When the following syllabus for Economics 8B was published at the University of California in 1906, Wesley Clair Mitchell was a thirty-two year old assistant professor of economics. He was listed in the Report of the President of the university as the instructor of the course though he is not identified as such in the syllabus itself. The 22-page syllabus that I found at archive.com is unfortunately missing its second page but is still worth posting in its present incomplete state.
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND COMMERCE
TOPICS AND REFERENCES FOR
ECONOMICS 8B
MONEY
PLAN OF THE COURSE.
Part I — Monetary Systems.
Part II — Development of Monetary Systems.
Part III — Money and Prices.
PART I— MONETARY SYSTEMS.
1—The United States.
(a) Money supplied by the government,
1a— Coin: —
Gold, silver dollars, subsidiary silver, minor coins.
The mint. Standard money; legal tender.
For statistics, see current reports of the Director of the Mint. (Bound in Finance Reports.)
For laws, see C. F. Dunbar, Laws of the U. S. relating to Currency, Finance and Banking from 1789 to 1891. Boston, 1891.
J. L. Laughlin, Report of the Monetary Commission of the Indianapolis Convention, Chicago, 1898, pp. 491-543.
Coinage, Currency and Banking Laws of the U. S., 1791-1900. Sound Currency, June, 1901. Vol. 8, No. 2.
2a— Paper money: —
Gold Certificates, silver certificates.
United States notes, currency certificates, treasury notes of 1890.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
For statistics, see current Reports of the Treasurer of the U. S. (Bound in Finance Reports.)
For laws, see references above.
[Note: page 2 is missing in this copy. Appears to be missing, say, 1(b) “Money supplied by Banks”? and 2(a), 2(b)?… for “2—Foreign Countries”]
[2—Foreign Countries, from page 3]
Money and Prices in Foreign Countries. (Special Consular Reports; Vol. 13, Parts 1 and 2.) Washington, 1896, 1897.
M. L. Muhleman, Monetary Systems of the World. New York, The Spectator Company. (Numerous editions.)
J. H. Norman, Complete Guide to the World’s Twenty-nine Metal Monetary Systems. New York, 1892.
R. Chalmers, History of Currency in the British Colonien. London, 1893.
R. P. Rothwell, ”The World’s Currencies.” 2d edition.
Sound Currency, 1896. A compendium, pp. 81-98.
3 — Silver-standard monetary systems.
See references under 2.
4 — Bimetallic systems.
Historical sketches in above references, and Part II, section 6, i, below.
5 — Paper-standard systems.
See references under 2 above, and Part II, section 6, k, below.
6 — Gold-exchange standards.
Stability of International Exchange. Report on the Introduction of the Gold-exchange Standard into China and other silver-using countries. (H.R. Doc, No. 144. 58th Congress, 2d Session.) Washington, 1903.
Report on the Introduction of the Gold-exchange Standard into China, the Philippine Islands, Panama, and other Silver-using countries. Washington, 1904.
A.P. Andrew, ”The End of the Mexican Dollar.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1904.
E.W. Kemmerer, “A Gold Standard for the Straits Settlements.” Political Science Quarterly, December, 1904.
“The Establishment of the Gold-exchange Standard in the Philippines.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1905.
A. P. Andrew, “Indian Currency Problems of the Last Decade.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1901.
M. Bothe, Die indische Wahrungsreform seit 1893. (Münchener volkswirtschaftliche Studien.) Stuttgart, 1904.
PART II — DEVELOPMENT OF MONETARY SYSTEMS.
1—Bibliographies.
W.S. Jevons, Investigations in Currency and Finance. London, 1884. Pp. 364-414 (Chronologically arranged. 1568-1882).
A. Soetbeer, Litteraturnachweis über Geld-und-Münzwesen. Berlin, 1892. (Chronologically arranged. 1871-1891.)
K. Helfferich, Das Geld. Leipzig, 1903. Pp. 532-590 (Continuation of Soetbeer’s bibliography, 1892-1902).
2—Origin of Money.
