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Johns Hopkins. General Written Exam for Economics PhD. 1956

 

One is struck by the relative weight of the history of economics in this four part (12 hours total) general examination for the PhD degree at Johns Hopkins in 1956. Also interesting to note just how many different areas are touched upon. Plenty of choice, but no place to hide.

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Other General Exams from Johns Hopkins

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GENERAL WRITTEN EXAMINATION FOR THE PH.D DEGREE
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

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PART I
June 4, 1956, 9-12 a.m.

Answer two questions, one from each group.

Group I.
  1. Write an essay on the theory of capital. It should include a discussion of the place of capital theory in economic analysis: for what purposes, if any, we need such a theory, Do not omit theories or issues which were important in the history of doctrines, even if you should regard them as irrelevant for modern analysis.
  2. Discuss and compare the capital theories of Böhm-Bawerk, Wicksell, and Hayek.
  3. Write an essay on the theory of income distribution. Organize it carefully, as if it were designed for an article in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Include discussions of alternative theories such as imputation theories, residual theories, surplus value theories, etc.
Group II.
  1. The following statements attempt to show that marginal productivity theory is inconsistent with factual observation. Accepting the stated facts as given, discuss whether they call for the rejection or major modification of the theory. If so, how? If not, why not?
    1. “In the most important industries in the United States wage rates are set by collective bargaining and are largely determined by the bargaining strength of the parties. Marginal productivity of labor is neither calculated nor mentioned in the process.”
    2. “In many industries competition among employers for workers is so limited that most firms are able to pay less than the marginal productivity of labor.”
    3. “Workers in some trades — say, carpenters or bricklayers — work essentially the same way as their predecessors did fifty years ago; yet their real wages have increased greatly, probably not less than in occupations where productivity has improved considerably over the years.”
  2. The determination of first-class and second-class passenger fares for transatlantic ocean transportation involves problems of (a) joint or related cost, (b) related demand, and (c) discriminatory pricing. Discuss first in what ways these three phenomena are involved here; then formulate a research project to obtain the factual information required for an evaluation of the cost relationships and demand relationships prevailing in the case of two-class passenger ships; and finally state the criteria for judging whether the actual rate differential implies conscious discrimination in favor of first-class passengers, conscious discrimination against first-class passengers, wrong calculation and faulty reasoning on the part of the shipping lines, or any other reason which you may propose.

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PART II
June 4, 1956, 2-5 p.m.

Answer three questions, at least one from each group.

Group I.
  1. There is a running debate on the question whether trade unions are labor monopolies. This debate obviously turns on the meaning of monopoly and on what effects union have had on their members’ wages, output, and conditions of work. Give both sides of the argument.
  2. Write an essay on the demand for labor.
  3. Write down everything you know about the incidence of unemployment among various classes of workers and about the fluctuations of unemployment over time. Discuss some of the problems of developing a workable concept of unemployment. Indicate whether the statistical behavior of unemployment throws any light on its causation.
Group II.
  1. What is a “public utility”? According to accepted regulatory principles, how are the “proper” net earnings of a utility company determined? And, finally, what factors are considered in setting an “appropriate” rate structure?
  2. What is the major purpose of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890? What are some of the more significant problems in determining what constitutes “restraint of trade”? What tests would you apply? Why?
  3. Analyze the economic effects of a corporate income tax. Be as comprehensive as you can.
  4. What are flexible agricultural price supports? Explain how they are determined and applied. Evaluate their use in the light of reasonable alternatives.

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PART III
June 5, 1956, 9-12 a.m.

Answer three questions, one from each group.

Group I.
  1. Describe briefly Schumpeter’s theory of economic development, and comment upon the possibility of testing it empirically.
  2. Describe briefly Keynes’ general theory of employment, interest and money; state its assumptions, structure, and conclusions; and evaluate it critically in the light of more recent theoretical and empirical findings.
Group II.
  1. What characteristics of economic cycles would you consider important in a statistical study of business cycles?
  2. In the study of long-term trends, what criteria would you use in constructing index numbers of production?
  3. What measures of economic growth of nations would you us? Consider carefully the various characteristics that you would deem indispensable in measurements of this sort.
Group III.
  1. Give a brief definition, explanation and illustration for each of the following:
    1. variance;
    2. confidence interval;
    3. coefficient of regression;
    4. coefficient of correlation;
    5. coefficient of determination;
    6. regression line.

[Note: Indicate where you have confined yourself to simple, linear correlation.]

  1. Write an essay on statistical inference by means of the following three techniques:
    1. chi square;
    2. analysis of variance;
    3. multiple regression.

Indicate the types of problem in which they are used, and how each type of problem is handled.

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PART IV
June 5, 1956, 2-5 p.m.

Answer four questions, one from each group.

Group I.
  1. Political arithmetic is a term that is applied to certain writings that appeared from roughly 1675 to 1800. What gave rise to such writings? What were the contributions of the different members of the “group”? Why should Political Arithmetic be given a terminal date?
  2. Discuss Quesnay’s Tableau Économique, Do you see in it anything of significance for the subsequent development of economic theory?
  3. Present arguments for the contention that J. B. Say was far more than “a mere disciple of Adam Smith”.
Group II.
  1. Discuss the relations between the English economic literature of the first half of the 19th century and the events, conditions, and general ideas of that time.
  2. Select three episodes in American economic history, and use your knowledge of economic theory to explain them.
Group III.
  1. Analyze the economic effects of a large Federal debt. Be as comprehensive as you can.
  2. At one time or another each of the following has been proposed as the proper objective or goal of monetary policy: (1) The stabilization of the quantity of money; (2) The maintenance of a constant level of prices; (3) The maintenance of full employment.
    Explain for each policy objective (a) what it means, that is, exactly what in “operational” terms might be maintained or stabilized; (b) how the objective could be achieved, that is, what techniques could be used to achieve it; and (a) the difficulties with or objections to the proposal.
  3. Irving Fisher and others have proposed that all bank be required to hold 100% reserves against their deposits. This was designed to prevent bank failures and, more important, to eliminate the perverse tendency of money to contract in recessions and expand in booms.
    Explain whether the proposal would have the effects claimed for it, and if so, why, and discuss what other effects it might have.
Group IV.
  1. Discuss the “law of comparative advantage” in international trade.
  2. Discuss “currency convertibility”.
  3. Discuss the “transfer problem”.
  4. Discuss the “optimum tariff”.
  5. Discuss the “foreign-trade multiplier”.
  6. Discuss alternative concepts of the “terms of trade”.
  7. Discuss the “effects of devaluation upon the balance of trade”.

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Source: Johns Hopkins University. Eisenhower Library. Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy Series 5/6.  Box No. 6/1. Folder: “Comprehensive Exams for Ph.D. in Political Economy, 1947-1965”.

Image Source: Fritz Machlup in an economics seminar. Evsey Domar visible sitting third from the speaker on his right hand side. Johns Hopkins University Yearbook, Hullabaloo 1956, p. 15.

Categories
Columbia Economic History Economists Undergraduate

Columbia. On Rev. John McVickar’s political economy. Herbert B. Adams, 1887

The subject of political economy and its instructors received much attention in the 1887 survey of the study of history in the United States by Johns Hopkins history professor Herbert B. Adams. In this post Economics in the Rear-View Mirror shares those pages dedicated to the work of Rev. John McVickar (1787-1868) of Columbia College.

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McVickar’s political economy textbooks

Outlines of Political Economy. “A republication of the article [by J.R. McCulloch] upon that subject contained in the Edinburgh Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica together with notes explanatory and critical, and a summary of the science.” (New York: Wilder & Campbell, 1825).

Introductory Lecture to a Course of Political Economy (London: John Miller, 1830).

