Category: Harvard

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams for the three courses in political economy. Laughlin and Taussig, 1882-1883

 

 

After Professor Charles Dunbar stepped down from his Harvard Deanship, he took sabbatical leave to go to Europe in 1882-83. Frank William Taussig was appointed instructor to help J. Laurence Laughlin cover the three course offerings for political economy that year. In Taussig’s course scrapbook in the Harvard archive, we find that he listed grades for 71 students in Political Economy 1 (1882-83), i.e., about half of the reported enrollment for that course. Thus we may presume that Laughlin and Taussig taught separate sections of the course with a common final examination.

______________________________

Course Announcements

Political Economy.

1.  Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Lectures on Banking and the Financial Legislation of the United States. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Mr. Taussig and Dr. Laughlin .

2.  Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. — History of Political Economy. – McKean’s Condensation of Carey’s Social Science. — Lectures. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2. Dr. Laughlin.

As a preparation for Course 2, it is necessary to have passed satisfactorily in Course 1.

3.  Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, Germany, and Russia. Once a week, counting as a half-course. Dr. Laughlin.

Source:  The Harvard University Catalogue, 1882-83, pp. 89-90.

______________________________

Course Enrollments

1.  Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Lectures. Dr. Laughlin and Mr. Taussig.

Total 155: 1 Graduate, 22 Seniors, 113 Juniors, 13 Sophomores, 6 Others. 3 hours/week.

2.  Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. — History of Political Economy. — McKean’s Condensation of Carey’s Social Science. — Lectures. Dr. Laughlin. 3 hours/week.

Total 35: 2 Graduates, 24 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Other.

3.  Studies in Land Tenures of England, Ireland, and France. — Theses. Dr. Laughlin. 1 hour/week.

Total 7: 1 Graduate, 6 Seniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1882-1883, p. 66.

______________________________

Course Examinations

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Mid-year 1882-83

I.
(Answer briefly all of the following.)

  1. What distinction does Mill draw between productive and unproductive labor? Discuss the value of this distinction. Distinguish between productive and unproductive consumption.
  2. What is the distinction between fixed and circulating capital? Is money part of the fixed or of the circulating capital of a country? Why?
  3. What are the classes among whom the produce is divided? Are these classes necessarily or usually represented in as many different sets of persons? How could you classify the peasant proprietor?
  4. Of what commodities are the values governed by the law of cost of production? Explain the process by which that law operates.
  5. “Rent does not enter into the cost of production of agricultural produce.” Explain.
  6. What regulates the value of an inconvertible paper currency? What cause it to depreciate? Discuss briefly the results of depreciation.
  7. Arrange the following items on the proper sides of the account:—

Circulation

315.0
Due to Bans

259.9
Legal Tender Notes

63.2
Loans

1,243.2
Bond for circulation

357.6
Due from Banks

198.9
Deposits

1,134.9
Specie

102.9

Compute just how much circulation is permitted by our laws; and give in figures both the (1) reserve required at 25%, and the (2) difference between the actual and required reserve, on the basis of the above account.

  1. Compare the plans of our National Bank system with those of the Bank of England and the Imperial Bank of Germany in regard to the security of note-issues.

II.
(Answer more fully three of the following.)

  1. What are the constituent elements of what Mill calls “profits”? Explain what is meant in common language by the word “profits,” and discuss the nature of profits in this sense.
  2. “The laws of the production of wealth partake of the nature of physical truths…It is not so with the distribution of wealth. That is a matter of human institution solely.” Explain the distinction, and show its connection with the subjects of communism and socialism.
  3. Mention the methods by which it is attempted to keep gold and silver concurrently in circulation. Explain why “a double standard is alternately a single standard.” Does this tend to be the case now in the United States?
  4. Distinguish between real and proportional wages, and illustrate the distinction. In what sense is the word wages used when it is said that the profits depend on wages, rising as wages fall, and falling as wages rise?
  5. It is not a difference in the absolute cost of production which determines the international cost of exchange, but a difference in the comparative” Explain this proposition, and apply it to the trade between the United States and European countries. Is the trade between tropical and temperate countries based, in the main, on a difference of absolute or of comparative cost?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Mid-Year Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (February, 1883), pp. 8-10.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Year-end 1882-1883

I.
(Take all of this group.)

  1. Explain what is meant by a bill of exchange. What causes bills on a foreign country to be at a premium or discount? Show in what way the premium (or discount) is prevented from going beyond a certain point.
  2. Is there any connection between the rate of interest and the abundance or scarcity of money? Explain and illustrate the following: “The rate of interest determines the price of land and of securities.”
  3. Describe the three different kinds of cooperation, and say something of the success attained by each. What are the two classes of distributive cooperation, and wherein do they differ?
  4. Show under what circumstances the increase of capital brings about the tendency of profits to fall. What influences counteract this tendency?
  5. Explain what is meant by the rapidity of circulation of money. What is the effect of great rapidity of circulation on prices and on the value of money? What is the effect of the use of credit? Mention the more important methods in which credit is used as a substitute for money.

II.
(Omit one of this group.)

  1. Discuss the effect of the introduction of a new article of export from a given country on the course of the foreign exchanges in that country, on the flow of specie, and on the terms of international trade (i.e. on international values).
  2. What are the causes which enable one country to undersell another? Do low wages, or a low cost of labor, form one of those causes?
  3. Discuss the immediate and the ultimate effects on rents of the introduction of agricultural improvements. Do those ultimate effects which Mill describes necessarily take place?
  4. What is the immediate and what the ultimate incidence of a tax on houses? Show in what manner the incidence of a tax on building-ground differs, according as the tax is specific (so much on the unit of surface), or rated (so much on the value).

III.
(Omit one of this group.)

  1. Describe the situation which caused the banks in the United States to suspend specie payments in 1861.
  2. What is the difference between bonds and Treasury notes? Name and explain the different kinds of bonds issued during the war.
  3. Explain the causes which made possible the great sales of five-twenty bonds in 1863.
  4. What arguments were advanced for the continuance of the National Bank System in 1882?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1883), pp. 7-8.

 

______________________________

Course Examinations

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Mid-year 1882-83

  1. Give a careful statement of Mr. Cairnes’s theory of market and normal value.
  2. How far is it right to suppose that the competition of (1) capital and (2) of labor is effective?
  3. Explain and discuss the statement that “the wages-fund expands as the supply of labor contracts, and contracts as the supply expands.”
  4. Agricultural products in England are as dear as one hundred years ago; in the meantime there has been extraordinary industrial progress. What conclusion is to be drawn as to the increase of wages and profits from the first fact, and who has ultimately gained by the second?
  5. Mill thinks that, although “the great efficiency of English labor is the chief cause why the precious metals are obtained at less cost by England,” the “somewhat higher range of general prices in England” is accounted for by the foreign demand, and the unbulky character of her commodities.
    What different explanation is offered by Mr. Cairnes?
  6. Examine the following:—
    “It seems to me that protection is absolutely essential to the encouragement of capital, and equally necessary for the protection of the American laborer….He must have good food, enough of it, good clothing, school-houses for his children, comforts for his home, and a fair chance to improve his condition. To this end I would protect him against competition with the half-paid laborers of European countries.”— Cong. Globe.
  7. If there should be a considerable falling off in the foreign demand for the products of one group of industries, such as our bread-stuffs, how would that affect wages in this country?
  8. What is the argument against the theory that the Bank of England brought about resumption of specie payments in England in 1821 by a contraction of its note-issues?
  9. In what period in the history of economic doctrines would you place the writer of the following passage?
    “The strength of a community declines with increase in the rate of interest. That increase results from efflux of the precious metals.” Explain.
  10. Comment on the main doctrines held by Cantillon and Storch.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Mid-Year Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (February, 1883), pp. 10-11.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Year-end 1882-1883

[Do not change the order of the questions.]

  1. Examine the following doctrine:—
    “If invention and improvement still go on, the efficiency of labor will be further increased, and the amount of labor and capital necessary to produce a further increased, and the amount of labor and capital necessary to produce a given result further diminished. The same causes will lead to the utilization of this new gain in productive power for the production of more wealth; the margin of cultivation will be again extended, and rent will increase, both in proportion and amount, without any increase in wages and interest. And so,…will…rent constantly increase, though population should remain stationary.”—Henry George, Progress and Poverty (p. 226).
  2. What is meant by the “comparative costs of production,” on which international values are said to depend, and how is that dependence to be reconciled with the fact that any given sale of goods is found to be an independent transaction, determined by the price of the commodity?
  3. How does the doctrine of reciprocal demand between different industries apply to the argument in favor of a diversity of employments in a new country, as laid down by Hamilton in his Report on Manufactures?
  4. Of the economic doctrines generally accepted to-day which would you consider as having originated with Adam Smith?
  5. Discuss the following words of Mr. Carey:—
    “From 1810 to 1815 mills and furnaces were built, but with the return of peace, their owners…were everywhere ruined…From 1828 to 1834, such establishments were again erected, and the metallic treasures of the earth were being everywhere developed; but, as before, the protective system was again abandoned, with ruin to the manufacturers.” (Vol. II, p. 224.)
  6. Explain the relation, in Mr. Carey’s system, between “wealth,” “utility,” “value,” and “capital.” State clearly the “harmony of interests” between labor and capital, and the connection of this with the wages question.
  7. Point out Mr. Carey’s objections to the doctrine of Malthus. How far does his position on this question affect his acceptance of Ricardo’s law of rent?
  8. Discuss the following statement:—
    “If such [a] league be formed on a permanent basis between a considerable number of important commercial countries, even though it does not embrace all countries, the relative value of gold and silver will be kept close to the mint ratio so established.”—A.Walker, Political Economy (p. 408).
  9. Examine this position:—
    “The rent of mines is not governed wholly by the economic law of rent which, as stated, has reference to the native and indestructible powers of the soil….By the very nature of such deposits [i.e. in mines], the enjoyment of mining privileges diminishes the sum of the mineral in existence. The mine may be ‘worked out’ in ten years or in twenty….The rent must be increased sufficiently to compensate for the ultimate exhaustion of the deposits: the destruction of the value of the estate.”
  10. Describe the form in which Germany actually received the payment of the indemnity from France.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1883), pp. 8-9.

______________________________

Course Examinations

POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Mid-year 1882-83

  1. What is the usual legal conception of property in the increased value of land? How far is this justified?
  2. In the claims of tenants for compensation for unexhausted improvements what weight do you give to the argument of landlords that legislation on this subject would be an interference with freedom of contract?
  3. What was the Agricultural Holdings Act of 1875? What were its results?
  4. Discuss the present length of leases in England, and compare with that of a century ago. Are there any political causes affecting the question?
  5. What is the aim of the Registration of Titles Act of 1875? What is the system of transferring property in England now actually in use?
  6. State some of the effects of the practice of entails on the application of capital to land. Point out how this question has been discussed in its relation to wages.
  7. What change has been going on in the character of English agriculture within the last thirty years? What influences do you attribute to American competition in this matter?
  8. In the depression of English agricultural interests, which class connected with the land seems to have suffered most?
  9. What has been the relation of the agricultural laborer to the land, and how far has it been possible for him to improve his position?
  10. It is said that farmers can use their capital more profitably in farming hired land than in sinking it in the purchase of the soil. What do you think on the advantages to the cultivators of owning the land in England?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Mid-Year Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (February, 1883), pp. 11-12.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Year-end 1882-1883

  1. State what you believe to be the most important effects of the Repeal of the Corn Laws upon agriculture and the present system of land-holding in England.
  2. It has been asserted that “a peasant population, raising their own wages from the soil, and consuming them in kind, are universally acted upon very feebly by internal checks, or by motives disposing them to restraint. The consequence is, that unless some external cause, quite independent of their will, forces such peasant cultivators to slacken their rate of increase, they will, in a limited territory, very rapidly approach a state of want and penury, and will be stopped at last only by the physical impossibility of procuring subsistence.” What testimony on this question is offered by the experience of France and Germany?
  3. How does absenteeism (1) affect the production of agricultural wealth? (2) Does it modify the laws of distribution?
  4. Give an explanation of the fact that in Ireland custom forces the tenant, not the landlord, to carry out the improvements on the soil. How far does this affect the question of compensation for unexhausted improvements.
  5. To what do you ascribe the “land-hunger” and rack-rents in Ireland? Why have manufactures not aided the agricultural classes, as they have in the north of England?
  6. What were the “Bright clauses” of the Irish Land Act of 1870, and their results? Describe briefly the provisions of the Irish Land Act of 1881.
  7. In view of new legislation in favor of English tenants, it is stated by the journals that to-day the Irish stands on a better legal footing than the English tenant. If this is true, point out the different advantages by the former.
  8. Under the old régime in France it is clear not only that there were many peasant proprietors, but also that agriculture was not flourishing. What other economic forces were at work, and what causes would you assign as the ones unfavorable to agriculture?
  9. What were the facts as to the increase of population (1) under the old régime, and (2) after the extension of small holdings? What light does this throw on the Irish land question?
  10. Discuss the evils supposed to arise from the French law of equal partition of property among the heirs at the death of the owner.
  11. Describe briefly the reforms of Stein and Hardenberg in the land legislation of Germany. What parallel is drawn between this plan and the course followed by France?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Bound volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1883), pp. 9-10.

Image Source:  Harvard Library, Hollis Images. James Laurence Laughlin (left) and Frank W. Taussig (right).

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Examinations for both political economy courses. Dunbar and Laughlin, 1881-1882

 

Course offerings in economics at Harvard were pretty meager at the start of the 1880s. Two instructors covered two courses in 1881-82. Professor Charles Dunbar was serving his last year as Dean which probably explains why a young Ph.D., J. L. Laughlin (Harvard PhD, 1876), was even needed to share the burden of teaching the large introductory course.

Note: the mid-year examinations appeared to have been missed during my last visit to the Harvard archives, so  I’ll need to try to fill that gap during a future visit.

______________________

Course Announcement

POLITICAL ECONOMY.
ELECTIVE COURSES.

1. Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.—Financial Legislation of the United States.—Lectures. Three times a week. Professor Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin.

Course 1 may be taken twice a week, if notice to that effect is given in advаnсе.

2. Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy.—Giffen’s Essays in Finance.—Lectures. Three times a week. Professor Dunbar.

As a preparation for Course 2, it is necessary to have passed satisfactorily in Course 1 (three hours).

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1881-82, p. 84.

______________________

Course Enrollments

Political Econ. 1. Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.— Lectures on Banking and the Financial Legislation of the United States (3 hours, 2 sections). Prof. Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin.

Total 147: 23 Seniors, 97 Juniors, 17 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 8 Others.

Political Econ. 2. Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy.— Giffen’s Essays in Finance.— Lectures and Theses. (3 hours, 1 section). Prof. Dunbar.

Total 32: 2 Graduates, 21 Seniors 9 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1881-82, p. 5.

______________________

Course Examination

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Year-end 1881-1882

(Omit one question from each group.)

I.

  1. What conclusion is reached by Mr. Mill respecting the objections to the use of labor-saving machinery?
  2. Are railway shares, stocks of wine, wheat, munitions of war, and land considered capital, or not?
  3. Explain fully why it is that capitalists cannot compensate themselves for a general high cost of labor through any action on values and prices.
  4. What determines the rate of interest on loanable funds? Is the “current [or ordinary] rate of interest the measure of the relative abundance or scarcity of capital”?

II.

  1. How is it that some agricultural capital pays rent, even if resort is not had to different grades of land?
  2. What connection exists between the rate of wages in any country and the productiveness of its soil?
  3. Explain what is meant by the tendency of profits to a minimum, and by the stationary state.
  4. In what cases would duties on imported commodities fall on the producers?

III.

