At the beginning of the 20th century international economics was covered within a single semester course. Now it is at least a two semester sequence for international trade and international payments, respectively…and one such sequence at the undergraduate and again at the graduate level. The banking specialist, Oliver Mitchell Wentworth Sprague, would have been more interested in the payments part of the course, but the top dog in the department, Frank W. Taussig, left a strong tradition with a focus on real trade theory and commercial policy as can be seen in the exam questions below.
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Course Enrollment
1904-05
Economics 12a 2hf. Asst. Professor Sprague. — International Trade.
Total 18: 5 Graduates, 7 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 2 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 75.
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Course Description
1904-05
[Economics] 12a 2hf. International Trade. Half-course (second half-year) Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri. at 10. Asst. Professor Sprague.
Course 12a begins with a careful study of the theory of international trade, and of the use and significance of bills of exchange. The greater portion of the time will be devoted to an analysis of the foreign trade of the United States and Great Britain in order to distinguish the various factors, permanent and temporary, which determine the growth and direction of international commerce. With this purpose, also, a number of commodities important in foreign trade and produced in more than one country will be studied in detail. Each student will be given special topics for investigation which will familiarize him with sources of current information upon trade matters, such as trade journals, consular, and other government publications. In conclusion, certain topics of a general nature will be considered, among which may be mentioned, foreign investments, the effects of an unfavorable balance of payments under different circumstances, and colonial trade.
Source: Harvard University. Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1904-05 (May 16, 1904), p. 45.
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ECONOMICS 12a
Year-end Examination, 1904-05
- “The tendency of commerce is to bring about a more equal distribution of industry all the world over, and to give more and more importance to purely geographical conditions.” — Chisholm.
Explain and illustrate. - The extent to which coal supplies seem to determine the localization of industries in England, in Germany, and in the United States.
- Analyze carefully the effects upon the foreign trade of a country of a large increase in its production of gold.
- May free trade under any circumstances cause a decline in the population of a country?
- Why have commercial treaties proved an ineffective means of securing greater permanent freedom of trade?
- Discuss the policy and effects of “dumping.”
- The character and significance of the iron and steel exports of the United States.
- The purely commercial aspects of shipping subsidies.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers 1873-1915. Box 7, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1904-05; Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…,Music in Harvard College (June, 1905), pp. 31-32.
Image Source: “Weighed and Not Wanting.” From Puck (March 13, 1901). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.