Category: Courses

Harvard. First year Graduate Economic Theory. Haberler, 1950-51

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-05-22

The first theory course for economics graduate students around mid-20^th century, Economics 201 (earlier 101), was taught most of the time by Edward Chamberlin. But in 1950-51 Chamberlin was on leave in France as a Fulbright Scholar and Gottfried Haberler taught the first year of theory instead.

New addition: Here is the link to the two semester final exams.

Somewhat peculiar is Haberler’s written intention to include Keynesian Economics together with Marxian Economics as the last item of his Fall semester course. However one can see that by the time the second semester rolled around, Haberler had decided to throw Marxian economics under the bus and Keynesian Economics then became the sole final theory to be discussed in his course. Also worthy of note are references to the recommended textbook treatments in German and French.

I’ll note here that the second year of theory, Economics 202, was usually taught by Wassily Leontief who, like Chamberlin, was also not listed in the course announcements for 1950-51 (he had been award a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for the year). Instead the second year course was taught by William Fellner from Berkeley (the syllabus for his undergraduate History of Economics course has been posted earlier). I’ll post the Fellner reading list for Economics 202 soon. Thus we see that Austro-Hungarian hands were rocking the cradle of baby economists at Harvard at the exact midpoint of the twentieth century.

The last time I saw my undergraduate mentor William Fellner was when he took me to lunch at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. in 1976 or 1977. He was accompanied by his American Enterprise Institute colleague Gottfried Haberler, who was William Fellner’s regular AEI lunch buddy. Only with this posting did I realize that the two of them overlapped 1950-51 at Harvard.

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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

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[Course Description]

Economics 201 (formerly Economics 101a and 101b). Economic Theory
Full course. Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat. at 10. Professor Haberler.

This course is normally taken by graduate students in their first year of residence.

Source: Harvard University. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XLVII, No. 23 (September 1950). Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1950-51, p. 83.

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Fall Term, 1950
Economics 201 – Economic Theory

I. Introduction

“Scope and Method”
Types of Economic Theory
Historical Sketch

II. General Survey of The Economic Process

The Institutional Setting
Income Flows
System of Markets

III. Demand and Supply Analysis

Cost vs. Utility Theory of Value
Stability of Equilibrium
Some Formal Relationships
Demand and Supply Curves
Elasticity of Demand and Supply
Marginal, Average, Total Revenue
Marginal, Average, Total Cost

IV. Theory of the Household and Consumption

Utility Theory
Indifference Line Analysis
Complementarity and Substitution
Income Effects, Substitution Effects, Price Effects
Application of Indifference Line Analysis to Theory of Exchange
Measurability of Utility
Interpersonal Comparisons
Joint Demand

V. Theory of the Firm and Production

Cost Curves
Production Function
Marginal Productivity
Joint Supply

VI. Theory of Distribution

A.      General
B.      Theory of Wages
C.      Theory of Rent
D.      Theory of Interest and Capital: The Time Factor
E.      Theory of Profits: Uncertainty

VII. Theory of Market Structures

Competition
Monopoly
Discriminating Monopoly
Monopolistic Competition and Imperfect Competition
Duopoly and Oligopoly
Bilateral Monopoly
Theory of Games

VIII. Welfare Economics

IX. Keynesian Economics, Marxian Economics

Bibliography and Reading Assignments

The literature on the subjects covered by this course is enormous and is growing rapidly, textbook literature as well as monographs and articles on special topics. No hard and fast assignment will be made but rather suggestions from which students should choose according to their individual needs and preparation.

General

The general texts coming nearest to covering the topics which are treated in the present course are:

Boulding, Economic Analysis (1^st or 2^nd edition)
Stigler, Theory of Price

In German:
Erich Schneider: Einführung in die Wirtschaftstheorie (Vol. I and II, Vol. III to appear later)
H. v. Stackelberg: Grundlagen der theoretischen Volkswirtschaftslehre

In French:
Jean Marchal: Cours d’Économie Politique (Vol. I) or (shorter and better) Le Mécanisme des Prix [et la Structure de l’Économie] (2^nd ed.)

A. Marshall’s Principles is still indispensable

I. Introduction

Literature on “Scope and Method” is on the whole arid. Many texts have introductory chapters on those subjects (e.g., Stigler’s Theory of Price). Some reading on that subject along with, rather than prior to, the study of substantive problems is advisable.

Suggestions:

Readings Volume I, by Clemence, First two chapters
L. Robbins: Nature and Significance of Economic Science
J. N. (not M) Keynes: Scope and Method of Political Economy
O. Lange: “The Scope and Method of Economics,” in Review of Economic Studies, Vol. XIII(1), 1945-46
L. Robbins: “Live and Dead Issues in the Methodology of Economics,” Economica, New Series, Vol. V, 1938
L. Robbins: “The Economist in the 20^th Century,” Economica, New Series, Vol. XVI, 1949.
F. Machlup: “Why Bother With Methodology?” Economica, New Series, Vol. III, 1936.
M. Friedman, “Lange on Price Flexibility and Employment: A Methodological Criticism,” A.E.R., Vol. 36, 1946.
T. C. Koopmans: “Measurement Without Theory,” R.E.Statistics, Volume 29, 1947.
(Review of Economic Statistics, Vol. 31, 1949, Criticism by Vining and reply by Koopmans)
Numerous writings by F. H. Knight deal with methodological questions. Most of them are collected in The Ethics of Competition and Freedom and Reform
T. W. Hutchison: Significance and Basic Postulates of Economic Theory (Positivistic)
Of older writers, Cairnes (Logical Method of Political Economy), N. W. Senior (Outline), and W. Bagehot (Postulates of English Political Economy) may be mentioned.

II. General Survey of Economic Process

Modern literature on National Income frequently presents graphic pictures of economic process as a whole. See Schneider, op.cit., Vol. I.

III. Demand and Supply Analysis

Henderson: Supply and Demand, Ch. 2
Marshall, Principles, Book V, Chs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, Appendix I
Mill, Principles, Book III, Chs. 1-4
Stigler, Chapter 4
Boulding, Parti I (See especially Appendix on Elasticity, p. 137)
J. Robinson: The Economics of Imperfect Competition, Ch. 2

IV. Theory of Household and Consumption

Hicks: Value and Capital, Part I
Boulding: 2^nd ed., Chs. 29, 33
Stigler: Chapters 5 and 6
Relevant chapters in Marshall
Relevant chapters in Stackelberg and Schneider
Leontief, “The Pure Theory of the Guaranteed Annual Wage Contract,” J.P.E., February, 1946

V. Theory of the Firm and of Production

Hicks: Value and Capital, Chs. 6 and 7
Viner: “Cost Curves and Supply Curves,” reprinted in Readings in Economic Analysis, Vol. II
Boulding: Economic Analysis, new edition, Chs. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 31
Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution, Chs. 6, 5
Knight, Risk Uncertainty, and Profits, Ch. 4
Marshall, Principles, Book V, Ch. VI, “Joint and Composite Demand and Supply”
Lerner: The Economics of Control, Chs. 10-18

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Economics 201
Economic Theory — G. Haberler
Spring Term, 1951

I. Theory of Distribution

A.      General
B.      Wages
C.      Rent
D.      Interest
E.      Profits

II. Welfare Economics

III. Theory of Market Structures

Perfect, pure, workable competition
Monopoly
Duopoly and Oligopoly
Bilateral Monopoly

IV. Keynesian Economics

Literature

I. Theory of Distribution

1. General

Boulding, Economic Analysis, Ch. 11
J. M. Clark, Distribution in Encyclopedia of The Social Sciences and Readings in Income Distribution.
Douglas, Theory of Wages, Part I
Marshall, Principoles, Book V., Ch. VI, “Joint Demand”

Further Suggested Reading:

Stigler, Production and Distribution Theories
J. B. Clark, The Distribution of Wealth
Douglas, “Are There Laws of Production?” A.E.R., Vol. 38, 1948

2. Wages

Hicks, Theory of Wages, Chs. 1-4
Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution, Ch. 12 (Robertson)
Lester-Machlup, Discussion on Marginal Analysis (A.E.R., 1946-47 and Readings in Economic Analysis, Vol. 2
Stigler, “The Economics of Minimum Wage Legislation,” A.E.R., 1949 and in Readings in Labor Economics
Keynes, General Theory, Chs. 1,2

Further Suggested Reading:

Douglas, Theory of Wages
Readings in Income Distribution, Chs. 14, 16, 17, 18, 19
Readings in Labor Economics

3. Rent

Robinson, Economics of Imperfect Competition, Ch. 8
Readings in Income Distribution, Chs. 31, 32.

4. Capital and Interest

Böhm-Bawerk, Positive Theory of Capital, Book I, Ch. II; Book II; Book V.
Wicksell, Lectures, Vol. I, pp. 144-218
Fisher, Part I, II, III, Chs. X, XI
Schumpeter, Theory of Economic Development, Chs. IV, VI
Readings in Income Distribution, Chs. 20, 21

Further Suggested Reading:

Metzler, “The Rate of Interest and the Marginal Product of Capital,” J.P.E., August 1950
Knight, “Interest,” in The Ethics of Competition and Encycloopaedia of the Social Sciences
Readings, Chs. 22, 23, 26
Hayek, The Pure Theory of Capital

5. Profits

Beddy James, Profits, Ch. X
Readings in Income Distribution, Chs. 27, 29.
Schumpeter, Theory of Economic Development

Further Suggested Reading:

Readings, Ch. 30
Knight, Risk, Uncertainty and Profits, Part III.

II. Welfare Economics

Hicks, “The Foundations of Welfare Economics,” Economic Journal, Vol. 49, 1939
Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Ch. VIII

Further Suggested Reading:

A. Burk (Bergson), “A Reformulation of Certain aspects of Welfare Economics”, Q.J.E., February 1938, and Readings in Economic Analysis, Vol. I
Pigou, Economics of Welfare, Parts I and II
Lerner, Economics of Control
Reder, Studies in the Theory of Welfare Economics
Myint, Theories of Welfare Economics
Little, Critique of Welfare Economics
Samuelson, Evaluation of Real National Income
Ruggles, Nancy, “Marginal Cost Pricing,” two articles, Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 17, 1949-50.

III. Market Structures

Chamberlin, Monopolistic Competition
Fellner, Competition Among the Few
Hayek, “The Meaning of Competition,” in Individualism and Economic Order
J. M. Clark, “Workable Competition,” A.E.R., and Readings in the Control of Industry, 1940
F. Machlup, “Competition, Pliopoly and Profit,” Economica, February, May, 1942
Rothschild, “Price Theory and Oligopoly,” Economic Journal, Sept., 1947

Further Suggested Reading:

Cost Behavior and Price Policy, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1943
Hall and Hitch, Price Theory and Business Behavior
Harrod, “Price and Cost in Entrepreneurs’ Policy,” Oxford Economic Papers, No. 2, May 1939
Pigou, Economics of Welfare, Chs. on “Discriminating Monopoly,” and “The Special Problem of Railway Rates”
Joan Robinson, Economics of Imperfect Competition, Book V

IV. Keynesian Economics

Hicks, “Keynes and the Classics,” in Readings in Income Distribution, Ch. 23
J. H. Williams, An Appraisal of Keynesian Economics
Tarshis, An Exposition of Keynesian Economics
Lawrence Klein, “Theories of Effective Demand,” in Readings in Economic Analysis, Vol. I.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 5, Folder “Economics 1950-1951 (2 of 2)”.

