Category: Exam Questions

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Core graduate economic theory exams. Schumpeter, 1938

 

This post provides three examinations found for the year-long graduate economic theory course taught by Joseph Schumpeter. Reading lists as well as the examinations for the immediately preceding two years have been posted earlier (see links below).

_________________

Related posts for core graduate economic theory
Reading lists, examinations

1935-36 Schumpeter
1936-37 Schumpeter

_________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 101 (formerly 11). Professor Schumpeter.—Economic Theory.

Total 36: 25 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 3 School of Public Administration, 3 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1937-38, p. 85.

_________________

Mid-year Examination, 1938.

1937-38
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 101

Answer FIVE questions

  1. The Marshallian law of demand states that falling price is associated with increasing quantity demanded. But we often find that, on the contrary, quantity sold increases and decreases with price. How would you explain such cases?
  2. In what sense are decreasing average unit costs incompatible with perfect competition?
  3. What is meant by elasticity of expenditure, and how is this concept related to the ordinary elasticity of demand?
  4. Do you think that monopoly price should be more “rigid” than competitive price? Explain your answer.
  5. To what extent is it true that conditions deviating from perfect competition tend to produce excess capacity?
  6. Is it correct to say that there is one and only one price to every oligopolistic situation because the only rational course for oligopolists to adopt is to combine and thus to set up a simple monopoly?
  7. How are prices determined in the case of a discriminating monopolist selling in two separate markets? In general would you expect output to be larger or smaller under discriminating monopoly than under simple monopoly?

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Llloyd Appleton Metzler, Box 7, “H. C. S. Easy Clasp File”.

_________________

ECONOMICS 101
Make-up Examination, March 1938

(Answer FIVE questions)

  1. What is the difference between the Marshallian supply curve and the particular expenses curve?
  2. What do we mean by saying that under conditions of perfect competition firms produce “up to the optimal point” while under conditions of the imperfect competition they do not?
  3. Given the indifference map of an individual, how can a demand curve be deduced therefrom? Is this a Marshallian demand curve?
  4. Define bilateral monopoly and indicate conditions under which price is, and conditions under which price is not, determinate.
  5. What is the difference between monopolistic competition and oligopoly?
  6. Discuss the relation between cost curves and supply curves.
  7. Discuss the relation between the elasticity of demand and the elasticity of substitution.

Source:Harvard University Archives. Papers of Joseph Schumpeter. Lecture Notes, Box 10, Folder “Ec 101”.

_________________

Final Examination, 1938.

1937-38
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 101

Answer FIVE questions

  1. If the elasticity of substitution of a factor is greater than the elasticity of demand for the product, then the elasticity of demand for that factor will be smaller, the greater is the proportion of that factor to the others. Prove, assuming that there are only two factors.
  2. It has been held that in a socialist society income should consist of two parts: a wage fixed much as it would be under perfectly competitive capitalism, and a “dividend” out of the surplus of the total national product over the sum total of wages. It has also been held that the size of dividends should be proportional to wages received. Do you think that such a policy would secure optimal allocation of resources, assuming free choice of occupations?
  3. Profits have sometimes been defined as a “rent of ability.” Do you think this satisfactory? Why or why not?
  4. “The extent and direction in which the amount of the factor employed in any use differs from the ideal amount varies directly with the divergence between the fraction

\frac{\text{marginal revenue to the individual firm}}{\text{price}}

in the particular use and in the alternative use from which the factor has to be drawn .… The magnitude of the elasticity of demand is an inverse measure of the degree of imperfection of competition. We may conclude that it is socially desirable to expand those industries in which competition is more imperfect than the industry with which they compete for their factors of production and to contract those in which the opposite condition prevails.” Explain.

  1. What would you expect the effective technological change (“invention”) on the rate of interest to be?
  2. How would you measure the loss inflicted on consumers by the imposition of an import duty? Must there necessarily be a loss? Would your conclusions be affected if the commodity were controlled in the exporting country by a monopolist?
  3. “The Marxist’s claim to superiority for his economics is that ‘bourgeois’ economics has utterly failed to explain the fundamental tendencies of the development of the capitalist system.” Do you think this claim is justified in so far as it concerns “bourgeois” economics? How does the Marxist attempt to provide a theoretical explanation of the “fundamental tendencies of the development of the capitalist system?”

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Llloyd Appleton Metzler, Box 7, “H. C. S. Easy Clasp File”.

Image Source: Joseph A. Schumpeter in Harvard Class Album, 1939.

 

 

 

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions Problem Sets

Chicago. Price Theory, Part II. Friedman, Spring 1951

 

Milton Friedman’s price theory reading assignments, problem sets, and final exams from his courses Economics 300A and 300B taught during the academic year 1951-52 at the University of Chicago were transcribed in an earlier post. During the previous academic year, W. Allen Wallis and Lloyd A. Metzler taught the first quarter course, Economics 300A.  Milton Friedman and Lloyd A. Metzler taught the second quarter course, Economics 300B. Problem set and final exam for Friedman’s section have been transcribed for this post.

________________

ECONOMICS 300B
Problems for Reading Period
Spring, 1951

  1. “Productivity” is a catch-word in most general discussions of wage policy, as for example in the following quotation:

“General increases in wage rates exceeding the average growth of productivity raise costs and will ordinarily result in high prices,” from which it is implied that wage rates “ought” to rise by the same percentage as “productivity”. Sometimes, this argument is carried over to particular industries or occupation; and sometimes, the conclusion is drawn that wages “cannot” “on the average” rise by more than “productivity”.

Discuss from the point of view of price theory, with special reference to the meaning of the concepts used and the validity of the inferences drawn. Do not get involved in business cycle, or income and employment theory.

  1. Consider a hypothetical society in which there is no investment, either net or gross. All capital is completely permanent, not subject to change in form but capable of being used for different purposes. There is no selling or buying of capital goods: whoever owns the capital goods is forced by the laws or conventions of society to hold them and is permitted only to read them out (i.e., all capital is subject to the conventions that now govern human capital). Lending or borrowing is prohibited, so that there is no market rate of interest that matters, and all saving takes the form of hoarding of cash. The total amount of money in society is fixed in nominal units (say dollars).
    1. Although this economy is stationary in the aggregate, it is not static. Explain the meaning of the sentence and its bearing on the willingness of people to hold money.
    2. Wages are initially rigid (by law or otherwise) and the society is in the state of Keynesian unemployment equilibrium. Explain. What is it that assures that the aggregate amount actually saved is equal to zero? What is it that assures that the aggregate amount people wish to save is equal to zero?
    3. Wages are now made flexible. Describe the process of adjustment to a new equilibrium position. Does this new position involve unemployment? What is the equilibrium condition on saving? What forces operate to bring about the satisfaction of this condition?
    4. Discuss the factors that determine the rent of capital goods and the wages of labor at equilibrium when both are flexible.
    5. Lending and borrowing is [sic] now introduced, but all other assumptions are retained, so that all loans are in essence “consumption loans”. What determines the equilibrium rate of interest? What effect, if any, would the introduction of lending and borrowing have on the price level?

 

 

Final Examination
Economics 300B
June 12, 1951

  1. “The statement that wages tend to equal the net product of the worker’s labor… is not, as some have thought, an independent theory of wages, but only a particular way of wording the familiar doctrine that the value of everything tends to be equal to its expense of production.” (Marshall)
    1. Explain why “the statement that wages tend to equal the net product of the worker’s labor” is not “an independent [i.e., complete] theory of wages.”
    2. Prove that it is “only a particular way of wording the familiar doctrine…” in doing so, interpret “everything” to mean “final products,” not “labor.”
  2. (a) Discuss the meaning of “profits” in connection with the theory of distribution. Outline briefly “a” theory of “profits.”
    (b) A private enterprise economy is frequently described as motivated by the desire to maximize “profits.” Is the word “profits” in this statement used in the same sense as in the discussion under (a)? Explain any difference.
  3. “Rent is but the leading species of a large genus.” Discuss.
  4. The income of farmers from the sale of their products depends on the prices at which the products sell. The general level of agricultural prices, in turn, depends primarily on the income of the nonfarm population. But the income of the nonfarm population depends on the prices of nonfarm products which, in turn, depends partly on the income of farmers.
    This kind of analysis is often criticized as circular reasoning and hence is incapable of leading to any useful conclusions. Is this criticism valid? Explain your answer.
  5. Beef sold in rural New England is mostly purchased from Chicago. Yet it is said that the retail price of the better cuts of beef is substantially less than in Chicago for the same grade of meat. Assuming that this is in fact the case. How would you explain this phenomenon in strictly economic terms? (I.e., do not give the easy – and probably wrong – explanation of irrationality, gouging, or the like). How would you test the validity of your suggested explanation?
  6. Suppose that legislative hearings were to be held on the following (a) A national bill to make the minimum wage rate very regionally, so it would be lower in the South than in the North; (b) A bill in a particular state to make it legal for manufacturers to enforce a minimum retail price on their products (a so-called “fair-trade” law).
    Indicate what groups you would expect to be testifying for and against each bill, and why you would expect them to do so.

