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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Commercial crises and trade cycles, final exams. Andrew, 1903-1908

 

 

A course on commercial and financial crises has been offered at Harvard nearly every year during the first half of the 20th century. The course was first offered by A. Piatt Andrew (Harvard Ph.D., 1900) who taught at Harvard until 1908. He went on to National Monetary Commission fame and later served in the U.S. Congress during the last fifteen years of his life.

Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has a biographical page for A. Piatt Andrew. Also available is the reading list for A. Piatt Andrew’s money course, Economics 8, from 1901-02.

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Warren Samuels reported on the 1905-06 course “Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade” (Economics 12b):

Samuels, Warren J.  The Teaching of Business Cycles in 1905-6: Insight into the Development of Macroeconomic Theory. History of Political Economy, vol. 4 (Spring 1972), pp. 140-62.   Based on 177 pages of notes by Harvard senior Robert Lee Hale.

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Pro-tip: student lecture notes for Andrew’s financial crises course, 1905

Robert Lee Hale Papers at Columbia University Archives.

According to finding aid, the notes are in Box 5, Folder 67 “Lecture notes, Economics 12b, fall 1905”.

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1902-03

Course as Coming Attraction

It is expected that Professor Taussig will conduct his courses in economics next year. The subject mater of course 8 has been divided into three parts: 8a. on money by Dr. Andrew; 8b on banking by Dr. Sprague; and 12a on international trade and payments by Dr. Sprague. A new half-course has been added on the history and theory of commercial crises by Dr. Andrew. Courses 10 and 11 which were formerly given by Professor Ashley as full courses in alternate years will both be given in 1902-03 as half-courses by Mr. Gay. Course 5 on railways etc. will be given as a half-course. Economics 14 on methods of Social reform will be made a full course; 9 and 9a are combined into a full course on labor and industrial organization and will be given by Professor Ripley who has recently been appointed a full professor in the department.

Source: The Harvard Crimson. Changes in Courses for 1902-03. May 24, 1902.

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Course Enrollment, 1902-03

[Economics] 12b 2hf. Dr. Andrew.— History and Theory of Commercial Crises.

Total 37: 2 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 19 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1902-03, p. 68.

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Course Announcement and Description, 1902-03

[Economics] 12b2 hf. History and Theory of Commercial Crises. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 9. Dr. Andrew.

Course 12b will be devoted to the study of the more important crises of the past two hundred years. The phenomena of these crises will be described, and the record of events before and after will be examined with the object of disentangling their contributory causes and their consequences. The influence upon commercial fluctuations of the present organization of industry, of government finance, of foreign trade, of the money supply, of speculation, of banking methods, and of other credit institutions will be considered, as well as questions with regard to periodicity, over-production and over-investment. In connection with these subjects attention will be given to the methods actually employed in dealing with crises, and to proposed reforms designed to prevent or relieve them.

Subjects will be assigned for special reports, and these reports will be presented for discussion in class.

Course 12b is open to students who have passed satisfactorily in Course 1.

Source: Harvard University. University Publications, New Series, No. 55. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1902-03, pp. 48-49.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 12b
Final Examination. 1903.

Omit one question.

  1. “The crisis is practically of nineteenth century origin, and it is an acute malady to which business appears to be increasingly subject.”
    Give your opinion of these statements.
  2. In what respects was the English crisis of 1866 peculiar?
  3. “Commercial crises of the earlier type now belong only to history in England.”
    Discuss this statement and explain the situation to which it refers.
  4. Compare the American crises of 1884 and 1893 as regards antecedent conditions, course of events and consequences.
  5. Describe in their mututal connections the fluctuations in exports and imports of commodities, in gold shipments, and in prices which occur in a normal trade cycle.
    Discuss DeLaveleye’s theory of crises.
  6. (a) How far did Jeveons succeed in proving a relation between crises and agricultural conditions?
    (b) To what extent can a connection be traced in the United States between trade cycles and crop conditions?
    (c) In the case of which crop is the connection closest?
  7. Explain and discuss Professor Laughlin’s theory as to the relations between “normal” and “abnormal” credit and price movements.
  8. Explain and discuss Rodbertus’ theory of crises.
  9. Explain and discuss Professor Carver’s theory of industrial depressions.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6: Bound volume for 1902-03, Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,… (June 1903), p. 30.

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1903-04

Course Enrollment, 1903-04

[Economics] 12b 1hf. Ass’t. Professor Andrew. History and Theory of Commercial Crises.

Total 39: 5 Graduates, 15 Seniors, 10 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1903-04, p. 67.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 12b
Mid-Year Examination. 1904.

Omit one question.

  1. Discuss the merits and limitations of each of the following sorts of statistics as measures of industrial prosperity:—

Bank clearings, wages, cotton, copper, chemicals, iron and steel, railway net earnings, railway gross earnings.

  1. Explain the usual relation during a trade cycle,—
    1. between the number of failures and their liabilities.
    2. between banking and commercial failures.
  2. Explain and show the significance of any general differences between the price fluctuations,
    1. of raw and finished commodities.
    2. of securities and commodities.
  3. Compare industrial, political, and financial conditions in the United States in 1903 with those of 1873, 1883, and 1893.
  4. In what respects have the trade cycles of England differed from those of the United States during the past thirty years?
    What is your opinion is the explanation?
  5. Explain what the British government did to restore confidence in 1793, 1825, 1847, 1857, 1866, 1890?
  6. Upon what occasions within the past twenty years, and by what means, has the American Secretary of the treasury helped to relieve a stringency in the financial centres?
  7. The following are abstracted statements of the New York City clearing house banks.

 

Aug. 5 ‘93
(1)		 Feb. 3, ‘94
(2)		 May 20, ‘99
(3)		 May 23, ‘03
(4)
Loans 409 420 763 923
Deposits 373 552 902 914
Capital 129 133 134 224
Circulation 6 13 16 44
Reserve 79 250 260 238

Compare 1 with 2, and 3 with 4, explaining in each case the change in the relations (a) between loans and deposits (b) between deposits and reserve.

  1. Explain what in your opinion are remediable defects in the American banking regulations, and the best remedies therefor.
  2. To what extent in your opinion is there periodicity in trade reactions, and to what conditions is it attributable?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, Mid-Years. 1903-04. (HUC 70000.55). Box 7.

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1904-05

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 12b 1hf. Ass’t. Professor Andrew. Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade.

Total 41: 2 Graduates, 24 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1904-05, p. 75.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 12b
Mid-Year Exam. 1905.

Omit one question.

  1. State briefly the geographical range of the various crises of the 19th
  2. Compare industrial and financial conditions in the United States in 1903 with those of 1873, 1883, and 1893.
  3. Explain Juglar’s theory as to the movements of bank loans and reserve, and state how far it is confirmed by American experience.
  4. What reasons are there for believing that a rise in the value of money will check the production of wealth? And what reasons for believing that it will not do so?
  5. How far in your opinion are trade conditions likely to be affected
    1. by the trust movement,
    2. by stock-exchange regulations like the German bourse law,
    3. by better facilities for storing staple products,
    4. by the maintenance of a large army and navy?
  6. How far in your opinion are trade reactions due to
    1. the waste or destruction of capital,
    2. the excessive creation of capital?
  7. “There are reasons, other than psychological, why an investor’s market must be more unstable than a consumer’s market.” What are they?
  8. Discuss three different methods of making our currency system more responsive to trade needs.
  9. What groups in a community are injured by a crisis? What groups are benefitted?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, Mid-Years. 1904-05. (HUC 70000.55). Box 7.

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1905-06

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 12b 1hf. Ass’t. Professor Andrew. Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade.

Total 55: 9 Graduates, 20 Seniors, 20 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1905-06, p. 72.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 12b
Mid-Year Exam. 1906.

  1. Compare as regards recent cycles of trade,—
    1. the number and liabilities of failed firms.
    2. banking and commercial failures.
    3. railway and commercial failures.
  2. To what extent have changes in the clearings of the New York banks registered changes in general business?
  3. Explain Juglar’s theory as to the movements of bank loans and reserves, and state how far it is confirmed by American experience.
  4. Explain what was done by the Bank of England to relieve apprehension in 1825, 1847, 1857, 1866, 1890.
  5. Explain and discuss Rodbertus’ theory of crises.
  6. Upon what occasions within the past thirty-five years and by what means, have the American Secretaries of the Treasury helped to relieve a stringency in the financial centres?
  7. In what ways is business affected by the condition of the crops? Within what limitations? In the case of which crops is the connection closest?
  8. What part does “credit” play in the explanation of crises,—
    1. according to Laughlin,
    2. according to Chevalier,
    3. in your own opinion?
  9. In what ways and to what extent are trade conditions apt to be affected,—
    1. by the increasing gold supply,
    2. by the trust movement,
    3. by increasing armies and navies,
    4. by the present agricultural situation?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, Mid-Years. 1905-06. (HUC 70000.55). Box 7.

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1906-07

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 12b 1hf. Ass’t. Professor Andrew. Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade.