First lessons in political economy: for the use of primary and common schools. Albany: Common School Depository, 1837.
(Seventh edition. New York: Saxton and Miles, 1846)

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A Pair of McVickar Biographies

Langstaff, John Brett. The Enterprising Life, John McVickar 1787-1868. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1961.

Dorfman, Joseph and R. G. Tugwell. “The Reverend John McVickar: Christian Teacher and Economist” in Early American Policy: Six Columbia Contributors  (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), pp. 99-154.
Originally published in Columbia University Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 4 (December 1931), pp. 353-401.

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Historian Herbert B. Adams on Professor John McVickar and historical political economy at Columbia College

…In the continuity of historico-political studies at Columbia College there was another important influence contemporary with Professor Anthon; namely, the Rev. John McVickar, who was appointed Professor of Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Belles Letters in the year 1817. This man, the successor of the Rev. Dr. [John] Bowden, is too little known to American students of History and Economics—in both of which studies he was a remarkable pioneer. It would be a useful, as well as pious service, if some one of the present instructors in the School of Political Science at Columbia would prepare an academic memorial of John McVickar, as he did of his worthy predecessor, Dr. Bowden (1751-1817), in an address delivered to the Alumni of Columbia College, October 4, 1837. Although the life of the Rev. John McVickar has been written, as a “clerical biography,” by his son [William A. McVickar, The Life of the Reverend John McVickar, S.T.D.] (New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1872), there is so much of academic interest in his life and writings, so much unused biographical material in the archives of Columbia College, that a special study of his professorial career would certainly repay the younger generation of teachers.

In general, the service rendered by Professor McVickar to Historical and Political Science at Columbia College resembles that rendered by Profesor Francis Bowen in Harvard College. Under the broad ægis of a philosophical professorship, both teachers protected and encouraged historico-political studies. Both inclined most strongly toward politico-economics. Both produced text-books of political economy, which, in their day and generation, proved very helpful to American students. In these days, when the study of economics is coming to the front in our colleges and universities, it will be recognized as a distinguished honor for Professor McVickar that he was one of the first men in this country to lecture upon political economy to students, and also one of the first to publish a text-book upon the subject.

John McVickar (1787-1863) was the son of a leading merchant of New York City, and was of Scotch descent. Heredity and environment gave him a natural inclination toward the study of economic questions. Born in the business center of the United States, into family acquaintance with wealthy and influential men, into association with Albert Gallatin, Isaac Bronson, and Mr. Biddle, young McVickar could not escape the great problems of currency and banking which agitated his times. Although, after his graduation from Columbia College, educated as a theologian and for a time settled as rector of a parish in Hyde Park, he readily accepted the philosophical professorship made vacant by the death of Dr. Bowden in 1817; and, within a year, petitioned to have Political Economy added to his already wide domain, without any increase of salary. The year 1818 marks the establishment of economic science in Columbia College, [see William and Mary’s claim to priority] which was one of the first to recognize this subject in the United States. For several years the need of a text-book of Political Economy was deeply felt by McVickar as an aid to his lectures. In 1821 he appears to have urged Edward Everett to prepare a suitable hand-book; but the great orator, while expressing interest in the subject, pleaded other engagements. In 1825 McVickar brought out his Outlines of Political Economy. This thin octavo volume, which an American student may well prize if he can now secure a copy, was an American adaptation of J. R. McCulloch’s article on Political Economy originally published in the Edinburgh supplement to the old Encyclopædia Britannica [1824, vol. 6, pp. 216-278]. This article, by the first Ricardo lecturer on Political Economy, well deserves comparison with that in the new edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica [by J. K. Ingram in the 9th ed., vol. 19 (1885), pp. 346-401], for the sake of the historical method which both articles represent. McCulloch, with his review of the rise of economic science, the mercantile system, the manufacturing system, the opinions of Mr. Mun, Sir Josiah Child, Dudley North, Mr. Locke, et al., may be as truly called a representative of the historical school of economics as Knies or Roscher.

It is interesting to reflect that the English historical method of J. R. McCulloch was introduced into America by John McVickar, more than twenty-five years before the rise of either of these German pioneers. By more than fifty years did the Scotch student of McCulloch and Adam Smith anticipate the American disciples of Knies and Roscher in advocating historico-political economy. McVickar appended many original notes to McCulloch; and, among other good things, he said of political economy: “To the rising government of America it teaches the wisdom of European experience.” He called economics “the redeeming science of modern times-the regenerating principle that, in connection with the spirit of Christianity, is at work in the civilized governments of the world, not to revolutionize, but to reform.” Besides his original notes, which show not only deep moral, but profound practical insight into economic questions, McVickar appended a general summary of economic science, which probably reveals something of his own method of presenting the subject to his classes. This text-book, which is said to be “the first work on the science of political economy published in America,”* (McVickar’s Life of John McVickar, 85) was welcomed by Chancellor Kent and Thomas Jefferson in the warmest terms. The sage of Monticello said of the subject which the book represented: “I rejoice to see that it is beginning to be cultivated in our schools. No country on earth requires a sound intelligence of it more than ours.” Among the early economic writings of McVickar are the following pamphlets: Interest Made Equity (1826), an English article, like his textbook, with American notes; Hints on Banking (1827), an original paper of forty or more pages, addressed to a member of the New York legislature, and said to have been the origin of the free banking law of New York (1833), and the scientific forerunner of practical reforms in the Bank of England, 1844, and also the National Bank Act of the United States in 1863 (Appendix to the Life of McVickar, 411). A more distinct foreshadowing of our present national system of banking was Professor McVickar’s article, published in 1841, entitled “A National Bank: Its Necessity and most Advisable Form.” This and other financial articles were published by McVickar in the New York Review, which closed its influential career in 1842. He wrote on “American Finance” [“American Finances and Credit,” The New York Review, Vol. VII, (July 1840).]; on “The Expediency of Abolishing Damages on Protested Bills of Exchange”; on “The Evils of Divers State Laws to regulate Damages on Foreign Bills of Exchange,” &c. A complete bibliography of the writings of John McVickar would be a helpful addition to the Dewey system of classification in the excellent library of Columbia College. In the history of economic thought in the United States John McVickar will surely take an honorable place as an academic pioneer. Practical economists, like Franklin, Robert Morris, and Alexander Hamilton, this country had, indeed, developed; but professorial economists, with original and independent views, were rare in America before the days of John McVickar. His chief rival to priority was Professor [Thomas] Cooper, of Dickinson College and of the University of Pennsylvania, the friend of Jefferson, and the predecessor of Francis Lieber, in Columbia, S.C. By a singular chance the two lines of economic teaching came together at last in Columbia College, New York, when, in 1857, Francis Lieber was called to that institution as the successor to John McVickar.

* This statement… is not strictly true, for Destutt Tracy’s Treatise on Political Economy appeared in 1817. McVickar undoubtedly deserves great credit for pioneer work, but the claim to absolute priority in this country as a lecturer upon Political Economy, asserted for him by his filial biographer, should be viewed with caution until the facts are more fully known,

The subject of History was also taught by Professor McVickar as a branch of his philosophical department. The statutes of Columbia College show that from the beginning of the present century Greek and Roman History, or Classical Antiquities, remained in the hands of the classical department. But some attention was always given to Modern History; and this appears to have been intrusted to the professor of Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Belles Lettres. It was probably a natural continuation of the original historical work of John Gross, teacher of Geography and German, who was made Professor of Philosophy, also, in 1787. The preparation which Professor McVickar enjoyed for the teaching of history was not as good as that which came to him by nature and associations for the teaching of political economy. While yet a theological student, he appears, however, to have pursued a course of historical reading, and to have invented a system of mnemonics which he applied to Bossuet’s Chronology. Entering upon his professorship, McVickar worked out his own methods of instruction by a long course of experience, the results of which may be generalized upon the basis of the following authentic testimony.

