Category: Economic History

Categories
Courses Economic History Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Economic History of the U.S., Gay and Klein, 1911.

During the academic year 1910-11 at Harvard, a pair of economic history courses were offered by Professor Edwin Francis Gay, assisted by a history department instructor, Julius Klein, who would go on to complete his Ph.D. in 1915. The first term course, Economics 6a, was dedicated to European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. The second term course, Economics 6b covered U.S. Economic and Financial History from colonial times up to 1900. Below we have the enrollment figures for Economics 6b and its reading list. One can see by the reliance on a textbook and relatively few standard sources that U.S. economic history was not Gay’s primary research interest. Biographical information on both Edwin F. Gay and Julius Klein can be found in the previous posting.

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

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[Enrollment: Economics 6b. Economic and Financial History of the United States.]

6b 2hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. Klein.—Economic and Financial History of the United States.

13 Graduates, 19 Seniors, 52 Juniors, 22 Sophomores, 7 Freshmen, 6 Other:
Total 119.

 

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1910-11, p. 49.

 

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ECONOMICS 6b (1911)
[Economic and Financial History of the United States]

Required Reading is indicated by an asterisk (*)

 

1. Colonial Period

Callender*, Economic History of the United States, pp. 6-63, 85-121.

Ashley, Commercial Legislation of England and the American Colonies, Q. J. E., Vol. XIV, pp. 1-29; printed also in Ashley’s Surveys, pp. 309-335.

Semple, American History and its Geographic Conditions, pp. 36-51.

McMaster, History of the People of the United States, Vol. I, pp. 1-102.

Eggleston, Transit of Civilization, pp. 273-307.

Beer, Commercial Policy of England, pp. 5-158.

Rabbeno, American Commercial Policy, pp. 3-91.

Lord, Industrial Experiments in the British Colonies of North America, pp. 56-86, 124-139.

 

1776-1860

2. Commerce, Manufactures, and Tariff

Taussig*, Tariff History of the United States, pp. 68-154.

Hamilton*, Report on Manufactures, in Taussig’s State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, pp. 1-79, 103-107, (79-103).

Callender, Economic History, pp. 432-563.

Bolles, Industrial History of the United States, Book II, pp. 403-426.

Bishop, History of American Manufactures, Vol. II, pp. 256-505.

Pitkin, Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States (ed. 1835), pp. 368-412.

Gallatin, Free Trade Memorial, in Taussig’s State Papers, pp. 108-213.

Commons, Documentary History of American Industrial Society, Vol. IV, pp. 15-89; Vol. VI, pp. 311-353.

Rabbeno, American Commercial Policy, pp. 146-183.

Hill, First Stages of the Tariff Policy of the United States, Amer. Econ. Assoc. Pub., Vol. VIII, pp. 107-132.

 

3. Internal Improvements

Callender*, Economic History, pp. 271-275, 345-404.

Tenth United States Census (1880), Vol. IV, Thos. C. Purdy’s Reports on History of Steam Navigation in the United States, pp. 1-62, and History of Operating Canals in the United States, pp. 1-32.

Gephart, Transportation and Industrial Development in the Middle West, pp. 43-129.

Chevalier, Society, Manners, and Politics in the United States, pp. 80-87, 209-276.

Ringwalt, Development of Transportation Systems in the United States, pp. 41-54, 64-166.

Phillips, History of Transportation in the Eastern Cotton Belt, pp. 46-131.

Bishop, State Works of Pennsylvania, pp. 150-261.

Gallatin, Plan of International Improvements, Amer. State Papers, Misc., Vol. I, pp. 724-921 (see especially maps, pp. 744, 762, 764, 820, 830).

Pitkin, Statistical View (1835), pp. 531-581.

Chittenden, Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River, Vol. II, pp. 417-424.

 

4. Agriculture and Land Policy.—Westward Movement

Callender*, Economic History, pp. 597-692.

Hart, Practical Essays on American Government, pp. 233-257; printed also in Q.J.E., Vol. I, pp. 169-183, 251-254.

Semple, American History and its Geographic Conditions, pp. 52-74.

Fite, Social and Industrial Conditions in the North during the Civil War, pp. 1-23.

Turner, Significance of the Frontier in American History, in Report of Amer. Hist. Assoc., 1893, pp. 199-227.

Donaldson, Public Domain, pp. 1-29, 196-239, 332-356.

Hibbard, History of Agriculture in Dane County, Wisconsin, pp. 86-90, 105-133.

Sanborn, Congressional Grants of Land in Aid of Railways, Bulletin of Univ. of Wisconsin Econ., Pol. Sci. and Hist. Series, Vol. II, No. 3, pp. 269-354.

 

5. The South and Slavery

Callender*, Economic History, pp. 738-819.

Cairnes, The Slave Power (2d ed.), pp. 32-103, 140-178.

Hart, The Southern South, pp. 218-277.

Hammond, Cotton Industry, pp. 34-119.

Commons, Documentary History of American Industrial Society, Vol. I, pp. 309-375.

Russell, North America, its Agriculture and Climate, pp. 133-167.

De Tocqueville, Democracy in America (ed. 1838), pp. 336-361, or eds. 1841 and 1848, Vol. I, pp. 386-412.

Helper, Compendium of the Impending Crisis of the South, pp. 7-61.

Ballagh, Land System of the South. Publications of Amer. Hist. Assoc., 1897, pp. 101-129.

 

6. Finance, Banking, and Currency

Dewey*, Financial History of the United States, pp. 34-59, 76-117, 224-246, 252-262.

Catterall*, The Second Bank of the United States, pp. 1-24, 68-119, 376 map, 402-403, 464-477.

Bullock, Essays on the Monetary History of the United States, pp. 60-93.

Hamilton, Reports on Public Credit, Amer. State Papers, Finance, Vol. I, pp. 15-37, 64-76.

Kinley, History of the Independent Treasury, pp. 16-39.

Kinley, The Independent Treasury of the United States (U. S. Monet. Comm. Rept.), pp. 7-208.

Sumner, Andrew Jackson (ed. 1886), pp. 224-249, 257-276, 291-342.

Ross, Sinking Funds, pp. 21-85.

Scott, Repudiation of State Debts, pp. 33-196.

Bourne, History of the Surplus Revenue of 1837, pp. 1-43, 125-135.

Conant, History of Modern Banks of Issue, pp. 310-347.

 

1860-1900

7. Finance, Banking, and Currency

Mitchell*, History of the Greenbacks, pp. 3-43.

Noyes*, Forty Years of American Finance, pp. 1-48, 234-256 (73-233).

Sprague*, History of Crises under the National Banking System, pp. 43-108.

Taussig, Silver Situation in the United States, pp. 1-157.

Dunbar, National Banking System, Q.J.E., Vol. XII, pp. 1-26; printed also in Dunbar’s Economic Essays, pp. 227-247.

Howe, Taxation and Taxes in the United States under the Internal Revenue System, pp. 136-262.

