Category: Suggested Reading

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George Mason Methodology Suggested Reading Syllabus

George Mason. Course readings for Economic Philosophy. Buchanan and Vanberg, 1990

 

This post is an experiment in transcription. The HOPE Center at Duke University has started recently to provide pdf scans of syllabi from Ed Tower’s Eno River Press collection and I wondered how easy it would be to use the text-recognition software in Adobe Acrobat Pro to extract digital versions of the syllabi. It turns out that at least for this initial attempt, tweaking and correction of the OCR text required considerably less blood, sweat and tears than a standard typed transcription would have. 

Like other members of the greater community of historians of economics, I eagerly await further scans from the Tower volumes by the HOPE Center. From time to time, I’ll convert a scanned syllabus to add to the collection of digital material posted at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror. Links to the original scans will be provided whenever available. 

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George Mason University
SPRING 1990

Economics 827: ECONOMIC PHILOSOPHY
James M. Buchanan, Viktor J. Vanberg

Purpose and theme:

The purpose of this course is to discuss some of the issues at the foundations of economics as a social science. It will cover topics like the following (the numbers behind the titles refer to the reading list):

— Economics as moral philosophy (1, 13, 15, 20).

— Welfare economics and political economy (2, 3, 4).

— Methodological and normative individualism (14, 22).

— Subjectivism and opportunity costs (9, 12, 30).

— Utilitarianism and contractarianism (5, 16, 18, 19, 24).

— Agreement in exchange, in politics and in science (10, 29).

— Liberty, voluntariness and efficiency (7, 26).

— Justice as fairness and distributive justice (6, 11, 21, 23, 24).

— Homo economicus, rational choice and rule-following (8, 25, 27).

— Economics and morality (17, 19, 28).

Organization:

The constituting meeting for this course will be held on January 23, 7:20 p.m., in room R 2600. The core part of this course will be taught during the two-weeks period February 19 through March 2 in the library of the center for Study of Public Choice, George’s Hall, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (daily Mon. through Fri.).

Grading:

Grades will be determined on daily (one page) protocols during the ‘core-period’ and a longer (15-20 pages) paper on a subject to be chosen between student and instructor.

Reading List:

(A set of xerox-copies of the following titles will be available from Kinko’s Copies, University Mall).

  1. Albert, Hans “Knowledge and Decision” chpt. 3 in H. Albert Treatise in Critical Reason Princeton University Press 1985, 71-101.
  2. Buchanan, James M. “Social Choice, Democracy, and Free Markets” in Fiscal Theory and Political Economy Chapel Hill 1960, 75-89.
  3. — , — “Positive Economics, Welfare Economics, and Political Economy” in Fiscal Theory and Political Economy Chapel Hill 1960, 105-124.
  4. — , — “The Relevance of Pareto Optimality” in The Journal of Conflict Resolution 6, 1962, 341-354.
  5. — , — “Marginal Notes on Reading Political Philosophy” in J. M. Buchanan and G. Tullock The Calculus of Consent Ann Arbor 1965, 307-322.
  6. — , -— “Notes on Justice in Contract” in Freedom in Constitutional Contract Texas A&M University Press 1977, 123-134.
  7. — , — “Criteria for a Free Society: Definition, Diagnosis, and Prescription” in Freedom in Constitutional Contract Texas A&M University Press 1977, 287-299.
  8. — , — “ls Economics the Science of Choice?” in What Should Economists Do? Liberty Press 1979, 39-63.
  9. — , — “General Implications of Subjectivism in Economics” in What Should Economists Do?” Liberty Press 1979, 81-91.
  10. — , — “The Potential for Tyranny in Politics as Science” in Liberty, Market and State New York University Press 1985, 40-54.
  11. — , — “Rules for a Fair Game: Contractarian Notes on Distributive Justice” in Liberty, Market and State New York University Press 1985, 123-139.
  12. — , — “L.S.E. Cost Theory in Retrospect” in Economics — Between Predictive Science and Moral Philosophy Texas A&M University Press 1987, 141-151.
  13. — , — “Political Economy and Social Philosophy” in P. Koslowski, ed., Economics and Philosophy, Tuebingen 1985.
  14. — , — “The Foundations for Normative Individualism” mimeographed, Center for Study of Public Choice.
  15. Buchanan, James and Gordon Tullock “The Politics of the Good Society,” Chpt. 20 in The Calculus of Consent Ann Arbor 1965, 297-306.
  16. Gauthier, David “On the Refutation of Utilitarianism” in H B. Miller and W. H. Williams (eds.) The Limits of Utilitarianism University of Minnesota Press 1982, 144-163.
  17. — , — “Maximization Constrained: The Rationality of Cooperation” in R. Campbell and L. Sowden (eds.) Paradoxes of Rationality and Cooperation Vancouver 1985, 75-93.
  18. Hahn, Frank “On Some Difficulties of the Utilitarian Economist” in A. Sen and B. Williams (eds.) Utilitarianism and Beyond Cambridge University Press 1982, 187-198.
  19. Harsanyi John C. ”Morality and Social Welfare” chpt. 4 in J. C. Harsanyi Rational Behavior and Bargaining Equilibrium in Games and Social Situations Cambridge University Press 1977, 48-64.
  20. Hayek, Friedrich A. “Kinds of Rationalism” in F. A. Hayek Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics The University of Chicago Press 1967, 82-95.
  21. — , — “The Atavism of Social Justice” in F. A. Hayek New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas The University of Chicago Press 1978, 57-68.
  22. Lachmann, Ludwig M. “Methodological Individualism and the Market Economy” in L. M. Lachmann Capital, Expectations, and the Market Process Kansas City 1977, 149-165.
  23. Nozick, Robert “Distributive Justice” chpt. 7 in R. Nozick Anarchy, State, and Utopia New York 1974, 149-164 + 183-189.
  24. Rawls, John “Justice as Fairness” chpt. 1 in J. Rawls A Theory of Justice Harvard University Press 1971, 3-27.
  25. Sen, Amartya “Behaviour and the Concept of Preference” in J. Elster (ed.) Rational Choice Basil Blackwell 1986, 60-81.
  26. Vanberg, Viktor “Individual Choice and Institutional Constraints – TheNormative Element in Classical and Contractarian Liberalism” in Analyse & Kritik Vol. 8, 1986, 113-149.
  27. — , — “Rational Choice, Rule-Following and Institutions” mimeographed, Center for Study of Public Choice, 1989, 49pp.
  28. Vanberg, Viktor and James M. Buchanan “Rational Choice and Moral Order” in Analyse & Kritik 10, 1988, 138-160.
  29. Vanberg, Viktor and James M. Buchanan “Interests and Theories in Constitutional Choice” in Journal of Theoretical Politics 1, 1989, 49-62.
  30. Wiseman, Jack “General Equilibrium or Market Process: An Evaluation” in J. Wiseman Cost, Choice and Political Economy Edward Elgar 1989, 213-233.

Readings suggested for further study:

Buchanan, James M. Cost and Choice — An Inquiry in Economic Theory Chicago 1969.

— , — Freedom in Constitutional Contract Texas A&M University Press 1977.

— , — Economics — Between Predictive Science and Moral Philosophy Texas A&M University Press 1987.

Gauthier, David Morals By Agreement Oxford: Clarendon Press 1986.

Gray, John Liberalism Open University Press 1986.

Hayek, Friedrich A. Law, Legislation and Liberty University of Chicago Press 1974, 1976, 1979 (three volumes).

— , — The Fatal Conceit — The Errors of Socialism London: Routledge 1988 (Vol. 1 of The Collected Works of Friedrich August Hayek).

Nozick, Robert Anarchy, State, and Utopia New York: Basic Books 1974.

Rawls, John A Theory of Justice Harvard University Press 1971.

Vanberg, Viktor Morality and Economics — De Moribus Est Disputandum, New Brunswick: Transaction Books 1988 (Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Original Papers No. 7).

Source: Transcribed from the images scanned from the Eno River Press volumes of syllabuses of economics coursescompiled and published by Ed Tower that he donated to the History of Political Economy (HOPE) Center at Duke University.

Image Sources: Buchanan portrait from the Nobel prize website. Vanberg portrait from the Walter Eucken Institut website.

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Columbia Suggested Reading Syllabus

Columbia. Reading list for Economic Analysis (less advanced level). Hart and Wonnacott, 1959

 

Judging by the following syllabus, the entry level graduate course for economic theory at Columbia sixty years ago seems to have been pitched no higher than the level of an undergraduate intermediate economic theory of today.

The syllabus transcribed for this post comes from William Vickrey’s papers in the Columbia University Archives. We can see there was a deviation from the originally announced announcement with the addition of Paul Wonnacott (a recent Princeton PhD) to co-teach with the department chairman Albert G. Hart. It is not clear what is meant below that Vickrey teaches “a reverse section” to start in January 1960, though I suspect it meant that the sequence could either be taken with Hart [first semester (101) then second semester (102)] or the sequence could be taked lagged one semester with Vickrey [second semester (101) then first semester of the following year (102)].

I will be going back into my files to see if I can find Hart’s 102 syllabus for 1960.

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From Course Announcements 1959-60

Economics 101-102. Economic Analysis

Sec 1: Professor [Albert G.] Hart. (3) ThTh 11.
Sec 2: Professor [William] Vickrey. (3) TuTh 4:10.

May be taken only for E credit [“examination credit” where course requirements include a final examination or paper with a recorded letter grade (A,B,C,D or Pass).]. Students who have not completed Economics 101 are admitted to 102 only with the instructor’s permission.

Detailed analysis of the reactions of producing units (firms) and consuming units (households); determination through the market of resource allocation, outputs, prices, and incomes; capital and interest; theories of general equilibrium (Walrasian and Kenesian); introduction to “dynamics.”

Economics 105-106. Economic Analysis

Professor [Gary] Becker. (3) Tu Thu 11.

Prerequisite: the instructor’s permission. The course may be taken only for E credit.

Topics noted under Economics 101-102, treated at a more advanced level.

Source: The Graduate Faculties 1959-1960 in the Columbia University Bulletin, Series 59, Number 19 (May 9, 1959), p. 40.

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Reading list for Hart and Wonnacott

ECONOMICS 101
AUTUMN 1959

Meetings:

Regular: M.W., 11 AM: 710 Business
Third hour (Rooms to be arranged):

(1) Th. 10 AM
(2) Th. 1 PM

Instructors:

A.G. Hart, 503 Fayerweather
P. [Paul] Wonnacott, 513 Fayerweather

For “reverse section” starting January 1960: W. Vickrey

Textbooks:

  1. Each member of the course should own one of the following texts, and arrange loans back and forth with other students:

A. W. Stonier & D.C. Hague, Textbook of Economic Theory (2d ed., London, Longmans Green, 1957)
Chapters 1-8 are first-semester material.

G.J. Stigler, Theory of Price (Revised ed., New York, Macmillan, 1952)
Chapters 1-10 and 12 are first-semester material.

K.E. Boulding, Economic Analysis (3rd ed., New York, Harper, 1955)
Chapters 26-29 and 36 are first-semester material.

  1. An optional item is the mimeographed BASIC MATHEMATICS OF ECONOMIC QUANTITIES (Economics Department office, $1.00).
  2. In addition, each student’s working library should come to include some of the following:

J.M. Henderson and R.E. Quandt, Microeconomic Theory (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958): mathematical.

