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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final Exams for Railways and Other Public Works. Meyer, 1901

Hugo Richard Meyer

 

Hugo Richard Meyer received his A.M. in economics from Harvard and went from his instructorship in political economy there (1897-1903) to an assistant professorship in political economy at the University of Chicago (1904-05). While at Harvard he taught courses involving the regulation of railways and municipal utilities. This post provides the examination questions for his two-semester sequence “Railways and other Public Works” that was offered in 1900-01 at Harvard.

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Course Enrollments

[Economics] 51 hf. Mr. Meyer.— Railways and other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management.

Total 86: 4 Graduates, 52 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 9 Others.

[Economics] 52 hf. Mr. Meyer.— Railways and other Public Works (advanced course).

Total 9: 3 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1900-1901, p.64.

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Final Examination
(First half-year, 1900-01):
Railways and other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management

ECONOMICS 51

Omit the last question if the paper seems too long

  1. The construction put upon the long and short haul clause: by the Interstate Commerce Commission; by the Supreme Court.
  2. The decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission on group rates.
  3. The railway rate situation in Germany [Prussia]; does it throw any light on the railway problem in the United States?
  4. “If pooling produces any beneficial result, it necessarily does so at the expense of competition. It is only by destroying competition that the inducement to deviate from the published rate is wholly removed….By the legalizing of pooling the public loses the only protection which it now has against the unreasonable exactions of transportation agencies.”—Give your reasons for accepting or rejecting this statement.
    Alternative:—
    The reasons for the instability of pools in the United States.
  5. The Iowa Railroad Commission.
    Alternative:—
    To what extent was the long and short haul clause of the Interstate Commerce Act enforced; what was the effect of that enforcement: on railway revenues; on intermediate shipping or distributing points?
  6. The body of administrative law to be found in the decisions of the Massachusetts Gas and Electric Light Commission’s decisions upon petitions for reductions in the price of gas.
  7. (a) Is it to the public interest to insert in street railway charters provisions seeking to secure to the municipality or the state a share in any excess of profit over the normal rate?
    Alternative: (b) and (c).
    (b) The evidence as to the return on capital obtainable in street railway ventures.
    (c) What questions of public policy were raised in the case of the Milwaukee Street Railway and Electric Light Co. vs. The City of Milwaukee?
  8. What statistics were used in illustrating in a general way the statement that railway charges are based upon what the traffic will bear; in discussing the bearing of stock-watering upon railway rates; in discussing the return obtained by capital invested in railway enterprises in the United States?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College. June, S. Pages 24-25.

Final Examination
(Second half-year, 1900-01)
Railways and other Public Works
(advanced course)

ECONOMICS 52

  1. The railways and the national finances in Prussia and Australia.
  2. Railway rates and the export trade of the United States since 1893, or, 1896.
  3. The economic situation in Australia since 1892, and the Australian railways.
  4. “A fatal objection to the income or preference bond is that it is an attempt to combine two contradictory commercial principles.”
    Discuss this statement fully. What does it mean? Is it true?
  5. If you had access to all the accounts of a railroad, how should you determine the value to it of one of its branch lines?
  6. To what accounts would you charge the following expenditures? (If you do not remember the exact Interstate Commerce Commission classification, use your best judgment.) State reasons in each case.
    Engineer’s wages on a special train conveying the general manager to an extensive flood covering the line.
    Fireman’s wages on an engine employed exclusively in switching to and from the repair shops.
    Conductor’s wages on a worktrain engaged in taking up rails on an abandoned branch.
    Brakeman’s wages on a train engaged solely in hauling company’s coal for company’s use.
    Cost of taking up comparatively new sound rails judged too light for heavy rolling stock.
    Cost at a competitive point of a new station to replace an old one which was large enough but old-fashioned.
  7. State the commonest problems facing a reorganization committee for an insolvent road, and then suggest and defend one course of procedure for each problem.
  8. Combine and arrange the following items so as to give the best information about the operation and condition of the road. (Do not rewrite the names but use the corresponding numbers where possible.)
1. Passenger train miles

2,000,000
2. Freight train miles

3,400,000
3. Passenger train earnings

$2,400,000
4. Freight train earnings

$5,500,000
5. Income from investments

$100,000
6. Dividends

$500,000
7. Operating expenses

$4,700,000
8. Av. no. pass. cars per train

4
9. Av. no. passengers per car

11
10. Tons freight carried

2,800,000
11. Av. load per car (loaded and empty), tons

8.2
12. Av. no. loaded cars per train

12.3
13. Av. no. empty cars per train

6.7
14. Interest charge for year

$2,200,000
15. Due other roads

$100,000
16. Stocks and bonds owned

$4,900,000
17. Supplies on hand

$500,000
18. Taxes for the year

$300,000
19. Accounts receivable

$500,000
20. Cash

$1,000,000
21. Surplus for the year

$300,000
22. Profit and loss account

$1,000,000
23. Taxes accrued but not due

$100,000
24. Capital stock

$50,000,000
25. Interest due

$700,000
26. Funded debt

$45,000,000
27. Due from other roads

$100,000
28. Interest accrued not due

$300,000
29. Franchises and property

$90,400,000
30. Bonds of the company in its treasury

$800,000
31. Accounts payable

$1,000,000
32. No. of passengers carried

2,300,000

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5. Bound Volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College. June, 1901. Pages 25-27.

Image Source: Portrait of Hugo Richard Meyer from the Minneapolis Messenger (October 12, 1905), p. 4. Wikimedia Commons.

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Syllabus and exams for Government Policy Toward Business. Kaysen, 1961

 

Carl Kaysen
from the 1958 Harvard yearbook

Carl Kaysen, who just this year [1958] was promoted to the position of Professor of Economics, has risen quickly up the educational ladder and has a distinguished record of non-academic accomplishments as well. At the age of 20, he served on the National Bureau of Economic Research, two years later he joined the Office of Strategic Services, and he served in the Air Force from 1943 to 1945. At thirty, he became an Assistant Professor of Economics at Harvard, and was promoted to Associate Professor two years ago. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and a Guggenheim Fellow.

Professor Kaysen is primarily interested in industrial organizations and monopoly practices. He is a co-author of The American Business Creed and is currently engaged in a study of the complexity of modern business firms.

Source: Harvard Class Album 1958.

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Course Description

Economics 144. Government Policy Toward Business
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 10. Professor Kaysen.

This course surveys the major areas of government regulation of the functioning of markets in the United States. Anti-trust policy, agricultural policy, public utility regulation, and the regulation of transportation are examined with an eye to both their underlying economic rationale and their outcome in practice.

Source: Courses of Instruction: Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. LVII, No. 21 (August 29, 1960), p. 96.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 144. Government Policy Toward Business. Professor Kaysen. Half course.

(Spring) Total 88: 2 Graduates, 29 Seniors, 32 Juniors, 19 Sophomores, 5 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1960-61, p. 76.

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Economics 144
Government Policy Toward Business

Professor Kaysen        Littauer 212    MW 11-12
Dr. Fromm                  Littauer 214    MW 11-12
Mr. Wilson                  Littauer 214 Tues 4-6

  1. Policy Goals, Economic Systems, and Policy Instruments (Feb. 6-17)

Watson, Donald S., Economic Policy: Business and Government, Part I, pp. 3-196.

  1. Competition: Enough and Just Enough (Feb. 20 – March 20)

Wilcox, Clair, Public Policies Toward Business, Revised Edition, Chapters 3-5, pp. 49-123.

Bain, Joe S., Industrial Organization, Chapter 13, pp. 477-539.

United States, Department of Justice, Report of the Attorney General’s National Committee to Study the Antitrust Laws, Chapters 1 and 3, pp. 1-64 and 115-128.

Stelzer, Irwin M., Selected Antitrust Cases: Landmark Decisions in Federal Antitrust, Chapter 1 (except Yellow Cab Company, et al.) pp. 3-40, 44-59, Chapter 3, pp. 79-94, Chapter 4, pp. 95-105.

Oppenheim, S. Chesterfield, Recent Cases on Federal Anti-Trust Laws, 1951 Supplement to Cases on Federal Anti-Trust Laws;

United States v. American Can Co., pp. 434-451
Tag Mfrs. Institute, et al. v. Federal Trade Commission, pp. 304-318
United States v. Aluminum Company of America, pp. 209-289

Federal Supplement, United States v. Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co., 168 F. Supp. 576.

Levitan, Sar A., Federal Assistance to Labor Surplus Areas, A Report to the Committee on Banking and Currency, United States House of Representatives, 85th Congress, 1st Session, April 15, 1957, pp. 5-35.

Watson, Donald S., Economic Policy: Business and Government, Chapter 25, pp. 658-691.

Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, Staff Report on Employment, Growth, and Price Levels, December 24, 1959, Chapter 7, pp. 189-204.

  1. Monopolies, Near Monopolies (March 22 — April 17)

Wilcox, Clair, Public Policies Toward Business, Revised Edition, Chapters 19-22, pp. 539-642.

Watson, Donald S., Economic Policy: Business and Government, Chapter 16, pp. 391-421.

Meyer, J.R., Peck, M.J., Stenason, J., and Zwick, C., The Economics of Competition in the Transportation Industries, Chapters 6-9, pp. 145-273.

  1. External Effects and Ignorance (April 19-28)

Rostow, Eugene V., A National Policy for the Oil Industry, Chapters 3-6, pp. 16-53.

