Category: Money and Banking

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Exam Questions Harvard Money and Banking

Harvard. Reading list and final exam for Survey of Currency Regulation. Andrew, 1902-1903

Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr. (1911)

Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr. sprang from an assistant professorship of economics at Harvard (following his Ph.D. in 1900) to playing a key staff role in the preparation of the reports of the National Monetary Commission. Ultimately he became a Republican Congressman from Massachusetts, serving from September 1921 until his death in June 1936.

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Official Congressional Biography of
Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr.

ANDREW, Abram Piatt, Jr., a Representative from Massachusetts; born in La Porte, La Porte County, Ind., February 12, 1873; attended the public schools and the Lawrenceville (N.J.) School; was graduated from Princeton College in 1893; member of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences 1893-1898; pursued postgraduate studies in the Universities of Halle, Berlin, and Paris; moved to Gloucester, Mass., and was instructor and assistant professor of economics at Harvard University 1900-1909; expert assistant and editor of publications of the National Monetary Commission 1908-1911; director of the Mint 1909 and 1910; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 1910-1912; served in France continuously for four and a half years during the First World War, first with the French Army and later with the United States Army; commissioned major, United States National Army, in September 1917 and promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1918; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Willfred W. Lufkin; reelected to the Sixty-eighth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served from September 27, 1921, until his death; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1924 and 1928; member of the board of trustees of Princeton University 1932-1936; died in Gloucester, Mass., June 3, 1936; remains were cremated and the ashes scattered from an airplane flying over his estate at Eastern Point, Gloucester, Mass.

Source: Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr. entry at the internet Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

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Economics 8a
Course Description
1902-1903

8a1hf. Money. — A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Dr. Andrew.

In this course the aim will be to show how the existing monetary systems of the principal countries have come to be, and to analyze the more important currency problems. The course will begin with a brief history of the precious metals, which will be connected, in so far as possible, with the history of prices and the development of monetary theory. The history of coinage legislation in England and Europe and the United States will be traced, and will lead to an extended consideration of the various aspects of the bimetallic controversy.

At convenient points, the experiences of various countries with paper money will also be reviewed, and the influence of such issues upon wages, prices, and trade examined. Some attention, moreover, will be given to the non-monetary means of payment and to the large questions of monetary theory arising from their use.

Systematic reading will be required and will be tested by monthly examinations.

Course 8a1 is open to students who have taken Course 1.

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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Economics 8a
Course enrollment
1902-1903

Economics 8a. 1hf. Dr. Andrew. — Money. A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times.

Total 99: 4 Gr., 34 Se., 40 Ju., 14 So., 1 Fr., 6 Others.

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

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Reading List
Economics 8a
1902-03

BOOKS TO BE PROCURED

Francis A. Walker: International Bimetallism.

J. Laurence Laughlin: History of Bimetallism in the United States.

Leonard Darwin: Bimetallism.

REQUIRED READING

October

Walker: 1-110, 118-183.

Laughlin: 109-206.

Macaulay: History of England, ch. XXI. (Passages concerning the currency and its reform.)

The Bullion Report in Sumner, History of American Currency, Appendix; or in Sound Currency pamphlet, Vol. II, No. 14.
In connection with the Bullion Report consult Macleod: Theory of Credit, 738-760, 551-573; or Theory of Banking, I, 516-539,II, 1-95; or Sumner, American Currency, 231-310.

November

Laughlin: 1-105, 209-280.

Walker: 110-117, 183-9, 217-224.

Darwin: 1-154.

December

Taussig: Recent. Investigations on Prices in the United States, in the Yale Review for November, 1893.

Walker: 190-288.

Darwin: 157-280.

Taussig: The International Silver Situation in the Quarterly Journal of Economics for October, 1896.

January

(To be assigned later.)

Hour examinations will be held Nov. 7 and Dec. 5.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder “1902-1903.”

Cf. the richer bibliography for this course from the first term 1901-1902.

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ECONOMICS 8a
Mid-year Examination
1902-1903

Arrange answers strictly in the order of the questions
Omit one question

  1. Why did England adopt the gold standard? Why have other countries adopted it?
    State Walker’s and Laughlin’s opinions as well as your own.
  2. In a country with an inconvertible paper currency what are the conditions which control the premium on gold?
    1. according to the Bullion Report.
    2. according to Tooke.
    3. according to your own opinion.