Copy also found in Hoover Institution Archives. Milton Friedman Papers, Box 80, Folder 8 “University of Chicago [sic] Syllabi by others”.

Image Source: Harvard Album, 1950.

Tags Chamberlin, Fellner, Haberler, Leontief

Courses Harvard Socialism Syllabus

Harvard. Economics of Socialism. Overton Taylor et al., 1950

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-05-14

Joseph Schumpeter died January 8, 1950. His Harvard course “Economics of Socialism” scheduled to begin February 9^th was taken over by Overton Taylor. In addition to lectures by Taylor, lectures were also given by Wassily Leontief, Walter Galenson, and Alexander Gerschenkron.

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[Original Course Announcement for Economics 111 in September 1949]

Economics 111 (formerly Economics 11b). Economics of Socialism

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor Schumpeter.

A brief survey of the development of socialist groups and parties; pure theory of centralist socialism; the economis of Marxism; applied problems.

Source: Harvard University. Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1949-50. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XLVI, No. 24, September, 1949, p. 79.

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[Course Enrollment, Economics 111, 1950 (Sp)]

[Economics] 111 (formerly 11b). Economics of Socialism. (Sp) Professor Schumpeter, Dr. O. H. Taylor and other Members of the Department.

6 Graduates, 13 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 2 Public Administration, 2 Special: Total 32.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1949-1950, p. 72.

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1949-50
Economics 111
Socialism

I. February 9 – March 14. Socialism and Marxism, Doctrine.

1. February 9 – 14. Introduction; background of history of modern socialism; before Marx.

Reading due February 14: G. H. Sabine, History of Political Theory, Chs. 28, 29, 30, 32.

Th., Sat., February 9, 11. Lectures
Tu., Feb. 14. Section meeting. Discuss Sabine reading.

2. February 14 – 21. Hegel and Marx, and Marx’s sociology (theory of history).

Reading due February 21: Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Part I, and Ch. 24; Communist Manifesto; Marx, Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, p. 370; Marx-Engels, German Ideology, p. 209 (in Handbook of Marxism).

Th., Sat., February 16, 18. Lectures
Tu., February 21, Section. Discuss reading.

3. February 21-28. Ricardo and Marx, and Marx’s Economics I. Theory of Value and Surplus Value.

Reading due February 28: Sweezy, Theory of Capitalist Development, Part I.

Th., Sat., February 23, 25. Lectures.
Tu., February 28, Section, Discussion.

4. February 28 – March 7. Marx’s Economics II. Accumulation and Evolution of Capitalism

Reading due March 7: Sweezy, Chs. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12.

Th., Sat., March 2, 4. Lectures, Taylor, Leontief.
Tu., March 7. Section, discussion.

5. March 7 – 14. Capitalism, Evolution, and Decline; Another View (Schumpeter).

Reading due March 14: Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Part II.

Th., Sat., March 9, 11, Lectures.
Tu., March 14, Section, discussion.

II. March 16 – April 1. Socialist Parties, Ideas, and Policies –Theory and Practice – in Central Europe, Scandinavia, and England. Lecturers; Gerschenkron and Galenson.

6. March 16 – 21. German and Austrian Developments after Marx and between the Two ‘World’ Wars. Gerschenkron.

Reading due March 21: Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Part V, plus additional material to be announced.

Th., Sat., March 16, 18, Lectures.
Tu., March 21, Section, Discussion.

7. March 21 – 28. Scandinavian Socialism, Theory and Practice. Galenson.

Reading due March 28: to be announced.

Th., Sat., March 23, 25, Lectures.
Tu., March 28, Discussion.

8. March 28 – April 1. British Socialism, Theory and Practice. Galenson

Reading: Max Beer, History of British Socialism, Chs. to be announced.

April 2 – 9, inclusive, Spring Vacation

III. April 11 –29. Soviet Russia; Economic Planning in Centralist Socialism, Theory; and Russian Practice. Lecturers, Gerschenkron and Leontief.

9. April 11 – 15. Russia, Boshevism, Marx-Lenin-Stalin Theory, and Soviet Policies.

Reading due April 15: (1) Lange, Working Principles of Soviet Economy. (2) M. Dobb, Russian Economic Development, Chs. 13, 14..

Tu., Th., April 11, 13. Lectures, Gerschenkron.
Sat., April 15, Section, discussion.

10. April 18 – 22. Centralist Socialism, Planning Theory.

Reading due April 22: (1) Lange-Taylor, On the Economic Theory of Socialism; (2) Bergson, Survey of Contemporary Economics, Edited by Ellis, Ch. 12.

Tu., Th., April 18, 20, Lectures, Leontief.
Sat., April 22, Section, Discussion.

11. April 25 – 29. Russian Practice; and the Modern Marxist Theory of ‘Monopoly Capitalism and Imperialism’ (Not related topics).

Tu., April 25, Lecture by Leontief; Economics of Planning and Russian Practice.
Th., Sat., April 27, 29. Taylor, Lectures: ‘Monopoly, Capitalism and Imperialism,’ Marx-Lenin Theory.

Reading. Sweezy, Part IV.

12. May 2 — 6. ‘Imperialism’ Theory, Cont’d.

Reading. Sweezy, Part IV, and Schumpeter, Chapters to be announced.

[handwritten additions]

40 students

Perlman – Theory of Labor [Movement].

Gulick Vienna Taxes since 1918, Political Science Quarterly. December, 1938

Charles A. Gulick Jr. How Fascism came to Austria. University Toronto Quarterly Jan 1939

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1949-1950 (1 of 3)”.

Tags GalensonW, Gerschenkron, Leontief, Schumpeter, TaylorOH

Courses Harvard Syllabus

Harvard. Economic Theory II. Leontief, 1947-48

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-05-12

The second graduate course in economic theory, Economics 202a and 202b, at Harvard in 1948-49 taught by Leontief were renumbered versions of the courses taught by Leontief in 1947-48 that are posted below. I was struck by the significant reorganization of the course content between the two versions so I thought it would be useful to make both syllabi available at Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

Being someone who almost never manages to get an entire syllabus decided by the start of the semester for a new course, I was reassured to see that Leontief appears also to have engaged in some just-in-time delivery of his semester reading assignments.

Also interesting to see chapters from John Rae’s 1834 book as assigned reading.

The first graduate course in economic theory was taught by Chamberlin in 1947-48.

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[Course Enrollments, Economics 102a and 102b, 1947-48]

[Economics] 102a. Professor Leontief. Economic Theory, II (F).

41 Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Sophomore, 20 Public Administration, 7 Radcliffe: Total 84.

[Economics] 102b. Professor Leontief. Economic Theory, II (Sp).

28 Graduates, 11 Public Administration, 5 Radcliffe, 1 Other: Total 45.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of the Departments for 1947-48, p. 90.

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Economics 102a
Economic Theory
Fall Term, 1947-48

Readings until November 10

Theory of Production

Douglas, Paul: Theory of Wages, Chs. I – IX

Fisher, I. : A Three-Dimensional Representation of the Factors of Production and Their Remuneration Marginally and Residually, Econometrica, Oct., 1939

Cassel, J.: Law of Variable Proportions [in] Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution

Durand, D.: Some Thoughts on Marginal Productivity, Journal of Political Economy, Dec., 1937.

Reder, M. W.: An Alternative Interpretation of the Cob-Douglas Function, Econometrica, July-Oct., 1943.

Bronfenbrenner, M.: Production Functions: Cobb-Douglas, Interfirm, Intra-firm, Econometrica, Jan., 1944.

Kalecki, M.: The Distribution of National Income [in] Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution.

Lange, O.: Note on Innovations, Review of Economic Statistics, Feb., 1943. [in] Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution

Hicks, J.: Distribution and Economic Progress, Review of Economic Studies, Oct., 1936.

Bloom, G.: Technical Progress, Cost and Rent, Economica, Feb., 1942.

For General Reference

Hicks, J. R.: Theory of Wages

Lerner, A. P.: Economics of Control

Boulding: Economic Analysis

Selected Problems in the Analysis of Demand

Marshall, A.: Principles, Book II, Ch. 2.

Knight, F.: Ethics and the Economic Interpretation in Ethics of Competition

N.R.C.: Consumption Expenditure in U.S., Appendix C

Stone, J. R.: The Marginal Propensity to Consume: A Statistical Investigation, Review of Economic Studies, Oct., 1938.

Centers and Cantril, Income Satisfaction and Income Aspirations, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Vol. XLI, No. 1.

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Economics 102[a]
Fall Term, 1947-48

Reading, November 10 – January 4

Samuelson, Welfare Economics, Chapter VIII [in Foundations of Economic Analysis]
De Scitovszky, “Note on Welfare Propositions in Economics,” Review of Economic Studies, November 1941.
Hicks, “Foundations of Welfare Economics, Economic Journal, 1939.
P. Lerner, The Economics of Control, Chs. 9, 15 and 16.
Meade and Fleming, “Price and Output Policy of State Enterprise,” Economic Journal, 1944.
Coase, “The Marginal Cost Controversy,” Economica, August, 1946.
Troxel, “Incremental Cost Determination of Public Utility Prices,” Journal of Land and Public Utilities Economics, November, 1942.
Troxel, “Limitations of Incremental Cost Patterns of Pricing,” Journal of Land and Public Utilities Economics, February, 1943.
Troxel, “Incremental Cost Control under Public Ownership,” Journal of Land and Public Utilities Economics, August, 1943.
H. Phelps Brown, Framework of the Pricing System.

Reading Period Assignment

Oscar Lange, Price Flexibility and Employment

or (for those who know some calculus)

Paul Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Chs. IV. and V.

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Economics 102b
Spring Term, 1948
Capital, Interest, and Economic Development

Part I: Capital and Income:

National wealth: Stock and flow concepts. Dollar measures and physical measures. Capital and income. Capital in production. Depreciation and obsolescence. Period of production and the speed of turnover. The time shape of production and consumption process.

Reading:

Simon Kuznets, “On Measurement of National Wealth,” Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 2 National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1938, pp. 3-61.

Simon Kuznets, “National Product since 1869,” Reproducible Wealth—Its Growth and Industrial Distribution, Part IV, National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1946, pp. 185-234.

John Rae, New Principles of Political Economy, 1834, Chs. I-V.

Irving Fisher, Nature of Capital and Income, Chs. I, IV, V, XIV, XVII, Macmillan, New York, 1906.

Nicolas Kaldor, “Annual Survey of Economic Theory, “The Recent Controversy on the Theory of Capital, Econometrica, July, 1937, pp. 201-233.

Part II: Theory of Interest:

Productivity of Capital. Expectations, risk, and uncertainty. Inventory speculation. Interest as cost and the demand for capital. Saving and the supply of capital. Monetary theory of interest. Theory of assets.

Reading: Will be assigned later.

Part III: Economic Development and Accumulation of Capital:

Statics and Dynamics. The general problem of economic growth. Saving, investment, and the growth of income. Acceleration principle. Technical change. Accumulation and employment.

Reading: Will be assigned later.

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Economics 102b
Spring Term, 1948
Capital, Interest, and Economic Development

Part II: Theory of Interest:

Reading:

Irving Fisher, The Theory of Interest, chapters. VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XVI, XVII, and XVIII. 1930.

Readings in Theory of Income Distribution, Blakiston, Philadelphia, 1946.

Frank Knight, “Capital and Interest,” pp. 384-417.

John M. Keynes, “The Theory of the Rate of Interest,” pp. 418-424.

