthrow the present economic system and so up a socialistic system.

A. Theoretical

  1. Karl Marx. Capital.
  2. Frederic Engels. Socialism, Utopian and Scientific.
  3. Labriola. Essays on the Materialistic Conception of History.

 B.  Propagandist

(a) Political. Reliance is placed upon the voting power of the masses.

  1. Karl Marx and Frederic Engels. The Manifest of the Communist Party.
  2. Karl Kautsky. The Social Revolution.

(b) Militant. Reliance is placed upon the physical power of the masses. Ignore the state! The ballot is too slow!

(1) Bolshevist.

  1. Austin Lewis. The Militant Proletariat.
  2. Beatty, B. Red heart of Russia. Century, 1918.
  3. Bryant, L. Six red monthsin Russia. Doran, 1918.
  4. Petrunkevich, A. I. et al. Russian Revolution. Harvard University Press, 1918,
  5. Radzwill, C. Rasputin and the Russian revolution. Lane, 1918.
  6. Russell, C. E. Unchained Russia. Appleton, 1918.
  7. Sack, A. J. Birth of the Russian Democracy. Russian Information Bureau, 233 Broadway, N. Y.
  8. Trotzky, Leon (Bronshtein, L. D.). The Bolsheviki and World Peace, N. Y., 1918.
  9. Trotzky, Leon (Bronshtein, L. D.). Our Revolution; Essays on Working Class and International Revolution, N.Y., 1918.

(2) Syndicalist.

  1. Challange, Felicien. Syndicalisme revolutionaire et Syndicalisme reformiste. Paris. F. Alcan. 1909. 156 pp.
  2. Delivet, Emile. Les employées et leurs corporations. Paris. River. 1909.
  3. Dufor, ——-—-. Le syndicalisme et la prochaine revolution. Paris. M. Rivier. 1913.
  4. Estey, J. Revolutionary syndicalism; an exposition and a criticism. London. P. S. King. 1913.
  5. Garriguet, L. L’Évolution actuelle de socialisme en France. Paris. 1912.
  6. Harley, John H. Syndicalism. London & N. Y. Dodge Pub. 1912. 94pp.
  7. Kirkaldy, Adam W. Economics and syndicalism. University Press. Cambridge. 1914. 140 pp.
  8. MacDonald, James R. Syndicalism, a critical examination. 1913. Chicago. Open Court Pub. 74 pp.
  9. Pataud, Emile. Syndicalism and the cooperating commonwealth. Preface by Kropotkin. Oxford. 1913. 240 pp.
  10. Snowden, Philip. Socialism and Syndicalism. London. 1913. 262 pp.
  11. Spargo, John. Syndicalism, industrial unionism and socialism. N. Y. Huebsch. 1913. 243 pp.
  12. Ware, Fabian. The worker and his country. London. 1912. 288 pp.

(3) The I. W. W.

  1. Brissenden, Paul F. The launching of the Industrial Workers of the World. University of California Press. 1913. 82 pp. contains bibliography.
  2. *Brooks, John G. American synclicalismn. N. Y. Macmillan. 1913. 264 pp.
  3. De Leon, Daniel. Preamble of the I. W. W. address at Union Temple, Minneapolis. July 10, 1905. N. Y. Labor News Co. 48 pp.
  4. Trautman, William E. Direct. action and sabotage. Pittsburg Socialist News Co. 1912. 43 pp.

 

ANARCHISM

I. PHILOSOPHICAL. A more or less reasoned belief that the abolition of government, especially of government by force, would remove most of the ills of society. Clear in its perception that all government rests upon force; unclear in its reasoning to the conclusion that the use of force is wrong; divided in opinion as to the results of abolishing government.

A. Anarchist Communism. Seeing that property rights are the creation of government, it is concluded that the abolition of government would automatically abolish property and restore communism, and that the masses would pounce upon and destroy anyone who thereafter dared to call anything his own.

  1. J. Proudhon. What is Property?
  2. William Godwin. Political Justice.
  3. Peter Kropotkin. Memoirs of a. Revolutionist.
  4. Peter Kropotkin. The Scientific Basis of Anarchy. Nineteenth Century, 21: 218.
  5. Elisée Reclus. Evolution et revolution.
  6. William M. Salter. Anarchy or goveminent? An inquiry in fundamental government.
  7. H. Van Ornum. Why Government at all?
  8. Ernst V. Zenker. Anarchism; a criticism and history of the anarchist theory.
  9. Paul Boilley – Les Trois Socialismes; Anarchisme, Collectivism. Reformisme.
  10. Peter Kropotkin. La Science moderne et L’Anarchie.
  11. Peter Kropotkin. The Anarchy. Nineteenth Century, 22: 149.
  12. *Leo Tolstoi. The Slavery of Our Times.
  13. Elissee Reclus. Anarchy. Contemporary Review. 14: 627.
  14. Josiah Warren. Equitable Commerce.
  15. Josiah Warren. True Civilization as Immediate Necessity.

 

B. Exaggerated Individualism. There should he no restraint either moral or legal, upon the strong whose “ right ’ to govern and exploit the weak is the only natural or divine right there is. Nature abhors weakness and it is the mission of the strong to exterminate the weak, to the end that weakness may cease to exist and that strength alone may survive. Moral and legal codes are the inventions of the weak to protect themselves from the strong in order that weakness may fill the world with its own spawn.