In a report of a committee of the trustees of Columbia College, a statement was made, in 1856, by Professor McVickar, with respect to the duties of his department. He said his professorship comprised a “union of historical and philosophical studies,” of which he advised the division. To the sophomores, during their first semester, he taught “Modern European History, more especially from the latter half of the fifteenth century, being the period suggested by Heeren as the true commencement of the European system. The second session was the exact and critical study of English History, as the great storehouse of our political wisdom. In addition to this, there were essays on subjects connected with the course read and criticised in the lecture-room; the whole embodied in notes, as stated in my annual reports.” In regard to his method of teaching, Professor McVickar told the committee that any good history in the hands of students was sufficient. He said, “The subject is studied, not the text-book. My practice is, at the commencement, to explain the subject of text-books, and to give the class a list of the best, any one of which would be satisfactory. I have made it a point to ascertain from the best students of other colleges the results of studying from text-books, and have felt that such instruction makes little impression on the memory.” In reply to a question from the committee as to whether he delivered his lectures from notes, Professor McVickar said: “I have written notes; and in the earlier periods I used to read lectures. Experience brought me to a freer use of notes, as guiding the analysis of the subjects, but not controlling the words.” All this has a modern tone, and indicates a man of sensible ideas. There was, however, one radical fault found with Professor McVickar, which he perhaps inherited from Dr. Bowden; he did not succeed in keeping good discipline among his students. In his eulogy of Dr. Bowden, McVickar said, with a certain reflex significance, “As a disciplinarian he held lightly the staff of authority.” McVickar’s own students appear to have recognized this amiable weakness in their master, and to have presumed upon it. Some dissatisfaction was felt by the administration with what was allowed in the recitation-room of Professor McVickar; and the inquiry into his methods of instruction reveals a certain animus, with a decided tendency toward a reconstruction of the entire department.

In 1857, by the advice and consent of Professor McVickar, the duties of his too laborious and too comprehensive professorship were divided into three independent chairs: (1) Moral and Intellectual Philosophy; (2) Ancient and Modern Literature (Belles Lettres); (3) History and Political Science. Professor McVickar was transferred to the chair of Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion which he held until 1864, when he retired from office, his duties passing to the then president. The chair of Philosophy was given to Professor Charles Murray Nairne. The chair of Belles Lettres was offered to Samuel Eliot, of Boston; but he declined it, and the duties were then intrusted to Professor Nairne.

Source: Adams, Herbert B. The Study of History in American Colleges and Universities. Bureau of Education, Circular of Information, No. 2, 1887. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1887), pp. 61-63.

Image Source: Frontispiece from William A. McVickar, The Life of the Reverend John McVickar, S.T.D.] (New York: Hurd & Houghton, 1872.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Mediaeval and Modern Economic History of Europe. Enrollments, descriptions, exam. Gay, 1904-1905

An assistant professor gotta do what an assistant professor has gotta do. Edwin Francis Gay was 37 years of age by the 1904-05 academic year with courses covering nearly a millennium of European economic history.  His biographer (and former student) Herbert Heaton described this period as being a strenuous time for Gay (pp. 64-65).

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Related posts

A brief course description for Economics 11 plus the exams from 1902-03.

Exams for 1903-04.

A short bibliography for “serious students” of economic history  assembled by Gay and published in 1910 has also been posted.

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 10 1hf. Asst. Professor Gay. — Mediaeval Economic History of Europe.

Total 1: 1 Graduate.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 75.

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 10 1hf. The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and(at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Asst. Professor Gay.

After a preliminary examination of early economic and social institutions, this course aims to give a general view of the economic development of society during the Middle Ages. Among other topics, the following will be considered: mediaeval agriculture and serfdom; the manorial system and the economic aspects of feudalism; the beginnings of town life and the gild-system of industry; and the Italian and Hanseatic commercial supremacy.
A thesis will be required from each student, and occasional oral reports and discussions may be expected, but the work is conducted mainly by lectures with supplementary reading.
It is desirable that students should possess some acquaintance with mediaeval history and some reading knowledge of Latin.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), p. 44.

No printed exam at mid-year for this course was found in the Harvard archives
(but of course only one student)

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 11. Asst. Professor Gay. — Modern Economic History of Europe.

Total 7: 3 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 75.

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 11. The Modern Economic History of Europe. Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 10. Asst. Professor Gay.

This course, while Course 10 may usefully precede it, will nevertheless be independent, and may be taken by those who have not followed the history of the earlier period.
At the outset a survey will be made of economic and social conditions in the chief European countries at the close of the Middle Ages. The history of trade, industry, and agriculture in the succeeding periods down to the nineteenth century will then be treated in some detail, together with the corresponding forms of social life and the advance in economic thought. England will receive the emphasis due to its increasing importance during this period.
A considerable amount of supplementary reading will be expected and two thesis subjects will be assigned.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), p. 44.

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ECONOMICS 11
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. Explain briefly:—
    (1) lettre de maîtrise
    (2) métayage
    (3) the Steelyard
    (4) goldsmith’s notes
    (5) enumerated commodities
    (6) Merchant Adventurer’s
  2. What are the chief facts you associate with the names of
    (1) Bodin, (2) Colbert, (3) Paterson, (4) Law?
  3. (1) Who were the Fuggers? What type of company organization do they represent?
    (2) Describe the development in the company organization of the English East India Company. How and why did this company’s history differ from that of the Dutch East India Company?
  4. Enumerate the forms of indirect taxation in use in England in the seventeenth century.
  5. How do you distinguish the domestic system of industry from the handicraft and factory systems? Give some examples of different forms of the domestic system.

Take one of the following questions.

  1. It is stated that the total value of exports and imports for England and France were as follows for the years here given:
England
£		 France
livres
1613   4,628,586
1750 20,471,120 1750 355,202,357
1800 62,639,398 1789 758,104,000

Are these figures of equal statistical value? What are the sources of error?

  1. (1) In 1655 a London merchant shipped raisins and oil to Hamburg, but finding this market not so good as the English desired to ship the goods back to England in the same ship that carried them to Hamburg, paying customs and excise on the reimportation. He petitioned the Council for license to do this. State precisely why.
    (2) In 1665 a Dutch merchant desired to send to England from Amsterdam a lading of silk and linen cloth, loaf sugar, paper (all of Dutch manufacture), Bordeaux wine, tobacco and pepper. Could he do this, and if so, how?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05;  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), pp. 30-31.

Image Source: Edwin F. Gay, seated in office, 1908. From Wikipedia. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Course enrollment, description and final exams. U.S. economic history. Sprague, 1904-1905

 

Judging from his faculty photos published in the Harvard Classbook Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague (1873-1953) was an assistant professor of economics with boyish good looks. His main field was banking and finance but he carried on Charles Dunbar’s interest in monetary and financial history in both his teaching and his research. He was sort of a Charles Kindleberger in his day, see his History of crises under the national banking system (Washington, Gov’t Print. Off., 1910, 1911).

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 6. Asst. Professor Sprague. — Economic and Financial History of the United States.

Total 79: 9 Graduates, 13 Seniors, 42 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 74.

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Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 6. The Economic and Financial History of the United States. Tu., Th., Sat., at 9. Asst. Professor Sprague.

