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Agricultural Economics Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Syllabus, readings, exams for agricultural economics. Galbraith, 1938-39

John Kenneth Galbraith, not quite 25 years of age

The first association made in one’s mind upon hearing the name John Kenneth Galbraith is certainly not “agricultural economics”, but that was the field in which his academic career began and indeed it was what got his foot into the door at Harvard. In his papers at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library one can find some material for his courses that is not to be found in the Harvard archives, such as the course outline and reading assignments for his year-long course taught in 1938-39 to undergraduates and graduate students, “Economics of Agriculture”. 

Economics in the Rear-View Mirror tops off Galbraith’s syllabus and reading list with enrollment figures and semester exams transcribed from material in the Harvard Archives.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 72. Dr. Galbraith—Economics of Agriculture.

Total 41: 2 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1938-1939, p. 98.

_____________________________

Outline of the Course.
Three objectives.

  1. Some idea of the agriculture of the United States and Western Europe—that which one is likely to encounter. Two aspects:
    1. Type of production
    2. Kind of agricultural organization. Meaning.
  2. An understanding of the economics of the agricultural industry.
    Previous experience with economic theory
    Parts of a course such as this to see if it can be clothed with factual material and made useful.
    Peculiar advantages of agriculture.
  3. Building on the previous two stages, we turn to agricultural policy. What is agricultural policy? The farm problem.
    —we examine the factors underlying economic difficulties of agriculture in recent years, the causes of distress. The way the United States has attempted to meet is farm problem and the various policies which may be contemplated in the future.
    —we will attempt to compare this with the policy of other countries.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Economics 71
(First half year)
Reading List

Persia Campbell, American Agricultural Policy, pp. 1-55.

President’s Report on Farm Tenancy in the U.S., pp. 35-49, 3-20. [cf. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924074241344 ]

C.O. Brannen. Relation of Land Tenure to Plantation Organization. U.S.D.A. Bulletin 1269, 1924-25, p. 3, 8-38, 60-67.

The Future of the Great Plains. Report of the Great Plains Committee, pp. 1-89.

Chamberlin, Theory of Monopolistic Competition. Pp. 1-116.

Dennison and Galbraith. Modern Competition and Business Policy, pp. 1 to 109.

Garver and Hanson. Principles of Economics, Chapter V.

Black and Black. Production Organization, pp. 109-145, 255-260 inc.

Cassels, J. M. On the Law of Variable Proportions in Explorations in Economics, p. 223.

Galbraith and Black, Maintenance of Agricultural Production, Journal of Political Economy, June, 1938.

ECONOMICS 71
Syllabus – 1938-39

Chapter I.
A General Survey of Agricultural Production

    1. The agriculture of the United States. The livestock and crop production of the different regions of the United States. The classification of American agriculture by “type-of-farming”. A review of the type-of-farming map of the United States.
    2. The agricultural systems of the United States. The family farm. Ownership und tenancy. Part-time agriculture in the East. Large-scale and corporation forms in the Great Plains and West. Plantation and cropper agriculture in the South. Retrograde and decayed agricultural production in in the southern Appalachians.[Hand-written marks on the carbon copy indicate that (c) and (d) were not covered.]
    3. English agriculture. Character of agricultural production in England. The large land-owners and tenant farming. Independent ownership in England.
    4. Western Europe and the Danube Basin. (i) a survey of the agricultural map and agricultural production of Western Europe. (ii) The agricultural systems of the Continent. Peasant agriculture and types of peasant culture and organization. The distinction between peasant and farmer. Estate or Junker agriculture.

Chapter II
The Competitive Structure of Agricultural Enterprise as a Whole

    1. Monopoly, monopolistic — and pure competition. Review of the theoretical categories of competitive organization. Comparison of competitive organization in agriculture with that in industry. Comparisons of competitive structure in agricultural production with that in the supply of agricultural production goods.
    2. the significance of “pure” competition in agriculture

— in relation to agricultural price behavior
— in relation to behavior of agricultural production
— in relation to the variability of agricultural income.

Chapter III
The Organization of the Individual Farm Enterprise

    1. Theoretical differences between the adjustment of industry and agriculture to economic change. the significance of the coincidence of marginal with average revenue in agriculture.
    2. The combination of the factors of production. Diminishing returns. The highest profit combination in agriculture.
    3. Practical considerations in achieving optimum returns. The combination of enterprises. Budgeting technique. the effect of the period of production and the problem of price forecasting.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Economics 71
Outline and Reading List
Second Half-Year, 1938-39

Chapter IV.
The Financing of Agriculture

    1. the nature of the financial requirements of the farmer. Land purchase credit; credit for durable capital; production credit.
    2. Recent trends in the development of agricultural credit institutions. The transition from private to public institutions.
    3. The riddle of public credit policy.

Readings:

Farm Credit Administration. Annual Report 1937. Pp. 15-83.

Galbraith. The Farmer’s Banking System; Four Years of F.C.A. Operations. Harvard Business Review. Spring 1937.

Galbraith. The Federal Land Banks and Agricultural Stability. Journal of Farm Economics, February, 1937.

Chapter V.
Agricultural Land

    1. The development of American land policy; the transition from free land to private ownership and full utilization.
    2. The problem of optimum utilization. The margin of desirable use. The reasons for sub-marginal utilization. The alternative uses of sub-marginal farm lands and the techniques for controlling land use.
    3. The economic aspects of the erosion problem.

Readings:

Hibbard, B. H. A History of the Public Land Policy, Chapters I, XIII, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XXVII, XXVIII.

National Resources Board. Part II. Report of the Land Planning Committee. Pp. 108-134, 154-202. A general rather than a detailed examination of this report is expected. Attention is called to other sections of the report.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. To Hold This Soil. Misc. Publication 321. 1938. Copies may be obtained from U.S.D.A, or Congressman.

Chapter VI
Agricultural Labor.

    1. General character of agricultural labor force. Family labor, the individual worker, seasonal and spring labor. Trade union organization in agriculture. Ownership aspirations of the agricultural laborer and the so-called agricultural ladder.

Readings:

Social Problems in Agriculture. I.L.O., 1938. Pp. 23-38, 40-54, 57-71, 72-97.

[International Labour Office. Studies and Reports, Series K (Agriculture) Social Problems in Agriculture. Record of the Permanent Agricultural Committee of the I.L.O. (7-15 February 1938). Geneva]

Chapter VII
The Agricultural Policy of the United States

    1. Proposal and legislation for farm relief during the 1920’s.
    2. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the farm program of the New Deal.

Readings:

Nourse, Davise, Black. Three Years of the Agricultural Adjustment, pp. 1-245.

Report of the Secretary of Agriculture 1938. pp. 1-68. This may be obtained from Office of Information, U.S.D.A. or a Congressman.

[There is a bracket for Chapter VIII hand-marked on Galbraith’s personal copy, from this and the final exam it appears that these topics were likely not covered in the course.]

Chapter VIII.
Comparative Aspects of Foreign Agricultural Policy

    1. The agricultural policy of Great Britain.
    2. The agricultural policies of Sweden and Denmark.
    3. Autarchial agricultural policy in Germany and Italy.
    4. The determinants of agricultural policy in review.

Readings:

Bonow, M. Agricultural Policy: Lessons from Sweden.

Denmark. Agriculture. The Agricultural Council. Look over and cf. particularly pp. 9-26, 287-316.

Marquis Child. Farmer-Labor Relations in Scandinavia. Yale Review, Autumn, 1938.

Karl T. Schmidt. The Plough and the Sword, pp. 1-175.

R. A. Brady. Spirit and Structure of German Fascism. Pp. 213-291.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 71
Mid-year Examination
1938-39.

  1. (Reading period material.) Write for about three-quarters of an hour on one of the following topics:
    How the United States government has disposed of its land.
    Proposed measures for farm relief in the 1920’s.
    The objectives and methods of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration 1933-36.
  2. What do you understand by the phrase “a system of agriculture”? With reference to your statement, outline the major systems of agriculture in the United States.
  3. Discuss the competitive organization of the agricultural industry and indicate the economic possibilities and limitations upon collective action by farmers for increasing their income.
    Cite relevant examples where possible.
  4. What difficulties would you expect to encounter in endeavoring to determine the cost of producing milk in New England assuming that farmers are ready to furnish you all available data?
  5. How does agricultural output behavior differ from that of industry during depression and why? Enter fully upon the theoretical aspects of this question and discuss critically.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Bound volume Mid-Year Examinations—1939 in Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 13.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 71
Final Examination
1938-39.

  1. (Reading period material.) Write for about three-quarters of an hour on the application of the ideas of either Henry George or Thorstein Veblen to the problems of present day agriculture.
  2. “The agricultural laborer is truly the forgotten man. Unorganized, isolated, ill-paid and over-worked his plight is not even sufficiently well-known so that it bothers the nation’s conscience.”
    Discuss fully and critically
  3. Discuss and contrast the effects of (a) a too generous and (b) a too niggardly supply of farm mortgage credit under various conditions of agricultural prosperity and depression. Do not present an historical material that is not relevant to your answer.
  4. Explain as you see it, the relationship between private ownership of land and the problems of conservation and soil erosion.
  5. Is production control by the Federal government necessary to the well-being of American agriculture? Justify your answer fully.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science (June, 1939) in Harvard University Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 4.

Image Source: Photo of John Kenneth Galbraith attached to his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States submitted on June 16, 1933 in Oakland California.
Fun fact: JKG weighed in at 180 pounds (81.65 kg) with a height of 6 ft 8 inches (2 m, 3 cm).  BMI = 19.8.

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Exam Questions Harvard Socialism Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Methods of Social Reform. Enrollment, description, linked reading list, final exam. Carver, 1904-1905

Economics professor Thomas Nixon Carver was the second in a long line of Harvard professors who exposed their students to the doctrines of anarchism, socialism, and communism (among other -isms). Carver came to bury the well-intentioned but ill-conceived doctrines, not to praise them. 

Strange Political Bedfellow: An earlier post provides Thomas Nixon Carver’s link to the U.S. publicist of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, 1921.

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Material from earlier years:

Exams and enrollment figures for economics of socialism and communism taught by Edward Cummings (1893-1900),
Socialism and Communism (with Bushée), 1901-92,
Methods of Social Reform, (Carver), 1902-03.

Material from later years:

Short Bibliography of Socialism for “Serious-minded students” by Carver (1910),
Thomas Nixon Carver (1920),
Edward S. Mason (1929),
Paul Sweezy (1940),
Wassily Leontief  (1942-43),
Joseph Schumpeter (1943-44),
Overton Hume Taylor (1955).

________________________

Course Enrollment
1904-05

Economics 14b 2hf. Professor Carver. — Methods of Social Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax, etc.

Total 79: 10 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 26 Juniors, 13 Sophomores, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 75.

________________________

Course Description
1904-05

14b 2hf. Methods of Social Reform. Socialism, Communism, the Single Tax. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 1.30. Professor Carver.

Open only to students who have had Course 14a.
The purpose of this course is to make a careful study of those plans of social amelioration which involve either a reorganization of society, or a considerable extension of the functions of the state. The course begins with an historical study of early communistic theories and experiments. This is followed by a critical examination of the theories of the leading socialistic writers, with a view to getting a clear understanding of the reasoning which lies back of socialistic movements, and of the economic conditions which tend to make this reasoning acceptable. A similar study will be made of Anarchism and Nihilism, of the Single Tax Movement, of State Socialism and the public ownership of monopolistic enterprises, and of Christian Socialism, so called.
Morley’s Ideal Commonwealths, Ely’s French and German Socialism, Marx’s Capital, Marx and Engels’s The Communist Manifesto, and George’s Progress and Poverty will be read, besides other special references.
The course will be conducted by means of lectures, reports, and class-room discussions.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), p. 46.

___________________

[Library stamp: Mar 7, 1905]

Economics 14

Topics and References
Starred references are prescribed

[Note: Identical to reading list of 1902-03]

COMMUNISM

A
Utopias
1. Plato’s Republic
2. *Sir Thomas More.   Utopia.
3. *Francis Bacon.   New Atlantis.
4. *Tommaso Campanella.   The City of the Sun. (Numbers 2, 3, and 4 may be found in convenient form in Morley’s Ideal Commonwealths.)
5. Etienne Cabet.   Voyage en Icarie.
6. Wm. Morris.   News from Nowhere.
7. Edward Bellamy.   Looking Backward.

 

B
Communistic Experiments
1. *Charles Nordhoff.   The Communistic Societies of the United States.
2. Karl Kautsky.   Communism in Central Europe in the Time of the Reformation.
3. W. A. Hinds.   American Communities.
4. J.H. Noyes.   History of American Socialisms.
5. J. T. Codman.   Brook Farm Memoirs.
6. Albert Shaw.   Icaria.
7. G.B. Landis.   The Separatists of Zoar.
8. E.O. Randall.   History of the Zoar Society.

 

SOCIALISM

A
Historical
1. *R. T. Ely. French and German Socialism.
2. Bertrand Russell. German Social Democracy.
3. John Rae. Contemporary Socialism.
4. Thomas Kirkup. A History of Socialism.
5. W. D. P. Bliss. A Handbook of Socialism.
6. Wm. Graham. Socialism, New and Old.
7. [Jessica Blanche] Peixotto. The French Revolution and Modern French Socialism.

 

B
Expository and Critical
1. *Albert Schaeffle. The Quintessence of Socialism.
2. Albert Schaeffle. The Impossibility of Social Democracy.
3. *Karl Marx. Capital.
4. *Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels. The Manifesto of the Communist Party.
5. Frederick Engels. Socialism: Utopian and Scientific.
6. E. C. K. Gonner. The Socialist Philosophy of Rodbertus.
7. E. C. K. Gonner. The Socialist State.
8. Bernard Shaw and others. The Fabian Essays in Socialism.
9. The Fabian Tracts.
10. R. T. Ely. Socialism: An Examination of its Nature, Strength, and Weakness.
11. Edward Bernstein. Ferdinand Lassalle.
12. Henry M. Hyndman. The Economics of Socialism.
13. Sydney and Beatrice Webb. Problems of Modern Industry.
14. Gustave Simonson. A Plain Examination of Socialism.
15. Sombart. Socialism and the Social Movement in the Nineteenth Century.
16. Vandervelde. Collectivism [and Industrial Evolution].

 

ANARCHISM

1. *Leo Tolstoi. The Slavery of Our Times.
2. William Godwin. Political Justice.
3. Kropotkin. The Scientific Basis of Anarchy. Nineteenth Century, 21: 238.
4. Kropotkin. The Coming Anarchy. Nineteenth Century, 22:149.
5. Elisée Reclus. Anarchy. Contemporary Review, 45: 627. [May 1884]

 

RELIGIOUS AND ALTRUISTIC SOCIALISM

1. Lamennais. Les Paroles d’un Croyant.
2. Charles Kingsley. Alton Locke.
3. *Kaufman. Lamennais and Kingsley. Contemporary Review, April, 1882.
4. Washington Gladden. Tools and the Man.
5. Josiah Strong. Our Country.
6. Josiah Strong. The New Era.
7. William Morris, Poet, Artist, Socialist. Edited by Francis Watts Lee. A collection of the socialistic writings of William Morris.
8. Ruskin. The Communism of John Ruskin. Edited by W. D. P. Bliss. Selected chapters from Unto this Last, The Crown of Wild Olive, and Fors Clavigera.
9. Carlyle. The Socialism and Unsocialism of Thomas Carlyle. Edited by W. D. P. Bliss. Selected chapters from Carlyle’s various works. [Volume 1; Volume 2]

 

AGRARIAN SOCIALISM

1. *Henry George. Progress and Poverty.
2. Henry George. Our Land and Land Policy.
3. Alfred Russell Wallace. Land Nationalization.

 

STATE SOCIALISM

An indefinite term, usually made to include all movements for the extension of government control and ownership, especially over means of communication and transportation, also street lighting, etc.

1. R. T. Ely. Problems of To-day. Chs. 17-23.
2. J. A. Hobson. The Social Problem.

 

WORKS DISCUSSING THE SPHERE OF THE STATE IN SOCIAL REFORM

1. Henry C. Adams. The Relation of the State to Industrial Action.
2. *D. G. Ritchie. Principles of State Interference.
3. D. G. Ritchie. Darwinism and Politics.
4. *Herbert Spencer. The Coming Slavery.
5. W. W. Willoughby. Social Justice.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1904-1905”.

