In an earlier post you will find (i) the official course description for the undergraduate course “Introduction to Money and Banking” taught by A. G. Hart at the University of Chicago during the mid-1930s as well as (ii) the course syllabus.
A subsequent post provides the final exam for the Fall Quarter 1932; midterm exam for the Summer Quarter 1933; final exam for the Winter Quarter 1933; final exam for the Winter Quarter 1934; and final exam for the Fall Quarter 1935.
Today I found the following misfiled final examination for the summer quarter of 1933. Before I forget to fill the gap, I add this item to the Economics in the Rear-view mirror collection of artifacts.
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A.G. Hart
Econ 230
FINAL EXAMINATION, AUGUST 25, 1933
Answer the first two questions and any two others. (One hour)
- It has been proposed to require that no bank in the U.S. be permitted to accept deposits to an amount over five times its capital and surplus; any bank wishing to expand deposits after reaching this limit would then have to increase its capitalization. Would this regulation make the depositor’s position more secure than at present? Explain.
- Briefly contrast the monetary series of Fisher and Hawtrey.
- Discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the scheme just going into effect for guaranteeing bank deposits through a central fund derived largely from assessments on the insured banks.
- The circulation of Federal Reserve Notes has decreased from about $4,300,000,000 on March 15 to about $3,000,000,000 last week. Officials of the Federal Reserve System deny that this constitutes deflation, and insisted does not run counter to the government’s announced program of inflation. Is the denial justified? Discuss.
- Outline an explanation for the rise of the price of francs from a bit less than four cents early in April to over five cents recently. If prices in this country do not rise appreciably above the present level, what is likely to happen to the price of francs in dollars over the next year? How will these prospects be affected by repudiation or resumption of foreign war debt payments due to the U.S.? Justify your answer.
- By what means can the Federal Reserve Banks stop an undesirable credit expansion? An undesirable credit contraction? Evaluate the effectiveness of these powers.
- Explain the difference between Federal Reserve Notes and the recent issues of Federal Reserve Bank Why is there just now a tendency for the circulation of the former to contract and that of the latter to expand from week to week?
Source: Columbia University Libraries, Manuscript Collections. Albert Gailord Hart Collection. Box 60, “Folder Exams: CHI Qualifying”.
Image source: “Albert Gailord Hart, Economist, Dead at 88.” Columbia University Record, Vol. 23, No. 5 (October 3, 1997)