Category: Syllabus

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Suggested Reading Syllabus Yale

Yale. Soviet Economic Development. Powell, 1974

 

Raymond Park Powell (b. 20 January 1922 in Spokane WA, d. 28 May 1980 in New Haven CT) was a professor of mine who played a significant role along with his Yale colleague John Michael Montias in my decision to specialize in the field of comparative economics systems. His monumental volume co-authored with Richard Moorsteen on the Soviet capital stock helped to inspire my career-long interest in the application of economic theory to the calculation of aggregate measures of input, output, and welfare. The Yale economics department awards teaching prizes in his honor to this day.

A transcribed syllabus from Powell’s graduate course on the Soviet economy follows his obituary in The Yale Daily News. 

 

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Economics’ Powell dies

Raymond Powell, Henry S. McNeil Professor of Economics at Yale and chairman of the Russian and East European Studies Department died of cancer on May 28 at Yale New Haven Hospital. He was 58 years old.

Mr. Powell joined the Yale faculty in 1952, after teaching in Princeton’s Economics Department and studying at Harvard’s Russian Research Center.

Last winter, Mr. Powell received a Devane medal for “his exceptional contribution to undergraduate life” from students belonging to the Yale Phi Beta Kappa chapter.

He wrote two books on the Soviet economy, one published in 1959 and one in 1966.

In 1967, Mr. Powell became the first professor ever to be named Henry S. McNeil Professor of Economics at Yale.

Mr. Powell continued to teach until a few weeks before his death, insisting, despite his poor health, on completing his spring term classes, according to Economics Department chairman Merton J. Peck.

Mr. Powell was the motivating force behind Economics 112, a course which constantly packed Davies auditorium in the past several years. The 1979 Course Critique described the class as “an excellent introduction to microeconomics,” and Mr. Powell’s lectures as varying tone from “humor to solemnity.”

The Course Critique also praised Mr. Powell as “very accessible and very willing to help.”

Students and faculty members laude Mr. Powell at a memorial service in Connecticut Hall June 4.

Source: Yale Daily News,  September 5, 1980.

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Economics 197b: Economic Development in the Soviet Union

Spring 1974
Mr. Powell

Assigned materials are to be found in the Cross Campus Library and, with some exceptions, in the Social Science Library.

Students unfamiliar with the general course of Soviet development may find it helpful to read through Alec Nove’s An Economic History of the U.S.S.R.

Part I: Pre-revolutionary Origins

For lack of time, neither of the first two topics will be covered in the course. The citations following are for reference purposes.

  1. Doctrinal Origins
    H. Schwartz, Russia’s Soviet Economy, 2nd ed., ch. III
    K. Marx, Capital, The Communist Manifesto, and Other Writings, edited by M. Eastman, pp. 1-7
    “Teaching of Economics in the Soviet Union”, American Economic Review, September 1944
    J. Stalin, Economic Problems of Socialism in the U.S.S.R.
    P.J.D. Wiles, The Political Economy of Communism, ch. 3
  2. Historical Origins
    P.I. Lyashchenko, History of the National Economy of Russia to the 1917 Revolution
    J.T. Fuhrman, The Origins of Capitalism in Russia: Industry and Progress in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
    W.L. Blackwell, The Beginnings of Russian Industrialization, 1800-1860
    T.H. Von Laue, Sergei Witte and the Industrialization of Russia
    A.Gerschenkron, “The Rate of Industrial Growth in Russia Since 1885”, Journal of Economic History, Supplement VII, 1947

Part II: The Development Process

  1. 1917 to 1928.
    A. Nove, An Economic History of the U.S.S.R., chs. 1, 3, and 4
    A. Erlich, “Stalin’s Views on Economic Development”, in F.D. Holzman, ed., Readings on the Soviet Economy
    O. Hoeffding, “State Planning and Forced Industrialization”, in Holzman
  2. Reliability of the Data and Inference from Them (Post-1928)
    A. Bergson, “Reliability and Usability of Soviet Statistics: A Summary Appraisal”, in Holzman
    H. Hunter, “Soviet Economic Statistics: An Introduction”, in V. Treml and J. Hardt, eds., Soviet Economic Statistics
    M. Kaser, “The Publication of Soviet Statistics”, in Treml and Hardt
    R. Powell, “The Rate and Process of Soviet Growth” (processed), pp. 1-8
    R. Moorsteen and R. Powell, The Soviet Capital Stock, 1928-1962, pp. 2-7, 13-16, 274-83
  1. Measures of Growth
    (Scan through the following to get a sense of the methods used.)
    Bergson, “National Income”, in Bergson and Kuznets, eds., Economic Trends in the Soviet Union
    D. Johnson, “Agricultural Production”, in Bergson and Kuznets
    N. Kaplan and R. Moorsteen, “An Index of Soviet Industrial Output”, in Holzman
    M. Bornstein, “A Comparison of Soviet and United States National Product”, in Holzman
  1. Sources of Growth: Inputs
    W.W. Eason, “Labor Force”, in Bergson and Kuznets
    F.A. Leedy, “Demographic Trends in the USSR”, in U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Soviet Economic Prospects for the Seventies (in Documents Room, 93-1. Y4. Ec7: So 8/10) (read pp. 460-65, on “Population Policy”; scan remainder)
    J.G. Chapman, “Consumption”, in Bergson and Kuznets (to up-date Chapman, see Bronson and Severin in J.E.C., Soviet Economic Prospects)
    Moorsteen and Powell, chs. 6, 8, and 9 (for a somewhat different view of investment policy, see Bergson, The Economics of Soviet Planning, ch. 13)
  1. Sources of Growth: Productivity
    1. Aggregate statistics
      Moorsteen and Powell, ch. 10 (from p. 283)
      A. Becker, Moorsteen, Powell, “The Soviet Capital Stock: Revisions and Extensions, 1961-1967”, pp. 2-10
      M.L. Weitzman, “Soviet Postwar Economic Growth and Capital-Labor Substitution”, American Economic Review, Sept. 1970
      B.H. Mikhalevsky and Iu.P. Solov’ev, “Proizvodstvennaia funktsiia narodnogo khoziaistva SSSR v 1951-1963 gg.”, Ekonomika i matematicheskie metody, 1966, no. 6
      Bergson, “Comparative Productivity and Efficiency in the Soviet Union and the United States”, in A. Eckstein, Comparison of Economic Systems
    2. Other evidence
      D. Dalrymple, “American Technology and Soviet Agricultural Development, 1924-1933” Agricultural History, July 1966
      R. Campbell, Soviet Economic Power, 2ndedition, pp. 59-62
      G. Maddala and P. Knight, “International Diffusion of Technical Change—A Case Study of the Oxygen Steel Making Process”, Economic Journal, Sept. 1967
      Astrachan, review of L.R. Graham, Science and Philosophy in the Soviet Union, in The New Yorker, Sept. 24, 1973, pp. 117 ff.
      [Scanlan, James P. “Review of Science and Philosophy in the Soviet Union by Loren R. Graham in Slavic Review, December 1973.
      Joravsky, David. “The Lysenko Affair” in Scientific American, November 1962]
      V. Dudinstev, Not by Bread Alone, pp. 165-68

Part III: Growth and the Choice of Institutions

  1. The Institutional Structure
    Bergson, The Economics of Soviet Planning, chs. 2 and 3
  2. Central Planning
    H. Köhler, Welfare and Planning, ch. 7, pp. 82-95 and 99-102
    H. Levine, “The Centralized Planning of Supply in Soviet Industry”, in Holzman
    J.M. Montias, “Planning with Material Balances”, American Economic Review, Dec. 1959
    R. Judy, “Information, Control and Soviet Economic Management”, in J. P. Hardt and others, Mathematics and Computers in Soviet Planning
    Treml, “Input-Output Analysis and Soviet Planning”, in Hardt
    G. Schroeder, “Recent Developments in Soviet Planning and Incentives” (skip pp. 30-35), in J.E.C., Soviet Economic Prospects
  3. Investment Choices
    Grossman, “Scarce Capital and Soviet Doctrine”, in Holzman
    Bergson, The Economics of Soviet Planning, ch. 11
    “Standard Methodology for Determining the Effectiveness of Capital Investment”, The ASSTE Bulletin[?], Fall 1971
  4. Agriculture
    L. Volin, “Agricultural Policy of the Soviet Union”, in Holzman
    A. Nove and R.D. Laird, “A Note on Labour Utilization in the Kolkhoz”, in Holzman
    A. Nove, “Soviet Agriculture Under Brezhnev”, with comments by Jackson and Karcz and reply, Slavic Studies, Sept. 1970.
  5. Industry: Pre-Reform
    J. Berliner, “Managerial Incentives and Decisionmaking: A Comparison of the United States and Soviet Union”, in Holzman or in Bornstein and Fusfeld
    Berliner, “The Informal Organization of the Soviet Firm”, in Holzman
    Powell, “Plan Execution and the Workability of Soviet Planning” (processed)
  6. The Economic Reform
    Y. Liberman, “The Plan, Profits and Bonuses”, in Bornstein and Fusfeld
    A. Kosygin, “On Improving Management of Industry”, in U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, New Directions in the Soviet Economy, Part IV (abbreviated version also in Bornstein and Fusfeld)
    R. Campbell, “The Dynamics of Socialism, Problems and Reforms” (processed)
    G. Schroeder, “The ‘Reform’ of the Supply System in Soviet Industry”, Soviet Studies, July 1972.
  7. Households
    E.C. Brown, “The Soviet Labor Market”, in Holzman or Bornstein and Fusfeld
    Nove, “Social Welfare in the USSR”, in Holzman
    Volin, “The Peasant Household under Mir and Kolkhoz in Modern Russian History”, in Holzman
    A. Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, approx.. pp. 82-108

Part IV: Subsidiary Policy Problems

  1. Price Formation
    G. Grossman, “Industrial Prices in the USSR”, in Holzman
    Bornstein, “Soviet Price Theory and Policy”, in Bornstein and Fusfeld
  2. Monetary and Fiscal Policy
    Grossman, “Introduction”, in Grossman, ed., Money and Plan
    J. M. Montias, “Bank Lending and Fiscal Policy in Eastern Europe”, in Grossman,Money and Plan
    Powell, “The Financing of Soviet Capital Formation: Past Experience and Current Reform”, in A. Sametz, ed., Financial Development and Economic Growth
    Powell, “A Simplified Model of Soviet Monetary Relations” (processed)
  3. Foreign Trade and Economic Policy
    Holzman, “Foreign Trade” in Bergson and Kuznets
    Holzman, “Foreign Trade Behavior of Centrally Planned Economies”, in Rosovsky, Industrialization in Two Systems
    Grossman, “U.S.-Soviet Trade and Economic Relations: Problems and Prospects”, ACES Bulletin, Spring 1973
    Tansky, “Soviet Foreign Aid: Scope, Direction, and Trends”, in J.E.C., Soviet Economic Prospects
  4. Ecological Policy
    M. I. Goldman, “Externalities and the Race for Economic Growth in the USSR: Will the Environment Ever Win?” Journal of Political Economy, March/April 1972

Source: Personal copy of Irwin Collier from the course.

Image Source: From Raymond Powell’s obituary in Yale Daily News, September 5, 1980.

Categories
Harvard Principles Problem Sets Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Principles of Economics, Ec 10. Feldstein and Li, 2000

 

Harvard’s Principles of Economics Course (Ec 10) has been historically taught as weekly lectures by some big faculty gun with parlour tricks pedagogy conducted in smaller sections run by graduate students or even junior faculty, especially in earlier years. The lecture part of the course has evolved to include more guest lecturers for specific fields but the grand-lecture/small recitation section format has been robust and apparently quite popular.

I thought it would only involve a few short dives into the internet archive, The Wayback Machine, to reconstruct the course around the year 2000. This turned out to be an over-optimistic plan. Still, I did not re-surface empty-handed and I provide links below to the materials I was able to salvage from that time. Perhaps some still young economist from the period, can provide us copies of problem sets and teaching-handouts to complete our collection. But hey, econometricians have to worry about measurement error, so historians of economics are really not allowed to complain about missing observations. Just as long as we are doing the best we can with what we’ve got. And what you see is what I got.

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Registrar Identifies Biggest Classes
By Catherine E. Shoichet
Harvard Crimson. October 2, 2000

When it comes to picking Core classes, Harvard students tend to be risk averse.

Preliminary figures show that last fall’s two most popular courses, Social Analysis 10, “Principles of Economics” and Moral Reasoning 22, “Justice,” have taken the top slots again this year.

Social Analysis 10, usually called Ec 10, has 805 students this year, according to preliminary course enrollment numbers released by the Office of the Registrar last week. Justice is a close second with 754.

Judith A. Li, an assistant professor of economics who teaches Ec 10 along with Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein ’61, says that despite the class’s large lecture size, most of the basic skills introduced in Ec 10 are taught in smaller sections of about 20 students.

“Our goal for the course is to provide students with a solid and comprehensive foundation in economics,” Li wrote in an e-mail message. “By taking a course like Ec 10, they will be better able to evaluate government policies and political proposals on their own.”

The course is particularly popular among first-year students, many of whom are considering economics as a potential concentration.

“I really enjoy the lectures,” Leah E. Wahba ’04 said. “It’s an honor to be in Marty Feldstein’s class because he has so much extensive experience in the field of economics.” […]

________________

From the Ec 10 home page (2000-2001)

Social Analysis 10

Faculty
Martin Feldstein
Judith Li

Ec 10 is the introductory course for both economics concentrators and those who plan no further work in the field. This course provides an introduction to economic issues and basic economic principles and methods. Fall term focuses on “microeconomics”: supply and demand, labor and financial markets, taxation, and social economic issues of health care, poverty, the environment, and income distribution. Spring term focuses on “macroeconomics”: the impact of both monetary and fiscal policy on inflation, unemployment, interest rates, investment, the exchange rate, and international trade. We study the role of government in the economy, including Social Security, the tax system, and economic change in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and China. By the end of the year, you should be able to use the analysis practiced in the course to form your own judgments about the major economic problems faced by the United States and other countries.

Note: Must be taken as a full course, although in special situations students are permitted to take the second term in a later year. Taught in a mixture of lectures and sections. No calculus is used, and there is no mathematics background requirement. Designed for both potential economics concentrators, and those who plan no further work in the field. The Department of Economics strongly encourages students considering concentration to take this course in their freshman year.

