Category: History of Economics

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Economists France History of Economics

France. The Avignon-editions of L’ami des hommes. Mirabeau and Quesnay, 1761-64

One of the resources here at Economics in the Rear-View Mirror that I am proudest of is the “Economics Rare Book Reading Room: Classic Economics” that takes visitors to scanned original editions of great and obscure works that have been consulted by generations of historians of economics long after they were first consumed and digested by the readers of their day.

While working to fill a gap in my links to the Physiocrats’ Greatest Hits, I came upon a truly beautiful digitization of the six volumes that constituted all but one of the completed series “L’ami des hommes, ou Traité de la population” by Victor de Riquetti, Marquis de Mirabeau (with some collaboration with the Dean of Physiocrats, François Quesnay). The volumes, linked below, come from the Friedrich-Universität zu Halle and are now to be found at the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt.

While I remain a huge fan of both archive.com and hathitrust.org, I can hardly contain my bibliophilic delight at having such magnificent scans to read outside the setting of an archival reading room. The Bibliothèque nationale de France website Gallica provides us the first editions and the fifth part of L’ami des hommes that is apparently not included in the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt collection.

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1756

Mirabeau, Victor de Riquetti, Marquis de. First Avignon-edition of L’ami des hommes.

L’ami des hommes, ou, Traité de la population (Avignon, 1756). Partie I.  Partie II. Partie III.

Repository: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica website.

1758

Partie IV. Précis de l’organisation, ou Mémoire sur les états provinciaux (1758)

Repository: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica website.

1760

Partie V. Memoire sur l’agriculture envoyé à la très-louable Société d’Agriculture de Berne, avec l’extrait des six premier livres du corps complet d’œconomie rustique de feu M. Thomas Hale (1760).

Repository: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica website.

1761-64

Mirabeau, Victor de Riquetti, Marquis de. A later corrected Avignon-edition of L’ami des hommes.

I. Partie. L’ami des hommes, ou, Traité de la population with François Quesnay. (Avignon, Nouvelle édition corrigée, 1762)

II. Partie. L’ami des hommes, ou, Traité de la population with François Quesnay. (Avignon, Nouvelle édition corrigée, 1762)

III. Partie. L‘ami des hommes, ou, Traité de la population with François Quesnay. (Avignon, Nouvelle édition corrigée, 1762)

IV. Partie. Précis de l’organisation, ou Mémoire sur les états provinciaux. (Avignon, 1762)

Suite de la IV. Partie. Réponse aux objections contre le Mémoire sur les états provinciaux. (Avignon, 1764)

V. Partie. Memoire sur l’agriculture envoyé à la très-louable Société d’Agriculture de Berne, avec l’extrait des six premier livres du corps complet d’œconomie rustique de feu M. Thomas Hale (1760). [Not in the digitized collection of the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt]

VI. Partie. Réponse à l’essai sur les ponts et chaussées, la voierie et les corvées (Avignon, 1761).

Suite de la VI. Partie. Tableau Économique, avec ses explications (Avignon, 1761).

Repository: Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Sachsen-Anhalt.

Image Source:
Frontispiece of Part I of Mirabeau’s 1762 edition of L’ami des hommes, ou, Traité de la population. A copy of the 1759 engraving by Étienne Fessard is found online  at the Bibliothèque nationale de France website Gallica. Louis XV is portrayed as the benefactor (dressed in Roman armour) of the French peasantry, standing on a pedastal with the words “Lod. XV P. P. Util. publ. umdique Prospicienti”.
Another  copy is displayed at the British Museum Website. It is identified as the frontispiece to Mirabeau’s ‘L’ami des hommes’ (Paris: Hérissant, 1759-60), volume 1, 1757. Mellay identified as a “draughtsman whose sole work known is the frontispiece he designed for Mirabeau’s ‘L’Ami des hommes’ (Paris, 1759), which was engraved in 1757 by Etienne Fessart.”

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Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Enrollment and final exam for history of 19th century economics. Bullock, 1903-1904

The new assistant professor of economics at Harvard in 1903 hired from Williams College, Charles Jesse Bullock, was given responsibility for courses on the early history of economics and public finance.

I could only find the year-end examination in the collection of economics examinations at the Harvard archive for Bullock’s two semester course “History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the Nineteenth Century” offered in 1903-04. It is transcribed and posted below. 

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Short biography from the Williams College Yearbook, 1902

Charles Jesse Bullock, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Political Science

Graduated from Boston University, 1889, with commencement appointment, and received the degree of Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1895. He taught in high schools from 1889 to 1893, was Traveling Fellow in Boston University in 1893-94, and was Fellow and Assistant in the University of Wisconsin, 1894-95 From 1895 to 1899, he was Instructor in Economics at Cornell University. Dr. Bullock has written: “The Finances of the United States, 1775-1789,” (Madison, 1895); “Introduction to the Study of Economics,” (Boston, 1897, second edition, 1900); and “Essays on the Monetary History of the United States,” (New York, 1900). Editor of “Discourse Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America” (Am. Economic Assoc., New York, 1897), and contributor of various articles to the economic and statistical magazines. He is a member of the American Economic Association and of the American Statistical Association, an associate  member of the National Institute of Art, Science, and Letters, and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Dr. Bullock is a member of the society of ΦΒΚ and of the ΘΔΧ Fraternity.

Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26.

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Bullock appointed assistant professor of economics

At a special meeting of the Board of Overseers held yesterday it was voted to concur with the President and Fellows in their votes as follows: …appointing Charles Jesse Bullock, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics for five years from September 1, 1903…

Source: The Harvard Crimson, May 21, 1903.

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Course Enrollment
Economics 15, 1903-04

Economics 15. Asst. Professor Bullock. The History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the Nineteenth Century.

Total 5: 5 Graduates.

 Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1903-1904, p. 67.

