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Exam Questions Harvard Law and Economics

Harvard. Paper topics, exam questions for Industrial Relations and Commercial Law. Wyman, 1906-1907

Harvard Law School, ca. 1901

During the first decade of the twentieth century Bruce Wyman’s course on the law governing industrial relations and commercial law was one of two courses offered by the Harvard economics department that provided useful business content to undergraduates. The other one was William Morse Cole’s accounting course. Business content no doubt helps to explain the relatively high enrollment numbers in both courses. 

Fun Fact: Harvard President Lowell complained about Wyman’s course in the economics department having too soft a grade distribution (making it a “snap” course). This too could help to explain the relative popularity of Wyman’s course.

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From earlier years

1901-02. Autobiographical note, enrollment, course description, syllabus, exams.

1902-03. Obituary, enrollment, course description, exams.

1903-04. Enrollment and exams.

1904-05. Enrollment, course description, exams.

1905-06. Enrollment, paper assignments, exams.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 21. Asst. Professor Wyman. — Principles of Law governing Industrial Relations and Commercial Law.

Total 152: 6 Graduates, 83 Seniors, 43 Juniors, 14 Sophomores, 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 21

Paper No. 1
  1. Tell all you know about

(a) Walsh v. Dwight.
(b) Is Ayer v. Rushton rightly decided?

  1. (a) X & Co. begin the manufacture of underwear, woven with an open mesh, which they advertise as “Cellular Underclothing.” A few months later Z & Co. begin the manufacture of a similar article which they advertise as “Cellular Underclothing, a better article than that of any other manufacturer.” Can X & Co. sue Z & Co. for anything? Cite any authorities that you think in point. Give your reasons carefully. (b) A & Co., proprietors of a department store, advertise “the B Co. piano, regular price $500, our price $444.” The B Co. are much injured in their business by this; as they only allow their agents 10%, retailers cease handling their piano in the district where A & Co. sell. After A & Co. sell the piano they have had in stock they continue to run the advertisement, although the B Co. of course refuse to sell them any more pianos. Can the B Co. succeed in bringing any suits against A & Co.? Cite any cases you think in point. Give your reasons carefully.
Paper No. 2
  1. (a) Tell all you know about Pontefact v. Isenberger. (b) Is Reddaway v. Banham rightly decided?
  2. (a) Can a manufacturer of aluminum utensils sue another manufacturer who advertises as aluminum utensils articles not made of that metal? (b) Can a manufacturer who sells lime juice in long tapering bottles prevent another manufacturer from putting his product on the market in a bottle of exactly the same size, shape, and material?
Paper No. 3
  1. (a) What is decided in Lewin v. Welsbach Light Co.? (b) Is Dudley v. Briggs rightly decided?
  2. (a) X & Co. conduct a commercial credit agency. By mistake of their printers they report in a publication sent only to their subscribers that A & Co. are insolvent. Can A & Co. sue for the damages caused them? (b) X & Co. advertise that according to a series of tests made in their laboratories their fertilizer is shown to be 10% stronger in nitrates than that of A & Co. A & Co. offer to prove by expert testimony that theirs is stronger. What result?
Paper No. 4
  1. (a) Give in detail the points made in the opinion of Coleridge, J., in Lumley v. Gye. (b) Is Nichol v. Martyn rightly decided?
  2. (a) Are Graham v. St. Charles Street Ry. and Robinson v. Texas Pine Land Association consistent? (b) A superintendent is hired by A for five years, with the right reserved to either party to terminate the employment upon one month’s notice. B, a rival of A in business, goes to the superintendent and by offer of a higher salary induces him to give the notice and then come to him at the end of the month. Can A sue B?
Paper No. 5
  1. (a) What is decided in Murray v. Vanderbilt? (b) Is Bishop v. Kitchen rightly decided?
  2. (a) Are Diamond Match Co. v. Roeber and Pacific Factor Co. v. Adler consistent? (b) What essential differences are there in the facts between Jelliet v. Broade and Toby v. Major?
Paper No. 6
  1. (a) What is decided in Horick & Co. v. Wright? (b) Is Jones v. Fell rightly decided?
  2. (a) Are Scottish Society v. Glasgow Association and Plant v. Woods consistent? (b) What is objectionable in Collins v. Locke?
Paper No. 7
  1. What are the four things complained of in Mogul S. S. Co. v. McGregor. Do you agree with what the court decides as to each?
  2. How did the four judges who considered Glamorgan Coal Co. v. South Wales Miners’ Association decide the issues raised in it? With which ones do you agree?
Paper No. 8
  1. (a) What is decided in Temperton v. Russell; (b) and in Hundley v. Louisville & Nashville R. R.
  2. (a) How did Green, V. C., distinguish Mogul S. S. Co. v. McGregor from Barr v. Essex Trades Council; (b) What is the course of reasoning in Delz v. Winfree?
Paper No. 9
  1. (a) Give in detail the opinion of Lord Lindley in Latham v. Craig; (b) and the dissenting opinion of Justice Holmes in Vegelahu v. Guntner.
  2. (a) What things are enjoined in Jersey City Printing Co. v. Cassidy? (b) What were the facts in Reinecke Coal Co. v. Wood?
Paper No. 10
  1. (a) What are the characteristics of a corporation, and which are essential? (b) What tests show the distinction between a corporation and its shareholders?
  2. (a) What is decided in Gallagher v. Germania Brewing Co.? (b) Is Williamson v. Smoot rightly decided?
Paper No. 11
  1. (a) Is Trustees of Schools v. Flint rightly decided? (b) Is Ellis v. Marshall rightly decided?
  2. (a) What are all the facts in Broderip v. Salomon that are of any importance? (b) What is the solution of the case by each of the three successive courts which considered it?
Paper No. 12

[missing from folder]

Paper No. 13
  1. (a) In Bundy v. Ophir Iron Co. what is decided as to Bundy’s rights and what is left undecided? (b) Give all the facts you remember as to Scovill v. Thayer.
  2. (a) Are the doctrines in Currie’s Case (re Gt. Northern Coal Co.) and Hospes v. Northwestern Mfg. Co. alike? (b) Is Coit v. Gold Amalgamating Co. rightly decided?
Paper No. 14
  1. (a) What is decided in McNab v. McNab & Harlin Mfg. Co.? (b) What distinctions are taken in McDonald v. Williams?
  2. (a) What is the difference in the situation between Monument Bank v. Globe Works and Jemison v. Citizens’ Savings Bank? (b) If the Mt. Washington Road Co. had accepted the omnibuses would they have had to pay Downing & Sons for them anything at all?
Paper No. 15
  1. (a) What is decided in Ashton v. Burbank? (b) And in Hartford & New Haven R. R. v. Croswell?
  2. (a) A & B, forming a firm engaged in the cotton business, meet a cotton broker, X, who offers them a large lot of cotton at a high price. A agrees that the firm will buy it, B openly protesting; can X hold A & B? (b) Is Dudley v. Kentucky High School rightly decided?
Paper No. B1
  1. (a) What is decided in Chicago City Ry. Co. v. Allerton? (b) and in Sweutzel v. Penn. Bank?
  2. (a) Directors in a banking corporation supervise the business by examining carefully each month the statements drawn up by the cashier. Later it is discovered that the cashier has for over a period of two years been using the funds of the bank for speculation, covering his embezzlements by fabricated statements. Are the directors liable for these losses? (b) The directors in a copper mining company are proposing to sell the entire output of the mine for the next six months to a copper selling company at 15½ c. per lb. They call a stockholders’ meeting to discuss the sale; three-fourths of the shares are voted against the proposition at that meeting. Nevertheless the directors of the mining company go ahead and sign the contract in the name of the company. Everybody in the selling company knows of the adverse vote by the stockholders. Can the selling company hold the mining company to this contract?
Paper No. B2
  1. (a) What are the points decided in Boyd v. American Carbon Co.? (b) And in Emery v. Ohio Candle Co.?
  2. (a) Is Bates v. Coronado Beach Co. rightly decided? (b) Suppose a partnership arrangement between a locomotive manufacturer and a cotton mills corporation for five years. If the corporation breaks the contract with partnership funds in its hands, what are the manufacturer’s rights? Suppose instead of a locomotive manufacturer it was another cotton milling corporation, what would be its rights?
Paper No. B3
  1. (a) What does Gould v. Head decide? (b) Give all the points made in People v. North River Sugar Co.
  2. (a) Is Smith v. San Francisco & N. P. R. R. rightly decided? (b) Would Milbank v. N. Y., L. E., & W. R. R. be decided differently if both corporations concerned had not been in the same business?
Paper No. B4
  1. (a) What is decided in St. Louis, etc. R. R. v. Terre Haute, etc. R. R.? (b) Is McCutcheon v. Merz Capsule Co. rightly decided?
  2. (a) Should Trenton Potteries Co. v. Olyphant be decided as it is? (b) Is Whitwell v. Continental Tobacco Co. rightly decided?
Paper No. B5
  1. To what extent does the corporation law interfere with the consolidation of corporations with intent to gain monopoly. Cite a case upon each form of organization?
  2. What seems to you the best solution of the trust problem in each of these forms?
Paper No. B6
  1. (a) What does Cincinnati, H. & D. R. R. decide? (b) Do you agree with Fleming v. Montgomery Light Co.?
  2. (a) Would the A telephone company be obliged to permit the B telephone company to have its (B’s) subscribers’ local lines connected with its (A’s) long distance lines? (b) Can an electric light company refuse to install current for power for an applicant who lights his house with gas bought from a rival company?
Paper No. B7
  1. (a) What is decided in State v. Dalton? (b) Is Jenks v. Coleman rightly decided?
  2. (a) Would a law be constitutional which required oleomargarine to be colored pink? (b) Would a law be constitutional which limited the employment of bricklayers and plasterers to eight hours per day?
Paper No. B8
  1. (a) What is decided in State v. Campbell? (b) Is State v. Nebraska Telephone Co. rightly decided?
  2. (a) Suppose a ticket agent, to whom you pay money for a ticket good to stop over, stamps it in some secret way so that it reads as a limited ticket to the conductor of the second train you take after stopping over, and this conductor puts you off, using necessary force, but causing you injury. For what can you sue the railroad company? (b) Is Forsee v. Alabama Ry. rightly decided?
Paper No. B9
  1. (a) Must a telegraph company transmit despatches from race tracks to pool rooms? (b) May a ferry company refuse to transport a forger?
  2. (a) Must a railroad company allow a telephone company to install a pay-station in a terminal station? (b) May a theatre refuse to sell a ticket to a man in naval uniform?
Paper No. B10
  1. (a) What is decided in Coupland v. Housatonic R. R.? (b) Can Craker v. Chicago & N. W. Ry. and Batton v. S. & N. Ala. R. R. both be right?
  2. (a) A traveller comes to an inn and asks for room 15 which is vacant, but the innkeeper assigns him to room 16; later in the day he changes him to room 17. Can the guest complain of his action at either time? (b) A Pullman agent has a telegram reserving a berth on file; he accordingly refuses to sell his last berth to an applicant or to order another car put on. Has the applicant any complaint?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Folder: “Economics 1906-1907”. Note: Harvard College Library stamp Jan 29, 1907 on Papers No. 1-14; Stamp Jul 5, 1907 Papers No. 15, B1-B10. Each of these paper assignments was printed on a separate sheet of paper.

