Category: Wisconsin

Categories
Berkeley Carnegie Institute of Technology Chicago Colorado Columbia Cornell Duke Economist Market Harvard Illinois Indiana Iowa Johns Hopkins M.I.T. Michigan Michigan State Minnesota North Carolina Northwestern NYU Ohio State Pennsylvania Princeton Purdue Rochester Salaries Stanford Texas Vanderbilt Virginia Wisconsin Yale

Associate Professors’ Salaries in U.S. Economics Departments (2), 1964/5-1965/66

 

This is the second table from the so-called “Cartel” summary report from December 1965 of 9-10 month salaries paid in U.S. economics departments. Tables 2c give figures for the distribution of associate professor salaries across the departments reporting. Last posting gave the distribution for full-professors. Future postings include the actual salary distributions for assistant professors and freshly completed PhD’s 1964/65 and 1965/66. Refer to the first posting in this series of tables for information about the compiler Professor Francis Boddy of the University of Minnesota and a list of the 30 departments belonging to the Chairmen’s Group.

Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

____________________

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Associate Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE		 1965-66 1964-65
Over 13,749 3 0
13,500 2 0
13,000 2 1
12,500 6 3
12,000 5 2
11,500 4 3
11,000 3 11
10,500 2 4
10,000 0 0
9,750 0 1
9,500 0 2
N= 27 27
Median $12,000 $11,000
Mean $12,173 $11,093

 

 

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)
Average Salaries
“Superior Associate Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE		 1965-66 1964-65
Over 16,249 0 1
16,000 1 0
15,500 1 0
15,000 2 0
14,500 2 0
14,000 5 2
13,500 6 4
13,000 4 6
12,500 3 3
12,000 0 4
11,500 1 3
 [sic, cell empty] 1 2
 [sic, cell empty] 0 1
N= 26 26
Median $13,000 $12,186
Mean $13,082 $12,159

 

 

TABLE 2c
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)
Average Salaries
“Average Assoc Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE		 1965-66 1964-65
14,500 0 0
14,000 1 0
13,500 0 0
13,000 4 1
12,500 4 1
12,000 2 2
11,500 3 2
11,000 7 8
10,500 3 4
10,000 2 4
9,750 0 1
9,500 0 2
9,250 0 0
9,000 0 0
8,750 0 1
8,500 0 0
N= 26 26
Median $11,265 $10,775
Mean $11,640 $10,760

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image Source: “The monopolists’ may-pole” by F. Opper.  Centerfold of Puck, vol. 17, no. 425 (April 29, 1885). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.

Categories
Berkeley Carnegie Institute of Technology Chicago Colorado Columbia Cornell Duke Economist Market Economists Harvard Illinois Indiana Iowa Johns Hopkins M.I.T. Michigan Michigan State Minnesota North Carolina Northwestern NYU Ohio State Pennsylvania Princeton Purdue Rochester Salaries Stanford Texas Vanderbilt Virginia Wisconsin Yale

Professors’ salaries in U.S. economics departments (1), 1964/5-1965/66

 

 

From my March 2017 expedition to the Johns Hopkins University archives’ collection of material from the Department of Political Economy, I came across one of those documents that help to provide an empirical baseline for the history of the market for economics professors. It is worth savouring the sets of tables one by one. In all, this so-called “cartel” summary with information collected from 29 departments in October 1965 consists of eight sets of tables.

On the last page of this summary for full-professor salaries can be found the name of the presumable compiler of the tables: Francis M. Boddy, Graduate School, University of Minnesota. It is dated December 21, 1965.

Two documents later in the same folder I found the list of 30 members of the Chairmen’s Group, dated December 13, 1965. With 29 responses to the salary questionnaire from which the “cartel” data have been assembled, it leaves only to guess which department did not report back to the “cartel”. I do believe that the ironic self-designation of cartel is not entirely contrary to functional fact here.

The salary distributions across the participating departments for associate professors, assistant professors, and for the starting salaries for newly minted Ph.D. hires have been posted in the meantime. Also there is a table of the anticipated (as of December 1965) range of salaries to hire freshly completed PhD’s for the coming academic year, 1966-67.

Using the BLS web CPI Inflation calculator, one can inflate nominal levels (say for December 1965, the date of the report) to April 2017 using a factor of 7.69.

___________________________________

About Francis M. Boddy

Boddy, Francis M, 1115 Bus. Admin., West Bank, Dept. of Econs., U. of Minn., Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: Office (612)373-3583;Home (612)926-1063. Fields: 020, 610. Birth Yr: 1906. Degrees: B.B.A., U. of Minn., 1930; M.A., U. of Minn., 1936; Ph.D., U. of Minn., 1939. Prin. Cur. Position: Prof. Emer. Of Econs., U. of Minn. At Twin Cities. 1975-. Concurrent/Past Positions: Acting Exec. Secy., Bd. Of Investment, State of Minn., 1978-79; Assoc. Dean of Grad. Sch. U. of Minn., 1961-73.

Source: “Biographical Listing of Members.” The American Economic Review 71, no. 6 (1981): p. 67.

___________________________________

Research Hint:
Boddy’s data go back to 1957/58

“I have, over the past six years, conducted an informal survey of some 30 of the leading departments of economics in the country, defined largely as being those departments which have been major producers of Ph.D.’s in economics.”

Source:  Boddy, Francis M. “The Demand for Economists.” The American Economic Review 52, no. 2 (1962): 503-08.

 

Also of interest from about the same time is the AER Supplement:

Tolles, N. Arnold, and Emanuel Melichar. “Studies of the Structure of Economists’ Salaries and Income” The American Economic Review 58, no. 5 (1968):

