Category: Chicago

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Chicago Courses Problem Sets Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Intermediate Economic Theory for Non-Majors, ca. 1933

Element from Social Science Research Bldg at U of Chicago

 

 

Today’s post is provides an undated reading list, a partial course outline and the preliminary motivating statement for an intermediate level undergraduate course in economic theory targeted to non-majors in the University of Chicago’s Division of Social Sciences. This material was found in a folder in George Stigler’s papers. He was a student at the University of Chicago from 1933-1936, but it is unlikely that he took this course. One presumes he acquired a copy on his own account then. As far as the authorship, I have not had time to compare this material with that of Henry C. Simons cited in the following bibliographic tip. However the style does appear to have Simons’ handwriting all over it. Kyrk and Mints also regularly taught this course during these years.

Bibliographic Tip:  Notes to Henry Calvert Simons’ Course Economics 201 (1933-34) taken by F. Taylor Ostrander and Helen Hiett were published in Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology. Volume 23, Part 2. Documents from F. Taylor Ostrander, Warren J. Samuels (ed.). Emerald, 2005.

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Course Description

201. The Divisional Course in Economics.—A survey of price and distribution, monetary, and cycle theory, developed chiefly through the use of a series of problems. The course is designed primarily to meet the needs of students who are majoring in departments other than Economics and who expect to take the Divsional Comprehensive Examination in Social Science. Prerequisite: Social Science I and II or equivalent, or consent of instructor.

Source: University of Chicago. Announcements, Arts, Literature and Science (for the sessions 1933-34), vol. XXXIII, March 25, 1933, No. 8, p. 265.

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ECONOMICS 201
MATERIALS AND PROBLEMS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION

ASSIGNMENTS

Indispensable Reading, first five weeks:

Henderson, H. D., Supply and Demand (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1922. $1.25).

This short treatise should provide a good review of previous work (it is among the materials for Social Science I). It should be read promptly, to renew acquaintance with the terminology and central propositions of economic theory; and the relevant chapters should be re-read later on, in connection with the class discussion of special topics.

Knight, F. H., in Syllabus and Selected Readings for Social Science II, pages 125-250.

This is also a review assignment; but no other material is likely to prove more valuable in connection with the first part of this course.

The first section (pages 125-137), on “Social Economic Organization and Its Five Primary Functions,” should be read promptly, in connection with the class discussion of the first week.

Ely, R. T. et al., Outlines of Economics, 5th ed. (New York, 1930), Chapters IX, X, XI, XX, and Appendix A. (The corresponding chapters in the 4th edition will serve equally well for this course.)

The first three of these chapters should be read as one assignment. The first part of Chapter XI deals with what are, from the point of view of this course, highly controversial questions. Chapter XX merits very careful study.

Gray, Alexander, The Development of Economic Doctrine (New York, 1931), Chapters III, V, and VI.

The chapters should acquaint students with the main ideas of the mercantilists, and of Hume, Adam Smith, Malthus, and Ricardo. Appendix A of the Ely book should be read in connection with this assignment.

Indispensable Reading, last five weeks:

Roberson, D. H., Money, new edition revised (new York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1929. $1.25).

This is an excellent, concise treatise by a leading English (Cambridge) economist. It should be studied with care, preferably in advance of class discussion of money and banking.

Ely, R. T. et al., Outlines of Economics, 5th ed., Chapters XIII to XVIII inclusive.

These chapters also merit careful, deliberate study.

Gregory, T. E., The Gold Standard and its Future, 2nd (or 1st) ed., London (and New York), 1932.

An unusually fine treatise, excellent for its fundamental analysis, and closely relevant to currently interesting and urgent problems.

Optional Reading:

Ely, R. T. et al., Outlines of Economics.

Gray, Alexander, The Development of Economic Doctrine.

Cassel, Gustav, Fundamental Thoughts on Economics.

Cassel, Gustav, The Theory of Social Economy (Barron translation), Book I and Book II.

Marshall, Alfred, Principles of Economics, 8th edition, especially Book V.

Hardy, Charles O., Credit Policies of the Federal Reserve System.

 

Preliminary

Economics 201: Its Place in the Curriculum:

This course is intended primarily for students preparing for the Divisional Examinations, and not for students majoring in the Department of Economics. It is designed for students who have had Social Science I and Social Science II in the College, and for those students transferring to the Social Science Division from other colleges who have had some previous work in economics. In general, the course will presuppose some familiarity with the terminology of economics and some ability to follow careful analysis.

General Description of Content of the Course:

The course falls, as to subject matter, into two main parts. The first six weeks will be devoted to study of “price theory”—to study of the forces governing, in an exchange economy, the determination of relative prices and the allocation of resources among different, alternative uses (assuming a money economy but disregarding, or abstracting from, monetary disturbances and cyclical fluctuations). This part of the course is designed to give students a critical understanding, first and above all, of how a competitive system works and, second, of how the introduction of monopoly in particular areas will affect relative prices and relative production. The latter part of the course will be devoted to study of money, banking, and business cycles—to study of factors governing the general level of prices and, more especially, to analysis of forces underlying the cumulative, self-aggravating maladjustments of booms and depressions.

The total quantity of required reading is intended to be moderate; and it is to be hoped that students will do this relatively small amount of reading with considerable care — with serious effort to comprehend thoroughly and to understand, rather than with the intention of accumulating information or memorizing propositions. If a student must choose between doing all the reading but doing it hastily, and doing a smaller amount with care, the latter procedure will prove decidedly more profitable. The assignments are designed, however, to eliminate the necessity of such a choice.

Most of the class hours will be devoted to discussion of specific problem-exercises designed to bring out, and to give precision to, the central concepts and propositions of price theory and monetary theory. Little effort will be made to relate the class discussions from day to day to particular parts of the assignments; but familiarity with the required readings will always be helpful, and sometimes indispensable, to understanding of problems dealt with in class.