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ECONOMICS 21
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

First give your answers, then your reasons, supporting your views by authorities, but not writing more than 30 pages.

  1. A is a manufacturer of soap, who is dealing with a jobber named B, among others. C, another manufacturer of soap, goes to B and first offers him a rebate of 10% if B will not handle the soap of A any longer, but will deal with C exclusively, and then threatens B that unless he will do this he will not sell him any soap at all. B then accedes with much protestation. A, thus cut off by B, brings suit against C for loss of business, — what decision? Would A have had any complaint if C had not made the threat?
  2. The Meadow Dairy, incorporated, is formed by X, Y, and Z, who constitute themselves the board of directors, with X president, and Y general manager. Soon after, Z, being in poor health, goes to Europe. The corporation thus managed by X and Y, begins an advertising campaign in which it claims: ‘that all its milk is produced upon its own farms, and contains 15% of solids, whereas that sold by their largest competitor, the Hill Farm Dairy, is bought from irresponsible farmers, and never contains 10% of solids.’ The truth of the matter is, that it is the Meadow Dairy which has no cows of its own, and resells a poor grade of milk (10%), while the Hill Farm has its own herds and a high grade of milk (15%). A State statute makes it a misdemeanor to sell milk containing less than 12% of solids. The Hill Farm proprietors (it is a partnership, composed of A, B, and C) decide to take action. Before any proceedings are begun, C gives public notice that he wants the whole matter dropped. A and B seek counsel as to the extent to which they can get redress of any sort against any one, civil or criminal?
  3. An association of refiners of kerosene oil adopt the following policies. How many of these will give a rival refiner who is injured an action for damages: (a) Refusing to sell any oil to retailers who deal at all with refiners outside the association. (b) Reducing prices 25% in districts where rival refiners are selling. (c) Giving 33 1/3% discount to those retailers who will agree to deal with members of the association exclusively. (d) Fining any member of the association who sells to any retailer who deals with any outside refiner.
  4. In a strike at a paper mill, called to get recognition of the Union by getting the non-union men discharged, the union of the employees adopt the following tactics. How many of these will be stopped by an injunction asked for by the employers: (a) Posting two pickets at the mill gates with instructions to them to use no violence. (b) Refusing to patronize dealers who advertise in newspapers which buy their paper from this mill. (c) Posting upon billboards an appeal to workingmen urging “all honest laborers not to employ for employment at the mill while the strike is in progress.” (d) Paying non-union men who have taken employment at this mill $25 each to quit work at the end of the week for which they are employed.
  5. An association of dealers in plumbers’ supplies, of which X, Y, and Z are members, has a rule that all plumbers who are in arrears to any member over ninety days shall be reported to the secretary, who shall send copies of the report to all other members L, M, and N, three other members of the association, introduce a motion at the annual meeting of the association that no member shall extend credit to any delinquent plumber so reported, but the motion fails, they alone voting for it. A, a plumber who is in arrears and is so reported, finds himself unable to get goods on credit from L or from X, what redress has he at law?
  6. A newspaper publisher employs only union printers, who are hired by the day. He is building a house, on which he employs by the day a non-union carpenter. A retail grocer, with whom the union printers are accustomed to deal, advertises in the newspaper.
    In order to prevent the carpenter from continuing in the employ of the publisher, the union printers tell the grocer that they intend to withdraw their patronage from his store, unless he ceases to patronize a newspaper whose proprietor employs a non-union carpenter. The grocer holds out for awhile, but finally (as the union printers hoped he would) notifies the publisher that he shall cease to advertise in the newspaper, unless the publisher ceases to employ the carpenter. In consequence of this notice, the publisher ceases to employ the carpenter.
    The union printers were not actuated by personal ill will toward the carpenter; but by a wish to strengthen the general cause of labor unionism and to increase the power of labor unions in general.
    Has the carpenter an action against the union printers? Has the grocer?
  7. A corporation owns a building worth $40,000. X owns one fourth of the corporate stock. The corporation effects an insurance of $35,000 on the building. X effects an insurance of $10,000 on his interest in the building. The building is totally destroyed by fire.
    In a suit by the corporation on its policy, the insurance company offers to prove an admission made by X that he set the fire negligently, but unintentionally. Is the evidence competent?
    In a suit by X on his policy, the insurance company claims that, as the building belonged to the corporation, X had no insurable interest in it. What decision in X’s suit?
  8. All the shares in the X Brewing Co., the capital stock of which is $90,000, are purchased from the corporation by A, B, and C, who convey to it a brewery, which is worth about $30,000, in which they each have a one-third interest; the agreement with the corporation is that the corporation shall take the brewery as full subscription price and issue to A, B, and C $30,000 each in fully paid shares. The next year the corporation issues $40,000 in debentures on all the assets of the corporation to A who loans them that sum. A year after this is done the X corporation fails, owing $100,000 to X for supplies, with nothing but the brewery itself left. How much on a dollar will X get? How will A, B, and C come out?
  9. A shareholder in a bank accepts dividends for the year 1904 which are paid out of capital which he would have known if he had attended the annual meeting; in 1905 he accepts dividends, although the bank is then hopelessly insolvent, which he has no reason to suspect. What rights have depositors against him? What rights have other shareholders?
  10. A corporation, not authorized to borrow money, or to purchase real estate, borrows $1000 of X giving its note due in 30 days for $1000; expends $500 of the amount in paying a valid corporate debt to B; and expends the balance in purchasing land. X sues the corporation on this note for $1000. Decision is given against him on the ground that the borrowing by the corporation was ultra vires. Are there any remedies open to X?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

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ECONOMICS 21
Year-end Examination, 1906-07

First give your answers clearly; then give your reasons briefly.

  1. What is the position of a person who has sold steel rails at
    16 2/3% profit to a railway company if he is (1) a promotor of the corporation, (2) a large stockholder in the corporation,
    (3) the treasurer of the corporation, (4) a director who resigned from office while the sale was being negotiated and was then immediately re-elected?
  2. Can an action for damages be brought (1) by a retail tobacco dealer against a tobacco trust which will not sell to him because he handles rival brands; (2) by a newspaper against a press association which makes lower rates to others which deal with it exclusively; (3) by a city which has paid an artificially high price for iron pipe to an iron foundry which is a member of a pool; (4) by one railroad against another which makes lower rates to those persons who will ship by it exclusively?
  3. Are there legal objections to the following arrangements?
    (1) a rich man, who is a large stockholder in two competitive railroads, increases his holdings in both to over 50% of the shares in each; (2) three rich men, holding each 20% of the shares in these two roads, agree to vote these shares as a majority of them shall decide; (3) the organization of a corporation to buy the controlling interest in these two roads; (4) an agreement between the two roads to maintain the maximum rates fixed by the law?
  4. Can a street railway urge against the constitutionality of legislation reducing fares that the gross receipts so reduced
    (1) will leave no net profit: (2) or will leave nothing for replacements, (3) or nothing for depreciation; or (4) nothing for losses by accidents?
  5. Can an innkeeper refuse to admit to his premises (1) a driver of a stage line seeking passengers; (2) a caller for a guest;
    (3) a neighbor with a dog; (4) a prize fighter who has come to train for a month?
  6. Can a gas company refuse to supply (1) an applicant who uses electricity; (2) an applicant who owes his last month’s bill;
    (3) a tenant in an apartment house; (4) a householder on a street where there are no gas mains?
  7. Is it illegal for a water company to make lower rates
    (1) for factories than for residences; (2) for hospitals than for churches; (3) for customers who use over 100,000 gallons than for less; (4) for customers who pay in advance.
  1. Is it illegal for a railroad to charge lower rates per pound
    (1) for trainloads than for carloads; (2) for carloads than for less than carloads; (3) for 100 lb. packages than for less; (4) for barrels than for boxes?
    [Note: Questions IX and VIII were reversed in the original printed copy]
  1. (1) Can a railroad work coal mines? (2) Can a gas company make lower rates to those who have gas stoves? (3) Can the proprietor of a grain elevator store his own grain in his own warehouse? (4) Can a railroad refuse to take at the carload rate a lot of goods offered by various shippers who have got together for the purpose?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1906-07; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1907), pp. 42-43.

Image Source: Harvard Law School ca. 1901 from the Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection (Library of Congress).

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Principles of accounting, final examinations. Cole, 1906-07

William Morse Cole, his life, career, and publications.

The essence of Cole’s accounting course is to be found in his textbook:

Accounts. Their Construction and Interpretation for Business Men and Students of Affairs. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908.

“The first issue of this book was brought out at a time when no general, non -technical, non-professional treatise on accounting had been published . The author had then been giving for eight years a course of instruction to seniors in Harvard College on the principles of accounting, and believed that many business men and students of affairs would be interested to see briefly but comprehensively how accounts are constructed and interpreted.”
Revised and enlarged edition, 1915.

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Local boy makes good
(a sample)

At a recent meeting of the president and fellows of Harvard College William Morse Cole was appointed assistant professor of accounting for five years from Sept. 1. Mr. Cole was formerly one of the teaching staff of the B.M.C. Durfee High school, which he left to teach in Worcester [South High School].

Source: Fall River [Massachusetts] Daily Evening News (May 19, 1908), p. 7.

William Morse Cole, who for a number of years was an instructor in English in the B.M.C. Durfee High school, but at the present time professor in the new school of business of Harvard University, has recently published a book entitled “Business Law and Methods.”

Source: Fall River [Massachusetts] Daily Evening News (August 20, 1909), p. 6.

William Morse Cole, formerly an instructor in the B.M.C. Durfee High school, now assistant professor of accounting in Harvard University, has published through D. Appleton & Co., a volume entitled “The American Hope,” an attempt to look beyond the unfavorable symptoms of American life to show the rational point of view toward American conditions.