  1. *Max Stirner (pseudonym for Kaskar Schmidt). Der Einzige und sein Eigenthum.
  2. Friederich Nietzsche. Also sprach Zarathustra.
  3. Friederich Nietzsche. Jenseits von Gut and Böse.
  4. James G. Huneker. Egoists: A Book of Supermen.

 

II. EMOTIONAL. A mere explosive protest against all forms of authority, particularly against the police power and other visible manifestations of authority.

  1. Mikhail Bakunin. Dieu et l’Etat.
  2. Emma Goldman. Anarchism and other Essays.
  3. Paul Eltzbacher. Anarchism.
  4. Hunter and R. Wiles. Violence and the Labor Movement.
  5. Krouse. The Anarchist Constitution.
  6. John H. Mackay. The Anarchists; a picture of civilization at the close of the 19th century.
  7. R. Parsons. Anarchism; its philosophy and scientific basis as defined by some of its apostles.
  8. R. Tucker. Anarchism; the attitude of anarchism toward industrial combinations.
  9. United States Department of Justice. Transmission through the Mails of Anarchistic publications. Message from the President. Washington. 1908.

 

THE SINGLE TAX

All public revenues shall be raised from a single tax on land values.

  1. *Henry George. Progress and Poverty.
  2. Henry George. Our Land and Land Policy.
  3. Alfred Russell Wallace. Land Nationalization.
  4. Thomas G. Shearman. Natural Taxation.
  5. Louis F. Post. The Single Tax.
  6. B. Fillebrown. A Single Tax Catechism.
Categories
Chicago Courses Economists Socialism Syllabus

Chicago Economics. Economics 354. Types of Econ Organization. Douglas. 1938

This is the Chicago version of the course taught at Harvard by Cummings, Carver and then Mason.

The Spring Quarter  of 1938 began March 28. The lecture notes taken by Norman M. Kaplan are for this course that met Tuesdays and Thursdays with his notes dated Mar 29, Mar 31, Apr 5, Apr 12, Apr 19, Apr 21, Apr 26, Apr 28, May 3, May 5, May 10, May 12. Hence we can be certain that the following (undated) syllabus with bibliography was for the Spring, 1938 course taught by Paul H. Douglas.

To those with an eye on contemporary U.S. politics: examining this reading list, one wonders if a professor like this today could imagine getting elected into the U.S. Senate! Perhaps Elizabeth Warren fits the bill but the bench looks pretty shallow…

________________________

H. SOCIAL DIRECTION AND CONTROL OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
[…]

  1. Types of Economic Organization.—An examination of the various forms of economic organization that have been proposed, including the utopias, individualism, Marxian socialism, collectivism, the single tax, syndicalism, guild socialism, communism, capitalism, and fascism. Prerequisite: Economics 209 [Intermediate Economic Theory: “A course designed for undergraduates majoring in Economics who have completed the other Departmental requirements for the degree and for graduate students with limited training in systematic theory. It deals with the factors controlling production, value and relative prices, and distribution.” Taught by Paul Douglas (Winter)], or its equivalent, Spring, Tu., Th., 3:30-5:30, Douglas.

Source: Announcements. The University of Chicago. The College and the Divisions for the Sessions of 1937-1938. p. 307.

________________________

Topics and Assigned Reading for Economics 354
Types of Economic Organization

[Spring Quarter, 1938]

The three main divisions of the course, with the basic assigned reading to be covered under each, are as follows:

I.  The Development of Utopian Thought – (2 weeks.)

  1. Plato and the “Republic.”
  2. Thomas More’s “Utopia.”
  3. The economic doctrines and activities of Robert Owen.
  4. French Utopian Socialism: Fourier, Cabet, and Saint-Simon (omitted 1937).

Assigned reading: (1) Plato, The Republic: Sections 368-374 of Book II, Sections 412-417 of Book III, Books IV and V entire; (2) More’s Utopia, Book II; (3), Owen’s Autobiography, or one of the better lives of Owen, such as those by Podmore [vol. 1, vol. 2], Cole and McCabe. [Handwritten addition: “Aristotle, Politics, Bk. II (1st 6 paragraphs)”]

Supplementary reading: 1) Aristotle, Politics, Sections 1-7; (2) Ernest Barker, Greek Political Thought—Plato; (3) Chambers, Thomas More; (4) Campenalla, The City of the Sun; (5) Bacon, New Atlantis; (6) Robert Owen, A New View of Society, etc.; (7) Charles Gide, Morceaux Choisis de Charles Fourier; (8) Cabet, Voyage en Icarie; (9) Bellamy, Looking Backward; (10) William Morris, News from Nowhere.

 

II. The Economic and Social Doctrines of Karl Marx (4 weeks)

  1. The differences between Marxism and Utopianism.
  2. The economic or materialistic interpretation of history.
  3. The labor theory of value; the theory of surplus value; and the alleged “great contradiction.”
  4. The theory of the final cataclysm.
  5. An appraisal of Marx’ thought.

Assigned reading: (1) Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto; (2) Engels, Socialism—Utopian and Scientific; (3) Marx, Value, Price and Profit, sections VI-XIV; Marx, Capital, Vol. I, chapters I—sections 1 and 2, and A of section 3; VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XVI, XVII, XIX; Vol. III, last pages of chapter VIII and chapter IX; Book I, chapters XXV and (XXXII).

