Category: Syllabus

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Courses Harvard Socialism Syllabus

Harvard. Economics of Socialism. Overton Taylor et al., 1950

Joseph Schumpeter died January 8, 1950. His Harvard course “Economics of Socialism” scheduled to begin February 9th was taken over by Overton Taylor. In addition to lectures by Taylor, lectures were also given by Wassily Leontief, Walter Galenson, and Alexander Gerschenkron.

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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

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[Original Course Announcement for Economics 111 in September 1949]

Economics 111 (formerly Economics 11b). Economics of Socialism

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor Schumpeter.

A brief survey of the development of socialist groups and parties; pure theory of centralist socialism; the economis of Marxism; applied problems.

 

Source: Harvard University. Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1949-50. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XLVI, No. 24, September, 1949, p. 79.

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[Course Enrollment, Economics 111, 1950 (Sp)]

[Economics] 111 (formerly 11b). Economics of Socialism. (Sp) Professor Schumpeter, Dr. O. H. Taylor and other Members of the Department.

6 Graduates, 13 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 2 Public Administration, 2 Special: Total 32.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1949-1950, p. 72.

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1949-50
Economics 111
Socialism

I.   February 9 – March 14. Socialism and Marxism, Doctrine.

1.  February 9 – 14. Introduction; background of history of modern socialism; before Marx.

Reading due February 14: G. H. Sabine, History of Political Theory, Chs. 28, 29, 30, 32.

Th., Sat., February 9, 11. Lectures
Tu., Feb. 14. Section meeting. Discuss Sabine reading.

2. February 14 – 21. Hegel and Marx, and Marx’s sociology (theory of history).

Reading due February 21: Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Part I, and Ch. 24; Communist Manifesto; Marx, Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, p. 370; Marx-Engels, German Ideology, p. 209 (in Handbook of Marxism).

Th., Sat., February 16, 18. Lectures
Tu., February 21, Section. Discuss reading.

3. February 21-28. Ricardo and Marx, and Marx’s Economics I. Theory of Value and Surplus Value.

Reading due February 28: Sweezy, Theory of Capitalist Development, Part I.

Th., Sat., February 23, 25. Lectures.
Tu., February 28, Section, Discussion.

4. February 28 – March 7. Marx’s Economics II. Accumulation and Evolution of Capitalism

Reading due March 7: Sweezy, Chs. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12.

Th., Sat., March 2, 4. Lectures, Taylor, Leontief.
Tu., March 7. Section, discussion.

5. March 7 – 14. Capitalism, Evolution, and Decline; Another View (Schumpeter).

Reading due March 14: Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Part II.

Th., Sat., March 9, 11, Lectures.
Tu., March 14, Section, discussion.

II.  March 16 – April 1. Socialist Parties, Ideas, and Policies –Theory and Practice – in Central Europe, Scandinavia, and England. Lecturers; Gerschenkron and Galenson.

6.  March 16 – 21. German and Austrian Developments after Marx and between the Two ‘World’ Wars. Gerschenkron.

Reading due March 21: Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Part V, plus additional material to be announced.

Th., Sat., March 16, 18, Lectures.
Tu., March 21, Section, Discussion.

7. March 21 – 28. Scandinavian Socialism, Theory and Practice. Galenson.

Reading due March 28: to be announced.

Th., Sat., March 23, 25, Lectures.
Tu., March 28, Discussion.

8. March 28 – April 1. British Socialism, Theory and Practice. Galenson

Reading: Max Beer, History of British Socialism, Chs. to be announced.

 

April 2 – 9, inclusive, Spring Vacation

 

III. April 11 –29. Soviet Russia; Economic Planning in Centralist Socialism, Theory; and Russian Practice. Lecturers, Gerschenkron and Leontief.

9. April 11 – 15. Russia, Boshevism, Marx-Lenin-Stalin Theory, and Soviet Policies.

Reading due April 15: (1) Lange, Working Principles of Soviet Economy. (2) M. Dobb, Russian Economic Development, Chs. 13, 14..

Tu., Th., April 11, 13. Lectures, Gerschenkron.
Sat., April 15, Section, discussion.

10.   April 18 – 22. Centralist Socialism, Planning Theory.

Reading due April 22: (1) Lange-Taylor, On the Economic Theory of Socialism; (2) Bergson, Survey of Contemporary Economics, Edited by Ellis, Ch. 12.

Tu., Th., April 18, 20, Lectures, Leontief.
Sat., April 22, Section, Discussion.

11. April 25 – 29. Russian Practice; and the Modern Marxist Theory of ‘Monopoly Capitalism and Imperialism’ (Not related topics).

Tu., April 25, Lecture by Leontief; Economics of Planning and Russian Practice.
Th., Sat., April 27, 29. Taylor, Lectures: ‘Monopoly, Capitalism and Imperialism,’ Marx-Lenin Theory.

Reading. Sweezy, Part IV.

12. May 2 — 6. ‘Imperialism’ Theory, Cont’d.

Reading. Sweezy, Part IV, and Schumpeter, Chapters to be announced.

 

[handwritten additions]

40 students

Perlman – Theory of Labor [Movement].

Gulick Vienna Taxes since 1918, Political Science Quarterly. December, 1938

Charles A. Gulick Jr. How Fascism came to Austria. University Toronto Quarterly Jan 1939

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1949-1950 (1 of 3)”.

Categories
Courses Harvard Syllabus

Harvard. Economic Theory II. Leontief, 1947-48

The second graduate course in economic theory, Economics 202a and 202b, at Harvard in 1948-49 taught by Leontief were renumbered versions of the courses taught by Leontief in 1947-48 that are posted below. I was struck by the significant reorganization of the course content between the two versions so I thought it would be useful to make both syllabi available at Economics in the Rear-View Mirror.

Being someone who almost never manages to get an entire syllabus decided by the start of the semester for a new course, I was reassured to see that Leontief appears also to have engaged in some just-in-time delivery of his semester reading assignments.

Also interesting to see chapters from John Rae’s 1834 book as assigned reading.

The first graduate course in economic theory was taught by Chamberlin in 1947-48.

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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

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[Course Enrollments, Economics 102a and 102b, 1947-48]

 

[Economics] 102a. Professor Leontief. Economic Theory, II (F).

41 Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Sophomore, 20 Public Administration, 7 Radcliffe: Total 84.

[Economics] 102b. Professor Leontief. Economic Theory, II (Sp).

28 Graduates, 11 Public Administration, 5 Radcliffe, 1 Other: Total 45.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of the Departments for 1947-48, p. 90.

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Economics 102a
Economic Theory
Fall Term, 1947-48

Readings until November 10

Theory of Production

Douglas, Paul: Theory of Wages, Chs. I – IX

Fisher, I. : A Three-Dimensional Representation of the Factors of Production and Their Remuneration Marginally and Residually, Econometrica, Oct., 1939

Cassel, J.: Law of Variable Proportions [in] Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution

Durand, D.: Some Thoughts on Marginal Productivity, Journal of Political Economy, Dec., 1937.

Reder, M. W.: An Alternative Interpretation of the Cob-Douglas Function, Econometrica, July-Oct., 1943.

Bronfenbrenner, M.: Production Functions: Cobb-Douglas, Interfirm, Intra-firm, Econometrica, Jan., 1944.

Kalecki, M.: The Distribution of National Income [in] Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution.

Lange, O.: Note on Innovations, Review of Economic Statistics, Feb., 1943. [in] Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution

Hicks, J.: Distribution and Economic Progress, Review of Economic Studies, Oct., 1936.

Bloom, G.: Technical Progress, Cost and Rent, Economica, Feb., 1942.

For General Reference

Hicks, J. R.: Theory of Wages

Lerner, A. P.: Economics of Control

Boulding: Economic Analysis

Selected Problems in the Analysis of Demand

Marshall, A.: Principles, Book II, Ch. 2.

Knight, F.: Ethics and the Economic Interpretation in Ethics of Competition

N.R.C.: Consumption Expenditure in U.S., Appendix C

Stone, J. R.: The Marginal Propensity to Consume: A Statistical Investigation, Review of Economic Studies, Oct., 1938.

Centers and Cantril, Income Satisfaction and Income Aspirations, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Vol. XLI, No. 1.

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Economics 102[a]
Fall Term, 1947-48

Reading, November 10 – January 4

 

  1. Samuelson, Welfare Economics, Chapter VIII [in Foundations of Economic Analysis]
  2. De Scitovszky, “Note on Welfare Propositions in Economics,” Review of Economic Studies, November 1941.
  3. Hicks, “Foundations of Welfare Economics, Economic Journal, 1939.
  4. P. Lerner, The Economics of Control, Chs. 9, 15 and 16.
  5. Meade and Fleming, “Price and Output Policy of State Enterprise,” Economic Journal, 1944.
  6. Coase, “The Marginal Cost Controversy,” Economica, August, 1946.
  7. Troxel, “Incremental Cost Determination of Public Utility Prices,” Journal of Land and Public Utilities Economics, November, 1942.
  8. Troxel, “Limitations of Incremental Cost Patterns of Pricing,” Journal of Land and Public Utilities Economics, February, 1943.
  9. Troxel, “Incremental Cost Control under Public Ownership,” Journal of Land and Public Utilities Economics, August, 1943.
  10. H. Phelps Brown, Framework of the Pricing System.

Reading Period Assignment

Oscar Lange, Price Flexibility and Employment

or (for those who know some calculus)

Paul Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Chs. IV. and V.

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Economics 102b
Spring Term, 1948
Capital, Interest, and Economic Development

Part I: Capital and Income:

National wealth: Stock and flow concepts. Dollar measures and physical measures. Capital and income. Capital in production. Depreciation and obsolescence. Period of production and the speed of turnover. The time shape of production and consumption process.

Reading:

Simon Kuznets, “On Measurement of National Wealth,” Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 2 National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1938, pp. 3-61.

Simon Kuznets, “National Product since 1869,” Reproducible Wealth—Its Growth and Industrial Distribution, Part IV, National Bureau of Economic Research, New York, 1946, pp. 185-234.

John Rae, New Principles of Political Economy, 1834, Chs. I-V.

Irving Fisher, Nature of Capital and Income, Chs. I, IV, V, XIV, XVII, Macmillan, New York, 1906.

Nicolas Kaldor, “Annual Survey of Economic Theory, “The Recent Controversy on the Theory of Capital, Econometrica, July, 1937, pp. 201-233.

 

Part II: Theory of Interest:

Productivity of Capital. Expectations, risk, and uncertainty. Inventory speculation. Interest as cost and the demand for capital. Saving and the supply of capital. Monetary theory of interest. Theory of assets.

Reading: Will be assigned later.

 

Part III: Economic Development and Accumulation of Capital:

Statics and Dynamics. The general problem of economic growth. Saving, investment, and the growth of income. Acceleration principle. Technical change. Accumulation and employment.

Reading: Will be assigned later.

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Economics 102b
Spring Term, 1948
Capital, Interest, and Economic Development

Part II: Theory of Interest:

Productivity of Capital. Expectations, risk, and uncertainty. Inventory speculation. Interest as cost and the demand for capital. Saving and the supply of capital. Monetary theory of interest. Theory of assets.

Reading:

Irving Fisher, The Theory of Interest, chapters. VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XVI, XVII, and XVIII. 1930.

Readings in Theory of Income Distribution, Blakiston, Philadelphia, 1946.

Frank Knight, “Capital and Interest,” pp. 384-417.

John M. Keynes, “The Theory of the Rate of Interest,” pp. 418-424.

D. H. Robertson, “Mr. Keynes and the Rate of Interest”, pp. 425-460.

 

Part III: Economic Development and Accumulation of Capital:

Statics and Dynamics. The general problem of economic growth. Saving, investment, and the growth of income. Acceleration principle. Technical change. Accumulation and employment.

Reading:

Bresciani-Turoni, “The Theory of Saving”, Economica, Part I, February 1936, pp. 1-23; Part II, May 1936, pp. 162-181.

Domar, “Expansion and Employment”, American Economic Review, March 1947, pp. 34-55.

Schelling, “Capital Growth and Equilibrium”, American Economic Review, December 1947, pp. 864-876.

Harrod, “An Essay in Dynamic Theory”, Economic Journal, March 1939, pp. 14-33.

Pigou, “Economic Progress in a Stable Economy”, Economica, August 1947, pp. 180-188.

Stern, “Capital Requirements in Progressive Economies”, Economica, August 1945, pp. 163-171.

A. Sweezy, “Secular Stagnation?” In Harris, Postwar Economic Problems, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1943, pp. 67-82.

Hansen, “Economic Progress and Declining Population Growth”, American Economic Review, March 1939, pp. 1-15.

de Scitovsky, “Capital Accumulation, Employment, and Price Rigidity”, Review of Economic Studies, February 1941, pp. 69-88.

Reading: Schumpeter, Theory of Economic Development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1936.,

 

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1947-1948 (2 of 2)”.

