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Exam Questions Suggested Reading Syllabus Theory

Queens College. Reading assignments and exams for macroeconomics. Lerner 1973-1975

Economics has its share of Wunderkinder, “Primo Donnos”, and heterodoxic poseurs. It is also a fact that economists are overwhelmingly herd animals. From time to time we find a genuine maverick among us, Abba Ptachya Lerner could be designated the poster-child of maverick economists. 

In this post Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has assembled material over three consecutive years from his seminar in advanced macroeconomic theory offered at Queens College of the City University of New York from the 1970s. Class schedules, assigned readings, midterm and final exams are transcribed here from the Spring terms of 1973 through 1975.

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Course Description (1974)

Economics 710, 80:
Seminar in Advanced Macroeconomic Theory
Abba Lerner

An integration of the theories of employment, inflation, interest, capital, investment, and growth, and new lessons for the uses of monetary policy, fiscal policy, and price policy. The Keynesian revolution (interpretations and misinterpretations—general theory or special case?), pre-Keynesian, Keynesian, and post-Keynesian economics. International complications and the myth of international money.

Basic Reading
Ackley Macroeconomics
Keynes The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
Leijonhufvud On Keynesian Economics and the Economics of Keynes
Lerner “Money” (Encycl. Britt., 1946 ed.)
Everybody’s Business
Flation
Other Suggested Readings
Lekachman Keynes’ General Theory – Reports of Three Decades
Harrod Life of Keynes
Lerner The Economics of Employment

There will be one midterm test and a final Examination.

Source: Queens College of the City University of New York. Economics, Spring 1974 (Economicsdepartment brochure), p. 20. Copy in Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 6 “Queens College of the City University of New York: General”, U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.

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1973

QUEENS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Economics 710, 80: Advanced Macroeconomic Theory
Inflation, Employment and Growth
Seminar, Spring 1973

Prof. Abba Lerner
Th. 6:30-8:20 P.M.
SS 314

Reading
Branson Macroeconomics Theory and Policy
Harper & Row		 (B)
Lerner Flation
Quadrangle Books		 (F)
Lerner Everybody’s Business
Harper Torchbooks (paperback)		 (EB)
Lerner Money
(Encycl. Britt 1946 edition)		 (M)
Leijonhufvud On Keynesian Ecs & the Ecs of Keynes
Oxford U P		 (L)
Keynes The General Theory of Interest and Money (sic)
Harcourt Brace		 (K)
Tentative Outline
Week Date
1 Feb. 8 Introduction B:1-3 / M / EB:X.
2 15 The Classical Case B:4-6 / F:1-5 / K.
3 22 Static Equilibrium B:7-9 / F:6-7 / K.
4 Mar 1 Consumption and Investment B:10,11 / K.
5 8 Money B:12,13 / M / K.
6 15 Monetary & Fiscal Policy B:14 / K.
7 22 The Foreign Sector B:15 / F:16,17 / K.
8 29 International Money F:18-20 / K.
9 Apr 5 Inflation B:16 / EB:XI / F:8-15 / K.
10 12 Unemployment Disequilibrium L: I and II / K.
11 19 Macromodels L: III / K.
12 26 Liquidity Preferences L:IV / K.
13 May 3 Keynes and Post Keynes L:V and VI / I(sic).
14 10 Growth Models B:17-19.
15 17 Optimum Growth Models B:20-23.
Other Suggested Readings
Lerner Economics of Employment
Ackley Macroeconomics
Lekachman Keynes’ General Theory – Reports of Three Decades
Lekachman The Age of Keynes
Harrod Life of Keynes

Source: U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 4 “Queens College of the City University of New York: Course outlines. 1971-77, n.d.”.

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QUEENS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Economics 710 and 80
Prof. A. Lerner
Midterm Examination
March 22, 1973

Answer two questions from each Part

PART ONE

  1. M = 300, V = 4, C(Y) = 5/6, I = 300 – 10i
    (I = Investment), (1 = rate of interest)
    What would be the equilibrium values of Y, i, I, and S?
    What would happen to those if

    1. there was an increase in liquidity preference?
    2. M was increased to 450?
    3. C(Y) increased to 7/8?
  1. What is the multiplier? Now is it similar to and how different from the velocity of circulation of money? the accelerator? the balanced budget multiplier?
    How would it be affected by

    1. a change in liquidity preference?
    2. a change in time preference
    3. a change in the elasticity of supply of money?
    4. a change in the propensity to consume?
    5. a fixed M and v?
  1. Describe carefully the mechanism by which an increase in M would increase S. How would this be affected if a lower i decreased the amount people wanted to save?

PART TWO

  1. Discuss these statements:
    “The main contribution of Keynes was to point out that full employment is not reached automatically because

    1. cannot become negative.
    2. workers have no way of reducing their real
    3. workers insist on a real wage greater than their marginal product.
    4. There is a liquidity trap.
  2. Describe carefully the meaning of the marginal efficiency of capital and the marginal efficiency of investment, and how they are related.
    1. in a growing economy
    2. in a declining economy
    3. in a stationary economy
    4. in a steady state of growth economy.
  3. “The rise and fall of the Phillips curve.”
    or
    “ The natural level of unemployment.”

Source: U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 5 “Queens College of the City University of New York: Examinations”.

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QUEENS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Economics 710 and 80
Mr. Lerner
Final Examination
Spring 1973

Answer Question 1 and three others.

  1. Branson Page 24 “the saving investment identity…as a natural derivative from the GNP identity”
    Branson Page 26 “The basic GNP identity:—

C + I + G + (X -M) = GNP = C + S + T + Rf,”

[where]

C=616; I=135; G=219; (X-M)=4; GNP = 974;
S = 149; T=208; Rf=1

    1. Show how the S, I identity can be derived from the GNP identity, spelling out any definitional differences in S or I.
    2. Give (and explain) another definition of S or I, as used by economists that makes I necessarily equal to S only in equilibrium.
  1. Compare the “classical” with the “keynesian” explanations of the automatic establishment of full employment on the assumption of wage and price flexibility.
  1. Explain how an increase in thrift (the desire to save) could (or could not) have the effect of (a) increasing investment, (b) decreasing investment, (c) increasing total income, (d) decreasing total income.
  1. Permanent Income, Life-cycle Consumption Hypothesis, Time Preference, Ratchet Effect, Wealth Effect, Pigou Effect — How are these six items related to the consumption function and to each other?
  1. Explain Branson’s distinction between the “real wage model” and the “money wage model”, and the purpose of the distinction.
  1. What do you consider the most distinctive feature of Leijonhufvud’s approach?
  1. Discuss.
    1. “With perfect wage and price flexibility there can be no problem of involuntary unemployment.”
    2. “A little wage and price flexibility (such as might be achieved in practice) could be worse than none.”
    3. “Too much wage and price flexibility could also cause trouble and not provide stable full employment.”
  1. Why is a rise in the price of foreign currency considered more of a crisis than a rise in the price of coffee or Mutual Fund Shares or real estate?

Source: U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 5 “Queens College of the City University of New York: Examinations”.

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1974

QUEENS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Economics 710, 80
Inflation, Employment and Growth
Seminar in Advanced Macroeconomic Theory
[1974]

Abba Lerner
Tues. 6:20-8:00 P.M.
Temp. 3, Room 2

An Integration of the theories of Employment, Inflation, Interest, Capital, Investment and Growth, and its lessons for the uses of Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy and Price Policy. The Keynesian Revolution (Interpretations and Misinterpretations – General Theory or Special Case?) Pre-Keynesian, Keynesian and Post Keynesian Economics. International Complications and the Myth of International Money.

Basic Reading
Ackley Macroeconomics A
Breit & Ransom The Academic Scribblers B
Keynes The General Theory of Employment, etc. K
Leijonhufvud On Keynesian Economics, etc. L
Lerner Money (Encycl. Britt 1946 edition) M
Lerner Everybody’s Business EB
Lerner Flation F
Other Suggested Readings
Lekachman Keynes’ General Theory – Reports of Three Decades
Harrod Life of Keynes
Lerner The Economics of Employment

There will be one midterm test and a final Examination.

Week Date
1 Feb. 5 Outline — Classical to Keynes M, A 1-4, EB 10, F 1-5
2 12 Lincoln’s Birthday — no classes
3 19 Outline — Post Keynes A 5-8, EB 11, F 6-10
4 26 Say’s Law, Saving and Investment EB 13-14, F11-15
5 Mar 5 Monetary Policy A 9
6 12 Fiscal Policy, Consumption Function A10-12
7 19 The Complete Keynes Model A13-15
8 26 Inflation and Investment A16-17
9 Apr 2 Capital and Growth A18-19
10 9 No Class (Recess)
11 16 International Money F16-20
12 23 Keynesian Revolution? Dynamics L Parts I, II
13 30 Macromodels L Part III
14 May 7 Liquidity and Wealth L Part IV
15 14 Expectations, Illusions and Policies L Parts V, VI
16 21 Review M, A 20, EB, F

Source: U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 4 “Queens College of the City University of New York: Course outlines. 1971-77, n.d.”.

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QUEENS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Econ. 80—710
MIDTERM
Mr. Lerner
April 16, 1974

Answer question 1 and 3 other — 4 altogether.