D. H. Robertson, “Mr. Keynes and the Rate of Interest”, pp. 425-460.

Part III: Economic Development and Accumulation of Capital:

Statics and Dynamics. The general problem of economic growth. Saving, investment, and the growth of income. Acceleration principle. Technical change. Accumulation and employment.

Reading:

Bresciani-Turoni, “The Theory of Saving”, Economica, Part I, February 1936, pp. 1-23; Part II, May 1936, pp. 162-181.

Domar, “Expansion and Employment”, American Economic Review, March 1947, pp. 34-55.

Schelling, “Capital Growth and Equilibrium”, American Economic Review, December 1947, pp. 864-876.

Harrod, “An Essay in Dynamic Theory”, Economic Journal, March 1939, pp. 14-33.

Pigou, “Economic Progress in a Stable Economy”, Economica, August 1947, pp. 180-188.

Stern, “Capital Requirements in Progressive Economies”, Economica, August 1945, pp. 163-171.

A. Sweezy, “Secular Stagnation?” In Harris, Postwar Economic Problems, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1943, pp. 67-82.

Hansen, “Economic Progress and Declining Population Growth”, American Economic Review, March 1939, pp. 1-15.

de Scitovsky, “Capital Accumulation, Employment, and Price Rigidity”, Review of Economic Studies, February 1941, pp. 69-88.

Reading: Schumpeter, Theory of Economic Development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1936.,

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1947-1948 (2 of 2)”.

Tags Leontief

Courses Curriculum Harvard

Harvard. Mathematical Economics, 1933-37

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-05-11
1 Comment on Harvard. Mathematical Economics, 1933-37

In the Spring of 1933 Joseph Schumpeter got the ball rolling for a project to introduce an introductory course in mathematical economics at Harvard. I include here first a memo from statistics professor W. L. Crum to the economics department chair, Professor H. H. Burbank. This is followed by the subsequent proposal signed by six professors (Burbank, Chamberlin, Crum, Mason, Schumpeter and Taussig), presumably sent to some university level curriculum approval committee. From the enrollment records included below we see that 23 people attended that class in the first term of 1933-34. Starting the following academic year the course was taught by Leontief and a new course “primarily for Graduates”, “Mathematical Economics”, was introduced by Professor E. B. Wilson. Course descriptions and enrollments through 1936-37 are included in this posting. Here is an interesting 1936 letter from E. B. Wilson to Columbia’s W. C. Mitchell about what Schumpeter has wrought with economics in the curriculum.

An update with additional material for this course has been included in a later post.

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Memorandum for Professor Burbank

4 April 1933

I discussed, at his request, the mathematical economics project with Professor Schumpeter last Friday. I will give further consideration to his suggestions, and to the conversations I have had with you on the same subject; and then I will write out, for discussion with you, an outline of my thoughts on the matter.

In the meantime, I am making a specific suggestion with reference to one of the points you raised earlier. You indicated that it might be desirable for those officers interested in mathematical economics to get together as a group and discuss prospects. As things are developing rapidly it seems to me that such a committee (perhaps informal) could well be set up promptly. I hope you will feel that you can meet with the group and act as its chairman. If you cannot, I suggest Professor Schumpeter be asked to head the group. I suggest that its members include also: Professor Black (I think it very desirable that he be brought in early), Professor Wilson, and me. I think it well that this original group be empowered to add shortly the following: Professor Frickey, Dr. Leontief, and Professor Chamberlin (or one of the other interested younger men).

[Signed]
WLC

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers, 1902-1950. (UAV.349.10) Box 23, Folder “Course Administration: 1932-37-40”.

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Tentative Proposals for a Course on the Elements of Mathematical Economics to be Given during the Winter Term

The advanced student who is interested in the mathematical aspects of our subject has had in most cases some mathematical training and can be taken care of individually. But something should be done to acquaint a wider circle of less advanced students, or even of beginners, with those fundamental concepts of mathematics which are necessary to understand, say, Marshall’s Appendix and the more important and more accessible parts of the literature of mathematical economics, such as the works of Cournot, Walras, Edgeworth, and a few others. Since the necessary minimum of mathematics can be procured with little expenditure of time and energy, the experiment is proposed of importing this modicum of information to such graduate and undergraduate students as may wish to have it–subject to the approval of tutors in the case of undergraduates.

A half-course two hours a week would meet the case. Since any teaching of mathematics must work with examples if it is to convey any meaning, these examples will be drawn from economic problems. The course, therefore, should not be simply one on “mathematics for economists” but rather on “mathematical theory of economics.” Discussion will cover a number of simple and fundamental problems of economic theory, the mathematical concepts being explained as they present themselves. In the first term the whole venture will be frankly experimental. Coöperation and critique from all members of the economic staff is cordially invited. The final shape of this addition to our offering should, through common effort, be evolved during the next term. The following list is suggested of mathematics subjects with which it is proposed to deal in which seem to be both necessary and sufficient. The economic problems from which, and in connection with which, these mathematical topics are to be developed are merely the time-honored problems of marginal analysis.

(1) The fundamental concepts of analytic geometry, coordinates, transformations, equations of straight-line and curves, tangents, and so forth.

(2) Some fundamental notions of algebra, the theory of equations, forms, matrices, determinants, vectors, and vectorial operations.

(3) The concept of the integral and some of its applications, definite integrals, multiple integrals, and multiple integrals in polar coordinates.

(4) Functions and limits, differential coefficients, the elementary differential operations, maxima and minima, partial differentiations, developments, Taylor series.

(5) Simplest elements of the theory of differential equations. Functional equations and here and there some simple and useful tools from other mathematical fields as occasions may arise.

The course should be open to all who are interested, and participation of those wishing to follow it as auditors will be welcomed. It is highly desirable that as many tutors as possible should be present at the sessions of the first experimental term in order to contribute their advice, so that in the future the course may embody those topics and methods of present presentation which are found to be useful.

April 1933

H. H. Burbank
E. H. Chamberlin
W. L. Crum
E. S. Mason
J. A. Schumpeter
F. W. Taussig

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers, 1902-1950. (UAV.349.10) Box 23, Folder “Course offerings 1926-1937”.

__________________________________

1933-1934

[Courses offered]

Economics 8a ¹hf. Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory

Half-course (first half-year). Mon. 4 to 6, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructor. Professor Schumpeter, and other members of the Department.

Economics 8a is open to those who have passed Economics A and Mathematics A, or its equivalent. The aim of this course is to acquaint such students as may wish it with the elements of the mathematical technique necessary to understand the simpler contributions to the mathematical theory of Economics.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1933-34, 2n ed., p. 126.

[Course Enrollment]

[Economics] 8a ¹hf. Professor Schumpeter and other members of the Department. — Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory.

15 Graduates, 3 Seniors, 5 Instructors. Total 23.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1933-1934, p. 85.

__________________________________

1934-35

[Courses offered]

Economics 8a ¹hf. Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory

Half-course (first half-year). Mon. 4 to 6, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructor. Professor Schumpeter.

Economics A and Mathematics A, or their equivalents, are prerequisites for this course.

Economics 13b ²hf. Mathematical Economics

Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., 3 to 4.30. Professor E. B. Wilson.

Arrangements for admission should be made with the Chairman of the Department
Omitted in 1935-36.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1934-35, 2n ed., p. 126-7.

[Course Enrollments]

[Economics] 8a ¹hf. Professor Schumpeter. — Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory.

2 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Sophomore. Total 4.

[Economics] 13b ²hf. Professor E. B. Wilson. — Mathematical Economics.

2 Graduates, 1 Junior, Total 3.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1934-1935, p. 81.

__________________________________

1935-1936

[Course offered]

Economics 8a ²hf. Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory

Half-course (second half-year). Mon. 4 to 6. Assistant Professor Leontief.

Economics A and Mathematics A, or their equivalents, are prerequisites for this course.

[Economics 13b ²hf. Mathematical Economics]

Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 2. Professor E. B. Wilson.

Arrangements for admission should be made with the Chairman of the Department
Omitted in 1935-36.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1935-36, 2^nd ed., p. 138-9.

[Course Enrollment]

[Economics] 8a ²hf. Professor Leontief. — Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory.

4 Juniors, 2 Sophomores. Total 6.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1935-1936, p. 82.

__________________________________

1936-1937

[Courses offered]

Economics 4a ²hf. (formerly 8a) Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory

Half-course (second half-year). Mon. 4 to 6. Assistant Professor Leontief.

Economics A and Mathematics A, or their equivalents, are prerequisites for this course.

Economics 104b ²hf. (formerly 13b). Mathematical Economics

Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 2. Professor E. B. Wilson.

Arrangements for admission should be made with the Chairman of the Department

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1936-7, 2^nd ed., p. 140, 142.

[Course Enrollments]

[Economics] 4a ²hf. Professor Leontief. — Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory.

1 Graduate, 2 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other. Total 9.

[Economics] 104b ²hf. (formerly 13b) Professor E. B. Wilson. — Mathematical Economics.

2 Graduates. Total 2.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1936-1937, pp. 92,93.

Image Source: Schumpeter, Leontief, Wilson from Harvard Album, 1934, 1939.

Tags Burbank, Chamberlin, Crum, Mason, Schumpeter, Taussig

Columbia Courses Undergraduate

Columbia. Undergraduate Economic Courses Chosen. 1923-1929

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-04-25

In a university with the scope of Columbia, economics courses are taught within several different administrative units. While the economics department that grew within the graduate Faculty of Political Science is of primary importance, we probably want to keep an eye on developments in the undergraduate programs of Columbia College and Barnard College and courses taught in the Business School. The following table caught my eye in a folder labelled “Columbia College” in an archival box of the economics department. I have inserted a column with the course names found in the annual university catalogue. I find it interesting that “comparative economic systems” was already a course designation no later than 1921-22 (p. 114 of the departmental listings in the 1921-22 catalogue, taught by assistant professor W. E. Weld). Google N-Gram first registers the use of “comparative economic systems” in 1955.

From the 1921-22 catalogue (p. 38): William E. Weld, Assistant Professor of Economics, A.B., Wooster, 1903; A.M., 1909; Ph.D., Columbia, 1920. He went on to become professor and Dean at Rochester University (1929-1937) and President of Wells College (1936-48). Here is his obituary in the New York Times.

Historical enrollment figures by class as well as course-staffing information are easily available (on-line!) for Harvard in the Annual Reports of the President. For other universities I just continue to look for relevant administrative memos (like that posted here) in departmental and university records.