A considerable part of the student’s outside work should be devoted to assimilating and organizing in his own mind the content of discussions in class. Students should make a special effort to acquire facility with the language of more rigorous economics — with the main terms and concepts —, to understand clearly the assumptions under which particular analytical arguments proceed, to digest the analysis of particular problems as it proceeds in class, and to prepare themselves to carry on the discussion from day to day. Above all, they should try to discover at what points the content of class discussions has been unclear; and they should feel not only free, but actually obligated, to raise questions in class to clear up any confusion. If any individual feels hesitant about asking questions, let him remember that one can hardly raise a question about systematic economic argument which is so simple that most other students will not profit from its discussion.

Students are certain to find this course a more profitable and stimulating intellectual experience if they do their work, at least occasionally, with other students. This is especially true with reference to study of the various problem-exercises. Students can gain a great deal, by way of understanding, if they try to explain things to each other, if they criticize other people’s explanations, and if they attempt to argue out of differences of opinion. It is hard to develop real facility with definitions, concepts, and propositions merely by reading — or by talking to one’s self.

 

Headings from Course Outline
(63 pages)

INTRODUCTION

Definition of Economics and of Its Point of View

Basic Functions or Tasks in an Economic System or Organization

GENERAL PRICE THEORY

[Introduction]

General View of the Pricing Process

The Phenomenon of Industrial Fluctuations and Unemployment, digression

Circularity of the Pricing Process

The Pricing Process: EQUILIBRIUM

The Pricing Process for a Short Period

Conditions of Equilibrium

The Pricing Process over Long Periods

Some Conditions of Long-run Equilibrium

Some Interpretations of the Equilibrium Arrangements

Complexity and Intricacy of the Inter-relations

Some Supplementary Remarks

DEMAND, DEMAND FUNCTIONS, AND ELASTICITY OF DEMAND

Confusion as to Usage of the Word “Demand”

Utility, Utility Functions, and Demand Functions

Elasticity of Demand

COST OF PRODUTION AND PRICE UNDER COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS

Problem Exercise I

Preliminary Exercises
Conditions of Equilibrium in the Industry
Conditions of Demand

[missing pages 40-53]

MONOPOLY AND MONOPOLY PRICE

Contrasts between Complete Monopoly and Perfect Competition

Production and Prices under a special case of Partial Monopoly, “The Economics of Cartels”

An Arithmetic Exercise

 

Source:  University of Chicago Archives. George Stigler Papers,  Addenda, Box 24, Folder “Economics 201”.

Image Source:  Architectural element of the Social Science Research Building (1929). University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-07449, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Chicago Curriculum

Chicago. Foreign Language Requirements for Ph.D. 1931-68

 

This post is a fairly straightforward pair of memos from 1968 that provide a chronology of the foreign language requirement for the Ph.D. in the Division of Social Sciences from 1931 to 1968 as well as a particular substitution of additional foreign language training for matrix algebra in 1968.

Language requirements at Columbia in 1950.

___________________________

January 12, 1968

TO: Faculty, Division of the Social Sciences

FROM: D. Gale Johnson, Dean Division of the Social Sciences

In re: Foreign Language requirements for the Ph.D.

At a meeting of the faculty of the Division of the Social Sciences held November 18, 1931, the following statement was adopted as one of the requirements for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D.:

“The ability, demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Board of Examiners, to read two foreign modern languages approved by the department or interdepartmental committee, one of which must be French or German. It is advised that this requirement be met as early as possible in the student’s program of study.”

On January 15, 1943, the faculty of the Division modified the language requirement and made it read as follows:

“Demonstration of the ability to use one or more foreign languages effectively toward the objective of the student’s academic program. This ability in the case of at least one language will be tested by: (I) the passing of an examination administered and evaluated by the Board of Examinations; and (II) in addition to the examination, the writing of the paper or series of papers, or oral work, judge satisfactory by the Department in connection with the student’s program of study, in which extensive use is made of works in the foreign language. Departments may at their discretion specify the particular foreign language or languages required of their candidates for the doctorate. Exceptions in individual cases may be made by the Dean of Students on the recommendation of aDepartment.”

At its meeting on December 4, 1967, the faculty of the Division approved the following motion:

“That each Department or Committee in the Division should have the right to substitute for the divisional language requirement for the Ph.D. degree a requirement that the student demonstrate proficiency in a substantive field other than that of the department in question. The degree of proficiency to be required in such a field should be comparable or superior to that represented by the present divisional language requirement. The department at its option, may require that proficiency be demonstrated in a particular substantive field or may leave to the student, in some or all cases, the option of deciding whether to demonstrate proficiency in a language or a substantive field.”

If a department or committee wishes to act under the motion approved by the faculty of the Division Mr. Zimring and I urge that it do so with reasonable promptness to permit students to make their plans with full information concerning the requirements. Until a department or committee has taken action and so informs the Office of the Dean, it will be assumed that the language requirement as it existed on December 1, 1967, shall continue in force.

At the time a department or committee takes action, if any, to modify its language requirement, it should indicate the date on which any changes become effective and that date could be within a few days after action has been taken. I feel that before a departmental or committee action is made effective that Mr. Zimring should be given time to study it and to determine if his interpretation is the one that has been intended.

Mr. Zimring and I strongly urge that departments and committees accept a self-denying ordinance, namely the changes in the requirements will not be made more than once a year and the changes affecting 1968-69 be made by March 15, 1968.

The action taken with respect to the divisional language requirement does not change current procedures with respect to examination if the department retains a language requirement. It is my interpretation that while departments can require a supplementary or additional examination to be administered by the department, it cannot dispense with the examinations given by the Office of the University Examiner.

DGJ:BP

___________________________

 

Department of Economics                             University of Chicago

May, 1968

 

To: Graduate Students, Department of Economics

From: Arnold C. Harberger, Chairman

Re: Revision in Foreign Language/Mathematics Requirement

Foreign Language and Mathematics Requirement

Each Ph.D. candidate, before admission to candidacy for the Ph.D., must demonstrate effective command of relevant mathematical tools, including calculus and matrix algebra. The Department of Economics will accept three courses in calculus (mathematics 151, 152, and 154, or equivalent), and one course in linear algebra (mathematics 250, 252, Business 372, or equivalent) as meeting, respectively, the calculus and matrix algebra requirements.