C. Bücher, Industrial Evolution. Tr. by S.M. Wickett, New York, 1901. Pp. 59-71.
W.W. Carlile, The Evolution of Modem Money. London and New York, 1901. Part II, chapters I-III.
Economic Methods and Economic Fallacies, London, 1904. Ch. X.
W. Ridgeway, Origin of Metallic Currency and Weight Standards. Cambridge, 1902. Chapter II.
K. Helfferich, op. cit. Book I, ch. I.
C. Menger, ”The Origin of Money.” Economic Journal, June, 1892.
E. Babelon, Les Origines de la Monnaie. Paris, 1897.
3—Money in Antiquity.
This subject is discussed in courses History 53 and 54.
4—From the end of the Roman Empire to the Discovery of America. The barter economy. Reappearance of Money. Local coinages. Growth of the royal prerogative. Monetary policies.
W.J. Ashley, Introduction to English Economic History and Theory. Part I, 3d ed. 1894. Ch. I, sec. 6; ch. Ill, sec. 18.
W. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce during the Early and Middle Ages. 3d ed., Cambridge, 1896. Passim.
A. Del Mar, History of Monetary Systems. London, 1895. Ch. X-XV.
G. Schmoller, Grundriss der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre. 2d part. Leipzig, 1904. Sec. 164.
W.C. Hazlitt, The Coinage of the European Continent. London and New York, 1893.
A. Luschin von Ebengreuth, Allgemeine Münzkunde und Geldgeschichte des Mittelalters und der neueren Zeit. Munich and Berlin, 1904.
H. Engel and B. Lerrure, Traité de numismatique du moyenâge. Paris, 1905.
5—From the Discovery of America to the Close of the Eighteenth Century.
(a) General references.
Hazlitt, Luschin von Ebengreuth, and Engel and Lerrure, as above.
W.A. Shaw, History of the Currency, 1252-1894. London, 1895.
G. Schmoller, op. cit. See. 165.
(b) Increase in the supply of the precious metals and the consequences.
A. Soetbeer, Materialien zur Erläuterung und Beurtheilung der wirthschaftlichen Edelmetallverhältnisse und der Währungsfrage. Berlin, 1885. 2d ed. 1886. (Translation by F. W. Taussig in Sen. Exec. Doc. No. 34; 1st Session 50th Congress.)
R.H. Patterson, The New Golden Age and the Influences of the Precious Metals upon the World. 2 vols. Edinburgh and London, 1882. Chaps. VIII-XI.
W. Sombart, Der moderne Kapitalismus. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1902. Vol. I, ch. xiii, pp. 358-372, and following chs., passim.
G. Wiebe, Zur Geschichte der Preisrevolution im 16ten und 17ten Jahrhundert. (Staats- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Beiträge. Herausgegeben von A. von Miaskowski. Band ii. Heft 2.) Leipzig, 1895.
(c) The Rise of Banking.
See Exercises and References for Economics 8, pp. 11, 12.
(d) Monetary difficulties and reforms in England.
W. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times. 2 parts. Cambridge, 1903. Passim.
Earl of Liverpool, Treatise on the Coins of the Realm. London, 1800. (Reprinted 1880.) Passim.
S.D. Horton, The Silver Pound, London, 1887. Chaps, v-viii.
(e) England’s transition to the gold standard.
See references under d, and,
W.W. Carlile, Evolution of Modern Money, Part I.
P. Kalkmann, England’s Uebergang zur Goldwahrung im 18ten Jahrhundert (Abhandlungen des staatswirtschaft- lichen Seminars zu Strassburg). Strassburg, 1895.
(f) Monetary experiences of the English colonies in North America.
This subject is discussed in History 77. For a brief sketch see,
C.J. Bullock, Essays on the Monetary History of the U. S. N. Y., 1900. Part I, chs. i-v.
(g) Establishment of a Monetary System under the constitution.
A. Hamilton, Report on the Establishment of a Mint. 1790. ”Works,” ed. J. C. Hamilton, Vol. 3, p. 149. N. Y., 1850.
J. L. Laughlin, History of Bimetallism in the U. S. 4th ed. N.Y., 1901. Ch. ii.
A. B. Hepburn, History of Coinage and Currency in the U.S. N. Y., 1903. Chs. i, ii.
D.K. Watson, History of American Coinage, 2d ed. N. Y., 1899. Chs. iii, iv.