Source:  Hoover Institution Archives. Milton Friedman Papers, Box 76, Folder 10.

Image Source: Milton Friedman (undated). University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-06230, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Exam Questions Swarthmore Undergraduate

Swarthmore. B.A. Honors Examination in Economic Theory. External Examiner, Lloyd Metzler, 1943-45

 

Wolfgang Stolper taught at Swarthmore College from 1941-1949. In his papers at Duke University’s Economists’ Papers Archive one finds copies of  the following economic theory examination questions prepared by Swarthmore’s external examiners:

Jan/May 1942 (James G. Smith)
Jan 1943 (Paul Samuelson)
May 1943 (Paul Samuelson)
October 1943 (Lloyd Metzler) [transcribed below]
Feb 1944 (Joseph D. Coppock)
June 1944 (Friedrich Lutz)
Oct 1944 (Lloyd Metzler) [transcribed below]
Jun 1945 (Joseph D. Coppock)
Jun 1946 (Richard Musgrave)
Jan 1947 (Joseph D. Coppock)
Undated (Lloyd Metzler) [transcribed below]

The above list has led me to an interpolative guess of either February or October 1945 for the undated Metzler honors examination. Links are provided to the previously posted transcriptions of the examinations by Samuelson and Musgrave.

_________________________

Swarthmore College
Division of the Social Sciences
Department of Economics
October 20, 1943

Economic Theory
Honors Examination
Mr. Metzler

ANSWER ONE QUESTION FROM EACH PART

PART I
Write a one-hour essay on one of the following topics:

  1. The relation between cost curves and supply curves, and the conditions of equilibrium in a purely competitive industry, both in the long run and in the short run.
  2. A comparison of monopolistic competition and pure competition, including a contrast of the equilibrium position of the firm and the number of firms in the “industry” under monopolistic competition, with the equilibrium conditions and number of firms under pure competition.
  3. The marginal productivity theory in its original form, and the changes made necessary by the theory of monopolistic competition.
  4. Determinants of the level of employment and income.
  5. A careful analysis of the population problem in the United States, including both regional distribution problems and the problem of the size of the total population.
  6. Monetary versus “real” theories of the rate of interest.

 

Part II

  1. How was the cost controversy related to the development of the theory of monopolistic competition?
  2. A tax of $1 per unit is imposed upon the production of a certain commodity which is produced under conditions of pure competition. Assuming that the industry is initially in equilibrium, show how this tax affects he price, output, profits, and the number of firms in the industry, both in the short run and in the long run.
  3. Discuss the principles of price discrimination in a monopolized industry.
  4. Suppose there are only two firms producing a standardized product. Describe the determination of price and output in this industry, pointing out the difficulties which arise in such a case.

 

Part III

  1. Suppose a particular industry X produces its commodity with only two factors, labor and land, which may be used in variable proportions. An increased supply of this particular type of labor causes the wage rate to decline. Assuming no change in the demand for the product, analyze the effect of the wage reduction on (a) employment of labor, (b) employment of land, (c) price of the product, (d) output of the product, and (e) labor’s relative share in the total distribution.
  2. Describe Malthus’ theory of population. Can you present a more sophisticated version in the light of modern theories of production and distribution?
  3. “The rate of interest is the result of a race between accumulation and invention.” Discuss.
  4. Discuss the relation of the modern corporation to the theory of profits.

 

Part IV

  1. What types of cyclical fluctuation may be found in statistics of employment, income, production, and prices? How do you explain each type of cycle?
  2. What measures would you suggest for the control of employment after the war? Explain each carefully.
  3. In the period of the twenties, economists believed that business cycles could be controlled by monetary measures (i.e., movement of interest rates, bank reserve ratios, etc.). Account for the failure of such measures to control the depression of the thirties.
  4. Explain carefully the relation between investment and the level of employment, relating the analysis to Schumpeter’s “circular flow”.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubinstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Wolfgang F. Stolper Papers, Box 22, Folder 1.

_________________________

Swarthmore College
Division of the Social Sciences
Department of Economics
October 16, 1944

Economic Theory
Honors Examination
Dr. Lloyd A. Metzler
Federal Reserve Board
Washington, D.C.

ANSWER FIVE QUESTIONS, INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE FROM EACH PART.
I

  1. “The conditions which determine the prices charged by a local clothing store are quite unlike those which govern the price of wheat or corn.” Explain carefully.
  2. After the war, expenditures of the federal government will be considerably higher than in the pre-war period. To meet part of these expenditures, two kinds of business taxes are proposed: (1) a tax on corporate profits, similar to our present tax, but with lower rates; (2) taxes on the sales of certain luxury items, such as cigarettes, tobacco, and liquor. It is sometimes said that the first type of tax falls upon the corporations themselves, whereas the second falls upon the consumers of the taxed items. Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?
  3. “Imperfectly competitive markets involve an inevitable waste. Each firm produces less than its optimum output, and charges a higher price than might otherwise be necessary.” Evaluate this statement. If such wastes exist, how can they be eliminated?
  4. Suppose a particular industry produces a standardized product, such as steel, but there are only four or five producers in the whole industry. What determines the price of the product?
  5. Compare the effects of a tax on output in a perfectly competitive industry with those of a similar tax on a monopolistic output, both in the short run in the long run.

 

II

  1. “In a perfectly competitive industry, every worker gets just what he is worth, but in monopoly industries the workers are always exploited.” Present your own opinion on this subject.
  2. Define “elasticity of substitution” and explain type of problem in which the concept is useful.
  3. An industry in which there is only a single producer is unionized, and a standard wage is set which is higher than the prevailing wage. Analyze the effects of this action upon (a) the number of workers employed, (b) the output of the industry, (c) the price of the product, and (d) the total wage bill.
  4. Answer (3), assuming that the industry is perfectly competitive.

 

III

  1. One frequently encounters two statements about the return to land: (a) “Rent is the difference between the productivity of a given plot of land and the productivity of land which it is just worthwhile to cultivate.”(b) “Rents would exist even if all land were uniformly productive; it is a surplus which arises from the fact that additional units of labour applied to a given plot of land have diminishing productivity.” Are these two statements contradictory? Explain your answer.
  2. “The law of diminishing returns is indispensable to the existence of rent. Unless this law were true, the entire world’s supply of wheat could be grown in a flower pot.” Comment.
  3. “Rent, like the reward of any other factor of production, is determined by conditions of supply and demand. From this point of view, rent differs from wages mainly in respective conditions of supply.” Do you regard this is an important difference? Why or why not? Contrast the long-run effects of a tax on rents with the long-run effects of a tax on wages, assuming that wages initially are near the subsistence level.
  4. “The equilibrium rate of interest is the rate which makes the supply of savings equal to demand. The supply of savings is the schedule of amounts which individuals wish to save at various interest rates, while the demand is the schedule of amounts which business men wish to invest. Thus, when the rate of interest is in equilibrium, savings are equal to investment. But if the rate of interest exceeds the equilibrium rate, investment falls short of savings.” Evaluate this statement.
  5. Compare Böhm-Bawerk’s theory of interest with the monetary theory.
  6. “In the long run, profits of the competitive industry tend toward zero.” Does this mean that the accountant’s reports of the small enterprise owned by a single individual will also attend toward zero? Explain your answer.