J.R. Hicks, Value and Capital (Oxford: Clarendon Press; 2nd ed. 1946)

A. Marshall, Principles of Economics (8th ed., London: Macmillan, 1920)

G.J. Stigler & K.E. Boulding, Readings in Price Theory (Chicago: Irwin, 1952)

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

AGH/PW/8/27/59
[Economics] 101
Autumn 1959

INTRODUCTION

Sept. 28, 30. LOGIC OF SUPPLY-AND-DEMAND MODELS

Stonier & Hague, ch. 1-2 (pp. 9-33).

Stigler, ch. 1-2 (pp. 1-19).

E.J. Working, “What Do Statistical ‘Demand Curves’ Show?” in Readings in Price Theory, pp. 97-115.

ad lib. Henderson & Quandt, ch. 1 (pp. 1-5).

Oct. 2. Math short course: Quantitative concepts and their dimensions.

THE FIRM AND THE MARSHALLIAN INDUSTRY

Oct. 5, 7. SHORT-RUN AND LONG-RUN COST CURVES AND THE FIRM’S SUPPLY SCHEDULE

l           Stonier & Hague, ch. 5 (pp. 87-122).

Stigler, ch. 7-8 (pp. 111-146); note that discussion is intermingled with that of the next topic.

Boulding, ch. 27 (note references to preceding chapters which have not been discussed in this course).

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

J. Viner, “Cost Curves and Supply Curves” in Readings in Price Theory, pp. 198-232.

H. Staehle, “Measurement of Statistical Cost Functions” in Readings in Price Theory, pp. 264-79.

Oct. 9. Math short course: Charts, tables and functions.

Oct. 12, 14. THEORY OF PRODUCTION.

l           Stonier & Hague, ch. 10 (pp. 210-31).

Stigler, ch. 6 (pp. 96-110: completes production-cost-and-supply discussion).

Boulding, ch. 28 (pp. 585-604).

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Marshall, Book IV, ch. 13 (pp. 314-22).

H.S. Ellis & W. Fellner, “External Economies and Diseconomies” in Readings in Price Theory, pp. 242-63.

ad lib. Henderson & Quandt, ch. 3 (pp. 42-84).

Oct. 16. Math short course: Simple analytical networks.

Oct. 19, 21. COMPETITIVE EQUILIBRIUM.

l           Stonier & Hague, ch. 6-7 (pp. 123-61).

Stigler, ch. 9-10 (pp. 148-86).

Oct. 23. Math short course: Maxima and derivatives.

Oct. 26, 28. COMPETITIVE EQUILIBRIUM, continued.

Marshall, Book V, ch. 1-5 (pp. 323-80).

ad lib. Henderson & Quandt, ch. 4 (pp. 85-125).

Oct. 30. Math short course: Maxima and derivatives, continued.

Nov. 2,4. MONOPOLY.

l           Stonier & Hague, ch. 8 (pp. 162-81).

Stigler, ch. 12 (pp. 204-21).

Boulding, ch. 29 (pp. 605-27).

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Marshall, bk. V, ch. 14 (pp. 477-95).

Chamberlin, ch. 1-2 (pp. 3-29).

Robinson, ch. 3 (pp. 47-59: note references to preceding chapter on “the geometry”).

Robinson, ch. 15-16 (pp. 179-208).

ad lib. J.R. Hicks, “Theory of Monopoly” in Readings in Price Theory, pp. 361-83.

Nov. 6. Math short course: compound analytical networks.

Nov. 9, 11. HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL LINKAGES OF MARKETS.

Marshall, Book V, ch. 6 (pp. 381-93).

Nov. 16. “MARGINALISM” AND THE FIRM.

R.L. Halland & C.J. Hitch, “Price Theory & Business Behavior” in T. Wilson (ed.) Oxford Studies in the Price Mechanism, pp. 107-38.

F. Machlup, “Marginal Analysis and Empirical Research”, American Economic Review, Sept. 1946 (pp. 521-54).

Nov. 18. Midterm hour exam.

THE HOUSEHOLD, AND MARKETS INVOLVING CONSUMERS.

Nov. 23, 25, 30. PREFERENCE AND UTILITY.

Stonier & Hague, ch. 2-4 (pp. 34-86).

Stigler, ch. 5 (pp. 68-93).

Boulding, ch. 32 (pp. 680-701), 36 (pp. 787-809).

Hicks, Value & Capital, ch. 1-2 (pp. 11-37).

Marshall, Book 3, ch. 1-5 (pp. 83-123).

ad lib. Henderson & Quandt, ch. 2 (pp. 6-41).

ad lib. S.W. Rousseas and A.G. Hart, “Experimental Verification of a Composite Indifference Map”, Journal of Political Economy, Aug. 1951 (pp. 288-318).

Dec. 2, 7, 9. INDIVIDUAL AND MARKET DEMAND FUNCTIONS.

Stigler, ch. 4 (pp. 42-66).

Hicks, Value & Capital, ch. 3 (pp. 42-52).

J.S. Duesenberry, Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior, ch. 5 (pp. 69-92); ad lib. ch. 2 (pp. 6-16), 6 (pp. 93-110).

Dec. 16, 18. CONSUMER SURPLUS & INDEX NUMBERS.

Marshall, Book III, ch. 6 (pp. 124-37).

Hicks, Value & Capital, pp. 38-41.

Hicks, Revision of Demand Theory, pp. 95-106.

A.P. Lerner, “Note on the Theory of Price Index Numbers” in Essays in Economic Analysis (pp. 152-63).

Source: Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library. William Vickrey Papers, Box 35. Folder 630, “Columbia/Economics 101 Course 1954-1959, n.d.”

Image Source: Alma Mater, Columbia University. Columbia College Today, Winter 2017-18.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. International Trade Theory and Policy. Haberler, 1952-1953

 

Gottfried Haberler was a teaching triple threat in the Harvard economics department in his heyday: he covered courses in theory, business cycles, and international trade. Here’s a list of posts at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror using the “haberler” tag.

This post provides the course outlines and final exams for Haberler’s two term graduate sequence in international trade (& finance) and policy from 1952-53.

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Course Announcement

Economics 243a. International Trade

Half-course (fall term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Professor Haberler.

Economics 243b. International Economic Policy

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Professor Haberler.

 Properly qualified undergraduates will be admitted to this course.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Courses of Instruction, Box 6,  Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1952-53, p. 104.

_____________________

Course Enrollment

 Note: the 1952-1953 Report of the President of Harvard College does not provide course enrollment statistics.

_____________________

Syllabus, Fall 1952-53

Economics 243a
Professor Haberler, Fall Term, 1952-53
International Trade — Theory

The first semester of the course will be devoted to the Theory of International Trade. The first topic will be the balance of payments mechanism, the determinants of foreign exchange rates. Later the so-called “pure theory” of international trade will be discussed, including the welfare aspects (theory of international economic policy.)

The subject of the second term will be a brief historical sketch of the evolution of commercial policy from the late eighteenth century to the present time and selected topics in the field of international economic policy with greater emphasis than in the first term on historical, institutional, political, and administrative aspects of the various problems.

Outline for First Half-Year

  1. International Trade and National Income
    Various relations between the two
    The importance of trade for various countries and its measures
  2. International Trade in the National Accounts
    International transactions of the national economic budget
    The balance of payments, various forms of presentation and interpretation
    Balance of international indebtedness
  3. Foreign Exchanges and the Balance of Payments Mechanism
    The foreign exchange market
    Demand and supply for exports and imports and for foreign means of payments
    Changes in the exchange rate, the balance of payments and the terms of trade
    Price effects and income effects
    The foreign trade multiplier
    The transfer problem
  4. Theory of International Division of Labor
    The theory of comparative cost
    Modern developments of the theory of comparative cost
    Marshallian theory of reciprocal demand and supply curves
    Ohlin’s general equilibrium theory
  5. Welfare Implications of International Trade
    Factor prices and international trade
    Income distribution and international trade
    Theory of protection and tariffs
    Monopoly and monopolistic competition in international trade

Reading Assignments and Suggestions

  1. General

Every student should have worked through one of the existing general texts or monographs:

Brown, A. C., Industrialization and Trade, 1943.
Ellsworth, International Economics, 1938.
Ellsworth, The International Economy, 1950.
(The first book of Ellsworth is shorter and theoretical; the second much longer and historical.)
Enke and Salera, International Economics.
Haberler, Theory of International Trade.
Harrod, International Economics (3rd edition, 1939).
Meade and Hitch, Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy, (Part V).
Marsh, World Trade and Investment.
Taussig, International Trade.
Whale, International Trade.

A short discussion of recent developments will be found in Metzler, “The Theory of International Trade,” Chapter 6 in Survey of Contemporary Economics.

There are two very useful Reading Volumes:

Readings in the Theory of International Trade (edited by H. S. Ellis and Lloyd Metzler), 1949, and
Selected Readings in International Trade and Tariff Problems (ed. Taussig), 1921.

  1. Assignments and Suggestions to Subjects Listed Above (in addition to relevant chapters in general texts).
    1. There is hardly any specific reading on this subject. But every student should have some idea of basic facts and orders of magnitude.
      The Post-War Foreign Economic Policy of the United States. 6th Report of the House Special Committee on Post-War Economic Policy and Planning. House Report No. 541. Washington, 1945. (This report was written by Lloyd Metzler.)
      The United States in the World Economy, U. S. Department of Commerce, 1943.
      Buchanan, and Lutz, Rebuilding the World Economy, 1947.
      A. J. Brown, Applied Economics, 1948; Chapter VI:
      Readings, Chapters 21 and 22, by D. H. Robertson and J. Viner.
    2. Every student should study the U.S. balance of payments and that of one or two other countries in order to get a feeling of the magnitudes involved and to familiarize himself with the methods of presentation which vary not only from country to country but often also from one year to the other for the same country.
      Balance of Payments Yearbook (I.M.F.)
      The United States in the World Economy, 1943.
      The Balance of International Payments of the U.S., 1946-48 (1950).
      Hicks, The Social Framework of the American Economy, Chapter XII, “Foreign Payments and the National Income” (a theoretical discussion).
      Marsh, World Trade and Investment, Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12.
    3. In addition to relevant chapters in general texts, see the following:
      Haberler, “The Market for Foreign Exchange and the Stability of the Balance of Payments”, Kyklos, Vol. III, 1949.
      Harris (ed.), Foreign Economic Policy for the U.S., Part V, Chs. 20, 21 22.
      Harris (ed.), The New Economics, Part V, especially essays by Bloomfield and Nurkse.
      Iversen, International Capital Movements, 1935.
      Keynes and Ohlin on German Reparations in Economic Journal, 1929; and Readings, Chapters 6 and 7.
      Machlup, International Trade and the National Income Multiplier, 1943.
      Machlup, “The Theory of Foreign Exchanges,” Economica, 1939 (two articles), Readings, Chapter 5.
      Meade, J. E., The Balance of Payments, 1951.
      Metzler, op. cit.
      Nurkse, R., International Currency Experience (League of Nations, 1944).
      Pigou, “The Foreign Exchanges,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1922, reprinted in Essays in Applied Economics (1927).
      Robinson, J., “Beggar-My-Neighbor Remedies for Unemployment”, Readings, Chapter 17.
      Robinson, J., “Foreign Exchanges,” Essays on the Theory of Employment(1st ed., 1938; 2nd ed., 1947), Part III; reprinted in Readings, Ch. 4.
      Williams, Post-War Monetary Plans and Other Essays (3rd, 1947).
    4. and 5. In addition to general texts, see:
      Edgeworth, Papers Relating to Political economy, Vol. II, p. 3-60.
      Ellsworth, “A Comparison of International Trade Theories,”American Economic Review, June, 1940.
      Haberler, “Some Problems in the Pure Theory of International Trade”, Economic Journal, June, 1950.
      Leontief, “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1933; Readings, Ch. 10.
      Mill, Principles (relevant chapters reprinted in Selected Readings).
      Ohlin,  cit. Parts I, II, and possibly III.
      Readings, Chs. 12, 13, 15, by J. H. Williams, E. Heckscher, and W. Stolper and P. Samuelson.
      Ricardo,  Principles, (relevant chapters reprinted in Selected Readings).
      Robinson, J., “The Pure Theory of International Trade”, Review of Economic Studies, Vol. XIV, 1946-47.
      Taussig, International Trade.
      Viner, Studies in the Theory of International Trade (last two chapters).