______________________

__________________

COURSES AND ELECTIONS
[by Columbia College Students]

I A. Elections by Courses

Course number or letter	[course name]	Or, is this course one in business?	1928-29*	27-28	26-27	25-26	24-25	23-24	Increased Decreased Steady
Economics
1	Principles of Economics—Principles and practical problems. 6 points.		301	271	259	274	281	322
1r			–	7	–	–	–	–
2			–	230	241	244	264	286
3	Economic institutions in operation. 2 points.		12	20	–	–	–	–
6	Principles of economics. Combination of Economics 1-2. 5 points.		–	56	60	52	29	32
7	Phases of American economic life. 2 points.		–	14	17	9	41	20
8	Proposals for economic reorganization. 2 points.		–	8	23	15	33	8
9	Comparative economic systems, or International comparison and economic welfare. 6 points.		19	–	35	34	10	20
10			–	–	33	29	9	13
11	Early, Legal economics. Then, The development and content of present-day economic theory. 4 points		8	15	–	–	15	23
12			–	11	–	–	9	8
14	Financial organization. 2 points.	Yes	–	–	25	6	–	–
17	Elements of business administration	“	152	107	82	81	94	138
18	Elements of business administration	“	–	90	67	53	68	105
20	Earlier, Elements of Business Administration. Later, Financial and business organization. 4 points.	“	–	41	16	11	13	26
33	Methods in social sciences. 2 points.		–	–	–	4	15	–
101	Public finance. 6 points.	Yes	15	13	11	17	21	38
102	Public finance. 6 points.	“	–	11	6	12	12	25
103	Principles of money and banking. 3 points.	“	75	38	26	28	25	54
104	The organization of the banking system. 3 points.	“	–	31	23	25	19	34
105	Labor problems. 3 points.		20	7	14	6	10	32
106	Corporation and trust problems. 3 points.		–	13	9	5	10	31
107	Fiscal and industrial history of the United States. 3 points.		3	–	3	–	–	–
108	Railroad problems; economic, social and legal. 3 points.		–	–	4	–	7	–
131	Earlier, Legal economics. Later, Legal factors in economics. 4 points.		5	8	8	6	–	–
132			–	6	3	2	–	–

Total Elections of Economics Courses by Columbia College Students			621*	1010	972	923	1002	1254

*For Winter Session Only

Source: Columbia University Libraries and Archives. Columbiana. Department of Economics Collection. Box 6, Folder “Columbia College”.

Image Source: Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. (1913). Library Columbia University, New York City. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-8bad-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Chicago Courses Exam Questions Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Economic Doctrine, Modern Tendencies. Lange, 1942

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-04-24

“Modern Tendencies in Economic Economic Doctrine” was the title of the course taught by Oscar Lange in 1942 at the University of Chicago. According to the notes to the course taken by Norman Kaplan, the first two lectures appear to be Lange’s Apologia for the rationality postulate in modern economic theory that are then followed by lectures in which many themes of Hicks’ Value and Capital are addressed. Karl Marx, Max Weber and Talcott Parsons all get mention in his reflections on the rationality postulate. One can characterise Lange’s mission here and elsewhere as seeking to graft advances in economic theory from the marginal revolution that led to neoclassical economics to the trunk of (Marxian) classical economics.

______________________

_____________________________________

[Course Announcement, Economics 303, Spring 1942]

303. Modern Tendencies in Economic Doctrine.—A critical study of controversial questions in the general body of economic theory, and of some modern developments of that theory. The fundamentals of the theory of general equilibrium, the approach to dynamic economics, the foundations of welfare economics, the place of economics among the social sciences and problems of methodology will be discussed. Prerequisite: Economics 301 or equivalent. Spring, Tu., Th., 3:30-5:30, Lange.

Source: University of Chicago, The College and the Divisions for the Sessions of 1941-1942. Announcements Vol. XLI, No. 10 (April 25, 1941), p 307.

_____________________________________

Spring, 1942

ECONOMICS 303
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Required

J. R. Hicks. Value and Capital

H. Schultz. Theory and Measurement of Demand, chap. vi

J. Dean. “Department-Store Cost Functions,” Studies in Mathematical Economic and Econometrics, p. 222.

F. Lindahl. Studies in the Theory of Money and Capital, part I [(handwritten marginal note: (Read along with dynamic part of Hicks)]

H. Makower and J. Marschak. “Money and the Theory of Assets,” Economica (Aug. 1938)

M. Kalecki. “The Principle of Increasing Risk,” Essays in the Theory of Economic Fluctuations

G. L. S. Shackle. “Expectations and Employment,” Econ. J. (Sept. 1939)

________________. “The Nature of the Inducement to Invest,” RES (Oct. 1940)

A. G. Hart. “Uncertainty and Inducements to Invest,” RES (Oct. 1940)

T. Scitovszky. “A Study of Interest and Capital,” Economica (Aug. 1940)

J. Tinbergen. “Econometric Business Cycle Research,” RES (Feb. 1940)

R. F. Harrod. “Essay in Dynamic Theory,” Econ. J. (March 1939)

R. F. Kahn. “Some Notes on Ideal Output,” Econ. J. (March 1935)

N. Kaldor. “Welfare Propositions and Inter-Personal Comparability of Utility,” Econ. J. (Sept. 1939)

J. R. Hicks. “The Foundations of Welfare Economics,” Econ. J. (Dec. 1939)

A. P. Lerner. “From Vulgar Political Economy to Vulgar Marxism,” JPE (Aug. 1939)

H. D. Dickinson. “A Comparison of Marxian and Bourgeois Economics,” The Highway 1937

Eric Roll. “The Social Significance of Recent Trends in Economic Theory,” Canadian J. of Economics (Aug. 1940)

Optional

F. H. Knight. Risk, Uncertainty and Profit

G. Tintner. “A Contributionof the Non-Static Theory of Choice,” QJE (Feb. 1942)

A. G. Hart. “Anticipations, Uncertainty and Dynamic Planning,” J. of Business of the U. of C. (Oct. 1940)

J. R. Hicks. “A Suggestion for the Simplification of the Theory of Money,” Economica (1935)

P. N. Rosenstein-Rodan. “The Co-ordination of the General Theories of Money and Prices,” Economica (Aug. 1936)

J. Tinbergen. A Method and its Application to Investment Activity, League of Nations

H. D. Dickinson. The Economics of Socialism

M. H. Dobb. Political Economy and Capitalism

A. P. Lerner. “Statics and Dynamics in Socialist Economics,” Econ. J. (June 1937)

Talcott Parsons. The Structure of Social Action, chap. iv

_____________________________________

ECONOMICS 303
Spring, 1942

I. Discuss briefly the relation of the analysis of consumers’ behavior in terms of indifference curves and in terms of traditional marginal utility theory. Explain

(1) the concept of the marginal rate of substitution and its relation to marginal utility.

(2) the relation between the law of diminishing marginal utility and the convexity (toward the origin) of indifference curves.

(3) the assumptions underlying measurability of utility.

(4) the consequences which dispensing with the hypothesis that utility is measurable has for the law of diminishing marginal utility and for the Edgeworth-Pareto distinction between substitute, independent and complementary commodities.

(5) whether the use of indifference curves and of the marginal rate of substitution requires that utility be immeasurable.

II. Explain the difference between “co-operant” factors of production in the sense of Pigou (i.e., “complementary” factors in the sense of Edgeworth-Pareto) and complementary factors in the sense of Hicks-Allen-Schultz. Show why in the case of only two factors used to produce a product both definitions are equivalent but cease to be so if more than two factors are used. What is the purpose of replacing in the theory of production “co-operancy” by complementarity in the Hicks-Allen sense?

III. Describe the way in which uncertainty of price expectations influences the production plans of firms and the consumption plans of households. Explain

(1) what features of uncertain price expectations influence the planning of sales and purchases.

(2) apply your explanation to the determination of forward prices.

(3) discuss how uncertainty influences the length of the economic horizon and how this accounts for the insensitiveness of current investment to changes in interest rates.

IV. State the conditions of stability of general economic equilibrium and try to link them up with the relation of changes in the quantity of money to changes in the demand for cash balances. Don’t worry if you cannot answer the second part of the question. If you can answer it, give an example of a behavior of the monetary system which will make general equilibrium unstable.

Source: University of Chicago Archives. Norman Kaplan Papers, Box 2, Folder 6.

Image source: Wikipedia/commons.

Tags Lange

Bibliography Courses Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Empirical Economics. Orcutt, 1950

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-04-21

This is the second batch of material I post from Guy Henderson Orcutt’s undergraduate course Economics 110 at Harvard. His bibliography on the scientific method was included in the previous posting.

A four item reading list for Economics 110 in 1949-50 and a selective reading list (Part I, no part II in the folder) for the 1950-51 course have been transcribed for this posting.

One more bibliographic list is filed under 1949-50, Economics 110: “A Bibliography of Statistical or Inductive Studies of the Determinants of Imports or Exports”. That bibliography is identical to Appendix 4B of Orcutt’s famous paper, Measurement of Price Elasticites in International Trade (Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 32, No. 2. May, 1950), 117-132. This material was explicitly discussed in the academic year 1950-51 in the course in Economics 210b (see Orcutt’s course offerings below).

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______________________________________

1949-50
Economics 110
Reading List

(Additions will be made to this list)

Henry Schultz—The Theory and Measurement of Demand, University of Chicago Press, 1938.

William H. Nicholls—Labor Productivity Functions in Meat Packing, University of Chicago Press, 1948.

Dale Yoder, D. G. Paterson, et al—Local Labor Market Research, University of Minnesota Press, 1948.

Jacob Marschak—Introduction to Econometrics, Mimeographed lectures (Buffalo and Chicago). Only about two dozen copies are still available. They can be mailed for $2.25 a copy plus postage. To obtain them write the Cowles Commission, University of Chicago, Chicago 37, Illinois. I expect to use this book for Economics 110 and Economics 125b this semester and for mathematical economics next fall.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1949-50, (1 of 3)”

______________________________________

[Course offerings 1950-51: Orcutt’s Empirical Economics]

Economics 110a. Empirical Economics: National Income and Business Fluctuations

Half-course (fall term). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Assistant Professor Orcutt.

This course will deal with the empirical foundations of economic theory in the fields of national income and business fluctuations, The methods by which various types of prediction are attempted will be given considerable attention.

[Economics 110b. Empirical Economics: The Price Mechanism]

Half-course (fall term). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Assistant Professor Orcutt.

Omitted in 1950-51; to be given in 1951-52.

This course will deal with the empirical foundations of economic theory concerning the functioning of the price mechanism. The agricultural and foreign trade sectors will receive particular attention.
Properly qualified undergraduates will be admitted Economics 210b.

Economics 210a. Empirical Economics: National Income and Business Fluctuations
Half-course (fall term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 11. Assistant Professor Orcutt.

This course will deal with the problems and techniques of testing economic theory and of prediction in the fields of national income and business fluctuations.

Economics 210b. Empirical Economics: The Price Mechanism

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 11. Assistant Professor Orcutt.

This course will deal with the problems and techniques of testing economic theories and predictions concerning the functioning of the price mechanism. The agricultural and foreign trade sectors will receive particular attention. Properly qualified undergraduates will be admitted to this course.

Source. Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1950-51. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XLVII, No. 23 (September, 1950) , pp. 80, 84.