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ECONOMICS 15
Year-End Examination. 1903-04

  1. What trace of the influence of Aristotle can be found in modern economic thought?
  2. What were the chief characteristics of English, French, German, and Spanish mercantilism?
  3. Give a brief account of the writings of any three of the following men: Child, Montchrétien, Forbonnais, Seckendorff, Justi, Genovesi, Ustariz.
  4. Give a critical account of the economic doctrines of Thomas Mun.
  5. Give an account of the economic opinions of Sir Dudley North.
  6. Characterize the economic doctrines of Gournay.
  7. Name and characterize the principal works that treat of the Physiocratic School.
  8. Describe the development of Adam Smith’s economic opinions prior to 1764.
  9. What is your opinion of Smith’s criticism upon the mercantilists?
  10. Describe the progress of Smith’s doctrines in France and Germany.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College, pp. 36-37.

Image Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Enrollment and exams on Adam Smith, Ricardo and followers. Mixter, 1902-1903.

 

Charles Whitney Mixter (b. Sept. 23, 1869 in Chelsea, MA; d. Oct. 21, 1936 in Washington, D.C.) taught a year-long course at Harvard on Adams Smith, Ricardo, and their dissenting followers in 1902-03.

Mixter received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1897 with the thesis “Overproduction and overaccumulation: a study in the history of economic theory.” Further biographical information about Charles Whitney Mixter (1869-1936) is found in the post about his course offered 1901-1902. Also Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has a post with a student’s description of Mixter as economics instructor at the University of Vermont.

One of the dissenting followers of Adam Smith considered in Mixter’s course below was John Rae. Mixter edited a reprint of the 1834 book by John Rae, which he retitled The Sociological Theory of Capital. A few years before, Mixter had written two Quarterly Journal of Economics articles comparing Rae with Böhm-Bawerk:

“A forerunner of Böhm-Bawerk”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, January, 1897. [“the first article by me upon Rae…had a title which was also in great measure a misnomer. Rae is not a mere ‘anticipator of the discoverer’ (to use one of Cannan’s phrases), but the discoverer himself. By reason of the lack of a theory of invention, Böhm-Bawerk’s doctrine of capital, although coming much later, is in essentials the less complete of the two.”]

“Böhm-Bawerk on Rae,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1902. [Review of Chapter XI of the second edition of the Geschichte und Critik der Capitalzins-Theorien].

In the preface to his reprint of Rae’s book, Mixter provides us with some backstory to his research revealing the support of Frank Taussig and Irving Fisher at the beginning and the end of this book project:

When I first became interested in Rae’s theory of capital, under Professor Taussig’s direction in the economic seminary at Harvard University, there existed no printed information (except in his Preface) in respect to Rae himself; and for a long time nothing could be learned through inquiry in quarters which promised well in Canada and Great Britain. The late Professor Dunbar of Harvard, who always displayed a keen interest in the undertaking, urged me to persist, and at length a letter printed in the Montreal Star drew forth two replies, one from the Canadian antiquary Mr. H. J. Morgan, the other from the late Robert S. Knight of Lancaster, Ontario, a grand-nephew of Rae. This set me upon the right road to get into communication with several people who knew Rae personally. Of these the one who could tell me most was the late Sir Roderick W. Cameron of New York, a former pupil and life-long friend, at whose summer residence on Staten Island Rae died. Better still, I was able through the interest and kindness of this gentleman to come into possession of what few papers Rae left at his death. That is, I obtained all Rae’s effects of a literary nature which seem now to be in existence. Apparently, from statements made by Sir Roderick, there was another set of papers which Rae had with him at the time, but which were destroyed or in some way lost. The papers I obtained were little more than odds and ends, mostly unfinished fragments on a great variety of subjects, unfortunately but little on economics. Their chief use has been to help me to a fair understanding of Rae’s life, which I have been able, however, only very imperfectly to set forth.

I have received much information and kind assistance in this part of my work from not a few people in Canada, the United States, Honolulu, and Great Britain. I trust they will accept this general acknowledgment of my sense of indebtedness to them.

To Mr. L. W. Zartman of Yale University my especial thanks are due for assistance in preparing the copy for the printer, and in reading the proofs. I am also much indebted to Mr. Wilmot H. Thompson of the Graduate School of Yale, for revision of the classical quotations.

Finally, I wish here to express my obligations to Professor Irving Fisher of Yale University. His interest and encouragement have been of unfailing support. The proof sheets of the whole book have passed his able scrutiny, and his direct help in many other ways has been invaluable.

C. W. M.

Burlington,
Vermont, July, 1905.

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Course Description

  1. a. Selected Topics in the History of Economic Thought since Adam Smith. , Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri, at 12. Dr. Mixter.

The chief subject to which attention will be directed in this course is the school of dissenting followers of Adam Smith — Lauderdale, Rae, and those influenced by them — who carried forward Smith’s work to very different results from those attained by the Ricardians. This study of a little known tradition gives a fresh point of view as to the general method of formulating and presenting economics. Some of the other subjects to be discussed are, — the classic doctrine of over-production, and the opposition to that doctrine; the economics of absenteeism; the history of the theory of colonization; early American economic theory.
The exercises will be conducted largely by means of discussion. Oral reports on assigned topics will be required.

  1. d 2hf. Adam Smith and Ricardo. Half-course (second half-year). Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Professor Taussig.

In this course, a careful study will be made of large parts of the writings of Adam Smith and Ricardo, and comparison made with contemporary authors as well as with the later writers who accepted the teachings of the earlier English school.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science  [Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics], 1902-03. Published in The University Publications, New Series, no. 55. June 14, 1902.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 20a. Dr. Mixter. — The History of English Economic Theory from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill.

Total 5: 3 Gr., 2 Se.

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

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Mid-Year Examination 1902-03

ECONOMICS 20a

It is expected that questions 3 and 7 will be answered more at length than the other questions.

