Category: Exam Questions

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final exam from theory of production and distribution. Haberler and Leontief, 1942

 

 

According to my reckoning, I have now matched final examinations that I have recently copied at the Harvard archives to as many previously posted course syllabi/outlines/reading assignments as I could to date. Of course the pairings of exams to course outlines are not complete, but quite a few are and more will be coming in the future!

An outline with a list of items to be read for an intermediate/advanced undergraduate economic theory of distribution course jointly taught by Gottfried Haberler and Wassily Leontief has already been posted earlier. Below I have transcribed the final examination questions for Haberler and Leontief’s second term course from 1941-42. 

 

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Final Examination
Theory of Production and Distribution of National Income
Professor Haberler and Associate Professor Leontief

1941-42
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 1b

Answer ONE question in EACH of the four following groups:

(a) 1, 2, or 3
(b) 4 or 5
(c) 6 or 7
(d) 8 or 9

  1. Compare the theory of time wages with that of piece wages.
  2. Describe the circumstances in which the introduction of a minimum wage law can increase the demand for labor.
  3. Compare the Keynesian theory of wages with that of the “orthodox” economists and indicate the implications of the difference existing between the two for the general theory of employment.
  4. How does an entrepreneur determine the amount of capital which can be most profitably invested in a single plant?
  5. Compare the expected future change in the price level with the prevailing rate of interest in its effect upon the amount of the present individual savings.
  6. Discuss the difference between the marginal social and marginal private product from the point of view of the efficient organization of production.
  7. “An economic system can be unjust but efficient, it can also be just but inefficient.” Discuss.
  8. Analyze Professor Schumpeter’s theory of “zero interest” in a static economy.
  9. “A negative circumstance such as uncertain cannot possibly explain the existence of profit which is a positive return.” Discuss

Final, 1942.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, Box 6 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, June, 1942.

Image Source: Gottfried Haberler (left) and Wassily Leontief (right) from Harvard Class Album 1942.

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final exam for transportation economics. Chamberlin, 1932

 

 

Every year from 1927/28 through 1931/32, Edward Chamberlin taught a semester-long course on the economics of transportation. The course outline with reading assignments was posted earlier. This posting provides us with a short course description published in the annual announcements of the Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1929-30, followed by the final examination questions for the last time Chamberlin taught economics of transportation.

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Course Description [1929-30]

[Economics] 4a 1hf. Economics of Transportation

Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Asst. Professor Chamberlin

An historical outline will be followed in turn by discussion of the problems in rates, finance, and legislation, domestic and foreign.

 

Source: Harvard University. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXVI, No. 36 (June 27, 1929). Division of History, Government, and Economics 1929-30, p. 67.

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Final Examination
Economics of Transportation
Assistant Professor Edward H. Chamberlin

1931-32
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 4a

I

(One hour)

Choose the question relating to the reading period assignment which you have read.

  1. (Waterways.) Write on the St. Lawrence Navigation and Power Project as an agency for: (a) agricultural relief; (b) the relief of traffic congestion; and (c) railway rate control. Do you think the project is economically justified?
  2. (Rates.) Explain, illustrate, and contrast the equalization and the distance principles in rate making. What new light is thrown on the problem of rates by Clark’s analysis of railway costs?
  3. (Valuation.) The “final value” of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad has been announced by the Interstate Commerce Commission since the Supreme Court decision in the St. Louis and O’Fallon case, and the Commission has begun recapture proceedings against the road. The case may soon be appealed to the Supreme Court. On purely economic grounds, what basis of valuation do you think the Commission should have adopted? How, if at all, would your answer be different, taking into account legal reasons, especially in light of the O’Fallon decision?

 

II

The Act of 1920 provided that the Interstate Commerce Commission should have the power (a) to fix minimum rates; (b) to establish just divisions of joint rates; and (c) to permit pooling. Explain briefly the importance of each of these provisions.