6—Since 1800.
(a) Production of gold and silver, 1800-1848.
Soetbeer, Materialien, and Reports of the Director of the Mint, for statistical estimates.
R. H. Patterson, op. cit. Chs. xii-xv.
J. L. Laughlin, Bimetallism, ch. iii.
W.S. Jevons, ”The Variation of Prices and the Value of the Currency since 1782.” Investigations in Currency and Finance, iii.
(b) French monetary legislation of 1803.
H.P. Willis, History of the Latin Monetary Union. Chi- cago, 1901. Ch. i.
International Monetary Conference held in Paris, August, 1878. (Senate Executive Doc. No. 58. 45th Congress, 3d Sess.) Pp. 153-157. (Monetary Laws.)
F.A. Walker, International Bimetallism. N. T., 1897. Ch. iv.
(c) American legislation of 1834.
Laughlin, Bimetallism. Ch. iv.
Walker, op. cit., ch. iv.
Hepburn, op. cit., ch. iii.
Watson, op. cit., chs. v and vi.
(d) The gold discoveries in California and Australia.
R.H. Patterson, op. cit., chs. i-vi.
H.H. Bancroft, History of California, Vol. vi. San Francisco, 1888. (”Works,” Vol. xxiii.)
T.H. Hittell, History of California, Vol. ii. San Francisco, 1885. Chs. vii, ff.
T.O. Larkin and R. B. Mason, Correspondence with the Secretary of State with reference to the gold discoveries in California. House Exec. Doc. No. 1, 2d Session, 30th Congress. Pp. 51-69.
W. Westgarth, Victoria and the Australian Gold mines in 1857. London, 1857.
Soetbeer, Materialien; Beports of the Director of the Mint, for statistical estimates.
(e) Diffusion of the new gold and the economic consequences.
J.E. Cairnes, Essays in Political Economy. London, 1873.
Introductory and Essays i-iv.
W.S. Jevons, Investigations, ii-iv.
R.H. Patterson, op. cit., chs. xvii-xxi.
(f) Effect of the new gold on bimetallic monetary systems.
J. L. Laughlin, Bimetallism, chs. v-viii.
H. P. Willis, Latin Union, chs. iv-xi.
F. A. Walker, International Bimetallism, chs. iv and v.
Also see references under i below.
(g) Limitations on free coinage of silver.
Laughlin, Bimetallism, chs. vii-xi.
Willis, Latin Union, chs. xii-xiv.
Walker, International Bimetallism, ch. vi.
Watson, op. cit., chs. viii and ix.
Hepburn, op. cit., ch. xii.
Also see references under i below.
(h) Attempts to check the fall of silver.
Laughlin, Bimetallism, chs. xiv-xvii.
Willis, Latin Union, chs. xv-xx.
H.B. Russell, International Monetary Conferences. N. Y., 1898.
A.D. Noyes, Thirty Years of American Finance. 2d impression. N. Y., 1900. Chs. iv-viii.
Hepburn, op. cit., chs. xii, xiii, xvii.
Watson, op. cit., chs. xi-xiii.
F.W. Taussig, The Silver Situation in the U. S. 2d ed. revised. N. Y., 1896.
Also see references under i below.
(i) The bimetallic controversy.
1i—Brief summaries of the discussion.
W.S. Jevons, Money and the Mechanism of Exchange. London, 1875. Ch. xii.
F. A. Walker, Money. N. Y., 1877. Ch. xiii.
Laughlin, Bimetallism, ch. i.
W. A. Scott, Money and Banking. 2d ed. N. Y., 1903. Chs. xiv, xv.
D. Kinley, Money. N. Y., 1904. Ch. xiv.
2i—Best systematic discussion.
L. Darwin, Bimetallism. A Summary and Examination of the Arguments for and against a Bimetallic System of Currency. London, 1897.
3i—Books presenting different points of view. For further references see bibliographies cited on p. 4 above.