Bain, Joe S., The Economics of the Pacific Coast Petroleum Industry, Volume III, Chapter III, pp. 23-67.

Owen, Wilfred, Cities in the Motor Age, Chapter 2, pp. 18-41, Chapter 8, pp. 138-150.

Haar, Charles M., “The Master Plan: An Inquiry in Dialogue Form,” Journal of the American Institute of Planners, August 1959, pp. 133-142.

  1. General Overview (May 1-3)

To be announced.

Reading Period assignment to be announced.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 7, Folder “Economics, 1960-1961 (1 of 2)”.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Reading Period Assignments
Spring Term, 1960-61

Ec. 144:

J. E. Meade, Planning and the Price Mechanism, Ch. I, III, IV, AND W.A. Lewis, Principles of Planning, Ch. I, II, IV, VI, VII-IX
OR E. Devons, Planning in Practice.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 8, Folder “Economics, 1960-1961 (2 of 2)”.

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ECONOMICS 144
Hour Examination
April 14, 1961

Answer ALL questions.

PART I
20 Minutes

  1. Some economists have suggested that a “market power” standard should be used in judging monopolization cases under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. What would the differences between this standard and the exiting performance standard be? What would be achieved by adopting the proposed standard? What new problems might it create?

 

PART II
30 Minutes

  1. Outline the role of government economic policy as interpreted by:
    1. reform liberals
    2. neo-liberals
    3. conservatives
  2. What is the essential economic problem presented by the agricultural sector and the depressed areas? [handwritten note: “allocation of resources + factor mobility”]
  3. There is wide agreement that some regulation of the utility industries, such as electric power, is necessary. What economic facts and judgments underlie this agreement?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 7, Folder “Economics, 1960-1961 (1 of 2)”.

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ECONOMICS 144
Final Examination

PART I

Answer both questions.

  1. (a) Some problems in anti-trust regulation are:
    1. Parallel pricing vs. collusive behavior
    2. Monopolizing vs. monopoly
    3. Market power vs. monopoly

Discuss each in the light of Sherman Act enforcement and the cases you have read.

  1. Assume that you were an economic adviser to the Anti-trust Division during the Dupont Cellophane case. After you had heard Dupont present its defense, what arguments would you have given the Government’s lawyers in order to help them prepare their reply?
  1. (a) Why does the market fail to allocate resources properly in the oil industry? What possible remedies would you recommend and why?

(b) Discuss briefly the arguments why interference with the market mechanism is necessary in order to achieve an optimal allocation of land uses in a city. What do you consider to be the most difficult problems that an urban planning authority would face?

 

PART II

Answer one question only.

  1. (a) What are some of the difficulties encountered by the regulatory authorities when they attempt to set utility rates so as to guarantee a “fair return on investment”?

(b) Give reasons why the present system of pricing by electric utilities leads to misallocation of power uses. Set up a utility pricing scheme that would remove this misallocation.

  1. (a) What accounts for the existence of natural monopoly elements in the transportation industries? What distinguishes these industries from “pure” natural monopolies, such as electric utilities?

(b) Some economists have argued that railroads should be subject to less rather than more regulation. What arguments can be used to support their position? What problems would arise if the railroads were subject to no special regulation at all?

 

PART III

Answer one question only.

  1. Evaluate some of the arguments put forward by Meade and by Lewis to support their contention that some state planning is necessary to improve the functioning of the economic system. Discuss to what extent each of their proposals is an attempt to improve the functioning of competitive markets and to what extent it is an attempt to supplant market determined goals.
  2. Discuss Devon’s account of the problems that arise when planning is carried out in the absence of prices. Why would the use of prices help to solve some of these problems?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28). Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [for] History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…Naval Science, Air Science  in (Bound) Volume 134, Social Sciences. Final Examinations, June 1961.

Image Source:  Carl Kaysen in the Harvard Class Album 1958.

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Chicago Exam Questions

Chicago. Graduate prelim exams in economic theory. Metzler, Friedman and Knight, 1951

 

The previous post provided the names of the examination committee members for the economics preliminary exams for the Ph.D./A.M. by field at the University of Chicago for the summer quarter of 1951. The names of the students registered for the respective examinations were transcribed as well. The economic theory examining committee for that round consisted of Lloyd Metzler (chair), Milton Friedman, and Frank Knight. This post provides a transcription of both economic theory exams along with Friedman’s hand-written answer to Question 5 of Part I.

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ECONOMIC THEORY
Part I
Summer Quarter, 1951

(Do not write your name on your paper. Use only the number in the top right-hand corner of this examination.)

Ph.D. candidates. Write 3½ hours. Answer all questions.

A.M. candidates. Write 2½ hours on questions #1 and #2 and one other.

  1. Discuss the probable shape of the long-run cost curve for an industry operating under approximately perfect competition. How would it differ in the short run, i.e., in response to an unanticipated shift in the demand-curve for the product, assumed not to be permanent?
  2. Briefly discuss the Ricardian conception of capital, specifically in relation to his theory of wages. Argue the question whether wages are paid out of (pre-existing) capital or out of (current) product.
    Can you find any relation between the Böhm-Bawerk production-period theory of interest and the Ricardian theory of capital and profit? What is the crucial assumption about the nature and source of capital which underlies the production-period theory, and is it sound? How does diminishing returns to investment enter into Ricardo’s and Böhm-Bawerk’s theories?
  3. Consider a trade union that is strong enough to prevent nonmembers from working at the trade in question and whose membership, for simplicity, will be supposed unaffected by the level of returns to members within broad limits (e.g., future membership consists of present membership minus members who die plus male children of present members). Analyze what its position would be toward the immigration of unskilled labor if it took account solely of the effect of such immigration on the incomes of its members. What considerations, if any, should lead it to favor more extensive immigration? What considerations, if any, to favor restriction on immigration? Is there a clear balance in favor of the one position or the other?
  4. “The orthodox tools of supply and demand assume that sellers and buyers are free to buy or sell any quantities they wish at the price determined by the market. This assumption cannot validly be made when price controls or rations are imposed by government. It follows that these tools are useless in analyzing the effects of such governmental actions. Economists should free themselves from slavish adherence to outmoded concepts and fashion new tools for the new problems raised by the modern Leviathan.” Discuss.
  5. The following figures represent the prices and quantities of two commodities, A and B, consumed by three individuals having the incomes stated in two different periods of time.

First Period

 Second Period
Pa Qa Pb Qb Income Pa Qa Pb Qb

Income
Arthur

$1

 20 $2 10 $40 $2 10 $1 20

$40
John

$2

 20 $1 10 $50 $1 10 $2 20

$50
Paul

$2

 20 $1 10 $50 $2.50 10 $1.25 20

$50

Assuming that each individual spends his whole income on the two commodities, and assuming also that there is no change in tastes between the two periods, indicate for each individual what the above information reveals as to whether the bundle of goods consumed in Period I represents a lower or a higher level of satisfaction that the bundle consumed in Period II. Explain your conclusions fully. (It is recommended that a diagram be used in answering this question.)

 

[Answers to Question 5 in pencil: Arthur “Can’t tell”; John “Inconsistent”; Paul: “First period better”]

From sketch in Milton Friedman’s copy of the exam.

 

 

ECONOMIC THEORY II
Summer Quarter, 1951

Time: 2½ hours.

  1. (a) Describe and discuss briefly the circumstances that gave rise to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System and the major events (including its actions) in its history.
    (b) In light of this survey of the record, comment on the following conclusion of one student: “The Federal Reserve System should be abolished. It served as an engine of inflation in two World Wars and post-war periods, hindered the re-establishment of satisfactory monetary standards throughout the world in the 1920’s, and failed to prevent the Great Depression, if indeed it was not itself largely responsible for the severity of that depression. The United States would have had a happier history if the pre-1913 monetary arrangements had been continued thereafter.”
  2. “From the preceding considerations it would be seen, even if it were not otherwise evident, how great an error it is to imagine that the rate of interest bears any necessary relation to the quantity or value of the money in circulation. An increase in the currency has in itself no effect, and is incapable of having any effect, on the rate of interest.” (J.S. Mill)
    “We can sum up the above in the proposition that in any given state of expectation there is in the minds of the public a certain potentiality towards holding cash beyond what is required by the transactions-motive or the precautionary-motive, which will realize itself in actual cash holding in a degree which depends on the terms on which the monetary authority is willing to create cash…Corresponding to the quantity of money created by the monetary authority, there will, therefore be set.  par. a determinate rate of interest.” (J. M. Keynes)
    “The saving schedule tells us what part of income the community desires to save. The technical conditions…expressed by the marginal-efficiency-of-investment function, determine the marginal efficiency of the amount of investment that the giving up of consumption permits undertaking. (The intersection of the two schedules determines) the equilibrium rate of interest.” (F. Modigliani).
    Can you reconcile these opinions concerning the determinants of the interest rate? Explain fully, making and stating any assumption you like as to the conditions of production, the time period under consideration, and the flexibility of prices and costs.
  3. What measures would you advocate—and give your reasons for inclusion and omission—for controlling the inflationary tendency in the U.S. under present conditions?

 

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman, Box 76, Folder “76.2 University of Chicago, ‘Economic Theory’”.

