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Harvard. Senior year political economy. Levi Hedge, 1825-30.

Political Economy was in the Harvard undergraduate program at least since 1825 when Levi Hedge included Jean Baptiste Say’s Treatise of Political Economy  (a textbook that cost approximately $67 in 2021 prices) as part of the senior year course in the offerings of the department of moral philosophy, civil polity and political economy. 

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DEPARTMENT OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY, CIVIL POLITY, AND POLITICAL ECONOMY.

This is at present exclusively under the superintendence of Levi Hedge, LL. D., Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity.

Instruction in this branch is conducted through studies and recitations in Stewart’s Elements of the Philosophy of the Mind; Paley’s Moral Philosophy; Brown’s Philosophy of the Human Mind, abridged by Dr. Hedge; Say’s Political Economy; and Rawle on the Constitution of the United States.

These studies commence with the Junior year, in Stewart’s Elements; the first volume of which the Class finish about the middle of October. After this they enter upon Paley’s Moral Philosophy, which they finish usually by the end of the first term. After the end of the first term, the Juniors do not recite in these branches during that year.

Recitations are made in divisions, each consisting of one half the Class. About two thirds of each division are taken up for examination at each recitation.

Besides the above, the Juniors have a Forensic exercise, under the instruction of the Professor in this branch, every other week, on Friday; the Junior and Senior classes alternating weekly with each other in this exercise.

Recitations in this branch are heard six days in the week; one division immediately after prayers, and the other division immediately after the study bell (about 8 o’clock); an hour being occupied with each division.

The Forensic every other Friday occupies two hours.

ln the Senior year instruction in this branch is recommenced, with Brown’s Treatise on the Mind. Both volumes of this work are finished by the sixth or seventh week of the second term. The Class then enter upon Say’s Political Economy, which is finished by about the eighth week in the third term. Rawle on the Constitution then succeeds in the course, and with it instruction in this branch ceases.

Rawle is one of those studies, which are denominated “optional”; it being within the option of each individual to study this work, or Smellie’s Natural History with the instructor in that branch. In all the books used as studies in this department, about twelve pages constitute the average length of a lesson.

Besides the preceding, two lectures are delivered every week during the second term (on Mondays and Wednesdays, at 10 o’clock) one hour each, on Civil Polity and on Locke’s Essay on the Understanding.

The members of this Class also each deliver a Forensic every other week, alternating, as above stated, with the Juniors, weekly in this exercise.

Recitations are heard in this branch in the first term for two hours in the afternoon, five days in one week, and four days in the next week, and so alternately through the term; the afternoon of every alternate Friday being reserved for the Forensic.

In the second and third terms, this Class recite to the Professor one hour every day; the whole together, or six hours per week.

As it respects the time occupied by each student and the Professor, it is as follows:—

In the Junior year a Forensic being delivered every other week, and forty weeks (viz. 15 in the first term, 12 in the second, and 13 in the third) constituting the business portion of the whole year, it follows that in this exercise both the student and Professor are occupied (2 x 20) during the year 40 hours.
Each division being heard for one hour every day in the week for the first term, the time employed by each student is (6 x 15) 90 hours.
The time occupied in the Junior year in this branch by the student is…. 130 hours.
The Professor being occupied with each division one hour, that is, two hours with both, there is an occupation of (12 x 15) 180 hours.
To which add the time occupied by him in Forensics 40 hours.
The time occupied by the Professor of this branch with the Juniors is… 220 hours.
The Seniors, in respect of time occupied in the Forensic exercise, coincide with the Juniors; there being employed in it, both for the student and for the Professor, 40 hours.
In respect of time occupied by this Class in recitations in this branch, it is equal in the first term, as above stated, for the student, to (5 x 7½) for half the time of the term (15 weeks), or to 37½ hours.
And (4 x 7½) for the other half, or to 30 hours.
Constituting an occupation for the student, for the whole term, of 67½ hours.
And double that time for the Professor, he hearing each day both divisions, 135 hours.
In the second and third terms, this Class occupy the Professor six hours per week. In both terms there are 25 weeks; so that the time occupied by both student and Professor in these terms, in recitations, is (6 x 25) 150 hours.
Besides which the lectures on Civil Polity and the writings of Locke, delivered in the second term to this Class, occupy two hours per week
(2 x 12)		 24 hours.
So that the time occupied by the student in the Senior year in recitations, lectures, and all exercises in this branch is, as above stated,
In Forensics 40 hours.
In Recitations, the 1st term 67 ½ hours.
In Recitations, 2d and 3d terms 150 hours
And in Lectures 24 hours.
The time occupied by the student 281½ hours
And by the Professor,
In Forensics with the Seniors, 40 hours.
In Recitations, 1st term 135 hours.
In Recitations, 2d and 3d terms 150 hours.
In Lectures with 2d and 3d terms 24 hours.
The time occupied by the Professor 349 hours.
And the general result of the time occupied in all the exercises in this branch in the whole college course is,
For the student in the Junior year 130 hours.
For the student in the Senior year 281 ½ hours.
Result of occupation of time, in recitations, lectures, and like exercises in this branch for each student 411 ½ hours
And for the Professor with the Juniors 220 hours.
And for the Professor with the Seniors 349 hours.
Result of occupation, as above, for the Professor 569 hours.

 

Source: Fourth Annual Report of the President of Harvard University to the Overseers on the State of the Institution,1828-9. Appendix, p. ii-v.

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Book prices

Hedge’s Logick ($0.70), Paley’s Philosophy ($2,00), Brown’s Philosophy (Hedge’s ed., $3.60), Stewart’s Philosophy ($2,40), Say’s Political Economy ($2.40).

Harvard University. First Annual Report of the President of Harvard University to the Overseers on the State of the University, 1825-6 .p. 51.

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Text Links

Dugald Stewart. Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind. Vol. One (New York, 1818); Vol. Two (New York, 1818).

William Paley. The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy. 10th American Edition, Boston: 1821.

Thomas Brown. Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind.  Abridged by Levi Hedge. Vol. One (Cambridge: 1827); Vol. Two (Cambridge: 1827).

Jean-Baptiste Say. A Treatise on Political Economy (trans. C. R. Prinsep). Third American Edition. Philadelphia: 1827.

William Rawle. A View of the Constitution of the United States of America. Philadelphia: 1825.

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One student’s recollection

Dr. Levi Hedge gave a series of profitable talks on International Law, in the second half hour of his recitations in Political Economy. Probably in the senior year (1828-29) as reported in the recollection by Samuel F. Smith (Harvard, A.B., 1829).

Source: The Harvard graduates’ magazine. vol. 2 (1893-94), December, 1893, p. 167.

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Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American Biography
Hedge, Levi

HEDGE, Levi, educator, b. in Hardwick, Mass., 19 April, 1766; d. in Cambridge, Mass., 3 Jan., 1844. He was graduated at Harvard in 1792, appointed a tutor in 1795, and in 1810 became professor of logic and metaphysics. In 1827 he exchanged that post for the Alford professorship of natural religion, moral philosophy, and civil polity, but was compelled by an attack of paralysis to resign in 1830. He published a “System of Logic” (Boston, 1818), which went through many editions, and was translated into German. He also prepared an abridgment of Brown’s “Mental Philosophy” (1827). — His son, Frederic Henry, educator, b. in Cambridge, Mass., 12 Dec., 1805; d. there, 21 Aug., 1890, was sent to school in Germany at the age of twelve, and remained five years. On his return he entered the junior class at Harvard, and was graduated in 1825. He then studied theology at the Cambridge divinity-school, was ordained in 1829, and settled over the Unitarian church in West Cambridge. In 1835 he took charge of a church in Bangor, Me.; in 1850, after spending a year in Europe, became pastor of the Westminster church in Providence, R. I., and in 1856 of the church in Brookline, Mass. In 1857 he was made professor of ecclesiastical history in the divinity-school at Harvard, still retaining his pastoral charge, but resigned the pastorship in 1872 in order to assume the professorship of the German language in the college. He was noted as a public lecturer as well as a pulpit orator. In 1853-‘4 he lectured on mediæval history before the Lowell institute. He became editor of the “Christian Examiner” in 1858. Besides essays on the different schools of philosophy, notably magazine articles on St. Augustine, Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, and Coleridge, and other contributions to periodicals in prose and poetry, he published “The Prose Writers of Germany,” containing extracts and biographical sketches (Philadelphia, 1848); “A Christian Liturgy for the Use of the Church” (Boston, 1856); “Reason in Religion” (Boston, 1865); and “The Primeval World of Hebrew Tradition” (1870). He also wrote hymns for the Unitarian church, and assisted in the compilation of a hymn-book (1853), and published numerous translations from the German poets.

Source: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Appletons%27_Cyclopædia_of_American_Biography/Hedge,_Levi

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Exit, Levi Hedge

“From circumstances connected with the state of his [Levi Hedge] health, his services during the last six months have been dispensed with. The department during that period was conducted satisfactorily by George S. Hillard, one of the Proctors of the University.”

Source: Sixth Annual Report of the President of Harvard University to the Overseers on the State of the Institution,1830-31. Appendix, p. ii.

Image Source:  Levi Hedge, LL.D. Elements of Logick. Boston, 1827.

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Economics Programs Harvard Teaching Undergraduate

Harvard. Economics Department Reports to the Dean, 1941-1946

This post adds the Chairman’s annual reports on the Harvard Economics Department for the World War II years to the series:

Department of Economics Reports to the Dean of Harvard, 1932-1941

More about Harvard during WWII: Coreydon Ireland, “Harvard Goes to War,” The Harvard Gazette (November 10, 2011).

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1941-42

October 15, 1942

Dear Dean Buck:

I submit herewith a report on the work of the Department of Economics covering the past year.

The only honor conferred upon a member of the Department during this period has been the election of Professor Leontief to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Several books have been published by members of the Department, including Professor Harris’s two major works (appearing, I believe, not more than a month apart), The Economics of American Defense and Economics of Social Security; Professor Black’s Parity, Parity, Parity; Professor Hansen’s Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles; and Professor Haberler’s Consumer Credit and Economic Fluctuations. Professor Haberler’s Prosperity and Depression has also gone through a third edition. Professor Crum was co-author of Fiscal Planning for Total War. The list of articles, pamphlets, reviews, and other items seems unusually long. Professor Hansen has listed thirteen items, Professor Slichter eight, and Professor Black six. The Harvard Economic Studies has expanded from 70 to 72 volumes during the year.

The contribution of the Department to the war effort has been substantial. Professor Mason continues on leave of absence with the Office of Strategic Services, and Professor Harris has recently been granted full time leave to serve as Director of the Division of Export-Import Price Control in the Office of Price Administration. Among those in the Department who are more or less active as Consultants or in other part time war activities are Professors Black, Crum, Hansen, Leontief, and Slichter, and Dr. Butters. Numerous younger men have, of course, entered the war services or have declined possible reappointment at Harvard in order to accept administrative and research positions in Washington.

The problem of maintaining instructional standards has, of course, been aggravated by the war. Fortunately, exceptions to the two-thirds rule have been granted in many cases; otherwise it would have been literally impossible in the face of competing wartime opportunities to recruit a staff of younger men at all. Out of the present staff of fifteen teaching fellows eleven are on more than two-thirds time, and almost without exception these men would not have been available (that is, not even at two-thirds time) if exceptions to the rule had not been made. The average experience of the Economics A staff has improved owing to a policy of putting more experienced men into Economics A and breaking in new men either in tutorial work or in the Statistics and Accounting courses. 36% of concentrators in Economics are tutored by new men this year; 60% by men of one year or less experience. The very sizeable staff in Statistics and Accounting is made up almost entirely of new appointees.

In view of the desperate need for trained economists in the expanding activities of the United States Government, the Department has announced for the current year an Undergraduate Training Program in Economics for Government Service which has attracted a substantial enrolment. The program has been opened to non-honors as well as to honors candidates. It has been carefully designed to give advanced training of a type which will enable them to undertake with a minimum of delay and adaptation administrative and research positions in the government service. It includes, in addition to a substantial corps of standard courses in Economics, three new courses, namely, Economics 7a and 7b, Research in Market Organization, Commodity Distribution, and Prices; Economics 19a, Research in Money and Finance; and Economics 22b, Government Statistics. One striking indication of the merits of this program might appear in the fact that a program of training announced by the Department of Government seems to consist essentially in normal concentration Government plus an election from these new courses in Economics.

Sincerely yours,

E. H. Chamberlin

Dean Paul H. Buck

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1942-43

October 21, 1943

Dear Dean Buck:

I submit herewith the report on the work of the Department of Economics for the academic year.

The war effort has continued to deplete our staff. Since the opening of the academic year Professors Chamberlin and Haberler and Dr. Dunlop have been granted leave of absence to undertake work in war agencies in Washington. However, Professor Crum resumes his work with the Department after leave of absence from the University to conduct an investigation on Fiscal Planning for the National Bureau of Economic Research of which he is currently the Chairman. Also Associate Professor Seymour Harris has returned to the University after a year and a half of service with the Office of Price Administration where he served as Director of the Office of Import-Export Price Control. A very small fraction of the once large junior staff now remains. By the end of the coming term it is expected that not more than four Annual Instructors will be active in instruction.

The incidence of war activities on research and publication has been two-fold. In some instances long-time research projects have been put aside, but concurrently much effort has been applied to projects concerned with war and post-war problems. Having in mind the inevitable interruptions of the war period, it is gratifying to be able to report that the books, scientific articles, addresses and reports have been in about the same number as the average of the immediately preceding years.

Of the major publications during the year the following should be mentioned:

J. A. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

P. M. Sweezy, The Theory of Capitalist Development

Edwin Frickey, Economic Fluctuations in the United States: a Systematic Analysis of Long-Run Trends and Business Cycles, 1866-1914

S. E. Harris, Economics of America at War

S. E. Harris, Editor, Postwar Economic Problems

A. P. Usher, The Early History of Deposit Banking in Mediterranean Europe has just left the press.

J. T. Dunlop, Cost Behavior and Price Policy

It is also indicative of the demands of war activities that some forty or fifty articles directly related to the war and post-war economy have been published by members of the Department. In addition numerous reports have been issued to or under the auspices of various war agencies such as Professor Harris, “O.P.A. Manual of Price Control” and his “Reports on Anti-Inflationary Programs in South America,” and Professor Crum’s memorandum on Fiscal Planning for Reconstruction and Peace for the National Bureau of Economic Research. The Quarterly Journal of Economics has continued successfully through another year, bringing the total volumes of this publication to 57. The Review of Economic Statistics now in its 25th volume is continuing under the editorship of Professor Harris. The Harvard Economic Studies is now publishing its 75th volume.

The rapid reduction in the numbers of the teaching staff has been met in part by the increased activity of those remaining. With the very active cooperation of the members of the staff we have been able to offer a reasonably full and well balanced program of instruction. On the graduate level flexibility of instruction has been more necessary than in previous years because of the cosmopolitan group now in attendance –not less than a dozen different nationalities are represented. This flexibility is being achieved largely by increased individual supervision and instruction.

The sharp decline in the undergraduate body together with the presence of a small but able and experienced staff of teachers has made possible a degree of experimentation in the introductory course in Economics which should lead to significant changes in the conduct of this course in the post-war period. Also at the present time some attention is being given to a question which has been in the minds of a number of members of the staff for some year—the so-called quiz section. It has been a quite common practice, in the conduct of middle group courses to provide for two lectures and one section meeting each week. On occasion five lectures are followed by the section meeting. For many years the usefulness of the section meeting has been in question. It is to be admitted that it does relieve the instructor of a lecture, but whether or not it provides equivalent or better instruction is debatable. At the present time Professor Crum and Dr. Smith are conducting a controlled experiment in the section meetings connected with their offering Government Control of Industry and Public Utilities. In the course time they will report their findings to the Department.

At this point I should like to mention the interesting and valuable “experiment” which Professor Slichter has called The Trade Union Fellowship Project. I am enclosing Professor Slichter’s report on this project which, I believe, you will find of interest. We regard the experiment as not only highly successful from both the point of view of the University and the Unions, but the experience furnishes a good deal of evidence regarding educational processes which may prove to be highly significant.

Very sincerely yours,

H. H. Burbank

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1943-44

October 13, 1944

Dear Dean Buck:

I submit herewith a brief report on the work of the Department of Economies for the academic year.

In the main, this report is a continuation of the report sent to you a year ago. In spite of the multifarious wartime activities of the member of the staff, the Department has maintained a well balanced offering of courses on both the undergraduate and graduate level. Course elections have continued to be surprisingly large, but I believe that the decline we have been expecting will actually begin with the Winter Term. The large proportion of foreign students on the graduate level, together with our inability to give complete offerings each Term, has necessitated an unusual amount of individual instruction.

Professors Mason and Chamberlin and Drs. Sweezy and Dunlop were on leave for the entire year. Professor Haberler resumed his work with us for the Summer Term.

I can repeat from my report of last year that the incidence of war activities on research and publication has been twofold. Most of our long time research projects have been put aside, but currently many projects concerned with war and postwar problems have been initiated and some of them completed. Although publication has been diminished by war activities, it is still gratifying to be able to report that the books, scientific articles, addresses, and reports—although not in quite the same quantity as in the prewar years—have nevertheless appeared in substantial numbers. Progress on the publication of books has shown a more definite interruption, but four books have been published during the year and not less than six books are now either actually in the press or are nearing form for publication. The books published during the year were:

J. D. Black, Food Enough

A. H. Hansen, (with H. S. Perloff), State and Local Finance in the National Economy

S. H. Slichter, Present Savings and Postwar Markets

J. H. Williams, Postwar Monetary Plans and Other Essays

Both of our periodicals — the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Review of Economic Statistics — have been able to continue publication without interruption and have been able to maintain their high standards. The difficulties encountered by scientific periodicals during these years are very real. One other volume has been added to the Harvard Economic Studies.

In my last report I mentioned the experimentation, particularly in the Introductory course, which had been initiated. I am very happy to be able to report that this experimentation has continued through another year with very gratifying results. A very interesting problem is involved in the attempt to present adequately the introductory material in Economies. Most of us who have been intimately concerned with the problem believe that a single course can serve both for those who will concentrate in Economics and for those whose main, interest lie elsewhere. The content of such a course, and the effective presentation of the material, is now being studied.

I might add here—because fundamentally it is experimentation in methods and relationships—that the Trade Union Fellowship Project has been conducted successfully for another year. At various times I have sort you Professor Slichter’s reports on these projects. We believe that a very interesting and productive educational experiment is being carried on with the Trade Union men.

Also in the sane connection I should like to record that during the last year we were presented with a variety of problems by the numerous South American students who came to us on the graduate level.We gave these students particular attention. By the end of the year we had learned that it would be highly profitable to develop for such students some specialized instruction which would overcome the difficulties under which all of them labored in their first term or two of residence. Their educational background, following European patterns, is such that it is necessary for us to present to them in concentrated form certain types of qualitative and quantitative analysis with which they are unfamiliar and which is not now offered on the graduate level.