Source: Fall River [Massachusetts] Daily Evening News (April 1, 1910), p. 11.

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Earlier accounting exams

1901-02
1902-03
1903-04
1904-05
1905-06

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 18. Mr. W. M. Cole. — Principles of Accounting.

Total 90: 7 Graduates, 50 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 18
[Homework?]

            The following transactions are to be entered in complete form, with full details and index references; the resulting figures are to be carried through a six-column statement; the books are then to be closed as for the end of the year, and a Balance Sheet for the beginning of the new year is to be shown.

            The books to be used are a journal, a special-column cash-book, a sales book, a purchase book, and a ledger. When insufficient details for a complete entry are given below, reasonable details are to be assumed. Interest and discount should be figured at 6%.

            In determining and recording profit, all additional facts necessary to know are to be assumed at fairly reasonable figures. Care should be taken that all necessary additional facts are considered.

            Do not attempt in this case to analyze the profit into its three elements, wages of management, interest on investment, and pure profit, but consider it an entity and carry it to the account of the proprietor, to the amount of an even $1000.

January

1. You (use any name you wish) begin business with the following capital: cash, 15,000; store building, 15,000; promissory notes to the amount of 5000 (as follows: Felix Holt, 1000, dated to-day, payable in two months; Adam Bede, 2000, dated Dec. 1, two months; Silas Marner, 500, dated Dec. 16, one month; Richard Feverel, 1500, dated Nov. 1, payable on demand with interest). Buy office and store furniture for cash, 500. Pay for postage, 15. Buy stationery, books, etc., for cash, 125.

2. Buy goods of David Copperfield, payment due in 10 days, 4000. Buy goods of Oliver Twist for cash, 3000.

3. Pay freight, 65. Pay telephone bill, three months, in advance, 25.

4. Buy horses and wagon, cash, 500. Pay for advertising, 30.

5. Sell goods to Dombey & Son, 30 days time, 700. Buy goods of Enoch Arden, cash, 6000.

8. Pay wages: bookkeeper, 25; three clerks, at 15 each; driver, 10.

9. Buy goods of Henry Esmond, 10 ds., 7000. Accept David Copperfield’s draft on you, payable in three days, for the amount of your bill.

10. Discount at a bank your own note (signed for the business) for 5000, 30 days. Richard Feverel pays his note.

11. Buy goods of Silas Lapham, cash, 6000.

12. Discount Adam Bede’s note, getting 1993.33. Pay your acceptance of the 9th.

13. Sell goods to Roderick Hudson, 10 ds., 575.

15. Sell goods to David Balfour, 10 ds., 200.

16. S. Marner’s note is paid. Sell goods to John Halifax for his note, 30 ds., 600.

17. Sell goods to John Nicholson, cash, 300.

18. Borrow on your own note for 30 ds., bearing interest, 4000.

19. Pay H. Esmond in full. Pay insurance, 100.

20. Pay freight, 75. Sell goods for cash, 150. Sell goods to Nicholas Nickleby, 30 ds., 1200.

22. Pay wages, two weeks, at the same rates as on the 8th. Pay for remodelling offices, 400. Three months’ rent is paid in advance by a tenant to whom one of the remodelled offices is let, 100.

23. R. Hudson’s bill is paid. Paid for coal, 100.

24. Pay subscription for flood sufferers, 100. Sell goods for cash, 1200.

25. Draw a draft on Dombey & Son, payable in ten days, to your own order, for the amount of their bill due Feb. 4. Pay a dry-goods bill for your wife out of the cash drawer, 75. David Balfour’s bill is paid.

26. You receive, accepted, the draft drawn on the 25th.

27. You discount at a bank Dombey & Son’s acceptance.

29. Sell goods to David Balfour, 30 ds., 1300.

30. Pay wages as before.

31. Pay for lighting, 15. You draw for your own use, 150.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1906-07”.

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ECONOMICS 18
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

Perform and arrange your work strictly in the order of the questions, and so present it that each topic shall be in a paragraph by itself

  1. (a) Jan. 1, X invests in a partnership a note of his wife, for $5000, due in one month. (b) Jan. 14, X exchanges the note for one of his own payable at the same time. (c) Jan. 25, X takes up his own note, leaving in exchange an accepted draft, due Feb. 1, on B, who is a creditor of the partnership. (d) Feb. 1, the debt of the firm to B becomes due, and B’s acceptance is sent to him in payment.
    Journalize the entries, designating each by a letter as above.
    (e) In the meantime, B, not knowing that X is a member of the firm and that his acceptance will be used to cancel a debt to him, sends his check to X for payment of the acceptance. The two letters cross, and X, not knowing that the acceptance has been sent to B, turns in the check to the cashier, who misunderstands X and thinks the check is invested by X.
    What entry will the cashier make?
    (f) X discovers that the cashier has misunderstood him, and explains. The correct situation is discovered, is confirmed by a letter from B, and a check is sent to B, his check being already deposited.
    What entry shall now be made to correct the books?
  2. “The profit and loss account on the balance sheet is simply the difference between resources and liabilities.”
    “The profit and loss account on the balance sheet is taken directly from the ledger and represents the balance of all undistributed loss and gain.”
    Either reconcile these two statements or show why one is correct and the other incorrect.
  3. You are in charge of “taking account of stock” in a store. The clerks give you the numbers and descriptions of articles, and the invoice book-keeper fills in prices as they appear on incoming bills. How far is this material adequate for an inventory?
  4. You have balance sheets of a corporation for two successive years, but you can get no other information. How much can these sheets tell you of the business for the intervening year?
  5. A man’s business is of the cash mail-order variety, both for purchases and for sales. He handles no goods, but orders others to ship directly to his customers. For some classes of goods, he issues catalogues, which he sells for a small fee intended to pay for postage and printing; for other goods he advertises in magazines; and for other goods not covered by magazines and catalogues, he advertises by means of painted signs. He conducts a premium department for second and third orders exceeding a definite sum in value. He pays his office help, for their correspondence, on the piece-price plan, with deductions for errors.
    What ledger accounts should you recommend him to use? If you would recommend any unusual ones, state the method and the purpose of their use.
  6. Describe the principal books that you would recommend for the business described in the preceding question, and show how they could be employed with minimum labor. Illustrate by rough but intelligible forms, showing by posting-checks how posting is to be done.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

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ECONOMICS 18
Year-end Examination, 1906-07

The points indicated at the beginning of each question show comparative value on a scale of one hundred. Omit questions to the value of fifteen points. Follow the order of the questions. Write on the exact subject set, not on some other subject that chances to be allied. As far as practicable, put your answers in tabular or parallel-column form. Give a new paragraph to each part of each answer.

  1. (7½ points.) What are the advantages and the disadvantages of keeping a separate sales ledger?
  2. (7½ points.) Is it possible (whether it is desirable or not) to keep books without a journal? If so, explain under that plan how one could best enter the exchange of bonds for stock, and defend such treatment.
  3. (15 points.) State briefly what facts are shown by each of the following ledgers: stock; stores; bond; purchase; machine; deposit.
    Classify these ledgers on the following bases: those represented by general ledger accounts; those to which posting is done; those from which posting is done; those which are purely statistical.
  4. (40 points.) Assume your inability to go behind the returns. Arrange the following items in intelligible form, and show the mathematical correctness or discrepancy of the conclusions:
Sales $249,000 Material on hand a year ago $21,600
Accounts receivable 17,000 Taxes paid 800
Material on hand 14,000 Taxes accrued to pay 800
Capital Stock 90,000 Plant 65,000
Wages due 7,000 Merchandise 67,000
Wages paid 83,000 Rentals earned and rec’d 200
Dividends paid 9,000 Rentals accrued but not due 300
Bonds issued 30,000 Accounts payable 46,000
Real estate 25,000 Suspense accounts 1,000
Cash 12,000 Repairs of plant 6,000
Patent rights 16,000 Surplus for the year 4,000
Sundry sums written off 13,000 Miscellaneous costs 11,500
Bills receivable 7,000 Material purchased 85,000
Interest paid 900 Selling costs 20,000
Interest accrued to pay 600 Estimated value of outstanding advertising paid for 2,000
Surplus on ledger 52,100
Insurance paid 500
Insurance unexpired 200
  1. (15 points.) Discuss the general principle of distinction between charging to revenue and charging to capital. Does this apply to the treatment of premium on bonds? Explain.
  2. (7½ points.) What sets of records should be kept for bonds held under each of the following circumstances: (a) ownership; (b) in trust; (c) as collateral?
  3. (7½ points.) On which side of a balance sheet are you likely to find the following accounts; will corresponding or related accounts, under the same or another name, appear for each on the other side of the sheet; if so, what relation, both as to nature and as to amount, will exist between the two: depreciation fund; treasury stock; collateral trust bonds?
  4. (7½ points.) What is the usual method of recording individual holdings of capital stock?
  5. (7½ points.) What is the argument for figuring depreciation of machinery at a fixed rate on depreciated valuation rather than on original cost?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 41-42.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Transportation

Harvard. Enrollment and final exam for railroad practice. Daggett, 1906-1907

Railroad Train by Edward Hopper (1908)

 

Stuart Daggett was born March 2, 1881 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from Roxbury Latin School (Boston, Massachusetts) in 1899. He received all three of his degrees, the A.B. in 1903, the A.M. in 1904, and the Ph.D in 1906, from Harvard University. The title of his thesis was “Railroad Reorganization”, published as vol. 4 of  Harvard Economic Studies (Houghton Mifflin, 1908). During 1906 to 1909 he was Instructor at Harvard, and in 1909 he accepted appointment to the University of California as Assistant Professor of Railway Economics. He was appointed full professor in 1917 and from 1920-1927 he was dean of the College of Commerce, retiring in 1951 as Flood Foundation professor emeritus of transportation. Stuart Daggett died December 22 1954 in Oakland, California.

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Railroad Practice
1906-07

Course Enrollment

Economics 17 2hf. Dr. Daggett. — Railroad Practice.

Total 37: 4 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 17
Year-end Examination, 1906-07

Answer 1, 2, 3, and five other questions.