Supplementary reading: (1) Marx Capital, Vol. I, chapter XV; (2) Rühle, Karl Marx, or Mehring, Life of Marx; 3) Marx, Contribution to a Critique of Political Economy; (4) Hook, Towards and Understanding of Karl Marx; (5) Joseph, Karl Marx’ Theory of Value [sic, The Labour Theory of Value in Karl Marx, 1923]; (6) Böhm-Bawerk, Karl Marx and the Close of His System; (7) Bernstein, Evolutionary Socialism. (8) De Man, Psychology of Socialism.

 

III. The development of Proposals and Movements for Organizing Economic and Social Life. (In the main, post-Marxian). (4 weeks)

  1. The theory and practice of capitalism.
  2. Collectivism.
  3. Anarchism, syndicalism and guild socialism.
  4. Cooperation.
  5. The Single Tax.
  6. Modern Communism.
  7. Fascism.

Because of reasons of time, topics 3,4 and 5 will be scantily treated and may indeed be omitted.

Assigned reading. The material on these topics is, of course, enormous. The best treatment of collectivism is given in Fabian Essays (1888) by Webb, Shaw, Wallas, etc., and in Bernard Shaw’s The Common Sense of Municipal Trading. On anarchism: Proudhon and Kropotkin are the most suggestive writers. On cooperation, Beatrice Potter’s (Mrs. Webb) The Consumers Cooperative Movement in Great Britain; Beatrice and Sydney Webb, The Consumers Cooperative Movement; Gide, Consumers Cooperative Societies; Childs, Sweden—The Middle Way; Howe, Denmark—The Cooperative Way; are excellent.

All students of communism should read Lenin, The State and Revolution; and the two-volume work by Beatrice and Sydney Webb, Soviet Communism. See also the new constitution of Russia, reprinted by the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace.

On fascism, see Finer, Mussolini’s Italy; Mussolini, “Fascism,” in the Italian Encyclopedia; and Hitler’s Mein Kampf, to be read if possible in the original German instead of the expurgated English and American editions.

The principles of liberalism are well stated in the writings of Jefferson; John Stuart Mill, Liberty; Representative Government, etc.; Wilson, The New Freedom; Brandeis, The Curse of Bigness; Franklin Roosevelt; etc.

Supplementary reading: (1) For an able criticism of socialism and a defense of individualism, see Ludwig von Mises, Socialism; (2) Beer, History of British Socialism; (3) Norman Thomas, America’s Way Out; (4) Sidney and Beatrice Webb, A Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain; (5) Levine, Syndicalism in France; (6) Cole, Guild Socialism; (7) Henry George, Progress and Poverty, especially Books V, VI, VII, VIII and IX; (8) Trotsky, The Russian Revolution; (9) Chamberlin, The Russian Revolution; (10) Seldes, Sawdust Caesar; (11) Salvemini, Under the Axe of Fascism; (12) Heiden, Life of Hitler; (13) Heiden, History of National Socialism; (14) Florinsky, Fascism and National Socialism; (15) Schuman, Nazi Germany; (16) Strachey, The Coming Struggle for Power; (17) Davis (editor) Modern Social Movements.

A somewhat fuller bibliography is appended.

________________________

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR POLITICAL ECONOMY 354
TYPES OF ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION

(Best References Starred)

1. Utopian

More, Thomas. Utopia
*Plato, The Republic (Benjamin Jowett, Trans.)
Barker-Ernest. Greek Political Theory
Aristotle. The Politics
Latimore-More. English Reprints
Engels, Frederick. Socialism, Utopian and Scientific
*Bacon, Francis. New Atlantus
*Campenella, Tomasso. The City in the Sun
*Morley, Ideal Commonwealths
Andrae, Christian Opolis
Owen, R. D. Threading My Way
Lockwood. The New Harmony Movement
Herzler, J. O. History of Utopian Thought
Mumford, Lewis. The Story of Utopias
Cabet, Reise Nach Ikarien, V. G.
Wells, H. G. A Modern Utopia
Godwin, Wm. Enquiry Concerning Political Justice
Fourier, Chas. Theorie de l’Unite universelle; Le Nouveau Monde industrial
Saint-Simon, G. Oeuvres de Saint Simon et d’Enfantin
*Morris, William. News from Nowhere
Morris, William. A Dream of John Ball
*Howells, W. D. A Traveller from Altruria
*Ely, R. T. French and German Socialism
*Bellamy, E. Looking Backward
Podmore, Frank. Biography of Robert Owen
*Autobiography of Robert Owen
*Owen, Robert. The Book of the New Moral World
Guthrie, W. B. Socialism before the French Revolution
Peixottot, J. B. The French Revolution and Modern French Socialism
*Hillquit, Morris. History of Socialism in the United States
*Noyes, John Humphrey. A History of American Socialisms
*Nordhoff, Charles. The Communistic Societies of the United States
Hinds, William. American Communities
Shaw, Albert. Icaria –A Chapter in the History of Communism
Kent, Rev. Alexander. Cooperative Communities in the United Status, in Bulletin of Department of Labor, No. 35, July, 1901
Clark, Bertha. The Huterian Brethern. Journal of Political Economy, April and June 1921
Gide, Charles Fourier
Owen. New View of Society
McCabe. Robert Owen
Cole. Robert Owen
Chambers. Thomas More

