On January 5th, 2021 my 94 year old father passed away following a Covid-19 infection. On January 6th, 2021 a pro-Trump mob breached the United States Capitol, leading to the impeachment of President Donald Trump exactly one week later. With the exception of a single post that had been nearly completed before those two days, Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has had no new content added. With today’s post (January 24, 2021) your curator resumes his work of collecting, transcribing and presenting artifacts to provide a documentary record of the evolution of the economics curriculum.
This post adds to our collection brief course descriptions, enrollment figures and examinations from Harvard for the academic year 1886-87 when Charles Dunbar, J. Laurence Laughlin, and Frank W. Taussig constituted the entire department of political economy.
_______________________
Political Economy 1 (1886-87).
Class Enrollment.
Political Economy 1. First half year: Laughlin’s Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. —Dunbar’s Chapters on Banking. Profs. Laughlin and Taussig.
Total 207: 1 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 100 Juniors, 47 Sophomores, 7 Freshmen, 19 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.
1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[One-hour Examination. Nov. 17, 1886]
- Point out, as to the following articles, whether they are or are not capital; and, as to those which you consider capital, whether they are fixed or circulating capital: a dwelling-house; a bale of cotton goods; a government bond; hewn granite; a plow; a stock of tobacco.
- A keeps twenty saddle horses in Boston for hire. B keeps twenty horses which he uses in cultivating a farm in the country. Trace the respective economic effects of their expenditure in maintaining the horses.
- State concisely the laws of production and distribution as to land, and explain the connexion between them.
- Comment on the following proposition: “There should be annually appropriated by every city or town of 5000 or more inhabitants a sum of money sufficient to pay wages at the rate of one dollar a day for 300 days in the year to as many as 10 percent of the actual population. … Any person finding himself out of employment should have the privilege of making application to the Department of Labor, and should be given some useful work to do at the wages of one dollar per day of eight hours, so long as he might choose to work for that pay.”
Source: Harvard University Archives. Scrapbook of Professor Frank W. Taussig, p. 10.
1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1887]
- Compare the economic effects of defraying war expenditure by loans and by taxation.
- Does the rent of a factory building affect the value of the goods made in it? Does the rent of a farm affect the value of the grain grown on it? Does the rent paid for a lot near a great city, from which gravel is taken, affect the value of the gravel?
- It has been said that “the laws and conditions of the production of wealth partake of the character of physical truths. There is nothing optional or arbitrary in them.” State briefly the laws of the production of wealth here referred to, and whether the statement in regard to them is true.
- It has been said that the law of population and the law of diminishing returns from land point inevitably to misery and want as the destiny of the mass of mankind. What influences affecting the operation of these laws are to be taken into account; and if they are taken into account, are the laws of population and diminishing returns from land thereby shown to be invalid?
- Explain briefly the nature of the remuneration received by the following persons: a farmer tilling his own land; a merchant carrying on business with his own capital; a manufacturer carrying on business with borrowed capital; a holder of railway stocks; a holder of government bonds; a patentee.
- Wherein is the value of metallic money governed by different principles from those that regulate the value of commodities in general? And wherein is the value of inconvertible paper money governed by different principles from those that regulate the value of coin?
- Credit is said to be purchasing power. Explain what is meant by this proposition, and in what manner it bears on the theory of the value of money. Point out in what form credit, as purchasing power, is most likely to affect prices in the United States and in France.
- (a) Suppose that:
In the U.S. one day’s labor produces 2 bushels of corn;
“ “ “ “ “ “ “ 10 yards of cotton cloth;
“ England “ “ “ “ 1 bushel of corn;
“ “ “ “ “ “ 5 yards of cotton cloth.
Would trade arise between England and the United States? If so how?
(b) Suppose that in England one day’s labor produced 8 yards of cotton cloth, other conditions remaining the same as in (a). Would trade arise? If so, how?