  1. What are the reasons for the change in the normal values of manufactured and of agricultural commodities, respectively, during the progress of society?
  2. In trying to explain high prices (as at the present time), point out what other factor than quantity of money is to be taken into account. As a matter of fact, how does the importation of specie enter the channels of trade and affect prices?
  3. Why is it necessary to make any different statements of the laws of value for foreign than for domestic products? What is the law of international value?
  4. In what way are gold and silver distributed among the different trading countries? Between different parts of the same country?

IV.

  1. How did depreciation of the currency facilitate the sale of five-twenty bonds in 1863-64?
  2. What advantage did the government obtain by giving the five-twenty form to so many of its bonds?
  3. What provision was made in the original National Bank Act as to reserves to protect circulation and deposits, and what reserves are now required by law
  4. In what cases can payments be legally made in greenbacks and in national bank-notes respectively?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1914, Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Annual Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1882), pp. 7-8.

______________________

Course Examination

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Year-end 1881-1882

In answering the questions do not change their order.

  1. What is the reason for Adam Smith’s proposition that “the price of corn, in the progress of society, reaches a maximum, beyond which it cannot advance”? Can you work out the same result by a different course of reasoning from that given by Cairnes?
  2. Explain the statement that “the high scale of industrial remuneration in America, instead of being evidence of a high cost of production in that country, is distinctly evidence of a low cost of production.”
  3. If the common saying that “the value of gold is the same all the world over” has no foundation, how does a supply of new gold distribute itself over all countries and over all commodities in each country?
  4. Malthus, Ricardo, Mill, Cairnes:—State their relation to each other in the development of economic science.
  5. How did the payment of the French indemnity to Germany affect the economic condition of Austria and of the United States?
  6. In a speech made in April, 1876, Senator Sherman says that, after the introduction of the gold standard by Germany in 1873 and the limitation of the coinage of silver by the Latin Union,—
    “A struggle for the possession of gold at once arose between all the great nations, because everybody could see that if $3,200,000,000 of silver coin were demonetized, and $3,500,000,000 of gold coin made the sole standard, it would enormously add to the value of gold, and the Bank of France, the Bank of England and the Imperial Bank of Germany at once commenced grasping for gold in whatever form. Therefore, what we have observed recently is not so much a fall of silver as it is a rise of gold, the inevitable effect of a fear of the demonetization of silver.”
    In what form would the process of “grasping for gold” manifest itself, and how do the facts bear out the above statement?
  7. To what extent is it, in the long run, a misfortune for England that her agriculture should be in part superceded by supplies of cheap food poured in from America?
  8. State your views as to the economic significance and probable permanence of the present excess of exports from the United States.
  9. How is the supposed accumulation of capital by England in the period from 1875 to 1881 to be reconciled.
    (1), with the great depression of business for most of the time;
    (2), with the remarkable excess of imports?
  10. Examine the reasoning of the following extract:—
    “About $11,000,000 is now spent in the United States annually for new ships, wooden and iron, and about $2,000,000 more for the repair of old ones….Under a policy of government encouragement, expenditures for iron and wooden ships would be increased at least to $40,000,000 a year….[and] the expenditures for American labor and supplies, in operating the ships, would be increased by $10,000,000 or $15,000,000, perhaps considerably more. That is to say, there would then be expended in the United States an immense sum of money not now expended, which might be as large as $40,000,000, which would diffuse itself throughout the community, and bless and quicken every department of human industry. Best of all, the money, thus spent, would be principally obtained from the foreigner. It would come from the earnings of the ships, which, in the export trade at least, are paid by consumers in foreign lands. In the import trade the money is paid by consumers here and is carried away from the country. The larger part of the money, therefore, would be a pure gain to the United States…These lines would save to the country at least one half of the $50,000,000 of freight money now paid on imported goods, and they would earn at least one half of the large sum paid by foreign nations on the goods exported from this country. Then, they would give encouragement to tens thousands more of American citizens on land and sea.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1914, Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, 1881-83. Annual Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1882), pp. 8-9.

Image Source:  Harvard Library, Hollis Images. Charles F. Dunbar (left) and James Laurence Laughlin (right).

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Circumstances surrounding William Z. Ripley’s nervous breakdowns, 1927 and 1932

 

Harvard economics professor William Zebina Ripley suffered at least two serious “nervous breakdowns” during his career that are documented by contemporary acounts. To those accounts I have added the 1964 obituary of his companion in the 1927 taxicab accident that led to Ripley’s hospitalization. Grace Sharp Harper appears to have been a very well-known mover-and-shaker in the greater social philanthropic communities of her time. I remain agnostic about whether a romantic liaison was involved and I simply find her biography (as that of Ripley for that matter) quite remarkable and worth keeping in this post. Perhaps someone familiar with journalists’ code-words from the Roaring ‘Twenties can let us know whether there is more to the ill-fated taxicab ride than a pair of VIPs sharing a taxi to an event to network with yet other VIPs.

_______________________

Ripley’s First Nervous Breakdown
(1927)

Professor William Z. Ripley of Harvard injured in New York automobile accident. Cuts around the face, slight concussion. His taxicab with Miss Grace Harper of N.Y., “Professor Ripley’s companion”. [see obituary below for Grace Harper]

Source:  The Boston Globe, January 20, 1927, p. 1.

 

“Thrown from a taxicab struck by another automobile, William Z. Ripley, 60, professor of economics at Harvard university, late last night suffered a fractured skull. His companion, Miss Grace Harper, 50, of 109 Waverly pl., suffered from shock. Both were taken to New York hospital. The collision occurred at 5th ave. and 24th st.”

Source:  Daily News (New York City), January 20, 1927, p. 3.

 

“Prof. William Z. Ripley of the Harvard School of Business Administration, is in New York Hospital today with lacerations of the skull sustained in an automobile accident last night. The injuries were not so severe as was at first believed, and his condition was not considered serious, it was said at the hospital. The Harvard professor…was riding in a taxi down Fifth avenue when a rented automobile coming from the opposite direction struck the taxi. Prof. Ripley was thrown against one of the cab’s folding seats with great force. Miss Grace Harper, who was in the taxi with the professor, was cut and bruised, but refused to go to the hospital.”

Source:  The Standard Union (Brooklyn, New York) January 20, 1927, p. 2.

 

“Miss Grace Harper, of 109 Waverly pl., Manhattan, who was accompanying him to a social function at the Waldorf-Astoria, Manhattan, was treated for shock.”

Source:  Times Union (Brooklyn, New York), January 20, 1927, p. 33.

 

“Professor Ripley, accompanied by Miss Grace Harper, secretary to the State Commission for the Blind, was on his way to Hotel Waldorf to attend a social function…”

Source:  Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY) January 20, 1927, p. 7.

 

“Professor William Z. Ripley will be unable to resume active teaching of economics at Harvard until next year, it is learned from members of his family. He was injured in an automobile accident more than a year ago and suffered a nervous breakdown. He has been recuperating at a sanitarium in Connecticut. It is expected that Professor Ripley will leave the sanitarium within two months, and will probably take an extended trip through the South and West.”

Source:  New York Times. September 25, 1927, p. 76.

 

“Three years ago he spoke plain words about Wall Street. An automobile crash and a nervous breakdown followed…Now Professor Ripley is preparing to return to his Harvard classes next February.”

Source:  S.T. Williamson, “William Z. Ripley — And Some Others” New York Times (December 29, 1929), p. 134.

 

“The New England Joint Board for Sanitary Control, when it meets today will have as chairman George W. Coleman, who was named for this position after the retirement of Prof William Z. Ripley, who it is said, was forced to give up the position because of illness.”

Source:  The Boston Globe, May 3, 1928, p. 17.

_______________________

Ripley’s Second Nervous Breakdown
(1932)

PROF W. Z. RIPLEY OF HARVARD ILL
Noted Expert on Railroads, Now In Holland, Believed Victim of Overwork—Wife Sails

William Z. Ripley, Nathaniel Ropes professor of political economy at Harvard and famous throughout the country as an outstanding authority on railroads and railway problems, is seriously Ill In Holland. Latest information at Harvard is to the effect that he is confined to his bed, on physician’s orders, for an indefinite period. His wife left Boston only a week or so ago to join her husband in Holland.

The fact that Prof Ripley was ill has been guarded carefully by Harvard authorities, the first hint being contained in an announcement from the lecture platform at the first meeting of the course known as Economics 4, that he would be unable to give any lectures in the course.

Others to Give Course

This course, given for many years as a half course by Prof Ripley, is on the subject of corporations, a field in which he has done much of his work. This year the course has been united with a half course on railroads to form a full course under the title „Monopolistic Industries and Their Control.“ When the course was mapped out at the end of last year, it had been planned for Prof Ripley to devote considerable time to lecturing, but now the work will be performed entirely by Profs Edward S. Mason and Edward H. Chamberlin.

Prof Ripley went abroad at the end of the academic year last Summer. He was to have returned this Fall, but during his travels, he became gravely ill. Some years ago, he suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of an accident in a New York taxicab. His present condition is attributed largely to overwork.

During the last half of the academic year, 1931-32, Prof Ripley left Cambridge almost every week and sometimes twice a week to make trips to New York, Washington, and Chicago to confer with business leaders and Governmental authorities. Much of his attention was devoted to pending plans for trunk line consolidations. He acted special examiner on proposed railroad consolidations for the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1921.

Work Hailed by Coolidge

Always a practical economist, and conspicuous among the faculty in economics at Harvard for his disdain of economic theorizing. Prof Ripley’s most celebrated work of recent years was “Main Street and Wall Street,” published in 1929, during the height if the speculative boom. This work, exposing the methods of corporations, created a sensation throughout the country. Before the work was published in book form, parts of it appeared in magazines, and at that time Calvin Coolidge urged every American to read them.

One of the most interesting comments on Prof Ripley’s career is the fact that he began his studies as an anthropologist. His degrees include those of SB, PhD, LittD and LLD. As an undergraduate he was a student of science, and later published a book, “The Races and Cultures of Europe,” which is still recognized as a leading textbook in anthropology. Later he became interested in railroads and turned his efforts from anthropology to economics. He is one the “old guard” in the Harvard Department of Economics, ranking with the men who made Harvard famous for economic studies, such as Prof F. W. Taussig, Thomas N. Carver and Edwin F. Gay.

Prof Ripley’s home is in Newton.

Source: The Boston Globe, October 4, 1932, pp. 1,3.

 

PROF RIPLEY RESIGNS CHAIR AT HARVARD
Noted Authority on Finance, Railroads

William Zebina Ripley, Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy at Harvard, known as well for his scourging of Wall Street stock jobbers as for his work as a Government expert in labor and railroads, has resigned his professorship at Harvard to become professor emeritus. The resignation of Prof Ripley, who has been seriously ill in Holland since last Summer, will take effect on March 1, 1933. He is beyond the retiring age at Harvard, being more than 65 years old.

Prof Ripley’s best-known book is “Main Street and Wall Street,” an expose of corporation finance as practiced in the United States, published in 1927. While various chapters of the book were appearing in current magazines the then President Coolidge advised every American to read them. Other volumes by Prof Ripley include “The Financial History of Virginia,” 1890; “The Races of Europe,” 1900 [Supplement: A Selected Bibliography of the Anthropology and Ethnology of Europe, 1899]; “Trusts, Pools and Corporations,” 1905; “Railway Problems,” 1907; “Railroads—Rates and Regulation,” 1912; “Railroads—Finance and Organization,” 1914. The book, “Races of Europe,” is still a standard text in anthropology, a field in which Prof Ripley spent his early study before turning to economics.

Expert in Many Fields

Prof Ripley is known as an expert in many fields, ranging from anthropology to transportation. Besides his books in these fields he has served on several national boards and commissions. In 1918 he was administrator of labor standards for the War Department, and the following two years he was chairman of the National Adjustment Commission Of the United States Shipping Board. In 1916 he was the expert appointed to President Wilson’s Eight-Hour Commission, spending months under actual working conditions gathering material for his report.

From 1920 to 1923 he served with the Interstate Commerce Commission, acting in 1921 as special examiner on the consolidation of railroads in the United States. In 1917 he became a director of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad and served on that board for a number of years.

His illness was caused by an accident in a taxicab in New York some three years ago, after which he suffered a nervous breakdown. He became ill again this Summer and has been recuperating in Holland since. A tall man, with white hair and a distinguished white beard, he was a well-known figure in the Harvard Yard during his teaching days there.

At Harvard Since 1901

Prof Ripley was born in Medford in 1890 he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He obtained his master’s degree at Columbia University in 1892, and his doctor’s degree at the same institution in the following year. In 1895, he returned to M.I.T., serving as professor of economics of six years and, during the same period, he was also lecturer on sociology at Columbia. Since 1901, he has been a member of the teaching staff at Harvard University. In 1902 he was appointed professor political economy. Since 1911, he has been Nathaniel Ropes professor political economy. In 1898, and again in 1900 and 1901, Prof Ripley served as vice president of the American Economics Association and in December of 1932 he was elected president of the association.

Source: The Boston Globe, February 10, 1933, p. 5.

Image Source: William Z. Ripley, Harvard Class Album, 1934.

_______________________

Grace Sharp Harper, 82, Dead: Led State Commission for Blind
NY Times obituary, September 27, 1964

Miss Grace Sharp Harper of 220 East 73d Street, who retired in 1951 as director of the Commission for the Blind of the State Department of Social Work, died yesterday at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Her age was 82.

Since her retirement Miss Harper had continued with the commission as a member of its medical advisory committee. A much-decorated heroine of World War I, in which she served in France with the American Red Cross, she also held several civilian awards for her work for the blind.

Miss Harper began her career as a staff assistant of the Boston Children’s Aid Society. Later she was executive secretary of the Massachusetts Infant Asylum and of the Kings Chapel Committee for the Handicapped of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Appointed director of the hospital’s medical special service department, she lectured on case work education at Harvard University and then came to this city to conduct a course in social case work at Teachers College, Columbia University.

She volunteered for overseas duty in the war, and was named chief of American Red Cross rehabilitation for French, Belgian and other disable soldiers. Later Miss Harper was chief of the Red Cross bureau for the re-education of mutilated soldiers. She returned home as a member of the Inter-Allied Commission on War Cripples, wearing three gold stars awarded to her by various foreign governments.

Miss Harper became executive secretary of the Commission for the Blind in 1919, and was made an assistant commissioner of the division during the 1930’s. She was named director not long thereafter.

Miss Harper held the Migel Award of the American Foundation for the Bind and the Leslie Dana Award of the St. Louis Society for the Blind.

Source: New York Times, Feb. 27, 1964, p. 31.

 

From Grace Sharp Harper’s Passport Application
July 5, 1918

From Grace Sharp Harper’s Passport Application
November 16, 1922

Born at Chicago, Illinois on May 12, 1881.

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Labor economics courses taught by Charles E. Persons, 1928-1929

In the previous post we met the Harvard Ph.D. alum (1913) Charles E. Persons whose career transitioned from the life of an academic economist to that of a labor policy activist/government official right after he covered labor economics courses for William Z. Ripley who was on leave due to health reasons (more to report on Ripley, but later). This post puts together the materials (enrollment statistics, reading period assignments and two course exams) I could find for the courses taught by Persons during his three semesters teaching at Harvard during the spring term 1928 and the full academic year 1928-29.

________________________

Courses taught by Charles E. Persons at Harvard

Enrollment, Economics 6a2
Spring Term, 1928

[Economics] 6a 2hf. Professor Charles E. Persons (Boston University), assisted by Mr. Joslyn.—Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.

Total 31: 15 Seniors, 14 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1927-1928, p. 74.

 

Course Assignment for Reading Period
Economics 6a2
Spring 1928

Economics 6b [sic, should be is “6a”] [Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.]

Select one of the following groups.

