Harvard. Division Exams for A.B., General and Economics, 1920

The Harvard Economics department was once one of three in its Division in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The Departments of History and Government shared a general division exam with the Department of Economics and also contributed their own specific exams for departmental fields. This post provides the questions for the common, i.e. general, divisional exam and all the specific exams at the end of the academic year 1919-20 for fields covered by the economics department.

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Previously Posted Division A.B. Exams from Harvard

Division Exams 1916

Division Exams, January 1917

Division Exams, April 1918

Division Exams May 1919

Division Exams 1931

Special Exam for Money and Government Finance, 1939

Special Exam Economic History Since 1750, 1939

Special Exam for Economic Theory, 1939

Special Exam for Labor and Social Reform, 1939

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREEE OF A.B.
1919-20

DIVISION GENERAL EXAMINATION
[April 29, 1920.]

PART I

The treatment of one of the following questions will be regarded as equivalent to one-third the examination and should therefore occupy one hour. Write on one question only.

1. Compare pamphleteering and propaganda as methods of exerting political influence.
2. What effect has the establishment of standing armies and navies had upon (a) political and (b) economic organization of the state?
3. Show how, and why, the following were adapted to certain stages of society: (a) feudalism; (b) gilds; (c) nationality; (d) industrialism.
4. Trace the course and explain the significance of the development of maritime law.
5. Contrast the Greek and Italian city states.
6. What are the wastes of the present industrial system and how, if at all, are they to be eliminated?
7. Comment on the following: “History embraces ideas as well as events, and derives its best virtues from regions beyond the sphere of state.”
8. Discuss the problems involved in the economic rehabilitation of Central Europe.
9. What are the rights of minorities and how are they best secured?
10. Compare the foreign policies of France, Germany, and the United States during the nineteenth century.

PART II

The treatment of three of the following questions in Part II is required and will be regarded as equivalent to one-third of the examination, and should therefore occupy one hour. The three questions are to be taken from the Departments in which the student IS NOT CONCENTRATING; two questions from one of these Departments and one question from the other.

A. HISTORY

11. Why did Voltaire characterize the Holy Roman Empire as “neither holy, nor Roman nor an Empire”?
12. What do you regard as the six most important naval battles in the history of the world! When and where were they fought, and who were the victors and the vanquished in each?
13. Give a brief account of the relations of the United States and Canada.
14. What have been the principal issues involved in the struggle over Home Rule?

B. GOVERNMENT

15. What was the political condition of European states at the time of the Crusades!
16. In what sense are constitutions of states “made”?
17. If the principle of reparation of governmental powers is correct, why has the English cabinet system been approved?
18. Explain the reasons for immigration to the United States from 1870 to 1895.

C. ECONOMICS

19. What has been the contribution of the corporation to English and American political and economic institutions?
20. Trace the evolution of collective bargaining in industry.
21. What is “profiteering”? Explain its relation to the present high cost of living.
22. Describe the development, and indicate the importance, of national budgets.

PART III

The treatment of three of the following questions in Part III is required and will be regarded as equivalent to one-third of the examination, and should therefore occupy one hour. The three questions are to be taken from the Department in which the student IS CONCENTRATING.

A. HISTORY

23. Describe the changes in the attitude towards the Christians of the Roman Emperors down to Constantine.
24. Discuss the development of national assemblies during the Middle Ages.
25. What did the Tudors do for England?
26. What is now the territory within the jurisdiction of the United States has been derived, directly or indirectly, from seven European nations. What are the seven, and what territory was derived from each?
27. Enumerate, with dates, the principal changes in the form of government of France since 1789. How do you account for their frequency?

B. GOVERNMENT

28. Discuss the development of the relations of President and Cabinet in the United
29. Discuss and illustrate the following: “If tolerance can be allowed in a state, so much the better; that proves that the state is strong.”
30. What should be the disposition of Constantinople?
31. Give a brief sketch, explaining cause and naming period, of three of the following: (a) Dorr Rebellion; (b) Whiskey Insurrection; (c) Shay’s Rebellion; (d) Seminole War; (e) Ku-Klux Klan.
32. How has the change in distribution of population affected governmental organization and administration?