  1. Who was Bentham and what does he stand for in the history of economics?
  2. What is the nature of Rae’s reply to Smith’s 5th argument against protection?
  3. What would Adam Smith say to the assertion that trades unions are necessary in the United States to prevent a fall of general wages? In what various aspects did Smith examine the subject of wages?
  4. What are Adam Smith’s four canons or “maxims” of taxation?
  5. Is “capital” or “labor” the leading concept in the economics proper of the Wealth of Nations?
  6. What idea of most value have you obtained from Cannan?
  7. Discuss the Malthusian theory with respect to errors and shortcomings:—
    1. In its original form of statement and proof.
    2. In its original application.
    3. Sum up the modernized Malthusian doctrine in the form which seems to you most sound and useful.
  8. How has “the Commerce of the Towns contributed to the Improvement of the Country”?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).

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Year-End Examination 1902-03

ECONOMICS 20a

Omit two of the last five questions.

  1. Criticise the following statement: “What he [Ricardo] really ‘endeavored to show’ was that the rate of profit depends on the productiveness of the last employed, or no-rent-paying agricultural industry, and it is not of much importance to his theory whether this dependence is brought about through rises and falls of money wages, or also by the direct influence of variations in the productiveness of industry.”
  2. What is Lauderdale’s significance in the history of economics?
  3. What are the points of similarity and of difference between Rae and Böhm-Bawerk?
  4. What portions of a complete treatise on economics are lacking in Rae’s work? Give some examples of peculiar terminology.
  5. Give an account of one of the following writers: Chalmers, Wakefield, Longfield, Senior.
  6. “His [the capitalist’s] profit consists of the excess of the produce above the advances; his rate of profit is the ratio which that excess bears to the amount advanced.” Comment on this.
  7. Criticise the phrase “the profits of stock are only another name for the wages of accumulated labour.” Who first advanced this idea?
  8. What was John Stuart Mill’s treatment of the subject of general overproduction?
  9. When it is said that a certain writer “took as his type of capital, machinery instead of wage-fund,” what do you understand by the expression? Mention several writers who have done this.
  10. Give a brief account of Cannan’s description of the discovery of the law of diminishing returns.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Harvard scores (1905),  John Jepson (artists), Boston. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Exam for German Economic Thought. Gay, 1903

Edwin Francis Gay

This must have been a quick addition to the course offerings for 1902-03 since the course was not announced in the June 1902 brochure for the Division of History and Political Science for the coming academic year. In the following year Edwin Francis Gay (Berlin, Ph.D. in 1902 under Gustav Schmoller) expanded the course to cover both French and German economic thought.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 22. 2hf. Dr. Gay. — Outlines of the Development of Economic Thought in Germany in the Nineteenth Century.

Total 4: 3 Gr., 1 Se.

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

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ECONOMICS 22

  1. Translate from Conrad, pp. 69 [p. 64-65 in 1897 ed.], § 66, Die Grundrente.
    1. Describe briefly von Thünen’s concentric circles.
    2. Outline Rodbertus’s theory of rent and its relation to his explanation of crises.
  2. Translate  §69 [pp. 68-69 in 1897 ed.] , Die Regulierung des Lohnes.
    1. What features in this passage remind you of von Hermann’s treatment of wages?
      [Note: no (b) or any other parts to the question were printed]
  3. Karl Marx: a concise note concerning his life, his works, his theory of value, his influence in Germany at present.
  4. Give an account of the German historical school of economists.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 6. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, History of Religions, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College, June 1903 (in the bound volume Examination Papers 1902-1903).

Image Source: Portrait of Edwin F. Gay from the Harvard Class Album 1914 colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Final exams for history of economics up through Ricardo. Mixter, 1901-1902

 

With Edward Cummings and William J. Ashley gone and Frank W. Taussig on a medical leave-of-absence, the Harvard economics department had to scramble to cover its course offerings in 1901-02. The course on the history of economics up through the early nineteenth century was then taught by Harvard economics Ph.D. alumnus, Charles W. Mixter. His semester final examinations questions have been transcribed below.

In an earlier post we find the exams from 1900-01 when William J. Ashley last taught the course at Harvard.

The immediately preceding post provides us with a student’s POV of University of Vermont Professor Charles W. Mixter in the classroom. 

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

Charles Whitney Mixter
(b. Sept. 23, 1869 in Chelsea, MA;
d. Oct. 21, 1936 in Washington, D.C.)

A.B. Johns Hopkins University (Md.), 1892; A.M. Harvard University, 1893; 1897 Harvard Ph.D.

Thesis title: Overproduction and overaccumulation: a study in the history of economic theory.

Edited Work

John Rae. The Sociological Theory of Capital, being a complete reprint of the New Principles of Political Economy, 1834. Edited with biographical sketch and notes by Charles Whitney Mixter, Ph.D., Professor of Political Economy in the University of Vermont. New York: Macmillan, 1905.

OBITUARY
The Burlington Free Press (Oct. 22, 1936), p. 14

Charles Whitney Mixter, for nine years a member of the University of Vermont faculty, died at a hospital in Washington, D. C., on Tuesday evening. [October 20]

Dr. Mixter was born in Chelsea, Mass., in 1867. He received his early education at Thayer Academy and Williston Seminary, and received his A.B. degree from John Hopkins University in 1892.

This was followed by graduate studies at Berlin, Goettingen and Harvard, from which he received his doctorate in 1897. Then followed a series of teaching positions: Assistant in economics at Harvard, 1897-98; Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., 1899-1900; instructor in economics, Harvard, 1901-1903; professor of economics, University of Vermont, 1903-1912.

Then Dr. Mixter served as efficiency expert for Towne and Yale at New Haven, Conn., and later for several manufacturing concerns in New Hampshire. For a year he was professor of economics at Clark University, and for a brief period he was an investigator in the service of the United States Chamber of Commerce.

For the last 13 years he had been connected with the tariff commission in Washington.