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 5, Folder “Economics, 1952-1953 (2 of 2)”.

_____________________

1952-1953
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 243a
[Final exam. January 1953]

Answer 5 questions. Write legibly.

  1. Suppose the international transactions of a country are as follows (in hundred million dollars):
Commodity exports 18
Commodity imports 20
Net tourist receipts 1
Other services exported 1
Gold exports 1
Debt to IMF repaid 1
New long-term securities sold abroad 1
Long-term securities redeemed ½
Short-term balances accumulated abroad 1
Marshall aid received 1

Write down the balance of payments, inserting if necessary an “errors and omissions” item.

Discuss whether the balance of payments shows a deficit or surplus, giving reasons for your answer. If you like, state alternative criteria.

  1. How does depreciation influence the balance of payments and the terms of trade? Discuss question in terms of relevant elasticities.
  2. Balance of payments adjustments in the pre-World War I era were often so rapid that they surprised the classical theorists. Show how “income effects” may help to explain these phenomena.
  3. List some arguments for protection and examine one of these in some detail. (Append a graphical analysis if possible).
  4. Compare the classical theory of comparative cost and Ohlin’s general equilibrium theory that is based on the relative scarcity of factors of production.
  5. Discuss J. H. Williams’ strictures against the classical theory and compare them with those of Ohlin.
  6. Is it possible, and if so under what conditions, that international trade changes the income distribution against a major factor of production, say, labor? Discuss policy implications.
  7. Show graphically how reciprocal demand curves can be used to analyze changes in the terms of trade that result from the imposition of tariffs on imports or exports.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001. (HUC 7000.28, vol. 96 [Social Sciences]). Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, Government, Economics,…” January 1953.

_____________________

Syllabus, Spring Term, 1952-53

Harvard University
Department of Economics
Economics 243b
International Economic Policy

  1. Historical Introduction
    Commercial Policy of the major countries from the beginning of the 19th century until 1914.

Great Britain
France
Germany
United States
Other Countries

The Inter-war period and postwar developments.

Modern methods of trade control
Quantitative controls

Quotas
Exchange control

Other methods and controls.

  1. Free Trade and Protection: Theoretical Economics and Practical Social Policies

The case for free trade and the free trade movement

Arguments for protection

“Non-economic” arguments
Unemployment
Balance of Payments

“Dollar shortage”

Infant industry argument and development of underdeveloped countries
Terms of Trade
International trade under planning

  1. Current Issues in Trade Policy
    Liberalization of trade

Universal vs. regional approach
Most-favored-nation principle and discrimination
Currency convertibility
Customs Union

READING SUGGESTIONS

  1. General

Most treatises on International Trade discuss policy questions.

Ellsworth: The International Economy
D. March: World Trade and Investment
Haberler: Theory of International Trade
J. Viner: International Economics
J. Viner: International Trade and Economic Development
Readings in the Theory of International Trade (Blakiston)
S. E. Harris (editor): Foreign Economic Policy of the U.S. (Harvard, 1946)
N. Buchanan and F. Lutz: Rebuilding the World Economy
H. S. Ellis: The Economics of Freedom. The Progress and Future of Aid to Europe (Harper 1950)
Selected Readings in International Trade and Tariff Problems, (ed. Taussig)
J. H. Williams: Economic Stability in a Changing World. 1953.
J. H. Williams: Stamp Lecture (Harvard University Press)

  1. Special Subjects
    1. History of Commercial Policy
      Condliffe: The Commerce of Nations
      Ellsworth: The International Economy [stresses the historical approach]
      F. W. Taussig: U.S. Tariff History
      F. W. Taussig: Some Aspects of the Tariff Question
      P. Ashley: Modern Tariff History. 1904
      R. F. Mikesell: United States Economic Policy and International Relations (Economic Handbook Series, 1952)
      Dictionary of Tariff Information (U. S. Tariff Commission, 1924)
      H. Heuser: Control of International Trade. 1939
      Margaret Gordon: Barriers to World Trade. 1941
    2. Free Trade and Protection
      [See General Treatises mentioned above]
      R. Triffin: “National Central Banking and the International Economy,” Review of Economic Studies, 1946-47. Also, in same issue, three comments by Balogh, Henderson, and Harrod
      J. R. Hicks: Free Trade and Modern Economics (Manchester Statistical Society, 1951)
      Selected Readings in International Trade and Tariff Problems (ed. Taussig, 1921) (contains useful excerpts from A. Smith, J. S. Mill, F. List, etc.)
      A. Henderson, “The Restriction of Foreign Trade,” in The Manchester School January 1949
    3. Reading will be announced later.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 5, Folder “Economics, 1952-1953 (2 of 2)”.

_____________________

1952-1953
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 243b
[Final Exam. May 1953]

Answer five questions. Write legibly!

  1. Discuss the customs union issue and evaluate the chances of this approach to furthering the international division of labor.
  2. List at least four concepts of “terms of trade” and discuss whether or not these concepts are “operational” (statistically observable). Also discuss the concept of “terms of trade” implied in the Marshallian reciprocal demand curve analysis.
  3. Cite some methods of discrimination and examine the argument that discriminatory controls are less destructive of trade and therefore more desirable than non-discriminatory controls.
  4. Is the phrase “dollar shortage” absurd? Discuss possible causes and cures of “dollar shortage” consistent with your evaluation of why a “dollar shortage “may exist.
  5. How do payments unions or clearing unions operate? What are the main problems and difficulties? State arguments for and against such arrangements.
  6. What is meant by “convertibility” and why is it often held to be of paramount importance?
  7. Tariffs, Quotas, and Exchange Control are alternative methods of controlling imports. Compare their modes of operation and discuss their comparative advantages and disadvantages.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001. (HUC 7000.28, vol. 99 [Social Sciences]). Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, Government, Economics,…” June 1953.

Image: Radcliffe Archives. Portrait of Gottfried Haberler. (1965).

Categories
Suggested Reading Syllabus Yale

Yale. Course Outline for Industrial Organization, Behavior, and Public Policy. Nelson, 1973

 

Richard R. Nelson was an Oberlin College undergraduate (B.A. 1952) and received his Ph.D. from Yale University (1956). He was a senior staff economist at the Council of Economic Advisers in the Kennedy Administration (1961-63) and Professor of Economics at Yale from 1968-1986 before accepting a professorship at Columbia University.

On Richard Nelson’s life and career:

Entry for Richard R. Nelson written by Johann Peter Murmann for the Encyclopedia of Strategic Management.

Sidney G. Winter’s speech at the “Nelson Fest” held in New York City, October 13, 2000.

Warning: the original mimeographed course outline was plagued with misspellings that I have tried to correct. There are certainly others that have slipped through my editorial filter. For this transcription I need to be explicit: Caveat lector!

_______________________________

ECONOMICS 140A
Industrial Organization, Behavior, and Public Policy
Richard R. Nelson

Reading List
Fall Term 1973

* Assigned
** Material I assume you are familiar with, for review

Sept. 11, 18

  1. Perspectives on the Economic Organization Problem.
    1. The Problem Writ Large.
      1. R. Dahl*, A Preface to Democratic Theory, Chapt. 4.
      2. A. Sen**, Collective Choice and Social Welfare, Chap. 2, 3, 6.
      3. H. Simon*, Administrative Behavior, Chapters 1 & 3.
      4. H. A. Simon “The Changing Theory & The Changing Practice of Public Administration” in I. Pool (ed.) Contemporary Political Science.
      5. A. Etzioni, Modern Organizations, Chaps. 1 & 2.
      6. F. Knight, The Economic Organization, Chap. 1.
      7. R. Dahl and C. E. Lindblom, Politics, Economics, and Welfare, Chapt. 1.
      8. L. Hurwicz, “The Design of Mechanisms for Resource Allocation” AER May 1973.
      9. J. Marschak & R. Radner, Economic Theory of Teams.
      10. B. Ward, The Socialist Alternative.

Sept. 18

    1. Industrial Organization
      1. F. M. Scherer*, Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance, Chapt. 1.
      2. R. Caves, Industrial Organization.
      3. R. Coase*, “Industrial Organization: A Proposal for Research” in V. Fuchs ed. Policy Issues & Research Opportunities in Industrial Organization.

Sept. 25

  1. Private Purchase and Market Supply as an Organizational Solution.
    1. The Role of Prices, For-Profit Suppliers, Competition.
      1. F. Knight*, The Economic Organization, Chapt. 2.
      2. O. Lange**, “On the Economic Theory of Socialism,” in Lange and Taylor, On the Economic Theory of Socialism, pp. 72-86.
        Also reprinted in M. Bornstein (ed.) Comparative Economic Systems.
      3. F. Bator**, “The Simple Economics of Welfare Maximization”, American Economic Review, March, 1957.
      4. T. C. Koopmans, Three Essays on the State of Economic Science, Essay I.
      5. F. Hayek*, “The Use of Knowledge in a Society,” American Economic Review, Sept. 1945.
      6. J. Schumpeter, “The Process of Creative Destruction”, Chapt. 7 in Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy.
      7. J. K. Galbraith*, “The Economics of Technical Development”, Chapt. 7 in American Capitalism.
      8. J. M. Clark*, Competition as a Dynamic Process, Chapt. 4.
      9. F. M. Scherer*, Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance, Chapt. 2.

Oct. 2,9

    1. Sources and Consequences of Monopoly Power.
      1. Scherer*, Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance, Chapts. 3, 4, & 17.
      2. A. Harberger*, “Monopoly and Resource allocation,” AER, May 1954.
      3. O. Williamson*, “Economies as an Antitrust Defense,” AER, March 1968.
      4. H. Liebenstein*, “Allocative Efficiency vs. X-Efficiency,” AER, June, 1966.
      5. J. Bain, “Economies of Scale, Concentration and Conditions of Entry in Twenty Manufacturing Industries,” AER 1954.
      6. F. Modgliani, “New Developments on the Oligopoly Front,” JPE June 1958.
      7. G. Stigler*, “A Theory of Oligopoly,” JPE, Feb. 1964.
      8. J. K. Galbraith, The New Industrial State, Chapts. 1-3.
      9. Mason and Kaysen essays*, in E. Mason (ed.) The Corporation and Modern Society.
      10. J. Markham*, “An Alternative Approach to the Concept of Workable Competition,” in AEA Readings in Industrial Organization and Public Policy, (Heflebower and Stocking, eds.).
      11. Scherer*, Chapts. 18-22.

Note—a most detailed examination of Anti-trust and Regulation will be undertaken in Econ 140-b.