Total 26: 4 Graduates, 11 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 2 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1906-07, p. 71.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 12
Mid-Year Exam. 1907.

  1. “The crisis is practically of nineteenth century origin, and it is an acute malady to which business appears to be increasingly subject.” How far does your study confirm this statement?
  2. Name any occasions in the nineteenth century when crises have occurred either in England or America without occurring in both countries. Explain the variation in conditions as between the two countries in each case.
  3. What seem to you the main causes of the American crisis of 1893? In what respects did the movement which culminated in that year differ from the movement before the panic of 1884?
  4. Show briefly in what respects conditions in America in 1857 and in the years just preceding resembled those of 1907 and the years through which we have just passed? Show also the contrasting conditions.
  5. To what causes were crises attributed by (a) De Laveleye, (b) Rodbertus, (c) Jevons? Explain and criticize their theories.
  6. What contributions to the explanation of crises have you found in reading (a) Walker, (b) Selden, (c) Carver?
  7. What reasons are there for believing that an appreciating standard of value will hamper industry? And what reasons for believing that it will not do so?
  8. Under what circumstances and by what means have the following Secretaries of the Treasury helped to relieve disturbances in the New York money market? (a) Richardson, (b) Fairchild, (c) Gage, (d) Shaw.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, Mid-Years. 1906-07. (HUC 70000.55). Box 7.

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1907-08

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 12b 1hf. Ass’t. Professor Andrew. Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade.

Total 62: 1 Graduate, 17 Seniors, 29 Juniors, 13 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1907-08, p. 67.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 12
Mid-Year Exam. 1908.

  1. When did stock speculation begin in England? Name the principal crises in England of the 18th century.
  2. To what extent have banks in this country suspended payment in successive panics since 1800? To what extent in England? To what extent in France?
  3. Describe the methods of relief pursued by Secretary Cobb in the panic of 1857? By Secretary Boutwell in the panic of 1873? By Secretary Shaw in the stringencies of 1902, 1903, and 1906? By Secretary Cortelyou in the panic of 1907?
  4. In your opinion does the emergence of loans above deposits in the New York banks necessarily betoken a condition of danger? Has it always done so in the past? Why, or why not?
  5. In what ways do crop conditions affect business in the United States? Are any recent changes in their influence to be noted?
  6. Enumerate briefly as many points of resemblance and of contrast as possible between the panics of 1893 and 1907 and their antecedent conditions.
  7. “The farther removed the producer’s goods are from some consumable product and the more remotely their value is derived from that of some consumable product, the more violent the fluctuations in value tend to be?”
    Explain and criticize this statement in its relation to the theory of crises.
  8. Suppose everybody resolved to consume productively only, what would be the result?
  9. What explanations of crises were offered by J. S. Mill? By de Laveleye? By F. A. Walker?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, Mid-Years. 1907-08. (HUC 70000.55). Box 8. Copy also available at Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09 (HUC 7000.25), p. 36.

Image Source: A. Piatt Andrew at Red Roof, his home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1910.  Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of A. Piatt Andrew.(Box 47, folder 9).

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final exams for international payments and specie flows. Dunbar and Meyer, 1894,1901

 

At Harvard around the turn of the twentieth century, international economics was taught as a sequence of two semester courses—one on the subject of trade and tariffs and one on payments and international financial flows, especially specie flows. This post provides enrollment data and final exam questions for the international payments course taught, respectively, by Charles Dunbar and later by Hugo Richard Meyer.

 

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Course enrollments

1893-94

[Economics] 122. Professor Dunbar.—International Payments and the Flow of the Precious Metals. 3 hours. 2d half-year.

Total 38: 12 Graduates, 18 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1893-1894, p. 62.

[Not offered 1894-95; 1895-96]

1896-97

[Economics] 122. Professor Dunbar and Mr. Meyer.—International Payments and the Flow of the Precious Metals. Hf. 3 hours. 2d half-year.

Total 20: 9 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1896-1897, p. 66.

[Not offered 1897-1898; 1898-1899; 1899-1900]

1900-01

[Economics] 12a1 hf. Mr. Meyer.—International Payments and the Flow of the Precious Metals.

Total 16: 2 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 1 Other.

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

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1893-94
ECONOMICS 122.

  1. Goschen says that while a gold currency existed on both sides of the Atlantic the actual par of exchange between New York and London was about 109. What is the explanation of this method of stating the point of equilibrium?
  2. Is Clare justified in making the general statement that “the gold-points mark the highest level to which an exchange may rise, and the lowest to which it may fall?”
  3. What effect would the current rate of interest (as e.g. in a tight money market, either in the drawing or in the accepting country,) have on the rates for sixty-day bills as compared with cash bills?
  4. Clare makes the remark that “as the rate of exchange between two countries…must be fixed by the one who draws and negotiates the bill, it follows that the exchanges between England and most other countries are controlled from the other side, and that we in London have scarcely part or say in the matter.” Is the rate then a matter of indifference to those in London?
  5. Why is it that in certain trades bills are drawn chiefly, or even exclusively, in one direction, as g. by New York on London and not vice versa; and how is this practice made to answer the purpose of settling payments, which have to be made in one direction as well as the other?
  6. Goschen says that the primary cause which makes England the great banking centre of the world is “the stupendous and never-ceasing exports of England, which have for their effect that every country I the world, being in constant receipt of English manufactures, is under the necessity of making remittances to pay for them, either in bullion, in produce, or in bills.”
    Compare this statement with the fact that for ten years past the imports of merchandise into England have averaged about £400,000,000 annually, and the exports from England have averaged a little under £300,000,000.
  7. Suppose the exportation of specie from the United States to be prohibited (or, as has sometimes been suggested, to be slightly hindered,) what would be the effect on rates of exchange, and on prices of goods, either domestic or foreign? Would the country be a loser or not? [See Ricardo (McCulloch’s ed.) p. 139.]
  8. State Mr. Cairnes’s general doctrine as to the movement of prices which determines the normal flow of new supplies of gold from one country to another in the process of distribution over the commercial world.
  9. Cairnes argues that, as the effect of the cheapening of gold, “each country will endure a loss;” but that in particular cases “the primary loss may…be compensated, or even converted into a positive gain.” State and discuss the reasoning on which this proposition rests.
  10. Say, in his Report on the Indemnity, says:—
    La France a, en réalité, (1) fait passer à l’étranger le plus de capitaux possible, en prenant tous les changes qu’elle pouvait acquérir sur quelque pays que ce fût, et (2) a ensuite dirigé sur l’Allemagne tout ce qu’elle avait approvisionné ailleurs.

    1. What reason was there why France should prefer the course described in (1) rather than a direct transfer to Germany?
    2. What movements of trade or capital, of any sort, made the course described in (1) possible or easy?
    3. What movements of the same nature made (2) possible, or enable Germany to absorb the capital thus turned towards her?

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  1. On either of the following topics, give an orderly and concise statement, as complete as you can make it in thirty minutes:—
    1. Sidgwick’s criticisms on Mill’s doctrine of international trade and their validity.
    2. The supply and distribution of the new gold from the United States and Australia, 1858-70.
    3. The action of the new gold in the banking countries.
    4. The absorption of new gold by the currency of France and the foreign trade of that country.
    5. The reasons for the varying ability of India to absorb silver?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 2, Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, History, Government and Law, Economics, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College, June 1894, pp. 44-46.

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1900-01
ECONOMICS 12a1.
Mid-Year. 1901.

Observe strictly the order in which the questions are arranged.

  1. Sidgwick’s criticisms on Mill’s doctrine of international trade and their validity.
  2. What temporary changes in the general level of prices in this country should you expect to see, as the result of a large permanent withdrawal of foreign capital? What ultimate change of prices should you expect?
  3. Suppose the exportation of specie from the United States to be prohibited (or, as has sometimes been suggested, to be slightly hindered), what would be the effect on rates of exchange, and on prices of goods, either domestic or foreign? Would the country be a loser or not? [See Ricardo (McCulloch’s ed.), page 139.]
  4. The conditions which led to the flow of gold to the United States in the fiscal years 1880 and 1881?
  5. What economic conditions or events tended to make the year 1890 a turning point both in domestic and in international finance?

Alternative:

The reasons for the return flow from Europe of American securities in the years 1890-1900?

  1. What sort of wealth did France actually sacrifice in paying the indemnity? What was the process?
  2. Is Mr. Clare justified in making the general statement that “the gold-points mark the highest level to which an exchange may rise, and the lowest to which it may fall”?
  3. Why is it that certain trades bills are drawn chiefly, or even exclusively, in one direction, e.g. by New York on London and not vice versa; and how is this practice made to answer the purpose of settling payments which have to be made in one direction?

Alternative:

Why has England become the natural clearing-house for the world?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, Mid-Years: 1900-1901 (HUC 7000.55).

Image source: Harvard Gate, ca. 1899. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540.

