Category: Syllabus

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Business Cycles and Economic Forecasting. Schumpeter, 1948

Business Cycles and Economic Forecasting was a two semester graduate course at Harvard. The fall term (Economics 245a) was taught by Joseph Schumpeter and the spring term (Economics 245b) was jointly taught by Assistant Professor Richard Goodwin and Professor Gottfried Haberler. This posting includes a transcription of a carbon copy of the final exam questions for Schumpeter’s course along with his course reading list for the fall term of 1948. An undated note to the veteran’s office that identifies books that veterans be reimbursed for purchasing is included below.

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1948-49
Economics 245a
[Professor Joseph Schumpeter]
Fall Term

Work in this course will concentrate on a number of selected topics in business-cycle analysis and forecasting rather than aim at covering the entire field systematically. As much opportunity as possible will be given for discussion of, and essays on, individual problems. Some knowledge of advanced theory and advanced statistics is necessary in order to reap the full benefit from this course: providual [sic, individual] needs will be taken care of in consultation.

I.

a. Students are expected to be, or to make themselves, familiar with the two following standard works:

Haberler, Prosperity and Depression, 1941.
Pigou, Industrial Fluctuations, 1929.

b. There are a number of useful textbooks that less advanced students may usefully consult for survey purposes: E. C. Bratt, Business Cycles and Forecasting, 3rd ed., 1948, is recommended (not “assigned”).

c. Attention is called to Readings in Business-Cycle Theory (Vol. II of the Blakiston Series of Republished Articles on Economics, 1944. See especially Nos. 2, 4, 10, 12, 14, 21 and Bibliography by H. M. Somers).
William Fellner, Employment Theory and Business Cycles in A Survey of Contemporary Economics (ed. H. S. Ellis, Blakiston, 1948)

d. Perusal of The Federal Reserve Board’s Chart Books I and II is strongly recommended, and so is the study of

e. E. Frickey, Economic Fluctuations in the United States (Harvard Economic Studies, 73) which should be supplemented by
E. Frickey, Production in the United States, 1860-1914 (Harvard Economic Studies, 82)

[f. This time, the program of the course does not include Business Cycles (National Bureau of Economic Research, 1946). Owing to its importance, the book is nevertheless mentioned here for the benefit of students who propose to specialize in business cycles.]

 

II. Further suggestions with reference to topics that will be dealt with in the course.

a. Books:

J. G. Stigler, Trends in Output and Employment (N. B. E. R., 1947)
J. M. Clark, Strategic Factors in Business Cycles, 193
A. H. Hansen, Economic Policy and Full Employment, 1947
A. H. Hansen, Fiscal Policy and the Business Cycle, 1941.

b. Articles:

(1) S. H. Slichter, The Period 1919-36 in its Significance for Business-Cycle Theory, Review of Economic Statistics, 1937.
H. L. Beales, The Great Depression, Economic History Review, October, 1934.

(2) M. Kalecki, A Theory of the Business Cycle, Review of Economic Studies, February, 1937.
L. A. Metzler, Business Cycles and the Modern Theory of Employment, American Economic Review, June, 1946.
N. Kaldor, A Model of the Trade Cycle, Economic Journal, March, 1940.

(3) G. Haberler, Some Reflections on the Present Situation of Business-Cycle Theory, Review of Economic Statistics, 1936.
Hansen, Boddy, and Langum, Recent Trends in Business-Cycle Literature, Review of Economic Statistics, 1936.
H. S. Ellis, Notes on Recent Business-Cycle Literature, Review of Economic Statistics, 1938.
Jacob Marschak, A Cross Section Of Business-Cycle Discussion, American Economic Review, June, 1945.
J. Tinbergen, Critical Remarks on Some Business-Cycle Theories, Econometrica, April, 1942
T. Koopmans, The Logic of Econometric Business-Cycle Research, Journal of Political Economy, 1941.

(4) J. Einarsen, Reinvestment Cycles, Review of Economic Statistics, 1938.
W. Isard, A Neglected Cycle: The Transport-Building Cycle, Review of Economic Statistics, 1942.
O. Morgenstern, On the International Spread of Business Cycles, Journal of Political Economy, 1943.
Irving Fisher, The Debt-Deflation Theory of Great Depressions, Econometrica, 1933.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 4, Folder “Economics, 1948-1949 (2 of 2)”.

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[Final Examination]

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Economics 245 A

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

  1. Describe the various underconsumption theories of depressions and discuss their explanatory value.
  2. Explain the mechanism of inventory cycles and state your opinion about the importance of the phenomenon.
  3. Prolonged periods of prosperity and depression have been traced to expansions and contractions in gold productions. Analyze the action of increases or decreases in gold stocks upon the economic process of the periods in which they occurred and show how they could, or could not, have produced the cycles or sequences of cycles attributed to them.
  4. Examine the validity of harvest theories of business cycles.
  5. Accepting, for the sake of argument, the innovation theory of cycles, how would you expect money wages and real wages to behave in the course of the cyclical phases?

Final, January 1949

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Joseph Schumpeter Papers (HUG(FP)-4.62). Lecture Notes Box 2, Folder “Business Cycle Lecture notes Fall 1948”.

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To the Veteran’s Office, with apologies for delay: [undated]

Note: Economics 203 and 245 are advanced courses in which no textbooks are assigned, and the assignments of other books are of the character of advice rather than of strict requirement. However, I mention below books which I do advise students to buy. Most of them are required in other courses.

I. For Economics 203

J. R. Hicks, Value and Distribution [sic, “Capital”], Oxford Press, New edition just out.
A. Marshall, Principles, Macmillan, any edition from 4th to 8th.
Lord Keynes, General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Harcourt Brace, 1st edition, 1936.
E. H. Chamberlin, Theory of Monopolistic Competition, Harvard Press, last edition.
Irving Fisher, Theory of Interest, MacMillan, 1930
K. Wicksell, Lectures Vol. I, Routledge, 19334 (if available)

 

II. For Economics 245

Alvin Hansen, Economic Policy and Full Employment, McGraw-Hill
Edwin Frickey: a) Fluctuations, b) Production, both Harvard Press
Burns and Mitchell, Measuring Business Cycles, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1819 Broadway, New York 23, N.Y.
Bratt, Business Cycles, 3rd edition, 1948, (Irwin).
[handwritten addition:] Reading in Bus. Cycles. Blakiston.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Joseph Schumpeter Papers (HUG(FP)-4.62). Lecture Notes Box 2, Folder “Misc course notes 1943-48 (found in Littauer M-5)”.

Image Source: Harvard Album, 1947.

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Mathematical Economics. Leontief, 1948

There are only marginal differences to be found  from the course outline for 1941-42 and 1942-43, e.g. “Time lags and sequences” instead of “Cobweb Model” plus addition of Mosak (General Equilbrium Theory in International Trade) and Samuelson (Foundations of Economic Analysis) to the course bibliography. We also see that Marshall’s Mathematical Appendix was a “new” assignment for the reading period.  Midterm and Final exam questions are included in this posting.

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[Course Outline, Leontief]

Economics 4a
Spring Term, 1948

Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory

  1. Introductory remarks
    Profit function
    Maximizing profits
  2. Cost functions: Total costs, fixed costs, variable costs, average costs, marginal costs, increasing and decreasing marginal costs.
    Minimizing average total and average variable costs
  3. Revenue function
    Price and marginal revenue
    Demand function
    Elasticity and flexibility
  4. Maximizing the net revenue (profits)
    Monopolistic maximum
    Competitive maximum
    Supply function
  5. Joint costs and accounting methods of cost imputation
    Multiple plants
    Price discrimination
  6. Production function
    Marginal productivity
    Increasing and decreasing productivity
    Homogeneous and non-homogeneous production functions
  7. Maximizing net revenue, second method
    Minimizing costs for a fixed output
    Marginal costs and marginal productivity
  8. Introduction to the theory of consumers’ behavior
    Indifference curves and the utility function
  9. Introduction to the theory of the market
    Concept of market equilibrium
    Duopoly, bilateral monopoly
    Pure competition
  10. Time lag and time sequences
  11. Introduction into the theory of general equilibrium

Bibliography:

R. G. D. Allen, Mathematical Analysis for Economists
Evans, Introduction into Mathematical Economics
Antoine Cournot, Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth
Jacob L. Mosak, General Equilibrium Theory in International Trade
Paul A. Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis

Reading Period Assignment: Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics, Mathematical Appendix

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. HUC 8522.2.1, Box 4, Folders “Economics, 1947-1948 (1 of 2)”.  Copy also in Harvard University Archives, Wassily Leontief Papers. Course Material Box 2 (HUG 4517.45); Folder “Spring 1948-Econ. 4A”.