Source: Webpage capture from the Wayback Machine.

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Course Syllabi (.pdf files)

Spring 2000, Fall 2000/01

Syllabus Spring 1999-2000 (Macroeconomics)

Syllabus Fall 2000-2001 (Microeconomics)

Course Syllabi (.html files)

Syllabus Spring 1996-1997 (Macroeconomics)

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Miscellaneous Course Materials

Spring 1997 (Macroeconomics)

Unit Test Program explained

 

Spring 2000 (Macroeconomics)

Introductory Lecture for Macroeconomics and Growth by Martin Feldstein (Feb.2, 2000)

Future of Social Security by Martin Feldstein by Martin Feldstein (Feb. 9, 2000)

Problem Set 3, Answers (March 14, 2000)

Spring 2001 (Macroeconomics)

July 23, 2001 capture of Social Analysis 10 (Ec 10) homepage

[October 4, 2002 FAQ about unit tests in Ec 10]

Unit 1, Economic Growth: Test 1A solutions

Unit 2, Financial Markets: Test 2A questions

Unit 2, Financial Markets: Test 2A solutions

Unit 2, Financial Markets: Test 2B questions

Unit 2, Financial Markets: Test 2B solutions

Unit 3, Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand:  Test A questions

Unit 4, Monetary Policy: Test 1A questions

Unit 4, Monetary Policy: Test 1A solutions

Unit 4, Monetary Policy: Test 1B solutions

Unit 5, Fiscal Policy: Test 1A  questions

Unit 5, Fiscal Policy: Test 1A solutions

Unit 5, Fiscal Policy: Test 1B solutions

 

Fall Semester 2002 (Microeconomics)

From the Fall 2002/03 home page

Social Analysis 10
Principles of Economics
Martin Feldstein

Introduction to economic issues and basic economic principles and methods. Fall term focuses on supply and demand, labor and financial markets, taxation, and social economic issues of health care, poverty, the environment, and income distribution. Spring term focuses on the impact of both monetary and fiscal policy on inflation, unemployment, interest rates, investment, the exchange rate, and international trade. Studies role of government in the economy, including Social Security, the tax system, and economic change in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Covers international trade and financial markets.
Source: Webpage capture from the Wayback Machine.

Syllabus Fall 2002-2003 (Microeconomics)

Lecture on Unions by Richard B. Freeman (October 28, 2002)

Lecture on the Economics of Health Care by Martin Feldstein (Nov. 20, 2002)

Ec 10 Hourly Exam Questions (December 11, 2002)

 

Spring Semester 2003 (Macroeconomics)

Introductory Lecture by Martin Feldstein (January 29, 2003)

What Should the Fed do Now? lecture by Martin Feldstein (April 18, 2003)

The Dollar and the Trade Deficit lecture by Martin Feldstein (April 21, 2003)

 

Image Source:  “Das Feldstein-Horioka-Paradoxon” in Finanz und Wirtschaft (November 18, 2014).

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Reading list and final exam for core graduate growth and capital theory. Solow, 1973

 

Core macroeconomic theory was taught in a sequence of four half-semester courses at M.I.T. In this post we have material from the final course of the sequence (typically taken in the fall term of the second year of residency) that was dedicated to growth and capital theory and taught by Robert Solow in 1973.

The course syllabus and final examination for the third course in the sequence on Macroeconometric Models taught by Franco Modigliani were transcribed for the previous post.

Economics in the Rear-view Mirror thanks Juan C. A. Acosta who copied the course syllabus and final examination that are found in the Franco Modigliani Papers (Box T7) at the Duke University Economists’ Papers Project and has graciously shared them for transcription here. 

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14.454
MACRO THEORY IV
Fall 1973 2nd half

  1. Growth Theory

background, if necessary: Solow, GROWTH THEORY, Ch. 1,2
Burmeister and Dobell: MATHEMATICAL THEORIES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, Ch. 1-4
and/or
Wan: ECONOMIC GROWTH, Ch. 1, 2, 4 (sec. 3)
Kahn: “Exercise in the Analysis of Growth,” OXFORD ECONOMIC PAPERS, New Series, Vol. 11, 1959, pp. 143-156 (reprinted in GROWTH ECONOMICS, ed. A. K. Sen, Penguin)
Wan: Ch. 4, sec. 4

  1. Optimal Growth

background, if necessary: Solow, GROWTH THEORY, Ch. 5
Burmeister and Dobell: Ch. 11
and/or
Wan: Ch. 9, 10
Koopmans: “Objectives, Constraints and Outcomes in Optimal Growth Models” ECONOMETRICA, Vol. 35, 1967, pp. 1-15 (reprinted in Koopmans, SCIENTIFIC PAPERS, pp. 548-560)

  1. Capital Theory

Malinvaud: LECTURES ON MICROECONOMIC THEORY, Ch. 10
Hirschleifer: INVESTMENT, INTEREST AND CAPITAL, Ch. 2, 3, 4, 6
Dougherty: “On the Rate of Return and the Rate of Profit” ECONOMIC JOURNAL, December 1972, pp. 1324-1349
Burmeister and Dobell: Ch. 8, 9
Weizsäcker: STEADY-STATE CAPITAL THEORY, pp. 1-22, 32-47, and passim

Source:  Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Papers of Robert M. Solow, Box 68. Also in Franco Modigliani Papers, Box T7.

 

14.454 FINAL EXAM
19 Dec 1973
R. M. Solow

ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS, total time 1 ½ hours

  1. Suppose an economy with effectively unlimited supply of labor in the sense that any amount of labor is available (from an agricultural pools, say) at an institutionally determined real wage \bar{w}. In other respects the economy is like the standard one-sector model.
    1. Analyze the growth of such an economy if saving and investment are proportional to output. What might correspond to the “full employment, full utilization” assumption?
    2. What if saving and investment are proportional to profits?
    3. How does a once-for-all change in \bar{w} affect the growth path, and the share of wages in total output?
  2. Sketch an analysis of an optimal-capital-accumulation problem in which the criterion function values the capital stock (per worker) as well as consumption, for prestige or power reasons, say, so that instantaneous utility is written u(c,k). In particular, is it true, as we would expect, that such a society should save more than it would if it valued consumption only?
  3. Criticize the “neoclassical” theory of growth and capital; but do not be vague – where you have a complaint you should be prepared to suggest a better way.

 

Source:  Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Franco Modigliani Papers, Box T7.

Image Source:  Robert Solow pictures at the MIT Museum Website.

 

Categories
Exam Questions M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Macroeconometric models. Reading list and final exam. Modigliani, 1973

 

Core macroeconomic theory was taught in a sequence of four half-semester courses at M.I.T. In this post we encounter the third course of the sequence (typically taken in the fall term of the second year of residency) that was dedicated to Keynesian macroeconometric models and taught by Franco Modigliani in 1973.

In the same folder is a qualifying exam for 14.454, Macro IV which would be a waiver examination given before the term begins. There is no year indicated on this exam, but the content of the questions clearly matches that of the empirical macro course 14.453 offered in 1973. In the fall term of 1973, the quantitative macro and the dynamic macro switched their order which is probably the reason for the confusion about the course number at the start of the term.

Economics in the Rear-view Mirror thanks Juan C. A. Acosta who copied the course syllabus and final examination that are found in the Franco Modigliani Papers (Box T7) at the Duke University Economists’ Papers Project and has graciously shared them for transcription here. 

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14.453 MACRO THEORY III
Fall 1973, 2nd Half

I – ECONOMETRIC MODELS

Tinbergen, J. Statistical Testing of Business Cycles, Theory II. Business Cycles in the U.S.A.
Klein, L. R. & A. S. Goldberger. An Econometric Model of the United States, 1955; Impact Multipliers & Dynamic Properties of the K-G Model, 1959.
Suits, D. B. “Forecasting and Analysis with an Econometric Model”, AER, March, 1962. Reprinted in Readings in Business Cycles.
Hymans, S. H. & H. T. Shapiro. The Michigan Quarterly Econometric Model of the U.S. Economy, 1973.
_____________, Revision as of June, 1973 – Mimeo
Green, G. R., M. Liebenberg, A. A. Hirsh. “Short and Long Term Simulations with the OBE Econometric Model” in Econometric Models of Cyclical Behavior, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 36.
Fair, R. C. A Short Run Forecasting Model of the United States Economy, 1971.
Adams, G. F. & David M. Rowe, “Forecasts and Simulations from the Wharton Econometric Model”, Multilith.

ECONOMETRIC FORECASTING SYSTEM

1 – DR1 Quarterly Model
2 – Operations Overview

Fromm, G. & L. R. Klein. “A Comparison of Eleven Econometric Models of the United States”, AER, Papers and Proceedings, May, 1973, pp. 385-393.
Fair, R. C. “Forecasts from the Fair Model and Comparison of the Recent Forecasting Record of Seven Forecasters – July, 1973”. Princeton University – Multilith. 
Tsurumi, H. “A Comparison of Econometric Macro Models in Three Countries”, AER, May 1973.
Moriguchi, C. “Forecasting and Simulation Analysis of the World Economy”, AER, May, 1973.

THE MPS MODEL

Equations in the MIT-Penn-SSRC Model of the United States, January, 1973.
Data Directory, January, 1973.
Ando & Modigliani, “Econometric Analysis of Stabilization Policy,” AER, May, 1969.
Ando, A. K. “Basic Structure of the MPS Model” –Multilith.
Modigliani, F. “The Channels of Monetary Policy in the FMP Econometric Model of the U. S.” – Multilith.

II – THE CONSUMPTION FUNCTION

Keynes, J. M. The General Theory of Employment, Interest & Money, Ch. 8 & 9.
Modigliani, F. Lecture Notes on Monetary Theory, Part IV, Section A&B, (especially A.4 to B.2)
Brady, D.S. & Friedman, R. D. “Savings and the Income Distribution”, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. X, pp. 247-265.
Duesenberry, J. S. Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior.
Modigliani, F. “Fluctuations in the Saving Income Ratio: A Problem in Economic Forecasting”, in Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. XI, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1949.
_____________, “The Life Cycle Hypothesis of Saving Twenty Years Later”, Multilith.
_____________ and Brumberg, F. “Utility Analysis and the Consumption Function: An Interpretation of Cross-Section Data”, in K. Kurihara, (ed.) Post-Keynesian Economics, New Brunswick, 1954.
_____________ and _____________, “Utility Analysis and Aggregate Consumption Functions: An Attempt at Integration”, unpublished.
Merton, R. C. “Optimum Consumption and Portfolio Rules in a Continuous-Time Model”, Journal of Economic Theory, December, 1971.
Dreze and Modigliani, “Consumption Decisions under Uncertainty”, Journal of Economic Theory 5, 1972.
Modigliani, F. “The Life Cycle Hypothesis of Saving, the Demand for Wealth and the Supply of Capital” Social Research, Summer 1966.
_____________, “The Life Cycle Hypothesis of Saving and Inter-country Differences in the Saving Ratio”, in Induction, Growth and Trade, Essays in Honor of Sir Roy Harrod, 1970.
Ando, A. and Modigliani, F. “The Life Cycle Hypothesis of Saving: Aggregate Implications and Tests,” American Economic Review, March, 1963.
Modigliani, F. “Monetary Policy and Consumption: Linkages via Interest Rate and Wealth Effects in the FMP Model”, in Consumer Spending and Monetary Policy: the Linkages, The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 1971; and Appendix by Ando and Modigliani, “Consumption and Consumer Expenditure”.
Kaldor, N. Essays in Value and Distribution, London, 1960.
Tobin, J. “Life Cycle Saving and Balanced Growth”, in Ten Economic Essays in the Tradition of Irving Fisher, 1967.
_____________ and Dolde, W. C. “Wealth, Liquidity and Consumption”, in Consumer Spending and Monetary Policy: the Linkages, The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 1971.
Mayer, T. Permanent Income, Wealth, and Consumption, 1972.

III – THE INVESTMENT FUNCTION

Keynes, J. M., General Theory, Chapters 11 and 12.
Jorgenson, D. W. “Econometric Studies of Investment Behavior”, Journal of Economic Literature, Dec. 1971.
_____________ and R. E. Hall, “Application of the Theory of Optimum Capital Allocation” in Tax Incentives and Capital Spending, (edited by Fromm).
Bischoff, C. W. “The Effects of Alternative Lag Distributions”, in Tax Incentives and Capital Spending, G. Fromm, ed., Brookings Institution, 1971.
Ando, Modigliani, Rasche & Turnovsky, “On the Role of Expectations of Price and Technological Change in an Investment Function”. Multilith.
Eisner, E., and M. I. Nadiri, “Investment Behavior and Neoclassical Theory.” Review of Economics and Statistics. Vol. 50, August 1968.
_____________, “Neoclassical Theory of Investment Behavior: A Comment.” Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 52, May 1970.
Bischoff, C. W., “Hypothesis Testing and the Demand for Capital Goods,” The Review of Economics and Statistics, August 1969.
_____________, “Business Investment in the 1970’s: A Comparison of Models”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, 1971.
Nadiri, I. M. “An Alternative Model of Business Investment Spending”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 3, 1972.
Kalchbrenner, J. H. “A Model of the Housing Sector”, Chapter 6, in Savings, Deposits, Mortgages and Housing, Studies for the Federal Reserve-MIT-Penn Economic Model, (eds. Gramlich and Jaffee), 1972.
Ando and Modigliani, “Consumption and Consumer Expenditure”, pages 9-17, (APPENDIX A), Multilith.

IV – FINANCIAL MARKETS

Tobin, J. “A General Equilibrium Approach to Monetary Theory”, JMCB, February, 1969.
Brainard, W. and J. Tobin. “Pitfalls in Financial Model Building”, AER, May, 1968.
Ando and Modigliani. “Some Reflections on Describing Structures of Financial Sectors”. Multilith.
Ando, A. K. “Some Comments on Brainard-Tobin Framework for Financial Analysis”. Multilith.
Modigliani, F., Rasche, R. and J. P. Cooper, “Central Bank Policy, the Money Supply, and the Short-Term Rate of Interest,” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 2, 1970.
Modigliani, F. and R. Shiller, “Inflation, Rational Expectations, and the Term Structure of Interest Rates,” Economica, February, 1973.
Jaffee, D. M., and F. Modigliani, “A Theory and Test of Credit Rationing”, American Economic Review, December, 1969.
_____________, Credit Rationing and the Commercial Loan Market, John Wiley and Sons, 1971.
Gramlich, & Jaffee, editors, Saving Deposits, Mortgages and Housing, Chapters 1 to 5, and 7.
Modigliani, F. “The Valuation of Corporate Stock”. Multilith.