  1. Historical
    1. Webb, S. & B.: History of Trade Unionism, Chs. I, II, III, IV and VII.
    2. Perlman, S.: History of Trade Unionism in the United States.
  2. Trade Union Function.
    1. Webb, S. & B.: Industrial Democracy, Pt. II, pp. 145-599.
  3. Employer’s Programs.
    1. Hoxie, R. F.: Scientific Management and Labor, pp. 1-140.
    2. Burritt, A. W., et al.: Profit Sharing; the Principles and Practice. New Edition, 1926).
  4. Government Control.
    1. Selekman, B.: Postponing Strikes.
    2. Wolf, H. D.: The Railroad Labor Board.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1927-1928”.

 

1927-28
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 6a2
[Final Examination, Spring 1928]

Group I
Answer one. Forty minutes to one hour.

  1. When and under what circumstances were the first unions formed? Sketch the development of labor organizations before 1850. What special conditions did they meet in the United States?
  2. What, according to the Webbs, are the methods used by trade unions in actual operation? Discuss the Standard Rate and more briefly other trade union policies, stating your own conclusions.
  3. What are the special methods of scientific management in dealing with labor? How are wages determined? Are Trade Unionism and Scientific Management necessarily incompatible?
    State the general features of Profit-sharing plans as applied in the United States. Contrast this plan with that applied in Scientific Management plants.
  4. Contrast the methods of strike control applied by the United States Railroad Labor Board and The Canadian Industrial Disputes Investigation Act. Were these plans successful in operation? What features of either act do you think worthy of adoption in the United States?

Group II
Answer ALL questions; follow the order given.

  1. Describe the organization of the present union groups in the United States.
  2. A western state enacts a law providing:
    1. Children under 18 years of age shall not work more than seven hours a day, nor forty hours a week. These hours must be included between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
    2. Females over 18 years of age shall not be employed more than eight hours a day and forty hours a week. These hours must be included between 7 a.m. and 5 p. m.
    3. Males over 18 years of age shall not be employed over eight hours a day nor forty-four hours a week.

The act is attacked as unconstitutional. State the probably line of attack and defense. What do you think the present supreme court would decide on each of the three articles?

  1. To what extent can unemployment be prevented? Which of the methods proposed for the prevention of unemployment seem to you most practical and effective? Outline and justify a program for dealing with such unemployment as is not preventable.
  2. In 1923 the receiver of a certain railroad petitioned the Railroad Labor Board for authority to reduce wages below those paid by the railroads generally under rulings by the Board. It was shown that the railroad was not earning enough to cover operating expenses, that the stock and bond holders had received no return for several years, “that the necessity of a discontinuance of operations had been greatly threatened for some time,” and that “such shutdown of the carrier would be disastrous for the 31 counties of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas through which its lines ran.” The workers decline to accept any reduction in pay and show that their incomes do not suffice to cover the cost of a living wage on a health and comfort standard. As a member of the railroad board render decision on this issue.
  3. (a) Suppose all workers were persuaded to join unions giving us a complete system of closed shops. What would be the effect on wages and social conditions generally?
    (b) Suppose the Open Shop drive should be completely successful and trade unionism reduced to local and partial organization. What results would follow?
  4. In what respects does a shop committee afford less adequate protection to the workers than does a trade union? What, if any, useful functions may a shop committee perform which are not now performed by trade unions?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers Finals 1928 (HUC 7000.28, Vol. 70). Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, Church History, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, June, 1928.

________________________

Enrollment, Economics 6a1
Fall Term, 1928

[Economics] 6a 1hf. Dr. C. E. Persons.—Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.

Total 50: 1 Graduate, 22 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 3 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1928-1929, p. 72.

 

Course Assignment for Reading Period
Economics 6a1
Fall Term, 1928

Economics 6a [Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.]

Select one of the following groups.

  1. Webb, S. & B.: History of Trade Unionism, Chs. I-IV incl., Chs. VII, VIII.
  2. Commons, John R. and Associates: History of Labour in the United States, Vol. II, pp. 3-194, 301-430, 521-541.
  3. Webb, S. & B.: Industrial Democracy, Pt. II, pp. 152-221, 279-353, 393-558.
  4. Hoxie, R. F.: Scientific Management and Labor, pp. 1-140.
    Burritt, A. W., et al.: Profit Sharing, Chs. I-VII incl. XI, XII, XIII, XVII. (1926 edition).
  5. Selekman, B.: Postponing Strikes. (Canadian Industrial Disputes Act.)
  6. Wolf, H. D.: The Railroad Labor Board, Pts. II, III.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1928-1929”.

1928-29
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 6a1
[Final Examination, Fall 1928-29]

Group I
Answer one. Forty minutes to one hour.

  1. Write brief essays on two of the following subjects:
    1. The origin of trade unionism in Great Britain.
    2. Trade Unionism under the Combination Laws.
    3. The “New Model” and its importance in trade union history.
  2. Write a summary history of the development of national trade unions in the United States. This should include the formation and development of the American Federation of Labor.
  3. Discuss the method of Collective Bargaining as practiced by the trade unions of Great Britain. Follow the exposition of the Webbs but do not fail to state your own conclusions.
    On what grounds have trade unions based their claims of a “right to a trade”? Discuss the attempts of the unions to settle demarcation disputes and the solution offered by the Webbs for dealing with this problem.
  4. (a) State definitely how scientific management proposes to handle questions which concern wage earners. Are these proposals necessarily incompatible with trade unions? What is to be said by way of critical comment of the following quotation: “(Scientific management) substitutes exact knowledge for guess work and seeks to establish a code of natural laws equally binding upon employer and workman.”
    (b) What are the essential features of profit sharing plans? What is, and what should be, the attitude of trade unions toward such proposals? How large is the promise of such plans regarded as aids in solving the labor problem?
  5. State, with some precision, the provisions of the Canadian Industrial Disputes Investigation Act. In what respect has the administration of the act departed from the intent of the authors? What is to be said of its success or failure? Its constitutionality? And its standing in the opinions of the wage earners, employers and the general public?
  6. State the important features of the law establishing the Railroad Labor Board, and of the act of 1926 which superseded it.
    Briefly summarize the work of the Railroad Labor Board, pointing out its successes and failure. What conclusions do you draw from this experience with governmental control of labor conditions.

Group II
Answer all questions: follow the order given

  1. Contrast the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor. Include in your answer a clear statement of: plans of organization; program for the attainment of results; governing philosophy; and effectiveness as agencies to advance the interest of wage earners.
  2. A strike was declared against the Mills restaurants in Arizona by the Amalgamated Cooks and Waiters Unions. The strikers maintained pickets who appealed to cooks and waiters not to accept employment or to leave it if employed, and to customers not to patronize the restaurants. The pickets allege that the proprietors are “unfair to organized labor,” that hours are excessive and wages below the living standard. They picket in groups of six and employ vigorous, but generally peaceful, persuasion. There are minor cases of coercion and intimidation. The state has enacted laws declaring picketing legitimate and denying to the state courts the power to issue writs of injunction in labor disputes. The employers enter suits for damages against the union and attack the constitutionality of the law in both state and federal courts.
    Discuss these issues from the standpoint of legality, governmental policy and the legitimate exercise of trade union functions.
  3. Discuss the use of writs of injunction in labor disputes. Why has the employment of such writs become increasingly common and why have the trade unions vigorously opposed their use? What issues were involved in the Buck’s Stove case? The Bedford Stone decision?
  4. Does the introduction of machinery, e.g., the linotype machine or the automatic glass bottle machine benefit or injure: the wage earner, the capitalist and the consuming public? Answer both as to the immediate and the “long run” effect, and analyze the long run process of adjustment.
  5. A certain national building trade’s union established the following rules:
    1. Apprenticeship shall not begin before the age of 16 years and shall be four years long. The ratio of apprentices shall be: “one to each shop irrespective of the number of journeymen employed, and one to every five members thereafter.”
    2. A generally understood standard for a day’s work is in effect, which union members are expected not to exceed. This is based upon the average output of the union members when working without restriction.
    3. The introduction of new machines and processes is not opposed. However, the union insists that its members be given preference on the new machines, and that full union wages be paid. The industry pays to journeymen a straight time wage of 85 cents per hour; runs open shop though the great majority of the workers are union men and has been largely reorganized because of the invention and introduction of labor saving machinery.
      * *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * * *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *
      Discuss these union practices from the standpoint of industrial efficiency and social welfare. If in your opinion some of them are unsound or unreasonable, what steps would you recommend with a view of having them modified?
  6. Discuss the general subject of compulsory arbitration. Has it been successful in operation? Does it eliminate strikes? Strengthen or weaken trade unionism? Mean an increase or decrease in governmental control of industry? To what extent would you think it desirable that such a policy be adopted by our federal and state governments?
  7. What conclusion do you draw from your study of trade unionism? Is the movement worthy of support on its past record? Would you suggest modification of its plans or purposes? Do alternative plans such as company unionism seem to you of greater promise?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943 (HUC 7000.55). Box 11: Examination Papers Mid-Years 1929. Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations [in] History, New Testament, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, January-February, 1929.

________________________

Enrollment, Economics 6a2
Spring Term, 1929

[Economics] 6a 2hf. Dr. C. E. Persons.—Labor Legislation and Social Insurance.

Total 13: 4 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1928-1929, p. 72.

 

Course Assignment for Reading Period
Economics 6b2
Spring Term, 1929

Economics 6b [Labor Legislation and Social Insurance.]

Select one of the following groups.

  1. Minimum Wage.

A. F. Lucas, The Legal Minimum Wage in Massachusetts. [The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, March 1927, Supplement]
—and either—
D. Self, The British Trade Board System.
—or—
M.B. Hammond, Wage Boards in Australia, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 29: pp. 98, 326, 563.

  1. Health Insurance.

Illinois Health Insurance Commission Report, pp. 1-168.
I.M. Rubinow, Standards of Health Insurance.

  1. Unemployment.

J. L. Cohen, Insurance Against Unemployment, pp. 159-332, 430, 494.
—and either—
W.H. Beveridge Unemployment a Problem of Industry, Chs. V, VIII, IX, XI.
—or—
H. Feldman, Regulation of Industry, Chs. V, VI, VIII, XIII, XIV, XVI.

  1. Old Age Provision.

1925 Report of the Massachusetts Commission on Pensions.
L. Conant, A Critical Analysis of Industrial Pension Plans, Chs. I, II, VII, VIII, IX, X.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1928-1929”.

________________________

Enrollment, Economics 342
Spring Term, 1929

[Economics] 34 2hf. Dr. C. E. Persons.—Problems of Labor.

Total 5: 1 Graduate, 3 Seniors, 1 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1928-1929, p. 72.

 

Course Assignment for Reading Period
Economics 342
Spring Term, 1929

Economics 34. [Problems of Labor.]

Individual reading assignments.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1928-1929”.

 

Image Source:  Sever Hall, Harvard University, ca. 1904. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Categories
Economists Harvard Northwestern Socialism Sociology Wellesley

Harvard. Economics Ph.D. alumnus, later NLRB judge. Charles E. Persons, 1913

 

The 1913 Harvard economics Ph.D. alumnus we meet today managed to cross at least one Dean and later one of his bosses in a government job (see below). Indeed his argumentative nature gets noted in Richard J. Linton’s History of the NLRB Judges Division with Special Emphasis on the Early Years (August 1, 2004), p. 10:

As Chief Judge Bokat describes in his March 1969 oral history interview … some of the judges did not sit silently at such conferences. He reports that Judge Charles Persons was one who would argue vociferously with, particularly, Member Leiserson. …Judge Bokat tells us that there would be Judge Persons, who was not a lawyer (and neither was Member Leiserson), debating legal issues with Leiserson in the presence of several who were lawyers.

 

In case you are wondering: Charles Edward Persons does not appear to be closely related (if at all) to his contemporary, Warren Persons, an economics professor at Harvard at the time.

______________________

Charles Edward Persons
Vital Records

Born: July 17, 1878 in Brandon, Iowa.

Spouse: Margaret Murday (1888-1956)

Son: William Burnett Persons (1918-1992)

Daughter: Jean Murday Persons (1922-1994)

Died: April 1, 1962

Buried: Arlington National Cemetery

______________________

Academic and Public/Government Career Timeline

1903. A.B. Cornell College, Iowa.

1905. A.M. Harvard University.

1907-08. Wellesley. Instructor in Economics.

Industrial History of the United States. (One division, three hours a week; one year) 9 students enrolled: 4 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 1 Sophomore.

1908-09. Wellesley. Instructor in Economics.

Industrial History of the United States. (One division, three hours a week; one year) 5 students enrolled: 3 Seniors, 2 Juniors.
Industrial History of England. (One division, three hours a week; one semester) 18 students enrolled: 5 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 6 Sophomore.
Socialism. (One division, three hours a week; one semester) 14 students enrolled: 5 Seniors, 9 Juniors.
Labor Movement in the Nineteenth Century. (One division, three hours a week; one semester) 16 students enrolled: 7 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 6 Sophomores.
Selected Industries. (One division, one hour a week; one year) 52 students enrolled: 2 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 38 Sophomores, 6 Freshmen.
Municipal Socialism. (One division, three hours a week; one semester) 7 students enrolled: 2 Seniors, 5 Juniors.

1909-10. Princeton. Preceptor in History, Politics and Economics.

1910-11. Northwestern. Instructor of Economics.

1913. Ph.D. (Economics). Harvard University.

Thesis title: Factory legislation in Massachusetts: from 1825 to the passage of the ten-hour law in 1874. Pub. in “Labor laws and their enforcement,” New York, Longmans, 1911, pp. 1-129.

1913-16. Washington University, St. Louis. Assistant/Associate Professor of Sociology.

Principles of Economics, Elements of Sociology, Labor and Labor Problems, Population Problems, Social Reform, Sociology Seminar.

1917-20. U.S. Army.

Persons, Charles Edward, A.M. ’05; Ph.D. ’13. Entered Officers’ Training Camp, Fort Riley, Kans., May 1917; commissioned 1st lieutenant Infantry August 15; assigned to 164th Depot Brigade, Camp Funston, Kans.; transferred to Company K, 805th Pioneer Infantry, August 1918; sailed for France September 2; returned to United States June 27, 1919; ill in hospital; discharged January 31, 1920. Engagement: Meuse-Argonne offensive.   Source: Harvard’s Military Record in the World War, p. 751.

1920-26. Professor and Head of Economics, College of Business Administration, Boston University. Boston, Mass.

Persons refused to support a student volunteer (Beanpot) candy sale project in 1922 pushed by the Dean to fund a Business College War Memorial. Persons believed “that the quality of the candy to be sold had been misrepresented, and also … that a disproportionate share of the profits would go to one or more persons teaching in the College of Business Administration and actively concerned in the management of the sale.”

Sabbatical year 1927-28.  (June 16, 1927) informed by Dean it would be inadvisable for him to return after his sabbatical year. He fought the Dean and the Dean won…

Source: Academic Freedom and Tenure, Committee A. Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors, Vol. 15, No. 4 (April 1929), pp. 270-276.

 

1927-28. Harvard. Lecturer.

Economics 6a 2hf. Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.

1928-29. Harvard. Lecturer.

Economics 6a 1hf. Trade Unionism and Allied Problems.
Economics 6b 2hf. Labor Legislation and Social Insurance.
Economics 34 2hf. Problems of Labor.

ECONOMICS PROFESSOR IS GIVEN FEDERAL POSITION
C.E. Persons Appointed Expert on Economics of Unemployment

Professor Charles E. Persons, for the past year lecturer in the Department of Economics here has been appointed Expert on the Economics of Unemployment in the Federal Bureau of the Census. He will take up his new duties immediately.

At Harvard Professor Persons gave courses in Trade Unionism and Labor Legislation. In his previous career, aside from service in the United States Army during the war, he has been a member of the faculties of Wellesley College and of Princeton, Northwestern and Washington Universities. At the Bureau of the Census Professor Persons will have general supervision of the census of unemployment and of special studies subsidiary thereto.

Source: The Harvard Crimson, November 15, 1929

 

Row Over Census Of Jobless In U. S. Bureau Is Revealed
Dispute Led Up To Resignation Of Professor Persons, Expert Economist—June 26 Statement Believed Not To Give True Insight Into Situation

The Baltimore Sun, July 9, 1930, p. 2.