Professor Mixter had an unusually fertile mind, was an accomplished scholar in his special field, and widely read in related subjects. he became an enthusiastic student of scientific management introduced by the late Frederick W. Taylor and an active exponent of the system. He was a member of the leading economic organizations and a frequent contributor to economic journals.

He was a strong advocate of free trade. Interment was made in Plymouth, Mass.

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ECONOMICS 15
Course Description
1901-02

Primarily for Graduates

[Economics] 15. The History and Literature of Economics, to the opening of the Nineteenth Century.
Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Professor Ashley.

The course of economic speculation will here be followed, in its relation alike to the general movement of contemporary thought and to contemporary social conditions. The lectures will consider the economic theories of Plato and Aristotle; the economic ideas underlying Roman law; the medieval church and the canonist doctrine; mercantilism in its diverse forms; “political arithmetic”; the origin of the belief in natural rights and its influence on economic thought; the Physiocratic doctrine; the beginnings of academic instruction in economics; the work and influence of Adam Smith; the doctrine of population as presented by Malthus; and the Ricardian doctrine of distribution.

The lectures will be interrupted from time to time for the examination of selected portions of particular authors; and careful study will be given to portions of Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics (in translation), to Mun’s England’s Treasure, Locke’s Consideration of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest, certain Essays of Hume, Turgot’s Réflexions, and specified chapters of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, Malthus’ Essay, and Ricardo’s Principles. Students taking the course are expected to procure the texts of the chief authors considered, and to consult the following critical works: Ingram, History of Political Economy; Cossa, Introduction to the Study of Political Economy; Cannan, History of the Theories of Production and Distribution; Bonar, Philosophy and Political Economy; Böhm-Bawerk, Capital and Interest; Taussig, Wages and Capital.

Course 15 is open to those who have passed satisfactorily in Course 1. It is taken to advantage after Course 2, or contemporaneously with that Course.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902. Box 1. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science (June 21, 1901), University Publications, New Series, No. 16, p. 45.

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ECONOMICS 15
Enrollment
1901-02

Economics 15. Dr. Mixter. — The History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the Nineteenth Century.

Total 5: 3 Graduates, 2 Seniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1901-1902, p. 78.

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ECONOMICS 15
Mid-year Examination
1901-02

  1. Give an account of Aristotle on “the art of money-making”(χρηματιστική) as contrasted with “household management” (οἰκονομική); on the institution of private property.
  2. Why was economics little cultivated in classical times: in Ingram’s opinion; in your opinion?
  3. Where, in economic literature, do the following expressions occur, and what was meant by them: “City of pigs”; “Private Vices, Public Benefits”; “led by an invisible hand”?
  4. The chief distinction between man and the inferior animals consists in this: They are moved only by the immediate impressions of sense, and, as its impulses prompt, seek to gratify them from the objects before them, scarce regarding the future, or endeavoring from the experience of the past to provide against what is to come. Man, as he is endowed with reason,…” Who first expressed this thought? What use was made of it by a later writer?
  5. What passage in the Wealth of Nations has frequently been quoted as giving a concise statement of the author’s theory of the law of profits? What is the usual criticism of this passage? What your own criticism?
  6. Many writers have held that the increase of capital lessens at the same time the demand for the products of capital, since savings are made by curtailing one’s consumption. Show the fallacy of this contention?
  7. State the doctrine of wages in the Wealth of Nations, bringing out the contrast with the pre-Smithian doctrine.
  8. What are Adam Smith’s four “maxims” or canons of taxation, and what his position on “Taxes upon Profit, or upon the Revenue arising from Stock”?
  9. Comment on the leading arguments of the chapter, “Of Restraints upon the Importation from foreign Countries of such Goods as can be produced at Home.”
  10. What are the “Effects of the Progress of Improvement upon the real Price of Manufactures”? What is the significance of this doctrine in the history of economic opinion?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-Year Examination Papers, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume, Mid-year Examination Papers, 1901-02. Sub-volume Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, … in Harvard College (January 1902).

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ECONOMICS 15
Year-end Examination
1901-02

  1. Who were they and what do they stand for: Nicholas Oresme, Acquinas, Thomas Mun, Boisguillebert, Turgot, Gournay?
  2. What was the general advance in economic thought during the century preceding the publication of the Wealth of Nations?
  3. Comment upon Jones’ „Primitive Political Economy in England” and Schmoller’s Mercantile System.
  4. Give a critical account of the history of opinion on the subjet of lending money at interest.
  5. Sketch in outline the history of the theory of “natural law” and indicate the way in which it came in contact with economics.
  6. What part of the teaching of the Physiocrats do you consider to have helped forward economic science, and what part to have been of little or no use?
  7. What was “Political Arithmetic”?
  8. Give a brief account of :–
    1. Speculation on the subject of population before Malthus.
    2. The Malthusian doctrine, its purpose, its content, the argument put forward in its support.
    3. The bearing of Rae’s principle of “the effective desire of offspring” upon the Malthusian doctrine.

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

Image Source: Harvard University Archives. Hollis Images. College Yard, ca. 1900.

Categories
Economic History History of Economics Johns Hopkins Regulations

John Hopkins. Proposals for First and Second Year Graduate Examinations. Musgrave, 1960

Having had just served as a member of the economics faculty at the University of Michigan for the preceding twelve years, Richard A. Musgrave demonstrated the seriousness and enthusiasm for his new job at the Johns Hopkins University starting with the academic year 1960-61. It is interesting to see one and the same person arguing for both more mathematics and more history of economics to be included in the graduate general microeconomic and macroeconomic examinations.

_____________________________

October 19, 1960

MEMO TO:     Members of the Department
FROM:             R. A. Musgrave

            As we mentioned before, it would be desirable to make some announcement to the graduate students indicating how the examinations would be handled this year. I think the announcement could be framed in such a way to relate to this year only, without establishing a new policy or making a precedent for what is to be done thereafter. I indicated to the graduate students at the opening meeting that some such statement would be forthcoming.