In place of demonstration of competence in matrix algebra, students may opt to demonstrate proficiency at a high level in a foreign language by means of an examination administered by the Office of the University Examiner and must demand to the satisfaction of the Department ability to translate at site with reasonable ease material in economics in the foreign language. Any foreign language other than Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, or Swedish must be approved by the Department.

 

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman, Box 194, Folder “194.9 Economics Dept. A-G”.

Image: Lecture Hall 1, Social Science Research Building. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-07482, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Chicago

Chicago. Soliciting Contributions of Alumni/ae to Fund for Graduate Fellowships, 1931

Scarcely a week goes by for anyone with a Ph.D. these days that does not bring some sort of request for a financial contribution from the one or other alma mater. I can easily imagine that the sort of letter transcribed below from the head of the department of economics at the University of Chicago was still something of a novelty in 1931.

Looking at the list of the former Chicago economics fellows from whom contributions had been requested, I noticed that the first four names are alphabetically arranged, the next four names are likewise alphabetically arranged, the next four names (with one exception) are also so arranged as are the next two and the final three. The facts, that (i) the sample letter (December 16, 1931 to Trevor Arnett) was addressed to the 13th person on the list and (ii) dated only two days before the cover letter to University of Chicago Trustee James Stifler was sent, lead me to conclude that Chairman Millis had a response rate of two for the dozen letters he first sent out. I am somewhat surprised he even sent off his letter to James Stifler before receiving at least one positive response. Maybe Millis was told something like “Why don’t you folks write to some of your earlier fellows and ask for money” and he just wanted to show for the record that he had tried.

___________________________________

 

The University of Chicago
Department of Economics

December 18, 1931

Dr. James M. Stifler
The President’s Office
Faculty Exchange

Dear Mr. Stifler:

I enclose a carbon copy of a letter written to Mr. Arnett, one of the former fellows in Economics, and a list of the seventeen persons to whom such letters were sent. For your information, I may say that to date I have had only two replies, both of them in terms of “I regret.”

Sincerely yours
[signed]
H. A. Millis

 

HAM-W
Encl.

___________________________________

 

December 16, 1931

COPY

 

Mr. Trevor Arnett
General Education Board
61 Broadway
New York City

Dear Mr. Arnett:

I have talked over an idea I have had for some time with a few men who have held fellowships in Economics at the University of Chicago, and, finding a favorable reaction to it, now write you. The idea is this: that those of us who feel so inclined should contribute at our convenience some part of all of the stipend received when fellows to a fund to finance fellowships in Economics at the University. The underlying thought is that there is a good case for those of us who were fortunate enough to have assistance at a crucial time in our training to lend help to others in the generation following us. The need for well trained men is great; many very promising young men and women cannot get the necessary training without some financial aid. Last year, for example, our Department had 175 applications for fellowships and scholarships. Twenty of the applicants for fellowships, and twenty-seven altogether, we graded as A-1, but, with some funds secured from the outside, we were able to grant fellowships to only six of the twenty. From the information I have, it would appear that more than one-half of the remaining fourteen have had to forego entirely or postpone their program of work leading to the doctorate in Economics here or elsewhere. Next year we shall have less fellowship money from the sources available this year.

Do you feel inclined to join some of us in this plan? If you do, will you not write me and state to what extent you wish to contribute and when? In making your decision, you will, of course, keep in mind that there is no desire to exert pressure upon any one, and that there is no thought that a fellowship granted has not been fully earned.

Sincerely yours,
H. A. Millis

HAM-W

 

List of those written:

1. Professor Henry Rand Hatfield Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, California
2. Dr. Simon J. McLean Board of Railway Commissioners, Ottawa, Canada
3. George G. Tunell The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, Railway Exchange Building, Chicago, Ill.
4. Professor Henry P. Willis Columbia University, New York City
5. Professor C. A. Arbuthnot Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
6. Dr. Earl Dean Howard Hart, Schaffner & Marx, 36 South Franklin Street, Chicago, Illinois
7. Professor W. W. Swanson Department of Economics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
8. Miss Anna Pritchitt Youngman 97 Columbia Heights Post Office, Brooklyn, New York
9. Professor H. G. Moulton The Brookings Institution, 744 Jackson Place, Washington, D.C.
10. Professor W. C. Mitchell c/o D. H. MacGregor, Oxford University, Oxford, England
11. Professor Duncan A. MacGibbon Board of Grain Commissioners, Winnipeg, Canada
12. Professor James A. Moffat University of Indiana, Bloomington, Indiana
13. Mr. Trevor Arnett General Education Board, 61 Broadway, New York City
14. Professor Stephen B. Leacock McGill University, Montreal, Canada
15. Professor Spurgeon Bell Department of Economics, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
16. Miss Hazel Kyrk University of Chicago, Faculty Exchange
17. Professor Sumner Slichter School of Business Administration, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

___________________________________

 

[Carbon copy]

December 21, 1931

 

Dear Mr. Millis:

I have received and read with great interest the letter which you sent to Mr. Trevor Arnett. It seems to me to be an excellent letter and I do not see how anybody could object to it.

I fancy that you may receive some further regrets but I hope that there may be a considerable number who will feel that they can fall in with the plan.

Faithfully yours,

James M. Stifler

Mr. H. A. Millis
Department of Economics
Faculty Exchange

___________________________________

 

 

Source: University of Chicago Archives. Office of the President. Hutchins Administration. Records. Box 72, Folder “Economics Dept, 1929-1931”.

Image: Social Science Building, University of Chicago.

 

Categories
Chicago Courses Economists Gender Home Economics

Chicago. Remedial Economics Course for Entering Graduate Students, Hazel Kyrk. 1926

 

Today’s artifact documents a working link between the educational programs of the Chicago Department of Political Economy and the Department of Home Economics and Household Administration in the person of Hazel Kyrk, a pioneer in the fields of consumer and family economics. From the brief memo written by the chair of the department of political economy, L. C. Marshall, we see that Kyrk was tasked with teaching a course that would be open to seniors in the College and to entering graduate students for either home economics or economics “who have not had work in this field”. By “advanced” one presumes an accelerated introductory course perhaps covering the material of a couple of freshman level courses. Still it is interesting to see that a graduate student in 1926, completely innocent of all formal economic training, could start the graduate program of economics with (or after) only a quarter of remedial education.