 

III

Is there a need for regulation of motor transport (a) to protect the public from unfair rates? (b) to protect the railroads from unfair competition? Why or why not in each case?

 

IV

Hearings are now being held in Washington on the consolidation of all the railroads in trunk line territory into four large systems. What advantages and disadvantages may accrue (a) to the individual railroads concerned, and (b) to the public, if the project is approved by the Commission and carried through?

 

V

Write briefly on TWO of the following

  1. The significance of the back haul in railroad rate making.
  2. The importance of the ratio of stocks to bonds in railroad finance.
  3. Railway consolidation policy in England.

 

Final, 1932.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, 74 of 284). Examination Papers, Finals , 1932.

Image Source: Edward H. Chamberlin from Harvard Class Album 1932.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Taussig/Schumpeter/A.Sweezy’s final examination in value and distribution theory, 1935

 

 

In an earlier posting the course readings for the topics “Urban Rent” and “Broader Aspects of Rent” were transcribed for the team-taught course at Harvard of Taussig and Schumpeter, assisted by Alan Sweezy, on theories of value and distribution (first term, 1934-35). From the final examination questions below, we can see that the reading lists from the Harvard Archives collection of course outlines is indeed incomplete for this course. It is entirely likely that other assignments were simply written on the board as needed.

When Taussig taught the course himself in 1932-33 the course description notes “Course 7b undertakes a critical examination of current theories of wages, interest, rent, and profits, particular attention being given to Marshall’s treatment. The course is carried on mainly by discussion. It is meant primarily, though not solely, for candidates for the degree with honors. Students who have attained a grade of A or B in Economics A are admitted without further inquiry. Others must secure the consent of the instructor.”

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Final Examination
Theories of Value and Distribution
Professors Taussig and Schumpeter, Dr. A. Sweezy

1934-35
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 7b1

  1. Are the earnings (rental) of an urban site used for retail trade a cause or an effect of prices of goods there sold? Are the earnings of a skilled craftsman cause or effect of the prices of the goods made (or services rendered) by him? Are the earnings of a business man?
  2. Does Marshall’s distinction between “situation value” and “site value” bear upon the problems of monopolistic competition? If so, why and how? If not, why not?
  3. “In estimating the utility of an entire supply of apples, we must distinguish between the total utility and the marginal utility of the stock. The total utility of a stock is obtained by adding the utility of each additional apple to that of its predecessor. It will accordingly grow until the point of satiety has been reached. Ten apples possess more total utility than five. The marginal utility of the stock, however, is always equal to the marginal utility of the final unit multiplied by the number of units. The marginal utility of two apples will be twice that of the second, of four apples four times that of the fourth.”
    Do you agree?
  4. “Real costs,” “money costs,” “expenses of production,” “supply price.” The same? If different, wherein?
  5. Are “profits,” as defined by

(1) Marshall
(2) Clark
(3) Schumpeter

to be reckoned among the expenses of production?

  1. Explain briefly two of the following:

(1) Difference between selling and production costs.
(2) Determination of equilibrium of the individual firm under conditions of monopoly and competition.
(3) Effect of product differentiation on price, costs, output of the individual firm, and profits.

 

Final. 1935.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, 77 of 284). Examination Papers, June, 1935.

Image Source: Harvard Class Albums: Taussig (1923), Schumpeter (1939), A. Sweezy (1929).

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final exam for E.E. Lincoln’s US Economic History, 1921

 

 

Edmund E. Lincoln taught a two-term economic history course at Harvard. The first term was Economics 2a, European industry and commerce in the nineteenth century [already two postings here (1) Economics 2a course outline and bibliography; (2) Economics 2a course description and final examination questions]. Below a short course description and the final examination questions for the second term course, Economics 2b, Economic History of the United States. I still need to edit the long second term bibliography to include in a later posting. But those who can’t wait can still go to the copy of the List of References in Economics 2 at archive.org. 

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Course Announcement and Description [1919-20]

[Economics] 2b 2hf. Economic History of the United States. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 9.
Dr. E. E. Lincoln.