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ECONOMICS 14b
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

  1. So far as you have studied them, were the failures of communistic experiments due to the fact that they were carried out on too small a scale, to unfavorable outside conditions, or to inherent weaknesses in their internal organization? Give at least three illustrations.
  2. Give an outline of one Utopian scheme or ideal commonwealth which you have studied, and point out its strong and its weak features.
  3. Give an account of the origin of the German Social Democratic Party.
  4. Is there any essential difference between the income of the capitalist and that of the landlord? Explain your answer.
  5. Discuss the question, Is labor the sole creator of wealth?
  6. Discuss the question, Is there any relation between the inequality in the distribution of talent and the inequality in the distribution of wealth under the competitive system.

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,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), p. 33.

Image Source: “The trouble, my friends, with socialism is that it would destroy initiative” by Udo J. Keppler. Centerfold in Puck, v. 66, no. 1715 (January 12, 1910). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Illustration shows a large gorilla-like monster with human head, clutching clusters of buildings labeled “Public Utilities, Competition, [and] Small Business” with his right arm and left leg, as he crushes a building labeled “Untainted Success, Initiative, Individualism, Independence, [and] Ambition” with his left hand, causing some citizens to flee while others plead for mercy. He casts a shadow over the U.S. Capitol, tilting in the background.

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Exam Questions Harvard Sociology Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Course readings, final exams, and enrollment for Principles of Sociology. Carver and Field, 1904-1905

 

The post begins with excerpts from Thomas Nixon Carver’s autobiography dealing with his own training and teaching of sociology. He was an economist back when most sociology courses were taught within economics departments as was the case at Harvard up through the early 1930’s. Carver’s recollections are followed by the enrollment figures, the reading list, and the semester examinations for his Principles of Sociology course from the 1904-05 academic year.

Likely readings for this course can be found in Sociology and Social Progress, compiled by Thomas Nixon Carver (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1905).

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Carver’s background and institutional legacy in sociology
(From his autobiography)

Graduate Coursework at Cornell

[p. 105] The economics faculty consisted of Jeremiah W. Jenks, chairman, Walter F. Willcox, Charles H. Hull, and young  [Lucius S.] Merriam. The history department was very strong but I did not take any history courses, to my later regret. My fellowship was officially a teaching fellowship, but I was told that the holders had never been called upon to teach. It paid $550 which proved sufficient for my needs. I took courses under all three of the older men in the department of economics, but none under Merriam. Jenks conducted the seminar and gave a course on economic legislation, both of which I took. Hull gave a course on the history of economic thought, which I took, and another on industrial history. Willcox gave a course in statistics and another on sociology, both of which I took….

[p.111] … Johns Hopkins at that time was known principally because of its graduate school. Cornell had a growing graduate school but it was an appendage rather than the main part of the university. At Johns Hopkins, graduate students were segregated and had relatively few contacts with undergraduates. At Cornell, on the other hand, they were pretty well mixed.

Cornell had a larger faculty than Johns Hopkins and probably as many distinguished scholars, but the average was perhaps not so high, most of them being concerned with undergraduate teaching.

In the Department of Economics, Jenks was the oldest member and chairman of the department. He was more interested in the practical than in the theoretical side of economics. Merriam was a brilliant theorist and, had he lived, would have strengthened that side of their work. Jenks was a wide awake and interesting teacher, a man of the world who could meet on equal terms men prominent in government and business and might have done well in the diplomatic service.

Hull had an encyclopedic knowledge of American industrial history and should have written books on the subject, but he was so afraid that he might overlook something that he never got quite ready to write.

Probably the most brilliant of the three was Walter F. Willcox. Before the rise of the mathematical school of statisticians he was the leading statistician of the country. He also took us through Spencer’s Principles of Sociology and added a good many original ideas of his own. He was one of the few teachers of sociology whom I have known who were capable of taking a realistic and rational view of things.

Teaching at Oberlin

[pp. 122-123] Professor Hull had returned from his sojourn at Johns Hopkins. This relieved me of the classes in English and American history which I had carried the year before [1894-1895]. I added a course [in 1895-1896] in anthropology and one in sociology to my offering.

Teaching at Harvard
(Carver joined the faculty 1900-01)

[p. 132] There was no Department of Sociology at Harvard, but Edward Cummings had given a course on principles of sociology in the Department of Economics. Since I had been giving a course in that subject at Oberlin it was suggested that I continue it at Harvard. [1901-02; 1902-03 (taught by Ripley  and Carver); 1903-04] In addition I gave a course on economic theory and a half course on methods of economic investigation.

[p. 172] The course on the principles of sociology developed into a study of the Darwinian theory as applied to social groups. Variation among the forms of social organization and of moral systems, and the selection or survival of those systems and forms that make for group strength, were considered to constitute the method of social evolution.

The Harvard Illustrated, a student publication, at that time conducted a poll of the senior class, asking the students to name the best courses they had taken. For a number of

years Professor Palmer’s course in ethics ranked highest. My course on principles of sociology began to climb until it finally achieved first place. Then the poll was discontinued.

[pp. 210-212] I have mentioned several times the courses which I had developed at Harvard: principles of agricultural economics, principles of sociology, methods of social reform, and the distribution of wealth. I was, all those years, covering more ground than any other member of the department…
…Up to this time there had been no department of sociology at Harvard. There was a Department of Anthropology and a Department of Social Ethics, but the only course in sociological principles was the one which I gave in the Department of Economics. At one of the meetings of the American Sociological Society I heard Sorokin of the University of Minnesota read a paper. I was impressed by his prodigious learning and general sanity. I began to cultivate his acquaintance and finally was instrumental in bringing him to Harvard….The Department of Economics, on my motion, invited him to give a course of three lectures at Harvard. While he was in Cambridge, I introduced him to President Lowell. Later, on my motion, the department voted to recommend to the Corporation that Sorokin be offered a professorship in the Department of Economics to give courses in sociology at Harvard. The offer was made, he accepted, and a beginning was made toward starting a department of sociology.

Source: Thomas Nixon Carver. Recollections of an Unplanned Life. Los Angeles: Ward Ritchie Press, 1949.

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Course Enrollment

Economics 3. Professor Carver and Mr. J. A. Field. — Principles of Sociology. Theories of Social Progress.

Total 47: 10 Graduates, 7 Seniors, 18 Juniors, 7 Sophomores, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 74.

__________________________

ECONOMICS 3
Prescribed Reading and Collateral References. 1904-05

TO BE READ IN FULL
  1. Herbert Spencer. Principles of Sociology.
  2. Walter Bagehot. Physics and Politics.
  3. Benjamin Kidd. Social Evolution.
  4. F. H. Giddings. Principles of Sociology.
COLLATERAL READING. STARRED REFERENCES ARE ESPECIALLY RECOMMENDED

I. SCOPE AND METHOD OF SOCIOLOGY

  1. Auguste Comte. Positive Philosophy. Book VI. Chs.2-4.
  2. Herbert Spencer. Classification of the Sciences, in Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative. Vol. II.
  3. *Herbert Spencer. The Study of Sociology. Chs. 1-3.
  4. J. S. Mill. System of Logic. Book VI.
  5. W. S. Jevons. Principles of Science. Ch. 31. Sec. 11.
  6. Lester F. Ward. Outlines of Sociology. I.
  7. W. H. Stuckenberg. Introduction to the Study of Sociology. Chs. 2 and 3.
  8. Émile Durkheim. Les Regles de la Méthode Sociologique.
  9. Guillaume de Greef. Les Lois Sociologiques.
  10. Arthur Fairbanks. Introduction to Sociology. Introduction.

Il. THE FACTORS OF SOCIAL PROGRESS

A. Physical and Biological Factors

  1. Herbert Spencer. The Factors of Organic Evolution, in Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative. Vol. I.
  2. Herbert Spencer. Progress, its Law and Cause, in Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative. Vol. I.
  3. Auguste Comte. Positive Philosophy. Book VI. Ch. 6.
  4. Lester F. Ward. Dynamical Sociology. Ch. 7.
  5. Simon N. Patten. The Theory of Social Forces. Ch. 1.
  6. Geddes and Thompson. The Evolution of Sex. Chs. 1, 2, 19, 21.
  7. Robert Mackintosh. From Comte to Benjamin Kidd.
  8. *G. de LaPouge. Les Sélections Sociales. Chs. 1-6.
  9. August Weismann. The Germ Plasm: a Theory of Heredity.
  10. George Job Romanes. An Examination of Weismannism.
  11. Alfred Russell Wallace. Studies: Scientific and Social.
  12. *R. L. Dugdale. The Jukes.
  13. Oscar C. McCulloh. The Tribe of Ishmael.
  14. *Francis Galton. Hereditary Genius.
  15. Arthur Fairbanks. Introduction to Sociology. Pt. III.
  16. H. W. Conn. The Method of Evolution.

B. Psychic

  1. Auguste Comte. Positive Philosophy. Book VI. Ch. 5.
  2. *Jeremy Bentham. Principles of Morals and Legislation. Chs. 1 and 2.
  3. Lester F. Ward. The Psychic Factors of Civilization.
  4. Tarde. Social Laws.
  5. [G. Tarde]. The Laws of Imitation.
  6. [G. Tarde]. La Logique Sociale.
  7. Gustar Le Bon. The Crowd.
  8. The Psychology of Peoples.
  9. Mark Baldwin. Social and Ethical Interpretations.
  10. [J. Mark Baldwin]. Mental Development in the Child and the Race.
  11. John Fisk. The Destiny of Man.
  12. Henry Drummond. The Ascent of Man.
  13. Simon N. Patten. The Theory of Social Forces. Chs. 2-5.
  14. *E. A. Ross. Social Control.

C. Social and Economic

  1. Lester F. Ward. Outlines of Sociology. Pt. II.
  2. *[Lester F. Ward]. Dynamical Sociology. Ch. 10.
  3. Brooks Adams. The Law of Civilization and Decay.
  4. D. G. Ritchie. Darwinism and Politics.
  5. *A. G. Warner. American Charities. Pt. I. Ch. 5.
  6. *G. de LaPouge. Les Sélections Sociales. Chs. 7-15.
  7. T. R. Malthus. Principle of Population.
  8. H. Bosanquet. The Standard of Life.
  9. W. H. Mallock. Aristocracy and Evolution.
  10. T. V. Veblen. The Theory of the Leisure Class.
  11. W. S. Jevons. Methods of Social Reform.
  12. Jane Addams and Others. Philanthropy and Social Progress.
  13. Demolins. Anglo-Saxon Superiority.
  14. *Thomas H. Huxley. Evolution and Ethics.
  15. Georg Simmel. Ueber Sociale Differencierung.
  16. Émile Durkheim. De la Division du Travail social.
  17. J. H. W. Stuckenberg. Introduction to the Study of Sociology. Ch. 6.
  18. Achille Loria. The Economic Foundations of Society.
  19. [Achille Loria]. Problems Sociaux Contemporains. Ch. 6.
  20. William Z. Ripley. The Races of Europe.

D. Political and Legal

  1. Jeremy Bentham. Principles of Morals and Legislation. Chs. 12-17.
  2. F. M. Taylor. The Right of the State to Be.
  3. *W. W. Willoughby. Social Justice. Chs. 5-9.
  4. *D. G. Ritchie. Principles of State Interference.
  5. W. S. Jevons. The State in Relation to Labor.
  6. Henry C. Adams. The Relation of the State to Industrial Action, in Publications Am. Econ. Assoc. Vol. I. No. 6.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and readings in economics, 1895-2003. Box 1. Folder “Economics, 1904-1905.”

__________________________

ECONOMICS 3
Mid-year Examination, 1904-05

  1. What is meant by a rational sanction for conduct? How is it distinguished from the rationalization of religion and law?
  2. Has resentment, or the desire for vengeance, any place as a factor in producing social order? Explain your answer.
  3. Describe Spencer’s conception of the Industrial Type of Society and give your opinion of its validity.
    (a) as representing an actual stage in social progress;
    (b) as an ideal social type.
  4. What accounts for the force of the religious sanction for conduct among primitive peoples? What does Spencer believe will be the place of ethics in the religion of the future, and what are his reasons? Are the two explanations in harmony?
  5. Describe the principal forms of the family relation, and the type of society in which each form prevails.
  6. Comment briefly but specifically upon any five of the following topics:—
    (a) Exogamy.
    (b) The domestic relations of the Veddahs.
    (c) The domestic relations of the Thibetans.
    (d) The Ynca political system.
    (e) Political organization among the Eskimos.
    (f) The political system of the Dahomans.
    (g) The industrial attainments of the Fuegians.
  7. What is Spencer’s explanation of the origin of ceremonial in general; and how does he account for particular forms? According to this theory what does the formality of our social relations indicate concerning the original social or anti-social traits of mankind?
  8. By what stages has the medical profession been evolved, and how does it perform the general social function which according to Spencer characterizes the professions?
  9. “The salvation of every society, as of every species, depends on the maintenance of an absolute opposition between the regime of the family and the regime of the State.” Spencer, Vol. I, p. 719.
    What opposition is referred to? Does it appear more conspicuously in the militant or in the industrial type of society?
  10. “From war has been gained all that it has to give.” Spencer, Vol. II, p. 664.
    What has war done to develop society? Why is its work done? Why, if war is now intolerable, is it improper to check the conflicts of classes and individuals within the state?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1904-05.

__________________________

ECONOMICS 3
Year-end Examination, 1904-05

Omit one question.

  1. “Can we then allege special connexions between the different types of family and the different social types classed as militant and industrial?” (Spencer, Principles of Sociology, I, p. 675.) Explain.
  2. In what particulars is society fundamentally unlike a biological organism?
  3. Can you define social progress in terms of human well-being and at the same time make it consistent with a general theory of evolution? Explain.
  4. What is meant by the storing of social energy and what are the agencies by which it is accomplished?
  5. What is meant by the power of idealization and how does it affect social progress?
  6. Under what conditions and on what grounds would you justify the interference of the state with the liberty of the individual?
  7. Give the titles and authors of such books as you have read of sociological topics, including those prescribed in the course, and write your impression of one which is not prescribed.

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,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), p. 24.

Image Source: “Thomas Nixon Carver, 1865-1961” link at the History of Economic Thought Website. “Portrait of Carver (as a young man)“.
Detail in the Oberlin College Yearbook 1901 Hi-o-hi (no. 16)

Categories
Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Reading Lists for Second Semester Graduate Economic Theory. Arrow, Bewley, Oniki, 1972

Kenneth Arrow, one day before turning 90 years old

It’s been a while since Economics in the Rear-View Mirror has posted “new stuff”, e.g. the following half-century old reading list for the second half of the Harvard graduate sequence in economic theory taught in the spring term of 1972 by (not-quite-yet Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences Laureate) Kenneth Arrow, Truman Bewley, and Hajime Oniki.

The six reading lists for the course were transcribed from the copies in Zvi Griliches’ papers at the Harvard Archives. 

______________________

About the course instructors

Even youngster economists should need no introduction to Kenneth Arrow, but here is a memoir by K. Vela Velupillai in the Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society just in case.

Truman Bewley, University of California (Berkeley) Ph.D. in 1970. Assistant professor, Harvard (1972-1978). Professor, Northwestern (1978-83). Professor through emeritus professor at Yale (1983-)

Hajime Oniki received his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1968, was assistant professor of economics at Harvard from 1969 to 1972, assistant/associate professor at Queen’s University, Canada (1972-1979), returning to Japan as Professor at Osaka University in 1979.

______________________

Course Announcement for Advanced Economic Theory Sequence, 1971-1972

Economics 2010a. Advanced Economic Theory
Professor Dale W. Jorgenson, Assistant Professors Melvyn Fuss and ____ (fall term); Professor Assistant Professor Michael Rothschild (spring term)

Production theory, consumption theory, and the theories of firms and markets.
Prerequisite: Economics 1050 (formerly Economics 199) or equivalent.
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Fall: Tu., Th., (S.), at 12. Spring: Tu., Th., 10-12.

Economics 2010b. Advanced Economic Theory
Professor Stephen A. Marglin and Assistant Professor Masahio Aoki (fall term); Professor Kenneth J. Arrow and Assistant Professors Hajime Oniki and Truman F. Bewley (spring term)

General equilibrium, welfare economics, income distribution, captial and growth.
Prerequisite: Economics 2010a.
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Tu., Th., (S.), at 12-1:30.

Source: Harvard University, Official Register. Courses of Instruction for Harvard & Radcliffe, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 1971-71,  p. 155.