 

 

 

Categories
Chicago Courses Exam Questions Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Economic Doctrine, Modern Tendencies. Lange, 1942

“Modern Tendencies in Economic Economic Doctrine” was the title of the course taught by Oscar Lange in 1942 at the University of Chicago. According to the notes to the course taken by Norman Kaplan, the first two lectures appear to be Lange’s Apologia for the rationality postulate in modern economic theory that are then followed by lectures in which many themes of Hicks’ Value and Capital are addressed. Karl Marx, Max Weber and Talcott Parsons all get mention in his reflections on the rationality postulate. One can characterise Lange’s mission here and elsewhere as seeking to graft advances in economic theory from the marginal revolution that led to neoclassical economics to the trunk of (Marxian) classical economics.

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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

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[Course Announcement, Economics 303, Spring 1942]

303. Modern Tendencies in Economic Doctrine.—A critical study of controversial questions in the general body of economic theory, and of some modern developments of that theory. The fundamentals of the theory of general equilibrium, the approach to dynamic economics, the foundations of welfare economics, the place of economics among the social sciences and problems of methodology will be discussed. Prerequisite: Economics 301 or equivalent. Spring, Tu., Th., 3:30-5:30, Lange.

 

Source: University of Chicago, The College and the Divisions for the Sessions of 1941-1942. Announcements Vol. XLI, No. 10 (April 25, 1941), p 307.

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Spring, 1942

ECONOMICS 303
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Required

J. R. Hicks. Value and Capital

H. Schultz. Theory and Measurement of Demand, chap. vi

J. Dean. “Department-Store Cost Functions,” Studies in Mathematical Economic and Econometrics, p. 222.

F. Lindahl. Studies in the Theory of Money and Capital, part I [(handwritten marginal note: (Read along with dynamic part of Hicks)]

H. Makower and J. Marschak. “Money and the Theory of Assets,” Economica (Aug. 1938)

M. Kalecki. “The Principle of Increasing Risk,” Essays in the Theory of Economic Fluctuations

G. L. S. Shackle. “Expectations and Employment,” Econ. J. (Sept. 1939)

________________. “The Nature of the Inducement to Invest,” RES (Oct. 1940)

A. G. Hart. “Uncertainty and Inducements to Invest,” RES (Oct. 1940)

T. Scitovszky. “A Study of Interest and Capital,” Economica (Aug. 1940)

J. Tinbergen. “Econometric Business Cycle Research,” RES (Feb. 1940)

R. F. Harrod. “Essay in Dynamic Theory,” Econ. J. (March 1939)

R. F. Kahn. “Some Notes on Ideal Output,” Econ. J. (March 1935)

N. Kaldor. “Welfare Propositions and Inter-Personal Comparability of Utility,” Econ. J. (Sept. 1939)

J. R. Hicks. “The Foundations of Welfare Economics,” Econ. J. (Dec. 1939)

A. P. Lerner. “From Vulgar Political Economy to Vulgar Marxism,” JPE (Aug. 1939)

H. D. Dickinson. “A Comparison of Marxian and Bourgeois Economics,” The Highway 1937

Eric Roll. “The Social Significance of Recent Trends in Economic Theory,” Canadian J. of Economics (Aug. 1940)

 

Optional

F. H. Knight. Risk, Uncertainty and Profit

G. Tintner. “A Contributionof the Non-Static Theory of Choice,” QJE (Feb. 1942)

A. G. Hart. “Anticipations, Uncertainty and Dynamic Planning,” J. of Business of the U. of C. (Oct. 1940)

J. R. Hicks. “A Suggestion for the Simplification of the Theory of Money,” Economica (1935)

P. N. Rosenstein-Rodan. “The Co-ordination of the General Theories of Money and Prices,” Economica (Aug. 1936)

J. Tinbergen. A Method and its Application to Investment Activity, League of Nations

H. D. Dickinson. The Economics of Socialism

M. H. Dobb. Political Economy and Capitalism

A. P. Lerner. “Statics and Dynamics in Socialist Economics,” Econ. J. (June 1937)

Talcott Parsons. The Structure of Social Action, chap. iv

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ECONOMICS 303
Spring, 1942

 

I. Discuss briefly the relation of the analysis of consumers’ behavior in terms of indifference curves and in terms of traditional marginal utility theory. Explain

(1) the concept of the marginal rate of substitution and its relation to marginal utility.

(2) the relation between the law of diminishing marginal utility and the convexity (toward the origin) of indifference curves.

(3) the assumptions underlying measurability of utility.

(4) the consequences which dispensing with the hypothesis that utility is measurable has for the law of diminishing marginal utility and for the Edgeworth-Pareto distinction between substitute, independent and complementary commodities.

(5) whether the use of indifference curves and of the marginal rate of substitution requires that utility be immeasurable.

 

II. Explain the difference between “co-operant” factors of production in the sense of Pigou (i.e., “complementary” factors in the sense of Edgeworth-Pareto) and complementary factors in the sense of Hicks-Allen-Schultz. Show why in the case of only two factors used to produce a product both definitions are equivalent but cease to be so if more than two factors are used. What is the purpose of replacing in the theory of production “co-operancy” by complementarity in the Hicks-Allen sense?

 

III. Describe the way in which uncertainty of price expectations influences the production plans of firms and the consumption plans of households. Explain

(1) what features of uncertain price expectations influence the planning of sales and purchases.

(2) apply your explanation to the determination of forward prices.

(3) discuss how uncertainty influences the length of the economic horizon and how this accounts for the insensitiveness of current investment to changes in interest rates.

 

IV. State the conditions of stability of general economic equilibrium and try to link them up with the relation of changes in the quantity of money to changes in the demand for cash balances. Don’t worry if you cannot answer the second part of the question. If you can answer it, give an example of a behavior of the monetary system which will make general equilibrium unstable.

 

Source: University of Chicago Archives. Norman Kaplan Papers, Box 2, Folder 6.

Image source: Wikipedia/commons.

Categories
Bibliography Courses Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Empirical Economics. Orcutt, 1950

This is the second batch of material I post from Guy Henderson Orcutt’s undergraduate course Economics 110 at Harvard. His bibliography on the scientific method was included in the previous posting.

A four item reading list for Economics 110 in 1949-50 and a selective reading list (Part I, no part II in the folder) for the 1950-51 course have been transcribed for this posting.

One more bibliographic list is filed under 1949-50, Economics 110: “A Bibliography of Statistical or Inductive Studies of the Determinants of Imports or Exports”. That bibliography is identical to Appendix 4B of Orcutt’s famous paper, Measurement of Price Elasticites in International Trade (Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 32, No. 2. May, 1950), 117-132. This material was explicitly discussed in the academic year 1950-51 in the course in Economics 210b (see Orcutt’s course offerings below).

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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

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1949-50
Economics 110
Reading List

(Additions will be made to this list)

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

William H. Nicholls—Labor Productivity Functions in Meat Packing, University of Chicago Press, 1948.

Dale Yoder, D. G. Paterson, et al—Local Labor Market Research, University of Minnesota Press, 1948.

Jacob Marschak—Introduction to Econometrics, Mimeographed lectures (Buffalo and Chicago). Only about two dozen copies are still available. They can be mailed for $2.25 a copy plus postage. To obtain them write the Cowles Commission, University of Chicago, Chicago 37, Illinois. I expect to use this book for Economics 110 and Economics 125b this semester and for mathematical economics next fall.

 

Source:   Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1949-50, (1 of 3)”

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[Course offerings 1950-51: Orcutt’s Empirical Economics]

Economics 110a. Empirical Economics: National Income and Business Fluctuations

Half-course (fall term). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Assistant Professor Orcutt.

This course will deal with the empirical foundations of economic theory in the fields of national income and business fluctuations, The methods by which various types of prediction are attempted will be given considerable attention.

 

[Economics 110b. Empirical Economics: The Price Mechanism]

Half-course (fall term). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Assistant Professor Orcutt.

Omitted in 1950-51; to be given in 1951-52.

This course will deal with the empirical foundations of economic theory concerning the functioning of the price mechanism. The agricultural and foreign trade sectors will receive particular attention.
Properly qualified undergraduates will be admitted Economics 210b.

 

Economics 210a. Empirical Economics: National Income and Business Fluctuations
Half-course (fall term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 11. Assistant Professor Orcutt.

This course will deal with the problems and techniques of testing economic theory and of prediction in the fields of national income and business fluctuations.

 

Economics 210b. Empirical Economics: The Price Mechanism

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 11. Assistant Professor Orcutt.

This course will deal with the problems and techniques of testing economic theories and predictions concerning the functioning of the price mechanism. The agricultural and foreign trade sectors will receive particular attention. Properly qualified undergraduates will be admitted to this course.

 

Source. Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1950-51. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XLVII, No. 23 (September, 1950) , pp. 80, 84.

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A Selected List of Readings Relevant to
Economics 110a and 210a
Part I

Asher Achinstein, Introduction to Business Cycles, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1950

John Maurice Clark, Strategic Factors in Business Cycles, National Bureau of Economic Research (1935), reprinted Augustus M. Kelley, Inc., 1949
http://papers.nber.org/books/clar34-1

James Duesenberry, Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior, Harvard University Press, 1949

William J. Fellner, Monetary Policies and Full Employment, University of California Press, 1946

Edwin Frickey, Economic Fluctuations in the United States, Harvard University Press, 1942

Gottfried Haberler, Prosperity and Depression, 3rd ed., 1943, reprinted by United Nations, 1946

P. M. Hauser and W. R. Leonard, Government Statistics for Business Use, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1946

J. R. Hicks, A Contribution to the Theory of the Trade Cycle, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1950

Lawrence R. Klein, Economic Fluctuations in the United States, 1921-1941, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1950

Tjalling C. Koopmans and others, Statistical Inference in Dynamic Economic Models, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1950

Wassily Leontief, Structure of the American Economy, 1919-1929, Harvard University Press, 1941

Jacob Marschak, Introduction to Econometrics, Cowles Commission, University of Chicago, 1949

A. F. Burns and Wesley C. Mitchell, Measuring Business Cycles, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1946

Oskar Morgenstern, On the Accuracy of Economic Observations, Princeton University Press, 1950

Philip Neff and Annette Weifenbach, Business Cycles in selected Industrial Areas, University of California Press, 1949

W. Nelson Peach and Walter Krause, Basic Data of the American Economy, 3rd ed., Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Chicago

D. H. Robertson, A Study of Industrial Fluctuation, 1915, reprinted by London School of Economics and Political Science, 1948

Richard Ruggles, An Introduction to National Income and Income Analysis, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1949

J. Tinbergen, Statistical Testing of Business-Cycle Theories, Vol. I, “A Method and Its Application to Investment Activity,” Vol. II, “Business Cycles in the United States of America, 1919-1932,” League of Nations Economic Intelligence Service, Geneva, 1939

J. Tinbergen and J. J. Polak, The Dynamics of Business Cycles, University of Chicago Press, 1950

U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789-1945

Thomas Wilson, Fluctuations in Income and Employment (3rd ed.), Pitman Publishing Company, New York, 1949

 

 

Source:   Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1949-50, (1 of 3)”

Image Source: Cropped from portrait in Harold W. Watts (1991). Distinguished Fellow: An Appreciation of Guy Orcutt. Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 5, No. 1, Winter, pp. 171-179.

 

 

Categories
Courses Harvard Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. Business Organization and Control. Sydney Alexander 1948-49.

Sydney Stuart Alexander (1916-2005) [Harvard S.B., 1936; A.M., 1938; Ph.D. 1946] taught the popular undergraduate course on Business Organization and Control before it was taken over by John Kenneth Galbraith and Carl Kaysen. While waiting for a delivery of material one day in the Harvard Archives, I thumbed through the 25th anniversary report of the Class of 1936 and came across Alexander’s report to his class (1961). You can see him standing in the front-row of the Department of Economics (MIT) group picture taken in 1976.

I was touched by the philosophical reflection in his 1961 report to his class that I have transcribed and now post before his syllabus for Economics 161.

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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

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“My professional life since graduation can be told as a tale of three cities: Cambridge, New York and Washington, each with a multiple exposure. Three tours of duty in Cambridge as teacher and research worker, two in New York, once in empirical research and once in business, and two in Washington, once in wartime intelligence-oriented economic research, and once as an international civil servant for the International Monetary Fund….the many job shifts have simply been alterations between theory and practice. Now I juggle both theory and practice at the same time. I teach economic theory to practically oriented students of management at the School of Industrial Management at M.I.T…

“…I try to balance my interest in applied economics with the study, as yet embryonic, of the foundations of welfare judgments…There is a substantial body of economic doctrine, in the theory of economic welfare, which deals with the problem of how given wants of individuals can be best (most economically) satisfied. But the doctrine starts from the assumption of given want, and it leaves open the question of how important it is to satisfy those wants. Once the problem is viewed more broadly, it becomes obvious that the merit of want satisfaction depends on the desirability of the wants. The wants themselves are generated largely by the social framework, not least by the economy itself as it operates to satisfy the wants.