The members of the Department have continued to discuss and to arrive at decisions regarding course instruction in the postwar years. In sone respects, we will strengthen the instruction offered mainly for the specialist in Economics, but we are more concerned with broader offerings which will prove to be desirable, and we hope necessary, for the college at large. Our permanent staff is large and versatile. We hope to be able to utilize to the full the resources we possess. In connection with the enrichment of our teaching, we expect to utilize more effectively in our instruction the material forthcoming from a number of proposed seminars.

It seems unnecessary to mention in detail the wartime activities of our staff members. Practically every member of the staff is actively engaged in some type of war activity. Without exception, each officer is utilizing his special aptitudes and training in connection with the various Federal agencies concerned with economic problems.

Very sincerely,

H. H. Burbank

Dean Paul H. Buck
University Hall 5
Cambridge, Massachusetts

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1944-45

October 24, 1945

Dear Dean Buck:

I submit herewith a brief report on the Department of Economics for the last year.

As in the preceding war years, the Department has been able to present a very respectable offering of courses, both on the graduate and undergraduate level. The number of graduate students continued to be unexpectedly large, necessitating a rather more elaborate course offering for them than we had planned. To a somewhat larger extent than in the two preceding years the students enrolled represent such a diverse background of training and experience that sone new types of instruction were involved. Some seventeen nationalities were represented. We are inclined to believe that this is not altogether a temporary and war situation. Even after the European universities are reestablished, we expect to draw many students with foreign background and training. If this expectation is fulfilled, our wartime experience with foreign students will have been of considerable value.

Even before the war the Department was concerned with the reorganization of its instruction. Our discussions continued throughout the year materializing in a curriculum in theoretical and applied Economics which tends to utilize to the full the unusual capacities of the members of the staff. Our present position, however, is by no means definitive. We have always relied heavily upon the stimulating intellectual activities of the younger members of the staff. When recruitment is again possible we expect to strengthen our position markedly through the cooperation of these younger members.

The reorganization of instruction has been concerned mainly with the content and coverage of courses, but in some cases it has dealt with the actual methods of classroom instruction. The introductory course has been completely recast, involving new types of material and new methods of presentation. The full effects of these changes will have to wait upon the enlargement of our junior staff. Also, some of our plans involving quantitative instruction necessarily are held in abeyance until the questions regarding a statistical laboratory have been settled.

The war effort of many officers of the Department continued through the year. Professor Mason and Drs. Sweezy and Dunlop were on leave from the University devoting their entire time to their respective wartime assignments. Professor Chamberlin returned to Cambridge in February from his post with the office of Strategic Services. Other members of the Department, particularly Professors Hansen, Slichter, Harris, Leontief and Black, while meeting their University obligations also served in various capacities with wartime agencies.

The incidence of this wartime service upon research and publishing activities of the group was marked. Both books and articles were fewer in number than in the normal year and in the main reflected the particular war activities of the authors. However, in all some

34 articles and 7 books were published. It should be noted that at least three volumes which the authors had expected to complete in the last year are now being prepared for the press.

The difficulties involved in the publication of scientific journals have been great but not insurmountable. We have been able to continue the publication of the Quarterly Journal of Economies and the Review of Economic Statistics without reduction in size and without omission of numbers. In the Harvard Economic Series [rest of line blank] that some four volumes either in the hands of the press or the Department were ready for publication but because of the war restrictions were not actually published.

Latterly the Department has been concerned with the vexing problems of the definition of objectives of students on the graduate level and the adjustment of these objectives to the various higher degrees offered. We are concerned with the administration not only of the Ph.D. degree in Business Economies, the Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government, and in part with the Ph.D. in Public Administration which may be conferred through the Littauer School of Public Administration. The problems involved in defining and administering each of these degrees will receive continued attention.

Although no honorary degrees have been reported by members of the staff, Professor E. H. Chamberlin was elected Membre Correspondent de L’Institut de Science Économique Appliquée, May 1945, and Professor S. E. Harris was elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Very sincerely,

[H.H. Burbank]

_______________________

1945-46

September 30, 1946

Dear Dean Buck:

You have requested a brief report on the Department of Economics for the academic year 1945-46.

Although the Department of Economics had anticipated to a considerable extent the problems that would be presented by the post-war situation, it found the academic year 1945-46 presenting difficulties for which there, was no immediate solution.

Fortunately we had devoted a great deal of time and thought to our course offering and to methods of instruction. We were moderately well prepared to take up the new work involved in new instruction and also the work involved in changing the content of, old courses. Again we were fortunate in being able to meet most of the difficulties presented by the unprecedented number of graduate students. With all of the permanent members of the staff in residence, we were able to meet the graduate situation although it taxed our resources to the limit. Many of our most insistent problems were concerned with the difficulties we met in assembling and training an adequate junior staff. We began the fall term with 2 Assistant Professors (Faculty Instructors), 3 Annual Instructors, and 7 Teaching Fellows. The staff was increased during the year but it was far from adequate to meet the course work, involved in our offering. However, this would seem to be a problem of relatively short duration. A few young scholars are being brought from other institutions and occupations and our Graduate School contains a number of most promising young scholars whose development is proceeding rapidly.

During the fall of 1945 the Department surveyed repeatedly the obligations it had undertaken. We were committed to an elaborate course offering. He realized that the permanent personnel of the Department could not be expanded and we recognized that in the range of the junior staff immediate and extensive increases in personnel also were impossible. Because of the irreducible demands upon our limited resources, we reconsidered repeatedly our efforts in the area of tutorial instruction and eventually voted to suspend tutorial instruction for a period with the stipulation that the subject be reconsidered at such time as the Department might see fit and in no event not later than two years.

The foregoing remarks have indicated that all members of the staff are carrying much heavier loads than in pre-war days. The burden necessarily is apportioned unevenly but all are affected. The main incidence of this situation is on research. For some officers it means that research must be put aside temporarily. For others, less than ordinary progress is being made. However, as the following titles indicate, the contributions have been substantial:

Black, John D., and a committee consisting of M. R. Benedict, S. T. Dana, and L. K. Pomeroy; Credit for Small Timberland Owners, Including Farmers with Woodlands; A Report on Forest Credit. (In press)

Black, John D., with some guidance from Jorge Ahumada of Chile, Roberto Arellano Bonilla of Honduras, and Jorge Alcazer of Bolivia; Farm Cost Analysis, with Some Reference

Black, John D.; Clawson, Marion; Sayre, C.F.; Willcox, W. W.; Farm Management. The Macmillan Company (in press).

Chamberlin, E. H.; Fifth edition of the Theory of Monopolistic Competition (Chapter added). Translation of the above book into Spanish.

Crum, W. L., and Schumpeter, J. A.; Rudimentary Mathematics for Economists and Statisticians. McGraw-Hill.

Hansen, A. H.; America’s Role in the World Economy. W. W. Norton.

Hansen, A. H.; The United States After the War. Cornell Uiv. Press.

Hansen, A. H.; Financing American Propsperity. 20th Century Fund.

Harris, S. E.; Price Control in the International Field. (In press)

Harris, S. E.; National Debt. (In press)

Mason, E. S.; Controlling World Trade; Cartels and Commodity Agreements. McGraw-Hill.

Morgan, T.; The Development of the Hawaiian Economy, 1778-1876. Stanford Press. (In press)

In addition to the above books, some 72 articles have been contributed to scientific journals. We feel particularly happy in having been able to carry our publications, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and the Review of Economic Statistics, through the war period without serious alterations. Both publications are in sound financial condition. Actually, the Review of Economic Statistics will be in a much sounder position financially at the end of the current fiscal year than at the beginning of the war. However, increased publication costs are a matter for concern.

We have added two volumes to the Harvard Economic Series and published a revision of one. Three more volumes are now in the press. Again, increasing publication costs constitute a serious problem.

As mentioned above, all of the permanent officers of the Department had returned to active duty in Cambridge at the beginning of the year. A few officers have maintained contacts with various Washington departments and on occasion are called upon for consultation. In this connection, Professor John D. Black has served as Chairman of the Committee on Food Supplies for the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council and also has served actively with at least four other agencies. Professor John T. Dunlop has served as Consultant in the Office of Economic Stabilization and the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion. Professor Seymour E. Harris has served as Consultant for the office of Price Administration. Professor Edward S. Mason has served as Consultant for the Department of State.

Very sincerely,

H. H. Burbank

Dean Paul H. Buck
5 University Hall

_______________________

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers 1930-1961 (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Provost Buck—Annual Report of Dept.”

Image Source: A Harvard Army ROTC unit on parade along Memorial Drive, July 1943. From the Harvard Archives published in: Coreydon Ireland,  “To Honor the Living and Dead“, The Harvard Gazette (November 10, 2011).

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Economics Programs Graduate Student Support Harvard Undergraduate

Harvard. Economics Chairman’s Report to the Dean. Harris, 1956

 

The previous post provided transcriptions of the annual reports to the Dean by the chairman of the economics department from 1932 through 1941. This post skips ahead to the middle of the 1950s to give us a glimpse of the post-war Harvard economics department. Seymour Harris’ big take-aways from his 45 year survey of undergraduate and graduate economics courses taught by Harvard economics faculty: (i) “the proportion of undergraduate courses given by full professors has fallen from 75 to 35 percent” and (ii) “graduate courses are relatively 5 times as numerous as they were in 1909-10.” (from July 3, 1956 cover letter to Dean McGeorge Bundy that accompanied the report transcribed below).

It is also interesting to note that the economics department’s continues to plead for more funds to compensate it for “…about one half the teaching burden of the G.S.P.A. and students in the G.S.P.A. account[ing] for about one third of all the graduate students in economics (on a full-time basis)…”. Harris wrote this report two decades after the Graduate School of Public Administration had opened for business.

____________________________

CONFIDENTIAL

June 30, 1956

Report to the Dean of the Faculty for the Academic Year 1955-56
by Seymour E. Harris, Chairman of the Department of Economics

Contents

Undergraduate Instruction

  1. More Mature Staff for Economics 1.
  2. Contents of Economics 1.
  3. Staff Meetings of Economics 1.
  4. Lectures in Economics 1.
  5. Economics Tutorial.
  6. High Honors Concentrators.
  7. Seminars for Honors Graduates.

Allocation of Resources

  1. Enrollment of Undergraduates in Graduate Courses and Vice Versa.
  2. Increase in the Number of Undergraduate Courses, 1909-10 to 1955-56.
  3. Increase in the Number of Graduate Courses, 1909-10 to 1955-56.
  4. Table 1 – Distribution of Courses by Academic Rank, 1909-10 to 1955-56.
  5. Table 2 – Courses Given by Faculty, 1909-10 to 1955-56, by Rank.
  6. Table 3 – Percentage of Courses, Undergraduate and Graduate.
  7. The Increased Importance of Graduate Instruction.
  8. Reduced Undergraduate Instruction by Higher Ranking Members of Faculty.
  9. Ibid., Statistical Summary.
  10. Number of Faculty by Rank.

Relations with G.S.P.A.

  1. Teaching Responsibilities of Economics Department in G.S.P.A.
  2. Contributions of G.S.P.A. to Economics Department.
  3. Overall Consideration of Number of G.S.P.A. Seminars.

Library Problems

  1. Library Problems.

Fellowships

  1. Inadequate Fellowships.
  2. Campaign for Additional Money.
  3. Outside Fellowships.

Research and Personnel Problems

  1. Competition of Research Fellowships for Potential Teachers.
  2. Research Projects.
  3. Financing of Pay of Director of Research Projects.
  4. Small Research Grants.
  5. Secretarial Help.
  6. Personnel Changes.
  7. Honors, etc.

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

Undergraduate Instruction

The Department is especially concerned with the problem of undergraduate instruction. Confronted with a trend away from economics the country over (see my Memo to the Alumni of the Harvard Graduate School in Economics, May, 1956, p. 4) and the competition of an unusually able corps of undergraduate teachers in competing fields at Harvard and notably in history and government we are paying increased attention to our undergraduate instruction. In the last year we have taken the following steps:

  1. More Mature Staff for Economics 1. We are using a larger proportion of instructors and assistant professors in Economics 1. We expect that half the Economics 1 staff will consist of instructors and assistant professors in 1956-57 as compared with 20 per cent in 1955-56.
  2. Contents of Economics 1. We are revising Economics 1 for 1956-57. Economics 1 has become too technical. One advantage of increasing the average age of the staff is that the older men are less inclined to teach the highly technical economics they get in graduate courses. Probably less than 20 per cent of those enrolled in Economics 1 are, or are likely to become, concentrators in economics; and no more than 1-2 per cent will become economists. Our major responsibility is to give the student in Economics 1 relatively simple economic theory and relate it to the major issues of public policy. We intend to devote more time to integrating our economics with history and political science. Macroeconomics will continue to receive a major part of our attention, but less time will be given to the economics of the firm.
  3. Staff Meetings of Economics 1. The Chairman now meets with the Economics 1 staff for 1½ hours every 2 weeks and in every possible way is trying to make the teaching fellow and other junior members, who contribute so much time and enthusiasm to our teaching program, feel as though they are an important part of our department staff.
  4. Lectures in Economics 1. This year we doubled our lectures in Economics 1 — a lecture every other week. In these lectures we try to go over ground not covered in the readings and also incidentally to give the undergraduate an opportunity to listen to some of the top economists in the country. We are now not disposed to increase the number of lectures further but we shall continue the experiment. Of this I am convinced — lectures are not likely to be as important in Economics 1 as in the elementary course in government and history (Social Science). The undergraduate probably gets much more from discussions of economics in small sections than from lectures.
  1. Economics Tutorial. Tutorial in economics is not as good as it ought to be. We are wrestling with this problem. We intend to have more meetings of tutors and to impress upon them the importance of tutorial. At one of our Executive Committee meetings, we had a frank discussion with the seven masters and several senior tutors concerning our tutorial work. Our Junior tests, tied to house tutorial, seem to be working well. This year we prepared an extensive reading list for Sophomore tutorial; and next year we intend to integrate tutorial and Economics 1 more than in the past. We hope that tutorial in the second half of the Sophomore year will deal with some of the theoretical problems that will be excluded from Economics 1.
  1. High Honors Concentrators. This year we had periodic meetings with all first and second group men in economics. At these meetings (one evening every two weeks) we try to encourage discussions of important problems in the seminar manner.
  1. Seminars for Honor Graduates. Economics 100 and 102 are two new courses (to be introduced in 1956-57 and 1957-58) to be open to Junior and Senior honors students. They will be run on a seminar basis, limited in enrollment, and will be integrated with tutorial. The student will get an opportunity to deal with theoretical problems and their empirical counterpart.

Allocation of Resources

  1. Enrollment of Undergraduates in Graduate Courses and Vice Versa. Here are some tables which throw some light on the allocation of resources between undergraduate and graduate courses. Generally courses for undergraduates and graduates are taken primarily by undergraduates, and courses for graduates primarily by graduates. Hence, we assume that the courses for undergraduates and graduates are in fact courses for undergraduates and courses for graduates are in fact courses for graduates. (In the spring term 1956 the percentage of Arts and Science graduate enrollment in courses for undergraduates and graduates was 14 or 1 per cent of the 1181 enrolled in these courses; the enrollment of undergraduates in courses primarily for graduates was 10 of 482, or 2 per cent).
  2. Increase in the Number of Undergraduate Courses, 1909-10 to 1955-56. Table 1 reveals relatively unimportant changes in the number of courses for undergraduates; and the net change in the number of courses for undergraduates and graduates (in fact undergraduate courses) in the last 40-50 years has not been large. In 1909-10, there were 10½ undergraduate courses (inclusive of half courses for undergraduates and graduates and exclusive of bracketed courses); in 1955-56, there were 14½ of such courses.
  3. Increase in the Number of Graduate Courses, 1909-10 to 1955-56. It is especially in graduate courses that the rise has been spectacular. In 1909-10 there were 1½ graduate courses in Economics (exclusive of bracketed ones); by 1929-30, there were 11; by 1939-40, there were 12½ courses; by 1949-50, there were 21½ courses; and by 1955-56, there were 24. All these totals include half courses.
  1. Table 1 — Distribution of Courses by Academic Rank, 1909-10 to 1955-56*
    (Refers to Units of Full Courses)
  1909-10 1919-20 1929-30 1939-40 1949-50 1955-56
Rank U G U G U G U G U G U G
Full Prof. 8 1 3 7 4 ½ 7 7 ¼ 16 ¾ 8 15 ¼ 5 18
Assoc. Prof. — — — — 3 3 3 ¼ 1 ¾ 1 3 ¼ 3 2 ½
Asst. Prof. 1 ½ ½ 3 ½ 2 ½ 1 — ½ — 2 ½ — 4 2
Instructor & Lecturer 1 — 3 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ 1 3 3 2 ½ 1 ½
Total 10 ½ 1 ½ 9 ½ 10 ½ 10 11 12 ½ 19 ½ 14 ½ 21 ½ 14 ½ 24
  1. Table 2 — Courses Given by Faculty, 1909-10 to 1955-56, by Rank*
    (Refers to Nearest Decimal point)
  1909-10 1919-20 1929-30 1939-40 1949-50 1955-56
Rank U G U G U G U G U G U G
Full Prof. 76 66 32 67 45 64 58 86 55 73 35 75
Assoc. Prof. — — — — 30 27 26 9 7 14 21 10
Asst. Prof. 14 — 36 24 10 — 4 — 17 — 27 8
Instructor & Lecturer 10 34 32 9 15 9 12 5 21 13 17 7
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

* U = “undergraduate” and “undergraduate and graduate”;  G = “graduate”.
Source: Compiled from Course of Study Volumes.

  1. Table 3 — Percentage of Courses, Undergraduate and Graduate
Total No. of Courses % of Total Courses
(Exclusive of Bracketed Courses)
“Undergraduate” and
“Undergraduate & Graduate”		 Graduate
(Inclusive of G.S.P.A. Economics Courses)
1909-10 12 88 12
1929-30 21 56 44
1939-40 32 39 61
1949-50 36 41 59
1955-56 38½ 38 62

From 1909 to 1929-30 the percentage of graduate courses was up from 12 to 44 per cent; but since 1929-30 the rise has been less spectacular. In Table 2, we note the courses, both undergraduate and graduate, given by men of various rank, from 1909-10 to 1955-56. The following points should be noted.