Image Source: Social Science Research Building. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-07490, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams on socio-economic conditions of working people. Edward Cummings, 1893

 

This post piggybacks on the previous one. I suppose it comes as no surprise that instructors for courses on socialism also typically taught courses in labor economics and/or sociology. Edward Cummings covered these courses in the Harvard economics department at the end of the nineteenth century. Below I have transcribed the examination questions for his course “The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the United States and in other Countries” from 1892-93. As for the previous post, I have added links to the works that are directly cited in the examination questions. Until I come across notes for his course or a syllabus, these links provide a peek into the material taught to Cummings’ students.

The examinations for the academic year for 1893-94 have been transcribed for an earlier post.

____________________

Enrollment

[Economics] 9. Mr. Cummings.—The Social and Economic Condition of Workingmen in the United States and in other countries. 3 hours.

Total 24: 3 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1892-1893, p. 68.

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ECONOMICS 9.
Mid-Year Examination (1893)

[Arrange your answers in the order in which the questions stand. So far as possible illustrate your discussions by a comparison of the experience of different countries. Omit two questions.]

  1. “In a society adjusted to manual labor, it is absolutely impossible that a labor problem, as a class problem, should take its origin; but in a society adjusted to machinery, provided the English law of property be maintained, the development of class lines will surely make its appearance in industries.”
    State fully your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with these assertions.
    [Henry Carter Adams. An Interpretation of the Social Movements of our Time. International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 2 (October, 1891), pp. 39-40.]
  2. “First, government must regulate the plane of competition, for without legal regulation the struggle between men for commercial supremacy will surely force society to the level of the most immoral man who can maintain himself.”
    What evidence does the history of factory legislation furnish upon these points?
    [Henry Carter Adams. An Interpretation of the Social Movements of our Time. International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 2 (October, 1891), p. 43.]
  3. Comment upon the following passage: “The object held in view by workmen, when they organized themselves into unions, was to gain again that control over the conditions of labor which they lost when machinery took the place of tools.”
    [Henry Carter Adams. An Interpretation of the Social Movements of our Time. International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 2 (October, 1891), p. 48.]
  4. “The English public has had the courage and strength to leave workingmen’s associations full freedom of movement, at the risk even of temporary excesses and acts of violence, such as at one time stained the annals of trades-unions.” Explain.
    How far is this true of France? Of the United States?
    [Josef Maria Baernreither. English Associations of Working Men. (London, 1891), p. 143]
  5. Describe briefly the origin, growth, and present tendencies of the English Friendly Society movement.
    [Josef Maria Baernreither. English Associations of Working Men. Part II. Friendly Societies (London, 1891), pp. 155-337.]
  6. To what extent do trade organizations and friendly societies constitute an aristocracy of labor?
    [Josef Maria Baernreither. English Associations of Working Men. (London, 1891), pp. 20ff.]
  7. To what forms of remuneration can the evils of “sweating” be traced?
    [David Frederick Schloss, Methods of Industrial Remuneration. (New York, 1892), especially Chapter XIV. On the Objections Entertained to the “Method” of Sub-Contract; and Herein of “The Sweating System,” 122-135.]
  8. “The aim of Coöperation is at the same time the aim of Trade Unionism.” In what sense?
  9. Sketch briefly the course of factory legislation during the present century either in England or in the United States.
    [This is a guess: though clearly would provide sufficient information to provide the English history. The English Factory Legislation from 1802 till the Present Time by Ernst von Plener (London, 1873).]
  10. Comment on the following passage: “the fact that the ignorant masses are enabled by the factory to engage in what it once took skilled labor to perform has given the widespread impression that factory labor has degraded the skilled, when in truth it has lifted the unskilled; and this is the inevitable result of the factory everywhere.”
    [United States Census Office. 10th Census, 1880. Report on the Factory System of the United States by Carroll D. Wright (Washington, D.C., 1884) p. 34.]

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1892-93.

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ECONOMICS 9.
Final Examination (June, 1893)

[Arrange your answers in the order in which the questions stand. So far as possible illustrate your discussions by a comparison of the experience of different countries. Omit two questions.]

  1. How is the burden of contribution distributed in each of the three departments of the German system of compulsory insurance? What theoretical or practical objections have you to the system?
  2. “In England especially the State is not in a position to compete effectively with energetic Insurance Companies or with the Friendly Societies, pulsating with the vigour of social life; and still less can it so compete when hampered by restrictions which handicap its powers.” Discuss the evidence on this point furnished by English experience with government workingmen’s insurance. Are there any indications that German ideas are gaining ground in England?
    [Josef Maria Baernreither. English Associations of Working Men. (London, 1891), pp. 348-349.]
  3. “What, we will ask, is the relation of Profit-sharing to the ordinary wage system; and to what extent does Profit-sharing constitute an improvement upon the ordinary wage system?” Are there grounds for the assertion that Profit-sharing is “inferior in point of equity and expediency to the ordinary non-coöperative wage system”?
    [David Frederick Schloss. Methods of Industrial Remuneration. (New York, 1892), especially Chapter XXII, Critical Examination of the Method of Profit-Sharing, 195.]
  4. “Besides the militant trade unionist workmen, that very shrewd class of workingmen, the coöperators, regard Profit-sharing with marked disapprobation; so much so that, although Profit-sharing forms and essential part of the professed principles of Industrial Coöperation, yet by far the greater part of Industrial Coöperation is carried on upon the system of altogether excluding the employees from participation in profits.” What are the facts referred to, and how do you account for them?
    [David Frederick Schloss. Methods of Industrial Remuneration. (New York, 1892), especially Chapter XXII, Critical Examination of the Method of Profit-Sharing, 199.]
  5. “Here it is necessary to interpolate a protest against the assertion almost universally made by previous writers on this subject, that ‘Industrial Coöperation has succeeded in distribution, but has failed in production,’— an assertion generally coupled with the explanation that ‘production’ is too difficult to be, as yet, undertaken by workingmen.” What are the facts?
    [David Frederick Schloss. Methods of Industrial Remuneration. (New York, 1892), especially Chapter XXVII, Critical Examination of the Theory of Industrial Co-operation, p. 233.]
  6. “But the enthusiastic Coöperator will ask: why not develop the voluntary system of democratic Coöperation until it embraces the whole field of industry?” Why do you conceive to be the economic limits to such extension by consumers’ associations?
    [Beatrice Potter (Webb). The Co-operative Movement in Great Britain. Chapter VIII, Conclusion (1891) p. 225.]
  7. “Having considered the social and economic position of workers in the coal, iron and steel industries in several countries, let us now by proper combination ascertain the average conditions prevailing in the two continents.” What are the probably conclusions to be drawn from these comparative statistics of family budgets in the United States and other countries?
    [Elgin Ralston Lovell Gould. The Social Condition of Labor (Baltimore: January, 1893), p. 24.]
  8. “The Hungarians, Italians, Bohemians and Poles, who throng our gates give most concern…Up to the present time there seems no ground to fear that such new comers have wielded a depressing influence. There seems rather reason for congratulation in the fact that instead of their having lowered the American standard of living, the American standard of life has been raising them.” Discuss the evidence. What light do recent change in the character and volume of immigration from different countries throw on this problem?
    [Elgin Ralston Lovell Gould. The Social Condition of Labor (Baltimore: January, 1893), p. 38.]
  9. Indicate briefly the course of short-hour legislation in Massachusetts. How does it compare with the legislation in other states and other countries?
  10. Indicate carefully how far there has been any approximation to compulsory arbitration in Massachusetts; in New York; in other countries. What are the objections to compulsory arbitration?
  11. What do you conceive to be the significance of the Farmers’ Alliance and the Single Tax movements in the United States? And how are they related to each other?
  12. Precisely what evidence is there for and against the contention that the employment of “private armed forces” has been largely responsible for violence and bloodshed during strikes? Give concrete examples.

Source:Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 4, Vol. Examination Papers, 1893-95. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government and Law, Economics, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1893), pp. 40-42.

Image 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), pp. 155-156.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism Sociology

Harvard. Exams for Political Sociology and Socialism, Cummings, 1893

 

 

Examinations from Edward Cummings’ Harvard courses on socialism and communism 1893-1900 have been transcribed and posted earlier. Biographical information about him from 1899 has also been posted.

Thanks to Cummings’ examination style that used exact citations from the literature for students to explain or comment upon, I was able to reverse-engineer some of the key readings that were either assigned or discussed in class. Links to those readings follow the individual examination questions.

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Enrollment

[Economics] 3. Mr. Cummings.—The Principles of Sociology. —Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. 3 hours.

Total 22: 5 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 3 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1892-1893, p. 67.

 

ECONOMICS 3
Mid-Year Examination (1893)

Answer the questions in the order in which they stand. Omit two.