Illustrate from English or American experiences with inconvertible paper.

  1. Trace the general changes in the value of gold in the United States from 1850 to the present time, analyzing so far as possible the reasons for these changes.
  2. Explain what you consider to be the merits and defects in the plans for the Phillipine currency adopted last year by the Senate and the House respectively? What lesson of significance for the Phillipine currency can be drawn from the history of the Latin monetary Union?
  3. Suppose that owing to the increasing gold supply the ratio between gold and silver were to fall, how would Mexican prices and the foreign trade of Mexico tend to be affected?
  4. How would you expect the fall in the value of silver to have affected (a) the trade relations of England and India before 1893? (b) the trade relations of India and China after 1893? How far is theory confirmed by actual experience?
  5. How according to Walker did monetary conditions affect the interests of the American working classes during the last quarter of the 19th century? Explain and criticise the nature of our evidence upon this subject.
    How did Walker and Marshall differ with regard to the effect of monetary conditions upon productive enterprise?
  6. Do falling prices “necessarily enhance the burden of all debts and fixed charges?”
    Illustrate by the experience of the United States during the period from 1873 to 1896, pointing out possible differences between agricultural and mercantile debts.
  7. Under what circumstances might a higher level of prices be maintained by means of book credits? Under what circumstances might a continuous rise in prices be effected by means of such credits?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year Examinations 1852-1943. Box 6. Papers (in the bound volume Examination Papers Mid-years 1902-1903).
Also included in: 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: 1911 portrait of Abram Piatt Andrew, Jr. by Anders Born at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Wikimedia Commons.

 

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Exam Questions Johns Hopkins Money and Banking

Johns Hopkins. Final exams for undergraduate money and banking. Weyforth, 1937-1938

 

Brief biographical information William Oswald Weyforth can be found in the earlier post that has includes the 1930-31 exam questions in money and banking.

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Course Description
for Money and Banking
1937-1938

3 B. Money and Banking. Associate Professor Weyforth. Three hours weekly through the year. M., Tu., W., 9.30. Gilman Hall 311.

In this course an analysis of the functions of money, credit and banking in our modern economic life will be made. There will be a description of various types of monetary systems, of the forms of credit and of banking and financial institutions. Particular attention will be given to the relationship between money, bank credit and prices; to the effects of price fluctuations upon individuals and upon general business conditions; to the problems of stabilizing prices and controlling business fluctuations by means of a deliberately directed monetary and credit policy. The Federal Reserve System will be studied with special emphasis upon its problem of credit control. Some time will also be devoted to the relationship between the money market and the stock market, to the problem of brokers’ loans, and to financial operations involved in our international trade.

Prerequisite: Political Economy 1 C.

Source: The Johns Hopkins University Circular (1937).

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Semester Examinations for Money and Banking
1937-1938

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
MID-YEAR EXAMINATION
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3 B
(Money & Banking)

February 1, 1938

  1. What are the essential features of a gold standard? Distinguish between a gold specie and a gold bullion standard. Is the United States on a gold standard at the present time? Give the reasons for your answer.
  2. What is bimetallism? What were the forces responsible for the demand for bimetallism after 1873. Criticize the recent silver policy of the United States government.
  3. Distinguish the international “balance of trade” and the “balance of payments” of any country. What are the more important types of transactions that enter into the balance of payments? Explain the forces through which equilibrium in the international balance of payments of a country is maintained under an international gold standard.
  4. When two countries are both on a gold standard why do market rates of exchange between the two currencies remain close to the mint par of exchange? Explain fully the circumstances under which bankers will undertake shipments of gold.
  5. Explain the relation between the quantity of money and the general level of prices. Will an increase in the quantity of money always result in an increase in the general level of prices? Explain fully.
  6. Explain the type of financing under which large government expenditures might lead to inflation. How might such expenditures be financed without bringing inflation?
  7. Explain the relationship between the purchasing power and the exchange rates of two currencies. Is the equilibrium rate between two paper currencies necessarily the purchasing power parity? Explain.
  8. Distinguish between a bill of exchange and a promissory note. Explain the significance of negotiability.
  9. Show how demand deposits in banks serve as money. Explain how banks create deposits. How is the power of banks limited in this respect? Explain the difference between the power of the banking system as a whole and that of a single bank that is one among a number in the system.
  10. What is meant when it is said that the pound sterling was overvalued when England returned to the gold standard in 1925; and that the franc was undervalued when France returned to gold in 1928? What are the economic effects of a country’s overvaluation or undervaluation of its gold currency?