 

IV

  1. Present a program for maintaining full employment in the United States after the war.
  2. “Since national income is equal to consumption plus net investment, and savings are simply the difference between income and consumption, it follows that savings for any given period are always equal to investment, by definition. For this reason, a business cycle theory which attributes changes in income and employment to a disparity between savings and investment must be fallacious.” Comment.
  3. Explain carefully how income is related to the level of net investment.
  4. During the first world war, a high interest rate was regarded as one of the important means of curbing inflation. In the present war, on the other hand, a conscious attempt has been made to keep interest rates at a very low level. Explain the relation between interest rates and prices in an economy where full employment prevails. Why do you suppose high interest rates were abandoned as an anti-inflation measure in the present war?
  5. It is sometimes said that unemployment exists because workers are unwilling to accept the wage which corresponds to their productivity. According to this view, if workers were willing to accept a reduction of wage rates, business men would find it profitable to hire more workers and unemployment would thereby be reduced. Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubinstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Wolfgang F. Stolper Papers, Box 22, Folder 1.

_________________________

Swarthmore College
Division of the Social Sciences
Department of Economics
[No date–1945?]

ECONOMIC THEORY
Honors Examination
Dr. Lloyd A. Metzler
Washington, D.C.

ANSWER FOUR QUESTIONS, INCLUDING ONE FROM EACH PART.
I

Write an essay (about one hour) on one of the following topics:

  1. The theory of interest, from Böhm-Bawerk to Keynes.
  2. Monopolistic competition and the theory of distribution.
  3. The theory of discriminating monopoly.
  4. A comparison of perfect competition with monopolistic competition.
  5. Factors which determine the level of employment.
  6. The relation of wage rates to employment.
  7. The theory of the duopoly.
  8. The relation between wates [sic, “wage rates”?] and rent.
  9. The law of variable proportions and theory of distribution.

 

II

  1. As a result of a technological change, the cost of producing a particular commodity, X, is reduced for all firms. Assuming that the industry is perfectly competitive, the effects of this change upon output, price and profits in both the short run in the long run.
  2. Explain the relations between marginal costs, average costs, and supply curves in a perfectly-competitive industry.
  3. “In a perfectly-competitive industry, the tax on sales is always born by consumers, whereas in a monopoly industry, the monopolists bears a part of the added costs.” Evaluate this statement, considering both the short-run in the long-run.
  4. Explain the meaning of “excess capacity” in the theory of monopolistic competition, and show how it is related to other concepts of capacity.

 

III

  1. It is sometimes said that unions can improve the position of workers only to a very limited extent, since wages are governed by productivity, over which unions have little control. Evaluate this statement.
  2. Discuss the relations between inventions, wage rates, and the total wage bill.
  3. Contrast the theory of wages presented by Hicks with that of Ricardo.
  4. Show how Keynes’ monetary theory of interest evolved from Marshall’s “supply and demand” theory.
  5. Economic conditions in a particular country are disturbed by a rise in the propensity to consume. Explain the repercussions upon the rate of interest, assuming that the amount of money remains unchanged.
  6. Compare the theories of profit of Marshall and Schumpeter.

 

IV

  1. Describe the analytical problems which arise in attempting to measure business cycles.
  2. Show how the demand for producers’ goods is related to the demand for consumers’ goods, and explain the relevance of this relationship to business cycle theory.
  3. Present a brief description of the problem of unemployment which will face the United States at the close of the war, and suggest measures for solving this problem.
  4. Compare Schumpeter’s theory of business cycles with the theory of employment developed by Keynes.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubinstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Wolfgang F. Stolper Papers, Box 22, Folder 1.

Image Source: “From family album, taken while Lloyd Metzler was a student at Harvard.”
“Lloyd A. Metzler” by Margiemetz – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.

Categories
Exam Questions History of Economics M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. History of Economic Thought. Misc. Readings and exams. Samuelson, 1973-78

 

Scattered across several folders in the Paul Samuelson Papers at Duke are course materials from the graduate history of economic course regularly offered by Samuelson in the 1970s. Not included below are a few class lecture handouts and class lists also in the folders. Instead I have just transcribed the suggested reading lists or Dewey library course reserve lists and two final exams found in the folders. 

I did not take this course, once having sat in on a Marxian economics lecture that consisted of Paul Samuelson commenting on his textbook’s appendix “Rudiments of Marxian Economics”. Perhaps the arrogance of my youth got the better of me, but I thought there were other courses that were going to teach me something that I had not already learned so I am now condemned to trying to reconstruct his course content from such scraps as these we find in his archival record. Maybe a visitor to this page of Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has saved notes from the course?

_________________

14.132 FALL 1973
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
P. SAMUELSON

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. FOR BACKGROUND

T. Kuhn
THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

and parts or all of any sample of secondary sources, such as those by Roll, Gray, Gide-Rist, brief Schumpeter (1912), Heilbroner.

FOR BIOGRAPHY

Keynes
ESSAYS IN BIOGRAPHY

Schumpeter
TEN ECONOMISTS

H. Spiegel
GREAT ECONOMISTS ON GREAT ECONOMISTS

2. BASIC BACKGROUND REFERENCE

Perhaps the basic background reference is the posthumous, uneven classic:
J. S. Schumpeter
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

A valuable, MIT-graduate-school kind of reference is
Marc Blaug
ECONOMIC THEORY IN RETROSPECT

3. ON RICARDO, you should at least sample

Sraffa edition
PRINCIPLES

Useful readings are:

Blaug

Baumol
ch 2 in ECONOMIC DYNAMICS

Stigler in
HISTORY OF ECONOMICS

Sraffa
his introduction to the PRINCIPLES

Kaldor
his brief section in 1954 RES “Alternative Theories of Distribution”

Models of Ricardo-like systems

Pasinetti
Samuelson
Edelberg

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Fall 1973”.

_________________

14.132 FALL 1974
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
P. SAMUELSON E 52-394

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. FOR BACKGROUND

T. Kuhn
THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

and parts or all of any sample of secondary sources, such as those by Roll, Gray, Gide-Rist, brief Schumpeter (1912), Heilbroner, Cannan, Recktenwald’s POLITICAL ECONOMY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

FOR BIOGRAPHY

Keynes
ESSAYS IN BIOGRAPHY

Schumpeter
TEN ECONOMISTS

H. Spiegel
GREAT ECONOMISTS ON GREAT ECONOMISTS

2. BASIC BACKGROUND REFERENCE

Perhaps the basic background reference is the posthumous, uneven classic:
J. S. Schumpeter
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

A valuable, MIT-graduate-school kind of reference is
Marc Blaug
ECONOMIC THEORY IN RETROSPECT

3. First Topic of land and the interest rate: Turgot, Böhm-Bawerk and Keynes-Modigliani

Böhm-Bawerk, Vol I, Ch. 4
„Land and the Rate of Interest“: also Samuelson (1958, 1968, 1974)
Modigliani (1954, 1974)
Diamond (1965)

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Fall 1973”.

_________________

14.132 Fall 1975
STORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
P. A. SAMUELSON E52-394
FRIDAY 1:30-3:30

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. FOR BACKGROUND

Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolution
and parts or all of any sample of secondary sources, such as those by Roll, Gray, Gide-Rist, brief Schupeter (1912), Heilbroner, Cannan’s Review of Economic Theory, Recktenwald’s Political Economy: A Historical Perspective.

FOR BIOGRAPHY

Keynes, Essays in Biography

Schumpeter, Ten Economists

H. Spiegel, Great Economists on Great Economists [not in Dewey Library]

2. BASIC BACKGROUND REFERENCE

Perhaps the basic background reference is the posthumous, uneven classic:
J. A. Schumpeter, History of Economic Analysis

A valuable, MIT-graduate-school kind of reference is
Mark Blaug, Economic Theory in Retrospect

For fruits of Marx’s hours in the British Museum, see
K. Marx, Theories of Surplus Value (many volumes, and sometimes called Vol. IV of Das Kapital)

Readable and scholarly essays are collected in
G. J. Stigler, Essays in the History of Economics

3. First topic of Quesnay’s Tableau Economique:

Any text like Gray, Peter Newman, Roll, Schumpeter;
Meek on Physiocracy, and edited volume;
A. Phillips, QJE, 1955;
S. Maital, QJE, 1972.

4. Topic of land and the interest rate: Turgot, Böhm-Bawerk and Keynes-Modigliani

Böhm-Bawerk, Vol I, Ch. 4, “Land and the Rate of Interest,” also,
Samuelson (1958, 1968, 1974)
Modigliani (1954, 1974)
Diamond (1965)

5. Modern model of Ricardo

6. Transformation problem of Marx

7. Smith, Adam

8. ….

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Fall 1975”.