(c) Suppose that in England one day’s labor produced 2 yards of cotton cloth, other conditions remaining the same as in (a) Would trade arise? If so, how? - Suppose a new article to appear among the exports of a given country. Trace the effects in that country on the course of the foreign exchanges; on the flow of specie; on the value of money; on the terms of international exchange. Would the results be the same if, instead of a new article of export, some article previously exported were to be sold abroad in larger quantity because of a lowering of its cost and price?
- (a) Arrange in proper order the following items of a bank account: Loans, $538,000; Bonds and Stocks, $40,000; Capital, $200,000; Real Estate, $26,000; other assets, $26,000; Surplus, $65,100; Deposits, $440,000; Notes, $101,550; Cash, $124,000; Cash Items, $52,650.
(b) Suppose the bank to discount four months paper (at 6 per cent) to the amount of $10,000, of which it purchases one-half by promises to pay (the bearer) on demand, and one-half by cash. How would the account then stand?
(c) Suppose a borrower to have repaid a loan of $2000 by giving $1000 in cash, and $1000 in a cheque on the bank. How would the account then stand?
(d) Suppose the bank to be confronted, in a time of general embarrassment, with demands from depositors for cash, and from borrowers for discounts. What policy would be adopted if it were the Bank of England? If it were a United States national bank?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Scrapbook of Professor Frank W. Taussig, pp. 10-11.
Class Enrollment.
Political Economy 1. Second half year: Division A (Theoretical, introductory to Courses 2 and 3). Mill’s Principles (Books IV, and V.). — Cairnes’s Leading Principles (Part I., chaps. Iii. and v.; part III., chaps. i.-v.). — Thompson’s Lectures on Protection. — Sumner’s Protectionism. — Bimetallism. Prof. Laughlin.
Total 101: 6 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 38 Sophomores, 5 Freshmen, 8 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.
1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division A.
[Year-end Examination. 1887]
- If taxes levied on the rich cause a diminution in their unproductive expenditure, would that in any way affect the employment offered for labor? Discuss fully.
- What principle does Mr. Mill furnish by which the respective shares of labor and capital are determined? Has his Wages-Fund Theory any connection with his exposition of the dependence of “profits” on Cost of Labor?
- In discussing the distribution of the product, why is it that the relative shares of labor and capital can be discussed independently of rent? Would an increase of rent affect the share of labor or of capital?
- Why is it that city banks make a greater use of the deposit liability than of the note liability? Why is the fact just the reverse with country banks?
- State fully the difference between Cost of Labor and Cost of Production. Would a decrease in Cost of Production affect Cost of Labor in any way?
- If the returns, and consequently wages, in our extractive industries were to decline, how would the course of our foreign trade probably be affected?
- Explain carefully how, and under what conditions, Reciprocal Demand regulates Normal Value.
- How do you reconcile the doctrine of comparative cost in international trade with the fact that a merchant regulates his conduct by a comparison of prices at home with prices abroad?
- Explain how a tax on “profits” may fall either (1) on the laborer, or (2) on the landlord.
- Discuss the argument that protection raises wages.
- Is the customs-duty on sugar economically justifiable?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 5-6, in bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.
Class Enrollment.
Political Economy 1. Second half year: Division B (Descriptive). Mill’s Principles (selections). — Upton’s Money in Politics. —Jevons’s The State in Relation to Labor. — Lectures on Money, Bimetallism, Cooperation, and Trade-Unions. Prof. Taussig.
Total 106: 1 Graduate, 27 Seniors, 56 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 11 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.
1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division B.
[One-hour Examination. April. 4, 1887]
- As society advances, what changes would you expect in the relative values of wheat of coal, of cotton cloth, and of watch-springs?
- Suppose the coinage of silver under the act of 1878 had been 20 millions of dollars a month, what would now be the money in use in the country? Explain briefly what has been the actual coinage, and what effect it has had on our monetary system.
- Make a comparison between the issues of paper money by the Continental Congress during the war of the Revolution, and by Congress during the civil war.
- Explain briefly what is meant by the following phrases: five-twenties; ten-forties; seven-thirties; continued 3 ½ per cents.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Scrapbook of Professor Frank W. Taussig, p. 12.