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

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
FINAL EXAMINATION
IN
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3 B

Dr. Weyforth

May 31, 1938
9 a.m.

  1. What factors have been responsible for the decline of commercial loans in the United States since the end of the world war? What is the nature of the problem that this development has presented to commercial banks?
  2. In what way has speculation in securities been financed by commercial banks? Explain fully. What specific powers have been conferred upon the Federal Reserve Board by the Banking Act of 1933, and by the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 so as to give the Board greater control over speculation in securities?
  3. What factors have been responsible for the large excess reserves of member banks during the depression? Why have these excess reserves not led to a commensurate expansion of loans and investments?
  4. What justification is there for saying that we have a managed currency in the United States at the present time?
  5. What methods may be employed by the Federal reserve system at the present time for the purpose of credit control? Distinguish between quantitative control and qualitative control.
  6. In determining its policy of credit control what consideration should be given by the Federal Reserve officials to the following factors: (a) the state of the gold (gold certificate) reserves of the Federal reserve banks; (b) the general level of commodity prices; (c) the movement of security prices; (d) the volume of employment?
  7. What are the limits of the effectiveness of easy credit conditions as a means of stimulating business activity during a depression? How effective do you believe that government spending may be for this purpose? Explain fully.
  8. State the arguments pro and con for branch banking in the United States.
  9. What is meant by sterilized gold in the United States Treasury? What was the mechanism by means of which this sterilization was accomplished.

Source: Johns Hopkins University, Eisenhower Library. Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy. Curricular Materials. Series 6. Box 2. Folder “Department of Political Economy — Exams, 1936-1940”.

Image Source: William Oswald Weyforth (ca. 50 years of age). Johns Hopkins University graphic and pictorial collection, Sheridan Libraries. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

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Chicago Economists Money and Banking

Chicago. Ph.D. Thesis Committees in Monetary Economics. Patinkin’s Research, 1968

The first boxes of archival material that I examined as my research project on the evolution of graduate economics training was beginning to take shape came from Don Patinkin’s papers back when Duke’s Economists’ Papers Archive still bore the modest descriptor of “Economists’ Papers Project”.

This post transcribes some of the research material collected by Patinkin in his survey of Chicago style monetary economics. Fun Fact: his research assistant while on leave at M.I.T. was the graduate student Stanley Fischer, from whom incidentally I was to take my first graduate macroeconomics course (Patinkin’s book was on the reading list, surprise, surprise).

Doctoral theses advisers were identified for a dozen and a half Chicago theses that drew Don Patinkin’s attention. This is the sort of information that doesn’t normally jump at you in digitised form through a duly diligent internet search, so I thought it worth my time to file this information for now in a blog post. Minor additions have been added in square brackets for the sake of completeness.

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List of Patinkin’s copy request for Chicago Ph.D. theses

Author

 Article Details of parts photographed

Box No.

1.
Bach, George [Leland]

 Price Level Stabilization: [Some Theoretical and Practical Considerations]

[blank]

[blank]

2.
Bloomfield, Arthur [Irving]

 International Capital Movement and the American Balance of Payments 1929-1940 Title, Contents, Bibliography.
pp. 513-514, 578-579.

T-304

3.
Bronfenbrenner, Martin

 Monetary Theory and General Equilibrium Title, Preface, Bibliography.
Chaps. 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

T-10250

4.
Brooks, Benjamin [Franklin]

 A History of Monetary Theory in the United States Before 1860 Contents, Preface, Bibliography.
Chap. 11.

T-9885

5.
Caplan, Benjamin

 The Wicksellian School—A Critical Study of the Development of Swedish Monetary Theory, 1898-1932 Title, Contents, Preface, Bibliography.

T-7847

6.
Cox, Garfield V.

 Business Forecasting in the United States 1919-1928 Title, Contents, Preface, Bibliography.