V – WAGES, PRICES, EXPECTATIONS

Phillips, A. W. “The Relation between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wages in the U. K.” Economica, November 1958.
Lipsey, R. G. “The Relation between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rate in the U. K.: A Further Analysis”, Economica, 1961.
Phelps et al. Macro Economic Foundations of Employment and Inflation Theory, See especially the two contributions of Holt.
The Econometrics of Price Determination Conference, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and SSRCs.

De Menil and Enzler, “Prices and Wages in the FR-MIT-Penn Econometric Model”.
Tobin, “The Wage-Price Mechanism: Overview of the Conference”.
Hyman, “Prices and Price Behavior in Three U.S. Econometric Models”.
Nordhaus, “Recent Developments in Price Dynamics”.
Lucas, “Econometric Testing of Natural Rate Hypothesis”.

Modigliani and Tarantelli, “A Generalization of the Phillips Curve for a Developing Country”, Review of Economic Studies, April, 1973.
Eckstein and Brinner, “The Inflation Process in the United States”, Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the U.S., 92 Congress, 2ndSession.
Modigliani, “New Developments on the Oligopoly Front”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 66, June 1958.
Lucas, R. “Some International Evidence on Output-Inflation Tradeoffs”, AER, June, 1973.
Sargent, T. J. “Rational Expectations, The Real Interest Rate and the ‘Natural’ Rate of Unemployment.” Multilith—forthcoming in Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2, 1973.
Gordon, R. J. “The Welfare Cost of Higher Unemployment”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, 1973.
Turnovsky, S. J. “Empirical Evidence on the Formation of Price Expectations”, J.A.S.A., December 1970.
de Menil and Bhalla, “Direct Measurement of Popular Price Expectations”—Princeton University Econometric Research Program, Memorandum No. 149.
de Menil, G. “Rationality in Popular Price Expectations”. Multilith.

______________________

QUALIFYING EXAM FOR 14.454 (sic)
MACRO IV (sic)

Time Period: Less than two hours
Answer at least 2 questions

  1. Tests carried out for a number of countries of the major alternative models purporting to explain aggregate consumption (Duesenberry-Modigliani, permanent income, life cycle, Kaldorian model) are typically found to fit the data quite well, and the difference in fit is generally not large.
    1. give a brief description of each of the above models
    2. what explanation, if any, can be advanced for the empirical finding that there are no substantial differences in the closeness of fit in the various models
    3. does the fact that the alternative models fit roughly as well imply that it makes little difference which of these equations is incorporated in an econometric model
      1. rom the point of view of forecasting
      2. from the point of view of predicting the effect of alternative monetary and fiscal policies
  2. Consider the coefficient estimates of the St. Louis “reduced form model”.
    1. what are possible and likely sources of biases in these coefficients? (Be sure to explain what you mean by bias in this context.)
    2. are these estimates consistent with the monetarist view of the working of the economy?
    3. with the view embodied in the standard econometric models of the U.S.?
    4. with the view embodied in the MPS model? (optional)
  3. The “multiplier” played an important role in early Keynesian thinking.
    1. review how this notion has developed since that time.
    2. in the light of (i), describe the kind of simulations you would perform in order to evaluate the “multiplier effect of an increase in government expenditure” implied by one of the major contemporary econometric models of the U.S.
    3. can an estimate of the above multiplier be inferred from the coefficients of the St. Louis “reduced form model”?

______________________

14.453 MACRO THEORY
FINAL EXAMINATION

Franco Modigliani
Wednesday, 12/19/73

1 ½ hours

Answer Question I and at least one other question

  1. Enclosed is a forecast for the U.S. economy generated by the MPS Model in October 1973, before the so-called oil crisis. Assume an exogenous reduction in oil imports of 3 million barrels per day (representing somewhat over 15% of the consumption of oil implicit in the above forecast) beginning in the fourth quarter of ’73, and becoming fully effective from the first quarter of ’74.
    1. analyze the likely effects of this event on the above projections of real and money GNP and its components, assuming no change in monetary and fiscal policy.
    2. what changes in economic policy, if any, would you recommend, and why?
    3. can the MPS model (or analogous macro-econometric models) be used without major modification, to simulate the effects of the reduction in oil supply? Explain.

(Note: the monetary policy assumed in the projection is a growth of the money supply at 6% in ’73.4, at 6.5% in the first half of ‘74, and 7% thereafter.)

  1. The “multiplier” played an important role in early Keynesian thinking.
      1. review how this notion has developed since that time.
      2. in the light of (i.), describe the kind of simulations you would perform in order to evaluate the “multiplier effect of an increase in government expenditure” implied by one of the major contemporary econometric models of the U.S.
      3. can an estimate of the above multiplier be inferred from the coefficients of the St. Louis “reduced form model”?
  2. Formulate your model of the short and long run determinants of the price level. Use your theory to evaluate the often expressed view that fiscal policy should be used to control real output and monetary policy to control prices.
  3. Discuss the role of price expectations in macro-economic analysis, and review the present state of knowledge with respect to the modeling of price expectational variables in macro-econometric models.

1973_14453_exam_MPSoutputReduced

Source:   Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Franco Modigliani Papers, Box T7.

Image Source: Franco Modigliani picture from the MIT Museum Website.

Categories
Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Principles of Economics. Course outline, readings, exam questions, 1949-50

 

Of particular interest in this two-track (for economics concentrators and non-concentrators, respectively) principles of economics course is that the Keynesian Cross chapter (XII) of Paul Samuelson’s new textbook Economics was assigned in the concentrators’ version.

The course was taught by Professor Burbank and the newly minted Harvard Ph.D. Wesley Glenn Campbell who would later be hand-picked by former President Herbert Hoover to head to the Hoover Institution.

________________________

Course Description

ECONOMICS
1949-50

Primarily for Undergraduates

Economics 1 (formerly Economics Aa and Ab). Principles of Economics

Full course. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. This course is conducted by sections. It will be divided into sections for concentrators and for non-concentrators. There will be sections at other hours. (Radcliffe sections will meet Tu., Th., Sat., at 11 and at such other times as the enrolment may justify.) Professor BURBANK, Dr. [Wesley Glenn] CAMPBELL [Harvard Ph.D., 1948], and other MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT.

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

Economics 1 provides an introduction to the principles required for the analysis of economic problems. The development of principles in the main fields of economics and the study of economic organization give the non-concentrator a background for the understanding of economic problems and are indispensable for the concentrator’s further work in advanced courses.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1949-1950 (1 of 3)”.

________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 1 (formerly Economics Aa and Ab). Principles of Economics. (Full Co.) Professor Burbank, Dr. Campbell, and other Members of the Department.

(Fall) Total 441: 1 Graduate, 16 Seniors, 68 Juniors, 220 Sophomores, 110 Freshmen, 21 Radcliffe, 5 Special.
(Spring) Total 434: 1 Graduate, 18 Seniors, 72 Juniors, 240 Sophomores, 73 Freshmen, 26 Radcliffe, 4 Special.

 

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1949-50, p. 72.

 

________________________

ECONOMICS I—CONCENTRATORS
1949-50
First Half

Sources:
Benham and Lutz Economics, American Edition (1941)
*Bowman and Bach Economic Analysis and Public Policy, Second Edition (1949)
Burns, Neal & Watson Modern Economics(1948)
Hart, A.G. Money, Debt, and Economic Activity(1948)
Merrill, Lynch, et al, How to Read a Financial Report
*Peach and Krause Basic Data of the American Economy, Revised Edition, (1949)
Peterson, S. Economics(1949)
Schumpeter, J. A. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
Slichter, S. H. Modern Economic Society(1931)
Slichter, S. H. The American Economy(1948)
Williamson, H. F. The Growth of the American Economy

*To be purchased by students.

 

PART I. Introduction

  1. The Economic Problem
    Benham: Ch. 1, General Survey
  2. Economic Institutions and Economic Development
    Burns: Ch. 2, Change and Growth in the Economy
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 6, Economic Analysis and Public Policy

PART II. National Income, Money, Banking and Price Levels

  1. National Income
    Burns: Ch. 4, National Income and National Output
    Peach & Krause: Section I, National Income
  2. Money, Banking and Price Levels
    Merrill, Lynch, et al.: How to Read A Financial Report
    Peach & Krause: Section 4, Money and Banking
    Peterson: Ch. 10, Exchange Media. Hand-to-Hand Money
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 10, The Banking System, the Money Supply, and Investment; Ch. 11, The Government and the Money Supply
    R.B.: Banking and Monetary Statistics, Section 10, pp. 360-366
    National Debt Series: 2, Our National Debt and the Banks; 3, Our National Debt and Interest Rates; 6, Our National Debt and Life Insurance
    Hart: Ch. 10, Inflation and Deflation

PART III. Role of Markets in the Allocation of Resources and the Determination of Relative Prices

  1. Markets—An Introduction to the Problems of Production, Distribution, Exchange and Consumption
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 2, Income and Consumption; Ch. 3, The Economic System—A Summary View; Ch. 4, Private Enterprise, Profits, and the Price System; Ch. 5, Business Enterprise in the Modern Economy—omit appendix
  2. Price Determination and Resource Allocation
    Bowman & Bach: Book III, Production, Individual Prices, and the Allocation of Resources
    Williamson: Ch. 25, The Location of Economic Activity
    Benham: Ch. 2, Markets, pp. 38-46
    Slichter: Ch. 10, Speculative Production, pp. 215-221
  3. Public Control of Markets
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 33, Government Policy and Business Practice
    Schumpeter: Ch. 8, Monopolistic Practices
    Peterson: Ch. 23, Market Control Policies in the United States, pp. 618-631
    Peach & Krause: Section 9, Agriculture
  4. The Productive Performance of the American Economy
    Slichter: Ch. 1, The American Economy; Ch. 6, How Good is the American Economy
    Peach & Krause: Section 2, Population and the Working Force in the United States
    Peach & Krause: Section 3, National Resources

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Course Reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992, Box 2, Folder “Lecture Schedules and Reading Lists, 1942-1970”, Subfolder “49-55”.

________________________

ECONOMICS I—NON-CONCENTRATORS
1949-50
First Half

Sources:
Arnold, T. The Bottlenecks of Business(1940)
Benham and Lutz Economics, American Edition (1941)
Bowman and Bach Economic Analysis and Public Policy, Second Edition (1949)
*Federal Reserve System Federal Reserve Charts on Bank Credit, Money Rates and Business(Latest edition)
Hart, A.G. Money, Debt, and Economic Activity(1948)
Johnson, E. A. J. Some Origins of the Modern Economic World
Merrill, Lynch, et al., How to Read a Financial Report
*Peterson, S. Economics(1949)
Slichter, S. H. Modern Economic Society(1931)
*Slichter, S. H. The American Economy(1948)
Williamson, H. F. The Growth of the American Economy
*Wright, D. M. Democracy and Progress

*To be purchased by students.

 

PART I. Introduction

  1. The Economic Problem
    Benham: Ch. 1, General Survey
  2. Economic Institutions and Economic Development—An Historical Approach
    Johnson: Ch. 2, The Late-Medieval Background; Ch. 3, The Emergence of Capitalism; Ch. 4, The Beginnings of Scientific Technology
    Williamson: Ch. 3, The Organization of Production During the Colonial Period
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 6, Economic Analysis and Public Policy

PART II. The Role of Markets in the Allocation of Resources and the Determination of Relative Prices

  1. A Comprehensive View of the Market System
    Peterson: Ch. 2, The Occupational and Industrial Structure; Ch. 3, Production and Income—Individual and National; Ch. 4, Framework and Problems of the Economic System
  2. The Determinants of Productive Power and the Organization of Production Under Capitalism
    Peterson: Ch. 5, Natural and Human Resources; Ch. 6, Capitalistic Production; Ch. 7, The Organization of Production; Ch. 8, Business Enterprise and the Corporate Form
    Merrill, Lynch, et al.: How to Read a Financial Report
    Peterson: Ch. 9, Finance, pp. 207-214 and 221-236
    Williamson: Ch. 14, The Capital Markets, 1789-1860; Ch. 28, The Investment Market After the War Between the States
  3. Price Determination and Resource Allocation
    Peterson: Ch. 17, The Role of Prices; Ch. 18, Supply, Demand, and Market Price
    Benham: Ch. 2, Markets, pp. 38-46
    Slichter: Ch. 10, Speculative Production, pp. 215-221
    Peterson: Ch. 19, Nature and Role of Demand and its Elasticity; Ch. 20, Cost and the Expansion and Contraction of Industries
    Williamson: Ch. 25, The Location of Economic Activity
    Peterson: Ch. 21, Output from Existing Capacity
  4. Public Regulation of Markets
    Peterson: Ch. 22, Monopoly and the Public Interest
    Williamson: Ch. 30, Industrial Concentration and Government anti-Trust Policy
    Arnold: Ch. 2, How Restraints of Trade Affect Your Standard of Living; Ch. 3, How Restraints of Trade Unbalance the National Budget; Ch. 7, Procedure under the Sherman Act; Ch. 8, The Clarification of Law; Appendix I
    Peterson: Ch. 23, Market Control Policies in the United States
    Wright: Ch. 8, The Problems of Competition
  5. The Production and Distribution of Wealth
    Slichter: Ch. 1, The American Economy; Ch. 6, How Good is the American Economy
    Wright: Ch. 7, Economic Goals and the Distribution of Wealth

PART III. Money, Banking, Price Levels and the National Income

  1. Money, Banking and Price Levels
    Peterson: Ch. 10, Exchange Media. Hand-to-Hand Money
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 10, The Banking System, the Money Supply, and Investment; Ch. 11, The Government and the Money Supply
    R.B.: Banking and Monetary Statistics, Section 10, pp. 360-366
    National Debt Series: 2, Our National Debt and the Banks; 3, Our National Debt and Interest Rates; 6, Our National Debt and Life Insurance
    Hart: Ch. 10, Inflation and Deflation
  2. Mechanics of the International Monetary Exchange
    Benham: Ch. 26, Balance of Payments
    Hart: Ch. 15, The Foreign Exchange Market
    Benham: Ch. 27, Free Exchange Rate; Ch. 28, The Gold Standard

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Course Reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992, Box 2, Folder “Lecture Schedules and Reading Lists, 1942-1970”, Subfolder “49-55”.