  1. The Increased Importance of Graduate Instruction. In 1909-10 there were but 1½ out of 12 courses, or 12 per cent, graduate courses. By 1929-30 courses were roughly evenly divided between graduate and undergraduate. By 1939-40 and 1949-50 the ratio was about 60 per cent graduate courses; and by 1955-56, 62 per cent of all courses were graduate courses, or 5 times as much relatively as in 1909-10.
  2. Reduced Undergraduate Instruction by Higher Ranking Members Faculty. Whereas in 1909-10 full professors accounted for 76 per cent of undergraduate course work, by 1955-56 they gave only 35 per cent of these courses; and there has been a marked decline since 1949-50. The total of undergraduate courses taught by them dropped from 1949-50 to 1955-56 by 3, or 37 per cent, and of graduate courses rose by 2¾ or 18 per cent. A similar trend is evident for associate professors, though from 1949-50 to 1955-56, the percentage of undergraduate courses taught by associate professors rose. It is a striking fact that in 1955-56, full professors taught 37 per cent less undergraduate courses and 1700 per cent more graduate courses than in 1909-10. In the former year there were 4 full professors, each responsible on the average for 2 full undergraduate courses and ¼ graduate courses. In 1955-56, 13 full professors averaged 1/3 of 1 undergraduate course and 1.4 graduate courses. (All 13 were not on full time). It is clear that the trend is away from undergraduate teaching for permanent members of the Department.
  3. Ibid., Statistical Summary. As might be expected, the percentage of all graduate courses taught by full professors tends to rise and of undergraduate courses to fall — the latter courses taught by professors declined from 76 per cent in 1909-10 to 45 per cent in 1929-30, and to 35 per cent by 1955-56.
  4. Number of Faculty by Rank. In this connection, the number at different ranks is of some interest. The full professors account for a somewhat larger proportion (teaching fellows omitted) than 50 years ago; but permanent appointments are an increased percentage.
  1909-10 1929-30 1939-40 1949-50 1955-56
Professors 4 5 12 13 13
Assoc. Professors — 3 3 2 4
Asst. Professors 1 2 1 4 4
Lecturers and Instructors 3 2 3 4 3
Visiting, etc. Professors 2
(part-time)		 3
(part-time)		 — — 1
Total (excl. Visiting) 8 12 19 23 24
———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ————
% Full Prof. (excl. Visiting) 50 42 63 57 54
% Permanent (incl. Permanent Lecturers) 50 67 89 74 75

Relations with the Graduate School of Public Administration

  1. Teaching Responsibilities of Economics Department in G.S.P.A. Our relations with the G.S.P.A. are of great importance. It is now close to 20 years since the G.S.P.A. was founded and yet the Department of Economics has never taken a long look at our relations. The Economics Department accounts for about one half the teaching burden of the G.S.P.A. and students in the G.S.P.A. account for about one third of all the graduate students in economics (on a full-time basis).
  2. Contributions of G.S.P.A to Economics Department. The G.S.P.A. has made an important contribution towards the Economics Department. It provides some research and secretarial help, good physical facilities, useful library, central facilities for students and faculty, an opportunity to give our students excellent seminars, and to meet outstanding scholars and practical men in government.
  3. Over-all Consideration of Number of G.S.P.A. Seminars. It may be that a decision should be made concerning the number of seminars. We tend to add one at a time, and the numbers now are at such a level that we may be putting a disproportionate amount of energy into these seminars. At any rate, net additions should be considered with care, given our available manpower. At present only 6 of the 18 permanent members of our faculty are not associated with the G.S.P.A.; and of the 6, Professors Dorfman and Duesenberry are about to participate. Of 27 courses to be given by permanent members of the Department, 7¼ will be as seminars in the G.S.P.A.

Library Problems

  1. Library Problems. Professor Arthur Cole retires this year. He has for many years been responsible for the acquisition of books in economics. Unless this responsibility is assumed by another, our economic collection will deteriorate. So far we have not been able to work out an arrangement acceptable to the Dean and the Director of the library. In my opinion, there is need for a central responsibility for library acquisitions in economics.

Fellowships

  1. Inadequate Fellowships. One of our most serious problems is fellowships. A study of fellowship funds announced as available to students suggested that Harvard was falling way behind. In a recent period of 5 years, five institution which are our strongest competitors had 30, 23, 20, 10, and 5 times as much money available for fellowships per Ph.D. granted in these five years. Increasingly we are losing the best students to rival institutions.
  2. Campaign for Additional Money. We have discussed this problem with Dean Bundy and Dean Elder, and also with our Visiting Committee. We have set up a committee consisting of Dean Mason, Professors Slichter, Dunlop and Harris to seek aggressively more fellowship funds. We are seeking these funds in the expectation that the major part of new funds will be available as additional funds for the Economics Department. Our goal is 6 fellowships at $2500 per year, or $15,000 per year additional. We discovered last year that by offering large fellowships to a limited number, we were more successful than in the past in attracting the more able candidates.
  3. Outside Fellowships. Our fellowship problem is eased by the availability of fellowships given by outside groups — governments, foundations etc. For example, Harvard received 5 of the 15 Wilson National fellowships for 1956-57. But it should be observed that there is often pressure to deny applicants access to the major universities and especially to Harvard. There is pressure to distribute widely, Moreover, a large proportion of these fellowship holders are often below our usual fellowship standards.

Research and Personnel Problems

  1. Competition of Research Fellowship Money for Potential Teachers. It is becoming increasingly easy for graduate students writing theses to receive fellowships that generally pay at least as much as a teaching fellowship. This year we lost 10 potential teachers as a result of these lucrative fellowships.
  2. Research Projects. Many of the Senior members of the staff are associated with large research projects, some of them of great significance. At least 9 of these projects may be classified as giant projects, three of them involving outlays of one half million or more dollars in the next 3-5 years. In 1955-56, Professor Leontief received almost one half million dollars to continue the projects of the Harvard Economic Group, and Dean Mason received $450,000 for a study of the New York Metropolitan area.
  3. Financing of Pay of Directors of Projects. It has always seemed to the Chairman, at least, that the foundations ought to pay part of the salary of the faculty members who direct these projects. When these projects are the major interest of those responsible for them, a case could be made for the foundation paying part of the salary of the relevant members of the faculty.
  4. Small Research Grants. It would be helpful to get some help from the Ford Foundation for small research projects especially for those who do not participate in the giant projects. I have had some preliminary discussion with the Ford Foundation, and I believe they would look with favor on an application for $25,000-30,000 per year for research help. Grants might vary from a few hundred dollars to $1,000-2,000 and be tied with specific projects. The great danger here is abuse of the privileges. Hence any such grant would have to be carefully administered – with some representation of outside economists on the committee.
  5. Secretarial Help. A related problem is that of secretarial help. Most of the Senior members, through administrative posts, control of seminars, editorial work, and research grants, manage to get the minimum amount of secretarial help. But 5 of our permanent members have virtually no access to secretaries and this is also true of most of our assistant professors. It would be helpful if some provision could be made for secretarial help for those without it. We realize this raises serious problems of finance.
  6. Personnel Changes. Professor Hansen retires this year and Professor Williams next year. We thus lose the best combination in money, cycles, and fiscal policy available anywhere. It is going to be difficult to fill this gap. Professor Black’s departure has also left a serious gap. We have added 2 very able assistant professors, Drs. J. Henderson and Valavanis, aside from two appointments (Drs. Moses and Conrad) in which the Economics Department shares one quarter of the cost. For 1957-58 and 1958-59, the Economics Department will have the services of Dr. E. Hoover for 3/7 of his time. We probably have the most able group of assistant professors in our history. It is not going to be easy to fill the gaps noted above, and make the most effective use of the young talent now in the Department. The Visiting Committee is again raising the question of a Professor of Business Enterprise, a matter to which we should give earnest attention. President Conant and Provost Buck were apparently prepared at the last discussion of this problem to provide an additional appointment for this purpose.
  7. Honors, etc. Dean Mason received an honorary degree from Harvard, and was a United States Representative at the United Nations Conference in Geneva on Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy.

Professor Hansen gave the Walgreen lectures at the University of Chicago.

Professor Harris served as Chairman of the Nor England Governors” Textile Committee,

Professor Galbraith advised the Indian Government on their Five Year Plan.

Professor Smithies was a Visiting Professor at Oxford and Professor

Kaysen at the London School of Economics.

 

Books:

Galbraith and Holton: Marketing Efficiency in Puerto Rico.

Harris: Keynes: Economist and Policy Maker.

Harris: New England Textiles and the New England Economy: Report to the Conference of New England Governors.

Kaysen: United States v. United Shoe Machinery Corporation: An Economic Analysis of an Anti-Trust Case.

Kaysen and Harris were two of the four co-authors of the American Business Creed.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2,  Folder: “Departmental Annual Reports to the Dean, 1955-”.

Image Source: Seymour E. Harris in The Harvard Class Album 1957.

 

Categories
Economics Programs Harvard Undergraduate

Harvard. Economics Chair annual reports to Dean, 1932-1941

 

This post takes us from the trough of the Great Depression to the eve of the U.S. entry into the Second World War. The items below are transcriptions of copies of reports written by the Harvard economics department chairmen of the time (Harold Hitchings Burbank (a.k.a. Burbie to his Buds) and Edward Hastings Chamberlin. Some chest-thumping, some whining, no notes of irony and definitely no flashes of wit…we all know this art form. Nevertheless some raw intelligence of value for working historians of economics of the present and future.

____________________________

November 12, 1932

Dear Dean Murdock,

Under the Faculty vote of December, 1931, the Chairman of each Department is requested to report in each half year to the Dean of the Faculty on the working of the plan recommended by the Committee on Instruction concerning Hour Examinations and Other Course Requirements. My report for the Department of Economics follows.

Acting on the Report from the Committee on Instruction, the Department of Economics on January 12, 1932 voted to observe the recommendations of the Committee. Following the Department meeting, I reported to you to the effect that the requirements of the Department of Economics were substantially in accord with the principles laid down by the Committee on Instruction. Ordinarily, we require not more than one Hour Examination in any one half year; ordinarily, we require not more than one thesis or report in any one half year. It is the standing rule of the Department of Economics and of the Division of History, Government, and Economics, that Senior candidates for Honors, who are writing Honors theses, shall be excused from the writing of any theses in courses within the Division. After a long discussion and with considerable reluctance, the Department voted that for Seniors who are candidates for Honors in the Division, Hour Examinations in courses within the Department shall be optional.

The vote of the Department was made known immediately to the students and observed in all of our undergraduate course (not of an introductory nature) during the second half of last year, and it is being observed in the current half year.

In the Division of History, Government, and Economics, we have had for many years a rule that all Seniors in good standing shall be exempted from final examinations in courses within the Division in their last half year. The result has been, of course, that after the April Hour Examinations, Seniors have paid little attention to courses within in the Division, and their attendance has been hardly more than occasional. The members of the Department who are more interested in courses than in General Examinations, and who perhaps doubt the efficacy of General Examinations, view this situation with increasing criticism.

When the Department voted the making of Hour Examinations optional for Seniors who are candidates for Honors, the doubting members were highly critical, fearing that our courses elected largely by Seniors would be entirely disrupted. From all that I can learn, I cannot see that there have been any untoward or undesirable results. In most of our “Senior” courses, the attendance until the Easter recess was satisfactory. Honors candidates attended lectures and, I believe, completed most of the required readings. Their records on the General Examinations were excellent. The Honors theses were among the best we have ever had.

A number of members of my Department and not a few members of the Departments of History and Government are strongly opposed to the new order. They make the point that we have in substance permitted an additional reduction in courses, that Senior Honor candidates are simply required to register in courses, but they have nether to attend them nor to do the work. All of these allegations are true enough, but it seems to me they are beside the point. To the extent that we have confidence in our examiners and tutors, I do not believe that in effect the requirements regarding the quality and quantity or work have been reduced.

The Department of History has recommended to the other departments of the Division the consideration of a motion which would require all senior candidates for Honors to complete whatever courses in History they elect. I think that probably the departments of the Division will consider in full detail the questions this motion involves.

Sincerely yours,
H. H. Burbank

Dean Kenneth B. Murdock
20 University Hall

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

____________________________

1933
[not found]

A copy of the report is not found with the others included in this post: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

____________________________

October 15, 1934

Dear Dean Murdock,

I beg to submit the following report for the Department of Economics:

In this period of rapid economic evolution the problems presented to a group of university economists are both stimulating and perplexing. The changing pattern of our social and economic structure offers new data for analysis and at the same time calls for a testing of principle that involves new fields for both teaching and research.

There have been few periods in modern history more difficult to interpret, yet the responsibility for interpretation seems foremost among the duties devolving upon educational institutions. For many years the keystone of the introductory course in economics has been that the community has the right to expect political and economic leadership from the graduates of its colleges. Our undergraduate courses are directed toward the attainment of this end. But the teaching of political economy is an art not easily mastered even by those who give abundant evidence of intellectual leadership. In the instruction of undergraduates and in the training of teachers and scholars in our graduate school, the difficulties inherent in our subject must not be overlooked. The presentation of the data of economics makes demands upon the staff not felt in many other departments of the University. Looking toward the strengthening of our undergraduate instruction, the Department is now associating a number of the junior members of the staff with the senior members who are now in charge of the large lecture courses. In Money and Banking, in the Relations of Government to Industry, and in Public Finance, this experiment is advanced sufficiently to indicate its desirability.

At the same time that our teaching problems have become intensified the need for the results of research is pressing. In periods of accelerated social evolution involving political and economic experimentation, the demand for accurate data is insistent. Relatively, economics is a young science. The foundations of fact are still being established. Investigations that may have an important bearing upon government policy should not be delayed. The economists of this University have contributed largely to their subject, but always with scant facilities in material equipment and in time.

Among the many problems confronting us as a group, that of securing the time necessary for research is perhaps the most troublesome. To our exacting teaching requirements must be added the demands for public service. Since the establishment of this Department, the requests for such service heave been continuous. Of late the increasing calls have raised a question which must be considered by the University administration. The opportunities for service to governments are gratifying. Undoubtedly these services belong among the necessary functions of a university. But obviously they do divert a considerable part of our time and energy from our strictly defined duties. Over the years the University is enriched by such services, but at any given time the responsibilities attaching to teaching and research are interrupted. If the University Includes public service among its important functions, the personnel of the staffs affected should be so adjusted that the work can be performed without overtaxing our internal activities.

During the past your, the leave of absence of Professor John M. Williams was continued to allow him to serve as Economist of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to advise on monetary and credit policies, and to direct research. In the latter part of the year, Professor Williams was called by the Department of State to investigate certain conditions in Brazil, Uraguay [sic], Argentina, and Chili [sic]  and to formulate policies of exchange controls. Daring the second half-year, Assistant Professor Edward H. Chamberlin was granted leave of absence to work with the Committee on Government Statistics and Information Services in Washington. Also, during the second half-year, though leave was not requested, Assistant Professor William T. Ham was in Washington frequently, serving as a member of the staff of the Labor Advisory Board of the National Recovery Administration. And also, though no leave was requested, Professor John D. Black devoted a substantial part of the year to public service. He served on a number of committees connected with the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and land utilization. At the request of Secretary Wallace, he organized and directed the activities of committees outlining programs of economic research in (1) the marketing of farm products and (2) farm population and rural life. Also at the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, he served with two others to coordinate the work of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the United States Department of Agriculture. In the summer months, Drs. Alan Sweezy and Lauchlin B. Currie were called to the Treasury Department to serve as special investigators.

Owing to his illness, Professor Emeritus William Z. Ripley was unable to fulfill his duties as President of the American Economic Association. In his absence, Professor Abbott P. Usher, first Vice-President of the Association, was in charge of the December, 1933 session.

Notable among our publications of the year were Twenty Years of Federal Reserve Policy, by S. E. Harris, and The Theory of Monopolistic Competition, by E. H. Chamberlin. Because of its significance for immediate practical application, I am including at this point the Report of the Committee on Model State and Local Taxation, by Professor C. J. Bullock’s committee of the National Tax Association. Also at this point, mention should be made of Economics of the Recovery Program, by seven members of the Department. In the course of the year, about forty-five articles were contributed to scientific journals by various members of the Department.

Within the limitations described above, the research work of the staff is going forward at a satisfactory rate. Investigations in the following subjects are well advanced: History of the Industrial Revolution; Development of Banking and Credit in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries; Evolution of English Company Law; Economic Fluctuations; Nature and Effects of Inflation; Index Numbers; Municipal Ownership of Public Utilities; State and Local Taxation; Unbalanced Budgets; The National Income; New England Agriculture; The Economics of Agricultural Production; German Trade Unionism; The Fundamentals of Sociology; Economics and Politics; Socialism as an International Movement.

A considerable number of these projects are nearing completion and should be ready for publication shortly. A large project on the relation of Government to Industry involving the efforts of a number of the staff is in its initial stages. This subject is of such immediate importance that other plans for research are being put aside until it can be carried to its completion. The Quarterly Journal of Economies has continued its usual high standard. During the year, five substantial volumes were added to the Harvard Economic Studies.

Again I would press the point that the potential research capacity of the Department is severely handicapped by the demands of teaching and public service.

Sincerely yours,
H. H. Burbank

Dean Kenneth B. Murdock
20 University Hall

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

____________________________

October 18, 1935

Dear Dean Birkhoff:

I beg to submit the following report for the Department of Economics.

In the report of last year the effects of the contemporary political and economic situation upon our problems of teaching and research were discussed briefly. More than ever we are aware of the responsibilities incumbent upon the teacher of Economics in this period of rapid and far-reaching change. Our undergraduate instruction had been, and is, receiving particular attention. A few years ago we began experimentally the association of a number of the junior members of the staff with the senior members who are nominally in charge of the larger lecture courses. We are quite convinced that this method of instruction is most effective. Also there is a positive, although perhaps incidental, advantage in this arrangement in that it relieves the pressure for the multiplication of undergraduate courses.

I find it necessary to stress again the problem presented by the demands upon our staff for services to the public. We believe that public service belongs among the necessary functions of a university. But under existing conditions large demands for public service at any given time bring serious interruptions to both research and instruction. “If the University includes public service among its important functions the personnel of the staffs affected should be so adjusted that the additional work can be performed without taxing severely our internal activities.”

I am very happy, to write that Professor Chamberlin’s “The Theory of Monopolistic Competition”, published somewhat over a year ago, has won immediate recognition as a foremost contribution to economic theory. During the past year two books of unusual importance have appeared,—Professor John D. Black, “The Dairy Industry and the A.A.A.”, and Professor Sumner Slichter, “Towards Stability”. Six manuscripts have been completed, and should appear in book form during the present year. It is significant that five of these books have been written by the younger members of our Department whose teaching duties have been mainly of a tutorial nature. Among the publications I should note the report submitted to the Treasury Department on the “Objectives and Criteria of Monetary Policy” by Dr. Alan Sweezy, and the report to the State Department on “Foreign Exchange Control in Latin America” by Professor John Williams.

In addition to the above volumes and reports the members of the Department published somewhat over fifty articles in the scientific journals of our subject. Some of these contributions are of major importance.

The investigations of the staff are being carried forward as satisfactorily as possible with the limited facilities that are at our disposal. Two researches on a very large scale have to do with the general subject of the Trade Cycle and the Relation of Government to Industry. Numerous important, but less extensive, investigations are in process.

Perhaps I should note here that a generous grant from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled the Department to undertake the continuation of the Review of Economic Statistics and the fundamental research that is involved in this publication, The Quarterly Journal of Economics long published by the members of this Department, together with the Review of Economic Statistics, are among the more important activities of the Department. In the course of the year three volumes more added to the Harvard Economic Studies.