T-17-91

7.
Daugherty Marion [Roberts]

 The Currency-Banking Controversy Title, Contents, Bibliography
pp. 41, 54, 130, 133, 246, 316.

T-10282

8.
Harper, [William Canaday] Joel

 Scrip and Other Forms of Local Money Title, Contents, Bibliography.

T-145

9.
Leigh, Arthur Hertel

 Studies in the Theory of Capital and Interest Before 1870 Title, Contents, Bibliography.

T-554

10.
Linville, Francis [Aron]

 Central Bank Co-operation Title, Contents, Bibliography.

T-11508

11.
McEvoy, Raymond H.

 The Effects of Federal Reserve Operations 1929-1936 Title, Contents, Preface Bibliography.

T-7731

12.
McIvor R. Craig

 Monetary Expansion in Canadian War Finance, 1939-1946 Title, Contents, Bibliography.

T-10268

13.
McKean, Roland Neely

 Fluctuations in Our Private Claim-Debt Structure and Monetary Policy Title, Contents, Bibliography.
Chaps. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

T-90

14.
Reeve, Joseph [Edwin]

 Monetary Proposals for Curing the Depression in the United States 1929-1935 [blank]

T-11022

15.
Shaw, Ernest Ray

 The Investment and Secondary Reserve Policy of Commercial Banks Title, Contents, Preface, Bibliography.

T-8322

16.
Snider, Delbert [Arthur]

 Monetary, Exchange, and Trade Problems in Postwar Greece Title, Contents, Bibliography.

T-1031

17.
Tongue, William [Walter]

 Money, Capital, and the Business Cycle Title, Contents, Preface, Bibliography.

T-670

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Economists’ Papers Archive. Don Patinkin Papers, University of Chicago School of Economics Raw Materials, Box 2, Folder “Chicago, general (?). from binder: “U. Chicago Ph.D. Theses”, folder 1 of 2”.

______________________________

The University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois 60637

Department of Economics

August 21, 1968

Professor Don E. Patinkin
Economics Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Dear Professor Patinkin:

            I am listing below the information (Committee members) you requested in your letter of July 8, 1968. I am also hoping that you have received your microfilm by now. The Photoduplication department was to have mailed them to you on August 13.

Bach, George [Leland] 1940 S. E. Leland
C. W. Wright
H. C. Simon
Bloomfield, Arthur [Irving] 1942 J. Viner
Lloyd W. Mints
O. Lange
Bronfenbrenner, Martin 1939 Frank Knight, chr.
S. E. Leland
Brooks, Benjamin [Franklin] 1939 Frank Knight, chr.
Lloyd Mints
[Viner also thanked in thesis preface]
Caplan, Benjamin 1942 J. Viner
O. Lange		 L. W. Mints
H. C. Simons
Cox, Garfield [V.] 1929 Lionel D. Edie, chr.
Jacob Viner
Chester W. Wright
Daugherty, Marion [Roberts] (Mrs.) 1941 Jacob Viner, chr.
Garfield Cox
Lloyd Mints
Harper, Joel [William Canady] 1949
[Summer 1948]		 F. Knight
O. Lange
H. Simons		 C. W. Wright
L. Mints
S. Leland
Leigh, Arthur [Hertel] 1946 Frank Knight, chr.
Jacob Viner
Oskar Lange
McEvoy, Raymond [H.] 1950 Lloyd W. Mints, chr.
Earl J. Hamilton
Lloyd A. Metzler
McIvor, Russel [Craig] 1947 Roy Blough, chr.
J. K. Langum
L.W. Mints [in thesis acknowledgement Mints as the doctoral committee chair]
McKean, Roland [Neely] 1948 Lloyd W. Mints, chr.
Lloyd A. Metzler
Earl J. Hamilton
A. Director
Reeve, Joseph [Edwin] 1939 Lloyd W. Mints, chr.
Garfield V. Cox
Jacob Viner
Shaw, Ernest [Ray] 1930 Lionel D. Edie, chr.
Lloyd W. Mints
Stuart P. Meech (Bus. School)
Snider, Delbert [Arthur] 1951 L. Metzler, chr.
R. Blough
Bert Hoselitz
Tongue, William [Walter] 1947 L. W. Mints, chr.
Frank H. Knight
H. Gregg Lewis

            As you can see in some instances the Chairman was not listed, but the examining committee was listed. I wrote to Professor Cox, 660 W. Bonita, Apt. 24 E, Claremont, California 91711, to get the committee members for him and for Professor E. Shaw. Professor Cox also gave me the address of Professor Lloyd W. Mints, 618 E. Myrtle St., Ft. Collins, Colorado, should you have any interest. I hope this is sufficient.