The aim will be to trace and explain the economic progress of the United States from the late colonial period to the present. The following are some of the topics that will be discussed: the development of agriculture and of the chief manufacturing industries; the change in foreign and domestic commerce; the history of transportation, including the early canal enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building, and the establishment of public regulation of railways; the growth and decline of the merchant marine; banking and currency experiences; the history and significance of the protective tariff policy; the movement toward industrial combination.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1919-20 (2nd edition) published in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XVI, No. 45 (October 30, 1919), p. 61.

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Final Examination
Economic History of the United States
Dr. E. E. Lincoln

1920-21
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 2b

Choose any eight questions.
Answer questions in order. Plan your answers carefully before writing.

  1. Justify if possible, from the economic point of view, the following statement: “The Constitution of the United States was not based solely upon high ideals or upon abstract theories, but was a practical compromise between many conflicting interests.”
  2. Trace carefully the effect of wars upon the development of the American mercantile marine from 1789 to the present time.
  3. Show a clear knowledge of at least three state banking systems before the Civil War.
  4. Give a critical summary of the Government’s policy toward railroad labor from 1888 to the present time.
  5. Discuss in outline the chief movements in the eras outlined in the following extracts from Carver’s “Principles of Rural Economics”: “The agricultural as well as the political history of the United States is divided into two eras. The first is the Colonial era lasting from 1607 to 1776. The second is the era of national development, lasting from 1776 to our own time. This era of national development, however, is divisible into four distinct periods: first, from 1776 to 1833; second, from 1833 to 1864; third, from 1864 to 1888; and fourth from 1888 to the present time.”
  6. Explain and comment upon the statement that “the Tariff Act of 1913 manifested a great change of purpose and attitude and embodied a reversal of policy unique since the Civil War.”
  7. Write brief notes upon the following topics: The Navigation Acts, The Stamp Duties, the “Crédit Mobilier,” the Plumb Plan, the Webb Act.
  8. Explain the methods of operation and the economic significance of the “Anthracite Coal Combination.”
  9. Show a clear knowledge of the development of any one industry in the United States.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, 63 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Set for Final Examinations: History, Church History, … , Economics, … , Fine Arts, Music, June, 1921. pp. 55-56.

Image Source: Edmund E. Lincoln from Harvard Class Album 1920.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. E. E. Lincoln’s final exam in European economic history, 1921

 

The final examination questions for Edmund E. Lincoln’s course on 19th century European economic history taught during the first half-year at Harvard in 1920-21 plus the description of that course from the previous year’s announcement are transcribed below. The corresponding course syllabus and ca. 30 page (!) course bibliography have been posted earlier.

In light of the current U.S. debate about “alternative facts”, question 8 of the exam is particularly interesting!

 

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Course Announcements and Description [1919-20]

[Economics] 2a 1hf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 9.
Dr. E. E. Lincoln.

Course 2a undertakes to present the general outlines of the economic history of western Europe since the Industrial Revolution. Such topics as the following will be discussed: the economic aspects of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic régime, the Stein-Hardenberg reforms, the Zollverein, Cobden and free trade in England, nationalism and the recrudescence of protectionism, railways and waterways, the effects of trans-oceanic competition, the rise of industrial Germany.
Since attention will be directed in this course to those phases of the subject which are related to the economic history of the United States, it may be taken usefully before Economics 2b.

 

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1919-20 (2nd edition) published in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XVI, No. 45 (October 30, 1919), p. 61.