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Economists Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Syllabus and final exam for National Income and its Distribution. Conrad, 1958

 

 

For this post I have transcribed the syllabus with reading assignments together with the final exam questions for Alfred H. Conrad’s undergraduate semester course, “National Income and its Distribution,” taught at Harvard during the 1958-59 academic year. As utterly important as the national income accounts have proven themselves to be, the data from these accounts are generally just taken for granted by the overwhelming majority of economists and woe be the instructor who tries to introduce such material in more than one or two sessions in their macroeconomics course. But I have always liked the stuff and so this course enters the Economics in the Rear-view Mirror collection.

While I can recall having heard of his pioneering econometric work on American slavery with John R. Meyer in an American economic history course I took many decades ago at Yale, I really knew nothing about Conrad’s career, other work, or his personal life. The biographical data from the members’ survey of the American Economic Association are undoubtedly the truth, but not the whole truth, which is why I have provided the link to his New York Times obituary and a story about his wife, the poet Adrienne Rich. Suicide sadly cut his career short but I am happy to enter these few artifacts into the historical record in his memory.

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On Alfred H. Conrad and his wife, poet, Adrienne Rich

New York Times obituary for Alfred H. Conrad: October 20, 1970.

The Guardian article “Poet and Pioneer” by John O’Mahoney (15 June 2002) that provides a review of the work of Conrad’s wife, the poet Adrienne Rich, with a dozen paragraphs about their lives together.

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American Economic Association
Member Biographic Entry, 1969

CONRAD, Alfred Haskell, academic; b. New York City, 1924; A.B., Harvard, 1947, M.A., 1949, Ph,D., 1954.

DOC. DIS. The Redistribution of Income and the Matrix Multiplier, 1953.

FIELDS 2ab, 3ab, Ic.

PUB. The Economics of Slavery and other studies in econometric history (with John R. Meyer), 1964; The Impact of Education and Research on Efficiency in CES Production Relations (with Murray Brown), 1967; Econometric Models and Development Planning, 1968.

RES. The Diffusion of Technological Innovations.

Asst. prof., Northwestern, 1955-56; asst. prof. econ., Harvard, high, 1956-59, mem. sr. research staff, Econ. Research Project, 1952-59, lectr. bus. adm., 1959-61, asso. prof. bus. adm., Grad. Sch., 1962-66; vis. prof., Netherlands Sch. Econ., 1961-62; prof. econs., City Coll., City U. of New York since 1966, exec. officer of Grad. Program since 1969.

Source: American Economic Association. Biographical Listings of Members. The American Economic Review, Vol. 59, No. 6, 1969. Handbook of the American Economic Association (Jan., 1970), p. 84.

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Course Description

Economics 124. National Income and its Distribution

Half course (fall term). M., W., F., at 10. Assistant Professor Conrad.

Measurement of national income and income inequality; theories of distribution among factors and individuals; factor-shares and inequality in a general equilibrium explanation; inequality and growth in mature and in underdeveloped economies; government redistribution; testing the hypotheses.

Source: Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. LV, No. 24 (November 28, 1958), General Catalogue Issue, 1958-1959, p. 123.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 124. National Income and its Distribution. Assistant Professor Conrad. Half course (Fall).

Total, 12: 3 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 1 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1958-59. Page 71.

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Economics 124
NATIONAL INCOME AND ITS DISTRIBUTION
Fall, 1958

  1. National Income and Social Accounting.
    1. Introduction; conceptual framework for income accounting.

The definition and measurement of national income. Income inequality, growth, and ethical norms. The production accounts of the firm and the income accounts of the economy.

Readings:

Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution, Kuznets, “National Income,” pp. 3-33.
Ruggles and Ruggles, National Income Accounts and Income Analysis, Chs. 1-4, pp. 3-68.
Hicks, Hart, and Ford, Social Framework of the American Economy, Chs. 16, 17, pp. 209-234.

    1. The construction of the national income accounts.

The problems of valuation and aggregation.

Readings:

Ruggles and Ruggles, Chs. 5-8, pp. 69-186.
U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Income, 1954 Edition, pp. 30-60, 160-165.
Hicks, Hart, and Ford, Ch. 15, pp. 198-208.

    1. Two special problems.

Maintaining capital intact.
The product of government.

Readings:

Hicks, Hart, and Ford, Ch. 10 and Appendix Note C, pp. 117-130, 296-300, and Ch. 13, pp. 173-185.

Reference:

Income and Wealth, Series I, ed. E. Lundberg, “Government Product and National Income” (Kuznets), pp. 178-245.

    1. A review of aggregate income trends and analysis.

Readings:

Ruggles and Ruggles, Chs. 10-12, pp. 213-303.
Income and Wealth, Series II, ed. S. Kuznets, “Long-Term Changes in the National Income of the United States Since 1870” (Kuznets), pp. 29-241. This study should be read by the time we reach section 8, below—not later than November 14.

  1. The Theory of Income Distribution.
    1. Introduction; income distribution in economic analysis.

Readings:

Readings, J. M. Clark, “Distribution,” pp. 58-71.
M. A. Copeland, “Social and Economic Determinants of the Distribution of Income,” AER, March 1947, pp. 56-75.

    1. The distribution of the product among the factors of production.

The classical descriptions and Marx.
The marginalists.
Market position and monopoly; the effectiveness of unions.
General equilibrium and employment theories.

Readings:

Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy, Chs. 4, 5, 6, pp. 88-127 (Sraffa edition).
Sweezy, Theory of Capitalist Development, Chs. 4, 5, pp. 56-95.
Hicks, Theory of Wages, Chs. 1-5, pp. 1-111.
The Impact of the Union (ed. Wright), Samuelson, Ch. 15, pp. 312-342, and Friedman, Ch. 10, pp. 204-234.
Readings, R.A. Gordon, “Enterprise, Profits, and the Modern Corporation,” pp. 558-570.
L. C. Reynolds, “Impact of Collective Bargaining on Wage Structure,” Theory of Wage Determination, ed. J. T. Dunlop, pp. 194-221.

Reference:

Dalton, The Inequality of Incomes, esp. Parts II and III.
Douglas, Theory of Wages, esp. Part I and Ch. 8.
Wootton, The Social Foundations of Wage Policy.
Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution.

    1. The distribution of income among individuals.

The possession of skills and property.
Normal curves, Pareto’s Law, and chance.

Readings:

Studies in Income and Wealth, Volume XV, Garvy, “Inequality of Income; Causes and Measurement,” pp. 25-47.
A. D. Roy, “The Distribution of Earnings and of Individual Output,” Econ Journal, Sept. 1950, pp. 489-505.
A. D. Roy, “Some Thoughts on the Distribution of Earnings,” Oxford Econ Papers, 1951, pp. 135-

Reference:

Dalton, Part IV.

    1. The data on functional and personal distribution of income in the U.S.

Readings:

D. G. Johnson, “Functional Distribution of Income in the U.S.,” RES, May 1954, pp. 175-183.
G. H. Moore, “Secular Changes in the Distribution of Income,” AER, Papers and Proceedings, May 1952, pp. 527-544.
E. F. Denison, “Income Types and the Size Distribution,” AER, Papers and Proceedings, May 1954, pp. 254-269.
S. Goldsmith, et al, “Size Distribution of Income since the Mid-Thirties,” RES, February 1954, pp. 1-32.
H. Miller, Income of the American People, Chs. 3, 8, 9, pp. 16-33, 97-123.

References:

U. S. Dept. of Commerce, Income Distribution in the United States, Washington, 1953.
Kuznets, Shares of Upper Income Groups in Income and Savings.
M. J. Bowman, “A Graphical Analysis of Personal Income Distribution in the United States,” Readings, pp. 72-99.

III. [No section title]

    1. Income Inequality and Growth

Income, consumption and investment.
Technical change, capital formation, and income shares.
Income shares and industrial structure.

Readings:

Baumol, Economic Dynamics, Chs. 2, 3, pp. 11-35.
Duesenberry, “Income-Consumption Relations and their Implications,” in Income, Employment, and Public Policy, pp. 54-81.
Kurihara, “Distribution, Employment, and Secular Growth,” in Post-Keynesian Economics, Ch. 10, pp 251-273.
Kuznets, “Economic Growth and Income Inequality,” AER, March 1955, pp. 1-28.
Hicks, Theory of Wages, Ch. 6, pp. 112-135.
E. H. Phelps-Brown, “The Long-Term Movement of Real Wages,” in Theory of Wage Determination, ed. J. T. Dunlop, pp. 48-65.

Reference:

F. A. Hanna, “Contribution of Manufacturing Wages to Regional Differences in Per-Capita Income,” RES, February 1951.

    1. Inflation and Income Inequality.

Readings:

Keynes, “Social Consequences of Changes in the Value of Money,” Essays in Persuasion, pp. 80-104.
Bach and Ando, “Redistributional Effects of Inflation,” RES, February 1957, pp. 1-13.

Reference:

D. Seers, Changes in the Cost of Living and the Distribution of Income, Oxford, 1949.
Joint Committee on the Economic Report, Low-Income Families and Economic Stability, 1949.

    1. The State and the Distribution.

Who pays the taxes?
Redistribution through public expenditures.