___________________________________

MEMBERS OF THE CHAIRMEN’S GROUP, 1965-66
December 13, 1965

  1. Professor Gerard Debreu
    University of California
    Berkeley, California 94720
  2. Dean R. M. Cyert
    Carnegie Institute of Technology
    Pittsburgh 13, Pennsylvania
  3. Professor Arnold C. Harberger
    University of Chicago
    1126 East 59th Street
    Chicago 37, Illinois
  4. Professor Carl McGuire
    University of Colorado
    Boulder, Colorado
  5. Professor William Vickrey
    Columbia University
    New York 27, New York
  6. Professor Douglas F. Dowd
    Acting Chairman
    Cornell University
    Ithaca, New York
    (Professor Frank H. Golay, the Chairman, is on leave in 1965-66.)
  7. Professor Robert S. Smith
    Duke University
    Durham, North Carolina
  8. Professor John Dunlop
    Harvard University
    Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
  9. Professor John F. Due
    University of Illinois
    Urbana, Illinois 61803
  10. Professor George Wilson
    Indiana University
    Bloomington, Indiana 47405
  11. Professor Karl A. Fox
    Iowa State University
    Ames, Iowa 50010
  12. Professor Carl F. Christ
    Johns Hopkins University
    Baltimore, Maryland
  13. Professor Robert F. Lanzilotti
    Michigan State University
    East Lansing, Michigan
  14. Professor Warren L. Smith
    University of Michigan
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
  15. Professor E. Cary Brown
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Cambridge 39, Massachusetts
  16. Professor Emanuel Stein
    New York University
    New York 3, New York
  17. Professor John Turnbull
    University of Minnesota
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
  18. Professor Ralph W. Pfouts
    university of North Carolina
    Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  19. Professor Robert Eisner
    Northwestern University
    Evanston, Illinois
  20. Professor Paul G. Craig
    Ohio State University
    Columbus, Ohio
  21. Professor Irving B. Kravis
    University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia 4, Pennsylvania
  22. Professor Richard A. Lester
    Princeton University
    Princeton, New Jersey
  23. Dean Emanuel T. Weiler
    Purdue University
    Lafayette, Indiana
  24. Professor Lionel McKenzie
    University of Rochester
    Rochester 20, New York
  25. Professor Edward S. Shaw
    Stanford University
    Stanford, California
  26. Professor Carey Thompson
    University of Texas
    Austin, Texas
  27. Professor James W. McKie
    Vanderbilt University
    Nashville, Tennessee
  28. Professor Alexandre Kafka
    Acting Chairman
    University of Virginia
    Charlottesville, Virginia
    (Professor Warren Nutter, the Chairman, is on leave in 1965-66.)
  29. Professor David B. Johnson
    University of Wisconsin
    Madison, Wisconsin
  30. Professor Raymond Powell
    Yale University
    New Haven, Connecticut

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

 

___________________________________

 

CARTEL
SUMMARY of the October-1965 Questionnaire to Departments of Economics in the United States

SUMMARY of the salary (1965-66 and 1964-65 academic years, 9-10 month basis) and other data of 29 (out of 29) Departments of Economics. N = Number of Departments reporting.

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(1)
Median Salaries
All Professors

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66

1964-65

Over 20,249

 2 1
20,000 4

0

19,500

 0 1
19,000 3

1

18,500

 2 3
18,000 2

1

17,500

 3 1
17,000 2

4

16,500

 2 4
16,000 1

4

15,500

 2 0
15,000 2

1

14,500

 0 2
14,000 3

1

13,500

 0 1
13,000 1

4

N=

 29 29
Median $17,500

$16,500

Mean

 $17,377

$16,319

 

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(2)

Average Salaries
“Superior Professors”
(Top 1/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66

1964-65

Over 23,749

 3 1
23,500 2

0

23,000

 0 0
22,500 3

0

22,000

 1 2
21,500 4

3

21,000

 1 2
20,500 4

2

20,000

 0 3
19,500 2

2

19,000

 2 4
18,500 1

0

18,000

 3 1
17,500 1

2

17,000

 0 0
16,500 2

1

16,000

 0 4
15,500 0

1

15,000

 0 0
14,500 0

1

14,000

 0 0
N= 29

29

Median

 $20,600 $19,500
Mean $20,677

$19,093

 

 

TABLE 1c
PROFESSORS 1965-66, 1964-65

(3)

Average Salaries
“Average Professors”
(Lower 2/3)

MID-POINT
OF RANGE

 1965-66

1964-65

Over 18,749

 4 2
18,500 0

1

18,000

 3 1
17,500 1

1

17,000

 3 1
16,500 3

2

16,000

 5 8
15,500 1

4

15,000

 2 1
14,500 1

1

14,000

 2 0
13,500

2

2

13,000

 1 4
12,500 1

0

12,000

 0 1
11,500 0

0

N=

 29 29
Median $16,100

$15,390

Mean

 $16,192

$15,119

 

Source: Johns Hopkins University. The Ferdinand Hamburger, Jr. Archives. Department of Political Economy, Series 5, Box 6, Folder 2 “Statistical Information”.

Image: From left to right: Monopolies, Uncle Sam, Trusts.

Taylor, Charles Jay, Artist. In the hands of his philanthropic friends / C.J. Taylor. , 1897. N.Y.: Published in Puck, March 10, 1897. . Retrieved from the Library of Congress, . (Accessed May 12, 2017). https://www.loc.gov/item/2012647652/

Categories
Courses Suggested Reading Syllabus Wisconsin

Wisconsin. Milton Friedman’s Reading Assignments in Economic Theory, 1940-1

 

 

In the previous post we have the syllabus for the summer course Economics 150 (Economic Theory) taught by James S. Earley in 1940. It is interesting to compare that syllabus with the reading assignments transcribed below for the same course as taught by Milton Friedman at the University of Wisconsin sometime during the academic year 1940-41 when Earley was on leave from the university. We see significant overlap but there are differences (e.g. Smith and Mill were added by Friedman). It is also interesting to compare this to the course “The Structure of Neoclassical Economics” taught by Milton Friedman in 1939-40 at Columbia.

_____________________

Reading Assignments in Economics 150
Instructor: Milton Friedman

*Recommended but not required.

Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics, Book III, ch. 2, 3, 4; Book V, ch. 1, 2.
F. H. Knight, Risk, Uncertainty and Profit, ch. 3.
Frederic Benham, Economics, pp. 89-100.
*J. R. Hicks, Value and Capital, pp. 11-37.
Marshall, Book V, ch. 3, 4, 5, 12, Appendix H.
A. L. Meyers, Elements of Modern Economics, ch. 5, 7, 8, 9.
Joan Robinson, Economics of Imperfect Competition, ch. 2.
J. M. Clark, The Economics of Overhead Cost, ch. 9.
Jacob Viner, “Cost Curves and Supply Curves”, Zeitschrift fuer Nationaloekonomie, Bd. III (Sept., 1931), pp. 23-46 (in English)..
Edward Chamberlin, The Theory of Monopolistic Competition, Ch. 3, sec. 1, 4, 5, 6; ch. 5.
*M. Abramovitz, “Monopolistic Selling in a Changing Economy”, Q.J.E., Feb., 1938, pp. 191-214.
R. F. Harrod, “Doctrines of Imperfect Competition”, Q.J.E., May 1934 sec. 1, pp. 442-61.
Marshall, Book V, ch. 6.
J. B. Clark, The Distribution of Wealth, Preface, ch. 1, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 23.
John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, Book II, ch. 14.
J. R. Hicks, Theory of Wages, ch. 1-6.
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, Book I, ch. 10.
Marshall, Book VI, ch. 1-5.
Simon Kuznets and Milton Friedman, “Incomes from Independent Professional Practice”, Bulletin 72-3, National Bureau of Economic Research, sec. 5, appendix.
F. H. Knight, “Interest,” in Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, also in Ethics of Competition.
J. M. Keynes. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money., ch. 11-14.