 

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[Midterm Exam]

Economics 4a
Hour Examination
March 23, 1948

Answer two questions, including Question 3.

1.  Prove that the average costs tend either

(a) toward equality with the marginal costs, or
(b) toward infinity

as the output of an enterprise is reduced toward zero.

2. Describe the relationship between the cost curve and the supply curve of an enterprise.

3.  An industrial enterprise produces jointly two kinds of outputs, X and Y and uses one kind of input, Z. Given

(a)  the production function z = f(x,y), where z, x and y are quantities of Z, X and Y and
(b)  the prices Pz, Px and Py of Z, X, and Y

derive the equations the solution of which would determine the most profitable input-output combination. Don’t forget the secondary conditions.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives, Wassily Leontief Papers. Course Material Box 2 (HUG 4517.45); Folder “Spring 1948-Econ. 4A”.

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[Final Exam]

1947-48
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 4a

Please write legibly

Answer four questions including question 6.

  1. Show how a change in the magnitude of the fixed costs would affect the supply curve of a profit-maximizing enterprise selling its product on a competitive market.
  2. Given:

      The production function,

x = yz2

where x is the quantity of output, and y and z represent the amounts of two different inputs purchased at the fixed prices py and pz respectively,

Derive:

            The total cost curve of the enterprise. (A total cost curve represents the functional relationship between various outputs and the smallest total costs at which they can be produced.)

  1. A monopolistic producer sells his output in two separate markets. His cost curve is:

C = K + Q

where C represents the total cost, Q the total output, and K a positive constant. The demand curves in the two markets are:

p1 = A – q1

p2 = B – q2,

p1, p2 and q1, q2 represent the prices charged and quantities demanded in the two markets respectively. A and B are positive constants.

What prices would the monopolist charge in the two markets in order to maximize his total net revenue?

  1. A worker maximizes his utility function:

u(c, l)

where c represents his consumption and l the number of hours worked. The hourly wage rate is w dollars.

Determine the equation showing how many hours of labor, l, the worker will supply at any given wage rate, w. Analyze the conditions under which an increase in the wage rate might reduce the number of hours worked.

  1. Discuss the problem of measurability of utility.
  2. A consumer receives a fixed income y1 in “year I” and a fixed income y2 in “year II.” He is free to augment his consumption during year I by borrowing money from the outside on condition that it be paid back with interest out of the income of year II. He can also spend during the first year less than his total income y1. The resulting savings plus the accrued interest will be added in this case to the second year’s consumption. No transfer of any savings beyond the second year and no borrowing against the income of the later years is allowed.

Given:

(a) the utility function,

u(x1, x2)

to be maximized where x1 and x2 stand for the consumption of the first and the second year, and

(b)  the rate of interest i

Derive:

(1) the equations which determine the optimum amount of savings (or borrowings) s;

(2) the formula showing the effect of an infinitesimal change in the rate of interest i on the amount of savings (or borrowings) Interpret the meaning of such a formula.

 

Final. May, 1948.

Source: Harvard University Archives, Wassily Leontief Papers. Course Material Box 2 (HUG 4517.45); Folder “Spring 1948-Econ. 4A”.

Image Source: Harvard Album, 1947.

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Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Money, Banking, and Cycles, Seymour Harris, 1933-34

The course at Harvard on Money, Banking and Commercial Crises was usually co-taught by Professor John Williams with junior people. In 1933-34 Assistant Professor Seymour Harris was solely responsible for teaching the course. Interesting to note is that Harris clearly preferred to speak of “cycles” to “crises”, at least judging by the slight change in the course title for that year alone.

The mid-year exam is posted here.

The final exam for the course in May or June of 1934 has been transcribed in a later post.

Here a link to the syllabus for the Williams/Harris 1937-38 syllabus and exam.

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[From the Course Catalogue]

Economics 3. Money, Banking, and Cycles

Th., Th., at 12, and a third hour to be arranged. Asst. Professor Harris.

Source: Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 1933-34 (Second Edition). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. 30, No. 39, Sept. 20, 1933, p. 125.

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[Course Enrollment: Economics 3, 1933-34]

3. Asst. Prof. Harris.—Money, Banking, and Cycles.

2 Graduates, 40 Seniors, 73 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 3 Others:   Total 127

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and reports of departments for 1933-34, p. 84

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ECONOMICS 3
Outline, 1933-1934

Important Books

Burgess: Reserve Banks and the Money Market.
Clare: The ABC of Foreign Exchanges.
Dunbar: Chapters on the Theory and History of Banking.
Fisher: The Purchasing Power of Money.
Hardy: Credit Policies of the Federal Reserve System.
Harris: Twenty Years of Federal Reserve Policy.
Hawtrey: Currency and Credit (Third edition).
Hawtrey: Trade Depression and the Way Out.
Keynes: Tract on Monetary Reform.
Keynes: Treatise on Money.
Lavington: The English Capital Market.
League of Nations: Final Report on Gold.
Pigou and Robertson: Economic Essays and Addresses.
Robertson: Money (Revised edition—Seventh). [1926 edition]
Withers: Meaning of Money.  [3rd ed. 1914]

 

A. BANKING

I. The Banks and Industry (September 26—October 14)

Lecture 1. The banks and industry.
Lecture 2. The banks and the price level.
Lecture 3. Forced savings.
Lecture 4. Banks and the capital market.
Lecture 5. The banks and speculation.
Lecture 6. The movement of bank deposits and the problem of bank failures.

Assignment:

Dunbar: Chapters 1-5.
Keynes, Treatise on Money: Vol. I, pp. 23-43; Vol. II, pp. 49-79.
Robertson: Chapter 5 (Money and Saving), pp. 85-108.

 

II.  Central Banking and Banking Policy (October 17—November 18)

Lecture 7. Peculiarities of central banking
Lecture 8. Rate policy
Lecture 9. Open market policy
Lecture 10. Moral suasion
Lecture 11. Eligibility
Lecture 12. Policy in boom times
Lecture 13. Policy in war times
Lecture 14. Policy in depressed times
Lecture 15. Coöperation between central banks
Lecture 16. The Federal Reserve Act

Assignment:

Burgess: Chapters 3-5, 9-14.
Hardy: Pp. 74-179.
Harris: Chapters 8, 9, 42, 44.

 

III. Banking Abroad (November 21—December 23)

Lecture 17. English banking before 1844
Lecture 18. The Bank Act of 1844
Lecture 19. English banking, 1844-1914
Lecture 20. English banking, 1914-1928
Lecture 21. English banking, 1928-1933
Lecture 22. German banking before the War
Lecture 23. German banking since the War
Lecture 24. French money market and the Bank of France
Lecture 25. Canadian Banking

Assignment:

Withers: Meaning of Money.
Keynes, Treatise: Vol. II, pp. 225-262.
Lavington: Pp. 125-182.

 

HOUR EXAMINATION: Thursday, November 2

Reading Period:

Read ONE of the following:

Sprague: Crises.
Andreades: History of the Bank of England: Pp. 1-72, 161-407.
Hawtrey: The Art of Central Banking: Pp. 116-303.