I have added to this post the course listings for the year before the creation of the new course Economics 202 (The Economic Order, Advanced Course) and the following year.

For more about Hazel Kyrk: Andrea H. Beller and D. Elizabeth Kiss. “On the Contribution of Hazel Kyrk to Family Economics” (June 2008). 

A chronology of her career is included on my page of Chicago economics Ph.D.’s 1894-1926. 

_______________________________________

 

Carbon Copy of Memo from L.C. Marshall

May 22, [19]26

[To:] J. M. Clark, P. H. Douglas, J. A. Field, Hazel Kyrk, L. W. Mints, H. A. Millis, W. H. Spencer, C. W. Wright, Jacob Viner

[From:] L. C. Marshall

I have arranged with Miss Blunt to have Home Economics 141 dropped and to substitute for this course Economics 202, The Economic Order, Advanced Course, prerequisite 18 majors, given by Miss Hazel Kyrk.

As will be apparent from this statement Miss Kyrk’s work will serve as a one major survey of the economic order for senior college and graduate students who have had no previous work in economics. There is a considerable constituency of such persons who need this work as a preliminary to their work in Home Economics. Then, too, as time goes on we shall probably be under the necessity of offering this course once each quarter for our own senior college and first year graduate students who have not had work in this field. This latter matter, however, is one for later adjustment.

LCM:MLN

Source: University of Chicago Archives. Department of Economics. Records. Box 22, Folder 7.

_______________________________________

 

General and (Some) Intermediate Course Listings

1925-26

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

A. General Survey Course

101*. Industrial Society.—Mj. Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring, Professor Marshall and Others.

[*Limited-credit course: After a student has credit for 18 majors but less than 27, this course will be credited at one-half major; after he has credit for 27 majors, it will not be credited at all.]

See also Home Economics 141. The Household in Modern Industrial Society.

 

B. Intermediate Courses

201. Principles of Economics.—Mj. Spring, —

[…]

Source: University of Chicago. Annual Register covering the Academic Year Ending June 30, 1925, with Announcements for the Year 1925-1926. P. 146.

1926-27

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

A. General Survey Course

101. Industrial Society.—Mj. Summer, 8:00, Dr. Montgomery.

102*, 103, 104. The Economic Order I, II, III.—Mj. Autumn, Winter, and Spring, Professor Marshall and Others.

[*Limited-credit course: After a student has credit for 18 majors but less than 27, this course will be credited at one-half major; after he has credit for 27 majors, it will not be credited at all.]

 

B. Intermediate Courses

201. Principles of Economics.—Mj. Winter, 10:00, Mr. Palyi; Spring, —

202. Economic Order, Advanced Course.—Mj. Autumn, 1:30, Associate Professor Kyrk and Assistant Professor Mints.

[…]

 

Source: University of Chicago. Annual Register covering the Academic Year Ending June 30, 1926, with Announcements for the Year 1926-1927. P. 138.

 

 

1927-28

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

A. General Survey Course

102*, 103, 104. The Economic Order I, II, III.—Mj. Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Spring, 8:00, 11:00 and 1:30, Professor Marshall and Others.

[*Limited-credit course: After a student has credit for 18 majors but less than 27, this course will be credited at one-half major; after he has credit for 27 majors, it will not be credited at all.]

See also Home Economics 141. The Household in Modern Industrial Society.

 

B. Intermediate Courses

201. Intermediate Economic Theory.—Mj. Autumn, Winter, Spring, 8:00, Professor Douglas, Associate Professor Sorrell, and Assistant Professor Cox

202. Economic Order.—Mj. Autumn, Winter, and Spring, 9:00, Associate Professor Kyrk and Assistant Professor Mints.

[…]

Source: University of Chicago. Annual Register covering the Academic Year Ending June 30, 1927, with Announcements for the Year 1927-1928. P. 162.

_______________________________________

 

Image Source: Photo of Hazel Kyrk from her 1918 U. S. Passport Application. National Archives. Roll 0504, 20 April 1918.

 

 

 

Categories
Chicago Courses Exam Questions Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. International Trade and Finance. Jacob Viner, 1933.

 

The first four pages of written notes taken by Milton Friedman for Jacob Viner’s course, International Trade and Finance, provide something of a course syllabus and list of suggested reading assignments. The notes are undated but in his civil service job applications, Friedman provided a list of courses by university, semester or quarter and course instructor. Milton Friedman took Jacob Viner’s course during the Winter quarter (January to mid-March) of 1933. Generally Friedman’s handwriting is easy to read, knowing the context, though some checking of authors’ names was required. I provide one sample from a particulary difficult five or six lines and welcome any alternative readings. Otherwise I am extremely confident in my transcription.

Elsewhere in his files, Milton Friedman had what appears to be a later photocopy of an exam for this course. The folder is labelled “Biographical: Class Exams circa 1932-1938”. “University of Chicago” and “Milton Friedman” are handwritten on the photocopy of the original typed copy of the exam.

Don Patinkin took the same course that was still taught by Viner in 1944: the course outline, readings and some exam questions are available in an earlier post.

_____________________________

International Economic Relations: Course Description

[Economics] 370. International Trade and Finance.—This course deals with the theory of international values, the mechanism of adjustment of international balances, foreign-exchange theory, the international aspects of monetary and banking theory, and tariff theory. Prerequisite: Economics 301 or its equivalent. Winter, Viner.

 

Source: University of Chicago. Announcements. Arts, Literature and Science, vol. XXXII, no. 12 (for the sessions of 1932-33), p. 361.

_____________________________

From Milton Friedman’s Course Notes

✓Mun England’s Treasure Ch. 2, 3, 4, 5, 20, 21

✓Hume Essays Moral & Political. Vol I—Essays (of Commerce/of the Balance of Trade)

✓Viner   Early English Theories. J.P.E. June & Aug, 1930. All of June article. pp. 418-431, 442-448 in Aug. article.