C. ECONOMICS

33. Discuss the probable future of the market for loanable funds in the United States and Europe.
34. State the purposes and proper limits of progressive taxation.
35. Describe the efforts of the Federal Government to enforce fair competition.
36. What considerations are involved in the maintenance of public agencies for the distribution and employment of labor? What light is thrown on the subject by American and European experience?
37. Sketch the history and present prospects of the American merchant marine.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
ECONOMIC THEORY
[May 3, 1920.]

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

1. “It is the business of economic theory to explain, not to justify or condemn.” Comment.
2. Discuss the rôle of mathematical analysis in the development of economic theory.
3. “The determining cause of the general rate of money incomes and wages in a country is to be found in the exporting industries.” Explain.
4. “The income from concrete instruments of production may be regarded as ‘rent’ or as ‘interest’ according to the point of view.” Explain and discuss.
5. Of what concretely do invested, of what do uninvested, savings consist? Can savings accumulate to an indefinitely large amount? Can saving be carried to excess?
6. “The standard of living affects wages, not directly, but through its influence on numbers. … A limitation of numbers is not a cause of high wages, but it is a condition of the maintenance of high wages.” Explain and criticize.
7. Discuss the theories of business profits.

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

8. Outline the history of mercantilism.
9. Give an account of an important political episode in which economic theory has had a decisive influence.
10. Trace the course of the rate of interest in modern times. What do you expect to be the course of the rate during the next fifteen years? Why?
11. Characterize the more important developments in the history of socialism.

C

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

12. What is the relation of (a) investment banking, (b) commercial banking, to capitalistic production?
13. What theoretical problems are involved in government regulation of security issues?
14. Does profit-sharing promise a solution of the problems of distribution? Why or why not?
15. Discuss the following statement: “If you are not advertising, then advertise, because it saves money for you and it reduces the price to the consumer.”

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
ECONOMIC HISTORY
[May 3, 1920]

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

1. To what extent, if at all, and in what particulars, has the policy of high protection been of advantage to the American laborer?
2. How do price revolutions, such as that in progress since 1897, tend to affect the distribution of wealth?
3. Briefly explain the most satisfactory statistical methods for separating the different types of variation in time series.
4. What is a logarithmic curve? What are its merits and defects in the graphic presentation of historical series?
5. Trace the development of uniform accounting for railroads in this country. Indicate any connections between uniform accounting and government regulation of the railroads.

B

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

6. Discuss the economic results of the crusades.
7. Give a brief historical account of mercantilism.
8. Outline the history of the public debt of one of the following countries: (a) Great Britain; (b) France; (c) United States.
9. Trace the agrarian movement on the continent of Europe.
10. Discuss the positions of the various English political parties and social classes on the question of Corn Law Repeal.
11. Write a brief history of one of the following industries in the United States:

(a) Meat-packing;
(b) Tin-plate manufacture;
(c) Boot and shoe manufacture;
(d) Ship-building.

12. When and by what steps was silver demonetized in the United States?
13. Outline the development of the English textile industry.
14. Give a brief account of the “trust movement” in the United States since 1898.
15. Sketch the history of the export trade of the United States.

C

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

16. Analyze the effects of England’s early commercial policy.
17. What specific defects in the National Banking System was the Federal Reserve Act, 1913 intended to remedy?
18. Trace and explain the history of the American merchant marine since 1840. What is its probable future and why?
19. What industrial conditions are most conducive to the rapid growth of labor organizations? Why?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
MONEY AND BANKING
[May 3, 1920]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

1. Discuss the distinction between currency expansion and currency inflation.
2. What statistics of money and banking best serve as indices of financial, speculative, and general business conditions?
3. Outline a system of accounts for a small commercial bank.
4. What are the best sources of statistical data upon the following subjects:

(a) Bank clearings in the United States;
(b) Resources and liabilities of banks of New York City;
(c) Bank rates in the London and Paris money markets;
(d) The monetary stock of the United States;
(e) Changes in the value of gold in England?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

5. Outline the currency history of one of the following:

(a) Canada;
(b) Germany;
(c) British India;
(d) the Philippines;
(e) the American colonies;
(f) Russia.