________________________

ECONOMICS I—CONCENTRATORS
1949-50
Second Half

Sources:
Benham and Lutz Economics, American Edition (1941)
*Bowman and Bach Economic Analysis and Public Policy,Second Edition (1949)
**Committee for Economic Development The Uses and Dangers of Direct Controls in Peacetime
**Economic Outlook Consumers, Workers Pay Cost of New Factories
Hart, A. G. Money, Debt, and Economic Activity(1948)
**International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Fourth Annual Report, 1948-49
**International Monetary Fund Annual Report, 1949
**Murray, P. The Steelworkers’ Case for Wages, Pensions and Social Insurance
*Peach and Krause Basic Data of the American EconomyRevised Edition (1949)
Peterson, S. Economics(1949)
Samuelson, P. Economics
Slichter, S. H. Basic Criteria Used in Wage Negotiations
**Slichter, S. H. Profits in a Laboristic Society
**Slichter, S. H. The Taft-Hartly Act
**Steel Industry Board Report to the President of the United States
**Voorhees, E. M. Statement before the Presidential Steel Board
Wright, D. M. Democracy and Progress

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

 

PART IV. The Distribution of Income

  1. Introduction
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 28, Introduction to the Study of Income Distribution
  2. Personal Income Distribution
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 29, Personal Income Distribution in the United States
    Wright: Ch. 7, Economic Goals and the Distribution of Wealth
  3. Determination of Returns to the Factors of Production
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 30, Wage and Salary Income; Ch. 32, Property Income
  4. Labor Organization and Labor Markets
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 31, The Economics of Labor Unionism
    Slichter: Basic Criteria Used in Wage Negotiations, pp. 7-31, and 36-40
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 35, Government Policy and Labor, pp. 651-673
    Slichter, The Taft-Hartley Act
  5. The Wages, Pensions, Prices and Profits Controversy
    Economic Outlook: Consumers, Workers Pay Cost of New Factories
    Slichter: Profits in a Laboristic Society
    Murray, The Steelworkers’ Case for Wages, Pensions and Social Insurance, pp. 9-29
    Voorhees, Statement before the Presidential Steel Board
    Steel Industry Board, Report to the President of the United States, pp. 1-11

PART V. International Economic Problems

Benham: Ch. 25, The Theory of International Trade; Ch. 26, Balances of Payments
Peach & Krause: Section 5, International Trade and Finance
Hart: Ch. 15, The Foreign Exchange Market
Benham: Ch. 27, Free Exchange Rates; Ch. 28, The Gold Standard; Ch. 29, Exchange Control; Ch. 30, Import Duties and Quotas
Hart: Ch. 18, International Monetary Cooperation
International Monetary Fund: Annual Report, 1949, pp. 1-46
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Fourth Annual Report, 1948-49, pp. 7-37

PART VI. Public Finance and the Economic Problem

Peach & Krause: Section 6, Government Expenditures, Tax Collections, Public and Private Debt
Bowman & Bach: Ch. 36, Introduction to the Public Economy; Ch. 37, Public Expenditures; Ch. 38, Public Revenues—Taxation; Ch. 39, Taxation (Continued)
Peterson: Ch. 30, Public Policy and the Distribution of Income

PART VII. The Nature of Economic Fluctuations and Policies Directed Toward Their Control

Samuelson: Ch. 12, Saving and Investment
Peach & Krause, Review Section 1, National Income
Hart: Review Ch. 10, Inflation and Deflation
Bowman & Bach: Ch. 13, The Rate of Economic Growth; Ch. 14, Economic Fluctuations
Peach & Krause: Section 7, Price Levels and Business Fluctuations
Wright: Ch. 6, Progress and Instability
Bowman & Bach: Ch. 40, Monetary Policy and Economic Stabilization; Ch. 41, Fiscal Policy and Economic Stabilization; Ch. 42, Antimonopoly Measures, Wage-Price Policy, and Direct Controls
C.E.D.: The Uses and Dangers of Direct Controls in Peacetime

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Course Reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992, Box 2, Folder “Lecture Schedules and Reading Lists, 1942-1970”, Subfolder “49-55”.

________________________

ECONOMICS I—NON-CONCENTRATORS
1949-50
Second Half

Sources:
Benham and Lutz Economics, American Edition (1941)
Bowman and Bach Economic Analysis and Public Policy,Second Edition (1949)
**Economic Outlook Consumers, Workers Pay Cost of New Factories
Hart, A. G. Money, Debt, and Economic Activity(1948)
**International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Fourth Annual Report, 1948-49
**International Monetary Fund Annual Report, 1949
Jewkes, J. Ordeal by Planning(1948)
*Peterson, S. Economics(1949)
*Schumpeter, J. A. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy(1947)
*Slichter, S. H. The American Economy(1948)
Slichter, S. H. Basic Criteria Used in Wage Negotiations
**Slichter, S. H. Profits in a Laboristic Society
Sweezy, P. M. Socialism
*Wright, D. M. Democracy and Progress

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

 

PART IV. The Distribution of Income

  1. Personal Income Distribution
    Peterson: Ch. 24, Inequality—Extent and Significance; Ch. 25, Inequality in the Return from Labor
  2. Determination of Returns to the Factors of Production
    Peterson: Ch. 26, Productivity and Income; Ch. 28, The Basis of Property Incomes; Ch. 29, Profits, Interest, and Wealth
  3. Labor Organization and Labor Markets
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 31, The Economics of Labor Unionism, pp. 492-501
    Peterson: Ch. 27, Wage-raising Policies and Practices
    Slichter: Basic Criteria Used in Wage Negotiations, pp. 7-31, and 36-40
    Bowman & Bach: Ch. 35, Government Policy and Labor, pp. 651-681
    Slichter: Ch. 2, Co-operation or Conflict in American Industry
  4. The Wages, Prices and Profits Controversy
    Economic Outlook: Consumers, Workers Pay Cost of New Factories
    Slichter: Profits in a Laboristic Society

PART V. International Economic Problems

Benham: Ch. 25, The Theory of International Trade; Review Chs. 26, 27, 28
Hart: Review, Ch. 15
Benham: Ch. 29, Exchange Control; Ch. 30, Import Duties and Quotas
Hart: Ch. 18, International Monetary Cooperation
International Monetary Fund: Annual Report, 1949, pp. 1-46
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Fourth Annual Report, 1948-49, pp. 7-37

PART VI. Public Finance and the Economic Problem

Bowman & Bach: Ch. 36, Introduction to the Public Economy; Ch. 37, Public Expenditures; Ch. 38, Public Revenues—Taxation; Ch. 39, Taxation (Continued)
Peterson: Ch. 30, Public Policy and the Distribution of Income

PART VII. The Nature of Economic Fluctuations and Policies Directed Toward Their Control

Peterson: Ch. 14, Total Demand and the Depression Problem; Ch. 15, Cyclical Fluctuations
Wright: Ch. 6, Progress and Instability
Slichter: Ch. 3, The Problem of Economic Stability
Wright: Ch. 11, Three Plans

PART VII. The Prospects for Economic Progress under Capitalism and Other Systems

Schumpeter: Part II, Can Capitalism Survive
Wright: Ch. 1, Science, Democracy, and Capitalism; Ch.2, The Moral Dilemma of Progress; Ch. 3, The Meaning and the Method of Democratic Progress; Ch.4, Political Democracy and the Alternatives to Competition
Schumpeter: Part III, Can Socialism Work?
Sweezy: Ch. 10, Can Socialism Provide Incentives to Work and to Efficiency?; Ch. 12, Are Socialism and Freedom Compatible?
Jewkes: Ch. 1, The Spread of Fashion; Ch.2, Is the Business Man Obsolete; Ch. 5, Confusion Among the Planners; Ch. 6, Planners as a Species; Ch. 7, Planning as a Scientific Method; Ch. 8, Planning and Prosperity; Ch. 9, Planning and Economic Stability; Ch. 10, Planning and Freedom

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Course Reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992, Box 2, Folder “Lecture Schedules and Reading Lists, 1942-1970”, Subfolder “49-55”.

________________________

1949-50
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS I
Non-Concentrators

Mid-Year Examination
January, 1950

I
(One hour and a half)
Answer both questions

  1. A member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has recently advised Congress that the policy of the Treasury has made it impossible for the Federal Reserve authorities to use their powers as controllers of the country’s money supply. Explain carefully why Treasury and Federal Reserve policies must be coordinated and in what ways they are likely to come in to conflict. Illustrate by reference to the national debt and other problems which arose in the war and the postwar periods.
  2. The problem of the allocation of scarce resources among a multitude of possible uses is one which is largely solved automatically in our economy.
    Explain how this problem is solved. Give careful attention to the role of and inter-relationships among each of the following: consumer decisions, producer decisions and markets.

II
(One hour and a half)
Answer any THREE questions

  1. The monetary control authorities generally attempt to control the level of prices and the level of income through control of the supply of money. Using the equation of exchange as an analytic framework, analyze how a policy which changes the supply of money might work out.
  2. Answer either (a) or (b) of the following
    1. Distinguish “rate level” from “rate structure.” Discuss the criteria relied on by regulatory commissions in determining each for a public utility, noting the major problems involved.
    2. What are the major economic arguments for and against monopoly? In the light of these arguments what elements do you think should be contained in any balanced government policy toward monopoly?
  3.      a. Explain the relationship between gross and net national product; between national income and aggregate personal income.
    1. Discuss a purpose for which each one of the above aggregates can be used.
    2. In the light of the above explanation and additional pertinent facts comment on the following statement: “A comparison of national income at the depth of a depression with that during a period of prosperity overstates the impact of the depression on the consuming public.”
  4. Answer TWO of the following:
    1. Explain how speculative markets control the rate of use of periodically produced goods.
    2. Restate the Malthusian thesis (law of population) using the principle of diminishing returns.
    3. Distinguish the short-run stabilization and long-run adjustment of the market for farm products. Consider both the objectives and the implied policies.
    4. Discuss the respective roles of technological change and savings and capital accumulation in the emergence of modern economic society.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Course Reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992, Box 2, Folder “Economics 1, Exams 1939-1962”.

________________________

1949-50
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS I
Concentrators

Mid-Year Examination
January, 1950

 

I
(One hour and a half)
Answer both questions

  1. A member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has recently advised Congress that the policy of the Treasury has made it impossible for the Federal Reserve authorities to use their powers as controllers of the country’s money supply. Explain carefully why Treasury and Federal Reserve policies must be coordinated and in what ways they are likely to come in to conflict. Illustrate by reference to the national debt and other problems which arose in the war and the postwar periods.
  2. Consumers’ preferences change, thus increasing the demand for a certain product which is produced under conditions of pure competition. Trace in precise fashion the results of this increase in demand on the output of the individual firms and of the industry, and on the price of the product:
    1. in the short run,
    2. in the long run.

 

II
(One hour and a half)
Answer any THREEquestions

  1. The monetary control authorities generally attempt to control the level of prices and the level of income through control of the supply of money. Using the equation of exchange as an analytic framework, analyze how a policy which changes the supply of money might work out.
  2. What are the major economic arguments for and against monopoly? In the light of these arguments what elements do you think should be contained in any balanced government policy toward monopoly?
  3. Answer TWO of the following:
    1. Discuss three important factors determining the location of economic activity.
    2. “When there is oligopoly, even without collusive agreements, price competition will tend to be ‘nonaggressive’, and price will usually be higher than otherwise.” Discuss.
    3. “Competition on a nonprice basis has become more and more important in recent years.” Discuss the effects of this trend on the allocation of resources.
    4. Discuss the process of hedging in a commodity market and its significance to the non-speculative businessman.
  4. Define Gross National Output (Product), National Income, and Income Payments (Personal Income).
    1. What is the general use of these concepts and how might each one be used specifically?
    2. How is Gross national Output related to Aggregate Demand or Expenditure?
    3. How will the relation between National Income and income Payments vary in prosperity and depression?
    4. Can we place great reliance on these concepts as measures of economic welfare?

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Course Reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992, Box 2, Folder “Economics 1, Exams 1939-1962”.

________________________

1949-50
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS I
Non-Concentrators

Final Examination
June, 1950

I
(One hour and a half)
Answer both questions

  1. Investment is often said to play a “strategic role” in the business cycle. What is meant by this statement? What are its implications for counter-cyclical policy?
  2. “Remuneration for labor services and a share in the social dividend are the only sources of personal income under socialism. Therefore, the socialist planners can ignore rent, interest, and profits even though they are fundamental to the functioning of a capitalist system.” Discuss.

II
(One hour and a half)
Answer both questions

  1. Without stating general conclusions as to the merits of either side, explain the basic issues involved in the dispute between labor and industry over wages, prices and profits.
  2. Discuss the elements to be considered in the establishment of a model tax system for the United States at the present level of expenditures. (This includes all levels of Government.)

III
(Thirty minutes)
Answer one question

  1. An adverse balance of payments can be corrected by (1) changes in exchange rates, (2) changes in prices and incomes, or (3) exchange and import controls.
    1. Discuss briefly how each of the above three methods may be used to correct a country’s adverse balance of payments.
    2. Discuss the extent to which the member countries of the International Monetary Fund may make use of the above three methods.
  2. Comment on the following statement: “The object of American tariff policy should be to impose sufficient duty on goods of every kind to equalize the cost of production at home and abroad.”

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Course Reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992, Box 2, Folder “Economics 1, Exams 1939-1962”.

________________________

1949-50
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS I
Concentrators

Final Examination
June, 1950

I
(One hour and a half)
Answer both questions

  1. Investment is often said to play a “strategic role” in the business cycle. What is meant by this statement? What are its implications for counter-cyclical policy?
  2. The establishment of product prices and of returns to factors of production are two sides of the same economic process.
    1. Analyze the forces of supply and demand which determine the return to a factor of production.
    2. Explain (in terms of producer and consumer decisions) how these returns determine and are determined by the prices of products.