2. The Economic Interpretation of History

*Marx and Engels. Communist Manifesto
*Marx, Karl. Revolution and Counter-Revolution
*Loria, Achille. Essays on the Materialistic Interpretation of History
*Marx, Karl. The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
Kautsky, K. The Class Struggle
Beard, C. A. Economic Interpretation of the Constitution
Beard, C. A. Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy
Engels, Frederick. Socialism, Utopian and Scientific
Engels , Frederick. Condition of the Working Classes in England in 1844
Engels, Frederick. The Roots of the Socialist in Philosophy Feuerbach
Engels, Frederick. Landmarks of Scientific Socialism, Anti-Duhring
Simone, A. M. Class Struggles in America.
Simone, A. M. Social Forces in American History
*Seligman, E. R. A. The Economic Interpretation of History
Seligman, E. R. A. Essay on Problems of Readjustment after the War
Howe, F. C. Why War?
Brailsford, H. N. War of Steel and Gold
Hobson, J. A. Imperialism
Loria, A. Economic Causes of War
Croce, B. The Historical Materialism of Karl Marx
Ogburn, W. F. The Psychological Basis for the Economic Interpretation of History. Supp. Am. Econ. Rev. March 1919
Hansen, A. H. The Technological Interpretation of History. Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1921
Marx, Karl. The Gotha Program
Marx, Karl. The Poverty of Philosophy
Earl, E. M. The War and The Bagdad Railway
D’Espagnel, P. The World’s Struggle for Oil
Woolf, L. S. Empire and Commerce in Africa
Woolf, L. S. Economic Imperialism
Morel, E.D. Red Rubber
Young, G. Nationalism and War in the Near East
Young, G. The Machinery of Diplomacy
Rai, Laypat, England’s Debt to India
Tawney, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
S. Hook, Towards an Understanding of Karl Marx
Brailsford, Property or Peace

 

3. Marxian Economics

A.      Marx, Karl. Capital. 3 Vols.

*Marx, Karl. A Critique of Political Economy
*Marx, Karl. Value, Price, and Profit (Popular epitome of Marx’s Theories)
Aveling, Edward. The Student’s Marx
Hyndman, H. M. The Economics of Socialism
Correspondence of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels
**Rühle, Karl Marx
Mehring—Life of Marx
Meyer—Frederick Engels

B.    Pro-Marxian

*Untermann, Ernest. Marxian Economics
*Boudin, Louis. The Theoretical System of Karl Marx

C.     Anti-Marxian

*Bohm-Bawerk, E. Von. Karl Marx and the Close of His System
*Le Rossignol, J. E. Orthodox Socialism
Cross, I. B. Essentials of Socialism
*Skelton, O. D. Socialism, A Critical Analysis. Pp. 95-137
*Le Rossignol, J. E. What in Socialism?
Scott, J. R. Karl Marx on Value
Joseph. Labor Theory of Value in Karl Marx.

D.    Pre-Marxian Economic Theories

*Menger, Anton. The Right to the Full Produce of Labor. (A review of labor theories, and a belittling of Marx’s originality.)
*Lowenthal, Esther. The Ricardian Socialists
*Whitaker, A. O. The Labor Theory of Value
Beer, Max. A History of British Socialism, Vol. I, pp. 182-270
Gonner, E. C. K. The Social Philosophy of Rodbertus
Ricardo, David. Principles of Political Economy and Taxation

 

4. Marxian Predictions of the Economic Development of Capitalism

A.     Large-scale Industry

*Bernstein, E. Evolutionary Socialism
*Simkhovitch, V. G. Marxism vs. Socialism
*Rubinow, S. M. Was Marx Wrong?
Dewing, A. S. A Statistical Text of the Success of Consolidation, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Nov. 1921. Vol. XXXVI.
Berle and Means: The Modern Corporation.
Bernheim – Big Business

B.    Agriculture

Department of Agriculture: The Economic Basis of the Agricultural Adjustment Act
Bernstein, Simkhovitch and Robinow as above
Stewart, C. L. Land Tenure in the United States
Bogart, E. L. Farm Ownership in the United States, Jour. Pol. Econ., Vol. XVI
Simons, A. M. The American Farmer
David, Edward. Socialism and Land Wirtschaft
Benjamin. Socialists and the Agrarian Question, Jour. Pol. Econ., June, 1926

 

C.    Distribution of Wealth – (Marx’s Theories of Increasing Misery and the Disapperance of the Middle Class Considered)

(1) United States

*Nationa1 Bureau of Economic Research. Income in the United States
King, W. Wealth and Income of the People of the United States
Nearing, Scott. Income
Nearing, Scott. Financing the Wage-Earner’s Family
Streightoff, F. H. Distribution of Wealth in the United States
More, L. B. Wage Earner’s Budgets
Chapin, R. C. Standard of Living in New York City
Kennedy, J. C. Standard of Living in Stockyards District
Streightoff, F. H. Standard of Living of Industrial People in United States
Ryan, J. A. A Living Wage
Ryan, J. A. Distributive Justice. Economic Review, September 1921
Soule, George. The Productivity Factor in Wage Determination. American Economic Review: Supplement. 1925, pp. 129-40, Vol. 13. (1925)
Federal Trade Commission: National Wealth and Income
Nearing, Scott. Wages in the United States.
Federal Trade Commission, National Wealth and Income.
Leven, Moulton & Warburton. America’s Capacity to Consume
Douglas. Real wages in the United States, 1890-1926
Douglas and Dennison. The Movement of Money and Real Wages, 1926-1928
Houghteling. The Income and Standard of Living of the Unskilled Laborer in Chicago