  1. “We have just seen that a one-sided application of the conception that society is of organic growth leads to difficulties, as well as the conception of artificial making. These we can only escape by recognizing a truth which includes them both.”
    What are these difficulties, and what is this truth?
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Chapter 1, Herbert Spencer’s Individualism and his Conception of Society (London, 1891), pp. 49-50]
  2. “If societies have evolved, and if that mutual dependence of parts which coöperation implies, has been gradually reached, then the implication is that however unlike their developed structures may become, there is a rudimentary structure with which they all set out.”
    What evidence do you find of such a structure?
    [Herbert Spencer. The Principles of Sociology, Vol. 2, Chapter 5, Political Forms and Forces (New York, 1883), p. 311]
  3. According to Aristotle, “Man is by nature a political animal.” According to Thomas Aquinas, “homo est animal sociale et politicum.” How far is this insertion of “sociale” alongside of “politicum” significant of the different way in which the State presented itself to the mind of the Greek and to the mind of the mediaeval philosopher?
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Appendix Note A: The Distinction between Society and the State (London, 1891), p. 157]
  4. “The theory of the social contract belongs in an especial manner to the political philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But it did not originate with them. It had its roots in the popular consciousness of mediaeval society. As a philosophical theory, it had already been anticipated by the Greek Sophists.”
    Indicate briefly some of the important changes which the doctrine underwent.
    [David George Ritschie. Contributions to the History of the Social Contract Theory, Vol. 6 Political Science Quarterly (1891), p. 656.]
  5. “In primitive societies the person does not exist, or exists only potentially, or, as we might say, in spe. The person is the product of the State.” Explain. What is the theoretical and historical justification of this doctrine, as against the contention that the individual loses what the State gains?
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Chapter 1, Herbert Spencer’s Individualism and his Conception of Society (London, 1891), p. 29.]
  6. Discuss the relative preponderance of free and of un-free elements at different stages of social development.
  7. It has been remarked by Spencer that those domestic relations which are ethically the highest, are also biologically and sociologically the highest. Discuss the historical evidence on this point. What is the test of this ethical superiority?
    [Herbert Spencer. The Principles of Sociology, Vol. 1, Part III, Chapter 2, The Diverse Interests of the Species, of the Parents, and of the Offspring (New York, 1883), p. 630]
  8. To what extent is there ground for saying that the influence of militant and of industrial organization is traceable in the status of women and the duration of marriage in the United States and in other countries?
    [Herbert Spencer. The Principles of Sociology, Vol. 1, Part III, Chapter 10, The Status of Women (New York, 1883), p. 765]
  9. “We find ourselves applying the ideal of a Greek city to our vast and heterogeneous modern political structures—a tremendous extension of the difficulties. If we are not more successful than the Greeks, the task is greater and the aim higher.” Explain.
    [Frederick Pollock. The History of the Science of Politics, (1883), p. 13. Originally published serially in the Fortnightly Review (August 1882—January 1883).]
  10. “The unit of an ancient society was the family, of a modern society the individual.”
    Describe the tendencies which have brought about this change.
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Chapter 1, Herbert Spencer’s Individualism and his Conception of Society (London, 1891), p. 30.]
  11. “The ultimate responsibility of the ultimate political sovereign is a question for the philosophy of history; in other words, one may say it is a matter of ‘natural selection.’” Explain.
    [David George Ritschie. The Principles of State Interference. Appendix Note B: The Conception of Sovereignty (London, 1891), pp. 165-166.]
  12. What is your criterion of social progress? Why?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1892-93.

 

ECONOMICS 3
Final Examination (June, 1893)

[Answer the questions in the order in which they stand. Omit one.]

  1. “The different forms of the State are specifically divided, as Aristotle recognized, by the different conceptions of the distinction between government and subjects, especially by the quality (not the quantity) of the ruler.” Explain. Indicate briefly the relation of the different forms of the State to one another.
    [Johann Caspar Bluntschli. The Theory of the State (translation from 6th German edition), Chapter IV, The Principle of the Four Fundamental Forms of the State (Oxford, 1885), p. 318.]
  2. “If there is any one principle which is clearly grasped in the present day, it is that political power is a public duty as well as a public right, that it belongs to the political existence of life of the whole nation, and that it can never be regarded as the property or personal right of an individual.” How far did this principle secure recognition in Greek, in Roman, and in mediaeval times?
    [Johann Caspar Bluntschli. The Theory of the State (translation from 6th German edition), Chapter XIV, Constitutional Monarchy (Oxford, 1885), p. 398.]
  3. “The past seems to prove that kings and aristocracies make States, and that left to themselves, the people unmake them.” State carefully your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the political philosophy here involved.
    [Paul Leroy-Beaulieu. The Modern State in Relation to Society and the Individual. (London, 1891), p. 100.]
  4. “This one of the curious phases of the railway problem in Europe, which has a tendency to show how multiform and various are the influences at work to modify and change the conditions of the railway problem, and how little can be gathered from mere government documents and laws to shed light upon this most interesting and intricate of all modern industrial questions.” What light does Italian, French and Austrian experience with railroads throw on the general question of State control?
    [Simon Sterne. Some Curious Phases of the Railway Question in Europe. Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 1, No. 4 (July, 1887), p. 468.]
  5. “Expediency and the results of experience must determine how far to go. They seem to justify public ownership of gas works, water works and electric lights. The same would doubtless be true of the telegraph and telephone.” Discuss the evidence.
    [From conclusion of Edward W. Bemis. Municipal Gas Works in The Chautauquan, Vol. 16, no. 1 (October 1892), pp. 15-18. Cf. his Municipal Ownership of Gas in the United States published by the American Economic Association, Publications Vol. VI, Nos. 4 and 5 (July and September, 1891).]
  6. “We will first concentrate our attention on the economic kernel of socialism, setting aside for the moment the transitory aspect it bears in the hands of agitators, its provisional passwords, and the phenomena and tendencies in religion by which it is accompanied.” State and criticize this “economic kernel.”
    [Albert Schäffle. The Quintessence of Socialism, 3rd edition (London, 1891), p. 3]
  7. “The philanthropic and experimental forms of socialism, which played a conspicuous role before 1848, perished then in the wreck of the Revolution, and have never risen to life again.” What were the characteristics of these earlier forms; and what was their relation to the movements which preceded them and followed them?
    [John Rae. Contemporary Socialism. Chapter 1, Introductory (London, 1884), p. 2]
  8. How are the socialistic teachings of Lasalle and Marx related to the economic doctrines of Smith and Ricardo?
    [John Rae. Contemporary Socialism. Chapter 2, Ferdinand Lassalle; Chapter 3, Karl Marx (London, 1884)]
  9. What ground do you find for or against the contention that “socialism is the economic complement of democracy”?
    [E.g., Thomas Kirkup. An Inquiry into Socialism (London, 1887), p. 184; or his A History of Socialism, (London: 1892) p. 8.]
  10. “Not only material security, but the perfection of human social life is what we aim at in that organized co-operation of many men’s lives and works which is called the State…..But where does protection leave off and interference begin?”
    [Frederick Pollock. The History of the Science of Politics, (1883), p. 49. Originally published serially in the Fortnightly Review (August 1882—January 1883).]

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 4, Vol. Examination Papers, 1893-95. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government and Law, Economics, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1893), pp. 36-37.

Image 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), pp. 155-156.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Socialism exams. John Graham Brooks, 1890-1891

 

According to the annual Report of the President of Harvard College for 1889/90 and 1890/91, “Prof. Taussig and Mr. Brooks” were the instructors for the course Political Economy 2. This post is dedicated to the second term of the Political Economy 2 in those years that was devoted to economic theories of socialism and taught by John Graham Brooks.  Four boxes of Brooks’ papers are to be found at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. Taussig’s exam scrapbook in the Harvard archives does not include exam questions for the second terms of 1890 and 1891 which is certainly consistent with Brooks being the instructor during the second term.

This post provides biographical information for John Graham Brooks followed by transcriptions of his two examinations.

Incidentally, W.E.B. Dubois was enrolled in Economics 2 in 1890/91 as a graduate student and was awarded a grade of A during the first term (one of six awarded to the twenty-two who received grades,  as recorded in Taussig’s scrapbook).

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Harvard Career

John Graham Brooks (see S.T.B. 1875), Lectr. On Socialism 1885-1886; Instr. in Political Economy 1898-1891.

Source: Harvard University. Quinquennial catalogue of the officers and graduates, 1636-1925, p. 45.

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Brief biography

John Graham Brooks attended the University of Michigan Law School for a short time, before changing his mind about being a lawyer. He then attended Oberlin College and Harvard Divinity School, graduating in 1875. Brooks was then ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister, preaching at a church in Massachusetts and speaking on the issues of the working poor. In 1882, Brooks resigned from his position as a minister and began studying history and economics at several German universities. He and his family then lived in London for a while, where Brooks lectured about the working class. He then returned to Massachusetts and preaching, while continuing to lecture about socialism and the lives of the working class. He also wrote articles for The Forum and The Nation. In 1891 he became an investigator of the conditions of workers for the U.S. Department of Labor, which led to him writing a book, The Social Unrest: Studies in Labor and Socialist Movements. Brooks wrote other books as well, in which he discussed class struggles. In 1904, he was the president of the American Social Science Association, and from 1899 to 1915 he was the first president of the National Consumers’ League.

Source: Brooks, John Graham (1846-1938) at the digital edition of the Jane Addams Papers Project.

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Boston Globe Obituary
February 9, 1938. Page 17.

JOHN G. BROOKS, 91,
ECONOMIST IS DEAD

Former Harvard Teacher,
Once Unitarian Cleric

John Graham Brooks, 91, labor champion, sociologist and political authority, died yesterday at his home at 8 Francis av., Cambridge.

During the early part of the century, he was extremely active as a friend of labor and a prolific lecturer throughout the country and in many universities on political and social economy.