______________________________________

A Selected List of Readings Relevant to
Economics 110a and 210a
Part I

Asher Achinstein, Introduction to Business Cycles, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1950

John Maurice Clark, Strategic Factors in Business Cycles, National Bureau of Economic Research (1935), reprinted Augustus M. Kelley, Inc., 1949
http://papers.nber.org/books/clar34-1

James Duesenberry, Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior, Harvard University Press, 1949

William J. Fellner, Monetary Policies and Full Employment, University of California Press, 1946

Edwin Frickey, Economic Fluctuations in the United States, Harvard University Press, 1942

Gottfried Haberler, Prosperity and Depression, 3^rd ed., 1943, reprinted by United Nations, 1946

P. M. Hauser and W. R. Leonard, Government Statistics for Business Use, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1946

J. R. Hicks, A Contribution to the Theory of the Trade Cycle, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1950

Lawrence R. Klein, Economic Fluctuations in the United States, 1921-1941, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1950

Tjalling C. Koopmans and others, Statistical Inference in Dynamic Economic Models, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1950

Wassily Leontief, Structure of the American Economy, 1919-1929, Harvard University Press, 1941

Jacob Marschak, Introduction to Econometrics, Cowles Commission, University of Chicago, 1949

A. F. Burns and Wesley C. Mitchell, Measuring Business Cycles, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1946

Oskar Morgenstern, On the Accuracy of Economic Observations, Princeton University Press, 1950

Philip Neff and Annette Weifenbach, Business Cycles in selected Industrial Areas, University of California Press, 1949

W. Nelson Peach and Walter Krause, Basic Data of the American Economy, 3rd ed., Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Chicago

D. H. Robertson, A Study of Industrial Fluctuation, 1915, reprinted by London School of Economics and Political Science, 1948

Richard Ruggles, An Introduction to National Income and Income Analysis, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1949

J. Tinbergen, Statistical Testing of Business-Cycle Theories, Vol. I, “A Method and Its Application to Investment Activity,” Vol. II, “Business Cycles in the United States of America, 1919-1932,” League of Nations Economic Intelligence Service, Geneva, 1939

J. Tinbergen and J. J. Polak, The Dynamics of Business Cycles, University of Chicago Press, 1950

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789-1945

Thomas Wilson, Fluctuations in Income and Employment (3^rd ed.), Pitman Publishing Company, New York, 1949

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1949-50, (1 of 3)”

Image Source: Cropped from portrait in Harold W. Watts (1991). Distinguished Fellow: An Appreciation of Guy Orcutt. Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 5, No. 1, Winter, pp. 171-179.

Tags Orcutt

Bibliography Courses Harvard Undergraduate

Harvard. Undergraduate Econometrics. Orcutt, 1950

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-04-20
2 Comments on Harvard. Undergraduate Econometrics. Orcutt, 1950

Guy Henderson Orcutt (1917-2006) taught the first real course in econometrics to undergraduates at Harvard in the second semester of the 1949/50(!) academic year. Today I have selected his bibliography on the scientific method that provides us nice leads to those academic scribblers from whom one of the pioneers of econometrics had distilled his methodological frenzy.

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__________________________________

Economics Department Has Excellent Staff of Teachers

…Those who favor the mathematical approach to Economics will find two courses to interest them in the Department, Economics 104, introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory, and Economics 110, Introduction to Econometrics. The latter course represents the first time undergraduates will be given more than a glimpse of the field of econometrics, a combination of mathematics and economics of rapidly growing importance in the world of economic study….

Source: Harvard Crimson, April 22, 1949.

__________________________________

[Economics 110. Announcement, 1949-50]

Economics 110. Introduction to Econometrics

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Dr. ——-

The matter will be presented in order of increasing mathematical difficulty. Only simplified models will be used to familiarize the students with the econometric approach: and to complete their knowledge of mathematical tools needed in quantitative economic analysis.

Source. Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1949-50. Official Register of Harvard University, Vo. XLVI, No. 24 (September, 1949) , p. 79.

__________________________________

[Economics 110. Applied Economics. Enrollment 1950]

110 Applied Economics. (Sp) Assistant Professor Orcutt.

(Sp) 1 Graduate, 2 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 1 Sophomore. Total: 6.

Source: Harvard University, Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1949-50, p. 72.

__________________________________

1949-50
Economics 110
A Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Scientific Method
by Guy Orcutt

1. Books

Bacon, F., Novum Organum, edited by Thomas Fowler, Oxford. The Clarendon Press, 1878.

Bowley, A.L., The Nature and Purpose of the Measurement of Social Phenomena, London. P. S. King and Son, 1915.

Boyle, R., The Philosophical Works of. edited by Peter Shaw, Vol. II, London. W. and J. Innys, 1725.

Bridgmen, P. W., The Logic of Modern Physics, New York. The Macmillan Co., 1938.

Cairnes, J. E., The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy, London. Macmillan and Co., 1888.

Carnap, R., The Logical Syntax of Language, New York. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1937.

Cassel, G., Fundamental Thoughts in Economics, New York. Harcourt, Brace and Co, 1925.

———-, On Quantitative Thinking in Economics, New York. Oxford. The Clarendon Press, 1935.

Clark, C., The Conditions of Economic Progress, London. Macmillan and Co., 1940.

Cohen, M.R., and Nagel, E., An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method, New York. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1934.

Dalmulder, J.J.J., On Econometrics, Haarlem. De erven F. Bohn N.V., 1936.

Darwin, C. R., The Life and Letters of, Edited by Francis Darwin, Vol. 1, New York. D. Appleton and Company, 1919.

Dewey, J., Logic—The Theory of Inquiry, New York. H. Holt and Company, 1938.

Eddington, A.S., The Philosophy of Physical Science, New York. The Macmillan Company, 1939.

Enriques, F., The Historic Development of Logic, translated from the Italian by Jerome Rosenthal, New York. Henry Holt and Company, 1929.

Frank, P., Between Physics and Philosophy, Cambridge. Harvard University Press, 1941.

Gilbert, W., On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies also, and On the Great Magnet of the Earth, London. The Chiswick Press, 1900.

Herschel, J. F. W., Natural Philosophy, London. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1851.

Hume, D., A Treatise on Human Nature, edited by T. H. Green and T. H. Grose, London. Longmans, Green and Company, 1874.

Hutchison, T. W., The Significance and Basic Postulates of Economic Theory, London. Macmillan and Company, 1938.

Jeans, J. H., Physics and Philosophy, New York. The Macmillan Company, 1943.

Jeffreys, H., Scientific Inference, Cambridge. The University Press, 1937.

Jevons, W.S., The Theory of Political Economy, New York. The Macmillan Company, 1871.

———-, The Principles of Science, London. Macmillan and Company, 1887.

———-, Elementary Lessons in Logic: Deductive and Inductive, New York. The Macmillan Company, 1895.

Keynes, J. M., The Scope and Method of Political Economy, 3^rd edition, revised, London. Macmillan and Company, 1904.

Lindsay, R.B., and Margenau, H., Foundations of Physics, New York. John Wiley and Sons, 1936.

List, F., National System of Political Economy, translated from the German by G. A. Matile, Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott and Company, 1856.

Margenau, H., see Lindsay, R.B.

Meyerson, E., Identity and Reality, translated from the French by Kate Loewenberg, New York. The Macmillan Company, 1930.

Mill, J.S., A System of Logic Ratiocinative and Inductive, London. G. Routledge and Sons, 1892.

Minto, W., Logic Inductive and Deductive, New York. C. Scribner’s Sons, 1893.

Moore, H.L., Synthetic Economics, New York. The Macmillan Compnay, 1929.

Nagel, E., see Cohen, M.R.

Nicod, J., Foundations of Geometry and Induction, translated from the French by Philip Paul Wiener, New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1930.

Pearson, K., The Grammar of Science, London. Walter Scott, 1892.

Pigou, A.C., The Functions of Economic Analysis, London. Oxford University Press, 1930.

Poincare, H., Science and Method, translated from the French by Francis Maitland, London. Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1914.

Reade, W.H.V., The problem of Inference, Oxford. The Clarendon Press, 1938.

Ritchie, A.D., Scientific Method, New York. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1923.

Robbins, L., An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science, London. Macmillan and Company, 1932.

Roepke, W., Crises and Cycles, adapted from the German and revised by Vera C. Smith, London. W. Hodge and Company, 1936.

Roscher, W., Principles of Political Economy, translated from the German by John J. Lalar, New York. H. Holt and Company, 1878.

Senior, N.W., Four Introductory Lectures on Political Economy, London. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1852.

Sidgwick, H., The Scope and Method of Economic Science, London. Macmillan and Company, 1885.

Stamp, J., The Statistical Verification of Social and Economic Theory, London. Oxford University Press, 1927.

Thurstone, L.L., The Vectors of Mind, Chicago. The University Press, 1935.

Venn, J., The Principles of Empirical or Inductive Logic, London. Macmillan and Company, 1889.

Whewell, W., The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, Vol. II, London. John W. Parker, 1847.

Whitehead, A.N., An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Natural Knowledge, Cambridge, University Press, 1925.

Wolf, A., Essentials of Scientific Method, London. G. Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1925. Textobook of Logic, New York. The Macmillan Company, 1930.

2. Articles

Fisher, I., “The Application of Mathematics to the Social Sciences,” Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, Vol. 36 (1930), pp. 225-243.

Fisher, R.A., “The Logic of Inductive Inference,” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 98 (1935), pp. 39-54.

Frisch, R., “Editorial,” Econometrica, Vol. 1 (1933), pp. 1-4.

Harrod, R.F., Scope and Method of Economics, Economic Journal, Vol. 48 (1938), pp. 383-412.

Mitchell, W. C., “Quantitative Analysis in Economic Theory, “ American Economic Review, Vol. 15 (1925), pp. 1-12.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1949-50, (1 of 3)”.

Image Source: Orcutt’s senior year picture from the University of Michigan yearbook, Michiganensian, 1939.

Tags Orcutt

Courses Harvard Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Business Organization and Control. Sydney Alexander 1948-49.

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-04-19

Sydney Stuart Alexander (1916-2005) [Harvard S.B., 1936; A.M., 1938; Ph.D. 1946] taught the popular undergraduate course on Business Organization and Control before it was taken over by John Kenneth Galbraith and Carl Kaysen. While waiting for a delivery of material one day in the Harvard Archives, I thumbed through the 25^th anniversary report of the Class of 1936 and came across Alexander’s report to his class (1961). You can see him standing in the front-row of the Department of Economics (MIT) group picture taken in 1976.

I was touched by the philosophical reflection in his 1961 report to his class that I have transcribed and now post before his syllabus for Economics 161.

______________________

__________________________

“My professional life since graduation can be told as a tale of three cities: Cambridge, New York and Washington, each with a multiple exposure. Three tours of duty in Cambridge as teacher and research worker, two in New York, once in empirical research and once in business, and two in Washington, once in wartime intelligence-oriented economic research, and once as an international civil servant for the International Monetary Fund….the many job shifts have simply been alterations between theory and practice. Now I juggle both theory and practice at the same time. I teach economic theory to practically oriented students of management at the School of Industrial Management at M.I.T…

“…I try to balance my interest in applied economics with the study, as yet embryonic, of the foundations of welfare judgments…There is a substantial body of economic doctrine, in the theory of economic welfare, which deals with the problem of how given wants of individuals can be best (most economically) satisfied. But the doctrine starts from the assumption of given want, and it leaves open the question of how important it is to satisfy those wants. Once the problem is viewed more broadly, it becomes obvious that the merit of want satisfaction depends on the desirability of the wants. The wants themselves are generated largely by the social framework, not least by the economy itself as it operates to satisfy the wants.

Inquiry into this range of problems runs counter to the last fashion but one in the social sciences—that of positivism, which scorned the questions that could not be expressed in operational terms. It is my thesis that the most important social issues cannot be handled in operational terms like problems in physics, nor yet in analytical terms, like problems in mathematics, but only by a sort of discussion which is more like literary criticism. That discussion cannot be based on the authority of experimental evidence or logical truth, though it may draw upon both. Its foundations, however, must be in the non-operational field in which terms like important, better, or worse have meaning…”

Source: Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report, Harvard Class of 1936. Cambridge, 1961, pp. 11-12

__________________________

[Economics 161, 1948-49: Enrollment]

161 (formerly Economics 61a and 62b). Business Organization and Control. (Full Co.) Assistant Professor Alexander.

(F) 1 Graduate, 68 Seniors, 147 Juniors, 31 Sophomores, 4 Freshmen, 10 Radcliffe: Total 261.
(Sp) 66 Seniors, 126 Juniors, 15 Sophomores, 7 Radcliffe: Total 214

Source: Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1948-49, p. 77.