Course 6 gives a general survey of the economic history of the United States from the close of the eighteenth century to the present time, and aims to show on the one hand the mode in which economic principles are illustrated by American experience and, on the other, the extent to which economic conditions have influenced social and political development. The following are among the subjects considered: aspects of the Revolution and commercial relations during the Confederation and the European wars; the history of the protective tariff policy and the growth of manufacturing industries; the settlement of the West and the history of transportation, including the early canal and turnpike enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building and the establishment of public regulation of railways; various aspects of agrarian history, such as the public land policy, the growth of foreign demand for American produce and the subsequent competition of other sources of supply; certain social topics, such as slavery and its economic basis, emancipation and the present condition of the Negro, and the effects of immigration. Comparisons will be made from time to time with the contemporary economic history of Europe. Finally the more important features of our currency and financial history are reviewed.

The course is taken advantageously with or after History 13. It is open to students who have taken Economics 1, and also to Seniors who are taking that course.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), pp. 40-41.

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ECONOMICS 6
Mid-year Examination, 1904-05

  1. Mention at least five of the means by which, according to Hamilton, manufactures may be encouraged. Comment upon the one which he considers at greatest length, and as probably the most effective.
  2. Compare the views of Hamilton and Gallatin upon the effect which the trade policy of other countries should have upon that of the United States.
  3. What section of the country suffered most severely from the separation from England?
  4. (Take seven.) Whitney, Slater, Dallas, Cheeves, Biddle, McDuffie, Guthrie, Taney, Walker, Morrill.
  5. United States monetary legislation, 1830-1860.
  6. What lessons may be drawn from the financial experience of the Government during (a) the War of 1812; (b) the years following the Crises of 1837 and 1857?
  7. Mention by date and character (more or less protective) the chief tariff acts between 1810 and 1860.
  8. The relation of tariffs to crises to 1860.
  9. The policy adopted with reference to their debts by Ohio, Michigan, and Mississippi.

Source: Harvard University Archives. . Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1904-05.

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ECONOMICS 6
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. (a) The negro and the cultivation of tobacco.
    (b) The negro death rate.
    (c) The negro in the North.
  2. Protection and the iron industry before and after the Civil War.
  3. The taxation policy of Congress in successive wars.
  4. Government deficits and the currency, 1893-96. Would the situation have been essentially different if the act of 1900 had been in operation during those years?
  5. The act of 1894 as a free trade measure.
  6. Treasury arrangements for the resumption of specie payments.
  7. The policy and the results of refunding under the acts of 1870 and 1900.
  8. Wages and prices, 1890-1903.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05;  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), p. 26.

Image Source:   Harvard University. Quinquennial Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates, 1636-1920. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1920. Front cover.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Enrollment and exam questions for agrarian history. Gay, 1903-04

Edwin Francis Gay

Edwin F. Gay only taught the graduate economics course “General Outlines of Agrarian History” once. As we see from the course enrollment for this course offered at Harvard during the first term of 1903-04, only four students attended. Who among us has not been personally confronted with the reality that our supply does not necessarily generate its own demand? 

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Course Enrollment

Economics 24 1hf. Asst. Professor Gay. — General Outlines of Agrarian History.

Total 4: 3 Seniors, 1 Junior.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 24
Mid-Year Examination. 1903-04

  1. Explain briefly:

(1) emphyteusis.
(2) massa and fundus.
(3) mainmorte.
(4) gavelkind and Borough English.
(5) common recovery.
(6) copyhold.
(7) majorat and seniorat.
(8) Norfolk husbandry.

  1. Describe briefly:

(1) the provisions of the Capitulare de villis; its date and significance.
(2) the system of estate settlement by “Familienfideikommisse.”
(3) the place in agrarian history of Colbert, Orlando Bridgman, Arthur Young and Albrecht Thaer.

  1. “It seems to be almost certain that the ‘hams’ and ‘tuns’ [of England] were, generally speaking, and for the most part from the first, practically manors with communities in serfdom upon them.” Whose view is this? State succinctly the chief arguments for and against.
  2. What were the chief factors in the emancipation of the medieval serf and how far had the movement of emancipation progressed by 1500 in England, France and Northern Italy?
  3. What were the causes of the Peasant War of 1525? How did the condition of the peasant of South Germany differ from that of the peasant in the North-east and North-west?
  4. Summarize (with dates of the more important statutes) the changes of policy in the English Corn-laws.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1903-04.

Image Source: Harvard Class Album, 1914.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance

Harvard. Enrollment and final exam for U.S. Financial History. Bullock, 1903-1904

Charles Jesse Bullock first taught at Harvard as a visiting instructor in 1901-02. He returned at the rank of assistant professor of economics in 1903-04. The previous post provided the short biography from the Williams College yearbook from his last year on the faculty there together with his year-end exam for his Harvard course on the history of early economics (ancient Greeks through Adam Smith) in 1903-04.

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Course Enrollment
Economics 16, 1903-04

Economics 16 2hf. Asst. Professor Bullock. — The Financial History of the United States.

Total 27: 11 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 162
Year-End Examination, 1903-04

  1. Discuss colonial and State tariffs prior to 1789.
  2. Discuss fully the subject of requisitions and taxation under the Confederation.
  3. What do you consider to be the real services of Hamilton from 1789-1795? At what points was his policy open to criticism?
  4. Characterize the sinking-fund laws of 1795, 1802, and 1817.
  5. Describe in outline the course of tariff legislation from 1846 to 1861.
  6. Why was the independent-treasury system established? To what extent has its original purpose been secured? At what points is it open to criticism?
  7. What were the chief defects of the financial policy followed during the Civil War?
  8. What changes were effected in the national debt between 1865 and 1871?
  9. What different methods of resuming specie payments were proposed after the Civil War? What method was finally adopted?
  10. At what times during its history has the federal government been confronted with the problem of a surplus revenue? How, at each time, has the problem been solved?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, p. 37.

Image Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams for the Modern Economic History of Europe. Gay, 1903-1904

Edwin F. Gay was hired as instructor to cover the economic history field left vacant by the departure of William Ashley for the University of Birmingham in 1901. By the end of his first semester (December 1902) he was promoted to an assistant professorship. Medieval economic history proved not to be a magnet for student enrollment (I am shocked to report) so he began to give greater emphasis to “modern” European economic history.

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Getting to 1903-1904

The outstanding feature of Gay’s years of study abroad is their number. He went to Europe expecting to return within two years, but stayed twelve and a half. Instead of getting his Ph.D. after working for three or four semesters on medieval history, he spent nine in universities–three in Leipzig, five in Berlin, and one in Zurich; then for seven years he studied privately; and finally, after being registered for three more semesters in Berlin but attending no classes, he wrote a dissertation on a theme in economic history, took his examinations, and was granted his degree in the summer of 1902….[p.30]

*  *  *

…[Gay] arrived in Harvard somewhat nervous about the reception he was likely to receive. Apart from the President, the only men who knew him — Gross and Haskins — were in the history department. His position, junior and temporary, was in the economics department, yet the economists had played no part in choosing him. When he visited Cambridge for his interview, he met neither the veteran F.W. Taussig nor the recently appointed younger men, Carver and Ripley. Apart from a very brief encounter with Carver in Berlin in the summer of 1902, he was a complete stranger to all his associates….[p. 63]

*  *  *

…By Christmas, 1902, [Gay] felt confident that he was holding the attention and interest of his students. By that time he also had learned, through T. N. Carver, chairman of the department, what the students thought of his work: they said it was so stiff and heavy in its demands that “whenever you see any of us going around with circles under our eyes, you can know we are taking Gay’s course.” There were very few of them at first; the medieval story [10 students] and the German economists [4 students] did not attract much attention… [p. 61]

*  *  *

…by Christmas 1902, [Gay] was informed the department wanted him to stay and before his first year ended he was raised to the rank of assistant professor of economics with a tenure of five years. In recommending the promotion Carver wrote to [President] Eliot: “His scholarship is of the very highest type and his success as a classroom lectureer is unqualified, as shown by his work this year.” [p. 64]

Source: Herbert Heaton, A Scholar in Action: Edwin F. Gay. Cambridge (Massachusetts), Harvard University Press, 1952.