  1. Suppose there is a decrease in the propensity to consume. Show how would this affect Employment, Prices and Investment
    1. if the amount of money is held constant
    2. if the rate of interest is held constant
      with wages and prices (1) perfectly flexible; (2) sticky downward
  1. Explain the relationship between the marginal efficiency of capital and the marginal efficiency of investment.
    How are these affected by an increase in
    1. the rate of interest?
    2. the optimism of investors?
    3. the wealth of the economy?
    4. the rate of time preference?
  1. I-S, L-M. Explain the nature of these curves, their use, and the stability condition they demonstrate.
  1. Show how the multiplier would be affected by an increase in
    1. the propensity to consume
    2. the marginal propensity to consume
    3. the marginal propensity to save
    4. the quantity of money
    5. the velocity of circulation
    6. liquidity preference
    7. government spending
    8. tax collection
    9. (7) and (8) together
  1. Why must saving (S) always be equal to investment (I)? What could be meant by the statement that an excess of S over I is deflationary?
  1. What are the features which distinguish the Keynesian from the pre-Keynesian and from the Post-Keynesian theories of the equilibrium level of employment? 

Source: U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 5 “Queens College of the City University of New York: Examinations”.

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QUEENS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Economics 80, 710
Inflation, Employment and Growth
Seminar in Advanced Macroeconomic Theory
Dr. A. Lerner

Final Examination
Spring 1974

Answer Question 1 and any three other questions — Four altogether

  1. Suppose there is an increase in thriftiness. Show the direct and the indirect effects on the Multiplier, Income, Employment, Prices and Investment
    1. with wages and prices perfectly flexible,
    2. with wages and prices sticky downward,
      in each case

      1. with the quantity of money held constant
      2. with the rate of interest held constant
  2. State and discuss the primary criticisms that Leijonhufvud makes of a) Keynes and b) the “Keynesians”.
  1. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of indexing
    1. when there is a steady rate of inflation and
    2. when there is a danger of inflation getting out of control.
  1. A well informed and intelligent observer remarks that “We are now suffering from an excess of saving over investment, which is deflationary”. He cannot really mean what he is saying because in the first place we are suffering from inflation rather than deflation and in the second place it is not possible for saving to be greater (or less) than investment. What could he be meaning to say?
  1. Marginal productivity of capital; Marginal productivity of investment; Marginal efficiency of capital; Marginal efficiency of investment.
    Under what conditions are any of these equal to the rate of interest? Explain carefully.
  1. How come America allowed the dollar to depreciate on the international money market? How is this different from national bankruptcy? Will this not result in the disorganization of international trade “beggar thy neighbor” competitive devaluations of freely floating currencies. How could it have been prevented and why was it not prevented?
  1. “The present very high interest rates show the determination of the government to stop the inflation. If this policy is persisted in it is bound to achieve this purpose since, as we all know, the fundamental cause of inflation is the increase in the quantity of money which the authorities have provided in the recent past in order to keep down interest rates”. Discuss the logic and the practicality of such a policy.
  1. How is the size of the multiplier likely to be affected by an increase in:
    1. the rate of interest?
    2. time preference?
    3. liquidity preference?
    4. government spending?
    5. the quantity of money?
    6. the population?
    7. the government budget?
    8. the use of charge accounts for consumer credit?

Source: U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 5 “Queens College of the City University of New York: Examinations”.

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1975

QUEENS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Economics 710, 80
Inflation, Employment and Growth
Seminar in Advanced Macroeconomic Theory
Abba Lerner
Spring 1975
Temp. 3, Room 2

An Integration of the theories of Employment, Inflation, Interest, Capital, Investment and Growth, and its lessons for the uses of Monetary Policy, Fiscal Policy and Price Policy. The Keynesian Revolution (Interpretations and Misinterpretations – General Theory or Special Case?) Pre-Keynesian, Keynesian and Post Keynesian Economics. International Complications and the Myth of International Money.

Basic Reading
Ackley Macroeconomics A
Keynes The General Theory of Employment, etc. K
Lerner Money (Encycl. Britt 1946 edition) M
Lerner Everybody’s Business EB
Lerner Flation F
Other Suggested Readings
Lekachman Keynes’ General Theory – Reports of Three Decades
Lerner The Economics of Employment

There will be one midterm test and a final Examination.

Week Date
1 Feb. 6 Outline — Classical to Keynes M, A 1-4, EB 10, F 1-5
2 13 Outline — Post Keynes A 5-8, EB 11, F 6-10
3 20 Say’s Law, Saving and Investment EB 13-14
4 27 Monetary Policy A 9
5 Mar 6 Fiscal Policy, Consumption Function A10-12
6 13 The Complete Keynes Model A13-15
7 20 No Class (Recess)
8 27 Midterm test
9 Apr 3 Inflationary Depression, the Wage Unit A16
10 10 Capital and Growth A17-18
11 17 International Money F16-20
12 24 Keynesian Revolution? Dynamics Lerner JEL Mar 1974
13 May 1 Liquidity and Wealth A 19
14 8 Expectations, Illusions and Policies A 20, F 11-15
15 15 Review

Source: U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 4 “Queens College of the City University of New York: Course outlines. 1971-77, n.d.”.

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Economics 710-80
Midterm Exam

Abba P. Lerner
March 20, 1975

Answer Question 1 and any two other questions (three altogether)

  1. If the propensity to consume (average and marginal) increases from 50% to 60% what would be the effect on the level of income?
    In your answer consider the six (6) possible combinations of the following conditions:
    The mpI (marginal propensity to invest, i.e. the increase in investment due to an increase in income as a percentage of the increase in income) is (a) 40% (b) 30%
    The elasticity of supply of money plus the elasticity of demand for money is (i) infinite (ii) unitary (iii) zero
  1. Discuss your views and those of Keynes, Ackley, and Lerner on “Involuntary unemployment is basically due to the inability of workers to reduce their real wage”.
  1. Which (if any) of [the following] statements are true? Why do you think so? Indicate any connections between them.
    1. “The more steeply any average (A) is rising (falling) the more will the corresponding marginal (M) be above (below) it, i.e. the greater will be M minus A”.
    2. “The short run mpC (marginal propensity to consume) is less than the short run apC (average propensity to consume)”.
    3. “The long run mpC is equal to the long run apC”.
    4. “For a temporary increase in income mpC minus apC is less than for a permanent increase in income”.
  1. What is Say’s Law? Discuss its logical base, its empirical validity and its practical usefulness.
  1. Income can be defined more widely or more narrowly. Distinguish between the different definitions and indicate how the different definitions could better serve different purposes.

Source: U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 5 “Queens College of the City University of New York: Examinations”.

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QUEENS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Economics 710/80
Dr. A. Lerner
FINAL EXAMINATION
May 22, 1975 (Thursday)

Temp 3 Room 2

Answer Questions 1 and any two others — 3 altogether

  1. Suppose consumption increases from 70% of GNP to 80% and the marginal propensity to consume increases from 50% to 75%. What could be the effect on the GNP if the elasticity of demand for money plus the elasticity of supply of money (with respect to changes in the rate of interest) is (a) infinite (b) zero (c) one, and the marginal propensity to invest (with respect to GNP) is (and remains) (i) 20% (ii) 25% (This makes six combinations).
  1. Is an increase in the national debt beneficial, harmful or neutral for the welfare of (a) the present generation (b) future generations? State and examine the arguments for the different views.
  1. “Involuntary unemployment is due to the inability of workers to reduce their real wage”. “Involuntary unemployment is due to an unsatisfied demand for a larger stock of money”. Discuss.
  1. “To succeed in winning the battle against stagflation we must (a) tighten our belts (b) use the tax rebate to buy more automobiles and (c) make more money available for mortgages for housing”. Discuss.
  1. “Say’s Law is invalid but useful while the Pigou Effect is valid but useless.” Does this make any sense?
  1. Does the rate of interest determine the marginal efficiency of capital? Or Vice versa? Or what?

Source: U. S. Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 17, Folder 5 “Queens College of the City University of New York: Examinations”.

Image Source: National Academy of Sciences. 1994. Biographical Memoirs: Volume 64, p.208.  Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

 

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions Theory

Chicago. First quarter price theory exams. Rees, 1960

Happy to add another round of first quarter price theory exams from the University of Chicago to the collection. Always nice to have a picture from the early professional years of the economists featured here. Distinguished old farts were once rising stars after all. (A general wisecrack made with the qualification, “present company excluded”.)

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Posted earlier

Reading list and exams from the Autumn quarter of 1962.

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Economics 300
Mr. Albert Rees

Midterm Examination
Autumn 1960

  1. (16 points) State whether each of the following statements about the U. S. economy is true, false, or uncertain, and explain your answers briefly.
    1. Consumers decide what will be produced.
    2. All consumers participate equally in determining what will be produced.
    3. The government influences the composition of output in the private consumer goods sector.
    4. The government determines the level of investment for the economy as a whole.
  1. (10 points) Comment briefly on the following statement:
    “When equilibrium prices in competitive markets are disturbed, they tend to be re-established. Thus the first effect of an increased supply of eggs is to lower the price. At this lower price, consumption is increased, and the increase in demand tends to drive the price back up again.”
  2. (16 points) Increased costs cause manufacturers to reduce the size of 5 cent chocolate bars from 2-1/2 ounces to 2 ounces. Because the bars are smaller, people eat more of them and consumption rises from 10, 000 bars a week to 11,000.
    1. Can these events be shown on an ordinary supply and demand diagram? If so, show them. If not, explain why.
    2. Can the elasticity of demand for chocolate be computed? If so, compute it. If not, explain.
  1. (24 Points) The following table gives hypothetical prices of pork and beef per pound in two years, and quantities consumed in a certain town.