II
(One hour and a half)
Answer both questions

  1. Without stating general conclusions as to the merits of either side, explain the basic issues involved in the dispute between labor and industry over wages, prices and profits.
  2. Discuss the elements to be considered in the establishment of a model tax system for the United States at the present level of expenditures. (This includes all levels of Government.)

III
(Thirty minutes)
Answer one question

  1. An adverse balance of payments can be corrected by (1) changes in exchange rates, (2) changes in prices and incomes, or (3) exchange and import controls.
    1. Discuss briefly how each of the above three methods may be used to correct a country’s adverse balance of payments.
    2. Discuss the extent to which the member countries of the International Monetary Fund may make use of the above three methods.
  2. Comment on the following statement: “The object of American tariff policy should be to impose sufficient duty on goods of every kind to equalize the cost of production at home and abroad.”

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Course Reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992, Box 2, Folder “Economics 1, Exams 1939-1962”.

Image Source:  H. H. Burbank in the Harvard Class Album 1947.

Categories
M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Open Economy Macroeconomics. Syllabus and bibliography. Dornbusch, 2000.

 

A genuine regret from my graduate school education was that I had not taken a course with Rudiger Dornbusch. Ex post it became clear that I would have been personally better served not having taken economic history at M.I.T. (all told, I had four semesters of solid economic history courses as an undergraduate at Yale), but unfortunately nobody shared with me the tip to take a trip on this rising star of open economy macroeconomics who began teaching at M.I.T. in 1975.

Rudi Dornbusch inspired many a classmate of mine at M.I.T. and I am sure many an economist beyond. (c.v. at M.I.T.)

_______________

14. 582 — OPEN ECONOMY MACROECONOMICS

R. Dornbusch 
Spring 2000

COURSE OUTLINE:

I.    Some Monetary History

II.    The Basic Open Economy Model

Gold Standard and the Classical Open Economy 
The Dependent Economy Model

III.    Nominal Rigidities and Policy.

Money, Wages, and Employment. 
PPP and Real Exchange Rates 
Pricing in the Open Economy

IV.    Intertemporal Trade.

V.    Finance, Exchange Rates, and Macro Implications

Capital Mobility, Exchange Rates, and Employment. 
Portfolio Diversification and Risk Premia

VI.    Policy Issues

Target Zones 
Currency Boards 
Stabilization and Exchange Rate Management 
Global Capital Markets 
Feldstein-Horioka and Capital Mobility 
Balance of Payments Crises 
Vulnerability, Crises, and Contagion 
EMU and New International Financial Architecture

TEXTS AND SOURCES:

Required readings are denoted with two asterisks (**), recommended readings with one asterisk (*).

** Grossman, G. and K. Rogoff (eds.). Handbook of International Economics. Vol. III, North Holland, 1995.
** Obstfeld, M. and K. Rogoff. Foundations of International Macroeconomics, MIT Press, 1996
Obstfeld, M. and K. Rogoff. Foundations of International Macroeconomics Workbook, MIT Press, 1998.
* Dornbusch, R. Open Economy Macroeconomics, Basic Books, 1980.
* Dornbusch, R. Exchange Rates and Inflation, MIT Press, 1988.
** See also the IMF website (http://www.imf.org) or recent IMF research reports.

Several journals are available online through JSTOR, including The Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, The Journal of Political Economy, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, and The American Economic Review. Please visit JSTOR’s main page if you experience difficulty connecting to any articles from these journals to determine whether you qualify to use their site.

I.  Some Monetary History.

  • Bordo, M. and Capie. Monetary Regimes in Transition. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
  • Bordo, M. and A.Schwartz (eds.). A Retrospective on the Classical Gold Standard 1821- 1931. University of Chicago Press and NBER, 1984.
  • Cassel, G.  Money and Foreign Exchange After 1914, Constable, 1922.
  • Eichengreen, B. (ed) The Gold Standard in Theory and History, Methenu, 1985, Chapter 1.
  • DeGrauwe, P. International Money Post War Trends and Theories. Clarendon Press 198x.
  • Friedman, M.  Money Mischief. Harcourt Brace Hovanovich, 1992.
  • Kindleberger C.  Manias, Panics and Crashes : A History of Financial Crises. Basic Books 1989.
  • Kindleberger C. A.  Financial History of Western Europe. Allen & Unwin 1984.
  • Obstfeld, M. and A.M. Taylor.  Global Capital Markets: Integration, Crises and Growth, unpublished manuscript.
  • Taussig, F.  International Trade, Macmillan,1928. Parts II and III.
  • Yeager, L.  International Monetary Relations, Harper & Row, 1966 Part II.

II. The Basic Open Economy Model.

Gold Standard and The Classical Open Economy

  • ** Calvo, G. “Devaluation: Level versus Rates” Journal of International Economics, Vol ll, No. 2, Pages 165-172, May 1981.
  • * Dornbusch, R. and Mussa, M. “Consumption, Real Balances and the Hoarding Function”, International Economic Review, June 1975. Also in Exchange Rates and Inflation, Chapter 18.
  • ** Dornbusch, R., S. Fischer and P. Samuelson.“Comparative Advantage, Trade and Payments in a Ricardian Model with a Continuum of Goods” American Economic Review Dec 1977. Also in Exchange Rates and Inflation, Chapter 14.
  • Dornbusch, R.  Open Economy Macroeconomics. Chapter 7.

The Dependent Economy Model

  • Calvo, G. and Rodriguez, C. “A Model of Exchange Rate Determination Under Currency Substitution and Rational Expectations”, Journal of Political Economy, No. 3, 1977, pgs 617-625.
  • * Dornbusch, R. “Real and Monetary Aspects of the Effects of Exchange Rate Changes” in Exchange Rates and Inflation, MIT Press 1988, Chapter 3.
  • * Dornbusch, R.  Open Economy Macroeconomics. Chapter 6.
  • ** Mundell, R. A. Monetary Theory, chapt. 10.
  • Salter,W. “Internal and External Balance” Economic Record, 1960.
  • Swan, T. “Economic Control in a Dependent Economy” Economic Record, 1960.

III. Nominal Rigidities and Policy.

Money, Wages and Employment

  • Brock, P. “Investment, the Current Account and the Relative price of Nontraded Goods in a Small Open Economy.” Journal of International Economics, May 1988.
  • ** Calvo, G. “Staggered Contracts and Exchange Rate Policy” in J.Frenkel (ed.) Exchange Rates and International Macroeconomics. University of Chicago Press and NBER, 1983.
  • ** Dornbusch, R.  Open Economy Macroeconomics, chapter 9.
  • * Dornbusch, R. “PPP Exchange Rate Rules and Macroeconomic Stability” In Exchange Rates and Inflation, Chapter 11.
  • Dornbusch, R. “Real Exchange Rates and Macroeconomics: A Selective Survey” Scandinavian Journal of Economics 91: (2), 1989.
  • Kouri, P. “Profitability and Growth in a Small Open Economy” in A. Lindbeck(ed.) Inflation and Employment in Open Economies, North Holland 1979.
  • * Krugman, P. and Taylor,L. “The Contractionary Effects of Devaluation”, Journal of International Economics, August 1978 pp. 445-456.
  • Lizondo, S. and P. Montiel. “Contractionary Devaluation in Developing Countries. An Analytical Survey.” International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, March 1989.
  • ** Obstfeld, M. and Rogoff, K. “Sticky-Price Models of Output, the Exchange Rate, and the Current Account” In Foundations of International Macroeconomics, Ch.9.
  • Rodriguez, C. “A Stylized Model of the Devaluation-Inflation Spiral.” International Monetary Fund Staff Papers, March 1978.
  • Dornbusch, R.  The Effectiveness of Exchange-Rate Changes, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 12, No. 3. Pgs. 26-38.
  • ** Dornbusch, R. “The Latin Triangle“

PPP and Real Exchange Rates.

  • Keynes, J.M.  A Tract on Monetary Reform, MacMillan, 1923, chapt. 3.
  • Dornbusch, R. “Purchasing Power Parity” In Exchange Rates and Inflation,Chapter 5.
  • * Frankel, J. and A. Rose. “A Panel Project on Purchasing Power Parity: Mean Reversion Within and Between Countries”Journal of International Economics,40(1) 209-224, 1996.
  • Marston, R. “Real Exchange Rates and Productivity Growth in the United States and Japan” in S. Arndt and D. Richardson (eds.) Real-Financial Linkages Among Open Economies, Cambridge: MIT Press.
  • Obstfeld and Rogoff, K. “Perspectives on PPP and Long-Run Real Exchange Rates” chapter 32 in Grossman G. and K. Rogoff (eds.) Handbook of International Economics, Vol. III., North Holland, 1995. 

Pricing in the Open Economy.

  • Dornbusch, R. “Exchange Rates and Prices” American Economic Review, March 1987. Also in Exchange Rates and Inflation, Chapter 5.
  • ** Frankel, J. and A. Rose “Empirical Research on Nominal Exchange Rates.” chapter 33 in Grossman G. and K. Rogoff (eds.) Handbook of International Economics, Vol. III., North Holland, 1995.
  • * Goldberg P.K. and M. Knetter “Goods Prices and Exchange Rates: What have we learned?” Journal of Economics Literature, vol. XXXV, September 1997, pp.1243-1272.

IV. Intertemporal Models Of The Open Economy

  • Obstfeld, M. and Rogoff,K.  Foundations of International Macroeconomics, parts 1-4.
  • * Obstfeld, M. and Rogoff, K. “The Intertemporal Approach to the Current Account” chapter 34 in Grossman G. and K. Rogoff (eds.) Handbook of International Economics, Vol. III., North Holland, 1995.
  • Fisher, E. O’N and K. Kasa.  Generational Accounting in Open Economies in FRBSF Economic Review, 1997, Number 3.
  • * Dornbusch, R. “Real Interest Rates, Home Goods and Optimal External Borrowing, Journal of Political Economy, Feb 1983 (also in Exchange Rates and Inflation, Chapter 16.)
  • ** Dornbusch, R. “Notes  on Intertemporal Trade”.

V. Finance, Exchange Rates and Macro Implications 

Capital Mobility, Exchange Rates, and Employment.

  • * Dornbusch, R. “Expectations and Exchange Rate Dynamics”, Journal of Political Economy, Dec. 1976 (also in Exchange Rates and Inflation, chapter 4)
  • Frankel, J. and K. Froot. “Using Survey Data to Test Propositions Regarding Exchange Rate Expectations.” American Economic Review Vol. 77, 1987, pp. 133-153.
  • Frenkel, J. and Mussa, M. “Asset Markets, Exchange Rates and the Balance of Payments” in R. Jones and P. Kenen (eds.) Handbook of International Economics, Vol.2, North-Holland 1985.
  • * Krugman,P.  Exchange Rate Instability, MIT Press, 1988.
  • Taylor M. “The Economics of Exchange Rate”.Journal of Economic Literature, Vol.XXXIII, March 1995, pp.13-47.
  • Mundell, R.  International Economics, chapts. 14 -18.
  • De Long, J. Bradford, Shleifer A. , Summers L. , Vishny R.  “Noise Trader Risk in Financial Markets” Journal of Political Economy; V98 n.4 August 1990, pp. 703-38.
  • Frankel, Jeffrey A.; Galli, Giampaolo; Giovannini, Alberto, Editors.  “The Microstructure of Foreign Exchange Markets”.  National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report Series. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Portfolio Diversification and Risk Premia.

  • * Dornbusch, R. “Exchange Rate Risk and the Macroeconomics of Exchange Rate Determination, in Exchange Rates and Inflation, Chapter 7.
  • Frankel, J. and Froot, K. “Forward Discount Bias: Is it an Exchange Risk Premium?”Quarterly Journal of Economics 104:1, 139-162.
  • ** Froot, K. and R. Thaler. “Anomalies: Foreign Exchange”,Journal of Economics Perspectives, vol 4, No. 3, Summer 1990, Pages l79-l92.
  • Krugman, P. “Consumption Preferences, Asset Demands, and Distribution Effects in International Financial Markets.”NBER Working Paper No. 651, March 1981.
  • Mussa,M. “Official Intervention and Exchange Rate Dynamics” in J.Bhandari (ed.) Exchange Rate Management Under Uncertainty,MIT Press 1985.
  • Sachs, J. and Wyplosz, C. “Real Exchange Rate Effects of Fiscal Policy.” NBER Working PaperNo. 1256, Jan. 1984.
  • Neely, Christopher J. “Technical Analysis and the Profitability of U.S. Foreign Exchange Intervention”.  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, July/August 1998.
  • Solnik, Bruno.  “Global Asset Management: Too Hedge or Not to Hedge–a Question That Cannot be Ignored”.  The Journal of Portfolio Management, Summer 1998.
  • Stein, Jerome L. and G. Paladino.  Recent Developments in International Finance: A Guide to Research Journal of Banking and Finance,21 (1998) 1685-1720.
  • Stulz, Rene M.  “International Portfolio Choice and Asset Pricing: An Integrative Survey”, in R. Jarrow et al (eds)Handbooks in OR & MS, vol. 9, Elsevier Science B.V., 1995.

VI. Policy Issues

Target Zones

  • Bertola, G. “Continuos-Time Models of Exchange Rates and Intervention ” In F. van der Ploeg, ed.Handbook of International Macroeconomics, Blackwell, 1994.
  • Bertola, G. and Caballero, R.“Target Zones and Realignments”, American Economic Review, 1992.
  • ** Krugman, P. and M. Miller. (eds.) Exchange Rate Targets and Currency Bands. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
  • ** Svensson, L. “An Interpretation of Recent Research on Exchange Rate Target Zones.”Journal of Economics Perspectives, Vol 6, No. 4, pp. 119-144, Fall 1992.
  • Werner, A. “Exchange Rates and Target Zone Width”. Economic Letters. Dec 1992.