__________________________

Economics 161 (formerly Economics 61a and 62b). Business Organization and Control
Full Course. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Assistant Professor Alexander.

Source: Harvard University. Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1948-49, p. 75.

__________________________

Economics 161
1948-49
Business Organization and Control

I. Fundamentals of Economic Organization
	September 28	Introduction	Brookings, Ch. 2 Fainsod and Gordon, Ch. 1 Meade and Hitch, Part D, Chs. 1 and 2
	October 1	The Free Enterprise System

II. Nature and Origin of the Corporation
	October 4	The legal character of the corporation:	Buchanan, Ch. 3 B & M, Book II, Ch. 1 Dewing, Book I, Chs. 1 and 2
	October 6	The history of the corporation:

III. Financial Structure and Operation of the Corporation
	October 8	Structure and Operation	MLPF & B (entire pamphlet) and Dewing, Book I, Ch. 4 to p. 83, Ch. 7, 8, 9 to p. 218, and 230-242 Dewing, Book III, Chs. 1 and 2
	11
	13
	14 or 15	Section

IV. The Large Corporation
	October 11	The extent and consequences of concentration:	Gordon, Ch. 2, 4, and 5 Baker, Ch. IVB & M: Book I, Ch. I; Book IV, Chs. I through IV Burnham, Chs. VI-IX, & XVI
	20	The operation of the large corporation:
	22	Section
	25	The separation of ownership from control:
	27	The managerial revolution?
	29	Section

V. Active Governmental Regulation of the Corporation
	November 1	New issues and the securities markets:	Cherrington, Chs. 9 & 10 and Dewing, Book IV, Ch. 9 & 6
	3	New issues and the securities markets:	Cherrington, Chs. 9 & 10 and Dewing, Book IV, Ch. 9 & 6
	5	Section
	8	The holding company & its regulation:	Allen, Ch. 9
	10	Corporate reorganization:	Buchanan, Ch. XV or Dewing, Book V, Chs. 3, 5, & 6
	12	Section

VI. Theory of Markets
	November 15	Competition, perfect and monopolistic:	Boulding, Chs. 24 and 27 F & G, Ch. 9
	17	Duopoly and oligopoly:	Boulding, Chs. 24 and 27 F & G, Ch. 9
	19	Section

VII. Markets and Their Regulation
	November 22	Railroads and their Regulation:	Locklin, Chs. VIII, XV, & XVI
	24	Railroads and their Regulation:	Locklin, Chs. VIII, XV, & XVI
	26	Section
	29	Agriculture and the Government:	Black & Kiefer, Chs. VIII, IX, XI, XVIII, XX, XXI, XXV, and XXX.
	December 1	Agriculture and the Government:
	3	Section
	6	The Petroleum Industry	Rostow, Parts I, II, III and V.
	8	The Petroleum Industry	Rostow, Parts I, II, III and V.
	10	Section
	13	Lumber industry and trade associations:	Burns, Ch. II and IV
	15	The meat industry	Burns, Ch. II and IV
	17	Section

Reading period

References

Allen, Frederick L., The Lords of Creation, 1935.
Baker, John C., Directors and Their Functions, 1945.
Berle, A. A., and Gardiner C. Means (B & M), The Modern Corporation and Private Property, 1932.
Black, John D., and M. E. Kiefer, Future Food and Agricultural Policy, 1948.
Boulding, Kenneth E., Economic Analysis.
Brookings Institution (Lyon and associates), The Government and Economic Life, Vol. I, 1939.
Buchanan, Norman S., The Economics of Corporate Enterprise.
Burnham, James, The Managerial Revolution (Penguin, 1945).
Burns, Arthur R., The Decline of Competition.
Cherrington, Homer V., Business Organization and Finance, 1948.
Dewing, Arthur S., Financial Policy of Corporations, 1941, 2-vol. edition.
Fainsod, Merle, and A. L. Gordon (F & G), Government and the American Economy, 1941.
Gordon, Robert A., Business Leadership in the Large Corporation, 1945.
Locklin, D. Philip, Economics of Transportation, 1947.
Meade, J. E., and Charles Hitch, An Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy.
MLPF & B: Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Beans, How to Read a Financial Report.
Rostow, Eugene V., A National Policy for the Oil Industry, 1947.

__________________________

Reading Period — Economics 161 — December 1948

Read 5 articles in FORTUNE, all from within one of the following groups. Within your chosen group read at least two articles from subgroup a, the remaining three articles may be chosen freely from either subgroup a or b. For brevity, titles are not given verbatim. Bracketed items should be read together as a group.

All copies of FORTUNE needed for this course may be found with the other bound periodicals on the open shelf.

Group I—Transportation

Subgroup a	Subgroup b
1. British Rys., p. 87, April ‘47	1. Penns. R.R., I, p. 67, May ‘36 2. Penns. R.R., II, p. 87, June ‘36 3. Penns. R.R., III, p. 84, March ‘48
2. Rate Battle, p. 149, Oct. ‘44
3. Railroads, p. 50, Aug. ‘39
4. Inland Waterways, p. 39, Oct. ‘31	4. Young & Ce & O., p. 97, May ‘46
5. R.R. Consolidations, p. 39, Mar. ‘30	5. Santa Fe, p. 122, Nov. ‘48
	6. Rock Island, p. 140, Dec. ‘44 7. Keeshin Trucking, p. 47, Feb. ‘36

	8. Pullman I, p. 39, Jan ‘38 9. Pullman II, p. 73, Feb. ‘38

	10. Southern Pacific, p. 91, Nov. ‘37

Group II—Petroleum and Gas

Subgroup a	Subgroup b
1. Oil Shortage? p. 94, Jan. ‘44	1. Amerada, p. 128, Jan. ‘46
2. Oil Play, p. 69, Aug. ‘48	2. Engineers of Energy, p. 107, Nov. ‘48
3. Pipelines, p. 125, Jan. ‘45	3. Sun Oil, p. 51, Feb. ‘41
4. Natural Gas, p. 56, Aug. ‘40	4. Socony, I, p. 111, Nov. ‘42 5. Socony II, p. 114, Feb. ‘43
5. Ickes Arab. Nights, p. 121, June ‘44
6. Oil Abroad, p. 37, March ‘31	6. Standard (N.J.)I, p. 49, April ‘40 7. Standard (N.J.)II, p. 79, May ‘40 8. Standard (N.J.)III, p. 61, June ‘40


	9. Gulf, p. 79, Oct. ‘37
	10. Sinclair, p. 60, Nov. ‘32

Group III—Steel

Subgroup a	Subgroup b
1. Steel in War, p. 121, May ‘46	1. Labrador Venture, p. 115, Dec. ‘48
2. Basing Point Muddle, p. 73, Sept. ‘48	2. Spark in Steel, p. 95, Dec. ‘48
3. Iron Ore Dilemma, p. 129, Dec. ‘45	3. Steel in West, p. 130, Feb. ‘45
4. Steel I, p. 85, May ‘31	4. Great Lakes I, p. 31, July ‘40
5. Steel II, p. 52, July ‘31	5. Great Lakes II, p. 43, July ‘40
6. Steel III, p. 41, Sept. ‘31	6. Bethlehem, p. 61, April ‘41
	7. National, p. 31, June ‘32
	8. Republic, p. 54, Sept. ‘33
	9. U. S. Steel I, p. 59, March ‘36 10. U.S. Steel II, p. 127, April ‘36 11. U.S. Steel III, p. 113, June ‘36

Group IV—Agriculture

Subgroup a	Subgroup b
1. Agriculture, p. 68, July, ‘40	1. Garm Co-ops, p. 153, Aug., ‘45
2. Planning for Plenty, p 61, Oct., ‘41	2. Cotton I, p. 138, Nov. ‘45 3. Cotton II, p. 159, Dec., ‘45
3. Agriculture, p. 80, March, ‘36
	4. Cattle, p. 88, April, ‘43
	5. Wingate, p. 72, Oct. ‘41
	6. Farm Income, p. 89, Oct. ‘37
	7. Milk in Chicago, p. 80, Nov. ‘39 8. Grade A, p. 83, Nov., ‘39

Group V—Food Processing, etc.

Subgroup a and b combined
1. Continental Baking, p. 67, July ‘38	18. Pineapple, p. 33, Nov. ‘30
2. Nabisco, p. 86, June, ‘48 3. Nabisco, p. 64, Aug., ‘36	19. Armour and Co., p. 59, June ‘34 20. Hormel and Company, p. 127, Oct. ‘37 21. Swift and Co., p. 55, Feb. ‘30
4. Standard Brands, p. 77, Jan. ‘38
5. Life Savers, p. 94, Feb ‘38	22. Procter and Gamble, p. 77, April ‘39
6. Planters’ Peanuts, p. 78, Apr. ‘38	23. General Mills, p. 117, April ‘45 24. General Mills, p. 81, Nov. ‘30
7. Del Monte, p 77, Nov. ‘38
8. Corn Products, p. 55, Sept. ‘38	25. Nestle’s, p. 117, Feb. ‘46
9. Coca-Cola, p. 65, Dec. ‘38
10. Cream of Wheat, p. 68, Jan. ‘39
11. Frozen Foods, p. 61, June ‘39
12. Wessen Oil, p. 67, Sept. ‘39
13. General Goods, p. 69, Oct. ‘34
14. Hershey Chocolate, p. 72, Jan. ‘34
15. Ralston, p. 84, Jan. ‘48
16. Beech Nut, p. 85, Nov. ‘36
17. Campbell Soup, p. 69, Nov. ‘35

Group VI—Public Utilities

Subgroup a	Subgroup b
1. Power to Burn, p. 141, Feb. ‘45	1. I. T. & T., p. 145, Sept. ‘45
2. A. T. & T., p. 37, Sept. ‘30	2. A. G. & E., p. 165, Dec. ‘45
	3. Com & Sou., p. 83, May ‘37
	4. TVA, p. 167, May ‘35
	5. TVA, p. 92, Oct. ‘33
	6. Cal. G. & E., p. 77, July ‘30
	7. Niagara Hudson, p. 43, June ‘31

Group VII—Retail Trade

Subgroup a and b combined
1. Marshall Field, p. 143, Dec. ‘45 2. Marshall Field, p. 79, Oct. ‘36	9. May Stores, p. 109, Dec. ‘48
	10. Bergdorf-Goodman, p. 62, June ‘31
3. Allied Stores, p. 123, March ‘47	11. Neiman-Marcus, p. 133, Nov. ‘37
4. Sears Roebuck, p. 84, Aug. ‘48 5. Sears Roebuck, p. 43, Feb. ‘32	12. Woolworth, p. 63, Nov. ‘33
	13. A & P, p. 41, July ‘30 14. A & P, p. 53, March ‘33 15. A & P, p. 93, April ‘38
6. Montgomery Ward, p. 69, Jan. ‘35
7. Macy’s, p. 82, May ‘30 8. Macy’s, p. 23, April ‘33
7. Macy’s, p. 82, May ‘30 8. Macy’s, p. 23, April ‘33

Group VIII—Coal and Coke

Subgroup a	Subgroup b
1. British Coal, p. 118, Oct. ‘46	1. Koppers, p. 73, April ‘37
2. Coal I, p. 86, March ‘47	2. Pittsburgh, p. 57, Oct. ‘33
3. Coal III, p. 99, April ‘47	3. Island Creek, p. 87, March ‘38
4. Anthracite, p. 72, Feb. ‘31