Readings:

Conrad, “Redistribution through Government Budgets in the U.S.,” in Income Redistribution and Public Policy, pp. 178-267.
Conrad, “On the Calculation of Tax Burdens,” Economica, November 1955, pp. 342-348.

    1. Conclusion.

Readings:

Kuznets, in Studies in Income and Wealth, Volume XV, pp. 203-213.
Tinbergen, “Welfare Economics and Income Distribution,” AER, Papers and Proceedings, May 1957, pp. 490-503.

Reference:

Lampman, “Recent Thoughts on Egalitarianism,” QJE, May 1957, pp. 234-266.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 7. Folder “Economics, 1958-1959 (1 of 2)”.

_______________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 124
FINAL EXAMINATION
January 16, 1959

Answer Question 1 and any four others.

  1. (a) or (b):

(a) The Council of Economic Advisers, in their report to the President in January, 1953, stated:

“…the preferable general formula—once wages, prices and profits are in a workable relationship—is for money wages to increase with productivity trends in the whole economy.”

Discuss this suggestion in the light of your reading period assignment, bringing in relevant recent data on the effect of inflation upon factor shares to illustrate your argument.

(b) Describe briefly the law of proportional effect and discuss its application to the income generating process. Be careful to consider the economic relevance of the conditions and results of the statistical model.

  1. Describe the tendencies toward a falling rate of profit in (1) the “classical”, (2) the Marxian, and (3) neo-classical description of capital accumulation. How would the possibility of technological change affect this tendency?
  2. Who are the poor in the post-World War II United States?
  3. You are hired as a technical expert on national income accounts to advise a country in which economists, among other basic resources, are in short supply. In detail, discuss the statistics you will need to answer the following questions: (1) who saves? (2) what has been the trend the savings/income ratio?
  4. “One might thus assume a long swing in the inequality characterizing the secular income structure: widening in the early phases of economic growth when the transition from the pre-industrial to the industrial civilization was most rapid; becoming stabilized for awhile; and then narrowing in the later phases.” Write a concise explanation, in outline form if you like, for the declining inequality suggested here.
  5. How would you reconcile the marginal productivity theory of wages (as presented, say, by Hicks) with the collective bargaining explanation of Lloyd Reynolds or the inertia-displacement theory of Phelps Brown? You may include in your argument any other readings that seem to be relevant.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Social Sciences. Final Examinations, January 1959. (HUC7000.28, 122 of 284). Papers Printed for Final Examinations. History, Government, Economics, …, Naval Science, Air Science. January, 1959.

Image Source: Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Fellows page for Alfred Haskell Conrad.

Categories
Funny Business Harvard

Harvard. ‘Twas a Night in the Sixties. Poem by Martin Feldstein, 1980

1997 Feldstein
(Cambridge, MA - March 9, 1997) Faculty portrait of Professor Martin Feldstein. Staff Photo Mary Lee/Harvard University News Office.

 

‘Tis the Season to be Jolly so it is time to share this 39-year old economics parody composed, and one imagines performed, by Harvard Professor, Reagan economics adviser, and long-time president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Martin Feldstein (1939-2019).

I have inserted first or last names between square brackets for the benefit of any non-economist or young economist (Boomer says, “You’re Welcome”) that has somehow landed on this page. 

__________________

‘Twas a Night in the Sixties
by Martin Feldstein

Cambridge, Massachusetts
December 1980

‘Twas a night in the sixties
And all through the land
Unemployment was falling
Inflation at hand.

The stock market was rising,
Without any care,
In hopes a Dow thousand
Soon would be there.

The Keynesians were snuggled
Secure in their Chairs,
While visions of multipliers
Allayed all their cares.

Paul [Samuelson] with his textbook
And Art [Okun] with his gap
Had settled their brains
For a long postwar nap.

When out in the land
There arose such a clatter,
A voice that was crying
That money could matter.

Away from their desks
They flew in a flash
To see who was claiming
Such power for cash.

They looked at their models
With equations precise,
That gave semblance of proof
To conclusions so nice.

When what to their wondering
Eyes should appear
But a miniature sleigh
With eight tiny reindeer

With a little old driver
Who was having such fun
They knew in a moment
It must be Milton [Friedman]

More numerous than eagles
His supporters they came
And he whistled and shouted
And called them by name.

First John [sic, Jean-Baptiste] Say and then [David] Hume
Then [Alfred] Marshall and [John Stuart] Mill,
Now [Karl] Brunner and [Alan] Meltzer
And Anna [Schwartz] and Phil [Cagan].

From the U. of Chicago
To Minneapolis-St. Paul
Then dash away! Dash away!
Dash away all!

As economic theories with which economists play
When they meet with an obstacle
Assume it away,

So off to the journals,
Their papers they flew,
With monetarist theorems,
Rational expectations too.

And even in Cambridge
Was heard the new truth,
The theorems and lemmas
Of each little proof.

The Keynesian thinkers
Were spinning around
When onto the scene,
Milton came with a bound.

He was dressed all in gold
From his head to his foot
And his ideas were polished
And ready to put.

“Velocity’s stable,
M1 and M2,
Which shows what the Fed
Shouldn’t be trying to do.”

“That curve by Phillips
It really is straight
And the cost of funds
Is the real interest rate.”

He wrote many a word,
And with evidence too.
At the NBER
His volumes they grew.

His ideas how simple.
He puts them so well.
It would be no wonder
When he got his Nobel.

A wink of his eye
And a nod of his head
Soon gave Keynesians to know
They had something to dread.

Then turning his talents
To the writing of prose
TV and best seller
He did with wife Rose.

Then he sprang to his sleigh
To his team gave a whistle
And away they all flew
Like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim
As he drove out of sight,
“Keep freedom for all,
and keep money tight.”

Source: Ancient, analogue copy found in Irwin Collier’s personal papers.

Image Source: Faculty portrait of Martin Feldstein in 1997 in The Harvard Gazette, June 13, 2019.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final exam for location of economic activity. Usher, 1943

 

 The course announcement, enrollment figures, course description, and reading assignments for Abbott P. Usher’s Harvard half-course (first term, 1942-43), “The Location of Economic Activity. General Principles and Current Problems,” have been transcribed and posted earlier. 

This post provides a transcription of the final examination for the course.

________________

1942-43
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 65a1
[Final examination]

I
(About one hour)

  1. Write an essay on a topic based upon the work of the reading period, or on one of the following topics: the basing point system, the effect of parallelism in a railway network upon the rate structure.

II
Answer THREE questions.

  1. Under what circumstances may we describe a region as “maturely” settled? Within what limits may we expect to find variations in the density of population in maturely settled areas?
  2. Discuss the relative significance of surplus food, coal, and water power as in the localization of economic activity in the modern world.
  3. Answer a, or b.
    1. Within what limits can we defend the charging of higher gross rates, per ton mile or per passenger mile, for shorter than for longer distances?
    2. Discuss: “It is probably safe to say that the centralization of manufacturing industry has reached its limit. A reaction toward decentralization began when manufacturers located their mills in the suburbs of large cities in order to escape high city rents….”
      Weber, Growth of Cities, 1899.
  4. Describe the pattern of production in the steel industry of the United States, and explain the outstanding features of the pattern of localization.
  5. Describe the processes of extracting and refining copper, and discuss the influence of these procedures upon the location of the various types of enterprises in the copper industry.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University: Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations [in] History, Theology,…, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. January, 1943. [Mid-Year Exams—Social Sciences, 1943. HUC 7000.55]

Image Source: Harvard Class Album, 1947.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Undergraduate

Harvard. Division Exams for the economics A.B., January 1917

 

The philosophy behind the use of division examinations for undergraduate history, government, and economics majors at Harvard was documented in an earlier post providing excerpts from relevant passages in annual reports of the President of Harvard College. This post adds to the growing stock of division exams from Harvard collected here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. Links to other exams are provided in the post along with the questions for four exams from the division examinations given in January 1917.

__________________

Background

A significant event of the year [1915-16] was the inauguration by the Division of History, Government, and Economics of its new examination of candidates for the Bachelor’s degree who have concentrated in the Division. This examination was devised “not in order to place an additional burden upon candidates for the A.B., but for the purpose of securing better correlation of the student’s work, encouraging better methods of study, and furnishing a more adequate test of real power and attainment.” In their preparation students have from the beginning of the Sophomore year special tutorial instruction. The examination embraces three tests: first, a general paper, with a large number of alternative questions, treating comprehensively the subjects of the Division; second, a special paper, covering a chosen specific field; and lastly, a supplementary oral examination which may relate to either the general or the special paper, but ordinarily bears upon the specific field. The results of the first examination, taken by a comparatively small group of men graduating in three years, are in no way conclusive. The members of the examining committee, however, think them distinctly encouraging. Twenty-four candidates appeared, of whom twenty-two passed and two failed. Their selection of questions from the general paper indicated breadth of preparation and their bearing at the oral examination showed more than a little clearness and independence of thought.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1915-16, pp.75-76.