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Final Examination
European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century
Dr. E. E. Lincoln

1920-21
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 2a1

  1. “The unsettled question in the matter of the Swiss Federal Railways is that of their financial standing.”
    Summarize Holcombe’s conclusions on this matter.
  2. “What is notable among British consolidations and associations is not their rarity or weakness so much as their unobrusiveness. There is not much display in the window, but there is a good selection inside.”
    Discuss in outline the achievements of combinations and associations of the different sorts in England.
  3. “Although the principle of most-favored-nation treatment has continued in force, the practical effect of favored-nation pledges has been limited very decidedly by increased specialization of tariff schedules.”
    Explain clearly, and indicate the significance of this statement as it bears upon modern European tariff history.
  4. Contrast the social and economic position of the English Agricultural laborer in recent years with the situation of “the peasant under the old system” (as discussed by Prothero).
  5. “Hitherto it is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day’s toil of any human being.” (Mill, “Principles of Political Economy” Book 4, Ch. V, 6th)
    Do you agree that this was true about 1860? State your arguments clearly.
  6. Indicate Russia’s relative position in the world’s economic resources, and summarize the causes of her retarded industrial development.
  7. Give the reasons for Germany’s rapid foreign trade development during the generation preceding the war.
  8. In Carlyle’s edition of Cromwell’s letters the following statement is made: “The Irish have never let the Fact tell its own harsh story to them. They have said always to the harsh Fact, ‘Thou art not that way, thou art this way.’” Do you agree or disagree with Carlyle so far as the economic aspects of Irish history are concerned? State your case with care.

 

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, 63 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Set for Final Examinations: History, Church History, … , Economics, … , Fine Arts, Music, June, 1921. pp. 54-5.

Image Source: Edmund E. Lincoln from Harvard Class Album 1920.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final examination for B. M. Anderson’s Money and Banking, 1918

 

 

Benjamin M. Anderson taught at Harvard for five years. A syllabus and enrollment figures for his 1917-18 course “Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises” have already been posted. The final examination questions for his course, a.k.a. Economics 3, (transcribed below) come from the second term of this two-term course. Perhaps we get lucky and I, or someone else, might locate the mid-year exam for this course eventually. 

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Course Announcement and Description

[Economics] 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. Tu., Th., at 1.30, with a third hour for sections on Friday morning, Friday afternoon, and Saturday morning.
Asst. Professor Anderson, assisted by Mr.—.

This course undertakes a theoretical, descriptive, and historical study of the main problems of money and banking. Historical and descriptive materials, drawn from the principal systems of the world, will be extensively used, but will be selected primarily with reference to their significance in the development of principles, and with reference to contemporary problems of public policy. Foreign exchange, speculation, and the money-market will be studied in some detail. Crises will be studied in both their industrial and their financial aspects.

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1917-18 published in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XIV, No. 25 (May 18, 1917), p. 60.

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Final Examination
Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises
Assistant Professor Benjamin M. Anderson

1917-18
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 3

  1. Describe panics and crises. How may panics be controlled? How may the evils of crises be minimized?
  2. Give an account of the growth of private banks since the Civil War. What types of private banks are there? Where are the different types chiefly to be found?
  3. What evils in our monetary and banking system did the Federal Reserve Act seek to remedy? What amendments have there been to the Act? Why were these amendments made?
  4. Contrast “one-name” and “two-name” paper.
  5. Give an account of the Crisis of 1907.
  6. What theories have you met regarding bank reserves? What facts have you met by which to test these theories?
  7. What price changes have taken place during the War in the United States? How explain these price-changes?
  8. Must the value of money rest on a commodity basis?
  9. Contrast the London and the New York Stock Exchanges.
  10. Contrast the German and the English banking systems as they were before the War.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, 60 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Set for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Fine Arts, Music, June, 1918. p. 43.

Image Source: Benjamin M. Anderson in Harvard Album, 1915.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final Exam for Persons’ Commercial Crises Course, 1924

 

 

Here we add to the previously posted course outline with links to nearly the entire reading list (!) of Professor Warren M. Persons’ course at Harvard on Commercial Crises from first semester of 1923-24. The final examination questions for that course are transcribed below along with a description for the same course a year later. 

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Course Description (1924-25)

37 1hf. Commercial Crises. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 9, or by arrangement. Professor Persons.