Tenth United States Census (1880), Vol. VII; Bayley, History of the National Loans, pp. 369-392, 444-486.

 

8. Transportation

Hadley*, Railroad Transportation, pp. 1-23, 125-145.

Johnson*, American Railway Transportation, pp. 24-68, 307-321, 367-385.

Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 466-481.

Adams, Chapters of Erie, pp. 1-99, 333-429.

Davis, The Union Pacific Railway, Annals of the Amer. Acad., Vol. VIII, pp. 259-303.

Villard, Memoirs, Vol. II, pp. 284-312.

Dixon, Interstate Commerce Act as Amended, Q.J.E., Vol. XXI, pp. 22-51.

Vrooman, American Railway Problems, pp. 10-45, 218-264.

 

9. Commerce and Shipping

Meeker*, History of Shipping Subsidies, pp. 150-171.

Meeker, Shipping Subsidies, Pol. Sci. Quart., Vol. XX, pp. 594-611.

Soley, Maritime Industries of the United States, in Shaler’s United States, Vol. I, pp. 518-618.

McVey, Shipping Subsidies, J.Pol.Ec., Vol. IX, pp. 24-46.

Wells, Our Merchant Marine, pp. 1-94.

Day, History of Commerce, pp. 553-575.

 

10. Agriculture and Opening of the West

Industrial Commission*, Vol. XIX, pp. 43-123, 134-167.

Noyes*, Forty Years of American Finance, pp. 257-283.

Twelfth United States Census (1900), Vol. V, pp. xvi-xlii.

Hammond, Cotton Industry, pp. 120-226.

Quaintance, Influence of Farm Machinery, pp. 1-103.

Adams, The Granger Movement, North American Review, Vol. CXX, pp. 394-424.

Bemis, Discontent of the Farmer, J. Pol. Ec., Vol. I, pp. 193-213.

Wright, Wool Growing and the Tariff, pp. 308-273.

 

11. Industrial Expansion

Noyes*, Forty Years of American Finance, pp. 114-152, 182-233.

Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 485-519, 544-569.

Twelfth Census, Vol. IX, pp. 1-16; Vol. X, pp. 725-748.

Wells, Recent Economic Changes, pp. 70-113.

Sparks, National Development, pp. 37-52.

 

12. The Tariff

Taussig*, Tariff History, pp. 155-229, 321-360.

Taussig*, Tariff Act of 1909, Q.J.E., Vol. XXIV, pp. 1-38, also in Tariff History (ed. 1910), pp. 360-408.

Stanwood, American Tariff Controversies, Vol. II, pp. 243-394.

Taussig, Iron Industry, Q.J.E., Vol. XIV, pp. 143-170, 475-508.

Taussig, Wool and Woolens, Q.J.E., Vol VIII, pp. 1-39.

Tausssig, Sugar, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. CI, pp. 334-344 (Mar. 1908).

Taussig, Tariff and Tariff Commission, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. CVI, pp. 721-729 (Dec. 1910).

Wright, Wool-growing and the Tariff since 1890, Q.J.E., Vol. XIX, pp. 610-647.

Wright, Wool Growing and the Tariff, pp. 274-328.

Robinson, History of the Two Reciprocity Treaties, pp. 9-17, 40-77, 141-156.

Laughlin and Willis, Reciprocity, pp. 311-437.

 

13. Industrial Concentration

Willoughby*, Integration of Industry in the United States, Q.J.E., Vol. XVI, pp. 94-115.

Noyes*, Forty Years of American Finance, pp. 284-354.

Twelfth Census, Vol. VII, pp. cxc-ccxiv.

Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, pp. v-xviii.

Bullock, Trust Literature, Q.J.E., Vol. XV, pp. 167-217.

 

14. The Labor Problem

Industrial Commission*, Vol. XIX, pp. 724-746, 793-833.

Adams and Sumner, Labor Problems, pp. 502-547.

United States Bureau of Labor Bulletins, No. 18 (Sept., 1898), pp. 665-670; No. 30 (Sept., 1900), pp. 913-915; No. 53 (July, 1904), pp. 703-728.

Levasseur, American Workman, pp. 436-509.

Commons, Documentary History of American Industrial Society, Vol. IX, pp. 55-117.

Mitchell, Organized Labor, pp. 391-411.

Twelfth Census, Special Report on Employees and Wages, p. xcix.

National Civic Federation, Industrial Conciliation, pp. 40-48, 141-154, 238-243, 254-266.

 

15. Population, Immigration, and the Race Question

United States Census Bulletin*, No. 4 (1903), pp. 5-38.

Industrial Commission*, Vol. XV, pp. xix-lxiv.

Adams and Sumner, Labor Problems, pp. 68-112.

Mayo-Smith, Emigration and Immigration, pp. 33-78.

Walker, Discussions in Economics and Statistics, Vol. II, pp. 417-451.

Hoffmann, Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro, pp. 250-309.

Tillinghast, The Negro in Africa and America, pp. 102-228.

Twelfth Census Bulletin, No. 8.

United States Bureau of Labor Bulletins, Nos. 14, 22, 32, 35, 37, 38, 48.

Washington, Future of the American Negro, pp. 3-244.

Stone, A Plantation Experiment, Q.J.E., Vol. XIX, pp. 270-287.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1910-1911.”

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Final Examination Economics 6b
(1910-11)

Image Source: Edwin Francis Gay and Julius Klein, respectively, from The World’s Work, Vol. XXVII, No. 5 (March 1914) and Harvard Album 1920.

 

 

 

Categories
Courses Economic History Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. 19th Century European Economic History. Gay and Klein, 1910

Edwin Francis Gay (1867-1946) came to Harvard in 1902 as an instructor of economic history taking over William Ashley’s courses after having spent a dozen years of training and advanced historical study in Europe (Berlin, Ph.D. in 1902 under Gustav Schmoller, also he was in Leipzig, Zurich and Florence). He was given a five-year contract as assistant professor of economics in 1903, but in just four years he actually advanced to the rank of professor. He served as a principal advisor to Harvard President Charles Eliot in establishing the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1908. After the favored candidate to be the founding dean of the business school, William Lyon Mackenzie King (Ph.D., Harvard 1909) turned down the offer, instead continuing as deputy minister of labor in Canada then later becoming prime minister of Canada, President Eliot turned to Gay. In nine years Gay put his stamp on the Harvard Business School, apparently playing an instrumental role in the use of the case method (pedagogic transfer from the law school) with a strong emphasis on obtaining hands-on experience through practical assignments with actual businesses. He is credited with establishing the academic degree of the M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration), the credential of managers. 

During WW I Gay worked as adviser to the U.S. Shipping Board and then went on to become editor of the New York Evening Post that would soon go under, giving Gay “an opportunity” to return to Harvard where he could teach economic history up through his retirement in 1936. Gay was among the co-founders of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Council of Foreign Relations. He and his wife moved to California where he worked at the Huntington library where his bulk of his papers are to be found today.