Group IX—Distilling and Brewing

Subgroup a	Subgroup b
1. Whiskey, p. 28, Nov. ‘33	1. Seagram’s, p. 97, Sept. ‘48
2. Liquor Reviewed, p. 98, Oct. ‘34	2. Schenley, p. 99, May ‘36
3. Econ. of Repeal, p. 47, May ‘32	3. Anheuser-Busch, p. 42, July ‘35
	4. Ballantine’s, p. 64, June ‘38
	5. Hiram Walker, p. 68, March ‘39

Group X—Automobiles

Subgroup a	Subgroup b
1. Ford, Chev., Plym., p. 86, Oct. ‘31	1. Studebaker, p. 89, Feb. ‘35
2. General Motors I, p. 41, Dec. ‘38	2. Chrysler, p. 103, Oct. ‘48
3. General Motors II, p. 37, Jan., ‘39	3. Chrysler, p. 57, Dec. ‘40
4. General Motors IV, p. 45, March ‘39	4. Willys, p. 80, Aug. ‘46
	5. Kaiser, p. 91, Dec. ‘47
	6. Nash, p. 125, Sept. ‘45
	7. Borg-Warner, p. 109, June ‘46
	8. Ford, p. 63, Dec. ‘33
	9. Ford, p. 82, May ‘46
	10. C.I.T., p. 71, Jan. ‘33
	11. Auto Selling, p. 38, Dec. ‘31
	12. Packard, p. 55, Jan. ‘37
	13. Used Car, p. 39, June ‘38

Group XI—Ferrous Metals

Subgroup a and b combined

1. Aluminum Co., p. 20, Nov. ‘32

2. Aluminum Co., p. 46, Sept. ‘34

3. Anaconda, p. 53, Jan. ‘42

4. Anaconda, p. 83, Dec. ‘36

5. Anaconda, p. 71, Jan. ‘37

6. Copper Ind’y., p. 70 April ‘30

7. Phelps Dodge, p. 40, July ‘32

8. St. Joseph Lead, p. 93, June ‘37

9. U.S. Smelting, p. 74, July ‘35

10. Climax Molybdenum, p. 105, Oct. ‘36

Group XII—Housing

Subgroup a	Subgroup b
1. Mr. Wyatt’s Shortage, p. 105, April ‘46	1. Metro. Life in Housing, p. 133, April ‘46
2. Fed. Housing Policy, p. 76, June ‘35	2. Where is Prefabrication? p. 127, April ‘46
3. Slum Clearance, p. 27, Feb. ‘34	3. Ind’y. Capitalism Forgot, p. 61, Aug. ‘47
4. Housing Survey I, p. 61, Feb. ‘32
5. Housing Survey III, p. 35, April ‘32
6. Housing Survey VI, p. 60, July ‘32

__________________________

Spring Term, 1948-49
Economics 161—Business Organization and Control

Text: Burns, required; Purdy, optional.

Outline and Assignments

Date	Lecture	Reading
Feb. 9	Integration	Purdy, Ch. 22, and Burns, Ch. IX and pp. 76-92, 140-145; TNEC No. 21, pp. 121-132.
Feb. 11	Price Leadership

Feb. 14	Price Discrimination and the Basing Point System	Burns, Ch. VI and VII
Feb. 16
Feb. 17 & 18	Sections

Feb. 21	Patents	TNEC No. 21, pp. 158-165, 215-224; Brookings, V 1, Ch. VI; Purdy, Ch. 24; Stocking, Ch. 3
Feb. 23	Cartels
Feb. 24, 25	Sections

Feb. 28	Competition among Giants	Hamilton, Section II; F& G, pp. 636-654 TNEC, No. 21, pp. 31-39, 48-51, 24-26, 194-198 and pp. 179-182, 170-172
March 2	Too Much Competition?
March 3 and 4	Sections

March 7	Housing, Problem Industry	TNEC No. 8, Ch. IV; 20^th Century, Housing. Chs. 5 and 6; TNEC No. 21, pp. 287-293
March 9	Non-Price Competition	Burns, Ch. VIII
March 10-11	Sections

March 14	Chain Stores	20^th Century, Distribution, pp. 133-141, and pp. 146-165; F&G 595-608
March 16	Problems of Small Business	Kaplan, Chs. II, VIII, X
March 17-18	Sections

March 21	Anti-Trust History	Purdy, Chs. 15, 16, and 17 Readings, Chs. 1 and 2
March 23
March 24-26	Sections

March 28	Recent Landmarks in Anti-Trust	Purdy, Ch. 11; TNEC No. 21, p. 185-189; Oppenheim, Ch. 5 and pp. 310-328
March 30
Mar 31/Apr 1	Sections

April 3-10 Vacation

April 11	Unfair Competition and the F.T.C.	F & G, Ch. 14 Burns, Ch. X
April 13	The N. R. A.
April 14-15	Sections

April 18	O. P. A. and W. P. S.	U. S. at War, pp. 50-63, and Chs. 5, 9, and 10 (excluding pp. 281-298)
April 20
April 21-22	Sections

April 21 (sic)	Price Flexibility	Economic Report, January, 1948, pp. 75-79; Economic Report, January, 1949, pp. 43-45, 65-66 N.R.C., Part II, pp. 27-34; TNEC No. 1, ch. II; Nourse, Ch. XI
April 28-29
April 28-29	Sections

May 2	Modification of Competition and Full Employment	Wallace, Entire Article
May 4	Workable Competition
May 6	Summary of Course

Reading Period Assignment to be Announced

References

Brookings Institution (Lyon et al.), Government and Economic Life, Vol. I
Burns, Arthur R., The Decline of Competition
Economic Report, Economic Report of the President, January, 1948 and January, 1949
F. and G., Fainsod and Gordon, Government and the American Economy
Hamilton, Walton H., Price and Price Policy
Kaplan, A. D. H., Small Business: Its Place and Problems
Nourse, Edwin, Price Making in a Democracy
N. R. C., U. S., National Resources Committee, Structure of the American Economy, Part II (Note that the assignment is in Part II, a volume separate from part I)
Oppenheim, S. Chesterfield, Cases on Federal Anti-Trust Laws (1948)
Purdy, Lindahl and Carter, Corporate Concentration and Public Policy
Readings in the Social Control of Industry (Blakiston Press)
Stocking and Watkins, Cartels or Competition? (Not to be confused with Cartels in Action by the same authors)
TNEC: U. S., Temporary National Economic Committee Monographs.

No. 1, Price Behavior and Business Policy
No. 8, Toward More Housing
No. 21, Competition and Monopoly in American Industry

20^th Cent.; Distribution, Dewhurst et al., Does Distribution Cost Too Much?
20^th Cent., Housing
U. S. at War, U. S. Bureau of the Budget, The United States at War
Wallace, Donald, “Industrial Markets and Public Policy,” in Public Policy, 1941, edited by Friedrich and Mason, pp. 59-129

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1948-49 (2 of 2)”.

Image Source: Harvard Album 1950.

Tags Alexander, Galbraith, Kaysen

Bibliography Courses Harvard History of Economics Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. History of Economic Thought. Fellner, 1950

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2016-04-18

To William John Fellner (1905-1983) I personally owe my career-long interest in the history of economics. He agreed to meet with me for a year in a one-on-one tutorial upon my request since Yale did not offer a course in the history of economics then (1971-72).

I discovered the following Harvard syllabus that I only recently realized was for a course actually given by my mentor, apparently to help satisfy the continuing demand of Harvard undergraduates for history of economics following Schumpeter’s death in January 1950.

Because I owe so much to William Fellner, in his honor I have gone to the trouble of providing links to as many of the items on his syllabus and bibliography as I could find (in a half-day).

Between us, this is not a particulary well-crafted or imaginative selection of assigned readings and the bibliography is clearly a rush-job. But this nonetheless demonstrates that Fellner was on a mission to integrate the history of economics with the teaching of the principles of economics which he did at Yale through ca. 1970 as reflected in his book Emergence and Content of Modern Economic Analysis, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.

______________________________________

Economics 100.
History of Economic Thought

Half-course (fall term). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor Fellner (University of California).

Source: Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. XLVII, No. 23 (September 1950): Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of the Arts and Sciences During 1950-51, p. 79.

______________________________________

1950-51
Economics 100
Fall Term

History of Economic Thought

In addition to the textbook assignments here listed, students will be required to do some amount of reading in the works of the writers who will be discussed in the course. The students will have a limited range of choice in this respect.

The textbook assignments here listed are not quite final. Some adjustments will presumably be made to include writers who will be discussed in the course but are not covered, or are covered inadequately, by the present assignments. Also, Assignment XI is too long and will be shortened so as to have it correspond to the classroom discussion.

I. Economic Ideas of Greek Philosophers

Gray, Ch. 1

II. Economic Ideas of St. Thomas Aquinas

Gray, Ch. 2

III. Mercantilism

Gray, Ch. 3

IV. The Physiocrats

Gide-Rist, Book I, Ch. 1

V. Adam Smith

Gide-Rist, Book I, Ch. 2

VI. Malthus and Ricardo

Gide-Rist, Book I, Ch. 3

VII. Early Expressions of “Neo-classical” Ideas

Gray, Ch. 7, pp. 190-197; Ch. 8, pp. 238-248; Ch. 10, pp. 266-277.

VIII. Mill

Gide-Rist, Book III, Ch. 2

IX. Protectionist Views and the National Outlook

Gray, Ch. 8, pp. 227-238; Ch. 9, pp. 248-260.

X. Forerunners of Socialism (Simondi; the Ricardian Socialists)

Gide-Rist, Book II, Ch. 1

XI. French Pre-Marxian Socialists

Gide-Rist, Book II, Chs. 2, 3, and 5.

XII. Marxism

Gray, Ch. 11 and Roll’s chapter on Marx

XIII. The Historical School and Institutionalism

Gide-Rist, Book IV, Ch. 1

XIV. Early Expressions of the Welfare State Ideology

Gide-Rist, Book IX, Ch. 2, Ch. 4

XV. The Neo-classical School

Gray, Ch. 12

XVI. Neo-classical, Historical-Institutionalist and Socialist Influences on Contemporary Thought

______________________________________

1950-51
Economics 100
History of Economic Thought

List of Books and Articles

I. General

Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Edwin R. A. Seligman, Ed.: Alvin Johnson, Assoc. Ed.) [Vol. I; Vol. II ; Vol. III ; Vols.III & IV ; Vol. V ; Vols. VI & VI ; Vol. VII ; Vol. VIII ; Vol. IX ; Vol. X ; Vol. XI ; Vols. XI & XII ; Vol. XIII ; Vols. XIII & XIV ; Vol. XV .
Gide, Charles and Rist, Charles, History of Economic Doctrines
Gray, Alexander, The Development of Economic Doctrine
Haney, Lewis H., History of Economic Thought
Roll, Eric, A History of Economic Thought
Whittaker, Edmund, History of Economic Ideas [Schools and Streams of Economic Thought (1960)]
Schumpeter, Joseph, Epochen der Dogmengeschichte [1954 English translation]

II. On Problems of Methodology

Schumpeter, Joseph, Science and Ideology, American Economic Review, March 1949
Keynes, John Neville, Scope and Method of Political Economy
Robbins, Lionel, Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science
Hutcheson, T. W., Significance and Basic Postulates of Economic Theory
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., The Historical vs. the Deductive Method in Political Economy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1890
Cairnes, J. E., The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy
Senior, Nassau W., Four Introductory Lectures on Political Economy
Sidgwick, Henry, Scope and Method of Economic Science
Bagehot, Walter, Economic Studies
Myrdal, Gunnar, Das politische Element in der nationaloekonomischen [Doktrinbildung]