6. State and explain Gresham’s Law. Give four historical examples of the working of the law.
7. Sketch the history of the relations between the United States Treasury and the banking institutions of the country.
8. Compare American, British, and German banking methods and policy during the World War.
9. Describe in detail one of the following financial panics: 1837; 1873; 1893; 1907.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

10. What have been the causes of the rehabilitation of silver?
11. What are the arguments for and against an embargo upon gold exports from the United States at this time?
12. Describe the business of an American bond house.
13. Discuss critically the following statement made early in 1916:
    “The recent enactment of the Federal Reserve Act only made our sudden riches more embarrassing, for that Act had so changed our system of banking that every $18 of gold in the banks created $82 worth of loanable credit, whereas formerly, of every $100, $25 had to sit in the vaults while only $75 went out to work in the form of loans. In other words (as a result of the War and our banking reform), we not only had enormously more gold, but every dollar of it went a good deal further than ever before in financing new enterprises. This is the situation today.”
14. Give a critical analysis of the policies of the Federal Reserve Board.
15. Compare banking in France and England since the signing of the armistice.
16. Why has London been the financial center of the world? What are the prospects that New York will in time displace London?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
CORPORATE ORGANIZATION, INCLUDING TRANSPORTATION
[May 3, 1920]

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

1. In discussing the problems of capitalistic monopoly, it has been stated that “the matter at issue is a question, less of relative ‘economy’ of monopoly and competition than of the kind of economic organization best calculated to give us the kind of society we want.” Explain and discuss.
2. What are the methods of measuring depreciation? What different policies with respect to depreciation have been advocated in the regulation of public utility rates?
3. Discuss comparatively the public regulation of railway accounts in England, France, and the United States.
4. To what extent do the reports of the Bureau of the Census furnish data upon corporate enterprise in the United States?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

5. Sketch the history of the Sherman Anti-Trust Law and its enforcement.
6. Give a brief account of the functions and work of the United States Bureau of Corporations.
7. Trace the evolution of the equipment of the modern railway.
8. Outline the history of railroads in Germany.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

9. What are the purposes and customary scope of “blue sky” laws? What is the case for and against such legislation?
10. What connections exist between banks and industrial combinations in the United States? Contrast the situation here with that in France.
11. Compare American and German public policy toward industrial combinations.
12. Give a critical analysis of the present railway rate structure in the United States.
13. Discuss the Plumb Plan for the ownership and operation of the railways of the United States.
14. Discuss the effects of the great inter-oceanic canals upon inland and ocean transportation.
15. What are the problems of excess profits taxation?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
PUBLIC FINANCE
[May 3, 1920]

Answer six questions.

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

1. To what extent, if at all, and in what manner, are taxes a contributing cause of the present “high cost of living”?
2. Discuss the proposal to tax individuals in proportion to their expenditure rather than their income, thus exempting savings.
3. Describe the statistical features of the Census Bureau’s annual reports on “Financial Statistics of Cities.”
4. What course has been taken by the reform of municipal accounting in the United States?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

5. Outline the development of the science of public finance.
6. Give a critical account of the Independent Treasury of the United States.
7. Trace the history of budget plans in American state and municipal government.
8. Compare the financing of the American and French Revolutions.
9. Give a brief historical account of direct taxation in Germany.
10. Develop and defend a classification of public revenues.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

11. Compare government monopolies and internal revenue taxes as means of raising national funds.
12. Analyze the financial results of the operations of the United States Post Office.
13. Upon what bases should public utilities be valued and paid for when taken over by municipal authorities?
14. “Taxation, while necessarily involving political and social considerations, is essentially a problem in national economies.” Do you agree? State your reasons.
15. The practice of exempting government bonds from taxation is a pernicious American custom.” Comment.
16. Discuss the effects of national prohibition upon public finance.
17. Give a critical analysis of excess profits taxation.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
LABOR PROBLEMS
[May 3, 1920]