(2) England

Stamp, J. C. British Incomes and Property
Rountree, B. S. Poverty – A Study of Town Life
Booth, Ch. A Summary of the Life and Labor of the People of London
Bowley. The Change in the Distribution of the National Income 1880-1913
Bowley, A. L. The Division of the Product of Industry
Stamp, J. C. Wealth and Taxable Capacity of Great Britain
Smith and others. A New Survey of London Life and Labour. 10 vols.
Clark. The National Income

(5) Other Countries

Bägge. Wages in Sweden. 1860-1930.
Kuczynski, J. Die Entwicklung der Lage der Arbeiterschaft, 1870-1933
Kuczynski, J. Löhne und Konjunktur in Deutschland, 1887-1932
Kuczynski, J. Die Entwicklung der Löhne in Frankreich und Belgien, 1895-1933.
Simiand, F. Le Salaire. 3 vols.

D.    Unemployment (The Industrial Reserve Army)

Pigou, A. C. Unemployment
Beveridge, W. C. Unemployment
Poyntz and Webb. Seasonal Trades
American Association of Labor Legislation. Unemployment survey, 1915.
Barnes, C. B. The Longshoremen
Webb, S. and B. The Minority Reports of the Poor Law Commission
Berridge, W. A. Cycles of Employment
Hobson, J. A. The Economics of Unemployment
Cole, G. D. H. Out-of-Work
Douglas and Director. The Problem of Unemployment

E.    Crises

Mitchell, W. C. Business Cycles
Jugler, C. A Brief History of Panic
Moore, H. L. Economic Cycles
*Rodbertus, K. J. Over Production and Crises. (Translated by Frank)
Foster and Catchings, Profits
Douglas. Controlling Depressions
Mills. Economic Tendencies in the United States
Hayek. Prices and Production
Strachey. The Nature Of Capitalist Crisis
Pigou. Industrial Fluctuations
Schumpeter. Theory of Economic Development
Martin. The Limited Market
Keynes—The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money.

 

5. The Socialist Movement in Various Countries

A.    General

Postgate, R. W. Revolution
*Laideer, H. W. Socialism in Thought and Action
*Kirkup, F. History of Socialism (authoritative and reliable)
Ensor, R. C. K. Modern Socialism (gives important extracts showing attitude of Socialists in different countries)
*Walling, Stokes, Hugan, Laidler. The Socialism of Today (invaluable study of present-day tendencies in all countries)
Postgate, R. W. The Workers International
Guillaume, J. L’Internationale, 4 vols.
Hunter, Robert. Violence and the Labor Movement
De Montgomery, B. G. British and Continental Labour Policy
Shadwell. The Socialist Movement, 2 vols.
Fainsod, International Socialism During the War

B.  Specific

(1) Germany

Russell, Bertrand. German Social Democracy
Dawson, W. H. Bismarck and State Socialism
Ely, R. T. French and German Socialism, pp. 156-244
Saunders, W. S. Trade Unionism in Germany

(2) France

Blanc, Louis, L‘Organization du Travail
Jaures, J. Studies in Socialism

(3) Belgium

Bertrand, Louis. Histoire de la Democratie et du Socialisme en Belgique depuis 1830
Douglas, D. W. G. De Greef. The Social Theory of a Syndicalist

(4) England

*Beer, Max. History of British Socialists
Seligman, E. R. A. Owen and the Christian Socialists
Webb, Sidney. Socialism in England
Shaw, Bernard. Early History of the Fabian Society
*Pease, E. R. History of the Fabian Society
Noel, Conrad. The Labor Party
Raven, M. E. The Christian Socialists
Gleason. What the Worker Wants
Blanshard. The British Labor Movement
Chartism in England
Rosenblatt, E. F. The Economic Aspects of Chartism. (Columbia Univ. Studies)
Slosson, P. W. The Decline of Chartism (Columbia University Studies)
West, J. Chartism
Hovell, M. The Chartist Movement
Cammage, R. The Chartist Movement
Life of Willim Lovett
Hofhouse, Stephen. Life of Joseph Sturge
Trevelyan, G. M. Life of Bright
Morley, J. Life or Cobdan

(5) Australasia

*Clark, V.S. The Labor Movement in Australasia.
Le Rossignol and Stewart. State Socialism in New Zealand
Hutchinson, R. H. The State Socialism of Australasia

(6) The United States

Hillquit, Morris. History of Socialism in America
Hughan, Jessie, W. American Socialism of the Present Day
Socialist Congressional Campaign Book, 1914, 1916, 1920; 1928; 1932
Trachtenberg, Alex. Editor. The American Labor Year Book, 1916, 1918, 1919, 1922, etc.
Macy, John. Socialism in America
Benedict, Bertram. The Larger Socialism
Fine. Farmer Labor Parties in American History
Douglas. The Coming of a New Party
Hicks. The Populist Movement.
Thomas. America’s Way Out
Thomas. As I See It