 Price per pound Pounds consumed
1959 1960 1959

1960

Pork

 40 cents 50 cents 1000 800
Beef 60 cents 60 cents 1000

1200
    1. Compute the elasticity of demand for pork and the cross-elasticity of demand for beef in terms of the price of pork.
    2. Compute the Laspeyres price index for the price of meat from 1959 to 1960 (assuming that pork and beef are the only kinds of meat).
    3. Draw an indifference map for pork and beef for a typical consumer and illustrate the changes shown in the table on his indifference map. Derive two points on his demand curve for pork.
    4. Assume that the consumer’s money income is increased by an amount equal to his original income times the Laspeyres price index computed in (b). Demonstrate that he has been overcompensated for the price rise. Under what condition if any would this increase in income fail to overcompensate him?
  2. (16 points) Jones lives in a rented house for which he pays $150 a month. He has the opportunity of buying an identical house for $25,000, of which $15,000 will be paid in cash and $10,000 can be borrowed on a mortgage. He has figured that his monthly expenses would be $100 if he bought: $50 for interest on the mortgage, $20 for local taxes, and $30 for maintenance and depreciation. His income tax and expenses for fuel and utilities will not be affected by the purchase. He argues that it will cost him less to live if he buy the house; his wife argues that it will not.
    1. Under what conditions is Jones right? Under what conditions is Mrs. Jones right?
    2. Is there any divergence between the “right answer” to this problem from the private standpoint of the Jones family and from the standpoint of society? Explain.
  1. (18 points) The GJS corporation, manufacturers of gadgets, have determined that for every 10 per cent increase in the capacity of a gadget factory, minimum short-run average total cost falls by 1 per cent throughout the relevant range of capacities.
    1. What can you say about the production function for gadgets over the relevant range?
    2. Suppose that the company hires two factors of production, labor and capital, and pays each its marginal product. Will anything be left over for the owners of the company who contribute no services? Explain.
    3. Suppose that the company wants to build a plant to produce 10,000 gadget per week. What can you say about the size of the plant that will produce these most efficiently?

Economics 300
Mr. Rees
Fall. 1960

Final Examination
December 14, 1960

  1. (21 points) Show each of the following events on an indifference map:
    1. The change in the consumption of margarine following an increase in income (axes: butter and margarine. Assume that the income elasticity of demand is positive for butter and negative for margarine.)
    2. The change in the consumption of bread following a rise in its price. (axes: bread and all other commodities.) Identify the income and substitution effects of the price change.
    3. Do part (b) over using Friedman’s “Marshallian demand curve” concept and explain the difference between the diagrams for (b) and (c).
  2. (19 points) In the United States, about one-fifth to one-fourth of all income is property income. State briefly (a) the advantages of having private income from property in our economy (b) the costs or disadvantages. You may judge these according to any values you care to use, making the values as explicit as possible.
  3. (20 points) In a certain isolated area there are 50 farms of each of two types, A farms and B farms (100 farms in all). Within each type, all farms are identical. All farms are worked by identical workers. The marginal product schedules of one farm of each type are given below, in bushels of wheat per year.

 A Farm

B Farm

No. of workers
1 100

95

2

 90 84
3 80

73

4

 70 62
5 60

51
  1. If there are 260 workers in the area, how many will be employed on each kind of farm? What is the total product of each kind of farm? The rent of each kind of farm? The wages of workers on each type of farm in bushels per year? (Assume that farmers compete freely for labor, and labor can move within the area.)
  2. By means of an irrigation project, the owners of twenty B farms transform them into A farms. Recompute the answers to (a), counting the transformed farms as A farms. Who gained and who lost from the project, and why?
    1. (20 points) By means of appropriate diagrams and/or explanations, show the short-run effect of each of the following taxes on the output and profits of a monopolist.
    2. An excise tax of 10 cents per unit of product.
    3. An excise tax of 10 percent of the price of the product.
    4. A corporate profit tax equal to 50 percent of net profits.
  1. (20 points) The Edgeworth Box Company is the only employer in the town of Yarmouth. Its supply schedule of labor is given by W = 40 + 1/4 q, where W is the wage in cents per hour and q is the number of manhours supplied per week. The company sells boxes in a competitive market. The value of the marginal product of labor is given by
    V = 100 – 1/2 q for values of q greater than zero.
  2. How many man-hours of labor will the company employ, and at what wage?
  3. Show diagramatically for part (a) first, the wage bill and second, the sum of monopoly profits and the return to factors of production other than labor.
  4. What will be the effect on employment of a legal minimum wage of 60 cents an hour? of 80 cents an hour?

This problem may be solved algebraically or graphically. The following table gives numerically some points on the schedules whose equations are given above:

Supply

Marginal Product

q (Man-hours)

 W (cents) q (man-hours) W (cents)
1 40.25 1

99.5

2

 40.50 2 99.0
3 40.75 3

98.5

4

 41.00 4 98.0
etc.

etc.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Albert Rees Papers, Box 1, Folder “Economics 300”.

Image Source: University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-07002, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

Categories
Agricultural Economics Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Syllabus, readings, exams for agricultural economics. Galbraith, 1938-39

John Kenneth Galbraith, not quite 25 years of age

The first association made in one’s mind upon hearing the name John Kenneth Galbraith is certainly not “agricultural economics”, but that was the field in which his academic career began and indeed it was what got his foot into the door at Harvard. In his papers at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library one can find some material for his courses that is not to be found in the Harvard archives, such as the course outline and reading assignments for his year-long course taught in 1938-39 to undergraduates and graduate students, “Economics of Agriculture”. 

Economics in the Rear-View Mirror tops off Galbraith’s syllabus and reading list with enrollment figures and semester exams transcribed from material in the Harvard Archives.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 72. Dr. Galbraith—Economics of Agriculture.

Total 41: 2 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1938-1939, p. 98.

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Outline of the Course.
Three objectives.

  1. Some idea of the agriculture of the United States and Western Europe—that which one is likely to encounter. Two aspects:
    1. Type of production
    2. Kind of agricultural organization. Meaning.
  2. An understanding of the economics of the agricultural industry.
    Previous experience with economic theory
    Parts of a course such as this to see if it can be clothed with factual material and made useful.
    Peculiar advantages of agriculture.
  3. Building on the previous two stages, we turn to agricultural policy. What is agricultural policy? The farm problem.
    —we examine the factors underlying economic difficulties of agriculture in recent years, the causes of distress. The way the United States has attempted to meet is farm problem and the various policies which may be contemplated in the future.
    —we will attempt to compare this with the policy of other countries.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Economics 71
(First half year)
Reading List

Persia Campbell, American Agricultural Policy, pp. 1-55.

President’s Report on Farm Tenancy in the U.S., pp. 35-49, 3-20. [cf. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924074241344 ]

C.O. Brannen. Relation of Land Tenure to Plantation Organization. U.S.D.A. Bulletin 1269, 1924-25, p. 3, 8-38, 60-67.

The Future of the Great Plains. Report of the Great Plains Committee, pp. 1-89.

Chamberlin, Theory of Monopolistic Competition. Pp. 1-116.

Dennison and Galbraith. Modern Competition and Business Policy, pp. 1 to 109.

Garver and Hanson. Principles of Economics, Chapter V.

Black and Black. Production Organization, pp. 109-145, 255-260 inc.

Cassels, J. M. On the Law of Variable Proportions in Explorations in Economics, p. 223.

Galbraith and Black, Maintenance of Agricultural Production, Journal of Political Economy, June, 1938.

ECONOMICS 71
Syllabus – 1938-39

Chapter I.
A General Survey of Agricultural Production

    1. The agriculture of the United States. The livestock and crop production of the different regions of the United States. The classification of American agriculture by “type-of-farming”. A review of the type-of-farming map of the United States.
    2. The agricultural systems of the United States. The family farm. Ownership und tenancy. Part-time agriculture in the East. Large-scale and corporation forms in the Great Plains and West. Plantation and cropper agriculture in the South. Retrograde and decayed agricultural production in in the southern Appalachians.[Hand-written marks on the carbon copy indicate that (c) and (d) were not covered.]
    3. English agriculture. Character of agricultural production in England. The large land-owners and tenant farming. Independent ownership in England.
    4. Western Europe and the Danube Basin. (i) a survey of the agricultural map and agricultural production of Western Europe. (ii) The agricultural systems of the Continent. Peasant agriculture and types of peasant culture and organization. The distinction between peasant and farmer. Estate or Junker agriculture.

Chapter II
The Competitive Structure of Agricultural Enterprise as a Whole

    1. Monopoly, monopolistic — and pure competition. Review of the theoretical categories of competitive organization. Comparison of competitive organization in agriculture with that in industry. Comparisons of competitive structure in agricultural production with that in the supply of agricultural production goods.
    2. the significance of “pure” competition in agriculture

— in relation to agricultural price behavior
— in relation to behavior of agricultural production
— in relation to the variability of agricultural income.

Chapter III
The Organization of the Individual Farm Enterprise

    1. Theoretical differences between the adjustment of industry and agriculture to economic change. the significance of the coincidence of marginal with average revenue in agriculture.
    2. The combination of the factors of production. Diminishing returns. The highest profit combination in agriculture.
    3. Practical considerations in achieving optimum returns. The combination of enterprises. Budgeting technique. the effect of the period of production and the problem of price forecasting.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Economics 71
Outline and Reading List
Second Half-Year, 1938-39

Chapter IV.
The Financing of Agriculture

    1. the nature of the financial requirements of the farmer. Land purchase credit; credit for durable capital; production credit.
    2. Recent trends in the development of agricultural credit institutions. The transition from private to public institutions.
    3. The riddle of public credit policy.