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman. Box 76, Folder 6 “University of Chicago Econ. 150 [sic, “University of Wisconsin 1940-41” is correct].

Image Source: Columbia University, Columbia 250 Celebrates Columbians Ahead of Their Time.

Categories
Courses Suggested Reading Syllabus Wisconsin

Wisconsin. Economic Theory Syllabus. James S. Earley, 1940

 

James S. Earley was an assistant professor of economics on leave from the University of Wisconsin during Milton Friedman’s year in Madison, 1940-41. The syllabus for his course transcribed for this post was found in Milton Friedman’s papers along with Friedman’s own syllabus for the course (next post).

____________________

James S. Earley, Life and resources.

1908 (October 16) Born, Valley City, North Dakota
1932 A.B., Antioch College
1934 M.A., University of Wisconsin
1937-67 Faculty member at the University of Wisconsin
1939 Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
1940-41 Economist, National Defense Advisory Commission and Office of Price Administration and Civilian Supply
1941-45 Economist, Office of Price Administration, serving as member of the Economic Adviser’s Panel and later as Head Economist in the Office of the Economic Adviser
1945 Adviser on British Commonwealth Financial Affairs, Department of State
1967- University of California, Riverside
1997 (July 5) Died in Riverside, CA

Earley’s wartime papers (1942-1945) are available at the Harry S. Truman Library.

An Oral History Interview with James Earley was conducted in 1982 and is available on-line at the UW-Madison Oral History Program. He discusses the hiring of Milton Friedman at 41:43 of the second part of the interview.

Warren J. Samuels, (2003), Lectures by James S. Earley on the development of economics, University of Wisconsin, 1954–1955, in Warren J. Samuels (ed.) Histories of Economic Thought (Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, Volume 21 Part 2) Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.89 – 271

 

____________________

 

ECONOMICS 150S—ECONOMIC THEORY
Summer Session, 1940

James S. Earley
Syllabus

Six Week Session: Topics I-VII, inclusive
Eight Week Session: Topics I-XI, inclusive

 

(**before a reference denotes reading requires of all students. *denotes reading required of graduate students but not of undergraduates. References marked ≠ are required of undergraduate students only. Other references are for additional reading, as desired. Copies of all required works will be found in Bascom Reading Room or in the Periodical Room; most of the others will also be found in Bascom. Full titles and references are given in the appended bibliography.)

 

I. (June 25, 26)
Nature, Purposes, and Methods of Economic Analysis

**Marshall, Appendices C, D.: Book I, Chap. III.
Meyers, Chapters I, II.
Keynes, J. Neville.
Knight, Ethics of Competition, pp. 105-47.
Knight, Risk, etc., Chap. I.
McIsaac and Smith, Chap. I.
Robbins, esp. Chaps. IV, V.
Roll, Part I, Sections 1, 2, 3, 5.
Fraser.

II. (June 27, 28, 29)
Consumer Demand

**Garver & Hansen, pp. 103-110, and Chap. IX.
*Marshall, Book III, Chaps. III, IV, VI.
≠Meyers, Chaps. III, IV.
Benham, op. cit., Appendix on Indifference Curves, pp. 89-98.
Hicks, Value and Capital, Chaps. I, II, III.
Knight, Ethics, pp. 15-60.
Knight, Risk, etc., Chap. III, esp. pp. 58-73.
McIsaac and Smith, Chap. IV, pp. 51-68.
Roll, Part II, Section I.
Boddy, Stigler and Garver, pp. 4-10.

III. (July 1, 2, 3)
Average and Marginal Curves; Types of Market Situations

**Meade, pp. 101-7; “Appendix of the Graphs”, pp. 411-424.
**Meyers, Chap. V.
**McIsaac and Smith, pps. 33-50; 128-31.
McIsaac and Smith, pp. 69-81.
Robinson, Imperfect Competition, Chap. 17.

 

IV. (July 5, 6)
Market Price: Temporary Equilibrium of Demand and Supply under Competitive and “Monopolistic” Conditions.

*Marshall, Book V, Chap. II.
≠Meyers, Chap. VI, pp. 63-75, and Chap. VII.
Davenport, Chap. V.
Garver & Hansen, Chap. VIII, pp. 110-125; 128-131.
Knight, “Cost of Production”, Sections I, II.

 

V: (July 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16)
“Normal” Price: The Time Analysis; Costs of Production; The Economics of the Firm; “Normal” Equilibrium Under Competitive Conditions

**Marshall, Book V, Chaps. III, V.
**Meyers, Chap. VIII.
*Knight, “Cost of Production—“, Sections I-IV inc
*Robinson, Imperfect Competition, pp. 92-97.
Boddy et al, pp. 11-18; 19-23.
Chamberlin, Chap. II.
Garver and Hansen, Chap. X, esp. pp. 160-167.
Henderson, Chap. X.
Hicks, Value and Capital, Chaps. IV, V, VI.
Knight, Risk, etc., Chap. III.
Marshall, Book V, Chap. IV.
Meade, Part II, Chap I, pp. 107-116.
McIsaac and Smith, pp. 85-110; 114-27; 163-78.
Taussig, Vol. I, Chaps. 12-16.
Viner, “Cost Curves and Supply Curves”.

First Examination, Wenesday, July 17.

VI. (July 18, 19, 22, 23, 24)
“Normal Equilibrium Under Monopolistic Conditions; Competitive vs. Monopolistic Conditions and Economic Welfare

**Meade, Part II, Chaps. II, III, VI.
**Meyers, Chaps. IX.
Chamberlin, Chaps. IV, V.
Dennison and Galbraith, Chaps. I-VI.
Garver and Hansen, Chap. XII, XIII.
Harrod.
Marshall, Book V, Chap. XIV.
Meade, Part II, Chaps. VII, VIII.
McIsaac and Smith, pp. 128-62; 178-86.
Pigou.
Robinson, Imperfect Competition, Chaps. 3, 11, 13.
Taussig, Vol. I, Chaps. 17, 18.
Meyers, Chap. X.

VII. (July 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, August 1)
The Theory of Distribution: General Principles, Competitive and Monopolistic

**Meade, Part II, Chap. V.
**Meade, Part III, Chap. I.
*Chamberlin, Chap. VIII. (3rd edition).
*Marshall, Book V, Chap. VI.
≠Meyers, Chap. XI.
McIsaac and Smith, pp. 248-59.
McIsaac and Smith, Chap. X.
Henderson, Chap. V.
Hicks, Value and Capital, Chaps. VII, VIII.
Robinson, Imperfect Competition, Chaps. 20, 21, 22, 27.

 

Final Exam for Six Weeks Students, Second Exam for Eight Weeks Students: August 2.