A reading list for his course  Recent Economic History (1934-35) has been posted on Economics in the Rear-View Mirror earlier.

Assisting Gay in the 1910 course on European Economic History of the Nineteenth century was the history department instructor, Mr. Julius Klein (1886-1957). 

Litt.B. (Univ. of California) 1907, Litt. M (ibid.) 1908, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1913, Ph.D. (Harvard Univ.) 1915.
Subject of Ph.D. History.
Special Field: Spanish History
Thesis: The Mesta; A Study in Spanish Economic History, 1273-1836.
Instructor in History, later assistant professor.
In 1932 he was Assistant Secretary, United States Department of Commerce.

While tracking down Julius Klein I came up with the following link to an artifact of the Harvard History Department:

“[Julius Klein] made this portrayal of departmental bigwigs, in ink with black and brown washes, in a style evocative of the Bayeux Tapestry, which chronicles the Norman conquest of England.”

JuliusKleinInkDrawing

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

________________________

[Enrollment: Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. 1910]

[Economics] 6a 1hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. Klein.—European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.

12 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 22 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 3 Other:
Total 61.

 

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1910-11, p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 6a (1910)

Required Reading is indicated by an asterisk (*)

 

1. The Industrial Revolution

Cunningham*, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Vol. III, pp. 609-669.

Hobson*, Evolution of Modern Capitalism, pp. 10-82.

Toynbee, Industrial Revolution, pp. 32-93.

Woolen Report of 1806; reprinted in Bullock, Selected Readings in Economics, pp. 114-124.

Walpole, The Great Inventions, in History of England, Vol. I, pp. 50-76; reprinted in Bullock, pp. 125-145, and Rand, Selections illustrating Economic History, chapter ii.

Chapman, The Lancashire Cotton Industry, pp. 1-112.

Webb, History of Trade Unionism, pp. 1-101.

Hutchins and Harrison, History of Factory Legislation, pp. 14-42.

Wallas, Life of Francis Place, pp. 197-240.

Mantoux, La Révolution Industrielle, pp. 179-502.

Cooke Taylor, The Modern Factory System, pp. 44-225.

 

2. Agrarian Movement.—Continent

Von Sybel*, French Revolution, in Rand, Selections, pp. 55-85.

Seeley*, Life and Times of Stein, Vol. I, pp. 287-297, in Rand, pp. 86-98.

Morier*, Agrarian Legislation of Prussia, “Systems of Land Tenure,” pp. 267-275, in Rand, pp. 98-108.

Brentano*, Agrarian Reform in Prussia, Econ. Jour., Vol. VII, pp. 1-20.

Four de St. Genis, La Propriété Rurale, pp. 80-164.

De Foville, Le Morcellement, pp. 52-89.

Von Goltz, Agrarwesen und Agrarpolitik, pp. 40-50.

Colman, European Agriculture (2d ed.), Vol. II, pp. 371-394.

Schulze-Gaevernitz, Volkswirtschaftliche Studien aus Russland, pp. 308-383.

Dawson, W. H., Evolution of Modern Germany, pp. 255-294.

 

3. Agrarian Movement.—England

Johnson*, A. H., Disappearance of the Small Landholder in England, pp. 7-17, 107-164.

Curtler*, W. H. R., Short History of English Agriculture, pp. 190-271.

Hasbach, History of the English Agricultural Labourer, pp. 71-116.

Taylor, Decline of Land-Owning Farmers in England, pp. 1-61.

Prothero, Pioneers and Progress of English Farming, pp. 64-103.

Broderick, English Land and English Landlords, pp. 65-240.

Caird, English Agriculture in 1850, pp. 473-528.

Colman, European Agriculture (2d ed.), Vol. I, pp. 10-109, 133-174.

Levy, Entstehung und Rückgang des landwirtschaftlichen Grossbetriebs in England.

 

4. The Free Trade Movement.—England

Armitage-Smith*, G., Free Trade and its Results, pp. 39-94, 130-144.

Morley*, Life of Cobden, chapters vi, vii, xvi.

Levi, History of British Commerce, pp. 218-227, 261-272, 292-303; in Rand, pp. 207-241.

Ashworth, Recollections of Cobden and the League, pp. 32-64, 296-392.

Prentice, History of the Anti-Corn Law League, Vol. I, pp. 49-77.

Parker, Sir Robert Peel from his Private Letters, Vol. II, pp. 522-559; Vol. III, pp. 220-252.

Cunningham, Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement, pp. 27-99.

Tooke, History of Prices, Vol. V, pp. 391-457.

Curtler, Short History of English Agriculture, pp. 271-293.

Schulze-Gaevernitz, Britischer Imperialismus, pp. 243-375.

 

5. Tariff History—Continent

Ashley*, P. Modern Tariff History, pp. 3-62, 301-312.

Worms, L’Allemagne Économique, pp. 57-393.

Amé, Les Tarifs de Douanes, Vol. I, pp. 21-34, 219-316.

Perigot, Histoire du Commerce Français, pp. 77-185.

Lang, Hundert Jahre Zollpolitik, pp. 168-230.

 

6. Banking and Finance

Cunningham*, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Vol. III, pp. 689-703, 822-829, 833-840.

Andréadès*, History of the Bank of England, pp. 284-294, 331-369, 381-388.

Tugan-Baranowsky, Studien zur Theorie und Geschichte der Handelskrisen in England, pp. 38-54, 62-121.

Giffen, Growth of Capital, pp. 115-134.

Macleod, Theory and Practice of Banking (4th ed.), Vol. I, pp. 433-540; Vol. II, pp. 1-197.

Bastable, Public Finance, Bk. V, chapters 3 and 4 (3d ed), pp. 629-657.

 

7. The New Gold

Cairnes*, Essays, pp. 53-108; in Rand, pp. 242-284.

*Jevons, Investigations in Currency and Finance, pp. 34-92.

Leroy-Beaulieu, Traité d’Économie Politique, Vol. III, pp. 192-238.

Giffen, Economic Inquiries and Studies, Vol. I, pp. 75-97, 121-228.

Hooper, Recent Gold Production of the World, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1901, pp. 415-433.

 

8. Transportation—Private Ownership

Hadley*, Railroad Transportation, pp. 146-202.

Acworth*, Elements of Railway Economics, pp. 61-75, 99-159.

McLean, English Railway and Canal Commission of 1888, in Q. J. E., 1905, Vol. XX, pp. 1-55, or in Ripley, Railway Problems, pp. 603-649.

Acworth, Railways of England, pp. 1-56.

McDermott, Railways, pp. 1-149.

Porter, Progress of the Nation, pp. 287-339.

Edwards, Railways and the Trade of Great Britain, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1908, pp. 102-131.

Pratt, Railways and their Rates, pp. 1-184.

Colson, Legislation des Chemins de Fer, pp. 3-20, 133-182.

Kaufmann, Die Eisenbahnpolitik Frankreichs, Vol. II, pp. 178-284.

Guillamot, L’Organisation des Chemins de Fer, pp. 82-120.