II. On Specific Topics

O’Brien, G., An Essay on Mediaeval Economic Teaching
Laistner, M. L. W., Greek Economics
Tawney, R. H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., Capital and Interest
Heckscher, Eli F., Mercantilism [Volume I; Volume II]
Horrocks, J. W., A Short History of Mercantilism
Hull, Charles H., Petty’s Place in Economic Theory, Q. J. E., 1900
Monroe, A. E., Monetary Theory before Adam Smith
Johnson, E. A. J., Predecessors of Adam Smith
Schmoller, Gustav, The Mercantile System and Its Historical Significance
Angell, James W., The Theory of International Prices
Viner, Jacob, Studies in the Theory of International Trade
Higgs, H., The Physiocrats
Oncken, August, Geschichte der Nationaloekonomie (on the Physiocrats)
Spengler, J. J., The Physiocrats and Say’s Law of Markets, Journal of Political Economy, September and December, 1945.
Rae, John, The Life of Adam Smith
Bonar, James, Malthus and his Work
Bowley, Marian, Nassau Senior and Classical Economics
Viner, Jacob, Bentham and Mill, American Economic Review, March 1949
Knight, F. H., The Ricardian Theory of Production and Distribution (Canadian Journal of Economics, 1935)
Williams, John H. The Theory of International Trade Reconsidered (Economic Journal, 1929)
Dicey, A. V., Law and Public Opinion in England
Cannan, Edwin, Theories of Production and Distribution
Stephen, Leslie, The English Utilitarians [Vol I Jeremy Bentham; Vol II James Mill; Vol III John Stuart Mill]
Halevy, Elie, The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism
Schumpeter, Joseph, The Communist Manifesto in Sociology and Economics, Journal of Political Economy, June 1949
Kautsky, Karl, The Economic Doctrine of Karl Marx [German original]
Carr, E. H., Karl Marx: A Study in Fanaticism
Mehring, Franz, Karl Marx
Keynes, J. M., Essays in Biography (Alfred Marshall)
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., Karl Marx and the Close of His System
Schumpeter, Joseph A., Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Gray, Alexander, The Socialist Tradition
Sweezy, Paul, The Theory of Capitalist Development
Croce, Benedetto, Historical Materialism
Stigler, George J., Theories of Production and Distribution
Schumpeter, Joseph, Vilfredo Pareto, Q.J.E., May 1949
Mulcahy, Richard E., The Welfare Economics of Heinrich Pesch, Q.J.E., August, 1949

IV. Some Important Works in the History of Economic Thought

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Monroe, A. E., Early Economic Thought
Petty, Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, edited by Charles Henry Hull
King, Two Tracts of Gregory King, edited by George E. Barnett
Steuart, Sir James, Principles of Political Economy
Quesnay, François, Oeuvres Économiques et Philosophiques
Hume, David, Political Discourses
Smith, Adam, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Malthus, T. R., Essay on Population (7^th ed.) [eighth edition]
Malthus, T. R., Parallel chapters from the first and second edition of the “Essay” (edited by W. J. Ashley)
Malthus, T. R., Principles of Political Economy
Ricardo, David, Political Works (Ed. J. R. McCulloch, with a short biography by idem)
Ricardo, David, Principles of Political Economy
Ricardo, David, Letters of David Ricardo to the Rev. T. R. Malthus
Say, Jean Baptiste, Traité d’Économie Politique [2^nd ed. 1814]
Say, Letters of J. B. Say to the Rev. T. R. Malthus
Sismondi, S. de, Nouveaux Principes d’Économie Politique
Senior, Nassau William, Outline of Political Economy
Carey, Henry Charles, Principles of Political Economy
List, Friedrich, Das Nationale System der politischen Oekonomie [German; 1909 English translation]
Cournot, Augustin, Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth (N. Bacon, translator)
von Thuenen, Heinrich, Der Isolierte Staat
Mill, John Stuart, Principles of Political Economy
Mill, John Stuart, Autobiography
Smith, Adam, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Cairnes, J. E., Some Leading Principles of Political Economy
Mill, John Stuart, Dissertations and Discussions [Vol. I ; Vol. II ; Vol. III ; Vol. IV]
Marx, Karl, Capital
Marx, Karl, Capital and other works (Selections)
Marx and Engels, The Correspondence of Marx and Engels, 1846-95 (collected by the Marx-Lenin Institute)
Marx and Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party
Hilferding, Rudolf, Das Finanzkapital
Luxemburg, Rosa, Die Akkumulation des Kapitals
Lenin (Vladimir Ulianov), Imperialism; The State and the Revolution
Gossen, Hermann Heinrich, Entwicklung der Gesetze des menschlichen Verkehrs
Jevons, W. S., The Theory of Political Economy (2^nd or later edition)
Menger, Carl, Grundsaetze der Volkswirtschaftslehre
Walras, Leon, Élements d’Économie Politique Pure
Pareto, Vilfredo, Manuel d’Économie Politique
Pareto, Vilfredo, The Mind and Society (A. Livingston, Ed.) [Vol. I & Vol. II ; Vols. III & IV]
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., Capital and Interest; and The Positive Theory of Capital
Wieser, F. v., Natural Value
Marshall, Alfred, Principles of Economics
Marshall, Alfred, Money, Credit and Commerce
Marshall, Alfred, Official Papers
Wicksteed, Philip, Commonsense of Political Economy
Wicksteed, Philip, The Coordination of the Laws of Distribution
Wicksell, Knut, Lectures on Political Economy [Vol. I ; Vol. II], [German translation 1913]
George, Henry, Poverty and Progress
Walker, Francis A., The Wages Question
Clark, J. B., The Distribution of Wealth
Clark, J. B., Essentials of Economic Theory
Fisher, Irving, The Purchasing Power of Money
Fisher, Irving, The Theory of Interest
Davenport, H. J., The Economics of Enterprise
Davenport, H. J., Value and Distribution
Veblen, Thorstein, The Theory of Business Enterprise
Veblen, Thorstein, The Place of Science in Civilization
Commons, John R., Institutional Economics
Schmoller, Gustav, Grundriss der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre [Erster Teil (1908); Zweiter Teil (1904)]
Wagner, Adolf, Grundlegung der Politischen Oekonomie [Vol. I, part 1. 1892, 3ed. ; (Vol 1, part 2. 1894 3ed]
Weber, Max, Theory of Social and Economic Organization
Rerum Novarum (Papal encyclical of May 15, 1891, Leo XIII)
Quadragesimo Anno (Papal encyclical of May 15, 1931, Pius XI)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 5, Folder “Economics, 1950-1951, (1 of 2)”.

Image Source: AEA portrait of William Fellner, Number 71 of a series of photographs of past presidents of the Association, in American Economic Review, Vol. 60, No. 1 (1970).

Tags Fellner

[Course Description]

Fall Term, 1950 Economics 201 – Economic Theory

I. Introduction

II. General Survey of The Economic Process

III. Demand and Supply Analysis

IV. Theory of the Household and Consumption

V. Theory of the Firm and Production

VI. Theory of Distribution

VII. Theory of Market Structures

VIII. Welfare Economics

IX. Keynesian Economics, Marxian Economics

Bibliography and Reading Assignments

General

I. Introduction

Suggestions:

II. General Survey of Economic Process

III. Demand and Supply Analysis

IV. Theory of Household and Consumption

V. Theory of the Firm and of Production

Economics 201 Economic Theory — G. Haberler Spring Term, 1951

I. Theory of Distribution

II. Welfare Economics

III. Theory of Market Structures

IV. Keynesian Economics

Literature

I. Theory of Distribution

1. General

Further Suggested Reading:

2. Wages

Further Suggested Reading:

3. Rent

4. Capital and Interest

Further Suggested Reading:

5. Profits

Further Suggested Reading:

II. Welfare Economics

Further Suggested Reading:

III. Market Structures

Further Suggested Reading:

IV. Keynesian Economics

[Original Course Announcement for Economics 111 in September 1949]

[Course Enrollment, Economics 111, 1950 (Sp)]

1949-50 Economics 111 Socialism

I. February 9 – March 14. Socialism and Marxism, Doctrine.

1. February 9 – 14. Introduction; background of history of modern socialism; before Marx.

2. February 14 – 21. Hegel and Marx, and Marx’s sociology (theory of history).

3. February 21-28. Ricardo and Marx, and Marx’s Economics I. Theory of Value and Surplus Value.

4. February 28 – March 7. Marx’s Economics II. Accumulation and Evolution of Capitalism

5. March 7 – 14. Capitalism, Evolution, and Decline; Another View (Schumpeter).

II. March 16 – April 1. Socialist Parties, Ideas, and Policies –Theory and Practice – in Central Europe, Scandinavia, and England. Lecturers; Gerschenkron and Galenson.

6. March 16 – 21. German and Austrian Developments after Marx and between the Two ‘World’ Wars. Gerschenkron.

7. March 21 – 28. Scandinavian Socialism, Theory and Practice. Galenson.

8. March 28 – April 1. British Socialism, Theory and Practice. Galenson

April 2 – 9, inclusive, Spring Vacation

III. April 11 –29. Soviet Russia; Economic Planning in Centralist Socialism, Theory; and Russian Practice. Lecturers, Gerschenkron and Leontief.

9. April 11 – 15. Russia, Boshevism, Marx-Lenin-Stalin Theory, and Soviet Policies.

10. April 18 – 22. Centralist Socialism, Planning Theory.

11. April 25 – 29. Russian Practice; and the Modern Marxist Theory of ‘Monopoly Capitalism and Imperialism’ (Not related topics).

12. May 2 — 6. ‘Imperialism’ Theory, Cont’d.

[handwritten additions]

[Course Enrollments, Economics 102a and 102b, 1947-48]

Economics 102a Economic Theory Fall Term, 1947-48

Readings until November 10

Theory of Production

For General Reference

Selected Problems in the Analysis of Demand

Economics 102[a] Fall Term, 1947-48

Reading, November 10 – January 4

Reading Period Assignment

Economics 102b Spring Term, 1948 Capital, Interest, and Economic Development

Part I: Capital and Income:

Reading:

Part II: Theory of Interest:

Part III: Economic Development and Accumulation of Capital:

Economics 102b Spring Term, 1948 Capital, Interest, and Economic Development

Part II: Theory of Interest:

Reading:

Part III: Economic Development and Accumulation of Capital:

Reading:

Memorandum for Professor Burbank

Fall Term, 1950
Economics 201 – Economic Theory

Economics 201
Economic Theory — G. Haberler
Spring Term, 1951

1949-50
Economics 111
Socialism

Economics 102a
Economic Theory
Fall Term, 1947-48

Economics 102[a]
Fall Term, 1947-48

Economics 102b
Spring Term, 1948
Capital, Interest, and Economic Development

Economics 102b
Spring Term, 1948
Capital, Interest, and Economic Development

COURSES AND ELECTIONS
[by Columbia College Students]

ECONOMICS 303
BIBLIOGRAPHY

ECONOMICS 303
Spring, 1942

1949-50
Economics 110
Reading List

A Selected List of Readings Relevant to
Economics 110a and 210a
Part I

1949-50
Economics 110
A Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Scientific Method
by Guy Orcutt

Economics 161
1948-49
Business Organization and Control

Spring Term, 1948-49
Economics 161—Business Organization and Control