 

VIII. (August 5, 6)
Rent

**Marshall, pp. 415-424.
*Holland.
*Robinson, Imperfect Competition, Chap. 8, sections 1-7 inclusive.
≠Garver and Hansen, Chap. XXV.
Henderson, Chap. VI.
Marshall, Book V, Chaps. VIII, IX, X; Book VI, Chap. IX.
Meyers, Chap. XIV.
McIsaac and Smith, pp. 278-94.

 

IX. (August 7, 8, 9)
Wages

*Dobb, pp. 70-108.
*Marshall, Book VI, Chap. III, IV, V.
≠Meyers, Chap. XII.
≠Marshall, Book VI, pp. 559-73.
Garver and Hansen, Chap. XXVI.
Hicks, J. R., Theory of Wages, esp. pp. 8ff.
Meade, Part IV, Chap. II.
Robinson, Imperfect Competition, Chaps. 25, 26.
Robertson.

 

X. (August 12 13)
Profits

**Meyers, Chap. XV.
*Knight, Article on “Profit” in Encyclopedia S.S.
Knight, Risk, etc., esp. pp. 22-48; 264-90.
Garver and Hansen, Chap. XXVII.
Marshall, Book VI, Chap. VII.
McIsaac and Smith, Chap. XIV, pp. 344-57; 374-8.

 

XI. (August 14, 15)
Interest

**Meyers, Chaps. XIII, XVI.
**Robinson, Introduction, Chaps. VIII, IX.
*Keynes, J. M., Chaps. 13, 14.
Hicks, Value and Capital, Chaps. XI, XII, XIII.
Lerner.
McIsaac and Smith, Chaps. XII, XIII.
Meade, Part I, Chaps. II, III.
Meade, Part IV, Chap. III.
Marshall, Book VI, Chap. VI.

 

Final Examination for Eight Weeks Students: Friday, August 16.

 

Bibliography

Frederic Benham. Economics, especially Appendix to Chap. VI, “Indifference Curves”, pp. 89-100.
F.M. Boddy, G. J. Stiger and F. B. Garver. Materials for Advanced General Economics.
E. Chamberlin. Theory of Monopolistic Competition (3rd edition).
H. J. Davenport. Economics of Enterprise.
H. S. Dennison & J. K. Galbraith. Modern Competition and Business Policy.
Maurice Dobb. Wages.
L. M. Fraser. Economic Thought and Language.
Garver and Hansen. Principles of Economics (1937 edition).
Lewis Haney. Value and Distribution.
R. F. Harrod. “Doctrines of Imperfect Competition”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1934, pp. 442 ff.
H. D. Henderson. Supply and Demand.
J. R. Hicks. Theory of Wages.
J. R. Hicks. Value and Capital.
M. Tappan Holland. “Marshall on Rent”, Economic Journal, Sept. 1930, pp. 369-383.
J. M. Keynes. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.
J. Neville Keynes. Scope and Method of Political Economy.
W. H. Kiekhofer. Economic Principles, Problems and Policies.
F. H. Knight. Article entitled “Cost of Production and Price Over Long and Short Periods” in Ethics of Competition (pp. 186-216) or in Journal of Political Economy for 1921 (pp. 304-35).
F. H. Knight. Article on Profit in Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.
F. H. Knight. Risk, Uncertainty and Profit.
A. P. Lerner. “Alternative Formulations of the Theory of Interest”, Economic Journal, June 1938. (pp. 211-30)
Alfred Marshall. Principles of Economics (5th to 8th eds.)
Albert L. Meyers. Elements of Modern Economics.
J. E. Meade & C. J. Hitch. Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy (American Edition, 1938).
McIsaac and Smith. Introduction to Economic Analysis.
A. C. Pigou, Economics of Welfare.
D. H. Robertson. “Wage Grumbles” and “Economic Incentive” in Economic Fragments.
Joan Robinson. Economics of Imperfect Competition.
Joan Robinson. Introduction to the Thoery of Employment.
Lionel Robbins. Nature and Significance of Economic Science.
Erich Roll. Elements of Economic Theory.
F. W. Taussig. Principles of Economics (Fourth Edition, 1939).
Jacob Viner. Article on “Cost” in Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.
Jacob Viner. “Cost Curves and Supply Curves”, Zeitschrift für National-Ökonomie, 1932, (pp. 23-46). The Article is in English.

 

Source: Hoover Institution Archives. Papers of Milton Friedman. Box 81, Folder 10 “Economics Miscellaneous”.

 

Image Source: Detail from a photograph in Wisconsin State Journal (May 6, 1948) at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

 

Categories
Bibliography Wisconsin

Citizen’s Library of Economics, Politics and Sociology. Richard T. Ely, ed. 1900…

The University of Wisconsin economist, Richard T. Ely, served as the general editor for the social science series entitled “The Citizen’s Library of Economics, Politics and Sociology.” He actually disliked the title “Citizen’s Library” that had been given by Macmillan.  He thought it would give an unintended popular stigma to the scientific works he intended to include (Benjamin G. Radar [1966], The Academic Mind and Reform: The Influence of Richard T. Ely in American Life, p. 156). 

Links are provided to all the individual items but one (I couldn’t find an online copy of Blackmar’s Elements of Sociology).

_____________________

THE CITIZEN’S LIBRARY
OF ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND SOCIOLOGY.

Edited by Richard T. Ely, Ph.D., LL.D.
Professor of Economics in the University of Wisconsin

Published by The Macmillan Company, New York

EDITOR’S PREFACE

The present volume is the first in a Library having the above title. It is hoped eventually to cover the three fields of knowledge indicated by the title in such way that the various series included in the Library will afford such complete information concerning the theory and facts of these sciences that the volumes will have some of the advantages of an encyclopedic work combined with those of separate and distinct treatises. To aid in the accomplishment of this purpose, it is planned to issue from time to time an index volume or supplement, binding together a series on closely related subjects. [Note: not aware this ever happened] This Library thus includes new and valuable features, for it will give to the public a set of works affording information on topics of importance to every citizen which must now be sought in a great multiplicity of sources, and often sought in vain.

The character of the writers and the management of the Library will be such as to inspire confidence. The utmost pains will be taken to secure the greatest possible accuracy in all statistical tables and statements of fact and theory, and no partisan bias will disturb the conclusions. It is the conviction of the Editor that scientific work in the field of the humanities may generally be made interesting to intelligent citizens through cultivation of clearness in statement and literary style. There are masterpieces even in Economics, for example, which rank as literature, as Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and John Stuart Mill’s Political Economy bear witness. It is desired to lay emphasis on the fact that while the sciences of Economics, Politics, and Sociology are of concern to the citizen, and make appropriate the title ” Citizen’s Library,” in no case will the interests of science be sacrificed to popularity. The aim will be to bring every volume in the Library up to the present standard of science, and it is hoped that the Library will in more than one instance push forward the boundaries of knowledge.

In conclusion, it only remains to add that the various authors assume responsibility for expressions of opinion, and that publication in the Library does not necessarily mean an endorsement either by publishers or Editor of views found in the several volumes.