1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division B.
[Year-end Examination. 1887]
- Suppose the price of silver to rise to such a point that the ratio of silver to gold would be 15 to 1, what change would take place in the money at present in use in the United States?
Is such a change probable? If so, why? If not, why not? - State the essential differences between the coinage acts of 1792, 1834, and 1878.
- “All experience has shown that there are periods when, under any system of paper money, however carefully guarded, it is impracticable to maintain actual coin redemption. Usually contracts will be based on current paper money, and it is just that, during a sudden panic or an unreasonable demand for coin, the creditor should not be allowed to demand payment in other than the currency in which the debt was contracted. To meet this contingency, it would seem to be right to maintain the legal tender quality of United States notes. If they are not at par with coin, it is the fault of the Government and not of the debtor, or rather it is the result of an unforeseen stringency not contemplated by the contracting parties.” From the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, dated December, 1877.
Under what circumstances was this passage written? Is the recommendation made by it a wise one? Has it been acted on? - Ten men club together to buy flour at wholesale, each taking a part and paying his share of the price. Ten others club together, borrow money jointly, and lend it out to themselves for aid in carrying on their trades. A third ten club together, set up a workshop on joint account and work in it, and periodically divide the net proceeds.
What kinds of cooperation are typified, respectively, by these proceedings? In what countries has each kind been most widely applied? Which seems to you to be of greatest intrinsic interest for the social question? - What is meant by the eight-hour law? Wherein does it resemble, and wherein differ from, factory legislation in England?
- Compare the regulations of the Knights of Labor in regard to strikes with those of an English Trades-Union.
- “The present doctrine is that the workmen’s interests are linked to those of other workmen, and the employer’s interests to those of other employers. Eventually it will be seen that industrial divisions should be perpendicular, not horizontal.” Explain what is meant by this passage; state by what devices it is endeavored to promote the “horizontal” and the “perpendicular” divisions, respectively; and given an opinion as to which line of division is likely to endure.
- The declaration of principles of the Knights of Labor demand “the enactment of laws providing for arbitration between employer and employed, and to enforce the decision of the arbitrators.” Is it desirable to comply with that demand in whole, in part, or not at all?
- Suppose a tax were levied of ten percent on the house-rent paid by every person, those who occupied their own houses being assessed for the letting value of their dwellings. Would such a tax be direct or indirect? Would it conform to the principle of equality of taxation? Give your reasons.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Scrapbook of Professor Frank W. Taussig, p. 12. Also, Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 5-6, in bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.
_______________________
Political Economy 2 (1886-87).
Class Enrollment.
Political Economy 2. Economic Theory; its history and present stage. — Lectures, preparation of papers, and discussion of selections from leading writers. Prof. Taussig.
Total 49: 2 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 14 Juniors.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.
1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Mid-year Examination, 1887]
- It has been said that the Mercantile writers built up the first system of political economy; again, that a system is first found in the writings of the Physiocrats; and again, that Ricardo created political economy as a science. What should you say as to these statements?
- Say something as to the connection that may be traced between the personal history of Adam Smith and of Ricardo, and the characteristics of their writings.
- Sketch the history of the doctrines as to the productiveness of different kinds of labor from the time of the Mercantile writers to that of J. S. Mill.
