This post serves double duty as(1) an addition to the series “Meet an Economics Ph.D.”, providing biographical and career information for Benjamin H. Beckhart, and (2) a transcribed syllabus for “Foreign Banking Systems” that was offered jointly by the Columbia University school of business and in the department of economics in the winter term of 1939-40.
The circumstances surrounding the forced retirement of Beckhart from Columbia at age 65 can be found in the Columbia University archives. Perhaps he was fighting a mandatory retirement age being imposed by the university and/or business school? At least something for someone (else) to check out.
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Benjamin Haggott Beckhart
c.v.
1898. Born in Denver, CO.
1919. A.B. (Phi Beta Kappa) Princeton.
1920. M.A. Columbia.
1924. Ph.D. Columbia.
1920-21. Instructor in economics and social institutions at Princeton.
1921. Married Margaret Good Myers (b. 1899; d. 1988). Columbia economics Ph.D. (1931) and later professor of banking at Vassar (1934-64).
1921-24. Columbia University. Instructor of Banking.
1924-31. Columbia University. Assistant Professor of Banking.
1927-36. Educational supervisor of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Banking.
1931-39. Columbia University. Associate Professor of Banking.
1938-45. Secretary of the board of trustees of the Banking Research Fund of the Association of Reserve City Bankers.
1939-63. Columbia University. Professor of Banking.
1939-49. Director of research for the Chase National Bank.
1948. President of the American Finance Association.
1949-54. Economic consultant to Chase.
1953. Chairman of the Conference of Business Economics.
1954-61. Economic consultant to the Equitable Life Assurance Society.
1957. Visiting professorships at the universities of Melbourne and Sydney
1960. Visiting professorship at the Australian Administrative Staff College
1963. Forced to retire from Columbia.
1964-66. President of the Unitarian Fellowship of Poughkeepsie.
1967. Visiting professorship at Kobe University, Japan.
1968-73. President of the Dutchess Senior Citizens Housing Corp.
1975. Died in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Books by Benjamin Haggott Beckhart
The Discount Policy of the Federal Reserve System (1924).
Foreign Banking Systems, co-authored with H. Parker Willis (1929).
The New York Money Market, four volumes (1932‐33).
V. 1. Origins and development, by Margaret G. Myers.
V. 2. Sources and movements of funds, by B.H. Beckhart and J.G. Smith.
V. 3. Uses of funds, by B.H. Beckhart.
V. 4. External and internal relations, by B.H. Beckhart, J.G. Smith and W.A. Brown, Jr.
Banking Systems, editor (1954).
Business Loans of American Commercial Banks (1959).
The Federal Reserve System (1972).
Sources: Obituaries: Poughkeepsie Journal (22 Mar 1975), p. 7. New York Times (22 March 1975), p. 34. Information also in Beckhart’s entry at prabook.com.
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Forced Retirement in 1963
Correspondence, memoranda and reports on the controversy surrounding the forced retirement of Benjamin Beckhart. The collection consists of the files of three Columbia professors involved in the case: Harold Barger, professor of economics and Robert K. Webb, professor of history, who were chairmen of the Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors, 1959-1964 and 1964-1965, respectively; and Arthur Robert Burns, professor of economics, a member of the Committee on Conference of the University Council, which advised the President on matters of tenure, dismissal and retirement. Included is the correspondence of Beckhart, Barger, Burns, Webb, President Grayson Kirk, Courtney C. Brown, Dean of the School of Business, Harry M. Jones, professor of law, other Columbia faculty and officials of the national office of the AAUP. The reports and memoranda are chiefly those issued by the Committee on Conference.
Columbia University: Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Benjamin Haggott Beckhart papers, 1959-1965.
From the Class Notes of the Princeton Class of 1919…
“….Haggott Beckart, now retired, has amused himself of late by writing letters to the Wall Street Journal (with his tongue, practically dislocated, in his cheek) on the achievement of prosperity through deficit financing. He was also given a dinner on Feb. 27 in honor of his retirement from the Columbia University faculty by his friends in the academic and financial world.”
Source: Princeton Alumni Weekly (May 3, 1963), p. 24.
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Class announcement
Banking 115—Foreign banking systems. 3 points. Winter Session. Professor Beckhart.
Tu. and Th. at 9. 511 Business.
A comparative study of credit structures and of banking institutions. Emphasis is given to the differences and similarities to be found in the financial organizations of the United States and in those of the foreign countries studied. The types of commercial and investment credit instruments in use, the development of banking institutions, problems relating to branch banking and banking concentration and to governmental control and supervision are given consideration. A study is made of the factors affecting the cash ratios of commercial banks, methods of financing domestic and foreign trade, the nature of bank deposit liabilities, and the character of bank loans and investments. Review is made of the work of governmental and of urban and rural mortgage credit institutions and of the rôle of savings institutions. The changing character of bank assets and liabilities since 1929 is given particular attention.
Source: History, Economics, Public Law, and Social Science. Courses Offered by the Faculty of Political Science for the Winter and Spring Sessions, 1939-1940. Published in the Columbia University Bulletin of Information (July 8, 1939), p. 40.
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Winter
1939-1940
Foreign Banking Systems
Banking 115
Topical Assignments
- The Background — Trends in Banking 1925-1933
Commercial Banks — 1925-1933, League of Nations, no. 8-33.
Money and Banking, 1938-1939. League of Nations, Monetary Review, Vol. I, pp. 72-99.