 

Bullionist Controversy

✓Silbering, Fin[ancial] & Mon[etary] Policy [of Great Britain During the Napoleonic Wars] Qu. Jour of Ec 1924

✓Angell ch III & Appendix A

✓Ricardo High Price of Bullion in works also in Gonner. Ricardo’s Essays

✓Viner Canada’s Balance, pp. 191-20[last digit smeared, might be “4”]

J.P.E. Oct 1926 pp. 600-608

✓J.S. Mill Principles Bk III Ch XXIV

✓Walker Money. Ch XIX & XX

Mill Principles Book III, Ch XIX, XX, XXI, XXII

Taussig, International Trade. Ch XVII, XVIII

 

1) Canada’s Balance pp. 202-212, 145-190

Angell pp. 170-174, 505-510

2) Ohlin. Is the Young Plan Feasible? Index Feb 1930

3) Angell-Q.J.E. May 1928

Rogers in Recent Ec. Changes Vol. II, Ch. II
Taussig, Int. Trade 325-332

4) Moulton on War Debts in Schanz Festgabe [Festgabe für Georg von Schanz zum 75 Geburtstag. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr. 1928. 2 vols. Papers by Beckerath, Lotz, Jèze, Einaudi, Stamp, Moulton, and others.]

____________________

with respect to 1) find answer:

  1. to what factor does Viner assign & to what factor does Angell says Viner assigns the immediate responsibility for the rise in prices. Also to what fact[or] he assigns it.
  2. What role does Viner assign & what role does Angell say Viner assigns & what role does Angell assign to the expansion of Canadian Bank loans.
  3. What is order of priority acc[ording] to Viner & acc[ording] to Ang[ell] of fluctuation in Canada bank demand liabilites & outside reserves.
  4. (cf. th[eory] by Mill or Tau[ssig]) If outside reserves was held as gold in Canada what role in the mechanism would the classical theory assign to them

 

Comparative Costs

Ricardo-Principles ch 7

Viner Welt-Archiv Oct, 1932

____________________

Manoïslesco Theory of Protection [Reviewed by Viner in JPE, Feb. 1932, pp. 121-125]

Grunzel Joseph. Handbuch der internationalen Handelspolitik (probably)]

Cherbuliez [, Antoine] Précis de la Science E., pp. 375-391

Walras “Théorie du Libre Échange. Revue d’Économique Politique XI (1897) pp. 651-664

or ‘Études d’Éc. Pol. Applique, pp. 286-304 [1898 reprint of previous article].

Pareto-Cours

Angell

Taussig. Int. Trade

Weber, Alfred. “Die Standortslehre und die Handelspolitik Archiv für Sozial. XXXII (1911) 667-688
____________________
Choose one & in about 10 days give appraisal thereof.

J.S. Mill Principles Bk III Ch XVII XVIII

Marshall. Money Credit & Commerce Bk III Ch VI, VII, VIII Appendix J[?] pp. 330-342

Terms of Trade

Taussig: Int. Trade see Index under Barter Terms of Trade.

Yntema Ch. 5.

Wilson Capital Imports, Ch 4.

Depreciated Paper

Taussig, Int. Trade 336-408

Graham Exchange Prices & Prod. in Germany. 97-99; 117-149

Cassel Money & Foreign Exchange after 1914, pp. 137-186

Cassel The Treatment of Price Problems. Ec J. Dec 1928

Ohlin International Trade Relations. Index Aug 1930

Bastable. Theory of Int’l Trade Ch 6.

League of Nations. [Financial Committee] Report of Gold Delegation, 1932 [Official no.: C.502.M.243.1932.II.A]

____________________

Read letter in last issue of Economica of a letter on the true something or other.

 

Source: Hoover Institution. Milton Friedman Papers, Box 120, Bound notes (Economics 370/J. Viner/10 a.m. S.S.B. 107).

_____________________________

Final Exam Questions Winter Quarter 1932-33

Economics 370

  1. Write notes on the following:
    1. “Increasing Returns” and the Comparative Cost Doctrine
    2. The “Law of Reciprocal Demand” and the “Equation of International Exchange.”
    3. The possibilities of partial specialization under free trade.
  1.       a.  Discuss the part played by international shifts in money incomes in adjusting balances of payments to international capital movements.
    b.  Explain briefly the part played in the lending country in connection with the same process by bank deposits and by bank loans.
  2. “The principles governing the rate of exchange may be illustrated by the following mechanical example. Represent two countries by two cisterns, and their stock of legal tender money by water, so that the depth of the water in either cistern may be taken to be the general level of prices in the corresponding country. If water cannot pass from either cistern to the other any divergence of depth may be produced at will by adjusting the respective quantities of water in them. This corresponds to the case of countries with independent currencies. If, however, the water can flow through a pipe leading from the base of one cistern to the base of the other, the depths in the two cisterns will always be identical.”
    Hawtrey, Good and Bad Trade, 1913, pp. 109-110.
    Comment briefly.

 

Source: Hoover Institution. Milton Friedman Papers, Box 115, Folder 13. “Biographical: Class Exams circa 1932-1938”.

Categories
Chicago Economists

Chicago. Visiting Professorship Offered Schumpeter for 1926

 

Joseph Schumpeter did not teach at the University of Chicago in 1926 but he was sent a cable offering him $4000 to teach  during the  five months April through August 1926. No reply was filed with the exchange of letters between the President’s Office and the Department of Political Economy and the copy of the cable sent to Schumpeter’s address in Vienna. I would guess that the Chicago colleagues were unaware that Schumpeter had just been appointed to a professorship in Bonn in 1925. In November 1925 Schumpeter was married in a Lutheran church in Vienna, so perhaps he actually saw the informal offer.

I have added “[sic]” after the street address given for Schumpeter in Vienna. An umlaut was added, presumably by someone who thought Schumpeter’s street could use a diacritical mark. The street got its name to honor the Royal Counselor (and unumlauted) Johann Peter Strudel von Strudenhof (1648-1714).