Readings:

Farm Credit Administration. Annual Report 1937. Pp. 15-83.

Galbraith. The Farmer’s Banking System; Four Years of F.C.A. Operations. Harvard Business Review. Spring 1937.

Galbraith. The Federal Land Banks and Agricultural Stability. Journal of Farm Economics, February, 1937.

Chapter V.
Agricultural Land

    1. The development of American land policy; the transition from free land to private ownership and full utilization.
    2. The problem of optimum utilization. The margin of desirable use. The reasons for sub-marginal utilization. The alternative uses of sub-marginal farm lands and the techniques for controlling land use.
    3. The economic aspects of the erosion problem.

Readings:

Hibbard, B. H. A History of the Public Land Policy, Chapters I, XIII, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XXVII, XXVIII.

National Resources Board. Part II. Report of the Land Planning Committee. Pp. 108-134, 154-202. A general rather than a detailed examination of this report is expected. Attention is called to other sections of the report.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. To Hold This Soil. Misc. Publication 321. 1938. Copies may be obtained from U.S.D.A, or Congressman.

Chapter VI
Agricultural Labor.

    1. General character of agricultural labor force. Family labor, the individual worker, seasonal and spring labor. Trade union organization in agriculture. Ownership aspirations of the agricultural laborer and the so-called agricultural ladder.

Readings:

Social Problems in Agriculture. I.L.O., 1938. Pp. 23-38, 40-54, 57-71, 72-97.

[International Labour Office. Studies and Reports, Series K (Agriculture) Social Problems in Agriculture. Record of the Permanent Agricultural Committee of the I.L.O. (7-15 February 1938). Geneva]

Chapter VII
The Agricultural Policy of the United States

    1. Proposal and legislation for farm relief during the 1920’s.
    2. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the farm program of the New Deal.

Readings:

Nourse, Davise, Black. Three Years of the Agricultural Adjustment, pp. 1-245.

Report of the Secretary of Agriculture 1938. pp. 1-68. This may be obtained from Office of Information, U.S.D.A. or a Congressman.

[There is a bracket for Chapter VIII hand-marked on Galbraith’s personal copy, from this and the final exam it appears that these topics were likely not covered in the course.]

Chapter VIII.
Comparative Aspects of Foreign Agricultural Policy

    1. The agricultural policy of Great Britain.
    2. The agricultural policies of Sweden and Denmark.
    3. Autarchial agricultural policy in Germany and Italy.
    4. The determinants of agricultural policy in review.

Readings:

Bonow, M. Agricultural Policy: Lessons from Sweden.

Denmark. Agriculture. The Agricultural Council. Look over and cf. particularly pp. 9-26, 287-316.

Marquis Child. Farmer-Labor Relations in Scandinavia. Yale Review, Autumn, 1938.

Karl T. Schmidt. The Plough and the Sword, pp. 1-175.

R. A. Brady. Spirit and Structure of German Fascism. Pp. 213-291.

_____________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 71
Mid-year Examination
1938-39.

  1. (Reading period material.) Write for about three-quarters of an hour on one of the following topics:
    How the United States government has disposed of its land.
    Proposed measures for farm relief in the 1920’s.
    The objectives and methods of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration 1933-36.
  2. What do you understand by the phrase “a system of agriculture”? With reference to your statement, outline the major systems of agriculture in the United States.
  3. Discuss the competitive organization of the agricultural industry and indicate the economic possibilities and limitations upon collective action by farmers for increasing their income.
    Cite relevant examples where possible.
  4. What difficulties would you expect to encounter in endeavoring to determine the cost of producing milk in New England assuming that farmers are ready to furnish you all available data?
  5. How does agricultural output behavior differ from that of industry during depression and why? Enter fully upon the theoretical aspects of this question and discuss critically.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Bound volume Mid-Year Examinations—1939 in Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 13.

_____________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 71
Final Examination
1938-39.

  1. (Reading period material.) Write for about three-quarters of an hour on the application of the ideas of either Henry George or Thorstein Veblen to the problems of present day agriculture.
  2. “The agricultural laborer is truly the forgotten man. Unorganized, isolated, ill-paid and over-worked his plight is not even sufficiently well-known so that it bothers the nation’s conscience.”
    Discuss fully and critically
  3. Discuss and contrast the effects of (a) a too generous and (b) a too niggardly supply of farm mortgage credit under various conditions of agricultural prosperity and depression. Do not present an historical material that is not relevant to your answer.
  4. Explain as you see it, the relationship between private ownership of land and the problems of conservation and soil erosion.
  5. Is production control by the Federal government necessary to the well-being of American agriculture? Justify your answer fully.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science (June, 1939) in Harvard University Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 4.

Image Source: Photo of John Kenneth Galbraith attached to his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States submitted on June 16, 1933 in Oakland California.
Fun fact: JKG weighed in at 180 pounds (81.65 kg) with a height of 6 ft 8 inches (2 m, 3 cm).  BMI = 19.8.

Categories
Business Cycles Distribution Economic History Exam Questions History of Economics Industrial Organization International Economics Johns Hopkins Labor Money and Banking Public Finance Public Utilities Statistics Theory

Johns Hopkins. General Written Exam for Economics PhD. 1956

 

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

________________________

Other General Exams from Johns Hopkins

________________________

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

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

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

Answer two questions, one from each group.

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

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

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

Answer three questions, at least one from each group.

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

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

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

Answer three questions, one from each group.

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

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

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

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

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

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

Answer four questions, one from each group.

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

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

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

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

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions

Chicago. First quarter of price theory. Midterm and final exams. Harberger, 1957

Arnold Harberger

 

A copy of the reading list for the first quarter of price theory at the University of Chicago taught by Arnold Harberger in the autumn quarter of 1955 has been transcribed and posted earlier. That copy was found in Milton Friedman’s papers at the Hoover Institution Archives. Copies of the two mid-term exams and the final exam for the same course in 1957 were found in Zvi Griliches’ papers in the Harvard University Archives. While not a perfect match, some items might have been added/subtracted to the later course, price theory à la Harberger in the mid-1950sis better reflected in these two posts together now.

______________________________

Economics 300A
Hour Examination
November 5, 1957

(60 points)

  1. True, False, or Uncertain. In each case write a paragraph explaining your answer. Your grade will depend heavily on your explanation.
    1. The price elasticity of demand for a good will be higher, the higher is the income elasticity of demand for that good.
    2. If X and Y are substitutes, a decline in the price of X can lead to an increase in the amount of Y demanded only if Y is an inferior good.
    3. If a particular producer of grapefruit produces 10 percent of the total supply of grapefruit, the elasticity of demand facing that producer must be at least -10.
    4. If the cross-elasticity of demand for X with respect to the price of Y is .5, the cross elasticity of demand for Y with respect to the price of X will also be .5.
    5. The demand curve for a commodity which includes the “income effect” is necessarily more elastic than the demand curve for the same commodity which includes only the substitution effect.
    6. Food and “all other commodities” cannot be complements.

(15 points)

  1. Derive the expression for the elasticity of demand facing a particular producer in terms of the elasticity of “total demand” in the market and of the elasticity of “other supply”.

(25 points)

  1. Using indifference curves, derive the supply curve of labor as A function of real wages. Distinguish between the “income effect” and the substitution effect. State what, if any, will be the circumstances under which a rise in real wages will lead to a reduction in the quantity of labor offers.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Economics 300A
Hour Examination
4 December 1957
Mr. Harberger

(48 points)

  1. True, False or Uncertain. In each case write a few sentences explaining your answer.
    1. If the firms in the coal industry were to merge into one single firm, the demand curve for coal miners would become more elastic.
    2. Marginal cost exceeds average cost wherever marginal cost is rising.
    3. In the case in which factors combine in fixed proportions to produce a product X, the elasticity of demand in industry X for a factor will be greater, the larger is the fraction of the total costs of producing X which is spent on hiring the factor in question.
    4. A firm having monopsony power in the market for its labor will hire workers up to the point where their wage is equal to their marginal value product (marginal physical product times marginal revenue), not to the value of their marginal physical product.
    5. If, at a point in a homogeneous production function, the marginal product of A is rising, the marginal product of B will be negative. (Consider A and B as the only two factors.)
    6. If, at a point in a homogeneous production function, the marginal product of B is negative, the marginal product of A will be rising. (Consider A and B as the only two factors.)