Washington, July 8. The census of unemployment, started in the belief it would throw light on a distressing public problem, threatens to involve the Hoover Administration in another controversy.

The question is being asked in many quarters as to whether the unemployment census is to be a real statistical investigation designed to bring out every possible fact or merely a routine enumeration, the result of which are to be used a far as possible to bolster up business confidence.

Two developments have brought this issue to the front. One is the disclosure that an expert economist employed last November to direct the unemployment census has resigned after prolonged disagreement with officials of the Census Bureau. The other is the preliminary unemployment count released through the Department of Commerce on June 26. Careful analysis of this statement has convinced more than one observer that it tells only a part of what it purports to tell.

Expert Economist Resigned

The resignation of the expert economist, Prof. Charles E. Persons, formerly of Boston University and more recently of Harvard University, occurred in May, but the controversy which led up to the resignation is only now coming to light.

The details of the row remain to be disclosed. The Census Bureau declines to say anything about the matter, except that Professor Persons resigned and that his resignation was not requested. Professor Persons likewise refuses to discuss the incident.

It is known, however, that prolonged friction preceded the decision of Professor Persons to quit and the impression grows that the economist was not allowed a free hand to pursue such statistical inquiries as he believed to be necessary.

Covered Only One Phase

Although the census statement on unemployment of June 26 was issued more than a month after Professor Persons left the service, an analysis of that statement throw an interesting light on the uses to which the results of the enumeration of jobless are being put.

The unemployment census includes two schedules, one in which persons capable of work but having no jobs are listed, and another which include persons having jobs but laid off as a result of business depression or for other causes.

The statement of June 26 covers only the first schedule. It finds there were 574,647 jobless persons among 20,264,480 persons enumerated. But it takes no account of the large number of persons actually idle, though technically in possession of jobs, for the reason the statement does not, in the opinion of not a few who have studied the subject, give an accurate picture of the unemployment situation.

Information Only Partial

Its finding that only two per cent of the enumerated population are unemployed is regarded as affording no true insight into the actual extent to which men and women are out of work, and there is a disposition in some quarters to criticize the issuance of such partial information. This disposition is underlined by the fact that the figures, as disclosed, fit in with the general policy of optimism on which the Administration has embarked.

The Census Bureau, in its statement, alluded to the partiality of its figures. It says that no records from the second schedule are yet available but there is no mention of this fact in Secretary Lamont’s rosy statement that the preliminary figures “applied to the whole population show much less unemployment than was generally estimated.”

Would Not Justify Optimism

Outside the Census Bureau it is believed that had the enumeration included both schedules in the unemployment census the result would have been much different and much less useful in supporting the optimism with which the Administration approaches this subject.

There is also a disposition in unofficial quarters to question the Census Bureau’s decision to base the percentage of unemployment on population.

It is pointed out that only about one in five of the total population is actually employed as a wage earner, and that a true percentage of unemployment would be based on the number of persons capable of work and not on the total population. On the basis of working population, the percentage of unemployment as found by the Census Bureau’s own figures would be ten percent, instead of two.

 

After Persons’ Census Resignation

HAVERHILL—Charles E. Persons, former director of federal census on unemployment at Washington, was appointed district manager of Haverhill Shoeworkers’ Protective Union.

Source: The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachusetts), December 6, 1930, p. 20.

 

HAVERHILL, Aug 9—Charles E. Persons, N.R.A. labor advisor, visited this city yesterday in a two days’ survey of shoe centers of Massachusetts preparatory to hearings which will be held shortly in Washington on the proposed code for the shoe industry…

Source: The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), August 9, 1933, p. 15.

 

Charles E. Persons was identified as assistant to F. E. Berquist, chairman of the research and planning division of the national NRA headquarters.

Source:  The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana), September 18, 1934, p. 3.

 

Last-stage.

1937-1949. (Date entered on duty: June 1, 1937) National Labor Relations Board Judge (trial-examiner).

Likely final case as trial examiner found in September 29, 1949 Olin Industries, Inc. (Winchester Repeating Arms Co Division). [Commerce Clearing House, Chicago. National Labor Relations Board—Decisions].

Source: See, Richard J. Linton, Administrative Law Judge (Retired), National Labor Relations Board. A History of the NLRB Judges Division with Special Emphasis on the Early Years (August 1, 2004).

______________________

Chronological List of Publications
[with affiliations at the time of publication]

Chapter 1 “The Early History of Factory Legislation in Massachusetts” in Persons, C. E., Parton, Mabel, and Moses, Mabelle. Labor Laws and Their Enforcement with Special Reference to Massachusetts. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1911.

[Charles E. Persons, formerly Henry Bromfield Rogers Memorial Fellow, Harvard University, Instructor in Economics, Northwestern University.]

 

Marginal Utility and Marginal Disutility as Ultimate Standards of Value, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 27, No. 4 (August 1913), pp. 547-578.

[by Charles E. Persons, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.]

 

Women’s Work and Wages in the United States, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 29, No. 2 (February 1915), pp. 201-234.

[by C. E. Persons, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.]

 

Estimates of a Living Wage for Female Workers, Publications of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 14, No. 110 (June 1915), pp. 567-577.

[by Charles E. Persons, Associate Director of the School for Social Economy, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.]

 

Teaching the Introductory Course in Economics, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 31, No. 1 (November 1916), pp. 86-107.

[by Charles E. Persons, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.]

 

Review of Outlines of Economics by Richard T. Ely et. al. The American Economic Review, Vol. 7, No. 1 (March 1917), pp. 98-103.

[by Charles E. Persons, Washington University.]

 

A Balanced Industrial System—Discussion [of Professor Carver], The American Economic Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, Supplement, Papers and Proceedings of the Thirty-second Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (March 1920), pp. 86-88.

[by Charles E. Persons, Columbus, Ohio.]

 

Recent Textbooks, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 34, No. 4 (August 1920), pp. 737-756.

[by Charles E. Persons, Boston University, College of Business Administration.]

 

Review of Elementary Economics by Thomas Nixon Carver. The American Economic Review, Vol. 11, No. 2 (June 1921), pp. 274-277

 

Review of Principles of Economics by F.M. Taylor. The American Economic Review, Vol. 12, No. 1 (March 1922), pp. 109-111.

[by Charles E. Persons, Boston University, College of Business Administration.]

 

Review of Principles of Economics by Frank W. Taussig, Vol. II (3rd ed. revised). The American Economic Review, Vol. 12, No. 3 (September 1922), pp. 474-475

[by C. E. Persons, Boston University.]

 

“The Course in Elementary Economics”: Comment, The American Economic Review, Vol. 13, No. 2 (June 1923), pp. 249-251.

[by Charles E. Persons, Boston University, College of Business Administration.]

 

Review of Practical Economics by Henry P. Shearman, The American Economic Review, Vol. 13, No. 3 (September 1923), pp. 471-472.

[by Charles E. Persons, Boston University, College of Business Administration.]

 

Labor Problems as Treated by American Economists, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 41, No. 3 (May 1927), pp. 487-519.

[by Charles E. Persons, Boston University.]

 

Unemployment as a Census Problem, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 25, No. 169, [Supplement: Proceedings of the American Statistical Association] (March 1930), pp. 117-120.

[by Charles E. Persons]

 

Credit Expansion, 1920 to 1929, and its Lessons, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 45, No. 1 (November 1930), pp. 94-130.

[by Charles E. Persons, Washington, D.C.]

 

Census Reports on Unemployment in April, 1930, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 154, The Insecurity of Industry (March 1931), pp. 12-16.

[by Charles E. Persons, Ph.D. District Manager, Show Workers’ Protective Union, Haverhill, Massachusetts]

 

Review of Labor and Other Essays by Henry R. Seager. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 41, No. 1 (February 1933), pp. 121-123.

[by Charles E. Persons, Economic Research Bureau, Wellesley, Mass.]

 

Calculation of Relief Expenditures, Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 28, No. 181, Supplement: Proceedings of the American Statistical Association (March 1933), pp. 68-74.

[by Charles E. Persons, Bureau of Economic Research, Haverhill, Mass.]

Image Source: Application for U.S. Passport 17 May 1915 to go to England for “scientific study”

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Syllabus and Examination for International Trade. Haberler, 1949

 

The following course outline with readings and final examination for Gottfried Haberler’s 1949 (spring term) course in international trade can be compared to the following material transcribed earlier for the pair of semester courses he taught subsequently covering international trade, finance and policy.

__________________________

Course Announcement

Economics 243a (formerly Economics 143a). International Trade

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor Haberler.

[Economics 243 b (formerly] Economics 143b). International Trade]

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professors Haberler and Harris.

Omitted in 1948-49; to be given in 1949-50.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Courses of Instruction, Box 6, Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1948-49, p. 79.

__________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 243 a (formerly Economics 143a). International Trade (Sp). Professor Haberler.

Total: 25: 15 Graduates, 1 Senior, 4 Public Administration, 1 M.I.T., 4 Radcliffe.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1948-1949, p. 78.

__________________________

Spring 1949
Economics 243a
Professor Haberler

Outline

First Four Weeks

  1. The Importance of International Trade for the Economy of Various Countries. Measures of Importance
  2. International Accounts and National Accounts.
    International Transactions in National Economic Budgets
  3. Balance of Payments and Foreign Exchange
    Demand and Supply for Exports and Imports
    Demand and Supply of Foreign Currency
  4. Balance of Payments Mechanism
    The Transfer Problem

Second Four Weeks

  1. International Division of Labor
    The Theory of Comparative Cost
  2. Ohlin’s Theory of “Interregional and International Trade”
  3. Various Criticisms and Objections to Classical and Neoclassical Theories
  4. Location Theory

Last Four Weeks

  1. The last four weeks will be devoted to a discussion of problems of trade policy. Evolution of trade policies; Modern methods of trade regulation; The Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization (I.T.O.).

 

Reading Assignments and Suggestions
General

The literature in the subject is so rich that students can acquire the knowledge necessary for the course in many different ways. Students are invited to make their own detailed choice from the suggestions below. Two extensive bibliographies have been prepared in former terms for other courses. One may be obtained from Ms. Buller, Littauer 322; the other from Professor Williams’ secretary, Littauer 231. Each student is expected to have read one or the other of the following general monographs or texts:

Ellsworth: International Economics
Haberler: Theory of International Trade
Whale: International Trade
Enke and Salera: International Economics
Meade and Hitch: Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy (Part III)
Harrod: International Economics (3rd edition, 1939)
Tinbergen: International Economic Cooperation (1945)
An excellent discussion of recent developments will be found in: Metzler: “The Theory of International Trade,” Chapter. 6, Survey of Contemporary Economics (1948)
It is hoped that the volume, Readings in the Theory of International Trade will appear in March or April.

Assignments and Suggestions to Subjects Listed Above in Addition to Relevant Chapters in General Texts

  1. There is hardly any specific reading on this subject. See, however, The Post-War Foreign Economic Policy of the United States. 6th Report of the House Special Committee on Post-War Economic Policy and Planning. House Report No. 541. Washington, 1945. (This report was written by Lloyd Metzler.)
    The United States in the World Economy, U. S. Department of Commerce, 1943.
    Buchanan, N.S., and Lutz, E.A.: Rebuilding the World Economy, 1947)
  2. Hicks: The Social Framework of the American Economy, Ch. XII, “Foreign and National Income.”
    The United States in the World Economy (U.S. Department. of Commerce, 1943).
    The Survey of Current Business (Monthly publication of Department of Commerce) has frequent articles on trade and balance of payments statistics.
  3. R. Nurkse: International Currency Experience (League of Nations, 1944).
    J. Robinson: “Foreign Exchanges,” Essays on the Theory of Employment (1st ed., 1938; 2nd ed., 1947), Part III.
    Machlup: “The Theory of Foreign Exchanges,” Economica, 1939 (two articles).
    Pigou: “The Foreign Exchanges,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1922, Reprinted in Essays in Applied Economics, 1927.
    Metzler: op. cit.
  4. Williams: Post-War Monetary Plans and Other Essays, 3rd edition, 1947.
    The New Economics (ed. S. E. Harris), Part V, especially the essays by Bloomfield and Nurkse.
    Machlup: International Trade and the National Income Multiplier (1943).
    Keynes and Ohlin on German Reparations in Economic Journal, 1929 (to be reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade).
  5. In addition to general texts, see: Ricardo: Principles; J. S. Mill, Principles
    Marshall: Money, Credit and Commerce
    Taussig: International Trade
    J. Viner: Studies in the Theory of International Trade
    Leontief: “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1933 (to be reprinted in Readings).
  6. Ohlin: op. cit. Parts I, II, and possibly III.
    Ellsworth: “A Comparison of International Trade Theories,” American Economic Review, June, 1940.
  7. J. Viner: Studies (last two chapters).
    F. D. Graham: Theory of International Values (Princeton 1948).
    Williams: Postwar Monetary Plans, 3rd ed., 1937, Ch. 12.
  8. E. Hoover: Location of Economic Activity (Economic Handbook, ed., S.E. Harris, 1948).
    Relevant chapters in Ohlin, op. cit.
  9. Buchanan and Lutz: op. cit.
    Foreign Economic Policy for the United States (ed., S.E. Harris, 1948).
    M. Gordon: Barriers to World Trade (description of trading methods).
    Clair Wilcox: A Charter for World Trade, 1949.
    Text of I.T.O. Charter

Further assignments for 9 to be made later.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1). Box 5, Folder “Economics 1949-1950, 3 of 3”.

_____________________

1948-49
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 243a
[Final Examination]

Answer 4 questions

(Please write legibly!)

  1. Analyze the probably effect of a currency depreciation of a particular country upon (a) the balance of payments and (b) the terms of trade. List the main factors on which the outcome depends and give attention to income as well as to price effects.
  2. List and discuss the main theoretically tenable arguments for protection. Indicate their order of importance (a) from the scientific point of view and (b) from the point of view of practical politics.
  3. Describe Ohlin’s theory of International Trade and compare it with the classical and neo-classical theory.
  4. “The existence of a large home market in the U.S. protected by taste, connections, and a high tariff, which enables the development of mass-production methods, secures advantages which cannot be challenged except by countries having complete state monopoly of their foreign trade. This makes it impossible for Western Europe to adopt a policy of nondiscriminatory trade using no protective devices except tariffs.” (Th. Balogh) Discuss and analyze.
  5. Discuss the probable influence of international trade upon the distribution of income, say, between labor and non-labor income. Pay attention to the theories of Heckscher-Ohlin, Stolper-Samuelson and L. Metzler.
  6. After World War I, Germany had to pay reparations and the Western allies had to pay debts to the United States. After World War II, the corresponding problem for Europe is to get along without American aid.
    Analyze the possible mechanisms of adjustment, indicating the similarities and differences of the two cases.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 16, Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science, June, 1949.

Image Source: Gottfried Haberler in Harvard Class Album, 1950.

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams for Elementary, Full, and Advanced Political Economy. 1880-81

 

This post reaches back to the early years of Harvard’s (then) department of political economy. A grand total of three courses were offered in 1880-81. The textbooks of choice were Mill’s Principles of Political Economy and Cairnes’ Leading Principles of Political Economy. Some links to the chapters/sections cited are included below.

1879-80 Harvard Exams in Political Economy

__________________

Harvard College Courses
POLITICAL ECONOMY.

  1. The Elements of Political Economy.—Financial Legislation of the United States.—Lectures. Twice a week. Professor Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin.
    Course 1 is intended for students who desire to pursue the study for only one year.
  2. Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. —Financial Legislation of the United States. —Lectures. Three times a week. Professor Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin.
    Courses 1 and 2 cannot be taken together, nor can either be taken by any student who has taken the other.
  3. Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. —McLeod’s Elements of Banking. —Bastiat’s Harmonies Economiques. —Lectures. Three times a week. Professor Dunbar.
    Students proposing to take course 3 must first consult the Instructor.

