Today’s post is provides an undated reading list, a partial course outline and the preliminary motivating statement for an intermediate level undergraduate course in economic theory targeted to non-majors in the University of Chicago’s Division of Social Sciences. This material was found in a folder in George Stigler’s papers. He was a student at the University of Chicago from 1933-1936, but it is unlikely that he took this course. One presumes he acquired a copy on his own account then. As far as the authorship, I have not had time to compare this material with that of Henry C. Simons cited in the following bibliographic tip. However the style does appear to have Simons’ handwriting all over it. Kyrk and Mints also regularly taught this course during these years.
Bibliographic Tip: Notes to Henry Calvert Simons’ Course Economics 201 (1933-34) taken by F. Taylor Ostrander and Helen Hiett were published in Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology. Volume 23, Part 2. Documents from F. Taylor Ostrander, Warren J. Samuels (ed.). Emerald, 2005.
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Course Description
201. The Divisional Course in Economics.—A survey of price and distribution, monetary, and cycle theory, developed chiefly through the use of a series of problems. The course is designed primarily to meet the needs of students who are majoring in departments other than Economics and who expect to take the Divsional Comprehensive Examination in Social Science. Prerequisite: Social Science I and II or equivalent, or consent of instructor.
Source: University of Chicago. Announcements, Arts, Literature and Science (for the sessions 1933-34), vol. XXXIII, March 25, 1933, No. 8, p. 265.
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ECONOMICS 201
MATERIALS AND PROBLEMS FOR CLASS DISCUSSION
ASSIGNMENTS
Indispensable Reading, first five weeks:
Henderson, H. D., Supply and Demand (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1922. $1.25).
This short treatise should provide a good review of previous work (it is among the materials for Social Science I). It should be read promptly, to renew acquaintance with the terminology and central propositions of economic theory; and the relevant chapters should be re-read later on, in connection with the class discussion of special topics.
Knight, F. H., in Syllabus and Selected Readings for Social Science II, pages 125-250.
This is also a review assignment; but no other material is likely to prove more valuable in connection with the first part of this course.
The first section (pages 125-137), on “Social Economic Organization and Its Five Primary Functions,” should be read promptly, in connection with the class discussion of the first week.
Ely, R. T. et al., Outlines of Economics, 5th ed. (New York, 1930), Chapters IX, X, XI, XX, and Appendix A. (The corresponding chapters in the 4th edition will serve equally well for this course.)
The first three of these chapters should be read as one assignment. The first part of Chapter XI deals with what are, from the point of view of this course, highly controversial questions. Chapter XX merits very careful study.
Gray, Alexander, The Development of Economic Doctrine (New York, 1931), Chapters III, V, and VI.
The chapters should acquaint students with the main ideas of the mercantilists, and of Hume, Adam Smith, Malthus, and Ricardo. Appendix A of the Ely book should be read in connection with this assignment.
Indispensable Reading, last five weeks:
Roberson, D. H., Money, new edition revised (new York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1929. $1.25).
This is an excellent, concise treatise by a leading English (Cambridge) economist. It should be studied with care, preferably in advance of class discussion of money and banking.
Ely, R. T. et al., Outlines of Economics, 5th ed., Chapters XIII to XVIII inclusive.
These chapters also merit careful, deliberate study.
Gregory, T. E., The Gold Standard and its Future, 2nd (or 1st) ed., London (and New York), 1932.
An unusually fine treatise, excellent for its fundamental analysis, and closely relevant to currently interesting and urgent problems.
Optional Reading:
Ely, R. T. et al., Outlines of Economics.
Gray, Alexander, The Development of Economic Doctrine.
Cassel, Gustav, Fundamental Thoughts on Economics.
Cassel, Gustav, The Theory of Social Economy (Barron translation), Book I and Book II.
Marshall, Alfred, Principles of Economics, 8th edition, especially Book V.
Hardy, Charles O., Credit Policies of the Federal Reserve System.
Preliminary
Economics 201: Its Place in the Curriculum:
This course is intended primarily for students preparing for the Divisional Examinations, and not for students majoring in the Department of Economics. It is designed for students who have had Social Science I and Social Science II in the College, and for those students transferring to the Social Science Division from other colleges who have had some previous work in economics. In general, the course will presuppose some familiarity with the terminology of economics and some ability to follow careful analysis.