Forbes and Ashford, Our Waterways, pp. 107-177, 215-252.

Léon, Fleuves, Canaux, Chemins de Fer, pp. 1-156.

Evans, A. D., British Railways and Goods Traffic, Econ. Jour., 1905, pp. 37-46.

Thompson, H. G., Canal System of England, pp. 1-73.

 

9. Transportation.—State Ownership

Hadley*, Railroad Transportation, pp. 236-258, [203-235].

Meyer*, Governmental Regulation of Railway Rates, pp. 92-188.

Acworth, Relation of Railways to the State, Econ. Jour., 1908, pp. 501-519.

Mayer, Geschichte und Geographie der Deutschen Eisenbahnen, pp. 3-14.

Lotz, Verkehrsentwicklung in Deutschland, pp. 2-47, 96-142.

Lenshau, Deutsche Wasserstrassen, pp. 9-56, 95-161.

Peschaud, Belgian State Railways, translated in Pratt, State Railways, pp. 57-107.

Tajani, The Railway Situation in Italy, Q. J. E., Vol. XXIII, pp. 618-653.

Pratt, Railways and their Rates, pp. 185-326.

Pratt, Railways and Nationalization, pp. 1-120, 253-293.

 

10. Commerce and Shipping

Bowley*, England’s Foreign Trade in the Nineteenth Century (ed. 1905), pp. 55-107.

Meeker*, History of Shipping Subsidies, pp. 1-95.

Cornewall-Jones, British Merchant Service, pp. 252-260, 306-317.

Glover, Tonnage Statistics of the Decade 1891-1900, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1902, pp. 1-41.

Ginsburg, British Shipping, in Ashley, British Industries, pp. 173-195.

LeRoux de Bretagne, Les Prime à la Marine Marchande, pp. 93-224.

Charles-Roux, L’Isthme et le Canal de Suez, Vol. II, pp. 287-339.

Von Halle, Volks- und Seewirtschaft, pp. 136-219.

 

11. Agricultural Depression

Report on Agricultural Depression*, Royal Commission of 1897, pp. 6-10, 21-40, 43-53, 85-87.

Haggard*, Rural England, Vol. II, pp. 536-576.

The Tariff Commission, Vol. III, Report of the Agricultural Committee, 1906.

Thompson, Rent of Agricultural Land in England and Wales during the Nineteenth Century, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1907, pp. 587-611.

Hasbach, History of the English Agricultural Labourer, pp. 274-364.

Arch, Autobiography, pp. 65-144, 300-345.

Little, The Agricultural Labourer, Report to the Royal Commission on Labour, 1894, Vol. I, pp. 195-253.

Adams, Position of the Small Holding in the United Kingdom, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1907, pp. 412-437.

Plunkett, Ireland in the New Century (ed. 1905), pp. 175-209.

Bastable, Some Features of the Economic Movement in Ireland, Econ. Jour., Vol. XI, pp. 31-42.

  1. Méline, The Return to the Land, pp. 83-144, 185-240.

Imbart de la Tour, Le Crise Agricole, pp. 24-34, 127-223.

Simkhovitch, The Agrarian Movement in Russia, Yale Review, Vol. XVI, pp. 9-38.

King and Okey, Italy Today, pp. 156-192.

 

12. Recent Tariff History

Smart*, Return to Protection, pp. 14-27, 136-185, 234-259.

Balfour*, Economic Notes on Insular Free Trade, pp. 1-32. (Also in Fiscal Reform, pp. 71-95)

Chamberlain*, Imperial Union and Tariff Reform, pp. 19-44.

Ashley, W. J., Tariff Problem, pp. 53-210.

Marshall, Fiscal Policy of International Trade, pp. 30-82.

Pigou, Protective and Preferential Import Duties, pp. 1-117. (See also his Riddle of the Tariff, pp. 1-107.)

Cunningham, Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement, pp. 100-168.

Ashley, P., Modern Tariff History, pp. 78-112, 313-358.

Zimmermann, Deutsche Handelspolitik, pp. 218-314.

Meredith, Protection in France, pp. 54-129.

Balfour, Fiscal Reform, pp. 97-113, 2266-280.

 

13. Industrial Development

Ashley*, W. J., British Industries, pp. 2-38, 68-92.

Howard*, Recent Industrial Progress in Germany, pp. 51-109.

Cox, British Industries under Free Trade, pp. 2-84, 142-175, 235-376.

Levasseur, Questions ouvrières et industrielles en France sous le troisième République, pp. 27-166.

La Belgique, 1830-1905, pp. 397-617.

Fischer, Italien und die Italiener (ed. 1901), pp. 240-267.

Machat, Le Developpement Économique de la Russie, pp. 157-229.

Jeans, J. S., Iron Trade of Great Britain, pp. 1-73, 100-111.

Dawson, Evolution of Modern Germany, pp. 37-65.

Helm, E., Survey of the Cotton Industry, Q. J. E., Vol. XVII, pp. 417-437.

 

14. Industrial Combination

Report of the Industrial Commission*, Vol. XVIII, pp. 7-13, 75-88, 101-122, 143-165.

Macrosty*, The Trust Movement in Great Britain, in Ashley, British Industries, pp. 196-232.

Macrosty, Trust Movement in British Industry, pp. 24-56, 81-84, 117-154, 284-307, 329-345.

Walker, Monopolistic Combinations in Europe, Pol. Sci. Quart., Vol. XX, pp. 13-41.

Walker, Combinations in the German Coal Industry, pp. 38-111, 175-289, 322-327.

Walker, German Steel Syndicate, Q. J.E., Vol. XX, pp. 353-398.

Liefmann, Kartelle und Trusts, pp. 22-32.

Baumgarten und Meszlény, Kartelle und Trusts, pp. 83-152.

Chastin, J., Les Trusts et les Syndicats, pp. 23-127.

 

15. Labor.—Coöperative Movement

Bowley*, Wages in the United Kingdom, pp. 22-57, 81-127.

Shadwell,* Industrial Efficiency, Vol. II, pp. 307-350.

Wood, Real Wages and the Standard of Comfort since 1860, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1909, pp. 91-101.

Cost of Living of the Working Classes in the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Report to the Board of Trade, 1909.

Webb, Trade Unionism, pp. 344-478.

Howell, Labor Legislation, pp. 447-499.

Willoughby, Workingmen’s Insurance, pp. 29-87.

Beveridge, Unemployment.

Ashley, W. J., Progress of the German Working Classes, pp. 1-65, 74-141.

Dawson, The German Workman, pp. 1-245.

Holyoake, History of Coöperation in England (ed. 1906), Vol. I, pp. 32-42, 70-162, 283-298; Vol. II, pp. 361-396.

Gide, Productive Coöperation in France, Q. J. E., Vol. XIV, pp. 30-66.

Adams and Sumner, Labor Problems, pp. 394-397, 407-413.

Dawson, Evolution of Modern Germany, pp. 294-308.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1910-1911.”