Source: The Harvard University Catalogue, 1880-81, pp. 82-83.

Harvard Graduate Department
POLITICAL ECONOMY.

  1. Public Finance. —Leroy-Beaulieu’s Science des Finances. Once a week. Professor Dunbar.

Source: The Harvard University Catalogue, 1880-81, pp. 192. [apparently not taught in 1880-81 according to the Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1880-81, p. 62.]

__________________

Political Economy Course Enrollments
1880-1881

No. of Sec-tions Hours per week for stu-dents Hours per week for instruct-tors
Prof. Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin Political Econ. 1 Elementary Course.—Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.—Lectures 22 Total:
7 Seniors,
4 Juniors,
9 Sophomores,
2 Others.		 1 2 2
Prof. Dunbar and Dr. Laughlin Political Econ. 2 Full Course.—Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.—Lectures on Currency and the Financial Legislation of the United States 100 Total:
13 Seniors,
73 Juniors,
13 Sophomores,
1 Other.		 2 3 6
Prof. Dunbar Political Econ. 3 Advanced Course.—Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy.—Giffen’s Essays in Finance.—Lectures 12 Total:
1 Graduate,
8 Seniors,
2 Juniors,
1 Law.		 1 3 3

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1880-1881, p. 49.

__________________

The John Stuart Mill’s Principles:
textbook of Harvard choice

Most likely edition of John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy used at Harvard was a New York reprint of the London 5th edition. It corresponds to the pages given for the mid-year exam in Political Economy 1 from 1879-80.

__________________

Final Examinations
Mid-Year and End-Year, 1880-1881

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Mid-Year Examination, 1880-81 with references to J. S. Mill]

  1. Explain the following terms: Real Wages, Fixed Capital, Allowance System, Margin of Cultivation, Price, Demand, Medium of Exchange, Seignorage, Value of Money, and Bill of Exchange.
  2. In what way would a general demand for luxuries effect productive laborers, and the wealth of the community? ( I., ch. v, §5)
  3. State the laws which regulate the permanent and temporary values of agricultural products.
  4. How far does the law of Demand and Supply govern the value of money? ( III., ch. ii., §5.)
  5. Explain the following statement: “It is true, the absolute wages paid have no effect upon values; but neither has the absolute quantity of labor.” ( III., ch. iv., §3.)
  6. Show how Gresham’s Law is illustrated by the history of the currency in the United States between 1834-1873.
  7. What are the different forms assumed by credit? What are their relative effects on prices? ( III., chs. xi. and xii.)
  8. State the doctrine of Comparative Cost. What is the advantage of international trade to the production of a country?
  9. What determines the value of imported commodities?
  10. Describe the issue of assignats, and point out the mistakes committed.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2, Papers Set for Mid-year Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (February, 1881) included in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1880-81, pp. 14-15.

__________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Final, Year-End Examination, 1880-81, with references to J. S. Mill]

  1. Define Supply, Value of Money, Productive Consumption, Cost of Production, Cost of Labor, Exchange Value, Law of Production from Land, Rate of Profit, Capital, and Gresham’s Law.
  2. Explain fully whether you consider that United States bonds are capital or not. (Book I., ch. 4, §3.)
  3. (1) What is the lowest rate of profit which can permanently exist?
    (2) Why is this minimum variable? (Book II., ch. xv., §2.)
  4. (1) What connection exists between the Price of agricultural products and the amount of Rent paid?
    (2) Can rent affect the Price?
  5. Explain carefully the following:—
    “The average value of gold is made to conform to its natural value in the same manner as the values of other things are made to conform to their natural value.” (Book III., [ch. ix] §2.)
  6. State the conditions under which International Trade can permanently exist. (Book III., ch xvii.) What will be the ultimate effect of a large movement of foreign gold upon Prices, Imports, and Exports in the receiving country?
  7. How does the general rate of interest determine the selling price of stocks and land? (Book III., ch. xxiii., §5.)
  8. Point out carefully the connection of money wages with the productive power of the land cultivated by a community. (Book III., ch. xxvi. §1.)
  9. What is the general effect of the progress of society on the land-owner, the capitalist, and the laborer? (Book IV., chs. ii., iii., iv.)
  10. On whom does a tax of a fixed proportion of agricultural produce fall? (Book V., ch. iv., §3.)
  11. Describe the leading provisions of the national bank system, as they now exist, in regard to (1) the security for notes; (2) reserves; redemption of notes; (3) aggregate limit of circulation; (4) gold banks; (5) and state the important changes made since the passage of the original act. (6) Compare our system with that of the Bank of England.
  12. State the provisions of the Resumption Act, and the circumstances which made it easy to resume specie payment at the date fixed upon

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2, Papers Set for Annual Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1881) included in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1880-81, pp. 10-11.

__________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Mid-Year Examination, 1880-81, with references to J. S. Mill]

In answering the Questions, do not change their order.
In all cases give the reasons for your answer.

  1. Is an actor to be classed as a productive laborer? The inventor of a machine? A confectioner?
  2. If in a country like this a large amount of capital becomes fixed in the building of railroads, what effect will this change taken by itself have upon the laboring class, supposing the capital to be (1) domestic, or (2) borrowed wholly or in part from abroad?
  3. How do banks help forward the tendency of profits to equivalent rates in different employments?
  4. To what extent is it true that “wages (meaning money wages) vary with the price of food, rising when it rises, and falling when it falls.” [Book II., ch. xi. §2]
  5. What determines
    1. the general rate of wages in a country,
    2. the relative rates of wages in different employments?
  6. How is it shown that “rent does not really form any part of the expenses of production or of the advances of the capitalist?” [Book II., ch. xvi. §6]
  7. How are we to reconcile these two passages from Book III., ch. IV.:—
    1. “High general profits cannot any more than high general wages, be a cause of high values.” (§4.)
    2. “Every rise or fall of general profits will have an effect on values.” (§5.)
  8. What is the system upon which the small silver currency of the United States is coined and issued?
  9. What will be the effect if the circulating medium of a country is increased beyond its natural amount,
    1. when the medium is coin?
    2. when it is coin and convertible paper?
    3. when it is inconvertible paper?
  10. Why does the increase or diminution of the reserve of a bank affect its ability to lend?
  11. What is the plan of the National Banks of the United States and of the Bank of England respectively, as regards (1) the ultimate redemption, and (2) the convertibility, of their notes?
  12. Arrange the following resources and liabilities of the Bank of England in the proper form, separating the Issue and the Banking Departments:—
Notes Issued £41.5 Government Securities £14.2
Other Deposits 27.9 Reserve 9.4
Other Securities (Loans) 27.9 Public Deposits 5.6
Coin and Bullion 26.5 Rest 3.2
Government Debt, &c. 15.0 Seven-day Bills 0.3
Capital 14.5
  1. Having arranged the account, show what changes would be made in it, if the Bank increased its loans by 3 millions, and sold 1 million of government securities, and if depositors at the same time withdrew 2 millions to be sent abroad.

**If you have time, state any difficulty which you find in Ricardo’s doctrine of rent.**

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2, Papers Set for Mid-year Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (February, 1881) included in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1880-81, pp. 15-16.

__________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Final, Year-End Examination, 1880-81, with a link to J. S. Mill]

One question may be omitted from each of the four groups.

I.

  1. Show carefully the distinction between wages, cost of labor and cost of production.
  2. Why is it that a potential change of the supply of other commodities is enough to make their value conform to any change in their cost of production, but that in the case of gold and silver the change of supply must be actual?
  3. What is the error involved in the assumption frequently made by writers and public speakers, that the currency of a country ought to increase in like ratio with its wealth and population?
  4. What effect does the great durability of gold and silver have upon the value of money?

II.

  1. Explain the incidence of taxes laid on wages.
  2. Explain what effect, if any, will be produced on the price of corn by,
    1. a tax upon rent;
    2. a tithe;
    3. a tax of so much per acre, irrespective of value;
    4. a tax of so much per bushel.
  3. What is the meaning of the statement that “it is not a difference in the absolute cost of production, which determines the interchange [of commodities between countries], but a difference in the comparative cost.” [Book III., ch. xvii, §2.]
  4. Why does cost of production fail to determine the value of commodities brought from a foreign country? Does it also fail in the case of commodities brought from distant parts of the same country?

III.

  1. What effect is produced upon rents, profits and wages, respectively, in a country where population is stationary and capital advancing, like France?
  2. Explain the doctrine of the tendency of profits to a minimum, the cause of that tendency, and the circumstances which counteract it.

IV.

  1. Explain the changes in the amount of greenbacks outstanding, beginning at February, 1868.
  2. Describe the provisions of the national bank system, as they now exist, and compare them with those of the Bank of England, in regard to (1) the security of notes; (2) reserves; (3) redemption of notes; (4) aggregate limit of circulation; (5) gold banks.
  3. State the provisions of the Resumption Act, and the circumstances which made it easy to resume specie payment at the date fixed upon.
  4. What was the difference between the five-twenty bonds and the six per cents. of 1881 (Act of July, 1861)? Why was it good policy for the government to issue such a large proportion of the former?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2, Papers Set for Annual Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1881) included in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1880-81, pp. 11-12.

__________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Mid-Year Examination, 1880-81, with references to Cairnes, et al.]

Do not change the order of the questions.

  1. “No article is dearer than another simply in virtue of the skill bestowed upon it.” What then is the relation of skill to value? [J. E. Cairnes. Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (1874), p. 76]
  2. What is the argument for the proposition that the price of corn, in the progress of society, reaches a maximum, beyond which it cannot advance?
  3. When a depreciation of currency is in progress, what will be the difference in the effect on the prices of manufactured goods, vegetable products, and animal products respectively?
  4. What is meant by saying that a nation is interested, not in having its prices high or low, but in having its gold cheap?
  5. Explain the statement that “the high scale of industrial remuneration in America, instead of being evidence of a high cost of production in that country, is distinctly evidence of a low cost of production.” [J. E. Cairnes. Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (1874), p. 385]
  6. This being shown, “how is the fact to be explained, that the people of the United States are unable to compete in neutral markets in the sale of certain imported wares, with England and other European countries?” [J. E. Cairnes.Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (1874), p. 386]
  7. “The laws of political economy express tendencies.” Examine this statement, and show the meaning of the word “law” as used in economic discussion.
  8. Examine the following statement of the doctrine of rent and of the deductions therefrom:—
    “Ricardo taught that cultivation begins, when land is first open to occupation and population is scarce, with the richest soils, and thence of necessity proceeds, with the growth of numbers, steadily to poorer and still poorer, until at last all proportion must cease, and famine and death relieve the overburdened earth; the end being only postponed, as assassination is said to temper despotism, by a graduated massacre, in the forms of war, pestilence and famine, which anticipate by performing the catastrophe in detail; that is, if people did not die prematurely in series adjusted to the overruling law they would have to perish at last in the lump.—Elder’s Memoir of Carey, p. 14.
  9. Examine the position taken in the following extract from an argument in disproof of the Malthusian Theory:—
    “The question of fact into which this issue resolves itself is not in what stage of population is most subsistence produced? But in what stage of population is there exhibited the greatest power of producing wealth? For the power of producing wealth in any form is the power of producing subsistence—and the consumption of wealth in any form, or of wealth producing power, is equivalent to the consumption of subsistence….Thus the power of any population to produce the necessaries of life is not to be measured by the necessaries of life actually produced, but by the expenditure of power in all modes.
    “There is no necessity for abstract reasoning. The question is one of simple fact. Does the relative power of producing wealth increase with the increase of population?”— Henry George’s Progress and Poverty, pp. 126-7.
  10. Also the following:—
    “Agricultural profits cannot fall unless recourse is had to poorer land, but such land will never be cultivated, since capitalists can never be willing to submit to a fall of profit: and the very meaning of the expression that some land is not worth cultivating, is, that it will not yield the ordinary profit to the farmer who should attempt to reclaim it. It appears then, that the rate of profit is stationary in agriculture, and, consequently, in all other trades; and that whatever rate be established in an early stage of society, it must remain the same throughout its subsequent development.”— Shadwell’s System of Political Economy, p. 165.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2, Papers Set for Mid-year Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (February, 1881) included in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1880-81, pp. 16-17.

__________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Final, Year-End Examination, 1880-81, with references to Cairnes and Giffen]

  1. What effect has the existence of “non-competing groups” on the exchange of commodities, each of which is the product of several classes of labor, as g. the exchange of a steam engine for cotton cloth?
  2. How far are prices determined by Reciprocal International Demand, Reciprocal Domestic Demand, and cost of Production respectively? Is any change to be made in Cairnes’s statement that “an alteration in the reciprocal demand of two trading nations will act upon the price, not of any commodity in particular, but of every commodity which enters into the trade?” [J. E. Cairnes. Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (1874), p. 93]
  3. What inferences are to be drawn from a regularly recurring excess of exports? In what respect is it to be viewed with satisfaction, or the reverse?
  4. The destruction of our carrying trade is spoken of as causing us a serious economic loss. What is the nature of the loss?
  5. A public officer in a recent interview set forth that,—
    “The sorghum, tea and silk industries will before many years save the United States importations amounting to about two hundred million dollars;” and that, inter alia, “we can raise on American soil a tea that will compete successfully in the market of the world and that will save us an annual tribute to foreigners of twenty-two millions.”
    What effect, if any, would this be likely to have on the competition of foreign manufactures with our own?
  6. How was the payment of the French indemnity effected with so little immediate disturbance of the money market, and what connection had the payment with the financial crisis of 1873?
  7. Although “war, it is understood, makes money dear,” still Mr. Giffen (writing in 1872) says that “we are entitled to say that money has been cheap in Europe, notwithstanding the war.” Why did the war not produce the usual effect? [Robert Giffen. Essays in Finance (3rd 1882), p. 55.]
  8. What grounds are there for believing that, at the lowest point of the recent commercial depression, England, instead of “living on her capital,” as some maintained, was still accumulating?
  9. “If we observe that the commencement of the great crisis in the commerce and trade of the world coincides precisely with the demonetization of silver in North America and Germany, we shall easily perceive the connection of causes between that fact and these phenomena, and see that the mischievous results of the demonetization of silver must, from year to year, become more apparent.”
  10. What are Mr. Giffen’s views as to the possibility of an early reduction of the English national debt? What is the nature and advantage of the operation in terminable annuities sometimes undertaken for this purpose?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 2, Papers Set for Annual Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1881) included in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1880-81, pp. 12-13.

Image Source: Harvard Square in 1882 from the Brookline Photograph Collection, Public Library of Brookline.

Categories
Duke Harvard M.I.T. Nebraska Virginia War and Defense Economics

United States. College and University Courses on War Economics, 1942

 

This post is limited to the economics courses reported in a survey conducted in the days and months after the attack on Pearl Harbor that provides an extensive list of “War Courses” offered at U.S. colleges and universities at the time. The post begins with a short description of the survey itself. Next, two tables provide the names of institutions, courses (with descriptions), and instructors together with enrollment statistics. The post ends with a short bibliography of books listed for some of the courses on war economics.

Most of the courses in the survey (and not included here) concern administrative matters such as the procedures governing military procurement. There is at least one course on the economics of war that had been organized at Harvard by Seymour Harris not included in this survey (68 schools did not respond).

_________________________

Not included in the survey

Harvard University. Economic Aspects of War, organized by Seymour Harris, 1940

Final Exam for Economic Aspects of War, 1940

_________________________

How the Study was was Made
[pp. 11-13]

In April, 1942, a study was issued entitled A Report on War Courses offered by Collegiate Schools of Business and Departments of Economics. In this study were presented the combined information sent in by 58 schools and departments listing 196 separate courses. The Department of Commerce in cooperation with the National Conference of State University Schools of Business had distributed these questionnaires to approximately 175 schools on December 11, 1941. The questionnaires called for information on war courses offered after September, 1939.