_________________

Samuelson
To be placed on reserve for 14.132

Mass. Inst. Tech.
FEB 14 1977
DEWEY RESERVE

McLellan. Karl Marx: His Life and Thought

Luxemburg. Accumulation of Capital

Sweezy. Theory of Capitalist Development

Robinson. An Essay on Marxian Economics

Dobbs. History of Theories of Distribution [sic, Theories of Value and Distribution since Adam Smith: Ideology and Economic Theory]

Morishima. On Marxian Economics [sic, Marx’s Economics]

Schumpeter. History of Economic Analysis

Roll. History of Economic Thought 

Alexander Gray. The Development of Economic Doctrine

[Metzler Lloyd] Festschrift. (Trade, Stability and Macroeconomics) edited by G. Horowitz and P. Samuelson.

Reprints

Samuelson

Samuelson’s “Reply on Marxian Matters”

Insight and Detour in the Theory of Exploitation: A Reply to Baumol

Understanding the Marxian Notion of Exploitation: A Summary of the So-Called Transformation Problem Between Marxian Values and Competitive Prices

Marx as a Mathematical Economist

 

Journals

Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 2, 1934-35

American Economic Review, March 1938.

 

[Appendix: Rudiments of Marxian Economics (from Samuelson Economics, pp. 858-)]

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Spring 1977”.

_________________

14.132 Final Exam
History of Economic Thought
P. A. Samuelson
May 20, 1977

ANSWER (1) OR (2) QUESTIONS.

  1. Describe any aspects of the classical economists’ system that primarily interests you.
  2. Describe the doctrines of some one historical economist or school in which you have an interest.
  3. Analyze any aspects of Marxian economics that you think are of relevance to economic history and policy.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Spring 1977”.

_________________

Reserve List, MIT Libraries
14.132 History of Economic Thought
Spring 1978

D. L. Thomson, Adam Smith’s Daughters, Exposition Press, 1973.

L. Robbins. An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science. Macmillan, 1935 and 1962.

M. Blaug, Economic Theory in Retrospect. Richard D. Irwin, 1962.

I. H. Rima. Development of Economic Analysis. Irwin, 1972.

H. W. Spiegel,The Growth of Economic Thought. Prentice-Hall, 1971.

Alexander Gray, Development of Economic Doctrines. Longman, Green and Co. 1934.

T. W. Hutchinson, A Review of Economic Doctrines, 1870-1929. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1953.

Thomas Sowell, Classical Economics Reconsidered, Princeton U. Press, 1974.

Eric Roll, A History of Economic Thought. Faber and Faber, 1973.

Eric Roll, The World After Keynes, Praeger, 1968.

J. A. Schumpeter, History of Economic Analysis. Oxford U. Press, 1954.

G. L. S. Shackle. The Nature of Economic Thought. Cambridge U Press, 1966.

J. A. Schumpeter, Ten Great Economists. Oxford, 1965.

R. L. Meek. Precursors of Adam Smith. Dear (London), 1973.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Spring 1978”.

_________________

14.132 Take-Home Exam
Spring 1978

Answer any one of these questions or any two or all three.

  1. Describe some topic covered in this course that you find to be of interest. Discuss its broad significance; or concentrate in depth on any aspect of the problem that you believe to be worth exploring. Do not hesitate to let your imagination soar.
  2. Describe some aspect or aspects of what we call neoclassical economics. If you wish, compare and contrast it with earlier classical economics; or with later Keynesian economics; or with the Marx-inspired economics that developed around the same time.
  3. Thomas Kuhn attempted to throw light on how the natural sciences tend to develop. If any part of his paradigms seems to you useful in any part of the history of economic thought, describe the use. If you have criticisms to make of the Kuhnian methodology, feel free to enlarge on them.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Paul Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.132 Spring 1977”.

Image Source:  Capture of the photos page from the Paul Samuelson memorial webpages at the MIT economics department (date of Wayback Machine capture May 22, 2011)

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Statistics Suggested Reading

Harvard. Final exam for course on national income accounting. Crum, 1938

 

William Leonard Crum (1894-1967) taught economic statistics at Harvard from 1923-1948 before finishing his career at the University of California, Berkeley. He taught an undergraduate one-semester course, “The National Income”, only twice. In the extensive but incomplete Harvard archival collection of course final examinations I have only been able to find the final for the second term of the 1937-38 academic year. Full course reading lists were not in the course syllabi and outlines collection, but the reading period assignments for both years could be found.

_________________

Course Enrollments,

1937-38

[Economics] 21b2 hf. Professor Crum — The National Income.

Total 7: 1 Graduate, 4 Seniors, 2 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1937-38, p. 85.

 

1938-39

[Economics] 21b2 hf. Professor Crum — The National Income.

Total 3: 2 Graduates, 1 Senior.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1938-39, p. 98.

_________________

Reading Period

May 9- June 1, 1938

Economics 21b: Read either of the following:

Colin Clark, National Income and Outlay, Chs. I-V, and VII.
R. F. Martin, National Income and Its Elements (entire).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1937-1938”.

 

May 8- May 31, 1939

Economics 21b: Choose one of the following:

National Industrial Conference Board, National Income in the United States, 1799-1938 (entire book).
Simon Kuznets, Commodity Flow and Capital Formation, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1938 (Part II and Part III).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1938-1939”.

_________________

Final exam, 1938

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Economics 21b2

(Omit two of the first six questions, and omit one of the last two)

  1. (a) Outline the main items, listing as plus and minus, which must be covered in estimating national income by the net value product method.
    (b) Discuss the chief theoretical and practical points relating to the estimated allowance for depreciation.
  2. (a) Comment upon the main problems encountered in determining the net value product of “government”, considered as an “industry”.
    (b) Name two chief “transfer” items, and indicate – for each – how it should be treated in national income estimates, and why.
  3. (a) Discuss with care the way in which the accounting practice relative to inventory valuation affects estimates of national income.
    (b) Comment upon the place of “additions to business surplus” in the simple concepts of national income. Indicate whether this surplus-additional item can be estimated directly, or only indirectly.
  4. (a) What is meant by “entrepreneurial withdrawals”, and on what basis are they in general estimated? Give your view of the validity of such estimates, with reasons.
    (b) To what extent do the methods customarily employed in estimating the distribution of national income according to particular categories give a satisfactory appraisal of any oneof the four main types discussed in economic theory – wages, interest, rent, profits?
  5. (a) Discuss the place of capital gains in national income estimates.
    (b) What is meant by capital formation? What are the leading obstacles to a satisfactory measurement thereof?
  6. (a) Given an online account of the relation between size of income (of individuals) and the main sources from which income is derived. How, in general, does the business cycle affect these relationships?
    (b) What is meant by real income? Name and discuss two chief obstacles to the measurement thereof.
  7. (Clark) Name, and common briefly upon, the chief differences in method of estimating national income, as between Great Britain and the United States.
  8. (Martin) Four main types of entrepreneurs are distinguished – farmers, retail-store proprietors, service establishment owners, professional practitioners. Comment upon the data available for estimating incomes of these groups, and give your views as to the validity of such estimates.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 3, Folder “Final examinations, 1937-1938”.

Image source: Portrait of William Leonard Crum from the Harvard Class Album, 1946.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins. Mid-year and end-year exams for undergraduate money and banking. Weyforth, 1930-31

 

William Oswald Weyforth, Jr.  (b. September 1, 1889; d. March 10, 1983) was the author of The Federal Reserve Board. A Study of Federal Reserve Structure and Credit Control. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1933. The book was reviewed by F.A. Bradford in the March, 1934 AER and by C. S. Tippetts in the June, 1934 JPE.

Research for an earlier monograph (The Organizability of Labor [1917] was begun while Weyforth was a member of the Economic Seminary at Johns Hopkins. 

Weyforth’s A.B. (1912) and Ph.D. (1915) were both from Johns Hopkins University. Before returning to the Johns Hopkins department of political economy he was an instructor at Western Reserve University, 1915-17.

____________________

Course Announcement and Description
3B. Money and Banking. Associate Professor Weyforth.

Three hours weekly through the year.(Mon., Tues., 9.30; Fri., 10.30.) Gilman Hall 313.

In the first part of this course the principles of money, credit and banking will be considered, with special reference to the operation of the American banking system. A study will be made of the functions of the modern commercial bank and of the relationship between the commercial bank and the business man. A large part of the course will be devoted to a consideration of the factors leading to the passage of the Federal Reserve Act, the changes in our banking system under that Act and problems in the management of the Federal Reserve System.