E.B. Andrews, An Honest Dollar. (Pub. Am. Econ. Assc’n., Vol. iv.) 1889. Republished Hartford, 1894.
O. Arendt, Die vertragsmässige Doppelwährung. 2 vols. Berlin, 1880.
Die Ursache der Silberentwerthung. Berlin, 1899.
F. W. Bain, The Corner in Gold: Its History and Theory. London, 1893.
L. Bamberger, Reichsgold. Studien über Wahrung und Wechsel. Leipzig, 1876.
Ausgewahlte Reden und Aufsätze über Geld und Bankwesen. (Schriften des Vereins zum Schutz der deutschen Goldwährung, Vol. i.) Berlin, 1900.
D. Barbour, The Theory of Bimetallism. London, 1885.
W. Barker, Bimetallism; or, the Evils of Gold Monometallism. Philadelphia, 1896.
A. I. Fonda, Honest Money. N. Y., 1895.
H.H. Gibbs and H. B. Grenfell, The Bimetallic Controversy. London, 1886.
Sir Robert Giffin, The Case against Bimetallism. 5th ed. London, 1898.
E. Helm, The Joint Standard. London, 1894.
T. Hertzka, Das internationale Währungsproblem und dessen Lösung. Leipzig, 1892.
O. Heyn, Kritik des Bimetallismus. Berlin, 1897.
S.D. Horton, Silver in Europe. 2d ed. N. Y., 1892.
E. de Laveleye, La Monnaie et le bimetallisme international. Paris, 1891.
H. D. MacLeod, Bimetallism. London, 1894.
E. Nasse, “Das Geld und Münzwesen.” (Schönberg’s Handbuch der politischen Oekonomie. 3d ed. Tubingen, 1890. Vol. i.)
J.S. Nicholson, Treatise on Money and Essays on Monetary Problems. 4th ed. London, 1897.
Reports of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the Recent Changes in the Relative Values of the Precious Metals. London, 1st Report, 1887 ; 2d Report, Final Report, Appendix, 1888.
A.E. Schaeffle, Für internationale Doppelwährung. Tübingen, 1881.
A.P. Stokes, Joint Metallism. N. Y., 1894.
E. Suess, Die Zukunft des Silbers, Vienna, 1892.
W.L. Trenholm, The People’s Money. N. Y., 1893.
Verhandlungen der Kommission behufs Erörterung von Massregeln zur Hebung und Befestigung des Silberwerthes. 2 vols. Berlin, 1894.
F.A. Walker, International Bimetallism. N. Y., 1897.
M.L. Wolowski, L’or et l’argent. Paris, 1870.
(j) General adoption of the Gold Standard.
K. Helfferich, Das Geld. Leipzig, 1903. Book i, ch. vi. (General.)
Die Reform des deutschen Geldwesens nach der Gründung des Reichs. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1898.
Hepburn, op. cit., ch. xviii.
F.W. Taussig, ”The Currency Act of 1900.” Quart. Jour. of Econ. May, 1900.
J.L. Laughlin, ”Recent Monetary Legislation.” Jour. of Pol. Econ., June, 1900.
Matsukata Masayoshi, Report on the Adoption of the Gold Standard in Japan. Tokio, 1899.
Also references under Part I, secs. 2 and 6, above.
(k) Paper money episodes of the Nineteenth Century.
W. Lexis, “Das Papiergeld im 19ten Jahrhundert.” Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften. Vol. vi; Jena, 1901. Pp. 28-38.
Cunningham, op, cit. Vol. iii. (See “Bank restriction” in index.)
Report, together with minutes of evidence and accounts, from the Select Committee on the High Price of Gold Bullion (ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, June 8, 1810). Reprinted in W. Sumner’s History of American Currency. N. Y., 1878.
D. Ricardo, Works, ed. McCulloch. Pp. 261-301.
T. Tooke, Thoughts and Details on the High and Low Prices of the Thirty Years from 1793 to 1822. 2d ed. London, 1824.
W.S. Jevons, Investigations, iii.
W.C. Mitchell, A History of the Greenbacks, 1862-1865. Chicago, 1903.