The history, literature, and theories of economic prosperity, crises, and depression, with special reference to the problem of forecasting.
An analysis from the point of view of business cycles of the statistics of speculation, prices, production, trade, interest rates, money and banking.

Source: Harvard University. Division of History, Government, and Economics in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXI, No. 22 (April 30, 1924), p. 74.

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Final Examination
Commercial Crises
Professor Warren Milton Persons

1923-24
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 371

Write on three or more questions

1.     (a) What classes of fluctuations are to be found in series of economic statistics?

(b) How may the sequence in cyclical movements of economic series be established?

(c) What is the sequence of movements of stock prices, New York bank debits, pig-iron production, general commodity prices, outside bank debits, bank loans and discounts, and rates on commercial paper?

(d) Give an economic interpretation of the sequence.

2.     (a) What are the levels and directions of movement of commodity prices, manufacturing output, stock prices, and money rates:

During the months immediately preceding an economic crisis?
After the culmination of commodity prices?
During business revival and prosperity?

(b) Discuss the ways, means, and limitations of forecasting general business conditions.

3. State the fact and discuss the significance with reference to business cycles of the following:

(a) The correlation between the output and prices of manufactured goods;

(b) The correlation between the production and prices of agricultural goods;

(c) Differences in the violence of fluctuation of the output of producers’ and consumers’ goods, transportation of goods, merchandising, and consumption of goods;

(d) Differences in the violence of fluctuations of various classes of commodity prices.

4. Discuss the following:

(a) The periodicity of business cycles.

(b) Are crises and depressions international?

(c) Are business cycles “self-generating”?

(d) Is there a “typical” cycle?

5.    (a) Classify according to any scheme you please the theories of Veblen, Hobson, Aftalion, Bouniatian, Hawtrey, Robertson, Mitchell, Moore, and others.

(b) Discuss your classification.

(c) Outline and criticize the theory of any one of these writers.

6.     Give and discuss in full a program for the stabilization of industry and prices.

 

Final. 1922.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, 66 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Psychology, Social Ethics, June, 1924.

Image Source: Harvard Album, 1924.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Carver’s Principles of Sociology Final Examination, 1923

The mid-year exam (February 1923) for Thomas Nixon Carver’s course “Principles of Sociology” was transcribed from the Vernon Orval Watts papers at the Hoover Institution and posted earlier in Economics in the Rear-View Mirror. Today we can add a transcription of the final examination from June 1923 that comes from the Harvard archives. The syllabus for the course as given in 1917-18 has also been transcribed. 

His autobiography, Recollections of an Unplanned Life (1949), is available on-line. Thank you hathitrust.org! Warning: Carver’s transitory importance for the Harvard economics department is all out of proportion to the utter dullness of his prose. I guess I have to read his early QJE articles that must have really tickled Taussig’s theoretical fancy. As far as the evolution of sociology goes, this creature crawling out of the swamp pool bears no visible similarity to what many of us have come to see as the sociology of the past generation.

 

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Enrollment

[Economics] 8. Professor Carver—Principles of Sociology.

Total 41: of which 12 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 10 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 7 Others.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1922-23, p. 92.

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Final Examination
Principles of Sociology
Professor Thomas Nixon Carver

 

1922-23
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 8

  1. Do you believe that there has been any progress in the last three hundred years? Give your reasons.
  2. Discuss the relation to eugenics of crime and punishment on the one hand, and of philanthropy on the other.
  3. What economic results would you expect to follow the adoption of a sound moral code?
  4. Discuss the topic: Religion as a factor in national prosperity.
  5. Is the individual becoming more free or less free from group control (a) in religious belief, (b) in education, (c) in expressions of opinion, (d) in business contracts?
  6. Discuss Ross’s statement that “The existence of an instinct is no reason for giving it free course.”
  7. What social importance do you attach to the prolongation of infancy in the human species?
  8. Would industry be more democratic or less democratic if workmen had a vote in the management of the establishments in which they are employed Explain.
  9. What are the principal contrasts between the militant and the industrial types of society?
  10. Compare the republican and the democratic theories of representation.