As in my last report, I would again bring to your attention the disturbing fact that the potential research capacity of the Department is handicapped severely by the demands of administration, teaching, and public service.

Very sincerely yours,
H. H. Burbank

Dean George D. Birkhoff

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

____________________________

October 15, 1936

Dear Dean Birkhoff:

I beg to submit the following report for the Department of Economics.

I find it necessary to emphasize again the effects of the contemporary political and economic situation upon our problems of teaching and research. It had been necessary to bring these matters to your attention in both of the preceding years, since they present such important problems to us. We feel an increasingly positive responsibility regarding out undergraduate instruction in this period of rapid and far-reaching change.

We have continued the experiment begun some few years ago of the association of a number of the junior members of the staff with the senior members who are in charge of the large lecture courses. We believe that we are improving our instruction by this method, and at the same time this arrangement tends to relieve the pressure for the multiplication of undergraduate courses.

Perhaps as a result of the general social situation the elections of our undergraduate courses and the number of concentrators in Economics have increased very heavily. The problems of instruction presented by these overwhelming numbers are intensified perhaps by the personnel situation in which the Department finds itself. During the last dozen years the personnel of this Department—one of the largest in the University—has been changed completely. For a quarter of a century a group of eminent economists brought great prestige to the University. With the resignation of Professor Gay the active services of this group has come to an end. One cannot speak of replacing these scholars. They were unique both as individuals and as a group. Their leadership and their scholarship has left a lasting impression on the development of Economics. In the course of the passing of this group a now Department has been brought together. This new and younger Department is assuming full responsibility at the very time when questions of teaching and new methods of research are becoming insistent.

The demands upon members of our staff for public service continue. It has seemed expedient to encourage some few members to give their time and energy for public purposes. But with a minimum teaching force it has not been possible for all members of the Department to comply with the requests made. The public service relations of faculty members remains a question for the University to consider.

The Quarterly Journal of Economics celebrates this year its fiftieth anniversary. For forty years this Journal has won and held its prestige under the editorship of Professor F. W. Taussig. Professor Taussig, now emeritus, has graciously consented to continue as editor during the present year, but very shortly it will be necessary for us to provide for the editorial direction of this very important publication.

In an earlier report to you I indicated the activities of the Department in connection with the Review of Economic Statistics. The scientific work underlying this publication, as well as the journal itself, is now under the direction of a committee of the Department. The Review continues as a vehicle of publication of the results of investigations here and elsewhere regarding the business cycle. We have ambitious plans for the Review, and we have every reason to believe that its scientific usefulness will increase.

There is little question that, the research activities of practically all members of the staff have been curtailed by the heavy teaching loads which have been imposed. However, the research programs of various members and of various groups within the Department have shown marked progress in the past year. As I have indicated in an earlier report the research activities of our members are of two somewhat different types. Numerous members of the staff working altogether independently are pursuing their own researches while others working as a group are developing particular aspects of a well devised project in research. In the social sciences this latter type of work is rapidly assuming importance. In general it is this type of research which receives the support of the large foundations. Within our own group there are a number of projects of this character. Messrs. Mason, Chamberlin, Wallace, Cassels, Reynolds, and Alan Sweezy are developing Industrial Organization and Control. In the process of the exploration of this subject numerous independent volumes and studies will appear. Professors Mason, Chamberlin and Dr. Wallace are already well advanced in their study of monopolistic combinations and expect to complete it in about one year. Professor Cassels and Dr. Reynolds expect to finish their study on Canadian combinations this year, and Dr. Alan Sweezy is at work on investment policies. Dr. Wallace’s monograph, Market Control in the Aluminum Industry, is now going to press, and Dr. Abbott’s monograph on The Rise of the Business Corporation has just appeared and is being, used by our undergraduate courses. The full development of this program will take a number of years, but its completion will mark, I believe, a very significant chapter in research in the relation of government to industry.

Another cooperative project on the Farm Credit Administration is being carried on by Professors Black and Harris and Dr. Galbraith, largely with the assistance of grants from the Committee on Research in the Social Sciences. Professor Black is working on the cooperative aspects of the Farm Credit Administration’s policies. Professor Harris is working on the monetary and recovery aspects of the Farm Credit Administration’s loan operations. Dr. Galbraith is working on the structural aspects of the Farm Credit Administration and the mortgage, credit and production loan policies. Numerous articles resulting from this research have been published in scientific periodicals.

Professors Crum, Wilson, and Black are conducting a study of the relation of weather and other natural phenomena with the economic cycle. This study is partly financed by the United States Department of Agriculture.

I believe I have mentioned to you and to President Conant in conversation the plans which are being developed for large research projects in collaboration with the National Bureau of Economic Research.

In addition to these cooperative projects all members of the Department are pursuing work along the lines of their individual interests. Professor Schumpeter’s study of time series and cyclical fluctuations is practically completed, and he hopes to send it to press by December. Professor Haberler’s major contribution—The Theory of International Trade and Its Application to Commercial Policy has been translated and is now available in English. For the past two years Professor Haberler has been working at Geneva on the Nature and Causes of the Recurrence of Economic Depressions which is soon to be published by the League of Nations. We are hoping to provide facilities for him so that the important research may be continued at Harvard. Professor Frickey’s study on a Survey of Time Series Analysis and Its Relation to Economic Theory is well advanced. The statistical work on the first volume has been completed, and he hopes to have it written by the middle of this present academic year. The statistical work on the second volume has been completed in part. Already two significant articles have been published. Professor Cole’s recent study in Fluctuations in American Business, written in collaboration with Professor W. B. Smith, was published late in 1935. Dr. Oakes’ investigations in Massachusetts Town Finance, the winner of the Wells Prize for 1935-36, is now being printed. Professor Chamberlin has continued to elaborate his Theory of Monopolistic Competition which is winning wide recognition among economist the world over. Numerous articles, some sixty in number, from members of the staff have appeared in various scientific periodicals in the course of the year.

Very sincerely yours,
H. H. Burbank

Dean George D. Birkhoff
20 University Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts

[Separate sheet following: I should have included Professor Harris’ Exchange Depreciation, Its Theory and History. We believe that this new book, which is being published today, will take Its place beside the significant contributions Professor Harris has made in the last half-dozen years, particularly his Monetary Problems of the British Empire and Twenty Years of Federal Reserve Policy.]

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

____________________________

October 21, 1937

Dear Dean Birkhoff:

I beg to submit the following report for the Department of Economics.

Previous reports of the Department of Economics have brought to your attention the effect of the political and economic situation upon our problems of teaching and research. It is still necessary to point out that the positive responsibility of the Department regarding undergraduate instruction has not lessened.

The election of our undergraduate courses remains at substantially the high level of recent years, while the number of concentrators continues to increase.

Last year I mentioned that with the resignation of Professor Gay the active services of the senior members of this Department, had come to an end. At this point it seems necessary to put into writing a matter I have discussed with you in conversation which has important ramifications. Coincident with the resignation of Professor Gay there were increased elections in certain of our courses that involve a large degree of individual instruction and also on an increase in the number of students demanding tutorial supervision. To meet these latter problems it was necessary to add to our staff a group of young men to carry on the instruction in the elementary course, Accounting, Statistics, Money and Banking, and so on. With increased numbers in courses demanding increased instruction, increased cost cannot be avoided; but it seems to us that this increasing cost because of increasing should not result in less effective intellectual leadership. To transfer a considerable part of the salary released by a retiring professor of distinguished accomplishment to the support of routine instruction in middle group courses seems to us not to be wise University policy.

Professor Taussig has resigned as editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economies. For the time being, committee of the Department will undertake the editorial direction of this publication.

The Review of Economic Statistics, which appears under the direction of a committee of the Department, is financed by funds from the Rockefeller Foundation. Should the grant be continued, it is expected that the research activities of the committee will be increased.

Not less than ten members of the Department are concerned with the activities of the Graduate School of Public Administration. In some instances—as in the case of Dean Williams—their work in the School has been compensated by a reduction of work in the Department, but for the most part the activities in the new School are simply in addition to the duties of the staff members.

The Committee on Research in the Social Sciences, of which Professor Black is Chairman, is working in close cooperation with the National Bureau of Economic Research and its cooperating University agencies. Principle among them is the project upon Fiscal Policy for which Professor Crum is acting as Chairman.

The responsibilities and activities of members of the Department tend in some instances to change the direction of our research, but in only too many instances they also tend to retard our research.

In all directions, however, the research activities of the members of the Department were sustained, with six books and approximately sixty articles appearing. Special mention should he made of the following books:

Three Years of the AAA by John D. Black

A Study of Fluid Milk Prices by John M. Cassels. Wells Prize Essay of 1934-35

Professor Chamberlin’s significant volume, The Theory of Monopolistic Competition has been revised.

Prosperity and Depression by Gottfried Haberler

Exchange Depreciation by S. E. Harris. (Came from the press last fall, and mentioned a year ago.)

Studies in Massachusetts Town Finance by E. E. Oakes. Wells Prize Essay of 1935-36

Professor Schumpeter’s book on Business Cycles has been completed, and is now ready for the press.

Economic History of Europe since 1750 by Usher, Bowden, and Karpovich

Explorations in Economics. Essays in Honor of F. W. Taussig contains contributions by most of the members of the staff.

Very sincerely yours,
H. H. Burbank

Dean George D. Birkhoff
20 University Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

____________________________

October 15, 1938

Dear Dean Birkhoff,

I beg to submit the following report for the Department of Economics.

As in previous years I am very happy, to be able to record that the research activities of the officers of the Department have been sustained. In the last two years I have been, able to enumerate an unusually large number of books actually published together with numerous contributions to our periodical literature. In the present year the number of volumes is smaller since the research activities of our staff are still in process. The most notable volumes are Professor Hansen’s Full Recovery or Stagnation and Professor Wallace’s Market Control in the Aluminum Industry. Professor Haberler devoted the major part of the year, and spent the summer abroad, revising his Prosperity and Depression. Also the volume by Professor Crum and Associates on Economic Statistics has been revised.

In all, some fifty or sixty periodical contributions have been made by members of the staff. Notable among these contributions have been the articles by Professor Slichter on “The Downturn of 1937” in the Review of Economic Statistics for August, 1938.

It fell to the lot of the officers of this Department, together with the officers of the Department of Government, to develop instruction in the Littauer School of Public Administration during the past year. Without going into the details of the principles upon which this instruction is based, it may be noted that research courses of a very advanced nature constitute the core of the work of the School. Professors Williams, Hansen, Black, Mason, Slichter, and Wallace are devoting a considerable proportion of their time to this work. It is expected and hoped that these activities will result in an increase in our contributions.

The grant of funds from the Rockefeller Foundation to subsidize the research underlying the Review of Economic Statistics expired with the closing of the fiscal year. This contribution made it possible to continue the Review, and to maintain the scholarly level of the contributions. In the course of the year the Review published a number of the contributions of the staff. Other contributions are nearing completion, and will be published in the present year. The accomplishments or Professors Crum and Haberler as Managing Editors of the Review should be noted. They have succeeded in restoring the very high level of scholarship which characterized the Review a decade ago. We believe that the Review in its present form adds materially to the prestige of the Department and the University.

Also I am happy to note that the Quarterly Journal of Economics under its new editorial staff is maintaining its high position.

There is little to be added to the points which have been discussed in previous reports. The Department finds itself fully occupied with the continuation of its traditional activities and the assumption of such new duties as are involved in the Graduate School of Public Administration. If the personnel of the Department remains constant, it will be necessary to reduce our activities, either in research, in teaching, or in both.

Last fall at a dinner of the Committee to Visit the Department of Economics I reported in some detail regarding the increasing activities of members of the Department. This report led to the appointment of a committee to investigate the budgetary situation of the Department. The investigation conducted under the direction of Mr. George May of Price, Waterhouse, made some very interesting disclosures regarding the increasing load of the Department.

I believe that problems of undergraduate and graduate instruction, the tutorial situation, and the public service contributions of our members have been discussed sufficiently in previous reports. I can only repeat that “there is little question that the research activities of practically all members of the staff have been curtailed by the heavy loads of teaching and administration.

Very sincerely yours,
H. H. Burbank

Dean George D. Birkhoff
20 University Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

____________________________

October 16, 1939

Dear Dean Ferguson:

In accord with your recent request, I submit herewith a report of the work by the Department of Economies for the past year.

Honors have been bestowed upon members of the Department as follows: Professor Schumpeter has received an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, and Professor Leontief has been elected a Fellow of the Econometric Society. Professor Williams was elected a Vice-President of the American Economic Association.

In the field of publications, the outstanding event is the final appearance of Professor Schumpeter’s two volume work on Business Cycles: A Theoretical, Historical and Statistical Analysis of the Capitalistic Process. The fruition of years of study and research, this book is of especial interest as the first major work of Professor Schumpeter in the English language, his well-known Theory of Economic Development having appeared first in German before its translation into English much later. Other books actually appearing within the academic year (the fall of 1938) were referred to in our last report, such as Professor Hansen’s Full Recovery or Stagnation?, a revision of the volume on Economic Statistics by Professor Crum and associates, and a new, enlarged and revised edition of Prosperity and Depression by Professor Haberler (published by the League of Nations). During the year arrangements have been completed for the translation into Japanese of A History of Mechanical Inventions by Professor Usher. For some years Professor Emeritus F. W. Taussig has been at work on a thorough-going revision of his textbook on the Principles of Economics. Volume I appeared last spring, Volume 2 is in the press and will appear very shortly. This much needed revision (the last was in 1921) may regain for Professor Taussig’s text some of the preeminence it held in an earlier period before it had become so badly out of date. Politics, Finance and Consequences by Professor Emeritus C. J. Bullock, the result of continuing research since his retirement, has been published during the past year in the Harvard Economic Studies. A book of which Mr. Paul M. Sweezy was a prominent co-author, An Economic Program for American Democracy, is popularly supposed to have been influential in putting the stamp of economic authority upon recent economic policies of the Federal Government. Finally, some sixty-odd articles, addresses, and reviews by members of the Department have appeared in journals, both professional and popular, during the past year.

A matter not mentioned in our last report was a new policy adopted by the Quarterly Journal of Economics of publishing at intervals of approximately one year a series of supplements devoted to articles and studies of interest to scholars but of such length as to make their publication in the regular issues impractical. These supplements are sent to subscribers without charge, and additional copies are sold separately. The first of these appeared in May 1938, Rudimentary Mathematics for Economists and Statisticians by Professor Crum. Two other manuscripts have been accepted and will appear shortly.

The Committee on Problems of the Business Cycle has carried on the publication of the quarterly Review of Economic Statistics but because of the expiration of its grant of research money many of its new research investigation have been greatly curtailed. Quarterly issues of the Review of Economic Statistics, in addition to carrying the studies of current economic history which present a quarterly record of economic statistics for the United States with their interpretation, have published a wide range of articles on various aspects of the trade cycle problem. Several of these articles have been contributed by foreign specialists but more than half were produced by American writers (in this connection we may note that about one-fourth of the subscribers are located abroad). In addition to the normal research activities involved in studying current history the Committee has financed during the year a continuation of the special investigation by Dr. J. B. Hubbard of the remarkable developments in the issuance of securities since 1933. A further article in Dr. Hubbard’s series will appear in the issue of November 1939.

Mention has been made in previous reports of the burden placed upon particular members of the Department and thus upon the group as a whole by the responsibilities of public service. These responsibilities have continued and expanded during the past year. The adjustment of this burden is a pressing problem. Its immediate influence upon both teaching and research is adverse, yet no ready solution appears at hand. The additional burden of uncompensated teaching in the Graduate School of Public Administration presents an even more serious problem. For the most part the seminars and other activities of this School constitute a net additional load for those members of the Department responsible for them, and inevitably throw a heavier burden of administrative and other work upon others not directly concerned. Budgetary allowance for courses given within the School is an obvious answer to this problem, whenever it may become possible.

You have asked, among other things. for an account of “any changes in the methods of instruction”, of the Department. The changes here have been revolutionary. Over a long period of years there has been built up in the Department a staff of trained instructors and tutors, carrying on established traditions of teaching and constantly experimenting in the adaptation of methods to new problems. These men were sifted constantly, and the best of them retained for a substantial period, after which, if not advanced, they were without exception placed to advantage elsewhere. In view of the singular success with which in the past the personnel problem has been handled in Economics, it is not surprising that the Department is unanimous in viewing with dismay and discouragement the situation in which we now find ourselves. Fifteen teachers and tutors at the instructor or assistant professor level have left us within the past year, seven the preceding year. The general effect upon teaching may be indicated by the tutorial situation. Sixty-seven per cent of the students concentrating in Economics this year are tutored by men of two years or less experience, forty-three per cent by men of no tutorial experience whatsoever, Furthermore, it has been our policy in the past to stagger new men as between tutoring and Economics A, having them start in with either one alone and take up the other the following year. This fall we have been obliged to take on five men who are both teaching Economics A and tutoring for the first time. It has been our policy also to provide more experienced instruction in middle group courses through a period of apprenticeship in Economics A. This fall we have been obliged to put men of no classroom experience whatever directly into middle group courses. We are already experiencing in acute form the devastating effects upon instruction of a rapid turnover, brought on by the mass exodus of last year.

It takes time (and patience on the part of someone) to train men in the discussion method of teaching Economics which has been developed with such success in Economics A at Harvard University. Much is learned by slow experience, by making mistakes and by discussing techniques with fellow instructors, especially with those who have been through the mill. It is impossible to assimilate new men unless the collective experience of the group is maintained at a fairly high level. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that anyone in the Department will be interested in training them unless a substantial portion stay long enough to make it worth while.

Very sincerely yours,
H. H. Chamberlin

Dean W. S. Ferguson
20 University Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

____________________________

October 15, 1940

Dear Dean Ferguson:

I submit herewith a report of the work by the Department of Economics for the past year. There is very little to report—no events or changes of outstanding importance, and only a few isolated items which might be of interest.

Professor Black has been elected to honorary membership in the Swedish Royal Society of Agriculture. Professor Slichter has been honored by appointment as Lamont University Professor.

In the field of publications there is the usual long list of articles in the professional periodicals, but no major work of importance by any member of the Department. Professor Usher’s History of Mechanical Inventions was during the year translated into Japanese. Also in the field of publications it is of interest that there has been begun under the supervision of a committee in the Department and financed in part by a grant from the A. W. Shaw Fund a new series entitled The Harvard Studies in Monopoly and Competition. The first two volumes of this series appeared within the year, — the first, Corporate Size and Earning Power, by Professor W. L. Crum, and the second, Control of Competition in Canada, by Lloyd Reynolds.