The Editor.

Source: Ely, Richard T. Monopolies and Trusts , New York: Macmillan, 1900, pp. ix-xi.

_____________________

BOOKS IN THE CITIZEN’S LIBRARY
OF ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND SOCIOLOGY.

Addams, Jane. (1902). Democracy and Social Ethics.

Addams, Jane. (1907). Newer Ideals of Peace.

Baker, M. N. (1902). Municipal Engineering and Sanitation.

Blackmar, Frank Wilson. (1908). The Elements of Sociology.

Bradford, Ernest S. (1911). Commission Government in American Cities.

Bullock, Charles J. (1900). Essays on the Monetary History of the United States.

Carlton, Frank Tracy. (1908). Education and Industrial Evolution.

Ely, Richard T. (1893).  Outlines of Economics.

Ely, Richard T. (1893, reprinted 1900). Outlines of Economics.

Ely, Richard T., Thomas S. Adams, Max O. Lorenz, and Allyn A. Young. (1908, revised and enlarged). Outlines of Economics.

Ely, Richard T. (1900). Monopolies and Trusts.

Ely, Richard T. (1903). Studies in the Evolution of Industrial Society.

Ely, Richard T. (1905 reprint of 1886). Labor Movement in America.

Fisk, George Mygatt. (1907). International Commercial Policies with Special Reference to the United States, a Text Book.

Hobson, John A. (1900). The Economics of Distribution.

Jones, Edward D. (1900). Economic Crises.

Kelley, Florence. (1905). Some Ethical Gains Through Legislation.

Kinley, David. (1904). Money.

MacLean, Annie Marion. (1910). Wage-Earning Women.

Macy, Jesse. (1900). Political Parties in the United States, 1846-1861.

Mangold, George B. (1910). Child Problems.

Mead, Elwood. (1903) Irrigation Institutions. A Discussion of the Economic and Legal Questions Created by the Growth of Irrigated Agriculture in the West.

Meyer, Balthasar Henry (1909). Railway Legislation in the United States.

Parmelee, Maurice. (1908). The Principles of Anthropology and Sociology in Their Relations To Criminal Procedure.

Reinsch, Paul S. (1900). World Politics at the End of the Nineteenth Century as Influenced by the Oriental Situation.

Reinsch, Paul S. (1902). Colonial Government.

Reinsch, Paul S. (1905). Colonial Administration.

Ross, E. A. and Aleworth, E. (1901). Social control, a survey of the foundations of order.

Ross, Edward A. (1905). The Foundations of Sociology.

Smith, J. Allen. (1907). The Spirit of American Government; A Study of the Constitution: its Origin, Influence and Relation to Democracy.

Sparling, Samuel E. (1906). Introduction to Business Organization.

Taylor, Henry C. (1905). An Introduction to the Study of Agricultural Economics.

Vincent, John Martin. (1900). Government in Switzerland.

Wilcox, Delos F. (1904). The American City; A Problem in Democracy.

Wilcox, Delos F. (1910). Great Cities in America, their Problems and their Government.

Zueblin Charles (Revised edition, 1916). American Municipal Progress.

 

Image Source: Universities and their sons; history, influence and characteristics of American universities, with biographical sketches and portraits of alumni and recipients of honorary degrees, Vol. IV (1900), p. 505.

 

Categories
Chicago Columbia Cornell Harvard Johns Hopkins Statistics Wisconsin

Graduate Student Enrollments in Economics. Seligman’s Tally, 1909

Here we have a letter from the chairman of the Columbia University economics department, Edwin R. A. Seligman, to the chairman of the trustees of Columbia University, George L. Rives, boasting of the large market share of Columbia with respect to graduate education in economics and sociology. We’ve seen earlier (1900) that Seligman kept a jealous eye on Columbia’s competition.

_____________________________________

[carbon copy of letter Seligman to Rives]

No. 324 West 86 street
New York, February 13, 1909

My dear Sir:

You may be interested in the enclosed statistics which have been compiled by me from answers to questions sent out to the various universities. It shows the relative position of Columbia compared to its six leading competitors, and it is a curious coincidence that the totals of Columbia on the one hand, and of the six universities together on the other, should be precisely the same.

Faithfully yours,

Edwin R. A. Seligman

(Enclosure)

 

To Mr. George L. Rives,
New York City

_____________________________________

STUDENTS WITH DEGREES ENROLLED IN
GRADUATE COURSES, Dec. 1909

 

Economics Sociology Total of Economics and Sociology
Harvard

27

 —

27
Yale

16

 12

28
Cornell

10

 4

14
Johns-Hopkins

12*

 —

12*
Chicago

12

 19

31
Wisconsin

22

 4

26
Total in the 6 universities

99

 39

138
Columbia

67

 71

138

*including duplications

 

Source: Columbia University Archives. Central Files 1890-, Box 338. Folder: “Seligman, Edwin Robert Anderson. 1.1.110 2/5”

Image Source: Universities and their Sons, Vol. 2 (1899), pp. 485.

Categories
Bibliography Wisconsin

Ely and Wicker’s List for an economics library, 1904.

Appended to their Elementary Principles of Economics, Together with a Short Sketch of Economic History (1904), are  the following bibliographies of works that Richard T. Ely (Wisconsin) and George Ray Wicker (Dartmouth) “suggest that a school desiring to form a standard working library in Economics would do well to purchase”. A second edition was published in 1917 with a few additions and deletions to the bibliographies. A vast majority of these works can be obtained and/or read online by simply typing the authors’ last name and key words from the title into the search boxes at www.archive.org or www.hathitrust.org.

Also available here at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror are earlier bibliographies put together by J. Laurence Laughlin (1887) and Michael E. Sadler (1891).

___________________________

APPENDIX II
[Ely and Wicker (1904)]

COURSES OF READING

It is believed that both students and teachers may derive valuable aid from the following selected bibliographies. The first group in each case includes works of a relatively untechnical character, and therefore constitutes a sort of elementary, “minimum” course of special study of the particular topic. The books mentioned in the second group are in each case more advanced and technical, and may therefore be used either for advanced courses of study or as works of reference. The authors would suggest that a school desiring to form a standard working library in Economics would do well to purchase the books mentioned in the second groups in the order in which they are named.

 

GENERAL ECONOMICS 

Group 1

Blackmar, F. W.: Economics.

Bullock, C. J.: An Introduction to the Study of Economics.

Devine, E. T.: Economics.

Gide, Charles: Principles of Political Economy. (American adaptation, 1904.)

Seager, Henry R.: Introduction to Economics.

Walker, F. A.: Elementary Course in Political Economy; also Briefer Course in Political Economy.

 

Group 2

Smith, Adam: Wealth of Nations (in Ashley’s Economic Classics).

Marshall, A.: Principles of Economics.