In the second part of the course the principles of international trade and exchange will be studies. Particular attention will be given to foreign exchange, foreign credits, foreign investments and in general to the problems of international finance.

Prerequisite: Political Economy 1C.

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The College of Arts and Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University, 1930-31, p. 33.

____________________

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Mid-Year Examination
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3
January 29, 1931

  1. What is meant by the monetary standard? Explain the following types of standards: gold standard, bimetallic standard, paper standard. What are the reasons for adhering to a gold standard?
  2. Explain carefully the quantity theory of money, showing the various limitations upon the theory. Does the fact that at times increases in prices may precede changes in the quantity of money nullify the theory. Explain.
  3. Describe briefly the various types of financial institutions that may function in meeting the financial requirements of corporations and explain the fundamental nature of the operations of each type.
  4. Describe an underwriting operation by a syndicate in the flotation of an issue of corporation bonds.
  5. Enumerate and describe the more important types of investment credit instruments. What are the fundamental commercial credit instruments? Explain their nature and use. What is the nature and importance of negotiability?
  6. What is the essential nature of a “demand deposit”? How do such deposits come into existence? How does the receipt of a cash deposit of $100,000 affect the lending power of an individual bank? How does it affect the lending power of the system as a whole? Explain fully.
  7. Why is it necessary for a commercial bank to maintain a cash reserve? What determines its amount? What is the importance of capital and surplus to a bank? How does a commercial bank invest its fund? What is the importance of liquidity in its investments? How is liquidity secured?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Final Examination
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3
Wednesday, May 27, 1931 — 9 a.m.

  1. Give a brief survey of banking conditions in the United States leading to the organization of the National Banking System. Explain the defects that developed in that system and the history of the reform movement that eventually led to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System.
  2. In what way can the banking system of a country contribute to stability or instability of business conditions?
  3. Explain the manner in which the Federal Reserve System can affect the general level of prices. Discuss the limitations upon the powers of the Federal Reserve System in this respect.
  4. What is the nature of the business of commercial paper houses? Explain the financial services that they perform. How are installment sales financed? Describe the operations of the institutions that perform this type of financing.
  5. Describe the organization and operations (a) of the Federal Farm Loan System, (b) of the Federal Intermediate Credit Banks.
  6. Explain the manner in which international payments are effected by means of foreign exchange operations. Show how, through these operations, exports pay for imports. What is the basis of the contention that the United States ought to reduce its tariff rates if it expects the allied nations to pay their debts to us?
  7. What is meant by “department store” banking? What factors have been responsible for the consolidation of banks in recent years? What are the arguments for and against branch banking?

Source: Johns Hopkins University.Sheridan Libraries, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy Curricular Materials, Series 6, Box 2, Folder “Exams 1930-1935”.

Image Source: William Oswald Weyforth (ca. 36 years of age). Johns Hopkins University graphic and pictorial collection, Sheridan Libraries.

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions Fields

Chicago. Industrial Organization Prelim. 1977

 

The following five questions come from what appears to be a draft of the prelim exam in industrial organization for the Spring of 1977 that is found in the George Stigler papers at the University of Chicago. The draft clearly has the title “Industrial Organization Prelim” but the date is a handwritten addition. Also there is no explicit “University of Chicago”  to be found, though given the location in George Stigler’s papers, this identification seems rather certain.

___________________

[handwritten note:  5-2-77]

Industrial Organization Prelim

Answer all questions:

  1. It is sometimes alleged that periods of economic depression are more conducive to the growth of economic regulation than prosperity. Develop a theory which elaborates the link between the level of economic activity and the propensity to regulate. Include a discussion of whether the goals of regulatory agencies (old as well as new) are likely to differ with the level of economic activity.
  2. Sales of some firms are occurring at prices below average variable cost. Suppose there were no legal restrictions on merger. Under what conditions, if any, would the firms in the industry prefer merger as a means of reducing industry output?
  3. A recent treatise on antitrust law lists the following as among the factors favorable to collusion in an industry.
    1. No fringe of small buyers.
    2. Inelastic demand at competitive price.
    3. Entry takes a long time.
    4. Many customers.
    5. A standardized product.
    6. High ratio of fixed to variable costs.

Discuss for each factor the effect, if any, it has on probability of collusion.

  1. What problems for profit maximizing collusion among the firms in the book publishing industry would arise because of each of the following conditions:
    1. There are two classes of books, fiction and nonfiction. Publishers generally publish both types although some publishers specialize in nonfiction.
    2. Sales and profits from n fictional books behave like n independent random variables drawn from the same distribution. Sales of a given fictional book in a given year are independent of the sales in the previous year. There is a positive probability of sales coming to a halt in a given year and remaining zero thereafter.
    3. Nonfiction is of two types, textbooks and “how-to-do-it” books. The expected number of years of positive sales for a nonfiction book is greater than for a fiction book.
    4. Retail outlets and mail order sales are the only channels of distribution to the final users of books.
    5. The cost function of a book publisher is proportional to the number of titles and the quantity printed of each title.
    6. Every title has the protection of a copyright. Assume that the Xerox machine and similar devices do not exist.
    7. Anyone can arrange to have a book printed by a printing company and can arrange for its distribution.
  2. How do you explain the following empirical findings for manufacturing industries?

Let

Nit= number of companies in the 4-digit industry i in year t
Cit= 4-firm concentration ratio, industry i, year t.
Qit= index of real output industry i, year t
Rit= measured rate of return of all firms in industry i, year t.

    1. For each t, holing log Nitconstant, Ritis an increasing function of Cit.
    2. For each t, holding Citconstant, Ritis an increasing function of log Nit.
    3. For each t, Cit and log Nitare negatively correlated.
    4. Between 1947 and 1967 the correlation between the change in Citand the change in log Nitis 0.55.
    5. Between 1947 and 1967 the correlation between the change in Citand the change in log Nitis zero. The correlation is also zero between the change in log Qitand the change in Cit.
    6. There has recently been renewed interest in the social optimality of various devices for the public regulation of pollution. Among popular proposals to deal with the problem: emission taxes, subsidies for pollution control, transferable rights to emit pollutants, maximum limits on pollution discharges from each source. Assume that the optimality conditions for public regulation have been met. Evaluate the relative efficiency of these four devices and any others you wish to add to the list.

Source: University of Chicago Archives. George Stigler Papers, Addenda. Box 33, Folder “Exams & Prelim Questions”.

Image Source:  George Stigler page at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business website.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Exams on European labor movement and history of socialism. Rappard, 1912-13.

 

William Emmanuel Rappard (b. April 22, 1883; d. April 29, 1958) was the co-founder and director of the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. At the 1947 inaugural meeting of the Mont Pèlerin Society, Rappard gave the opening address.  

You can see below from the excerpt from the 2000 article by Richard M. Ebeling about Rappard that he taught at Harvard during the 1911/12 and 1912/13 academic years. Besides a course “Economic Resources and Commercial Policy of the Chief European States” for students of business, William Rappard also taught courses on the European labor movement and the history of socialism in the economics department. Rappard left Harvard to accept a professorship at the University of Geneva following the death of d’Eugène de Girard.

This post provides course enrollments, descriptions and the final exams for these last two courses. From the examination questions it is clear that one important text for the courses was the published University of Chicago economics doctoral dissertation of Oscar D. Skelton, Socialism: A Critical Analysis (1911). [bibliography posted here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror].

_______________________

Brief  Pre-war Biography

“…William Emmanuel Rappard was born in New York City on April 22, 1883, of Swiss parents, his father working in the United States as a representative of various Swiss industries. William Rappard did his graduate studies in economics at Harvard University from 1906 to 1908. During the academic year 1908-1909 he did additional study at the University of Vienna in Austria-Hungary, attending the seminars of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk and Eugen Philippovich von Philippsberg, two of the leading figures of the Austrian school of economics before the First World War. And from 1911 to 1913, he was an adjunct professor [sic. Rappard’s first year was at the rank of instructor and his second year at the rank of assistant professor] of political economy at Harvard.

“In 1913 he was appointed professor of economic history and public finance at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. He also served as rector of the University of Geneva during 1926-1928 and 1936-1938. From 1917 to 1919, Rappard was a member of various Swiss diplomatic missions to Washington, D. C., London, and Paris, including service with the Swiss delegation to the peace conference in France that ended the First World War. He made a strong impression on President Woodrow Wilson and was highly influential in persuading him to choose Geneva as headquarters of the League of Nations beginning in 1920.