The Committee on Problems of the Business Cycle has continued publication of the quarterly Review of Economic Statistics. In place of the general reviews of current economic developments in the United States, which in earlier years had been regular features of each quarterly issue, the Review introduced this past year the policy of presenting each quarter an article pertaining to some specific problem of current interest. The November 1939 issue contained a study of the impact of the war on America commodity prices; the February 1940 number included a study of the current gold problem and the American economy; a review of recent developments in agriculture and the influences of the war on American agriculture appeared in May; while the August 1940 issue presented a comparison and evaluation of various estimates of unemployment in the United States. These studies have been made by members of the Department, with the Committee staff contributing assistance, whenever it was desired, in the preparation of the articles for publication. As in previous years, the Review has also presented articles covering a wide range of studies on various trade cycle problems; and the Review staff has continued the compilation of selected current economic series which have been used in research studies by Department members and graduate student within the Department.

There have been no important changes in policy in the year by the Quarterly Journal of Economics. The policy begun the previous year of publishing occasional supplements sent to subscribers without charge has been continued. Two supplements appeared during the year, Exchange Control in Austria and Hungary and Exchange Control in Germany, both by Professor Howard S. Ellis. Through an arrangement with the Harvard Economic Studies they will shortly appear in that series as a single volume.

During the year Professor Emeritus Frank W. Taussig attained his eightieth birthday. A tribute and greeting was presented to him on this occasion signed by some two hundred of his former students.

I call attention again to the continuing problem of the added burden to members of the Department for uncompensated teaching in the Graduate School of Public Administration. The situation here remains substantially as described in my last report. It remains one of the most serious problems which the Department has to meet in maintaining the standards of its instruction.

The quality of instruction given by the Department continues to suffer from the heavy losses in the junior personnel during the past few years. Sixty-four per cent of the students concentrating in Economics this year are tutored by men of two years or less experience, fifty-five per cent by men of one year or less. The difficulties of maintaining satisfactory instruction with such a rapid turnover remain almost insuperable, and concentration in Economics which has fallen off steadily over the past four years slumped most disastrously for the year 1940-41. Although most of the liquidation of our more experienced instructors and tutors had taken place before the year on which I am reporting, we have during that year again lost a number of our best men because of the limited inducement which could be offered for them to remain with us even for a short period.

Sincerely yours,
H. H. Chamberlin

Dean W. S. Ferguson
5 University Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

____________________________

October 15, 1941

Dear Dean Ferguson:

I submit herewith a report on the work of the Department of Economics covering the past year.

Professor Slichter has been elected President of the American Economic Association. This is the third time in the past five years that this honor has gone to an economist from Harvard, Professor Sprague having been elected in 1937-38 and Professor Hansen in 1938-39.

In the field of publications there have appeared, in addition to the usual long list of articles, several books of possible importance. I should mention especially Professor Slichter’s Union Policies and Industrial Management, Professor Leontief’s The Structure of American Economy: An Empirical Application of Equilibrium Analysis, and Dr. Triffin’s Monopolistic Competition and General Equilibrium Theory. The latter appeared in the Harvard Economic Studies of which there have now been published 70 volumes, four within the past year. The new series of Harvard Studies in Monopoly and Competition has been augmented by two new volumes during the past year, bringing the total to four. Professor Usher’s History of Mechanical Inventions has again been translated, this time into Spanish. During the past year an arrangement was made with the Rockefeller Foundation (for the current year only) which if continued may prove to be of real importance to the members of our Department. Professor Crum has been relieved of one-half of his teaching duties for research through the payment by the Foundation of the salary of someone to replace him in his teaching assignment. In addition to providing possibilities for research to members of the Department, such an arrangement would have the added advantage of making it possible to invite to Harvard for short period either possible candidates for permanent appointments or others whose presence here for one year would prove stimulating to our students.

Again I call attention to the problem of the added burden to members of the Department for uncompensated teaching in the Graduate School of Public Administration. This has been from the beginning a serious matter in maintaining standards of instruction. It is especially a factor in concentrating the activities of the older members of the Department in the graduate field, leaving undergraduate instruction to be taken care of in undue degree by younger men whose experience on the average seems to decline further each year.

The quality of instruction by the junior staff continues to be a grave concern to our Department. Last year I mentioned that 64 per cent of the students concentrating in Economics were tutored by men of two years or less experience. This year the percentage has increased to 72, and the problem of finding enough experienced and competent tutors in the right fields for distinction seniors has become impossible to solve. The general situation is reflected also in Economics A where the percentage of new instructors has jumped alarmingly for the current year. For the five years 1936-41 the sections taught by new men averaged 24 per cent of the total. For the current year 39 per cent of the sections are taught by new men. For the same five years the sections taught by men of one year or less experience averaged 45 per cent of the total. For the current year this figure has advanced to 61 per cent. The large volume of complaints on the part of students as to the inexperience of their tutors and Economics A section instructors leaves no doubt in the minds of the Department that the continuing decline in concentration in Economies is mainly a reflection of this situation. In view of the competing opportunities for our younger men which have repeatedly been pointed out the problem for our Department continues to be not to maintain a high rate of turnover as the present rules of tenure seem designed to do, but to be able through more flexible arrangements both with respect to tenure and to salaries to maintain a staff sufficiently experienced to give satisfactory instruction to our undergraduates. Such instruction is clearly not being given at the present time.

Sincerely yours,
H. H. Chamberlin

Dean W. S. Ferguson
5 University Hall
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence and Papers (UAV 349.11). Box 2, Folder “Report to the Dean on the Department 1932-…”

Image Source: Harold Hitchings Burbank from the Harvard Class Album 1934.

 

Categories
Economics Programs Economists Harvard Iowa Michigan Undergraduate

Harvard. Application for Admission to Economics Ph.D. Program. Edward H. Chamberlin, 1922

 

The archived student records of the Graduate School of Arts and Science at Harvard University provide us material needed to write a prequel to a Ph.D. economist’s professional biography. To illustrate the the richness of such material, I have transcribed Professor Edward Hasting Chamberlin’s application materials that he submitted to Harvard. Judging from a couple of issues of Iowa’s “The Hawkeye Yearbook”, it does appear that Edward Chamberlin was quite a Busy Man on Campus during his undergraduate years.

Pro-tip. More information about the faculties and courses of instruction during Chamberlin’s pre-Harvard  university days can be culled from the respective university catalogues archived at  hathitrust.org:

Catalogues of the State University of Iowa.
Catalogues of the University of Michigan.

Fun-fact: Edward H. Chamberlin played the role of Geoffrey Rawson in the production of Mrs. Bumpstead-Leigh performed May 12, 1920 at the Englert Theatre (joint production of the Erodelphian Literary Society and Irving Institute). The Hawkeye Yearbook, 1921.

_____________________________________

POLITICAL ECONOMY, SOCIOLOGY,
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

532 Thompson St.
Ann Arbor, Mich.
April 11, 1922.

Mr. George W. Robinson, Secretary
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences,
Harvard University,
Cambridge, Mass.

Dear Sir:

Enclosed with this letter are transcripts of my work at the State University of Iowa and at the University of Michigan and my application for admission to candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics at Harvard University. Under separate cover I am making marked copies of the University of Michigan and the State University of Iowa. In some cases the catalogues do not indicate the work taken on account of changes. In these instances I have tried to duplicate the needed information in the margins.

I am making my application early so that I may know in advance as much as possible about the work I must take for my degree I presume that individual courses are not settled upon until after a conference. I shall be glad if I may know this spring how much credit will be allowed me for previous work, how much additional coursework will be required, and in what general branches.

Very truly yours,
[signed]
Edward H. Chamberlin

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
ARTS AND SCIENCES

APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION TO CANDIDACY FOR A DEGREE IN ARTS OR PHILOSOPHY

NAME:  E. H. Chamberlin

DATE   April 1922

DEGREE APPLIED FOR Ph.D.

SUBJECT Economics

COLLEGE State U. of Iowa and U. of Mich.

REMARKS

B, except for French

25 Apr. 1923: French O.K.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Application for Admission to Candidacy for a Degree in Arts or Philosophy

[Note: Chamberlin’s responses in his application have been highlighted using boldface.]

Return this application, with certificates of other evidences of scholarship and character, to the Secretary of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, No. 24 University Hall, Cambridge, Mass.

Applications for the degree of Master of Arts or Doctor of Philosophy will be received as late as the fifteenth day of January of the academic year in which the degree is to be taken; but candidates are urged to file their applications at the beginning of the year or ealirer, so that they may receive timely advice with reference to the work that will be expected of them for the degree.

The application should be accompanied by a Recorder’s or Registrar’s certificate of the applicant’s college or university work, and also, if possible, by a college catalogue or catalogues in which the studies he has taken are clearly marked. Final admission to candidacy for a degree is always conditional upon satisfactory official certification of the facts stated in the application.

Applications for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy should be filed, if possible, at the beginning of a student’s Graduate work for the degree.

An applicant for the degree of Master of Arts, who wishes to take later the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, should state the fact in his application for the Master’s degree, which will then be considered with reference to both degrees.

  1. Full name. Edward Hastings Chamberlin
  2. Post-office address. (Give prompt notice to the Secretary of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of any change.). 532 Thompson St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
  3. Date and place of birth. La Conner, Wash. May 18, 1899.
  4. High schools or other preparatory schools attended, and periods of attendance. Iowa City (Iowa) High School. 4 years
  5. Colleges and universities attended and periods of attendance. What course did you take (classical, literary, scientific, etc.)? Univ. of Iowa. 1916-1920. Commerce; Univ. of Michigan. graduate. 1920-1922.
  6. If you are an undergraduate, state: (a) What degree you expect, and when. [left deliberately blank]. (b) Rank or average standing in class [left deliberately blank]
  7. If you have received a degree, state what degree, from what college, and when. B.S. in Commerce, Univ. of Iowa, June, 1920; M.A. University of Michigan, June, 1922.
  8. If you have been a Graduate student at any college or university, state where, when, and in what subjects. State University of Iowa, summer sessions 1920 and 1921. Income Tax. Pol. Science; Univ. of Michigan 1920-1921, 1921-1922, Economics, Philosophy.  and name your principal teachers in those subjects. Iowa. Prof. R. A. Stevenson [Associate Professor of Accounting, Russell Alger Stevenson, B.A. Michigan, 1913; M.A. Iowa, 1915; Ph.D. Michigan, 1918], Prof. Jacob Van der Zee [Assistant Professor of Political Science Jacob Van der Zee, B.A. Iowa, 1905; B.A. Oxford, 1908; M.A. 1913; LL.B. Iowa, 1913]; Michigan, Prof. F. M. Taylor [Professor of Political Economy and Finance Fred Manville Taylor, Ph.D.], Prof. I. L. Sharfman [Professor of Economics Isaiah Leo Sharfman, A.B., LL.B.], Dean Alfred H. Lloyd [Professor of Philosophy and Dean of the Graduate School Alfred Henry Lloyd, Ph.D.].
  9. Honors or other evidences of high scholarship awarded to you. Phi Beta Kappa. Beta Gamma Sigma.
  10. For what degree (or degrees) do you wish to be a candidate, and when? Doctor of Philosophy in Economics, September 1922.
  11. Of the following branches, underscore once those which you have studied in college, and [mark with an asterisk (*)] those in which you have done advanced work. This information should be supplemented by a carefully marked and annotated catalogue or calendar.
Hebrew Government Physics
Sanskrit *Economics Chemistry
Greek Sociology Botany
Latin *Philosophy Zoölogy
English Composition Education Geology
English Literature Fine Arts Physiography
German Architecture Mineralogy
French Music Mining
Italian Mathematics Anthropology
Spanish Astronomy Subjects not classified above.
History Engineering Psychology
Journalism
  1. (a) State which of the languages named below you have studied, and how long in each case. German 1 1/2 yrs. high school; 2 yrs. Univ.  French [deliberately blank], Greek [deliberately blank], Latin 2 years high school. Any modern foreign language other than German and French. Spanish.  (b) Do you know German and French well enough to be able to consult works on your subject in these languages? German-yes; French-no.
  2. In what subject do you wish to be considered as a candidate for a degree? State in detail your previous work in this subject.

Economics
Industrial History
4 sem. hrs.		 Intro. to Econ. Theory
6 sem. hrs.		 Research in Accounting
2 sem. hrs.
Commercial Geography
4 sem. hrs.		 Cost Accounting
4 sem. hrs.		 Railroads
3 sem. hrs.
Prin. of Economics
6 sem. hrs.		 Public Utility Accounting
2 sem. hrs.		 Essentials of Ec. Theory (continued)
2 sem. hrs.
Prin. of Accounting
6 sem. hrs.		 Income Tax
2 sem. hrs.		  

*The course in Ec. statistics had nothing to do with statistics but dealt with the nature of income and sundry other subjects.

 
Business Efficiency
4 sem. hrs.		 Essentials of Econ. Theory
2 sem. hrs.
Corporation Finance
4 sem. hrs.		 Commercial Law
4 sem. hrs.
Banking
2.6 sem. hrs.		 *Economic Statistics
4 sem. hrs.
Problems of Peace and Reconstruction
1.3 sem. hrs.		 Studies in Econ. Theory
(History of Econ. Thought)
2 sem. hrs.
Industrial History
4 sem. hrs.		 Intro. to Econ. Theory
6 sem. hrs.
  1. Present occupation. (State definitely.) Instructor in Economics, University of Michigan.
  2. If you are, or have been a teacher, what positions have you held? at what institutions? in what subjects? and during what periods of time? Instructor, University of Michigan (1920.-1921; 1921-1922) and University of Iowa (Summer Session 1921); Economics and Accounting—Sept. 1920 to June 1922.
  3. From whom can information as to your previous work be obtained? Prof. F. M. Taylor [Professor of Political Economy and Finance Fred Manville Taylor, Ph.D.], and Prof. I. L. Sharfman [Professor of Economics Isaiah Leo Sharfman, A.B., LL.B.], Ann Arbor, Mich.; Prof. F. H. Knight [Associate Professor of Economics Frank Hyneman Knight, B.S. Tennessee, 1913; A.M. 1913; Ph.D. Cornell, 1916], University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
  4. List of printed and written documents submitted with this application. Catalogue, University of Michigan—separate cover; Catalogue, University of Iowa—separate cover; Certified record of courses pursued from Iowa and Michigan

Signature. [signed] Edward H. Chamberlin
Place of writing this application. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Date. April 11, 1922

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
IOWA CITY

TRANSCRIPT OF RECORD

of Edw. Hastings Chamberlin
College Liberal Arts

Secondary Credits Accepted from Iowa City, Iowa

Units
Latin

2
French
German

1½
English

4
History—Gv.—Econ.

2
Algebra

1½
P. & S. [Plane & Solid] Geometry

1½
Science

2
Draw.

2

16

 Entrance conditions: none

Degree B.S.C. Conferred [date] 6-15-20

This is a true statement of the credit earned by Edw. Hastings Chamberlin in the college of Liberal Arts of the State University of Iowa.

[signed] [?Signature illegible], Asst Registrar
Date 7/31/20

1916-17

Cat No

 Subjects 1st Sem 2nd Sem
Hrs Gr Hrs

Gr
Drill

excused

 ½

B
Phy Training

excused

 ½

Cr
Fresh. Sect.

1

C
1, 2 Eng. (Rhet.)

2

 A 2

B
13, 14 German (Interm.)

5

 C 5

C
5 Math. (Trig. Alg.)

5

A
3 Econ (Ind.Hist.)

4

B
4 Econ. (Com. Geog.)

4

B
6 Math. (An. Geom.)

5

A

1917-18

Cat No

 Subjects 1st Sem 2nd Sem
Hrs Gr Hrs

Gr
Drill

.5

 Cr .5

Cr
1 Econ (Prin.)

1(2)

3

 B 3

C
7 Econ. (Elem.Acc.) 7(8)

3

 A 3

A
21 Eng. (Lit.) 21(22)

3

 B 3

B
51 Spanish (Elem.)

51(52)

5

 A 5

A
179 Eng. (Editing) 179

2

 C

Phy. Tr.

.5

C

1918-19

Cat No

 Subjects 1st Sem 2nd Sem
Hrs Gr Hrs

Gr
Psych. (Elem.)

1,2

2

 B 2

B
Span. (2d yr.) 54,55

2

 A 2

A
Econ. (Efficiency) 167,168

2

 B 2

A
Econ. (Corp. Finance) 143,144

2

 B 2

B
Econ. (Banking) 165,166

1.3

 B 1.3

A
Econ. (Prob. Peace & Recon.)

50

1.3

C
Officers’ Training Course, Fort Sheridan, Ill. 6 s.h.
Service in the U.S. Army 7-18-18 to 1-15-19 10 s.h.
1238

1254

 10-11-19

1919-20

Cat No Subjects Fall Winter Spring
Hrs Gr Gr Gr Hrs Gr
Com. (Intro. Econ. Theory) 135

2

 A 2 A 2

A
Com. (Cost Account) 131

2

 B 2 A

Com. (Com. Law) 189

1.3

 B 1.3 B 1.3

A
Math. (2d yr. L.A. Math) 3

2.7

 A 2.7 A 2.7

A
Com. (Pub. Ut. Acc’t) 132

2

A

 

Summer Session 1920

Cat No

 Subjects July
Hrs

Gr
Econ VI

2

A

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Summer Session 1921

Cat No

 Subjects August
Hrs

Gr
Pol Sci 11S

1.6

P
Pol Sci 117S

.4

P

[Summer Session 1921 from a card from the State University of Iowa, Iowa City. Registrar: H. C. Dorcass [University Examiner and Registrar Herbert Clifford Dorcas, B. Ph. Iowa, 1895; M.A. Columbia, 1903] 9/19/21]

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
ANN ARBOR

GRADUATE SCHOOL
OFFICE OF THE DEAN
[Transcript of courses taken
by Edward H. Chamberlin]

April 7, 1922.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

This is to certify that Mr. Edward H. Chamberlin, B.S. in Commerce, University of Iowa, was admitted to this Graduate School in the fall of 1920 as a candidate for the Master’s degree. During his residence in the School, Mr. Chamberlin has pursued the following courses:

First Semester, 1920-21

Course

 No. Credit

Grade

Economics

 8 2 hrs. B
Economics 13d 2 hrs.

A

Economics

 17 1 hr. A

Second Semester, 1920-21

Economics

 7 2 hrs. A
Economics 8a 2 hrs.

B

Economics

 18 1 hr. A

First Semester, 1921-21

Philosophy

 9a 3 hrs. A
Economics 6 3 hrs.

A

German

 *9c —— B

Second Semester, 1921-22

Economics

 8 2 hrs. Now taking.
Philosophy 9b 3 hrs.

Now taking.

German

 *10c —— Now taking.

A=Excellent, B=Good, C=No graduate credit,  *Undergraduate course

Mr. Chamberlin was granted credit towards the Master’s degree at this University for graduate work done at the State University of Iowa. Upon the satisfactory completion of the work now being pursued, the degree of Master of Arts will be conferred upon Mr. Chamberlin in June, 1922.