H. White, Money and Banking. N. Y., 1895. Part II, Bk. I, chs. iv, vi, vii.
Hepburn, op. cit., chs. viii-xi.
Noyes, op. cit., chs. i-iii.
W.A. Berkey, The Money Question. 4th ed. Grand Rapids, 1878.
J.C. Schwab, The Confederate States of America, 1861-1865. New York, 1901.
A. Courtois, Historic des banques en France. 2d ed. Paris, 1881. Pp. 256-269.
Bulletin de statistique et de legislation comparée, Vol. vii, pp. 247-254 and 310-337.
A. Wagner, Die russische Papierwährung. Riga, 1868.
H.P. Willis, “Monetary Reform in Russia.” Jour. of Pol. Econ., June, 1897.
R. Ledos de Beaufort, L’achevement et l’application de la reforme monetaire en Russie. Paris, 1899.
C. Ferraris, Moneta e corso forzoso. Milan, 1879.
M. Grundwald, “Geschichte des italienischen Zwangkurses und der Wiederherstellung der Valuta.” Finanz Archiv, Vol. xi, No. 1, 1894.
K. Kramár, Das Papiergeld in Oesterreich seit 1848. Leipzig, 1886.
G. Crivellari, “I precedenti della riforma monetaria in Austria-Ungheria” and ”La riforma monetaria in Austria-Ungheria”; Giornale degli Economisti, September, 1900, and February, 1901.
A. de Foville, “Spanish Currency.” Jour. of Pol. Econ., December, 1898.
J.P. Wileman, Brazilian Exchange: The study of an Inconvertible Currency. London, 1897.
O. Schmitz. Die Finanzen Argentiniens. Leipzig, 1895.
A. Raffalovich, ”La cours forcé et la reprise des paiements au Chili.” Journal des Economistes, November, 1897.
PART III— MONEY AND PRICES.
1—The Rôle of Prices in Modern Economic Life.
(a) The price system.
(b) The price system and production.
(c) The price system and distribution.
(d) Influence of the price system on the kind of goods produced.
(e) The price system and the selection of captains of industry.
(f) The price of business enterprises.
(g) Money-making as an economic motive.
(h) Influence of the price system on wants.
(i) The price system and the pecuniary point of view.
(j) Technical exigencies of the price system.
(k) Development of the price system.
(l) Summary.
(m) Neglect of the influence of the price system in economic theory.
2—The Problem of Changes in the Price Level.
(a) Statement of the problem.
(b) Meaning of ”price level.”
(c) How changes in the price level are measured.
Index numbers. Methods of averaging. Weights.
D. Kinley, Money. N. Y., 1904. Ch. xii.
J. L. Laughlin, Principles of Money. N. Y., 1903. Ch. vi.
R. Mayo-Smith, Statistics and Economics. N. Y., 1899. Ch. vi.
A.L. Bowley, Elements of Statistics. 2d ed. London, Ch. ix.
L. L. Price, Money and its Relations to Prices. London, Pp. 9-36.
J. S. Nicholson, Treatise on Money and Essays on Monetary Problems. 4th ed. London, 1897. Essay vii.
T. S. Adams, ” Index Numbers and the Standard of Value.” Jour. of Pol. Econ., December, 1901, and March, 1902.
C.M. Walsh, The Measurement of General Exchange-value. N. Y., 1901.
For further references see bibliographies in Walsh, pp. 553-574, and Laughlin, pp. 221-224.
(d) Specimen index numbers.
1d—Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, March, 1902.
Course of prices at wholesale, 1890 to date. Continued in March issues of following years.
2d—Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, July, 1904, pp. 703-712.
Prices of food at retail, 1890 to date. Continued in July issue of 1905.
Fuller publication in 18th Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor.
3d—Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor, July, 1904, pp. 713-932.
Relative rates of wages, 1890 to date. Continued in July issue, 1905.
Fuller publication in 19th Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor.
4d—R. P. Falkner, “Wholesale Prices: 1890 to 1899.” Bulletin of the Department of Labor, March, 1900.