Inquiry into this range of problems runs counter to the last fashion but one in the social sciences—that of positivism, which scorned the questions that could not be expressed in operational terms. It is my thesis that the most important social issues cannot be handled in operational terms like problems in physics, nor yet in analytical terms, like problems in mathematics, but only by a sort of discussion which is more like literary criticism. That discussion cannot be based on the authority of experimental evidence or logical truth, though it may draw upon both. Its foundations, however, must be in the non-operational field in which terms like important, better, or worse have meaning…”

Source: Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report, Harvard Class of 1936. Cambridge, 1961, pp. 11-12

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[Economics 161, 1948-49: Enrollment]

161 (formerly Economics 61a and 62b). Business Organization and Control. (Full Co.) Assistant Professor Alexander.

(F) 1 Graduate, 68 Seniors, 147 Juniors, 31 Sophomores, 4 Freshmen, 10 Radcliffe:   Total 261.
(Sp) 66 Seniors, 126 Juniors, 15 Sophomores, 7 Radcliffe: Total 214

Source: Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1948-49, p. 77.

__________________________

Economics 161 (formerly Economics 61a and 62b). Business Organization and Control
Full Course. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Assistant Professor Alexander.

Source: Harvard University. Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1948-49, p. 75.

__________________________

 

Economics 161
1948-49
Business Organization and Control

 

I. Fundamentals of Economic Organization

September 28

 Introduction Brookings, Ch. 2
Fainsod and Gordon, Ch. 1
Meade and Hitch, Part D, Chs. 1 and 2

October 1

 The Free Enterprise System

II. Nature and Origin of the Corporation

October 4

 The legal character of the corporation: Buchanan, Ch. 3
B & M, Book II, Ch. 1
Dewing, Book I, Chs. 1 and 2

October 6

 The history of the corporation:

III. Financial Structure and Operation of the Corporation

October   8

 Structure and Operation MLPF & B (entire pamphlet) and
Dewing, Book I, Ch. 4 to p. 83, Ch. 7, 8, 9 to p. 218, and 230-242
Dewing, Book III, Chs. 1 and 2

11

13

14 or 15

 Section

IV. The Large Corporation

October 11

 The extent and consequences of concentration: Gordon, Ch. 2, 4, and 5
Baker, Ch. IVB & M: Book I, Ch. I; Book IV, Chs. I through IV
Burnham, Chs. VI-IX, & XVI

20

 The operation of the large corporation:

22

 Section

25

 The separation of ownership from control:

27

 The managerial revolution?

29

 Section

V. Active Governmental Regulation of the Corporation

November 1

 New issues and the securities markets: Cherrington, Chs. 9 & 10 and
Dewing, Book IV, Ch. 9 & 6

3

5

 Section

8

 The holding company & its regulation: Allen, Ch. 9

10

 Corporate reorganization: Buchanan, Ch. XV or
Dewing, Book V, Chs. 3, 5, & 6

12

 Section

VI. Theory of Markets

November 15

 Competition, perfect and monopolistic: Boulding, Chs. 24 and 27
F & G, Ch. 9

17

 Duopoly and oligopoly:

19

 Section

VII. Markets and Their Regulation

November 22

 Railroads and their Regulation: Locklin, Chs. VIII, XV, & XVI

24

26

 Section

29

 Agriculture and the Government: Black & Kiefer, Chs. VIII, IX, XI, XVIII, XX, XXI, XXV, and XXX.

December 1

3

 Section

6

 The Petroleum Industry Rostow, Parts I, II, III and V.

8

10

 Section

13

 Lumber industry and trade associations: Burns, Ch. II and IV

15

 The meat industry

17

 Section

Reading period

 

References

Allen, Frederick L., The Lords of Creation, 1935.
Baker, John C., Directors and Their Functions, 1945.
Berle, A. A., and Gardiner C. Means (B & M), The Modern Corporation and Private Property, 1932.
Black, John D., and M. E. Kiefer, Future Food and Agricultural Policy, 1948.
Boulding, Kenneth E., Economic Analysis.
Brookings Institution (Lyon and associates), The Government and Economic Life, Vol. I, 1939.
Buchanan, Norman S., The Economics of Corporate Enterprise.
Burnham, James, The Managerial Revolution (Penguin, 1945).
Burns, Arthur R., The Decline of Competition.
Cherrington, Homer V., Business Organization and Finance, 1948.
Dewing, Arthur S., Financial Policy of Corporations, 1941, 2-vol. edition.
Fainsod, Merle, and A. L. Gordon (F & G), Government and the American Economy, 1941.
Gordon, Robert A., Business Leadership in the Large Corporation, 1945.
Locklin, D. Philip, Economics of Transportation, 1947.
Meade, J. E., and Charles Hitch, An Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy.
MLPF & B: Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Beans, How to Read a Financial Report.
Rostow, Eugene V., A National Policy for the Oil Industry, 1947.

__________________________

Reading Period — Economics 161 — December 1948

Read 5 articles in FORTUNE, all from within one of the following groups. Within your chosen group read at least two articles from subgroup a, the remaining three articles may be chosen freely from either subgroup a or b. For brevity, titles are not given verbatim. Bracketed items should be read together as a group.

All copies of FORTUNE needed for this course may be found with the other bound periodicals on the open shelf.

Group I—Transportation

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. British Rys., p. 87, April ‘47 1. Penns. R.R., I, p. 67, May ‘36

2. Penns. R.R., II, p. 87, June ‘36

3. Penns. R.R., III, p. 84, March ‘48
2. Rate Battle, p. 149, Oct. ‘44
3. Railroads, p. 50, Aug. ‘39
4. Inland Waterways, p. 39, Oct. ‘31 4. Young & Ce & O., p. 97, May ‘46
5. R.R. Consolidations, p. 39, Mar. ‘30 5. Santa Fe, p. 122, Nov. ‘48
6. Rock Island, p. 140, Dec. ‘44

7. Keeshin Trucking, p. 47, Feb. ‘36
8. Pullman I, p. 39, Jan ‘38

9. Pullman II, p. 73, Feb. ‘38
10. Southern Pacific, p. 91, Nov. ‘37

 

Group II—Petroleum and Gas

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Oil Shortage? p. 94, Jan. ‘44 1. Amerada, p. 128, Jan. ‘46
2. Oil Play, p. 69, Aug. ‘48 2. Engineers of Energy, p. 107, Nov. ‘48
3. Pipelines, p. 125, Jan. ‘45 3. Sun Oil, p. 51, Feb. ‘41
4. Natural Gas, p. 56, Aug. ‘40 4. Socony, I, p. 111, Nov. ‘42

5. Socony II, p. 114, Feb. ‘43
5. Ickes Arab. Nights, p. 121, June ‘44
6. Oil Abroad, p. 37, March ‘31 6. Standard (N.J.)I, p. 49, April ‘40

7. Standard (N.J.)II, p. 79, May ‘40

8. Standard (N.J.)III, p. 61, June ‘40
9. Gulf, p. 79, Oct. ‘37
10. Sinclair, p. 60, Nov. ‘32

 

Group III—Steel

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Steel in War, p. 121, May ‘46 1. Labrador Venture, p. 115, Dec. ‘48
2. Basing Point Muddle, p. 73, Sept. ‘48 2. Spark in Steel, p. 95, Dec. ‘48
3. Iron Ore Dilemma, p. 129, Dec. ‘45 3. Steel in West, p. 130, Feb. ‘45
4. Steel I, p. 85, May ‘31 4. Great Lakes I, p. 31, July ‘40
5. Steel II, p. 52, July ‘31 5. Great Lakes II, p. 43, July ‘40
6. Steel III, p. 41, Sept. ‘31 6. Bethlehem, p. 61, April ‘41
7. National, p. 31, June ‘32
8. Republic, p. 54, Sept. ‘33
9. U. S. Steel I, p. 59, March ‘36

10. U.S. Steel II, p. 127, April ‘36

11. U.S. Steel III, p. 113, June ‘36

 

Group IV—Agriculture

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Agriculture, p. 68, July, ‘40 1. Garm Co-ops, p. 153, Aug., ‘45
2. Planning for Plenty, p 61, Oct., ‘41 2. Cotton I, p. 138, Nov. ‘45

3. Cotton II, p. 159, Dec., ‘45
3. Agriculture, p. 80, March, ‘36
4. Cattle, p. 88, April, ‘43
5. Wingate, p. 72, Oct. ‘41
6. Farm Income, p. 89, Oct. ‘37
7. Milk in Chicago, p. 80, Nov. ‘39

8. Grade A, p. 83, Nov., ‘39

 

Group V—Food Processing, etc.

Subgroup a and b combined
1. Continental Baking, p. 67, July ‘38 18. Pineapple, p. 33, Nov. ‘30
2. Nabisco, p. 86, June, ‘48

3. Nabisco, p. 64, Aug., ‘36

 19. Armour and Co., p. 59, June ‘34

20. Hormel and Company, p. 127, Oct. ‘37

21. Swift and Co., p. 55, Feb. ‘30
4. Standard Brands, p. 77, Jan. ‘38
5. Life Savers, p. 94, Feb ‘38 22. Procter and Gamble, p. 77, April ‘39
6. Planters’ Peanuts, p. 78, Apr. ‘38 23. General Mills, p. 117, April ‘45

24. General Mills, p. 81, Nov. ‘30
7. Del Monte, p 77, Nov. ‘38
8. Corn Products, p. 55, Sept. ‘38 25. Nestle’s, p. 117, Feb. ‘46
9. Coca-Cola, p. 65, Dec. ‘38
10. Cream of Wheat, p. 68, Jan. ‘39
11. Frozen Foods, p. 61, June ‘39
12. Wessen Oil, p. 67, Sept. ‘39
13. General Goods, p. 69, Oct. ‘34
14. Hershey Chocolate, p. 72, Jan. ‘34
15. Ralston, p. 84, Jan. ‘48
16. Beech Nut, p. 85, Nov. ‘36
17. Campbell Soup, p. 69, Nov. ‘35

 

Group VI—Public Utilities

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Power to Burn, p. 141, Feb. ‘45 1. I. T. & T., p. 145, Sept. ‘45
2. A. T. & T., p. 37, Sept. ‘30 2. A. G. & E., p. 165, Dec. ‘45
3. Com & Sou., p. 83, May ‘37
4. TVA, p. 167, May ‘35
5. TVA, p. 92, Oct. ‘33
6. Cal. G. & E., p. 77, July ‘30
7. Niagara Hudson, p. 43, June ‘31

 

 

Group VII—Retail Trade

Subgroup a and b combined
1. Marshall Field, p. 143, Dec. ‘45

2. Marshall Field, p. 79, Oct. ‘36

 9. May Stores, p. 109, Dec. ‘48
10. Bergdorf-Goodman, p. 62, June ‘31
3. Allied Stores, p. 123, March ‘47 11. Neiman-Marcus, p. 133, Nov. ‘37
4. Sears Roebuck, p. 84, Aug. ‘48

5. Sears Roebuck, p. 43, Feb. ‘32

 12. Woolworth, p. 63, Nov. ‘33
13. A & P, p. 41, July ‘30

14. A & P, p. 53, March ‘33

15. A & P, p. 93, April ‘38
6. Montgomery Ward, p. 69, Jan. ‘35
7. Macy’s, p. 82, May ‘30

8. Macy’s, p. 23, April ‘33

 

Group VIII—Coal and Coke

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. British Coal, p. 118, Oct. ‘46 1. Koppers, p. 73, April ‘37
2. Coal I, p. 86, March ‘47 2. Pittsburgh, p. 57, Oct. ‘33
3. Coal III, p. 99, April ‘47 3. Island Creek, p. 87, March ‘38
4. Anthracite, p. 72, Feb. ‘31

 

Group IX—Distilling and Brewing

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Whiskey, p. 28, Nov. ‘33 1. Seagram’s, p. 97, Sept. ‘48
2. Liquor Reviewed, p. 98, Oct. ‘34 2. Schenley, p. 99, May ‘36
3. Econ. of Repeal, p. 47, May ‘32 3. Anheuser-Busch, p. 42, July ‘35
4. Ballantine’s, p. 64, June ‘38
5. Hiram Walker, p. 68, March ‘39

 

Group X—Automobiles

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Ford, Chev., Plym., p. 86, Oct. ‘31 1. Studebaker, p. 89, Feb. ‘35
2. General Motors I, p. 41, Dec. ‘38 2. Chrysler, p. 103, Oct. ‘48
3. General Motors II, p. 37, Jan., ‘39 3. Chrysler, p. 57, Dec. ‘40
4. General Motors IV, p. 45, March ‘39 4. Willys, p. 80, Aug. ‘46
5. Kaiser, p. 91, Dec. ‘47
6. Nash, p. 125, Sept. ‘45
7. Borg-Warner, p. 109, June ‘46
8. Ford, p. 63, Dec. ‘33
9. Ford, p. 82, May ‘46
10. C.I.T., p. 71, Jan. ‘33
11. Auto Selling, p. 38, Dec. ‘31
12. Packard, p. 55, Jan. ‘37
13. Used Car, p. 39, June ‘38

 

Group XI—Ferrous Metals

Subgroup a and b combined
1. Aluminum Co., p. 20, Nov. ‘32
2. Aluminum Co., p. 46, Sept. ‘34
3. Anaconda, p. 53, Jan. ‘42

4. Anaconda, p. 83, Dec. ‘36

5. Anaconda, p. 71, Jan. ‘37

6. Copper Ind’y., p. 70 April ‘30

7. Phelps Dodge, p. 40, July ‘32
8. St. Joseph Lead, p. 93, June ‘37
9. U.S. Smelting, p. 74, July ‘35
10. Climax Molybdenum, p. 105, Oct. ‘36

 

Group XII—Housing

Subgroup a

Subgroup b
1. Mr. Wyatt’s Shortage, p. 105, April ‘46 1. Metro. Life in Housing, p. 133, April ‘46
2. Fed. Housing Policy, p. 76, June ‘35 2. Where is Prefabrication? p. 127, April ‘46
3. Slum Clearance, p. 27, Feb. ‘34 3. Ind’y. Capitalism Forgot, p. 61, Aug. ‘47
4. Housing Survey I, p. 61, Feb. ‘32
5. Housing Survey III,   p. 35, April ‘32
6. Housing Survey VI, p. 60, July ‘32

__________________________

 

Spring Term, 1948-49
Economics 161—Business Organization and Control

 

Text: Burns, required; Purdy, optional.