- Comment on the following:—
“It remains a matter of some difficulty to discover what solid contribution Malthus has made to our knowledge, nor is it easy to ascertain precisely what practical precepts, not already familiar, he founded on his theoretic principles…. ‘Much,’ he thought, ‘remained to be done. The comparison between the increase of population and of food had not, perhaps, been stated with sufficient force and precision’ and ‘few inquiries had been made into the various modes by which the level’ between population and the means of subsistence ‘is effected.’ The first desideratum here mentioned—the want, namely, of an accurate statement of the relation between the population and the supply of food—Malthus doubtless supposed to have been supplied by the celebrated proposition that ‘population increases in a geometrical, food in an arithmetical, ratio.’ This proposition has been conclusively shown to be erroneous, there being no such difference of law between the increase of man and of the organic beings who form his food. When this formula is not used, other somewhat nebulous expressions are sometimes employed, as, for example, that ‘population has a tendency to increase faster than food’ a sentence in which both are treated as if they were spontaneous growths…It must always have been perfectly well known that population will probably (though not necessarily) increase with every augmentation of the supply of subsistence, and may, in some instances, inconveniently press upon or even for a certain time exceed the number properly corresponding to that supply. Nor could it have ever been doubted that war, disease, poverty — the last two often the consequences of vice — are causes which keep population down. Again, it is surely plain enough that the apprehension by individuals of the evils of poverty, or a sense of duty to their possible offspring, may retard the increase of population, and has in all civilized communities operated to a certain extent in that way. It is only when such obvious truths are clothed in the technical terminology of ‘positive’ and ‘preventive’ checks that they appear novel and profound; and yet they appear to contain the whole message of Malthus to mankind.” - State carefully Cairnes’s theory of value, and show wherein it differs from Ricardo’s exposition of that subject.
- Explain the conclusions which George draws as to wages from an analysis of the simplest stage of society, and those which Ricardo draws as to values from a similar analysis. State whether the reasoning in the two cases differs and if so, wherein; and give an opinion as to the soundness of the conclusions reached.
- State carefully the wage-fund doctrine as expounded by Cairnes, and show wherein his exposition is an advance on the previous treatment of the subject.
- In a collection of examination questions, the following was asked:—
“Cairnes argues that we cannot apply the law of supply and demand to labor, because the supply of labor is produced by biological forces and not as commodities are produced.— What is the fallacy of this argument?
Comment on the question, and answer it; and refer briefly to the history of the line of argument that draws and analogy between the value of labor and of commodities.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 1, Folder “Mid-year Examinations, 1886-1887”.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Year-end examination]
- Comment, separately or in a connected essay, on the following extracts:—
(a) “The first of these theories is known as the wage-fund theory of the books on Political Economy. It represents the rate of wages as depending on the amount of capital which employers think proper to disburse as wages. The wage rate was regarded as the dividend, found by dividing the wages-fund by the number of labourers. But though this division doubtless takes place, there is nothing in the theory to determine either the whole amount which is to be divided, or the proportional share which any particular labourer may obtain. Nobody can possibly suppose that workmen in different branches of production, or in different ranks in the same branch, receive the same wages. Nor can anybody imagine that the capitalist distributes his capital simply because it is capital, irrespective of the produce which he expects from the labour bought.” — W. S. Jevons.
(b) “Ricardo held that profits and wages are the leavings of each other. Later economists have generally rejected this doctrine; but even those of them who maintain that wages are paid out of capital, fall back on arguments which imply its truth. For instance, Cairnes, who earnestly maintained that capital is divided into wages, rent, material, and wage-fund, argued that trades-unions could not increase the rate of wages because, if they did so, they would reduce profits below the rate which would make investment worth while. On his own doctrine, increased wages could not trench on profits. … We shall see further on that wages and profits are not the leavings of each other, because they are not parts of the same whole.”
(c) “If we assume that upon a cultivated island are tools and carts and animals for draught, and other forms of capital, adequate for a thousand laborers, the production will vary within a very wide range according to the industrial quality of the laborers using that capital. If we suppose them to be East Indians, we shall have a certain annual product; if we suppose Russian peasants to be substituted for East Indians, we shall have twice or three times that product; if we suppose Englishmen to be substituted for Russians, we shall have the product again multiplied two or three fold. By the wage-fund theory, the rate of wages would remain the same through these changes, inasmuch as the aggregate capital of the island would remain the same through these changes and the number of laborers in the market would be unchanged, the only difference being found in the substitution of more efficient for less efficient laborers. According to the view here advanced, on the contrary, the amount to be paid in wages should and would rise with the increased production due to the higher industrial quality of the laboring population.”
(d) “The capital of the employer is by no means the real source of the wages even of the workmen employed by him. It is only the immediate reservoir through which wages are paid out, until the purchasers of the commodities produced by that labor make good the advance and thereby encourage the undertaker to purchase additional labor.” — W. Roscher.