Exchange Rate Regimes and Currency Boards

  • Calvo, G. “On Dollarization”,1999 (www.bsos.umd.edu.econ.calvo.htm)
  • Dornbusch R. and F. Giavazzi,“Hard Currency and Sound Credit: A Financial Agenda for Central Europe” May 1998.
  • Eichengreen, B.“The Choice of Exchanage Rate Regime” (incomplete).
  • Eichengreen, B.  Golden Fetters, Oxford University Press, 1992.
  • Friedman, M. “The Case for Flexible Exchange Rates” in his Essays in Positive Economics. U. of Chicago Press, 1953.
  • **Goldstein, M. Exchange Rate System and the IMF. Institute for International Economics, 1995
  • Hanke, S. and K. Schuler  Currency Boards for Developing Countries. ICS Press, 1994.
  • List of References to Currency Boards by C. Broda.
  • Mihalke D. “Currency Board Arrangements: Issues and Experiences”.International Monetary Fund Occasional Paper No. 151, 1997.
  • Mundell, R. “A Theory of Optimum Currency Areas”, American Economic Review 51, September 1961.
  • Obstfeld, M. and K. Rogoff, “The Mirage of Fixed Exchange Rates” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9, Fall 1995
  • Perry G. E. “Currency Boards and External Shocks: How Much Pain, How Much Gain?”, World Bank Latin American and Caribbean Studies, February 1997.
  • Taussig, F. International Trade, Macmillan, 1928.  Parts II and III.
  • Tornell, A. and A. Velasco, “Fixed vs. Flexible Exchange Rates: Which Provides More Fiscal Discipline?”NBER WP. No. 5108, 1995.
  • * Williamson, J. What Role for Currency Boards? Institute for International Economics, Washington D.C., Sep. 1995.
  • Ghosh, A., A. Gulde and H. Wolf.  “Currency Boards: The Ultimate Fix?” IMF, wp. 98/8
  • ** Williamson, J.  The Crawling Band as an Exchange Rate Regime: Lessons from Chile, Colombia and Israel, Institute of International Economics, 1996.

Stabilization and Exchange Rate Management

  • Alesina, A. and A. Drazen. “Why are Stabilizations Delayed?” American Economic Review, December 1991.
  • Bruno, M. et. al.  Lessons of Economic Stabilization and its Aftermath.MIT Press, 1991.
  • Calvo, G. “Incredible Reforms” in G.Calvo (ed.) Debt, Stabilization and Development. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989.
  • Caballero, R. Structural Volatility In Modern Latin America, April, 2000
  • Calvo, G. and C. Vegh. “Credibility and the Dynamics of Stabilization Policy: A Basic Framework.” IMF, Staff Papers, November 1990.
  • * Dornbusch, R. “Credibility and Stabilization”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1991, pp. 837-850. Also in R.Dornbusch Stabilization, Debt, and Reform, Prentice Hall 1993.
  • * “The New Classical Macroeconomics and Stabilization Policy.”American Economic Review, May 1990. Also in R. Dornbusch Stabilization, Debt, and Reform, Prentice Hall 1993.
  • Dornbusch, R., and S. Edwards, S (eds)The Macroeconomics of Populism in Latin America. University of Chicago Press, 1991.
  • Dornbusch, R. and Fischer, S. “Stopping Moderate Inflations.” World Bank Review, 1992.
  • Dornbusch, R., Goldfajn, I. and Valdes, R. “Currency Crisis and Collapses”, Brookings Papers, 2, 1995.
  • Drazen, A. and Helpman, E. “Stabilization With Exchange Rate Management” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1987.
  • Fernandez, R. and D. Rodrik. “Resistance to Reform. Status Quo Bias in the Presence of Individual Specific Uncertainty” American Economic Review, December 1991.
  • Goldfajn I. and R. O. Valdes“The Aftermath of Appreciations”. NBER WP#5650, July 1996.
  • ** Vegh, C. “Stopping High Inflation: An Analytical Overview,” International Monetary Fund, Staff Papers, September 1992.
  • * Williamson, J. “The Crawling Band as an Exchange Rate Regime: Lessons from Chile, Colombia and Israel”, Institute of International Economics,1996.

Feldstein-Horioka and Long Term Capital Mobility.

  • Cardoso, E. and R. Dornbusch. “Foreign Private Capital Flows” Handbook of Development Economics, Vol II, North Holland, 1989.
  • **Dooley, M., J. Frankel and D. Mathieson “International Capital Mobility: What do Saving-Investment Correlations Tell US?” International Monetary Fund, Staff Papers, September 1987.
  • ** Feldstein, M. and Horioka, C. “Domestic Savings and International Capital Flows”. Economic Journal, June 1980, pages 314-329.
  • Frankel, J. “Measuring International Capital Mobility: A Review.”American Economic Review. Papers and Proceedings. May 1992.
  • Harberger, A.“Vignettes on the World Capital Market”, American Economic Review, May 1980.
  • ** Ventura, J. & A. Kraay, “Current Accounts in Debtor and Creditor Countries”, March 1999. ECONOMETRICS SEMINAR (Joint Harvard/MIT) 

Balance of Payments Crises.

  • Calvo, G. “Balance of Payments Crises in a Cash in Advance Economy”, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking,1987.
  • Dornbusch, R. “Collapsing Exchange Rate Regime”, Journal of Development Economics, Vol 27, No 1-2, Pgs 7l-83, October 1987.
  • Flood, R. and P.Garber, 1984, “Collapsing Exchange Rate Regimes: Some Linear Examples.” Journal of International Economics,1/2, 1-13.
  • Froot K and M. Obstfeld, “Exchange Rate Dynamics Under Stochastic Regime Shifts: A  Unified Approach”, NBER WPNo. 2835, February 1989.
  • ** Garber, P. and L. Svensson “The Operation and Collapse of Fixed Exchange Rate Regimes” chapter 36, section 3, in Grossman G. and K. Rogoff (eds.) Handbook of International Economics,Vol. III., North Holland, 1995.
  • ** Krugman, P. “A Model of Balance of Payments Crises.”Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 3, 1979 ,311-325.
  • ** Salant,S. and D. Henderson, 1978,”Market Anticipations of Government Policies and the Price of Gold” Journal of Political Economy, 4, 627-648.

Crises and Contagion

  • Caballero, R. and Krishnamurthy, “Emerging Markets Crises: An Asset Market Perspective”, MIT mimeo, 1998.
  • Calvo, Guillermo A.”Capital FLows and Capital-Market Crises: The Simple Economics of Sudden Stops”, unpublished manuscript, U. of Maryland, 1998 (http://www.bsos.umd.edu/econ/ciecalvo.htm)
  • Calvo, Guillermo A. “Understanding the Russian Virus”, unpublished manuscript, U. of Maryland, 1998 (http://www.bsos.umd.edu/econ/calvo.htm)
  • Chang and Velasco, “Financial Crises in Emerging Markets: A Canonical Model” NBER WP No. 6469, 1997.
  • Diaz Alejandro, C. “Good-bye Financial Repression, Hello Financial Crisis” Journal of Development Economics, 19, 1985.
  • Dornbusch,R. “Asian Themes”, (http://web.mit.eud/rudi/www)  Feb. 1998.
  • Dornbusch,R. “Brazil’s Incomplete Stabilization and Reform”, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1:1997, pp.367-404 (http://web.mit.eud/rudi/www.)
  • Eichengreen B., A. Rose, C. Wyplosz. “Contagious Currency Crises”. Scandinavian Journal of Economics,December 1996.
  • Goldfajn, I. and Valdes, “Capital Flows and the Twin Crisis: The Role of Liquidity” IMF WP 97/87.
  • IMF, World Economic Outlook, Fall 1998 (http://www.imf.org)
  • IMF, International Capital Markets, Fall 1998 (http://www.imf.org)
  • *Kaminsky G. and C.Reinhart, “On Crises, Contagion and Confusion.” Unpublished manuscript, George Washington University and U. of Maryland, 1998.
  • Kaminsky, G. “Leading Indicators of Currency Crises” Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, mimeo.  Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, December, 1997.
  • Krugman P. “The Myth of Asia’s Miracle”. Foreign Affairs, November/December 1994.
  • Krugman P. “What happened to Asia?” January 1998 (http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www)
  • Obstfeld, M., “The Logic of Currency Crises”, Cahiers Economique and Monetaires, 43, 1995.
  • ** Tobin, J.  “A Proposal for International Monetary Reform” in his Essays in Economics, MIT Press, 1982, chapt. 20.

EMU and New International Financial Architecture

  • Dornbusch,R., C.Favero and F. Giavazzi “Challenges for the European Central Bank” Economic Policy, April 1998, pp. 15-64, CEPR (http://web.mit.edu/rudi/www).
  • Eichengreen, B. “Toward a New International Financial Architecture: A Practical Post-Asia Agende”, IIE Press, 1999.
  • Eichengreen, B.”European Monetary Unification: Theory, Practice, Analysis”, MIT Press, 1997.
  • Fischer, S. “Reforming the International Monetary System” David Finch lecture, November, 1998 (http://www.imf.org/external/np/speeches/1998/110998.HTM).
  • Fischer, S. “On the Need for an International Lender of Last Resort” New York, January 3, 1999.
  • McCaughley, “The Euro and the Dollar”, Princeton Essays in International Finance, 1997

Source: August 17, 2000 webpage capture by Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

Image Source: Rudiger Dornbusch from the website of the MIT Museum.

Categories
Agricultural Economics Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Marketing of agricultural commodities. John D. Black, 1947-48.

 

 

John D. Black took over the agricultural economics courses at Harvard that were previously the responsibility of Thomas Nixon Carver. The course of this post was co-taught by Professor Black and Dr. Charles D. Hyson and was simultaneously taught to both Harvard undergraduates and graduate students. Following the course syllabus for 1947-48 are the midyear exams for both the undergraduate and graduate courses and the final year-end exam for the undergraduates. I have been unable to find the graduate examination questions for the year-end final (they were not included in the collection of examinations archived at Harvard).

_________________________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 7a. Professor Black and Dr. Hyson.—Consumption, Distribution and Prices (F)

Total 86: 43 Seniors, 30 Juniors, 11 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 1 Radcliffe.

 

[Economics] 7b. Professor Black and Dr. Hyson.—Consumption, Distribution and Prices (Sp).

Total 44: 25 Seniors, 15 Juniors, 4 Sophomores.

 

[Economics] 107a. Professor Black and Dr. Hyson.—Consumption, Distribution and Prices (F)

Total 13: 5 Graduates, 5 Public Administration, 3 Radcliffe.

 

[Economics] 107b. Professor Black and Dr. Hyson.—Consumption, Distribution and Prices (Sp).

Total 8: 1 Graduate, 4 Public Administration, 3 Radcliffe.

 

Source.  Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1947-1948, pp. 89.

_________________________________

SYLLABUS FOR ECONOMICS 7 AND 107
1947-1948

The required readings for Economics 7 and Economics 107 will be chosen from the references given below. The symbols used for frequently cited references are as follows:

**S.D.—Stewart and Dwehurst, DOES DISTRIBUTION COST TOO MUCH?, Twentieth Century Fund, 1942.

**Shep.—Shepherd, G.S., AGRICULTURAL PRICE ANALYSIS, Iowa State College Press, 1947 (revised edition).

**Waite—Waite and Cassady, THE CONSUMER AND THE ECONOMIC ORDER, McGraw-Hill Co., 1939.

*Cassels—Cassels, J.M., A STUDY OF FLUID MILK PRICES, Harvard University Press, 1937.

**T.N.E.C.—PRICE BEHAVIOR AND BUSINESS POLICY, Temporary National Economic Committee, Monograph No. 1, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1941.

**Nourse—Nourse, E.G., PRICE MAKING IN A DEMOCRACY, Brookings Institution, 1944.

**Dew.—Dewhurst and Associates, AMERICA’S NEEDS AND RESOURCES, Twentieth Century Fund, New York, 1947.

**Stig.—Stigler, G.J., THE THEORY OF PRICE, Macmillan Company, 1946.

**M.B.—Maynard and Beckman, PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING, Ronald Press, 1947.

*Nicholls—Nicholls, W.H., IMPERFECT COMPETITION WITHIN AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES, Iowa State College Press, (reprinted 1947).

**Com.—Department of Commerce, MARKET ANALYSES FOR BUSINESS, May, 1947.

 

PART I—INTRODUCTION

Ch. 1. Definition of the Field

M.B., Ch. 1.
Black, J.D. and Galbraith, J.K., “The Quantitative Position of Marketing in the United States”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1935.
S.D., pp. 3-14; 115-123.

Ch. 2. The Importance of the Field

Cassels, J.M., “The Significance of Early Economic Thought on Marketing,” Journal of Marketing, October 1936, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 129-133.
S.D., pp. 15-22; 123-126.

Ch. 3. The Evolution of Markets and Marketing

Marshall, A., PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS, 8th ed., Bk. V, Ch. 1.
M.B., Ch. 2.

PART II—CONSUMPTION ASPECTS

Ch. 4. The Field of Consumption Economics Considered in Relation to Marketing.

M.B., Chs. 3, 4, and 5.

Ch. 5. The Nature and Classification of Human Wants and Goods or Utilities

Dew., Chs. 5, 6, 7.
Waite, Chs. 1 and 14.
Scope and Method Bulletin No. 11, Research in Farm Family Living. Social Science Research Council, (1933), pp. 3-8; 45-58.

Ch. 6. The Dimensions of Utility and Its Measurement

Stig., Ch. 5.
Dew., Ch. 4.
The Review of Economic Statistics, November 1946, Five Views of the Consumption Function”.
Inadequate Diets and Nutritional Deficiencies in the U.S. Their Prevalence and Significance. Bulletin of National Research Council, November 1943.
Scope and Method Bulletin, cited above, pp. 13-18; 31-42.

Ch. 7. Levels of Consumption

Scope and Method Bulletin, cited above, pp. 8-18.
Dew.—Ch’s. 8, 9, and 10.
Waite—Ch’s. 3, 12, and 13.

Ch. 8. Consumer Income and Income Elasticity

Dew.—Ch’s. 11 and 12.
Woytinsky, W.S., “Relationship Between Consumers’ Expenditures, Savings, and Disposable Income”, Review of Economic Statistics, February, 1946.

Ch. 9. The Consumer Purchases and Related Studies

Waite—Ch’s. 9, 13, 16, and 17.

Ch. 10-11. Administration of Income

Dew.—Ch’s 13 and 14.
Waite—Ch’s 20 and 21.