General Description of Content of the Course:
The course falls, as to subject matter, into two main parts. The first six weeks will be devoted to study of “price theory”—to study of the forces governing, in an exchange economy, the determination of relative prices and the allocation of resources among different, alternative uses (assuming a money economy but disregarding, or abstracting from, monetary disturbances and cyclical fluctuations). This part of the course is designed to give students a critical understanding, first and above all, of how a competitive system works and, second, of how the introduction of monopoly in particular areas will affect relative prices and relative production. The latter part of the course will be devoted to study of money, banking, and business cycles—to study of factors governing the general level of prices and, more especially, to analysis of forces underlying the cumulative, self-aggravating maladjustments of booms and depressions.
The total quantity of required reading is intended to be moderate; and it is to be hoped that students will do this relatively small amount of reading with considerable care — with serious effort to comprehend thoroughly and to understand, rather than with the intention of accumulating information or memorizing propositions. If a student must choose between doing all the reading but doing it hastily, and doing a smaller amount with care, the latter procedure will prove decidedly more profitable. The assignments are designed, however, to eliminate the necessity of such a choice.
Most of the class hours will be devoted to discussion of specific problem-exercises designed to bring out, and to give precision to, the central concepts and propositions of price theory and monetary theory. Little effort will be made to relate the class discussions from day to day to particular parts of the assignments; but familiarity with the required readings will always be helpful, and sometimes indispensable, to understanding of problems dealt with in class.
A considerable part of the student’s outside work should be devoted to assimilating and organizing in his own mind the content of discussions in class. Students should make a special effort to acquire facility with the language of more rigorous economics — with the main terms and concepts —, to understand clearly the assumptions under which particular analytical arguments proceed, to digest the analysis of particular problems as it proceeds in class, and to prepare themselves to carry on the discussion from day to day. Above all, they should try to discover at what points the content of class discussions has been unclear; and they should feel not only free, but actually obligated, to raise questions in class to clear up any confusion. If any individual feels hesitant about asking questions, let him remember that one can hardly raise a question about systematic economic argument which is so simple that most other students will not profit from its discussion.
Students are certain to find this course a more profitable and stimulating intellectual experience if they do their work, at least occasionally, with other students. This is especially true with reference to study of the various problem-exercises. Students can gain a great deal, by way of understanding, if they try to explain things to each other, if they criticize other people’s explanations, and if they attempt to argue out of differences of opinion. It is hard to develop real facility with definitions, concepts, and propositions merely by reading — or by talking to one’s self.
Headings from Course Outline
(63 pages)
INTRODUCTION
Definition of Economics and of Its Point of View
Basic Functions or Tasks in an Economic System or Organization
GENERAL PRICE THEORY
[Introduction]
General View of the Pricing Process
The Phenomenon of Industrial Fluctuations and Unemployment, digression
Circularity of the Pricing Process
The Pricing Process: EQUILIBRIUM
The Pricing Process for a Short Period
Conditions of Equilibrium
The Pricing Process over Long Periods
Some Conditions of Long-run Equilibrium
Some Interpretations of the Equilibrium Arrangements
Complexity and Intricacy of the Inter-relations
Some Supplementary Remarks
DEMAND, DEMAND FUNCTIONS, AND ELASTICITY OF DEMAND
Confusion as to Usage of the Word “Demand”
Utility, Utility Functions, and Demand Functions
Elasticity of Demand
COST OF PRODUTION AND PRICE UNDER COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS
Problem Exercise I
Preliminary Exercises
Conditions of Equilibrium in the Industry
Conditions of Demand
[missing pages 40-53]
MONOPOLY AND MONOPOLY PRICE
Contrasts between Complete Monopoly and Perfect Competition
Production and Prices under a special case of Partial Monopoly, “The Economics of Cartels”
An Arithmetic Exercise
Source: University of Chicago Archives. George Stigler Papers, Addenda, Box 24, Folder “Economics 201”.
Image Source: Architectural element of the Social Science Research Building (1929). University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf2-07449, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.