________________________

Final Examination Economics 6a
(1910-11)

Image Source: Edwin Francis Gay and Julius Klein, respectively, from The World’s Work, Vol. XXVII, No. 5 (March 1914) and Harvard Album 1920.

 

Categories
Economic History Economists Harvard

Harvard. Economic historian William J. Ashley. Short biographical sketch, 1899

“William James Ashley (1860–1927) was one of a group of economists (including, among others, William Cunningham, H. S. Foxwell, and W. A. S. Hewins) who at the turn of this century constituted the English school of economic history, the school which had been given its form in the 1870s and 1880s by Thorold Rogers and Arnold Toynbee. Ashley, alone of this group, also had ties with the German school of historical economists, which under the leadership of Gustav Schmoller had, from the 1870s on, posited a historical, statistical, and inductive method against the abstract, deductive method of the classical school of Ricardo.”

More can be found in the entry written by  Bernard Semmel in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (1969).

_________________________________

ASHLEY, William James, 1860-

Born in London, Eng., 1860; educated at Balliol College, Oxford; Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford; Lecturer in Modern History in Lincoln and Corpus Christi Colleges; Professor of Political Economy and of Constitutional History in the University of Toronto, Canada; Professor of Economic History at Harvard; Corresponding member of the Royal Historical Society (England); author of “Introduction to English Economic History and Theory.”

WILLIAM JAMES ASHLEY, A.M., Professor of Economic History at Harvard since 1892, is the son of James and Jane (Short) Ashley, and was born in London, England, February 25, 1860. His early education was obtained at St. Olave’s Grammar School, Southwark, London; and his collegiate training as a Scholar of Balliol College, Oxford, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1881, (obtaining the Lothian Prize in the next year), and the degree of Master of Arts in 1885. For the three years preceding 1888 he was a Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, and Lecturer in Modern History in Lincoln and Corpus Christi Colleges. From then until 1892 he was a Professor of Political Economy and Constitutional History in the University of Toronto, Canada. The last named year he was appointed Professor of Economic History at Harvard. Mr. Ashley is a Corresponding Member of the Royal Historical Society (England). As a writer as well as an Instructor he has won pronounced recognition. His chief work is An Introduction to English Economic History and Theory, of which the first volume was published in 1888 [Part I. The Middle Ages: first edition, 1888; second edition, 1892; third edition, 1894; fourth edition, 1909] and the second in 1893 [Part II. The End of the Middle Ages: first edition, 1888; second edition, 1893; fourth edition, 1906], several editions being put to press, and the book appearing both in England and America, as well as being translated into German and French. Various articles have also appeared from his pen in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, in the Political Science Quarterly, in the Economic Journal, in the Economic Review and in the English Historical Review. He married, on July 2, 1888, Annie Margaret, daughter of George Binkbeck Hill, D.C.L., the Editor of Boswell, and has three children: Annie, Alice Mary and Walter Ashley.

 

Source: University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol II (1899), p. 595.

 

 

 

Categories
Economic History Fields Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Modern Economic History Seminar. Usher, 1937-41

For the seminar “Topics in Modern Economic History” taught by Abbott Payson Usher (1883-1965) at Harvard, I have been able to find syllabi from the fall term of 1937-38 and both terms for 1938-39 and 1940-41 which, judging from the enrollment figures reported in the annual president’s report, were the only years the seminar with Usher (alone) had actually taken place. Only after the Second World War do we see a seminar with this title having student enrollment figures reported (Usher and Walt Rostow in 1947-48 and then Usher and Gerschenkron in 1948-49.

_____________________________________________

Economics 136 (formerly 22).
Seminar.
Topics in Modern Economic History

Two consecutive hours a week, to be arranged. Professor Usher.

Source: Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1937—38 (First edition). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 34, No. 5 (March 1, 1937), p. 149.

_____________________________________________

Enrollments in the seminar:
Topics in Modern Economic History
1937/38-1940/41

1937-38.

[Economics] 136. (formerly 22). Professor Usher.—Seminar. Topics in Modern Economic History

7 Graduates. Total 7.

 

1938-39.

[Economics] 136. Professor Usher.—Seminar. Topics in Modern Economic History

9 Graduates, 1 Senior. Total 10

 

1939-40.

[not offered]

 

1940-41.

[Economics] 136. Professor Usher.—Seminar. Topics in Modern Economic History

9 Graduates, 1 Senior. Total 10

 

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President, 1937-38, p. 86; 1938-39, p. 99; 1940-41, p. 59.

_____________________________________________

 

[Seminar.
Topics in Modern Economic History.
A. P. Usher]

 

Calendar
Economics 136
First Term

1937-38

  1. Oct. 7.     Schools of Economic Historians.
  2. Oct. 18.   Sombart and the Ideal Type Method
  3. Nov. 5.    History as a genetic science.
  4. Nov. 19.  Historical Process: evolution or fluctuation
  5. Dec. 3.    A Pluralistic Concept of Social Evolution
  6. Dec. 17.  The Historical Significance of Locational Theory.
  7. Jan. 7     Autarchy as an objective of economic policy.

Suggested Reading

  1. Gras, N. S. B. The Rise and Development of Economic History, The Economic History Review, I, pp. 12-34.
  2. Parsons, T. Capitalism in Recent German Literature, Journal of Political Economy, vol 36, pp, 641-661; vol. 37, pp. 31-51.
  3. Sée, H. Science et Philosophie de l’histoire, pp. 116-156, 228-233.
    or
    Rickert, H. Die Grenzen der naturwissenschaftlichen Begriffsbildung, 1902, pp. 1-29, 289-304; 1913, 1-29, 256-273; 1921, pp. 1-23, 215-230.
  4. Tarde, G. Social Laws, pp. 1-67.
  5. Tarde, G. Social Laws, pp, 144-213.
    or Ogburn, W. F. Social Change, 1923. pp. 56-145.
  6. Weber, Alfred. Theory of the Location of Industries.
    Hoover, E. M. Jr. Location Theory of the Shoe and Leather Industries.
  7. Heckscher, E.F. Mercantilism, I, pp. 19-44, II, pp. 13-52.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 2, Folder 1937-1938.

_____________________________________________

[1938-39 Seminar:
Topics in Modern Economic History,
A. P. Usher]

Economics 136
Reading on General Seminar Topics.

I. Schools of Economic Historians.            Oct. 4.

Gras, N. S. B. The Rise and Development of Economic History, The Economic History Review, I, pp. 12-34.
Gide, C. and Rist, C. History of Economic Thought, chapters on the historical school.

II. Sombart and the Ideal Type Method. Oct. 18.

Parsons, T. Capitalism in Recent German Literature, Journal of Political Economy, vol 36, pp. 641-661; vol. 37, pp. 31-51.