“From 1920 to 1925 he was the director of the Mandates Division of the League for overseeing the administration of colonial territories lost by the Central Powers at the end of the war, and was a member of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League from 1925 to 1939. From 1928 to 1939 he also served as a member of the Swiss delegation to the annual meetings of the League’s General Assembly….”

*  *  *  *  *  *

The [above] brief summary of Rappard’s professional life draws from Albert Picot, Portrait de William Rappard(Paris: Editions de la Baconnière, 1963) and Victor Monnier, William E. Rappard: Défenseur des Libertés, Serviteur de Son Pays et de la Communauté Internationale (Geneva: Edition Slatkine, 1995).

Source: Richard M. Ebeling. “William E. Rappard: An International Man in an Age of Nationalism,” article posted at the Foundation for Economic Education Website (January 1, 2000).

_______________________

Course Enrollment
Fall term 1911

[Economics] 29 1hf. Dr. Rappard.–Socialism and the Social Movement in Europe.

Total 41: 3 Graduates, 15 Seniors, 20 Juniors, 3 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-12, p. 63.

_______________________

THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN EUROPE
Economics 6b.

Course Enrollment
Spring term 1913

Economics 6b 2hf. The Labor Movement in Europe. Asst. Professor Rappard.

Total 30: 5 Graduates, 12 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 3 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1912-13, p. 57.

 

Course Description
Economics 6b. The Labor Movement in Europe

After an introductory sketch of the Industrial Revolution and of its social consequences, a summary review will be made of the thought of the leading social reformers and Utopian socialists before 1848. The attitude of the chief European states towards the new problems of industrial life and the beginnings of factory legislation will be briefly examined. The Communist Manifesto will then be made the basis for a study of the aims and policies of the national and international socialist movement. The positive political and institutional achievements of the social movement of the nineteenth century will be summed up in conclusion.

Source: From the Division of History, Government, and Economics 1911-12. Official Register of Harvard University, p. 62.

Final Exam 1912-13
ECONOMICS 6b

Arrange answers in order of questions. Students who wrote theses will omit the first three questions.

  1. Enumerate five of the effects which Engels says the Industrial Revolution had on the manufacturing population of England. What were Engel’s chief sources of information?
  2. How does Sombart distinguish between (a) Rational Socialism (Utopian Socialism and Anarchism) and (b) Historical Socialism?
  3. What effect, according to Marx, does machinery have
    1. Upon real wages?
    2. Upon nominal wages?
    3. Upon “relative surplus-value”?
    4. Upon “absolute surplus-value”?
  4. Why is it customary to mention the English enclosure movement in dealing with the history of labor in Europe in the 19th century?
  5. What were the historical relations between the doctrines of Godwin, Malthus and Darwin?
  6. What was Chartism? Saint-Simonism? Which was more radical? More socialistic? Give reasons.
  7. Write a biography of Marx (300 to 500 words).
  8. Compare the views of Marx and Vaudervelde on “Capitalist Concentration.”
  9. Give chapter headings of a thesis on “The Socialist Movement in Germany, 1860-1890” in six or more chapters.
  10. Distinguish between (a) Socialism (b) Anarchism (c) Syndicalism.
  11. “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs … To every laborer the entire product of his labor … At first sight, these two formulas are absolutely contradictory. We believe, however, that it is possible and necessary to reconcile them and to complete each by the other.” — Vaudewelde.
    How does the author do this? What practical suggestions does he make for arranging distribution in the socialist state?
  12. What difficulties does Skelton think a socialist state would encounter
    1. In administering the government?
    2. In determining what commodities should be produced?
    3. In distributing wealth?

Source: Harvard University Examinations. Papers set for final examinations in history, history of science, government, economics, philosophy, social ethics, education, fine arts, music in Harvard College. June, 1913. Cambridge, MA., pp. 45-46.

_______________________

THE HISTORY OF MODERN SOCIALISM

Course Enrollment
Spring term, 1913

Economics 16. The History of Modern Socialism. Asst. Professor Rappard.

Total 4: 4 Graduates.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1912-13, p. 58.

Course Description
Economics 16. The History of Modern Socialism

This course will be divided into three parts. First, the works of Marx and Engels will be minutely analyzed and discussed. Then their sources will be studied with a view to ascertaining the historical origin of the different elements of scientific socialism. Finally the various recent interpretations, restatements, and criticisms of the Marxian doctrine will be examined.
The course will be conducted by means of reports and informal discussions. It will involve reading in German and French as well as in English.

Source: From the Division of History, Government, and Economics 1911-12. Official Register of Harvard University, p. 65.

 

Mid-year Exam 1912-13
ECONOMICS 16
January or February, 1913

  1. (a) When and where was Marx born? Where did he spend his childhood? Where did he receive his secondary school training?
    (b) What do you know of his ancestry? of his immediate family surroundings? of his relations to the Westphalens?
    (c) What were his first strong intellectual interests? Where and how were they aroused and stimulated?
    Discuss briefly the influence of these various factors on his later social philosophy.
  2. Give a chronological bibliography of Marx’s and Engels’s works down to 1870.

Answer any 4 of the following 6 questions.

  1. Is there any part of the Communist Manifesto which may with certainty be exclusively attributed to Marx? to Engels? State your reasons.
  2. When and how was Marx’s attention first called to economic matters? How do we know it?
  3. In which of Marx’s works would you look for the following passages?
    (a) “If the value of a commodity is determined by the quantity of labor required to produce it, it naturally follows that the value of labor, or wages, must be equally determined by the quantity of labor which is necessary to produce the wages.”
    (b) “In order to take place, revolutions must have a passive element a material basis. Theory is never realized in a people, except in sofar as it is the realization of the wants of the people.
    State your reasons.
  4. Where, in Marx’s works, do we find the first clear statement of the class struggle theory? Do you recall any case or cases in which he attempted to apply it to the actual interpretation of history? Did these attempts in any particular modify the doctrine as he first expounded it?
  5. How does Marx explain:—
    (a) the value: of unimproved land? of diamonds? of commodities produced by highly skilled labor?
    (b) the relation between higher prices and more abundant money, consequent upon the increased production of gold in the sixteenth century?
  6. To which work or works of Marx would you refer a student who, having a week at his disposal for the task, wished to become acquainted with his fundamental doctrines? State your reasons.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 9, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years. 1912-13.

 

 

Final Exam 1912-13
ECONOMICS 16
June, 1913

  1. Fill out the blanks in the following table according to the Marxian phraseology and theory.
Con-
stant capital		 Vari-
able capital		 Rate of surplus value Capital con-sumed Indi-vidual rate of profit Value of commo-dities pro-duced Cost price of commodities produced Average rate of profit Price of com-modities Deviation of price from value
90 10 50% 20
80 20 50% 10
70 30 50% —
  1. “The theory of value which Marx presents is a variation of the familiar labor-value doctrine.” Discuss.
  2. State the Marxian theory of rent.
  3. What is meant by the Bernstein-Kautsky controversy? State three of the principal points involved, with the arguments advanced on both sides.
  4. What, according to Skelton, are the distinctive features of Utopianism? How does Skelton classify the Utopian doctrines?
  5. What, according to Skelton, are the two “quite distinct interpretations” of which the Marxian materialist conception of history is susceptible?
  6. “In spite of himself, Marx was the last of the classical economists.” How does Skelton justify this assertion?
  7. “Had the third volume of ‘Capital’ appeared at the same time as the first, little would have been heard about ‘exploitation’ from socialist platforms.” Why not, according to Skelton?

 

Source: Harvard University Examinations. Papers set for final examinations in history, history of science, government, economics, philosophy, social ethics, education, fine arts, music in Harvard College. June, 1913. Cambridge, MA., pp. 54-5.

Image Source: William Emmanuel Rappard in the Harvard Class Album, 1912.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Readings and Exams for Methods of Social Reform. Carver, 1902-03

Thomas Nixon Carver

 

“The trouble with radicals is that they only read radical literature, and the trouble with conservatives is that they don’t read anything.”

Thomas Nixon Carver quoted by John Kenneth Galbraith (A Life in Our Times)

This conservative Harvard economic theorist regularly taught the course on schemes of economic reform at Harvard early in the 20th century. He was certainly more forgiving than sympathetic to his radical subjects. 