            As I understand it, there was a fairly general feeling at the close of last year that it was not very satisfactory to insist upon equal-emphasis examinations in twelve fields, with the result that performance in some areas (as was the case with International Trade) would be below the senior level. At the same time, there also seemed general agreement that the Hopkins tradition of avoiding over-specialization is sound. The following proposal attempts to be in line with these ideas and is herewith submitted for discussion.

            With regard to the proposal for the second year exam, these two questions may be thought about:

  1. I do think it is sound that a certain amount of mathematical economics and history of thought should be worked in with the general theory examinations rather than be treated as a special area. A person specializing in mathematical economics would be free to choose econometrics as one of his fields anyhow. A person specially interested in history of thought might be permitted to offer this as a special field. In other words, history of thought might be added to the optional fields listed on the next page.
  2. If the student chooses two out of the six optional fields, this of course means that there remain four fields which are not at all covered. If we are worried about this, we might add a requirement that a student must have done a certain amount of course work in these fields. Or one might add sort of “minima examinations” in these other fields, as distinct from the more intensive examinations in the special fields. But this would again greatly increase the examination load.

Graduate Students’ Examinations in Political Economy
Spring 1961

            Our examination procedure this year will be as follows:

First Year Graduate Students. There will be an oral examination in the latter part of May. This examination is designed to give the Department an opportunity to confirm its judgment that the incoming graduate students have the ability to meet the requirements of Ph.D. work, to explore the extent of the students’ preparation in various areas, and to determine in what areas additional work is needed. The Staff is aware of the work which a student has done before coming to Hopkins, and of the courses which he is taking this year. The examination is conducted accordingly, and no preparation distinct from regular course work is required.

Second Year Graduate Students. In May, second year graduate students will come up for their Ph.D. generals. The generals consist of a set of written examinations and an oral examination. The oral examination covers the general range of work which has been completed. The written examination will include the following papers, four hours each.

  1. Theory. There will be a paper on micro theory and macro theory each. There will be no separate papers in mathematical economics and history of thought. Rather, the papers dealing with micro and macro theory will contain some questions demanding an answer which involves mathematical tools; as well as questions involving a historical perspective on the development of doctrine. The examination in micro theory will include the theory of relative prices, incomes, and welfare economics. The examination in macro theory will include the theory of income determination, growth and stabilization policy.
  2. Statistics.
  3. Economic History. The examination in Economic History will include questions on American and European economic history. Students who have not taken work in economic history here will be held responsible for two books, as follows: (To be inserted).
  4. Optional Fields. In addition to the preceding four examinations, the student may choose two of the following fields: International trade, industrial organization, labor, public finance, money, economic development, and econometrics. A substantial familiarity with the chosen field is required.

Source: The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives of the Eisenhower Library at Johns Hopkins University. Department of Political Economy, Series 7, Subseries 1.  Box No. 3/1. Folder “Graduate and Undergraduate Curriculum 1953-1961.”

Image Source: Richard A. Musgrave page at the University of Michigan’s Faculty History Project.

Categories
Exam Questions History of Economics Princeton Suggested Reading Syllabus

Princeton. History of Economic Thought. Reading List, General Exam. Baumol, 1987-1988

What I find useful about the syllabus on classical economics from William Baumol’s Princeton course transcribed below is that it provides a lean and precise list of original text reading assignments to work through. Full-blown bibliographies have their use for students when writing term papers, but this butcher’s choice of filet cuts provides a wholesome main course that will last a semester and provide pleasant memories for a lifetime.

Here you will find other postings at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror that offer material from courses in the history of economics.

_______________________

Alan B. Krueger’s Interview with William J. Baumol in Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Summer 2001), pp. 211-231.

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Princeton University
Department of Economics

Economics 506
History of Economic Thought

Fall Term 1988

Professor W.J. Baumol

Smith, Adam, Wealth of Nations, 1776, Book I, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 (first 20 pages), 10 (first 17 pages); Book II, Chapter 3; Book IV, Chapters 1, 2, 8.

Malthus, T.R., An Essay on the Principle of Population, 1798, Pelican Edition, 1970, Introduction by Anthony Flew, Chapters 1-5, 18, 19.

Ricardo, David, On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, London, 1817, Chapters I-X, XIX-XXI, XXX-XXXI.

*Ricardo David, Notes on Malthus, Piero Sraffa, editor, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951, Editor’s Introduction and pp. 300-382.

Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party.

Marx, Karl, Capital (3 volumes), New York: International Publishing Company.

Volume I: Author’s Prefaces; Chapter 1; Chapter 3, Sections II a, b; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7, Section 2; Chapter 8; Chapter 9, Sections 1, 3, 4; skim Chapter 10; Chapter 15, Section 6; Chapter 16; Chapter 24, Sections 2, 3, 5; Chapter 25.

Volume II:Preface; Chapter 9; Chapter 16, Part 3; pp. 390-396 (Chapter 17, last 6 pages on Simple Reproduction); Chapter 20; pp. 576-9 (Chapter 21, I, Accumulation in Department 1 (1) formation of a hoard).

Volume III: Preface; Chapters 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 22, 27, 37, 38, 48.

*Marx, Karl,  A Critique of the Gotha Program, Moscow, Progress Publishers, 1937.

*On reserve at Firestone Library.

Source: Edward Tower (compiler). Economics Reading Lists, Course Outlines, Exams, Puzzles & Problems, Vol. 24. History of Economic Thought. Durham, NC: Eno River Press, August 1990, page 38.