 

Final. 1923.

 

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Papers Printed for Final Examinations in History, History of Religions, … ,Economics, … , Social Ethics, Anthropology. June, 1923. (HUC 7000.28, 65 of 284).

Image Source: Thomas Nixon Carver in Harvard Class Album 1920 p. 18.

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Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final Exam Questions for Usher’s European Economic History, 1922

 

Returning to the curatorial work of matching final exams to postings of course syllabi/reading lists for economics at Harvard, I have transcribed the final examination questions below that correspond to the course taught by A. P. Usher “European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century” during the first semester of 1921-22.

 

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Final Examination
European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century
Professor Abbott Payson Usher

1921-22
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 2a1

  1. What problems were created by the Industrial Revolution? To what extent have they been solved?
  2. Compare and give a critical estimate of the ways in which England and Denmark attempted to deal with the problems of the reform of land tenures, field systems, and rural organization?
  3. What were the contributions of Sir Robert Peel and Richard Cobden: (a) to the repeal of the Corn Laws? (b) to the general establishment of the Free Trade policy?
  4. What was meant about 1836 by the phrase “the railway is by nature a monopoly”?
    What was the general policy of the English government on the issue of monopoly of railway facilities? How did this policy affect the development of the railway network in England?
    Discuss the condition of the fundamental industries in England between 1870 and 1914. What are the prospects for the future!
  5. What was the role played by the German banks in industrial combinations?
  6. Comment or explain: chartism; the Newcastle coal vend; the Bradford Conditioning House; multiple tariff schedule; the basic process.

Final. 1922.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28, Box 64 of 284). Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Set for Final Examinations: History, Church History, … , Economics, … , Social Ethics, Education, June, 1922.

Image Source: Harvard Class Album, 1923.

 

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Cornell Exam Questions Statistics

Cornell. Final Examination for Economic Statistics. Willcox, 1921

 

 

While I was unable to retrieve very much at all at the Library of Congress relevant to Walter F. Willcox’s teaching at Cornell, I did come across the following final examination in economic statistics from 1921. As can be seen from the questions, “statistics” was limited to meaning the tables of economic data compiled and published, especially by government agencies. 

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Course Announcement

[Economics] 76b. Second term. Credit three hours. Prerequisite, course 51 [Elementary Economics]. Professor Willcox.

 

Source: Cornell University Official Publication, Vol. XII, No. 17 (1921), The Register 1920-21, p. 93.

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Economic Statistics 76b

Final Examination June 7, 1921.
(Answer any ten questions)

  1. Describe the nature and scope (a) of economic statistics, (b) of business statistics. Explain the differences between them.
  2. What are the main economic uses of water as a natural resource in the United States?
  3. Describe briefly the coal resources of the United States in comparison with those of other countries.
  4. What effects have been produced on the distribution and growth of population by the location of the world’s coal fields?
  5. Explain the discrepancy between the statistical results reached by the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of the Census. Which set of figures is preferable? Why?
  6. How is the line drawn between (a) agricultural products and manufactured products? (b) mineral products and manufactured products? Why is it drawn in that place?
  7. Is the yield of agricultural products per acre in the United States increasing or decreasing? Give the evidence in support of your reply.
  8. How are manufactured products classified? Why is their classification a matter of importance?
  9. How are hand trades and their products distinguished from manufactured products? how are the former treated at a census? Why?
  10. What are the main sources of information regarding American wage statistics? How may the apparent discrepancy in their results for the period 1890-1900 be reconciled.
  11. How is the wealth of a country or state estimated? If you were asked to estimate the wealth of New York State what method would you follow? Why?
  12. Describe the general nature of German university statistics. Sketch the history of its development.

 

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. The Papers of Walter Willcox, Box 39, Folder “Introduction to Social Philosophy”.

Image Source: Cornell North Campus from a photomechanical print from 1903 in the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.