Whom do you judge to be the writers of the extracts (b) and (c)? - State carefully Walker’s theory of business profits. Give an opinion as to its value (1) in explaining differences between the returns of different managers, and (2) in eliminating such returns, like rent, from the problem of distribution.
- Compare Carey and Bastiat, and say something as to the manner and extent of their influence on the course of economic speculation.
- Explain wherein the attitude of Wagner to economic study differs from that of Mill and Cairnes.
- “Mr. Cairnes asks, ‘how far should religious and moral considerations be admitted as coming within the province of political economy?’ His answer is that ‘they are to be taken account of precisely in so far as they are found to affect the conduct of men in the pursuit of wealth;’ and one needs only to allude to the influence of mediaeval religion both on the forms and the distribution of the wealth of the community, the changes in both with the change in religion after the Reformation, in proof of the impotence of the a priori method in relation to this class of agencies. Yet a few pages after recognizing their title to investigation, Mr. Cairnes argues that induction, though indispensable in physical, is needless in economic science, on the ground that the economist starts with a knowledge of ultimate causes’ and ‘is already at the outset of his enterprise in the position which the physicist only attains after ages of laborious research.’ The followers of the deduction method are in fact on the horns of a dilemma. They must either follow Mr. Lowe’s narrow path, and reason strictly from the assumption that men are actuated by no motive save the desire of pecuniary gain, or they must contend that they have an intuitive knowledge of all the moral, religious, political, and other motives influencing human conduct, and of the changes they undergo in different countries and periods.”
Was Cairnes inconsistent in the manner here stated? Does his reasoning lead to the alleged dilemma? - Should you agree with the following:—
“If economic phenomena were the results of a single force or combination of forces, standing alone, then only would the assumption hold good that there is an identity of effects on the appearance of the same causes. But economic facts are so closely connected with the whole of life, the element of personal freedom comes in so constantly, that a causal connection like that of a law of nature cannot be shown. This is at bottom the sound point in the criticisms of Ricardo’s keen logic. Ricardo often begins with facts, carefully and nicely observed in real life, and makes them the first premises of his reasoning. Then he uses a method of reasoning which is common in philosophy, but inadmissible in political economy. By logical sequence of thought he leads the reader, who can see no flaw in the chain of conclusions, to a result which, notwithstanding the solidity of the premises and the steadfast reasoning, is yet by no means unquestionable. For in the end we are not concerned with the elaboration of a truthful train of thought, but with a truth of real life; hence the test of truth lies in the connection of cause and effect that exists in real life; and as to that, with its manifold and varied possibilities, no human insight can make the true combinations in advance by abstract reasoning. There may be an artistic truth, which yet, when compared with reality, is not a truth. Even if one sees no inconsistency with the facts of experience up to the very last step in the reasoning, yet that reasoning gets its final stamp of truth only from experience. Our thoughts on the facts of the world are often true only so long as we shape them according to those facts that we know; a new experience comes in to better this approximate truth.” — Knies, Die Politische Oekonomie vom Historischen Standpunkte.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 7-9, in bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.
Note: Political Economy 2. Has been posted earlier.
_______________________
Political Economy 3 (1886-87).
Class Enrollment.
Political Economy 3. Investigation and Discussion of Practical Economic Questions (Bimetallism, Gold and Prices, American Shipping, Canadian Reciprocity, and Railway Transportation. — Each student presented ten theses, which were read and discussed in the class. Prof. Laughlin.
Total 35: 3 Graduates, 12 Seniors, 19 Juniors, 1 Other.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.
1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Mid-year Examination, 1887]
- Discuss the following statement: “I would venture to assert that the influence of gold in raising or reducing prices depends not so much on the quantity of it available for use, as on the circumstances attending its production, and the facilities offered for its employment. … The sudden acquisition of money by those who rushed into gold mining … could not do otherwise than raise the demand for the necessaries and luxuries of life beyond the supply, and thus enhance their cost.”