______________________

Spring 1972
Professors Arrow, Bewley,
and Oniki

ECONOMICS 2010b
Reading List #1

Last term, you studied the behavior of the individual economic units which make up the economy. With that as background, we will put all of the pieces together and study properties of the economic system as a whole. We will be concerned primarily with allocations through the price system, first under conditions of perfect competition and later under less restrictive conditions. We will discuss the following kinds of questions: Do “equilibrium” allocations exist? Is it stable? Unique? Of course, in answering these questions we will have to define rigorously such concepts as “equilibrium,” “efficiency,” and “stability.” This will constitute the first heading of the course:

  1. General Competitive Equilibrium, for which the reading list follows.
    For orientation we state the intended subsequent headings of the course.
  2. Welfare Economics
  3. Additional Aspects of General Equilibrium Analysis
  4. Departures from Perfect Competition
  5. Dynamics I: Theories of Interest and Investment
  6. Dynamics II: Theories of Accumulation and Growth
  7. General Equilibrium with Uncertainty and Money; Keynesian Equilibrium
  8. Theories of Income Distribution

In the following reading list, the dates in parentheses are those of the corresponding lecture. It is important that the relevant readings be done before the lecture.

  1. GENERAL COMPETITIVE EQUILIBRIUM (8 February)
    1. The Concepts and Assumptions
      1.  J. R. Hicks, Value and Capital, Oxford, 1939; chapters 4,8.
      2. K. J. Arrow, “Economic Equilibrium,” in International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 4, pp. 376-386.
      3. R. Dorfman, The Price System, Prentice-Hall, 1964, ch. 5.
      4. T. C. Koopmans, Three Essays on the State of Economic Science, McGraw-Hill, 1957, pp. 1-40, 55-64.
      5. J. Quirk and R. Saposnik, Introduction to General Equilibrium Theory and Welfare Economics, McGraw-Hill, 1968, chapters 1, 2, and 3, sections 1, 2.
    2. Existence of Competitive Equilibrium (10 February)
      1. W. J. Baumol, Economic Theory and Operations Analysis, Prentice-Hall, 1961, chapter 16, sections 1, 2.
      2. Quirk and Saposnik, chapter 3, sections 3-8.
      3. H. Scarf, “An Example of an Algorithm for Calculating General Equilibrium Prices,” American Economic Review 59 (1969) : 669-677.
    3. Uniqueness and Stability of Equilibrium (15 February)
      1. Baumol, chapter 16, section 3.
      2. Quirk and Saposnik, chapter 5, sections 1-3.
      3. P. Newman, The Theory of Exchange, Prentice-Hall, 1965, chapter 4.
    4. Nonconvexity and the Existence of Equilibrium (15 February)
      1.  J. Rothenberg, “Nonconvexity, aggregation, and Pareto optimality,” Journal of Political Economy 68 (1960): 435-468.
      2. H. Houthakker, “Economics and biology: specialization and speciation,” Kyklos 9: 181-187.

______________________

Spring, 1972
Professors Arrow, Bewley
and Oniki

ECONOMICS 2010b
Reading List #2

  1. WELFARE ECONOMICS
    1. Pareto Efficiency (February 22)
      1. Quirk and Saposnik, chapter 4, sections 1-4.
      2. Samuelson, P. A., Foundations of Economic Analysis Atheneum, 1965, chapter 8, pp. 203-228.
    2. Social Choice and Just Distributions (February 22-24)
      1. Arrow, K. J., “Values and collective decision-making,” in P. Laslett and W. G. Runciman (eds.), Philosophy, Politics, and Society, Third Series, Basil Blackwell, 1965, chapter 10.
      2. Edgeworth, F. Y., Mathematical Psychics, C. Kegan and Paul, 1881, pp. 56-82.
      3. Edgeworth, F. Y. “Pure theory of taxation,” in Papers Relating to Political Economy, Macmillan, 1925, Vol. II, Pp. 100-122.
      4. Vickrey, W. S., “Utility, strategy, and social decision rules,” in K. J. Arrow and T. Scitovsky (eds.), Readings in Welfare Economics, Irwin, 1969, pp. 459-461.
      5. Rawls, J., “Distributive justice,” in Laslett and Runciman, op. cit., chapter 3.
      6. de Jourvenel, B., The Ethics of Redistribution, Cambridge University Press, pp. 53-56, 62-65.
    3. Competitive Equilibrium and Pareto Efficiency (February 24-29)
      1. Scitovsky, op. cit., chapters 4 and 8 (and note to chapter 8).
      2. Bator, F. M., “The simple analytics of welfare maximization, ” American Economic Review, Vol. 47, 1957, pp. 22-59.
      3. Koopmans, op. cit., pp. 41-65.
      4. Quirk and Saposnik, op. cit. chapter 4, section 5.
    4. Market Failure (February 29, March 2)
      1. Bator, F. M. “Anatomy of market failure,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 72, 1958, pp. 351-379.
      2. Coase, R. H., “The problem of social cost,” Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 3, 1960, pp. 1-44.
      3. Scitovsky, op. cit., chapter 20.
      4. Scitovsky, T. “Two concepts of external economies,” in Arrow and Scitovsky, op. cit., pp. 242-252.
      5. Arrow, K. J., “Political and economic evaluation of social effects and externalities,” in J. Margolis (ed.), The Analysis of Public Output, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1970, pp. 1-23; see also the following comment by S. Alexander, pp. 24-30.
    5. Problems of Redistribution (March 2)
      1. Meade, J. E., Efficiency, Equality, and the Ownership of Property. George Allen & Unwin, 1964, pp. 35-77.
      2. Diamond, P., “Negative taxes and the poverty problem — a review article,” National Tax Journal, Vol. 21, 1968, pp. 288-303.

______________________

Spring, 1972
Professors Arrow,
Bewley, and Oniki

ECONOMICS 2010b
Reading List #3

  1. ADDITIONAL ASPECTS OF GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSIS
    1. The Core of a Market Economy (March 7)
      1. Debreu, G. and H. Scarf, “A Limit theorem on the core of an economy,” International Economic Review 4 (1963): 235-246.
      2. Newman,  op. cit., chapter 5.
    2. Input-Output Analysis (March 7)
      1. Leontief, W. W., The Structure of the American Economy, 1919-1939, Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 1951, pp. 139-163, 188-207.
      2. Baumol, op. cit. (first edition), chapter 15.
      3. Dorfman, R., P. Samuelson and R. Solow, Linear Programming and Economic Analysis, McGraw-Hill, 1958, chapter 9 except section 5.
    3. Activity Analysis in General Equilibrium (March 9)
      1. Dorfman, Samuelson and Solow, chapter section 5; chapter 13.
      2. Koopmans, op. cit., pp. 66-104.
    4. Pricing of Goods in General Equilibrium (March 9)
      1. Samuelson, P. A., “Pricing of goods and factors in general equilibrium,” Review of Economic Studies, 21 (1953-4): 1-20; reprinted in Collected Scientific Papers, vol. 2, MIT Press, 1960, chapter 70.
      2. Robinson, J., “Rising supply price,’ ” AEA Readings in Price Theory, pp. 233-241.
      3. Robinson, J. “The basic theory of normal prices, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 76 (1962): 1-19.
      4. Friedman, M., Price Theory: A Provisional Text, Chicago: Aldine, 1962, pp. 74-93.
      5. Morishima, M., “On the three Hicksian laws of comparative statics, Review of Economic Studies 27 (1960): 195-201.
  2. DEPARTURES FROM PERFECT COMPETITION
    1. Measurement of Welfare Loss (March 14)
      1. Dupuit, J., “On the measurement of the utility of public works,” International Economic Papers, Vol. 2 (1952), pp. 93-110; reprinted in AEA Readings in Welfare Economics (Arrow and Scitovsky, eds.), pp. 255-283.
      2. Hotelling, H., “The general welfare in relation to problems of taxation and of railway and utility rates, Econometrica 6 (1938): 242-249; reprinted in Arrow and Scitovsky, op. cit., pp. 284-308 (read pp. 294-308).
      3. Oort, C., Decreasing Costs as a Problem in Welfare Economics, chapter 2.
      4. Harberger, A. C., “Three basic postulates for applied welfare economics: an interpretive essay,” Journal of Economic Literature 9 (1971): 785-797.
    2. Theory of Second Best (March 16)
      1. Little, I.M.D., “Direct versus indirect taxes,” Economic Journal 61 (1951): 577-584; reprinted in Arrow and Scitovsky, op. cit., pp. 608-615.
      2. Mohring, H., “The peak-load problem with increasing returns and pricing constraints,” American Economic Review 60 (1970): 693-705.
      3. Meade, J. E., Trade and Welfare, Oxford, 1955, chapter 1, pp. 3-9, chapter 7, pp. 102-118.
      4. Lipsey, R. and K. Lancaster, “The general theory of second best, ” Review of Economic Studies 24 (1958-9): 11-32.
    3. Imperfect Competition
      1. Kaldor, N., “Market imperfections and excess capacity,” Economica, 1935, pp. 33-50; reprinted in AEA Readings in Price Theory, pp. 384-403.
      2. Marris, R., The Economic Theory of “Managerial” Capitalism, New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1964 chapters 1, 3, 5, 6.
      3. Shubik, M., Strategy and Market Structure, New York: Wiley, chapters 1, 3-6.
      4. Harsanyi, J., “Approaches to the bargaining problem before and after the theory of games: a critical discussion of Zeuthen’s, Hicks’, and Nash’s theories, Econometrica 24 (1956): 144-157.
      5. Modigliani. F., “New developments on the oligopoly front. Journal of Political Economy 66 (1958): 215-232.

______________________

Spring, 1972
Professors Arrow,
Bewley, and Oniki

ECONOMICS 2010b
Reading List #4

  1. DYNAMICS I: THEORIES OF INTEREST AND INVESTMENT
    1. Dynamics vs. Statics
      1. Hicks, J. R., Capital and Growth. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8.
      2. Samuelson, P. A., Foundations of Economic Analysis, Chapter 11.
    2. Productivity of Capital and the Rate of Return
      1. Haavelmo, T., A Study in the Theory of Investment, Chapters 7, 17, 25, 28-31.
      2. Solow, R., Capital Theory and the Rate of Return, Chapter 1.
      3. Harcourt, G. C., “Some Cambridge controversies in the theory of capital,” Journal of Economic Literature, 7 (1969): 365-386.
      4. Hirshleifer, J., Investment, Interest, and Capital, Chapter 6.
    3. Equilibrium and Optimal Capital Accumulation
      1. Hirshleifer, op. cit., Chapters 4, 7.
      2. Dorfman, Samuelson, and Solow, op. cit., pp. 265-281.
      3. Ramsey, F. P., “A mathematical theory of saving,” Economic Journal 38 (1928); reprinted in Arrow and Scitovsky (op. cit.), pp. 619-624, 630-633.
      4. Arrow, K. J. and M. Kurz, Public Investment, the Rate of Return and Optimal Fiscal Policy, Chapter 3, section 1.
    4. Technological Change
      1. Solow, R., op. cit., Chapters 2, 3.
      2. Solow, R., “Technical change and the aggregate production function,” Review of Economic Statistics, August 1957.
      3. Arrow, K. J., “The economic implications of learning by doing,” Review of Economic Studies, June 1962, pp. 155-173; reprinted in P. Newman, Readings in Mathematical Economics, Volume II, pp. 200-220.
      4. Becker, G., Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, Columbia University Press, 1964, Chapters 2, 3.

______________________

Spring, 1972
Professors Arrow,
Bewley, and Oniki

ECONOMICS 2010b
Reading List #5

  1. DYNAMICS II. THEORIES OF ACCUMULATION AND GROWTH
    1. One-Sector Models
      1. Solow, R. M., Growth Theory: An Exposition. Oxford, 1970. Chapters 1, 2.
    2. Maximal Growth: The von Neumann Model
      1. Koopmans, T. C., “Economic growth at a maximal rate, Quarterly Journal of Economics 82 (1968): 335-345. Reprinted in P. Newman, Readings in Mathematical Economics, Johns Hopkins, 1968, Vol. II, pp. 239-278.
      2. Hicks, J. R., Capital and Growth, Chapters 17-19.
      3. von Neumann, J. “A model of general economic equilibrium, Review of Economic Studies, August 1945, pp. 1-9. Reprinted Newman, op. cit., pp. 221-229.
    3. Intertemporal Efficiency
      1. Koopmans, T. C., Three Essays on the State of Economic Science, pp. 105-126.
      2. Phelps, E. S., Golden Rules of Economic Growth, North-Holland, 1967, pp. 3-20.
      3. Dorfman, R., P. A. Samuelson, and R. M. Solow, Linear Programming and Economic Analysis. McGraw-Hill, 1958, Chapter 12.
      4. Samuelson, P. A., “An exact consumption loan model of interest with or without the social contrivance of money,” Journal of Political Economy 18 (1958): 467-482.
      5. Starrett, D. A., “On golden rules, the ‘biological theory of interest,’ and competitive inefficiency,” H.I.E.R. Discussion Paper. June 1970.

______________________

Spring, 1972
Professors Arrow,
Bewley, and Oniki

ECONOMICS 2010b
Reading List #6

  1. GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM: UNCERTAINTY AND EMPLOYMENT (25,27 April, 2 May)
    1. Uncertainty in General Equilibrium
      1. Hirshleifer, J., Investment, Interest, and Capital. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970, Chapter 9.
      2. Diamond, P. A., “The role of a stock market in a general equilibrium model under technological uncertainty,” American Economic Review 57 (1967): 758-776.
    2. Underemployment Equilibrium
      1. Leijonhufvud, A., On Keynesian Economics and the Economics of Keynes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968, chapter II.
      2. Arrow, K. J. and F. Hahn, General Competitive Analysis. San Francisco: Holden-Day, 1971, Chapter 14.
    3. Growth and Distribution Without Full Employment
      1. Robinson, J., Essays in the Theory of Economic Growth. London: Macmillan, 1964, pp. 1-87.
      2. Sraffa, P., Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, pp. 12-95.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Papers of Zvi Griliches. Box 123, Folder “Advanced Economic Theory, 1971-1975”.

Image Source: Photo of Kenneth Arrow by Irwin Collier, August 22, 2011.

Categories
Exam Questions Johns Hopkins Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

John Hopkins. Economic Fluctuations and Fiscal Policy. Course outline, reading list, exams. Domar, 1956

Evsey D. Domar

Evsey Domar turned 42 years old towards the end of the Spring term of 1955-56 when he taught his intermediate fiscal policy course to Johns Hopkins’ undergraduates. From his papers at Duke’s Economists’ Papers Archive we can bring together the tightly focussed reading list, two midterm exams, and the final exam for Political Economy 4. 

One notes that the actual dates of the mid-term exams were lagged one week relative to the announced dates in the syllabus. Happens to the best of us. I wonder if students still (ever?) read the syllabus back in the middle of the 20th century. 

________________________

Course Announcement

Political Economy
Specialized intermediate work

Economic Fluctuations and Fiscal Policy 4. Professor Domar. Three hours weekly, second term.

The nature and causes of economic fluctuations. The economic role of government. Principal policy measures designed to achieve economic stability.

Prerequisite: Political Economy 3, or its equivalent.

Source: Johns Hopkins University. Undergraduate Programs, Announcements of Courses 1955-1956 in Circular 1955-1956. New Series 1955, Number 8, p. 102.

________________________

Course Outline and Readings

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS
AND FISCAL POLICY
(Political Economy 4)

E. D. Domar
Spring Term 1955-56

Course Schedule

SOURCES:

On College Reserve:

Colm, Gerhard, Essays in Public Finance and Fiscal Policy, Oxford University Press, New York 1955.

Due, John F., Government Finance—an Economic Analysis, Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Homewood, Ill., 1954.

Gordon, Robert A., Business Fluctuations, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1952.

Lindholm, Richard W., J. J. Balles, J. M. Hunter, Principles of Money and Banking Related to National Income and Fiscal Policy,W. W. Norton & Co., New York, 1954.

Public Finance and Full Employment, published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, 1945.

Ritter, Lawrence S., Money and Economic Activity, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1952.

To Be Acquired by the Students:

Maxwell, James A., Fiscal Policy, Henry Holt & Co., New York, 1955.

Economic Report of the President, January 1956.

SCHEDULE:

Week of February 13th:

Maxwell, Ch. 1,
Ritter, pp. 20-36
Lindholm, pp. 17-31.

Week of February 20th:

Ritter, pp. 99-113,
Maxwell, Ch. 2.

Week of February 27th:

Ritter, pp. 120-130,
Lindholm, pp. 330-348

Week of March 5th:

Lindholm, pp. 370-408.

HOUR EXAMINATION: March 12th

Week of March 12th:

Maxwell, Ch. 3, 4 & 5.

Week of March 19th:

Maxwell, Ch. 6, 7, & 8,
Federal Reserve, pp. 1-21,
Colm, pp. 188-219.

Week of March 26th:

Maxwell, Ch. 9, 10, & 11,
Colm, pp. 258-286.

Week of April 2nd:

Maxwell, Ch. 12 & 13,
Federal Reserve, pp. 22-52,
Review – Due, pp. 29-61, 427-39.

Week of April 9th:

Maxwell, Ch. 14 & 15.