Outline and Assignments

Date

 Lecture

Reading
Feb. 9 Integration Purdy, Ch. 22, and Burns, Ch. IX and pp. 76-92, 140-145; TNEC No. 21, pp. 121-132.
Feb. 11 Price Leadership
Feb. 14 Price Discrimination and the Basing Point System Burns, Ch. VI and VII
Feb. 16
Feb. 17 & 18 Sections
Feb. 21 Patents TNEC No. 21, pp. 158-165, 215-224;
Brookings, V 1, Ch. VI;
Purdy, Ch. 24; Stocking, Ch. 3
Feb. 23 Cartels
Feb. 24, 25 Sections
Feb. 28 Competition among Giants Hamilton, Section II; F& G, pp. 636-654
TNEC, No. 21, pp. 31-39, 48-51, 24-26, 194-198 and pp. 179-182, 170-172
March 2 Too Much Competition?
March 3 and 4 Sections
March 7 Housing, Problem Industry TNEC No. 8, Ch. IV; 20th Century, Housing. Chs. 5 and 6; TNEC No. 21, pp. 287-293
March 9 Non-Price Competition Burns, Ch. VIII
March 10-11 Sections
March 14 Chain Stores 20th Century, Distribution, pp. 133-141, and pp. 146-165; F&G 595-608
March 16 Problems of Small Business Kaplan, Chs. II, VIII, X
March 17-18 Sections
March 21 Anti-Trust History Purdy, Chs. 15, 16, and 17
Readings, Chs. 1 and 2
March 23
March 24-26 Sections
March 28 Recent Landmarks in Anti-Trust Purdy, Ch. 11; TNEC No. 21, p. 185-189; Oppenheim, Ch. 5 and pp. 310-328
March 30
Mar 31/Apr 1 Sections
April 3-10 Vacation
April 11 Unfair Competition and the F.T.C. F & G, Ch. 14

Burns, Ch. X
April 13 The N. R. A.
April 14-15 Sections
April 18 O. P. A. and W. P. S. U. S. at War, pp. 50-63, and Chs. 5, 9, and 10 (excluding pp. 281-298)
April 20
April 21-22 Sections
April 21 (sic) Price Flexibility Economic Report, January, 1948, pp. 75-79; Economic Report, January, 1949, pp. 43-45, 65-66
N.R.C., Part II, pp. 27-34; TNEC No. 1, ch. II; Nourse, Ch. XI
April 28-29
April 28-29 Sections
May 2 Modification of Competition and Full Employment Wallace, Entire Article
May 4 Workable Competition
May 6 Summary of Course

Reading Period Assignment to be Announced

 

References

Brookings Institution (Lyon et al.), Government and Economic Life, Vol. I
Burns, Arthur R., The Decline of Competition
Economic Report, Economic Report of the President, January, 1948 and January, 1949
F. and G., Fainsod and Gordon, Government and the American Economy
Hamilton, Walton H., Price and Price Policy
Kaplan, A. D. H., Small Business: Its Place and Problems
Nourse, Edwin, Price Making in a Democracy
N. R. C., U. S., National Resources Committee, Structure of the American Economy, Part II (Note that the assignment is in Part II, a volume separate from part I)
Oppenheim, S. Chesterfield, Cases on Federal Anti-Trust Laws (1948)
Purdy, Lindahl and Carter, Corporate Concentration and Public Policy
Readings in the Social Control of Industry (Blakiston Press)
Stocking and Watkins, Cartels or Competition? (Not to be confused with Cartels in Action by the same authors)
TNEC: U. S., Temporary National Economic Committee Monographs.

No. 1, Price Behavior and Business Policy
No. 8, Toward More Housing
No. 21, Competition and Monopoly in American Industry

20th Cent.; Distribution, Dewhurst et al., Does Distribution Cost Too Much?
20th Cent., Housing
U. S. at War, U. S. Bureau of the Budget, The United States at War
Wallace, Donald, “Industrial Markets and Public Policy,” in Public Policy, 1941, edited by Friedrich and Mason, pp. 59-129

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1948-49 (2 of 2)”.

Image Source: Harvard Album 1950.

Categories
Bibliography Courses Harvard History of Economics Suggested Reading Syllabus Undergraduate

Harvard. History of Economic Thought. Fellner, 1950

 

 

To William John Fellner (1905-1983) I personally owe my career-long interest in the history of economics. He agreed to meet with me for a year in a one-on-one tutorial upon my request since Yale did not offer a course in the history of economics then (1971-72). 

I discovered the following Harvard syllabus that I only recently realized was for a course actually given by my mentor, apparently to help satisfy the continuing demand of Harvard undergraduates for history of economics following Schumpeter’s death in January 1950.

Because I owe so much to William Fellner, in his honor I have gone to the trouble of providing links to as many of the items on his syllabus and bibliography as I could find (in a half-day).

Between us, this is not a particulary well-crafted or imaginative selection of assigned readings and the bibliography is clearly a rush-job. But this nonetheless demonstrates that Fellner was on a mission to integrate the history of economics with the teaching of the principles of economics which he did at Yale through ca. 1970 as reflected in his book Emergence and Content of Modern Economic Analysis, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960.

______________________________________

If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

______________________________________

 

Economics 100.
History of Economic Thought

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

 

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

______________________________________

 

1950-51
Economics 100
Fall Term

History of Economic Thought

In addition to the textbook assignments here listed, students will be required to do some amount of reading in the works of the writers who will be discussed in the course. The students will have a limited range of choice in this respect.

The textbook assignments here listed are not quite final. Some adjustments will presumably be made to include writers who will be discussed in the course but are not covered, or are covered inadequately, by the present assignments. Also, Assignment XI is too long and will be shortened so as to have it correspond to the classroom discussion.

 

I. Economic Ideas of Greek Philosophers

Gray, Ch. 1

II. Economic Ideas of St. Thomas Aquinas

Gray, Ch. 2

III. Mercantilism

Gray, Ch. 3

IV. The Physiocrats

Gide-Rist, Book I, Ch. 1

V. Adam Smith

Gide-Rist, Book I, Ch. 2

VI. Malthus and Ricardo

Gide-Rist, Book I, Ch. 3

VII. Early Expressions of “Neo-classical” Ideas

Gray, Ch. 7, pp. 190-197; Ch. 8, pp. 238-248; Ch. 10, pp. 266-277.

VIII. Mill

Gide-Rist, Book III, Ch. 2

IX. Protectionist Views and the National Outlook

Gray, Ch. 8, pp. 227-238; Ch. 9, pp. 248-260.

X. Forerunners of Socialism (Simondi; the Ricardian Socialists)

Gide-Rist, Book II, Ch. 1

XI. French Pre-Marxian Socialists

Gide-Rist, Book II, Chs. 2, 3, and 5.

XII. Marxism

Gray, Ch. 11 and Roll’s chapter on Marx

XIII. The Historical School and Institutionalism

Gide-Rist, Book IV, Ch. 1

XIV. Early Expressions of the Welfare State Ideology

Gide-Rist, Book IX, Ch. 2, Ch. 4

XV. The Neo-classical School

Gray, Ch. 12

XVI. Neo-classical, Historical-Institutionalist and Socialist Influences on Contemporary Thought

______________________________________

1950-51
Economics 100
History of Economic Thought

List of Books and Articles

I. General

Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (Edwin R. A. Seligman, Ed.: Alvin Johnson, Assoc. Ed.) [Vol. I; Vol. II ; Vol. III ; Vols.III & IV ; Vol. V ; Vols. VI & VI ; Vol. VII ; Vol. VIII ; Vol. IX ; Vol. X ; Vol. XI ; Vols. XI & XII ; Vol. XIII ; Vols. XIII & XIV ; Vol. XV .
Gide, Charles and Rist, Charles, History of Economic Doctrines
Gray, Alexander, The Development of Economic Doctrine
Haney, Lewis H., History of Economic Thought
Roll, Eric, A History of Economic Thought
Whittaker, Edmund, History of Economic Ideas [Schools and Streams of Economic Thought (1960)]
Schumpeter, Joseph, Epochen der Dogmengeschichte [1954 English translation]

II. On Problems of Methodology

Schumpeter, Joseph, Science and Ideology, American Economic Review, March 1949
Keynes, John Neville, Scope and Method of Political Economy
Robbins, Lionel, Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science
Hutcheson, T. W., Significance and Basic Postulates of Economic Theory
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., The Historical vs. the Deductive Method in Political Economy. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1890
Cairnes, J. E., The Character and Logical Method of Political Economy
Senior, Nassau W., Four Introductory Lectures on Political Economy
Sidgwick, Henry, Scope and Method of Economic Science
Bagehot, Walter, Economic Studies
Myrdal, Gunnar, Das politische Element in der nationaloekonomischen [Doktrinbildung]

II. On Specific Topics

O’Brien, G., An Essay on Mediaeval Economic Teaching
Laistner, M. L. W., Greek Economics
Tawney, R. H., Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., Capital and Interest
Heckscher, Eli F., Mercantilism [Volume I; Volume II]
Horrocks, J. W., A Short History of Mercantilism
Hull, Charles H., Petty’s Place in Economic Theory, Q. J. E., 1900
Monroe, A. E., Monetary Theory before Adam Smith
Johnson, E. A. J., Predecessors of Adam Smith
Schmoller, Gustav, The Mercantile System and Its Historical Significance
Angell, James W., The Theory of International Prices
Viner, Jacob, Studies in the Theory of International Trade
Higgs, H., The Physiocrats
Oncken, August, Geschichte der Nationaloekonomie (on the Physiocrats)
Spengler, J. J., The Physiocrats and Say’s Law of Markets, Journal of Political Economy, September and December, 1945.
Rae, John, The Life of Adam Smith
Bonar, James, Malthus and his Work
Bowley, Marian, Nassau Senior and Classical Economics
Viner, Jacob, Bentham and Mill, American Economic Review, March 1949
Knight, F. H., The Ricardian Theory of Production and Distribution (Canadian Journal of Economics, 1935)
Williams, John H. The Theory of International Trade Reconsidered (Economic Journal, 1929)
Dicey, A. V., Law and Public Opinion in England
Cannan, Edwin, Theories of Production and Distribution
Stephen, Leslie, The English Utilitarians [Vol I Jeremy Bentham; Vol II James Mill; Vol III John Stuart Mill]
Halevy, Elie, The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism
Schumpeter, Joseph, The Communist Manifesto in Sociology and Economics, Journal of Political Economy, June 1949
Kautsky, Karl, The Economic Doctrine of Karl Marx [German original]
Carr, E. H., Karl Marx: A Study in Fanaticism
Mehring, Franz, Karl Marx
Keynes, J. M., Essays in Biography (Alfred Marshall)
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., Karl Marx and the Close of His System
Schumpeter, Joseph A., Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Gray, Alexander, The Socialist Tradition
Sweezy, Paul, The Theory of Capitalist Development
Croce, Benedetto, Historical Materialism
Stigler, George J., Theories of Production and Distribution
Schumpeter, Joseph, Vilfredo Pareto, Q.J.E., May 1949
Mulcahy, Richard E., The Welfare Economics of Heinrich Pesch, Q.J.E., August, 1949