  1. Distinguish between
    1. departmental railroad organization, and
    2. divisional railroad organization.
      Show the lines of responsibility under each system.
  2. Suppose a shipment of boots and shoes, weighing 10,000 pounds, from Boston to Minneapolis. The route to be via the Vanderbilt lines to Chicago, thence via the Chicago & Northwestern to Minneapolis. Rate, $1.35 per 100 pounds. The shipment to be sent “collect,” and the Chicago & Northwestern to get one-third of the total rate.
    Make out in full the waybill which will accompany these goods between Chicago and Minneapolis

    1. supposing auditor’s office settlements,
    2. supposing junction settlements.
  3. Describe carefully the system of through-billing with auditor’s office settlements of a shipment as in (2). Show what reports are made, and how the balances are determined and settled.
  4. Name the principal freight traffic associations and state as precisely as possible the territory which each covers. What are the main differences between such associations and the previously existing pools?
  5. Draw a workable diagram of a terminal cluster. What is a pole yard; a hump yard; a gravity yard; and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
  6. Discuss the advantages of the steel freight car over the wooden one; of the large freight car over the small one. How do the sizes of freight cars in Europe and the United States compare, and why?
  7. Why is it more expensive to haul passengers than to haul freight?
  8. What is a “block signal” system? Describe clearly the working of
    1. the staff system;
    2. the automatic electric system.
      Illustrate (b) with a diagram showing the necessary circuits.
  9. Compare the experience of France with state railroad operation with that of Germany. What, in each case were the causes which led to state operation, the extent of the lines operated, the results from state operation, and the reasons for those results?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), p. 40.

Image Source: Railroad Train by Edward Hopper (1908). Wikiart, Visual Art Encyclopedia.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Public Finance

Harvard. Public finance and taxation. Enrollments and final exams. Bullock, 1906-1907

The Tax Collector. Marinus van Reymerswaele (1542)

As can be seen below, Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has put together a considerable time-series of public finance exams for Harvard at the start of the 20th century.

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Bullock’s earlier public finance exams
at Harvard

1901-02. Economics 7a and 7b. Financial administration; taxation [undergraduate]

1903-04. Economics 16.  Financial history of the United States

1904-05. Economics 7a. Introduction to public finance [undergraduate]

1904-05. Economics 7b. Theory and methods of taxation [undergraduate]

1904-05. Economics 16. Financial history of the United States.

1905-06 Economics 7.  Public finance [undergraduate]

1905-06 Economics 16. Public finance [advanced]

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From 1910: Short bibliography on public finance “for serious minded students” by Bullock

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INTRODUCTION TO
PUBLIC FINANCE

Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 16a 1hf. Asst. Professor Bullock. — Introduction to Public Finance

Total 15: 4 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 16a
INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC FINANCE

Mid-year Examination, 1906-07
  1. What classes of public expenditure increased most rapidly during the nineteenth century and what classes showed the least tendency to increase?
  2. Describe the policy pursued by the United States in regard to its public lands.
  3. What are the chief abuses of the fee system in the United States?
  4. Discuss the financial aspects of national ownership of railroads.
  5. Compare the administration of the British post office with the administration of the post office in the United States.
  6. Write an account of American State debts in the nineteenth century?
  7. Compare the history of the British debt in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with the history of the French debt at the same period.
  8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of sinking funds?
  9. What are the essential characteristics of a good budget system?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

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THE THEORY AND METHODS OF TAXATION

Course Enrollment
1906-07 

Economics 16b 2hf. Asst. Professor Bullock. — The Theory and Methods of Taxation

Total 22: 3 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 16b
THE THEORY AND METHODS OF TAXATION

Year-end Examination, 1906-07

Omit one question.

  1. What are the criteria by which you would test the justice of any system of taxation?
  2. What are the chief difficulties encountered by American commonwealths in constructing their tax systems?
  3. Describe the French system of direct taxation.
  4. Compare the French system of direct taxation with that employed in Prussia.
  5. What points of difference have you observed between the British and the French systems of taxation?
  6. What lessons has European practice for the student of American taxation?
  7. Outline a system of corporation taxes which you would consider satisfactory for such a state as Massachusetts.
  8. Write a history of income taxation in the United States.
  9. Upon what class or classes of persons does the American system of state and local taxation fall with the greatest weight?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), p. 39.

Image Source: The Tax Collector by Marinus van Reymerswaele (1542). Wikiart, Visual Art Encyclopedia.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Semester exams for history of economics. Bullock, 1906-07

The two-semester course on the history of economics up through Adam Smith taught by assistant professor Charles J. Bullock at Harvard in  1906-07 was taken by seven graduate students and one undergraduate.

A reprint of the 1690 pamphlet by Nicholas Barbon “A Discourse of Trade” was published by Johns Hopkins Press in 1905 and Bullock incorporated it into his course at the first opportunity (the course was announced but not taught in 1905-06). The third question of the year-end exam below concerns a quote from the first page of Barbon’s Discourse.

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Before joining Harvard in 1903

Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, p. 16.

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Earlier History of Economics Courses
Taught by Charles J. Bullock

1903-04

1904-05

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 15. Asst. Professor Bullock. — History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848.

Total 8: 7 Graduates, 1 Junior.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 15
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THEORY
Mid-Year Examination, 1906-07

  1. By the close of the Middle Ages what progress had been made in developing a theory of value?
  2. Compare the communism of Plato with that of More.
  3. What was the attitude of the following writers toward commerce: Aristotle, Xenophon, Thomas Aquinas?
  4. What economic topics were discussed by Roman writers?
  5. Discuss the connection between political and economic theory from the time of Plato to the middle of the eighteenth century.
  6. What is your opinion of the scholastic doctrine of usury?
  7. Write an account of economic discussions in Italy in the fifteenth century?
  8. To what books would you turn for information concerning the political and economic theories of the Schoolmen?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

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ECONOMICS 15
HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THEORY
Year-end Examination, 1906-07

Omit one question.
  1. What analysis does Quesnay make of the organization of economic society? Does his analysis resemble at any points the analysis made by Aristotle?
  2. What traces of Aristotelianism and Scholasticism do you find in the economic thought of Europe from 1500 to 1800?
  3. At about what time was the following passage written?
    “The Stock and Wares of all Trade are the Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals of the whole Universe, whatsoever the Land or Sea produceth. These Wares may be divided into Natural and Artificial. Natural Wares are those which are sold as Nature produceth them. … Artificial Wares are those which by Art are changed into another Form than Nature gave them.” [A Discourse of Trade (1609) by Nicholas Barbon]
    Does this passage suggest any distinction drawn by earlier writers? What use was made of it by the economists of the period when it was written?
  4. Compare the general development of mercantilist doctrines in England from 1500 to 1760 with the development of French mercantilist doctrines of the same period.
  5. What tendencies are noticeable in the economic thought of England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain between 1740 and 1760? Name some of the chief writers in each country at this time.
  6. What is the fundamental difference between the theories of commerce entertained by enlightened mercantilists of the eighteenth century and the view of Hume, d’Argenson, and Adam Smith?
  7. What various elements were fused in the economical philosophy of Adam Smith?
  8. What are the prevailing theories of value, profits, and rent found in the writings of English mercantilists?
  9. Outline Turgot’s theory of distribution.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1907-08; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1907), pp. 37-38.

Image Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, p. 16. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Final exam for Methods of Social Reform. Socialism etc. Fetter, 1906-1907

As mentioned in the previous post Thomas Nixon Carver was in Europe for a sabbatical year in 1906-07,  the Harvard economics department had to fill the instructional gap left by Carver and so Frank A. Fetter was brought in from Cornell to cover two of Carver’s standard courses: one on the economic theory of income distribution and the other that surveyed methods of social reform. The artifact for today is Fetter’s final exam for the fall semester course on “Methods of Social Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax, etc.”

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Course Reading List
1906-07
(previously posted)

https://www.irwincollier.com/methods-of-social-reform-fetter-covers-carver-course/

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 14b 1hf. Professor Fetter (Cornell University). — Methods of Social Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax, etc.

Total 32: 4 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 10 Juniors, 3 Sophomore, 7 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 14b
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

  1. Discuss the various classes into which the communistic experiments in America may be divided, and indicate the periods of their greatest success.
    Why are there fewer experiments of that kind now?
  2. Compare Christian socialism with Marxism in its philosophy of progress and in the methods it favors.
  3. In what countries is radical socialism making most headway, and what methods are followed by it?
  4. Define and criticize the surplus-value theory of Marx. Indicate its relation to the labor-value theory of Ricardo, and to Malthusianism.
  5. Discuss historical materialism, and the application made of it by Mars to the revolutionary propaganda.
  6. What is meant by the class conflict, and class consciousness? Give illustrations supporting and opposing these ideas.
  7. Discuss the personality, training, and social experiences of the founders of social-democracy.
  8. In what countries has the socialization of industry made greatest progress? What are present tendencies?
  9. What would be the effect, upon present holders, of a single tax absorbing the whole net rental of city land-sites? What would be the effect upon future purchasers of the land?
  10. In the light of the experience in other countries, what experiments in social reform do you expect to see soon tried in America?
    Give reasons.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

Image Source: Faculty portrait of Frank A. Fetter in the 1902 Classbook, Cornell University, p. 21.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Theory

Harvard. Theory of income distribution. Frank A. Fetter, 1906-1907

With Thomas Nixon Carver off to Europe for a sabbatical year in 1906-07, the Harvard economics department brought in Frank A. Fetter from Cornell to cover two of Carver’s standard courses: one on the economic theory of income distribution and the other that surveyed methods of social reform (socialism, communism, etc.). The artifact for today is Fetter’s final exam for the fall semester course on “The Distribution of Wealth” [still a time when most economists, like everyone else, confounded income and wealth].

Frank A. Fetter is revered today as an early 20th century American pioneer of Austrian economics. A 2019 discussion of Matthew McCaffrey’s “Frank Fetter and the Austrian Tradition in the United States” can be found at the Online Library of Liberty.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 14a 1hf. Professor [Frank Albert] Fetter (Cornell University). — The Distribution of Wealth.

Total 33: 5 Graduates, 12 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 14a
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

Answer ten.

  1. Indicate in regard to each of the following writers: Turgot, Ricardo, Mill, Cairnes, Marshall, Carver, first, what was the main idea we studied? second, what was his place in the progress of economic thought on this subject?
  2. Define Ricardo’s capital concept and the one developed in this course. Give three examples of practical problems where the capital concept is used in business, and show how each definition applies.
  3. [Value theory]
    1. “It remains to be considered whether the creation of rent will occasion any variation in the relative value of commodities, independently of the quantity of labor necessary to production.”
    2. “If the quantity of labour realized in commodities, regulate their exchangeable value, every increase of the quantity of labour must augment the value of that commodity on which it is exercised, as every diminution must lower it.”
    3. “Rent invariably proceeds from the employment of an additional quantity of labour with a proportionately less return.”
    4. “The exchangeable value of all commodities … is always regulated … by the greater quantity of labour necessarily bestowed on their production … by those who continue to produce them under the most unfavorable circumstances.”
    5. “The original rule which regulated the exchangeable value of commodities … can not be at all altered by the payment of rent.” Who wrote this?