Ch. 12. The Cost of Living and its Measurement

Bureau of Labor Statistics, The Cost of Living Index of the BLS, and appraisal of “The Cost of Living” by George Meany and R. J. Thomas, labor members of the President’s Committee on the Cost of Living, February 28, 1944.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Report of the President’s Committee on the Cost of Living, Monthly Labor Review, January, 1945.
Mills, Bakke, Cox, Reid, Schultz, and Stratton (Special Committee of the American Statistical Association), “An Appraisal of the BLS Cost of Living Index”, Journal of the American Statistical Association, December, 1943.
National Industrial Conference Board. A Critical Analysis of the Meany-Thomas Report on the Cost of Living, April 1944.
Waite—Ch. 5.

Ch. 13. Consumer Sovereignty

Dew.—Ch. 15.

PART III—MARKETING ORGANIZATION

Ch. 14. Production Economics Aspects of Marketing

M.B.—Ch’s 6 to 8.

Ch. 15. Approaches to Marketing Organization Analysis

[note: no reading item listed here]

Ch. 16. The Definition of a Market

Fetter, “The Economic Law of Market Areas”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1924.
Price, Marketing of Farm Products, Ch. 16.
Shepherd, MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS, Appendix A.

Ch. 17. Marketing Agencies

M.B.—Ch’s. 9 to 11.

Ch. 18. Classification by Commodities

M.B.—Ch’s. 13 to 15.

Ch. 19. The Census of Distribution

M.B.—Ch’s. 16 to 18.

Ch. 20. The Location of Markets

Dean, W.H., THE THEORY OF THE GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES, Edward Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1938.
S.D.—Ch. 4.

Ch. 21. Inter-Unit Marketing Organization

M.B.—Ch. 19 and 20.

Ch. 22-23. Intra-Unit Marketing Organization

M.B.—Ch. 36.
S.D.—Ch. 2, pp. 33, 36, 37.
Com.—pp. 86-91.

 

PART IV—MARKET PRICE

Ch. 24. The Function of Market Prices

M.B.—Ch. 32.
Stig.—Ch. 2.
S.D.—Ch. 2.
Waite—Ch’s. 14, 15.

Ch. 25. The Behavior of Prices

Shep.—Ch’s. 1, 2, and 3.
Cassels, J.M.—Ch’s 1, 5, and 9.
Com.—pp. 43-50.
Nicholls—Ch. 18.

Ch. 26. Demand

Stig.—Ch. 6.
Shep.—Ch’s. 4, 5, and 6.
Cassels—Ch’s 1, 6, and 9.
Working, E.J.—“What Do Statistical Demand Curves Show?” Quarterly Journal of Economics, February, 1927.
Waite—Ch. 10.

Ch. 27. Supply

Stig.—Ch’s 7 to 10, inclusive
Shep.—Ch’s. 10 and 11
Black, J.D., “The Elasticity of Supply of Farm Products”, Journal of Farm Economics, 1924.
Cassels—Ch’s 1 and 2.
Cassels, J.M., “The Nature of Statistical Supply Curves”, Journal of Farm Economics, April, 1933.
Mighell, R.L. and Allen, R.H., “Supply Schedules—Long Time and Short Time”, Journal of Farm Economics, August, 1940.
Reynolds, L.G., “The Canadian Baking Industry: A Study of an Imperfect Marekt,”Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1938.
Reynolds, L.G., “Competition in the Rubber Tire Industry,” American Economic Review, September 1938.
Waite—Ch. 6.

Ch. 28. Selling Prices under Imperfect Competition

Cassels—Ch’s. 9 and 10.
Nicholls—Ch’s 5 to 11, inclusive
Stig.—Ch’s 11 to 14, inclusive
TNEC—Part I, Ch’s 2 and 3.
Hyson, G.D. and Sanderson, F.H., “Monopolistic Discrimination in the Cranberry Industry”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1945.
Waugh, F.V. et al, “The Controlled Distribution of a Crop Among Independent Markets”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1936.
Waite—Ch. 6.

Ch. 29. Buying Prices under Imperfect Competition

Nicholls, Ch’s—16 and 17.
TNEC—Part III, Ch’s 1 and 2.

Ch. 30. Futures markets and Speculation

M.B.—Ch’s. 28 and 29.
Howell, L.D., Cotton Prices in Spot and Futures Markets, USDA Technical Bulletin No. 6851, 1939.
Shepherd, THE MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS, Ch’s 9 and 10.

Ch. 31. Price Forecasting

Shep.—Ch’s 7, 8, 9, and 13.

 

PART V—SELLING AND BUYING

Ch. 32. The Selling Function

TNEC—Part I, Ch. 4[?].
S.D.—p. 225.

Ch. 33. Advertising

M.B.—Ch. 23.
S.D.—pp. 225-229.
Borden, Neil, “Findings of the Harvard Study on the Economic Effects of Advertising”, Journal of Marketing, April, 1942.
Waite—Ch. 11.

Ch. 34. The Buying Function

M.B.—Ch. 22.
TNEC—Part I, Appendix 2.
Nicholls, Ch’s. 12-15, inclusive.

Ch. 35-36. Price Policy

S.D.—Ch. 2.
Cassels—Ch. 6.
Nourse—Ch’s 6, 10, and 11.
TNEC.—Part I, Preface and C-h. 1.

 

PART VI—MARKETING MARGINS, COSTS, INCOME, AND EFFICIENCY

Ch. 37. Margins and Costs

S.D.—Ch’s. 2, 6, and 7.
TNEC.—Part III, Ch’s. 2 and 3.

Ch. 38. The Incidence of Marketing Costs

S.D.—Ch’s. 10 and 11, pp. 333-349[?].
Nourse—Ch’s. 8 and 9.
TNEC., Part II, Ch. 1.

Ch. 39. Incomes in Commodity Distribution

S.D.—Ch. 5.

Ch. 40. Marketing Efficiency

M.B.—Ch’s. 37 and 38.

 

PART VII—AUXILIARY FUNCTIONS

Ch. 41. Transportation

M.G.—Ch. 24.
S.D.—Ch. 8, pp. 210-222.

Ch. 42. Warehousing and Storage

M.B.—Ch. 25.
S.D.—p. 225.

Ch. 43. The Financing of Marketing

M.B.—Ch. 27.
S.D.—pp. 229-244.

Ch. 44. The Insurance of Commodity Distribution

[note: no reading item listed here]

 

PART VIII—COOPERATION IN COMMODITY DISTRIBUTION

Ch. 45. Principles and Philosophy of Cooperation as Exhibited in Commodity Distribution

Black, J.D., Cooperative Central Marketing Organization, University of Minnesota Exp. Sta. Bulletin No. 211, April, 1924.
Childs, Marquis, SWEDEN: THE MIDDLE WAY, 1938, (conclusions only).

Ch. 46. Cooperative Selling

M.B.—Ch. 21.
S.D.—pp. 85-94.

Ch. 47. Cooperative Buying and Consumer Organization

M.B.—Ch. 12.
Sorenson, THE CONSUMER MOVEMENT, Ch’s 1, 4-9, inclusive.
Waite—Ch. 18.

 

PART IX—PUBLIC ACTIVITY IN COMMODITY DISTRIBUTION

Ch. 48. The Functions of Government in Commodity Distribution and Prices

M.B.—Ch’s. 37 to 39.
S.D.—Ch. 11, pp. 349-367.
Nourse—Ch’s. 1 to 5 inclusive.

Ch. 49. The Marketing Services

M.B.—Ch’s. 26 and 30.
Waite—Ch’s 6 and 7.

Ch. 50. Government Controls

Nourse—Ch’s 12 to 14, inclusive.
S.D.—Ch. 11; pp. 333-348.

Ch. 51. Price Control

Shep.—Ch’s 14 and 155.
TNEC.—Part III, Ch. 1.

Ch. 52. Marketing Operations

Shepherd, G.S., MARKETING OF FARM PRODUCTS, Ch. 14.

Ch. 53. Intergovernmental Commodity Agreements

Mason, Edward, CONTROLLING WORLD TRADE, McGraw-Hill, 1946, Part II.
Davis, J.S., INTERNATIONAL COMMODITY AGREEMENTS: HOPE, ILLUSION, OR MENACE?, The Committee on International Economic Policy, New York, 1947.
REPORT OF THE DRAFTING COMMITTEE OF THE PREPARATORY COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND EMPLOYMENT, United Nations Economic and Social Council. Lake Success, New York, January 20 to February 25, 1947, Ch’s 5 to 7, inclusive.

 

PART X—CONCLUSION

Ch. 54. Outlook and Policy

Com.—pp. 1-42; 51-85.
Dew.—Ch’s 6 and 26.
S.D.—Ch. 11.
Hyson, C.D., “Savings in Relation to Potential Markets”, American Economic Review, December, 1946.
Hyson, C.D., “Maladjustments in the Wool Industry and Need for New Policy,” Journal of Farm Economics, May, 1947.
Waugh, F.V., “Does the Consumer Benefit From Price Stability?”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1944.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003.   Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1947-1948 (1 of 2)”.

_________________________________

1947-48
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
MIDYEAR EXAMINATION
January 1948
ECONOMICS 7a

Commodity Consumption, Distribution and Prices

Answer No. 1, and 5 of the remaining 6.

  1.      a.  Cite all the conditions that may make competition “imperfect”.
    1. Point out the differences between Maynard and Beckman’s and Stigler’s sets of conditions.
    2. Why do Maynard and Beckman object to the term “imperfect” competition?
    3. Is their objection valid? Give reasons for your answer.
  2.      a.  Explain the statement that “utility has a time dimension,” and show the relevance of this time dimension to determination of the relative productivity of four or five different types of marketing operations or activities.
    1. Comment on the statement: Introducing the time dimension into measurement of utility does not introduce ethical considerations.
  3.      a. Explain and illustrate by a diagram unit elasticity of demand, elastic demand, and inelastic demand.
    1. Explain income elasticity.
    2. Show how demand elasticity and income elasticity are related to each other.
  4.     Outline the four approaches to analysis of marketing organization and indicate the advantages of each.
  5.      a. Make a classification of markets on two or more bases.
    1. Outline briefly the principles that are involved in the location of major types of markets.
  6.      Contrast the marketing systems for farm products and for manufactured products, defining the functions performed by the marketing agencies engaged in each.
  7.     Explain briefly 4 of the following 5:
    1. Standard of living.
    2. Consumer sovereignty.
    3. Inter-unit marketing organization.
    4. Regular wholesaler.
    5. Supplementary relationship.

MIDYEAR EXAMINATION
January 1948
ECONOMICS 107a

Commodity Consumption, Distribution and Prices

Answer No. 1; 4 questions out of the remaining 6 listed above; and 2 out of the following 3.

  1. Explain the aggregate consumption function and the individual consumption function, and show their significance in marketing analysis.
  2. Comment on the several attempts to determine the relative growth of marketing and other forms of economic activity in the United States.
  3. Explain briefly 3 of the following 4:
    1. Indifference curves (as explained, for example, in Stigler’s Chapter 5.)
    2. LePlay’s approach to consumption analysis.
    3. Principal features of the Consumer Purchases Study.
    4. Either Wicksteed’s or Patton’s main lines of thought on consumption economics.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001.Box 15. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations, History, History of Religions, …,Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. January, 1948.

_________________________________

1947-48
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
FINAL EXAMINATION
May 1948
ECONOMICS 7b

Commodity Consumption, Distribution and Prices

(Answer No. 1, and any 5 of the remaining 6)

  1. Outline the basic doctrines of a sound price policy as presented by Nourse. Appraise his doctrines and discuss them critically with particular reference to the price policy and business behavior of the individual firm. (45 minutes)
  2. Explain how the relative elasticities of the demand for Class I and for Class II milk are related to the practice of discriminative marketing. Illustrate with diagram. (27 minutes)
  3. What is the effect of speculation in futures contracts upon commodity prices? Does speculation stabilize prices? Appraise. (27 minutes)
  4. Prices of what types of commodities are flexible, inflexible? Why these differences? (27 minutes)
  5. Outline a group of measures and procedures that will promote efficiency in commodity distribution. (27 minutes)
  6. Discuss cost analysis as a tool of marketing analysis. (27 minutes)
  7. In what ways can cooperation contribute most effectively to efficiency in commodity distribution? (27 minutes)

[Note: examination questions for Economics 107b not included in collection]

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final Examinations, 1853-2001.Box 15. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Papers Printed for Final Examinations, History, History of Religions, …,Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. May, 1948.

Image Source:  Professor John D. Black in Harvard Class Album 1945.

Categories
Courses Curator's Favorites Exam Questions Lecture Notes M.I.T. Problem Sets Suggested Reading Syllabus Uncategorized Undergraduate

M.I.T. Principles of Macroeconomics. Slides, problems sets, exams. Krugman, 1998

 

One might think that putting together robust links to economics course materials found in the internet archive, Wayback Machine, would be relatively straightforward, and sometimes it is. But most of us are inconsistent with the use of folders and sometimes pages get updated by other people so that traditional archival persistence is generally required to find missing pieces to the historical puzzle. In any event, today’s post manages to pack links to course content for a principles of macroeconomics course taught at M.I.T. exactly two decades ago by Paul Krugman.

I remember that semester well, because immediately after Paul Krugman finished his teaching obligations at M.I.T. for that fall term, he came to Berlin to receive an honorary doctorate from Freie Universität Berlin. The audio recording to his lecture “The return of demand-side economics” can still be heard (beginning around minute 2:00) at a webpage maintained by the John-F.-Kennedy Institute for North American Studies of Freie Universität.

_________________

14.02 Principles of Macroeconomics
Fall 1998
Professor Paul Krugman

Course Syllabus

Text: Olivier Blanchard, Macroeconomics.

Schedule (with links to lecture slides and exams)

Note: the lecture slides may differ slightly from those presented in class.

September 14 — Chapter 2: Preliminary Concepts

Slides: Tracking the Macroeconomy: Five Key Aggregates

September 16 — Chapter 3 & 4: The Goods Market (lecture by Roberto Rigobón)

September 21 — Chapter 5: Financial Markets

Slides: Review. Multiplier Analysis

Handout by Adam B. Ashcroft on bond yields about here

September 23 — Chapter 5: More on Financial Markets

Slides: The Federal Reserve and the Money Supply

September 28 — Chapter 6: IS-LM

Slides: The IS-LM Model

September 30 — Chapter 7: Expectations

Slides: Expectations and Macroeconomics

October 5 — Chapter 8: Expectations, Consumption, and Investment

Slides: Consumer Behavior–Not that simple

October 7 — Banks and the Banking System

Slides: Banking and the Financial System

October 8
Exam 1

Exam #1 Questions
Solutions

October 13 — Chapter 9: Expectations and Financial Markets

Slides: (missing)

October 14 — Chapter 10: Expectations and Policy

Slides: Expectations and Macroeconomic Policy 

October 19 — Chapter 11: Introduction to the Open Economy

Slides: The Open Economy

October 21 — Chapter 12: The Open Economy Goods Market

Slides: Macroeconomics in the Open Economy

October 26 — Chapter 13: Interest Rates and Exchange Rates

Slides: What Determines Exchange Rates

Handout on exchange rates about here.