He was born in Ackworth, N.H., and prepared for college in country schools. He was graduated from Oberlin College in 1872 and from the Harvard Divinity School in 1875. He added to his education the following three years with courses at the Universities of Berlin, Jena and Freiburg.

Returning to this country, he entered the ministry as associate pastor with Dr. George Putnam at the Unitarian Church in Roxbury and later was for six years pastor of the Unitarian Church of Brockton. At the same time he conducted courses at Harvard on economic subjects.

Leaving the ministry in 1890. he devoted the major part of his time to investigations and lectures on political science and social economy. For several years he was lecturer for the extension departments of the Universities of Chicago and of California. He was for two years the expert of the United States Department of Labor, and compiled for that department, in 1893, an exhaustive report on workmen’s insurance in Germany, and since that time continued to lecture on economic and sociological subjects all over the United States, especially at the People’s Institute in New York. As an author his best-known works are “The Social Unrest,” “As Others See Us” and “An American Citizen [Life of William Henry Baldwin, Jr.].”

Prof. Brooks served as president on the American Social Science Association, and president of the National Consumers’ League and a member of the national committee on child labor. He was a member of the famous committee of 50, which, under the lead of Pres. Eliot of Harvard, made an investigation of the workings of the Gothenburg system of dealing with the liquor traffic.

In 1908 Prof. Brooks lectured with now Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis on the old age pension problems and at the time expressed some pessimism over the systems then in use.

In recent years, Mr. Brooks has been in retirement, little in public life.

He is survived by a wife, Mrs. Helen Lawrence Brooks; a son, Lawrence Brooks, and four grandchildren.

 

[Other books:

American Syndicalism: The I.W.W. New York: Macmillan, 1913.

Labor’s Challenge to the Social Order: Democracy its own Critic and Educator. New York: Macmillan, 1920.]

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Enrollment 1889-90

[Political Economy] 2. History of Economic Theory. First half-year: Lectures on the History of Economic Theory.—Discussion of selections from Adam Smith and Ricardo.—Topics in distribution, with special reference to wages and managers’ returns.—Second half-year: Modern Socialism in France, Germany, and England.—an extended thesis from each student. Prof. Taussig and Mr. Brooks.

Total 24: 7 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1889-90, p. 80.

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Political Economy 2.
Year-end Examination, June 1890.

  1. Characterize French Socialism, chiefly with reference to St. Simon and Louis Blanc.
  2. What general differences do you note between French and German Socialism?
  3. Summarize Lasalle’s theory of history development.
  4. State and criticize in detail Marx’s theory of surplus value. What follows as to Socialism, if this theory fails?
  5. Is Schaeffle a Socialist? If so, why? If not, why not?
  6. State the present attitude of English Socialism, with special reference to the Fabian Society. Note the most important changes from the Marx type.
  7. In what definite ways would Socialism modify the system of private property?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, 1890-92. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1890), pp. 11-12.

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Enrollment 1890-91

For Graduates and Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 2. Professor Taussig and Mr. Brooks. — History of Economic Theory. — Examination of selections from Leading Writers. — Socialism. 3 hours.

Total 23: 4 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source:   Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1890-91, p. 58.

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Political Economy 2.
Year-end Examination, June 1891.

  1. From Rousseau to the Fabians, what have been the chief historic changes in the Philosophy of Socialism?
  2. What was Lassalle’s conception of historic development?
  3. In detail, state the differences between the Marx type of Socialism and that of the Fabians.
  4. With reference to the “three rents” what are the most important objections to Socialism?
  5. What reasons can you give to show that Socialism is likely to have much further development in our society?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, 1890-92. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1891), p. 11.

Image Source: The Bookman vol. 27 (March-August, 1908), p. 119.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Johns Hopkins Suggested Reading Syllabus

Johns Hopkins. Reading List and Exam for Aggregate Income Theory. Machlup, 1951

 

Materials (reading list and exams) for Fritz Machlup’s course on income distribution, 18-603, have been transcribed and posted earlier. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror also has a transcription of the final exam for his 1956 course on methodology.

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Course Announcement

Theory of Aggregate Income 604. Professor Machlup.
Two hours weekly, second term.

A study of the theory of income formation, linking an analysis of the supply and circulation of money with a dynamic process analysis of autonomous and induced disbursements for consumption and investment; an attempt to explain the level and fluctuations of national income.

Source: Johns Hopkins University. School of Higher Studies of the Faculty of Philosophy, Announcements of Courses 1950-51 (The Johns Hopkins Circular, April 1950), p. 99.

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JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
THE THEORY OF AGGREGATE INCOME
18-604

Prof. Fritz Machlup

READING LIST
Spring Term 1951

Books:

Required:

J. M. Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. (London: Macmillan, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1936) pp. 1-384.

Recommended:

Richard Ruggles, An Introduction to National Income and Income Analysis. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1949)

Thomas C. Schelling, National Income Behavior. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1951)

A.E.A., Readings in Business Cycle Theory. (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1944)

Seymour E. Harris (ed.), The New Economics. New York: Knopf, 1947)

 

I. Static and Dynamic Analysis

Paul A. Samuelson, “Dynamic Process Analysis,” A Survey of Contemporary Economics, ed. Howard S. Ellis. (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1948) pp. 352-387.

 

II. Savings, Investment, and National Income

Bertil Ohlin, “Some Notes on the Stockholm Theory of Saving and Investment,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 87-131.

Friedrich A. Lutz, “The Outcome of the Saving-Investment Discussion,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 131-157.

Abba P. Lerner, “Saving and Investment: Definitions, Assumptions, Objectives,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 158-168.

Oscar Lange, “The Rate of Interest and the Optimum Propensity to Consume,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 169-192.

Fritz Machlup, “Forced or Induced Saving,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 25 (1943), pp. 26-39.

Dennis H. Robertson, “A Survey of Modern Monetary Controversy,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 311-329.

 

III. The Multiplier

Fritz Machlup, International Trade and the National Income Multiplier (Philadelphia: Blakiston, 1943) Chapters 1-7, 10.

Gottfried Haberler, “Mr. Keynes’ Theory of the ‘Multiplier’: A Methodological Criticism,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 193-202.

Fritz Machlup, “Period Analysis and Multiplier Theory,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 203-234.

Robert Eisner, “The Invariant Multiplier,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 17 (1949-50), pp. 198-202.

 

IV. Velocity and Time Lags

James W. Angell, “The Components of Circular Velocity of Money,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 51 (1937), pp. 224-272.

Lloyd Metzler, “Three Lags in the Circular Flow of Income,” Income, Employment, and Public Policy. (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1948), pp. 11-32.

Alvin H. Hansen, “The Robersonian and Swedish Systems of Period Analysis,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 32 (1959), pp. 24-29.

Harold M. Somers, “A Theory of Income Determination,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 58 (1950), pp. 523-541.

 

V. Wage Rate Reductions and Employment

A. C. Pigou, “Real and Money Wage Rates in Relation to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47 (1937), pp. 405-422.

N. Kaldor, “Professor Pigou on Money Wages in Relation to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, Vol. 47 (1937), pp. 745-762.

A. C. Pigou, “Money Wages in Relation to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, Vol. 48, (1938), pp. 134-137.

James Tobin, “Money Wage Rates and Employment”, in The New Economics, pp. 572-587.

 

VI. Tax-Financed Government Expenditures

Trygve Haavelmo, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget,” Econometrica, Vol. 13 (1945), pp. 311-318.

Gottfried Haberler, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: Some Monetary Implications of Mr. Haavelmo’s Paper,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 148-149.

R. M. Goodwin, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: The Implications of a Lag for M. Haavelmo’s Analysis,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 150-151.

Everett E. Hagen, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: Further Analysis,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 152-55.

T. Haavelmo, “Multiplier Effects of a Balanced Budget: Reply,” Econometrica, Vol. 14 (1946), pp. 156-58.

 

VII. The Accelerator

John M. Clark, “Business Acceleration and the Law of Demand: A Technical Factor,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 235-260.

Paul A. Samuelson, “Interactions Between the Multiplier Analysis and the Principle of Acceleration,” Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 261-269.

F. A. Hayek, Profits, Interest, and Investment. (London: Routledge and Sons, 91939) Chapter I, pp. 3-72.

F. A. Hayek, “The Ricardo Effect,” Economica (1942), pp. 126-152.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Evsey D. Domar Papers, Box 15, Folder “Macroeconomics: Old Reading Lists”.

 

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THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Theory of Aggregate Income
(18-604)
Final Exam, May 29, 1951

Professor Fritz Machlup

Answer three questions, one of each group, as concisely as possible without omitting significant steps in your reasoning. Write in English rather than in algebra or geometry.

I.

  1. Explain the possibilities of a general cut in money wage rates bringing about an increase in aggregate employment.
  2. Explain the increase in employment that can be brought about by an increase in tax-financed government expenditures, emphasizing alternatively the significance in the causal sequence of changes in (a) the quantity of money or velocity of circulation, (b) liquidity preference, (c) the propensity to consume, (d) the difference between investment and saving.

 

II.

  1. Explain the meaning of the distinctions between the “consumption lag”, the “output lag”, and the “earnings lag”, and their importance, or lack of importance, in the determination of income.
  2. Explain the meaning of the distinctions between “intended” and “unintended” saving, and “intended” and “unintended” investment, and their importance, or lack of importance, in the determination of income.

 

III.