[signed] Alfred H. Lloyd
Dean, Graduate School.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Carbon Copy of Reply to Chamberlin’s Application of 11 April 1922

13 April 1922

My dear Sir:

Your application for admission to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences as a candidate for a higher degree has been received and examined. The obvious difficulty in your case is your deficiency in French. I accordingly advise you to devote as much time as possible to work in this language between now and next fall. In the meantime you will do well to look over the scheme of subjects from which selections are made, in preparation for the general or preliminary examination for the doctorate, and at the beginning of the year you should consult Professor Charles H. Haskins, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, as to the arrangement of your work. i see no specific deficiency in your preparation other than the French, and I see no reason to doubt that you can arrange a satisfactory plan of work for the doctorate in consultation with Dean Haskins and with the Department of Economics. It is impossible at present to make any very definite estimate of the length of time that your work would require. I should suppose that you ought to plan for two solid years at least, with the idea that if your work is not completed by the end of that time you may perhaps be able to finish up your thesis in absentia, and then to come back for your final examination. If a part of your time during either of the two years is devoted to work as assistant or instructor, at least a  third year in residence would presumably be necessary.

Very truly yours,
[Carbon copy unsigned]

Edward H. Chamberlin

Source: Harvard University Archives. GSAS student folders (UAV161.201.10), Box 117, Folder: E. H. Chamberlin.

Image: Edward Chamberlin. University of Iowa. The Hawkeye 1920, p. 37.

 

Categories
Courses Harvard Undergraduate Yale

Yale. Sheffield Scientific School, Ethics of Business Lectures for Seniors, endowed by Edward D. Page, 1908-1915

 

In the previous post we met the 1896 Columbia University economics Ph.D., Henry C. Emery, who went on to become a professor at Yale. In preparing that post, I came across the Page Lecture Series for the senior class of the Sheffield Scientific School at Yale University and wondered who was the Sheffield alumnus who sponsored that series and so this post was born.

It appears that the series only ran from 1908-1916 with only the first eight rounds resulting in published volumes. 

The sponsor of the lecture series, Edward Day Page (1856-1918) was an 1875 graduate of the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale and a successful business man who closed down his dry goods commission partnership and retired from active business in 1911. Included below is an excerpt from an 1886 letter by Page to The Nation that provides a comparison between political economy taught at Yale and Harvard claiming the superiority of Harvard’s broader use of elective courses. This is followed by obituaries for his firm and him, respectively. Finally, we discover that his New Jersey estate was one of the list of places that have a legitimate claim to George Washington having had slept there.

Edward Day Page was a rare sort of business man (now an endangered species) who appears to have thought deeply about what constitutes ethical behavior in the conduct of business. 

__________________________

Page Lecture Series.
Addresses delivered before the Senior Class of the Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University.

“For some time prior to [1908] the authorities of the Sheffield Scientific School had been considering the possibility of a course of five lectures dealing with the question of right conduct in business matters, to be given to the members of the Senior Class toward the end of their college year. While these addresses were to be in a sense a prescribed study for members of the Senior Class, it was intended that the course should not be restricted to them but should be open to all members of the University who might desire to attend. Through the generosity of Mr. Edward D. Page, of New York City, a graduate of the Sheffield Scientific School in the Class of 1875, this course, now named for the founder, was established in the summer of 1907; and in the spring of 1908 the first lectures in the series were delivered…”

Source: Morals in Modern Business, addresses delivered in the Page lecture series, 1908, before the senior class of the Sheffield scientific school, Yale university. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1909. Publisher’s note, p. 5

 

Morals in Modern Business (1908 address, published 1909)

The Morals of Trade in the Making. Edward D. Page
Production. George W. Alger
Competition. Henry Holt
Credit and Banking. A. Barton Hepburn
Public Service. Edward W. Bemis
Corporate and Other Trusts. James McKeen

Every-day Ethics (1909 Lectures, published in 1910)

Journalism. Norman Hapgood
Accountancy. Joseph E. Sterrett
Lawyer and Client. John Brooks Leavitt
Transportation. Charles A. Prouty
Speculation. Henry C. Emery

Industry and Progress by Norman Hapgood (1910 Lectures, published in 1911).

Trade Morals: Their Origin, Growth and Province by Edward D. Page (1911 Lectures, published in  1914).

“This book is the outgrowth of a course of lectures delivered to the graduating class at the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University in the spring of 1911. Their object was to show in some consecutive form the growth of trade morals from the social and mental conditions which form the environment of business men, and to illustrate their meaning and purpose in such a way as to clarify if not to solve some difficulties by which the men of our time are perplexed. The lecturer took for granted a basis of knowledge such as is possessed by undergraduate students of the natural and social sciences, and the effort was made to carry minds so prepared one step further along toward the interpretation of some of the problems with which they would soon be compelled to cope. Nearly all of them were shortly to come into contact with business — to engage in it, in fact — and he felt that it was important that they should make this start with some definite notion of the values and problems involved in the business side of their vocational career.

Politician, Party and People by Henry Crosby Emery (1912 Lectures, published in 1913)

Questions of Public Policy. (1913 Lectures, published in 1913)

The Character and Influence of Recent Immigration. Jeremiah W. Jenks
The Essential and the Unessential in Currency Legislation. A. Piatt Andrew
The Value of the Panama Canal to this Country. Emory R. Johnson
The Benefits and Evils of the Stock Exchange. Willard V. King.

Ethics in Service by William Howard Taft. (1914 Lectures, published in 1915).

Industrial Leadership by H. L. Gantt. (1915 Lectures, published 1916).

Character and Conduct in Business Life by Edward D. Page. (1916 Lectures)

__________________________

Harvard-Yale Comparison (1886)
by Edward D. Page

The second cause which has determined the progress of Harvard is the great extension of optional studies which has taken place under the administration of President Eliot. It is not my purpose to enter into any argument of the merits of the optional system. It has existed at Harvard for forty-five years, during the last fifteen of which it has had broad extensions and thorough trial. Facts speak for it. It is undeniably popular among both students and instructors. It has been denounced by Yale’s venerable triumvirate and their backers as wasteful and demoralizing. Yet they yielded so far to popular clamor, some five years since, as to formulate the system of limited election which now prevails in the two upper classes. If elective studies are good, why were they not adopted years ago? If, on the contrary, they are bad, why adopted at all?

The following table shows, for the college year 1885-86, the number of hours weekly which the student can devote to the studies of his own choice:

HOURS OF ELECTIVE STUDIES (PER WEEK).

Yale.

Harvard.
Freshman Class

None

9
Sophomore Class

None

All
Junior Class

9

All
Senior Class

13

All

In this respect, then, Yale stood till five or six years ago just where she stood in the eighteenth century, and stands to-day almost exactly where Harvard stood in 1841. Of course the opportunities of choice are far greater at Yale to-day than they could be at any American college forty-five years ago: but they are still far inferior to the advantages which Cambridge now affords.

Subjoined is a table showing the courses given in the Academical Department of each university, and the number of hours of instruction offered weekly in each course:

Yale.

Harvard.
Semitic Languages

1

17
Indo-Iranian Languages

4

12
Greek

13 ½

39 ½
Latin

17 ½

37 ½
Greek and Latin Philology, etc.

…

6
English and Rhetoric

10

24
German

15

20
French

18

26
Italian

6

10 ½
Spanish

6

10 ½
Philosophy and Ethics

11

25
Political Economy

4 ½

14
History

11 ½

24
Roman Law

1 ½

4 ½
Fine Arts

…

10 ½
Music

…

14
Mathematics

30 ½

42 ½
Physics

4

23 ½
Chemistry

2

24
Natural History

11

49 ½
International Law, etc.

1 ½

…
Linguistics

½

…
Hygiene

1

…

170

434 ½

In other words, the Harvard undergraduate has the allurement and opportunity of over two and a half times the amount of instruction that is offered by Yale. In this respect the latter is somewhat behind where Harvard was in 1871, when 168 hours were offered in the elective courses alone.

Thoroughness of instruction is a more difficult factor to estimate, and one which I approach with great diffidence. I shall be contented with a table of comparison showing the courses given in political economy, which, in importance to the citizen, yields to no other science. At Harvard the instruction is given by a professor, an assistant professor, and an instructor. At Yale one man performs all these functions and is Professor of Social Science as well. The time occupied by each course is reduced to the number of hours per week annually offered:

YALE.

HARVARD.
Elementary course.

1 ½ hrs.

 Elementary course.

3 hrs.
Longer elementary course

2 hrs.
History of economic theory

3 hrs.
Economical history of America and Europe

3 hrs.
Tariff legislation

1 hr.
Financial legislation

1 hr.
Discussion and investigation

1 hr.

 Discussion and investigation

3 hrs.
Independent research say

3 hrs.
For Seniors

4 ½ hrs.

 For Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors.

17 hrs.

From this it is apparent that something more is offered at Harvard than a merely superficial knowledge of a subject which few men have the time to pursue in after life. Yale now devotes scarcely more time to the subject than Harvard did in 1872.

It may be well to note in passing that while psychology is a required study for four terms at Yale, political economy is an optional study, which can be pursued at utmost for but two. It is difficult to discern the principle on which this discrimination is based, unless, indeed, that otherwise a smaller attendance would flatter the one course given by the President of the University!

Source: From Edward D. Page, “A Comparison” the Nation, 25 February 1886. A follow-up to his article “Two Decades of Yale and Harvard” 18 February, 1886.

__________________________

Edward Day Page’s Business Career

Old Dry Goods Firm to Quit
Faulkner, Page & Co., in Business 78 Years, to End with the Year.
The New York Times. 9 October 1911

Conformable to the wishes of the two senior partners, who are eager to retire, the dry goods commission firm of Faulkner, Page & Co., of 78 Worth Street and 80 Fifth Avenue, will go out of business at the end of the current year, after seventy-eight years of activity.

The business was founded in Boston in 1834, by Charles Faulkner, who had been a salesman for Thomas Tarbell, a dry goods jobber of Boston. Faulkner’s family operated several woolen mills, and he united the agency for these mills with the business of Mr. Tarbell, under the namerof Thomas Tarbell & Co.

In 1850 the name of the firm was changed to Faulkner, Kimball & Co., Thomas Tarbell retiring, and M. Day Kimball and Robert C. Billings being admitted. The importing end of the business was dropped at the outbreak of the civil war, and the house went more largely into the sale of goods, both woolen and cotton, manufactured by New England mills. On Jan. 1, 1859, Henry A. Page, a nephew of Mr. Kimball, who had been brought up in the retail dry goods business in Haverhill, Mass., was admitted to partnership. Mr. Page came to New York and opened a branch office, the business of which grew rapidly, and within three years its sales had passed those of its Boston parent. On the death of Mr. Kimball in 1871 the name of the firm was changed to Faulkner, Page & Co. In 1870 Joseph S. Kendall, formerly senior partner of Kendall, Cleveland & Opdyke, had been admitted, and in 1878 Alfred W. Bates, formerly of Leland, Allen & Bates, and George M. Preston, a nephew of Mr. Faulkner, became members of the firm.

Edward D. Page, now the senior partner, entered its employ as an office boy in 1875, upon his graduation from Yale. He was admitted to the firm in 1884. Charles Faulkner died later in the same year.

Shortly after the death of Henry A. Page in 1898, and of Robert C. Billings in 1899, the firm was reorganized. George W. Bramhall, formerly of Bramhall Brothers & Co., joined on Jan. 1, 1900, and on Jan. 1, 1903, Nathaniel B. Day, formerly of H.T. Simon & Gregory of St. Louis, but at that time selling agent for the Mississippi Mills, was admitted to partnership. Alfred W. Bates died in 1892; Joseph S. Kendall died in 1903.

Satisfactory arrangements haven made for transferring the mill accounts of the retiring firm to other well established houses.

__________________________

Obituary for Edward Day Page
The Morning Call (Patterson, New Jersey). 26 December 1918. Pages 1, 9.

STRICKEN FATALLY AT DINNER TABLE
Edward Day Page, Scientist and Art Patron, Dies While Entertaining Friends.

ESTATE AT OAKLAND.
Was Known in This City for His wonderful collection of Paintings and His Library.

Edward Day Page, known in the mercantile and scientific circles of this country and Europe, died of heart failure yesterday afternoon while eating a Christmas dinner with his family and guests at his residence in Oakland. Mr. Page, a graduate of the Sheffield scientific school of Yale university, class of 1875, was a member of forty-two scientific societies and other organizations In the United States and European countries. The library attached to his late home contains 40,000 volumes.

For the past three weeks Mr. Page had been suffering from influenza and pleurisy. His physician reported that he was on the road to recovery, therefor his sudden death yesterday came as a great shock to the family. News that Mr. Page had passed away brought forth many expressions of deep regret in Oakland, where the deceased man was the leading and wealthiest citizen.

The deceased man was born in Haverhill, Mass., in 1856. He was a resident of Oakland for several years and was known in Paterson. At the outbreak of the war between this country and Germany. Mr. Page was appointed as chairman of the civilians’ advisory committee to the quartermaster’s department and acted also as the expert on textiles for the department. He continued in this service until the quartermaster’s department was reorganized. In New York Mr. Page was a member of the Century club, Merchants’ club, and up to the time of his death took an active interest in the affairs of the Merchants’ association of New York. Mr. Page published several books on political and economical subjects which were well received throughout the country. At the time of his death he was editor-in-chief of the Sussex Register, part of the estate of his late son, Harry S. Page, who passed away about a year ago. Until several years ago, Mr. Page was a member of the late firm of Falkner, Page & Co., commission merchants, of New York.

The Page property, consisting of 700 acres of ground and the most up-to-date equipment and buildings, was looked upon by residents and farmers throughout the northern part of the state as an ideal farm. It has been said that the Page home has no equal In beautiful surroundings. The residence holds an exceedingly valuable collection of paintings, Mr. Page having been a connoisseur of the art, and a magnificent organ. Mr. Page’s library of 40,000 books is believed to have no equal as a private collection in the country.

In naming his property Mr. Page selected “Die Tweeligen,” which, in the German language, means “The Twins.” This name was chosen because of two great boulders found on the property. Mr. Page named his farm “The Vygeberg.”

Mr. Page was a resident of Oakland since 1896. His son, Lee Page, is a professor of civics in Yale college. The first wife of the deceased man, who was Miss Nina Lee, of Orange, died in 1915. He married again less than a year ago, to the present Mrs. Page, who formerly was Miss Mary Hall, of Newton, by whom he is survived. A daughter, Mrs. Nelson Deitch, of Oakland, and son, Lee Page, also survive him. Funeral arrangements have not been completed.

__________________________

Fun Fact:
Washington Slept There

“It was a mere 235 years ago that General George Washington temporarily used the then-home of Hendrick Van Allen as his headquarters on July 14 and 15, 1777. The home’s history begins in 1748, when Hendrick Van Allen, his wife Elizabeth, and their ten children moved to what is today Oakland. Hendrick was a deacon at the Ponds Church, which was located approximately one mile west of his home. The stone masonry home that Hendrick built consisted of four rooms. Its architecture reflects the Dutch design of the period…

Hendrick Van Allen lived in the home with his wife and children until his death in July 1783, at the age of 76. Van Allen’s property was divided amongst his children. Records indicating the ownership of the property between 1788 and 1864 are illegible. Between 1864 and 1900, three other families owned the property.

In 1900 the property was transferred to Edward Page, a successful merchant and businessman. Edward Day Page was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1856, but by 1860 was living in South Orange, New Jersey with his family. Because of his father’s business connections, Page became a partner at the wholesale dry goods firm Faulkner, Page & Co., located in New York. Page began his employment as an office boy and became a full member of the firm in 1884, eventually working his way to senior partner. The business continued until December 1911.

Edward Page’s purchase of the property in 1900 corresponds with a period in the region’s history when many wealthy New York merchants and industrialists moved from the urban centers to the rural countryside and modern suburbs of northeastern New Jersey. The 700 acres of land that Page purchased became the Vygeberg Estate, which he built for himself and his family. The estate was a working farm that encompassed almost all of the Mountain Lakes section of Oakland. Seeing the need for fresh dairy products in Oakland, the farm was primarily a dairy farm with several cow barns. As part of the estate, Page constructed a family mansion, known as De Tweelingen, barns and other necessary outbuildings, including the Vygeberg Office (Stream House), which was built in 1902 on the Van Allen House property….

Page belonged to a number of organizations and served several elected positions in Oakland including councilman from 1902 to 1908, mayor from 1910 – 1911, recorder in 1912 and as vice president of the Board of Education in 1913. Page passed away at his home in Oakland on December 25, 1918 at the age of 62.”

Source: “From Dutch Homestead to Dairy Farm Estate: The Van Allen / Vygeberg Property” in The Oakland Journal, 16 January 2014.

Image Source: Find A Grave Website, Edward Day Page.

 

 

Categories
Economics Programs Exam Questions Johns Hopkins Undergraduate

Johns Hopkins. Exams for Undergraduate Political Economy Courses, 1923-1924

 

Several undergraduate course exams for the 1922-23 academic year at Johns Hopkins University in Political Economy have been posted earlier. The exams for 1919-20 have also been transcribed. A more complete (though still incomplete) sample is available the the university archives for the following year and which have been transcribed for this post.

_______________________________

Johns Hopkins Faculty
for the Undergraduate Courses in Political Economy
1923-1924

Barnett, George Ernest, Ph.D., Professor of Statistics.

A.B., Randolph-Macon College, 1891; Fellow, John Hopkins University, 1899-1900, and Ph.D., 1901.

Weyforth, William Oswald, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Economy.

A.B., Johns Hopkins University, 1912, and Ph.D., 1915; Instructor, Western Reserve University, 1915-17.

Mitchell, Broadus, Ph.D., Associate in Political Economy.

A.B., University of South Carolina, 1913; Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, 1916-17, and Ph.D., 1918.

Jacobs, Theo, A.B., Associate in Social Economics.

A.B., Goucher College, 1901; Federated Charities of Baltimore (District Assistant, 1905-07, District Secretary, 1907-10, Assistant General Secretary, 1910-17, Acting General Secretary, 1917-19).

Newlove, George Hills, Ph.D., Associate in Accounting, School of Business Economics.

Ph.B., Hamline University, 1914; A.M., University of Minnesota, 1915; Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1918; C.P.A. (Ill.), 1918; C.P.A. (S.C.), 1919.

Gillies, Robert Carlyle, A.B., Instructor in Political Economy.

A.B., Princeton University, 1920.

Source: The Johns Hopkins University Circular, University Register 1922-1923, No. 342, January 1923. Announcements for 1923-1924.

Biographical information for George Hills Newlove found in John J. Kahle American Accountants and their Contributions to Accounting Thought, 1900-1930. Routledge Library Editions: Accounting, 2014.

_______________________________

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
1923-24

  1. Elements of Economics.
    Particular attention is given to the theory of distribution and its application to leading economic problems

Three hours weekly through the year. Associate Professor WEYFORTH, Dr. MITCHELL and Mr. GILLIES.

  1. Statistical Methods.

After a preliminary study of the value and place of statistics as an instrument of investigation, attention is directed to the chief methods used in statistical inquiry.

Three hours weekly, first half-year. Mr. GILLIES.

  1. Money and Banking.

The principles of monetary science are taught with reference to practical conditions in modern systems of currency, banking, and credit.