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

1. Discuss the causes of the prevailing industrial unrest.
2. To what extent and for what purposes should the state limit the hours of labor?
3. Describe the technique of analyzing workingmen’s budgets.
4. What statistical problems are involved in measuring labor turnover? What methods of measurement are most satisfactory?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

5. Compare trade unions and trade gilds, and the industrial conditions under each.
6. Give a brief historical account of the employment of children in industry.
7. Outline the development of the Railway Brotherhoods.
8. Trace the history of the German Social Democratic Party.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

9. Analyze labor conditions in one of the following industries: (a) cotton manufacture; (b) coal mining; (c) steel manufacture.
10. Discuss the main points of economic policy in the “reconstruction program” of the British Labor Party.
11. What is the extent and importance of industrial unemployment?
12. Discuss the present status of women in industry.
13. Characterize the organization and results of the Washington industrial conferences of 1919-20.
14. Discuss the aims, scope, and methods of employee representation in business management.
15. What public policy should be adopted in regard to labor organizations among government employees?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURE
[May 3, 1920]

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

1. To what extent are wages of management an element of cost in American agriculture?
2. What are the interrelations of cold storage and prices of farm products?
3. What statistical records are desirable for efficient operation of a dairy farm?
4. To what extent and in what particulars is depreciation involved in farm accounting?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

5. Describe the agrarian revolution in England.
6. Sketch the movement of the wheat belt in the United States since colonial times.
7. Give a brief historical account of farm tenancy in the United States.
8. Trace connections between the tariff policy of the United States and wool growing in this country.
9. Outline the development of the work of the United States Department of Agriculture.

C

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

10. Discuss the relations between climate and the productivity of land.
11. Indicate the origins of the more important breeds of live stock. What contributions, if any, has this country made to the improvement of the breeds?
12. Describe the effects of the World War upon the wool market.
13. What are the relations between the wages of agricultural and factory labor?
14. Compare the use and importance of artificial fertilizers in American and European agriculture.
15. Give a brief critical analysis of the Federal Farm Loan Act.
16. What are the causes of the increasing urbanization of population in the United States?

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

DIVISION SPECIAL EXAMINATION
STATISTICS
[May 3, 1920]

Answer six questions

A

Take from this group at least two and not more than four

1. Draft a set of rules for the construction of statistical tables.
2. Explain “the necessity of the logical agreement of magnitudes from which an average is to be computed” and compare this with the requirement of “the greatest possible homogeneity of series.” Which of these requirements seems to you more difficult of fulfilment? Why?
3. Describe the short-cut method of calculating the arithmetic mean from a frequency table. What assumptions underlie this method?
4. Explain briefly: (a) discrete series; (b) mode; (c) Lorenz curve; (d) average of position; (e) Galton graph.
5. Explain the different methods of eliminating secular trend in historical series.
6. Describe the construction and characteristics of a logarithmic curve. What are the merits and defects of such a curve?
7. What are the comparative advantages and disadvantages of chain indices and fixed-base indices in the measurement of changes in the price level?

B

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

8. Give a brief account of the evolution of Statistics.
9. Outline the history of the Bureau of the Census.
10. Trace the development of price statistics in England.
11. What has been the history of wage statistics in the United States?

C

Take from this group at least one and not more than two

12. Discuss the different methods employed in estimating population.
13. What are the principal difficulties in the collection of mortality statistics?
14. Discuss critically current statistics of foreign trade in this country and abroad.
15. What units have been employed in the statistics of railways? Analyze and appraise the different units.
16. What are the best sources of statistical data upon the following subjects:

(a) Bank clearings in the United States;
(b) Resources and liabilities of banks of New York City;
(c) Bank rates in the London and Paris money markets;
(d) The monetary stock of the United States;
(e) Changes in the value of gold in England?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Divisional and General Examinations, 1915-1975. Box 6, Bound volume Divisional Examinations 1916-1927 (From the Private Library of Arthur H. Cole).

Image Source: Widener Library from Harvard Class Album 1920.