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B.  MONEY

IV. The Pure Theory of Money (February 6—March 3)

Lecture 1. What is money?
Lecture 2. How to measure the value of money.
Lecture 3. The Fisherian quantity theory.
Lecture 4. The old Cambridge quantity theory.
Lecture 5. Keynes’ theory of the value of money—the level of efficiency earnings.
Lecture 6. Keynes, continued—Savings and investments and the value of money.
Lecture 7. Keynes, continued—The price level of investment goods.

Assignment:

Robertson: Chapters 1-3, pp. 1-63.
Fisher: Pp. 8-73.
Keynes, Treatise: Vol. I, Pp. 53-79, 221-233.
Hawtrey, Currency and Credit: Chapters 3-4, pp. 30-60.

 

V. Monetary Policy (March 13—April 21)

Lecture 8. The gold standard before the War
Lecture 9. The gold standard since the War
Lecture 10. The silver standard
Lecture 11. The gold exchange standard in theory
Lecture 12. The gold exchange standard in practice
Lecture 13. Inconvertible paper money—value at home
Lecture 14. Inconvertible paper money—value abroad
Lecture 15. Inconvertible paper money—other problems
Lecture 16. Problems of stabilization
Lecture 17. Monetary and non-monetary factors in the British situation
Lecture 18. The British situation, continued, and some discussion of the French situation
Lecture 19. Monetary problems of the British Dominions
Lecture 20. Monetary and non-monetary factors in the American situation

Assignment:

Keynes: A Tract on Monetary Reform: Chapters 1, 3, 4.
Pigou and Robertson: Pp. 116-138.
Hawtrey, Trade Depression and the Way Out: Pp. 1-84.
League of Nations, Final Report on Gold: Pp. 1-57.

 

VI. The Theory of the Cycle (April 24—May 5)

Lecture 21. A monetary theory of the cycle–Hawtrey
Lecture 22. Non-monetary theories of the cycle—Schumpeter and Pigou
Lecture 23. Semi-monetary theory—Keynes.
Lecture 24. Robertson’s criticisms of the monetary theories

Assignment:

Clare: The ABC of the Foreign Exchanges (Discussed under V—Monetary Policy)

HOUR EXAMINATION: Thursday, March 15

Reading Period:

Read ONE of the following:

Hawtrey, Currency and Credit: Part 2.
Ackerman, Economic Progress and Economic Crises
Laughlin, History of Bimetallism.
https://archive.org/details/historybimetall00goog
White, Money and Banking: Pp. 60-193, 232-369.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. HUC 8522.2.1, Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1933-1934”.

Image Source: Seymour Harris from the Harvard Album 1935.

Categories
Columbia Exam Questions Syllabus Uncategorized

Columbia. Junior Year Political Economy. Mayo-Smith, 1880

Yesterday while trawling through the Hathitrust digital library, I came across a collection published in 1882, Examination Papers Used During the Years 1877-1882 in Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Amherst and Williams Colleges. (The link takes you to the download page at archive.org)

Hoping for some political economic gold, I paged through the collection that appeared mostly focused on entrance examinations for Latin, Greek, mathematics etc., but eventually I stumbled upon a single examination in political economy for a junior year course (1880) at Columbia College.

The last question of that exam explicitly quotes from the course textbook so I went over to Google Books and searched the phrase “to secure a delusive benefit to individuals”. Sure enough, I could identify the textbook in question as the Manual of Political Economy for Schools and Colleges (3rd ed. 1876) by James Edwin Thorold Rogers. 

Now drunk on Google Books power, I text-searched Rogers’ Manual to locate the pages for answers to all the questions on the 1880 exam. You will find the corresponding page numbers in square brackets following the questions transcribed below…You’re welcome.

The course was taught by Richmond Mayo-Smith as seen in the Columbia College Handbook of Information 1880. I have included descriptive information about the junior and senior classes in history and political economy found there.

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[From the Columbia College Handbook of Information 1880]

SCHOOL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE.

PROFESSORS

John W. Burgess, A. M.,
Constitutional and International History and Law		 Richmond M. Smith, A.M.,
Political Economy and Social Science (Adjunct).
Archibald Alexander, A.M., Ph.D.,
Philosophy (Adjunct).

OTHER OFFICERS

E. Munroe Smith, LL.B., J.U.D:,
Lecturer on the Roman Law		 Clifford R. Bateman, LL.B.,
Lecturer on Administrative Law.

[…]

HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW.

SOPHOMORE CLASS.

1ST TERM. —German History.
2D TERM.—French History.

JUNIOR CLASS.

1ST TERM—English History.
2D TERM—Political Economy.

SENIOR CLASS.

1ST TERM—Constitutional History of the United States.
2D TERM—Constitutional Law of the United States.
ELECTIVE BOTH TERMS—Political Economy

 

History.—During Sophomore and the first half of Junior year the course in history occupies two hours per week. Some text-book is used, usually those of Freeman’s Historical course for German and French history, and Green’s Short History of the English People for English history.

The instruction to the Senior Class occupies also two hours per week throughout the year, and embraces the following subjects :

I. Character and Constitution of the Colonial Governments in North America; their relation to the English Crown and Parliament; and their history to the Declaration of Independence;

II. Character and Constitution of the Continental Congress as a Revolutionary Government; its relation to the State governments and to the people of the States as a central government ; and the history of its supersedure by the Confederate form.

III. Character and Constitution of the Confederacy as a central authority ; its relation to State governments and to the individual; the historical consequence of its defects and weaknesses, and its final supersedure by the Federal form.

IV. History of the Formation and Adoption of the Federal Constitution; nature and powers of the government which it established; its relation to the State governments and the individual citizen.

V. Interpretation of the Provisions of the Federal Constitution.

VI. History of the Development of the Federal Constitution from its adoption to the present time.

The text and reference books used in connection with this course are: Hildreth, History of the United States; Bancroft, History of the United States; Curtis, History of the Constitution; The Federalist; Story, Constitutional Law; Pomeroy, Constitutional Law; Von Holst, Constitution and Democracy in the United States; Benton, Thirty Years’ View; Jennings, Eighty Years of Republican Government in the United States; Fisher, Trial of the Constitution; Decisions of the United States Supreme Court upon all constitutional questions.

 

Political Economy—There are two courses in Political Economy. During the second term of Junior year it is required from all students of that class. A systematic outline of the science is given, generally with the use of a text-book, either Fawcett’s or Rogers’s Manual of Political Economy.

[Fawcett, Henry. Manual of Political Economy. 1st ed., 1863; 2nd ed., 1865; 3rd ed., 1869; 4th ed., revised and enlarged 1874; 5th ed., revised and enlarged 1876; 6th ed., 1883;  7th ed., 1888;  8th ed., 1907.

Rogers, James Edwin Thorold. A Manual of Political Economy for Schools and Colleges. First Edition, 1868; Second edition, revised, 1869; Third edition revised, 1876.]

Political Economy may be elected by the students of the Senior Class, two hours per week throughout the year. Instruction is given by lectures on the following topics:

Systems of Land Tenure, past and present, in different countries, and their economic and social effects; Science of Finance, including a consideration of Money, Paper Money, Banking, and Taxation; Financial History and present situation of England, Germany, France, and the United States. All these topics are treated historically as well as critically; and with reference to the economic development in the History of Civilization.

Three or four theses on topics assigned by the professor are required from students of this class, To furnish these students with facilities for such work, besides the books in the college library, a special library of works in the department of Political Economy has been purchased and is for the exclusive use of the students of this class.

 

Source: Columbia College. Handbook of Information as to the Course of Instruction, etc., etc. New York: 1880, pp. x, 41-43.

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[Examination Questions in Political Economy 1880]

COLUMBIA COLLEGE
POLITICAL ECONOMY

JUNIOR CLASS, 1880.