HOUR EXAMINATION: April 16th

Week of April 16th:

Federal Reserve, pp. 53-68, 101-130.

Week of April 23rd:

Review – Gordon, Ch. 13 & 14, and pp. 559-74.

Week of April 30th:

Gordon, Ch. 16, 17 & 18.

Week of May 7th:

Economic Report of the President

Week of May 14th:

Economic Report of the President

Week of 21st:

General Review of the Course

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Evsey Domar. Box 15, Folder “MacroEconomics, Old Reading Lists”.

________________________

First Hour Test

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Economic Fluctuations and Fiscal Policy
(Political Economy 4)
Spring Term 1955-56

March 19, 1956

E.D. Domar

Answer all questions in any order you wish. Indicate carefully every step in your reasoning.

  1. (40%) Write a comprehensive essay on the subject of “Central Bank Monetary Policy” with special reference to our Federal Reserve System. Your essay should include the following points:
    1. The structure of the Federal Reserve System.
    2. The relation between commercial and Federal Reserve Banks.
    3. Objectives of Federal Reserve Policy.
    4. Powers given to the Federal Reserve System and methods used by it to achieve the objectives indicated in (3) under different economic conditions.
      1. General measures
      2. Selective measures
    5. Evaluate the performance of the Federal Reserve System since its inception.
      How successful has it been in achieving the objectives stated in (3)?
    6. Conclusion: the virtues and defects of Monetary Policy.
  2. (25%) Indicate clearly how DEMAND DEPOSITS, REQUIRED RESERVES, EXISTING RESERVES and EXCESS RESERVES of the commercial member banks taken as a whole are affected by the following transactions.
    Assume that all payments are made by check, that the member banks add all receipts to, and subtract all amounts paid out from, their reserves with the Federal Reserve Banks, and that the U.S. Treasury keeps all its funds with the Federal Reserve Banks:
  3. 25% Legal requirements are 15 per cent.
  4. When a transaction consists of several parts, indicate each part separately and then show the total effect.
    AFTER EACH TRANSACTION GIVE A BRIEF VERBAL ANALYSIS OF ITS ECONOMIC EFFECTS.

    1. The U.S. Treasury collects $15 million of corporate income taxes from the U.S. Steel Corporation and uses the proceeds to redeem a bond held by Mr. Smith who deposits the check with his bank.
    2. Same as (1), but the bond is held by the First National Bank.
    3. Jones borrows $1000 from the First National Bank. After a while he uses the proceeds to meet his payroll. His employees invest their earnings in Federal bonds.
    4. The U.S. Treasury sells bonds for $100 million to the public, and uses the proceeds to buy land for highway construction. The owners of the land deposit their checks at their banks. The Federal Reserve Banks buy $100 million worth of Federal bonds from (a) the public, and (b) commercial banks.
    5. The Federal Reserve Board changes reserve requirements from 20 to 18 per cent. (Assume that the amount of deposits outstanding equals to $100 billion.) Thereupon banks extend loans to their customers of $1 billion.
  5. (35%) Write a comprehensive essay on the subject of “The Identity and Divergence between Private and Social Cost.” Illustrate your discussion with examples. Why is this question important to the subject matter of our course and to economic policy in general. (No credit will be given for vague generalities.)

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Evsey Domar, Box 16, Folder “Misc. Examinations”.

________________________

Second Hour Exam

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS
AND FISCAL POLICY
(Political Economy 4)
Spring Term 1955-56

Hour Examination
April 23, 1956

E.D. Domar

Answer all questions in any order you wish. Indicate carefully every step in your reasoning. No credit will be given for vague generalities.

  1. (15%) Define and describe the following terms or expressions and indicate their use in economic discussions:
    1. The Multiplier;
    2. Parity;
    3. Balanced budget theorem;
    4. Cash vs. conventional budget;
    5. Carryovers and carrybacks;
    6. Income elasticity of taxation;
    7. Regressive taxation;
    8. Payroll taxes;
    9. Grants-in-aid;
    10. Accelerated depreciation.
  1. (20%) Write a comprehensive essay on the subject of “Built-in Flexibility as an Instrument of Fiscal Policy.” Explain what is meant by this expression, how this instrument works, how effective it is likely to be, and what can be done to increase its effectiveness. Give a critical evaluation. Be as comprehensive and specific as you can.
  2. (20%) Write a comprehensive essay on the subject of “The Agricultural Problem in the United States since the Second World War.” Explain the origin and causes of the problem, government policies which have been adopted, and their effectiveness in dealing with the problem. Indicate and justify your own recommendations.
  3. (30%) Analyze with great care all important economic effects of agricultural price support program on the assumption of (1) that the funds for this purpose are raised by borrowing, and (2) that they are raised by taxation, in both cases under conditions of (a) unemployment, and (b) full employment. Indicate in all cases what kind of borrowing and what kind of taxation you have in mind. Give examples. When would you recommend one or the other method?
  4. (15%) “The main objective of the Federal policy should be not the balancing of the Federal budget, but of the national economic budget.” Comment.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Evsey Domar, Box 16, Folder “Misc. Examinations”.

________________________

Final Exam

THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS
AND FISCAL POLICY
(Political Economy 4)

FINAL EXAMINATION – Three hours
June 1, 1956

E. D. Domar

Answer all questions. Be specific.

  1. (25%) Compare and contrast monetary and fiscal policies as methods of achieving economic stabilization (reasonably full employment without inflation) in a growing society. Include (but don’t limit yourself to) the following points:
    1. The theoretical foundation of each;
    2. Methods used by each;
    3. Effects on distribution of income and wealth;
    4. Social and political effects;
    5. Their effectiveness and limitations.

Do they overlap? Can you work out a synthesis of both?

  1. (10%) Describe how business fluctuations spread internationally and discuss critically the various measures for insuring international stability that have been suggested.
  2. (15%) Suppose that sizable gold deposits were discovered in this country (a) in 1933 and (b) in 1955. Trace the economic effects of the mining of this gold as completely as you can, both on the American economy and on that of other countries.
  3. (20%) Describe the origin, functions and performance of the Council of Economic Advisers from its beginning.
    State and evaluate the basic economic philosophy and the major recommendations of the 1956 Economic Report of the President.
  4. (15%) “One of the first objectives of this Administration should be at least a partial repayment of the Federal Debt. To do otherwise is to undermine the integrity on which this Administration is founded, and to adopt a course which inevitably loads to higher taxes, inflation, the destruction of our national wealth and economic insolvency.” Comment fully.
  5. (15%) Discuss SAVING as an economic problem.

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Evsey Domar, Box 16, Folder “Misc. Examinations”.

Image source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Evsey Domar, Box 18, Folder “Photographs Domar”. Copy also available at the MIT Museum website. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

Categories
Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. US Economic History. Readings and Exams. Sprague and Patten, 1901-1902

In addition to a course announcement with description, enrollment figures, and the mid-term and/or year-end examination questions, we have a reading list for “reports”, presumably to be written or presented by students, for a course in U.S. economic history jointly taught by O.M.W. Sprague and James Horace Patten (see below) at Harvard during the 1901-1902 academic year.

______________________________

JAMES HORACE PATTEN

Born at Spring Hill, Kan., Dec. 23, 1877. Son of Henry Harrison and Gertrude (Pratt) Patten.

School: Paola and Olathe High School; Wentworth Military Academy.

Year in College: 1896-97. A.B.; AM. 1899; LL.B. 1905; A.B. 1896 (Kansas State University).

Married: Olive Young Latimer, Oct. 12, 1909, Belton, S.C.

Occupation: Lawyer.

Address: (business) 204 Second Street, S.E., Washington, D.C.; (home) 1918 S. Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Was Instructor of Economics, Harvard College, 1900-02; Austin Teaching Fellow, Harvard, 1902-03; appointed Professor of Political Science, University of New Brunswick, in May, 1902; resigned in August, 1902, to enter Harvard Law School; admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in June, 1905; South Carolina Bar in 1909; District of Columbia in 1906; resided in Washington, D.C., since 1905, office 204 Second Street, S.E.; residence 1918 S Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. I was general counsel, Farmers’ educational Co-operative Socitey, 1909-16; assistant secretary, Farmers’ National Congress, 1914-18; and secretary, 1918-20; secretary, Immigration Restriction League since 1912; member, Phi Beta Kappa, Beta Theta Pi, Mason, University Club, Washington, D.C.; national vice-president, Patriotic Order Sons of America.

Source: Harvard Class of 1897. Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Report 1897-1922, pp. 421-422.

James Horace Patten. “The Immigration Problem and the South” from The American (Raleigh, N.C.: April 1, 1906).

His death

[Died Apr. 25, 1940 (AP) Washington, April 26: “James H. Patten, 62, attorney and publicist, died yesterday from effects of illunitating gas a short time after his wife found him in the kitchen of their home”. 

A certificate of suicide was issued. “Mrs. Patten told police her husband had been in ill health and suffering from a nervous disorder for some time.” The Greenville News, S.C. April 27, 1940, p. 10]

______________________________

Course Announcement,
1901-1902.
Economics 6

For Undergraduates and Graduates

  1. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30. Dr. [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague and Mr. [Austin Teaching Fellow, James Horace] Patten.

Course 6 gives a general survey of the economic history of the United States from the close of the eighteenth century to the present time, and aims to show on the one hand the mode in which economic principles are illustrated by American experience and, on the other, the extent to which economic conditions have influenced social and political development. The following are among the subjects considered: aspects of the Revolution and commercial relations during the Confederation and the European wars; the history of the protective tariff policy and the growth of manufacturing industries; the settlement of the West and the history of transportation, including the early canal and turnpike enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building and the establishment of public regulation of railways; the development of corporations and the formation of industrial combinations; various aspects of agrarian history, such as the public land policy, the growth of foreign demand for American produce and the subsequent competition of other sources of supply, certain social topics, such as slavery and its economic basis, emancipation and the present condition of the Negro, the effects of immigration. Finally, the more important features of our currency and financial history are reviewed. Comparisons will be made from time to time with the contemporary economic history of Europe.

The course is taken advantageously with or after History 13. It is open to students who take Economies 1, and also to Juniors and Seniors who are taking that course.

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

______________________________

Course Enrollment, 1901-02
Economics 6.

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 6. Dr. Sprague and Mr. Patten. — The Economic History of the United States.

Total 125: 7 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 53 Juniors, 19 Sophomores, 13 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1901-1902, p. 77.

______________________________

REPORTS IN ECONOMICS 6.

[In pencil: “1901-02 ?”]

COLONIAL TOPICS.

  1. ENGLISH COLONIAL POLICY. — WAS IT BENEFICIAL TO THE COLONIES OR THE MOTHER COUNTRY?

Beer: Commercial Policy of England toward her Colonies, chs. iv-viii.

Rogers: Economical Interpretation of History, 318-340.

Rabbeno: American Commercial Policy, 48-91.

Smith: Wealth of Nations, Bk. IV, ch. vii.

Ricardo: Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, ch. xxv.

Bernard: Select Letters on the Trade Government of America.

  1. SPANISH COLONIES AND COLONIAL POLICY.

Burke: European Settlements in America, Part III, chs. iii-v, viii, ix, xi, xvi.

Robertson: History of America, Bk. VIII.

Lewis: Government of Dependencies, 134-165, 351-9.

Merivale: Colonization and Colonies, I, 1-44.

Moses: The Casa de Contratacion of Seville. — Annual Report of the American Historical Assn., 1894, pp. 93-123.

Winterbotham: History of America, IV, 176-202.

Reynal: History of the Indies, III, 336-426, IV, 275-345.

Humbolt: Political Essays on the Kingdom of New Spain, I, 230-257, III, 231-251, 283-294, 324-3336, 394-418, 490, IV, 27, 55, 92-127.

  1. THE COLONIAL LABOR PROBLEM. — DIFFICULTY OF SECURING A SUPPLY OF LABOR AND THE MEANS USED TO OVERCOME IT.

(a) Transportation of Criminals, and Indentured Servants.

Merivale: Colonization and Colonies, Part III, Lecture ix, xii, xiii.

Brownlow: Slavery and Serfdom in Europe, Lecture v.

Fisk: Old Virginia and Her Neighbors, II, 174-189.

Bruce: Economic History of Virginia, chs. ix, x.

Weeden: Economic and Social History of New England, 83-87, 520-522.

American Husbandry, I, 169-70. (Lib. No. 47.42.)

Lucas: Historical Geography of the British Colonies, II, 47.

(b) The African Slave Trade.

Weston: Progress of Slavery, 153-163, (ch. xi).

Merivale: Colonization and Colonies, Lecture ix-xi.

Lucas: Historical Geography of the British Colonies, III, chs. ii, iii.

DuBois: Suppression of the African Slave Trade, 1-6.

Cobb: Historical Sketch of Slavery, ch. IX.
Bandinel: Some Account of the Trade in Slaves, etc., Part I.
Edwards: History of the West Indies, Bk. IV, chs. ii-v.

Dean: Connection of Massachusetts with Slavery.

Weeden: Economic and Social History of New England, ch. xii.

Bruce: Economic History of Virginia, ch. xi.

  1. COLONIAL CURRENCY. — SCARCITY OF SPECIE CURRENCY AND SOME OF THE SUBSTITUTES FOR IT.

White: Money and Banking, 120-134, 248-258.

Weeden: Economic and Social History of New England, pp. 32-45, 314-336, 473-491, 674-678.

Macfarlane: Pennsylvania Paper Currency. — Publications of American Academy of Pol. and Soc. Science, Vol. VIII, 50.

Bruce: Economic History of Virginia, ch. xix.

Ripley: Financial History of Virginia, ch. xix.

Davis: Currency Discussions in Mass. in the 18th Century. — Quarterly Journal of Economics, XI, 70, 136.

Douglass: A Discourse Concerning the Currencies of the British Plantations in America. — Economic Studies, II, No. 5.

COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY.

  1. COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH GREAT BRITAIN 1783-1830. — NAVIGATION ACTS AND THE WEST INDIA TRADE.

Lyman: The Diplomacy of United States, II, chs. ii, iii, xii.

Edwards: History of the West Indies, Bk. VI, ch. iv.

Lindsay: History of Merchant Shipping, II, 250-256, 345-407, III, 53-65.

Jay: Life and Writings of John Jay, I, 330-334.

Sumner: Life of Jackson, 164-170.

Rand: Economic History since 1763. (2d Ed.), 515-517.

Adams: Works, VIII, 241, 241 (sic), 310, 327, 350, (273-466).

Madison: Writings, II, 158, 170, 173, 197, 233. 480-483.

  1. SOME REPRESENTATIVE VIEWS OF TARIFF POLICY.

(a) Webster and the Position of New England.

Webster: Works, III, 94 (1824), 224 (1828), V, 161 (1846).

Taussig: State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, 317-385.

For the votes of each state on each Tariff Act, see Sen. Rept. No. 2130, 2d Sess. 51st Congress, pp. 118-120.

(b) Calhoun and McDuffie. — Opposition of the South. — . Had South Carolina just cause for complaint?

Houston: A [Critical] Study of Nullification in South Carolina, chs. iii, iv.

Calhoun: Works, II, 163-173, VI, 2-34.

McDuffie: In Annals of Congress, 18th Cong., I, 1552, 1677, II, 2402-2425; in Congressional Debates, III, 1003, 1006, 2400-2404, VI, 843-847, VIII, Part III, 3142.

(c) Hamilton and Gallatin.

Gallatin: Report on Manufactures, 26-29 (Lib. No. 7372, 25).

Taussig: State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, 1-62, 109-213.

Rabbeno: American Commercial Policy, 287-324.

(d) List and Carey.

Rabbeno: American Commercial Policy, 325-383.

List: National System of Political Economy, 189-352.

Carey: Principles of Social Science: I, chs. iv, §§1-3, viii, x, xiv, xv, xix, xx. xxvi-xxix.

  1. THE TARIFF POLICY AND THE GROWTH OF INDUSTRY 1846-1860. — HOW DID THE LOW DUTIES AFFECT MANUFACTORIES AND WAGES?

Webster: Works, V, 225-235.

Winthrop: Cong. Globe, 1845-46. Appendix, 972-973.

Taussig: Tariff’ History of the U.S., 109-154.

Bolles; Financial History of the U. S., 449-466

Grosvenor: Does Protection Protect, chs. ix, xi, xvi, xix-xxii, xxiv.

Bishop: History of American Manufactures, II, 505 (483-505).

Wright: Comparative Wages, 23-38, 191-199.

Aldrich: Report on Wholesale Prices, Wages, and Transportation, Part I, 11-16. (Sen. Report, No. 1394, 52d Cong. 2d Sess.)

Compendium of the 7th Census, 178-184.

Compendium of 8th Census, 59-75.