 

6. The Liberal Socialist Ideal

**Russell, B. Proposed Roads to Freedom
*Wells, H. G. New Worlds for Old (A delightful and engrossing book)
*Dickinson, G. Lowes. Justice and Liberty.
*Shaw, Webb, Wallas and others. Fabian Essays (Well written and cogently stated)
*Tawney, R. H. The Acquisitive Society
Walling, W. E. Socialism as It Is
Wells. Mankind in the Making
Wells. This Misery of Booth
Spargo and Arner. Essentials of Socialism
Spargo, John. Socialism (A popular statement by an able supporter)
Spargo, John. Applied Socialism (A constructive attempt to apply the socialist principle to life)
Wells, H. G. and others. Socialism and the great state
Walling, Stokes, Hughan, Laidler. The Socialism of Today
Snowden, P. Socialism and Syndicalism
Hughan, M. The Facts of Socialism
Hillquit, M. Socialism in Theory and Practice
Hillquit, M. Socialism Summed-up
Kautsky, K. The Social Revolution
Schaeffle, A. The Quintessence of Socialism
*Webb, S. and B. A Constitution for the Socialist Commonwealth of Great Britain
Massart and Vandervelde. Parasitism, Organic and Social
*Hunter, Robert. Violence and the Labor Movement
Shaw, Bernard. Socialism and Superior Brains
Wilde, Oscar. The Soul of Man under Socialism
Rauschenbush, W. Christianity and the Social Crisis
Soudder, Vida D. Socialism and Character
Walling, W. E. The Larger Aspects of Socialism
Sellars, R. W. The Next Step in Democracy
*Benedict, Bertram, N. S. The Larger Socialism
Hobson, J. A. Incentives in the New Social Order.
British Labor Party—Labor and the New Social Order
Henderson, Arthur.— The Aims of Labor
Morris, William. Hopes and Fears for Art
Webb, J. and B. The Collapse of Capitalist Civilization
Russell, Bertrand and Dora. The Prospects of Industrial Civilization
Sturt, Henry. Socialism and Character

 

Socialism and War

Walling, W. E. The Socialists and the War (Excellent documentary collection)
Boudin, Louis. Socialism and War
Files of La Guerre Sociale. Edited by Gustav Herve
Kellogg and Gleason. British Labor and the War
Hunter, Robert. Violence and the Labor Movement

 

8. Collectivism

 

*Davies, E. The Collectivist State in the Making
Shaw, Bernard. The Common Sense of Municipal Trading
Clark, W. E. Municipal Ownership in the United States
*Fabian. Report on State and Municipal Enterprise
Holcombe, A. N. Public Ownership of Telephones on the Continent of Europe
Hammeon, J . C. The British Post-Office
Mavor, James. Public Telephones
Gray, H. L. War Time Control of Industry
*Walling and Laidler. State Socialism, Pro and Con
Ise, John. Our National Forest Policy
Guyot, Yves. Where and Why Public Ownership Has Failed
McKaye, James. Yankee Socialism
Cheozza-Money, L. G. The Triumph of Nationalization
Strobel, Heinrich. Socialization in Theory and Practice
Hodges, Frank. The Nationalization of the Mines
De Montgomery, B. G. British and Continental Labour Policy, pp. 476-529
Survey, issue of March l, 1924 on Giant Power
Strobel, Heinrich. The German Revolution
Thompson. Public Ownerships

 

9. Criticisms of Socialism

*Skelton, O. D. Socialism – A Critical Analysis (excellent)
*Schaeffle, A. The Impossibility of Social Democracy (very good)
Ely, R. T. Socialism and Social Reform
Mallock, W. H. A Critical Examination of Socialism
*Mallock, W. H. Aristocracy and Evolution
*Le Rossignol. What Is Socialism?
Ryan-Hillquit. Socialism, Promise or Menace? (See arguments of Father Ryan against Socialism.)
Guyot, Yves. Socialist Fallacies
Guyot, Yves. The Tyranny of Socialism
Leroy-Beaulieu, P. Collectivism
Belloc, H. The Servile State
Hayek (editor) Collective Economics.
Mises. Socialism.

 

10. References on Anarchistic Theory

1. Individualistic

Godwin, Political Justice
Herbert Spencer. Man Versus the State
Donnisthrope. Liberty
Proudhon. Solution of the Social Problem
Tolstoi. What Shall We Do Then?
Tolstoi. The Kingdom of God Is Within You
Tolstoi. My Religion
Tolstoi. Essays
Tucker. Instead of a Book by a Men Too Busy to Write One

2. Communistic

Kropotkin. Fields, Factories, and Workshops
Kropotkin. The Conquest of Bread
Kropotkin. Mutual Aid
Kropotkin. Memoirs of a Revolutionist
Kropotkin. Anarchist Essays

3. Criticism

Shaw. The Impossibilities of Anarchism

 

11. Syndicalism

Levine. The Labor Movement in France
Pataud et Pouget. Comment Nous Ferons la Revolution?
Pouget. Sabotage
Jouhaux. Le Syndicaliam et Le C. G. T.
Brissenden. The I. W. W.