Oct. 9
and an
evening
discussion

    1. Externalities and Public Goods, Public Choice.
      1. F. Bator**, “The Anatomy of Market Failure,” QPE, August 1958.
      2. R. Coase*, “The Problem of Social Cost,” Jour. of Law and Economics, October, 1960.
      3. H. Demsetz*, “The Exchange and Enforcement of Property Rights” Jour. of Law and Econ., 1964.
      4. E. Mishan, “The Postwar Literature on Externalities” JEL, March 1971.
      5. C. Tiebout, “A Pure Theory of Local Public Expenditure” JPE, Oct. 1956.
      6. J. Buchanan*, “An Economic Theory of Clubs,” Economica, Feb. 1965.
      7. M. Olsen**, The Logic of Collective Action.
      8. A. Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy, Part 1.
      9. Buchanan & Tullock*, The Calculus of Consent, Chapt. 6.
      10. Prest and Turvey*, “Cost-Benefit Analysis: A Survey,” Jour., Dec., 1955, –also in Survey of Economic Theory III.
      11. P. Steiner, “The Public Sector and The Public Interest” in Haveman & Margolis (eds.) Public Expenditures and Policy Analysis.
  1. More Complex Models of Organizational Behavior.

Oct. 16

    1. Organizational Goals.
      1. W. Baumol**, Business Behavior, Value and Growth, Ch. 1, 2, 4-8.
      2. O. Williamson*, “Managerial Discretion and Business Behavior”, AER, December, 1963.
      3. R. Marris*, “A Model of Managerial Enterprise,” QJE, May, 1963.
      4. J. Williamson, “Profits, Growth and Sales Maximization”, Economica, Feb. 1966.
      5. Kamerschen, “Ownership and Control and Profit Rates,” AER, June 1968.
      6. Marris and Wood (eds.) The Corporate Economy.

Oct. 23

    1. The Firm as an Organization: Behavioral Theory.
      1. R. Coase*, “The Nature of the Firm,” reprinted in Stigler and Boulding (eds.), Readings in Price Theory.
      2. Alchian and Demsetz, “Production, Information Costs and Economic Organization” AER, Dec. 1972.
      3. H. A. Simon, “A Comparison of Organization Theories,” in Models of Man.
      4. O. E. Williamson, “Hierarchical Control and Optimum Firm Size,” JPE, April 1967.
      5. H. A. Simon*, “Theories of Decision Making in Economics and Behavioral Science, AER June 1959.
      6. H. A. Simon, “A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice,” in Models of Man.
      7. J. March and H. Simon, Organizations.
      8. R. Cyert and J. March*, A Behavioral Theory of the Firm, Chaps. 1-8 (browse, 10.
      9. J. P. Crecine, Governmental Problem Solving (browse).
      10. F. Machlup*, “Theories of the Firm, Marginalist, Behavioral Management”, AER, March 1967.
      11. M. Schubik, “A Curmudgeon’s Guide to Microeconomics”, Journal of Economic Literature, June 1970.

Oct. 30

    1. Sector Models Compatible With Behavioral Organization Theories
      1. A. Alchian*, “Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory,” JPE, June 1950.
      2. G. Becker, “Irrational Behavior and Economic Theory,” JPE, Feb. 1962.
      3. S. Winter*, “Natural Selection and the Theory of the Firm”, Yale Economic Essays, Spring, 1964.
      4. H. Simon and C. Bonini, “The Size Distribution of Business Firm,”, AER Sept. 1958.
      5. Davis, Demster, Wildavsky*, “A Theory of the Budgetary Process,” American Political Science Review, Sept. 1967.
  1. Micro Economic Organization in a Dynamic World.

Nov. 6

    1. Schumpeterian Competition.
      1. J. Schumpeter*, The Theory of Economic Development, Chapts. 1 and 2.
      2. H. Simon*, “The Science of Design,” Chapt. 3 in The Sciences of the Artificial.
      3. H. Simon and J. March Organizations, Chapt 3.
      4. S. Winter*, “Satisficing, Selection, and the Innovating Remnant,” QJE, 1971, May.
      5. E. Mansfield, “Entry, Gibrat’s Law, Innovation, and the Growth of Firms,” AER, December, 1962.
      6. R. Nelson*, “Issues and Suggestions for the Study of Industrial Organization in a Regime of Rapid Technical Change,” in V. Fuchs (ed.) Policy Issues and Research Suggestions in Industrial Organization.
      7. A. Phillip*, Technical Change and Market Structure, Chapts. 1 and 8.
      8. W. Baumol, “Entrpreneurship and Economic Theory”, AER May 1968

Nov. 13
and an evening
session

    1. R&D and Technical Change.
      1. R. Nelson, M. J. Peck, and E. M. Kalachek*, Technology, Economic Growth and Public Policy, Chapters 2-5.
      2. F. Scherer, Chap. 15.
      3. R. Nelson (ed.)*, The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity, Part D.
      4. Jacob Schmookler, Invention and Economic Growth, Harvard, 1966, Chapter 11.
      5. E. Mansfield, Industrial Research and Technological Innovation, Chapters 2, 5, 7, 8, 9.
      6. J. Jewkes, P. Sawers, and R. Stillerman, The Sources of Invention, St. Martin’s Press, 1958. Part I.
      7. Zvi Griliches*, “Hybrid Corn: An Exploration in the Economics of Technological Change,“ Econometrica, Oct. 1957.
      8. J. Coleman, E. Katz, and H. Menzel*, “The Diffusion of an Innovation Among Physicians,” Sociometry, December, 1959.
      9. Werner Hirsch*, “Manufacturing Progress Functions,” Review of Economics and Statistics May 1952.
      10. R. Vernon*, “International Investment and International Trade in Product Cycles”. QJE, May 1966.
      11. L. B. Mohr, “Determinants of Innovation in Organizations” American Political Science Review 1969.
  1. The Policy Issues Revisited.

Nov. 20

    1. Value Articulation, Demand Generation, Monitoring of Supply.
      1. C. E. Lindblom, The Policy Making Process (Browse).
      2. A. Wildavsky*, The Budgetary Process (Browse).
      3. T. J. Lowi, The End of Liberalism, (particularly Chap. 5).
      4. C. Schultze*, Politics and Economics of Public Spending.
      5. A. Rivlin, Systematic Thinking for Social Action.
      6. A. Wildavsky*, “The Political Economy of Efficiency”, Public Administration Review, Dec. 1966.
      7. A. Hirschman, Exit, Voice and Loyalty.

Nov. 27

    1. Command and Control of Non Market Supply.
      1. G. Allison*, “Models and the Cuba Missile Crisis,” Am. Polit. Sci. Review, Summer, 1969.
      2. A. Downs, Inside Bureaucracy.
      3. W. Niskanen*, Bureaucracy and Representative Government.
      4. H. Kaufman, The Forest Ranger, Chapts. 1, 2, 7.
      5. A. Downs*, “Competition and Community Schools,” in his Urban Problems and Prospects.
      6. J. Newhouse, “Towards a Theory of Non-Profit Institutions: An Economic Model of a Hospital,” AER, March 1970.
      7. Nelson & Krashensky*, “Some Questions Regarding Economic Organization: The Case of Day Care for Children” Mimeo.

Dec. 4
and an evening
session

    1. The Dynamics of Change.
      1. L. Davis and D. North*, Institutional Change and American Economic Growth, Part I.
      2. C. E. Lindblom, The Intelligence of Democracy. Chaps. 1, 2, 9.
      3. T. Schelling*, The Strategy of Conflict, Chap. 2 & 3.
      4. A. Kahn*, “The Tyranny of Small Decisions,” Kyklos, 1966.
      5. V. Goldberg*, “Institutional Change and the Quasi-Invisible Hand”, Mimeo.
      6. Edwards, Reich, and Weisskopf, The Capitalist System.
      7. E. Dunn, Economic and Social Development.

 

Source: From the personal papers of Irwin Collier.

Image Source: From the Nelson Fest, October 2000.

 

Categories
Harvard Statistics Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Graduate Econometrics. Chipman 1953

 

John S. Chipman was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1926. He received his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University in 1951, and taught at the University of Minnesota from 1955 to his retirement as Regents’ Professor in 2007. Before going to Minnesota, Chipman was assistant professor of economics at Harvard from 1951-55.

John Chipman’s graduate course in econometrics (Note: apparently the first time “econometrics” had ever been listed as the course name at Harvard) followed his graduate course on “General Interdependence Systems”  that was taught in the spring term 1952 (a.k.a. “Mathematical Economics” according to the enrollment data for that year). 

____________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 215 Econometrics. Assistant Professor Chipman. Half course.

(Fall) Total 6: 5 Graduates, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1953-1954, p. 100.

____________

Course Syllabus
Economics 215

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Fall Term, 1953-54

Text: Klein, A Textbook of Econometrics; Supplementary text: Hood and Koopmans, Studies in Econometric Method.

(N.B. Numbers in brackets refer to References following the Outline).

OUTLINE

1. SPECIFICATION

The construction of models, choice of variables; collinearity; concepts of structure and reduced form; aims and purposes of econometrics.

Jacob Marschak, “Economic Measurements for Policy and Prediction,” [3, Ch. I].

Haavelmo [2].

Stone [8].

Tinbergen [10, 9].

Marschak, “Statistical Inference in Economics: An Introduction,“ [6, Ch. I].

Tintner [12, Ch. I].

Arthur F. Burns and Jacob Marschak, “Mitchell on What Happens During Business Cycles,” [7, pp. 3-33].

Tinbergen and Koopmans, “Reformulation of Current Business Cycle Theories as Refutable Hypotheses,” [7, pp. 131-145].

Frisch [1].

Koopmans [5].

Tinbergen [11].

Koopmans, “Measurement Without Theory,” Review of Economic Statistics, Vol. 29, 1947.

Koopmans and Vining, “Methodological Issues in Quantitative Economics”, Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 31, 1949.

G.H. Orcutt and Others, “Toward Partial Redirection of Econometrics,” Review of Economics and Statistics, August 1952.

G.H. Orcutt, “Actions, Consequences, and Causal Relations,” Review of Economics and Statistics, November 1952.

Klein [4, Ch. I].

 

2. IDENTIFICATION

The problem of determining parameters of a system of structural equations given the parameters of the reduced form equations.

Koopmans, “Identification Problems in Economic Model Construction” [3, Ch. II].

Klein, [4, Ch. III, Sec. 3].

Simon, “Causal Ordering and Identifiability” Klein, [3, Ch. III].

Koopmans and Reiersøl, “The Identification of Structural Characteristics,” [C.C.P. no. 39]

Koopmans, Rubin, and Leipnik, “Measuring the Equation Systems of Dynamic Economics,” [6, Ch. II, Sec. 3].

Hurwicz, “Generalization of the Concept of Identification” [6, Ch. IV].

 

3. ESTIMATION

Point estimation of reduced-form parameters and structural parameters; statistical independence of observations in time series and cross-section data; assumptions of normality in joint distribution of disturbances; principles of estimation; maximum likelihood, limited information, least squares.

Klein [4, Ch. III].

Koopmans and Hood, “The Estimation of Simultaneous Linear Economic Relationships,” [3, Ch. VI].

Koopmans, Rubin, and Leipnik, “Measuring the Equation Systems of Dynamic Economics,” [6, Ch. II, Sec. 3].

Haavelmo, “Methods of Measuring the Marginal Propensity to Consume,” [3, Ch. IV].

Girshick and Haavelmo, “Statistical Analysis of the Demand for Food,” [3, Ch. V].

Anderson and Rubin [C.C.P., No. 36].

D. Cochrane and G.H. Orcutt, “Application of Least Squares Regression to Relationships Containing Auto-Correlated Error Terms,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, March 1949.

G.H. Orcutt and D. Cochrane, “A Sampling Study of the Merits of Autoregressive and Reduced Form Transformations in Regression Analysis,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, September 1949.

Anderson and Anderson [C.C.P. No. 42].

Klein [4, Ch. V].

F.N. David and J. Neyman, “Extension of the Markoff Theorem on Least Squares,” Statistical Research Memoirs, Volume II, December 1938.