IV. Some Important Works in the History of Economic Thought

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica
Monroe, A. E., Early Economic Thought
Petty, Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, edited by Charles Henry Hull
King, Two Tracts of Gregory King, edited by George E. Barnett
Steuart, Sir James, Principles of Political Economy
Quesnay, François, Oeuvres Économiques et Philosophiques
Hume, David, Political Discourses
Smith, Adam, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Malthus, T. R., Essay on Population (7th ed.) [eighth edition]
Malthus, T. R., Parallel chapters from the first and second edition of the “Essay” (edited by W. J. Ashley)
Malthus, T. R., Principles of Political Economy
Ricardo, David, Political Works (Ed. J. R. McCulloch, with a short biography by idem)
Ricardo, David, Principles of Political Economy
Ricardo, David, Letters of David Ricardo to the Rev. T. R. Malthus
Say, Jean Baptiste, Traité d’Économie Politique [2nd ed. 1814]
Say, Letters of J. B. Say to the Rev. T. R. Malthus
Sismondi, S. de, Nouveaux Principes d’Économie Politique
Senior, Nassau William, Outline of Political Economy
Carey, Henry Charles, Principles of Political Economy
List, Friedrich, Das Nationale System der politischen Oekonomie [German; 1909 English translation]
Cournot, Augustin, Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth (N. Bacon, translator)
von Thuenen, Heinrich, Der Isolierte Staat
Mill, John Stuart, Principles of Political Economy
Mill, John Stuart, Autobiography
Smith, Adam, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Cairnes, J. E., Some Leading Principles of Political Economy
Mill, John Stuart, Dissertations and Discussions [Vol. I ; Vol. II ; Vol. III ; Vol. IV]
Marx, Karl, Capital
Marx, Karl, Capital and other works (Selections)
Marx and Engels, The Correspondence of Marx and Engels, 1846-95 (collected by the Marx-Lenin Institute)
Marx and Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party
Hilferding, Rudolf, Das Finanzkapital
Luxemburg, Rosa, Die Akkumulation des Kapitals
Lenin (Vladimir Ulianov), Imperialism; The State and the Revolution
Gossen, Hermann Heinrich, Entwicklung der Gesetze des menschlichen Verkehrs
Jevons, W. S., The Theory of Political Economy (2nd or later edition)
Menger, Carl, Grundsaetze der Volkswirtschaftslehre
Walras, Leon, Élements d’Économie Politique Pure
Pareto, Vilfredo, Manuel d’Économie Politique
Pareto, Vilfredo, The Mind and Society (A. Livingston, Ed.) [Vol. I & Vol. II ; Vols. III & IV]
Boehm-Bawerk, E. v., Capital and Interest; and The Positive Theory of Capital
Wieser, F. v., Natural Value
Marshall, Alfred, Principles of Economics
Marshall, Alfred, Money, Credit and Commerce
Marshall, Alfred, Official Papers
Wicksteed, Philip, Commonsense of Political Economy
Wicksteed, Philip, The Coordination of the Laws of Distribution
Wicksell, Knut, Lectures on Political Economy [Vol. I ; Vol. II], [German translation 1913]
George, Henry, Poverty and Progress
Walker, Francis A., The Wages Question
Clark, J. B., The Distribution of Wealth
Clark, J. B., Essentials of Economic Theory
Fisher, Irving, The Purchasing Power of Money
Fisher, Irving, The Theory of Interest
Davenport, H. J., The Economics of Enterprise
Davenport, H. J., Value and Distribution
Veblen, Thorstein, The Theory of Business Enterprise
Veblen, Thorstein, The Place of Science in Civilization
Commons, John R., Institutional Economics
Schmoller, Gustav, Grundriss der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre [Erster Teil (1908); Zweiter Teil (1904)]
Wagner, Adolf, Grundlegung der Politischen Oekonomie [Vol. I, part 1. 1892, 3ed. ; (Vol 1, part 2. 1894 3ed]
Weber, Max, Theory of Social and Economic Organization
Rerum Novarum (Papal encyclical of May 15, 1891, Leo XIII)
Quadragesimo Anno (Papal encyclical of May 15, 1931, Pius XI)

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 5, Folder “Economics, 1950-1951, (1 of 2)”.

Image Source: AEA portrait of William Fellner, Number 71 of a series of photographs of past presidents of the Association, in American Economic Review, Vol. 60, No. 1 (1970).

 

 

Categories
Courses Harvard Syllabus

Harvard. Economic and Political Ideas. O. H. Taylor, 1948

 

As wonderful as is the Harvard University Archive’s collection of old syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), coverage is by no means complete and there are many gaps and omissions. Unfortunately I could not find the syllabus from the second term of the two term course taught by Overton Hume Taylor (1897-1987) that can be seen as an expanded, grown up version of a freshman/sophomore level, one semester course “The Intellectual Background of Economic Thought” that he taught in 1940-41. Sometime soon I’ll try to cobble together likely content for his second semester course from 1949. But for now, the first term can certainly serve as a stand-alone course. As can be seen from the course description below, Economics 115 was the union of two related, but distinct, courses, Economics 15a and Economics 15b.

In the meantime I have found the final examination questions for this course in the Harvard archives.

Here is a link to Taylor’s A History of Economic Thought (1960). My guess is that the second term of the course covered  Chapters 14-17 in Taylor’s text (rise of Communism and Fascism, Welfare State Economics, Imperfect Competition, Keynesian Macroeconomics).

Overton Hume Taylor (1897-1987) was born in Colorado, received his B.A. at the University of Colorado in 1921 and Ph.D. from Harvard in 1928. He held the rank of instructor 1929-1960, was promoted to professor, 1960-64. He retired from Harvard in 1964, going on to teach at Vanderbilt University.

______________________

If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

_____________________________

 

[Course Description from Announcement of Courses, 1948-49]

Economics 115 (formerly Economics 15a and 15b). Economics and Political Ideas in Modern Times.

Full course. Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Dr. O. H. Taylor.

A course which may be of interest equally to Economics, Government, and History concentrators; dealing with both economic and political thought in their joint historical development. Hobbes and the mercantilists; Locke, the physiocrats, Adam Smith and Smith’s successors (economic liberalism), Marxism; and other, including present-day, ideologies and economic theories. Prerequisite: Economics 1.

Source: Harvard University. Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year, 1948-49, p. 74.

_____________________________

[Course Enrollment: Economics 115, 1948-49.]

115 (formerly Economics 15a and 15b). Economics and Political Ideas in Modern Times. (Full Co.) Dr. O. H. Taylor.

(F) 10 Graduates, 12 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 3 Radcliffe, 1 Other. Total: 44.
(S) 7 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 14 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 1 Radcliffe, 1 Other: Total: 38.

Source: Reports of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1948-49, p. 76.

_____________________________

Economics 115
Fall Term, 1948-49

Economics and Political Ideas in Modern Times – First Semester

I. September 30-October 9.
Introduction; Plato and the Middle Ages; Hobbes and Mercantilism.

Reading due October 9:
(1) Plato, Republic Book II; and
(2) Hobbes, Leviathan 1-6, 13, 14, 17, 18, 21, 24.
Thursday, September 30. Introductory lecture. Aim and Nature of the Course. Economics, politics, philosophy, and political economy. Economics in modern western civilization and in pre-capitalist civilizations. Visionary and prosaic philosophies and cultures. Economic science and political faiths.
Saturday, October 2. The modern west’s partial break with and debts to, its ancient-medieval heritage. Latter’s debt to philosophy of Plato. Platonic views in philosophy, politics, and economics; and the ruling medieval views.
Tuesday, October 5. The rise of modernity; 17th century Europe and England; Hobbes vs. Plato.
Thursday, October 7. 17th century English mercantilism and economic theory.
Saturday, October 9. Class discussion of the reading in Plato and Hobbes. (no lecture).
II. October 12-23.
Liberalism; Locke; the Physiocrats and Adam Smith.

Reading due October 23:
(1) Locke, Civil Government, II, Chs. 2, 5, 7-12, inclusive;
(2) Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, Chs. 1-7.
Tuesday, October 12. [Holiday]
Thursday, October 14. Varieties of liberalism and associated economic thought from early-modern times to present.
Saturday, October 16. Natural law and early-modern liberalism. Locke vs. Hobbes. Locke, Newton, and the 18th century.
Tuesday, October 19. The philosophy and economics of the Physiocrats (French 18th century liberal economists).
Thursday, October 21. The philosophy and economics of Adam Smith.
Saturday, October 23. Class discussion of the reading in Locke and Adam Smith
III. October 26-November 6.
Bentham, Malthus, and Ricardo; Opposition Currents; and J. S. Mill

Reading due November 6:
J. S. Mill essays, “Utilitarianism” and “Liberty.”
Tuesday, October 26. Bentham and his followers. Utility vs. natural law. Utilitarian liberalism and classical economics.
Thursday, October 28. Malthus vs. the anarchist-socialists.
Saturday, October 30. Ricardo and classical economics.
Tuesday, November 2. The “Manchester School,” free trade in England, and the popular version of the Bentham-Ricardo doctrines. Opposition movements, Romantic Toryism, Comtism, and early socialism.
Thursday, November 4. The education, career, and mature opinions of J. S. Mill.
Saturday, November 6. Class discussion of the Mill essays.
Tuesday, November 9. Hour exam.
IV. November 9-20.
The Romantic Reaction, and Comte

Reading due November 20:
(1) Either Carlyle, Past and Present or Ruskin Unto This Last; and
(2) Comte, Positive Philosophy, Introduction, Ch. 1, and Book VI, Chs. 1, 2.
Thursday, November 11.                             [Holiday]
Saturday, November 13. The romantic movement vs. rationalism and liberalism. Political and economic ideas of the English romanticists.
Tuesday, November 16. Romantic-reactionary thought in Germany, from the period between Kant and Hegel to Hitler; and its expressions in the sphere of economics.
Thursday, November 18. Romanticism, positivism, and the main 18th century outlook—interrelations. The positivism of August Comte vs. liberalism and economic science.
Saturday, November 20. Class discussion of the Carlyle-Ruskin and Comte reading.
V. November 23-December 4;
Marxism

Reading due December 4:
(1) Burns, Handbook of Marxism, Chs. 1, 13, 22, 29, 30;
(2) Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy, Part I.
Tuesday, November 23. “Utopian” socialism, Hegel, Ricardo, and Marx; and the Marxian theory of history.
Thursday, November 25.                             [Holiday]
Saturday, November 27. The Marxian economic theory of capitalism, I: value, wages, and profits.
Tuesday, November 30. The Marxian economic theory of capitalism, II: the system’s destined evolution and self-destruction.
Thursday, December 2. The Marxian vision of the future beyond capitalism—the revolution and the new society; and concluding appraisal of Marxism.
Saturday, December 4. Discussion of Marx reading.
 
VI. December 7-18.
Victorian Conservative Liberalism and Neo-Classical Economics.

Reading due December 18:
(1) C. Brinton, English Political Thought in the 19th Century,
Ch. III, Sections 1, 2, and IV, 1, 2, 4;
(2) A. Marshall, Principles of Economics, Book I, Chs. 1, 2, Appendix A and B; Book IV, Chs. 1-3, inclusive; and V, 1-5 inclusive.
Tuesday, December 7. How in the late 19th century the classical liberalism, originally a radical, became a conservative ideology. New developments of economic theory in the conservative liberal context, after 1870.
Thursday, December 9. Utility economics and utilitarianism; the free price system and economic welfare.
Saturday, December 11. Marginal productivity and distributive justice—Clark and Carver
Tuesday, November 14. Neo-classical theories about capital, money, business cycles, monopoly, and economic progress.
Thursday, December 16. The special views and system of Alfred Marshall.
Saturday, December 18. Class discussion.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 4, Folder “Economics 1948-49 (1 of 2)”.

Image Source: Harvard Album, 1952.

Categories
Courses Economic History Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Economic History of the U.S., Gay and Klein, 1911.

During the academic year 1910-11 at Harvard, a pair of economic history courses were offered by Professor Edwin Francis Gay, assisted by a history department instructor, Julius Klein, who would go on to complete his Ph.D. in 1915. The first term course, Economics 6a, was dedicated to European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. The second term course, Economics 6b covered U.S. Economic and Financial History from colonial times up to 1900. Below we have the enrollment figures for Economics 6b and its reading list. One can see by the reliance on a textbook and relatively few standard sources that U.S. economic history was not Gay’s primary research interest. Biographical information on both Edwin F. Gay and Julius Klein can be found in the previous posting.

________________________

Welcome to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror. If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled thus far. You can even subscribe to this blog below.  There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

____________________________

 

[Enrollment: Economics 6b. Economic and Financial History of the United States.]

6b 2hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. Klein.—Economic and Financial History of the United States.

13 Graduates, 19 Seniors, 52 Juniors, 22 Sophomores, 7 Freshmen, 6 Other:
Total 119.

 

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1910-11, p. 49.

 

____________________________

ECONOMICS 6b (1911)
[Economic and Financial History of the United States]

Required Reading is indicated by an asterisk (*)

 

1. Colonial Period

Callender*, Economic History of the United States, pp. 6-63, 85-121.

Ashley, Commercial Legislation of England and the American Colonies, Q. J. E., Vol. XIV, pp. 1-29; printed also in Ashley’s Surveys, pp. 309-335.