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Related posts

A brief course description for Economics 11 plus the exams from the the 1902-03 academic year have been posted earlier .

A short bibliography for “serious students” of economic history assembled by Gay and published in 1910 has also been posted.

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ECONOMICS 11
Course Enrollment
1903-04

Economics 11. Asst. Professor Gay. — The Modern Economic History of Europe.

Total 18: 10 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 4 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 66.

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ECONOMICS 11
Mid-Year Examination, 1903-04

  1. Explain briefly:—

(a) convertible husbandry.
(b) bodgers.
(c) book of rates.
(d) Gutsherrschaft.
(e) lettre de maîtrise.
(f) Fondaco dei Tedeschi.

  1. Describe briefly, with indication of the bearing on wider questions:—

(a) The divergent views as to the security of copyhold tenure in the sixteenth century.
(b) The organization of the Florentine woollen industry.
(c) The rise of the Merchant Adventurers.

  1. Comment on the following passage:—

“Everie day some of us encloseth a plote of his ground to pasture; and weare it not that oure grounde lieth in the common feildes, intermingled one with a nother, I thincke also oure feildes had bene enclosed, of a common agreement of all the townshippe, longe ere this time.”

  1. Give an account of the gild system of industry in England, emphasizing the analogies and contrasts with the continent.
  2. It is estimated that the following series of figures represents the change in the average purchasing power of wages in England:

1451-1500

 100

1501-1520

 88

1521-1550

 70

1551-1570

57
1571-1602

47
1603-1652

40
1653-1702

47

(a) How would you construct such a series and what is its value?
(b) What caused the change thus indicated and what were its effects?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1903-04.

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ECONOMICS 11
Year-End Examination, 1903-04

I. Explain briefly:—

(1) contractus trinius.
(2) two forms of capitation.
(3) Gesellenverbände.
(4) Gulden and Thaler.
(5) the vend.
(6) Exchequer Bills
(7) the Molasses Act.
(8) roundsmen.

II. Describe briefly:—

(1) the influence of the Civil War on English economic history.
(2) the distinction between the economic views of Whigs and Tories.

III.

(1) State the chief provisions and significance of

(a) the Statute of Artificers (1563),
(b) the Navigation Act (1660), and
(c) the Corn Law of 1688.

(2) When in England was the policy embodied in each of the above statutes changed, and under what circumstances?
(3) Indicate the analogies and contrasts of this English policy in relation to industry, commerce, and agriculture with the policies of France and Holland in the seventeenth century.

IV.

When and why did indirect taxation become prominent in Western Europe?

V. Comment on the following statement:

“the domestic system existed [in England] from the earliest times till it was superseded by capitalism; … craft gilds were a form of industrial organization which was appropriate to the domestic, rather than to the capitalist system.”

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, pp. 33-34.

Image Source: Edwin F. Gay, seated in office, 1908. From Wikipedia. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Semester Examinations in US Economic History. Sprague, 1903-1904

Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague

 

Exam questions for the Economic History of the United States taught by Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague in academic years 1901-02, and 1902-03 have been posted earlier.

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ECONOMICS 6
Enrollment. 1903-04

Economics 6. Dr. Sprague. — The Economic History of the United States.

Total 58: 14 Graduates, 18 Seniors, 18 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 66.

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ECONOMICS 6
Mid-Year Examination. 1903-04

  1. Give reasons for the failure to engage in diversified agriculture in the South before 1860.
  2. Contrast the Southern plantation managed by owners with those under the management of overseers.
  3. Why should 1839 rather than 1837 be regarded as the close of the speculative movement of the thirties?
  4. Why may it be considered fortunate that the national government did not take an important part in the early internal improvement movement?
  5. To what extent was distrust of private corporations a factor in the internal improvement movement?
  6. Contrast the effects of protection upon the cotton and upon the woollen industry.
  7. Are wages and profits higher in protected than in other occupations, (a) raw materials, (b) manufactures?
  8. What, in your opinion, was the strongest argument for protection in 1816? What seems to you the strongest argument which has general validity?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1903-04.

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ECONOMICS 6
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

  1. How is immigration said to have affected the birth rate?
  2. Point out any indications which give promise of future negro progress.
  3. Briefly.
    1. The Homestead Law.
    2. The Copper Act of 1869.
    3. Reciprocity in the Tariff Act of 1890.
    4. The effects of specific duties according to Walker’s Report of 1846.
  4. Point out striking differences in the protective movement before and since 1860, taking illustrations especially from the Woollen Act of 1867 and the Act of 1890.
  5. The cotton manufacture in the South and the young industries argument.
  6. Why has the iron and steel industry developed more satisfactorily than the woollen industry?
  7. Account for changes in the character of the foreign trade of the United States with reference to the excess of imports or of exports.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, p. 29.

Image Source: Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague portrait in the Harvard Class Album 1915, colorised by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Bibliography Economic History Harvard

Harvard. Short Bibliography of Economic History for “Serious-minded Students”, Gay, 1910

Edwin Francis Gay

Economic history played a much larger role in the education of economists at the turn of the twentieth century than it does now. Course reading lists from the earlier time are relatively rare, it appears that assignments were written on the blackboard as part of lectures. Nonetheless, from printed bibliographies we do get a sense of the scale and scope of the literature advanced students would have been exposed to.

In 1910 Harvard published 43 short bibliographies covering “Social Ethics and Allied Subjects”, about half of which were dedicated to particular topics in economics and economic sociology. The project was coordinated by Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, Francis G. Peabody.

Economic History is the “allied subject” covered in the bibliography provided by Professor Edwin F. Gay and transcribed below. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has added links to digital copies of all but one of the ca. 90 items listed by Gay! 

UPDATE (July 16, 2023). Friend of Economics in the Rear-View Mirror, Thea Don-Siemion (Twitter: @StationryBandit), suggested a comparison with A bibliography of historical economics to 1980 by D. N. McCloskey and G.K. Harsh (Cambridge University Press, 1990). The book can be borrowed online, an hour at a time, at archive.org by registered users. To think there is still a residual gap of over forty years already!

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Previously posted  Harvard short bibliographies

I.2. Economic Theory by Taussig, 1910

I.7. Social Statistics by Ripley, 1910

II.3. Taxation by Bullock, 1910

IV.5 Economics of Socialism by Carver, 1910

IV.6 Socialism and Family/Christian Ethics by McConnell, 1910

IV.7. Trade Unionism by Ripley, 1910

IV.8. Strikes and Boycotts by Ripley, 1910

IV.12 Thrift Institutions by Oliver M. W. Sprague.

IV.13. Social Insurance by Foerster, 1910

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Economic History
Edwin F. Gay

The reader interested in economic history must gather his information from many books, for the most part dealing with special phases of the subject and limited as to period and country, rather than from comprehensive manuals or surveys. Since economic history is but a portion or aspect of general history, isolating for convenience of study the organized efforts of mankind to satisfy its material needs, works on political and constitutional history must be used, though they vary greatly in the degree of emphasis placed upon the economic factors. Indeed, for the student who cannot read German and French, such general histories must often be his sole reliance. This is particularly true of the economic history of Greece and Rome and of large parts of the mediæval and modern economic history of other than English speaking countries. This brief list cannot include general histories, but it must necessarily comprise some of the more important German and French contributions to economic history.

The economic history of England must hold first place in such a list, and therefore the books in that field are given the larger amount of space. Then follow some of the more important works relating to the continent of Europe and to the United States.