Three hours weekly, second half-year. Associate Professor WEYFORTH.

  1. American Trade Unionism.

The history, structure and functions of American trade unionism are studied.

Three hours weekly, first half-year. Professor BARNETT.

  1. Labor Problems.

The problems growing out of modern industrial employment will be studied.

Three hours weekly, first half-year. Professor BARNETT.

(Course 5 will not be given in 1923-24.)

  1. Corporation Finance.

The theory and practice of corporation finance are considered , with particular reference to the problems presented in the United States.

Three hours weekly, second half-year. Professor BARNETT.

  1. Investments.

Includes historical and analytical description of the more important forms of investments and theories of valuation and amortization.

Three hours weekly, second half-year. Professor BARNETT.

(Course 7 will not be given in 1923-24.)

  1. Applied Statistics.

The applications of statistics to business and economic problems, such as price levels, cost of living, wage adjustments, business cycles, and business forecasting, are considered.

Three hours weekly, first half-year. Associate Professor WEYFORTH.

  1. Foreign Trade and Exchange.

The economic principles of international commerce, the methods of conducting foreign trade, and the theory and practice of foreign exchange will be studied.

Three hours weekly, first half-year. Associate Professor WEYFORTH.

(Course 9 will not be given in 1923-24.)

  1. Business Organization.

This course is designed not only to show the structure of typical business entities, but their methods of formation and expansion. The common forms of securities are examined. Operation and administration of business units and the processes of marketing are studied in detail.

Three hours weekly, second half-year. Mr. GILLIES.

  1. Accounting.

This course deals with the fundamental principles underlying the recording of business transactions in the accounting books and records, and the preparation of balance sheets and statement of profit and loss for single entrepreneurs, partnerships, and corporations.

Four hours weekly, through the year. Dr. NEWLOVE.

  1. Economic History.

This course is designed to furnish a background for the study of economic principles and special phases of economic activity. It is a particular purpose of the course to show the relationship between economic fact and economic and political theory and practice.

Three hours weekly, through the year. Dr. MITCHELL.

  1. Social Economics.

The history and development of charitable and social agencies are traced. Causes and treatment of cases of dependency and delinquency are discussed.

Two hours weekly, through the year. Miss JACOBS.

Source: The Johns Hopkins University Circular, University Register 1922-1923, No. 342, January 1923. Announcements for 1923-1924, pp. 255-256.

_______________________________

Examinations for
Undergraduate Political Economy Courses
Johns Hopkins University
1923-1924

POLITICAL ECONOMY I “A”

February 5th, 1924—9-12 A.M.

  1. Compare the manorial system with farming at the present time. Compare the system of industry in towns during the middle ages with the modern industrial system.
  2. What is meant by the “industrial revolution”? What theories in regard to the proper relationship of the state to industry, developed at this time? Explain. Compare these new ideas with the theory and practice preceding. What is the tendency of present theory and practice as regards state interference with industry?
  3. (a) “Labor alone is the producer of wealth; take away labor and not all the capital in the world could produce anything.” Allowing the second clause to be true as a statement of fact, does it prove the proposition contained in the first? Explain.
    (b) “Discovery and invention have doubtless played a very large part in securing our present high industrial efficiency. But they are not the whole thing. The increase of capital has been equally necessary; for, without capital, invention could have accomplished little or nothing.” Defend and illustrate the last sentence.
  4. Explain how market price is the result of the forces of supply and demand. Illustrate by tables and diagrams showing supply and demand. At what point does price tend to be fixed? Why?
  5. Define the following: (a) utility; (b) diminishing utility, (c) marginal utility. Why can we say that the market price of a good corresponds to the marginal utility of that good to the marginal consumer?
  6. In general, what is the relationship between cost of production and market price? What is the relationship between the cost of production of two goods produced under conditions of joint cost and the selling prices of those goods? If the price of cotton seed oil should rise, what would tend to be the effect upon the price of cotton fibre? Why?
  7. What are the functions of money? What is meant when it is said that we have a “gold standard” in the United States? What are the actual kinds of money in use in the United States?
  8. What is credit? What service does it perform in the modern economic system? What is the difference between a promissory note and a bill of exchange? What use does the business man make of a commercial bank?

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY I “A”
[Dr. Weyforth]

Thursday; May 29, 1924—9 a.m.

  1. Explain the economic factors that must be taken into consideration in determining Germany’s capacity to pay reparations. How will Germany obtain funds abroad with which to make such payments?
  2. What policy should be pursued by the business man during a period of cumulating prosperity? What would be the policy of banks during such a period?
  3. Explain the principles determining the rent of land. If the price of wheat is $1.50 per bushel, what rent could be paid for the use of an acre of land that yielded 30 bushels at an average cost in labor and capital of $1.25 per bushel? Would the tendency be for any of these bushels to cost the producer $1.50? Explain.
  4. How do you account for the great differences in the wages of railroad presidents and of unskilled laborers? Suggest a general program for our society that would tend to bring about a much greater degree of equality in the returns for labor service than now prevails.
  5. Explain why interest can be paid and why it must be paid. What is the effect upon the rate of interest of (a) increased saving, (b) inventions making possible the use of more elaborate machinery, (c) war? Explain.
  6. What is the nature of the railroad problem in the United States? Describe briefly the history of our governmental policy toward railroads. What possible methods of handling the problem are open to us at the present time?
  7. Distinguish socialism from anarchism and syndicalism. What would you say is the fundamental idea in socialism? What criticisms do the socialists make of our present economic system? Give a critical estimate of socialism.
  8. What would you expect to be the relation between the goods exports and the goods imports of a country during the following periods:
    1. When it is first open to settlement or to industrial enterprise;
    2. When it has become quite well supplied with imported capital goods;
    3. When its citizens begin to make investments in other countries;
    4. When a relatively large amount of such foreign investments have been made.

Explain the reasons for your answer. In which of the above stages is the United States? England? Mexico?

POLITICAL ECONOMY I “B” [Mitchell.]

Tuesday, February 5th, 1924—9-12 A.M.

  1. What are the distinctions between the physical sciences and the social sciences?
  2. Why is our interest turning at this time to production?
  3. Define briefly: consumer’s surplus, capital, wealth, “unearned increment”, diminishing returns.
  4. What is the chief criticism to be made of cost theories of value?
  5. (a) Why is it sometimes to the advantage of an individual landowner to withhold his land from use?
    (b) How does the withholding of land from use affect the incomes of landlords as a class?
    (c) Can a tax on land be shifted from owner to occupier?
  6. What do you understand by Ricardo’s “iron law of wages”?
  7. (a) Why is interest paid? (b) Why did the schoolmen of the Middle Ages object to interest?
  8. What is the justification of a progressive income tax?
  9. State all you know about the personnel of the new labor government in Great Britain.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY I “B”
Elements of Economics

Thursday, May 29, 1924

  1. Discuss the several sorts of monopoly.
  2. What are the advantages of the corporate form of business enterprise?
  3. (a) What is the justification for a progressive income tax?
    (b) Compare the advantages of financing a war by taxation and by borrowing.
  4. Describe briefly the Federal Reserve System.
  5. What are the economic and social effects of inflation?
  6. Discuss the main doctrines of Karl Marx.
  7. What are the chief benefits and drawbacks of a cooperative system as opposed to a competitive system?
  8. (a) Discuss the origin of trade unionism.
    (b) Distinguish between the purposes and methods of the I.W.W. and the unions affiliated with the A.F. of L.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY I “C”

February 5th, 1924—9-12 A.M.

  1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the present economic system? What are its present tendencies? Under what conditions should the state interfere in our economic processes, and how?
  2. Summarize the case for competition as opposed to (a) private monopoly; (b) state ownership. In what type of cases would private monopoly under state regulation offer the best solution?
  3. How is the price of labor affected by changes in the volume of immigration? By shifting of the negro population? What classes of labor would be affected? Relate your answer to the fact that wages rose constantly in the United States from 1897-1921.
  4. (a) Given the following data:
Price (Dollars)
3.00 4.00 5.00
Demand (units) 52 46 30
Supply (units) 24 35 56

Calculate the elasticity of demand at $4.00.
(b) What are the conditions that make for a slow rate of diminishing utility?

  1. Is there any necessary connection between monopoly and “big business”? What is the difference between a partnership and a corporation in (a) legal requirements and liability, (b) structural organization, (c) comparative advantages?
  2. Define non-cumulative-participating-preferred stock; holding company; general-mortgage bond. Give the principal features of the Sherman Act. Name some methods of unfair competition.
  3. Would wheat be a satisfactory money commodity? Would diamonds? Give reasons for your answers. What is meant by the “gold standard”? What has been our experience with bimetallism? Can it work?
  4. What is meant by “fiat” money? Were the greenbacks fiat money? Were the Federal Reserve notes issued during the World War fiat money? Why did prices go up during both wars? Is this necessary? Why?
  5. Describe the Federal Reserve System, its chief functions, changes it produced in our money and banking system, etc. How are checks cleared under the system?
  6. What is the quantity theory of money? What would be the effect upon prices of (a) adopting bimetallism, (b) increased bank reserve requirements, (c) a national fad for gold ornaments, (d) a higher rediscount rate, (e) enforcing seigniorage?
    If the quantity of metallic money has not changed, nor the level of prices, how do you reconcile this fact with a change in the volume of business over the same period?

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY I “C”
[Mr. Gillies]

May 29, 1924—9  A.M.

  1. Whom do you consider the most important factor in modern business, the landlord, the laborer, the capitalist, or the entrepreneur? Give reasons for answer.
    What other elements must be separated from price movements before the business cycle can be recorded? How can you tell when business is near a crisis?
  2. What is the purpose of the finance bill, and how does it operate? Discuss the merits and limitations of the doctrine of purchasing power parity, and tell what effect the maintenance of a high tariff by the United States against England has in the working of the doctrine as between these two countries.
  3. Validate the statement that the only way Germany can pay her indemnity is by an excess of exports over imports.
    Show how the mechanism of foreign exchange and international trade tends to produce like price movements all over the world.
  4. Outline the argument for the utility theory of value as opposed to the cost of production theory of value and show the application of these arguments to the determination of the share of industrial earnings going per unit to land and to capital.
  5. How is rent determined when the same land may be used for a number of different purposes? What has the varying intensivity [sic] of cultivation to do with rent?
    What is the economic justification of labor unions?
  6. Distinguish the attitude of British law and the Clayton Act in regard to labor disputes. What place does the concept of conspiracy play in the treatment by the courts of labor troubles in this country? Do you consider it just for the employer to bear the whole cost of industrial accidents? Is this the effect of our compensation laws?
  7. How large a return must be imputed to capital goods in order that they may truly pay for themselves? Does the fact that the price of consumption goods, when traced back, ultimately resolves into rent, wages and interest mean that there is no such thing in the long run as profits? (Reasons)
    Show roughly how income is distributed among our population. What can be done to improve this distribution.
  8. Is an increasing percentage of the national income spent for governmental activity a sign of increasing extravagance? (Reasons) To what extent should a government borrow and to what extent should it support itself by taxation? What constitutes justice in taxation?
  9. Distinguish direct and indirect taxes. Name some taxes of each kind. What taxes can be shifted? What determines the amount of shifting? What are the objections to a general property tax?

 

Examination in Statistics
(Pol. Econ. II)

January 31, 1924

  1. What are some of the common sources of secondary data? Given the relative advantages and disadvantages of collecting data by (a) personal investigation, (b) questionnaires, (c) enumerators. Give examples where possible in all cases.
    20 minutes.
  2. Give the number and total capacity of box cars, coal cars, and other cars in the Eastern, Southern, and Western Districts of the United States, tabulate so as to show average capacity of these three types and of all cars in each district and in all districts; use letters with subscripts to represent data, e.g. capacity coal cars in the Southern District = Ccs.
    30 minutes.
  3. Sow the various ways in which the above data could be presented diagrammatically, pictorially, or graphically.
    20 minutes.
  4. Given the following data:
Article of Food Consumption, 1901, per family Average Retail Price per Unit
1913 1917 1920
Sirloin steak 70 lbs. $0.25 $0.32 $0.35
Eggs 80 doz. 0.35 0.48 0.70
Milk 350 qts. 0.09 0.11 0.17
Potatoes 15 bu. 1.00 2.60 3.80

Show (do not compute) how an index number for these four commodities would be made up on

      1. Bradstreet’s method,
      2. Dun’s method.
      3. Compute the index number for 1917 and 1920 according to the method of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (base = 1913).
      4. What is the chief objection to an “average of relatives” index number?
        25 minutes.

5.  (A or B).

    1. How is an ogive constructed? Illustrate by sketch and show how the mode and the eighth decile may be determined from it. How is a percentage histogram constructed? What is its purpose?
    2. Prove the general validity of the short-cut method of computing the standard deviation.
      15 minutes.

 

  1. Given the following data:
Operating Revenues of Class I Carries
Eastern District—1920
In Millions of Dollars
1 2 3 4 7 15 24 74 492
1 2 3 4 8 15 26 75 —
1 2 3 5 10 15 30 76 —
1 2 3 5 10 16 35 81 —
1 2 4 5 11 17 39 94 —
1 2 4 5 11 19 45 94 —
2 2 4 6 12 19 51 107 —
2 2 4 6 12 22 65 [?] 200 —
2 3 4 7 14 23 70 314 —
Arithmetic Average $32,268.

Calculate, showing operations, the quartile coefficient of dispersion and skewness (series is theoretically continuous).
Compute, in tabular form, the coefficient of dispersion based on the median (to nearest whole number of millions).
How many places are justified in the above arithmetic average, on basis of data shown? Calculate the coefficient of skewness based on the mode.
30 minutes.

  1. Inflation of money is accompanied, or followed, by higher prices. Price fluctuations are measured roughly by index numbers. To the extent that inflation in one country exceeds that in another, its exchange in terms of the currency of the other country will depreciate. The following exercise is designed to test the tenth [sic, “truth”] of this doctrine.
    Given the following data:
1920 Index Numbers Sterling Cables
New York
Value £ in Dollars
B.L.S.*
(United States)		 Statist+
(England)
January 248 288 $3.68
February 249 306 3.39
March 253 307 3.72
April 265 313 3.93
May 272 305 3.85
June 269 300 3.95
July 262 299 3.86
August 250 298 3.63
September 242 292 3.52
October 225 282 3.47
November 207 263 3.43
December 189 243 3.63
* Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wholesale Prices.
+ The Statist, English journal of finance, Wholesale Prices.

Reduce the B.L.S. indices to relatives of the corresponding statist indices, and correlate these relatives with the price of sterling by Pearson’s method. Does result confirm the above theory? How would you modify the method to correlate the short time changes in the two variables? Compute the standard deviation for one variable in your table.
Explain log. How would you plot a logarithmic historigram of the B.L.S. index numbers?
40 minutes.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY III

Monday, May 26, 1924—9 a.m.

  1. What is standard money? State the requisites of (a) a gold standard; (b) a bimetallic standard; (c) a paper standard. State the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  2. Explain the functions of a commercial bank, showing what economic services it performs. Distinguish the functions of a commercial bank from those of (a) a savings bank; (b) an investment banker.
  3. Define, illustrate and explain the use of the following types of credit instruments: (a) promissory note; (b) bill of exchange; (c) trade acceptance; (d) bank acceptance.
  4. Explain the connection between the loans and deposits of commercial banks. To what extent ordinarily can an individual bank increase its loans as the result of a cash deposit of $100,000? To what extent can the loans of the banking system as a whole be increased as the result of such an addition to the cash deposits of the system? Explain.
  5. How does the Federal Reserve System provide for elasticity in currency and in credit? What is the need for such elasticity?
  6. What is the need for the control of bank credit? How may this control be effected under the Federal Reserve System?
  7. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York receives $8,000,000 of gold deposits.
    1. If member banks take all their rediscounts in federal reserve notes, how much additional paper can the reserve bank rediscount for its members, assuming that it does not borrow at other reserve banks? Make no allowance for discount charges.
    2. Answer the same question, assuming that member banks leave all their rediscounts on deposit.
    3. Answer the same question, assuming that member banks take 1/5 of their rediscounts in federal reserve notes and leave the remainder on deposit.
    4. Explain the quantity theory of money, showing the effect upon prices, of changes in the quantity of money, and of bank credit.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY IV

January 31, 1924—9-12 A.M.

  1. Define a trade union and indicate the distinctions between trade unions and other analogous associations such as cooperative societies, societies of physicians, etc.
  2. Classify trade unions according to the character of the employer.
  3. Sketch the historical development, by periods, of American trade unionism.
  4. Describe the present structure of American trade unionism, indicating the relation of the national union to the other forms of organization.
  5. Classify American national trade unions from the point of view of function.
  6. Classify and discuss the methods of enforcement used by trade unions.
  7. What is meant by collective bargaining? What is the economic justification for collective individual bargaining?
  8. Describe the system known as scientific management and indicate why it has been opposed by trade unions.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY VI
Corporation Finance

Monday, May 26, 1924

  1. Define a “bond”. Describe the following classes of bonds: divisional bonds, guaranteed bonds, income bonds, convertible bonds.
  2. Distinguish the capitalization, the capital, and the capital stock of a corporation.
  3. Distinguish equipment bonds and equipment trust certificates.
  4. Distinguish repairs, depreciation, and obsolescence.
  5. Discuss the relative advantages of serial bonds and sinking fund bonds.
  6. State and illustrate the law of balanced returns.
  7. Describe the various financial devices which have been used in the expansion of American railways.
  8. What is usually the nature of the agreement among the members under which an underwriting syndicate is formed?
  9. A corporation with common stock of $1,000,000 wishes to secure additional capital. The stock has a par value of $100 and is selling at $150. The corporation offers additional stock at par to the amount of $200,000, or one share of the new for each five shares held. What will be the value of the rights? What will be the value of the stock after the issue is consummated? Explain your answer.
  10. Define a “reorganization”, a “receivership”.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY X
Business Organization

Monday, May 26, 1924—9 A.M.

Lectures

  1. Discuss the relation between the problem of distribution and the density of population, proportion of inhabitants living in cities, etc. What part does credit play in this problem? Is it a cause or an effect?
  2. What gains could be made in efficiency of our distribution system by the general state ownership and control of industry? Do you consider these possible gains sufficient grounds for the adoption of such a plan? (Reasons)
  3. What is meant by scientific management? Why is the present a logical time for its introduction into business? What is the purpose of motion study, and what does it consist of?
  4. Discuss the elements to be considered in locating an establishment. What is the proper balance between fixed and circulating capital (including investment in labor)? Why is (or is not) the cost-plus method of letting building contracts to be preferred to the lump sum method?
  5. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of profit-sharing as a method of stimulating employee efficiency.