Semple, American History and its Geographic Conditions, pp. 36-51.

McMaster, History of the People of the United States, Vol. I, pp. 1-102.

Eggleston, Transit of Civilization, pp. 273-307.

Beer, Commercial Policy of England, pp. 5-158.

Rabbeno, American Commercial Policy, pp. 3-91.

Lord, Industrial Experiments in the British Colonies of North America, pp. 56-86, 124-139.

 

1776-1860

2. Commerce, Manufactures, and Tariff

Taussig*, Tariff History of the United States, pp. 68-154.

Hamilton*, Report on Manufactures, in Taussig’s State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, pp. 1-79, 103-107, (79-103).

Callender, Economic History, pp. 432-563.

Bolles, Industrial History of the United States, Book II, pp. 403-426.

Bishop, History of American Manufactures, Vol. II, pp. 256-505.

Pitkin, Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States (ed. 1835), pp. 368-412.

Gallatin, Free Trade Memorial, in Taussig’s State Papers, pp. 108-213.

Commons, Documentary History of American Industrial Society, Vol. IV, pp. 15-89; Vol. VI, pp. 311-353.

Rabbeno, American Commercial Policy, pp. 146-183.

Hill, First Stages of the Tariff Policy of the United States, Amer. Econ. Assoc. Pub., Vol. VIII, pp. 107-132.

 

3. Internal Improvements

Callender*, Economic History, pp. 271-275, 345-404.

Tenth United States Census (1880), Vol. IV, Thos. C. Purdy’s Reports on History of Steam Navigation in the United States, pp. 1-62, and History of Operating Canals in the United States, pp. 1-32.

Gephart, Transportation and Industrial Development in the Middle West, pp. 43-129.

Chevalier, Society, Manners, and Politics in the United States, pp. 80-87, 209-276.

Ringwalt, Development of Transportation Systems in the United States, pp. 41-54, 64-166.

Phillips, History of Transportation in the Eastern Cotton Belt, pp. 46-131.

Bishop, State Works of Pennsylvania, pp. 150-261.

Gallatin, Plan of International Improvements, Amer. State Papers, Misc., Vol. I, pp. 724-921 (see especially maps, pp. 744, 762, 764, 820, 830).

Pitkin, Statistical View (1835), pp. 531-581.

Chittenden, Steamboat Navigation on the Missouri River, Vol. II, pp. 417-424.

 

4. Agriculture and Land Policy.—Westward Movement

Callender*, Economic History, pp. 597-692.

Hart, Practical Essays on American Government, pp. 233-257; printed also in Q.J.E., Vol. I, pp. 169-183, 251-254.

Semple, American History and its Geographic Conditions, pp. 52-74.

Fite, Social and Industrial Conditions in the North during the Civil War, pp. 1-23.

Turner, Significance of the Frontier in American History, in Report of Amer. Hist. Assoc., 1893, pp. 199-227.

Donaldson, Public Domain, pp. 1-29, 196-239, 332-356.

Hibbard, History of Agriculture in Dane County, Wisconsin, pp. 86-90, 105-133.

Sanborn, Congressional Grants of Land in Aid of Railways, Bulletin of Univ. of Wisconsin Econ., Pol. Sci. and Hist. Series, Vol. II, No. 3, pp. 269-354.

 

5. The South and Slavery

Callender*, Economic History, pp. 738-819.

Cairnes, The Slave Power (2d ed.), pp. 32-103, 140-178.

Hart, The Southern South, pp. 218-277.

Hammond, Cotton Industry, pp. 34-119.

Commons, Documentary History of American Industrial Society, Vol. I, pp. 309-375.

Russell, North America, its Agriculture and Climate, pp. 133-167.

De Tocqueville, Democracy in America (ed. 1838), pp. 336-361, or eds. 1841 and 1848, Vol. I, pp. 386-412.

Helper, Compendium of the Impending Crisis of the South, pp. 7-61.

Ballagh, Land System of the South. Publications of Amer. Hist. Assoc., 1897, pp. 101-129.

 

6. Finance, Banking, and Currency

Dewey*, Financial History of the United States, pp. 34-59, 76-117, 224-246, 252-262.

Catterall*, The Second Bank of the United States, pp. 1-24, 68-119, 376 map, 402-403, 464-477.

Bullock, Essays on the Monetary History of the United States, pp. 60-93.

Hamilton, Reports on Public Credit, Amer. State Papers, Finance, Vol. I, pp. 15-37, 64-76.

Kinley, History of the Independent Treasury, pp. 16-39.

Kinley, The Independent Treasury of the United States (U. S. Monet. Comm. Rept.), pp. 7-208.

Sumner, Andrew Jackson (ed. 1886), pp. 224-249, 257-276, 291-342.

Ross, Sinking Funds, pp. 21-85.

Scott, Repudiation of State Debts, pp. 33-196.

Bourne, History of the Surplus Revenue of 1837, pp. 1-43, 125-135.

Conant, History of Modern Banks of Issue, pp. 310-347.

 

1860-1900

7. Finance, Banking, and Currency

Mitchell*, History of the Greenbacks, pp. 3-43.

Noyes*, Forty Years of American Finance, pp. 1-48, 234-256 (73-233).

Sprague*, History of Crises under the National Banking System, pp. 43-108.

Taussig, Silver Situation in the United States, pp. 1-157.

Dunbar, National Banking System, Q.J.E., Vol. XII, pp. 1-26; printed also in Dunbar’s Economic Essays, pp. 227-247.

Howe, Taxation and Taxes in the United States under the Internal Revenue System, pp. 136-262.

Tenth United States Census (1880), Vol. VII; Bayley, History of the National Loans, pp. 369-392, 444-486.

 

8. Transportation

Hadley*, Railroad Transportation, pp. 1-23, 125-145.

Johnson*, American Railway Transportation, pp. 24-68, 307-321, 367-385.

Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 466-481.

Adams, Chapters of Erie, pp. 1-99, 333-429.

Davis, The Union Pacific Railway, Annals of the Amer. Acad., Vol. VIII, pp. 259-303.

Villard, Memoirs, Vol. II, pp. 284-312.

Dixon, Interstate Commerce Act as Amended, Q.J.E., Vol. XXI, pp. 22-51.

Vrooman, American Railway Problems, pp. 10-45, 218-264.

 

9. Commerce and Shipping

Meeker*, History of Shipping Subsidies, pp. 150-171.

Meeker, Shipping Subsidies, Pol. Sci. Quart., Vol. XX, pp. 594-611.

Soley, Maritime Industries of the United States, in Shaler’s United States, Vol. I, pp. 518-618.

McVey, Shipping Subsidies, J.Pol.Ec., Vol. IX, pp. 24-46.

Wells, Our Merchant Marine, pp. 1-94.

Day, History of Commerce, pp. 553-575.

 

10. Agriculture and Opening of the West

Industrial Commission*, Vol. XIX, pp. 43-123, 134-167.

Noyes*, Forty Years of American Finance, pp. 257-283.

Twelfth United States Census (1900), Vol. V, pp. xvi-xlii.

Hammond, Cotton Industry, pp. 120-226.

Quaintance, Influence of Farm Machinery, pp. 1-103.

Adams, The Granger Movement, North American Review, Vol. CXX, pp. 394-424.

Bemis, Discontent of the Farmer, J. Pol. Ec., Vol. I, pp. 193-213.

Wright, Wool Growing and the Tariff, pp. 308-273.

 

11. Industrial Expansion

Noyes*, Forty Years of American Finance, pp. 114-152, 182-233.

Industrial Commission, Vol. XIX, pp. 485-519, 544-569.

Twelfth Census, Vol. IX, pp. 1-16; Vol. X, pp. 725-748.

Wells, Recent Economic Changes, pp. 70-113.

Sparks, National Development, pp. 37-52.

 

12. The Tariff

Taussig*, Tariff History, pp. 155-229, 321-360.

Taussig*, Tariff Act of 1909, Q.J.E., Vol. XXIV, pp. 1-38, also in Tariff History (ed. 1910), pp. 360-408.

Stanwood, American Tariff Controversies, Vol. II, pp. 243-394.

Taussig, Iron Industry, Q.J.E., Vol. XIV, pp. 143-170, 475-508.

Taussig, Wool and Woolens, Q.J.E., Vol VIII, pp. 1-39.

Tausssig, Sugar, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. CI, pp. 334-344 (Mar. 1908).

Taussig, Tariff and Tariff Commission, Atlantic Monthly, Vol. CVI, pp. 721-729 (Dec. 1910).

Wright, Wool-growing and the Tariff since 1890, Q.J.E., Vol. XIX, pp. 610-647.

Wright, Wool Growing and the Tariff, pp. 274-328.

Robinson, History of the Two Reciprocity Treaties, pp. 9-17, 40-77, 141-156.

Laughlin and Willis, Reciprocity, pp. 311-437.

 

13. Industrial Concentration

Willoughby*, Integration of Industry in the United States, Q.J.E., Vol. XVI, pp. 94-115.

Noyes*, Forty Years of American Finance, pp. 284-354.

Twelfth Census, Vol. VII, pp. cxc-ccxiv.

Industrial Commission, Vol. XIII, pp. v-xviii.

Bullock, Trust Literature, Q.J.E., Vol. XV, pp. 167-217.

 

14. The Labor Problem

Industrial Commission*, Vol. XIX, pp. 724-746, 793-833.

Adams and Sumner, Labor Problems, pp. 502-547.

United States Bureau of Labor Bulletins, No. 18 (Sept., 1898), pp. 665-670; No. 30 (Sept., 1900), pp. 913-915; No. 53 (July, 1904), pp. 703-728.

Levasseur, American Workman, pp. 436-509.

Commons, Documentary History of American Industrial Society, Vol. IX, pp. 55-117.

Mitchell, Organized Labor, pp. 391-411.

Twelfth Census, Special Report on Employees and Wages, p. xcix.

National Civic Federation, Industrial Conciliation, pp. 40-48, 141-154, 238-243, 254-266.

 

15. Population, Immigration, and the Race Question

United States Census Bulletin*, No. 4 (1903), pp. 5-38.

Industrial Commission*, Vol. XV, pp. xix-lxiv.

Adams and Sumner, Labor Problems, pp. 68-112.

Mayo-Smith, Emigration and Immigration, pp. 33-78.

Walker, Discussions in Economics and Statistics, Vol. II, pp. 417-451.

Hoffmann, Race Traits and Tendencies of the American Negro, pp. 250-309.

Tillinghast, The Negro in Africa and America, pp. 102-228.

Twelfth Census Bulletin, No. 8.

United States Bureau of Labor Bulletins, Nos. 14, 22, 32, 35, 37, 38, 48.

Washington, Future of the American Negro, pp. 3-244.

Stone, A Plantation Experiment, Q.J.E., Vol. XIX, pp. 270-287.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1910-1911.”

________________________

Final Examination Economics 6b
(1910-11)

Image Source: Edwin Francis Gay and Julius Klein, respectively, from The World’s Work, Vol. XXVII, No. 5 (March 1914) and Harvard Album 1920.

 

 

 

Categories
Courses Economic History Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. 19th Century European Economic History. Gay and Klein, 1910

Edwin Francis Gay (1867-1946) came to Harvard in 1902 as an instructor of economic history taking over William Ashley’s courses after having spent a dozen years of training and advanced historical study in Europe (Berlin, Ph.D. in 1902 under Gustav Schmoller, also he was in Leipzig, Zurich and Florence). He was given a five-year contract as assistant professor of economics in 1903, but in just four years he actually advanced to the rank of professor. He served as a principal advisor to Harvard President Charles Eliot in establishing the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1908. After the favored candidate to be the founding dean of the business school, William Lyon Mackenzie King (Ph.D., Harvard 1909) turned down the offer, instead continuing as deputy minister of labor in Canada then later becoming prime minister of Canada, President Eliot turned to Gay. In nine years Gay put his stamp on the Harvard Business School, apparently playing an instrumental role in the use of the case method (pedagogic transfer from the law school) with a strong emphasis on obtaining hands-on experience through practical assignments with actual businesses. He is credited with establishing the academic degree of the M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration), the credential of managers. 

During WW I Gay worked as adviser to the U.S. Shipping Board and then went on to become editor of the New York Evening Post that would soon go under, giving Gay “an opportunity” to return to Harvard where he could teach economic history up through his retirement in 1936. Gay was among the co-founders of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Council of Foreign Relations. He and his wife moved to California where he worked at the Huntington library where his bulk of his papers are to be found today.

A reading list for his course  Recent Economic History (1934-35) has been posted on Economics in the Rear-View Mirror earlier.

Assisting Gay in the 1910 course on European Economic History of the Nineteenth century was the history department instructor, Mr. Julius Klein (1886-1957). 