__________________

April 1927 Division Examinations Not Included in Cole’s Volume of Exams

Handwritten note added to the Arthur H. Cole volume of collected division examinations, 1916-1927:

“This volume contains the January exams for 1916-17. The April 1917 exams are shelved separately”.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975 (HUC 7000.18). Box 6, Bound Volume (stamped “Private Library Arthur H. Cole”) “Divisional Examinations 1916-1927”.

__________________

Other Harvard division exams transcribed and posted:

Division Examinations for the Degree of A.B.
Division of History, Government and Economics.

April/May 1916

History of Economic Thought, Public Finance, Labor 1931

Economic Theory 1939
Money and Government Finance 1939
Economic History (since 1750) 1939
Labor and Social Reform 1939

__________________

DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS
FOR THE DEGREE OF A.B. DIVISION EXAMINATIONS
1916-17

DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS
DIVISION GENERAL EXAMINATION
[January 6, 1917]

Part I

The treatment of one of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-half of the examination and should therefore occupy one and one-half hours. Write on one question only.

  1. How does the federal form of government affect the life of a nation?
  2. Discuss the arguments for and against universal manhood suffrage.
  3. What influences have been exerted by the Catholic Church on political development since 1500?
  4. Sketch the life and work of two or three of the following: (a) Calvin, (b) Cavour, (c) Hildebrand, (d) Jefferson, (e) Kant, (f) Marx, (g) J. S. Mill, (h) Sir Thomas More, (i) Theodosius.
  5. What were the political and economic effects before 1750 of the discovery of America?
  6. How has the physiography of the states of Europe influenced (a) their economic development? (b) their political organization, and (c) their present problems?
  7. What has been the influence of France in the Western hemisphere?
  8. Discuss the merits and defects of lawyers as statesmen?
  9. Explain the reasons for the differences in British foreign and colonial policy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
  10. What have been the consequences of the guarantee of freedom of contract?
  11. Do periods of internal and external national greatness tend to coincide?
  12. Discuss sectionalism in the United States since the Civil War.

 

Part II

Three questions only from the following groups, A, B, and C, are to be answered, of which not more than two may be from one group.

A

  1. What were the chief features of the economic life of New England prior to the nineteenth century?
  2. Trace and explain the development of American agriculture since 1860.
  3. What have been the causes and results of the growth of cities?
  4. State the case for and against a federal income tax in the United States.
  5. In what ways and by what means does war affect government regulation of industry?
  6. Indicate points at which British economic policy has influenced German policy.

B

  1. Compare the characters and careers of Philip II of Spain, Louis XIV of France, and William II of Germany.
  2. How does the history of Holland and of Portugal illustrate the principle of balance of power?
  3. Should the French Revolution be regarded as the beginning or as the end of a period?
  4. “…With the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States.”
    From what document is this quotation taken? Give a brief account of the subsequent applications of this principle.
  5. In how far was the navy responsible for the victory of the North in the Civil War?
  6. Give an account of the political and economic relations of Germany and the United States, since the Declaration of American Independence.

C

  1. Compare the powers exercised by the President of the United States in 1800, in 1850, and in 1916.
  2. Why should Europe dominate Africa?
  3. What are the arguments for and against centralization and decentralization of political power?
  4. Should members of cabinets sit and vote in national legislative bodies?
  5. To what causes has the expansion of the United States since 1800 been due?
  6. Why has the status of Turkey been a matter of importance in international affairs?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
ECONOMIC THEORY
[January 10, 1917]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. “The difference between producer’s and consumer’s goods is at bottom only a difference of degree.” Explain. What is the essential difference between these two classes of goods?
  2. Define and analyze: (a) consumer’s surplus; (b) producer’s surplus. Under what conditions of cost does producer’s surplus arise? How is monopoly profit to be distinguished from producer’s surplus? Illustrate throughout by diagram.
  3. What is meant by “overinvestment”? “overaccumulation”? How does over-investment in particular industries “bring its own remedy”? How does a tendency toward overaccumulation?
  4. “The exchanges between different countries are analogous to the exchanges between non-competing groups within a country.” Explain.
  5. Discuss the more important difficulties in the way of socialism.
  6. What methods of investigation may be employed in economic theory? Give an illustration of the use of one of these methods.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Sketch and criticize the attitude of the English and American courts during the nineteenth century toward collective bargaining by labor.
  2. Trace the development of interest theories.
  3. To what extent were changes in the tariff policy of the United States during the nineteenth century based upon changes in the prevailing opinion concerning free trade and protection?

C

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Contrast the concepts of justice in taxation and justice in the distribution of wealth.
  2. What is the case for and against the Single Tax?
  3. To what extent and by what means can trade-unions influence (a) the wages paid in a given occupation? (b) the general level of wages?
  4. What has been the importance of the “American frontier” in the distribution of wealth in the United States?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
MONEY AND BANKING
[January 10, 1917]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Analyze the relation of the value of gold to its cost of production. In what measure, if at all, is the indicated relation peculiar to gold?
  2. Discuss index numbers of prices with reference to (a) the purposes they may serve; (b) the various methods of construction; (c) the best index numbers for wholesale prices in the United States.
  3. Below is a combined statement of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks at a recent date.
    Explain the several items of the statement, and comment upon the more significant conditions disclosed.

RESOURCES

 LIABILITIES

(all items in thousands of dollars)
Gold coin and certificates in vaults

$283,730

 Capital paid in

$55,711
Gold settlement fund

$174,801

 Government deposits

$26,319
Gold redemption fund

$1,404

 Member bank deposits

$637,072
Legal tender notes, silver, etc.

$17,974

 Federal Reserve notes—net

$14,296
5 per cent redemption fund

$470

 Federal Reserve bank notes

$1,028
Bills discounted for members

$20, 501

 Other liabilities

$634
Bills bought

$102,092
United States bonds

$39,427
One-year Treasury notes

$11,167
Municipal warrants

$22,166
Federal Reserve notes—net

$15,414
Due from other Federal Reserve Banks—net

$43,263
Other resources

$2,651

$735,060

$735,060

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. What were some of the forms of primitive money? What functions were performed by each form?
  2. Describe the economic cycle culminating in the crisis of 1837.
  3. Trace and explain the inflationist movement in the United States from 1865 to 1900.
  4. What connections have existed since 1830 between the financial administration of the Federal Government and banks in the United States?

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. Would universal bimetallism conduce to a stable market ratio between gold and silver? to a stable price level? What have been the chief obstacles to universal bimetallism? Are these obstacles increasing or decreasing?
  2. When prices are rising how are the following affected: (a) farmers; (b) factor operatives; (c) manufacturers; (d) stockholders; (e) owners of gold mines?
  3. Give a detailed account of silver since 1890.
  4. Wherein is the Federal Reserve System like the banking system recommended by the National Monetary Commission? Wherein is it different? Discuss the differences.
  5. Trace and explain the course of foreign exchange rates since the beginning of the European War.
  6. What is meant by “agricultural credit”? Describe briefly and criticize the existing facilities for agricultural credit in the United States.

    *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
CORPORATE ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING RAILROADS
[January 10, 1917]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Define “monopoly.” In what ways, if at all, is monopoly price affected by (a) cost of production per unit? (b) potential competition? (c) an elastic demand for the product? (d) the existence of satisfactory substitutes for the product?
  2. What official statistics throw light upon industrial organization in the United States? Criticise the available statistics of this subject.
  3. Describe the general features of the uniform accounting system now prescribed for railroads by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Why was the Commission given power to prescribe and supervise such a uniform accounting system?
  4. Enumerate the principal sources of railway statistics at the present time, and show the content, importance, and deficiencies (if any) of each.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two.

  1. Trace any connections between the corporate form of organization and the later stages of the Industrial Revolution.
  2. Sketch the history of the Sherman Anti-Trust Law and its enforcement.
  3. Give a brief account of the Granger movement.
  4. “Railways have been the most important agents in increasing the disparities of wealth in modern times.” Explain.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four.

  1. If a corporation regularly earns 5 per cent on all its outstanding securities, can it be said to be overcapitalized? What constitutes overcapitalization? How, if at all, should the law attempt to deal with overcapitalization?
  2. Analyze the present policy of the Federal Government in its regulation of industrial combinations in the United States.
  3. What connections exist between banks and industrial combinations in the United States? Contrast the situation here with that in France.
  4. In railroading in the United States, what is the significance of the following: (a) large plant; (b) joint cost; (c) physical valuation; (d) competition of water routes; (e) division of powers between state and Federal governments?
  5. Discuss the forms and significance of discriminations in railway rate-making. Which of the discriminations, if any, tend to persist under government ownership?
  6. What provisions should be made for the settlement of wage disputes on interstate railroads in the United States?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATIONS
[not transcribed for this post]

MODERN HISTORY SINCE 1789, INCLUDING AMERICAN HISTORY
[January 10, 1917]

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
[January 10, 1917]

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Divisional and general examinations, 1915-1975 (HUC 7000.18). Box 6, Bound Volume (stamped “Private Library Arthur H. Cole”) “Divisional Examinations 1916-1927”.

Image Source:  Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library. Harvard Class Album 1920, p. 65.