[Page references to Rogers’ Manual of Political Economy, 3rd ed. 1876]

  1. Give a history of the English Poor Laws. [p. 121 ff.]
  2. What do you mean by Co-operation? What are the supposed advantages to the laborer? Explain the system of the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers [pp. 135-137] and of the Schultze-Delitsch Credit-Banks [p. 106-109].
  3. What determines the rate of wages of labor, and what effect does the customary food of laborers have on their wages? [p. 65]
  4. Explain the following sentence: “It will be clear that the machinery of a Trade’s Union cannot increase wages by depressing the profits of capital.” [p. 90]
  5. Explain and illustrate the following: “Banks of issue find it possible to circulate a far larger amount of paper than the gold on which the paper is based.” What effect does the abstraction of gold have in such a case? [pp. 43 ff.]
  6. What is meant by an income tax; on what part of the income should it be levied and why? [pp. 278-281]
  7. Explain the origin of the Irish cottier system of land tenure, its evils and the proposed remedy. [pp. 175 ff.]
  8. Explain the following sentences from the text book:
    “It (Protection) inflicts actual suffering or inconvenience on the public in order to secure a delusive benefit to individuals.” “It will be clear also that the Protection cannot stimulate general industry.” “In fact, whenever it (the state) protects particular kinds of labor it diminishes capital.” “Every country enjoys a natural protection to its manufactures.” [pp. 234-235]

 

Source: Harry Thurston Peck (ed.), Examination Papers Used During the Years 1877-1882 in Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Amherst and Williams Colleges. New York: Gilliss Brothers, 1882, p. 57-58.

Image Source:  University and their Sons. History, Influence and Characteristics of American Universities with Biographical Sketches and Portraits of Alumni and Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Editor-in-chief, General Joshua L. Chamberlain, LL.D.  Boston: R. Herdon Company.  Vol. 2, 1899, pp. 582.

Categories
M.I.T. Suggested Reading Syllabus

MIT. Business Cycles Reading List. Samuelson, 1952

We can see an enormous change in the syllabus of Paul Samuelson’s graduate course on business cycles in this first term of the 1952-53 academic year compared to the course he taught in the second term of the 1942-43 academic year. 

 

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[Course Description]

14.481. Business Cycles (A). Statistical, historical, and theoretical examination of determinants of income, production and employment. Modern methods of analysis, forecasting, and control.

 

Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bulletin. Catalogue Issue for 1952-1953 Session. June 1952, p. 149.

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[in pencil: 14.481]

Reading Assignments
Business Cycles, Fall, 1952

The periods of time allocated to various subjects are very approximate.

 

I. Some fundamental notions about economic dynamics, 2 weeks.
Frisch: “On the Notion of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 3, 1935, pp. 100-105.
Baumol: Economic Dynamics, Chapters 1, 7, 8.
Anyone who would like to learn a little about difference equations might study Chapters 9, 10, 11 of Baumol’s book.
Samuelson: Foundations of Economic Analysis, Ch. 11, pp. 311-344.
Harrod: Towards a Dynamic Economics, Lecture 1.
Samuelson: “Dynamic Process Analysis,” Chapter 10 in a Survey of Contemporary Economics, ed. Ellis, pp. 352-387.

II. Examples of informal theories of the business cycle, 2 weeks.
Pigou: Industrial Fluctuations, Chapters II-XII, pp. 18-138.
Clark: Strategic Factors in Business Cycles, pp. 160-226.
Mitchell: “Business Cycles” in Readings in Business Cycle Theory, pp. 43-60.

III. Examples of formal models of the business cycle, 2 weeks.
Goodwin: Chapter 22 in Hansen: Business Cycles and National Income, pp. 417-468.
Goodwin: Innovations and the Irregularity of Economic Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1946.
Hicks: A Contribution to the Theory of the Trade Cycle, Chapters 7, 8, pp. 83-107.
Samuelson: “Interaction of the Multiplier and the Acceleration Principle,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1939, pp. 75-78. Reprinted in Readings in Business Cycle Theory.
Kaldor: “A Model of the Trade Cycle,” Economic Journal, 1940, pp. 78-92.
Kalecki: Essays in the Theory of Economic Fluctuations, Chapter 6.
Metzler: “The Nature and Stability of Inventory Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1941, pp. 113-129.
Metzler: “Factors Affecting the Length of Inventory Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1947, pp. 1-15.
Abramowitz: Inventories and Business Cycles, pp. 3-34, 90-131, 312-326.

IV. Econometric Models, 2-3 weeks.
Clark: “A System of Equations Explaining the United States Trade Cycle,” Econometrica, 1949, pp. 93-125.
Klein: Economic Fluctuations in the United States, pp. 1-12; 84-122.
Christ: “A Test of an Econometric Model for the United States, 1921-1947,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Conference on Business Cycles, pp. 35-130.

V. The Economics of Long-Run Growth, 3-4 weeks.
Harrod: Towards a Dynamic Economics, Lecture 3.
Hicks: Trade Cycle, Chapters 5, 6, pp. 56-83.
Domar: Expansion and Employment,” American Economic Review, 1947, pp. 34-55.
Baumol: Economic Dynamics, Chapters 2, 4, 9.
Robinson: The Rate of interest and Other Essays, pp. 67-142.
Schelling: “Capital Growth and Equilibrium,” American Economic Review, 1947, pp. 864-876.
Abramowitz: “Economics of Growth,” in Survey of Contemporary Economics, Vol. II, pp. 132-182.
Alexander: “The Accelerator as a Generator of Steady Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1949, pp. 174-197.
Rostow: Aspects of Economic Growth, Part I.

VI. Reading Period, 1 week.
Hansen: Business Cycles and National Income, Part III, pp. 211-498.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Paul A. Samuelson Papers, Box 33, Folder “14.451 Business Cycles, 1943-1955”.

Image Source: MIT, Technique 1950.

 

Categories
Suggested Reading Syllabus Yale

Yale. Graduate Course Keynesian Economics, Tobin. 1951-52

James Tobin came to Yale in 1950 at the rank of associate professor following his three years as a Junior Fellow of Harvard’s Society of Fellows that included a research stay at Richard Stone’s Department of Applied Economics in Cambridge. His Yale graduate course on “Aggregative Theory” covered contemporary Keynesian macroeconomics at mid-century.

This picture in his navy uniform is dated December 1945 according to the Yale archives.

_______________________________

Economics 110: 1951-52

1. Introduction to Model-building. Equilibrium Systems and their Stability

T. C. Schelling, National Income Behavior, Chs. 2, 3, 4 (pp 41-2), 5, 12.
R. G. D. Allen, Mathematical Analysis for Economists, Sections 2.9, 11.6, 11.7.
P. A. Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, Chs. I, II, and pp. 257-260.
Schelling, pp. 42-52.

2. The Keynesian and Classical Aggregative Models

J. R. Hicks, “Mr. Keynes and the Classics; a Suggested Interpretation”, Econometrica, V, 1937, p. 147.
R. F. Harrod, “Keynes and Traditional Theory” Econometrica, V, 1937 (reprinted, in The New Economics, p. 591.)
F. Modigliani, “Liquidity Preference and the Theory of Interest and Money” Econometrica, XII, 1944.
O. Lange, “The Rate of Interest and the Optimum Propensity to Consume” Economica, 1938 (reprinted in Readings in Business Cycle Theory, p. 169.
L. R. Klein, The Keynesian Revolution, Ch. III.

J. E. Meade, “A Simplified Model of Keynes’ System”, Review of Economic Studies, February 1937 (reprinted in The New Economics, p. 606)
Samuelson, Foundations, pp. 276-283.

W. Leontief, “The Fundamental Assumption of Keynes’ ‘General Theory’” Quarterly Journal of Economics, LI, 1936, p. 192.
W. Leontief, “Postulates: Keynes’ General Theory and the Classicists,” The New Economics, p. 232.

L. R. Klein, The Keynesian Revolution, 199-206.
J. Marschak, Income, Employment, and the Price Level, Lectures 18, 19, 20, Supplementary Lectures II, III.