T.W. Anderson, “Estimation of the Parameters of a Single Equation by the Limited-Information Maximum-Likelihood Method” [6, Ch. IX].

Chernoff and Rubin, Asymptotic Properties of Limited-Information Estimates Under Generalized Conditions,” [3, Ch. VII].

Jean Bronfenbrenner, “Sources and Size of Least-Squares Bias in a Two-Equation Model,” [3, Ch. IX].

 

4. VERIFICATION

Interval estimation and testing of hypotheses.

Klein [4, Ch. 3, Sec. 6].

Haavelmo [2, Ch. IV].

Carl Christ, “A Test of an Econometric Model for the United States, 1921-1947,” [7, pp. 35-129].

Anderson [C.C.P. No. 50].

Tinbergen [10].

 

5. PREDICTION

Conditional and unconditional prediction; relationship between prediction and policy.

Klein [4, Ch. VI].

Haavelmo [2, Ch. VI].

Hurwicz, “Prediction and Least Squares,” [6, Ch. VI].

Tinbergen [11].

REFERENCES

1. PRINCIPLES

Books and Monographs:

[1] Frisch, Ragnar: Statistical Confluence Analysis by Means of Complete Regression Systems, Oslo, Universitets Økonomiske Institut, 1934.

[2] Haavelmo, Trygve: “The Probability Approach in Econometrics,” Econometrica, Vol. 12 (Supplement), July 1944.

*[3] Hood, Wm.C., and Koopmans, T.C., (ed.): Studies in Econometric Method, Cowles Commission Monograph No. 14, New York, Wiley, 1953.

*[4] Klein, L.R.: A Textbook of Econometrics, Evanston, Illinois, Row, Peterson and Co., 1953.

[5] Koopmans, T.C.: Linear Regression Analysis of Economic Time Series, Haarlem, De Erven F. Bohn N.V., 1937.

[6] Koopmans, T.C. (ed.): Statistical Inference in Dynamic Economic Models, Cowles Commission Monograph No. 10, New York, Wiley, 1950.

[7] National Bureau of Economic Research: Conference on Business Cycles, New York, 1951.

[8] Stone, Richard: The Role of Measurement in Economics, Cambridge University Press, 1951.

[9] Tinbergen, Jan: Econometrics, Philadelphia, Blakiston, 1951.

[10] Tinbergen, Jan: Statistical Testing of Business Cycle Theories, Geneva, League of Nations, 1939.

[11] Tinbergen, Jan: On the Theory of Economic Policy, Amsterdam, North-Holland Publishing Co., 1952.

[12] Tintner, Gerhard: Econometrics, New York, Wiley, 1952.

Cowles Commission Papers (New Series):

No. 36. T.W. Anderson and Herman Rubin, Two Papers on the Estimation of the Parameters of a Single Equation in a Complete System of Stochastic Equations, Annals of Mathematical Statistics, Volume 20, 1949 and Volume 21, 1950.

No. 39. Olav Reiersøl and Tjalling C. Koopmans, Three Papers on Identification Problems, Psychometrica, Volume 15, 1950; Annals of Mathematical Statistics, Vol. 21, 1950; and Econometrica, Vol. 18, 1950.

No. 42. R.L. Anderson and T.W. Anderson, “Distribution of the Circular Serial Correlation Coefficient for Residuals from a Fitted Fourier Series,” Annals of Mathematical Statistics, Volume 21, 1950.

No. 50. T.W. Anderson, “Estimating Linear Restrictions on Regression Coefficients for Multivariate Normal Distributions,” Annals of Mathematical Statistics, Volume 22, 1951.

 

2. APPLICATIONS

Klein, L.R.: Economic Fluctuations in the United States, 1921-1941, Cowles Commission Monograph No. 11, New York, Wiley, 1950.

Schultz, Henry: The Theory and Measurement of Demand, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1938.

Wold, Herman: Demand Analysis; A Study in Econometrics, New York, Wiley, 1953.

 

3. SUGGESTED STATISTICAL REFERENCES

Mood, A.M., Introduction to the Theory of Statistics, New York, McGraw Hill, 1950.

Kendall, M.G.: The Advanced Theory of Statistics, 2 vols., London, Charles Griffin and Co., 1943, 1946.

Wilks, S.S.: Mathematical Statistics, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1947.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives, Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 6, Folder “Economics 1953-1954, (2 of 2)”.

Image Source: September 1961 entry card for John Somerset Chipman (b. 28 June 1926 in Montreal).  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, immigration Cards, 1900-1965 at ancestry.com.

 

Categories
Chicago Economic History Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Reading list for Economic History of Modern Europe to 1800. Hamilton, 1966

 

Some graduate course reading lists are allowed to evolve into full-blown bibliographies that provide historians of economics little idea of what the actual content of the course itself happened to be. Earl J. Hamilton was an economic historian who kept his reading lists short and sweet. I wouldn’t have put it past him or any other professor to have covered other material in his lectures, but I am still willing to bet that he really expected his students to complete this reading list.

________________________

[U.C.]
Economics 346
Economic History of Modern Europe to 1800
Earl J. Hamilton
Spring Quarter, 1966

To be read before May 6, 1966

  1. Sir John Clapham, A Concise Economic History of Britain…to 1750 (Cambridge, 1949), pp. 185-305.
  2. *J. H. Parry, The Age of Reconnaissance, pp. 19-52.
  3. *Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Book IV, Chapter VIII.
  4. N. Clark, Science and Social Welfare in the Age of Newton (Oxford, 1937), pp. 1-59.
  5. Earl J. Hamilton, “The Decline of Spain,” Economic History Review, Vol. VIII (1938), pp. 168-179.
  6. John U. Nef, Industry and Government in France and England, 1540-1640 (1940), pp. 1-157.
  7. Edwin F. Gay, “Inclosures in England in the Sixteenth Century,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. XVII, (1902—1903), pp. 576-597.
  8. *Earl J. Hamilton, “The Role of Monopoly in the Overseas Expansion and Colonial Trade of Europe before 1800,” American Economic Review, Proceedings, Vol. XXXVIII (1948), pp. 33-53.
  9. *Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (London, 1930), Chapters I-V.
  10. Eli F. Heckscher, Mercantilism (London, 1935), Vol. I, pp. 19-44; Vol. II pp. 13-30.
  11. *W. Cunningham, The Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Third Edition, Vol. II (1903), Modern Times, pp. 494-540 (Ch. XV. Changes in the Organisation and Distribution of Industry); 540-583 (Ch. XVI. Spirited Proprietors and Substantial Tenants); 609-620 (Bk. VII, Ch. I. The Workshop of the World).
  12. L. Jones, “Agriculture and Economic Growth in England, 1660-1750,” Journal of Economic History, Vol. XXXV, No. 1 (March, 1965), pp. 1-18.
  13. H. John, “Agricultural Productivity and Economic Growth in England, 1700-1760, Journal of Economic History, Vol. XXXV, No. 1 (March, 1965), pp. 19-34.

*Read only for clearly essential facts, interpretation and point of view.

There will be an examination on May 6th.

A term paper on some important factor in the general economic development of some important country or period, some aspect of the rise of modern capitalism, some problem concerning mercantilism and economic development, or the growth of agriculture, industry, corporate organization or commerce in some significant time and place will be due on May 13th.

There will be a final examination from 8:30 to 11:30 A.M., on June 3rd on the lectures, the assigned reading and the field in which each student’s term paper falls.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Earl J. Hamilton Papers, Box 2, Folder “Correspondence. Academic and Personal”.

Image Source:  University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-02446, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

 

Categories
Chicago Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Reading list for Money. Meiselman, 1961

 

David Israel Meiselman (1924-2014)  was awarded a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1961. His thesis “The Term Structure of Interest Rates” won the Ford Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Series Award. 

“Interview of David Meiselman conducted by Robert L. Hetzel (March 28, 1995)” can be downloaded from the Robert Hetzel Oral History Collection at the FRASER website.

Following the Virginian House Resolution in his honor, the reading list for the graduate money course taught by assistant professor David Meiselman from the Autumn quarter of 1961 can be found. Milton Friedman’s reading list for the same course in 1963 has been posted earlier.

______________________

STATE OF VIRGINIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 294
Offered February 24, 2015
Celebrating the life of David I. Meiselman.
2015 SESSION

––––––––––
Patron––Rust
––––––––––

WHEREAS, David I. Meiselman of Fairfax County, a distinguished economist and retired professor in the graduate economics program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a highly regarded teacher and researcher, a veteran of the United States military, and a devoted husband and father, died on December 3, 2014; and
WHEREAS, after serving in the United States Army during World War II, David Meiselman received a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, David Meiselman’s doctoral thesis, “The Term Structure of Interest Rates,” won a prize from the Ford Foundation and was instrumental in the creation of futures markets and other financial concepts that today are in wide use; and
WHEREAS, David Meiselman conducted pioneering research in many different economic disciplines and on public policy issues; he taught at the University of Chicago, the Johns Hopkins University, Macalester College, and the University of Minnesota; and
WHEREAS, David Meiselman was the author of five books and more than 100 articles; he had wide-ranging interests in economic policies and issues, and his work has been cited in many academic and research publications; and
WHEREAS, in 1971, David Meiselman moved to Merrybrook in Fairfax County; he helped build Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s graduate level economics program in Northern Virginia; in all, he taught in the Commonwealth for more than 25 years; and
WHEREAS, during an outstanding career, David Meiselman was a senior economist for the United States Treasury, the United States House of Representatives, and the Organization of American States and served as a visiting scholar and later senior economist in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; and
WHEREAS, David Meiselman worked at several research and educational institutions, including the Manhattan Institute, where he was a founder and member of the board of directors, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute; and
WHEREAS, in great demand for his expertise and insight, David Meiselman was a consultant to the United States Secretary of the Treasury, the World Bank, the New York Stock Exchange, and other government agencies and private companies; and
WHEREAS, in retirement, David Meiselman and his wife, Winifred, spent much time working to preserve their antebellum home, Merrybrook, near Herndon, which is a historic Civil War site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; and
WHEREAS, in addition to his wife, Winifred, David Meiselman will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by his children, Shmuel “Sam,” Ellen, and Nina, and their families, and by many other family members and friends; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Delegates hereby note with great sadness the loss of David I. Meiselman of Fairfax County, a distinguished economist and retired professor in the graduate economics program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, a highly regarded teacher and researcher, a veteran of the United States military, and a devoted husband and father; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of David I. Meiselman as an expression of the House of Delegates’ respect for his memory.

Source: https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?151+ful+HR294+pdf 

______________________

ECONOMICS 331 — MONEY
Autumn, 1961
D. Meiselman

(Note: selections are in the suggested order for reading. Readings marked with an asterisk (*) are required.)

I. The Supply of Money

The Federal Reserve System: Purposes and Functions

Robert V. Roosa, Federal Reserve Operations in the Money and Government Securities Markets

A.J. Meigs, Free Reserves and Interest Rates in a Theory of Money Supply Determination, chapters 1, 3, 4, pp. 77-82.

*G. Horwich, “Elements of Timing and Response in the Balance Sheet of Banking,” Journal of Finance (May, 1957).

P. Cagan, “The Demand for Currency Relative to the Total Money Supply,” Journal of Political Economy (August, 1958).

Albert G. Hart, “The Chicago Plan of Banking Reform,” in Readings in Monetary Theory.

*Milton Friedman, A Program for Monetary Stability, chapter 2.

Edward Simmons, “The Relative Liquidity of Money and Other Things,” in Readings in Monetary Theory.

Roland N. NcKean, “Liquidity and a National Balance Sheet,” in Readings in Monetary Theory.