Comment on these passages showing clearly what question is proposed, and how far the conclusion is based upon the argument advanced

  1. [and] 5. “Demand and supply govern the value of all things which can not be indefinitely increased; except that even for them, when produced by industry, there is a minimum value, determined by the cost of production … Demand and supply, while thus ruling the oscillations of value, themselves obey a superior force, which makes them gravitate towards Cost of Production.”
    “What the production of a thing costs to its producer is the labour expended in producing it. If we consider as the producer the capitalist who makes the advances, the word Labour may be replaced by the word Wages; what the produce costs to him, is the wages which he has had to pay.”
    “Wages do enter into value. The relative wages … affect value just as much as the relative quantities of labour.”
    “There are commodities of which the value never depends upon anything but demand and supply. This is the case in particular with the commodity Labour.”

    1. How does this doctrine differ from Ricardo’s quantity-of-labor theory?
    2. What conclusion may be drawn from a combination of paragraphs one and four?
    3. Criticise the cost-of-production theory contained in the quotations. Whose theory is it?
  1. Give the substance of Cairnes’ argument (the part read) and show how it differs from Mill’s.
  2. Show what kinds of income and stages of income there are. What is the ultimate form taken by income, and why?
  3. Explain the simplest problem of valuation by an individual, and the psychological data that must be taken account of.
  4. Define and explain capitalization as presented in the course and show its relation to property and wealth.
  5. Discuss the following distinctions:
    1. The subjective and the objective methods of classifying incomes.
    2. Utility and subjective values.
  6. Outline briefly the positive theory of distribution here presented.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

Image Source: 1902 Classbook, Cornell University, p. 21.

Categories
Development Exam Questions Harvard Syllabus

Harvard. Economic Development, Theory and Problems. Hainsworth, Bell and Papanek, 1960-1961

Gustav Papanek during a trip to Asia

The announced cast of instructors for “Theories and Problems of Economic Development” offered at Harvard in 1960-61 was headlined by Professors Edward S. Mason and John Kenneth Galbraith. With the election of John F. Kennedy to the U.S. Presidency, all sorts of staff adjustments became necessary in the economics department and the graduate school of public administration, e.g. Galbraith took leave beginning the second semester to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to India. I don’t know why Mason changed his teaching plans, but I figure his Dean duties might have played a role.

The actual staffing for this course in 1960-61 is recorded in the staffing and enrollment information published in the annual report of the President of Harvard College also transcribed here. The course was the economics department offering that ran parallel to the Graduate School of Public Administrations seminar on the same subject.

This post begins with biographical information for the three course instructors: Geoffrey Brian Hainsworth, David E. Bell and Gustav Papanek.

The course outline and reading list is probably what had been originally planned/approved by Mason and Galbraith, though that is merely a presumption to be sure. Only the final exam for the first semester was found in the collection of economics exams in the Harvard Archive.

In preparing this post I learned that Gustav Papanek had been one of many academics purged from government service during the McCarthy years. The 2019 BBC story “How we endured the McCarthy purges in US” mentions his case and is the source of the photo of young Gus Papanek.

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Who’s Who
1960-61

HAINSWORTH, Geoffrey Brian, academic; b. Bramley, Yorkshire, Eng., 1934; B.S. in Econ., London Sch. of Econ., 1955; Ph.D., U. Calif. at Berkeley, 1960.
DOC. DIS. “Classical Theories of Overseas Development,” 1960. PUB. Japan’s Decision to Develop, 1969; Economic Development in South-East Asia, 1969; “The Lorenz Curve as a General Tool of Economic Analysis,” Econ. Record, Sept. 1964:
RES. Manufacturing Development and Economic Growth in Southeast Asia; Text on Economic Development with special reference to Asia.
Instr. econ., Harvard, 1958-61, tutor Lowell House, 1958- 61; asso. with Pakistan and Iran Advisory Project, 1958-61; research fellow, Australian Nat’l U., 1961-65; asst. prof., Williams Coll., 1965-68, U. British Columbia since 1968.

Source: American Economic Association, List of Members, 1969 p. 173.

In Memoriam:
Professor emeritus Geoffrey Hainsworth
1934 – 2011

Geoffrey was born in Bramley, Yorkshire. In 1952 he received a state scholarship to attend the University of London, graduating from the London School of Economics in 1954 and receiving the Allyn Young Honours Prize. A Fulbright Scholars grant enabled him to obtain his PhD at the University of California at Berkeley, his thesis being classical theories of overseas development, a subject he pursued throughout his working life. He taught at Harvard from 1958 to 1960 while supervising the study program for foreign service fellows under the Harvard Development Advisory Service, along with participation in Pakistan’s Second Five‑Year Plan. He spent 1960 to 1965 as a research fellow and instructor at the Australian National University in Canberra, with research work in Papua New Guinea. His three children were born in Canberra. Returning to the US, he taught at Williams College in Massachusetts while supervising specially selected mature foreign student fellows at the Centre for Economic Development. Geoffrey started his career at UBC in 1968, where he founded the Centre for Southeast Asia Studies, retiring as its director in 2001. He was one of a select Canadian Educators Group invited in 1976 to visit institutions in China. He organized the first international conference for Southeast Asian Studies in 1979 and was twice elected president of the Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies. He was greatly respected and valued by colleagues in Canada and abroad, having lived in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam working with their governmental agencies and their universities. Dedicated to equality, justice and compassion, he touched the lives of many. Learning, understanding and laughter was his way.

Source: The University of British Columbia Magazine.

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PAPANEK, Gustav F., academic; b. Vienna, Austria, 1926; B.S., Cornell U., 1947; M.A., Harvard, 1949, Ph.D., 1951.
DOC. DIS. Food Rationing in Britain, 1939-1945, 1950.
PUB. Pakistan’s Development – Social Goals and Private Incentives, 1967; Development Policy – Theory and Practice (ed.), 1968.
RES. Development Policy II – The Pakistan Experience. Dep. chief, Program Planning for S. & S.E. Asia, Dept. of State, Tech. Cooperation Adm., 1951-54; actg. project dir. & advr., Harvard Advisory Group to Planning Commn., Pakistan, 1954-58; dep. dir., Dev. Advry. Service, 1958-65, dir. since 1965.

Source: American Economic Association, List of Members, 1969 p. 332.

Gustav Fritz Papanek
d. September 20, 2022

Professor Gustav Fritz Papanek, died peacefully at his home in Lexington, MA on September 20, 2022. Gus, the husband of the late Hanna Kaiser Papanek was born in Vienna, Austria on July 12, 1926, the son of the late Dr. Ernst Papanek and Dr. Helene Papanek. His father was a committed social democrat and educator who was forced into exile in 1935 as the impending storm approached in Germany and Austria. His mother, a physician, looked after Gus and his late brother, George as Ernst evaded persecution. As Socialists and Jews, the family fled initially to France where Ernst ran homes for refugee children. Gus met his future wife Hanna when they were 13 years old in one of the children’s homes. With the impending fall of France, the family knew that Europe was no longer safe for them and in 1940 with the support of the International Rescue Committee they made it to New York. Gus frequently reminisced about teaching English during the journey and sailing into New York Harbor past the Statue of Liberty.

 

Gus graduated from high school at age 16 and went to Cornell University – initially studying agriculture and working his way through school with farm jobs. His college years were interrupted by WWII – he enlisted in the army and was trained in the infantry and artillery until the army realized that a native German speaker was more valuable in military intelligence. Gus trained at the well-known Fort Ritchie in Maryland and was then deployed to Germany where he assisted in finding Nazi war criminals. He was always proud of his military service.

 

When he returned home, he graduated from Cornell. Gus and Hanna married soon after their college graduation. Gus went on to study economics at Harvard University under John Kenneth Galbraith, receiving his Ph.D. In 1952. Hanna received her Ph.D. in Sociology at Harvard, and their careers and work were entwined for the duration of their nearly 70-year marriage. Gus went on to take a job in the US State Department in Washington, DC working with the Agency for International Development – however it was the height of the McCarthy era and Gus was fired for his socialist beliefs. He rebounded and returned to Harvard where he began his life’s work of studying income distribution, employment, and poverty in developing countries. He and Hanna moved to Karachi, Pakistan with daughter Joanne and son Tom, returning to Harvard in 1958. Gus worked in many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America – advising governments on developing effective economic policies Gus ultimately specialized in Asian economies where he was recognized as a pre-eminent expert on Pakistan and Indonesia. He developed strong ties in both countries as a friend and trusted advisor. During the struggle for the independence of East Pakistan, Gus was an active advocate testifying before the US Congress and recognized by the government of Bangladesh as a Friend or the Liberation War Honor.

 

In 1974, Gus moved to Boston University as Chair of Economics, building a renowned department with strong interests in development economics. During his career, Gus trained two generations of economists who would go on to take important leadership positions in their home countries. After achieving emeritus status at BU, Gus continued his consulting work through his company the Boston Institute for Development Economics – working on books, papers and giving invited university lectures until several months ago. This year, he sent his last two books to the publisher – one a blueprint for the Indonesian economy and the last a memoir drawn from a series of talks that he gave to family and friends this past spring.

 

Gus was devoted to his family – teaching his son and daughter to ski, white-water kayak and hike in New Hampshire and Maine, and snorkel the reefs of the Caribbean. For over 40 years, Gus and Hanna’s vacation home in Brownfield, ME was a focal point of family life for their children and grandchildren. As Gus traversed the globe, he always ensured that his itinerary included Chicago to spend time with Tom, Doris, and their children. He and Hanna traveled widely – often visiting family and drawn overseas by interests in other cultures and landmarks. They instilled their love of travel in their grandchildren, who accompanied them on many journeys over the years. Meals were the focal point of family gatherings – with long, spirited and often political conversations – always concluding with chocolate in some form.

 

Gus is survived by his son Tom Papanek (Doris Wells Papanek) of Barrington, IL, daughter Joanne Papanek Orlando (Rocco Orlando, III) of South Glastonbury, CT, grandchildren Jessica Papanek, Julia Papanek, Rocco Orlando, IV (Katie Moran), Alexander Orlando, great granddaughters Brooke and Willow Orlando as well as his nephew Michael Papanek, niece Deborah Ferreira (Chris). His niece Susan Papanek McHugh (Steve) pre-deceased him recently.