3. The Consumption Function

a. Asset Holdings and the “Pigou Effect”

A. C. Pigou, “The Classical Stationary State”, EJ, 1943, 343-351.
M. Kalecki, “Professor Pigou on ‘The Classical Stationary State’—A Comment”, EJ 1944, 131-2.
Pigou, “Economic Progress in a Stable Environment”, E, 1947, 180-90.
Don Patinkin, “Price Flexibility and Full Employment”, AER 1948, 543-64 and Comment by H. Stein and Reply by Patinkin, AER 1949, 725-8.
Klein, 206-213
[Handwritten addition:] G. Ackley, “The Wealth-Saving Relationship”, JPE 1951, 154-161.

b. Problems of Aggregation

Klein, 192-196.
Staehle, “Short-period Variations in the Distribution of Incomes,” REStat 1937, 133-143, and 1939, 129-30.
Marschak, “Personal and Collective Budget Functions” REStat 1939, 161-70.
T. Haavelmo, “Family Expenditures and the Marginal Propensity to Consume”, Ec 1947, 335-341.
J. S. Duesenberry, Income, Saving and the Theory of Consumer Behavior, Chapters III, IV.
H. Lubell, “Effects of Income Redistribution on Consumers’ Expenditures” AER 1947, 157-170 and 930-1.
D. Brady and R. Friedman, “Savings and the Income Distribution”, Studies in Income and Wealth, X, 247-265.

c. The “secular” and “cyclical” functions

A. H. Hansen, Economic Policy and Full Employment, Ch. XIV.
A. H. Hansen, “A Note on the Secular Consumption Function” AER 1950, 662-4.
F. Modigliani, “Fluctuations in the Saving-Income Ratio” Studies in Income and Wealth, XI, 371-443.
J. S. Duesenberry, op. cit., Chapters III, IV, V.
L. Metzler, “Three Lags in the Circular Flow of Income”, in Income, Employment, and Public Policy (in honor of Hansen), 11-32.
R. P. Mack, “The Direction of Change in Income and the Consumption Function”, REStat, 1948, 239-258.

4. Liquidity Preference and the Theory of Interest

T. Wilson, Fluctuations in Income and Employment, Chapters I, II.
D. H. Robertson, Essays in Monetary Theory, Ch. I.
D. H. Robertson, “Some Notes on the Theory of Interest” in Money, Trade, and Economic Growth (in honor of J. H. Williams) 193-209.
A. H. Hansen, Monetary Theory and Fiscal Policy, Chapters 3, 4.
W. Fellner, Monetary Policies and Full Employment, Chapters V, VI.
N. Kaldor, “Speculation and Economic Stability” RES Oct. 1939, 1-27.
M. Kalecki, “The Short-Term and the Long-term Rate of Interest” Studies in Economic Dynamics, 32-46.
J. R. Hicks, Value and Capital, Chapters XI, XII, XIII.
P. A. Samuelson, Foundations, 122-4.
T. Scitovsky, “A Study of Interest and Capital” E 1940, 293-317.
A. Smithies, “Process Analysis and Equilibrium Analysis” EC 1942, 26-38.
[Handwritten addition:] L. Metzler, “Wealth, Saving, and the Rate of Interest”, JPE 1951, 93-113.

5. The Investment Function

Klein, 196-199.
Wilson, op. cit., Chapters V, VI, VII.
N. Kaldor, “A Model of the Trade Cycle” EJ 1940, 78-92.
M. Kalecki, “A New Approach to the Problem of Business Cycles” RES, Vol. XVI, 1949-50, 57-64.
A. P. Lerner, The Economics of Control, Chapter 25.
R. M. Goodwin, “Econometrics in Business-Cycle Analysis” in Hansen, Business Cycles and National Income, 442-449 (rest of chapter will be assigned later)
M. Kalecki, “The Principle of Increasing Risk”, Essays in the Theory of Economic Fluctuations, 95-106.

H. D. Henderson, “The Significance of the Rate of Interest” OEP #1, October 1938, 1-13.
J. Meade and P. W. S. Andrews, “Summary of Replies to Questions on the Effects of Interest Rates” OEP #1, October 1938, 14-31.
R. S. Sayers, “Business Men and the Terms of Borrowing” OEP #3, Feb. 1940, 23-31.
P.W. S. Andrews, “A Further Inquiry into the Effects of Rates of Interest”, OEP #3, Feb. 1940, 32-73.

K. Arrow, “Alternative Approaches to the Theory of choice in Risk-taking Situations” EC October 1951.

 

End of First Term

Abbreviations:

AER:                American Economic Review
EJ:                   Economic Journal
E:                     Economica
EC:                  Econometrica
QJE:                 Quarterly Journal of Economics
JPE:                 Journal of Political Economy
OEP:                Oxford Economic Papers
RES:                Review of Economic Studies
REStat:            Review of Economic(s and) Statistics

_______________________________

 

Economics 110
Reading List for Second Term: Dynamic Aggregative Theory

1. The Meaning of “Dynamics”

Samuelson, “Dynamic Process Analysis,” in Survey of Contemporary Economics, 352-355, 374-376.
Frisch, “On the Notion of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium,” Review of Economic Studies, 1935-36, 100-106.
Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, 311-320, 350-355.
Harrod, Towards a Dynamic Economics, 1-19.

[Handwritten marginal comment: Baumol? Schelling?]

2. The Mathematics of Dynamics

Samuelson, “Dynamic Process Analysis,” 356-367, 377-387.
Tinbergen, Business Cycles in the U.S.A. 1919-1932, 15-18, 140-147.

Suggested for further study:
Allen, Mathematical Analysis for Economists, Chapter XVI.
Samuelson, Foundations, Appendix B.
[Handwritten addition:] Schelling, Appendix.

3. The Nature and Logic of Dynamic Business Cycle Theory

Tinbergen, “Econometric Business Cycle Research”, in Readings in Business Cycle Theory.
Samuelson, Foundations, 335-342.
Frisch, “Propagation Problems and Impulse Problems in Dynamic Economics”, Economic Essays in Honour of Gustav Cassel, 171-206.
Tinbergen, “Annual Survey: Quantitative Business Cycle Theory”, Econometrica, 1935, 241-308.
Schumpeter, Business Cycles, 179-192, 533-535.

4. The Short-run Stability of Aggregative Models

Samuelson, Foundations, 257-269, 276-283.
Kaldor, “A Model of the Trade Cycle,” Economic Journal, 1940, 78-92.
Smithies, “Process Analysis and Equilibrium Analysis,” Econometrica, 1942, 26-38.
Metzler, “Three Lags in the Circular Flow of Income,” in Income, Employment, and Public Policy (Essays in Honor of Alvin H. Hansen).
Metzler, “The Nature and Stability of Inventory Cycles,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1941, 113-129.

5. Capital Accumulation and Growth

Domar, “Capital Expansion, Rate of Growth, and Employment,” Econometrica, 1946, 137-148.
Domar, “Expansion and Employment,” American Economic Review, 1947, 42-55.
Harrod, “An Essay in Dynamic Theory”, Economic Journal 1939, 14-33.
Fellner, Monetary Policies and Full Employment, Chapter II.
Schelling, “Capital Growth and Equilibrium,” American Economic Review, 1947, 864-876.
Alexander, “The Accelerator as a Generator of Steady Growth,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1949, 174-197.

6. Capital Accumulation and Cycles

Samuelson, “Interaction between the Multiplier Analysis and the Principle of Acceleration,” in Readings in Business Cycle Theory, 261-269.
Kalecki, Essays in the Theory of Economic Fluctuations, 116-149.
(Suggested: Kalecki, “A Macrodynamic Theory of Business Cycles,” Econometrica, 1935, 327-344.)
Hicks, The Trade Cycle.
Leontief, “Recent Developments in the Study of Interindustrial Relationships, American Economic Review (Proceedings), Mar. 1949, 211-225.
Georgescu-Roegen, “Relaxation Phenomena in Linear Dynamic Models,” in Activity Analysis of Production and Allocation, (Cowles Commission Monograph 13).