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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics

General Examination for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

History of Economic Thought
January 1987

Time: 3 hours

  1. Distinguish the roles of the labor command and the labor content discussions of value in Adam Smith. What was Smith’s general model of the determination of long run exchange value under competition?
  2. In terms of the formal Ricardian model, explain the consequences of elimination of a tariff on grain (corn) (a) in the short run; (b) in the long run.
  3. (a) Explain why, in Marx’s view, profits under capitalism can be expected to decline with the passage of time. (b) Why did he reject Ricardo’s model leading to the same conclusion? (c) On what grounds has Marx’s model of the declining profit rate been criticized?
  4. In one sentence each, characterize some of the main work of the following:
    1. Jeremy Bentham
    2. Frederick Bastiat
    3. J.B. Clark
    4. J. R. McCulloch
    5. Enrico Barone
  5. (for Arthur Moretti) Describe the logic of the Hayek business cycle model. What role is played by technological elements? by monetary elements? What is the pertinence of the “Ricardo effect?”
  6. (for Kin Yip Louie) Explain the source of Marshall’s error in using consumers’ surplus to argue that increasing returns industries should be subsidized. Would the Hicksian analysis of the four consumers surpluses have helped ra avoid the error? Why or why not?
  7. (for Susan Skeath [“Susan Skeath van Mulbregt”, Princeton Ph.D., 1989; Professor of Economics at Wellesley College]) Explain the role played by utility in J. S. Mill’s value theory. Does his utility concept lead him to particular policy conclusions? How do Mill’s views on the appropriate role of government differ from those of his classical predecessors?
  8. (for Teow-Hock Koh [“Winston Teow-Hock Koh”, Princeton Ph.D., 1988; Professor at Singapore Management University; died 2013]) (To what extent does Malthus’ contradistinction to his analysis conclusions) structure anticipate the of the Keynesian model? In provide a answering this, summary of the workings of the pertinent parts the Keynesian analysis. What features of Marxian Theory overlap with the Keynesian model?
  9. (for Vicente Morales) a) Describe any of the mathematical solutions to the transformation problem showing how prices and the rate of profit are related to values and the rate of surplus value. b) Explain Samuelson’s criticism of the entire analysis and Morishima’s reply.

Source: Edward Tower (compiler). Economics Reading Lists, Course Outlines, Exams, Puzzles & Problems, Vol. 24. History of Economic Thought. Durham, NC: Eno River Press, August 1990, pp. 266-267.

Image Source:  Cropped from portrait of William J. Baumol in 1981 published in his obituary published in The New York Times, May 10, 2017.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Exam for undergraduate history of economic thought. Fellner, 1950-1951.

 

 

The transcribed exam below is the third in a series of posts for mid-twentieth century Harvard courses for which outlines and reading lists have been previously transcribed at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. 

Required readings for William Fellner’s history of economic thought course were taken from:

Gide, Charles and Rist, Charles, History of Economic Doctrines
Gray, Alexander, The Development of Economic Doctrine

The course outline together with the required chapter readings along with a list of over a hundred titles (most of which have been linked to digital copies) can be found at the link:

https://www.irwincollier.com/harvard-history-of-economic-thought-fellner-1950/

_______________________

Economics 100.
History of Economic Thought

Half-course (fall term). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor Fellner (University of California).

Source: Official Register of Harvard University. Vol. XLVII, No. 23 (September 1950): Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of the Arts and Sciences During 1950-51, p. 79.

_______________________

Mid-year final examination, January 1951

1950-51
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 100

Part I

Discuss the following question:

“Historical change in economic doctrine reflects changes in the orientation and the objectives of writers. However, it also reflects improvement in methods of approach.” Do you agree with this statement? Explain your position and illustrate it.

 

Part II

Discuss two questions and comment briefly on a third.

  1. Draw a contrast between mercantilistic and physiocratic thought and discuss the reaction of Adam Smith to both.
  2. In what respects was Malthus a “classical” economist and in what respects was he not?
  3. Discuss Ricardo’s views on comparative costs and appraise the bearing of this theory on the free trade doctrine.
  4. Is the Marxian value theory rooted in classical doctrine? What are the main differences? What is the significance of the Marxian value theory for the Marxian system as a whole?
  5. Trace the main stages in the development of the theory of rent from Adam Smith to about the end of the nineteenth century.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 17, Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, Government, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science, January 1951 (in bound volume Final Exams—Social Sciences, Jan. 1951).

Image Source: Photo of William Fellner from Hoover Institution Archives, Gottfried Haberler Papers, Box 43, Blue Folder without label.

 

Categories
History of Economics Suggested Reading Syllabus

Maryland. Undergraduate History of Economic Thought Syllabus. Milton Moss, 1986

 

Following his retirement from federal government service as an economic statistician, Milton Moss (Columbia economics Ph.D., 1962) taught a one semester undergraduate survey course on the history of economics at the University of Maryland from 1981 through 1986. He shared his course outline and reading assignments with his old former colleague at the Federal Reserve Board Herbert Furth in whose papers at the Hoover Institution Archives I was able to find the copy transcribed below. Checking the undergraduate course catalogues for the University of Maryland, I could verify that Moss was a part-time lecturer and that this course was indeed offered under this number in the early 1980s.

_________________________

Economics 307
The Development of Economic Ideas
[University of Maryland, 1986]

General Syllabus and
Course Outline of Topics, Readings and Questions
Dr. Milton Moss

 

General Syllabus

Course: Econ 307: The Development of Economic Ideas, Dr. Milton Moss.

Objective: To give an historical perspective to present day economic ideas, highlighting the interactions of economic, social, and political issues and policies.

Readings:

Required:

    1. Harry Landreth, History of Economic Theory
    2. Charles W. Needy, Classics of Economics

Recommended

    1. Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers (very entertaining)
    2. Mark Blaug, Economic Theory in Retrospect (challenging)
    3. Eric Roll, A History of Economic Thought, 4th edition (optional)
    4. Bible, Old and New Testaments (optional)
    5. M. I. Finley, The Ancient Economy (optional)
    6. Joseph Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (very useful for Marx)

Topics:

    1. Overview—Main Themes of the Course
    2. Before Economics Became a “Science”—Antiquity and Middle Ages
    3. Mercantilism & Physiocracy
    4. Classicism—Smith, Malthus, Ricardo
    5. Marxism
    6. Marginal Analysis and Microeconomics—Jevons, Menger, Marshall, and Modern versions
    7. Veblen and Institutional Economics
    8. Keynes and Macroeconomics
    9. Measurement of Economic Performance—National Income and Income Distribution
    10. Review of Main Themes of the Course

Examinations:

Three exams:

Premidterm (20 points)
Midterm (30 points)
Final (50 points)

Each exam will be discussed one week in advance of the examination date.