II. Classical Quantity Theory and the Rate of Interest

*Irving Fisher, The Purchasing Power of Money, chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 8.

*Alfred Marshall, Official Papers, “Evidence Before the Indian Currency Committee (1849)” questions 11758-11762; and “Evidence Before the Gold and Silver Commission (1887-88),” questions 9629-86. Testimony to Royal Commission on The Depression of Trade and Industry (1886), answers to question 8(i).

*A.C. Pigou, “The Value of Money,” in Readings in Monetary Theory.

Knut Wicksell, Interest and Prices, chapter 4.

___________, “The Influence of the Rate of Interest on Prices,” Economic Journal, V (17) June, 1907.

*J.M. Keynes, Tract on Monetary Reform, pp. 74-87, 41-73.

*Irving Fisher, The Theory of Interest, chapters 1-3.

*F.H. Knight, “Interest” in Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences; also in Ethics of Competition.

Irving Fisher. Appreciation and Interest.

J.M. Keynes, Treatise on Money, Vol. 2, pp. 198-208.

*J.R. Hicks, “A Suggestion for Simplifying the Theory of Money,” in Readings in Monetary Theory, and Economica (1935).

III. The Keynesian Revolution

A. The Demand for Money, and the Rate of Interest

*J.M. Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, chapters 11-17.

James Tobin, “The Interest-Elasticity of Transactions Demand for Cash,” Review of Economics and Statistics (August, 1956).

__________, “Liquidity Preference as Behavior Towards Risk,” Review of Economic Studies (August, 1956), pp. 241-47.

*W.J. Baumol, “The Transactions Demand for Cash: An Inventory Theoretic Approach,” Quarterly Journal of Economics (November, 1952).

*Joan Robinson, “The Rate of Interest” Econometrica, Vol. 19; reprinted as chapter I of The Rate of Interest and Other Essays.

Abba Lerner, “On the Marginal Product of Capital and the Marginal Efficiency of Investment,” Journal of Political Economy (February, 1953), pp. 1-14.

B. The Theory of Income and Employment

*J.M. Keynes, The General Theory, chapters 1-4; chapter 6, section 2; chapters 7-10, 18-21, 24.

*Paul A. Samuelson, “The Simple Mathematics of Income Determination,” chapter 6 in Lloyd Metzler, et al, Income, Employment and Public Policy.

IV. The Wake of the Revolution

*J.R. Hicks, “Mr. Keynes and the Classics,” Econometrica (April, 1937). Reprinted in Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution.

*F. Modigliani, “Liquidity Preference and the Theory of Interest and Money,” Econometrica (January, 1944) and reprinted in Readings in Business Cycle Theory.

Jacob Marschak, Income, Employment and the Price Level, Lectures 1, 3, 12-20.

*D.H. Robertson, “Mr. Keynes and the Rate of Interest,” in Essays in Monetary Theory, and Readings in Theory of Income Distribution.

J.R. Hicks, Value and Capital, pp. 115-27, 130-62.

*H.G. Johnson, “Notes on Some Cambridge Controversies in Monetary Theory,” and D.H. Robertson, “Comments on Mr. Johnson’s Notes,” Review of Economic Studies (1951-52), pp. 90-110.

*Harold Somers, “Monetary Policy and the Theory of Interest,” in Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution.

*Don Patinkin, “Price Flexibility and Full Employment,” in Readings in Monetary Theory.

O.H. Brownlee, “The Theory of Employment and Stabilization Policy,” Journal of Political Economy (October, 1950).

Lloyd Metzler, “Wealth, Saving, and the Rate of Interest,” Journal of Political Economy (April, 1951).

*H.G. Johnson, “The General Theory After 25 Years,” copies on reserve. Also, American Economic Review (May, 1961).

*Milton Friedman, “Price, Income and Monetary Changes in Three Wartime Periods,” and Whittlesey’s discussion, pp. 614-25 and 642-43, American Economic Review Supplement 42 (May, 1952).

*Milton Friedman and David Meiselman, “The Relative Stability of Monetary Velocity and the Investment Multiplier in the U.S., 1897-1958,” sections 1, 2, 3, 5. Copies on reserve.

V. The Demand for Money and General Equilibrium Theory

*Don Patinkin, Money, Interest and Prices, Introduction and chapters 1-4, 8, and quotations on pp. 420, 435.

____________, “Liquidity Preference and Loanable Funds: Stock and Flow Analysis,” Economica, 1958.

*G.C. Archibald and R.G. Lipsey, “Monetary and Value Theory: A Critique of Lange and Patinkin,” Review of Economic Studies 26 (1), pp 1-22.

*Milton Friedman, “The Quantity Theory of Money: A Restatement,” in Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money, ed., M. Friedman.

*H. Makower and J. Marschak, “Assets, Prices, and Monetary Theory,” Readings in Price Theory and Economica (1938), pp. 261-88.

*M. Friedman, “The Demand for Money: Some Theoretical and Empirical Results,” Journal of Political Economy (August, 1959), pp. 327-51.

Philip Cagan, “The Monetary Dynamics of Hyperinflation,” esp. pp. 25-35 and 86-91 in Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money, ed., M. Friedman.

H.A. Latane, “Cash Balances and the Interest Rate—A Pragmatic Approach,” Review of Economics and Statistics (November, 1954), and supplementary article in Review of Economics and Statistics (November, 1960).

D. Meiselman, “Expectations, Errors, and the Term Structure of Interest Rates,” copies on reserve.

G.L.S. Shackle, “Recent Theories Concerning the Nature and Role of Interest,” Economic Journal (June, 1961).

John G. Gurley and Edward S. Shaw, Money in a Theory of Finance, chapters 1, 2, and summaries at the ends of succeeding chapters.

Don Patinkin, “Financial Intermediaries and Monetary Theory,” American Economic Review (March, 1961).

Alvin Marty, “Gurley and Shaw on Money in a Theory of Finance,” Journal of Political Economy(February, 1961).

*M. Friedman and D. Meiselman, op. cit., pp. 58-68.

VI. The Monetary Standard and International Monetary Adjustments

*Lloyd Mints, Monetary Policy for a Competitive Society, chapters 4,5.

*H.G. Johnson, International Trade and Economic Growth, chapters 6,7.

*J.M. Keynes, Tract on Monetary Reform, pp. 87-138.

___________, “Economic Consequences of Mr. Churchill,” in Essays in Persuasion.

*Milton Friedman, “The Case for Flexible Exchange Rates,” in Essays in Positive Economics.

Alan Holmes, The New York Foreign Exchange Market, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Milton Friedman Papers, Box 77, Folder “2. University of Chicago, Econ. 331”.

Image Source: David Meiselman 1979 portrait from Wikimedia Commons.

Categories
Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Reading list for Mathematical Approaches to Economic Theory. Houthakker, 1960-1961

 

Hendrik Houthakker joined the Harvard economics faculty in 1960. One of the courses he taught in his first academic year at Harvard was “Mathematical Approaches to Economic Theory”. Following the Faculty Memorial Minute, this post provides the course enrollment numbers along with the two-semester syllabus. Exams for the course were not found in the bound, printed collection of final examinations for 1960-61 at the Harvard University Archives.

______________________

Hendrik Samuel Houthakker
Faculty of Arts and Sciences — Memorial Minute

At a Meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences March 10, 2009, the following Minute was placed upon the records.

Hendrik Samuel Houthakker, the late Henry Lee Professor of Economics, Emeritus, at Harvard University, lived a very rich and full life that brought him into contact with some of the great events of our time. He was born in Amsterdam in 1924 and lived through the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands. He received his doctorandus degree in economics at the University of Amsterdam in 1949 and immediately joined the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Cambridge.

In 1950 Houthakker published a paper that assured him a permanent place in the history of economic thought, presenting his famous Strong Axiom of Revealed Preference. The force of this stunning contribution is well captured by Robert Pollak in the following words: “Economics, unlike mathematics, has relatively few classic well-posed problems whose solutions can make professional reputations. The original revealed preference problem was one of them.” Houthakker’s paper was cited in 1963 when he received the John Bates Clark Medal of the American Economic Association, awarded every other year to that economist under 40 who has made the most significant contribution to economics. The paper was one of two major themes in Pollak’s essay, “Houthakker’s Contributions to Economics,” written on the occasion of his election as Distinguished Fellow of the Association in 1988.

From Cambridge Houthakker went to the Cowles Commission on Economics at the University of Chicago. His contributions to economics continued at a breathtaking pace and included the first of his important empirical studies of consumer demand, The Analysis of Family Budgets, with S. J. Prais. Houthakker’s empirical findings, like his theoretical work, have become an enduring part of economics. He moved to Stanford in 1954, where he met his wife, Anna-Teresa, and then to Harvard in 1960.

It would be difficult to exaggerate Houthakker’s contributions to the Department of Economics at Harvard. He was a mentor to generations of junior faculty. He taught a wide variety of courses, beginning with econometrics and mathematical economics and later including international economics and financial economics. He served for twenty-one years as the sole editor of the Review of Economics and Statistics, then as now one of Harvard’s two leading journals of economics. Houthakker read many of the manuscripts himself, assigned the best to referees, and made the final editorial decisions. When he stepped down he was replaced by a committee. He was also acting chairman of the Department of Economics in 1987–88.

A short description of Houthakker, written on the occasion of his passing by his friend and former colleague Andreu Mas-Colell, now professor of economics at the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, captures him well:

“I was privileged to be his colleague at Harvard, where he received me with much kindness and I discovered a gentle man with very broad intellectual and social interests. My own proclivities led to many exchanges on revealed preference and aggregation theory. I distinctly recall them as most enlightening.”

Houthakker was appointed to be a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers from 1969 to 1971 by President Richard Nixon. This period included the collapse of Bretton Woods, the system of fixed parities for international currencies established after World War II. Writing about the secrecy with which the policies to resolve the financial crisis were formulated and implemented, Houthakker penned the following words, which now seem prescient:

“In any democracy it is difficult to carry out policies without public awareness, public criticism, and public cooperation wherever possible. Under the U.S. Constitution, congressional involvement is even more essential, no matter how time-consuming and politically hazardous.”

One of Houthakker’s interests, known to only a few of his colleagues and friends, was the social and ethical aspects of economics. In 1992 he organized a symposium on the centennial of the papal encyclical, Rerum Novarum, translated by the Vatican as “Capital and Labor.” This was written by Pope Leo XIII in 1891 and presented the papal view of capitalism, socialism, and the role of the state. In 1991 Pope John Paul II wrote the encyclical, Centesimus Annus (“In the Hundredth Year”). This brought the papal view up to date through the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the ongoing collapse of the Soviet Union. Chapter 5 presented an emphatic and elaborate statement of approval for the transition to democracy and a market economy then under way.

Pope John Paul II had been a close friend of Anna-Teresa and Hendrik Houthakker since the 1970s, a story recounted in the biography His Holiness by Carl Bernstein of Bernstein and Woodward, and Marco Politi, the Italian journalist. The authors quote Houthakker on his conversations with John Paul II, then the Cardinal Archbishop Karol Wojtyla, “I tried to talk with him about the merits of capitalism and democracy, but I had a feeling I wasn’t getting anywhere.” The conversations between Houthakker and the Cardinal, later the Pope, eventually bore fruit. The symposium was a success and led to a book, Social and Ethical Aspects of Economics: A Colloquium in the Vatican, published in 1992.