  1. Explain the interactions between multiplier and accelerator.
  2. Explain the meaning of the “Ricardo Effect” and its importance, or lack of importance, in the determination of the accelerator and of the turning points of the business cycle.

 

Source: The Johns Hopkins University. The Eisenhower Library, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 6, Box 3/1, Folder “Graduate Exams, 1933-1965”.

Image Source: Fritz Machlup is seen presenting in a seminar (note: Evsey Domar is leaning forward on the right side of the table, third from the left). From the Johns Hopkins Yearbook Hullabaloo 1956, p. 15.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Applied Economic Analysis, Readings and Exams. Duesenberry, 1955-56.

 

The Harvard economics professor, James Stemble Duesenberry (b. 18 July 1918; d. 5 October 2009) was best known for his relative-income hypothesis or at least that hypothesis was something I can recall from my undergraduate course taught by James Tobin almost exactly a half-century ago. Following the official Harvard obituary, you will find the reading lists and exams for his two-term course “Applied Economic Analysis” as taught in 1955-56.

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Duesenberry’s Harvard Obituary

Economist Duesenberry dies at 91
by Amy Lavoie

James Stemble Duesenberry, an eminent economist who was an authority on monetary policy and a faculty member of Harvard University’s Department of Economics for more than half a century, recently passed away at his home in Cambridge at the age of 91.

Duesenberry came to Harvard in 1948 as assistant professor of economics and became associate professor in 1953. He received tenure in 1955, and became professor of economics.

An economic theorist who strove to affect policy and improve economic conditions, Duesenberry was a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors from 1966 to 1968, in Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration. From 1969 to 1974 he was chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and he led the bank during the construction of the First National Bank Building in downtown Boston.

“Jim Duesenberry was a very insightful man who thought deeply about problems in a way that was relatively unconstrained by the fashionable conditions of the day,” said Benjamin Friedman, William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy, who was a colleague of Duesenberry’s. “He thought that the purpose of economics was to speak to the way the economy behaves and what policy can do to improve economic performance.”

In 1969, Duesenberry was named William Joseph Maier Professor of Money and Banking. He was chair of the Department of Economics from 1972 to 1977, and led the department at a time when some called for greater intellectual diversity among the faculty. He retired in 1989, and became William Joseph Maier Professor of Money and Banking Emeritus.

Duesenberry’s first book, “Income Consumption and the Theory of Consumer Behavior” (Harvard University Press), was published in 1949. He is also the author of “Business Cycles and Economic Growth” (McGraw-Hill, 1957), “Money and Credit: Impact and Control” (Prentice-Hall, 1964), “Capital Needs in the Seventies” with Barry Bosworth and Andrew Carron (Brookings Institution, 1975), and “Money, Banking and Economy” with Thomas Mayer and Robert Z. Aliber (W.W. Norton, 1981).

Born in Princeton, W.Va., Duesenberry received his B.A. in 1939, his M.A. in 1941, and his Ph.D. in 1948, all in economics from the University of Michigan.

Duesenberry was a research fellow with the Social Science Research Council in 1941. During World War II, Duesenberry was a statistician in the Air Force, and reached the rank of captain. He was an instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1946, and in 1954, he was a Fulbright fellow at Cambridge University.

Duesenberry is survived by his son John of Brookline, Mass., and daughters Holly of Gouldsboro, Maine, and Peggy of Stirling, Scotland, as well as four grandchildren.

Source: Harvard Gazette, October 15, 2009.

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Enrollment

[Economics] 106. Applied Economic Analysis. Associate Professor Duesenberry. Full course.

(F) Total 25: 1 Graduate, 1 Other Graduate, 20 Seniors, 3 Juniors.
(S) Total 19: 16 Seniors, 3 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1955-1956, p. 76.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 106

Fall Term, 1955

  1. Wages and Labor Allocation and Efficiency
    1. A. Marshall, Principles of Economics, Bk. VI, Chs. 1-5.
    2. Shister, Economics of the Labor Market, Chs. 14, 15, 16.
    3. M. Friedman, “Significance of Labor Unions for Economic Policy,” Ch. X, in Wright, The Impact of the Union.
    4. Meade and Hitch, Introduction to Economic Analysis and Public Policy, Part II, Ch. 3.
    5. Peterson, Economics, Revised Edition, Ch. 20.
    6. Taussig, Principles of Economics, Vol. II, Ch. 52.
    7. M. Friedman and S. Kuznets, Income from Independent Professional Practice, Ch. 4.
    8. T. Parsons, “The Motivation of Economic Activity,” Ch. IX, in Essays in Sociological Theory.
    9. Sanders, Effects of Taxation on Executives, Chs. I and II.

Reading Period Assignment
Fall Term, 1955-56

Economics 106: O. Lange, “Scope and Method of Economics,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 13 (1943-46)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1955-1956 (1 of 2).

 

1955-56
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 106

Mid-year Examination
(January, 1956)

Answer question 1 and four others

  1. (one hour)
    1. The appearance of unions in an otherwise perfectly competitive labor market with perfect mobility of labor is likely to distort the allocation of resources. Why?
      (Assume that unions do influence wages.)
    2. In the type of labor market which actually exists the adverse effect of unions on resource allocation is much less certain. Why?
  2. Wage differentials attributable to the cost of training both help to determine and are determined by the distribution of income. Discuss.
  3. Outline some of the fundamental factors which make an area a low wage area.
  4. Friedman argues that unions do not influence wages. What evidence does he cite in support of his position? What considerations cast doubt on the proposition?
  5. What are the major reasons for the narrowing of skill differentials in American industry? What evidence would you look for to determine whether any misallocation of resources has resulted?
  6. Wages tend to be higher in rapidly growing industries than in others. Why?
  7. Outline Schumpeter’s views on the influence of monopoly on static efficiency (resource allocation) and progress.
  8. Discuss the effects of income taxes on personal incentives to work.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 23. Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…Naval Science, Air Science. January, 1956.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 106

Spring Term, 1955-56

Bain, Pricing, Distribution, and Employment, Chs. 5, 6.

P.W.S. Andrews, Manufacturing Business.

T. Scitovsky, Welfare and Competition Ch. 9.

Lutz, Theory of Investment of the Firm, Chs. 2, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16.

Hart, Anticipations, Uncertainty and Dynamic Planning.

Boulding, Economic Analysis, 3rd Edition, Ch. 38.

Durand, “Costs of Debt and Equity Funds” in Conference on Business Finance (National Bureau of Economic Research).

MacLaurin, Invention and Innovation in the Radio Industry.

E.S. Mason, “Current Status of Monopoly Problems,” Harvard Law Review, June 1949.

Butters and Lintner, Effects of Taxation on Corporate Mergers, Chs. IX, X.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Economics 106
Reading List (Cont.)

Federal Inter-Agency River Basin Committee, Subcommittee on Benefits and Costs, Proposed Practices for Economic Analysis of River Basin Projects, Chs. 1-5, pp. 1-56.

Smithies, A., The Budgetary Process in the United States, Ch. XIII.

Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, Water Resources and Power, June 1955, Vol. I, pp. 1-85.

Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, Task Force Report on Water Resources and Power, pp. 1-164.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1955-1956 (1 of 2).

 

 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 106

Final Examination (May, 1956)

PART I.
(One Hour)

Required.

  1. Discuss the differences between monopoly and oligopoly in terms of (a) relation of prices to costs (b) investment behavior.

PART II.
(Half Hour)

Answer question 2 or 3.

  1. “The possibility that new firms will enter the industry influences the price and investment policies of firms in oligopolistic industries.” Discuss.
  2. The rivalry among oligopolists is more likely to result in product improvement than in price reduction. Why?

PART III.
(45 minutes for each question)

Answer two questions.

  1. What measures would you recommend for the improvement of the Federal Water Resource Program? Give reasons for your recommendations.
  2. The supply of any collective service by government action is likely to involve a redistribution of income. Discuss the possible effects of this on (1) the level at which these services may be supplied; (2) the degree of efficiency of the allocation of resources within a program.
  3. Even in an economy governed by the strongest preferences against government activity some economic needs will be met collectively. Why?

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 24. Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions,…, Economics,…Naval Science, Air Science. June, 1956.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Core economic theory. Readings and Exams. Carver, 1900/01-1902/03

Thomas Nixon Carver

 

 

For the academic years 1900/01 through 1902/03 the core course in economic theory at Harvard was taught by Thomas Nixon Carver. He was substituting for Frank Taussig, who later wrote that he had been “compelled by ill health to withdraw from teaching” (1901-03). [Chapter IX Economics (1871-1929) by The Development of Harvard University since the Inauguration of President Eliot, 1869-1929 Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1930. p. 191].  

Schumpeter provided more detail: “We speak of nervous breakdown in such cases, which indeed are more frequent in the academic profession than one would infer from the general conditions of a professor’s life. He [Taussig] took leave and went abroad for two years, relaxing completely and spending one winter at Meran in the Austrian Alps, another on the Italian Riviera, and the summer between (1902) in Switzerland. Catastrophe was thus avoided, and in the fall of 1903 he was able to return to teaching and the editorship of the Quarterly Journal.” [Joseph A. Schumpeter, Chapter 7 “Frank William Taussig (1859-1940)” in Ten Great Economists from Marx to Keynes. p. 206.]