 

Outline of Topics, Readings, and Questions

  1. Before Economics Became a “Science”—500 B.C.—1300 A.D.

Readings: Landreth 14-19; Roll, Chap. I; Bible: Genesis, 41, 1-36; Leviticus, 27, 1-8; Finley, 17-19;
Student notes in class lecture and discussion.

Questions:

    • “Economics is the oldest art but one of the youngest sciences.” What does this mean?
    • What did Xenophon mean by “OIKONOMICOS”?
    • What is a “just” price? A “just” interest charge?
    • What is the money value of a human being?
    • What food supply policy did Joseph recommend in Ancient Egypt?
  1. Mercantilism and Physiocracy—1500-1750+
    Thomas Mun and Francois Quesnay.

Readings: Landreth 19-29; Needy, 1-14; Blaug, 10-36; Roll, Chap. II and p. 128-137.
Lectures and discussion.

Questions: How does Mercantilism differ from Physiocracy on:

    • What makes a nation wealthy and powerful?
    • How government policy may further a nation’s economic goals?
    • How all economic transactions in a nation are interdependent?
  1. Classicism—1770-1830+
    — Adam Smith, T. R. Malthus, David Ricardo, J.S. Mill, J.-B. Say.

Readings: Landreth 31-151; Needy, 15-83; Blaug, 36-235; Roll, Chap. IV; Heilbroner*, 40-101.
Lectures and discussion.

Questions:

    • Why are some nations poor and others rich?
    • Why do people and/or nations gain through specialization and free exchange?
    • How do free markets “naturally” lead capital and labor to their most efficient uses?
    • Why are wages unequal in different occupations?
    • How do changes in productivity of labor and in costs of production change the distribution between wages, profits, and rent?
    • What is the effect of population growth on economic well-being? On poverty?
    • Why might a scarce resource such as land lead to “diminishing returns”?
    • Is overproduction or underconsumption economically possible?
  1. Marxism—1850-1880 and modern versions.
    Karl Marx and his “successors.”

Readings: Landreth 153-190; Blaug, 236-309; Roll, Chap. VI; Needy, 84-108; Heilbroner*, 133-167; Schumpeter, 1-59.
Lectures and discussion.

Questions:

    • How did Marx build upon the classical labor cost theory of value to explain the distribution of income between wages and profits?
    • What is the economic incentive for technological change?
    • How does technological change lead to:
      a. monopoly?
      b. a reserve army of the unemployed?
      c. Socialism?
    • How do economic incentives affect the relation between money and production of commodities?
    • What is the Marxian view of the role of the State under capitalism? In welfare policy? In foreign policy?
    • Why is Marxism seemingly so influential in today’s politics and economics—especially in the “Third World”?
  1. Marginal Analysis and Microeconomics—1870 to present day.
    W. S. Jevons, Carl Menger, L. Walras, A. Marshall and modern theory.

Readings: Landreth 191-316 (but mainly 201-18 and 279-316); Needy, 118-146; Blaug, 309-390; Roll, Ch. VIII.
Lectures and discussion.

Questions:

    • How did marginalism shift price analysis away from the labor or cost theory of value to analysis of demand and supply?
    • How does marginal utility in relation to price explain demand?
    • How does marginal cost in relation to price explain supply?
    • To what uses besides demand and supply questions is marginal analysis applicable at the present time?
  1. Veblen and “Institutional” Economics—1899 to date.
    Mostly Veblen, but references also to W. C. Mitchell, J. R. Commons, and J. Galbraith.

Readings: Landreth 317-345, 354-360; Needy, 174-198, 1982-212 (optional); Heilbroner*, 210-244; Roll, 439-454. Lectures and discussion.

Questions:

    • Economic behavior, according to Veblen, can be divided into two main types: “Industrial employments,” and “pecuniary employments”.
      a. How does this view of economic behavior differ from that of Smith, Marx, and the marginalists?
      b. What are some examples of the two types of behavior? In Veblen’s day? At the present time?
    • Should economics be a study of disequilibrium rather than equilibrium? Of institutional change rather than fixed economic laws?
  1. Keynes and Macroeconomics—1930 to present.

Readings: Landreth 431-497; Needy, 324-352; Heilbroner*, 245-283; Blaug, 665-692 (difficult reading but worth trying your hand at—entirely optional); Roll, 479-497.
Lectures and discussion.

Questions:

    • During the great depression of the 1930’s what different proposals were made for putting people back to work? Marxian? Neoclassical? Keynesian?
    • How did the Keynesian framework of aggregate demand change the analysis of employment?
    • What is the effect of changes in aggregate demand, especially investment demand, on general economic fluctuations?
    • What role can Government play in diminishing economic fluctuations? Critically examine that role.
    • How has the trade-off between unemployment and inflation resulted in a reappraisal of Keynesian macroeconomic policy?
    • Is Keynes only a depression economist? Has “stagflation”—the concurrence of a stagnant economy and inflation-upset the foundations of Keynesian theory?
    • What are the main alternative views of macroeconomic policy today?
  1. Measurement of Economic Performance — 1690—Present.

Topics: National Income, Gross National Product, and Income Distribution.
Rely almost entirely on lectures.

Questions:

    • What are some highlights in the historical development of measurement of the income of nations?
    • National Income as presently compiled shows how income of a nation is distributed while Gross National Product shows how income is used. Why is that?
    • What have been some key uses by government and business policy makers of the National Income and Product Statistics?
    • On income distribution, what are the main issues that distinguish distribution of income to the factors of production from distribution by size of income among persons and households?
    • What are the advantages and limitations to using income as a measure of economic well-being?
  1. Review of the Main Themes in the History of Economic Thought
    General Discussion.