  1. GROWTH AND DECAY OF AMERICAN SHIPPING.

Shaler: The United States of American, I, 518-624.

Kelley: The Question of Ships, ch. i-v, xi.

Bates: American Marine, chs. ii, viii-xii, xxii.

Wells: Decay of Our Ocean Mercantile Marine. (Lib. No. v. 6034).

Lindsay: History of Merchant Shipping, IV, chs. iii, iv.

Lynch: Causes of the Reduction of American Tonnage.

SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST.

  1. SPREAD OF COTTON CULTURE AND ITS EFFECT ON SLAVERY. — HAD SLAVERY A PERMANENT ECONOMIC BASIS IN THE SOUTH?

Hammond: The Cotton Industry, chs. ii, iii.

Merivale: Colonization and Colonies. I, 295-302.

Wakefield: The Public Lands a Mine of Wealth, 44-46.

_________: England and America, ii, 1-17.

Sterling: Letters from the Slave States, 302-322.

Hildreth: Despotism in American, ch. iii.

Weston: Progress of Slavery, chs. i-iv, xii, xiv-xvi.

Cairnes: The Slave Power, chs. ii-v, especially 83-92.

Olmsted: The Cotton Kingdom, I, ch. 1; II, 361-398; or

_________: A Journey in the Back Country, ch. viii.

_________: Seaboard Slave States, chs. iii. iv, viii.

Russell: North America, its Agriculture and Climate, chs. viii-x, (xv-xvi).

  1. IMPROVEMENTS IN TRANSPORTATION, AND GROWTH OF INTERNAL COMMERCE AS INDICATED BY LAKE, RIVER, AND CANAL TRAFFIC, 1813-1860.

McMaster: History of United States, III, 459-496, 1V, 381-424.

Million: State Aid to Railways in Missouri, 7-29, 196-229.

Adams: Public Debt, 317-342.

Flagg: Internal Improvements in New York. — Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine, XXIII-XXV. (See also, VI, 439, XVIII, 488.)

Poor: Manual of the Railroads of the U. S., 1868-9, pp. 9-19.

Kettell: In Eighty Years’ Progress, 165-167, 178-190.

U.S. Treas. Dept.: Report on the Internal Commerce of the United States, 178-233.

Andrews: Report on Colonial and Lake Trade.

De Bow: Industrial Resources of the South and West, I, 444-453.

  1. SALE AND SETTLEMENT OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. — PUBLIC LAND POLICY

McMaster: History of U.S., II, 476-482, III, 89-146.

Hart: Practical Essays on American Government, 233-258.

Donaldson: The Public Domain, chs. vii, viii, x, xiii, xx, xxvii.

Gallatin: Writings, III, 209-229.

Colton: Life, Correspondence, and Speeches of Henry Clay. I. ch. xx, VI. 56-85.

American Annual Register, 1829-30, p. 67.

Sato: History of the Land Question in the U.S. — Johns Hopkins University Studies in Hist. and Pol. Sci., IV, Nos. vii-ix.

CURRENCY AND FINANCE

  1. THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY HAMILTON AND GALLATIN.

Hildreth: History of U.S., IV, 152-176; 206-220; 252-256; 536-538.

Dunbar: Some Precedents followed by Hamilton, Q.J.E., III, 32-59.

Hamilton: Reports on Public Credit; Works, III, 1-45, 457-529. (Lodge Ed., ii, 97-108; 475-529.)

Adams: Life of Gallatin, 267-274; 292-297

______: History of U.S., I, ch. x.

Howe: Taxation in the U.S. under the Internal Revenue System. chs. i, ii.

  1. BANK NOTES AS DEPRECIATED CURRENCY AND THE HISTORY OF THE SECOND UNITED STATES BANK, 1814-1846.

Hildreth: History of U.S., IV, 256-262.

Bancroft: A Plea for the Constitution, etc., Part iii.

White: Money and Banking, 271-313.

Gallatin: Considerations on the Currency and Banking System of the U.S., 5-6, 19-84. (See also Writings, 235-6; 253-336.)

Sumner: History of American Currency, 59-169; or

______: Life of Jackson, 236-276; 291-342.

McMaster: With the Fathers, 237-252.

  1. THE INDEPENDENT TREASURY AND EFFORTS TO SECURE A SPECIE CURRENCY, 1836-1860.

Bolles: Financial History of the U.S., II, 351-358.

Hildreth: Banks and Banking, 109-113; 170-177.

Gouge: A Short History of Paper Money and Banking in the U.S., 103-106: 111-116.

Van Buren: Special Message of 1837, Statesman’s Manual, 1051.

Webster: Works, IV, 312, 324.

Benton: Thirty Years’ View, II, 124, 164.

Kinley: The Independent Treasury of U.S., chs, i-iii, vii.

Sumner: History of American Currency, 161-189.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003.Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1901-1902”.

______________________________

Mid-Year Examination 1901-02
ECONOMICS 6

  1. Define or explain:
    1. Enumerated Commodities.
    2. The Molasses Act.
    3. Specie Circular.
    4. Independent Treasury.
    5. The “National Pike.”
    6. Pre-emption.
    7. The tariff of abominations.
  2. The iron industry in the United States to 1860 and the influence of the tariff upon its development.
  3. Why was protection favorably regarded in the West and South after the War of 1812?
  4. The relation of the public lands to the tariff after 1825.
  5. What economic reasons were advanced against the renewal of the charter of the second bank of the United States? Were they well-founded?
  6. The history of internal improvements in Michigan, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, distinguishing carefully important differences.
  7. The connection of the settlement of the Mississippi valley, improvements in transportation facilities, and changes in the nature and relative importance of occupations in different sections of the country. What statistics show the connection?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1901-02.

______________________________

Year-End Examination 1901-02
ECONOMICS 6

  1. Trace with specific illustrations the steps taken for the elimination of railroad competition between 1868 and 1878.
  2. Conditions leading to the greater diversification of agriculture in the United States. What peculiar obstacles present themselves in the South?
  3. Why are duties on raw materials less defensible than those on manufactures? Give specific illustrations.
  4. Why have the silk duties been more successful than the linen duties?
  5. The value of the inductive method in studying the effects of protective duties.
  6. What kinds of money might have increased in quantity under U.S. laws in 1874, in 1885 and in 1901?
  7. Why is the United States acquiring a larger proportion of the current production of gold now than ten or fifteen years ago?
  8. Defects in the fiscal system of the United States. Illustrate from experience during the war of 1812 and the Civil War

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. 25.

Image Source: Wikimedia. Muse Clio from the illustrations to Ovid by Virgil Solis (1562).

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Sociology Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Principles of Sociology. Enrollment, Readings, Exam Questions. Carver, 1901-1902

 

Thomas Nixon Carver was the second person to teach sociology at Harvard back in the days when sociology was a sub-field of economics. Carver turned out to be sort of a utility-infielder, originally hired as an economic theorist but later tasked with covering sociology, social reform (as in “thou-shalt not interfere…” except for prohibition!), and agricultural economics.

Fun fact: One of Carver’s protégés, Vervon Orval Watts, later worked for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. Carver’s wing-nut spawn was responsible for considerably less political damage than the much more recent Harvard economics Ph.D. (1986), Peter Navarro. But I digress…

_________________________

Sociology à la Carver,
Other Years

Economics 3. Thomas Nixon Carver and William Z. Ripley, 1902
Economics 8. Thomas Nixon Carver, 1917-18.
Economics 8. Thomas Nixon Carver and Carl Smith Joslyn, 1927-28.

_________________________

From Carver’s Autobiography

There was no Department of Sociology at Harvard, but Edward Cummings had given a course on principles of sociology in the Department of Economics. Since I had been giving a course in that subject at Oberlin it was suggested that I continue it at Harvard…

   …The course on the principles of sociology developed into a study of the Darwinian theory as applied to social groups. Variation among the forms of social organization and of moral systems, and the selection or survival of those systems and forms that make for group strength, were considered to constitute the method of social evolution.
The Harvard Illustrated, a student publication, at that time [probably some time after 1911 ] conducted a poll of the senior class, asking the students to name the best courses they had taken. For a number of years Professor Palmer’s course in ethics ranked highest. My course on principles of sociology began to climb until it finally achieved first place. Then the poll was discontinued.

Source: Thomas Nixon Carver, Recollections on an Unplanned Life (Los Angeles, 1949), pp. 132, 172.

_________________________

Course Announcement

For Undergraduates and Graduates
  1. Principles of Sociology. – Theories of Social Progress. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30. Asst. Professor [Thomas Nixon] CARVER.

Course 3 begins with a study of the structure and development of society as outlined in the writings of Comte and Spencer. This is followed by an analysis of the factors and forces which have produced modifications of the social structure and secured a greater degree of adaptation between man and his physical and social surroundings. The relation of property, the family, the competitive system, religion, and legal control to social well-being and progress are studied with reference to the problem of social improvement. Spencer’s Principles of Sociology, Bagehot’s Physics and Politics, Ward’s Dynamical Sociology, Giddings’ Principles of Sociology, Patten’s Theory of Social Forces, and Kidd’s Social Evolution are each read in part. Lectures are given at intervals and students are expected to take part in the discussion of the authors read and the lectures delivered.

Course 3 is open to students who have passed satisfactorily in Course 1

Source: Harvard University Archives. Annual Announcement of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics (June 21, 1901).  Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902. Box 1. Bound volume: Univ. Pub. N.S. 16. History, etc. p. 37.

_________________________

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 3. Asst. Professor Carver. — The Principles of Sociology. Theories of Social Progress.

Total 53: 5 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 10 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1901-1902, p. 77.

_________________________ 

ECONOMICS 3
Topics and references. Starred references are prescribed.

I. SCOPE AND METHOD OF SOCIOLOGY

  1. August Comte. Positive Philosophy. Book VI. Chs. 2-4.
  2. Herbert Spencer. Classification of the Sciences, in Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative. Vol. II.
  3. *Herbert Spencer. The Study of Sociology. Chs. 1-3.
  4. *Herbert Spencer. Principles of Sociology. Pt. I. Ch. 27. Pt. II.
  5. J. S. Mill. System of Logic. Book VI.
  6. W. S. Jevons. Principles of Science. Ch. 31. Sec. 11.
  7. Lester F. Ward. Outlines of Sociology. Pt. I.
  8. *F. H. Giddings. Principles of Sociology. Book I.
  9. J. W. H. Stuckenberg. Introduction to the Study of Sociology. Chs. 2 and 3.
  10. Émile Durkheim. Les Regles de la Méthode Sociologique.
  11. Guillaume de Greef. Les Lois Sociologiques.
  12. Arthur Fairbanks. Introduction to Sociology. Introduction. 

II. THE FACTORS OF SOCIAL PROGRESS

A. Physical and Biological Factors
  1. Herbert Spencer. The Factors of Organic Evolution, in Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative. Vol. I.
  2. *Herbert Spencer. Principles of Sociology.  Pt. I. Chs. 1-5.
  3. Herbert Spencer. Progress, its Law and Cause, in Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative. Vol. I.
  4. Auguste Comte. Positive Philosophy. Book VI. Ch. 6.
  5. Lester F. Ward. Dynamical Sociology. Ch. 7.
  6. *Simon N. Patten. The Theory of Social Forces. Ch. 1.
  7. *Walter Bagehot. Physics and Politics. Chs. 1 and 2.
  8. Geddes and Thompson. The Evolution of Sex. Chs. 1, 2, 19, 21.
  9. *Benjamin Kidd. Social Evolution.
  10. Robert Mackintosh. From Comte to Benjamin Kidd.
  11. G. de LaPouge. Les Sélections Sociales. Chs. 1-6.
  12. August Weismann. The Germ Plasm: a Theory of Heredity.
  13. George John Romanes. An Examination of Weismannism.
  14. Alfred Russell Wallace. Studies: Scientific and Social.
  15. R. L. Dugdale. The Jukes.
  16. Oscar C. McCulloh. The Tribe of Ishmael.
  17. Francis Galton. Hereditary Genius.
  18. *F. H. Giddings. Principles of Sociology. Book II. Ch. I. Book III. Ch. 1.
  19. Arthur Fairbanks. Introduction to Sociology. Pt. III. 
B. Psychic
  1. Auguste Comte. Positive Philosophy. Book VI. Ch. 5.
  2. *Jeremy Bentham. Principles of Morals and Legislation. Chs. 1 and 2.
  3. Lester F. Ward. The Psychic Factors of Civilization.
  4. G. Tarde. Social Laws.
  5. _______. Les Lois de l’Imitation.
  6. _______. La Logique Sociale.
  7. Gustav Le Bon. The Crowd.
  8. _______. The Psychology of Peoples.
  9. J. Mark Baldwin. Social and Ethical Interpretations.
  10. _______. Mental Development in the Child and the Race.
  11. John Fisk. The Destiny of Man.
  12. Henry Drummond. The Ascent of Man.
  13. *Herbert Spencer. Principles of Sociology. Pt. I. Chs. 6-26.
  14. *Simon N. Patten. The Theory of Social Forces. Chs. 2-5.
  15. *F. H. Giddings. Principles of Sociology. Book II. Ch. 2. 
C. Social and Economic
  1. *Herbert Spencer. Principles of Sociology. Pts. III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII.
  2. Lester F. Ward. Outlines of Sociology. Pt. II.
  3. *_______. Dynamical Sociology. Ch. 10.
  4. *Walter Bagehot. Physics and Politics. Chs. 3-6.
  5. Brooks Adams. The Law of Civilization and Decay.
  6. D. G. Ritchie. Darwinism and Politics.
  7. *A. G. Warner. American Charities. Pt. I. Ch. 5.
  8. G. de LaPouge. Les Sélections Sociales. Chs. 7-15.
  9. T. R. Malthus. Principle of Population.
  10. H. Bosanquet. The Standard of Life.
  11. F.W. Saunders. The Standard of Living in its Relation to Economic Theory.
  12. W. H. Mallock. Aristocracy and Evolution.
  13. T. V. Veblen. The Theory of the Leisure Class.
  14. W. S. Jevons. Methods of Social Reform.
  15. Jane Addams and Others. Philanthropy and Social Progress.
  16. E. Demolins. Anglo-Saxon Superiority.
  17. *F. H. Giddings. Principles of Sociology. Book II. Chs. 3-4. Book III. Chs. 2-4. Book IV.
  18. Thomas H. Huxley. Evolution and Ethics.
  19. Georg Simmel. Ueber Sociale Differencierung.
  20. Émile Durkheim. De la Division du Travail Social.
  21. J. H. W. Stuckenberg. Introduction to the Study of Sociology. Ch. 6.
  22. Achille Loria. The Economic Foundations of Society.
  23. _______. Problems Sociaux Contemporains. Ch. 6.
  24. E. A. Ross. Social Control.
D. Political and Legal
  1. Jeremy Bentham. Principles of Morals and Legislation. Chs. 12-17.
  2. F. M. Taylor. The Right of the State to Be.
  3. *W. W. Willoughby. Social Justice. Chs. 5-9.
  4. D. G. Ritchie. Principles of State Interference.
  5. W. S. Jevons. The State in Relation to Labor.
  6. Henry C. Adams. The Relation of the State to Industrial Action, in Publications Am. Econ. Assoc. Vol. I. No. 6.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003.Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1901-1902”.

Cf. The course material for the following academic year.

_________________________

Mid-year Examination, 1902
ECONOMICS 3

Write out the following topics
  1. Is society an organism?
  2. The relationship among the principal classes of institutions, according to Spencer.
  3. Adaptation as a test of progress.
  4. Antagonism of interests as a basis for social development.
  5. Vice as a factor in human selection.
  6. The function of pleasure and pain.
  7. The influence of density of population upon social development.
  8. The traits of the militant type of society.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1901-02.

_________________________

Final Examination, 1902
ECONOMICS 3

Discuss the following topics
  1. Active and passive adaptation.
  2. Charity as a factor in human selection.
  3. The sanctions for conduct.
  4. Social stratification.
  5. Kidd’s theory of the function of religion in human evolution.
  6. Gidding’s theory of “consciousness of kind,” and its relation to sympathy and imitation.
  7. The storing of social energy.
  8. Tarde’s and Durkheim’s ideas of sociology.

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. 22.

Image Source: “Thomas Nixon Carver, 1865-1961” link at the History of Economic Thought Website. “Portrait of Carver (as a young man)“.

Detail in the Oberlin College Yearbook 1901 Hi-o-hi (no. 16)

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus Theory

Harvard. Economic Theory. Enrollment, Readings, Exams. Carver, 1901-1902.

 

Professor Frank W. Taussig began what was to turn into a two year leave of absence starting with the academic year 1901-02. The previous year, assistant professor Thomas Nixon Carver apparently took over Taussig’s “advanced” theory course sometime late in the academic year and continued to teach it in the latter’s absence.