The symposium was among the services to the church acknowledged in Houthakker’s election as Knight Commander with Star in the Papal Order of Saint Gregory in 2003. The papal knighthood was added to the long list of honors he received, including Presidency of the Econometric Society in 1967, Vice Presidency of the American Economic Association in 1972, membership in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, corresponding membership in the Netherlands Academy of Sciences and honorary degrees from his alma mater, the University of Amsterdam, and the University of Fribourg. He was devoted to economic research from his youth in Amsterdam until the very end of his life, and he received the honors that his originality, depth, and breadth of interests merited. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Anna-Teresa, and his children Louis, Jan Nicholas, and Isabella Romana.

Respectfully submitted,

Guido Imbens
Andreu Mas-Colell
James Stock
Dale Jorgenson, Chair

Source (including portrait): Harvard Gazette website. April 30, 2009.

______________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics 214] Mathematical Approach to Economic Theory. Professor Houthakker. Full Course.

(F) Total 13: 9 Graduates, 1 Junior, 2 Radcliffe, 1 Other.
(S) Total 10: 7 Graduates, 1 Junior, 2 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1960-1961, p. 78.

______________________

Note for the Fall reading list, an asterisk (*) denotes a “supplementary or alternative reading”; for the Spring semester reading list it designates a “recommended reading” (presumably as opposed to a “required reading”). So it  appeasr the “non-asterisked” items constituted the required readings for the course.

______________________

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 214, First Semester

Reading List
Fall 1960
Professor Houthakker

The first semester of the course will be devoted mostly to static microeconomics. The classical approach is discussed first to be followed by lectures on linear and nonlinear programming. The mathematical knowledge assumed is equivalent to one year of calculus and some versatility in high school algebra. Titles marked * are supplementary or alternative readings.

1. Mathematical background: Matrix algebra and constrained maxima and minima of several variables.

* Henderson & Quandt, Microeconomic Theory, Appendix.

* Dorfman, Samuelson and Solow, Linear Programming and Economic Analysis, Appendix B.

* Perlis, Theory of Matrices.

* Aitken, Determinants and Matrices.

* Thrall and Tornheim, Matrices and Vector Spaces.

*Allen, Mathematical Economics, Chs. 12-14.

*Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Appendix A.

* Debreu and Herstein, “Non-negative square matrices,“ Econometrica, 1953.

* Ferrar, Algebra.

2. Classical theory of the consumer

Henderson & Quandt, Microeconomic Theory, Ch. 2.

Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Chs. 5-7.

Hicks, Value and Capital, Chs. 1-3 and Math. Appendix, Sections 3-12.

*Hicks, A Revision of Demand Theory.

Bushaw & Clower, Introduction to Math. Economics, Ch. 5.

Allen and Bowley, Family Expenditure, Ch. 3 and Math. Appendix.

*Allen, Mathematical Analysis for Economists, Ch. 19.

*Allen, Mathematical Economics, Ch. 19.

*Wold, Demand Analysis, Part II.

Samuelson, “The Problem of Integrability in Utility Theory,” Economica, 1950.

*Tobin and Houthakker, “The Effects of Rationing on Demand Elasticities,” Review of Economic Studies, 1950-1.

*Houthakker, “Compensated Changes in Quantities and Qualities Consumed,” Review of Economic Studies, 1951-52.

*Ichimura, “A Critical Note on the Definition of Related Goods,” (with comment by Hicks), Review of Economic Studies, 1950-51.

*Friedman, “Professor Pigou’s Method for Measuring Elasticities of Demand from Budgetary Data,” QJE, 1935-36.

Houthakker, “Additive Preferences,” Econometrica, April 1960.

*Frisch, “A Complete Scheme for Computing All Direct and Cross Demand Elasticities in a Model with Many Sectors,” Econometrica, April 1959.

3. Classical Theory of the firm

Henderson & Quandt, Microeconomic Theory, Ch. 3.

Samuelson, Foundations, Ch. 4.

Hicks, Value and Capital, Chs. 6-7 and Math. Appendix.

Allen, Mathematical Analysis for Economists, Ch. 19.

*Allen, Mathematical Economics, Ch. 18.

*Bushaw & Clower, Introduction to Math. Economics, Ch. 6.

4. Linear Programming and Input-Output Analysis

Dorfman, Samuelson, and Solow, Linear Programming and Economic Analysis, Ch. 1-7, 9-10.

*Koopmans, Activity Analysis of Production and Allocation, Ch. III.

Leontief, The Structure of American Economy, Part II.

Chenery & Clark, Interindustry Economics, Ch. 1-4, *11, *12.

*Manne, Scheduling of Petroleum Refinery Operations.

*Allen, Mathematical Economics, Chs. 16-17.

*Lefeber, Allocation in Space.

*Houthakker, “On the Numerical Solution of the Transportation Problem,” Journal of Operations Research Society of America, May 1955.

*Henderson, The Efficiency of the Coal Industry.

*Farrell, “An Application of Activity Analysis to the Theory of the Firm,” Econometrica, 1954.

Houthakker, “The Pareto Distribution and the Cobb-Douglas Production Function in Activity Analysis,” Review of Economic Studies, 1955-56.

Klein, “On the Interpretation of Professor Leontief’s System,” Review of Economic Studies, 1952-53 (also discussion by Morishima and Klein in 1956-7 volume).

*Koopmans, Three Essays on the State of Economic Science, Ch. 1.

5. Nonlinear programming

Dorfman, Samuelson, and Solow, Linear Programming and Economic Analysis, Ch. 8.

*Kuhn and Tucker, “Nonlinear Programming,” Proceedings of the Second Berkeley Symposium on Math. Stat. and Prob.

Houthakker, “The Capacity Method of Quadratic Programming,” Econometrica, Jan. 1960.

*Markowitz, Portfolio Selection. Ch. [no number given]

*Wolfe, “The Simplex Method for Quadratic Programming,” Econometrica, July 1959.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 214, Math. Approach to Economic Theory

Reading List
Spring 1961
Professor Houthakker

Items marked * are recommended

General Equilibrium

Arrow & Debreu, “Existence of Equilibrium for a Competitive Economy,” Econometrica, July, 1954.

Wald, “On some systems of equations of mathematical economics” (transl.), Econometrica, Oct. 1951.

Von Neumann, “A model of general economic equilibrium (transl.), Review of Economic Studies, No. 33, 1945-46, (also note by Champernowne following this paper).

*Debreu, Theory of Value, Ch. 1-5.

Gale, Theory of Linear Economic Models, Ch. 6-9.

Dorfman, Samuelson, Solow, Linear Programming and Economic Analysis, Ch. 13.

*Malinvaud, “Programmes d’Expansion et Taux d’Intérêt,” Econometrica, April ’59.

Stability of Equilibrium

Arrow & Hurwicz, “On the Stability of the Competitive Equilibrium, Econometrica, October 1958 (see also Econometrica, July 1960).

*Arrow, Block & Hurwicz, “On the Stability of the Competitive Equilibrium,” Econometrica, Jan. 1959.

*McKenzie, “Stability of Equilibrium and the Value of Positive Excess Demand,” Econometrica, July 1960.

Henderson & Quandt, Microeconomic Theory, Ch. 4-5.

Bushaw & Clower, Introduction to Mathematical Economics, Ch. 3-4.

*Arrow & Nerlove, “A Note on Expectations and Stability,” Econometrica, April 1958.

Dynamic Micro-theory

Tintner, “Maximization of Utility over Time,” Econometrica, 1938.

Strotz, “Myopia and Inconsistency in Dynamic Utility Maximization,” Review of Economic Studies, No. 62, 1955-56.

*Cramer, “A Dynamic Approach to the Theory of Consumer Demand,” Review of Economic Studies, No. 64, Feb. 1957.

Neisser, “The Pricing of Consumers’ Durables,” Econometrica, Oct. 1959.

Bushaw & Clower, Ch. 5, Section 7-8; Ch. 6 Section 8-9.

Growth Models; Dynamic Input-Output Analysis

Leontief, “Dynamic Analysis,” Studies in the Structure of the American Economy.

Hawkins & Simon, “Some Conditions of Macro-economic Stability,” Econometrica, July-Oct. 1949.

Dorfman, Samuelson & Solow, Ch. 11-12.

Solow, “Competitive Valuation in a Dynamic Input-Output System,” Econometrica, Jan. 1959.

*Wurtele, “Note on some stability properties of Leontief’s dynamic models,” Econometrica, Oct. 1959.

Solow, “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth,” QJE, Feb. 1956.

Jorgensen, “Growth and Fluctuation: a causal interpretation,” QJE, Aug. 1960.

Jorgensen, “A dual stability theorem,” Econometrica, Oct. 1960.

Malinvaud, “Capital Accumulation and Efficient Allocation of Resources,” Econometrica, April 1953.

Business Cycles

Baumol, Economic Dynamics, Ch. 7-11, 13-16.

Goodwin, “The Nonlinear Accelerator & the Persistence of Business Cycles,” Econometrica, Jan. 1951.

Allen, Mathematical Economics, Ch. 7-9.

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

Categories
Berkeley Suggested Reading

Berkeley. Harsanyi Seminar Reading List, ca. 1976-1977

 

While in all likelihood there is a copy of the seminar reading list from John C. Harsanyi’s seminar “Rule Utilitarianism and Decision theory” in the Bancroft Library at Berkeley where John C. Harsanyi’s papers are to be found, I don’t know when or if I will be in Berkeley anytime soon. Furthermore I figure it is doubtful that many people interested in rule utilitarianism would happen to search Abba Lerner’s papers at the Library of Congress where I found the copy transcribed below. So duty called and the seminar reading list will now be entered here into the digital record.

For what it’s worth, I was mildly amused to see an apology for including books, books I say!, on Harsanyi’s reading list.

___________________________

Nobel Laureate John C. Harsanyi, UC Berkeley economist and game theory pioneer, dies at 80
11 August 2000

Berkeley – John C. Harsanyi, winner of the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and a longtime professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and its Department of Economics, died of a heart attack at his home in Berkeley on Wednesday, Aug. 9.

He was 80 and had been suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease.

Harsanyi was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in game theory, a mathematical theory of human behavior in competitive situations that has become a dominant tool for analyzing real-life conflicts in business, management and international relations.

He shared the award from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences with fellow game theorists Reinhard Selten of Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitaet in Bonn, Germany, and John Nash of Princeton University.

When Harsanyi, an immigrant from communist Hungary, won the Nobel Prize, he expressed hope that game theory would help public and private institutions make better decisions. In the long run, he said, he hoped this would lead to a higher standard of living and to more peaceful and more cooperative political systems.

“Professor Harsanyi’s life-long work probed the idea of rationality in human affairs, and he was a scholar who cared deeply about the human condition. We will miss him at Berkeley, where his years of devoted teaching and his ground-breaking research inspired us all,” said Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl.

Harsanyi began teaching at UC Berkeley in 1964 as a visiting professor in the business school. He became a full professor in 1965 and remained on the faculty of the Haas School of Business until his retirement in 1990. Harsanyi accepted a joint appointment on the economics faculty in 1966.

“John Harsanyi dedicated his life to employ the science of economics and game theory for the betterment of the human race,” said Haas School Dean Laura Tyson. “He was a brilliant thinker, a gracious man, and a gentle soul, ever concerned with the well-being of others. We will all miss him dearly.”

“The passing of John Harsanyi is a great loss to the economics profession and to his many friends and colleagues on this campus,” said John Quigley, UC Berkeley professor of economics and former chair of the department. “Harsanyi’s work was instrumental in making economic theory ‘fit’ the imperfect world in which we live. His development of game theory showed how differences in the information available to economic actors affected market outcomes and economic welfare. His seminal works form the basis for all modern analyses of industrial organization, and they have real practical implications in business and government policy.