Smart, W.: Introduction to the Theory of Value.

Clark, J. B.: The Distribution of Wealth.

Mill, J. S.: The Principles of Political Economy.

Ricardo, D.: Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. (Six chapters in Ashley’s Economic Classics.)

Walker, F. A.: Political Economy. (Advanced Course.)

Patten, S. N.: The Premises of Political Economy.

Hobson, J. A.: The Economics of Distribution.

Commons, J. R.: The Distribution of Wealth.

Smart, W.: The Distribution of Income.

 

ECONOMIC HISTORY

Group 1

Ashley, W. J.: Introduction to English Economic History and Theory. 2 vols.

Cheyney, E. P.: Industrial and Social History of England.

Beard, C.: The Industrial Revolution.

Ely, R. T.: Evolution of Industrial Society.

Coman, Katharine: The Industrial History of the United States.

Hewins, W. A. S.: English Trade and Finance.

Price, L. L.: History of English Commerce and Industry.

Warner, T.: Landmarks of English Industrial History.

 

Group 2

Bücher, Carl: Industrial Evolution. (Translation.)

Hobson, J. A.: The Evolution of Modern Capitalism.

Toynbee, Arnold: The Industrial Revolution.

Wright, C. D.: Industrial Evolution of the United States.

Wells, D. A.: Recent Economic Changes.

Rand, B.: Selections illustrating Economic History since 1763.

Gibbins, H. de B.: Industry in England.

Cunningham, W.: Growth of English Industry and Commerce. 2 vols.

Rogers, J. E. T.: Six Centuries of Work and Wages and A History of Agriculture and Prices in England.

Ingram, J. K.: History of Slavery.

 

THE HISTORY OF POLITICAL ECONOMY

Group 1

Price, L. L.: A Short History of Political Economy in England.

 

Group 2

Ingram, J. K.: History of Political Economy.

Ashley, W. J. (editor): Economic Classics, including selected passages from Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations; six chapters of Ricardo’s Principles of Political Economy; selected passages from Malthus’s Theory of Population; Mun’s England’s Treasure by Foreign Trade; Jones’s Peasant Rents; and Schmoller’s The Mercantile System.

 

RENT, LAND NATIONALIZATION, AND THE SINGLE TAX

Group 1

George, Henry: Progress and Poverty.

Walker, F. A.: Land and its Rent.

 

Group 2

Commons, J. R.: The Distribution of Wealth.

Clark, J. B.: The Distribution of Wealth.

Hobson, J. A.: The Economics of Distribution.

Patten, S. N.: Dynamic Economics.

Smart, W.: The Distribution of Income.

 

MONEY, CREDIT, AND BANKING

Group 1

Bagehot, W.: Lombard Street.

Bolles, A. S.: Money, Banking, and Finance.

Jevons, W. S.: Money and the Mechanism of Exchange.

Kinley, D.: Money — A Study of the Theory of the Medium of Exchange.

Walker, F. A.: Money, Trade, and Industry.

White, Horace: Money and Banking.

 

Group 2

Report of the Monetary Commission of the Indianapolis Convention.

Scott, W. A.: Money and Banking.

Laughlin, J. L.: The Principles of Money, and The History of Bimetallism in the United States.

Dunbar, C. F.: Theory and History of Banking.

Nicholson, J. S.: Money and Monetary Problems.

Fisk, A. K.: The Modern Bank.

Cannon, J. G.: Clearing Houses.

Conant, C. A.: History of Modern Banks of Issue.

Sumner, W. G.: History of American Currency.

Muhleman, M. L.: Monetary Systems of the World.

Knox, J. J.: United States Notes.

Walker, F. A.: International Bimetallism.

Willis, H. P.: History of the Latin Monetary Union.

 

PUBLIC FINANCE

Group 1

Daniels, W. M.: Elements of Public Finance.

Plehn, C. C.: Introduction to Public Finance.

 

Group 2

Adams, H. C.: The Science of Finance.

Cohn, G.: The Science of Finance. (Translation.)

Bastable, C. F.: Public Finance.

Seligman, E. R. A.: Essays in Taxation.

Dewey, D. R.: Financial History of the United States.

Noyes, A. D.: Thirty Years of American Finance.

Ely, R. T., and Finley, J. H.: Taxation in American States and Cities.

Taussig, F. W.: The Tariff History of the United States.

Kinley, D.: The Independent Treasury.

West, Max: The Inheritance Tax.

Howe, F. C.: Taxation and Taxes in the United States under the Internal Revenue System, 1791-1895.

Kinsman, D.: The Income Tax in the Commonwealths of the United States.

 

INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND PROTECTIONISM 

Group 1

 

Bastable, C. F.: Theory of International Trade.

Bastiat, F.: Sophisms of Protection.

Clare, G.: Money Market Primer.

Ely, R. T.: Problems of To-day.

Taussig, F. W.: Tariff History of the United States.

Group 2

Sumner, W. G.: Protectionism.

Patten, S. N.: The Economic Basis of Protection.

Wells, D. A.: Practical Economics.

List, F.: National System of Political Economy.

Carey, H. C.: Harmony of Interests.

Ashley, W. J.: The Tariff Problem.

SOCIALISM

Group 1

Bellamy, E.: Looking Backward.

Brooks, J. G.: The Social Unrest.

Ely, R. T.: Socialism and Social Reform.

Gronlund, L.: The Cöoperative Commonwealth.

Howells, W. D.: A Traveller from Altruria.

Morley, H. (editor): Ideal Commonwealths.

Reeves, W. P.: State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand.

 

Group 2

Kirkup, T.: History of Socialism.

Marx, Karl: Capital. (Translation.)

Rae, J.: Contemporary Socialism.

Schäffle, A. E. F.: The Quintessence of Socialism. (Translation.)

Vandervelde, E.: Collectivism. (Translation.)

Woolsey, T. D.: Communism and Socialism.

 

LABOR: ITS POSITION, ITS CONDITIONS, AND ITS EARNINGS

Group 1

Ely, R. T.: The Labor Movement in America.

Gladden, W.: Working People and their Employers.

Mitchell, J.: Organized Labor.

Toynbee, Arnold: The Industrial Revolution in England.

Wright, C. D.: Industrial Evolution of the United States.

 

Group 2

Report of the United States Industrial Commission.

Annual and Special Reports of the United States Labor Bureau.

Hobson, J. A.: The Evolution of Modern Capitalism.

Schloss, D. F.: Methods of Industrial Remuneration.

Jevons, W. S.: The State in its Relation to Labor.

Stimson, F. J.: Handbook to the Labor Law of the United States.

Lowell, Josephine S.: Industrial Arbitration and Conciliation.

Webb, Sidney and Beatrice (Potter): History of Trade-unionism and Industrial Democracy.

Potter, Beatrice: The Cöoperative Movement in Great Britain.