This post continues our series of Harvard’s economic courses for 1901-02, providing a linked reading list for Carver’s economic theory course along with the semester exams for the year-long course.

Carver’s 1949 autobiography is available at the hathitrust.org web archive. He writes there (p. 132):

At the end of the year, 1900-1901, Professor Taussig’s health failed, probably as the result of some very hard and discouraging work he had done on the State Tax Commission. He therefore took a year’s leave of absence which was lengthened to two years. This necessitated a change in my program.

___________________________________

Course Announcement

For Undergraduates and Graduates
  1. Economic Theory. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Asst. Professor [Thomas Nixon] Carver.

Course 2 is intended to acquaint the student with some of the later developments of economic thought, and at the same time to train him in the critical consideration of economic principles and the analysis of economic conditions. The exercises are accordingly conducted mainly by the discussion of selected passages from the important writers; and in this discussion the students are expected to take an active part. Lectures are given at intervals outlining the present condition of economic theory and some of the problems which call for theoretical solution. Theories of value, diminishing returns, rent, wages, interest, profits, the incidence of taxation, the value of money, international trade, and monopoly price, will be discussed. Marshall’s Principles of Economics, Böhm-Bawerk’s Positive Theory of Capital, Taussig’s Wages and Capital, and Clark’s Distribution of Wealth will be read and criticised.

Course 2 is open to students who have passed satisfactorily in Course 1.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Annual Announcement of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics (June 21, 1901).  Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902. Box 1. Bound volume: Univ. Pub. N.S. 16. History, etc. pp. 36-37.

___________________________________

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—

[Economics] 2. Asst. Professor Carver. — Economic Theory.

Total 32: 5 Graduates, 6 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1901-1902, p. 77.

___________________________________

Course Readings

ECONOMICS 2.
1901-1902

General Reading. Prescribed.

Marshall. Principles of Economics.
Taussig. Wages and Capital.
Böhm-Bawerk. Positive Theory of Capital.
Clark. The Distribution of Wealth.

References for Collateral Reading. Starred references are prescribed.

I. VALUE.

  1. Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Chs. 5, 6, and 7.
  2. Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 1 and 4.
  3. Mill.    “        “     Book III. Chs. 1-6.
  4. Cairnes.     “        “     Part I.
  5. *Jevons. Theory of Pol. Econ. Chs. 2-4.
  6. Sidgwick. Pol. Econ. Book II. Ch. 2.
  7. Wieser. Natural Value.
  8. *Clark. Philosophy of Wealth. Ch. 5

II. DIMINISHING RETURNS.

  1. Senior. Pol. Econ. Pp. 81-86.
  2. *Commons. The Distribution of Wealth. Ch. 3. 

III. RENT.

  1. Adam Smith. Wealth of Nation. Book I. Ch. 2. Pts. 1-3.
  2. *Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Chs. 2 and 3.
  3. Sidgwick. “   “       Book II. Ch. 7.
  4. Walker. “     “       Pt. IV. Ch. 2.
  5. Walker. Land and its Rent.
  6. Hyde. The Concept of Price Determining Rent. Jour. Pol. Econ. V.6. p. 368.
  7. Fetter. The Passing of the Old Rent Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 416.

IV. CAPITAL

  1. Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book II.
  2. Senior. Pol. Econ. P. 58-81.
  3. Mill.      “       “       Book I. Ch. 4-6.
  4. Roscher. “      “       Book I. Ch. 1. Secs. 42-45.
  5. Cannan. Production and Distribution. Ch. 4.
  6. Jevons. Theory of Political Economy Ch. 7.
  7. Fisher. What is Capital? Economic Journal. Vol. VI. P. 509.
  8. Fetter. Recent Discussion of the Capital Concept. Q.J.E. Vol. XV. P. 1.
  9. *Carver. Clark’s Distribution of Wealth. Q.J.E., Aug. 1901. 

V. INTEREST.

  1. Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 9.
  2. Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 6.
  3. Sidgwick. “     “        Book II. Ch. 6.
  4. *Carver. Abstinence and the Theory of Interest. Q.J.E, Vol. VIII. P. 40.
  5. Mixter. Theory of Saver’s Rent. Q.J.E. Vol. XIII. P. 345.

VI. WAGES.

  1. Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations. Book I. Ch. 8.
  2. *Ricardo. Pol. Econ. Ch. 5.
  3. Senior.   “       “      Pp. 141-180 and 200-216.
  4. Senior. Lectures. Pp. 1-62.
  5. Mill. Pol. Econ. Book II. Chs. 11, 12, 13, and 14.
  6. Cairnes. Pol. Econ. Part II. Chs. 1 and 2.
  7. Sidgwick. “       “      Book II. Ch. 8.
  8. Walker. “       “      Part IV. Ch. 5.
  9. Hadley. Economics. Ch. 10.
  10. *Carver. Wages and the Theory of Value. Q.J.E. Vol. VIII, P. 377.

VII. PROFITS.

  1. Walker. Pol. Econ. Part IV. Ch. 4.
  2. Hobson. The Law of the Three Rents. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. V. P. 263.
  3. Clark. Insurance and Business Profits. Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 40.
  4. *Hawley, F. B. in Quar. Jour. Econ. Vol. VII. P. 459; Vol. XV. Pp. 75 and 603.
  5. MacVane, in in Quar. Jour. Econ.,  Vol. II. P. 1.
  6. Haynes, in               “     “       “     Vol. IX, P. 409.

Source: Harvard University Archives. HUC 8522.2.1, Box 1 of 10 (Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003). Folder: 1901-1902.

___________________________________

Mid-year examination, 1902
ECONOMICS 2

Discuss the following topics.

  1. The relation of utility to value.
  2. The price of commodities and the price of services.
  3. Various uses of the term “diminishing returns.”
  4. The law of diminishing returns as applied to each of the factors of production.
  5. Prime and supplementary cost: illustrate.
  6. Joint and composite demand and join and composite supply.
  7. Quasi rent.
  8. Real and nominal rent.
  9. Consumer’s rent.
  10. The equilibrium of demand and supply

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 6, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1901-02.

___________________________________

Final examination, June 1902
ECONOMICS 2

  1. State some of the different meanings which have been given to the law of diminishing returns, and define the law as you think it ought to be.
  2. Can you apply the law of joint demand to the wages fund questions?
  3. What is meant by an elastic demand and how does it affect monopoly price.
  4. Discuss Clark’s distinction between capital and capital goods.
  5. Under what conditions would there be no rent, and how would these conditions affect the value of products?
  6. Explain Clark’s theory of Economic Causation.
  7. What is the source of interest?
  8. What is the relation of the standard of living to wages?

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. 21.

___________________________________

Collection of Carver’s economic theory readings and exams,
1900/01 through 1902/03

Harvard. Core economic theory. Readings and Exams. Carver, 1900/01-1902/03

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus Teaching Undergraduate

Harvard. Course Outline, Reading Assignments, Semester Exams. Principles of economics. Smithies, 1951-52

The self-confidence of the businessmen appointed to Harvard’s economics department visiting committee at mid-20th-century to weigh-in on all matters related to the scope and method of economics as a science and policy art is breath-taking, and I don’t mean that in a good way. For an earlier post I transcribed the November 1950 report submitted by the visiting committee and the January 1952 response from Harvard President James B. Conant. Reading Keller and Keller’s Making Harvard Modern: The Rise of America’s University (2001), I learned that Clarence B. Randall [Chairman of the Economics Visiting Committee] alleged that the economics chairman, Arthur Smithies, ripped off the first page of the syllabus for the principles of economics course to hide the list of main sources of readings for the course, knowing that some of the items would displease Randall.

This was enough to get me to look at the syllabus with assigned readings and the final examinations for Economics 1 “Principles of Economics” for the academic year 1951-52 now transcribed for this post. The first page of the syllabus appears to simply be tables of primary sources for the readings assigned in the fall and spring terms that permit abbreviated reference in the course syllabus. But since he was given the complete list of readings and an outline of the course, I find it more likely that Randall merely saw a tempest in a teapot. Others can examine the artifacts themselves and come to their own conclusions.

If I were in the jury, I would vote to acquit Smithies of the charge of willfully destroying or hiding evidence known to be relevant. Any idiot could figure out Karl Marx made a guest appearance in the Harvard course readings from the course outline and its reading assignments. Smithies provided sufficient evidence as to course content to Randall. Actually I think Smithies should have been awarded damages for having his honor impugned, or even a Purple Heart. Suffering fools has always been a part of the price of departmental service.

__________________________

Cf. An earlier version of the Syllabus for “Principles of Economics”

1949-50.  Economics 1 outline and exams.

__________________________

Smithies’ letter of Oct 31, 1951 to Randall

October 31, 1951

Mr. Clarence B. Randall
38 South Dearborn Street
Chicago 3, Illinois

Dear Mr. Randall:

I was very glad to get your letter and I do wish we had more opportunities to sit down to discuss the affairs of the Department in a more leisurely manner than is usually possible.

We have given a great deal of thought during the fall to the questions about the Department that you have raised with the President. I am afraid it might confuse things if I attempted to discuss those questions by letter so I shall forebear. I would like to say, however, that whether or not I agree with your conclusions I have always found your criticisms of the Department very helpful.

Dave Bailey called and asked us to keep Sunday evening, January thirteenth, free for a meeting with the committee. As you know, I do not think these single evening meetings serve any very useful purpose. They do not enable the Committee to talk at any length with members of the Department or to make any adequate appraisal of the Department’s program. Several members of the Committee have told me that oven the full day we devoted to the purpose last year was too short. Several members of the Department have also indicated to me that they feel that the Sunday evening meeting is to [sic] perfunctory. Therefore, I very much hope we can arrange another program of the kind we had last year.

Things seem to be going quite satisfactorily here. The enrollment has not shrunk to anything like the extent that was anticipated last spring.

This year we have extended tutorial to sophomores in Group III and above so that we have now practically restored the tutorial system that was eliminated during the war.

I am sending you a copy of the outline of Economics 1 which may interest you. I still regard it as by no means perfect but am more satisfied with it than with what we have had before. We are continuing to have occasional lectures in Economics 1 and during the course of the year I hope that most of the senior members of the staff will give at least one lecture.

Our contract with the Business School for Smith and Butters to teach Burbank’s courses is working out quite as well as I expected. I want to make this a permanent arrangement, but I would not be surprised at some time to see some resistance from the Business School. If we need it, I hope we can rely on your Committee’s support to continue this arrangement.

The defense program has made fewer inroads on the Department than we expected. It is absorbing a good deal of Mason’s sabbatical leave; Dunlop is spending a day or two a week with the Wage Stabilization Board; and I go to Washington for a couple of days a week as a consultant to Charles E. Wilson.

If there is any chance of seeing you during the fall, I would very much appreciate the opportunity. I am regularly in Washington on Thursdays — if you can every bring yourself to visit that unholy city.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur Smithies

Enclosure

__________________________

Randall alleges sleight-of-hand by Smithies regarding the Economics 1 reading list.

“Besides their ideological concerns, the Overseers worried about the department’s ability (and desire) to teach undergraduates. [Chairman of the Economics Committee, Clarence B.] Randall fretted that research-obsessed professors were away too much; senior professors avoided teaching lowerclassmen. And he agreed with [President James B.] Conant that the field ‘has reached a point of ethereal content which is as lifeless to me as much…modern poetry. It just doesn’t seem to matter.’ Conant concede that the department ‘has not faced up to the problem of making a real effort ot improve the instruction in the introductory courses in Economics.’ Feeling the pressure, chairman [Professor Arthur] Smithies proposed an extensive plan to strengthen undergraduate teaching. Randall appreciated Conan’s response to his criticisms. He left the visiting committee in the fall of 1952, but not without a final disappointment. He heard that when he asked the chairman for a copy of the Economics A [sic, Principles of Economics last listed as “Economics A” in 1947-48. Beginning 1948-49 it was given the number “Economics 1″ ] reading list, Smithies tore off the first page because he thought that Randall would disapprove of many of the authors (as in all likelihood he would have). ‘I bear no animosity about that,’ Randall told Conant, ‘but it does make me a little heartsick. I am always shocked when I find amongst either professors or preachers ethical practices below the standard prevailing in business.”

Source:  Morton Keller and Phyllis Keller, Making Harvard Modern: The Rise of America’s University (Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 84-85.

__________________________

Course Announcement

Economics 1. Principles of Economics

Full course. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 12. The major part of the course is conducted in sections. However, throughout the year there will be occasional lectures on Wed. at 12. Mon., Wed., and Fri., will be the normal hour for section meetings but sections will be scheduled at other hours. Professor Smithies and other Members of the Department.

Economics 1 may be taken by properly qualified Freshmen with the consent of the instructor.

Economics 1 is designed to introduce students to the methods of economic analysis that bear on the issues that confront this country and the world. The course will thus serve the needs both of those students who plan no further work in economics and those who desire to obtain the groundwork for more advanced courses in the field.

Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Courses of Instruction, 1951-52 pp.  75-76.

__________________________

Economics 1
Syllabus and Readings
1951-52

[first page begins]

ECONOMICS 1
1951-52
Fall Term

Sources:

Bowman and Bach, Economic Analysis and Public Policy, Second Edition (1949)
** Clark, J.M., Common and Disparate Elements in National Growth and Decline
Daugherty and Daugherty Principles of Political Economy, vol. II
The Midyear Economic Report of the President, July 1951
Editors of Fortune, U.S.A. — The Permanent Revolution
* Gayer, Harriss, and Spencer, Basic Economics, A Book of Readings
Hart, Defense Without Inflation
Marx, The Communist Manifesto
Mill, J. S., Principles of Political Economy
* Morgan, T., Introduction to Economics
Office of Defense Mobilization, Meeting Defense Goals
Ruggles, R., National Income and Income Analysis
Schumpeter, J. A., The Theory of Economic Development
Slichter, S., The American Economy
** Spengler, J. J., Theories of Socio-Economic Growth
[“Baumol Economic Analysis” inserted here]

* To be purchased.
** To be handed out in section meeting.

[end of first page]

ECONOMICS 1
Fall Term

PART I. The American Economy—Its Growth, Complexity, Institutions and Problems
  1. The Growth of the U.S. Economy and Its Present Complexity
    1. Change in productivity and income; the increase in population, capital accumulation, and the supply of natural resources.
    2. The functions of the economy.
    3. The complex division of labor and specialization within the U.S. economy for performing these functions.
    4. The role of the price system and market mechanism — the circular flow of economic activity.

Readings:

Slichter, Ch. 1, The American Economy

Gayer, et al., Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, 59

Bowman and Bach, Ch. 3, The Economic System — A Summary View; Chapter 4, Private Enterprise, Profits, the Price System

  1. Prerequisites for a Growing Economy
    1. Climate and natural resources, attitudes of the population, capital and technology, institutional conditions and systems, etc.
    2. Comparisons among different economies

Readings:

Clark, Common and Disparate Elements in National Growth and Decline

Daugherty and Daugherty, Ch. 34, Modern Economic Society

  1. Institutions of an Advanced Industrial Economy
    1. Large scale enterprise — the organization of business
    2. The organization of labor and agriculture
    3. The role of the monetary system and its organization
    4. The role of the government

Readings:

Morgan, [Introduction to Economics]

Ch. 4, The Scale and Location of Production

Ch. 5, The Organization of Business

Ch. 6, The Rise of Labor Unions; Social Legislation of the 1930’s

Ch. 7, The Nature of Money

Ch. 8, The Supply of Money

Ch. 9, The Demand for Money

[“Ch. 28” inserted here]

Ch.10, The Control of Money

Ch. 3, Economic Decisions under Laissez-Faire, a Mixed Economy, and Socialism

Editors of Fortune, Ch. 4, The Transformation of American Capitalism

Gayer, et al., Nos. 51, 54, 65 [“, 12” inserted here]

  1. Some Views on Economic Growth
    1. The classical economists
    2. Schumpeter
    3. Marx
    4. Other socio-economic views

Readings:

Mill, Vol. II, Bk. IV, Ch. 6, Of the Stationary State

Schumpeter, Ch. 2, The Fundamental Phenomenon of Economic Development

Marx, The Communist Manifesto

Spengler, Theories of Socio-Economic Growth

  1. The Problems of a Growing and Complex Economy
    1. Business fluctuations and economic stability
    2. Competition and monopoly
    3. The distribution of income
    4. International problems
    5. Economic Power

Readings:

Morgan, Ch. 1, Economic Problems and Economic Progress, pp. 3-7

Slichter, Ch. 6, How Good is the American Economy

PART II. Fluctuations in National Income — The Problem of Economic Stability
  1. The Measurement of National Income
    1. Components of national income and their statistical measurement.
    2. Correcting national income figures for price changes over time — the real national income.