Yours truly,
[signed]
(Mrs.) Hazel Bowdry
Sec. to Professor Telser

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois 60637

Department of Economics

October 23, 1968

Professor Don Patinkin
Department of Economics
The Eliezer Kaplan School of
Economics and Social Sciences
The Hebrew University
Jerusalem, Israel

Dear Professor Patinkin:

            In answer to your letter of October 4, I have rechecked the files and find the below listed information.

George Bach’s committee members:

L. W. Mints, chr.
S. E. Leland
C. W. Wright
Oskar Lange
F. H. Knight
H. C. Simons
Jacob Viner
Jacob Left
Maynard Krueger

This is the order in which the examining committee is listed.

Martin Bronfenbrenner:

Henry Schultz chr.
J. Viner
L. W. Mints
F. Knight
A. G. Hart
H. C. Simon

Joel Harper:

S. E. Leland, Chr.
H. Simons
L. W. Mints
Mr. Chatters

Benjamin Brooks:

L. Mints, chr.
J. Viner
F. Knight

            I checked Faculty records with Mrs. Mosby, and found a re-appointment for Henry Simons dated June 3, 1930.

            I hope this information is helpful, and I am sorry I cannot give more definite committee members in the case of Bach.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
(Mrs.) Hayzel Bowdry

P.S. I hope you have received the microfilm by now. It was mailed via airmail yesterday.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Economists’ Papers Archive. Don Patinkin Papers, University of Chicago School of Economics Raw Materials, Box 2, Folder “Chicago, general (?), Simons, Mints, Knight materials”.

Image Source: Don Patinkin article at Gonçalo L. Fonseca’s History of Economic Thought website. Colorized at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Money and Banking

Harvard. Money, Banking, and International Payments. Exams. Andrew, Sprague, Meyer 1901-1902

 

 

The reading list for the first semester (4 pages) of the money, banking, and international payments course taught at Harvard in 1901-02 along with some biographical information for one of the instructors, Abram Piatt Andrew, has been posted earlier.

While I have not found a reading list for the second semester of the course, it is safe to assume that the enlarged second edition of  Dunbar’s Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking, edited by O.M.W. Sprague (1901) was assigned as the primary text. 

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Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 8. Drs. [Abram Piatt] Andrew [Jr.] and [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague, and Mr. [Hugo Richard] Meyer. — Money, Banking and International Payments.

Total 78: 5 Graduates, 35 Seniors, 30 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 4 Others.

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

______________________________

Course Description

  1. Money, Banking, and International Payments. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Drs. Andrew and Sprague, and Mr. Meyer.

The first part of the year will be devoted to a general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory. The course will begin with a history of the precious metals, which will be connected, in so far as possible, with the history of prices, and with the historical development of theories as to the causes underlying the value of money. The course of monetary legislation in the principal countries will be followed, with especial attention to its relation to the bimetallic controversy; but the experiences of various countries with paper money will also be reviewed, and the influence of such issues upon wages, prices, and trade examined. Some attention, moreover, will be given in this connection to the non-monetary means of payment and to the large questions of monetary theory arising from their use.

The second part of the course will begin with an historical account of the development of banking. Existing legislation and practice in various countries will be analyzed and compared. The course of the money markets of New York, London, Paris, and Berlin will be followed during a series of months, and the various factors, such as stock exchange operations and foreign exchange payments, which bring about fluctuations in the demand for loans and the rate of discount upon them, will be considered. The relations of banks to commercial crises will also be analyzed, the crises of 1857 and 1893 being taken for detailed study.