In May another questionnaire was sent out to approximately the same number of schools of business administration and departments of economics. This questionnaire asked the school to list those war courses which were not reported for inclusion in the April report. Replies were received from 120 schools, 89 of which reported that they were offering war courses not previously reported, and 31 of which reported that they were offering no war courses. Sixty-eight schools did not reply.

Since the questionnaire asked the schools to “include established courses such as Business Policy and Cost Accounting provided they have been reoriented to meet war needs”, the element of judgment enters in to qualify the results. Some schools reported that they had organized no new courses but had reorganized old ones to meet war needs. They felt, however, that the alteration was not great enough to warrant reporting them as war courses. Other schools reported courses which contained in their description very little of a war nature. Courses which it was felt were not primarily war courses were not included in the report. In addition, courses were excluded which it was felt did not fall clearly into the field of business administration and economics.

Any further information which is desired on any of the courses reported here can be secured by writing to the instructor of the particular course. His name appears along with the description of the course.

_________________________

War Courses Offered in Collegiate Schools of Business and Departments of Economics

Economics of War

SCHOOL

 COURSE TITLE WEEKS
OF COURSE		 HOURS
PER
WEEK		 CREDIT
HOURS		 ON
CAMPUS		 SEC-TIONS STU-
DENTS

PREREQ-UISITES*

U. of Akron, Akron, Ohio.

 Economics of War

16

 2 2 No 1 15

2C
Albright Col., Reading, Pa. Economic Problems

16

 3 3 Yes 1 18

2C

U. of Ariz., School of Bus. & Pub. Admin. Tucson, Ariz.

 Economics of War 18 3 3 Yes 1 17 2C
U. of Ariz., School of Bus. & Pub. Admin. Tucson, Ariz. Geography of War Areas 18 3 3 Yes — —

—

Babson Inst., School of Bus. Admin., Wellesley, Mass.

 War Economics 12 3 0 Yes 2 40 C
Brooklyn Col., Brooklyn, N.Y. Econ. of Defense & War 16 3 3 Yes 2 34

2C

Brown U., Dept. of Econ., Providence, R.I.

 Economics of War 30 3 6 Yes 1 45 2C
Bucknell U., Dept. of Commerce & Finance, Lewisburg, Pa. Econ. of Modern War 6 6 ½ 3 Yes 1 20

2C

Carleton Col., Dept. of Econ., Northfield, Minn.

 Economics of War 18 3 3 Yes 1 — 2C
City College of N.Y., Commerce Center, New York, N.Y. Price Control Reguls. 6 6 3 Yes 1 39

—

U. of Cincinnati, Col. of Engin. & Commerce, Cincinnati, Ohio.

 Economics of War 14 3 3 Yes 2 60 —
U. of Cincinnati, Col. of Engin. & Commerce, Cincinnati, Ohio. Probs. of War and Reconstruction 14 3 3 Yes 2 60

—

Claremont Col., Claremont, Cal.

 America at War: Econ. Org. 6 10 5 Yes — — 4
Claremont Col., Claremont, Cal. War and Economics 15 3 5 Yes — —

4

Clark U., Worcester, Mass.

 Economics of War 6 5 2 Yes 1 — 2C
Clemson Col., Clemson, S.C. Economics of War 16 3 3 Yes 1 32

2C

Dartmouth Col., Tech. School of Bus. Admin. Hanover, N.H.

 Econ. Prob. of War 13 3 3 Yes 3 100 3C
U. of Detroit, Col. Of Commerce & Fin., Detroit, Mich. Economics of War 17 3 3 Yes 1 49

2

U. of Detroit, Col. Of Commerce & Fin., Detroit, Mich.

 War Finance 6 7 3 Yes 1 — 2
Duke U., Durham, N.C. Economics of War 18 3 3 Yes 2 55

3

Fenn Col., School of Bus. Admin., Cleveland, Ohio.

 Economics of Price Control 10 2 2 Yes 1 — 2C
U. of Fla., Col. of Bus. Admin. Gainesville, Fla. Economics of Total War 3 3 3 — — —

—

Franklin & Marshall Col., Lancaster, Pa.

 Econ. History of U.S. 15 3 3 Yes 5 125 —
Franklin & Marshall Col., Lancaster, Pa. War Economics 15 3 3 Yes 4 110

C

U. of Ga., Athens, Ga.

 Advanced Econ. Theory 8 5 5 Yes 1 8 3C
U. of Ga., Athens, Ga. Economics of War 8 5 5 Yes 2 66

2C

U. of Ga., Col. of Bus. Admin., Athens, Ga.

 Econ. of Consumption 12 5 5 Yes 2 40 3C
Hamline U., St. Paul, Minn. Prins. of Economics 8 3 3 Yes 2 62

1

Harvard Grad. School of Bus. Admin., Boston, Mass.

 Banking Probs. and Federal Fin. 16 3 3 Yes — — C
James Millikin U., Decatur, Ill. Econ. of War and Reconstruction 16 3 3 No 1 24

2C

Loyola U., Dept. of Econ., New Orleans, La.

 Economics of War 16 3 3 Yes 1 25 2
Macalester Col., St. Paul, Minn. Econ Probs. of a War Economy 18 3 3 Yes — —

2C

U. of Md., Col. of Commerce, College Park, Md.

 Econ. Institutions & War 16 3 3 Yes — — 2
Mass. Inst. of Technology, Dept. of Econ. & Soc. Sci., Cambridge, Mass. Economics of War 15 2 6 Yes 1 35

—

Mass. Inst. of Technology, Dept. of Econ. & Soc. Sci., Cambridge, Mass.

 Postwar Econ. Probs. 15 2 6 Yes — — —
Mass. Inst. of Technology, Dept. of Econ. & Soc. Sci., Cambridge, Mass. Postwar Problems 15 3 9 Yes — —

3C

U. of Minn., School of Bus. Admin., Minneapolis, Minn.

 Finance 11 3 3 Yes 1 11 3C
U. of Minn., School of Bus. Admin., Minneapolis, Minn. Our Economic Life 11 3 3 Yes 1 125

—

U. of Minn., School of Bus. Admin., Minneapolis, Minn.

 Public Finance 22 3 6 Yes 1 15 4C
Mont. State U., School of Bus. Admin., Missoula, Mont. War Economics 10 4 4 Yes 1 —

2C

N. Dak. Agri. Col., Dept. of Econ., Fargo, N.D.

 War Economics 16 3 3 Yes 1 25 2C
U. of N. Dak., School of Com., Grand Forks, N.D. Economics of War 8 5 3 Yes 1 21

2C

Okla, A&M, Col., School of Com., Stillwater, Okla.

 War and Post-War Econ. Problems 18 3 3 Yes — — 3C
U. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. War Economics 18 2 2 Yes 2 65

2C

Pomona Col., Claremont, Cal.

 Econ. of War & Defense 6 5 3 Yes 1 19 2C
St. John’s U., Collegeville, Minn. Economics of War 18 3 3 Yes 1 20

2C

U. of S. Dak., School of Bus. Admin., Vermillion, S.D.

 Economics of War 18 3 3 Yes 1 25 2C
U. of S. Dak., School of Bus. Admin., Vermillion, S.D. Money & Banking & War Finance 18 3 3 Yes — —

2C

Stanford U., Dept. of Econ., Stanford U., Cal.

 American Economy in Wartime 10 5 5 Yes 2 89 2C
Stanford U., Dept. of Econ., Stanford U., Cal. War Effort 10 4 3 Yes — —

—

Stout Inst., Menomonie, Wisc.

 War Economics 6 5 5 Yes 1 — 2C
Susquehanna U., Selinsgrove, Pa. Amer. Probs. in World Relationships 32 2 2 Yes 1 27

1

Temple U., Philadelphia, Pa.

 Economic Planning 15 3 3 Yes 1 25 2C
Temple U., Philadelphia, Pa. Internat. Trade & Commerce 15 3 3 Yes 1 30

2

Transylvania Col., Econ. & Sociology Dept., Lexington, Ky.

 Economics of War 18 3 3 Yes 1 18 3C
Villanova Col., Villanova, Pa. Probs. of Peace After the War 6 5 2 Yes — —

—

U. of Va., Charlottesville, Va.

 Economics of War 36 3 6 Yes 1 — 2C
U. of Va., Charlottesville, Va. Prins. of Economics 12 3 2 Yes 2 180

1

State Col. of Wash., School of Bus. Admin., Pullman, Wash.

 Econ. & Bus. Tendencies 18 3 3 Yes 1 — 3C
U. of Wash., Col. of Econ. & Bus., Seattle, Wash. Econ. of Natl. Defense 12 5 5 Yes 1 94

2

U. of Wash., Col. of Econ. & Bus., Seattle, Wash.

 World at War 12 5 5 Yes 1 — —
Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, Ohio. Econ. of Natl. Defense 16 4 3 Yes 1 —

2C

Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, Ohio.

 Econ. of War and Reconstruction 15 1 ¾ 2 Yes 1 27

2 or E

*Prerequisites:

Numerals—years of college which must have been completed
C—certain courses in the same or allied subjects
E—experience in the field