- In considering the serious fall of prices since 1873 and its effects on existing contracts, compare the relative advantages to be derived from (1) a system of international Bimetallism, and (2) the Multiple Standard. What difficulties stand in the way of using the multiple standard?
- Give the facts in regard to the Free Coinage of gold, or silver, to-day in England, France, Germany, and the United States.
- Discuss the provisions of the U.S. Coinage Act of 1853, and its bearing on the success of the double standard in this country.
- Could an agreement of the chief commercial countries of the world to coin gold and silver at a fixed ratio keep the value of silver from falling under all circumstances?
- Name any Navigation Laws of the United States now in force, which had their origin in the retaliatory legislation of our early history.
- What effect has the policy of reciprocity, taken together with the high cost of building iron ships in the United States, had upon the foreign carrying trade of the country?
- Does the existing tariff work to diminish the United States foreign tonnage? How does the provision as to a drawback on articles manufactured wholly or in part of imported materials affect our foreign tonnage?
- What remedies should you propose for the decline of American shipping?
- Was the first experiment of issuing notes by a Bank, chartered by the United States, a successful one? Why?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 1, Folder “Mid-year Examinations, 1886-1887”.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Year-end examination]
- How do you account for the additional fall in the value of silver since the close of 1885?
- Are there sufficient grounds for believing that gold is scarce? What is the measure of scarcity? Is it the “needs of trade”?
- Discuss the causes of the growth of American shipping to 1856. Why have these causes not produced the same results since 1856 as before?
- Why were the issues of the Second United States Bank superior to those of the State banks of the same period?
- Ought the United States notes to be retired?
- In what way was the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 between Canada and the United States connected with the fishery question? Why was the Treaty given up?
- What were the economic results of the Treaty? Do they furnish evidence as to the wisdom of reciprocity in the future?
- Are there any reasons to suppose that competition operates to modify rates on the railways of the United States?
- What are the objections against “pools”? Are these objections well founded?
- Compare the railway systems of England and France. How are discriminations regarded in these countries?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 9-10, in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.
_______________________
Political Economy 4 (1886-87).
Class Enrollment.
Political Economy 4. Financial history of England and America since the Seven Years’ War. — Lectures. Prof. Dunbar.
Total 157: 1 Graduate, 44 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 53 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 13 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Mid-year examination, 1887]
[Copy not (yet) located]
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Year-end examination, 1887]
Omit two questions
- Why did the repeal of the corn laws settle the question as to the adoption of free trade by England?
- Describe the leading measures by which Napoleon III. sought to stimulate the material prosperity of France.
- What were the reasons for granting public lands in aid of railway companies, as exhibited in the cases of the Illinois Central and the Pacific Railroads?
- The effects of the civil war on the system of landholding in the South and its probable influence on the general industry of that section.
- In what respects do quick transportation and telegraphs tend to produce analogous effects, and how are prices, as a measure of the value of gold, thereby affected?
- Among the causes for the decline of American shipping, how important was the civil war?
- What are the causes which make England the convenient centre for the “triangular” trade between nations?
- Describe the effects of the civil war on the tariff system of the United States.
- What form of wealth did France pay out in settlement of the indemnity of 1871, and what form did Germany actually receive?
- The causes which prevented the disastrous fall of gold predicted by some writers after 1850.
- The absorption of silver by India and reasons for its recent irregularity.
- The heavy demands for gold, 1871-83, and the reasons why they failed to produce any financial disturbance.
- The circumstances which enabled the United States to accumulate gold with special ease after the passage of the Resumption Act.
- If the working of the English coal mines should tend to become more expensive, could England protect her industrial supremacy by the importation of cheap coal? Give the reasons carefully.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 10-11, in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.
_______________________
Political Economy 6 (1886-87).
Class Enrollment.
Political Economy 6. History of Tariff Legislation in the United States, and consideration of its economic effects. — Lectures, written exercises, and oral discussion. Prof. Taussig.
Second half-year.