7. The Dynamic Theory of Inflation

Keynes, How to Pay for the War, 57-74.
Koopmans, “The Dynamics of Inflation,” Review of Economic Statistics, 1942, 53-65.
Smithies, “The Behavior of Money National Income under Inflationary Conditions”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1942-43, 113-128.
Duesenberry, “The Mechanics of Inflation,” Review of Economics of Statistics, Mar. 1950, 144-149.
Holzmann, “Income Determination in Open Inflation,” Review of Economics & Statistics, Mar. 1950, 150-158.

 

Source: Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives. James Tobin Papers, Box 18, Folder “Ec 103 [sic]” and “Ec 110, 1951-52].

 

Image Source: Yale University Manuscripts & Archives. Digital Images Database. “James Tobin in war uniform (1945-December)”.

 

Categories
Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Honors Economic Theory, Chamberlin/Leontief/Taylor, 1939-40

In the following academic year (1940-41) this year-long course was broken into two distinct semester courses, Economics 1a (Economic Theory/Chamberlin) and Economics 1b (The Intellectual Background of Economic Thought/Taylor). From the enrollment statistics and the course catalogue we see that this was mainly a course taken in the junior year by undergraduates pursuing an A.B. with honors in economics.

Since this posting, I have included a transcription of the final examination questions for the second term of this course.

____________________

[Harvard Catalogue Course Listing]

Economics 1. Economic Theory

Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructors) Fri., at 11. Professor Chamberlin, Dr. O. H. Taylor, and Associate Professor Leontief.

This course will be conducted mainly by discussion. It is open only to candidates for the degree with honors. The first half (but not the second) may be taken as a half-course with the consent of the instructor.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences During 1939-40 (2nd ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXVI, No. 42 (September 22, 1939), p. 154.

____________________

[Course Enrollment]

[Economics] 1.  Professor Chamberlin, Dr. O. H. Taylor, and Associate Professor Leontief. – Economic Theory.

1 Graduate, 1 Senior, 51 Juniors, 1 Other:  Total, 54.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of the Departments, 1939-40, p. 98.

____________________

ECONOMICS 1

1939-40

First Semester

  1. The Law of Supply and Demand. Meaning and Generality. Relation to the Law of Cost. Cost curves and supply curves. Relation to monopoly and to competition. Pure and perfect competition. Market problem illustrating deviations from “equilibrium” as defined by perfect competition. Equilibrium vs. the equation of supply and demand.
    Mill – Principles, Book III, chapters 2, 3, 5.
    Chamberlin – Monopolistic Competition, chapters 1, 2.
    Henderson – Supply and Demand, chapters 1, 2.
    Marshall – Principles, pp. 348-50; p. 806 note.
  2. Competitive theory, illustrated by Marshall.
    Marshall – Principles, Book V, chapters 1-5; Book IV, chapter 13; Book V, chapters 8, 9, 10, 12.
  3. The effect of small numbers in the market.
    Monopolistic Competition, chapter 3.
  4. Product differentiation. Co-existence and blending of monopoly and competition. Output (sales) as a function of price, “product” and selling outlays. Price-quantity relationships examined in some detail, selling costs and products as variables more briefly.
    Monopolistic Competition, chapters 4, 5, 6, 7 (pp. 130-149); Appendices C, D, E.
    Alsberg, C.L. – “Economic Aspects of Adulteration and Imitation”, Q.J.E., Vol. 46, p. 1 (1931).
  5. Production and Distribution. Diminishing returns. Diminishing marginal productivity. The laws of cost. General effect of monopoly elements on the analysis.
    Garver & Hansen – Principles, chapter 5.
    Wicksell – Lectures on Political Economy, Vol. I, pp. 101-133 (omit all small type except on pages 111, 113, 114 and 115.) [Knut Wicksell, Vorlesungen über Nationalökonomie auf Grundlage des Marginalprinzipes, 2 vols. [1913]]
    Viner, J.  – “Cost Curves and Supply Curves,” Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie, 1931.
    Monopolistic Competition, Appendix B.
  6. Theory of Wages.
    Hicks – Theory of Wages, Part I.

____________________

Economics 1
Second Semester
1939-40

  1. Theory of Wages (continued). Professor Leontief.
    Hicks, J. R., Theory of Wages, Chs. 9 and 10.
    Lester, R. A., “Overtime Wage Rates,” The American Economic Review, December, 1939. (Suggested)
    Douglas, P. H., The Theory of Wages, Ch. 13.
  2. Theory of Rent.
    Ricardo, D., Principles, Ch. 3 [sic, Ch. 2 intended].
    Marshall, Principles, Book V, Chs. 10,11.
  3. Theory of Capital and Interest.
    Clark, J. B., Distribution of Wealth, Chs. 9, 20.
    Böhm-Bawerk, Positive Theory of Capital, Books II, Chs. 2 and 5, Book V.
    Fisher, Irving, The Rate of Interest, Chs. 5, 6, and 7.
  4. Production and Distribution Interrelated.
    Wicksell, Lectures on Political Economy, Vol. I, pp. 196-206 (omit small type)
    [Knut Wicksell, Vorlesungen über Nationalökonomie auf Grundlage des Marginalprinzipes, 2 vols. [1913]].
    Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Chs. 2 and 8, paragraph B.
  5. Profits. Professor Chamberlin.
    Marshall, Book VI, chapter 5, section 7; Chs. 7, 8.
    Taussig, Principles, Vol. II, Ch. 50, section 1.
    Henderson, Supply and Demand, chapter 7.
    Berle and Means, The Modern Corporation, Book IV.
    Chamberlin, Monopolistic Competition, Ch. 5, section 6; Ch. 7, section 6: Appendices D, E; Ch. 8.
  6. Welfare Economics. Dr. O. H. Taylor.
    Pigou, A. C. Economics of Welfare (3rd ed.), Part I, Chs. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8; and Part II, Chs. 1-8 inclusive, 9, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17. [4th edition, 1932]
  7. Criticisms of Economic Theory, its Method and Assumptions. I. Psychology and Economics.
    Mitchell, W. C., “The Rationality of Economic Activity,” Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 18, pp. 97 ff., and 197 ff. (February, March 1910).
    Mitchell, W. C., “Human Behavior and Economics,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 29, p. 1 ff. (November 1914).
    Mitchell, W. C., “The Prospects of Economics,” in The Trend of Economics, volume edited by R. G. Tugwell.
  8. Criticisms of Economic Theory, its Method and Assumptions. II. Economic Principles as “Natural Laws.”
    Tugwell, R. G. “Experimental Economics,” part on “Natural Law,” in volume The Trends of Economics.
    Taylor, O. H., “Economics and Natural Law,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 44, p. 1ff., and p. 205 ff.

 

___________________________

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and Reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1), Box 2; Folder: “Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1939-40”.

Categories
Chicago Exam Questions Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Theory of Income and Employment. Domar, 1948

Jacob Marschak’s course “The Theory of Income and Employment” was taught by the (visiting) assistant professor of economics and research associate in the Cowles Commission, Evsey D. Domar, in the Spring Quarter of 1948. The appointment must have taken place after the Announcements for 1947-1948 were published in May, 1947, so one presumes there was a relatively late change in plans.

For those interested in Domar’s early backstory,  Evsey (Joshua) Domashevitsky arrived in the U.S. on the S.S. Taizo Maru that departed 27 July 1936 from Kobe, Japan and arrived at the port of Los Angeles, California August 16. Domar (“race: Hebrew; nationality: White Russian”) was born April 16, 1914 in Lodz, Poland and last resided in Dairen, Manchuria (now Dalian or Talien, China) before he left for the U.S. He worked his way through UCLA and his graduation photo from the college yearbook graces this posting.