(34 points)

  1. Discuss and comment on Marshall’s four rules of derived demand

(18 points)

  1. Discuss the relationship between short run and long run cost curves. Is a shorter run marginal cost curve always more elastic than a longer run marginal cost curve going through the same point on the long run average cost curve

 

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Final Examination
Economics 300A
Autumn, 1957

(70 points)

  1. True, False, or Uncertain. In each case write a few sentences explaining your answer. Your grade will depend heavily on your explanation.
    1. If the United States exports one tenth of its coal, the elasticity of supply of domestic coal being unity, the elasticity of supply of U.S. coal exports must be at least 10.
    2. If the price of X rises while the price of X stays constant, the amount of Y demanded will always increase, so long as X and Y are substitutes. (Assume money income and other prices remain unchanged.)
    3. The own-price elasticity of demand for a commodity must always equal or exceed, in absolute value, the cross elasticity of demand for that commodity with respect to the price of any other commodity.
    4. The own-price elasticity of demand for a commodity must always equal or exceed, in absolute value, the marginal propensity to consume that commodity.
    5. When the production function is such that factors of production combine with each other in fixed proportions to produce a product, the own price elasticity of demand for the use of any of the factors in the production of the product must be less than the price elasticity of demand for the product. (Assume that the production of the product in question is competitive.)
    6. The income elasticity of demand for a commodity is the marginal propensity to consume that commodity divided by the average propensity to consume that commodity.
    7. The elasticity of demand for labor in the production of automobiles will be lower in the case in which the quantities of other factors are given than in the case in which the prices of other factors are taken as given.
    8. The elasticity of demand facing a monopolist will be lower than the elasticity of demand facing the same industry if it were competitive.
    9. The welfare cost of a 5 percent tax on automobiles is the same as the welfare cost of a 5 percent subsidy on all goods and services other than automobiles.
    10. The welfare cost per dollar of tax receipts of a 5 percent tax on automobiles is the same as the welfare cost per dollar of tax receipts of a 5 percent tax on all goods and services other than automobiles.
    11. If, at a point in a production function which is homogeneous (of degree 1), the marginal product of factor B is negative, the marginal product of factor A will be rising (in the sense that the marginal product of A will be higher when the proportion of factor A to factor B is slightly increased). Assume that A and B are the only two factors.
    12. The supply curve of labor can be backward bending only if leisure is an inferior good.
    13. The demand for the services of a factor of production in a particular industry will be more elastic, the larger is the share of that factor in the total costs of the industry in question.
    14. All short run average cost curves are tangent at (at least) one point to the long run average cost curve.

(15 points)

  1. Outline the economics of the fishing industry. What resemblance, if any, do you see between the economics of the fishing industry under conditions of competition and the economics of monopolistic competition.

(15 points)

  1. Indicate, using supply and demand diagrams, what is the welfare cost of a tariff. Assume that the tariff is on a product (woolen cloth) in which the domestic demand is partly met by domestic supplies and partly met by imports. The tariff, of course, is a tax only on the imports. Assume that the imported product and the domestic product are for all relevant purposes homogeneous. What role does the elasticity of domestic demand for woolen cloth play in your measure of welfare cost? The elasticity of domestic supply of woolen cloth? The ratio of domestic supply to domestic demand?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Papers of Zvi Griliches, Box 130, Folder “Syllabi and exams, 1955-1959”.

Image Source: Arnold C. Harberger, 1957 Fellowship in Economics from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Methods of Social Reform. Enrollment, description, linked reading list, final exam. Carver, 1904-1905

Economics professor Thomas Nixon Carver was the second in a long line of Harvard professors who exposed their students to the doctrines of anarchism, socialism, and communism (among other -isms). Carver came to bury the well-intentioned but ill-conceived doctrines, not to praise them. 

Strange Political Bedfellow: An earlier post provides Thomas Nixon Carver’s link to the U.S. publicist of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 1921.

________________________

Material from earlier years:

Exams and enrollment figures for economics of socialism and communism taught by Edward Cummings (1893-1900),
Socialism and Communism (with Bushée), 1901-92,
Methods of Social Reform, (Carver), 1902-03.

Material from later years:

Short Bibliography of Socialism for “Serious-minded students” by Carver (1910),
Thomas Nixon Carver (1920),
Edward S. Mason (1929),
Paul Sweezy (1940),
Wassily Leontief  (1942-43),
Joseph Schumpeter (1943-44),
Overton Hume Taylor (1955).

________________________

Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 14b 2hf. Professor Carver. — Methods of Social Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax, etc.

Total 79: 10 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 26 Juniors, 13 Sophomores, 5 Others.

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

________________________

Course Description
1904-05

14b 2hf. Methods of Social Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 1.30. Professor Carver.

Open only to students who have had Course 14a.
The purpose of this course is to make a careful study of those plans of social amelioration which involve 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 theories 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 class-room discussions.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), p. 46.

___________________

[Library stamp: Mar 7, 1905]

Economics 14

Topics and References
Starred references are prescribed

[Note: Identical to reading list of 1902-03]

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. William 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, 1904-1905”.

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ECONOMICS 14b
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. So far as you have studied them, were the failures of communistic experiments due to the fact that they were carried out on too small a scale, to unfavorable outside conditions, or to inherent weaknesses in their internal organization? Give at least three illustrations.
  2. Give an outline of one Utopian scheme or ideal commonwealth which you have studied, and point out its strong and its weak features.
  3. Give an account of the origin of the German Social Democratic Party.
  4. Is there any essential difference between the income of the capitalist and that of the landlord? Explain your answer.
  5. Discuss the question, Is labor the sole creator of wealth?
  6. Discuss the question, Is there any relation between the inequality in the distribution of talent and the inequality in the distribution of wealth under the competitive system.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05;  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), p. 33.

Image Source: “The trouble, my friends, with socialism is that it would destroy initiative” by Udo J. Keppler. Centerfold in Puck, v. 66, no. 1715 (January 12, 1910). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Illustration shows a large gorilla-like monster with human head, clutching clusters of buildings labeled “Public Utilities, Competition, [and] Small Business” with his right arm and left leg, as he crushes a building labeled “Untainted Success, Initiative, Individualism, Independence, [and] Ambition” with his left hand, causing some citizens to flee while others plead for mercy. He casts a shadow over the U.S. Capitol, tilting in the background.

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Distribution Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Enrollment, description, final exam. Distribution of Wealth. Carver, 1904-1905

1904

 

In this course Harvard professor Thomas Nixon Carver was wearing his economic theorist cap. The first semester of the academic year 1904-05 was the first time he taught this one-semester course at Harvard. One notes (disapprovingly) that the course title apparently confounds income and wealth. On the other hand, strictly speaking, so did the title of Adam Smith’s magnum opus, Wealth of Nations.

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

 Economics 14a 1hf. Professor Carver. — The Distribution of Wealth.

Total 52: 5 Graduates, 23 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 6 Others.

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

__________________________

Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] 14a 1hf. The Distribution of Wealth. Half-course (first half-year) Tu., Th., at 1.30. Professor Carver.

This course begins with a review of the theory of value and the laws which govern the exchange of commodities. The study is then carried into the field of distribution, and the attempt is made to find out the laws which actually, under existing conditions, determine the shares in the products of industry, such as wages, interest, rent, and profits. Finally the question of justice in distribution is considered.
The course will be conducted by means of lectures and classroom discussions.
This course is a necessary preliminary to 14b.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), pp. 45-46.

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ECONOMICS 14a
Mid-year Examination, 1904-05

  1. What is the relation between the value of an article and the labor which produced it?
  2. Explain what is meant by the elasticity of demand.
  3. Explain and elaborate the following passage: “In a trade which uses very expensive plant, the prime cost of goods is but a small part of their total cost; and an order at much less than their normal price may leave a large surplus above their prime cost.” (Marshall, Principles of Economics, 4th ed, p. 447.)
  4. Fill out the blank columns in Table I and point out where the law of increasing returns stops and the law of diminishing returns begins.
    Table I, showing the amount of corn (in bushels) which could be produced on an assumed farm of 100 acres by varying numbers of laborers employed in its cultivation:—

No. of laborers.

 Total product. Average product per laborer. Marginal product. Total wages as based on marginal product. Total rent.

Rent per acre.

1

 1000
2 3000

3

 4000
4 4800

5

 5500
6 6000

7

 6300
8 6400

  1. Reverse Table I by filling out Table II.
    Table II, derived from Table I, showing the amount of corn which 8 laborers could produce on varying amounts of land:—

No. of acres.

 Total product. Average product per acre. Marginal product per acre. Total rent as based on marginal product of land. Total wages.

Wages per laborer.
  1. How would the withdrawal of a given piece of land from cultivation affect the total product of industry in the community.
  2. Can you apply the theory of joint demand to the problem of the relation of capital to wages?
  3. How does it happen that a piece of capital will normally produce more during its lifetime than it is worth at any one time? What bearing has your answer upon the problem of the source of interest?
  4. In what important particulars do interest and rent resemble one another, and in what do they differ?
  5. Is risk productive? Is there any relation between risk and profits?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05;  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), pp. 34-35.

Image Source: Harvard Square (1904) from the Brookline Public Library, Brookline Photograph Collection at the Digital Commonwealth website. This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License (CC BY-NC-ND).
CC BY-NC-ND icon

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Exam Questions Harvard Methodology

Harvard. Course enrollment, description, final exam. Economic Research Methods. Carver, 1904-1905

Thomas Nixon Carver (ca. 1916)

 

With this post we add Professor Thomas Nixon Carver’s exam questions for a graduate course on methods of economic investigation to our larger data base of economics examination questions. This was the fourth time that Carver offered this particular course at Harvard. The scope of his teaching portfolio was by far the broadest of the department, ranging across economic theory, sociology, schemes of economic reform, and agricultural economics so it is hardly surprising that he would have judged himself competent to teach/preach methodology too. 

The last question reveals his trinity of economic methods: historical, statistical and analytical. Judging merely from Carver’s exam questions here, I would hazard a guess that this course might have been considered a “snap” course. I have no explanation for the relatively low enrollment figures, that is unless he assigned significant amounts of German language texts. Taussig did that earlier.

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“Methods of Investigation”
in other years

Economics 13 (Scope and Methods) in 1895-96, Taussig.

Economics 13 (Scope and Methods) in 1896-97, Not Offered.

Economics 13 (Scope and Methods) in 1897-98, Ashley.

Economics 13 (Methods) in 1898-99, Taussig.

Economics 13 (Methods) in 1899-1900, Not Offered.

Economics 13 (Methods) in 1900-01, Carver.

Economics 13 (Methods) in 1902-03, Carver.

Economics 13 (Methods) in 1903-04, Carver.