_________________________

Instructors and course descriptions

SCHOOL COURSE TITLE INSTRUCTOR AND COURSE DESCRIPTION
U. of Akron, Akron, Ohio. Economics of War Jay L. O’Hara. Economic causes of war; transition from peace to war economy, fiscal and monetary problems of war economy; price control, rationing and priorities.
Albright Col., Reading, Pa. Economic Problems John C. Evans. Text supplemented by lectures, readings in economic theory for purposes of orienting the student, and current reading in the better newspapers and periodicals for correlation of current opinions.
U. of Ariz., School of Bus. & Pub. Admin. Tucson, Ariz. Economics of War E. G. Wood. An analysis of those economic factors which determine modern war; man power and materials, methods for their mobilization.
U. of Ariz., School of Bus. & Pub. Admin. Tucson, Ariz. Geography of War Areas G. Herrech. A course dealing with climatic, topographical and economic factors in war areas. Population characteristics and pertinent matters of history and government will be included, as well as a discussion of the military characteristics of the geographic background. Text material will be newspapers and magazines, and reference work in the library.
Babson Inst., School of Bus. Admin., Wellesley, Mass. War Economics James M. Matthews. Introductory analysis of economic causes of war, the economics of the war process, the post-war economic adjustment, war production, labor, wages, finance, prices, consumer control, railroads, electric power, housing, agriculture.
Brooklyn Col., Brooklyn, N.Y. Econ. of Defense & War Curwen Stoddart – The economic problems of defense in modern times; the expenditures by countries for armament and defense purposes since 1914 and the economic policies pursued in financing these expenditures. The functioning of the economy under war time controls, including the regulation of prices, production, consumption and finance, the repercussions of war upon neutral countries and the consequences of peace; with special attention to the immediate problems resulting from demobilization of war-time resources.
Brown U., Dept. of Econ., Providence, R.I. Economics of War Antonin Basch. Economic mobilization for war. Government controls over production, consumption, foreign trade, prices and wages through monetary policy, fiscal policy, price control, priorities, rationing and foreign exchange control. Economic warfare. Lessons of the first World War. Problems of post-war reconstruction.
Bucknell U., Dept. of Commerce & Finance, Lewisburg, Pa. Econ. of Modern War Rudolph Peterson. Problems created by the war in the field of production, distribution, finance, and prices and methods of meeting them.
Carleton Col., Dept. of Econ., Northfield, Minn. Economics of War D.A Brown [no course description]
U. of Cincinnati, Col. of Engin. & Commerce, Cincinnati, Ohio. Economics of War H.B. Whaling. Inflation and price controls. Fiscal and tax problems, function of the banking system in the war economy, rationing, devices for saving, conversion of peacetime to wartime economy, impact of war economic policies on post war economy.
U. of Cincinnati, Col. of Engin. & Commerce, Cincinnati, Ohio. Probs. of War and Reconstruction R.R. McGrane. How the war came to Europe. Problems of financing the war, mobilization of industrial resources, mobilization of public opinion. Problems of peace; what kind of peace does the U.S. want, what will be the position of the U.S. in the new world order?
City Col. of N.Y., Commerce Center, New York, N.Y. Price Control Regulations Henry Bund, Joseph Friedlander, Percy J. Greenberg. This laboratory and clinic course to be given by prominent authorities will provide up-to-the minute information and analysis of rulings and interpretations of orders of the Office of Price Administration. The lecturers will concern themselves with the purpose and provisions of the various regulations; individual groups of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers will receive instruction in the computation of price ceilings for various commodities and how to obtain relief from present regulations which are oppressive; a series of laboratory exercises will be required.
Claremont Col., Claremont, Cal. America at War: Econ. Org. Arthur G. Coons [no course description]
Claremont Col., Claremont, Cal. War and Economics Walter E. Sulzbach. Emphasis on international aspects of war and economic organization.
Clark U., Worcester, Mass. Economics of War S. J. Brandenburg. A descriptive study of public economic policy in relation to war: what economic mobilization for modern war means in terms of labor, resources, civilian and military economic preparation, finance, and private and government enterprise. A study of economic problems to be faced in post war reconstruction will form a final unit of the course.
Clemson Col., Clemson, S.C. Economics of War James E. Ward. We deal with the problems of financing a war, production problems, maladjustments caused by war, post-war aspects, etc.
Dartmouth Col., Tuck School of Bus. Admin. Hanover, N.H. Econ. Prob. of War George Walter Woodworth. The chief aim of this course is to develop an understanding of how the economic resources of a nation can be most effectively marshalled for total war. First requirements are seen, then the problems of mobilization and conversion of resources. Final section is devoted to post-war problems.
U. of Detroit, Col. Of Commerce & Fin., Detroit, Mich. Economics of War Bernard F. Landuyt. An analytical survey of the economic aspects of the preparation for and conduct of war, with particular reference to the participation of the United States in World War II. Attention given to both the armed conflict and the civilian scene.
U. of Detroit, Col. Of Commerce & Fin., Detroit, Mich. War Finance Bernard F. Landuyt. A survey of the major aspects of the problem of war finance, with especial reference to the current American problem. Emphasis will be placed on the nature and significance of the problem, the principles basic to its solution, and the effectuation of these principles.
Duke U., Durham, N.C. Economics of War Earl J. Hamilton and H. E. von Beckerath [no course description]
Fenn Col., School of Bus. Admin., Cleveland, Ohio. Economics of Price Control A. O. Berger. A study of price control in normal times by (a) competition and (b) regulation under monopoly conditions, such as utilities. Price control under conditions of war: the reasons for it, the determination of ceilings, the economic implications.
U. of Fla., Col. of Bus. Admin. Gainesville, Fla. Economics of Total War Walter J. Matherly [no course description]
Franklin & Marshall Col., Lancaster, Pa. Econ. History of U.S. Harold Fischer and Noel P. Laird. A study of the factors in the economic development of the United States, with special attention to these factors as they influenced America’s rise to the rank of a world power. A history of the evolution of the economic life of the American people. Emphasis on problems involved in our adjustments to a war economy.
Franklin & Marshall Col., Lancaster, Pa. War Economics Noel P. Laird. A careful analysis of such economic problems as agriculture, consumers’ needs, price, banking, public finance, labor, transportation, and unemployment. Special attention will be given to war economy with emphasis on priorities, rationing, and government control over production, distribution, consumption, finance and other economic activities. A survey of the economic problems created by the war.
U. of Ga., Athens, Ga. Advanced Econ. Theory E. C. Griffith. The course deals with monopolistic competition and the problems of government regulation of prices; special emphasis is given to specific industries such as the iron and steel industry. Special attention will be given in 1942 to government control of inflation, rationing, and antitrust policy in a period of war.
U. of Ga., Athens, Ga. Economics of War Robert T. Segrest. Economic problems and policies of nations in wartime. Post-war problems with special emphasis on the United States.
U. of Ga., Col. of Bus. Admin., Athens, Ga. Econ. of Consumption John W. Jenkins. National economy from the interests of the consumer, before the war, now and in the post-war world.
Hamline U., St. Paul, Minn. Prins. of Economics C. B. Kuhlmann. War economics is given as the last 8 weeks of the course in principles of economics.
Harvard Grad. School of Bus. Admin., Boston, Mass. Banking Problems and Federal Finance Ebersole and D.T. Smith. Financing of the Federal Treasury during the present war is the over-shadowing concern of business, finance, and banking. Current activities of the Treasury are studied in relation to fiscal policy, and bank operations. Indispensable background is covered in two parts: bank portfolios and bank relations, with emphasis upon government relations arising out of government lending corporations, financing Federal deficits by bond issues sold to banks or to the public, and central bank and money management policies of the Treasury and Federal Reserve system.
James Millikin U., Decatur, Ill. Econ. of War and Reconstruction M. E. Robinson. An analysis of the fundamental framework of the war economy. Problems of finance, population, prices, civilian production, and procurement as affected by war. Study of our efforts to convert and produce for war in contrast to those of other nations. Brief study of the economic structure and problems of a post-war economy. Much of the course will be devoted to a study of sources, propaganda, and war annals.
Loyola U., Dept. of Econ., New Orleans, La. Economics of War John Connor. Economic factors in war: strategic materials; man power; production and consumption controls; price regulations; financing; post-war problems, etc.
Macalester Col., St. Paul, Minn. Econ Probs. of a War Economy Forrest A. Young. Modern warfare and the economic system; economic warfare; critical and strategic raw materials; maximizing production; foreign trade and shipping; labor and wage policies; housing difficulties; priorities, allocations, rationing and demand controls; direct and indirect price control and bases of price fixing; fiscal policy and war financing; problems of postwar readjustment.
U. of Md., Col. of Commerce, College Park, Md. Econ. Institutions & War G. A. Costanzo. An analysis of the Economic causes and problems of war. Industrial mobilization; theory and techniques of price control; banking and credit control; war finance; international trade and foreign exchange controls; economic sanctions and autarchy; and the problems of readjustment in a post-war economy.
Mass. Inst. of Technology, Dept. of Econ. & Soc. Sci., Cambridge, Mass. Economics of War Ralph E. Freeman. A study of the economic changes resulting from the adjustment of industry to the demands of War, and the impact of these changes on business stability, standards of living and methods of social control.
Mass. Inst. of Technology, Dept. of Econ. & Soc. Sci., Cambridge, Mass. Postwar Econ. Probs. Richard M. Bissell. A study of the economic difficulties that are likely to arise after the war, and of policies that may be adopted to cope with them.
Mass. Inst. of Technology, Dept. of Econ. & Soc. Sci., Cambridge, Mass. Postwar Problems Richard M. Bissell. A study of the economic problems involved in maintaining national income and employment under the conditions that are likely to prevail after the war.
U. of Minn., School of Bus. Admin., Minneapolis, Minn. Finance J. Warren Stehman. Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Commodity Credit Corporation, Federal Housing Administration Title VI, governmental financial policies to control prices, war finance and its effects upon business policy and upon investments. Probably fifty percent of the course dealt with financial material related directly to the war effort and fifty percent not so related.
U. of Minn., School of Bus. Admin., Minneapolis, Minn. Our Economic Life Helen G. Canoyer. Although the title of the course was not changed, due to an action of the advisory committee of General College, the committee did agree to a change in the emphasis of the course to war economics.
U. of Minn., School of Bus. Admin., Minneapolis, Minn. Public Finance Roy G. Blakey.  Each meeting was a discussion led by one of the members of the seminar. All were assigned certain basic readings and each was required to write a term paper or thesis on a phase of the subject selected by him in consultation with the instructor.
Mont. State U., School of Bus. Admin., Missoula, Mont. War Economics Roy J. W. Ely. The course is a study of the various factors that appear to lead to war; pre-war preparations; an analysis of war economy; and post-war adjustments.
N. Dak. Agri. Col., Dept. of Econ., Fargo, N.D. War Economics Paul E. Zerby.  Causes of war; economic means of warfare; economic problems and adjustments of post-war period; money and banking, public finance, labor, international economic policies, government and business.
U. of N. Dak., School of Com., Grand Forks, N.D. Economics of War S. Hagen. The course covers the steps by which a peace economy is transferred into a war economy. The controls instituted by the government to direct economic activity during the war period are studied and compared with peace time controls. Special attention is given to such topics as priorities, price-ceilings, war finance, labor management, lend-lease, and post-war problems.
Okla, A&M, Col., School of Com., Stillwater, Okla. War and Post-War Econ. Problems R. H. Baugh. An analysis of the impact of war on economic arrangements and processes; deals with such problems as the conversion of industry to war production, war-time labor issues, inflation, financing the war, rationing, conversion of war production to peace-time production, post-war employment, and international trade from the war.
U. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. War Economics M. K. McKay. Emphasis is given to the problems emerging in the transition from peace to war. Special consideration is directed to war production, the role of the consumer and the various regulatory measures introduced by the government. Finally, post-war problems were viewed.
Pomona Col., Claremont, Cal. Econ. of War & Defense Kenneth Duncan. The economic problems and policies of a nation at war. Attention, is given to the economic forces contributing to war and to the strategy of international markets, materials, and shipping. The shift to a war economy and the war-time control over production, labor, prices, and consumer demand. War finance and inflation. Problems of demobilization and post-war economic planning.
St. John’s U., Collegeville, Minn. Economics of War Linus Schieffer. This course is designed to examine the repercussions upon the economy of the nation of a total war effort such as modern war entails. It investigates the problem of conversion of plant and resources, the dangers of inflation, the influence of strategic materials. It likewise spends some time discussing the postwar consequences of such a wholesale conversion of the national economy.
U. of S. Dak., School of Bus. Admin., Vermillion, S.D. Economics of War Claude J. Whitlow. Economic causes of war; nature of total war; man-power regulation and total war; war effort in real terms; price system under impact of war; labor problems in war time; war-time control of production and consumption; public finance and war; international relations during and after a period of war; post-war economic problems.
U. of S. Dak., School of Bus. Admin., Vermillion, S.D. Money & Banking & War Finance E. S. Sparks [no course description]
Stanford U., Dept. of Econ., Stanford U., Cal. American Economy in Wartime B. F. Haley, K. Brandt, W. S. Hopkins. War economics of raw materials, labor resources and policy in the war economy; transportation in World Wars I and II; business organization and policy; controls in the war economy, international aspects of the war effort; consumption and living standards in the war economy.
Stanford U., Dept. of Econ., Stanford U., Cal War Effort Staff. Lectures in all phases of the national war effort.
Stout Inst., Menomonie, Wisc. War Economics A. Stephen Stephan. The change from peace-time to war-time economy and the problems involved. The war and its effect on industry and consumers. Problems of war production, financing the war, price control, economic regulations and civilian morale.
Susquehanna U., Selinsgrove, Pa. Amer. Probs. in World Relationships W. A. Russ, H. A. Heath. A survey of the problems confronting the United States in her present day relationships with Europe, the Far East, and Latin America. These problems will be discussed, from the standpoint of relationships in economics, science, history and government. The second semester surveyed the economic relationships of war.
Temple U., Philadelphia, Pa. Economic Planning Russell H. Mack. Examination of the chief problems of production, pricing, and distribution arising under capitalism and planned economy. Special emphasis on the problems and techniques of war-time price control and rationing.
Temple U., Philadelphia, Pa. Internat. Trade & Commerce Grover A. J. Noetzel. The fundamental principles of international commerce. Special emphasis throughout upon the disorganizing effects of the present war upon world commerce. Proposed plans of reconstruction of post-war trade.
Transylvania Col., Econ. & Sociology Dept., Lexington, Ky. Economics of War W. Scott Hall. Background of nature and causes of war, economic factors in the causation, preparation for, and waging of war, economic effects of war. Emphasis on term paper.
Villanova Col., Villanova, Pa. Probs. of Peace After the War Edward J. McCarthy. An historical survey of the various efforts to organize states for economic and political purposes. Religious, social, economic and political problems facing nations at war are considered together with the several plans for post-war organization now being offered.
U. of Va., Charlottesville, Va. Economics of War David McC. Wright. Production for war, labor supply, price control, war finance, changes in the structure of the economy, post-war reconstruction, etc.
U. of Va., Charlottesville, Va. Prins. of Economics Tipton R. Snavely, D. Clark Hyde [no course description]
State Col. of Wash., School of Bus. Admin., Pullman, Wash. Econ. & Bus. Tendencies [No instructor named] Basic tendencies, in economic and business ideas and institutions. The effect of the war on economic change and the environment of business enterprise. The objectives and policies of government. Problems of post-war institutional adjustments.
U. of Wash., Col. of Econ. & Bus., Seattle, Wash. Econ. of Natl. Defense Harold G. Moulton and Howard H. Preston. Analysis of the problems arising from our national defense program, including organization of production, procurement of materials, financing industrial expansion, monetary issues, price control methods, labor relations, international exchange, fiscal policy of the government.
U. of Wash., Col. of Econ. & Bus., Seattle, Wash. World at War Staff. Factual information on the background of the present war, the ideological conflict; the fundamentals of military and naval strategy, economics and war, and the essentials of planning for peace.
Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, Ohio. Econ. of Natl. Defense Russell Weisman. The problems of industrial mobilization. Priorities, allocations, and price control. Methods of financing – taxation, public borrowing, fiat money and credit. Economic policies of the leading nations in World War I and II.
Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, Ohio. Econ. of War and Reconstruction Warren A. Roberts. An analysis of the steps involved in the conversion to war effort, and the effects upon business. An examination of the economic program of Germany and England and a comparison of policies of labor representation, of personnel conversion from normal occupations, of stages of development of war finance, and of uses of compulsory loans. A brief consideration of post-war problems.

 

_________________________

Bibliography
Texts used in War Courses Offered by Collegiate Schools of Business and Departments of Economics

ECONOMICS OF WAR

Atkins, W. E. (Editor). Economic Behavior. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1931, 1079 p., $8.50.

Backman, Jules. Wartime Price Control and the Retail Trade. National Retail Dry Goods Association, New York, 1910, 48 p., $.10.

Baruch, Bernard M. American Industry in the War. Prentice-Hall, Inc. New York, 1941498 p., $3.75.

Boulding, Kenneth Ewart. Economic Analysis. Harper and Bros., New York, 1941, 809 p., $4.25.

Brown University Economists, A. C. Neal (Editor). Introduction to War Economics. Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Chicago, 1942, $1.25.

Burnham, James. Managerial Revolution. John Day Company, Inc., New York, 1941, 285 p., $2.50.

Chamberlin, Edward. Theory of Monopolistic Competition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1938, 241 p., $2.50.

Condliffe, John Bell. The Reconstruction of World Trade; A Survey of Industrial Economic Relations. W. W. Norton, Inc., New York, 1940, 427 p., $3.75.

Fairchild, F. R.; Furniss, E. S. and Buck, N. S. Economics. Macmillan Co., New York, 1940, 828 p., $3.00.

Faulkner, Harold Underwood. Economic History of the United States. Macmillan Co., New York, 1937, 319 p., $.80.

Fraser, Cecil E. and Teele, Stanley F. Industry Goes to War; Readings on American Industrial Rearmament. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1941, 123 p., $1.50.

Hardy, C. O. Wartime Control of Prices. Brookings Institution, Washington, D. C., 1940, 216 p., $1.00.

Harris, Seymour E. Economics of American Defense. W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., New York, 1941, 350 p., $3.50.

Lorwin, Louis L. Economic Consequences of Second World War. Random House, New York, 1941, 510 p., $3.00.

Meade, J. E.; and Hitch, C. J. Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy. Oxford University Press, New York, 1938, 428 p., $2.50. Mendershausen, Horst. Economics of War. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York, 1940, 314 p., $2.75.

Nelson, Saul and Keim, Walter G. Price Behavior and Business Policy (T.N.E.C. Monograph No. 1) U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., 1940, 419 p., $.45.

Pigou, A. C. The Political Economy of War. MacMillan and Company, London, 1921, 251 p., $3.25.

Robbins, Lionel Charles. Economic Causes of War. Macmillan Co., New York, 1939, 124 p., $1.35.

Robinson, Joan. The Economics of Imperfect Competition. Macmillan and Co., London, 1934, 352 p., $4.50.

Spiegel, Henry William. Economics of Total War. D. Appleton-Century Co., New York, 1942, 410 p., $3.00.

Stein, Emanuel and Backman, Jules. War Economics. Farrar and Rinehart, Inc., New York, 1942, 501 p., $3.00.

Steiner, George A. and Associates. Economic Problems of War. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1942, 676 p., $3.50.

Steiner, W. H. Economics of War. Farrar and Rinehart, Inc., New York, 1942, 250 p., $3.00.

Vaile, Roland Snow; and Canoyer, Helen G. Income and Consumption. H. Holt and Co., New York, 1938, 394 p., $2.25.

Waller, Willard Walter (Editor). War in the Twentieth Century. Random House, Inc., New York, 1940, 572 p., $3.00.

Zimmermann, Erich W. World Resources and Industries; A Functional Appraisal of the Availability of Agricultural and Industrial Resources. Harper and Bros., New York, 1934, 842 p., $4.00.

 

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Supplementary Report on War Courses offered by Collegiate Schools of Business and Departments of Economics. Washington, D.C.: August 1942. Pages 11-13, 20-25, 45-89, 94-96.

Image Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. “Buy War Bonds” (Uncle Sam). Wikimedia.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. General Exams in Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Theory. Spring, 1992

 

The following general examinations for microeconomic and macroeconomic theory (Spring 1992) have been transcribed from a collection of general exams at Harvard from the 1990s provided to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror by Abigail Waggoner Wozniak (Harvard economics Ph.D., 2005). Abigail Wozniak was an associate professor of economics at Notre Dame before being appointed a senior research economist and the first director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis’ Opportunity & Inclusive Growth Institute. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is most grateful for her generosity in sharing this valuable material.

The “Wozniak collection” is over 90 pages long, so it will take some time for all the exams to get transcribed.

Transcriptions are also available for: 

Spring 1991. General Examinations in Microeconomic Theory and Macroeconomic Theory.

Fall 1992. Microeconomic Theory and Macroeconomic Theory.

___________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Economics 2010b: FINAL EXAMINATION and
GENERAL EXAMINATION IN MICROECONOMIC THEORY

Spring Term 1992

For those taking the GENERAL EXAM in microeconomic theory:

  1. You have FOUR
  2. Answer a total of FIVE questions subject to the following constraints:
    *at least ONE from part I;
    *at least TWO from Part II;
    *EXACTLY ONE from Part III.

For those taking the FINAL EXAMINATION in Economics 2010b (not the General Examination):

  1. You have THREE HOURS
  2. Answer a total of four questions subject to the following constraint:
    *DO NOT ANSWER ANY questions from Part I;
    *at least TWO from Part II;
    *at least ONE from Part III.

 

PLEASE USE A SEPARATE BLUE BOOK FOR EACH QUESTION

PLEASE PUT YOUR NAME (OR EXAM NUMBER) ON EACH BOOK

 

PART I (Questions 1 and 2)

QUESTION 1

A consumer in a three good economy (goods denoted x1, x2 and x3; prices by p1, p2, p3) with wealth level w>0 has demand functions for commodities 1 and 2 given by:

\begin{array}{l}{{x}_{1}}=100-5\,\,\frac{{{p}_{1}}}{{{p}_{3}}}+\beta \,\,\frac{{{p}_{2}}}{{{p}_{3}}}+\delta \,\,\frac{w}{{{p}_{3}}}\\{{x}_{2}}=\alpha -\beta \,\,\frac{{{p}_{1}}}{{{p}_{3}}}+\gamma \,\,\frac{{{p}_{2}}}{{{p}_{3}}}+\delta \,\,\frac{w}{{{p}_{3}}}\end{array}

Where Greek letters are non-zero constants.

i) Indicate (but don’t actually do it!) how to calculate the demand for the third good, good 3.

ii) Are the demand functions for x1 and x2 appropriately homogeneous?

iii) Calculate the numerical values of \alpha ,  \beta , \gamma . (Hint: what are the various restrictions on the consumer’s demand function and on the relationships between various demand functions? Have you made use yet of all of them?)

iv) Given your results above, draw for a fixed level of x3, the consumer’s indifference curve in the x, y plane.

v) What does your answer to (iv) imply about the form of the consumer’s utility function u(x1, x2, x3)?