Source: Gustav Fritz Papanek of Lexington, Massachusetts, 2022 Obituary. Anderson-Bryant Funeral Home (September 30, 2022).

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

David E. Bell, the Clarence James Gamble Professor of Population Sciences and International Health Emeritus, died Sept. 6, 2000, after a brief illness. He was 81.
An economist who served as special assistant under President Truman and as director of the U.S. Bureau of the Budget and of the Agency for International Development (USAID) under President Kennedy, Bell headed the Harvard Advisory Group to Pakistan from 1954 to 1957, an effort that later evolved into the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) and more recently the Center for International Development (CID). From 1957 to 1960, he taught economics at Harvard.
In the 1960s and ’70s, Bell led the international work of the Ford Foundation. He returned to Harvard in 1981, becoming director of the Center for Population and Development Studies at the School of Public Health (HSPH). He became emeritus in 1988, but continued to work at the Center on a daily basis, making himself available to students, fellows, and faculty who were able to benefit from his experience and wisdom.
University Provost Harvey Fineberg said of Bell: “David Bell lived a life dedicated to public service and to education. His leadership was the bedrock for programs in population and international health at the School of Public Health and the Center for Population and Development Studies. He was an invaluable guide to a generation of students and to colleagues at every stage of their careers. Anyone privileged to work with him became better by the experience.”
Lincoln Chen, formerly the Taro Takemi Professor of International Health at HSPH and currently executive vice president for program strategy at the Rockefeller Foundation, had this to say of his former colleague:
“David Bell was a supreme global public servant, bringing his talents, skills, and commitments to solving some of the world’s most pressing problems — health, population, economic development. Due to his modesty and despite his extraordinary history of work, David Bell’s contributions are imbedded in the people and institutions he helped create, nurture, and grow. He did little to aggrandize his own name or reputation; indeed, his stature and wisdom were such that it was not necessary.”
Derek Bok, the Three Hundredth Anniversary University Professor and Harvard President Emeritus, called David Bell “one of the finest human beings I have been privileged to know during my 40 years at Harvard. His combination of experience, judgment, compassion, and impeccable ethical standards are simply irreplaceable.”
Born in Jamestown, N.D. in 1919, Bell earned his bachelor’s degree in 1939 from Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., and his master’s degree from Harvard in 1941. His pursuit of a doctoral degree was interrupted when he agreed to direct the Harvard Advisory Group to Pakistan.
A fellowship was established in his honor at the Center in 1991, helping to host fellows with the objective of preparing scholars, managers, and policy makers for leadership roles in developing countries. The David E. Bell Lecture Series was inaugurated in 1999.
He leaves his wife of 56 years, Mary Barry Bell; his daughter, Susan Bell of Putney, VT; his son, Peter Bell of Watertown, MA; his sister, Barbara Bell Dwiggins of San Luis Obispo, CA.; seven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Source:  Ken Gewertz, “Economist David Bell dies at 81,” The Harvard Gazette, September 21, 2000.

__________________________

Course Announcement

Economics 169 (formerly Economics 108). Theory and Problems of Economic Development, I
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 12. Professor [Edward S.] Mason, Dr. [Gustav] Papanek and Mr. [David] Bell.

A systematic survey of the subject, including consideration of theories of growth for both advanced and underdeveloped economies, the different historical paths to development, and the problems of technological change, capital accumulation, and economic planning. Intended for advanced undergraduates and graduates.
Prerequisite: Economics 98a.
[Junior year tutorial for credit dealing with macroeconomic theories and policies. The course serves as preparation for more specialized training in the subject matter in Group IV graduate and undergraduate courses. The course consists of both lectures and tutorial, normally with one lecture and one tutorial session per week. It was taught by Professor Smithies in 1960-61.]

Economics 170 (formerly Economics 108). Theory and Problems of Economic Development, II
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 12. Professor [John Kenneth] Galbraith, Dr. Hainsworth and Mr. [David] Bell.

A continuation of Economics 169. Prerequisite: Economics 98a or 169.

Source: Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Courses of Instruction, 1960-1961. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 57, No. 21 (August 29, 1960), pp.97-98.

__________________________

Course Enrollments and Staffing

[Economics] 169 (formerly Economics 108). Theory and Problems of Economic Development, I. Dr. Hainsworth and Mr. Bell. Half course. (Fall)

Total 58: 12 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 4 Radcliffe, 27 Others.

[Economics] 170 (formerly Economics 108). Theory and Problems of Economic Development, II. Dr. Papanek. Half course. (Spring)

Total 58: 10 Graduates, 8 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 3 Radcliffe, 26 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President, 1960-61, p. 77.

__________________________

Course Outline and Reading Assignments

Economics 169
Theories and Problems of Economic Development (I)
Fall 1960

  1. Introduction:

Scope and method of course, definition and measurement of economic development, characteristics of underdeveloped countries.
(September 26-30)

Assigned reading:

W. A. Lewis, Theory of Economic Growth, Ch. 1 and appendix

S. Kuznets, Six Lectures on Economic Growth, Lectures I and III

Suggested reading:

E. E. Hagen, “Some Facts About Income Levels and Economic Growth,” Review of Economics and Statistics, Feb. 1960

M. Abramovitz, “The Welfare Interpretation of Secular Trends in National Income and Product,” in The Allocation of Economic Resources (Stanford, 1959)

  1. Evolution of Growth Theories in Advanced Countries
    (October 3-28)

Assigned Reading:

Meier and Baldwin, Economic Development, Chs. 1-4

H. Mint, Theories of Welfare Economics, Ch. 1

Allyn Young, “Increasing Returns and Economic Progress,” Economic Journal, Dec. 1928, reprinted in R. V. Clemens, Readings in Economic Analysis, Vol. I, Ch. 6.

W. J. Baumol, Economic Dynamics: An Introduction, Ch. 2

W. Fellner, Trends and Cycles in Economic Activity, Chs. 4-9

Suggested Reading:

E. Domar, Essays in the Theory of Econmic Growth, Ch. 1

K. Boulding, “In Defense of Statics,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Nov. 1955.

J. M. Letiche, “The Relevance of Classical and Contemporary Theories of Growth to Economic Development,” American Economic Review, Proceedings, May 1954.

  1. Historical Patterns of Economic Development
    (October 31 – November 25)

Assigned Reading:

Meier and Baldwin, op. cit., Chs. 7,8,9.

H. F. Williamson (ed.) The Growth of the American Economy, Chs. 1, 5, 17, 34, 48.

B. Higgins, Economic Development, Chs. 9 and 10.

A. Bergson (ed.), Soviet Economic Growth, Chs. 1 and 2.

W. W. Lockwood, Economic Development of Japan, Chs. 1 and 10.

Suggested Reading:

W. Rostow, Stages of Economic Growth.

T. S. Ashton, The Industrial Revolution 1760-1830.

W. Ashworth, A Short History of the International Economy 1850-1950, esp. Chs. 1, 2, 3.

E. A. J. Johnson and H. E. Knoos, The Origins and Development of the American Economy.

Committee for Economic Development, Economic Growth in the United States, Feb. 1958

  1. Theories of Underdevelopment and How Development Can be Started
    (November 28 – December 21)

Assigned Reading:

B. Higgins, Economic Development, Part IV.

Suggested Reading:

P. Baran, “The Political Economy of Backwardness,” The Manchester School, Jan. 1950

E. Hagen, “How Economic Growth Begins,” Public Opinion Quarterly, Fall, 1958.

A. Hirschman, The Strategy of Economic Development.

H. Leibenstein, Economic Backwardness and Economic Growth.

H. Myint, “An Interpretation of Economic Backwardness,” Oxford Economic Papers, June 1954.

H. Oshima, “Economic Growth and the ‘Critical Minimum Effort’”, Economic Development and Cultural Change, July 1959

W. Rostow, “The Take-off into Sustained Growth,” Economic Journal, March 1956.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Economics 170
Theories and Problems of Economic Development II
Spring 1961

  1. Political, Social, Cultural Factors – Organizations and Institutions
    (February 6-10)

Assigned Reading:

W. A. Lewis, Theory of Economic Growth, pp. 57-162, 408-418

P. Baran, “The Political Economy of Backwardness,” The Manchester School, January 1950. (Reprinted in Agarwala and Singh, op. cit.)

G. A. Almond and J. S. Coleman (Eds.), The Politics of the Developing Areas, pp. 536-544

Suggested Reading:

S. Frankel, Economic Impact on Underdeveloped Societies, Chapter 8

M. Levy, “Some Social Obstacles to Capital Formation in Underdeveloped Areas,” in Capital Formation and Economic Growth, (Princeton 1955)

T. Parsons, [title left blank] in The Challenge of Development (Tel Aviv 1957)

  1. Productivity, Technology and Technical Change
    (February 13-24)

Assigned Reading:

Lewis, Chapter 4

C. P. Kindleberger, Economic Development, Chapters 6 & 10

Suggested Reading:

C. Kerr, “Productivity and Labor Relations,” in Productivity and Progress, (Proceedings of the Summer School, Australian Institute of Political Science, 1957)

R. Eckaus, “Factor Proportions in Underdeveloped Areas,” American Economic Review, September 1955, (Reprinted in Agarwala and Singh, op. cit.)