Economics 12 (Scope and Methods) from 1914-15, Carver.

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Course Enrollment
1904-05

‡Economics 13 1hf. Professor Carver. — Methods of Economic Investigation.

Total 4: 2 Graduates, 2 Seniors.

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

__________________________

Course Description
1904-05

[Economics] ‡*13 1hf. Methods of Economic Investigation. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., at 2.30. Professor Carver.

Course 13 will examine the methods by which the leading writers of modern times have approached economic questions, and the range which they have given their inquiries; and will consider the advantage of different methods, and the expediency of a wider or narrower scope of investigation. These inquiries will necessarily include a consideration of the logic of the social sciences. Methods of reasoning, methods of investigation, and methods of exposition will be considered separately, and the sources and character of the facts which are essential to economic science will be examined. Cairnes’ Logical Method of Political Economy and Keynes’ Scope and Method of Political Economy will be carefully examined. At the same time selected passages from the writings of Mill, Jevons, Marshall, and the Austrian writers will be studied, with a view to analyzing the nature and scope of the reasoning.

Course 13 is designed mainly for students who take or have taken Course 2 or Course 15; but it is open to mature students having a general acquaintance with economic theory.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), p. 49.

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ECONOMICS 131
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. Discuss the question of the subdivisions of economics.
  2. Is it possible to discuss economic questions without passing ethical judgements? Explain and give examples.
  3. Of what use are mathematical formulae and diagrams in economics?
  4. Compare the historical and the analytical methods in their applicability to the following questions: (1) Is the world likely to become over populated? (2) Would communism tend to increase the rate of multiplication?
  5. Is there any relation between the theory of probabilities and any class of economic laws? Explain.
  6. By what logical method is it possible to distinguish the product of a given factor from that of a number of coöperating factors of production?
  7. Do economists make use of pure hypotheses such as are used in the physical sciences? Give reasons for your answer.
  8. What do you conceive to be the true relation of the historical method, the statistical method and the analytical method to one another.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05;  Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), p. 33.

Image Source: Thomas Nixon Carver photograph from the November 11, 1916 issue of the Harvard Illustrated Magazine, p. 110.Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Columbia Exam Questions

South Carolina and Columbia College. Political Economy Exams. Francis Lieber, 1855, 1863

Francis Lieber (1800-1872)

What is a curator of Economics in the Rear-view Mirror to do when he stumbles across college exams in political economy from 1855 and 1863? Of course, there is no choice but to stop everything and post the material immediately. I had no reason to either like or dislike Francis Lieber when I started this post, but the more I see of him (not all posted here…yet), the more I get to like him as a scholar.

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Specimens of Francis Lieber’s Examinations

The numbers at the [left] of the questions in Sections A and B represent the point values of the questions.

A. South Carolina College.
Junior Class in Political Philosophy, 18551

The Juniors stand on Paley’s Elements of Political Knowledge, to Chap. VII, and five lectures.

  1. [35 points] What is absolutism or an absolute Government: What is an absolute Monarchy, and what is absolute Democracy? Why is an absolute Democracy one of the worst governments? Compare the reality of power and the responsibility of the power-holder in the absolute Monarchy with those in the absolute Democracy.
  2. [20 points] Define Obedience and state whether obeying is passive submission or an attribute of rational beings and free agents. Show how man is familiarized with the idea of authority before he becomes an active citizen, and show, moreover, how it is that we ought to obey laws which were made generations before us, and, in the making of which, consequently, we have no direct or indirect share.
  3. [25 points] What is meant by the theory of the civil compact, implied or positive? Give the most serious objection to this theory.
  4. [20 points] Give the first and the last division of the general classification of all governments and politics, written in such a way as to show the subordination of the different parts.

1Printed copy in Lieber papers, Columbia University Libraries. A handwritten note at the bottom reads: “N. B. These refer to a course which commenced Oct. 1, and ended Nov. 10. F. L.”

________________________

B. South Carolina College.
Senior Class in Political Economy, 18552

The Seniors stand on the entire annual course of Political Economy, including a course of lectures and the whole of Say’s Political Economy, except the Book on Distribution.

Subjects.

  1. [25 points] Louis the Fourteenth was in the habit of saying that royal profusion is the charity of kings, or, that lavish governments are a blessing to the people. Show what is meant by this assertion and its grave error.
  2. [10 points] Define the term “Itinerant Merchant” or Pedlar. Does the Itinerant form an essential link in the long chain of commerce?
  3. [30 points] Enumerate the characteristics of a sound acceptable tax, according to Mr. Say, and also the characteristics as your teacher has given them — adding to each characteristic an explanatory note or two, in order to show what is meant by it.
  4. [15 points] Is machinery objectionable on the ground that it saves labor? If this were so, would the objection apply to machinery alone?
  5. [30 points (sic, perhaps only 20?)] A hotel or bridge is built for a capital, say, of $100,000. The undertakings prove failures in spite of the prudent management of the concern either, because the buildings were erected on an extravagant plan, or because the number of people making use of them, falls short of that calculated upon. The hotel, or the bridge, is sold for $25,000 and now the number of boarders in the hotel, or of the passengers over the bridge, is sufficient to pay for the interest of the latter sum, as well as for all other outlays, and yields a fair profit. Hereupon the general remark is made: “Well, the capitalist who first undertook the thing is ruined, it is true, but the people,” or “the community at large have gained by it; for, here, they are living in this fine hotel,” or “here is the bridge still standing.” Similar remarks are made on large, yet unprofitable, under takings, of governments, with this difference that, generally, it is added, “There is no harm in the original outlay, although it proves unprofitable, inasmuch as the capital laid out has returned to the people.” For instance, one hundred millions of dollars laid out by government for a railway to the Pacific, would be no loss, although the railway should yield no profit, nor even pay for the interest of the capital, because the whole amount of the capital, would have returned to the people, by the laying of the road itself.

You meet with this argument every day in the debates in Congress, as well as in common life. Show its utter fallacy, or which amounts to the same thing, answer the question: Can the capitalist who pays for a work, be ruined by it, yet the community, or people at the same time be benefitted? And is there any difference in point of political economy, whether government, or a private individual be the capitalist? And also, whether there be any difference if the iron, in the case of the railway, be American iron, or purchased abroad?

2A printed copy is in the Columbia University Libraries.
Lieber elaborated the answer to the main part of the fifth question in his Some Truths Worth Remembering, Given as a Recapitulation, in a Farewell Lecture to the Class of Political Economy of 1849, Published by the Class.

“No enterprise, failing by its own unprofitable nature, can be, at the same time, ruinous to the adventurers, yet advantageous to the community. If a railway cost $500,000, and shares fall to $25 in the hundred, because travelling and freight pay a fair interest of $100,000 only, in that case the community has for ever lost the value of $400,000, and the passengers and freight are carried at the regular and fair price plus the interest of $400,000 proportionately divided in the course of the year. Nothing is more common than to hear that a hotel or a canal has been ruinous to the adventuring individuals, but that the people have reaped the advantage of it. This cannot be. The case applies to government undertakings. They cannot be advantageous to the whole (as far as productive effects are concerned), although they would be ruinous to individuals.”

________________________

Columbia College.
Senior Class in Political Economy, 18633

  1. Definition of Money.
  2. Immigration Into the U. States considered in an economical point of view.
  3. Error of Montesquieu concerning Money.
  4. Define direct and indirect taxation.
  5. How does a Bill of Exchange become a commodity?
  6. Communism and Socialism.
  7. Enumerate the characteristics of an acceptable tax.
  8. The N[ew] York Clearing House.

3In Lieber papers, Columbia University Libraries.

Source:  Appendix to “Francis Lieber: German Scholar in America,” reprinted in the collection of essays by Joseph Dorfman and R.G. Tugwell, Early American Policy: Six Columbia Contributors (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), pp. 339-341. The article was originally published without the above appendix in Columbia University Quarterly, Vol. 30 (Sept. and Dec.), 1938, pp. 159-90; 267-93.

Image Source: Thomas Sergeant Perry, editor. The Life and Letters of Francis Lieber (Boston, 1882).

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Theory

Harvard. Second year economic theory. Readings and exams. Leontief, 1960-1961

 

 

The following Harvard course outline with reading assignments and semester final exams are from the year 1960-61. Wassily Leontief taught the second graduate course in economic theory.

I have highlighted in blue boldface additions to the reading assignments in the 1960-61 course when compared to the 1956-57 version of the same course. Items omitted are listed at the end of the post.

Comparing the structure of the mid-year and year-end exams, I would conjecture that one or more of Koopmans’ Three Essays on the State of Economic Science was assigned for the first term’s reading period, though the title does not appear on the printed reading list for the course.

__________________________

Wassily Leontief

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Ec. 202a
ECONOMIC THEORY
Fall Term 1960-61

The following outline covers the first semester of the two semester course.

I.     Analysis of Production and the Theory of a Firm:

  1. Costs; total, average, marginal.
    Theory of the multiple plant firm.
    Revenue; total, average, marginal.
    Long and short run analysis
    Supply under competitive and monopolistic conditions.
  2. Production function, marginal productivity, increasing and decreasing returns.
    Stocks and flows.
    Joint products.
    Demand for factors of production.
    Discontinuous relationships and non-marginal analysis (Linear Programming).
    Internal and external economies.

Reading assignments:

Oscar Lange, “The Scope and Method of Economics,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. XIII, (1), 1945-46, pp. 19-32.