During the first term of 1903/04 Taussig resumed teaching the core economic theory course with Carver teaching the second term.  Beginning 1904/05 Taussig once again taught the course by himself.

___________________________

Economics 2.
Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century
1900-01

Enrollment
1900-01

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 2. Asst. Professor Carver.— Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century.

Total 45: 6 Graduates, 15 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 3 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1900-01, p. 64.

 

Reading list [previously posted]  for the first term

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Mid-year examination, 1901]

  1. Define value and explain why one commodity possesses more value in proportion to its bulk than another.
  2. Explain the various uses of the term diminishing returns, and define it as you think it ought to be defined.
  3. In what sense does a law of diminishing returns apply to all the factors of production.
  4. State briefly Böhm-Bawerk’s explanation of the source of interest.
  5. What, if any, is the relation of abstinence to interest.
  6. Would you make any distinction between the source of wages and the factors which determine rates of wages? If so, what? If not, why not?
  7. Discuss the question: Is a demand for commodities a demand for labor?
  8. What is the relation of the standard of living to wages.
  9. Discuss briefly the following questions relating to speculators’ profits. (a) Do speculators as a class make any profits? (b) Are speculators’ profits in any sense earned?
  10. In what sense, if any, does the value of money come under the law of marginal utility?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 4, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1900-01.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Final examination, June 1901]

Discuss the following topics.

  1. The bearing of the marginal utility theory of value upon the questions of wages and interest.
  2. The definitions of capital as given by Taussig and Clark.
  3. Clark’s explanation of the place of distribution within the natural divisions of economics.
  4. Clark’s method of distinguishing between the product of labor and the product of capital.
  5. Clark’s distinction between rent and interest.
  6. Böhm-Bawerk’s theory of the nature of capital.
  7. The origin of capital, according to Böhm-Bawerk and Clark.
  8. The meaning of the word “productive” in the following proposition: “Protection is an attempt to attract labor and capital from the naturally more productive, to the naturally less productive industries.”
  9. The incidence of tariff duties.
  10. The theory of production and the theory of valuation as the two principal departments of economics.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1900-01. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Design, Music in Harvard College (June, 1901), pp. 23-24.

___________________________

Economics 2.
Economic Theory
1901-02

Enrollment
1901-02

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 2. Asst. Professor Carver.— Economic Theory.

Total 32: 5 Graduates, 6 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1901-02, p. 77.

ECONOMICS 2.
1901-1902

General Reading. Prescribed.

Marshall. Principles of Economics.
Taussig. Wages and Capital.
Böhm-Bawerk. Positive Theory of Capital.
Clark. The Distribution of Wealth.

References for Collateral Reading. Starred references are prescribed.

I. VALUE.

1. Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Chs. 5, 6, and 7.

2. Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 1 and 4.

3. Mill.          “        “     Book III. Chs. 1-6.

4.  Cairnes     “        “     Part I.

5.*  Jevons. Theory of Pol. Econ. Chs. 2-4.

6.   Sidgwick. Pol. Econ. Book II. Ch. 2.

7.   Wieser. Natural Value.

8.* Clark. Philosophy of Wealth. Ch. 5

II. DIMINISHING RETURNS.

1.    Senior. Pol. Econ. Pp. 81-86.

2*.  Commons. The Distribution of Wealth. Ch. 3.

III. RENT.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nation. Book I. Ch. 2. Pts. 1-3.

2.* Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 2 and 3.

3.   Sidgwick. “     “       Book II. Ch. 7.

4.   Walker.     “     “       Pt. IV. Ch. 2.

5.   Walker. Land and its Rent.

6.  Hyde. The Concept of Price Determining Rent. Jour. Pol. Econ. V.6. p. 368.

7.  Fetter. The Passing of the Old Rent Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 416.

IV. CAPITAL

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book II.

2.   Senior. Pol. Econ. P. 58-81.

3.   Mill.        “       “       Book I. Ch. 4-6.

4.   Roscher. “      “       Book I. Ch. 1. Secs. 42-45.

5.   Cannan. Production and Distribution. Ch. 4.

6.   Jevons. Theory of Political Economy Ch. 7.

7.  Fisher. What is Capital? Economic Journal. Vol. VI. P. 509.

8.  Fetter. Recent Discussion of the Capital Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 1.

9.* Carver. Clark’s Distribution of Wealth. Q.J.E., Aug. 1901.

V. INTEREST.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 9.

2.   Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 6.

3.   Sidgwick.  “     “        Book II. Ch. 6.

4*.  Carver. Abstinence and the Theory of Interest. Q.J.E, Vol. VIII. P. 40.

5.    Mixter. Theory of Saver’s Rent. Q.J.E. Vol. XIII. P. 345.

VI. WAGES.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 8.

2*. Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 5.

3.   Senior.       “       “      Pp. 141-180 and 200-216.

4.   Senior. Lectures. Pp. 1-62.

5.   Mill. Pol. Econ. Book II. Chs. 11, 12, 13, and 14.

6.   Cairnes. Pol. Econ. Part II. Chs. 1 and 2.

7. Sidgwick.  “       “      Book II. Ch. 8.

8.  Walker.     “       “      Part IV. Ch. 5.

9.  Hadley. Economics. Ch. 10.

10*. Carver. Wages and the Theory of Value. Q.J.E. Vol. VIII, P. 377.

VII. PROFITS.

1.   Walker. Pol. Econ. Part IV. Ch. 4.

2.   Hobson. The Law of the Three Rents. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. V. P. 263.

3.   Clark. Insurance and Business Profits. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 40.

4*.  Hawley, F. B. in Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 459; Vol. XV. Pp. 75 and 603.

5.    MacVane, in in Quar. Jour. Econ.,  Vol. II. P. 1.

6.   Haynes, in               “     “       “     Vol. IX, P. 409.

Source: Harvard University Archives. HUC 8522.2.1, Box 1 of 10 (Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003). Folder: 1901-1902.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Mid-year examination, 1902]

Discuss the following topics.

  1. The relation of utility to value.
  2. The price of commodities and the price of services.
  3. Various uses of the term “diminishing returns.”
  4. The law of diminishing returns as applied to each of the factors of production.
  5. Prime and supplementary cost: illustrate.
  6. Joint and composite demand and join and composite supply.
  7. Quasi rent.
  8. Real and nominal rent.
  9. Consumer’s rent.
  10. The equilibrium of demand and supply

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1901-02.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Final examination, June 1902]

  1. State some of the different meanings which have been given to the law of diminishing returns, and define the law as you think it ought to be.
  2. Can you apply the law of joint demand to the wages fund questions?
  3. What is meant by an elastic demand and how does it affect monopoly price.
  4. Discuss Clark’s distinction between capital and capital goods.
  5. Under what conditions would there be no rent, and how would these conditions affect the value of products?
  6. Explain Clark’s theory of Economic Causation.
  7. What is the source of interest?
  8. What is the relation of the standard of living to wages?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1902-03. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College (June, 1902), p. 21.

___________________________

Economics 2.
Economic Theory
1902-03

Enrollment
1902-03

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 2. Professor Carver.— Economic Theory.

Total 25: 5 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 67.

 

Course Description
1902-03

For Undergraduates and Graduates

[Economics] 2. Economic Theory. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30 Professors Taussig [sic] and Carver.

Course 2 is intended to acquaint the student with some of the later developments of economic thought, and at the same time to train him in the critical consideration of economic principles and the analysis of economic conditions. The exercises are accordingly conducted mainly by the discussion of selected passages from the leading writers: and in this discussion of selected passages from the leading writers; and in this discussion the students are expected to take an active part. Lectures are given at intervals outlining the present condition of economic theory and some of the problems which call for theoretical solution. Theories of value, diminishing returns, rent, wages, interest, profits, the incidence of taxation, the value of money international trade, and monopoly price, will be discussed. Marshall’s Principles of Economics [4th ed., 1898], Böhm-Bawerk’s Positive Theory of Capital [1888; William Smart translation, 1891], Taussig’s Wages and Capital [1896], and Clark’s Distribution of Wealth [1899] will be read and criticized.

Course 2 is open to students who have passed satisfactorily in Course 1.

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. The University Publications, New Series, No. 55 (June 14, 1902), pp. 40-41.

 

ECONOMICS 2.
1902-1903

General Reading. Prescribed.

Marshall. Principles of Economics.
Taussig. Wages and Capital.
Böhm-Bawerk. Positive Theory of Capital.
Clark. The Distribution of Wealth.

References for Collateral Reading. Starred references are prescribed.

I. VALUE.

1.  Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Chs. 5, 6, and 7.

2.  Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 1 and 4.

3.   Mill.          “        “     Book III. Chs. 1-6.

4.   Cairnes     “        “     Part I.

5.*  Jevons. Theory of Pol. Econ. Chs. 2-4.

6.   Sidgwick. Pol. Econ. Book II. Ch. 2.

7.   Wieser. Natural Value.

8.* Clark. Philosophy of Wealth. Ch. 5

II. DIMINISHING RETURNS.

1.  Senior. Pol. Econ. Pp. 81-86.

2.  Commons. The Distribution of Wealth. Ch. 3.

3*. Bullock. The Variation of Productive Forces, Q.J.E., August, 1902.

III. RENT.

1.  Adam Smith. Wealth of Nation. Book I. Ch. 2. Pts. 1-3.

2.* Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 2 and 3.