 

Categories
Agricultural Economics Harvard Problem Sets

Harvard. Problem set from agricultural economics. Carver, ca. 1904

 

The problem set transcribed below was found in the Harvard University archives collection of syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003; box 1. It was (mis-)filed in the folder “Economics, 1904-05”.  The problem set is clearly identified as belonging to Economics 23. This semester course, “The Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions”, was taught by Professor Thomas Nixon Carver, but according to the annual report of the president of Harvard College, the course was not offered in 1904-05 though it was indeed offered during the immediately preceding academic year. I have assumed that the problem set was printed for the second term of the academic year 1903-1904. This is consistent with the library time stamp on the problem set (March 7, 1905), i.e. it cannot have come from later years.

From Carver’s autobiography, Recollections of an Unplanned Life, we know that his textbook, Principles of Rural Economics (1911) was based upon this course. For a long-form course reading list, one can consult the bibliography, pp. xi-xviii, in the textbook.

Previously transcribed and posted artifacts from Carver’s agricultural economics course:

Course enrollment and final exam for 1914-15.

Course syllabus for 1917.

Course examination from 1918.

________________________

Trace of the 1904 problem set found in Carver’s 1911 textbook

Note:  Column (Field A) is Table A p. 180; Column (Field C) is Table B p. 181

Source: Thomas Nixon Carver, Principles of Rural Economics, (1911).

________________________

From Thomas Nixon Carver’s Autobiography.

I have mentioned the three strenuous years 1900 to 1903, and that I served the three following years, 1903-1906, as chairman of the Division of History, Government, and Economics. Before leaving for my sabbatical year abroad in 1906, I had resigned as chairman of the Division. In the fall of 1907 I was back in Cambridge with no administrative responsibilities and ready to settle down to teaching and writing. By this time I had come to be recognized as one of the pioneers in this country in the field of agricultural economics. One of the difficulties in the teaching of that subject was the lack of written material. Textbooks were needed and I began to plan one of my own. Before I got well started Professor Liberty Hyde Bailey of Cornell asked me to write a brief historical sketch of American agriculture for his Cyclopedia of American Agriculture which he was preparing. I under took this, not realizing how much work it would require. The material, such as there was, was widely scattered and there was no guide to indicate where to look for it. However, with much toil and sweat I finished the chapter.

Then came a request for an account of the introduction of various crops and farm animals into this country. That was a still harder job but I finished it in time. I was able, later, to use a part of the material in my book, “Principles of Rural Economics,” which Ginn & Company published in 1911.

This book did a great deal to popularize agricultural economics in this country. Henry C. Taylor’s “Introduction to the Study of Agricultural Economics” had preceded it, but, while an excellent introduction, had not made much of an appeal outside the agricultural colleges. My “Principles” sold well. As I remember it, 40,000 copies were sold the first year, and it was favorably reviewed in a number of journals…

…The course on rural economics appealed to a limited number of students, but continued to be elected by enough to make a fair-sized class…

Source: Thomas Nixon Carver. Recollections of an Unplanned Life, p. 171.

________________________

Course description

[Economics] 23 2hf. The Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 1.30. Professor Carver.

Omitted in 1904-05.

            A study of the relation of agriculture to the whole industrial system, the relative importance of rural and urban economics, the conditions of rural life in different parts of the United States, the forms of land tenure and methods of rent payment, the comparative merits of large and small holdings, the status and wages of farm labor, the influence of farm machinery, farmers’ organizations, the marketing and distribution of farm products, agricultural credit, the economic aspects of public roads, irrigation, forestry, etc., the policy of the government toward agriculture, and the probable future of American agriculture.

The course will be conducted by means of lectures, discussions and reports, with some special investigations of local conditions.

 

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05. University Publications, New Series, No. 129 (May 16, 1904), p. 47.

________________________

Course enrollment, 1903-04

[Economics] 23 2hf. Professor Carver.—The Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions.

Total 99: 5 Graduates, 32 Seniors, 28 Juniors, 17 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 15 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-04, p. 67.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Note:  The course was indeed not offered in 1904-05, though course enrollments were reported for Carver’s courses Economic 3 “Principles of Sociology. Theories of Social Progress”; Economics 13 “Methods of Economic Investigation”; Economics 14a “The Distribution of Wealth”; Economics 14b “Methods of Social Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax, etc.”

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-05, pp. 74 ff.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Course enrollment, 1905-06

[Economics] 23 2hf. Professor Carver.—The Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions.

Total 42: 4 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 11 Juniors, 14 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1905-06, p. 73.

________________________

Time stamp: “Harvard College Library, MAR 7, 1905”

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 23

Amount of corn grown with varying amounts of labor on a given amount of land.

Number of days’ labor of a man and team with the appropriate tools.

 Product, in bushels, on each of four fields of ten acres each.
Field A. Field B. Field C.

Field D.

5

 50 45 40 35
10 150 140 130

120

15

 270 255 240 255 [sic]
20 380 360 300

280

25

 450 425 350 325
30 510 480 390

360

35

 560 520 420 385
40 600 550 440

400

45

 630 570 450 410
50 650 575 455

415

 

The following problems are based on the above table:—

Problem 1. Assuming that the labor of a man and team, with the appropriate tools, costs a farmer five dollars a day, and that corn is worth forty cents a bushel, how many days of such labor could he most profitably devote to the cultivation of each of the four fields?

Problem 2. Assuming that corn is worth only 33 1/3 cents a bushel, how much labor, etc., could he most profitably apply to the cultivation of each field,—the cost of labor, etc., remaining the same?

Problem 3. Assuming that a farmer has only 200 days’ labor to use, but that he can have rent free an indefinite amount of land of the grade of Field A, how much land could he most profitably use? How much land of the grade of Field C could he most profitably use?

Problem 4. How much land of each grade could he most profitably use if he had to pay five dollars an acre rent, corn being worth fifty cents a bushel, other conditions the same as in Problem 3?

Problem 5. Assuming that the two fields A and C are owned by the same farmer, and that he has but 20 days’ labor which he can devote to their cultivation, how could these 20 days be most profitably distributed among them? How could 25 days be most profitably distributed? 35 days? 50 days? 60 days? 70 days? 90 days?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 1. Folder “Economics, 1904-05”.

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

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. General Examinations in Micro- and Macroeconomic Theory, Fall 1992

 

 

The following general examinations for microeconomic and macroeconomic theory (Fall 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 available for:

Spring 1991 General Examinations in Microeconomic Theory and Macroeconomic Theory.

___________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

GENERAL EXAMINATION IN MICROECONOMIC THEORY
FALL 1992

Instructions:

  1. You have FOUR
  2. Answer a total of FOUR questions subject to the following constraint:
    There are four sections (I, II, III, IV). You must answer ONE question from each section.
  3. Please use a separate blue book for each question.
  4. Please put only your EXAM NUMBER on the blue book.

 

PART I

  1. Suppose that the consumption set is X=\left\{ x\in \mathbb{R}_{+}^{2}:{{x}_{1}}+{{x}_{2}}\ge 1 \right\} and the utility function is u(x) = x2.
    1. Represent graphically the consumption set and the indifference map.
    2. State and show that the locally cheaper consumption test for demand fails at the price/wealth combination (p, w) = (1, 1, 1).
    3. Show that market demand is not continuous at the above price/wealth combination. Interpret economically.
  2. An individual has Bernoulli utility indicator u and initial wealth w. Let lottery L offer a payoff of G with probability q and a payoff of B with probability 1 – q.
    1. If the individual owns the lottery, what is the minimum price s/he would sell it for?
    2. If s/he does not own it. What is the maximum price s/he would be willing to pay for it?
    3. Are buying and selling prices equal? Give an economic interpretation for your answer. Find conditions on the parameters of the problem under which buying and selling prices are equal.
    4. Let G = 10, B = 5, w = 0 and u(x) = x0.5. Compute the buying and selling prices for this lottery and this utility indicator.

 

PART II

Consider a market with three identical firms. The three firms set quantities as strategies and do so simultaneously. Each firm has marginal cost c, and market price is

p=1-\sum\limits_{i=1}^{3}{{{q}_{i}}}, where qi is firm i’s quantity.

  1. What are the Cournot equilibrium quantities and prices in this model?
  2. Suppose that firms 1 and 2 consider merging to form a single firm, which would have access to the two firms’ technologies. The merged firm, if it forms, would compete as a Cournot duopolist with firm 3. Assuming that the owners of firms 1 and 2 split the merged firm’s profit equally, would they find such a merger advantageous?
  3. Now suppose that firm 1 sets its quantity (as a Stackelberg leader) first and that firms 2 and 3 then follow and set quantities simultaneously. The model is otherwise the same as before. Suppose that firms 1 and 2 contemplate forming a merged firm that would act as a Stackelberg leader vis a vis firm 3. Will the merged firm’s profit be higher or lower than the sum of firm 1’s and 2’s profits in the pre-merger equilibrium? The question should be answered without making any mathematical computations.