The course will conclude with a discussion of the movement of goods, securities, and money, in the exchanges between nations and in the settlement of international demands. After a preliminary study of the general doctrine of international trade, it is proposed to make a close examination of some cases of payments on a great scale, and to trace the adjustments of imports and exports under temporary or abnormal financial conditions. Such examples as the payment of the indemnity by France to Germany after the war of 1870-71, the distribution of gold by the mining countries, and the movements of the foreign trade of the United States since 1879, will be used for the illustration of the general principles regulating exchanges and the distribution of money between nations.

Course 8 is open to students who have passed satisfactorily in Course 1. With the consent of the instructors, it may be taken by Seniors and Graduates as a half-course in either half-year.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902, Box 1. Bound volume: Univ. Pub. N.S. 16. History, etc. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics (June 21, 1901), pp. 42-43.

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Mid-year Examination, 1901-02
ECONOMICS 8

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.
Omit one question.

  1. Describe and illustrate with two examples (giving approximate dates): (a) the double standard, (b) the limping standard, (c) the parallel standard, (d) the single standard.
  2. Explain some of the different motives which in earlier centuries led to the debasement of the coins, and show the measure of their justification.
  3. Show how the levying of a seignorage will affect the value of money (a) if the owner of bullion is given back the same number of coins but of lighter weight, (b) if he receives fewer coins but of the same weight.
  4. During the entire century which preceded England’s adoption of gold as her single standard, less than one million pounds sterling of silver were issued from her mints, while in a period of less than a hundred years since then the silver coinage has amounted to fifty millions.
    How do you explain (a) the small amount of silver coined before its “demonetization”? (b) the larger amount coined subsequently?
  5. Before 1873 the United States had coined only about eight million silver dollars ($8,031,238) but since that year, which is often assumed to mark the beginning of demonetization, we have coined over five hundred millions ($522,795,065).
    Explain these two facts.
  6. “No experiment of bimetallism has ever been inaugurated under circumstances more favorable for its success… No fairer field for its trial could have been found.” Describe the conditions under which bimetallism was tried in the United States, and give your opinion of the passage quoted as a characterization of American monetary history.
  7. “Inasmuch as gold [before 1848] was more valuable in the market than at the French mint, relatively to silver, it was impossible that gold should circulate in France.”
    Is this a necessary conclusion?
  8. What does Darwin mean by the labor standard? By the commodity standard? Explain the merits claimed for each, and show the exemplification of the two standards in the history of the precious metals between 1873 and 1896.
  9. What were the reasons which induced Europe to abandon the free coinage of silver during the seventies (a) according to Laughlin? (b) according to Walker? (c) in your own opinion?
  10. State the factors that increased India’s power to purchase in the international markets in the period from 1850 to 1870, and explain what use India made of that increased power, together with the reasons for the use made.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6. Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-years 1901-1902.

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Year-end Examination, 1901-02
ECONOMICS 8

  1. The strength or weakness of the United States in the so-called struggle for the world’s stock of gold.
  2. Applying Mill’s reasoning upon international trade to the situation in the United States, state what you would expect to be the course of prices of imports and exports in the years immediately following.
  3. Why is long exchange quoted at lower rates than sight exchange? If sight is $4.84 and long $4.80, what will be the effect (1) of a reduction of 1% in English rates for money? (2) of the increase of the price of eagles at the Bank of England?
  4. New York Bank Statement, May 31, 1902:—
Loans

$855.60

Increase

15.1
Deposits

$948.30

Increase

16.6
Reserve

$249.00

Increase

1.8

Complete the statement and explain the probable reasons for the increase of deposits and reserve.

  1. Comment on the following: —
    1. 3 per Mills against us.
    2. Bank statement based on falling averages.
    3. U.S. Bond account.
    4. National gold banks.
    5. Recepisse.
  2. Discuss the following:—
    1. The limitation of note issue to capital.
    2. The retirement of the legal tender notes as an essential part of any plan for an asset currency.
  3. Compare the safety fund and the free banking systems of New York.
  4. Regulations of the national banking system other than those of note issue.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1902-03. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Education, Fine Arts, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Music in Harvard College (June, 1902), p. 28.

Image Sources:
Left to right: Andrew (Harvard Classbook 1906, p. 6), Sprague (Harvard Classbook 1912), Meyer, The Minneapolis Messenger, October 12, 1905, Page 4, from Wikipedia.