3.  Sidgwick. “     “       Book II. Ch. 7.

4.  Walker.     “     “       Pt. IV. Ch. 2.

5.  Walker. Land and its Rent.

6.  Hyde. The Concept of Price Determining Rent. Jour. Pol. Econ. V.6. p. 368.

7.  Fetter. The Passing of the Old Rent Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 416.

IV. CAPITAL

1.  Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book II.

2.  Senior. Pol. Econ. P. 58-81.

3.  Mill.        “       “       Book I. Ch. 4-6.

4.  Roscher. “      “       Book I. Ch. 1. Secs. 42-45.

5. Cannan. Production and Distribution. Ch. 4.

6.  Jevons. Theory of Political Economy Ch. 7.

7.  Fisher. What is Capital? Economic Journal. Vol. VI. P. 509.

8.  Fetter. Recent Discussion of the Capital Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 1.

9.* Carver. Clark’s Distribution of Wealth. Q.J.E., Aug. 1901.

V. INTEREST.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 9.

2.   Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 6.

3.   Sidgwick.  “     “        Book II. Ch. 6.

4*. Carver. Abstinence and the Theory of Interest. Q.J.E, Vol. VIII. P. 40.

5.   Mixter. Theory of Saver’s Rent. Q.J.E. Vol. XIII. P. 345.

VI. WAGES.

1.   Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 8.

2*. Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 5.

3.  Senior.       “       “      Pp. 141-180 and 200-216.

4.   Senior. Lectures. Pp. 1-62.

5.   Mill. Pol. Econ. Book II. Chs. 11, 12, 13, and 14.

6.   Cairnes. Pol. Econ. Part II. Chs. 1 and 2.

 7.  Sidgwick.  “       “      Book II. Ch. 8.

8.  Walker.     “       “      Part IV. Ch. 5.

9.  Hadley. Economics. Ch. 10.

10*. Carver. Wages and the Theory of Value. Q.J.E. Vol. VIII, P. 377.

VII. PROFITS.

1.   Walker. Pol. Econ. Part IV. Ch. 4.

2.   Hobson. The Law of the Three Rents. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. V. P. 263.

3.   Clark. Insurance and Business Profits. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 40.

4*.  Hawley, F. B. in Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 459; Vol. XV. Pp. 75 and 603.

5.   MacVane, in in Quar. Jour. Econ.,  Vol. II. P. 1.

6.   Haynes, in               “     “       “     Vol. IX, P. 409.

Source: Harvard University Archives. HUC 8522.2.1, Box 1 of 10 (Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003). Folder: 1902-1903.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Mid-year examination, 1903]

Explain and illustrate any twelve of the following subjects.

  1. Marginal utility.
  2. Elasticity of wants.
  3. The law of diminishing returns from land.
  4. The extension of the law of diminishing returns to other factors than land.
  5. The law of economy of organization (Bullock).
  6. The law of varied costs (Bullock).
  7. The cause of rent.
  8. The law of rent.
  9. Quasi rent.
  10. Joint and composite demand.
  11. Joint and composite supply.
  12. Prime and supplementary cost.
  13. The relation of rent to the price of products.
  14. The effect of the shortening of the working day upon the demand for labor.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1902-03.

 

ECONOMICS 2
[Final examination, June 1903]

  1. Explain the principal of marginal utility.
  2. Explain the law of diminishing returns and extend it to other factors than land.
  3. What is the relation of cost to value?
  4. What is the relation of rent to value?
  5. What is the relation of waiting to interest?
  6. What is capital?
  7. What is the relation of capital to wages?
  8. Explain joint and composite demand and joint and composite supply.
  9. Does the home consumer necessarily pay the whole of the tariff duty?
    Give reasons for your answer.
  10. Is the value of money determined in all particulars as the value of any other commodity?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1902-03. 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), p. 21.

Source Image: Thomas Nixon Carver, Harvard Class Album 1906.

 

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions

Chicago. Economic Theory Prelim Exam, Winter Quarter 1957

With this post the stock of old Chicago preliminary examinations for the M.A. and Ph.D. in economics transcribed for Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has grown by one to make it an even dozen.

_____________________

Previously posted prelim examinations at the University of Chicago:

Preliminary Exam (Money and Banking) 1956

Preliminary Exam (Money and Banking) 1959

Prelim Theory 1960.

Preliminary Exam (Price Theory) 1964

Preliminary Exam (Price Theory) 1969

Preliminary Exam (Macroeconomics) 1969

Preliminary Exam (Money and Banking) 1969

Preliminary Exam (International Trade) 1970

Preliminary Exam (Price Theory) 1975

Preliminary Exam (Industrial Organization) 1977

Preliminary Exam (History of Economic Thought) 1989

_____________________

ECONOMIC THEORY I
Preliminary Examination for the Ph.D. and A.M. Degrees
Winter Quarter 1957

WRITE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ON YOUR EXAMINATION PAPER:

Your Code Number and NOT your name
Name of Examination
Date of Examination

Results of the Examination will be sent to you by letter after results on all preliminary examinations have been received.

Answer all questions: Time: Four hours.

Do section I of the examination on this paper and turn it in to the proctor with the rest of your examination. You are to do sections II-VII separately.

 

  1. Indicate whether each of the following statements is true (T), false (F), or uncertain (U). Explain briefly the basis for your answer.
    1. _____. If the market elasticity of demand for peaches is -2, a peach producer whose output accounts for 1/20th of the total supply of peaches will be faced by a demand function of elasticity -40.
    2. _____. If a constant amount of carpenters’ services is required per unit of housing constructed, and the elasticity of demand for housing is -1, the elasticity of demand for carpenters’ services used in housing must be less (in absolute value) than unity.
    3. _____. If the production possibilities for wire can be represented by a Cobb-Douglas production function, and the wire industry is competitive, a rise of 10 per cent in the wages of wire-workers will lead to a reduction of 10 per cent in their employment.
    4. _____. The elasticity of demand for a group of commodities with respect to the average price of the group can never be larger in absolute value than the largest of the individual price elasticities of the commodities which comprise the group.
    5. _____. If total consumer expenditures are the same before and after a tax, then an excise tax on a consumer good of elastic demand will lead to an increase in consumer spending on other consumer goods, while an excise tax on a consumer good of inelastic demand will lead to a decline in consumer spending on other consumer goods.
    6. _____. A tax of 10 per cent per year on the rental value (actual or imputed) of all land will in the long run lead to a lowering of the marginal productivity of labor in agriculture.
    7. _____. A technological advance opening up widespread possibilities for new investment in the electronics industry at very high rates of return will tend to lower the real value of the existing stock of residential housing in the United States.
    8. _____. A supply curve passing through the origin has an elasticity equal to unity.
    9. _____. Given certainty, no firm would hold inventories.
    10. _____. A negatively sloping supply curve of labor implies a positively sloping demand curve for leisure.
    11. _____. It is impossible to derive a supply function for a monopolist.
    12. _____. A legally enforced minimum wage for a particular occupation may increase employment in that occupation.
    13. _____. Wage rates rise while interest rates remain the same. It follows that the ratio of capital to labor will increase.
    14. _____. Engel’s laws are due to Friedrich Engels.
  2. “It is too obvious for argument that a single employee bargaining with a great corporation, or even with a moderately small employer, is under a disadvantage, except perhaps in time of serious labor shortage”. (Arthur Larsen, A Republican Looks at his Party, p. 125)
    Analyze, being sure in the process to discuss the concepts of  “bargaining disadvantage” and “labor shortage”.
  3. Derive a demand function for a factor of production. What does it depend on? What things are held constant in the derivation?
  4. a) What was Malthus’ theory of population? In answering, distinguish explicitly between the two variants of his theory, according to the character of the restraints on population.
    b) Tell how equilibrium is established under each variant.
    c) What effect did the theory have on economic theory?
  5. In the analysis of supply, an important role is played by a fourfold classification of economies or diseconomies of production: internal and external, each of these cross-classified as pecuniary and technical.
    1. What does each of the four concepts mean and what role does it play in the analysis of supply?
    2. For each of the four concepts, what would be its counterpart in the analysis of demand? If you can, illustrate by example each type of economy, each type of diseconomy.
    3. Why is so much more importance attached to these concepts in the analysis of supply than in the analysis of demand?
  6. “The interest rate measures the rate of time-preference. Therefore, in a community, the members of which are as anxious to provide for the future as for the present, the rate of interest will be zero. But the rate of interest also equals the marginal productivity of capital. It follows that in such a community the marginal productivity will be zero”.
    Discuss the validity of this argument.
  7. The U.S. government currently guarantees a large fraction of mortgages on newly-constructed houses through the Federal Housing Administration and the Veteran’s Administration. The government guarantee naturally makes these more attractive than non-guaranteed mortgages and so leads to their being available at a lower rate of interest. Recently there has been a decline in residential building. Representatives of the industry have suggested that one means of stimulating building would be to extend the government guarantee to mortgages on existing houses. They claim that the higher cost of mortgages on such houses inhibits their sale and thus prevents individuals currently owning houses from coming into the market for new houses.
    Analyze the effect that the enactment of this proposal would have on the rate of construction of residential housing. Do not discuss the desirability as a matter of public policy of either the existing guarantees or the proposed extension.

 

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Milton Friedman Papers, Box 76, Folder 2 “University of Chicago ‘Economic Theory’”.

Image Source: Social Science Research Building. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-07466, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.