Salaries for the 1926-27 year (found in the budget recommendations for 1927-1928) ranged from $8000 for the head of the department, L. C. Marshall (Professor) through $6000 for Jacob Viner (Professor) to $3250 for L.W. Mints (Assistant Professor) so that $4000 for two quarters of teaching was a pretty generous offer.

______________________________________________

Letter from Vice President Tufts to Professor Field

[COPY]

8 October 1925

Professor James A. Field
Faculty Exchange

Dear Professor Field:

Confirming our conversation, it was the judgment of the President in consultation with Mr. Arnett and myself that in view of our present financial situation we could not go beyond the provision of the budget as would be required if Professor Schumpeter were to be invited for three quarters. The suggestion was made for the consideration of the Department that it might consider an offer, preferable for one quarter or perhaps for two quarters, one of these to be the summer quarter, for which there would be funds in the present budget. If he were to be invited for two quarters the understanding is that he might be offered four thousand dollars. If for a single quarter a larger proportionate sum would doubtless be necessary, as for example twenty-five hundred dollars, although we have had several distinguished men from Europe for the summer quarter whom we have paid eighteen hundred or two thousand dollars.

The Department will of course consider whether this appointment would be its best use of the available funds.

Very truly yours,

James H. Tufts

JHT.p

______________________________________________

 

Response by Prof. Field to Vice-President James H. Tufts

The University of Chicago
Department of Political Economy

October 8th, 1925.

Mr. James H. Tufts,
Vice-president
The University of Chicago

Dear Mr. Tufts:

At our departmental meeting this noon we discussed at some length the proposal to invite Professor Schumpeter to give instruction here in the Spring and Summer quarters of the coming year. We were unanimously of the opinion that both our Summer schedule and our general departmental situation would be very much strengthened if Professor Schumpeter could be induced to come on the terms suggested in your memorandum, namely four thousand dollars ($4,000) for the two quarters.

We shall be glad, therefore, if the president’s office will extend an invitation to Professor Schumpeter. In order that we may lose no time, either in reaching him or in obtaining his tentative answer, we suggest that a cablegram be sent him asking if he would consider an appointment on the proposed terms, requesting an answer by return cable, and indicating that if his provisional answer is favorable we will write him a letter explaining fully the sort of arrangement we are proposing and the character of the work which would be assigned to him. The cablegram should presumably specify the actual dates at which his term of service would begin and end. Professor Schumpeter’s address is Strüdlhofgasse [sic] 17, Vienna IX.

If you feel that you need any additional information before you cable Professor Schumpeter will you be good enough to let me know at once? Our hope of getting him probably depends on quick action.

Sincerely yours,

[signed| James A. Field

JAP-mk

______________________________________________

 

WESTERN UNION CABLEGRAM

October 12, 1925

Professor Schumpeter
Strüdlhofgasse [sic] 17
Vienna IX

Would you consider teaching this university April first to September first next Cable and if yes letter will explain details Honorarium four thousand dollars

President University Chicago

Prepay and charge
The University of Chicago (President’s Office)

 

Source: University of Chicago, Department of Special Collections. Office of the President. Mason Administration. Records. Box 24, Folder “24/1 Economics Department appointments and budgets 1925-1927”.

Categories
Chicago Economists Harvard

Harvard. Jacob Viner Beats Paul Douglas for Ricardo Prize Scholarship, 1916

 

Jacob Viner and Paul Douglas were not only colleagues at the University of Chicago, they also overlapped briefly in graduate school at Harvard in 1915-16. The Ricardo prize scholarship  that they both competed for was worth $350 and considerably exceeded the regular annual tuition-fee, e.g., for a newly enrolled (1916-17) full-time, resident student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences annual tuition was $200. Since both were already enrolled in 1915-16, they would have been charged the tuition fee published in the earlier catalogue for 1915-16 that I have not yet hunted down. One might  speculate that Douglas had hoped to complete his Ph.D. at Harvard but that he needed to win the scholarship…or perhaps “honorable mention” was not honorable enough for him. In any event, Douglas went on to receive his Ph.D. from Columbia University. In all fairness, Viner was in his second year at Harvard and could use the Ricardo prize scholarship exam in April as a dress rehearsal for his Ph.D. examinations that he took the next month.

________________________

Ricardo Prize Exam. Will be Held in Upper Dane Tomorrow

Harvard Crimson, April 4, 1916

The Ricardo Prize Scholarship examination will be held in Upper Dane Hall tomorrow at 2 o’clock. The scholarship is valued at $350, and is open to anyone who is this year a member of the University, and who will next year be either a member of the Senior class or of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Each candidate will write in the examination room an essay on a topic chosen by himself from a list not previously announced, in economics and political science. In addition, statements of previous studies, and any written work, must be submitted by every candidate to the Chairman of the Department of Economics not later than the time of the examination. The man who wins the scholarship must devote the majority of his time next year to economics and political studies.

________________________

Ricardo Prize Scholarship

The Ricardo Prize Scholarship for 1916-17 has been awarded to Jacob Viner, A.M., of Montreal, Quebec, a second-year student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Honorable mention has been awarded to Paul Howard Douglas, A.M., of Cambridge, a first-year student in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Source: Harvard University Gazette, Vol. XI, No. 34, May 13, 1916, p. 181 .

Image Source: Collage of details taken from photos apf1-08488 (Viner) and  apf1-05851 (Douglas) from University of Chicago Photographic Archive, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Chicago Cornell Economists Harvard

Harvard and Chicago. Harvard Class of 1873 reports from J. Laurence Laughlin 1879-1913


James Laurence Laughlin (1850-1933) was the founding head of the Department of Political Economy at the University of Chicago. One earlier post provided a mid-career biographical sketch of Laughlin and another his proposal at Cornell to expand the economics course offerings. Also of interest is his list of suggested titles for a personal library of economics as of 1887.

When compared to the notes submitted to the respective Harvard Class Secretaries,   Frank W. Taussig (Class of 1879) or Robert Franz Foerster (Class of 1909), Laughlin appears to have had a less intense filial attachment to his alma mater.

______________________________

1879

JAMES LAWRENCE [sic] LAUGHLIN.