III. History as a Genetic Science    Nov. 1.

Sée, H. Science et Philosophie de l’histoire, pp. 116-156, 228-233.
or
Rickert, H. Die Grenzen der naturwissenschaftlichen Begriffsbildung, ed. 1902, pp. 1-29, 289-304; ed. 1913, 1-29, 256-273; ed. 1921, pp. 1-23, 215-230.

IV. Historical Process, evolution or fluctuation? Nov. 15.

Tarde, G. Social Laws, pp. 1-67.
Sorokin, P. Social Dynamics, I, chap. IV; vol II, ch. X.

V. A Pluralistic Concept of Social Evolution.       Nov. 29.

Tarde, G. Social Laws, pp, 144-213.
or Ogburn, W. F. Social Change (1923) pp. 56-145.

VI. Autarchy as an objective of Social Policy.      Dec. 6.

Heckscher, E.F. Mercantilism, I, pp. 19-44, II, pp. 13-52.

VII. The origin and development of liberalism. Dec. 30.

Allen, J.W. A History of Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century, (11928) Part II, ch. III; Part III, ch. VIII.
Hobhouse, L.T. Liberalism. Selections at discretion

*   *   *  *   *

[“2nd Term” in pencil]
Economics 136
1938-39

A final examination will be scheduled, consisting of an essay prepared prior to the examination upon any one of the topics listed below.

No student will be responsible for more material than is presented by the titles suggested under the various topics. Relevant material will be selected from the titles listed.

1. The significance of the scientific method for economic history.

Whitehead, A. N.       The Function of Reason,
___________________          Science and the Modern World.
___________________          The Concept of Nature.
Sée, H.            Science et Philosophie de l’histoire.

2. The problem of novelty in the theory of social evolution.

Bergson, H.    Creative Evolution.
Tarde, G.        La Logique Sociale.
___________         Social Laws.
___________         L’invention considerée comme moteur de l’evolution sociale.
Usher, A. P.    A History of Mechanical Inventions.

3. Pluralism and multilinear concepts of social evolution.

James. W.       Pluralism.
Tarde, G.        Social Laws.
___________         La Logique Sociale.
Ogburn, W. F.            Social Change.

4. The Process of Innovation.

Koffka, K.       The Growth of the Mind.
Gilfillan, S.C.   The Sociology of Invention.
Rossman, J.    The Psychology of the Inventor.
Usher, A.P.     A History of Mechanical Inventions.

5. Logical Problems of the Genetic Sciences.

Baldwin, J.M. Development and Evolution.
Rickert, H.      Die Grenzen der naturwissenschaftlichen Begriffsbildung.

6. The concept of industrial evolution.

Bücher, K. Industrial Evolution

7. The Ideal Type Method and the Theory of Social Evolution

Parsons, T. Capitalism in Recent German Literature, Journal of Political Economy, vol. 36, 641-661; 37, 31-51.
Nussbaum, F.L. A History of the Economic Institutions of Modern Europe.
or
Weber, M. General Economic History.

8. Karl Marx and the Materialistic Interpretation of History.

Bober, M. Karl Marx’s Interpretation of History.
Sée, H. The Economic Interpretation of History.

9. The Concept of Capitalism as a basis for the interpretation of modern economic history.

any one of the following texts:
Hobson, J.A.    The Evolution of Modern Capitalism.
Sée, H.           Modern Capitalism.
Hammond, J. L. and Barbara. The Rise of Modern Industry.
Bober, M. Karl Marx’s Interpretation of History.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 2, Folder 1938-1939.

_____________________________________________

[1940-41 Seminar:
Topics in Modern Economic History,
A. P. Usher]

Economics 136
1940 – 1941

Calendar

  1. Oct. 3.    The Development of Economic History.
  2. Oct. 17.  Werner Sombart and Max Weber as exponents of the ideal type method
  3. Oct. 31.  History as a genetic science.
  4. Nov. 14. The Nature of Historical Process.
  5. Dec. 5.    A Pluralistic Concept of Social Evolution
  6. Dec. 19.  Mercantilism.

Reading

There will be an examination at Mid-year consisting of a three hour essay prepared on some topic drawn from, or related to, the work of the general meetings of the class. Readings suggested as preparation for class discussion will not in all instances serve as an adequate basis for the examination essay. A supplementary list of books for essay topics is therefore added.

1. The Development of Economic History.

Gide, C. and Rist, C. History of Economic Thought, Book IV, Chap. I.
Ingram, J. K. History of Political Economy. ed. 1898, chapters VI, VII; ed. 1915, chapters VI, VIII.

2. Werner Sombart and Max Weber as exponents of the ideal type method

Parsons, T. Capitalism in Recent German Literature, Journal of Political Economy, vol 36, pp. 641-661; vol. 37, pp. 31-51.
Weber, General Economic History, pp. 338-370. German ed. 1924, pp. 289-315.

3. History as a genetic science.

Sée, H. Science et Philosophie de l’histoire, pp. 116-156, 228-233.
or
Rickert, H. Die Grenzen der naturwissenschaftlichen Begriffsbildung, 1902, pp. 1-29, 289-304; 1913, 1-29, 256-273; 1921, pp. 1-23, 215-230.

4. The Nature of Historical Process.

Tarde, G.        Social Laws, pp. 1-67.

5. A Pluralistic Concept of Social Evolution

Tarde, G. Social Laws, pp, 144-213.
or Ogburn, W. F. Social Change (1923) pp. 56-145.

6. Mercantilism.

Heckscher, E.F. Mercantilism, I, pp. 19-44, II, pp. 13-52.

*   *   *  *   *

[As can be seen from the date here, for the second term of 1940-41, Usher simply used his second term syllabus from 1938-1939 with a couple of penciled additions. These additions are given below in boldface within square brackets]

Economics 136
1938-39

A final examination will be scheduled, consisting of an essay prepared prior to the examination upon any one of the topics listed below.

No student will be responsible for more material than is presented by the titles suggested under the various topics. Relevant material will be selected from the titles listed.

[In many cases, any one of the titles listed will be sufficient.]

1. The significance of the scientific method for economic history.

Whitehead, A. N.       The Function of Reason,
___________________          Science and the Modern World.
___________________          The Concept of Nature.
Sée, H.            Science et Philosophie de l’histoire.

2. The problem of novelty in the theory of social evolution.

Bergson, H.    Creative Evolution.
Tarde, G.        La Logique Sociale.
___________         Social Laws.
___________         L’invention considerée comme moteur de l’evolution sociale.
Usher, A. P.    A History of Mechanical Inventions.

3. Pluralism and multilinear concepts of social evolution.

James. W.       Pluralism.
Tarde, G.        Social Laws.
___________         La Logique Sociale.
Ogburn, W. F.            Social Change.

4. The Process of Innovation.

Koffka, K.       The Growth of the Mind.
Gilfillan, S.C.   The Sociology of Invention.
Rossman, J.    The Psychology of the Inventor.
Usher, A.P.     A History of Mechanical Inventions.

5.  Logical Problems of the Genetic Sciences.

(Baldwin, J.M. Development and Evolution.
Rickert, H.      Die Grenzen der naturwissenschaftlichen Begriffsbildung.
[Haldane, R. B. The Reign of Relativity.]