___________________

ECONOMICS 335
THE THEORY OF INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT

Spring, 1948
E. D. Domar

Required Reading List

It is assumed that the students are familiar with the contents of the first 20 chapters of A. P. Lerner’s Economics of Control.

 

PART I.   THE MEASUREMENT OF TOTAL OUTPUT.         March 30 – April 1

Simon Kuznets, National Income and Its Composition, V. I, Ch. 1.
J. R. Hicks and A. G. Hart, The Social Framework of the American Economy, ch. 3, 8, 10-13, 15, 16.
National Planning Association, National Budgets for Full Employment.
Survey of Current Business, National Income Supplement, July, 1947.

 

PART II.   THE ESSENCE OF THE THEORY.    April 3- 28.

J. M. Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.
A. P. Lerner, Economics of Control, ch. 21-25.
American Economic Association, Readings in Business Cycle Theory, ch. 5-12.
S. E. Harris, editor. The New Economics, ch. 9, 11-15, 19, 33, 36.
Oscar Lange, Price Flexibility and Employment, pp. 1-90.
Milton Friedman, “Lange on Price Flexibility and Employment,” American Economic Review, Sept. 1946 (Reprints in Harper Reserve Room).
Lawrence Klein, The Keynesian Revolution, ch. 3-5.
Gottfried Haberler, Prosperity and Depression, Ch. 8, 13.
A. C. Pigou, “The Classical Stationary State,” The Economic Journal, December 1943.
J. E. Meade and P. W. S. Andrews, “Summary of Replies to Questions on Effects of Interest Rates,” and “A Further Inquiry into the Effects of Rates of Interest,” Oxford Economic Papers, No. 1, 1938 and No. 3, 1940.
Simon Kuznets, “Relation between Capital Goods and Finished Products in the Business Cycle,” in Economic Essays in Honor of Wesley Clair Mitchell.
R. F. Kahn, “The Relation of Home Investment to Unemployment,” Economic Journal, 1931.

 

PART III.   UNDERCONSUMPTION, MATURE ECONOMY, AND CAPITAL ACCUMULATION.        May 4-14.

A. H. Hansen, Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles.
A. H. Hansen, Economic Policy and Full Employment, ch. 15, 16, Appendix B.
E. D. Domar, “Expansion and Employment,” American Economic Review, 1947 (reprints on reserve).
E. D. Domar, “The Problem of Capital Accumulation,” (Mimeographed).
P. M. Sweezy, The Theory of Capitalist Development, ch. 10, 12.
J. A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, Part II.
G. Terborgh, The Bogey of Economic Maturity.
Readings in Business Cycle Theory, ch. 19-20.

 

PART IV.   POLICY          May 15- June 10.

(in addition to preceding readings)

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Public Finance and Full Employment, Postwar Economic Studies No. 3, pp. 1-21, 53-68.
A. H. Hansen, Economic Policy and Full Employment, parts IV, V, VI.
M. De Chazeau and others (Committee for Economic Development) Jobs and Markets: How to Prevent Inflation and Depression.
E. F. Burchard and others (Oxford University Institute of Statistics), The Economics of Full Employment.
Mints, Hansen and others. Symposium of Fiscal and Monetary Policy, The Review of Economic Statistics, May 1946.
J. Mosak and Arthur Smithies, “Forecasting Post-War Demand,” Econometrica, 1945.
H. Simons, “Hansen on Fiscal Policy,” The Journal of Political Economy, 1942.
National Budgets for Full Employment
Economic Report of the President, January 1948.
A. P. Lerner and F. D. Graham, Planning and Paying for Full Employment.
M. Friedman, “A Monetary and Fiscal Framework for Economic Stability,” (Mimeographed).
W. H. Beveridge, Full Employment in a Free Society, a general survey, with emphasis on Appendix C.

___________________

Economics 335
Final Examination

June 17, 1948
One hour and fifteen minutes

Answer all questions. They carry equal weights.

  1. Ever since the end of the war, it has been asserted by various authorities that increased production is the best cure against inflation. But it can be also argued that while increased production enlarges the supply of goods, it also generates additional income and therefore demand. So in the end it may or it may not mitigate inflation.
    Analyze this question and try to find the correct answer. The quality and depth of your analysis will count more than its quantity.
  2. “In spite of his claims to the contrary, Keynes did not succeed in proving the possibility of underemployment equilibrium if wages and prices were flexible. That a long period of unemployment could persist as a result of wage and price rigidity we had known long before Keynes.”
    Comment on this statement and show what effects would flexible prices and wages have on elimination of unemployment (in a depression) and stabilization of the price level (in an inflation). Indicate clearly every step in your analysis. What practical recommendations follow from your discussion?
  3. You were employed by the U. S. Bureau of the Budget in 1941 to make an economic forecast and to recommend practical policy measures to prevent both unemployment and inflation in the year 1942, when large war expenditures were expected. Following roughly the method of national budgets (or an equally good alternative one) set up a hypothetical but reasonable numerical model for the year 1942. Show clearly (a) the information you will require; (b) the assumptions you will make; (c) how (a) and (b) are brought together; and (d) policy recommendations you will make. Indicate each step explicitly.
  4. Write for some twenty minutes on any subject covered in the course, but not included in the preceding questions and not studied in your term paper. Make sure you have something worth-while to say.

 

___________________

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Evsey D. Domar Papers, Box 15, Folder: “Macroeconomics, Old Reading Lists”; Box 16, Folder: “Final Exams. Johns Hopkins, Stanford, U of Michigan”.

Image Source: Joshua Domashevitsky (Evsey D. Domar), University of California at Los Angeles, Bruin Life Yearbook/Southern Campus Yearbook, 1939, p. 52. Caption to graduation picture: “Joshua Domashevitsky, A. B./Economics/ Transferred from State College of Law, Manchuria: Foreign Trade Club; Artus, Chancellor of the Exchequer 4.”

Categories
Chicago Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. International Trade and Policy. Advanced Graduate. Metzler, 1948 and 1950

Today we have the reading list for an early iteration of Lloyd A. Metzler’s second advanced course in international economics: the theory of foreign trade and commercial policy. The course was held in the Winter quarter of 1948 at the University of Chicago. I have used squared brackets and bold-blue text to indicate additions and  other changes or deletions for his Spring Quarter 1950 reading list.

______________________________________

[Course Description]

[Economics] 371. INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND COMMERCIAL POLICY. Price theory and international trade; the gains from international specialization. International trade and the distribution of income. Historical and theoretical discussion of the theory of tariffs. Commercial policies of particular countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Commodity agreements and cartels. The growth of state trading. The new mercantilism. Prereq: Econ 330 or equiv. Spr: TuThS 9:30; Metzler.

Source: University of Chicago Announcements Division of the Social Sciences, 1949-1950. p.28.

______________________________________

[Handwritten] Winter 1948
[Date noted with course title in 1950]

 

ECONOMICS 371
[Spring Quarter – 1950]

Major Topics and Selected Reading

I. Mercantilism and the Classical Theory of the Gains from Trade.

J. Viner, Studies in the Theory of International Trade, Chapters 1, 2.
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book IV.
David Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, Chapter 7.
J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book III, Chapters 17, 18.
J. M. Keynes, General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, Chapter 23.

II. Modern Price Theory and the Gains from Trade.

Alfred Marshall, Money, Credit and Commerce, Appendix J.
Gottfried Haberler, The Theory of International Trade, Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12.
J. Viner, Studies in the Theory of International Trade, Chapters 8, 9.
W. W. Leontief, “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1933. [reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade]
P. A. Samuelson, “Welfare Economics and International Trade,” American Economic Review, 1938.
[F. D. Graham, “The Theory of International Values Reexamined,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1923, reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade.
F. D. Graham, The Theory of International Values, Princeton, N. J., 1948.
E. F. Heckscher, “The Effect of Foreign Trade on the Distribution of Income,” Ekonmish Tidshrift, 1919, reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade.
P. A. Samuelson, “International Trade and the Equalization of Factor Prices,” Economic Journal, June, 1948.
P. A. Samuelson, “International Factor Price Equalization Once Again,” Economic Journal, June, 1949.]