H. Simon, “Theories of Decision Making in Economics,” American Economic Review, June 1959.

E. A. G. Robinson, Structure of Competitive Industry, Chs. II, VII, VIII, pp. 14-35, 107-133.

R. C. Heimer, Management for Engineers, Chs. 3-17.

K. E. Boulding, Economic Analysis, (revised edition, 1948) Chapters 20-26, 31, and 32; or (3rded., 1955) Chapters 23-29, 34, and 35.

E. H. Chamberlin, “Proportionality, Divisibility, and Economies of Scale,”Quarterly Journal of Economics, February, 1948, pp. 229-262.

K. E. Boulding, “The Theory of the Firm in the Last Ten Years,” The American Economic Review, Vol. XXXII, No. 4, December 1942, pp. 791-802.

A. Lerner, Economics of Control, Chs. 15, 16, 17, pp. 174-211.

W. W. Cooper, “A Proposal for Extending the Theory of the Firm,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, February 1951, pp. 87-109.

R. Solow, “Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function,” Review of Economics and Statistics, August 1957.

Robert Dorfman, “Mathematical or ‘Linear’ Programming,” American Economic Review, December 1953, pp. 797-825.

Dorfman, Samuelson and Solow, Linear Programming and Economic Analysis, Ch. 2.

H. M. Wagner, “The Simplex Method for Beginners,” Operations Research, March-April 1958.

R. Dorfman, “Operations Research,” American Economic Review, September 1960, pp. 575-623.

G. Katona, “Business Expectations in the Framework of Psychological Economics,” in M. J. Bowman, ed., Expectations, Uncertainty and Business Behavior.

II.    Theory of the Household:

  1. Theory of utility and indifference lines analysis.
    Individual demand, prices and income.
    Dependent and independent, competing and complementary, superior and inferior goods.
  2. Measurability of utility.
    “Marginal utility of money,” Consumer surplus.
    Interpersonal interdependence in consumers’ behavior.
    Economic theory of index numbers.
    Choices involving risk.

Reading assignments:

J. Hicks, Value and Capital, Part I, Chs. I-III, pp. 1-54.

K. E. Boulding, Economic Analysis, (Revised edition, 1948) Chapters 33, 34; or (3rd ed., 1955), Chapter 36 and 37.

Duesenberry, Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior, Chapters I-III, pp. 1-46.

Modigliania and Brumberg, “Utility analysis and the Consumption Function,” in Kurihara, Post Keynesian Economics.

S. S. Stevens, “Measurement, Psychophysics and Utility,” in Churchman and Ratoosh (ed.) Measurement: Definitions and Theories, pp. 18-63.

A. A. Alchian, “The Meaning of Utility Measurement,” American Economic Review, March 1953, pp. 26-50.

D. Ellsberg, “Classic and Current Notions of ‘Measurable Utility’,” Economic Journal, September 1954.

H. Simon, Models of Man, Part IV, pp. 196-206.

III. Theory of Market Relationships:

  1. Pure competition; individual and market supply and demand curves.
    Stability of market equilibrium, statics and dynamics.
    Monopoly and price discrimination.
  2. Monopolistic competition.
    Duopoly, oligopoly, bilateral monopoly, etc.
    “Theory of games.”

Reading assignments:

A. Marshall, Principles of Economics, Book V, Chs. III, V.

E. H. Chamberlin, The Theory of Monopolistic Competition, Chs. II, III, IV, and V.

Joan Robinson, The Economics of Imperfect Competition, Chs. 15 and 16.

Robert Triffin, Monopolistic Competition and the General Equilibrium Theory, Chs. I and II.

William Fellner, Competition Among the Few, Chs. II-V.

W. H. Nicholls, Imperfect Competition within Agricultural Industries, Ch. 18.

F. Modigliani, “New Developments on the Oligopoly Front,” JPE,  June 1958.

Leonid Hurwicz, “The Theory of Economic Behavior,” American Economic Review, December, 1945, pp. 909-925.

D. Ellsberg, “The Theory of the Reluctant Duelist,” American Economic Review, December 1956.

T. C. Schelling, “An Essay on Bargaining,” American Economic Review, June 1956.

IV.  General equilibrium theory:

  1. Basic Concepts of a General Equilibrium Theory.
    Data and variables. Price system and general interdependence. Linear model of a general equilibrium system.
  2. Theory of Rent and Factor Prices

Reading assignments:

O. Lange, The Economic Theory of Socialism, pp. 65-72.

Cassel, The Theory of Social Economy, Vol. I, Ch. IV, pp. 134-155.

R. G. D. Allen, Mathematical Economics, pp. 314-325.

E. H. Phelps Brown, Framework of the Pricing System, in particular chapters dealing with general equilibrium theory.

T. W. Schultz, Agriculture in an Unstable Economy, Ch. I, pp. 60-70; Ch. IV, pp. 128-137.

R. S. Eckaus, “The Factor Proportion Problem in Underdeveloped Areas,” The American Economic Review, September 1955, pp. 539-565.

N. Georgescu-Roegen, “Economic Theory and Agrarian Economics,” Oxford Economic Papers, February 1960, pp. 1-40.

___________________________

Mid-year Examination
1960-1961 (Jan. 1961)

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
1960-1961
ECONOMICS 202

PLEASE WRITE LEGIBLY

Answer one question from each group, four questions in all.

GROUP I

  1. Demonstrate that the assumption that the marginal utility of one of the goods purchased by a consumer is constant is more restrictive than the assumption that its utility is independent of the quantity of any other good.
    How could the knowledge of the constancy of its marginal utility help to assess the effect of an income tax on the demand for the good in question?

GROUP II

  		1.  Amount Needed Per Unit of Activity Factor Supply
    Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 3

    Factor 1

    		 6 1 2 12
    Factor 2 2 2 1

    10

    Factor 3

    		 1 5 20

    200

    Market Value Per Unit of Output

    		 15 3 8

    A firm with a fixed supply of three factors has three possible activities, each of which produces a different product selling for a different price. The factor requirements, factor supplies and the product prices are given in the table above. Find the level of activities, including disposal activities, which maximize the firm’s revenue.
    Supplemental information which can be used to shorten computation: In the solution of the “dual”, only factor 1 turns out to have a positive imputed price.

  2. A farmer has fixed amounts of two different kinds of land. He can grow two kinds of product, the prices of which are given. The only other input is labor. Its total available amount is also fixed. The amount of land and of labor required per bushel of each one of the two crops on each type of land is known.
    Set up the linear programming problem which the farmer would have to solve to maximize the value of his output.

GROUP III

4. (a) Discuss the differences and similarities of the following types of analysis:

      1. The derivation of a household’s demand curve for a commodity.
      2. The derivation of a firm’s demand curve for a factor of production.

4. (b) Demonstrate that,

        1. A household can have a positively sloping demand curve for the commodities it buys.
        2. A firm cannot have a positively sloping demand curve for any of the factors of production it buys, if it sells its product in a perfectly competitive market.
  1. A self-sufficient farmer lives on produce that he grows himself under conditions of decreasing average returns. The length of his working time can be explained in terms of a utility maximizing choice between agricultural produce and leisure.
    Among the (real) wage rates which could induce him to quit farming and become a hired worker, one necessarily must be lower than any other. If this minimum wage rate were actually offered to him, and he became a hired worker would the length of his working time a) remain the same b) become shorter or c) become longer than it was when he gained his livelihood as a self-sufficient farmer?

GROUP IV

  1. What is the principal contribution of the theoretical approach described in Koopman’s State of Economic Science?
    Write a critical essay on methodology, rather than substance, except where a discussion of the latter is necessary to a discussion of the former.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Social Sciences. Final Examinations, January 1961. (HUC 7000.28), Vol. 131 of 284.

___________________________

Wassily Leontief

ECONOMICS 202b
ECONOMIC THEORY
Spring Term, 1960-61

V.  Economics of Welfare

  1. Individual maximum and social welfare.
  2. Efficiency and distributive justice.
  3. Efficiency of the purely competitive system.
    Monopoly and economic welfare.
    External economies.
  4. Pricing and allocation for public enterprise.

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

J. Hicks, “The Foundation of Welfare Economics,” Economic Journal, December 1939, pp. 696-712.

Meade and Hitch, An Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy, Part II, Chs. VI-VII, pp. 159-220.

Francis Bator, “The Anatomy of Market Failure,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. LXXII, August, 1958, pp. 351-379.

T. Scitovsky, “The State of Welfare Economics,” The American Economic Review, Vol. XLI, June 1951, pp. 303-315.

J. De Graaf, Theoretical Welfare Economics.

Mishan, E. J., “A Survey of Welfare Economics, 1939-1959,” The Economic Journal, Vol. LXX, No. 278, June, 1960, pp. 197-265.

VI. Capital and Interest

  1. Stock and Flow Concepts.
    Productivity of Capital.
    Period of production and “turnover” of capital.
  2. Theory of saving.
    Risk and uncertainty.
  3. Partial equilibrium theory of interest.

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

Robert Eisner, “Interview and Other Survey Techniques and the Study of Investment,” in Problems of Capital Formation, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 19, National Bureau of Economic Research 1957, pp. 513-583. 

Irving Fisher, The Theory of Interest, Chs. VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XVI, XVII, and XVIII. 1930.

Hirschleifer, “On the Theory of Optimal Investment Decision,” Journal of Political Economy, August, 1958.

Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution (Blakiston, 1946)

F. Knight, “Capital and Interest,” pp. 384-417.
Keynes, “The Theory of the Rate of Interest,” pp. 418-424.
D. H. Robertson, “Mr. Keynes and the Rate of Interest,” pp. 425-460.

Friedrich & Vera Lutz, The Theory of Investment of the Firm, 1951.