6. The concept of industrial evolution.

Bücher, K. Industrial Evolution

7. The Ideal Type Method and the Theory of Social Evolution

Parsons, T. Capitalism in Recent German Literature, Journal of Political Economy, vol. 36, 641-661; 37, 31-51.
Nussbaum, F.L. A History of the Economic Institutions of Modern Europe.
or
Weber, M. General Economic History.

8. Karl Marx and the Materialistic Interpretation of History.

Bober, M. Karl Marx’s Interpretation of History.
Sée, H. The Economic Interpretation of History.

9. The Concept of Capitalism as a basis for the interpretation of modern economic history.

any one of the following texts:
Hobson, J.A.    The Evolution of Modern Capitalism.
Sée, H.               Modern Capitalism.
Hammond, J. L. and Barbara. The Rise of Modern Industry.
Bober, M.         Karl Marx’s Interpretation of History.

[10. Religion and the Rise of Capitalism

Tawney, R. H. Religion and the Rise of Capitalism.
Robertson, H. M. The Rise of Economic Individualism.]

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 2, Folder 1940-41.

Image Source:  Harvard Class Album 1939.

Categories
Bibliography Courses Economic History Harvard

Harvard. Recent Economic History. Readings, Edwin F. Gay, 1934-35

 

 

Edwin Francis Gay (1867-1946) came to Harvard in 1902 as an instructor of economic history taking over William Ashley’s courses after having spent a dozen years of training and advanced historical study in Europe (Berlin, Ph.D. in 1902 under Gustav Schmoller, also he was in Leipzig, Zurich and Florence). He and Abram Piatt Andrew received five-year contracts as assistant professors of economics in 1903. In just four years he actually advanced to the rank of professor. He served as a principal advisor to Harvard President Charles Eliot in establishing the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1908. After the favored candidate to be the founding dean of the business school, William Lyon Mackenzie King (Ph.D., Harvard 1909) turned down the offer, instead continuing as deputy minister of labor in Canada then later becoming prime minister of Canada, President Eliot turned to Gay. In nine years Gay put his stamp on the Harvard Business School, apparently playing an instrumental role in the use of the case method (pedagogic transfer from the law school) with a strong emphasis on obtaining hands-on experience through practical assignments with actual businesses. He is credited with establishing the academic degree of the M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration), the credential of managers.

During WW I Gay worked as adviser to the U.S. Shipping Board and then went on to become editor of the New York Evening Post that would soon go under, giving Gay “an opportunity” to return to Harvard where he could teach economic history up through his retirement in 1936. Gay was among the co-founders of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Council of Foreign Relations. He and his wife moved to California where he worked at the Huntington library where the bulk of his papers are to be found today. 

Since this item was first posted, I have transcribed the questions from the final examination for the course’s second semester. 

________________________________

[From Course Announcement]

‡Economics 23. Recent Economic History.

Tu., Th., at 4. Professor Gay.

Note: “A double dagger(‡) indicates that the course is open under certain conditions to properly qualified students of Radcliffe.”

 

Source: Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1934-35. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 31, No. 38 (September 20, 1934), p. 128.

________________________________

[Course Enrollment]

[Economics] ‡23. Professor Gay.—Recent Economic History.

16 Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Other, 4 Radcliffe: Total 22

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments for 1934-1935, p. 82.

________________________________

ECONOMICS 23

First assignment [first semester]

Bertrand Russell, Freedom vs. Organization, 1814-1914. (W. W. Norton & Co., New York, 1934)

For review

P. Mantoux, The Industrial Revolution in the Eighteenth Century, (English translation) 1928
or
H. Heaton. Article: The Industrial Revolution in The Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 8, (1932), pp. 3-13.

J. H. Clapham, An Economic History of Modern Britain, 2 vol., 1926 (2nd ed.o 1932. Cambridge University Press.

Industrial History, Vol. I, chapters 5, 10, 14, Vol. II, chs. 3, 4, 11.
Agriculture, Vol. I, ch. 4; vol. II, ch. 7.
Transportation, Vol. I, chs. 3, 9.
Commerce and commercial policy, vol. I, ch. 12, vol. II, chs. 6, 8.
Also Vol. II, chs. 1, 2, 10.

J. H. Clapham, Economic Development of France and Germany, 1921 (1923), chs. 1-9 inclusive.

E. C. Kirkland, History of American Economic Life, chs. 1-9 inclusive.

L. H. Jenks, The Migration of British Capital to 1875. (1927), pp. 1-262.

A. E. Feavearyear, The Pound Sterling, Oxford, 1931. Chs. 8-11 inclusive (pp. 138-298)

Percy Ashley, Modern Tariff History, 1926

F. W. Taussig, Tariff History of the United States. (to and including tariff of 1890).

_____________________________

ECONOMICS 23                                           1935

Second assignment: [second semester] references in brackets are optional

Wells, D. A. Recent Economic Changes, 1890 (written 1887-9).

[Marshall, A. Industry and Trade (1919) Bk. I, chaps. 5-8, pp. 86-162]

Sharfman, I. L. Interstate Commerce Commission, vol. I. chaps. 1-4, pp. 11-176.

Royal Institute of International Affairs, World Agriculture (1932), pp. 1-252.

Nourse, E. G. Chapter on “Agriculture” in Recent Economic Changes, vol. II, chap. viii, pp. 547-602.

Black, J. D. Agricultural Reform in the United States (1929) Part I. The Setting, Chaps. 1-3, pp. 1-84.

Royal Institute of International Affairs. Monetary Policy in the Depression, (1933), pp. 1-81.

Committee on Finance and Industry. (Macmillan Report) (1931), pp. 1-185.

[Department of Commerce (U.S.) Bulletin on “Balance of International Payments” 1934 (for 1933)]

Mitchell, W. C. Business Cycles, the Problem in its Setting. (1927) pp. 61-188, 424-450.

Webb, Sidney and Beatrice. History of Trade Unionism (1920 or 1926), chaps. 7-11, pp. 358-704 (718).

Webb, Sidney and Beatrice. Consumers’ Cooperative Movement (1921) Chap. 6, pp. 383-487.

Clay, Henry. The Problem of Industrial Relations (1929), pp. 74-102.

Perlman, S. History of Trade Unionism in the United States.

Seager, H. R. and Gulick, C. A. Trust and Corporation Problems (1929) chaps. 5, 6, 18-26; pps. 49-85, 367-627.

Berle A. A. and Means, G. C. The Modern Corporation and Private Property (1933) Bk. I, chaps. 1-3, Bk. IV, chaps. 1-4, pp. 1-46, 333-356.

Mitchell, W. C. “A Review,” Recent Economic Changes, vol. II, pp. 841-910.

Hansen, A. H. Economic Stabilization in the Unbalanced World (1932), pp. 271-380.