Criticisms

McDonald. Syndicalism
Spargo. Socialism, Syndicalism and Industrial Unionism

 

12. Guild Socialism

Cole. Self-Government in Industry
Cole. Guild Socialism Re-Stated
Hobson. National Guilds
Carpenter. Guild Socialism Re-Stated

 

13. Consumers Cooperation

Gide. The Consumers Cooperative Societies
Beatrice Potter. The Cooperative Movement in Great Britain
S. & B. Webb. The Consumers Cooperative Movement
Catherine Webb. Industrial Cooperation
Maxwell. History of Cooperation in Scotland
Fay. Cooperation at Home and Abroad
Wolff. Cooperation and the Future of Industry
Warbasse. Cooperative Democracy
Sonnichsen. Consumers Cooperation
Warne. Consumers Cooperation in Illinois
Bergengren. People’s Banks
Russell (“A.E.”). The National Being
Childs. Sweden — The Middle Way
Howe. Denmark — The Cooperative Way

 

14. The Single Tax

George. Progress and Poverty
Young. The Single Tax Movement in the United States
Post. The Taxation of Land Values
Post. What is the Single Tax?
Brown. The Taxation of Unearned Incomes

 

15. Modern Communism

A. Description of Theory

Lenin. The State and Revolution
Lenin. Can the Bolsheviks Maintain Power?
Bukarin and Preobrazhensky. The A. B. C. of Communism
Trotsky. In Defense of Terrorism
Postgate. The Bolshevik Theory
Russell. Bolshevik Theory and Practice
Fox. Lenin
Lenin. Collected Works
Stalin. Collected Works

B. Description of Developments in Russia

Trotsky. The Russian Revolution, 2 vols
Farbman. The Five Year Plan
Hindus. Humanity Uprooted
Hindus. Red Bread
Chamberlin. Soviet Russia–The Iron Age [sic, Russia’s Iron Age, 1934]
Karlgren. Bolshevist Russia (hostile)
Antonelli. Bolshevik Russia (Historical and critical)
Chase and Others. Soviet Russia in the Second Decade
Chamberlain. The Russian Revolution, 1917-1921
Hoover. The Economic Organization of Soviet Russia
***Webb, S. & B. Soviet Communism. 2 vols. The best work thus far. Should be read by all students.
Rosenberg. History of Bolshevism
Trotsky. The Revolution Betrayed

C. Critical

Kautsky. The Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Kautsky. Terrorism and Communism

 

16. Fascism

Machiavelli. The Prince
Mussolini. My Life
Hitler. Mein Kampf
Schneider. Making the Fascist State
Dutt. Fascism and Social Revolution
Salvimini. Fascism (hostile)
Strachey. The Coming Struggle for Power
Schuman. The Nazi Dictatorship
Bolton, King. Fascism
Pitigliani. The Italian Cooperative State [1933]
Finer. Mussolini’s Italy
Rosenstock-Franck. L’Économie Corporative en Theorie et Pratique [L’économie corporative fasciste en doctrine et en fait, 1934]
Seldes. Sawdust Caesar
Hoover. Germany Enters the Third Reich
Dennis, Lawrence. The Coming American Fascism
Salvemini. Under the Axe of Fascism
Rosso. The Road to Exile.

17. The Theory of Capitalism

Smith. The Wealth of Nations.
Carver. Essays in Social Justice.
Herbert Hoover. Defense of Liberty,
Pigou. The Economics of Welfare.
Cassel. The Theory of Social Economy.

 

18. Recent Books on Fascism, Communism, Democracy (1938)

A. Fascism

*Borgese, Goliath, The March of Fascism.
*Roberts, The House that Hitler Built.
Schmidt, The Plough and the Sword.

 

B. Communism

*Lyons, Assignment in Utopia.
Beal, Proletarian Journey.
Smith, I was a Soviet Worker.
Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed.

(All of the above books on communism are hostile criticisms from ex-communists about the dictatorial aspects of the Russian government)

C. [Democracy]

Heiman, *Fascism, Communism and Democracy [sic, Communism, Fascism or Democracy?]
Pigou, *Socialism versus Capitalism.

 

D. On Some Problems of Pricing, etc., in a Socialist Economy.

*Mises, Socialism.
*Hayek, Mises, Barone, etc., Problems of Collectivist Planning.
*Lange, “The Economic Theory of Socialism,” Review of Economic Studies, October 1936, February 1937.
Lerner, “Economic Theory and Socialist Economy,” Review of Economic Studies, October 1934.

Source: The University of Chicago Library. Norman M. Kaplan Papers. Box 1, Folder 7.

Categories
Columbia Economists

John Bates Clark Biography from Amherst Yearbook 1894

 

This mid-life testimony about the career of John Bates Clark is interesting to compare to the Memorial Minute entered into the record by his Columbia colleagues one month after his death in 1938.

_____________________

 

JOHN BATES CLARK, who fills the Chair of Political Economy at Amherst, was born January 26, 1847, in Providence, R. I. His father, John H. Clark, was a manufacturer; his mother was the daughter of Dr. Thomas Huntington, the youngest son of Gen. Jedidiah Huntington, of New London, Conn. Professor Clark has, therefore, by right of inheritance, both the industrial traits and the conservatism of New England.