- Types of Banking Systems
Foreign Banking Systems, edited by H. Parker Willis and B. H. Beckhart, Chapter 1.
Commercial Banks, 1913-1929, League of Nations, pp. 3-14.
The International Money Markets, by John T. Madden and Marcus Nadler, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
- Bank Incorporation and Organization.
Foreign Banking Systems, pp. 321-323; 1166-1167.
Paris as a Financial Centre, by Margaret G. Myers, op. 100-101.
- Bank Examination and Inspection
Foreign Banking Systems, pp. 436-445; 1038-1939.
Allen et al. Commercial Banking Legislation and Control, pp. 3-52.
- Bank Mergers and Banking Concentration
Foreign Banking Systems, pp. 325-34, 707-708, 1048-1053, 1162-1165, 1239-1240.
- Bank Portfolio Developments
Commercial Bank — 1929-1934, League of Nations, XXXV-XLII.
Money and Banking — 1937-1938, League of Nations, Vol. I, Monetary Review, pp. 37-60.
Money and Banking, 1938-39. League of Nations. Monetary Review. Vol. I, pp. 99-113.
Sayers, Modern Banking, Chapter IX.
Testimony of Mr. Frederick Hyde, Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Committee on Finance and Industry, 1931, Vol. I, pp. 56-69.
- Bank Deposit Fluctuations
Commercial Banks — 1929-1934, League of Nations, pp. VII-XIX, XXX-XXXV.
Money and Banking — 1937-1938, League of Nations, Vol. I. Monetary Review, pp. 61-78.
Sayers, Modern Banking, Chapter X.
- Bank Reserves
Commercial Banks — 1913-1929, League of Nations, pp. 49-55.
Commercial Banks — 1929-1934, League of Nations, pp. XLII-XLVI.
- The Money Markets and Interest Rate Fluctuations
Commercial Banks — 1929-1934, League of Nations, pp. L-LIV.
Money and Banking — 1935-1936, League of Nations, Vol. I, Monetary Review, pp. 53-59.
Money and Banking, 1936-1937, League of Nations, Monetary Review, Vol. I. pp. 78-110.
- The Foreign Exchange Markets
Commercial Banks, 1929-1934, League of Nations, pp. LXI-LXX.
Money and Banking, 1936-1937, League of Nations, Monetary Review, Vol. I. pp. 9-59.
Money and Banking, 1937-1938, League of Nations, Vol. I, Monetary Review, pp. 9-37.
Money and Banking, 1938-1939, League of Nations. Vol. I, Monetary Review, pp. 9-37.
- Agricultural Credit Institutions
Foreign Banking Systems, pp. 63-69, 680-690; 1040-1044.
- Investment and Intermediate Credit Institutions
Foreign Banking Systems, pp. 1225-1235.
Paris as a Financial Centre, Chapter 6.
- State Intervention in Banking
Commercial Banks — 1925-1933, League of Nations, pp. 44-47; 110-121 (with reference to Germany).
Commercial Banks — 1929-1934, League of Nations, pp. 45-51; 103-104.
- Recent Banking Legislation
Money and Banking — 1935-1936, League of Nations, Vol. II. Commercial Banks, pp. 27-28; 118-121.
Money and Banking — 1937-1938, League of Nations, Vol. I. Monetary Review, pp. 92-105.
Money and Banking, 1937-1938, League of Nations, Vol. II. Commercial and Central Banks, pp. 30-32; 165-167.
- Resume of Banking Systems in Principal Countries
Committee on Finance and Industry, Report, 1931, Part I, Chapter 4.
Paris as a Financial Centre, Chapters 1, 5 and 7.
The International Money Markets, Chapters 14, 15, 16, 18.
Bibliography
Allen, A.M., Cope, S. R., Dork, L.J.H., and Witheridge, H.J, Commercial Banking Legislation and Control. London: Macmillan and Co., 1938.
Madden, John T. and Nadler, Marcus. The International Money Markets. New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc.1935.
Myers, Margaret G. Paris as a Financial Centre. London: P. S. King & Son, Ltd. 1936.
Savers, R.S. Modern Banking, London: Oxford University Press, 1938.
Willis, H. Parker and Beckhart, B.H. Foreign Banking Systems. New York: Henry Holt and. Co., 1929.
Committee on Finance and Industry. Report. London: Printed and Published by His Majesty’s Stationery Office. 1931. (The Macmillan Report)
Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Committee on Finance and Industry. Volumes I and II. London: Printed and Published by His Majesty’s Stationery Office. 1931.
Memorandum on Commercial Banks, 1913-1929. League of Nations. Geneva.1931.
Commercial Banks, 1925-1933. League of Nations. Geneva. 1934.
Commercial Banks, 1929-1934. League of Nations, Geneva. 1935.
Money and Banking, 1935-1936. Vol, I. Monetary Review, Vol. II. Commercial Banks. Geneva, 1936
Money and Banking, 1936-1937. Vol. I. Monetary Review. Vol, II. Commercial Banks. Geneva. 1937.
Money and Banking, 1937-1938. Vol. I. Monetary Review. Vol. II. Commercial and Central Banks. Geneva, 1938.
Money and Banking, 1938-1939, Vol. I. Monetary Review, Geneva, 1939.
Source: Columbia University Archives. Department of Economics Collection, Box 6, Folder “School of Business Curriculum”.
Image Source: Vassar Chronicle, Volume XV, Number 18 (1 March 1958), p. 3.