G. Ranis, “Factor Proportions in Japanese Development,” American Economic Review, September 1957

W. Moore, Industrialization and Labor

T. Scitovsky, “Two Concepts of External Economics,” Journal of Political Economy, April 1954

J. A. Stockfisch, “External Economics, Investment, and Foresight,” Journal of Political Economy, October 1955

A. Hirschman, “Investment Policies and ‘Dualism’ in Underdeveloped Countries,” American Economic Review, September 1957

  1. Capital Accumulation
    (February 27 – March 22)

Assigned Reading:

Lewis, pp. 201-244

R. Nurkse, Problems of Capital Formation in Underdeveloped Countries, Chapters 1-3

N. Kaldor, Indian Tax Reform: Report of a Survey (New Delhi, 1956)

Bernstein and Patel, “Inflation in Relation to Economic Development,” International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, 1952

T. Schelling, “American Aid and Economic Development: Some Critical Issues,” in International Stability and Progress (The American Assembly, 1957)

Suggested Reading:

R. Mikesell, Promoting U. S. Private Investment Abroad, (National Planning Association Pamphlet, 1957)

M. Bronfenbrenner, “The Appeal of Confiscation in Economic Development,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, April 1955

S. Kuznets, “Economic Growth and Income Inequality,” American Economic Review, March 1955

  1. Planning and Resource Allocation
    (March 24 – April 19)

Assigned Reading:

G. Haberler, International Trade and Economic Development, (National Bank of Egypt Lectures, 1959)

E. Mason, Economic Planning: Government and Business in Economic Development(Fordham University Lectures 1958)

J. Tinbergen, The Design of Development, (Johns Hopkins, 1958), pp. 1-58

G. Papanek, Framing a Development Program, (International Conciliation, March 1960), p. 307-337

Suggested Reading:

R. Nurkse, “Reflections on India’s Development Plan,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1957

W. Nicholls, “Investment in Agriculture in Underdeveloped Countries,” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May 1955

W. A. Lewis, “On Assessing a Development Plan,” Economic Bulletin, (Ghana), May – June 1959
(Mimeographed copies are on reserve in Lamont and Littauer Libraries)

D. Bell, “Allocating Development Resources: Some Observations Based on Pakistan Experience,” Public Policy IX, (Yearbook of the Graduate School of Public Administration, Harvard University, 1959)

  1. Case Studies
    (April 21 – May 1)

Note:
This is a preliminary list only. Other countries may be added and the assignments for the countries now listed will be changed to some extent.

Assigned Reading:
The assigned reading for this section of the course is the material listed below for one country only. (Students coming from underdeveloped countries are requested to read the material for a country other than their own. Please note that there will be one question on the final examination calling for an answer in terms of the country selected.
There will be no additional assignment during the reading period.

Indonesia

Background:

L. Fischer, The Story of Indonesia

Development Problems:

B. Higgins, Indonesia’s Economic Stabilization and Development

B. Higgins, Economic Development, pp. 50-58, 730-741

India

Background:

M. Zinkin, Development for Free Asia

Development Problems:

Government of India, Second five Year Plan, Chapters 1-7

Government of India, Second Five Year Plan Progress Report, 1958-59 (April 1960), pp. 1-28

M. Brower, “Foreign Exchange Shortage and Inflation Under India’s Second Plan,” Public Policy IX, 1959

W. Malenbaum, “India and China, Contrasts in Development,” American Economic Review, June 1959

R. Nurkse, “Reflections on India’s Development Plan,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 1957

Pakistan

Background:

M. Zinkin, Development for Free Asia

Development Problems:

Government of Pakistan, Second Five Year Plan (June 1960), pp. 1-118, 397-414

Government of Pakistan, Planning Commission, Report of the Panel of Economists on the Second Five Year Plan (August 1959)

F. Shorter, “Foodgrains Policy in East Pakistan,” Public Policy IX, 1959

Ghana

Background:

D. Apter, The Gold Coast In Transition

Development Problems:

Government of Ghana, Second Development Plan (March 1959)

Government of Ghana, Economic Survey 1958

W. A. Lewis, “On Assessing a Development Plan,” Economic Bulletin, June-July 1959 (Mimeographed copies on reserve in Lamont and Littauer Libraries).

Western Nigeria

Background:

IBRD Mission, The Economic Development of Nigeria, 1955

Government of Western Nigeria, Development of the Western Region of Nigeria 1955-60

Government of Western Nigeria, Progress Report on the Development of the Western Region of Nigeria, 1959

Government of Nigeria, Economic Survey of Nigeria 1959

  1. Summary and Conclusions
    (May 3)

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

__________________

ECONOMICS 169
Final Examination
January 25, 1961

Answer five questions, one from each part of the examination. Observe the time allocation of each part: weight in grading will be apportioned in correspondence with this allocation.

Part I (30 minutes)

Answer ONE of the following questions:

  1. Compare and contrast the analysis of “the limits to the production of wealth” in the writings of two of the following authors: A. Smith, D. Ricardo, J. S. Mill.
  2. “The classical theory of economic policy was not simply a doctrinaire adherence to the prescription: ‘Laissez-faire’. It is better regarded as a series of individual and practical suggestions on how an underdeveloped country might best achieve economic growth.”
    Discuss the above quotation with reference to the recommendations for economic policy of either a leading classical economist, or the classical economists in general.
Part II (45 minutes)

Answer ONE of the following questions:

  1. Give a brief account of the views of two of the following authors on the subject of capital and its investment (and, where possible, on innovation), and compare their relevance to the conditions of present-day underdeveloped countries: Karl Marx, J. A. Schumpeter, J. M. Keynes, W. Fellner, E. Domar (or R. F. Harrod).
  2. “Both neoclassical and modern theories of the determination of national output are greatly dependent upon the institutional structure of the countries whose economic operations they were devised to explain. Both sets of theory, therefore, are very limited in their application to other institutional frameworks — particularly those of 20th century underdeveloped countries.”
    To what extent do you believe the above to be a valid criticism of attempts to apply either neoclassical or modern economic theory to underdeveloped countries? Is any attempt made to qualify such theory when it is so applied?
    (You may illustrate your answer by reference to the structure of a presently underdeveloped country.)
    Can you suggest any major respects in which neoclassical or modern theory might be amended when applied to such a context? Or is the criticism valid to the extent of making such attempts at amendment futile?
Part III (30 minutes)
  1. Give an account of the influence of one of the following components in the economic development of either the United Kingdom in the 18th and 19th centuries, or the United States in the 19th and early 20thcenturies:
    1. land use and ownership
    2. location of industry
    3. capital formation
    4. transport and communications
    5. staple industries
    6. foreign commerce.

Note: In dealing with either the U.K. or the U.S. experience, it is permissible to draw upon the experience of the other country for purposes of comparison or contrast.

Part IV (30 minutes)
  1. You are economic advisor to the Prime Minister of Pogoland, a recently independent country with 60 million inhabitants. It has little industry in the modern sense; an agriculture that produces enough rice for home consumption; a per capita income of $50; small exports of pepper use to finance its very limited import needs (luxury goods for the small wealthy class, and some capital goods largely for the transport system). The country has some raw materials for industry, but not much. It can increase agricultural production, and there is a good international market for some of its agricultural products.
    The Prime Minister, who is a highly intelligent and able man with a degree in Elizabethan poetry from Oxford, has been impressed by the rapid and successful development of Japan and Russia. He would like you to outline very briefly (he is both busy and intelligent) what major aspects of either the Japanese or the Russian experience he can apply in his country, and what aspects he cannot apply, and why or why not. He is notinterested in receiving direct recommendations for Pogoland as such, only in the major aspects of Japanese or Russian experience which could, or could not, be useful to him.
Part V (45 minutes)
Reading Period Assignment
  1. As announced in lecture before Reading Period, you are expected to give a critical appraisal of a recent contribution to the discussion of one of these issues in development theory:
    1. Population.
    2. Dual economies, or the problem of backwardness.
    3. Motivation, or’ other social/cultural factors.
    4. Balanced vs. unbalanced growth.
    5. The “big push” or “critical minimum effort.”
    6. Stages of economic growth, the concept of take-off.

Note: Pleaase indicate clearly at the beginning of your discussion the contribution (article, articles, etc) you have selected for appraisal.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions,.., Economics,…Naval Science, Air Science. January 1961. In the bound volume: Social Sciences, Final Examinations, January 1961.

Image Source: (Young) Gustav Papanek during a trip to Asia. From BBC “How we endured the McCarthy purges in US” (12 May 2019).

 

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Application for PhD candidacy. Edward S. Mason, 1923

Below you will find a transcription of the paper trail of Edward Sagendorph Mason that documents the satisfaction of the requirements for his Ph.D. in economics (Harvard, 1925). 

Understatement is almost an art form in the hands of the chairman (Professor Frank W. Taussig) of Mason’s final doctoral examination  that followed acceptance of his dissertation: “His showing was highly creditable, even brilliant”.

_______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

Application for Candidacy for the Degree of Ph.D.

[Note: Boldface used to indicate printed text of the application; italics used to indicate the handwritten entries]

I. Full Name, with date and place of birth.

Edward Sagendorph Mason, Clinton, Iowa. Feb. 22, 1899.

II. Academic Career: (Mention, with dates inclusive, colleges or other higher institutions of learning attended; and teaching positions held.)

University of Kansas 1916-’19
Harvard (graduate school) one year 1919-’20
Oxford University (Lincoln College) 1920-’23

III. Degrees already attained. (Mention institutions and dates.)

A.B. Kansas 1919
M.A. Harvard 1920
B. Litt. Oxford 1923

IV. General Preparation. (Indicate briefly the range and character of your undergraduate studies in History, Economics, Government, and in such other fields as Ancient and Modern Languages, Philosophy, etc.)

30-40 hours in Economics (Theory – Econ. Hist. – Banking – Hist. of Theory)
Political theory – American government.
English History – Modern French History.
French – 3 years.
English literature – 20-30 hours.

V. Department of Study. (Do you propose to offer yourself for the Ph.D., “History,” in “Economics,” or in “Political Science”?)

Economics

VI. Choice of Subjects for the General Examination. (State briefly the nature of your preparation in each subject, as by Harvard courses, courses taken elsewhere, private reading, teaching the subject, etc., etc.)

  1. Economic Theory. – Econ 11 at Harvard. Elementary and advanced courses at Kansas. – Reading and lectures in England and Germany.
    History of Theory (from Plato & Aristotle). Elementary course at Kansas – Reading and lectures at Oxford
  2. Statistics. – Graduate course at Harvard. Additional Reading.
  3. Public Finance. – Graduate course at Harvard.
  4. Economic History of England and the United States. – Elementary course in U.S. Econ. History at Kansas. Lectures and reading at Oxford.
  5. American Government and Constitutional Law. – Elementary course in Am. Gov. at Kansas. Graduate course in Const. Law at Harvard. Additional reading.
  6. International Trade. 

VII. Special Subject for the special examination.

International Trade

VIII. Thesis Subject. (State the subject and mention the instructor who knows most about your work upon it.)

Dumping – A Study of Certain International Trade Practices. England, Germany and the United States (B. Litt. Dissertation at Oxford in this subject. May submit same at Harvard.)
Professor Taussig.

IX. Examinations. (Indicate any preferences as to the time of the general and special examinations.)

General Examination. June 10th or after.
Special Examination. Next year.

X. Remarks

Attendance at Oxford makes it impossible for me to present myself before June 10th at the earliest.

Signature of a member of the Division certifying approval of the above outline of subjects.