Total 38: 2 Graduates, 28 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 4 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 59.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.
[Year-end examination, 1887]
- Comment on the historical statements, and on the reasoning from them, in the following extracts:—
“Such was the state of things [bankruptcy and ruin the most complete] at the date of the passage of the tariff act of 1842. Scarcely had it become a law, when confidence began to reappear and commerce to revive—the first steps toward the restoration of the whole country, in the briefest period, to a state of prosperity the like of which had never before been known. Seeing that these remarkable facts were totally opposed to the free-trade theory, the author was led to study the phenomena presented in the free-trade period from 1817 to 1824, and in the protective one which commenced in 1825 and ended in 1834, — the one terminating in bankruptcy and ruin similar to that which exhibited itself in 1842, and the other giving to the country a state of prosperity such as had again been realized in 1846. … The more he studied these facts, the more did he become satisfied that the free-trade theory embodied some great error.” H. C. Carey, Preface to the Principles of Social Science. - It has been said that protective duties cause the price of the protected articles to fall; and such an effect is said to have been produced on the prices of cotton cloth after 1816, of copper after 1869, and of steel rails after 1870. Comment on the principle, and on its application in these three cases.
- “This ill-understood and much reviled principle [the minimum principle] appears to me to be a just, proper, effective, and strictly philosophical mode of laying protective duties. It is exactly conformable, as I think, to the soundest and most accurate principles of political economy. It is, in the most rigid sense, what all such enactments so far as practicable ought to be: that is to say, a mode of laying a specific duty. It lays the import exactly where it will do good and leaves the rest free. It is an intelligent, discerning, discriminating principle, not a blind, headlong, generalizing, uncalculating operation. … The minimum principle, however, was overthrown by the law of 1832, and that law, as it came from the House, and as it finally passed, substituted a general and universal ad valorem duty of fifty per cent.” Webster, Speech in the Senate, 1836.
What were the duties to which Webster refers in this passage? And what should you say to his comments on them? - Explain carefully what is the fundamental proposition in Walker’s Treasury Report of 1845, and discuss its soundness as a principle of tariff reform.
- Explain the present system of duties on woollen cloths, stating briefly its history; and say something as to its effects.
- It has been said that high duties should be levied on manufactured articles and low duties on raw materials, because raw materials, being more bulky, require much shipping to transport them, and their free admission would give increased employment to American vessels. Assuming that the materials would in fact be carried in American vessels, should you say the argument was a sound one?
- How can you explain the fact that, while the manufacture of cotton cloths has been little, if at all, dependent on protection, the heavy duties on silk piece-goods have not prevented a continuous large importation?
- It has been proposed to admit sugar from Cuba duty free, by a reciprocity treaty. Should you be in favor of such a measure?
- Discuss one of the following subjects. (Those who have prepared special reports on any one of these subjects are not to select that one for discussion.)
- The financial working of the tariff act of 1846.
- Proposed tariff legislation since 1883.
- The circumstances under which the tariff act of 1833 was passed.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 11-12, in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.
_______________________
Political Economy 7 (1886-87).
Class Enrollment.
Political Economy 7. Public Finance and Banking. — Leroy-Beaulieu’s Science des Finances. Prof. Dunbar.
Total 12: 3 Graduates, 6 Seniors, 3 Juniors.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 59.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
[Mid-year examination, 1887]
[Copy not (yet) located]
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
[Year-end examination]
Divide your time equally between A and B.
A.
[Two questions may be omitted.]
- Discuss the suggestion, which has been made, that among the French taxes upon real estate we ought to reckon,—
- The impôt des portes et fenêtres;
- Of the contribution des patentes, the droit proportionnel [à la valeur locative des locaux occupés].