Morrison, Herbert. Socialisation and Transport (1933) Chaps. 8, 9, 13, 15; ppps. 131-176, 213-242, 280-297.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1894-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 2, Folder “1934-1935”.

Image Source: Harvard Class Album 1934.

Categories
Economic History Economists

Portrait of Prof. Ernst Louis Étienne Laspeyres of Price Index-Number Fame

It just didn’t seem fair, posting a portrait of Paasche without giving his famous price index-number counterpart Laspeyres the benefit of a quick internet search. Sure enough, two portraits of the good Gießen professor can be found at the link to the Gießen University Archive given below.

Ernst Louis Étienne Laspeyres, a.k.a. Ernst Ludwig Stephan Laspeyres, was born November 28, 1834 in Halle and died August 4, 1913 in Gießen, Germany.

Image Source: Universitätsarchiv, Universität Gießen

P.S. from the same archive, a picture of his grave.

Professorengräber auf dem Alten Friedhof in Gießen

Categories
Economic History Economists

John Hicks Arguing for More Economic History Research, 1947

The Duke Economists’ Papers Project has a grab-bag of papers from the distinguished economic historian Earl J. Hamilton. A soul braver than myself might some day try to create order out of that chaos, but I was able to stumble upon the following early “remarks” by future Nobel-prize economist John R. Hicks, though lacking all context save the date. Perhaps a Hicks expert or an historian of economic history can identify where these remarks were given (or perhaps eventually published?). These remarks sound much like Schumpeter’s recipe for a good economist writ large to economic research. I can only say, “Hear, hear!”

________________________

RESEARCH IN ECONOMIC HISTORY

John R. Hicks
January 11, 1947

The following remarks about the desirability of encouraging research in economic history are written from the standpoint of the general economist, who is not primarily a historian. He is not interested in economic history as history, but he is interested in furthering the development of economic science in general. He is looking for the general principles governing economic behaviour, and his particular interest is the application of those principles to the modern world.

As compared with the situation in the natural sciences, the economist’s object of study is essentially a historical process, spread out in time. In practice his main preoccupation is with the advancing edge of that process (the present), and it is right and proper that this should be so, since the present is more likely than the past to have a bearing on the future, control over which is the ultimate practical object. But this preoccupation can easily go too far. The past, no less than the present, is part of the material available for study and out of which generalisations can be built up. Generalisations based upon the present alone, or the present and recent past alone, are necessarily insecure; no doubt all economic generalisations are insecure, but these are more insecure than they need be.

The relevance of economic history to economic science has greatly increased of late, in view of the recent tendencies to bring economic theory to earth and achieve a more effective marriage between theory and statistics. Econometric work based upon very short time series is statistically unsatisfactory, and cannot be used as a basis for prediction with any high degree or probability. There is thus a tendency on the part of economic statisticians to push further back into the past as a means of increasing the amount of analysable material. But such additional material cannot be securely used unless its reliability is evaluated by people who are accustomed to use historical evidence—collaboration between the trained statistician and the trained historian (a very awkward collaboration with our present academic background) is going to be urgently needed at the next stage of development of economics. Further, it is not only the material which needs checking—the use which is made of it needs checking too. As we push backwards into history, institutions change; the whole background, economic, semi-economic and non-economic, changes. One of the commonest sources of error in economic reasoning is a failure to recognise that an institutional change has made a profound difference to the working of some particular “mechanism” or standardised response pattern. We notice this most often in a failure to “keep up to date”—the “out of date” economist is he who has failed to realize that a change in institution had modified or even completely destroyed some of the reaction patterns which may have been valid enough when he was young. The opposite error has hitherto been of less importance, but there are indications that it is now becoming serious; although it will never have the practical importance of that just described, it may be a serious impediment to scientific progress. To read the events of the past against an institutional background which is not theirs, is just as wrong as to read the accounts of the present against a background which is not theirs. Unless the background is in good shape, historical statistical data cannot be used; they can only be misused.

The above is not only an argument, as might appear at first sight, for better training of economists and statisticians in economic history; it is also an argument for research in economic history. For the sorts of questions which economists and statisticians are beginning to ask of the historical material are different from the questions which the historians have been asking. The historical background which is needed is not there, to be had for the asking, in the textbooks—or the classics—of economic history; to a large extent, it is yet to be discovered by new work.

I have here one example mainly in mind, though I am sure it is not the only example—not by a long way. The “Keynesian revolution” has thrown a powerful new light on contemporary economics; just how far the light extends is an arguable matter, but that it extends some distance can hardly be questioned. Now it would be of great help in our evaluation of the current uses of the Keynesian hypotheses if we could tell how far back in history they go on being useful. If it can be shown that they are useful in the interpretation of the economic history of the nineteenth or even eighteenth centuries, it would strengthen their position as a “General Theory”; if on the other hand, it becomes apparent that we have to force the historical material to get it into a Keynesian mould, we should get an indication of the dependence of the theory on a particular institutional (and perhaps psychological) set-up, and this would hardly fail to affect our attitude towards the theory and even our use of it vis a vis the problems of to-day.

I pass on to a much wider consideration. The ascertainment of economic principles or generalisations is only a step towards the understanding of events; one may say that the object of all economic inquiry—the penultimate object, perhaps, short of the ultimate object of increasing our control over the future—is to give an intelligible and analytical account of economic and economico-social processes, both the completed processes of the past and the uncompleted processes of the present. Now in some important ways the processes of the present are more difficult to study; they are more difficult because the sheer mass of material drives us to excessive specialisation, and also because their lack of completion deprives us in another way of the advantage of seeing the processes as a whole. In historical work it is at least in principle easier to take a synoptic view; and one cannot help feeling that if a rather larger proportion of economic research was devoted to historical problems it would help to maintain better standards of “all-roundness” in the sector—undoubtedly the more important sector from a practical point of view—which is concerned with the problems of the contemporary world.

This, in my view, is the case for encouraging research in economic history But I am well aware of the main difficulty which stands in the way of such research, if it is to be the kind of research which really meets the ends which I have set down. The number of people who have the equipment. to do the work—equipment in history and economics and probably statistics as well—is at present extremely limited. Work of this sort needs a bigger equipment than more specialised work, and therefore involves a longer preparation. At present there is little incentive to undergo this long preparation, and even for those people who have strong personal inclinations for it, there are strong incentives to turn aside on the way. In all the universities of the British Isles (I speak of what I know) there are at present only five chairs of economic history—two in London, one each at Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester. Apart from these, the subject offers very few openings indeed. Thus if greater encouragement were offered, one could not expect that supply would adjust itself to demand at once; it would take time before the number of suitable people could be much increased. If however one looks round at the people who have been diverted into teaching or research in “straight” economics or “straight” history, one can not doubt that the potential supply of first-rate economic historians is quite considerable; it would take time to show itself, but it would show itself in time.

 

Source: Duke University. Rubenstein Library. Earl J. Hamilton papers. Box 2, Folder “Correspondence—Misc. 1930’s-1950’s and n.d.”