October 28 — Chapter 13: Exchange Rate Regimes

Slides: Fixed Exchange Rates

November 2 — Chapter 14: Expectations, Crises, and General Mayheim

Slides: (missing)

November 4 — Chapter 15: The Labor Market

Slides: Why Study the Labor Market?

November 5
Exam 2

Exam #2 review
Exam #2 questions
Solutions

November 9 — Chapter 16: General Equilibrium

Slides: Putting It All Together–AS-AD

November 16 — Chapter 17: The Phillips Curve

Slides: From Aggregate Supply to the Phillips Curve

November 18 — Chapter 18: Disinflation

Slides: Long-run Unemployment-Inflation Dynamics [note: “?” for the greek letter pi, i.e. rate of inflation]

November 23 — Chapter 19 & 21: Seigniorage and Devaluation

Slides: Inflation, Interest Rates, and Hyperinflation

November 25 — Chapter 22 & 23: Long-run Growth

Slides: Economic Growth

November 30 — Chapter 24: Technical Progress

Slides: Savings, Investment, and Growth

Handout on growth about here.

December 2 — Chapter 20: Great Depression and European Unemployment

Slides: High Unemployment and Growth Slowdowns 

December 7 — Zuckerman & Krugman Foreign Affairs articles (lecture by Roberto Rigobón)

[Paul Krugman, Debate: America the Boastful, and Mortimer B. Zuckerman, Debate: A Second American Century,  Foreign Affairs (May/June 1998)]

December 9 — Course Review

Slide: Overview Graphic [Note: graphic cut-off on right hand side]

Final Examination (December, 2018)

Final Exam Review
Pablo Garcia’s Review
Final Exam Questions 

 

Problem Sets

Set Number Assigned Due Returned
1 9-11 9-18 9-21
2 9-18 9-25 9-28
3 9-25 10-2 10-5
4 10-9 10-16 10-19
5 10-16 10-23 10-26
6 10-23 10-30 11-2
7 11-6 11-13 11-16
8 11-13 11-20 11-23
9 11-20 12-4 12-7

 

Problem Set 1
Solutions

Problem Set 2
Solutions

Problem Set 3
Solutions (missing)

Optional Problem Set 1
Solutions

Problem Set 4
Solutions

Problem Set 5
Solutions

Problem Set 6
Solutions

Problem Set 7
Solutions

Optional Set 2
Solutions

Problem Set 8
Solutions

Problem Set 9
Solutions

Optional Set 3
Solutions

 

Image: Photograph taken in December 1998 at Cecilienhof, Potsdam (Germany). Irwin Collier and Paul Krugman.

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M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

M.I.T. Undergraduate intermediate macroeconomics. Blanchard, 1984

 

Since relatively few people can be expected to stumble upon an M.I.T. course syllabus of Olivier Blanchard in Evsey Domar’s papers, I figure it is part of the value-added of Economics in the Rear-view Mirror to provide a transcription of such hidden treasure. Earlier Blanchard’s graduate M.I.T. course syllabus for 1997 was posted.

__________________

Intermediate Macro Theory
14.06
O.J. Blanchard
Fall 1984

This course is a continuation and extension of 14.02. It is divided in two parts of approximately equal length The first builds on the aggregate demand and aggregate supply apparatus developed in 14.02. The second examines three topics of current interest.

There will be a midterm exam, covering the first part of the course, and counting for half of the course grade. Students will then have the option of taking a final exam or writing a course paper on one of the three topics covered in the second part of the course.

 

Background Readings

Dornbusch and Fischer, Macroeconomics, 3rded. (D.F.)

Economic Report of the President, February 1984.

R.J. Gordon, “Postwar Macroeconomics: The Evolution of Events and Ideas”, Chap. 2, in the American Economy in Transition, Feldstein, ed.

As the course starts, you may want to review Chapters 1 to 5 in D.F.

 

Part I. Aggregate demand and aggregate supply

  1. The ISLM in the closed economy

D.F. Chapters 6 to 9

F. Modigliani, “Monetary Policy and Consumption”, (in xerox packet at Graphic Arts). pp. 12-46.

L. Summers, “Taxation and Corporate Investment: A q-theory approach”, Brookings Papers (BPEA), 1981, 68-119.

J. Tobin, “Monetary Policies and the Economy: The Transmission Mechanism”, Southern Economic Journal, January 1978.

  1. The ISLM in the open economy

D.F. Chapters 18, 19-1.

Economic Report of the President, 1984, chapter 2.

R. Dornbusch and S. Fischer, “The Open Economy, Implications for Monetary and Fiscal Policies”, mimeo, MIT 1984.

R. Dornbusch, Open Economy Macroeconomics, chap. 3 (optional)

  1. Aggregate demand aggregate supply

D.F. Chapters 11, 12, 13, 14, 19-2.

R. Lucas, “Understanding Business Cycles”, in “Studies in the Business Cycle Theory”, 215-239.

J. Tobin, “How Dead is Keynes?”, Economic Inquiry, Oct. 1977.

J. Tobin, “The Wage-Price Mechanism”, in The Econometrics of Price Determination”, Eckstein ed., 1972, 5-15.

 

Part 2. Three topics

  1. Real wages and unemployment in Europe

E. Malinvaud, “The Theory of Unemployment Reconsidered”, Wiley 1977.

R. Dornbusch et al., “Macroeconomic Prospects and Policies for the European Community”, CEPS Paper 1, 1983.

J. Sachs, “Wages, Profits and Macroeconomic Adjustment: A Comparative Study”, BPEA 1979-2, 269-332.

J. Sachs, “Real Wages and Unemployment in the OECD Countries”, BPEA 1983-1, 255-289.

  1. The Volcker disinflation

W. Poole, “The Theory of Monetary Policy under Uncertainty”, in Readings, W.L Smith and R. L. Teigen, 1974, 360-369.

O. Eckstein, “Disinflation”, DRI Economic Studies 114, October 1983.

W. Buiter and M. Miller, “Changing the Rules: Economic Consequences of the Thatcher Regime; BPEA 1983, 305-365 (optional).

T. Sargent, “the Ends of Four Big Inflations”, on Reserve (optional).

B. Friedman, “Lessons from the 1979-82 Monetary Policy Experiment”, American Economic Review P&P, May 1984, 382-87.

M. Friedman, “Lessons from the 1979-82 Monetary Policy Experiment”, American Economic Review P&P, May 1984, 397-400 (Authors not related).

R. Gordon, “The Conduct of Domestic Monetary Policy”, on Reserve, pp. 1-33 only (optional)

  1. U. S. fiscal deficits and the world economy

D.F. Chapter 15

“Setting National Priorities: The 1984 Budget”, J. Pechman ed., Chapters 2, 8.

M. Feldstein, “Budget Deficits, Economic Activity and Net Capital Formation”, Testimony to Congress, 1983.

R. Dornbusch, “The Overvalued Dollar”, mimeo, MIT 1984.

O. Blanchard and R. Dornbusch, “U.S. Deficits, Europe and the Dollar”, mimeo MIT 1983 (optional).

O. Blanchard and L. Summers, “High Real Interest Rates”, on Reserve (optional).

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Economists’ Papers Archive. Evsey D. Domar Papers, Box 15, Folder “Macroeconomics. Lecture Notes, Exams, Paper: ‘Stability Without Planning? The American Experience’”.

Image Source:Olivier Blanchard’s MIT homepage, captured June 2, 2001 by   Wayback Machine.

Categories
Exam Questions M.I.T. Problem Sets Syllabus Undergraduate

M.I.T. Principles of Microeconomics, course materials. 1994-2005

 

Today’s post takes Economics in the Rear-view Mirror on a short journey to the very recent past.  Instead of transcribing archival material and publications from the period 1870-1970, I thought I would see what trawling the 341 billion web pages in the internet archive, Wayback Machine, might yield us.

On Christmas eve of 1996 Wayback Machine first captured webpages for the principles of microeconomics course taught to undergraduates at M.I.T. (14.01). Below you will find links to the archived lecture plans, problem sets and questions/answers for midterm and final examinations that I have been able to find. Spoiler alert: there are gaps in this archival record, but still one finds plenty of useful items, now more conveniently ordered. 

But first I share a few paragraphs from my paper “Syllabi and Examinations” that suggest the method in my madness. 

 

_________________

On the virtual informational frontier in the history of economics

…historians of recent economics are facing information-engineering challenges of learning to harness the power from the enormous current of weblog postings, tweets, working papers, media transcripts and exploding data bases to study the processes of scientific innovation and diffusion.  The pedagogy of walk-talk-and-chalk has almost become relegated to the stuff of legend, and successive waves of duplication technologies have been forced to yield to the “pdf-ing” of lecture notes, syllabi, spreadsheets, and problem sets. Video and audio recordings of lectures, panel discussions, and interviews also contribute to a genuine curse of dimensionality confronting historians of contemporary economics.

Now we can imagine a virtual divide in our informational past that marks a frontier between the methodological problems associated with the relative scarcity of written artifacts relevant for the study of the earlier evolution of the education and training of economists and the current problems of judiciously sampling from an ever expanding big data universe.  But whether as historians we are working one side of this frontier or the other, it makes great sense to embed our specific empirical concerns within a common framework, assuming a great arc of continuity (nobody said smooth!) that connects 1918 with, say, 2018 with respect to the scope and methods of economics. Without a common framework, our respective narratives would resemble tunnel building from opposite sides of a mountain with the most likely result being two noncommunicating parallel tunnels in the end. Does anyone really think there is a parallel Harvard, Chicago, Columbia, Wisconsin, Michigan universe? Of course not, we really did get here from there.

 

Source:  Irwin L. Collier. Syllabi and Examinations in History of Political Economy, Vol. 50, No. 3 (September 2018), pp. 587-595.

_________________

MIT 14.01
PRINCIPLES OF MICROCONOMICS

Spring 1994
Professor Jeffrey Harris

Final Exam and Alternate Final Exam (questions)

Fall 1994
Professor Franklin Fisher

Midterm Exam 1 (questions and answers)

Final Exam & Alternate Final Exam (questions)

Spring 1995
Professor Jeffrey Harris

Problem Sets with Solutions

Midterm Exam 1 (questions and answers)

Midterm Exam 2 (questions and answers)

Final and Conflict Final Exams (questions)

Fall 1995
Professor Franklin Fisher

Problem Sets with Solutions

Midterm Exam 1 (questions and answers)

Final and Alternate Final Exams (questions)

Spring 1996
Professor Jeffrey Harris

Problem Sets with Solutions

Midterm Exam 1 (questions and answers)

Midterm Exam 2 (questions and answers)

Final and Conflict Exam (questions)

Fall 1996
Professor Jeffrey Harris

Textbook:  Earl L. Grinols, Microeconomics (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1994). “The textbook differs from that assigned in recent past semesters.”

Course home page

Syllabus

Additional Course Information

Schedule

Problem sets and Solutions

Midterm 1 (with answers)

Midterm 2 (questions and answers)

Midterm 2, alternate (questions and answers)

Final and Conflict Exams (questions)

Spring 1997

No Wayback Machine captures found…yet!

Fall 1997
Professor Jeffrey Harris

Probable Textbook: Earl L. Grinols, Microeconomics (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1994).

Course home page

[For some reason all the links go back to Fall 1996]

Spring 1998

No Wayback Machine captures found…yet!

Fall 1998
Professor Jeffrey Harris

Textbook: Earl L. Grinols, Microeconomics (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1994).

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Spring 1999
Professor Jonathan Gruber

Textbook: Jeffrey M. Perloff, Microeconomics (Addison Wesley Longman, 1999).

Course home page

Syllabus

Fall 1999
Professor Jeffrey Harris

Textbook: Jeffrey M. Perloff, Microeconomics (Addison Wesley Longman, 1999).

Syllabus

Spring 2000
Professor Jonathan Gruber

Textbook: Jeffrey M. Perloff, Microeconomics (Addison Wesley Longman, 1999).

Syllabus

Schedule

Fall 2000
Professor Jonathan Gruber

Textbook: Perloff, Jeffrey M. Microeconomics. 1st Edition. Addison-Wesley.

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Spring 2001
Professor Christopher Snyder

Textbook: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, Microeconomics, 5th ed.

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Fall 2001
Professor Jeffrey Harris

Textbook: Pindyck & Rubinfeld, Microeconomics, 5th Edition (Prentice Hall, 2001).

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Midterm 1 with answers

Spring 2002
Professor Paul Joskow

Textbook: Pindyck & Rubinfeld, Microeconomics, 5th Edition (Prentice Hall, 2001).

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Fall 2002
Professor Jonathan Gruber

Textbook: Jeff Perloff, Microeconomics, 2nd Edition (Addison Wesley Longman, 2001).

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Midterm 1 with answers

Spring 2003
Professor Paul Joskow

Textbook: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, Microeconomics, 5th Edition.

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Fall 2003
Professor Jonathan Gruber

Textbook: Jeffrey M. Perloff, Microeconomics, 3rd Edition.

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Midterm 1 (Solutions)

Midterm 2 (Solutions)

Spring 2004
Professor Paul Joskow

Textbook: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, Microeconomics, 5th Edition.

Course home page

Syllabus

Schedule

Fall 2004
Professor Jonathan Gruber

Textbook: Jeffrey M. Perloff , Microeconomics, 3rd Edition.

Course home page

Syllabus

Midterm 1 (questions)

Spring 2005
Professor Jeffrey Harris

Textbook: Microeconomics, Robert S. Pindyck, Daniel L. Rubinfield, Prentice Hall, June 30, 2004 (6th edition).

Course home page and syllabus

Schedule

 

Image:  Mr. Peabody (dog) and Sherman (boy) activating the original WABAC Machine.