 

QUESTION 2

Consider a Cournot duopoly. The inverse demand function is

p=100 – (q1 +q2)

where qi, i= 1,2, is the production of firm i (Note: if q1+q2 ≥100 then the price is zero). Marginal cost for the two firms is constant and equal to zero.

  1. Show that given the production qi≤100 of firm i the optimal reaction of firm j (j \ne i) is qj = ½ (100-qi). Use this to compute the Cournot-Nash equilibrium. Draw also the reaction function.
  2. Argue that it can never be a best response for any firm to supply more than x1=50. Argue then that if no firm will ever supply more than 50 then no firm will ever supply less than x2=25.
  3. Continue the above recursion and determine the limit of xt. Interpret in terms of the concept of rationalizability (define terms).

 

PART II (Questions 3, 4 and 5)

QUESTIONS 3

Consider the following 2 person, 2 commodity general equilibrium model. Individual 1 is risk neutral and has a utility function

u1(x,q) = x + y

Individual 2 is risk averse and has von Neumann-Morgenstern utility function

u2(x,y) = x½ + y.

Individual 1’s endowment of good y is {\bar{Y}}, he has no x. There are three states of nature and the endowment of individual 2 depends on the state. The levels of endowment of x are x1, x2 and x3. He has no y.

  1. Suppose the subjective beliefs are that each state is equally likely. Find a complete-market Arrow-Debreu equilibrium.
  2. Suppose there is a market for the delivery of x and y only uncontingently. Find the equilibrium. Is it efficient?
  3. Suppose that before any trade takes place, all individuals will be told whether or not state 1 will arise. They are not able to distinguish between states 2 and 3 at this stage. Find the equilibrium as it depends on the information disseminated.
  4. Calculate the expected utility attained in the equilibrium of part c), ex ante (i.e. before any announcement is known), using the fact that the probability that the individuals will be told that the state is 1 is 1/3, and that it is not 1 is 2/3. Under what conditions (on x1, x2 and x3) is the information socially valuable. Comment.

 

QUESTION 4

[This problem concerns a firm which is not explicitly optimizing anything. We just want to study the stability of its profitability and debt-equity structure.]

At each instant of time, the firm employs only a single factor, capital, in an amount K. Gross profits are f(K), concave and increasing in K. It has a certain level of borrowing B on which it owes rB in interest costs; r is fixed. Net profits therefore are

\pi = f(K) – rB

Some of the profit is distributed in the form of dividends, D. The rest of it is held as retained earnings R. Suppose the firm follows the “dividend policy”

\begin{array}{l}R=\alpha \pi \,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,0\le \alpha \le 1\\D=\left( 1-\alpha  \right)\pi \end{array}

The change in firm’s stock capital is equal to the sum of its level of retained earnings R and new borrowing B minus depreciation \delta K (\delta > 0)

\dot{K}=R+\dot{B}-\delta K

Its level of new borrowing responds positively to the excess of current net profits above a target level \pi *, according to

\dot{B}=\beta \left( \pi -\pi * \right)

\beta \ge 0.

In an equilibrium, K, B, \pi , R and D are all constant.

1) Assume we have an equilibrium for fixed parameters \alpha and \beta . For what values is it locally stable?

2) Equity in the firm is, by definition, K – B. Find the steady-state debt-equity ratio, in terms of the parameters and the production function.

Assuming that the equilibrium is stable,

3) What is the effect of a small increase in \pi * on the equilibrium debt-equity ratio?

 

QUESTION 5

There are n men and n women. Each man has an ordering over the set of women, and each woman has an ordering over the set of men. (indifference is not allowed)

  1. Show that in any Pareto optimal system of pairing men and (i.e. a pairing that cannot be dominated by another system), someone must get his/her first choice.
  2. Consider the following system: Each man proposes to the woman whom he most prefers. Women receiving more than one proposal accept the one they like the best. (Women receiving exactly one proposal accept it.)
    Next, all men whose proposals were rejected, propose to the woman they most prefer from among those who have not yet accepted proposals. The rules for acceptance are as above. This continues until all pairings have been completed.
    Is the result a Pareto optimum?
    Is it in the core of this game, suitably defined? (supply your own definition here).
  3. Show by example how the system could be manipulated by a man who knew the preferences of all other men and who could profess false preferences.

 

PART III (ANSWER EXACTLY 1 QUESTION) (Questions 6 and 7)

QUESTION 6

What does “competition” mean in the context of neoclassical theory? To what extent are neo-Marxian and neo-Keynesian theories compatible with the neoclassical idea of competitive markets? What alternatives to neoclassical adjustment processes characterize Marxian and Keynesian theories?

 

QUESTION 7

Paul Samuelson once urged us “(r)emember that in a perfectly competitive market it really doesn’t matter who hires whom; so have labor hire ‘capital’”. (“Wages and Interest: a Modern Dissection of Marxian Economic Models.” American Economic Review, 1957) Does it really not matter who hires whom in neoclassical theory? Is the same true in a Marxian framework? A Keynesian framework?

 

Source: Department of Economics, Harvard University. Past General Exams Spring 1991-Spring 1999, pp. 60-66. Copy provided to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror by Abigail Wozniak.

___________________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Economics 2010d: FINAL EXAMINATION
and
GENERAL EXAMINATION IN MACRO ECONOMIC THEORY

Spring Term 1992

FINAL EXAMINATION

Instructions for all Economics Department graduate students:

The examination will last four hours.

Answer all three parts of the examination (Parts I, II and III). Within each part, be sure to answer two questions (so that, in all, you will answer six questions).

Use a separate bluebook for each question. Clearly indicate the question number and your identification number on the front of each bluebook.

Do not indicate your name on any bluebook you submit.

Instructions for all other students:

The examination will last three hours.

Answer Parts II and III only. Within each part, be sure to answer two questions (so that, in all, you will answer four questions).

Use a separate bluebook for each question. Clearly indicate the question number and your name on the front of each bluebook.

 

PART I:

  1.  Consider the following q-theory of investment:

(1) I=I\left( q \right)\,\,\,\,\,\,I\acute{\ }>0

(2) \dot{K}=I-\delta K

(3) r={\left( \dot{q}+\pi  \right)}/{q}\;

(4) \pi =\pi \left( K \right)\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\,\pi \acute{\ }

Where I is investment, q is Tobin’s q, K is the capital stock, \delta is the depreciation rate, r is the required rate of return, and \pi is the profit from owning one unit of capital.

  1. What is Tobin’s q?
  2. Interpret each equation.
  3. Write the model in terms of two variables and two laws of motion.
  4. What is the state (non-jumping) variable, and what is the costate (jumping) variable?
  5. Draw the phase diagram for this model, including arrows showing the dynamics, the steady state, and the stable path.
  6. Because of an increase in acid rain, the depreciation of capital (\delta ) suddenly increases. Assume the change is permanent. Compare the old and new steady states.
  7. Describe the transition between the old and the new steady states.
  8. Suppose now that (because of strong environmental policies) the increase in \delta is only temporary. Describe the effects.

 

Question 2 (Answer both Parts)

  1. (20 minutes)
    The Solow model assumes a constant gross saving rate, whereas the neoclassical growth model determines the saving rate through household optimization.

    1. Explain the forces in the neoclassical growth model that make the saving rate rise or fall as an economy develops.
    2. How does this behavior of the saving rate influence the convergence rate—that is, the per capita growth rate of a poor country relative to a rich country? (Assume here that all countries are closed and have the same underlying parameters of technology and preferences.)
  2. (20 minutes)
    “The imperfection of private credit markets implies that a cut in lump-sum taxes, financed by a budget deficit, affects the economy. In particular, in a full-employment setting,

    1. a larger deficit crowds out private investment, and
    2. a budget deficit is a “bad idea.”
      Discuss and comment.

 

PART II

Answer any two of the following three questions. Be sure to use a separate bluebook for each answer.

  1. A familiar suggestion to central banks is to conduct monetary policy by “targeting” nominal income. Distinguish (a) the argument for targeting nominal income on the ground that this is the measure of economic activity the central bank should ultimately care about affecting, from (b) the argument for targeting nominal income on the ground that doing so will best enable the central bank to affect some other aspect(s) of economic activity in an optimal way. In your analysis of argument (a), be specific about the preference that this notion of nominal income targeting implies with respect to real income and prices separately, and say whether you think these preferences are sensible (and why). In your analysis of (b), this way would lead to a better outcome than focusing monetary policy directly on those aspects of economic activity that the central bank ultimately seeks to affect.
  2. “When money, interest-bearing government debt and productive capital are imperfect substitutes in investors’ portfolios, the economy can achieve a stable growth equilibrium only if the part of the government’s primary deficit (that is, its deficit exclusive of interest payments) that it finances by issuing new debt is equal to some particular value in relation to the economy’s size, where the deficit/income ratio is uniquely determined by specific parameters describing economic behavior. If the government attempts to run a larger debt-financed primary deficit, its growing debt will crowd out private capital, which in turn will raise the real interest rate, which will cause the government’s interest payments to rise, which will make its outstanding debt grow even faster—all in an explosive way—and vice versa if the deficit/income ratio is too small.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why? Be specific about the assumptions underlying your answer.
  3. Under what conditions would the government’s choice among alternative forms of interest-bearing debt, to finance a given non-monetized deficit, affect (a) the aggregate level of real economic activity, and/or (b) the composition of real economic activity, and/or (c) the price level? Why? Under what conditions would this choice affect none of (a), (b) or (c)? Be explicit about the assumptions you make in describing both sets of conditions.

 

PART III

QUESTION 6

Consider an economy with overlapping generations of identical two-period lived consumers who work in the first period of their life and consume in the second period. The utility function of a consumer representative of the generation born at time t is

{{U}_{t}}={{c}_{t+1}}-\frac{1}{2}a_{t}^{2},

Where ct+1 denotes the consumption taking place at t +1, of a consumer born at t and a her labor supply at time t. Output is produced with labor using a linear production function: one unit of labor yields one unit of output. Output is non-storable. Population is constant.

  1. Show that the competitive equilibrium of this economy is Pareto sub-optimal. Explain why.
  2. Propose two schemes to eliminate this inefficiency. Show precisely how to implement them and compare the resulting welfare levels to the welfare level achieved by the economy described in the previous question. [Restrict yourself, for simplicity, to schemes yielding constant consumption and employment over time.]
  3. What is the channel through which your two proposed schemes affect employment? How does this channel compare with the transmission mechanism of i) real business cycle models, and ii) Keynesian models?

QUESTION 7

You are asked to testify in the Senate about the advisability of phasing out the current U.S. social security scheme. Sketch the argument that you would make in favor of or against this phasing out, knowing that the Senators whom you are addressing have no tolerance for mathematics.

QUESTION 8

In a large open economy, what is the equilibrium effect on national saving and investment of a shift in desired domestic saving (originating, say, from a change in how patient domestic consumers are) or in desired domestic investment (coming, for instance, from a permanent productivity shock)? Does your answer shed any light on the debate about how well international capital markets operate?

 

Source: Department of Economics, Harvard University. Past General Exams Spring 1991-Spring 1999, pp. 67-71. Copy provided to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror by Abigail Wozniak.

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams for consolidated undergrad and graduate public finance. Butters and Soloway, 1955

The public finance syllabus for 1954-55 as taught by J. Keith Butters and Arnold M. Soloway has been transcribed and posted earlier. With this post we now have the January (mid-year) and May (end-year) exams for this course.

________________________

1954-1955
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 151 AND 251
Mid-Year Examination. January, 1955

Answer Question 1: recommended time one hour and fifteen minutes.

  1. Assume that within the next year or so the current business expansion continues to the point where unemployment is reduced to a very low level and inflationary price rises are beginning to be evident. Assume that this expansion is caused by an intensification of factors now present in the economy such as: (a) a high level of consumer spending; (b) large business expenditures on plant and equipment and in the construction market generally; (c) a resumption of fairly rapid inventory accumulations. Assume that the international situation remains approximately unchanged and that for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1956 the administrative budget of the federal government is expected to be approximately in balance at a level of about $65 billion.
    1. Query: Under these circumstances compare the relative effectiveness and merits as anti-inflationary fiscal measures of (a) a government surplus produced by a reduction in the level of government expenditures on real goods and services; (b) an equivalent surplus caused by an increase in tax rates; and (c) a balanced reduction in expenditures and receipts. In answering this question specify any assumptions which you care to make or need to make.
    2. Query: Under these circumstances indicate the extent to which you would prefer to rely (a) on fiscal policy techniques (such as any of the above) as compared with (b) measures of monetary policy and debt management. What are the reasons for your preferences? To the extent that you prefer to rely partly or wholly on measures of monetary policy and debt management, indicate the specific techniques which you would recommend and their presumed effects.

Answer Question 2: recommended time forty-five minutes.

  1. “The procedures by which the federal budget of the United States government is formulated and enacted tend to produce undesirable distortions in the amount and distribution of federal expenditures and receipts.” Discuss this statement. In your discussion indicate the specific features of the budgetary process which produce such distortions and the theoretical principles in terms of which the proper distribution and amount of federal expenditures and receipts should be appraised.

Answer either Question 3 or 4: recommended time one-half hour.

  1. Describe the federal old-age and survivors’ insurance program now in effect in the United States. Indicate the main trends in the historical evolution of this program since its original enactment in 1935. What gaps or defects from either an economic or an equity standpoint do you see in the program as it now exists?
  2. Discuss the main historical shifts which have taken place in the revenue and expenditure patterns of state and local units of government as compared with those of the federal government of the United States during the period 1925-1950. What problems have been created by these shifts and what courses of action are indicated as a means of overcoming these problems?

Answer Question 5: recommended time one-half hour.

  1. Under the present federal taxing process, how is the general public interest protected from overextensions of favors to special interest groups? Is the present protection sufficient? What modifications, if any, would you suggest in the present procedures? (Answer this question specifically in terms of the reading period assignment.)

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28). Bound Volume 107, Final Exams—Social Sciences—Jan. 1955, Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Naval Science, Air Science. January, 1955.

________________________

1954-1955
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 151 AND 251
Final Examination. May, 1955

Answer Question 1: recommended time one and one-half hours.

  1. “Justice in taxation and a high rate of economic growth are two frequently stated aims of government policy.” Discuss the present personal and corporate income taxes in the light of these goals. In your discussion be specific as to the relevant issues such as (for example): concepts of justice; definitions of taxable income; the problem of capital gains; etc.

Answer three of Questions 2 through 5: recommended time one-half hour for each question answered.

  1. Sales and excise taxes should not be used in our federal tax structure because they are regressive, deflationary, and price-distorting. Discuss.
  2. When economists study a particular tax they use such terms as “shifting,” “incidence,” and “effects.” Define these terms and discuss them in connection with
    1. a tax on net profits
    2. a tax on the rent of land.
  3. Describe the present method of taxing transfers, either by gift or at death. Discuss the weaknesses of the present law and possible methods of correcting them.
  4. Discuss critically the major differences between Tucker and Musgrave in their analyses of the tax burden.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28). Bound Volume 110, Final Exams—Social Sciences—June. 1955, Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Naval Science, Air Science. June, 1955.

Image Source:  Harvard Business School, The Annual Report 1954.