Until his twentieth year, his home was at Providence. In the public schools of that city, he fitted for college, and passed at Brown the first and second years of his college course. In 1867, owing to the — happily temporary — crippled condition of the faculty of that institution, he came to Amherst and entered as Junior the class of ’69. Before the close of the year he was called to the new home of his family, Minneapolis, Minn. It was the failing health of his father that had led to the removal from Providence, and that now broke in upon his academic course. At Minneapolis he assumed and carried for more than a year business responsibilities of considerable weight. Here, too, he came, for the first time, under the spell of the new Northwest; and each influence, that of business responsibility and that of the new environment, had in it a valuable tonic quality. Moreover, some of those who are privileged to know him best think they find the source of certain traits which they greatly like, in the filial solicitude which kept the thought of self far in the background at the very period in a young man’s life when it is naturally, and, perhaps justifiably, most prominent. An improvement, unhappily transient, in his father’s health, permitted his return in the fall of ’69 to Amherst, and the resumption of study with the class of ’71. Then came his father’s death and a second interruption of his course at Amherst; this time, however, it lasted but a year. He graduated with the class of ’72. It is, perhaps, noteworthy that his connection with ’69, ’71 and ’72 made him, for nearly equal periods, the classmate of Prof. H. B. Adams of Johns Hopkins University, and of Professors Garman, Morse and Richardson, who are now his colleagues at Amherst.

Of Professor Clark’s scholarship it is enough to say that, in spite of two breaks in his college course, which together covered fully three years, and in spite of the distracting and absorbing nature of the cause of these breaks, his standing at graduation was higher than that of any man of his class. Of his character during this period the best witness is the singularly deep and fine impression which he made on classmates and teachers.

While at Amherst President Seelye, then Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, advised him to give special attention to social and economic studies, and his interest in these developed rapidly under the instruction of this wise counsellor and powerful teacher. During his Senior year he made that analysis of wealth which was afterwards published in chapter first of “The Philosophy of Wealth.”

The three years following graduation were passed in Germany, Switzerland and France, in the study of economics and history. One semester was spent at Zurich, and a considerable period at Paris, but the larger part of his university work was done at Heidelberg under the direction of Professor Knies. It is worth remarking that these three years abroad were not, in the ordinary sense, wanderjahre; for the companionship of his mother and sister gave him, although a resident of foreign lands, the advantages of an American home. On his return to the United States in 1875, he married Miss Myra A. Smith of Minneapolis. In his home there are now three sons in various stages of preparation for Amherst College, and a daughter who has not yet decided between the claims of Vassar, of which her mother is a graduate, and Smith, where her father was an honored professor.

Professor Clark’s career as a teacher began in 1875 with an appointment to a lectureship in Carleton College, Carleton, Minn. A few weeks after the beginning of his work, a severe typhoidal illness led to an enforced vacation of more than a year. In 1877 he was appointed Professor of Economics and History at Carleton, and there he remained until 1882, when he accepted the Chair of History and Political Science at Smith College. In 1892 he was elected Professor of Political Economy at Amherst; during the following year he gave instruction both at Smith and at Amherst; in ’93 the transfer to Amherst was completed. In addition to his professorship at Amherst, he has held, since 1892, the position of Lecturer on Economics at Johns Hopkins University. The fact that both at Carleton and Smith the parting was with very great reluctance, bears pleasant testimony to the impression he made on the trustees, the faculty and the students of these institutions; and here at Amherst the appreciation, already marked, of his fine and sterling traits as man and teacher, is steadily growing.

In the promotion of economic science through the association of those who made its advancement their life work, Professor Clark has taken a leading part. In 1885 he helped to organize the American Economic Association, the largest and most active of its kind in the world. At its founding he was made third vice-president, and the chairman of the Committee on Economic Theory. In 1893 he was elected president; his immediate predecessor in this office was Professor Dunbar, of Harvard, who followed Gen. Francis A. Walker (A. C. class of 1860), the first president.

Professor Clark’s publications on economic subjects amount all told to thirty. These have appeared for the most part in the New Englander, the Political Science Quarterly, the International Journal of Politics, the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Yale Review, the Revue d’Economie Politique, and Palgrave’s Dictionary of Political Economy. The themes treated are indicated by the following titles : “The Law of Wages and Interest,” “Distribution as Determined by a Law of Rent,” “The Ultimate Standard of Value,” “The Genesis of Capital,” “Insurance and Business Profits,” “Trusts,” “The Influence of Land on the Rate of Wages,” “The Statics and the Dynamics of Distribution.” The articles first published in the New Englander, nine in number, were re-published with some others in 1883, under the title of “The Philosophy of Wealth.” This book was followed by a monograph on “Capital and its Earnings.” Another monograph, written in co-operation with Mr. Stuart Wood, was on “Wages.” Two of the articles that appeared in the Political Science Quarterly were re-published with two by Professor Giddings, in a volume entitled “The Modern Distributive Process.”

In their entirety these various publications present a system of Economics the central feature of which is a new theory of Distribution. According to this theory the existing industrial system, though containing abuses, is in principle sound; and the abuses will gradually disappear if the legal and moral forces of society acting in their own distinct and proper spheres can be made to do their full duty. Briefly told. Professor Clark in spirit, thought and method, is conservatively progressive. His presence at Amherst gives to every friend of the College cause for hope and cheer.

Source: Amherst Yearbook Olio ’96 (New York, 1894), pp. 7-9. Picture above from frontispiece. Another link.