- Weight the following reasons given by Leroy-Beaulieu for approving lottery loans:—
“Les emprunts à loterie peuvent être regardés comme une combinaison ingénieuse et inoffensive dans les cas suivants: quand le prêteur est toujours certain de retrouver un jour, même en ayant la chance la plus mauvaise, au moins le capital qu’il a versé; quand, en outre, un intérêt rémunérateur, quoique inférieur à celui qu’autoriserait le marché des capitaux, est accordé à toutes les obligations, sans exception, même à celles qui ne sortent pas au tirages (3 ou 4 p. 100 par exemple, au lieu de 5 ou 6 p. 100 qui seraient peut-être le taux habituel du marché); quand, en dernier lieu, les lots n’ont qu’une importance modique, 20,000, 30,000, 50,000, 100,000 ou 150,000 francs au plus, et qu’ils ne peuvent pas donner lieu à des fortunes énormes. Dans tous ces cas les emprunts à loterie sont inoffensifs: le prêteur est sûr de ne pas perdre son capital, ni la totalité de l’intérêt dû pour ce capital: il sacrifie seulement une faible portion de cet intérêt pour courir la chance d’un gain considérable, mais pas assez toutefois pour procurer d’énormes fortunes. Dans ces conditions on peut soutenir que l’emprunt à loterie provoque l’épargne, surtout dans les basses classes.” - Explain and discuss the system of reducing debt by means of terminable annuities, introduced by Mr. Gladstone.
- Discuss the following summary of conclusions, arrived at by Leroy-Beaulieu:—
“Pour résumer cette épineuse matière, nous dirons que la partie de la dette d’un pays qui est entre les mains des nationaux peut légitimement être assujettie à tous les impôts généraux grevant dans le pays les valeurs analogues. Au contraire la partie de cette dette qui est entre les mains d’étrangers doit en être exempte. Mais jamais l’État ne peut s’arroger le droit de mettre un impôt spécial sur sa rente. Voilà ce que disent le bons sens et l’équité.” - Compare the experience of England and France in the conversion of their national debts, and give the reasons for the marked difference.
- Discuss the propositions, laid down by Mr. Buckner, in his speech of April, 1882, in opposition to the Bank Charters Extension Bill,—
- That the currency ought to be issued by the government;
- That an elastic currency is mischievous, as introducing an element of uncertainty, and that the government should therefore issue a fixed amount of convertible notes.
B.
Mr. Goschen’s Budget for 1887 rests upon the estimate that income and outlay, if existing arrangements should not be changed, would be as follows (000’s omitted):—
| Revenue. | Expenditure. | |||
| Customs | £20,200 | Consolidated Fund | £30,592 | |
| Excise | 25,292 | Army | 18,394 | |
| Stamps | 11,658 | Navy | 12,477 | |
| Land Tax | 1,065 | Civil Service | 17,932 | |
| House Duty | 1,920 | Customs, Post, Teleg., &c. | 10,786 | |
| Property and Income Tax | 15,900 | |||
| Post, Telegraph, &c. | 15,120 | ______ | ||
| £91,155 | £90,786 | |||
| Surplus | 974 | |||
Mr. Goschen then proposes, inter alia,—
- To diminish sinking-fund payments by £2,000,000;
- To take a penny off the income-tax, reducing it by £1,560,000;
- To lower the duty on tobacco, and thus give up £600,000 more.
Discuss these propositions, giving all explanation needed for a clear understanding of the subject by an uninformed reader.
Mr. Goschen says of the sinking-fund payments, “I lay great stress upon the fact that unless we put the matter into an endurable form, you will risk far larger inroads upon the sinking-fund than I here propose;” and further that “practically the whole burden of paying off debt has to be borne by the payers of income-tax.” In confirmation of these views it is pointed out that when the fixed charge for public debt was settled the income-tax was only 2d., that it is now 8d., and that other branches of revenue have not been “elastic.”
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 13-14, in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.
_______________________
Political Economy 8 (1886-87).
Class Enrollment.
Political Economy 8. Financial history of the United States. — Lectures. Prof. Dunbar.
First half-year
Total 32: 1 Graduate, 25 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 3 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 59.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
[Mid-year examination]
[Copy not (yet) located]
Image Source: Harvard Library, Hollis Images. Charles F. Dunbar (left) and James Laurence Laughlin (middle) and Frank W. Taussig (right).