Meanwhile, back in the early 20th century we find Charles Jesse Bullock teaching the history of economics from the ancient Greeks to Adam Smith, judging from his exam questions. Nominally, the course was to cover economic thought through 1848. He, like Frank Taussig, examined economics Ph.D. candidates ability to read French and German. He taught Latin and Greek at the high-school level before going on to study economics so it is not surprising that he would have been expected to cover the ancient Greek and Latin literatures of economics as well.
The year-examination for this course in 1903-04 has been posted earlier.
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Course Enrollment
1904-05
Economics 15. Asst. Professor Bullock. — History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848.
Total 3: 3 Graduates.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1904-1905, p. 75.
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Course Description, 1904-05
[Economics] 15. The History and Literature of Economies to the year 1848. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri, at 12. Asst. Professor Bullock.
The purpose of this course is to trace the development of economic thought from classical antiquity to the middle of the nineteenth century. Emphasis is placed upon the relation of economics to philosophical and political theories, as well as to political and industrial conditions.
A considerable amount of reading of prominent writers will be assigned and opportunity given for the preparation of theses. Much of the instruction is necessarily given by means of lectures.
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), pp. 49-50.
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ECONOMICS 15
Mid-Year Examination, 1904-05
- With what literature upon the history of economics are you familiar?
- What place does Plato occupy in the development of economic thought?
- What criticism did Aristotle make against Plato’s Republic?
- What economic topics are discussed by Xenophon?
- Describe the economic doctrines of Thomas Aquinas.
- What do you think of the scholastic doctrine concerning usury?
- What were the doctrines of Molinaeus and Salmasius?
- Compare the Utopia with Plato’s Republic.
- What do you think of Ingram’s treatment of economic thought in the Middle Ages?
- Upon what subject do you consider the economic doctrine of the Schoolmen most satisfactory?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 7, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1904-05.
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ECONOMICS 15
Year-end Examination, 1904-05
- What influence did the schoolmen have upon the economic thought of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
- Compare the contributions to economic thought made by English writers in the seventeenth century with those made by contemporaneous writers in France and Italy.
- Give some account of the economic doctrines of Bodin.
- Trace in outline the development of theories of money in Europe from 1550 to 1760.
- Compare the communistic theories of Plato with those of More.
- Describe the work done in the eighteenth century toward systematizing economic doctrines.
- Describe the economic doctrines of two German and two Italian writers of the eighteenth century.
- Give a general account of the life and writings of Adam Smith.
- What different influences can be observed in the Wealth of Nations? To which do you attribute most importance?
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. 35-36.
Source: Williams College, The Gulielmensian 1902, Vol. 45, p. 26. Colorized by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.