Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final exam questions for commercial crises. Persons, 1925

 

 

Warren Milton Persons (1878-1937) received his S.B. from the University of Wisconsin and Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin in 1916. His major professor was Richard T. Ely and his thesis had the title: “The Variability in the Distribution of Wealth and Income”. An obituary was written for the Journal of the American Statistical Association (Vol. 34, No. 206: June, 1939, pp. 411-415) by William Truant Foster.

Earlier posts in Economics in the Rear-view Mirror for the Harvard course Economics 37:

Reading list for Commercial Crises taught by Persons 1923,
Examination questions for Commercial Crises taught by Persons 1924.

______________

Course Description

[Economics] 37 1hf. Commercial Crises. Half-course(first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 9, or by arrangement.Professor Persons.

The history, literature, and theories of economic prosperity, crises, and depression, with special reference to the problem of forecasting.
An analysis from the point of view of business cycles of the statistics of speculation, prices, production, trade, interest rates, money and banking.

 Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1924-25, Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXI, No. 22 (April 30, 1925), p. 74.

______________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 37 1hf. Professor Persons.—Commercial Crises.

Total 16: 9 Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Junior, 3 Radcliffe, 2 Others.

Source:Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1924-1925, p. 76.

______________

1924-25
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 371

  1. ….a.   List, in order of severity of disturbance, the years of crisis, or beginning of marked business recession in the United States since 1837.
    1. Discuss your criteria for “severity of disturbance” and designate the years of crisis.
  2. Outline and discuss briefly the method of construction of the Harvard Index of General Business Conditions.
  3. What positions or movements of the constituent curves of the Index forecast business (a) revival from depression, (b) prosperity, (c) crisis, and (d) recession or depression? Discuss.
  4. Discuss with reference to business cycles:
    ….a.   Commodity prices and their interrelations.

    1. The volume of production of manufactures and mining.
    2. The volume of production of agriculture.
    3. Short-time interest rates.

In your discussion describe the general nature of the data available and indicate their significance.

  1. ….a.  Classify according to any scheme you please the theories of Veblen, Hobson, Aftalion, Bouniatian, Hawtrey, Robertson, Mitchell, Moore, and others.
    1. Discuss your classification.
    2. Outline, compare, and criticize the theories of any two of the writers.

Final. 1925.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Examination Papers, Finals, 1925. (HUC 7000.28, vol. 67). Papers Printed for Final Examinations. History of Science, History, …, Economics, …, Anthropology, Military Science.

Image Source:  ProfessorWarren M. Persons in Harvard Class Album 1920.