“John was a gentle and shy man, but a bold and powerful intellectual presence. We will miss his grace and charm.”

Game theory uses mathematics to try to predict the outcome of games, such as chess or poker, and is increasingly being applied to political and economic conflict situations, including labor negotiations, price wars, international political conflicts, and even federal auctions, such as bandwidth auctions.

Harsanyi’s principal contributions to the field addressed the prediction of outcomes in games or situations in which the players lack complete information about each other or the rules of the game.

In 1964, Harsanyi was asked to be one of 10 game theorists to advise the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency on its negotiations with the Soviet Union. The team found that it could not advise the U.S. negotiators effectively because neither side knew much about the other – it was a game of incomplete information.

Harsanyi subsequently developed a systematic procedure to convert any incomplete-information game into an equivalent complete-information game containing random moves, thereby significantly expanding the applicability of game theory to political and economic conflicts. In the late 1960s, Harsanyi described this theory in a three-part article, “Games with Incomplete Information Played by Bayesian Players,” which is now the basis for all work on games with incomplete information.

Harsanyi was born on May 29, 1920, in Budapest, Hungary, as the son of a Catholic pharmacist of Jewish descent and was educated at the University of Budapest. His main interests were in mathematics and philosophy, but because of the uncertain political situation and the impending Nazi danger, Harsanyi opted to obtain a degree in pharmacology so he could work in his father’s pharmacy.

In 1944, the Germans occupied Hungary, and Harsanyi, being of Jewish descent, was drafted into a forced-labor unit near Budapest. Shortly thereafter, the Nazis started deporting these laborers to mines and concentration camps. Harsanyi narrowly escaped deportation and found refuge with three friends at a Jesuit monastery in Budapest.

After the war, Harsanyi earned a PhD in philosophy at the University in Budapest where he later taught as an assistant professor of sociology and also met his future wife, Anne. In 1948, a Stalinist regime seized power in Hungary and became increasingly intolerant of Harsanyi’s liberal views. Eventually, he had to resign from the university and return to work in his father’s pharmacy.

Pressure on Harsanyi persisted and, in 1950, the family decided it was too dangerous for him to remain in Hungary. Harsanyi and his soon-to-be wife, Anne, escaped across the border to Austria, and emigrated to Australia, as the waiting list of the Hungarian immigration-quota to the United States was full. The couple were married on January 2, 1951, three days after arriving in Sydney.

In Sydney, Harsanyi worked in factories during the day while earning an MA in economics at the University of Sydney at night. In 1954, he was appointed lecturer in economics at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.

Harsanyi soon realized he was too isolated in Australia to be effective in his field. In 1956, he enrolled in the PhD program in economics at Stanford University, writing his dissertation on game theory under the guidance of the future Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow.

Before arriving at UC Berkeley in 1964, he taught economics at the Australian National University in Canberra from 1958 to 1961 and at Wayne State University in Detroit from 1961 to 1963. At Berkeley, he continued his path-breaking work in game theory and also made important contributions to the fields of ethics, social choice and welfare economics. Harsanyi was awarded seven honorary doctorates by universities around the world. Harsanyi is survived by his wife, Anne, of Berkeley, and son, Tom, of Somerville, Mass.

When Harsanyi was interviewed in Budapest after being awarded the Nobel Prize, he said his family and his work were the most important things in his life. He took frequent trips all over the world with his family.

A memorial service for the campus community will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 31, in the Great Hall of UC Berkeley’s Faculty Club.

Donations in John Harsanyi’s memory may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association of the Greater Bay Area, 2065 West El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA 94042.

Source: University of California. Press Release 11 Aug 2000.

___________________________

Selected Publications on Rule Utilitarianism
by John C. Harsanyi

John C. Harsanyi. “Rule Utilitarianism and Decision Theory,” Erkenntnis, 11 (1977), 25-53.

____________. “Rule Utilitarianism and Decision Theory,” Decision Theory and Social Ethics, 1978, Volume 17, pp. 3-31.

____________. “Bayesian Decision Theory, Rule Utilitarianism, and Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem,” Theory and Decision, 11 (1979), 289-317.

____________. “Rule Utilitarianism, Equality, and Justice,” Social Philosophy and Policy, 2 (1985), 115-127.

___________________________

[Lerner’s Attached Label “HARSANYI WORKSHOP”]

Rule Utilitarianism and Decision Theory.
John C. Harsanyi

Background References.

In economics, it is customary to publish important results at first in journal articles, even if these later are expanded into books. In contrast, in philosophy, important ideas are often presented immediately in books (often in much greater detail than most economists care to read). This is why so many books had to be included with the references listed below.

Items marked by —> will have xerox copies distributed to members of the Seminar. It would be helpful if people could read as many of these as possible. But my own presentation will be largely self-contained and independent of these references.

1. Morality as the Viewpoint of an Impartial Observer.

Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759.

—> John C. Harsanyi, “Ethics in Terms of Hypothetical Imperatives”, Mind, 67 (1958), pp. 305-316.

2. Classical Utilitarianism.

Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1789.

John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, 1863.

Henry Sidgwick, Methods of Ethics, 1874.

3. Ideal Utilitarianism.

George E. Moore, Principia Ethica, 1903.

4. Rule Utilitarianism.

—> R. F. Harrod*, “Utilitarianism Revised”, Mind, 45 (1936), pp. 137-156. Harrod has been the first proponent of rule utilitarianism as an alternative to act utilitarianism.

Richard B. Brandt, “Towards a Credible Form of Utilitarianism”, in Morality and the Language of Conduct (H.D. Castañeda, editor), 1963.

David Lyons, Forms and Limits of Utilitarianism, 1965. Brandt and Lyons tried to show that rule utilitarianism is logically equivalent to act utilitarianism and, therefore, has no real advantage over the latter.

5. Defense of Act Utilitarianism against Rule Utilitarianism.

J. J. C. Smart, An Outline of a System of Utilitarian Ethics. First Edition, 1961. Second Edition (with a critical essay by B. Williams), 1973.

6. A Utilitarian Theory based on Bayesian Decision Theory.

W. S. Vickrey, “Measuring Marginal Utility by Reactions to Risk”, Econometrica, 13 (1945), pp. 319-333.

—> John C. Harsanyi, “Cardinal Welfare, Individualistic Ethics, and Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility”, Journal of Political Economy, 63 (1955), pp. 305-316. (Omit Section II.)

7. An Ordinalist Approach to Social Welfare.

Kenneth J. Arrow, Social Choice and Individualistic Values. First Edition, 1951. Second Edition, 1963.

Kenneth J. Arrow, “Extended Sympathy and the Possibility of Social Choice”, Harvard Institute of Economic Research, Discussion Paper No. 484 (June 1976).

8. Egalitarian Critiques of Utilitarianism (Rawls, Diamond, Sen) and Utilitarian Rebuttals.

—> John Rawls, “Justice as Fairness”, Philosophical Review, 67 (1958), pp. 164-194.

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, 1971.

—> John C. Harsanyi, “Can the Maximin Principle Serve as a Basis for Morality? A Critique of John Rawls’ Theory.” American Political Science Review, 69 (1975), pp. 594-606.

—> Peter Diamond, “Cardinal Welfare, Individualistic Ethics, and Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility: A Comment”, Journal of Political Economy, 75 (1967), pp. 765-766.

—> A. K. Sen, “Welfare Economics, Utilitarianism, and Equity”, Chapter 1 of A. K. Sen, On Economic Inequality, 1973.

—> John C. Harsanyi, “Nonlinear Social Welfare Functions: Do Welfare Economists Have a Special Exemption from Bayesian rationality?” Theory and Decision, 6 (1975), pp. 311-332.

*The well-known economist.

 

Source: United States Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. The Papers of Abba P. Lerner, Box 12, Folder “5. ‘H’ miscellany 1976-1977”.

Image Source: John C. Harsanyi – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2021. Fri. 5 Feb 2021. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/1994/harsanyi/facts/>

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. Readings and Exam for Business Cycles. Schumpeter 1949-50

Joseph Schumpeter died January 8, 1950. The final examination questions transcribed in this post come from an official printed collection of final examinations, so that it seems likely and certainly possible, given required lead times for printing, that these were among Schumpeter’s last questions for his students.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 245a (formerly Economics 145a). Business Cycles and Economic Forecasting.
(F) Professor Schumpeter.

Total 31: 26 Graduates, 3 Seniors, 1 Public Administration, 1 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1949-1950, p. 75.

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Course Reading List

Economics 245a
Fall Term, 1949-50

This course will divide up into two parts: The first and smaller part will serve as a general introduction to the history, techniques, and bearings of business-cycle analysis and will be made longer or shorter according to the needs (or previous selected topics and give as much opportunity as possible for discussions and essays. Some knowledge of advanced theory and some training in statistics are necessary in order to reap full benefit from this course. Individual requirements will be taken care of in consultation.

  1. Books:

G. v. Haberler, Prosperity and Depression, 1941.

J. M. Clark, Strategic Factors in Business Cycles (National Bureau of Economic Research, 1934)

Readings in Business-Cycle Theory (Vol. II of the American Economic Association series of republished articles, Blakiston, 1944.

E.C. Bratt, Business-Cycle Forecasting (3rd ed., 1948; a textbook that may help less advanced students).

A.C. Pigou, Industrial Fluctuations, 1929.

E. Frickey, Economic Fluctuations in the U.S. (Harvard Economic Studies No. 73)

A.H. Hansen, Fiscal Policy and the Business Cycle, 1941.

Burns and Mitchell, Measuring Business Cycles (1946) (National Bureau).

F. C. Mills, Price-Quantity Interactions in Business Cycles, 1946 (Nat’l. Bureau).

  1. Articles:
    1. (a) H.L. Beales, “The Great Depression,” Economic History Review, October, 1934.
      (b) W.W. Rostow, “Explanations of the Great Depression,” Economic History Supplement to Economic Journal, February, 1940.
    2. (a) J. Tinbergen: “Suggestions on Quantitative Business-Cycle Theory,” Econometrica, 1935.
      (b) J. Tinbergen: Econometric Business-Cycle Research,” Review of Economic Studies, February, 1940.
    3. R. F. Harrod, “Imperfect Competition and the Trade Cycle,” Review of Economic Statistics, May, 1936.
    4. N. Kaldor, “A Model of the Trade Cycle, Economic Journal, March, 1940.
    5. (a) L.A. Metzler, “Business Cycles and the Modern Theory of Employment,” American Economic Review, June, 1946.
      (b) L.A. Metzler, “Nature and Stability of Inventory Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1941.
      (c) L. A. Metzler, “Factors Governing the Length of Inventory Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, February, 1947.
      (d) M. Abramowitz, “The Role of Inventories in Business Cycles,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Occasional Paper No. 26, May, 1948.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reding lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 5, Folder “Economics, 1949-1950 (3 of 3)”.

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1949-40
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 245a
[Final Examination. January, 1950]

One question may be omitted. Arrange your answers in the order of the questions.

  1. Discuss briefly the National Bureau method of measuring business cycles.
  2. Many authors have asserted that economic progress is “unstabilizing.” What does this mean precisely?
  3. Discuss briefly the main “price-quantity interactions in business cycles.”
  4. State, and give your opinion about the explanatory value of, the acceleration principle.
  5. “In a progressive economy, the rate of interest which stabilizes the price level is below the rate which keeps the flow of money incomes constant.” Explain and criticize.
  6. It is often asserted that agriculture is not an active element in business cycles. It is “the football of business.” Do you agree?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science, February 1950 in Final Exams—Social Sciences, etc. Feb. 1940 (HUC 7000.28, Vol. 81).

Image Source:  Harvard Classbook 1947.