Litt.B. (Univ. of California) 1907, Litt. M (ibid.) 1908, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1913, Ph.D. (Harvard Univ.) 1915.
Subject of Ph.D. History.
Special Field: Spanish History
Thesis: The Mesta; A Study in Spanish Economic History, 1273-1836.
Instructor in History, later assistant professor.
In 1932 he was Assistant Secretary, United States Department of Commerce.

While tracking down Julius Klein I came up with the following link to an artifact of the Harvard History Department:

“[Julius Klein] made this portrayal of departmental bigwigs, in ink with black and brown washes, in a style evocative of the Bayeux Tapestry, which chronicles the Norman conquest of England.”

JuliusKleinInkDrawing

________________________

Welcome to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror. If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled thus far. You can subscribe to this blog below.  There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

________________________

[Enrollment: Economics 6a. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. 1910]

[Economics] 6a 1hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Mr. Klein.—European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.

12 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 22 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 3 Other:
Total 61.

 

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1910-11, p. 49.

________________________

 

ECONOMICS 6a (1910)

Required Reading is indicated by an asterisk (*)

 

1. The Industrial Revolution

Cunningham*, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Vol. III, pp. 609-669.

Hobson*, Evolution of Modern Capitalism, pp. 10-82.

Toynbee, Industrial Revolution, pp. 32-93.

Woolen Report of 1806; reprinted in Bullock, Selected Readings in Economics, pp. 114-124.

Walpole, The Great Inventions, in History of England, Vol. I, pp. 50-76; reprinted in Bullock, pp. 125-145, and Rand, Selections illustrating Economic History, chapter ii.

Chapman, The Lancashire Cotton Industry, pp. 1-112.

Webb, History of Trade Unionism, pp. 1-101.

Hutchins and Harrison, History of Factory Legislation, pp. 14-42.

Wallas, Life of Francis Place, pp. 197-240.

Mantoux, La Révolution Industrielle, pp. 179-502.

Cooke Taylor, The Modern Factory System, pp. 44-225.

 

2. Agrarian Movement.—Continent

Von Sybel*, French Revolution, in Rand, Selections, pp. 55-85.

Seeley*, Life and Times of Stein, Vol. I, pp. 287-297, in Rand, pp. 86-98.

Morier*, Agrarian Legislation of Prussia, “Systems of Land Tenure,” pp. 267-275, in Rand, pp. 98-108.

Brentano*, Agrarian Reform in Prussia, Econ. Jour., Vol. VII, pp. 1-20.

Four de St. Genis, La Propriété Rurale, pp. 80-164.

De Foville, Le Morcellement, pp. 52-89.

Von Goltz, Agrarwesen und Agrarpolitik, pp. 40-50.

Colman, European Agriculture (2d ed.), Vol. II, pp. 371-394.

Schulze-Gaevernitz, Volkswirtschaftliche Studien aus Russland, pp. 308-383.

Dawson, W. H., Evolution of Modern Germany, pp. 255-294.

 

3. Agrarian Movement.—England

Johnson*, A. H., Disappearance of the Small Landholder in England, pp. 7-17, 107-164.

Curtler*, W. H. R., Short History of English Agriculture, pp. 190-271.

Hasbach, History of the English Agricultural Labourer, pp. 71-116.

Taylor, Decline of Land-Owning Farmers in England, pp. 1-61.

Prothero, Pioneers and Progress of English Farming, pp. 64-103.

Broderick, English Land and English Landlords, pp. 65-240.

Caird, English Agriculture in 1850, pp. 473-528.

Colman, European Agriculture (2d ed.), Vol. I, pp. 10-109, 133-174.

Levy, Entstehung und Rückgang des landwirtschaftlichen Grossbetriebs in England.

 

4. The Free Trade Movement.—England

Armitage-Smith*, G., Free Trade and its Results, pp. 39-94, 130-144.

Morley*, Life of Cobden, chapters vi, vii, xvi.

Levi, History of British Commerce, pp. 218-227, 261-272, 292-303; in Rand, pp. 207-241.

Ashworth, Recollections of Cobden and the League, pp. 32-64, 296-392.

Prentice, History of the Anti-Corn Law League, Vol. I, pp. 49-77.

Parker, Sir Robert Peel from his Private Letters, Vol. II, pp. 522-559; Vol. III, pp. 220-252.

Cunningham, Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement, pp. 27-99.

Tooke, History of Prices, Vol. V, pp. 391-457.

Curtler, Short History of English Agriculture, pp. 271-293.

Schulze-Gaevernitz, Britischer Imperialismus, pp. 243-375.

 

5. Tariff History—Continent

Ashley*, P. Modern Tariff History, pp. 3-62, 301-312.

Worms, L’Allemagne Économique, pp. 57-393.

Amé, Les Tarifs de Douanes, Vol. I, pp. 21-34, 219-316.

Perigot, Histoire du Commerce Français, pp. 77-185.

Lang, Hundert Jahre Zollpolitik, pp. 168-230.

 

6. Banking and Finance

Cunningham*, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Vol. III, pp. 689-703, 822-829, 833-840.

Andréadès*, History of the Bank of England, pp. 284-294, 331-369, 381-388.

Tugan-Baranowsky, Studien zur Theorie und Geschichte der Handelskrisen in England, pp. 38-54, 62-121.

Giffen, Growth of Capital, pp. 115-134.

Macleod, Theory and Practice of Banking (4th ed.), Vol. I, pp. 433-540; Vol. II, pp. 1-197.

Bastable, Public Finance, Bk. V, chapters 3 and 4 (3d ed), pp. 629-657.

 

7. The New Gold

Cairnes*, Essays, pp. 53-108; in Rand, pp. 242-284.

*Jevons, Investigations in Currency and Finance, pp. 34-92.

Leroy-Beaulieu, Traité d’Économie Politique, Vol. III, pp. 192-238.

Giffen, Economic Inquiries and Studies, Vol. I, pp. 75-97, 121-228.

Hooper, Recent Gold Production of the World, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1901, pp. 415-433.

 

8. Transportation—Private Ownership

Hadley*, Railroad Transportation, pp. 146-202.

Acworth*, Elements of Railway Economics, pp. 61-75, 99-159.

McLean, English Railway and Canal Commission of 1888, in Q. J. E., 1905, Vol. XX, pp. 1-55, or in Ripley, Railway Problems, pp. 603-649.

Acworth, Railways of England, pp. 1-56.

McDermott, Railways, pp. 1-149.

Porter, Progress of the Nation, pp. 287-339.

Edwards, Railways and the Trade of Great Britain, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1908, pp. 102-131.

Pratt, Railways and their Rates, pp. 1-184.

Colson, Legislation des Chemins de Fer, pp. 3-20, 133-182.

Kaufmann, Die Eisenbahnpolitik Frankreichs, Vol. II, pp. 178-284.

Guillamot, L’Organisation des Chemins de Fer, pp. 82-120.

Forbes and Ashford, Our Waterways, pp. 107-177, 215-252.

Léon, Fleuves, Canaux, Chemins de Fer, pp. 1-156.

Evans, A. D., British Railways and Goods Traffic, Econ. Jour., 1905, pp. 37-46.

Thompson, H. G., Canal System of England, pp. 1-73.

 

9. Transportation.—State Ownership

Hadley*, Railroad Transportation, pp. 236-258, [203-235].

Meyer*, Governmental Regulation of Railway Rates, pp. 92-188.

Acworth, Relation of Railways to the State, Econ. Jour., 1908, pp. 501-519.

Mayer, Geschichte und Geographie der Deutschen Eisenbahnen, pp. 3-14.

Lotz, Verkehrsentwicklung in Deutschland, pp. 2-47, 96-142.

Lenshau, Deutsche Wasserstrassen, pp. 9-56, 95-161.

Peschaud, Belgian State Railways, translated in Pratt, State Railways, pp. 57-107.

Tajani, The Railway Situation in Italy, Q. J. E., Vol. XXIII, pp. 618-653.

Pratt, Railways and their Rates, pp. 185-326.

Pratt, Railways and Nationalization, pp. 1-120, 253-293.

 

10. Commerce and Shipping

Bowley*, England’s Foreign Trade in the Nineteenth Century (ed. 1905), pp. 55-107.

Meeker*, History of Shipping Subsidies, pp. 1-95.

Cornewall-Jones, British Merchant Service, pp. 252-260, 306-317.

Glover, Tonnage Statistics of the Decade 1891-1900, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1902, pp. 1-41.

Ginsburg, British Shipping, in Ashley, British Industries, pp. 173-195.

LeRoux de Bretagne, Les Prime à la Marine Marchande, pp. 93-224.

Charles-Roux, L’Isthme et le Canal de Suez, Vol. II, pp. 287-339.

Von Halle, Volks- und Seewirtschaft, pp. 136-219.

 

11. Agricultural Depression

Report on Agricultural Depression*, Royal Commission of 1897, pp. 6-10, 21-40, 43-53, 85-87.

Haggard*, Rural England, Vol. II, pp. 536-576.

The Tariff Commission, Vol. III, Report of the Agricultural Committee, 1906.

Thompson, Rent of Agricultural Land in England and Wales during the Nineteenth Century, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1907, pp. 587-611.

Hasbach, History of the English Agricultural Labourer, pp. 274-364.

Arch, Autobiography, pp. 65-144, 300-345.

Little, The Agricultural Labourer, Report to the Royal Commission on Labour, 1894, Vol. I, pp. 195-253.

Adams, Position of the Small Holding in the United Kingdom, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1907, pp. 412-437.

Plunkett, Ireland in the New Century (ed. 1905), pp. 175-209.

Bastable, Some Features of the Economic Movement in Ireland, Econ. Jour., Vol. XI, pp. 31-42.

  1. Méline, The Return to the Land, pp. 83-144, 185-240.

Imbart de la Tour, Le Crise Agricole, pp. 24-34, 127-223.

Simkhovitch, The Agrarian Movement in Russia, Yale Review, Vol. XVI, pp. 9-38.

King and Okey, Italy Today, pp. 156-192.

 

12. Recent Tariff History

Smart*, Return to Protection, pp. 14-27, 136-185, 234-259.

Balfour*, Economic Notes on Insular Free Trade, pp. 1-32. (Also in Fiscal Reform, pp. 71-95)

Chamberlain*, Imperial Union and Tariff Reform, pp. 19-44.

Ashley, W. J., Tariff Problem, pp. 53-210.

Marshall, Fiscal Policy of International Trade, pp. 30-82.

Pigou, Protective and Preferential Import Duties, pp. 1-117. (See also his Riddle of the Tariff, pp. 1-107.)

Cunningham, Rise and Decline of the Free Trade Movement, pp. 100-168.

Ashley, P., Modern Tariff History, pp. 78-112, 313-358.

Zimmermann, Deutsche Handelspolitik, pp. 218-314.

Meredith, Protection in France, pp. 54-129.

Balfour, Fiscal Reform, pp. 97-113, 2266-280.

 

13. Industrial Development

Ashley*, W. J., British Industries, pp. 2-38, 68-92.

Howard*, Recent Industrial Progress in Germany, pp. 51-109.

Cox, British Industries under Free Trade, pp. 2-84, 142-175, 235-376.

Levasseur, Questions ouvrières et industrielles en France sous le troisième République, pp. 27-166.

La Belgique, 1830-1905, pp. 397-617.

Fischer, Italien und die Italiener (ed. 1901), pp. 240-267.

Machat, Le Developpement Économique de la Russie, pp. 157-229.

Jeans, J. S., Iron Trade of Great Britain, pp. 1-73, 100-111.

Dawson, Evolution of Modern Germany, pp. 37-65.

Helm, E., Survey of the Cotton Industry, Q. J. E., Vol. XVII, pp. 417-437.

 

14. Industrial Combination

Report of the Industrial Commission*, Vol. XVIII, pp. 7-13, 75-88, 101-122, 143-165.

Macrosty*, The Trust Movement in Great Britain, in Ashley, British Industries, pp. 196-232.

Macrosty, Trust Movement in British Industry, pp. 24-56, 81-84, 117-154, 284-307, 329-345.

Walker, Monopolistic Combinations in Europe, Pol. Sci. Quart., Vol. XX, pp. 13-41.

Walker, Combinations in the German Coal Industry, pp. 38-111, 175-289, 322-327.

Walker, German Steel Syndicate, Q. J.E., Vol. XX, pp. 353-398.

Liefmann, Kartelle und Trusts, pp. 22-32.

Baumgarten und Meszlény, Kartelle und Trusts, pp. 83-152.

Chastin, J., Les Trusts et les Syndicats, pp. 23-127.

 

15. Labor.—Coöperative Movement

Bowley*, Wages in the United Kingdom, pp. 22-57, 81-127.

Shadwell,* Industrial Efficiency, Vol. II, pp. 307-350.

Wood, Real Wages and the Standard of Comfort since 1860, Roy. Stat. Soc. Jour., 1909, pp. 91-101.

Cost of Living of the Working Classes in the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Report to the Board of Trade, 1909.

Webb, Trade Unionism, pp. 344-478.

Howell, Labor Legislation, pp. 447-499.

Willoughby, Workingmen’s Insurance, pp. 29-87.