[signed] F. W. Taussig

*   *   *   [Last page of application] *   *   *

[Not to be filled out by the applicant]

Name: Edward S. Mason

Approved: May 28, 1923

Ability to use French certified by C. J. Bullock. Oct 3, 1923.

Ability to use German certified by  C. J. Bullock. Oct. 3, 1923.

Date of general examination November 27, 1923. Passed. F.W. Taussig, ch[airman]

Thesis received 22 December 1924.

Read by Professors Taussig, Young, Williams.

Approved 14 January 1925.

Date of special examination 22 January 1925. Passed F.W.T.

Recommended for the Doctorate [left blank]

Degree conferred 24 February 1925

Remarks.  [left blank]

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

Record of E. S. Mason in the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

1919-20
Economics 11
[Economic Theory. Prof. Taussig]		 A
Economics 31
[Public Finance, Prof. Bullock]		 A minus
Economics 41
[Statistics: Theory and Analysis, Asst. Prof. Day]		 B plus
Government 19
[American Constitutional Law,
Mr. MacLeish]		 A
A.M.  1920

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

Dean not amused by late application

28 April 1923

My dear Mr. Mason:

Your application requesting for arrangements for a general examination this year has just been received. I am rather surprised that you should hand it in at such a late date and expect us to meke such arrangements. The list of examinations has been scheduled and printed for some weeks, and we cannot guarantee examinations for anyone after the first of June as it is exceedingly difficult to secure the presence of all the members of the examining comittee in Cambridge on the same day after the close of the lecture period. If you will indicate definitely the date of your return, which you mention vaguely in your letter, we shall try, however to arrange a committee for you at that time. Nothing can be promised, but we shall try to do what we can. I appreciate the convenience to you of taking the general examination this year, but I beg to remind you that due notice should be given of your plan of study and of your application for a general examination.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned carbon copy]

Edward S. Mason

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

Mason responds to the Dean regarding an early date for his general examination

Lincoln College,
Oxford.

May 9, 1923.

Dean C. H. Haskins,
Harvard University.

My dear Sir –

If it is convenient for you and for the examiners I should like to take the Ph.D. general examination (Economics) on June 12th. I am writing to Professor Bullock, my examiner in French and German, asking to be allowed to present myself June 11th for the language examinations.

May I emphasize again that if it causes the slightest inconvenience to yourself or the examiners, I should very much like to have the examination postponed till October or November, since I intend to be at Harvard next year in any case.

Thanking you for the trouble you have taken.

I am,

Very Truly Yours,
[signed] Edward S. Mason

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

Division Memo Regarding Planned General Examination (undated)

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
(INTER-DEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE SHEET)

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Edward S. Mason

June 10, or after.

  1. [Taussig] Economic Theory
  2. [Bullock] History of Theory (from Plato to Aristotle)
  3. [Crum] Statistics
  4. [Burbank] Public Finance
  5. [Usher] Economic History of England and the United States
  6. [Holcombe] American Government and Constitutional Law.

Special field: International Trade

Thesis being done with Professor Taussig.
Professor Taussig has signed the application.

French and German not certified.

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

22 May 1923

My dear Mr. Mason;

In view of the difficulty of arranging an examination so late in the year, and also in view of the fact that you have not satisfied your French and Gorman requirement, I think it would be better if the examination went over till fall. There will be no difficulty in arranging an examination for you early in October, if you so desire.

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

Certification of reading knowledge
of French and German

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
October 3, 1923.

Dear Haskins:

I have examined Mr. E. S. Mason, and find that he has such a knowledge of French and German as we require of candidates for the doctor’s degree.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
Charles J. Bullock

Dean C. H. Haskins

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

General exam postponed

21 November 1925

My dear Mr. Mason:

I am sorry to have to tell you that I have just now received a telegram from Professor Taussig from Yonkers, New York, saying that he has been detained by the sudden death of his brother, and that your examination would have to be postponed. I will let you know as soon as I hear anything further from him,

Very truly yours,
Secretary of the Division.

Mr. E. S. Mason

[Note: Frank Taussig’s brother, mayor Walter Morris Taussig of Yonkers, New York, committed suicide on Nov. 21, 1923.]

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

New Date for General Examination

23 November 1923

My dear Mr. Mason:

Your general examination is to be held on Tuesday, 27 November, at 4 p.m., in Upper Massachusette Hall.

Very truly yours.
Secretary of the Division.

Mr. E. S. Mason

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

General examination passed

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
November 30, 1923.

Dear Haskins:

As Chairman of the Committee appointed to conduct the general examination of Edward S. Mason, I have to report that Mr. Mason passed the examination by unanimous vote of the Committee.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins

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

Thesis accepted, but…

15 January 1925

My dear Mr. Mason:

I am happy to inform you that your thesis has been accepted. Under ordinary circumstances we should be glad to arrange your special examination as soon as practicable, but I cannot guarantee presence of a committee during the midyear examination period and the time is now too short to arrange
an examination in the next few days. Moreover, I do not see how you can be admitted to the final examination until you present suitable evidence of your graduate study elsewhere and you have been accepted by the authorities of the Graduate School as a candidate for the Doctorate. I understand from Dr. Robinson that the papers which you were to submit in support of your application for the Ph.D. have not yet been filed.

Sincerely yours,
[Initialed] C. H. H.

Mr. E. S. Mason

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

Papers in order, so special examination
can take place

16 January 1925

My dear Mr. Mason:

Since you have now straightened out the matter concerning which Professor Haskins wrote you yesterday, we are arranging your special examination for Thursday, 22 January, at 4 p.m. The committee will consist of Professors Taussig (chairman), Young, Williams, and Persons. I trust that this will be convenient for you. I will let you know about the place later.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned carbon copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Dr. E. S. Mason

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

Date and committee
for special examination

19 January 1925

My dear Mr. Mason:

This is to remind you that your special examination for the Ph.D. in Economics is to be held on Thursday, 22 January, at 4 p.m., in Widener U. The committee will consist of Professors Taussig (chairman), Young, Williams, and Persons.

Very truly yours,
[unsigned carbon copy]
Secretary of the Division.

Dr. E. S. Mason

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

Special examination passed

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

Cambridge, Massachusetts
January 27, 1925.

Dear Haskins:

I have to report that Edward S. Mason passed his special examination for the Ph.D. degree on Thursday, January 22, by unanimous vote of the Committee. His showing was highly creditable, even brilliant.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig

Dean C. H. Haskins

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

Source: Harvard University Archives. Division of History, Government & Economics. PhD. Examinations, Box 6: 1924-26.

Image Source: Portrait of Edward S. Mason included in the Harvard Class Album 1932.

Categories
Economic History Harvard

Harvard. Modern European Economic History. Gay, 1906-1907

Edwin Francis Gay

 

Edwin F. Gay was promoted to the rank of professor in 1906 and served as the acting chairman of the Harvard economics department during Thomas Nixon Carver’s leave of absence. He then became the chair of the department in 1907. This was followed by his appointment as the first dean of the newly established Graduate School of Business Administration in 1908.

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Earlier, related posts

A brief course description for Economics 11 plus the exams from 1902-03.

Exams for 1903-04.

Exams for 1904-05.

Exams for 1905-06.

A short bibliography for “serious students” of economic history assembled by Gay and published in 1910 has also been posted.

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Course Enrollment
1906-07

Economics 11. Professor Gay. — Modern Economic History of Europe.

Total 25: 8 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1906-1907, p. 71.

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ECONOMICS 11
Mid-year Examination, 1906-07

  1. Describe briefly, with reference to England in the sixteenth century:
    1. the position of the Hanseatic merchants.
    2. the policy with regard to shippingthe law and practice as to usury.
  2. [Gilds]
    1. Cunningham says: “It is probable that the powers of the gilds had been so much affected by the legislation of Edward VI. that they had but little influence either for good or evil.”
      What precisely was this legislation? What was the attitude of the Tudor governments to the craft gilds?
    2. He also states that the craft gilds, “before the close of Elizabeth’s reign were reconstituted, or companies which corresponded to them were created anew.… These companies were different in many ways from the craft gilds, even when they were erected upon their ruins.”
      Do Ashley and Unwin agree with this view? What are the facts in regard to the development of gild organization under Elizabeth?
    3. State briefly, as compared with England, the chief points of analogy and difference in Continental gild history.
  3. [Wages and prices]
    1. Criticise the following: “In the sixteenth century, when prices as well as wages were still frequently settled by authority, the competition of the laborers for food would not have such immediate effects on prices as in modern times; the regulation would tend to hasten the entire exhaustion of the supply, rather than to bring about a further rise of price.”
      What was the regulation of prices and wages here mentioned? Do you think it had any appreciable effect on the movement of prices or wages in the sixteenth century?
    2. What in general was the price movement of that period and what caused it? What are the difficulties in comparing the purchasing power of a shilling in 1450, 1550, and 1907.
  4. What were the salient features of the Mercantile System?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1906-07.

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ECONOMICS 11
Year-end Examination, 1906-07

  1. Explain briefly: —

(1) aulnager.
(2) ship-money.
(3) the “vend.”
(4) South Sea Bubble.
(5) contractus trinius.
(6) commenda.

  1. [Mercantile policies]
    1. State the chief provisions and significance of

(a) the Statute of Artificers,
(b) the Navigation Act, and
(c) the Corn Law of 1688.

    1. When was the policy embodied in a and c changed, and under what circumstances?

III. [Company organization]

    1. What were the forms of company organization in England? What change took place in public sentiment regarding them?
    2. Compare the development of mercantile companies in England, France, and Holland.
  1. [Domestic system vs. wage labor system]
    1. Comment on the following: “The distinguishing feature of the capitalist, as contrasted with the domestic, system lies in the fact, that under the former scheme, employers or undertakers own the materials and pay the wages, whereas in the domestic system the workman is his own master; he owns the materials on which he works and sells the product of his labour.”
    2. Give examples from the textile industries of three types of the domestic system.

Take one of the following.

  1. Discuss this statement: “There has been a tendency to associate the great commercial expansion of the seventeenth century with the name of Cromwell…. It is difficult to see that any evidence whatever can be adduced in support of this view, while there is much to be said against it.”
  2. “With a country almost naturally defenceless, engaged by position and religion in conflicts far beyond their real national strength, the Dutch at length became exhausted by the pressure of the taxes they paid.” Is this an adequate explanation of the economic decline of Holland? If not, what is the explanation?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1906-07 (HUC 7000.25), pp. 33-34.

Image Source: Harvard Class Album, 1914. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.