5d—Dun’s index number of the cost of living, 1860 to date. Dun’s Review, passim; also Dun’s Review: International Edition, passim. Partial republication in recent issues of the Statistical Abstract of the U. S. and in Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance.
6d— John R. Common’s index number, 1878 to 1901. Quarterly Bulletin of the Bureau of Economic Research, 1900 and 1901. Partial republication in Final Report of the Industrial Commission, pp. 29-30 and 1101-1113. For methods see Bulletin of the Department of Labor, March, 1902, pp. 210, 211.
7d—R. P. Falkner’s index number of wholesale prices, 1860 to 1891. “Aldrich Report” (Senate Report No. 1394, 52d Congress, 2d Session), Part I, pp. 27-110.
8d—Falkner’s index number of wages, 1860-1891. Ibid., pp. 110-180.
9d—A. Sauerbeck’s index number for England, 1846 to date.
Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 1886 and following years. See, also, “Aldrich Report,” Part I, pp. 229-256; and Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance, June, 1904.
10d—Economist index number for England.
London Economist, passim. See, also, ”Aldrich Report,” Part I, pp. 220-228.
11d—Soetbeer’s Hamburg prices, 1851-1884, Materialien, etc., pp. 98-104.
Soetbeer’s prices with Heinze’s continuation, 1847-1891. ”Aldrich Report,” Part I, pp. 257-296.
12d—O. Schmitz, Die Bewegung der Warenpreise in Deutschland von 1851 bis 1902. Berlin, 1903.
(e) Characteristics of price variations shown by these tables.
Divergencies between price variations of individual goods; of raw materials and manufactured goods; of the same goods at wholesale and retail; of labor and commodities.
Similarity in movements of the price level in different countries.
Long period and short period fluctuations.
Effect of weighing on results.
(f) Reliability of tables of index numbers as measures of change in the price level.
N. G. Pierson, “Index Numbers and the Appreciation of Gold.” Economic Journal, September, 1895. “Further Considerations on Index Numbers.” Ibid., March, 1896.
F. Y. Edgeworth, “A Defense of Index Numbers.” Ibid., March, 1896.
3—Methods of Investigating Causes of Changes in the Price Level.
(a) Study of conditions of supply and demand of single articles.
Tooke and Newmarch, History of Prices, 6 vols. London, 1838-1857. Passim.
(b) Study of tables of index numbers.
(c) Application of the general theory of value to the problem of the price level. The quantity theory.
J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy. Book iii, chs. viii and ix.
J. S. Nicholson, Treatise on Money. 4th ed. London, 1897. Part I, ch. v; part II, ch. v.
F. A. Walker, Money. N. Y., 1877. Ch. iii.
S. M. Hardy, “Quantity of Money and Prices, 1861-92.” Jour. of Pol Econ., March, 1895.
H. P. Willis, ”History and Present Application of the Quantity Theory.” Ibid., September, 1896.
W. A. Scott, ”The Quantity Theory.” Annals of the American Academy, March, 1897.
R. Mayo-Smith, “Money and Prices.” Pol, Sci, Quart., June, 1900.
J. L. Laughlin, Principles of Money. N. Y., 1903. Ch. viii.
W. A. Scott, Money and Banking. N. Y., 1903. Ch iv.
F. A. Walker, “The Value of Money.” Quart. Jour. of Econ., October, 1893.
“The Quantity-theory of Money.” Ibid., July, 1895.
W.W. Carlisle, ”The Quantitative Theory of Money.” Economic Review, January, 1898.
J. F. Johnson, ”The New Theory of Prices.” Pol. Sci. Quart., October, 1903.
J. L. Laughlin, “The Quantity Theory and its Critics, — a Rejoinder.” Jour. Pol. Econ., September, 1903.
H. P. Willis, “The Controversy over Price Theories.” Sound Currency, March, 1904.
C. A. Conant, “What Determines the Value of Money?” Quart. Jour. of Econ., August, 1904.
W. C. Mitchell, “The Real Issues in the Quantity-theory Controversy.” Jour. of Pol. Econ., June, 1904.
(d) Analysis of the process of price making.