Beveridge, Unemployment.

Ashley, W. J., Progress of the German Working Classes, pp. 1-65, 74-141.

Dawson, The German Workman, pp. 1-245.

Holyoake, History of Coöperation in England (ed. 1906), Vol. I, pp. 32-42, 70-162, 283-298; Vol. II, pp. 361-396.

Gide, Productive Coöperation in France, Q. J. E., Vol. XIV, pp. 30-66.

Adams and Sumner, Labor Problems, pp. 394-397, 407-413.

Dawson, Evolution of Modern Germany, pp. 294-308.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 1, Folder “Economics, 1910-1911.”

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Final Examination Economics 6a
(1910-11)

Image Source: Edwin Francis Gay and Julius Klein, respectively, from The World’s Work, Vol. XXVII, No. 5 (March 1914) and Harvard Album 1920.

 

Categories
Chicago Courses Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Introduction to Money and Banking. A. G. Hart, 1933

In the early 1930’s Lloyd Mints alternated teaching the undergraduate money and banking course at the University of Chicago (Econ 230) with the doctoral student Albert G. Hart who held the ranks of teaching assistant/instructor before receiving his Ph.D. in 1936. In Hart’s papers at Columbia University there is a copy of material for his course kept for students in the Harper Reading Room at the University of Chicago. The “Report on Conduct and Content of Course” included in this posting presents a detailed outline of his course as of its third iteration. Square brackets are used where I have supplied specific page numbers for the textbook assignments that I have found elsewhere in the same folder with this Report. 

In the Review section Hart includes among the “leading ideas” of the course: “… in fields where prices are sticky, inflation and deflation take themselves out on volume of sales and hence of production and/or employment…”

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[Course Description from University of Chicago Announcements]

230. Introduction to Money and Banking.—The material in the course includes a study of the factors which determine the value of money in the short and in the long run; the problem of index numbers of price levels; and the operation of the commercial banking system and its relation to the price level and general business activity. Prerequisite: Social Science I and II or equivalent. Summer, Hart; Autumn, Mints; [Spring], Hart.

Source: University of Chicago, Announcements [for 1933-34], Arts, Literature and Science, vol. 33, no. 8 (March 25, 1933), p. 266.

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Report on Conduct and Content of Course.

Econ 230
A. G. Hart

General Remarks:

My general policy (in which I follow the suggestions of Mr. Mints) has been to conduct the course definitely as a theoretical study, with the emphasis on analysis rather than history or factual description. Class meetings are devoted largely to discussion, with inevitable lapses into lecturing when historical or factual questions cannot be avoided. My reading assignments have been light (about 100 pages a week), but are of a character to call for mulling over. So far as possible I have avoided second-hand textbook material and gone to authoritative writers. On the necessary technical banking material a textbook is inevitable, and I have used Rodkey’s Banking Process twice and Bradford’s Banking once. (To my taste the former is definitely preferable.) On other subjects I have gone to standard authorities, as Irving Fisher, J. M. Keynes, Alvin Hansen, Wesley Mitchell, D. H. Robertson. These writers are emphatically not beyond the grasp of undergraduate classes here. Some points have been emphasized by written exercises; and I have tried by giving our examinations and by putting past examinations on reserve to make my examinations a guide to what I expected students to take away with them. Full assignments, as made this summer, and past examinations are in my assignment folder on reserve in Harper main reading room.

The following scheme is that given in my assignments; the order of various points somewhat altered from time to time, especially when current events bring certain sides of the course to the fore.

 

Scheme of Course:

I.  Introduction: Money Concepts; Sketch of Monetary History; Present Circulating Medium in U. S.

Explanation of purposes of the course; the notion of money in the broader notion of circulating medium; a summary of the history of the American circulating medium; brief analysis of the current statistics on money in circulation and on bank deposits. Emphasis is laid on the fact that the class of circulating media has no clear-cut boundary, but shades off into the realm of ordinary commodities, and on the importance of bank deposits in American circumstances. Reading: Robertson, Money, pp. 1-17. Class Time: usually two, perhaps three hours.

II. The Quantity Theory of Money According to Fisher.

An analysis of the relations between quantity of money and bank deposits, their velocities, prices, and volume of transactions, through the Fisher equation. Emphasis is laid on the validity of the equation, the restricted conditions under which the Quantity Theory holds, and the consequent inadequacy of the Quantity Theory for short-period analysis; also on relative flexibility of different groups of prices. Reading: Fisher, Purchasing Power of Money, pp. 1-32, 47-54, 74-111, 184-97. Class Time: five or six hours.

III. The Quantity Theory According to the Cambridge School; European Postwar Monetary Experience.

A restatement of the Quantity Theory in “Cambridge” terms, using Keynes’ Monetary Reform as type. This is used to reinforce the analysis of the difficult “velocity” problem in the preceding section, and leads into some examination of the workings of inflation. The idea of forced saving is here brought out. Lately I am coming to doubt the pedagogical usefulness of the formulation in Monetary Reform; and I may take a different tack another time. Reading: Keynes, Monetary Reform, pp. 3-45, 46-80 [, 81-94]; Robertson, Money, e.g. 18-43. Class Time: three or four hours.

IV. Index Numbers: Refinement of Concept of Purchasing Power.

The concept of an index number of prices as reflecting changes in the value of a composite commodity of fixed make-up; index of quantity as reflecting valuations of different mixtures of goods at fixed prices. Necessity of index number analysis to put meaning into notion of price and output changes brought about by money. Emphasis is placed, of course, on fundamental notions and interpretation, not on the technique of index-number compilation. Reading: Fisher, Purchasing Power, pp. 198-233; memorandum of my own in assignment folder. I should assign Keynes [Treatise (optional), I, pp. 53-94] but for library difficulties. Written Assignment: problem in index-number computation, with simplified arithmetic, calculated to bring out differences among the various basic formulas. Class Time: three or four hours.

V. Nature of Banking and Clearing.

(In the Autumn Quarter, 1932 I put this before the treatment of monetary theory, which appears to be just about as satisfactory as the present arrangement.) Basic character of a bank; demand liabilities greater than quick assets, and demand liabilities serving as circulating medium. Mechanism of making and transferring deposits; clearing relations among banks. History of American banking. Study of bank reserves; of earning assets. Principle of credit pyramiding on increment of reserves. Reading: textbook passages [Rodkey, Banking Process, 1-86, 124-37, 137-54, 178-95, 201-224, 267-86; or Bradford, Banking, pp. 1-51, 52-96, 98-123]; Phillips, Bank Credit, chapter III [pp. 32-77]. Written Assignment or Hour Examination: reconstruction and interpretation of dismembered bank statement, involving comparison of two banks or one bank at two dates. Class Time: ten or twelve hours.

VI. Central Banking: Federal Reserve System.

Analysis of open market, re-discount and clearing functions of the Federal Reserve Banks, and of the administration of the system and its influence on the member bank reserve position. I have made no attempt to cover foreign central banking except for an hour’s lecture on the Bank of England and incidental references from this point in the course on to practices of foreign central banks. This is not because I doubt the usefulness of treating foreign banking ceteris paribus; but the marginal utility of time in a one-quarter course is so high as to put this below the zone of profitable use of resources. Emphasis is placed on the essential simplicity of central banking — holding cash reserves and earning assets and swapping them on the open market according to the position of business—, on its necessary non-profit character, etc. The leading ideas in this section are largely modeled on Mr. Mints. One of the drawbacks of using Bradford as text is the necessity of scrambling sections V and VI together to follow its arrangement. Reading: textbook passages [Rodkey, Banking Process, pp. 36-123, 196-200, 224-238; or Bradford, Banking, pp. 125-144, 145-168, 170-222, 223-247, 248-274, 311-336, 337-355]; W. R. Burgess, Reserve Banks and the Money Market, pp. 206-229; passages in Federal Reserve Bulletin [March 1932, pp. 1-5]. Written Assignment or Classroom Work: Analysis of weekly statements of Federal Reserve Banks and weekly reporting member banks; calculation of Federal Reserve reserve and collateral requirements and of free gold. [take F.R. statement for July 13 (published in morning papers July 21). Compute gold reserve requirements against deposits and notes, calculate excess gold reserves. Compute gold collateral requirement on notes, with and without Glass-Steagal arrangement, and calculate free gold on each basis.] From this point in the course the statement is discussed at some length every Friday. Class Time: five or six hours, plus a short time each week toward the end of the quarter for study of the statement.

VII. Foreign Exchange; International Banking Relations.

The mechanism of the exchange markets: acceptances, cable drafts, etc. The balance of payments and supply and demand of foreign funds; determination of the rate and adjustment of balances on and off the gold standard. Classical mechanism of adjustment; orthodox types of central bank intervention; post-war manipulative tricks in exchange market. Due largely to the trend of current events, emphasis has been placed on the determination of rates off the gold standard and on the short-run importance of flight from the currency and other types of speculative movements. Reading: as the topic is peripheral and cannot absorb much time, I have compromised between textbook readings and authoritative material, and have been assigning Taussig, Principles, vol. I, pp. 447-78 besides text-book passages. [Rodkey, Banking Process, pp. 155-68; or Bradford, Banking, 275-310; Robertson, Money, 69-91] Class Time: three or four hours.

VIII. Short Period Monetary Theory.

Inapplicability of quantity theory (though not of Fisher equation) in “transition period”. Generalization of Fisher cash-transactions approach: can be used wherever flow of goods and flow of money which buys it can both be conceptually isolated. Analysis through income concepts. Hawtrey’s scheme as a special case of transactions approach; illustration of analysis by his cycle theories. Concept of forced savings. Reading: Fisher, Purchasing Power, 55-74; Robertson, Money, 92-116; Hawtrey, Currency and Credit, 1-64. Class Time: four to six hours.

IX. Business Cycles.

Concept of business cycle; basic types of series showing cycle. Types of business cycle theories. Problems of “overproduction” in various senses. Reading: Mitchell, Business Cycles, the Problem and its Setting, pp. 1-60. Class Time: three to five hours.

X. Banking Policy and “Stabilization”.

General concept of stabilization – largely connotation with meaning vague. Monetary stabilization – constancy of index number or the exchange rate. Partial incompatibility of former and latter. Criteria of desirable indices to stabilize – full employment chief – point to desirability of gently raising money wages on average; consequences in other price groups. Central difficulty of price stickiness. Ways and means – inadequacy of central-bank control; inevitable influence of government finance. Savings-investment criterion of policy – its weaknesses. Reading: Robertson, Money, 144-194; Hansen, Economic Stabilization in an Unbalanced World, 3-27, 65-113, 271-314. Class Time: 4 to 6 hours.

Review:

When possible (it isn’t in the summer) I plan to devote four or five hours to systematic review. Leading ideas are brought out more clearly; especially: 1) the price level associated with the given flow of goods cannot rise, unless less goods of this group are sold or more money is spent on them; 2) when price movements are on foot the various forms of “price stickiness” make the movements of different speed and amplitude in different fields; 3) it is these relative price movements which are of practical importance; 4) in fields where prices are sticky, inflation and deflation take themselves out on volume of sales and hence of production and/or employment; 5) a banking system uncontrolled except by “qualitative” considerations will inevitably bring about inflation and deflation involving destructive movements of relative prices and of production; 6) in fact these considerations do not even enable a banking system to protect itself against a heavy proportion of failures in deflation.

 

Discussion of Above Scheme:

It will be observed that the course as I have given it contains little or no discussion of two topics which occupy a great deal of the literature, viz.: bimetallism and the classification of money under various heads (commodity, token, fiat etc.) Both of course come in for incidental mention; but neither, it seems to me, belongs in a one-quarter course here and now. Bimetallism, as discussed in the books, is today rather a historical relic; the effective issue is not double versus single standard, but gold standard versus “paper standard”. Systematic classification of money has distinct uses; but I’m inclined to trust to the passage on the subject in Robertson and avoid wasting class time on it. The necessary discussion of monetary history affords opportunity to talk a bit about both these matters; but a student who had taken the course with me could probably not explain the relation (e.g.) between over-valued and under-valued metal, or between proper bimetallic and limping standards.

More serious than these omissions of subject-matter is another type of omission: the course as I give it makes little attempt to inoculate the student against cranks by systematic study and dismemberment of the work of theoretical bunglers. It is a rather serious pedagogical defect to include little reading with which the instructor thoroughly disagrees. My excuses firstly that the course must take up more material then can be so treated in a single quarter and secondly that it seems to me the line between correct and incorrect analysis is fairly clearly drawn in the elementary phases of monetary and banking theory here treated. But frankly I’m afraid I must lay more weight on the first excuse than the second.

Albert G. Hart.

 

 

Source: Columbia University Libraries, Manuscript Collections. Albert Gailord Hart Papers: Box 61, Folder “Assignments and Other Memoranda for Reserve in Harper Reading Room/Sec 2 Ec 230 1933 Chicago, Money (Summer Quarter)”.

Image Source:  ditto.