Note to Readings—Underlined references are required readings. Others are optional. References to Heilbroner are asterisked because students are likely to enjoy his entertaining and lively writing. Note that reference to Lectures and discussion are in bold indicating their critical importance in this course.

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. J. Herbert Furth Papers. Box 12.

Image Source: Adam Smith by James Tassie (1787). The National Portrait Gallery (U.K.)

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard History of Economics

Harvard. Exams for History of Economics up through 18th Century. Ashley, 1900.

 

The economic historian William James Ashley was also a historian of economics. As this Harvard course name and its semester exams transcribed for this post indicate, Ashley covered a huge chunk of waterfront–from Plato’s Republic through Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Students were clearly expected to bring a solid reading knowledge of German and French to the course (Latin was probably covered in the entrance exams of the time). Notes and links have been added between square brackets.

___________________

Course Enrollment

Primarily for Graduates:—

[Economics] 15. Professor Ashley. — The History and Literature of Economics to the close of the Eighteenth Century. Lectures (2 or 3 hours).

Total 11: 6 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

___________________

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 15
[Mid-year Examination]

Not more than eight questions should be attempted, of which the first must be one.

  1. Explain the significance and context of the following passages:
    1. “If you were making a city of pigs, this is the way you would feed them.”
      [Plato, The Republic, Book II]
    2. “If a child be born in their class with an alloy of copper or iron, they are to have no manner of pity upon it.”
      [Plato, The Republic, Book III]
    3. “Each of them is very many cities, – in any case there are two.”
      [Plato, The Republic, Book IV]
    4. “A slave is an animate instrument.”
      [Aristotle. The Politics. Book I, Chapter IV.]
    5. “Every article admits of two uses.”
      [Aristotle. The Politics. Book I, Chapter IX.]
    6. “Mutuum date, nihil inde sperantes.”

[“Lend hoping nothing thereby.” Luke 6:35. Originally from the Vulgate, Latin version of the Bible prepared mainly by St. Jerome in the late 4th century.
“35 verumtamen diligite inimicos vestros et benefacite et mutuum date nihil inde sperantes et erit merces vestra multa et eritis filii Altissimi quia ipse benignus est super ingratos et malos”
“35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”]
cf. Aquinas’ Summa Theologica. Second Division of the Second Part of Question LXXVIII. Of the Sin of Usury That is Committed in Loans.
Also, Théodore Reinach, Mutuum date nihil inde sperantes. Revue des Ètudes Grecques, 1849, pp. 52-48.]

  1. Compare Plato’s conception of the division of labor with that of Adam Smith.
  2. Explain and illustrate the attitude of Aristotle towards the working classes.
  3. It has been remarked that after all Aristotle’s ideal polity is half communistic.
    Criticize this opinion.
  4. Describe the economic organization of the Spartan state. What do you gather from Plato and Aristotle as to the effects of the system?
  5. In one sense, if at all, can the early Christian Church be called communistic? Set forth briefly the nature of the evidence.
  6. Explain what you suppose to be the doctrine of Aquinas as to just price, and then consider whether the idea is in any way practically applicable under modern circumstances.
    [From the Second Division of the Second Part of Summa Theologica. Question LXXVII. Of Fraudulent Dealing in Buying and Selling.]
  7. Wherein did the medieval contract of partnership approach and wherein did it differ from usury?
  8. Distinguish between the various senses attached to the word “Mercantilism”.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

 ___________________

[1899-1900]
ECONOMICS 15
[End-year Examination]

Not more than eight questions should be attempted.

  1. Distinguish between the several lines of thought concerning the causes determining Value to be found in the various writings of John Locke.
  2. The place in economic literature of either Sir Josiah Child or Sir William Petty.
  3. Estimate the influence upon Adam Smith of the economic writings of Hume.
  4. “Es lässt sich ja auch nicht leugnen, dass gerade das Beste an der physiocratischen Theorie: die Darstellung des Wirtschaftlichen Kreislaufs, die Lehre von der Reproduktion der Urstoffe, ihre Formung, Cirkulation und Verteilung, die Berechnung des Kapitalzinses, welchen die Pächter haben muss, und anderes auf einer Beobachtung des wirtschaftlichen Lebens beruhte; kurz sich als eine Beschreibung der französischen Wirtschaft des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts darstellte.”—Hasbach. Translate and comment.
    [Wilhelm Hasbach. Die allgemeinen philosophischen grundlagen der von François Quesnay und Adam Smith begründeten politischen ökonomie, 1890, p. 138]
  5. “La division du travail rend de si grands et si évidents services qu’on les a remarqués dès l’antiquité….Mais personne n’en a tiré parti au point de vue économique avant Adam Smith; aussi le considère-t-on en quelque sort comme l’inventeur de la division du travail.” — Block. Translate and comment.
    [Maurice Block, Les Progrès de la Science Économique depuis Adam Smith. Tome Premier, Chapitre XVII, La Division du Travail, p. 433.]
  6. A rapid sketch of the literary history of the doctrine of the Balance of Trade.
  7. “The Component Parts of Price.” The significance of the phrase.
  8. Compare Adam Smith’s doctrine of Wages with that of Ricardo.
  9. State and criticise Adam Smith’s Canons of Taxation.
  10. “Un autre progrès doctrinal réalisé depuis Ad. Smith…c’est la part faite aux entrepreneurs.” Translate and comment.
    [Maurice Block, Les Progrès de la Science Économique depuis Adam Smith. Revue des Deux Mondes (1890, Vol. 97), p. 940.]
  11. The Historical School: its merits and defects.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1900-01, p. 38.

Image Source: Portrait of W. J. Ashley incluced in University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D. Vol II (1899), p. 595.