Cunningham, W. An essay on western civilization in its economic aspects. [Cambridge Historical Series.] Volume I, ancient times; Volume II, mediæval and modern times. Cambridge, University Press, 1898-1900, pp. xii, 220; xii, 300.

A good general introduction to economic history.

Bücher, Karl. Die Entstehung der Volkswirtschaft. 1 Aufl., 1893; 7 Aufl., ibid., 1910. Tübingen: H. Laupp, vii, 464 S.

Bücher, Karl. Industrial evolution. Translated from the third German edition [of the above] by S. M. Wickett. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1901, pp. xiv, 393.

A series of suggestive essays, illuminating the development of industrial organization. The book has exerted a marked influence.

Day, Clive. A history of commerce. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907, pp. xliv, 626.

The best brief manual; well proportioned and with a good background of economic history; it has a useful bibliography.

Lindsay, W. S. History of merchant shipping and ancient commerce. 4 vols. London: Sampson, Low & Co., 1874-76. [Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV]

An older standard work in this field; more exhaustive than any of its successors. The last two volumes (1816-74) were reprinted separately in 1876.

 

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Cunningham, W. The growth of English industry and commerce, . Volume I, Early and middle ages, fourth edition, 1905; [:] Modern times, Volume II [, The Mercantile System] and [Volume] III [Laissez Faire], fourth edition, 1907. Cambridge: University Press.

This work, constantly improved in the successive editions since the first in 1882, is of importance as a book of reference for English economic history, and should be used, if possible, in preference to the smaller but still commendable manuals on the subject, such as those by Cunningham and McArthur, Gibbins, Warner or Cheyney. Each volume has a helpful bibliography.

Ashley, W. J. An introduction to English economic history and theory. Part 1, The middle ages; Part 2, The end of the middle ages. Third edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1894-98, pp. xii, 227; xii, 501.

A scholarly and readable work.

Traill, H. D., editor. Social England: a record of the progress of the people in religion, laws, learning, arts, industry, commerce, science, literature and manners. By various writers. 6 vols., New York: George Putnam’s Sons, 1893-97 [Volume I, From the earliest times to the accession of Edward I (1895); Volume II, From the accession of Edward I to the death of Henry VII (1894); Volume III, From the accession of Henry VIII to the death of Elizabeth (1896); Volume IV, From the accession of James I to the death of Anne (1895); Volume V, From the accession of George I to the Battle of Waterloo (1896); Volume VI, From the Battle of Waterloo to the General Election of 1885 (1898)]; new edition [illustrated], Traill, H. D., and Mann, J. S., editors, 6 vols., New York: George Putnam’s Sons, 1901-4. [Volume I (1901); Volume II (1902); Volume III(1902); Volume IV (1903); Volume V (1904); Volume VI (1904)]

A poorly edited though useful book; the contributions of Prothero, Maitland, Powell and others more than counterbalance the less scholarly contributions. Brief bibliographical notes accompany each chapter.

Seebohm, Frederic. The English village community. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1883, pp. 464.

A stimulating pioneer book. Its conclusions are controverted by Vinogradoff and Maitland.

Vinogradoff, Paul. Villainage in England; essays in English mediæval history. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892, pp. xii, 464.

Vinogradoff, Paul. The growth of the manor. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1892, pp. 384.

These, with the same author’s “English Society in the Eleventh Century” (1908), are not easy reading, but indispensable for an understanding of earlier social history and manorial institutions.

Maitland, Frederic W. Domesday book and beyond: Three essays in the early history of England. Cambridge: University Press (Boston: Little, Brown & Co.), 1897, pp. xiii, 527.

The best starting point for the study of the vexed problems of social agrarian history presented by Domesday book.

Page, T. W. The end of villainage in England. Publications of the American Economic Association. New York: The Macmillan Company, third series, Volume I, No. 2, May, 1900, pp. 99.

A valuable contribution to the discussion of an important question.

Gross, Charles. The gild merchant. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1890, pp. xxii, 332; xi, 447. [Volume I;Volume II]

The author’s chief interest in this book is in the development of the municipal constitution, but his investigations are of fundamental importance for a knowledge of the beginnings of mercantile associations in England. The book has a carefully prepared bibliography.

Rogers, J. E. Thorold. Six centuries of work and wages; the history of English labor. 1 vol. in 2 parts. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co. (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), 1884, pp. 591.

A summary of conclusions based upon his monumental “History of agriculture and prices in England” (7 vols., 1866-1902) [Volume I, 1259-1400; Volume II, 1259-1400; Volume III, 1401-1582; Volume IV, 1401-1582; Volume V, 1583-1702; Volume VI, 1583-1702; Volume VII, 1703-1793, Part I; Volume VII, 1703-1793, Part II], the most considerable collection of prices available for any country; but both his price averages and views must be accepted with caution. Eight selected chapters of this work have been reprinted (London, 1895, Social Science Series).

Unwin, George. Industrial organization in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1904, pp. vii, 277.

A well-written attempt to prove the continuity of labor organizations from the medieval craft gild to the modern trade union. For a different opinion see the Webbs’ “History of trade unionism,” second edition, 1907.

Schanz, Georg. Englische Handelspolitik gegen Ende des Mittelalters. 2 Bde. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1881, xix, 684; xiii, 672 S. [Volume I; Volume II]

The best account of English commercial policy and commercial institutions under Henry VII and Henry VIII. The second volume consists largely of documentary materials.

Ehrenberg, Richard. Hamburg und England im Zeitalter der Königin Elizabeth. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1896, 362 S.

A valuable study of the commercial struggle between England and the Hansa towns under Elizabeth.

Hewins, W. A. S. English trade and finance chiefly in the seventeenth century. London: Methuen (University Extension Series), 1892, pp. 174.

This work treats concisely and interestingly of the chief commercial companies and labor organizations of the seventeenth century and of three important commercial treaties of the eighteenth century.
An account of the English commercial companies is given in Cawston and Keane’s “The early chartered companies, 1296-1858” (London: Edward Arnold, 1896, pp. 329), a compilation from material which is found in Macpherson’s “Annals of commerce” (London, 1805, 4 vols.) [Volume I; Volume II; Volume III; Volume IV]. For further account of the commercial companies, especially the Continental, consult Bonnassieux, “Les grandes compagnies de commerce” (Paris: Plon, Nourrit et Cie., 1892, pp. 562).

Hunter, William W. History of British India. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899-1900. 2 vols. [Volume I,To the overthrow of the English in the Spice Archipelago; Volume II, To the union of the old and new companies under the Earl of Godolphin’s award] [Completed by P. E. Roberts owing to the author’s death.]

A readable and reliable history of the English India Company.

Andréadès, A. Histoire de la Banque d’Angleterre: ses origines, sa fondation, son developpement, etc. 2 vols. in 1. Paris: Rousseau, 1904, pp. 455. Translated by Christabel Meredith. London: P. S. King & Son, 1909. [Essai sur la foundation et l’histoire de la Banque d’Angleterre (1694-1844), Paris: Rousseau, 1901]

A competent study; it contains an extensive bibliography.

Prothero, R. E. Pioneers and progress of English farming. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1888, pp. 290.

A brief and picturesque account of the history of English agriculture.

Johnson, A. H. Disappearance of the small landholder. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909, pp. 164.

The most recent and in many respects most useful discussion of the subject. W. Hasbach’s “Die englischen Landarbeiter.” (Leipzig, 1894. English translation by Ruth Kenyon, with preface by Sidney Webb. London: P. S. King & Son, 1908, pp. 470, with bibliography), deals with another aspect, the history of agricultural labor.