 

PART III

Consider the country of Ec, a country with a small open economy. Ec’s economy produces two outputs, x and y, from two immobile factors, capital (K) and labor (L). The prices of x and y, px and py, are determined on the world market and are not affected by anything that happens in Ec. The aggregate production function in Ec for x is fx(K,L) and that for y is fy(K,L). Both of these functions are homogeneous of degree one in (K,L), continuous, differentiable, and have strictly convex upper contour sets. Let the input price of K  in Ec be r and that for L be w(these are prices in Ec, not world prices).

  1. Display the set of efficient production plans in an Edgeworth Box. Argue that the contract curve must lie either all above, all below, or be coincident with the diagonal in the interior of this box.

Now assume that production of x is more capital intensive than is production of y in the sense that for any given ratio of input prices, r/w, the cost minimizing way to produce any given amount of output involves a strictly larger capital-labor ratio, K/L, in the production of x than in the production of y.

  1. What can you say about the shape of the contract curve now? How do the slopes of the isoquants of the two production processes vary at various points on the contract curve?

Now assume that Ec has a perfectly competitive economy.

  1. Show that there is a unique equilibrium input price ratio r/w.
  2. Prove that if the world price of the capital intensive good (px) rises, then the equilibrium input price ratio, r/w, increases.
  3. Prove that if the endowment of labor in Ec increases, the output of good y increases and output of good x

 

PART IV

  1. How is it that, even in a world of linear technologies, different theories of growth and distribution lead to different theories of value, i.e., different theories of relative prices? Doesn’t this violate the non-substitution theorem, which shows that, for a given cost of capital, the technology which minimizes costs will be chosen irrespective of demand? Is the existence of different theories of value compatible with the idea that competition eliminates any difference between price and cost of production? How does utility maximization enter into neoclassical and non-neoclassical theories of value?
  2. Overheard in the corridors of Littauer:
    “I took the best road home yesterday.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “If there had been a better one I would have taken it.”
    Analyze the above dialogue from the point of view of both partisans and critics of revealed preference theory.

 

Source: Department of Economics, Harvard University. Past General Exams Spring 1991-Spring 1999, pp. 72-77. Copy provided to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror by Abigail Wozniak.

___________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

GENERAL EXAMINATION IN MACROECONOMIC THEORY
FALL 1992

Instructions:

  1. You have FOUR
  2. Answer a total of SIX questions subject to the following constraint:
    There are four sections (I, II, III, IV). You must answer ONE question from each section.
  3. Please use a separate blue book for each question.
  4. Please put only your EXAM NUMBER on the blue book.

 

PART I

  1. Answer the question, “Does money affect output?” Support your answer with both theoretical arguments and empirical evidence. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this evidence. Finally, include a detailed discussion of one theory that supports your position.
  2. The response among pundits to the recent reduction in German interest rates has been overwhelmingly positive. Evaluate this response in light of the Mundell-Flemming model. How does foreign monetary policy affect domestic output in the model? What other channel might American commentators have in mind. Speculate about the cause of this difference and give an opinion as to who is correct.

 

PART II

Problem 1

Consider the following dynamic version of the Mundell-Fleming model:

{{\dot{e}}}/{e}\;={{i}^{*}}-i

i=\alpha y-\beta m

\dot{y}=\gamma \left( d-y \right)

d=\lambda y-\theta e+g

where

e is the exchange rate (measured so that an appreciation of the domestic currency is an increase in e),
i* is the (exogenous) world interest rate,
i is the domestic interest rate,
y is output,
m is (exogenous) real money balances,
d is demand,
g is a measure of (exogenous) fiscal policy,
and \alpha >0,\,\,\beta >0,\,\,\gamma >0,\,\,0<\lambda <1,\,\,\theta >0.

  1. Give an interpretation of each equation.
  2. Write the model using two variables and two laws of motion. Identify the state (non-jumping) variable and the costate (jumping) variable.
  3. Draw the phase diagram, including the steady-state conditions, the implied[?] dynamics, and the saddle-point stable path.
  4. Describe the effects of a sudden, permanent increase in g. Compare the results to the standard (static) Mundell-Fleming model.
  5. Describe the effects of a sudden, permanent increase in Compare the results to the standard (static) Mundell-Fleming model.

 

Problem 2

Suppose that the representative consumer maximizes the following intertemporal utility function:

{{E}_{t}}\sum\limits_{j=0}^{\infty }{{{\left( 1+\rho  \right)}^{j}}U\left( {{C}_{t+j}},{{G}_{t+j}} \right)}

where C is consumption,

G is (exogenous) government spending,

\rho is the subjective rate of discount,

The consumer has random earnings, and she can borrow and lend at the constant real interest rate r.

  1. What is the consumer’s intertemporal first-order condition? Explain.
  2. In this problem, what variable follows a random walk (that is a martingale)? What variable doesn’t? Explain.
  3. Suppose that government spending follows a predictable pattern: in particular, suppose that (for some political reason) G fluctuates as a sine wave. What is the implied pattern of consumption?
  4. Describe the equity-premium puzzle.
  5. Suppose now that government spending is countercyclical (that is, the government increases G when the economy goes into a recession). How might this model help resolve the equity-premium puzzle? What condition would you need for the utility function U(.)?

 

PART III

  1. What implications for the conduct of monetary policy follow from the fact that many of the familiar variables that economists have urged central banks to adopt as their operating targets—for example, prices, or real interest rates, or measures of money other than the monetary base—are inherently endogenous in the sense that a central bank typically cannot set any of these variables directly via its open market operations? Use a specific model of your choice to illustrate what role a variable like the price level or the real interest rate, or a measure of money other than the monetary base, can plausibly play in the monetary policymaking process even when it is clearly endogenous.
  2. “Whether or not debt-financed government spending ‘crowds out’ private capital formation depends on whether or not the economy’s private resources are already fully employed. At less than full employment, deficit spending will crowd out investment even if it raises output (which it may or may not do). By contrast, the mechanisms that cause this decline in investment at less than full employment are not operative when the economy is fully employed.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your reasoning as explicitly as possible.

 

PART IV

  1. Suppose that the government wishes to minimize the present value of costs, zt, which are given for period t by {{z}_{t}}=a\cdot {{\left( {{\pi }_{t}} \right)}^{2}}-b\cdot \left( {{\pi }_{t}}-\pi _{t}^{e} \right)+\left( {c}/{2}\; \right){{\left( {{\pi }_{t}}-\pi _{t}^{e} \right)}^{2}}
    where a, b, c, > 0 are constants, {{\pi }_{t}} is the inflation rate for period t, and \pi _{t}^{e} is the inflation rate that people expected at the start of period t.

    1. If the government takes \pi _{t}^{e} as given, then what value of {{\pi }_{t}} minimizes the cost zt for period t?
    2. If the government acts as in part I., and everyone knows it, then what is the full equilibrium under conditions of rational expectations? Explain the costs that are borne in this equilibrium. How are they affected by an increase in the parameter a, which measures the cost of inflation? Explain the results.
    3. If the government can commit to an inflation rate for period t, then what rate should it commit to? Explain how the costs in this situation compare with those from the equilibrium in part 2.
    4. Can the equilibrium described under 2. still apply if the government takes account of costs in future periods as well as for period t?
  2. Consider the neoclassical growth model for a closed economy of Solow, Cass, Koopmans, et al.
    1. If we think of all countries as closed, does this model imply convergence in the sense that poor countries tend to grow faster per capita than rich countries? Discuss in your answer the distinction between absolute convergence—where the poor grow faster than the rich—and conditional convergence—where a poor country grows faster for given values of some exogenous variables.
    2. How do the rates of convergence in this model relate in a general way to the diminishing returns to capital and to the behavior of the saving rate? How would the rate of convergence be affected by allowing for some capital mobility across countries?
    3. If poor countries tend to grow faster per capita than rich countries does it follow that the dispersion of per capita incomes across countries will tend to narrow over time?

 

Source: Department of Economics, Harvard University. Past General Exams Spring 1991-Spring 1999, pp. 78-83. Copy provided to Economics in the Rear-view Mirror by Abigail Wozniak.

Image Source: Harvard Class Album 1946.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. European Economic History from the Industrial Revolution. Gay, 1934

 

 

A brief biography of Harvard economic historian and first Dean of the Harvard Business School, Edwin Francis Gay (1867-1946) is found in the earlier post for his course “Recent Economic History” that was also taught at Harvard in the 1934-35 academic year. Below we have the course announcement, enrollment figures, reading list, and final exam for the course on European Economic History from the Industrial Revolution.

______________________________

Course Announcement

Economics 2a 1hf. European Economic History from the Industrial Revolution

Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor Gay.

Source: Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1934-35, second edition. Published in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXI, No. 38 (September 20, 1934), p. 125.

______________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 2a 1hf. Professor Gay.—European Economic History since the Industrial Revolution.

Total 50:  3 Graduates, 21 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1934-35, p. 81.

______________________________

Assigned and Suggested Readings

ECONOMICS 2a
[pencil insert: 1934-5]

European Economic History from the Industrial Revolution

Hour Test on November 13 [Pencil insert: Extended to Nov. 15] will cover Groups I and II.