Joel Dean, Capital Budgeting, 1951, Chs. VI, VII.

Eckstein, “Investment Criteria for Economic development and Intertemporal Welfare Economics,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Feb., 1957.

VII: Principles of Dynamics

  1. Change over time.
    Period analysis.
    Continuous change
  2. Dynamic stability and instability.

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

W. Baumol, Economic Dynamics, Chs. I-VII, pp. 1-136.

P. Samuelson, “Dynamics, Statics and Stationary State,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, February 1943, pp. 58-68 (also reprinted in Readings in Economic Analysis, Vol. 1, edited by N. V. Clemens).

K. J. Arrow, “Toward a Theory of Price Adjustment,” in The Allocation of Economic Resources, pp. 41-51, Stanford, California, 1959.

Erik Lindahl, Introduction to the Study of Dynamic Theory, pp. 21-73 in Studies in the Theory of Money and Capital.

Dorfman, Samuelson, Solow, Linear Programming and Economic Analysis, pp. 265-281.

VIII: Economic Development and Accumulation of Capital

  1. Dynamic interrelation of income, investment and the rate of interest.
  2. Linear theory of economic development.
    Non-linear theory of economic development.

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

Bresciani-Turoni, “The Theory of Saving,” Economica; Part I, Feb. 1936, pp. 1-23; Part II, May 1936, pp. 162-181.

Schelling, “Capital Growth and Equilibrium,” American Economic Review, Dec. 1947, pp. 864-876.

Harrod, “An Essay in Dynamic Theory,” Economic Journal, March 1939, pp. 14-33.

Stern, “Capital Requirements in Progressive Economies,” Economica, August 1945, pp. 163-171.

Robert M. Solow, “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. LXX, February, 1956, pp. 65-94.

Arthur Smithies, “Productivity, Real Wages and Economic Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1960, pp. 189-205.

Also, Baumol, see above under VII.

IX: Keynesian Theory and Problems

  1. Over-all outlines of the General Theory.
    Wage and price “stickiness.”
    Demand for money.
  2. Saving and “oversaving.”
    Multiplier principle.

READING ASSIGNMENTS:

A. P. Lerner, The Economics of Control, Chs. 21, 22, and 25.

A. P. Lerner, “The Essential Properties of Interest and Money,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1952, pp. 172-93.

J. M. Keynes, General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Chs. 1, 2, 8, and 18.

G. Haberler, Prosperity and Depression, Ch. 8.

Modigliani, “Liquidity Preference and the Theory of Interest and Money,” Readings in Monetary Theory.

Hicks, “A Rehabilitation of ‘Classical’ Economics?” Economic Journal, June, 1957.

Reading Period Assignment (spring):

Trygve Haavelmo, A Study in the Theory of Investment, Chicago, 1960.

OR

F. and V. Lutz, The Theory of Investment of the Firm, Princeton, 1951.

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

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Year-end Examination
1960-1961 (June 1961)

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
1960-1961
ECONOMICS 202

PLEASE WRITE LEGIBLY

Answer one question from each of the four groups, four questions all together.

GROUP I

  1. Consider a two commodity, two consumer group economy run along socialist principles. The government fixes the quantities of A and B produced in any one year, fixes ruble incomes going to consumer groups I and II and also fixes ruble prices so that the total income distributed can exactly buy the amounts produced.
    Assume that the collective behavior of a consumer group can be described as one of reaching the highest of a set of group indifference curves under collective income and market constraints.
    (a) Using the box diagram technique, show what additional
    conditions prices must satisfy if the market is to be cleared.
    (b) assume that equilibrium is not established at official prices and that the State decides to ration the available amount of the short commodity between the two groups.The rationing is done in such a way that both groups get less than they wish to buy at official prices.  Show how one can explain the resulting equilibrium.
    (c) Starting from this equilibrium, will the two groups necessarily find some advantage in exchanging commodities on the black market? Will the black market equilibrium be better or worse (in terms of conventional welfare criteria) than that obtained when prices fixed by the government are chosen so as to clear the market?
  2. It has been established that the annual cost of distributing electricity in an Indian city would be 100,000 rupees in capital charges plus one rupee per kilowatt consumed. The following proposal is put to a vote in a city referendum: “To build the system, charge a price of one rupee per kilowatt and tax the public 100,000 rupees to cover capital charges. The proposal is unanimously rejected. The city fathers then undertake a market survey and find that the tax could be reduced to 50,000 rupees, the price increased to 1.5 rupee and all costs still be exactly covered. They adopt this second proposal without further consultation.
    Assuming a homogeneous population and equal taxation, can you derive from the above information a preferential ordering of the following alternatives in terms of social welfare:

(a) Charging 1 rupee and raising 100,000 in taxes.
(b) Charging 1.5 rupee and raising 50,000 in taxes.
(c) Not building the system at all.

GROUP II

  1. A profit maximizing enterprise possesses a fixed plant and uses as its variable inputs a raw material (fixed amount per unit of output) and labor. Its finished product is sold and the raw material is purchased on perfectly competitive markets. On the labor market, however, the enterprise is the only employer; the workers are not organized and thus compete with each other.
    What factual information would you require and what theoretical construction would you use to explain the level of that enterprise’s output if,

(a) labor is hired on the basis of straight hourly wages.
(b) labor is hired at a flat hourly wage for the first eight, and a 50% higher overtime hourly rate for two additional hours, the workers being free to choose whether they want to work eight or ten daily hours.
(c) labor is paid flat piecework rates.

To simplify the problem, you are permitted to assume that the preference functions (real income vs. leisure) of all workers are identical.

  1. The growth of a certain kind of tree requires λ man-hours for planting and entails no other costs. The volume of wood represented by a tree increases at a constant growth rate:
    V = EXP(rt). Two alternative assumptions are made with respect to the tree market:

(A) Trees are sold by volume at a price p per volumetric unit.
(B) Trees are sold by volume at a price p’ now depending on the length of the tree. Observing that length is related to age, traders use the formula
p’= α SQRT(t), where α is a constant and t the age of the tree.

(a) Given the amount L of man-hours available per year, describe a “full employment” production process that guarantees constant profits, year after year.
(b) Under each market assumption, discuss the empirical possibility and operational usefulness of measuring the capital stock and its marginal productivity.
(c) Money can be lent and borrowed without limits at an interest rate i, which is larger than r. At what age should the trees be cut under assumption (B) if the grower wishes to establish a stationary production process that maximizes his utility over time?

GROUP III

  1. A conventional partial equilibrium theory explains the prices and the quantities — produced and consumed — of all goods on the assumption that a supply and a demand curve is given for each market.
    In what sense can it be said that, from the point of view of a general equilibrium theory, at least some of such given demand and supply curves must be either incompatible with each other or redundant? In answering this question, please use equations, graphs, or both.

GROUP IV

  1. To what extent does Haavelmo or the Lutz’s — whomever you have chosen to read — rely on purely technological specifications and considerations in describing and analyzing the role of capital in the operations of an individual enterprise and of the economy as a whole? And to what extent do they use definitions and measurements which “engineers” would not employ in their professional work?
    Illustrate your answer by specific examples.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Social Sciences, Final Examinations, June 1961 (HUC 7000.28, Vol. 134 of 284).

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Reading assignments in the 1956-57 reading list that were dropped from the 1960-61 reading list:

I.     Analysis of Production and the Theory of a Firm:

E. H. MacNiece, Production, Forecasting, Planning and Control, 292 pp.

R. Frisch, “Alfred Marshall’s Theory of Value,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. LXIV, No. 4, November 1950, pp. 495-524.

National Bureau of Economic Research, Cost Behavior and Price Policy, Ch. VII, pp. 142-169; Appendix C, pp. 321-329.

A. G. Hart, Anticipations, Uncertainty and Dynamic Planning, reprinted 1951, 98 pp.

II.     Theory of the Household:

J. R. Hicks, A Revision of Demand Theory, Parts I and II, also the summary and conclusion.

G. Katona, Psychological Analysis of Economic Behavior, Part II, #1-7, pp. 63-149.

III. Theory of Market Relationships:

No titles dropped.

IV. General Equilibrium Theory:

No titles dropped.

V.  Economics of Welfare

Coase, “Note on Price and Output Policy,” Economic Journal, Vol. LV, April 1945, pp. 112-113.

Samuelson, “Evaluation of Real National Income,” Oxford Economic papers, Jan. 1950.

VI. Capital and Interest

Edward F. Denison, “Theoretical Aspects of Quality Change, Capital Consumption, and Net Capital Formation,” in Problems of Capital Formation, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 19, National Bureau of Economic Research 1957, pp. 215-260.

John Rae, John, New Principles of Political Economy, 1834, Chs. I-V.

Irving Fisher, Nature of Capital and Income, Chs. I, IV, V, XIV, XVII, Macmillan, 1906.

VII: Principles of Dynamics

K. E. Boulding, A Reconstruction of Economics, Ch. I, pp. 3-26.

VIII: Economic Development and Accumulation of Capital

Pigou, Economic Progress in a Stable Economy,” Economica, August 1947, pp. 180-188.

A. Sweezy, “Secular Stagnation?” in Harris, Postwar Economic Problems, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1943, pp. 67-82.

Hansen, “Economic Progress and Declining Population Growth,” American Economic Review, March 1939, pp. 1-15.

IX: Keynesian Theory and Problems

No titles dropped.

cf. The earlier post for Economics 202 in 1956-57.

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Image Source:  Wassily Leontief in Radcliffe Yearbook 1964, p. 98. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.