Toynbee, Arnold. Lectures on the industrial revolution of the eighteenth century in England. Fourth edition, London, 1894, pp. 319 (with a memoir by B. Jowett). New edition, New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1908 (with reminiscences by Lord Milner), pp. 282.

Suggestive lectures originally addressed to workingmen.

Mantoux, Paul. La Révolution industrielle au xviiie siècle. Paris: G. Bellair, 1906, pp. 543.

An excellent description (with good bibliography) of the industrial revolution in England, with, however, no adequate study of the causes and economic significance of the movement. The reader may find some assistance on this side from Hobson, “Evolution of modern capitalism” (London, 1896).

Macrosty, H. W. Trusts and the state. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. (London: Grant Richards), 1901, pp. 318.

A well-informed historical treatment of the subject.

Webb, Sidney and Beatrice. History of trade unionism. New edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907, pp. xxxiv, 558.

The best book on the subject.

Hutchins, B. L., and Harrison, A. History of factory legislation. Preface by Sidney Webb. London: P. S. King & Son, 1903, pp. xviii, 372.

Complete and reliable. Extensive bibliography.

Armitage-Smith, George. The free trade movement and its results. Chicago: Herbert S. Stone & Co., 1898, pp. 244.

An historical study written from the standpoint of a free trader.

Bowley, A. L. England’s foreign trade in the nineteenth century. Revised edition, 1905. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., 1893, pp. 165.

A brief but valuable statistical discussion.

Ashley, W. J., editor. British industries. Second edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1907, pp. xvii, 232.

Eight lectures, each by an expert in his field.

Nicholls, George. History of the English poor law. 2 vols. [Volume I; Volume II] London: 1854. New edition with revision by the author, a biography by H. G. Willink, and a supplementary volume [III] by Thomas Mackay; 3 vols. [Volume I, A.D. 924 to 1714; Volume II, A.D. 1714 to 1853; Volume III, A.D. 1834 to the present time] London: P. S. King & Son, 1898–9.

The standard work on the subject.

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Lamprecht, Karl. Deutsches Wirtschaftsleben in Mittelalter. 3 Tle. in 4 Bdn. Leipzig: Dürr, 1885-86. [Volume I.1; Volume I.2; Volume II, Statistisches Material und Quellenkunde; Volume III, Quellensammlung]

An important work. Though based on a documentary study of economic conditions only in the Moselle valley for the period ending in the early sixteenth century, it nevertheless deserves its wider title. The same author’s “Deutsche Geschichte” emphasizes—perhaps over-emphasizes—the economic and social aspects of German history.

[Volume I, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 1-4);
Volume II, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 5-7);
Volume 3, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 8-10);
Volume 4, Urzeit und Mittelalter (Books 11-13);
Volume 5.1, Neuere Zeit (Books 14-15);
Volume 5.2, Neuere Zeit (Books 15-16);
Volume 6, Neuere Zeit (Books 17-18);
Volume 7.1, Neuere Zeit (Books 19-20);
Volume 7.2, Neuere Zeit (Book 21);
Volume 8, Neueste Zeit (Book 22);
Volume 9, Neueste Zeit (Book 23);
Volume 10, Neueste Zeit (Book 24);
Volume 11, Neueste Zeit (Book 25);
Volume 12, Anhang, Bibliographie, Register
Ergänzungsband I, Tonkunst—Bildende Kunst—Dichtung–Weltanschauung;
Ergänzungsband II.1, Wirtschaftsleben—Soziale Entwicklung];
Ergänzungsband II.2, Innere Politik—Äußere Politik]

Von Inama-Sternegg, K. T. Deutsche Wirtschaftsgeschichte. 3 Tle. in 4 Bdn. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1879-1901

[Volume I, bis zum Schluss der Karolingerperiode; Volume II, des 10. Bis 12. Jahrhunderts; Volume III, in den letzten Jahrhunderten des Mittelalters (1. Teil); Volume III, in den letzten Jahrhunderten des Mittelalters (2. Teil)]

Covers the period to the end of the middle ages. The only general work on the subject.

Pigeonneau, H. Histoire du commerce de la France. 2 vol. 2e édition. [Volume I; Volume II] Paris: Cerf, 1887-88.

A standard work, covering the period ending with the age of Richelieu.

Heyd, W. Geschichte des Levantehandels im Mittelalter. 2 Bde.  [Volume I; Volume II] Stuttgart: Cotta, 1879, 604, 781 S.

The French translation (Histoire du commerce du Levant au moyen-âge. 2 vols. [Volume I; Volume II] Leipzig: 1885-86, revised by the author) is preferable to the German original.

Levasseur, É. Histoire des classes ouvrières et de l’industrie en France avant 1789. 2 vol. [Volume 1; Volume 2] 2e édition. Paris: Rousseau, 1900-01.

Levasseur, É. Histoire des classes ouvrières et de l’industrie en France de 1789 à 1870. 2 vol. [Volume 1; Volume 2] 2e édition. Paris: Rousseau, 1903.

Levasseur, É. Questions ouvrières et industrielles en France sous la troisième république. Paris: Rousseau, 1907, pp. xxii, 968.

These three works together form the most available general survey not only of the history of the French working classes but of French economic history.

Sée, H. Les classes rurales et le régime domanial en France au moyen-âge. Paris: Giard et Brière, 1901, pp. xxvii, 638.

A convenient survey of French agrarian conditions in the middle ages, with bibliography.

Fuchs, [Carl Johannes]. Die Epochen der deutschen Agrargeschichte und Agrarpolitik. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1898, ii, 32 S. [Beilage zur Allgemeinen Zeitung No 70 und 71 vom 29. und 30. März 1898]

An admirable summary of the results of recent investigation in German agrarian history.

Ehrenberg, R. Das Zeitalter der Fugger. 2 Bde. [Volume I; Volume II] Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1896, xv, 420; iv, 367 S.

A noteworthy contribution to the financial and commercial history of the sixteenth century.

Wiebe, G. Zur Geschichte der Preisrevolution des 16ten und 17ten Jahrhunderts. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1895, ix, 419 S.

The best study of the subject, clear and critical.

Schmoller, G. Das Merkantilsystem in seiner historischer Bedeutung. A chapter from his “Studien über die wirtschaftliche Politik Friedrichs des Grossen” (1884) [Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich Band 8, S. 1-62] and reprinted in the Umrisse und Untersuchungen. Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1898, pp. 1-60. English translation by W. J. Ashley: The mercantile system. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1896, pp. viii, 95.

Gives an understanding of the significance of the commercial and political policies of the period when the mercantile system prevailed. For the history of mercantilist doctrine, the English reader may consult J. K. Ingram’s “History of political economy.” New York: The Macmillan Company, 1888, pp. xv, 250. Second edition (unaltered), 1907. More recent books are available in French and German.

Sargent, A. J. Economic policy of Colbert. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899, pp. vii, 138.

A judicious and concise survey of Colbert’s work, based mainly on P. Clément: “Histoire de Colbert et de son administration” (Paris, 1892) [Volume I; Volume II] and Clément’s edition of the “Lettres, instructions, et mémoires de Colbert” (Paris, 1861-70). [Volume I; Volume II (1); Volume II (2); Volume III (1); Volume III (2) ; Volume IV; Volume V; Volume VI; Volume VII; Errata Général et Table Analytique]

Shepherd, R. P. Turgot and the six edicts. New York: Columbia University Press, 1903, pp. 263.

A scholarly study of the policy of Turgot.

Knapp, G. F. Die Bauernbefreiung und der Ursprung der Landarbeiter in den älteren Teilen Preussens. 2 Tle. [Volume I; Volume II] Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1887, vii, 352; vi, 473 S.