S. and B. Webb. Industrial Democracy. 2d ed. London, 1902. Part III, ch. ii.
4—The Process of Price Making in Modern Business.
(a) Consumers.
Their disadvantages in bargaining. Their freedom to buy, what, when and where they like. Variations in the volume of their purchases.
(b) Retail dealers.
Their business position. Efforts to attract custom. Policy in fixing prices. Cost of retailing.
(c) Wholesale dealers.
Pressure upon them for low prices from retailers. Danger of direct dealings between manufacturers and retailers. Effect of variations in consumers’ demands. Credit relations.
(d) Manufacturers.
Technical problems. Business risks. Pressure for low prices and methods of meeting it. Effect of variations of demand in short and long periods.
(e) Dealers in raw materials.
Commission merchants. Firms buying and selling on their own account. Dealings upon the produce exchanges—speculation.
(f) Farmers.
Business and technical aspects of farming. Competition and the possibility of avoiding it. Variations in supply of agricultural products in short and long periods. Steadiness of demand. Farmers as consumers.
(g) Other producers of raw materials.
Important classes. Business organization of extractive industries. Peculiar conditions affecting supply. Variability of demand. Relation between prices of finished products and raw materials.
(h). Production goods other than raw materials.
Character. Sources of demand. Variability of demand. Organization of trade.
(i) Transportation companies.
Technical improvements. Business organization. Competition. Effect of reduction in rates on the price level. Effect of discrimination in railway freight rates. Variability of rates.
(j) Wage earners.
Pressure for low wages. Methods of withstanding. Why wage rates vary little as compared with prices of raw materials. Effect of efficiency of labor on price of products. Wage earners as consumers.
(k) Investors.
Variations in investor’s demand. Influence on business over short and long periods. Investors as consumers.
(l) Promoters.
Their work. Influence on the price of securities and on the price of commodities produced by their companies. Underwriting.
(m) Corporation securities.
“Outside” speculators. Management of corporations for stock-market profits. Financial influences. Connections between stock-market quotations and the general price level.
(n) Banks.
Why business men borrow of banks,—to pay debts, to extend operations, to start new enterprises.
Effect of bank loans for these purposes on the price level. Dependence on consumer’s and business demands.
The banker’s point of view, — security; adequacy of reserves; problems of business crises. Effect of banks on the circulating medium.
(o) Insurance.
Varieties. Influence on banking and investment market. Connection with the price level.
(p) Domestic and professional services.
Changes in rates of remuneration. Changes in incomes. Slight direct effect on the price level. Indirect effect as consumers.
(q) Government.
Stability in price of services rendered by government. Direct influence of taxation on the price level. Monetary policy and the price level. General indirect influence on the price level.
(r) Foreign influences on the price level.
Correspondence between changes in the prices of commodities at wholesale in different countries. Retail prices. Rates of wages; of interest.
Commercial relations. Financial relations. International movements of gold.
(s) Summary.
1s—The endless chain of price relations.
From consumers’ demand round the circle to consumers’ incomes.
2s—Why the price level changes.
Non-monetary causes of variations.
3s—Interrelations of price variations.
4s—Short-period cycles of business prosperity, crisis, and depression.
Their connection with the price system.
5s—The next problem.
Where monetary factors come into the process of price making in modern business.
5—Money and changes in the Price Level.
(a) Plan of the discussion.
(b) The Production of Gold.
Two types of gold mining,—placer and quartz mines.
Factors affecting supply. Relative production from placers and quartz mines at different periods. Statistics of gold production.
Soetbeer, Materialien. (See p. 5 above.)
E. Biedermann, Die Statistik der Edelmetalle. 2d ed. Berlin, 1904.
Annual Reports of the Director of the Mint upon the Production of the Precious Metals.
I. A. Hourwich, ”Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals.” Jour. of Pol. Econ., September, 1902. Pp. 577-682.
(c) Miners and the disposition of their gold.
What placer miners and mining companies do with the metal. Initial influence of changes in production on prices. Gold in the hands of refiners.
(d) The stock of gold and the supply.
Distinction between stock and supply. Elements of the current supply. Their relative importance. (For statistics, see citations under b above.)
