For the academic year 1908-09 Wesley Clair Mitchell took leave from the University of California to cover three courses previously taught by A. Piatt Andrew at Harvard on money, banking and foreign exchange, and commercial crises. This post provides enrollment figures and the examination questions for the three courses.
While I have been unable to find course outlines in the Harvard archives, here is the (almost complete) 1906 Syllabus for Mitchell’s money course taught at the University of California.
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Money. A General Survey…in recent times
Course Enrollment
[Economics] 8a 1hf. Asst. Professor Mitchell (University of California). — Money. A general survey of currency legislation, experience, and theory in recent times.
Total 103: 4 Graduates, 24 Seniors, 48 Juniors, 20 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 6 Special.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 68.
ECONOMICS 8a1
Final Examination
1. and 2. Describe the monetary system of the United States, making such reference as is necessary for a clear understanding to monetary history and to the banking system.
- Sketch the monetary history of British India since 1873.
- Give a brief account of the production of gold and silver, and of the changes in the market ratio between them, for the years 1848 to 1908.
- State the case for bimetallism.
- What are the chief differences between monetary conditions in the Middle Ages and at present?
- Sketch some one of the paper-money episodes of the nineteenth century.
- What are index numbers? How are they constructed? Of what use are they?
- and 10. Discuss the way in which an increasing production of gold affects the price-level in gold-standard countries.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915 (HUC 7000.25), Box 8. Bond volume: Examination Papers, 1908-09. Papers set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…, in Harvard College (June 1909), p. 39.
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Banking and Foreign Exchange
Course Enrollment
[Economics] 8b 2hf. Asst. Professor Mitchell (University of California). — Banking and Foreign Exchange.
Total 117: 3 Graduates, 24 Seniors, 61 Juniors, 22 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 6 Special.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 68.
ECONOMICS 8b
Final Examination
- Exercise in Banking Accounts
Do not spend more than sixty minutes upon this exercise.- Arrange the following items in the form of a bank statement: Bonds and stocks, $90,000; Undivided profits, $10,000; Due from other banks, $50,000; Notes, $50,000; Exchanges for the clearing house, $50,000; Expenses, $1,500; Notes of other national banks, $1,000; Due to banks, $60,000; Real estate, $40,000; Surplus, $50,000; United States deposits, $30,000; 5% redemption fund, $2,500; Due from reserve agents, $50,000; Lawful money, $66,000; Capital, $200,000; Individual deposits, $600,000; Loans, $630,000; Other assets, $19,000.
- If the statement is that of a National Bank, not in a reserve city, how much lawful money is it required by law to hold as reserve?
- Assume that the statement shows the condition of the bank at the close of business Thursday. During business hours Friday the following transactions take place:—
- The bank pays a coal bill of $1,000 in cash;
- The bank remits $5,000 of United States notes to its reserve agent;
- The following deposits are received from individual customers:—
$2,000 in gold certificates;
$1,000 in the bank’s own notes;
$5,000 in checks against the bank itself;
$42,000 in checks against other banks belonging to the same clearing house. - The bank discounts a 30-day note for $50,000 at 6%, taking United States bonds as collateral security. The borrower takes the proceeds in such form that he can pay in checks.
- A note of $20,000, discounted six months before at 4%, is paid by means of a check against the borrower’s account.
- At the clearing house, the bank finds $55,000 presented against it. Balances are paid in gold.
How does the bank stand at the close of business Friday?
- Sketch the development of banking in England to 1700.
- Describe briefly the condition of banking in the United States in 1860.
- What factors affect the profit upon the issue of national bank notes?
- Compare the methods of treating a commercial panic followed by the banks of New York and the Bank of England.
- State the case for and against the incorporation into national banking law of provisions for any one of the following purposes:—
- To guarantee deposits;
- To permit branch banking;
- To change the bond-secured circulation for asset currency;
- To establish a central bank on the German model.
- State the leading differences between the business of commercial banking and savings banking.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915 (HUC 7000.25), Box 8. Bond volume: Examination Papers, 1908-09. Papers set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…, in Harvard College (June 1909), pp. 40-41.
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Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade
Course Enrollment
[Economics] 12 1hf. Asst. Professor Mitchell (University of California). — Commercial Crises and Cycles of Trade.
Total 68: 2 Graduates, 31 Seniors, 25 Juniors, 10 Sophomores.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1908-1909, p. 68.
ECONOMICS 121
Final Examination
Describe business conditions in the United States from 1890 to 1908, inclusive, with such reference to business conditions abroad as is necessary for an understanding of American conditions. State the most important causes of the changes which have occurred.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, 1873-1915 (HUC 7000.25), Box 8. Bond volume: Examination Papers, 1908-09. Papers set for Final Examinations in History, Government, Economics,…, in Harvard College (June 1909), p. 44.
Image Source: Thumbnail image from a 1900 picture of Wesley Clair Mitchell at the University of Chicago in Lucy Sprague Mitchell’s Two Lives: The Story of Wesley Clair Mitchell and Myself.