A most valuable study of the condition of the Prussian peasants and the work of emancipation. The English reader will find a less authoritative account in Seeley’s “Life and times of Stein,” [Volume I; Volume II; Volume III] and Morier’s “Agrarian legislation of Prussia,” chapters from each being reprinted in B. Rand’s “Selections illustrating economic history,” fourth revised edition. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1903, pp. vii, 647.

Sombart, W. Der moderne Kapitalismus. 2 Bde. [Volume I; Volume II] Leipzig: Duncker und Humblot, 1902, xxxiv, 669; viii, 646. S.

Sombart, W. Die deutsche Volkswirtschaft im 19ten Jahrhundert. Berlin: Bondi, 1903, pp. xviii, 647.

These two works together form a stimulating interpretation of the recent economic development of Germany.

Ashley, Percy. Modern tariff history. London: Murray, 1904, pp. xviii, 367.

Contains a useful summary of the tariff history of Germany and France and a less useful one of the United States.

Liefmann, R. Kartelle und Trusts. 2 erweit. Aufl. Stuttgart: E. H. Moritz, 1910, 210 S. [5. Erw. und erb. Aufl. 1922]

A popular account with especial reference to Germany, written by a careful student of the subject.

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Emery, H. C. Economic development of the United States. Cambridge: University Press, 1904, in Cambridge Modern History, Volume VII: “The United States,” pp. 687-722.

The best brief survey. Two fairly good text-books in this field are: Coman, K., “The industrial history of the United States” (New York: Macmillan, 1905, pp. xviii, 343), and Bogart, E. L., “Economic history of the United States” (New York: Longmans, 1907, pp. 522).

Callender, G. S. Selections from the economic history of the United States, 1765-1860. Boston: Ginn & Company, 1909, pp. xviii, 869.

A comprehensive selection of original materials together with helpful editorial comment. Volume II (1860-1900) is in preparation.

Beer, G. L. The commercial policy of England toward the American colonies. New York: Columbia University Press, 1903, pp. 167.

An important monograph.

Hammond, M. B. The cotton industry. Publications of the American Economic Association. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1897, pp. viii, 382.

An historical study, especially good for the period before the Civil War.

Taussig, F. W. State papers and speeches on the tariff. Cambridge: Harvard University, 1893, pp. vii, 385.

Contains Hamilton’s report on manufactures, Gallatin’s free-trade memorial, Walker’s treasury report of 1845, and Clay’s and Webster’s speeches on the tariff of 1824.

Taussig, F. W. The tariff history of the United States. Fifth edition. New York: Henry Putnam’s Sons, 1903, pp. xi, 422.

This is the standard work on the subject. It is a scholarly investigation written from the free-trade standpoint. See also an article by the same author in the Quarterly Journal of Economics (November, 1909, Volume XXIV, pp. 1-38), on “The tariff debate of 1909 and the new tariff.” For the protectionist side of the tariff controversy see E. Stanwood’s “History of American tariff controversies.” 2 vols. [Volume I; Volume II] Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1903.

Dewey, D. R. Financial history of the United States. Second edition. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1903, pp. xxv, 530.

The standard text-book in its field. It contains excellent bibliographical notes.

Bullock, C. J. Essays on the monetary history of the United States. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1900, pp. x, 288.

Best on the period before the revolution.

Catterall, R. C. H. The second bank of the United States. Chicago: University Press, 1903, pp. xiv, 538.

A scholarly study.

Mitchell, W. C. A history of the greenbacks. Chicago: University Press, 1903, pp. xvi, 577.

An exhaustive work.

Noyes, A. D. Forty years of American finance. New York: Henry Putnam’s Sons, 1909, pp. ix, 418.

An excellent account of American financial history since the Civil War.

Hadley, A. T. Railroad transportation. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1885, pp. iv, 269.

An early and valuable treatise.

Johnson, E. R. American railway transportation. Second edition. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1908, pp. xviii, 434.

The best text-book on the subject.

Source: A guide to reading in social ethics and allied subjects; lists of books and articles selected and described for the use of general readers by teachers in Harvard University. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University, 1910) pp. 10-21.

Image Source: Portrait of Edwin Francis Gay, colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. Monochrome image from The World’s Work, Vol. XXVII, No. 5, March 1914.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. U.S. Economic History. Enrollment and Exams. Sprague, 1902-1903

Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague

From the announcement of courses for the 1902-03 year, it would appear that the economics department reckoned with Frank Taussig’s return after a one year medical leave since he was listed to teach several courses, including U.S. economic history. However his leave needed to be extended and Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague had to teach the course alone. This post provides the course description, enrollment figures and the final exam questions from 1902-03 for Economics 6.

Materials for the U.S. economic history course (Economics 6) taught at Harvard during the academic year 1901-02 have been posted earlier. They include a reading list for reports to prepared by the students. It was jointly taught by Oliver M.W. Sprague and James Horace Patten.

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Economics 6
Course Description
1902-1903

  1. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30. Professor Taussig and Dr. Sprague.

Course 6 gives a general survey of the economic history of the United States from the close of the eighteenth century to the present time, and aims to show on the one hand the mode in which economic principles are illustrated by American experience and, on the other, the extent to which economic conditions have influenced social and political development. The following are among the subjects considered: aspects of the Revolution and commercial relations during the Confederation and the European wars; the history of the protective tariff policy and the growth of manufacturing industries; the settlement of the West and the history of transportation, including the early canal and turnpike enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building and the establishment of public regulation of railways; various aspects of agrarian history, such as the public land policy, the growth of foreign demand for American produce and the subsequent competition of other sources of supply, certain social topics, such as slavery and its economic basis, emancipation and the present condition of the Negro, the effects of immigration. Finally, the more important features of our currency and financial history are reviewed. Comparisons will be made from time to time with the contemporary economic history of Europe.

The course is taken advantageously with or after History 13. It is open to students who have taken Economics 1, and also to Juniors and Seniors who are taking that course.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science[Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Economics 6
Enrollment
1902-1903

Economics 6. Dr. Sprague. — The Economic History of the United States.

Total 120: 1 Gr., 36 Se., 59 Ju., 15 So., 9 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 68.

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Economics 6
Mid-Year Examination
1902-1903

  1. Was the colonial relationship economically advantageous to New England?
  2. The sale of public lands to 1821.
  3. The effect of the credit system in the South upon cotton growing.
  4. The investment of foreign capital and internal improvements in the United States.
  5. Contrast the views of Webster and Clay upon conditions in 1824, and give reasons for their difference of opinion.
  6. The United States “can without difficulty obtain from abroad the manufactured supplies of which they are in want, but they experience numerous impediments to the emission and vent of their own commodities. . . . A constant and increasing necessity on their part for the commodities of Europe, and only a partial or occasional demand for their own in return, could not but expose them to a state of impoverishment compared with the opulence to which their political and natural advantages authorize them to aspire.”
    — Hamilton.
    What would Gallatin have said of this argument for protection? What is your own opinion?
  7. Why did not the opening of the Erie Canal at first greatly change the course of Western trade?
  8. Explain and illustrate the highly speculative character of American economic development.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).

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Economics 6
Year-End Examination
1902-1903

  1. The tariff act of 1883.
  2. “There are, however, some aspects of the tariff question on which the inductive and historical mode of inquiry has been more helpful. The protective policy of the United States has had unexpected successes and surprising failures.” Illustrate.
  3. Factors tending to the localization of industries.
  4. Why was the United States a more attractive country to immigrants in 1850 than in 1820?
  5. The future delivery system in the sale of cotton.
  6. What conclusions may be drawn from our experience under the tariffs of 1846 and 1857?
  7. Duties upon raw wool and their consequences.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague portrait in the Harvard Class Album 1915. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.