Variations of this course syllabus have been transcribed earlier here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror:

___________________

Course Description

[Economics] 14. Methods of Social Reform, including Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax, etc. Tu.,Th, at 1.30. Professor Carver.

The purpose of this course is to make a careful study of those plans of social amelioration which involves either a reorganization of society, or a considerable extension of the functions of the state. The course begins with an historical study of early communistic theories and experiments. This is followed by a critical examination of the series of the leading socialistic writers, with a view to getting a clear understanding of the reasoning which lies back of socialistic movements, and of the economic conditions which tend to make this reasoning acceptable. A similar study will be made of Anarchism and Nihilism, of the Single Tax Movement, of State Socialism and the public ownership of monopolistic enterprises, and of Christian Socialism, so called.

Morley’s Ideal Commonwealths, Ely’s French and German Socialism, Marx’s Capital, Marx and Engels’s The Communist Manifesto, and George’s Progress and Poverty will be read, besides other special references.

The course will be conducted by means of lectures, reports, and classroom discussions.

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), p. 42

___________________

Course Enrollment
(Harvard, 1902-03)

[Economics] 14. Professor Carver.— Methods of Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax, etc.

Total 15: 2 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1902-03, p. 67.

___________________

Course Enrollment (Radcliffe, 1902-03)

[Economics] 14. Professor Carver.— Methods of Social Reform.

Total 6: 4 Undergraduates, 2 Others.

Source: Radcliffe College. Report of the President of Radcliffe College, 1902-03, p. 43.

___________________

Economics 14
[handwritten note: 1902-03]

Topics and References
Starred references are prescribed

COMMUNISM

A
Utopias
1. Plato’s Republic
2. *Sir Thomas More.   Utopia.
3. *Francis Bacon.   New Atlantis.
4. *Tommaso Campanella.   The City of the Sun. (Numbers 2, 3, and 4 may be found in convenient form in Morley’s Ideal Commonwealths.)
5. Etienne Cabet.   Voyage en Icarie.
6. Wm. Morris.   News from Nowhere.
7. Edward Bellamy.   Looking Backward.

 

B
Communistic Experiments
1. *Charles Nordhoff.   The Communistic Societies of the United States.
2. Karl Kautsky.   Communism in Central Europe in the Time of the Reformation.
3. W. A. Hinds.   American Communities.
4. J.H. Noyes.   History of American Socialisms.
5. J. T. Codman.   Brook Farm Memoirs.
6. Albert Shaw.   Icaria.
7. G.B. Landis.   The Separatists of Zoar.
8. E.O. Randall.   History of the Zoar Society.

 

SOCIALISM

A
Historical
1. *R. T. Ely. French and German Socialism.
2. Bertrand Russell. German Social Democracy.
3. John Rae. Contemporary Socialism.
4. Thomas Kirkup. A History of Socialism.
5. W. D. P. Bliss. A Handbook of Socialism.
6. Wm. Graham. Socialism, New and Old.
7. [Jessica Blanche] Peixotto. The French Revolution and Modern French Socialism.

 

B
Expository and Critical
1. *Albert Schaeffle. The Quintessence of Socialism.
2. Albert Schaeffle. The Impossibility of Social Democracy.
3. *Karl Marx. Capital.
4. *Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels. The Manifesto of the Communist Party.
5. Frederick Engels. Socialism: Utopian and Scientific.
6. E. C. K. Gonner. The Socialist Philosophy of Rodbertus.
7. E. C. K. Gonner. The Socialist State.
8. Bernard Shaw and others. The Fabian Essays in Socialism.
9. The Fabian Tracts.
10. R. T. Ely. Socialism: An Examination of its Nature, Strength, and Weakness.
11. Edward Bernstein. Ferdinand Lassalle.
12. Henry M. Hyndman. The Economics of Socialism.
13. Sydney and Beatrice Webb. Problems of Modern Industry.
14. Gustave Simonson. A Plain Examination of Socialism.
15. Sombart. Socialism and the Social Movement in the Nineteenth Century.
16. Vandervelde. Collectivism [and Industrial Evolution].

 

ANARCHISM

1. *Leo Tolstoi. The Slavery of Our Times.
2. Wm. Godwin. Political Justice.
3. Kropotkin. The Scientific Basis of Anarchy. Nineteenth Century, 21: 238.
4. Kropotkin. The Coming Anarchy. Nineteenth Century, 22:149.
5. Elisée Reclus. Anarchy. Contemporary Review, 45: 627. [May 1884]

 

RELIGIOUS AND ALTRUISTIC SOCIALISM

1. Lamennais. Les Paroles d’un Croyant.
2. Charles Kingsley. Alton Locke.
3. *Kaufman. Lamennais and Kingsley. Contemporary Review, April, 1882.
4. Washington Gladden. Tools and the Man.
5. Josiah Strong. Our Country.
6. Josiah Strong. The New Era.
7. William Morris, Poet, Artist, Socialist. Edited by Francis Watts Lee. A collection of the socialistic writings of William Morris.
8. Ruskin. The Communism of John Ruskin. Edited by W. D. P. Bliss. Selected chapters from Unto this Last, The Crown of Wild Olive, and Fors Clavigera.
9. Carlyle. The Socialism and Unsocialism of Thomas Carlyle. Edited by W. D. P. Bliss. Selected chapters from Carlyle’s various works. [Volume 1; Volume 2]

 

AGRARIAN SOCIALISM

1. *Henry George. Progress and Poverty.
2. Henry George. Our Land and Land Policy.
3. Alfred Russell Wallace. Land Nationalization.

 

STATE SOCIALISM

An indefinite term, usually made to include all movements for the extension of government control and ownership, especially over means of communication and transportation, also street lighting, etc.

1. R. T. Ely. Problems of To-day. Chs. 17-23.
2. J. A. Hobson. The Social Problem.

 

WORKS DISCUSSING THE SPHERE OF THE STATE IN SOCIAL REFORM

1. Henry C. Adams. The Relation of the State to Industrial Action.
2. *D. G. Ritchie. Principles of State Interference.
3. D. G. Ritchie. Darwinism and Politics.
4. *Herbert Spencer. The Coming Slavery.
5. W. W. Willoughby. Social Justice.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1902-1903”.

______________________

Economics 14
Mid-year Examination, 1902-03

  1. Give an account of More’s Utopia.
  2. Is there any ground for supposing that Utopian schemes have influenced social development? Give reasons.
  3. What were the periods of greatest activity in the founding of communistic settlements in America? What stimulated the activity in each period, and what were the general conditions favorable to such activity?
  4. Does the history of communistic experiments in America throw any light on the probable success or failure of socialism on a large scale? Give reasons.
  5. Give an account of the communistic plans and activities of Etienne Cabet.
  6. Describe the Communist Manifesto. What place does it hold in socialistic literature, and why?
  7. Compare the socialism of Rodbertus with that of Karl Marx.
  8. Outline Marx’ theory of surplus value.

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

______________________

Economics 14
Year-End Examination, 1902-03

  1. Give some account of Fourier and the Fourieristic experiments in the United States.
  2. Distinguish between Utopian and Scientific Socialism.
  3. What part has religion played in the history of Communistic Experiments?
  4. How does Karl Marx explain the existence of poverty?
  5. Trace briefly the history of the German Social Democratic Party.
  6. Distinguish between land and other forms of property.
  7. How do you account for the share of the capitalist in distribution?
  8. Is there any relation between the unequal distribution of workers among different occupations and the unequal distribution of wealth?
  9. What is meant by the term “Natural Monopolies.”
  10. Define “Christian Socialism” and explain how it differs from Marxian Socialism.

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

Image Source: Harvard Class Album, 1906.

Categories
Exam Questions M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Core Economic Growth and Dynamics. Readings and Final Exam. Solow, 1968

 

The reading list and examination questions for the “Economic Growth and Short-run Fluctuations” course taught by Robert Solow in the core graduate macro sequence has been posted earlier for 1966. There were many changes in the readings chosen between 1966 and 1968.

Solow’s 1973 course material for a later revised version (Growth and Capital Theory), that was moved to be the final course in the core macro sequence has also been posted.

Here a glimpse at what students thought about this course (as well as the other courses and instructors in the core theory courses, both micro and macro).

________________________

R.M. Solow
Spring 1968

READING LIST
14.452

As a background text you should have a copy of R.G.D. Allen, Macro-Economic Theory (Macmillan, 1967). For review, read Chapters 1, 3, 7, 8.