I. SOCIAL THOUGHT AND PROGRESS

A. V. Dicey—Law and Public Opinion in England (1908). Lectures 4-7 (Pages 62-258)

J. M. Keynes—The End of Laissez Faire. (1926)

G. Wallas—Life of Francis Place (1918). Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 (pages 1-92, 157-240)

II. TRANSPORTATION

E. A. Pratt—A History of Inland Transport and Communication in England (1912). Chapters 8-22 (pages 51-311)

J. H. Clapham—Economic Development of France and Germany (1921). Chapters 5, 7, 12 (Pages 104-120, 140-157, 339-375)

III. AGRICULTURE

Lord Ernle—English Farming, Past and Present (3d edition, 1922). Chapters 17, 18

J. H. Clapham—Economic Development of France and Germany (1921). Chapter 9 (pages 195-231)

C. L. Christensen—Agricultural Cooperation in Denmark. Pages 9-54, 81-87

IV. TARIFF POLICY

P. Ashley—Modern Tariff History (1920). Part 1, Part 3 (pages 3-128, 269-355)

J. Morley—Life of Richard Cobden (1881). Chapters 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 16 (pages 140-172, 209-247, 290-307, 355-389)

V. BANKING

A. Andreades—History of the Bank of England (1909). Vol. 1, part 4; Vol. 2, Introductory chapter and Part 1 (pages 161-294)

H. Feis—Europe The World’s Banker, 1870-1914 (1930). Part I; Part II; Part III, Chapters 12, 13 (pages 3-190-258-313)

VI. READING PERIOD ASSIGNMENT

Choose ONE of the following groups:

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

P. Mantoux—The Industrial Revolution in the Eighteenth Century (English translation, 1928)

Part I, Chapter 2
Part II, Chapters 1, 2, 3
Part III, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
(pages 93-139-193-317, 349-489)

J. H. Clapham—Economic Development of France and German. Chapters 3, 4 (pages 53-103)

LABOR

S. & B. Webb—History of Trade Unionism (1920 edition). Chapters (in part) 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11 (pages 64-112, 153-179, 180-204, 249-298, 358-421, 472-546, 594-611, 634-676, 677-704)

Cambridge Modern History—Volume 12—Chapter 23—Social Movements (by Webb) (pages 730-765

BRITISH INDUSTRY AND CAPITAL

A. Siegfried—England’s Crisis (1933 edition)

L. H. Jenks—The Migration of British Capital to 1875 (1927). Chapters 1, 5, 7, 11. Pages 1-24, 126-157, 193-232, 326-336)

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING—NOT ASSIGNED

A. Birnie—Economic History of Europe 1760-1930 (1930)

C. Day—Economic Development in Modern Europe (1933)

J. H. Clapham—An Economic History of Modern Britain—2 vol. 1926-32 [3 vols. 1926-1938]

L. Domeratzsky—The International Cartel Movement (1928)

R. J. S. Hoffman—Great Britain and the German Trade Rivalry 1875-1914 (1933)

P Fitzgerald—Industrial Combination in England (1927)

L. C .A. Knowles—The Economic Development of the British Overseas Empire, 2 vols. (1924-1930)

F. L. Nussbaum—A History of the Economic Institutions of Modern Europe (1933)

H. M. Robertson—Aspects of the Rise of Economic Individualism (1933)

L. C .A. Knowles—Economic Development in the Nineteenth Century (1932)

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics 1934-1935”

______________________________

1934-35
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 2a1
[Final. 1935.]

Comment briefly on THREE of the statements in part I, and discuss more fully TWO of the questions in Part II.

Part I

  1. “During the period 1785-1802 there was an increase rather than a decrease of the yeomen proper in England.”
    “The Industrial Revolution was responsible for a decrease in the number of yeomen.”
  2. “The solution for the problem of agricultural distress is to be found, as the example of Denmark clearly shows, not in protective tariffs but in coöperative organization.”
  3. “The Bank was right in 1811 in rejecting the main recommendations of the Bullion Committee and in thereby refusing to follow the counsels of doctrinaires.”
  4. “The Trade Union of today is a direct descendant of the old Gild.”
  5. “The fact that the landlords supported the Factory Acts and that the manufacturers agitated for the repeal of the Corn Laws indicates that both of these powerful antagonists desired the welfare of the working class and that this class, as yet unenfranchised, wielded great political power.”

Part II

  1. “It was the increase of population which rendered necessary the Industrial Revolution.” (Lewinski.)
    “The cotton industry by its demand for the labor of women and children was chiefly responsible for the great increase of population in the towns during the generation and a half preceding the Reform Bill.”
    Comment and give your own view concerning the movement of population in Great Britain and its relation to the Industrial Revolution.
  2. “The community as a whole benefits more by falling than by rising prices.” (Layton.)
    Is this statement supported by the experience of England in the nineteenth century?
  3. Show the chief difference (giving reasons therefor) between France and Germany in railroad development and control.
  4. “The manifold connections and activities of British commerce and finance achieved for Great Britain in their freedom a vigorous expansion.” (Feis) Explain and exemplify.
  5. Summarize concisely:
    1. Bullion Report.
    2. New Unionism.
    3. Cobden Chevalier Treaty.
    4. Méline Tariff.
    5. Bank Act of 1844.
    6. Taff Vale Case.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 12. Volume: Examination Papers. Mid-Years, 1934-35.

Image Source: Edwin Francis Gay in Harvard Class Album 1934.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final examination for graduate mathematical economics. Goodwin, 1950-51

 

 

 

The reading list for the one-term course Economics 204b. Mathematical Economics, taught by Richard Goodwin during the first term of 1948-49 was posted earlier.

This same course number, Economics 204b, was later assigned to a Goodwin’s seminar in mathematical economics in 1950-51 (that covered “General interdependence systems: in particular, Leontief linear systems”), so we can assume that much of the reading list for his course Economics 204a in 1950-51  would have been very similar to the earlier list linked above. In any event, here are the exam questions for the 1950-51 course.

_____________________

Course Description

Economics 204a. Mathematical Economics

Half-course (fall term). Tu., Th., 2:30-4. Assistant Professor Goodwin.

Micro-and macro-dynamical economic systems.

Prerequisites: one course in economics and one in college mathematics. Properly qualified undergraduates will be admitted to the course.

Source: Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1950-51. Published in Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XLVII, No. 23 (September, 1950), p. 83.

_____________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 204a
Final. January, 1951

Please use right hand side of page only, leaving the left hand side for scratchwork.

I
Required hour question.

  1. Write an essay on the role of stability in economic science. Include some discussion of various definitions of it, how to measure it, and its use by Walras and by Marshall. Would you be inclined to accept as valid the following type of proposition: we may assume that all or most markets have stable equilibria, for “the plausibility of such a stability hypothesis is suggested by the consideration that positions of unstable equilibrium, even if they exist, are transient, nonpersistent states, and hence on the crudest probability calculation would be observed less frequently than stable states” (Samuelson)?

II
Take any TWO questions, allowing about 40 minutes for each.

  1. State concisely the economic assumptions and derivation of any one macrodynamic model of an inventory cycle. In terms of the model discuss the factors governing the period of its cycle.
  2. Develop briefly a simply macrodynamic model based on ‘fixed’ capital theory. Indicate the important non-linearities and give a graphical discussion of the nature of the solutions and their limit cycle. What are the principal characteristics of the system’s behavior?
  3. Two different economic situations are described by the somewhat similar equations:
    1. \ddot{x}+.12\dot{x}+2.3x=10;
    2. x\left( t+2 \right)+.12x\left( t+1 \right)+2.3x\left( t \right)=10.
      Compare and contrast the behavior implied in the two cases.

 

III
Take any TWO questions, allowing about 20 minutes for each.

  1. If the multiplier mechanism is represented by
    {1}/{v}\;\dot{y}+\left( 1-\alpha \right)y=i\left( t \right)+H ,
    and if
    i\left( t \right)=\kappa \dot{y}+I\cos \omega t,
    Obtain the complete solution for y.
  2. Given a Marshallian type market, specified by
    \begin{array}{l}{{p}_{d}}={{p}_{d}}\left( q \right),\\{{p}_{s}}={{p}_{s}}\left( q \right),\\\text{and}\\\dot{q}=f\left( {{p}_{d}}-{{p}_{x}} \right),\end{array}

    1. State the meaning and use of its phase line, \psi \left( q \right);
    2. Derive the relationship between the slope of \psi \left( q \right) and the slopes of the supply, the demand, and the reaction curves;
    3. Show what conditions on the slopes of the other curves are implied by a stable equilibrium point.
    4. If all curves are linear for small variations, show how the time constant, \tau , depends on the slopes of the supply, the demand, and the reaction curves.
    5. With the help of graphs, discuss the various possible behavior types of a ‘cob-web’ market with general, non-linear supply and demand curves. Explain briefly in words the meaning of your results.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 17, Bound volume: Papers Printed for Final Examinations. History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. January, 1951.

Image: Harvard Class Album 1951.