Levasseur, E.: The American Workman. (Translation.)

Gilman, N. P.: Profit-sharing.

Ashley, W. J.: The Adjustment of Wages.

Rogers, J. E. T.: Six Centuries of Work and Wages.

Brassey, T.: Work and Wages.

 

MONOPOLIES AND INDUSTRIAL COMBINATIONS

Group 1

Ely, R. T.: Monopolies and Trusts.

Gunton, G.: Trusts and the Public.

Jenks, J. W.: The Trust Problem.

Lloyd, Henry D.: Wealth against Commonwealth.

Von Halle, E.: Trusts and Industrial Combinations.

Meade, E. S.: Trust Finance.

 

Group 2

Report of the United States Industrial Commission, Vols. I and II.

Adams, H. C.: The Relation of the State to Industrial Action.

Bemis, E. W.: Municipal Monopolies.

Clark, J. B.: Theory of Economic Progress.

Farrer, T. H.: The State in its Relation to Trade.

Cook, W. W.: The Corporation Problem.

Bridge, J. H. (editor): The Trust, its Book.

Bridge, J. H.: Inside History of the Carnegie Steel Co.

Baker, C. E.: Trusts and the People.

Dodd, S. C. T.: Combinations: their Uses and Abuses. (A eulogy of the Standard Oil Company by one of its attorneys); also

An Inside View of Trusts, circulated free of charge in the interests of the Standard Oil Company.

 

TRANSPORTATION

Group 1

Hadley, A. T.: Railroad Transportation.

Johnson, E. R.: American Railway Transportation.

 

Group 2

Reports (Annual) of the Interstate Commerce Commission.

Report of the United States Industrial Commission.

Meyer, B. H.: Railway Legislation in the United States.

Stickney, A. B.: The Railway Problem.

Dixon, F. H.: State Railroad Control.

Jeans, J. S.: Waterways and Water Transport.

Johnson, E. R.: Inland Waterways.

Lewis, G. H.: National Consolidation of Railways.

Newcomb, H. T.: Railway Economics.

 

CORPORATIONS AND CORPORATION FINANCE

Group 1

Cleveland, E. A.: Funds and their Uses.

Meade, E. S.: Trust Finance.

Pratt, S. A.: The Work of Wall Street.

 

Group 2

Report of the Chicago Conference on Trusts.

Burdick, F. M.: The Essentials of Business Law.

Greene, T. L.: Corporation Finance.

Cook, W. W.: The Corporation Problem.

Emery, H. C.: Speculation on the Stock and Produce Exchanges of the United States.

 

COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY

Group 1

Adams, C. C.: A Text-book of Commercial Geography.

Redway, J. W.: New Basis of Geography.

Trotter, Spencer: The Geography of Commerce.

 

Group 2

Reports of the Department of Commerce and Labor (U.S.), especially Commercial Relations of the United States; Consular Reports; Monthly Summary of Commerce and Finance.

Twelfth Census of the United States.

Chisholm, G. G.: A Handbook of Commercial Geography.

Keltie, J. S.: Applied Geography.

In addition to the books mentioned in the preceding paragraphs, students will find certain general works of reference of very great value. These may be most conveniently listed under the names dictionaries, periodicals, and general treatises. Every school that aspires to the possession of a working library in our subject should have a considerable number of the books in the following list, together with some of the magazines of most general use in the subject. In the first two groups the books and magazines respectively are given in the order in which the authors would recommend their purchase. For obvious reasons it has not been deemed best to do this in the case of the books mentioned in Group Three, which are therefore given in the alphabetical order of their authors. The student will not find in this book any references to German, French, or Italian authorities that have not been translated. Should he have occasion, in exceptional cases, to refer to such works, he should consult the bibliographies that are to be found in many of the general treatises included in our list

 

DICTIONARIES

Dictionary of Political Economy. Edited by R. H. Inglis Palgrave.

Cyclopedia of Political Science and Political Economy. Edited by J. J Lalor.

Cyclopedia of Social Reform. Edited by W. D. P. Bliss.

The standard encyclopedias will also be found to contain special articles on very many economic topics.

 

PERIODICALS

Publications of the American Economic Association.

The Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Political Science Quarterly.

The Yale Review.

The Journal of Political Economy.

Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

Municipal Affairs.

Commercial and Financial Chronicle.

Bradstreet’s.

Dun’s Review.

The Bankers’ Magazine. (American.)

 

GENERAL TREATISES

Andrews, E. B.: Institutes of Economics.

Bullock, C. J.: Introduction to the Study of Economics.

Devine, E. T.: Economics.

Cannan, E.: Elementary Political Economy.

Ely, R. T, Outlines of Economics; also Introduction to Political Economy. (Revised Edition, 1901.)

Davenport, H. J.: Elementary Economics.

Gide, C.: Principles of Political Economy. (Translation.)

Hadley, A. T.: Economics.

Hearn, W. E.: Plutology.

Marshall, A.: Principles of Economics; also Marshall, A. and M.: The Economics of Industry.

Nicholson, J. S.: Principles of Political Economy.

Roscher, W.: Political Economy. (Translation.)

Seager, H. R.: Introduction to Economics.

Sidgwick, H.: Principles of Political Economy.

Walker, F. A.: Political Economy. (Advanced Course.)

 

 

Source: Richard T. Ely and George Ray Wicker. Elementary principles of economics. New York: Macmillan, 1904 (Reprinted through 1916 without revision multiple times from this 1904 edition).

Image Source: Dartmouth Aegis, 1916.

Categories
Chicago Columbia Cornell Harvard Wisconsin

Chicago Economics’ Subjective Self-Ranking in 1913

The Dean of the University of Chicago’s College of Commerce and Administration, L. C. Marshall, submitted a proposal October 30, 1913 to President Harry Pratt Judson of the University of Chicago that outlined immediate steps for a transition from temporary arrangements for the College of Commerce and Administration to a permanent policy to go into effect 1914-15. Part of Marshall’s proposal addressed the issue of “the preparation of a student constituency” which besides outreach to entering freshmen and advanced undergraduates included the item “attracting graduate students”. The appendix transcribed for this posting presents a subjective ranking of the factors involved in drawing economics graduate students to the University of Chicago.

The overall ranking was determined by adding the ranks for seven factors with two of those factors given a double-weight.

According to L. C. Marshall, the scholarly reputation of Chicago in economics in 1913 put it in fifth place behind Columbia, Harvard, Cornell and Wisconsin.

_____________________________

Appendix I

AN ESTIMATE OF THE RANKING OF SIX INSTITUTIONS IN ABILITY TO DRAW GRADUATE STUDENTS IN ECONOMICS

Notes:

  1. This is an attempt to estimate how the institutions are regarded by prospective graduate students and not an attempt to estimate real merit.
  2. The estimate is based on the ranking according to the seven main items which are likely to draw students: I. Geographical location; II. Reputation for discipline given; III. General reputation of social science departments; IV. Scholarly reputation of economics department; V. Reputation for placing men; VI. Opportunities for self-support; and VII. Influence of Teachers out.
  3. Two items are weighted, viz; VI. Opportunities for self-support, and VII. Influence of teachers out.