Readings:

Morgan, [Introduction to Economics]

Ch. 25, The National Income

Ch. 26, Fluctuations in the Real National Income: The Problem of Index Numbers

[“Ch. 27 Production & Employment” inserted here]

  1. The Sources of the Expenditures Determining National Income
    1. Consumption expenditures.
    2. Investment expenditures.
    3. Government expenditures.

Readings:

Morgan, Ch. 31, The Sources of Expenditure

  1. Fluctuations in National Income
    1. The determination of the level of national income.
    2. The effect of changes in spending—the multiplier and acceleration effects.
    3. Business cycle experience of the past.
    4. Counter-cyclical policies
    5. The problem of the national debt

Readings:

Morgan, Ch. 32, Fluctuations in Production and employment

Ruggles, Ch. 12, Economic Policy and the Level of Activity

Morgan, Ch. 36, Part C, The Burden of Public Debt, pp. 685-696

Gayer, et al., Nos. 81, 85

PART III. Economic Mobilization
    1. The pattern of mobilization.
    2. Methods of meeting the defense goals.
    3. The problem of checking inflation in the mobilization period.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

[first page begins]

ECONOMICS 1
1951-52
Spring Term

Sources:

Allen and Brownlee, The Economics of Public Finance
Blakiston Company, Readings in the Social Control of Industry
Buchanan and Lutz, Rebuilding the World Economy
Dean, J., Managerial Economics
Ellsworth, P. T. The International Economy
Federal Budget in Brief, latest available
* Gayer, Harriss, and Spencer, Basic Economics, A Book of Readings
Galbraith, J. K., American Capitalism
* Morgan, T., Introduction to Economics
Peterson, S., Economics
Schumpeter, J. A., Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
** Slichter, S., Profits in a Laboristic Society

* To be purchased.
** To be handed out in section meeting.

[end of first page]

ECONOMICS 1
Spring Term

PART IV. Economic Behavior of the Individual
    1. The problem of choice — the manner in which the individual will use his services and property to earn income and the way he will allocate his income among consumer goods.
    2. The factors influencing his decisions — marginal utility, prices and types of products and services, “conspicuous consumption,” technology, advertising, habit, etc.

Readings:

Peterson, ch. 19, pp. 478-488

Gayer, et al., Nos. 15, 18

PART V. Business Behavior in a Dynamic Economy
  1. Profit-making as the main objective of business enterprises.

The relevance of the time period, liquidity and safety, potential competition, the anti-trust laws, etc., for profit maximizing.

  1. The influence of market structure on the range of decisions by the firm.

Pure competition — agriculture;
Oligopoly or monopolistic competition — industry;
Monopoly — a limiting case.

    1. Conditions of product demand — income levels, availability of substitutes, the price and nature of the product, advertising, etc.
    2. Sales promotion plane and product improvement strategy — research.
    3. Investment decisions — choosing the best plant size and operating it in the most efficient manner.
    4. Pricing policies.
    5. Labor relations.
  1. The interactions of such decisions among business firms in a dynamic economy.
  2. The effectiveness of business behavior in satisfying consumer demand, allocating resources, and stimulating growth.

Readings:

Dean, Ch. 1, Sections 1, 2, 4, 5

Morgan, Chs. 12, 11, 15, 16

Dean, Ch. 7

Schumpeter, Ch. 8

Gayer, et al., Nos. 20, 21, 26

  1. Public Programs of Promotion and Control of Business.
    1. The historical development of government regulation.
    2. The anti-trust approach.
    3. Public utility regulation.
    4. Government sponsored restraints of competition.
    5. Evaluation of government regulation.

Readings:

Gayer, et al., No. 35

Morgan, Ch. 17

Readings in the Social Control of Industry, Ch. 1

Gayer, et al., Nos. 34, 38

PART VI. The Division of the National Income among the Major Groups
    1. The facts on distribution — past and present.
    2. The manner in which demand and supply factors affect the income of the means of production.
    3. The study of these elements in the determination of wages, rents, interest, and profits.
    4. Interactions among prices, profits, wages and property incomes in a dynamic, industrial economy.
    5. The influence of the government on the distributive shares.

Readings:

Morgan, Chs. 23, 18-22

Gayer, et al., Nos. 42, 41

Slichter, Profits in a Laboristic Society

Galbraith, Chs. 9-11, 14

Gayer, et al., Nos. 44, 50, 88 (Henry George)

PART VII. The International Economy
    1. The development of the world economy.
    2. The breakdown of the world economy.
    3. Reconstructing the world-economy-post-war problems and policies.

Readings:

Buchanan and Lutz, Ch. 1

Morgan, Ch. 38

Ellsworth, The International Economy, Ch. 5, 111-120 or

International Economics, Ch. 2

Gayer, et al., Nos., 100-102, 104, 105

PART VIII. Government Finance and Fiscal Problems
  1. Revenues and Expenditures of the Government
    1. The historical change in the role of the government.
    2. The structure of the Federal Budget.
    3. Financing expenditures from sources of taxation — types of taxes, who pays them, and their effects on the economy.
    4. The use of government borrowing to finance expenditures. Should we have an annual balanced budget? What is the burden of the National Debt.
    5. The role of the government as a credit agency.

Readings:

Allen and Brownlee, Ch. 1

Morgan, Ch. 24

Federal Budget in Brief.

Gayer, et al., Nos. 89, 90, 92, 95

PART IX. The Prospects and Fundamental Problems of the American Economy
    1. The problems of economic growth, economic stability, competition and monopoly, the distribution of income, and international economic relations.
    2. How can these problems best be met within the framework of democratic capitalism?

Readings:

To be assigned later.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 5, Folder “Economics, 1951-1952 (1 of 2)”.

__________________________

1951-52
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 1
[Mid-Year Examination, January 1952]

(Three hours)

Answer FIVE of the following SEVEN questions. Divide your time equally among each of the FIVE questions.

  1. “Although Schumpeter was influenced to a great extent by Marx’s ideas, his views of capitalistic development differed in many basic respects from those of Marx.”
    Develop the major points of similarity and difference of their theories of the process of capitalistic development.
  2. Define Gross National Product and National Income. Discuss some of the conceptual and statistical problems in measuring these economic aggregates including the difficulty of comparing Gross National Product at different times. Comment upon the usefulness of these concepts as measures of economic growth.
  3. Economic growth in the United States has been accompanied by bigness in business, labor, finance, and government. Should this concentration movement be regarded as inevitable in the process of capitalistic development? In your opinion has this trend towards bigness interfered with economic growth or accelerated it?
  4. (a) What powers does the Federal Reserve System have to combat inflationary and deflationary movements in the level of economic activity? Explain the manner in which the application of each measure is designed to influence the economy.
    (b) How has Treasury financing policy during the last decade interfered with the usefulness of these powers as a means of economic control?
  5. Discuss the behavior and interactions of consumption and investment expenditures as Gross National Product fluctuates over the course of the business cycle.
  6. “The Mobilization People seem to have two main goals – to maintain stability, i.e., prevent prices from rising, and to increase production. They are both laudable objectives by themselves. But those Washington bureaucrats don’t seem to realize they can’t have their cake and eat it too. They try to maintain stability by high taxes plus price and resource controls. Yet these are the very measures which strangle the businessman and take away his incentive to increase production. I say, forget the controls. American production in a free economy will achieve both goals.”
    Discuss the issues raised in this statement and, in so doing, suggest the kind of economic policies that you think will best meet our mobilization needs as presently conceived by the federal government.
  7. What in your opinion are the main factors which account for the different rates of growth in real income per capita at different periods of history and in various areas of the world.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28). Vol. 90 Final Exams [in] Social Sciences, January 1952.

__________________________

 1951-52
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 1
[Year-end Examination, May 1952]

PART I
(One hour)
Answer (a) and (b)

  1. (a) Assuming perfect knowledge and the desire to maintain profits, explain briefly the manner in which the price and output of a commodity are determined (1), under purely competitive conditions and (2) under conditions of pure monopoly.
    (b) How relevant and useful are these theories in adequately explaining business behavior:

(1) under industry conditions in which competitors are few and products differentiated,
(2) when short-run profit maximization may impair the long-run profit position, and
(3) in accounting for the phenomenon of innovation and company policy toward expansion.

PART II
(Two hours)
Answer any FOUR questions. Each will be counted equally.

  1. “The failure of traditional economic analysis to develop a theory of profits which links them to economic growth has in some ways resulted in an unrealistic anti-monopoly program.” Discuss.
  2. In what ways are wages related to the marginal productivity of labor? How does collective bargaining influence wages and employment?
  3. “Equality is a good thing, but so are rising living standards and greater opportunity.”
    To what extent do you think attempts to redistribute income are compatible with policies promoting economic growth? In your answer be careful to distinguish types of redistributive measures and their various effects.
  4. This year every presidential candidate is faced with the need for advancing a tax and expenditure program. As a citizen what economic issues would you want a candidate to cover and what criteria would you employ in evaluating his program?
  5. Answer (a) or (b).

(a) “We shall never have a sound system of international trade until we return to the Gold Standard.” Discuss critically the reasoning underlying this statement, particularly with regard to its implications as to the compatibility of domestic stability and international equilibrium.

(b) “Events in the past fifty years have seen the rise of the United States to a position of dominance in international trade. Yet it may be questioned whether we are willing to accept the responsibilities which our role in the world economy entails.”
Evaluate the statement in the light of the development of United States foreign economic policy in recent years.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001 (HUC 7000.28). Vol. 93 Final Exams [in] Social Sciences, June 1952.

Images Sources: Smithies from From Harvard Class Album 1952;
Portrait of Trustee of the University of Chicago, Clarence B. Randall, from the University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-03000-082, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Berkeley Economists Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Graduate Public Finance. Syllabus and Exams. Berkeley professor George Break. 1964-1965

The Harvard archives of course syllabi and final examinations include materials for courses taught by visiting professors from other universities. Graduate public finance was a course normally taught by Otto Eckstein, who was appointed to the President’s Council of Economic Advisers in September 1964. To cover that important field course, the Harvard economics department brought in the Berkeley professor of public finance, George Farrington Break for 1964-65. Below you will find Break’s obituary from a University of California (Berkeley) press release, followed by the syllabus and readings for his graduate public finance course at Harvard. Both the mid-year and year-end examinations have been transcribed and can be found at the end of the post. Break’s c.v. can be downloaded at the Wayback Machine internet archive.

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Public finance scholar George F. Break dead at 88

By Kathleen Maclay
30 March 2009

BERKELEY — George F. Break, an emeritus professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and an authority on public finance, died of heart failure at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley on March 13. He was 88.

George Break conducted influential empirical research on the effects of income taxation on work incentives, intergovernmental relations and tax reform in the United States and Canada.
He chaired UC Berkeley’s Department of Economics from 1969 to 1973. Break also served on numerous campus advisory committees and in 1990 was honored with the Berkeley Citation, one of the campus’s highest honors.

He was born June 10, 1920, in the city of London in Southwest Ontario, Canada. From 1942-1945, Break served in a meteorological office attached to the Royal Canadian Air Force and was a flying officer with its Meteorological Division in 1945. He married Helen Dean Schnacke on July 31, 1948.

Break went on to earn his Ph.D. in economics at UC Berkeley in 1951, and joined the economics department as an assistant professor the same year. Among his many students at UC Berkeley was Michael Boskin, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under President George H.W. Bush. Break retired from the faculty in 1990.

Of the 11 books authored by Break, the best known are “Public Finance” (1961), which he wrote with Earl Rolph, and “Federal Tax Reform: The Impossible Dream?” (1975), authored with Joseph Pechman, which served as a foundation for the U.S. Tax Reform Act of 1986. Break also wrote “Financing Government in a Federal System” (1980), edited two books and wrote 74 articles or book chapters.

He was president of the National Tax Association from 1982 to 1984, and was honored in 1996 with the association’s Daniel M. Holland Medal for outstanding contributions to the study and practice of public finance. Break was a member of the American Economics Association, National Tax Association and Canadian Economics Association.

He was appointed by California Gov. George Deukmejian to the Tax Reform Advisory Commission, whose 1985 report suggested reducing corporate and individual income taxes and broadening the sales tax by including food, medical care and household utilities.

Break also assisted the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Analysis, testified before congressional committees, consulted for various tax agencies within the United States and Canadian governments, and evaluated the tax systems of Greece and Jamaica.

Break was preceded in death by his wife, Helen, who died in 2007. He is survived by several nephews and nieces.

[…]

Source: UCBerkeleyNews. Press Release, 30 March 2009.
_____________________________

Course Announcement

Economics 251. Public Finance
Full course. M., W., (F.), at 10. Professor George Break (University of California).

Public finance in the context of the theory of economic policy; fiscal policy and the theory of output and prices; economics of public expenditure; theory of multi-level finance.

Source: Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Courses of Instruction for Harvard and Radcliffe, 1964-65, p. 117.

_____________________________

Syllabus and Course Readings

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 251
Public Finance

Professor George F. Break

Fall Term 1964

  1. Recommended for purchase: R. A. Musgrave, The Theory of Public Finance (McGraw Hill, 1959)
  2. Henry C. Simons, Personal Income Taxation (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1938)
  3. General Texts and Treatises: Due, John F., Government Finance (Irwin, 1959)
  4. Groves, H. M., Financing Government (5th ed. Holt, 1958)
  5. Schultz, W. J. and Harriss, C. L., American Public Finance (7th ed., Prentice-Hall, 1961)
  6. Buchanan, J. M., The Public Finances (Irwin, 1960)
  7. Rolph, E. R. and Break, G. F., Public Finance (Ronald, 1961)
  8. Hicks, U. K., Public Finance (2nd ed., Cambridge, 1955)
  9. Prest, A. R., Public Finance (Quadrangle, 1960)
  10. Dalton, Hugh, Principles of Public Finance (4th ed., Routledge, 1954)
  11. Pigou, A. C., A Study in Public Finance (3rd ed., Macmillan, 1947)
  12. Colm, Gerhard, Essays in Public Finance and Fiscal Policy (Oxford, 1955)
  13. Rolph, E. R., The Theory of Fiscal Economics (California, 1954)
  14. Blough, Roy, The Federal Taxing Process (Prentice-Hall, 1952)
  15. Universities–National Bureau Conference, The Public Finances (Princeton, 1961)
  16. Musgrave, R. A. and Peacock, A. T. (eds.): Classics in the Theory of Public Finance (Macmillan, 1958)
  17. Musgrave, R. A. and Shoup, C. S., (eds.), Readings in the Economics of Taxation (AEA series, Irwin, 1959)
  18. Hall, Challis A. Jr., Fiscal Policy for Stable Growth (Holt, 1960)
  19. Smithies, A. and Butters, J. K. (eds.), Readings in Fiscal Policy (AEA series, Irwin, 1955)
  20. Smith, D. T., Federal Tax Reform (McGraw-Hill, 1961)
  21. Smithies, A., The Budgetary System in the United States (McGraw-Hill, 1955)
  22. Burkhead, Jesse, Government Budgeting (Wiley, 1936)
  23. Harvard Law School International Program in Taxation, World Tax Series (volumes on Australia, Brazil, Mexico, India, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, published)
  24. Joint Economic Committee, The Federal Revenue System: Facts and Problems, 1964
  25. Joint Economic Committee, Federal Tax Policy for Economic Growth and Stability, 1955
  26. Joint Economic Committee, Federal Expenditure Policy for Economic Growth and Stability, 1957
  27. Committee on Ways and Means, Tax Revision Compendium (3 vols., 1960)

Serial Publications and Periodicals

U. S. Treasury Department, Treasury Bulletin (monthly)
U. S. Treasury Department, Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury
Budget Message of the President
Economic Report of the President
National Tax Association, Annual Proceedings
National Tax Journal
Taxes, The Tax Magazine
Public Finance (Finances Publiques)
Commerce Clearing House, Inc., and Prentice-Hall publish looseleaf tax services (in Law and Business School Libraries)

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

1. The Fiscal Setting

7: Chs. 1, 2, 4, 5.

*1: Ch. 9.

21: Chs. 3-4; (5-7); 8-10.

22: Chs. *6-9; (Part III).

Symposium on Budgetary Concept. RES (May 1963):

Bator
Eckstein
*Musgrave
Taylor, Wendell and Brill

Andrew E. Gantt, II., “Central Governments: Cash Deficits and Surpluses, RES (Feb. 1963).

Survey of Current Business (July, 1964), pp. 1823.

Office of Business Economics, Dept. of Commerce, U.S. Income and Output (1958), pp. 55-7 and 164-79.

Joint Economic Committee (Roy Moor), The Federal Budget as an Economic Document (1962), pp. 524; *109-128; 138-148.

