Harvard. Enrollment and semester examinations for principles of economics. Taussig, Bullock and Andrew. 1907-1908

In addition to the 1907-08 exam questions for Principles of Economics taught at Harvard by Frank W. Taussig, Charles J. Bullock, and A. Piatt Andrew, this post provides links to the previously transcribed 36 years worth of exams.

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Exams for principles (a.k.a. outlines)
of economics at Harvard
1870/71-1906/07

1871-75.
1876-77.
1877-78.
1878-79.
1879-80.
1880-81.
1881-82.
1882-83.
1883-84.
1884-85.
1885-86.
1886-87.
1887-88.
1888-89.
1889-90.
1890-91.
1891-92.
1892-93.
1893-94.
1894-95.
1895-96.
1896-97.
1897-98.
1898-99.
1899-00.
1900-01.
1901-02.
1902-03.
1903-04.
1904-05.
1905-06.
1906-07.

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Course Enrollment
1907-08

Economics 1. Professor [Frank William] Taussig and Asst. Professors [Charles Jesse] Bullock and [Abram Piatt] Andrew, assisted by Dr. [Charles Phillips] Huse, and Messrs. [?] Hall, [Probably: Walter Max Shohl, A.B. 1906] Shohl and [Abbott Payson] Usher [A.B. 1904]. — Principles of Economics.

Total 482: 1 Graduate, 8 Seniors, 76 Juniors, 290 Sophomores, 66 Freshmen, 41 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1907-1908, p. 66.

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ECONOMICS 1
Mid-year Examination, 1907-08

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

1. Does saving lead to investment? Does investment lead to the increase of capital? Does the increase of capital lead to the decline of interest? If so, explain in each case why and how; if not, why not?
2. Suppose that by the use of more prolific seeds the yield of agriculture were very greatly increased; what immediate consequences would you expect as to
   1. The price of agricultural produce;
   2. Economic rent on agricultural land;
   3. The earnings of farmers?

Wherein might the ultimate consequence be different?

3. Is there any inconsistency between the propositions that
   1. Value is governed by demand and supply;
   2. Value is governed by marginal utility;
   3. The price of a monopolized commodity may be different for different purchasers?
4. How far does the price of a copyrighted book depend on its cost? How far does its cost depend on its price?
5. Explain what is meant by “non-competing groups,” and how the situation indicated by that phrase is connected with questions concerning trade-unions and the closed shop.
6. What effect has the unattractiveness of an employment on the wages of those engaged in it? How do you explain the current scale of wages for unskilled labor? For “sweated” laborers? For domestic servants?
7. Is it beneficial to laborers as a class that there should be (1) great mobility and free competition between business men and investors; (2) great mobility and free competition between the laborers themselves?

One of the following questions may be omitted.

8. Suppose coöperative production were universally adopted, how would business profits be affected? Suppose profit-sharing were universally adopted, how would they be affected? Suppose all laborers organized in trade-unions, how would they be affected?
9. What is the significance for labor questions of
   1. “Making work”;
   2. Luxurious expenditure by the rich;
   3. Jurisdiction disputes?
10. Explain precisely what social movement you associate with the following:—
    1. Rochdale Pioneers;
    2. Leclaire;
    3. Knights of Labor;
    4. American Federation of Labor.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 8, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1907-08.

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ECONOMICS 1
Year-end Examination, 1907-08

1. Wherein is there resemblance, wherein difference, between the causes that determine the value of

a ton of coal;
an ounce of gold;
a dollar of inconvertible paper?

2. Wherein, if at all, are the following subject to the law of monopoly value:—

urban sites;
the output of a protective industry;
railway transportation?

3. It is said that “charging what the traffic will bear” may rest on two different causes. Do you find either or both of the causes in (a) railway rates; (b) the prices of illuminating oil; (c) the prices of cotton-seed oil?
4. Explain the following terms:—

index number;
bimetallism;
limping standard;
Independent Treasury system;
Gresham’s Law.

5. In the year 1906 the exports of merchandise from the United States exceeded the imports by about 500 million dollars. In the same year the imports of gold were about 50 million dollars.

(a) Can such a disparity continue for a long period of years? If so, why? If not, why not?

(b) So long as it continues, do you regard the situation as favorable for the people of the United States?

6. Explain the measures taken in periods of great financial stress in (a) England, (b) Germany, (c) the United States; and mention in each case to what extent these measures were contemplated by existing legislation.
7. What determines the selling-price of (a) an urban site advantageous for business; (b) the shares of a street railway corporation; (c) the shares of a “trust” whose capitalization much exceeds its tangible property? In which of these cases, if in any, can it be said that there is “over-capitalization”?
8. Suppose the public-service industries (“monopolies of organization”) to be placed under government management. Do you think wages would be lower or higher in these industries? Would the general level of wages in the community be higher or lower?
   On the same supposition, do you think prices of the commodities or services supplied by those industries would be higher or lower? Would the general level of prices be higher or lower?
9. Does the encouragement of domestic industries through tariff duties cause a saving by doing away with the expense of transporting goods from foreign countries? Are such duties likely to bring a charge on the foreign producer or on the domestic consumer?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 8, Bound vol. Examination Papers 1908-09; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1908), pp. 26-27.

Image Source: Faculty portraits of Frank W. Taussig, Charles J. Bullock, A. Piatt Andrew. The Harvard Class Album, 1906. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.