Secretary has heard nothing from him. At last accounts he was teaching school in Boston

Source: The Second Triennial Report of the Secretary of the Class of 1873 of Harvard College. Boston, Geo. H. Ellis Press, Commencement 1879. Page 18.

_______________________________

1883

JAMES LAWRENCE [sic] LAUGHLIN.

Received degree of Ph. D. from Harvard in 1876 and was appointed instructor in Political Economy in 1878. Has been made Assistant Professor in the same department the current year. Has been a contributor to the “Atlantic,” “International,” etc. Was married September 9, 1875, to Alice McGuffey of Cincinnati. A daughter, Agatha, was born January 3, 1880, and his wife died January 11, 1880.

Source: The Third Triennial Report of the Secretary of the Class of 1873 of Harvard College. Newport, Davis & Pitman, Commencement 1883. Page 17.

_______________________________

1885

JAMES LAWRENCE [sic] LAUGHLIN.

Assistant professor of political economy at Cambridge. Has published ” Laughlin’s Mill’s Political Economy,” and written a few magazine articles. Was married to Miss H. M. Pitman, Sept. 4, 1883.

Source: The Fourth Triennial Report of the Secretary of the Class of 1873 of Harvard College. Boston, Rand, Avery, & Co., Commencement 1885. Page 14.

_______________________________

1888

JAMES LAURENCE LAUGHLIN.

626 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. “I have written a new book : ‘The Elements of Political Economy; with some applications to Questions of the Day,’ in 1887, and it has gone into a second edition. ‘Gold and Prices since 1873;’ a study on the so-called appreciation of gold, etc., etc. My ‘History of Bimetalism,’ has gone into its second edition; and my edition of ‘Mill,’ into its fourth or fifth. I have resigned my position in Cambridge, and

have come to Philadelphia to take the management of an Insurance Co., the ‘Philadelphia Manufacturers Mutual Fire Insurance Co.;’ but shall continue my economic writing.”

Source: The Fifth Triennial Report of the Secretary of the Class of 1873 of Harvard College. Boston, S. J. Parkhill & Co., Commencement 1888. Page 21.

_______________________________

1891

JAMES LAWRENCE [sic] LAUGHLIN.
“I am Professor of Political Economy and Finance at Cornell University and see Jack White every day. These are my two distinctions since last writing.”

[…]

HORATIO STEVENS WHITE.

“I have just finished my third year as Dean of the Faculty. This spring I was called to the chair of Germanic languages in the new Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. The trustees here meanwhile appointed me as head of the German department with an increase in salary. The California offer however remains open, and I shall visit the Pacific coast next winter and study the situation on the spot before coming to a final decision. Our Faculty baseball nine, which has been organized for several years, continues to win a majority of its games with various student clubs. The chair of Political Economy left vacant by the resignation of Professor E. B. Andrews, who was elected President of the Brown University, has been filled by the appointment of our classmate Laughlin, who has occupied the position this year with general acceptance. As a result of his efforts the trustees have decided to appoint an associate professor in the department, to establish two special fellowships in Political Economy, and to place at his disposal a generous publication fund. The University is to be congratulated upon this able contribution which ’73 has thus made to our Faculty.”

Source: The Sixth Triennial Report of the Secretary of the Class of 1873 of Harvard College. Boston, S. J. Parkhill & Co., Commencement 1891. Pp. 19, 39.

_______________________________

1898

JAMES LAWRENCE [sic] LAUGHLIN.

5747 Lexington Ave., Chicago, I11. Taught school in Boston, and took degree of Ph.D. at Cambridge in 1876. Was appointed instructor in Political Economy at Harvard in 1878 and Assistant Professor in 1883. In 1888 he was in Philadelphia, where he had the management of the Philadelphia Manufacturers’ Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Subsequently he was Professor of Political Economy and Finance at Cornell, and is now at Chicago University in a similar capacity. He has devoted much time to writing on political economy and finance, and has published some important books on those subjects.

Source: The Seventh Report of the Secretary of the Class of 1873 of Harvard College Issued upon the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Graduation. Boston, S. J. Parkhill & Co., Commencement 1898. Page 23.

_______________________________

1905

JAMES LAWRENCE [sic] LAUGHLIN.

Since 1892 he has been Head Professor of the department of Political Economy in the University of Chicago. For some years he has been editor of the “Journal of Political Economy.” He served on the Monetary Commission appointed by the Indianapolis Convention of Boards of Trade, in 1898, and was entrusted with the preparation of the report which appeared in a volume of six hundred and eight pages. In 1894 he was invited to prepare a currency law for Santo Domingo. The visit to the island on a special steamer, the negotiations with the government, the enactment of the law and its provisions, were subsequently published in the “Journal of Political Economy.” In 1902 he published the first volume of a magnum opus on money. This volume, “The Principles of Money,” will be followed by five succeeding volumes “when time is granted to finish them.” In addition to this work he has written many books and articles treating of the various phases of his specialty in this and other countries.

Source: The Eight Report of the Secretary of the Class of 1873 Harvard. Boston, Rockwell and Churchill Press, Commencement 1905. Pp. 23-4.

_______________________________

1913

JAMES LAURENCE LAUGHLIN.

Is at the head of the Department of Political Economy at Chicago, and an authority on finance whose reputation is world-wide. At the Three Hundredth Jubilee of the University of Giessen, Germany, in 1907, he was given an Honorary Doctorate. He writes:

“Any modest member of the Class of 1873 does not feel that he has done anything worth reporting. In 1906 I was appointed by the German Kultus Ministerium an exchange professor from the University of Chicago to Berlin. I lectured in German before the Vereinigung für Staatswissenschaftliche Fortbildung, and also in Cologne, as well as at the University of Berlin. In the winter of 1908-09, I was one of two delegates (the other being Professor A. A. Michaelson, the recipient of a Nobel Prize) to the Scientific Congress of all American Republics in Santiago, Chile. I crossed the Andes, visiting Argentina, and came home by the east coast. In June, 1911, I was given leave of absence from the University in order to take charge of the nation-wide campaign to obtain a reconstruction of our currency and banking system. In this work I was chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Citizens’ League for the promotion of a sound banking system. The results of this campaign are now apparent. Not only is there an insistent and intelligent public opinion demanding reform, but the new administration is ready to put a satisfactory measure through Congress. It now looks as if the purpose of this campaign was certainly attained. Of course I have been guilty off and on of publishing some books and articles, but they are not as good as I should like to have them, and when I get to the next world I am going to revise them and make them just what they ought to be for an audience that I hope will not yet be made up very largely of the Class of 1873. For I hope that the surviving members of the class will long be here after I have departed.”