I.

II.

Geographical Location

Reputation for Discipline given
1  Chicago
2  Columbia
3  Harvard
4  Wisconsin
5  Cornell
6  Illinois		 1  Harvard
2  Chicago
3  Columbia
4  Wisconsin
5  Cornell
6  Illinois

III.

IV.

General Reputation of Social Science Departments

Scholarly Reputation of Economics Department
1  Columbia
2  Harvard
3  Wisconsin
4  Chicago
5  Cornell
6  Illinois		 1  Columbia
2  Harvard
3  Cornell
4  Wisconsin
5  Chicago
6  Illinois

V.

VI.

Reputation for Placing Men

Opportunities for Self-support
(weighted by 2)
1  Columbia
2  Harvard
3  Wisconsin
4  Chicago
5  Cornell
6  Illinois		 1  Harvard
2  Wisconsin
3  Columbia
4  Illinois
5  Chicago
6  Cornell

VII.

VIII.

Influence of Teachers out
(weighted by 2)

Final Ranking and Points
1  Harvard
2  Columbia
3  Wisconsin
4  Cornell
5  Chicago
6  Illinois		 1  Harvard              14
2  Columbia           18
3  Wisconsin          28
4  Chicago              36
5  Cornell               43
6  Illinois                50

Comments:

No. I is eminently satisfactory

No. II will see Chicago at the head of the list when III, IV, and VII have been remedied

No. III and IV require (a) on the administrative side, carrying through the plans of the College of Commerce and Administration; (b) the earning of scholarly reputation by the members of the department

No. V will care for itself. Chicago will be at the top of this list in five years if we remedy III, IV, VI, and VII.

No. VI is a very serious matter, and requires consideration too detailed to be attempted here

No. VII will not be overcome for ten years.

 

Source: University of Chicago Archives. Department of Economics Records, Box 14, Folder 13

Image Source:  Picture of Dean Leon C. Marshall from University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-04113, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Categories
Chicago Columbia Cornell Curriculum Harvard Johns Hopkins Pennsylvania Princeton Wisconsin Yale

Columbia Economics’ Market Share in 1900

The School of Political Science at Columbia University was divided into three groups of subjects: History and Political Philosophy, Public Law and Comparative Jurisprudence, and Economics and Social Science.

Economics and Social Science comprised the two subject groups: Political Economy and Finance; Sociology and Statistics. 

Seligman figured that of the approximately 135 graduate students specializing in economics in 1899-1900 in the seven eastern departments (Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale), about 75 were at Columbia.

___________________

SCHOOL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Department of Economics.—Since the recent reorganization of the work in economics, there has been a marked increase in the number, as well as in the quality of the students. Numbers, indeed, constitute no adequate test of the real work done by the various departments within a university; for the subject which attracts the fewest students may possess the highest scientific value and may be presided over by the ablest professors. But, when an institution is compared with others of about the same grade and size, the relative number of students in any one department affords a fair indication of the importance to be assigned to it. Hence, the following table is of much interest:

 

1900_ColumbiaEconomics

*By graduate student is meant a student holding a first degree.
1 Attending for three terms.
2 Including Economics and Public Law.
3 Including Economics, Politics and History.

The number of graduate students in economics and social science at Columbia is much greater than the number in any other American institution. If we compare Columbia with six Eastern universities,—Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Pennsylvania and Princeton,—we find that Columbia has almost as many such students as all six, that is, 75 as against 89. And if it were possible to separate the students working primarily in economics at Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Cornell (where the figures include other students in political science as well), it is practically certain that Columbia would be found to possess more graduate students working primarily in economics and social science than the other six institutions together. Assuming that half of the students returned in Johns Hopkins, Yale and Cornell are working primarily in economics,—a very liberal assumption, —we should have a total of 60 in the six Eastern universities, as against 75 in Columbia. This is a remarkable showing.

In order that it may not be supposed that the basis of classification varies, it may be added that each of the students at Columbia is enrolled primarily under the Faculty of Political Science and is a candidate for the master’s or doctor’s degree, with the major subject in economics and social science. Every such student is required to attend a seminar. In addition to the seminar, 35 of the 75 students are taking 3 or more courses in economics or social science and 20 are taking 2 such courses. The remainder, who are taking one course in addition to the seminar, are chiefly students who have taken most of their lecture work in previous years.

The following figures, as to enrollment in economics and social science, will prove instructive:

Graduate students, primarily enrolled in political science, taking graduate courses (whether as a major or minor) 95
Graduate students (male) in the whole university taking graduate courses 123
Non-graduates (male), primarily registered in political science, doing chief work in economics 22
Students, graduates and non-graduates (male, but exclusive of seniors and other college students) in the whole university, taking graduate courses 149
Enrollment of students, as above (not deducting duplicates), in graduate courses in economics and social science 559
Enrollment of under-graduates in Columbia College 179
Enrollment of students of all kinds (male) pursuing these studies 738
Enrollment of Barnard students 140
Total enrollment in the University 878

The relative importance of the university work may also be seen by this comparison with Harvard:

Harvard Columbia
Total students primarily registered in non-professional (graduate) schools 341 331
Total graduates in non-professional (graduate) schools 323 292
Total graduates in political science 52 or 16% 114 or 39%
Total graduates primarily in economics and social science 8 or 2½% 17 or 26%

This showing is doubtless due in part to the system on which the work in economics and social science at Columbia is organized. The department has four full professors, one instructor and two lecturers. The work has been so apportioned that each professor devotes himself primarily to his own specialty—Professor Mayo-Smith to statistics and practical economics, Professor Clark to economic theory, Professor Giddings to social science, and Professor Seligman to economic history and finance. Another explanation of the large numbers is the facility afforded to students to combine with their studies in economics the courses in history, public law and general political science.

Among the recent graduates in economics of the School of Political Science, no less than 25 are now giving instruction in economics at other institutions, including Yale, Cornell, Amherst, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Syracuse, the Universities of Illinois, Indiana, and Colorado, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A number of graduates have become editors of important daily or weekly papers, in New York, Buffalo, Omaha and other cities, and a large number occupy administrative positions in the service of the national and state governments. Among the latter may be mentioned one of the chief statistician in the census office, a number of expert agents and chief clerks in the departments of the treasury and of agriculture in Washington; and the deputy commissioner of labor statistics and the sociology librarian in the State Library at Albany.

E. R. A. S. [Edwin R. A. Seligman]

___________________

Source: Columbia University Quarterly, Vol. 2, June, 1900, pp. 284-287.