Alan T. Peacock and Jack Wiseman, The Growth of Public Expenditure in the United Kingdom (NBER, 1961).

Anthony Downs, “Why the Government Budget is Too Small in a Democracy,” World Politics (July, 1960).

2. Principles of Taxation

*1: Chs. 4, 5.

*2: Ch. 1.

16: Knut Wicksell, pp. 72-118.

17: Elmer D. Fagan No. 3, (JPE, 1938).

11: Part II, Chs. 1, 4-7.

20: Ch. 1.

W. J. Blum and H. Kalven, Jr., The Uneasy Case for Progressive Taxation (Chicago, 1953). Phoenix Paperback Edition, 1963.

Robert J, Lampman, “Recent Thought on Egalitarianism,” QJE (May, 1957).

3. Income, Spending and Net Wealth

*1: pp. 160-64.

2: Ch; pp. 89-100.

17: Robert Murray Haig, No. 4, (The Federal Income Tax, 1921).

*William Vickrey, Agenda for Progressive Taxation (Ronald, 1947), Ch. 1.

Irving Fisher, The Nature of Capital and Income (1906) Chs. 1, 2, 4, 7, 10.

__________, “Income in Theory and Income Taxation in Practice,” Econometrica (January, 1937).

Break, George F., “Capital Maintenance and the Concept of Income,” JPE (February, 1954).

Nicholas Kaldor, An Expenditure Tax (Allen and Unwin, 1955), pp. 21-53.

4. The Scope of Income Taxation

*2: Chs. 5, 7, 8.

*20: Chs. 3, 5.

*Vickrey: Chs. 2, 3, 5-I.

David J. Ott and Allen H. Meltzer, Federal Tax Treatment of State and Local Securities (Brooking, 1963) Chs. 1, 2, 8.

Richard Goode, “Policyholders’ Interest Income from Life Insurance under the Income Tax, Vanderbilt Law Review (Dec. 1962).

C. Harry Kahn, Business and Professional Income Under the Personal Income Tax, NBER, 1964.

5. The Definition of Net Income

*20: Ch. 4.

*Vickrey: Ch. 4.

E. Cary Brown, “The New Depreciation Policy under the Income Tax: an Economic Analysis,” NTJ (March 1955).

Norman B. Ture, “Tax Reform: Depreciation Problems,” AER (May, 1963), pp. 334-53.

Murray Brown, “Depreciation and Corporate Profits,” SCB (Oct. 1963).

Evsey Domar, The Case for Accelerated Depreciation,” QJE (Nov. 1953) and his Essays in The Theory of Economic Growth.

Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, Depreciation Guidelines and Rules, Publication No. 456 (7/62).

C. Harry Kahn, Personal Deductions in the Federal Income Tax (NBER, 1960).

*Richard Goode, “Educational Expenditures and the Income Tax,” in Selma Mushkin, ed., Economics of Higher Education (Washington, 1962).

6. The Taxpaying Unit

*Vickrey, Ch. 10-I, III.

*Harold M. Croves, Federal Tax Treatment of the Family (Brookings, 1963).

Reed R. Hansen, “The Diminishing Exemption — a New Look at Equity,” Canadian Tax Journal (July-August, 1963).

Yung-Ping Chen, “Income Tax Exemptions for the Aged as a Policy Instrument,” NTJ (Dec. 1963).

7. Integration of the Personal and Corporate Income Taxes

*2: Ch. 9.

*20: Ch. 7.

*Vickrey, Ch. 5-II.

*Daniel M. Holland, Dividends Under the Income Tax (NBER, 1962), Ch. 4.

Holland, The Income-Tax Burden on Stockholders (NBER, 1958) Chs. 1, 2, 7.

Goode, The Corporation Income Tax (Wiley, 1951) Chs. 2, 3, 10.

Carl S. Shoup, “The Dividend Exclusion and Credit in the Revenue Code of 1954,” NTJ (March, 1955).

8. Income Tax Administration

*M. Farioletti, “Some Results of the First Year’s Audit Control Program of the Bureau of Internal Revenue,” NTJ (March, 1952).

Harold M. Groves, “Empirical Studies of Income-Tax Compliance,” NTJ (Dec. 1958).

W. H. Smith, “Electronic Date Processing in the Internal Revenue Service, NTJ (September, 1961).

Holland, Dividends Under the Income Tax, Ch. 2.

H. H. Hinrichs, “Underreporting of Capital Gains on Tax Returns…,” NTJ (June, 1964).

9. Income Taxation and Work Incentives

1: Ch. 11.

13: Ch. 10.

17: Goode, No. 29 (JPE, 1949).

*Gershon Cooper, No. 30 (QJE, 1952).

7: pp. 153-58.

*Break, “Income Taxes and Incentives to Work,” AER (September, 1957).

Kaldor, Ch. 4.

Break, “Income Taxes, Wage Rates, and the Incentive to Supply Labor Services,” NTJ (Dec. 1953).

10. Income Taxation and Investment Incentives

*1: Ch. 14.

 7: pp. 159-64.

13: Chs. 11, 12.

17: Domar and Musgrave, No. 31 (OJE, 1944).

E. Cary Brown, No. 32 (Income and Employment and Public Policy: Essays in Honor of Alvin B. Hansen (Norton, 1948).

Brown, “Mr. Kaldor on Taxation and Risk Bearing,” Rev. of Ec. Studies Vol. XXV:1.

Kaldor, Ch. III.

*Brown, “Tax Incentives for Investment,” AER (May, 1962).

*Goode, “Accelerated Depreciation Allowances as a Stimulus to Investment, QJE (May, 1955).

Goode, “Special Tax Measures to Restrain Investment,” IMF: Staff Papers (February, 1957).

*Sam B. Chase, Jr., “Tax Credits for Investment Spending,” NTJ (March, 1962), and comment by Brown in NTJ (June, 1962).

11. Income Taxation and Corporate Financial Policies

7: pp. 221-2; 229-30; and studies there cited by Lintner, Smith and Darling.

John A. Brittain,”The Tax Structure and Corporate Dividend Policy,” AER (May, 1964).

Miller and Shelton, “Effects of a Shifted Corporate Income Tax on Capital Structure,” NTJ (1955).

12. The Incidence of Sales and Excise Taxes

1: Chs. 15, 16, especially pp. 379-82.

*13: Chs. 6, 7. or JPE (April 1952) and AER (Sept. 1952) for Ch. 6.

17:   Harry Gunnison Brown, No. 21 (JPE 1939)

John F. Due, No. 22 (The Theory of Incidence of Sales Taxation, 1942)

Rolph and Break, No. 7 (JPE, 1949)

*Due, “Toward a General Theory of Sales Tax Incidence,” QJE (May, 1953).

*Due, “Sales Taxation and the Consumer,” AER (December, 1963).

*J. M. Buchanan, Fiscal Theory and Political Economy (Chapel Hill, 1960).

Break, “Excise Tax Burdens and Benefits,” AER (September, 1954).

Break, “Allocation and Excess Burden Effects of Excise and Sales Taxes,” in Committee on Ways and Means, Excise Tax Compendium (Washington, 1964).

*J. A. Stockfisch, “The Capitalization and Investment Aspects of Excise Taxes under Competition,” AER (June, 1954).

Paul Davidson, “Rolph on the Aggregate Effects of a General Excise Tax,” SEJ (July, 1960).

13. Incidence of a Corporation Income Tax

17: Shoup, No. 20 (NTJ 1948).

7: pp. 210-20.

27: Harberger, Volume I, pp. 231-50.

*Arnold C. Harberger, “The Incidence of the Corporation Income Tax,” JPE (June 1962)

*Kerzyzaniak and Musgrave, The Shifting of the Corporation Income Tax (Johns Hopkins, 1963).

Diran Bodenhorn, “The Shifting of the Corporation Income Tax in a Growing Economy,” QJE (November, 1956).

*Challis A. Hall, Jr., “Direct Shifting of the Corporation Income Tax in Manufacturing.” AER (May: 1964).

14. Taxation of the Oil and Gas Industry

7: pp. 230-34.

Douglas M. Eldridge, “Tax Incentives for Mineral Enterprises,” JPE (June, 1950).

Stephen L. McDonald, Federal Tax Treatment of Income from Oil and Gas (Brookings, 1963).

McDonald, “Percentage Depletion and the Allocation of Resources: The Case of Oil and Gas,” NTJ (December, 1961); comments by Musgrave and Eldridge in NTJ (June, 1962), and McDonald’s reply in NTJ (September 1962).

Peter O. Steiner, “The Non-Neutrality of Corporate Income Taxation: with and Without Depletion,” NTJ (Sept. 1963), and comments by McDonald and Steiner in NTJ (March, 1964).

Paul Davidson, “Policy Problems of the Crude Oil Industry,” AER (March 1963) and discussion in AER (March, 1964).

A. E. Kahn, “The Depletion Allowance and Cartelization,” AER (June 1964).

15. Taxation of Capital Gains and Losses

25: Walter Heller, pp. 381-94.

2: Ch. 7.

7: pp. 123-29.

Lawrence H. Seltzer, The Nature and Tax Treatment of Capital Gains and Losses (NBER, 1951) Chs. 1, 4-6, 9.

Harold M. Somers, “Reconsideration of the Capital Gains Tax,” NTJ (Dec. 1960).

Martin David, “Economic Effects of the Capital Gains Tax,” AER (May, 1964).

Holt and Shelton, “The Implications of the Capital Gains Tax for Investment Decisions,” JF (Dec. 1961).

Alice J. Vandermeulen, “Capital Gains: Two Tests for the Taxpayer and Proposal for the President,” NTJ (Dec. 1963).

H. H. Hinrichs, “An Empirical Measure of Investors’ Responsiveness to Differentials in Capital Gains Tax Rates Among Income Groups, NTJ (Sept. 1963).

Holt and Shelton, “The Lock-in Effect of the Capital Gains Tax,” NTJ (Dec. 1962).

Lent and Menge, “The Importance of Restricted Stock Options in Executive Compensation, ” Management Record (June, 1962)

Holland and Lewellen, “Probing the Record of Stock Options,” HBR April, 1962).

16. The Redistributive Effects of U. S. Taxation

27:   Pechman, pp. 251-82. (Volume 1)

Hellmuth, pp. 283-316. (Volume 1)

*Musgrave, pp. 2223-2234. (Volume 3)

*Lampman, pp. 2235-2246. (Volume 3)

*Joseph A. Pechman, “Erosion of the Individual Income Tax,” NTJ (March, 1957).

Musgrave and others, “Distribution of Tax Payments by Income Groups: a Case Study for 1948,” NTJ (March, 1951), and discussion in NTJ (Sept.1951) and March, 1952).
Also later computations by Musgrave in No. 25, pp. 96-113.

James R. Beaton, “Family Tax Burdens by Income Levels,” NTJ (March, 1962).

George A. Bishop, “The Tax Burden by Income Class, 1958,” NTJ (March, 1961).

*A. R. Prest, “Statistical Calculations of Tax Burdens,” Economica (Aug. 1955).

Annual articles on the size distribution of income in SCB, e.g. (April, 1964).

17. The Structure of U. S. Taxation

27: Volume 1, pp. 1-250.

*NBER and Brookings, The Role of Direct and Indirect Taxes in the Federal Revenue System (Princeton, 1964), especially papers by Due, Eldridge, Eckstein and Chase.

*Committee on Way and Mean, Excise Tax Compendium (Washington, 1964), especially papers by Due, Eldridge, Shoup, and Stockfisch.

18. The Income Sensitivity of U. S. Taxes

*Pechman, “Yield of the Individual Income Tax During a Recession,” NTJ (March, 1954).

Leo Cohen, “An Empirical Measurement of the Built-in Flexibility of the Individual Income Tax,” AER (May, 1959). See also NTJ (June, 1960).

Paul E. Smith, “Built in Flexibility of the Individual Income Tax: Quarterly Estimates,” NTJ (June, 1962).

Smith, “A Note on the Built-in Flexibility of the Individual Income Tax,” Econometrica (Oct. 1963).

Wilfred Lewis, Jr., Federal Fiscal Policy in the Postwar Recessions (Brookings, 1962) Chs. 2 and 3.

*Groves and Kahn, “The Stability of State and Local Tax Yields,” AER (March, 1952).

*Dick Netzer, “Income Elasticity of the Property Tax: a Post-Mortem Note,” NTJ (June, 1964); also No. 15, pp. 23-40.

D. G. Davies, “The Sensitivity of Consumption Taxes to Fluctuations in Income,” NTJ (Sept. 1962).

Brown and Kruizenga, “Income Sensitivity of a Simple Personal Income Tax, RES (Aug. 1959).

M. O. Clement, “The Quantitative Impact of Automatic Stabilizers,” RES (Feb. 1960).

19. Value Added Taxation

*Shoup, “Theory and Background of the Value-Added Tax,” National Tax Association Proceedings (1955) pp. 6-19.

*Excise Tax Compendium, Papers by Smith and Rolph.

The Role of Direct and Indirect Taxes in the Federal Revenue System. Paper by Musgrave and Richman.

20. Spendings and Net Worth Taxes

7: Chs. 8, 9.

Kaldor, An Expenditure Tax.

Vickrey, Ch. 12.

Katona and Lansing, “The Wealth of the Wealthy,” RES (Feb. 1964).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 9, Folder “Economics, 1964-1965 (2 of 2)”.

_____________________________

Mid-year Examination

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 251
Fall 1964

Answer any three questions

  1. There has been much discussion concerning, the role that the principle of taxation according to benefits received should play in modern fiscal systems. Contrast the views on this subject of Henry Simons and the voluntary exchange theorists. Set forth your own views and justify them.
  2. Discuss the incidence of a property tax levied by a single State (assume, if you like, that one State raises its tax rates while others hold them constant) on the land, buildings, and equipment of businesses operating within its borders. The tax applies both to local retail enterprises and to manufacturing corporations selling in national markets.
  3. “In a rational system of income taxation according to ability to pay there is no place for a separate tax on corporate income.” Discuss.
  4. Each of the following is a controversial aspect of the federal individual income tax:
    1. Employer contributions to the cost of employee life, accident, hospital and medical insurance.
    2. Social security retirement benefits.
    3. Income splitting.
    4. Deductions for state and local taxes and for interest on consumer indebtedness.
    5. Expenditures for higher education.
    6. Travelling and entertainment expenditures by businessmen.
    7. Personal exemptions.
    8. Interest on state and local debt.

Select any four of the above and discuss the problems to which they give rise. Include in your answer your own recommendations as to their treatment for tax purposes.

  1. Many critics of the U.S. tax system feel that it unduly impairs incentives to invest. Discuss this question both in general and with respect to the following specific characteristics of the tax system:
    1. depreciation allowances,
    2. loss carryovers,
    3. progressive individual income tax rates, and
    4. capital gains and losses.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Naval Science, Air Science (January, 1965) in the bound volume Social Sciences: Final Examinations, January 1965 (HUC 7000.28, Vol. 157).

_____________________________

Year-end Examination

Economics 251
Final Examination
Spring Term, 1965

Part I

Answer both questions.

  1. (25%)
    (a) Compute the built-in flexibility and the yield elasticity of the federal individual income tax from the following data:

Y = 0.6 + 0.38X,

where Y = taxable individual income
and X =  gross national product,
both in billions of dollars

The equation was fitted to the period 1955-1963 during which income tax liabilities were 23 percent of taxable individual incomes in each year, and, on the average over the period, individual income tax liabilities were 7.9 percent of GNP

(b) Are there any reasons to expect the built-in flexibility of the individual income tax to be different in the upswing of the business cycle from what it is in the downswing? In the long run compared to what it is in the short run? Discuss.

(c) What effects, if any, would you expect a reduction in the corporate income tax to have on the built-in flexibility of the individual income tax?

  1. (25%)
    Evaluate each of the following as countercyclical fiscal policies:
    1. changes in excise tax rates
    2. variations in public works spending
    3. public debt operations

Part II

Answer any two questions.

  1. (25%) Write a critical analysis of the balanced budget theorem.
  2. (25%) Evaluate the major ways in which the federal government could increase its financial assistance to state and local governments.
  3. (25%) Discuss the problems involved in estimating social and private rates of return to investment in higher education.
  4. (25%) Discuss the importance of each of the following in benefit-cost analysis as applied to governmental spending programs:
    1. The rate of return on reinvested earnings
    2. Intangible benefits
    3. Pecuniary and technological spillovers
    4. Secondary benefits

Source: Harvard University Archives. Bound volume Social Sciences: Final Examinations, June 1965 (HUC 7000.28, vol. 159).

Image Source: George F. Break’s faculty profile page at the Berkeley economics department website.