ECONOMIC GROWTH

  1. Factual Basis

Kendrick & Sato, “Factor Prices, Productivity and Growth”, American Economic Review, December 1963.
Bureau of the Census, Long-Term Economic Growth, 1860-1965  (This is an excellent compendium of time series. You should spend a few hours with it, and might like to buy a copy from Supt. of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, $2.75)
Thurow & Taylor, “The Interaction between the Actual and Potential Rates of Growth,” Review of Economics and Statistics, November, 1966.

  1. One-Sector Real Theory

Allen, Chaps. 11, 14.
Hahn & Matthews, “The Theory of Economic Growth: A Survey”, Economic Journal, December 1964, Parts I, II except pp. 812-21.
Modigliani, “Comment” in Behavior of Income Shares (NBER), pp. 39-50.
(Optional: Johnson, “The Neo-Classical One-Sector Growth Model…,” Economica, August, 1966, pp. 265-79 only).

  1. Technical Progress

Allen, Chaps. 13, 15.
Solow et al., “Neoclassical Growth with Fixed Factor Proportions,” Review of Economic Studies, April 1966, pp. 27-89 only).

  1. One-Sector Monetary Theory

Tobin, “Money and Economic Growth”, Econometrica, October 1965.
Sidrauski, “Inflation and Economic Growth,” J.P.E., December, 1967.
Johnson, pp. 279-87 in article cited above.
See also Tobin-Johnson exchange in Economica, February, 1967.

  1. The Golden Rule and Optimal Growth

Marty, “The Neoclassical Theorem”, A.E.R., December 1964.
Diamond, “National Debt in a Neoclassical Growth Model”, A.E.R., December 1965, esp. pp. 1126-1135.
Koopmans, “Objectives, Constraints, and Outcomes in Optimal Growth Models,” Econometrica, January, 1967.

  1. Two (or more) Sector Real Theory

Hahn & Matthews, pp. 812-21.
Allen, Ch. 12.
(Optional: Shell & Stiglitz, “Allocation of Investment in a Dynamic Economy,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1967).

  1. Income Flows in Long-Run

Thurow, “A Policy Planning Model of the American Economy,” dittoed.

SHORT-RUN FLUCTUATIONS

  1. Cyclical Mechanisms

Samuelson, “Interaction between Multiplier Analysis and the Principle of Acceleration”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 1939, reprinted in A.E.A., Readings in Business Cycle Theory.
Metzler, “The Nature and Stability of Inventory Cycles”, Review of Economics and Statistics, 1941.
Kaldor, “A Model of the Trade Cycle”, Economic Journal, 1940, reprinted in Hansen and Clemence, Readings in Business Cycles and National Income and in Kaldor, Essays on Economic Stability and Growth.

  1. Income Analysis Models

Klein, “The Econometrics of the General Theroy,” Ch. IX in The Keynesian Revolution, SECOND edition.
Okun, “Measuring the Impact of the 1964 Tax Reduction,” xerox.
Surte, “Forecasting and Analysis with an Econometric Model,” A.E.R., March, 1962.
De Leeuw & Gramlich, “The Federal-Reserve-MIT Econometric Model,” Federal Reserve Bulletin, January, 1968.

  1. Inflation

Johnson, “A Survey of Theories of Inflation,” in Essays in Monetary Economics.
Solow, “Recent Controversies in the Theory of Inflation,” dittoed.
Solow & Stiglitz, “Output, Employment and Wages in the Short Run,” dittoed.

________________________

FINAL EXAMINATION
14.452
May 23, 1968

Please answer each question in a separate examination booklet. Indicate on the front page of each booklet whether you are seeking only a grade in 14.452 or a grade in the general examination in economic theory. Those who seek only a grade in 14.452 should answer two questions in Part I and two questions in Part II. Those who are taking the general examination and economic theory should answer two questions in Part II and two in Part III.

Part I

  1. Construct a difference-equation model embodying the following assumptions:
    1. Consumption is a linear function of disposable income lagged one time-unit;
    2. Tax revenue is proportional to national product;
    3. Investment is the sum of a component proportional to the current change in consumption and the component proportional to national product lagged one time-unit;
    4. Imports are proportional to national product lagged one time-unit; exports constant;
    5. Government purchases are constant.

Write down formally the conditions for and an oscillatory response of the model to disturbance. When are the oscillations damped? How do variations in the tax rate affect these conditions? Suppose part of government purchases were made negatively proportional to the last observed change in national product?

  1. Why is technical progress an important part of the usual model of economic growth? Could increasing returns to scale play the same role? What is the special role of purely labor-augmenting (i.e. Harrod-neutral) technical progress?
  2. Imagine a planned economy choosing among steady states in the one-sector model, without technical progress. The planner values both consumption per head and capital per head (as a measure of national strength, say) and his preferences can be expressed by a system of conventionally-shaped indifference curves in consumption per head and capital per head.

Use this indifference map and the requirements for a steady state to show how the optimal steady-state is chosen. Prove that the optimal capital per head will exceed the “Golden-Rule” (maximal consumption per head) level. Show what happens to the optimal position if the rate of population growth increases. Discuss briefly the case of a one-time upward shift in the production function.

 

Part II

  1. In the generalized multiplier-accelerator model, the equation \frac{dK}{dt}=I\left( Y,K \right) means that “investment decisions are always carried out”, so that when I\left( Y,K \right)\ne S\left( Y \right) “unintended consumption or saving” occurs. Replace the above equation with \frac{dK}{dt}=S\left( Y \right), and interpret and analyze the resulting model. Compare its behavior with this with the case analyzed in class.
  2. Suppose I =I(Y,K) and S= S(Y) are the schedules of desired investment and saving. In what sense is (I-S) a measure of excess demand in the aggregate commodity market?
    How is it that no specific supply variables (labor force, for example) appear in this measure? Under what circumstances is it natural to suppose that \frac{dY}{dt} responds to (I-S)? (Y = real output, P = commodity price level). Under what circumstances is it natural to suppose that \frac{dP}{dt} responds to (I-S)?
  3. Consider it a one-sector non-monetary model of growth under the following assumptions:
    1. The production function in intensive form is q= Akb;
    2. The wages equal to the marginal product of labor;
    3. Investment demand is such that the after-tax return on capital is always at a target level r*;
    4. There is a tax on profits at rate t in the government spends all its revenue on consumption;
    5. The savings rates from wages and after-tax profits are both equal to a constant s.

Find the tax rate that will permit a steady-state at full employment. When will it be between zero and one? How does it change if this changes? Interpret.

  1. Considered a one-sector growth model, with two factors of production (capital and labor), constant returns to scale, and no technical progress. Suppose that the propensity to save out of profits and capital gains is equal to one, and the propensity to save out of wages and transfer payments (taxes = negative transfers) is zero.

Money, which is non-interest-bearing government debt, is the only alternative asset to capital. The desired money-capital ratio is of the form \frac{m}{k}=L\left( {f}'\left( k \right)+{{\left( {{\dot{p}}}/{p}\; \right)}^{e}} \right) where m is the real per capita stock of money,k is the capital-labor ratio, and {{\left( {{\dot{p}}}/{p}\; \right)}^{e}} is the expected rate of inflation which is equal to the actual rate \left( {{\dot{p}}}/{p}\; \right) in the steady-state.

  1. Government purchases are zero and the budget deficit, which is equal to the excess of transfers over taxes, is financed by issuing money.
    1. Describe the steady-state characteristics of the model.
    2. Find the rate of inflation that maximizes steady-state consumption per head.
    3. Suppose that {{\left( {{\dot{p}}}/{p}\; \right)}_{0}} is the rate of inflation in (b) that maximizes steady state consumption per head. Would a higher rate of inflation lead to a higher or lower long-run capital-labor ratio?

 

Part III

  1. Write a comprehensive essay on the subject of “The Problem of Weights in National Income and Index-Number Construction”.
    Explain the criteria which are used, should be used (for what purpose?) and why.
  2. Discuss the economic effects of an increase in the stock of money. Include an evaluation of the positions of several (not less than two) prominent economists familiar to you. How would you test the correctness of their positions?
  3. Discuss the effects of inflation on the level of real investment.

 

Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Library. Economists’ Papers Archives. Papers of Robert M. Solow, Box 67, Folder “Exams”.

Image Source:  Robert Solow (right) from MIT Museum website.