(e) The demand for gold.
Industrial and monetary demands. Peculiarity of the latter. Circumstances under which gold is purchased for monetary uses.
(f) How the supply is divided between the two demands.
Statistics of relative importance. Distribution of money in-comes between the purchase of gold goods, and other uses. Distribution of monetary demand between gold and other forms of currency.
Conclusion.
(g) Influence of changes in the volume of gold money on the price level.
How additions to the volume of gold money are made. From the mints to the banks. Diffusion of new supplies from the banks of first deposit. Possible increase in general circulation.
How this process affects the price level. Increase in miners’ demands. Increase of gold in ”the pockets of the people.” Increase of gold in bank reserves. Effect in short-period cycles of business prosperity. Cumulative effect in the long run.
(h) International movements of gold.
International business relations. How payments are made. Reciprocal relations of price changes, interest rates and gold movement. Peculiarities of gold movements between the Occident and the Orient.
(This subject is more fully treated in Economics 8c.)
(i) Summary of the inter-relations between gold and prices.
Short periods; influence of monetary factors in the price-making process; the extension of loan-credit; business crises; the importance of bank reserves; foreign influences.
Long periods; the price level and the supply of gold; gold discoveries and improvements in methods of mining; the industrial demand; the general adoption of the gold standard; paper money episodes; development of banking methods and the increased use of banking facilities; advance of industrial technique; widening territorial area of markets; changes in the business organization of industry; international business relations; the supply of gold and the price level.
Relations between long period and short period price fluctuations.
(j) Money and prices under the silver standard.
Production of silver. Market ratio between silver and gold.
For statistics see, —
References under (b) above.
I. A. Hourwich, “Production and Consumption of the Precious Metals ii. Silver.” Jour. of Pol. Econ., September, 1903.
Industrial and monetary demand for silver. The oriental demand.
Domestic prices and wages in silver-standard countries. International business relations.
(k) Money and prices under the bimetallic standard.
Effect of increased production of either metal on the monetary circulation and on the price level. Reaction on relative prices of the metals. Reason of the breakdown of bimetallic monetary systems. Speculations regarding the influence of international bimetallism.
(l) Money and prices in countries with undeveloped banking systems.
The business world at the time of the discovery of the Mexican and Peruvian mines. Diffusion of the new supplies over Europe. Effect on the price level.
The case of backward countries in the nineteenth century.
(m) Money and prices in countries with paper standards.
How the paper money gets into circulation. Why depreciation occurs. Withdrawal of specie from circulation and its effect on prices in specie-standard countries. Factors affecting the specie value of irredeemable paper money. Effect on the price level. Methods of resuming specie payments. Effect of resumption on the price level at home and abroad.
6—Effects of Changes in the Price Level on the Distribution, Production and Consumption of Wealth.
(a) Wages.
Immediate effect on purchasing power of money wages. Attempts to readjust rates of wages. Compensating effects on regularity of employment. The ease of professional men.
(b) Interest and relations between debtors and creditors.
Immediate effect. Difference between cases of loans on long and short time. Readjustments in rates of interest. The purchasing power of the principal.
(c) Rents.
Immediate effects. Long and short leases. Renting “on shares.” Attempts to readjust rates.
(d) Profits.
Gain or loss of residual claimants resulting from loss or gain of other classes. Effect of difference in complexity of business organization. Gain or loss resulting from inequality in the price fluctuations of different commodities.
(e) Production and consumption.
Effect of above noted changes in distribution on production and consumption. How far is the world’s economic progress dependent on variations in the production of gold?
7—Conclusion.
Purpose of preceding discussion is to account for changes in the price level and their economic consequences. Difficulties attending application of the analysis; the difficulty of obtaining adequate statistical material, and the difficulty of quantitative evaluation of the various price factors. A study of the changes in the price level of the United States since 1890 is made in Economics 25.
Source: University of California, Department of Economics and Commerce. Topics and references for economics 8B. Money. Berkeley: The University Press, 1906.
Image Source: 1922 Blue and Gold. Published by the Junior Class of The University of California.