III. The Theory of Tariffs

Gottfried Haberler, The Theory of International Trade, Chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.
Alfred Marshall, Money, Credit and Commerce, Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.
Tibor de Scitovsky, “A Reconsideration of the Theory of Tariffs,” Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 9, 1941-42.[reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade.]
F. W. Taussig, International Trade, Chapter 13.
W. F. Stolper and Paul A. Samuelson, “Protection and Real Wages,” Review of Economic Studies, 1941. [reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade.]
F. D. Graham, “Some Aspects of Protection Further Considered,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1923. [Item replaced by: F. D. Graham, Protective Tariffs, Princeton, N. J., 1942.]

 

IV. Some Aspects of Commercial Policy

F. W. Taussig, Some Aspects of the Tariff Question.
F. W. Taussig, Tariff History of the United States.
F. Benham, Great Britain Under Protection.
E. B. McGuire, The British Tariff System.
F. A. Haight, French Import Quotas.

 

V. The Reciprocal Trade Agreements Program of the United States [Section title changed: Recent Developments in Commercial Policy]

H. J. Tasca, The Reciprocal Trade Policy of the United States, 1938.
G. Beckett, “The Effect of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements upon the Foreign Trade of the U. S.,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1940.
[J. M. Letiche, Reciprocal Trade Agreements in the World Economy, 1948.
U. S. Department of State, Analysis of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Washington, D. C., 1947.
U. S. Department of State, Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization, 1948.]

 

VI. Cartels and Commodity Agreements.

C. Edwards, International Cartels, 1945.
E. S. Mason, Controlling World Trade, 1946.
J. S. Davis, International Commodity Agreements: Hope, Illusion, or Menace?, 1947.
[G. W. Stocking and M. W. Watkins, Cartels or Competition?, 1948.]

 

VII. The International Trade Organization [This section dropped in 1950]

Draft Charter of Proposed International Trade Organization, Geneva, 1947.

 

VIII. International Relations and the Structure of World Trade.

A. O. Hirschmann [sic], National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade, 1945.
J. Viner, “International Relations Between State Controlled National Economies,” American Economic Review, 1944 Supplement.
H. S. Ellis, Bilateralism and the Future of International Trade, Princeton University Essays in International Finance.
J. M. Keynes, “National Self Sufficiency,” Yale Review, 1933. [Keynes dropped in 1950]
D. H. Robertson, “The Future of International Trade,” Economic Journal, 1938.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Lloyd Appleton Metzler Papers, Box 9, Folder: “Econ. 371”.

 

 

 

Categories
Chicago Suggested Reading Syllabus

Chicago. Advanced International Monetary Economics. Metzler, 1950

At the University of Chicago graduate courses numbered in the 200’s were called “Intermediate Courses” and those in the 300’s were “Survey and problem courses in special fields…The main purpose…is to prepare students for research.” The 400’s courses were for “Research, reading, and seminars”.

The Departmental course requirements for an M.A. in economics at the University of Chicago in 1950: “Normally fifteen courses (or their equivalent) in economics, eight of which ordinarily will be at the 300 level.”

The Departmental course requirements for a Doctor’s degree at the University of Chicago in 1950: “Completion of a program of work in economics at the 300-400 level ordinarily embracing at least six quarters of formal training”. Presumably this means in addition to the eight quarters at the 300 level for the M.A.

A few obvious misprints have been corrected and I have attempted to impose a consistent formatting (e.g. book titles underlined, etc.).

 _______________________________

[Course Description]

[Economics] 370. MONETARY ASPECTS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. Foreign payments and receipts. Classical and modern theories of adjustment of the balance of payments. Theories of exchange rates. Capital movements in the balance of payments. Postwar monetary plans. Prereq: Econ 330, 335, or equiv. Win: MTuWF 8:30 Metzler.

Source: University of Chicago.Announcements: The Division of the Social Sciences, Sessions of 1950-1951, p. 31.

_______________________________

ECONOMICS 370
Major Topics and Selected Reading
Winter, 1950

Lloyd A. Metzler

I. Elementary Principles of Foreign Payments and Receipts.

G. Haberler, The Theory of International Trade, Introduction.
P. T. Ellsworth, International Economics, Part I, Chaps. VII and VIII.

 

II. The Balance of Payments and the Measurement of Income.

J. R. Hicks and A. G. Hart, The Social Framework of the American Economy, Chapter 12.
R. F. Bennett, “Significance of International Transactions in National Income,” National Bureau of Economic Research, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. VI, 1943.
Dept. of Commerce, National Income Supplement to Survey of Current Business, 1947.

 

III. Classical and Modern Theories of Adjustment of the Balance of Payments.

R. F. Harrod, International Economics, Chapters VI and VII.
F. Machlup, International Trade and the National Income Multiplier. Chaps. I-V.
F. W. Taussig, International Trade, Chaps. XVII-XXI.
J. Viner, Canada’s Balance of International Indebtedness.
League of Nations, International Currency Experience, Chapters I and IV.
G. Haberler, The Theory of International Trade, Chaps. II and III.
J. Viner, Studies in the Theory of International Trade, Chaps. VI and VII.
R. Nurkse, “Conditions of International Monetary Equilibrium”, Princeton University, Essays in International Finance, reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade.
F. W. Paish, “Banking Policy and the Balance of International Payments”, Economica, 1936, reprinted in Readings.
W. A. Salant, “Foreign Trade Policy in the Business Cycle,” Public Policy, reprinted in Readings.

 

IV. Theory of Income Transfers.

J. M. Keynes, “The German Transfer Problem,” Economic Journal, 1929, reprinted in Readings.
B. Ohlin, “Transfer Difficulties, Real and Imagined,” Economic Journal, 1929, also rejoinder by Keynes and reply by Ohlin in subsequent issues, reprinted in Readings.
L. A. Metzler, “The Transfer Problem Reconsidered,” Journal of Political Economy, 1942, reprinted in Readings.
C. Iversen, International Capital Movements, Part II A.

 

V. Fluctuating Exchange Rates

League of Nations, International Currency Experience, Chapter V.
J. Robinson, Essays in the Theory of Employment, Part III, reprinted in Readings.
F. W. Taussig, International Trade, Part III.
G. Cassel, Money and Foreign Exchange after 1914.
S. E. Harris, Exchange Depreciation.
International Monetary Policies, Postwar Economic Studies, No. 7, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
J. E. Meade, “Financial Policy and the Balance of Payments,” Economica, May, 1948.
“Notes on Foreign Currency Adjustments”, Federal Reserve Bulletin, November, 1949.
T. Balogh, “Exchange Depreciation and Economic Readjustment,” Review of Economics and Statistics, November, 1948.
F. Machlup, “The Theory of Foreign Exchange,” reprinted in Readings.
“Readjustment of Foreign Currency Values”, Federal Reserve Bulletin, October, 1949.

 

VI. Multilateral and Bilateral Monetary Policies.

H.S. Ellis, “Bilateralism and the Future of International Trade,” Essays in International Finance, No. 7, Princeton, N. J. reprinted in Readings.
R. Frisch, “Forecasting a Multilateral Balance of Payments,” American Economic Review, XXXVII (September 1947) 535-551.
R. Frisch, “Outline of a System of Multi-Compensatory Trade,” Review of Economics and Statistics, November, 1948.
R. Hinshaw, Professor Frisch on Discrimination and Multilateral Trade, “Review of Economics and Statistics, November, 1948.

 

Source: Duke University. David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Lloyd Appleton Metzler Papers, Box 9, Folder: “Reading Lists 370”.

Source Image: Posting by Margie Metzler on the Metzler Family Tree at the genealogical website, ancestry.com.