Text: Stockder

  1. What are securities? When is an industry said to be in the securities-capital stage? What are factors’ agreements? Why is it proper for railways to issue long term mortgage bonds, without sinking fund or serial retirement provisions, even to an amount exceeding the par value of stocks, and not for an ordinary industry to do so?
  2. Describe the joint-stock company operating structure. Why is the business trust said to be superior to all other forms of business organizations? Are these two forms of organization common law or statute law?
  3. Tell what you would do to organize a holding company which also to operate as an industrial company; including principal terms of agreements, regulations, etc.
  4. Describe the formation of the Standard Oil trust of 1882, using sketch. Is Federal Incorporation an effective or desirable remedy for commercial abuses? (Reasons)
  5. Have you completed the auxiliary reading, including supplementary forms in Stockder and pamphlets from U.S. Chamber of Commerce? If not, to what extent have you completed this reading?

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY XI
Accounting 1

January 30, 1924—9-12 A.M.

  1. [Given the following items:]
Cash $2,320
Inventory $12,000
Accounts Receivable $21,000
Reserve for Bad Debts $1,500
Store $20,000
Reserve for Depreciation $7,000
Accounts Payable $2,500
Capital Stock $20,000
Surplus $23,940
Insurance $120
Wages $500
$55,440 $55,400

Purchased on credit $20,000; paid creditors $21,500. Credit sales were $30,000; collected from customers $45,000. Estimated amount of uncollectable accounts receivable on books $1,750. Depreciation for period was $2,000. Other cash disbursements: Wates $6,000, Dividends $10,000. At the end of the year the unexpired insurance was $60, inventory $11,000, accrued wages $400.
From the above starting point—closing trial balance and the interim adjustments given, prepare a closed ledger, a final balance sheet, and a profit and loss statement.

  1. Describe two different ways of recording cash discounts on sales in the cash books. Do not mention any accounting books except the cash books.
  2. Define the different kinds of indorsements used with negotiable instruments.
  3. A note for $1,000, dated June 10, for 4 months, with interest at 7 per cent, was discounted July 30, at 8 per cent. Find the net proceeds under the rules of bank discount.

 

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY XI
Accounting 1
[Dr. Newlove]

May 28, 1924—9-12 a.m.

  1. A and B start in partnership investing $10,000 and $8,000, respectively, on January 1. A withdrew $2,000 on May 1 and invested $2,000 on November 1. B invested $3,000 on March 1 and withdrew $3,000 on July 1. Give the entries for the above transactions together with the allocation of a net profit of $5,000 on the average investment basis.
  2. X and Y, partners, sell their business to a new corporation, whose authorized stock of $50,000 is all paid to the partners. The balance sheet of X and Y is:
Cash $5,000 Accounts Payable $15,000
Merchandise 30,000 X, Capital 15,000
Accounts Receivable 25,000 Y, Capital 30,000
$60,000 $60,000

Give the detailed closing entries of the partnership.

  1. Give the detailed opening entries for the corporation in Problem 2.
  2. (a)
Accounts Receivable Reserve for Bad Debts
$75,000 $5,000

Make entry for a customer owing $500 who becomes bankrupt and pays 10 cents on the dollar.
(b)

Machinery Reserve for Depreciation
$50,000 $4,000

A machine, which cost $1,000 five years ago, is sold for $400. The recorded depreciation on the machine is $500. Give the entry for sale.

  1. C and D entered on January 1 a joint venture each contributing merchandise costing $5,000. C paid expenses of $1,000 on the same date. On July 1 C received a draft from the consignee for $15,000. Interest was allowed at the rate of 6 per cent per annum. Show the accounts on C’s books affected by the venture, if C settled with D on July 1.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY XII
ECONOMIC HISTORY

January 29, 1924—9-12 A.M.

  1. How does economic history differ from political history?
  2. What did the Romans accomplish economically for Britain?
  3. (a) What were the rights and obligations of the various classes under the manorial system
    (b) Did William the Norman change the manorial plan fundamentally?
  4. How were goods exchanged in England of the Middle Ages?
  5. What were the facts which rendered the guilds suitable to the economic needs of the country at the time they flourished?
  6. (a) What were the consequences of the “Black Death”?
    (b) Of the “Peasants’ Revolt”?
  7. What were the main facts of the Industrial Revolution, and what was the economic theory upon which it rested?
  8. Tell something of (a) chartism; (b) the Factory Acts; (c) the rise of trade unions.
  9. What is the present status of child labor legislation in the United States?
  10. What have been the forces that have brought the Labor Party into power in England?

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY XII
ECONOMIC HISTORY

Saturday, May 24, 1924

  1. What were the colonial policies of Great Britain?
  2. (a) Give the chief economic doctrines of Alexander Hamilton.
    (b) What was the connection between economic interests and the formation of the Constitution?
  3. What were the chief economic causes and effects of the Civil War?
  4. Discuss the economic and political consequences of the opening of the West.
  5. What were the main routes covered by canals and railroads, and why were these selected?
  6. Discuss the growth of trusts.
  7. Why is the Federal Government gaining in power while the individual State Governments are losing power?
  8. A factory needing 500 operatives is located in a farming community. What will be the likely economic results?
  9. Discuss the tariff vs. free trade.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY XIII
SOCIAL ECONOMICS

February 4th, 1924—9-12 A.M.

  1. Why are delinquency and dependency community problems?
  2. Give the laws regulating school attendance in Maryland. Are they adequate?
  3. Give the Child Labor Laws of Maryland.
  4. Give the significance of the White House Conference of 1909. State the recommendations made. Give what you think the most important outcome of this conference.
  5. Give the names of the social agencies in the Alliance of Charitable and Social Agencies. Describe the work of the Family Welfare Association and one other social organization in the federation.

 

POLITICAL ECONOMY XIII
SOCIAL ECONOMICS

Friday, May 30, 1924—9 a.m.

  1. What are the functions of a Charities Endorsement Committee?

  2. On what principles is social case work based? What is the difference in the meaning of social case work and social work?
  3. Of what value is knowledge of social economics to the professional and business man?
  4. Give the social functions of recreation.

 

Source:  Johns Hopkins University. Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5/6, Box 6/1, Folder “Exams, 1907-1924”.

Image Source: Gilman Hall, Johns Hopkins University. Hullabaloo 1924.

Categories
M.I.T. Syllabus Undergraduate

M.I.T. Course outline and readings for undergraduate applied microeconomics. McFadden, 1978

I don’t remember how this particular course outline came into my possession during my graduate student days. I presume my sticky fingers together with an early manifestation of a propensity to hoard papers resulted in these four-pages finding their way into my files of teaching material. Now decades later, this applied microeconomics outline from Daniel McFadden’s first semester on the M.I.T. faculty is digitised. Only wish I had the eight problem sets too…

_________________________

14.03
APPLIED MICROECONOMICS

Daniel McFadden
Fall 1978

MWF 11-12
16-134

General Information:

14.03 is organized around a set of applied microeconomic problems. It is not a course in economic theory, but theoretical topics will be treated as they arise in the applications. Students are expected to know basic microeconomics as taught in 14.01 or another course at the level of R. Leftwich’s The Price System and Resource Allocation. Students are also expected to be able to use calculus with ease. The textbook for 14.03 is Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions, 2nd ed., by Walter Nicholson (Dryden Press, 1978). Various other readings will be assigned.

Problem sets will be handed out on Wednesday and will be due the following Wednesday in class. They will be graded and returned on Friday. Generally, Monday and Wednesday will be devoted to lectures, and Friday to discussion and review, including discussion of the answers to the problems. Every student is expected to complete every problem set within the allocated time. There will be three quizzes in class. Problem sets will account for 40% of the course grade, the quizzes for 30%, and the final for 30%.

I will be available in E52-274B on Wednesday afternoons, and by appointment at other times; my phone is 253-3378. Generally, you should take questions about problem sets and grading to the teaching assistant (his name will be announced later) and questions about the lectures to me.

The problems to be covered are:

    1. the demand for energy,
    2. the demand for air conditioners,
    3. the supply of electricity,
    4. the market for natural gas,
    5. the market for automobiles,
    6. pricing of tugboat services and the anti-trust law,
    7. costs and risks of nuclear and non-nuclear energy development,
    8. public investment in transportation.

The schedule of quizzes is:

Quiz 1—October 11, covering problems 1 & 2.

Quiz 2—November 1, covering problems 3 & 4 plus preceding material.

Quiz 3—November 29, covering problems 5, 6, 7 plus preceding material.

 

READINGS AND SCHEDULE

  1. The demand for energy.

Lectures: Sept. 13, 15, 18, 20.

Discussion: Sept. 22, 29.

Problem Set 1: out Sept. 20; due Sept. 27.

Read: Nicholson 3, 4, 5 (skim 6).

L. Taylor, “The demand for electricity: A survey,” BELL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS 6 (Spring 1975), 74-110.

D. McFadden et al., “Determinants of the long-run demand for electricity,” PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION,

A TIME TO CHOOSE, Energy Policy Project of the Ford Foundation (Ballinger, 1974), Chap. 5 and Appendices A, B.

  1. The demand for air conditioners.

Lectures: Sept. 25, 27.

Discussion: Oct. 6.

Problem Set 2: out Sept. 27; due Oct. 4

Read:

J. Hausman, “Consumer choice of durables and energy demand,” MIT, mimeo., 1978.

A. Goett, “Appliance fuel choice: An application of discrete multivariate analysis,” manuscript, 1978.

  1. The supply of electricity.

Lectures: Oct. 2, 4, 13, 16.

Discussion: Oct. 20.

Problem Set 3: out Oct. 11; due Oct. 18.

Read: Nicholson 7, 8, 9.

D. Pearl and J. Enos, “Engineering production functions and technological progress,” JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECONOICS 24 (1), (Sept. 1975), 55-72.

L. Wipf and D. Bowden, “Reliability of supply equations derived from production functions,” AMERICAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 51 (February 1969), 170-78.

M. Nerlove, “Returns to scale in electricity supply,” in MEASUREMENT IN ECONOMICS, C. Christ (ed.), (Stanford Univ. Press, 1963), pp. 167-98.

T. Cowling, “Technical change and scale economies in an engineering production function: The case of steam electric power,” JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS 23 (1974-75), 135-52.

  1. The market for natural gas.

Lectures: Oct. 18, 23, 25.

Discussion: Oct. 27.

Problem Set 4: out Oct. 18; due Oct. 25.

Read: Nicholson, Part IV, Chap. 10, 11, 12, 13 (skim 14, 15, 16).

P. MacAvoy and R. Pindyck, “Alternative regulatory policies for dealing with the natural gas shortage,” BELL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS 4 (Autumn 1973), 454-98.

R. Hall and R. Pindyck, “The conflicting goals of national energy policy,” PUBLIC INTEREST 47 (Spring 1977), 3-15.

  1. The market for automobiles.

Lectures: Oct. 30, Nov. 3.

Discussion: Nov. 10.

Problem Set 5: out Nov. 1; due Nov. 8.

Read: Nicholson 17.

G. Akerlof, “The market for ‘lemons’: Qualitative uncertainty and the market mechanism,” QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS 84 (1970), 488-500.

Z. Griliches, PRICE INDICES AND QUALITY CHANGE (Harvard, 1971), Introduction and Chap. 3.

R. P. Smith, CONSUMER DEMAND FOR CARS IN THE USA (Cambridge, 1975), pp. 1-88.

  1. Pricing of tugboat services and the anti-trust law.

Lectures: Nov. 6, 8.

Discussion: Nov. 17.

Problem Set 6: out Nov. 8; due Nov. 15.

Read: Nicholson 18, 19, 20.

P. Areeda and D. Turner, “Predatory pricing and related practices…,” HARVARD LAW REVIEW 88 (1975), 697-733.

F. Scherer et al., “Predatory pricing and the Sherman Act, “ HARVARD LAW REVIEW 89 (1976), 868-902.

D. McFadden and R. Palmer, “The economic foundation for liability and damages from predatory pricing,” manuscript, 1978.

S. Goldman, “Industrial concentration and economic welfare: Some theoretical observations,” Working Paper IP-251 in Economic Theory and Econometrics, Berkeley, October 1977.

  1. Benefits and risks of nuclear and non-nuclear energy development.

Lectures: Nov. 15, 20, 22.

Discussion: Nov. 27.

Problem Set 7: out Nov. 15; due Nov. 22.

Read: Nicholson 6, 18, 19, 20.

S. Rosen and Thaylor, reference to be supplied.

A. Tversky, SCIENCE 185 (Sept. 27, 1974), 1124-31.

Joel Yellen, “The nuclear regulatory commission’s reactor safety study,” BELL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS 7 (1) (Spring 1976), 317-39.

  1. Public investment in transportation.

Lectures: Dec. 1, 4, 6, 11.

Discussion: Dec. 8.

Problem Set 8: out Nov. 29; due Dec. 6.

Read: Nicholson 21, 22, 23.

D. McFadden, “Revealed preferences of a government bureaucracy: Theory,” BELL JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS 6 (Autumn 1975), 401-16.

D. McFadden, “Criteria for public investment,” JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY 80 (1972), 1295-1305.

T. Keeler et al., THE FULL COSTS OF URBAN TRANSPORT,

M. Webber, “The BART experience—What have we learned,” PUBLIC INTEREST 45 (Fall 1976), 79-108.

Final review: December 13.

Source: Personal copy of Irwin Collier.

Image Source: Gonçalo L. Fonseca’s  “Daniel McFadden profile page” at The History of Economic Thought Website.

 

 

 

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Brown Columbia Curriculum Harvard Pedagogy Teaching Undergraduate

Harvard. Argument for more political economy in a liberal education. President Eliot, 1884

Harvard course offerings in political economy were increased significantly in the 1883-84 academic year. This expansion was consistent with President Charles W. Eliot’s vision of a Harvard education fit for the twentieth century as seen in the following paragraphs from his 1884 commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University.

The state of instruction in political economy at Harvard ca. 1870 was mentioned in his book Harvard Memories, pp. 70-71.

_________________________

Excerpt from “What is a Liberal Education?”

Commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University
22. February 1884 by Charles W. Eliot

[…] Closely allied to the study of history is the study of the new science called political economy, or public economics. I say the new science, because Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” was not published until 1776; Malthus’s “Essay on the Principle of Population” appeared only in 1798; and Ricardo’s “Political Economy and Taxation,” in 1817. The subject is related to history, inasmuch as it gleans its most important facts by the study of the institutions and industrial and social conditions of the past; it is the science of wealth in so far as it deals with the methods by which private or national wealth is accumulated, protected, enjoyed, and distributed; and it is connected with ethics in that it deals with social theories and the moral effects of economic conditions. In some of its aspects it were better called the science of the health of nations; for its results show how nations might happily grow and live in conformity with physical and moral laws. It is by far the most complex and difficult of the sciences of which modern education has to take account, and therefore should not be introduced too early into the course of study for the degree of Bachelor of Arts; but when it is introduced, enough of it should be offered to the student to enable him to get more than a smattering.

When we consider how formidable are the industrial, social, and political problems with which the next generations must grapple, — when we observe how inequalities of condition increase, notwithstanding the general acceptance of theories of equality; how population irresistibly tends to huge agglomerations, in spite of demonstrations that such agglomerations are physically and morally unhealthy; how the universal thirst for the enjoyments of life grows hotter and hotter, and is not assuaged; how the relations of government to society become constantly more and more complicated, while the governing capacity of men does not seem to increase proportionally; and how free institutions commit to masses of men the determination of public policy in regard to economic problems of immense difficulty, such as the problems concerning tariffs, banking, currency, the domestic carrying trade, foreign commerce, and the incidence of taxes, — we can hardly fail to appreciate the importance of offering to large numbers of American students ample facilities for learning all that is known of economic science.

How does the ordinary provision made in our colleges for the study of political economy meet this need of students and of the community? That I may not understate this provision, I will describe the provisions made at Columbia College, an institution which is said to be the richest of our colleges, and at Brown University, one of the most substantial of the New England colleges. At Columbia, Juniors must attend two exercises a week in political economy for half the year, and Seniors may elect that subject for two hours a week throughout the year. At Brown, Juniors may elect political economy two hours a week for half the year, and Seniors have a like privilege. The provision of instruction in Greek at Brown is five and a half times as much as the provision in political economy, and seven elevenths of the Greek is required of all students, besides the Greek which was required at school; but none of the political economy is required. Columbia College makes a further provision of instruction in history, law, and political science for students who are able to devote either one or two years to these subjects after taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts, or who are willing to procure one year’s instruction in these subjects by accepting the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy instead of the degree of Bachelor of Arts — a very high price to pay for this one year’s privilege. If this is the state of things in two leading Eastern colleges with regard to instruction in political economy, what should we find to be the average provision in American colleges? We should find it poor in quality and insignificant in amount. In view of this comparative neglect of a subject all-important to our own generation and to those which are to follow, one is tempted to join in the impatient cry, Are our young men being educated for the work of the twentieth century or of the seventeenth? There can be no pretense that political economy is an easy subject, or that it affords no mental discipline. Indeed, it requires such exactness of statement, such accurate weighing of premises, and such closeness of reasoning, that many young men of twenty, who have been disciplined by the study of Greek, Latin, and mathematics for six or eight years, find that it tasks their utmost powers. Neither can it be justly called a material or utilitarian subject; for it is full of grave moral problems, and deals with many questions of public honor and duty.

Source: Charles W. Eliot, “What is a Liberal Education”, Commencement address read 22 February 1884 at Johns Hopkins University, reprinted in his Educational Reform, Essays and Addresses. New York: Century (1901), pp. 106-109.

Image Source: Harvard University Archives. Hollis Image Collection. President Charles W. Eliot.

 

 

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Economists Harvard Teaching Undergraduate

Harvard. Political Economy à la Francis Bowen, 1870

From time to time one digs up a nugget in the secondary literature that deserves its own post. Harvard President Charles W. Eliot (from 1869 to 1909), an advocate of putting more political economy into the curriculum, trash talks the quality of economics instruction when he took office.

Here two textbooks that had been inflicted upon Harvard College students in the pre-Dunbar days.

Francis Bowen (1856). The Principles of Political Economy Applied to the Condition, the Resources, and the Institutions of the American People. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1856.

Francis Bowen (1870). American Political Economy, including Strictures on the Management of the Currency and the Finances since 1861. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

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Harvard’s retired president,
Charles W. Eliot, looking back at economics instruction à la Bowen

In respect to the teaching of political economy, or economics, I can perhaps give you some notion of the great change which has taken place since 1869 by describing the work done by Professor Francis Bowen, the only Harvard professor who then dealt at all with the subject of political economy. He gave only about a quarter of his time to that subject, because he had so many other subjects to deal with. His idea of teaching political economy was to write an elementary book on the subject, and to require the senior class — it was a required subject of the senior year — to read that book. He gave no lectures; he sometimes commented upon those pages of the book which had been assigned as the lesson of the day, to be repeated in the recitation room by those students who had studied the lesson. It is a long way from that condition of things to the present organization of the Department of Economics.

Source:  Charles William Eliot (1923), Harvard Memories. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, pp. 70-71.

Image Source: Harvard University. Hollis Images. Portrait (1891) of Francis Bowen by Edwin Tryon Billings.