Source: The Ninth Report of the Secretary of the Class of 1873 Harvard. Boston, Rockwell and Churchill Press, Commencement 1913. Pp. 25-6.

Image Source: Clipped from printed speech given at the 78th meeting of The Sunset Club at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Chicago, December 6, 1894 found in Laughlin, James Laurence. Papers, [Box 1, Folder 17], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

 

 

 

 

Categories
Chicago Courses Syllabus

Chicago. Graduate Price Theory. Economics 300A. Harberger, 1955

_______________________

Thus far Economics in the Rear-View Mirror has been able to provide syllabi for the following four professors who had taught the first core price theory course at the University of Chicago spanning nearly a quarter of a decade during the middle third of the 20th century:

Today I add the syllabus for Arnold Harberger (a.k.a.”Triangle Man”, see the photo credit below). Note: chapters from Samuelson’s Foundations are only recommended readings, not yet required.

_______________________

 

Economics 300A
Mr. Harberger
Autumn 1955

 

Texts:

  1. Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics, 8th
  2. George Stigler, Theory of Price, revised ed.
  3. H. Knight, The Economic Organization

 

Supplementary material (Purchase not required):

  1. American Economic Association, Readings in Price Theory
  2. Milton Friedman, Essays in Positive Economics
  3. Milton Friedman, Notes on Lectures in Price Theory (mimeographed)

Students are expected to be familiar with the materials in Stigler’s Theory of Price before entering the course. Readings marked with an asterisk (*) are recommended, not required.

 

Reading List

 

  1. Introduction:

Knight, The Economic Organization, pp. 1-37
Stigler, Theory of Price, Chs. 1-3
Friedman, “The Methodology of Positive Economics” in Essays in Positive Economics

  1. Demand:

Stigler, Theory of Price, Chs. 4-5
Marshall, Book III, Chs. 2-4, Book V, Chs. 1-2
Knight, Risk, Uncertainty and Profit, Ch. 3
Hicks, Value and Capital, pp. 11-52
Working, “What do Statistical Demand Curves Show?” Quarterly Journal of Economics
*Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Ch. 5

  1. Supply:

Stigler, Theory of Price, Chs. 6-8
Marshall, Book V, Chs. 3-5, 12, Appendix H
Robinson, Joan, Economics of Imperfect Competition, Ch. 2
Clark, J.M., Economics of Overhead Costs, Ch. 9
Viner, “Cost Curves and Supply Curves”, Zeitschrift fuer Nationaloekonomie, Book III (Sept 1931) pp. 23-46, reprinted in Readings in Price Theory, pp. 198-232
*Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Ch. 4

  1. Market Organization:

Stigler, Theory of Price, Chs. 9-13
Stigler, “Monopolistic Competition in Retrospect” in Five Lectures on Economic Problems
Harrod, “Doctrines of Imperfect Competition”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1934, pp. 442-461
Chamberlin, The Theory of Monopolistic Competition, Chs. 3, 5
*Robinson, E.A.G., The Structure of Competitive Industry
*Robinson, E.A.G., Monopoly.

  1. Utility and Welfare Economics:

Alchian, “The Meaning of Utility Measurement”, American Economic Review, March 1953, pp. 26-50
Friedman and Savage, “The Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk”, Journal of Political Economy, August 1948, pp. 279-304. Reprinted in Readings in Price Theory, pp. 57-96
Scitovsky, “The State of Welfare Economics”, American Economic Review, June 1951, pp. 303-315
Hicks, “The Four Consumers’ Surpluses”, Review of Economic Studies, XI (1943-44), pp. 31-40
*Hotelling, “The General Welfare in Relation to Problems of Taxation and of Railway and Utility Rates,” Econometrica (VI) (1938), pp. 242-269
*Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Chs. 5-7

 

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman, Box 77, Folder “77.1 University of Chicago Econ 300 A & B”.

Image Source: “[Arnold] Harberger strips down to reveal himself as “Triangleman” at the University of Chicago Economics Christmas Party, probably December 1970”. Robert J. Gordon’s website.

Categories
Chicago Funny Business

Chicago. Two Christmas Songs, “Economized” Lyrics. Undated.

Copies of the following bastardized Christmas Carols from the University of Chicago Department of Economics can be found in Milton Friedman’s papers at the Hoover Institution Archives. They are filed with other skit party materials in a folder marked “University of Chicago, Miscellaneous”.

These texts are undated, one might say timeless.

From the same collection: a HMS Pinafore parody; “Ode to an Economist”).

_______________________________

THE TWELVE WEEKS OF CLASSES
(tune: “The Twelve Days of Christmas”)

On the first week of class my Professor said to me:

                                    We must maintain consumer sovereignty!

Second week:             Uncertainty is no answer, and
Third week:               Impute costs,
Fourth week:             Lunch is never free,
Fifth week:                 Free Enterprise!!!
Sixth week:                Marshall is our hero;
Seventh week:           M V equals P T;
Eight week:                Manna comes each Monday;
Ninth week:               Inflation is an evil;
Tenth week:               This week do the readings;
Eleventh week:          Answer true or false please;
Twelfth week:            SORRY, BUT I FLUNKED YOU!

_______________________________

SONG FOR AN ENTREPRENEUR
(To the tune of Jingle Bells)

 

Maximize, maximize, that’s the crucial key.
Allocate resources by their productivity.
Equalize VMP’s with their prices, and
Your production function is the finest in the land.

 

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Milton Friedman papers. Box 79, Folder “79.6 University of Chicago, Miscellaneous.”

Image Source: From a 1939 Nativity Play in Rockefeller Chapel in 1939. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf4-03011. Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.