Just started a “scope and methods of economics” course this semester and after consulting my files from archival visits to Harvard, I discovered that good old Overton Hume Taylor offered a similar course there fifteen times during the 1930s and 1940s. I have already transcribed/posted numerous syllabi and exams for his other courses in the history of economics, political economy, and socialism. For some unknown reason he apparently did not keep a syllabus of assigned readings on file for his “Modern Economic Theory and its Critics” course with the Harvard library. For now we’ll be limited to the printed semester final examinations that I have located in the Harvard archives to reverse-engineer his likely reading assignments.
The stability of the course content may be presumed from the identical course descriptions (with the sole exception of “programmes” becoming “programs”) in the 1932-33 and 1940-41 Division announcements, included below.
Overton Hume Taylor received his economics Ph.D. from Harvard in 1928 with the dissertation “The Idea of a Natural Order in Early Modern Economic Thought.”
Chronology of O. H. Taylor’s course Economics 105
(formerly Economics 17)
1930-31. Ec17 Half-course (second half-year). Classical Economics and Eighteenth Century Philosophy. 3 students enrolled (1 Gr., 1 Sr., 1 Jr.)
1931-32. Ec17 Half-course (second half-year). Classical Economics and Eighteenth Century Philosophy.
1932-33. Ec17 Half-course (second half-year). Modern Economic Theory and its Critics.
1933-34. Ec17 Full-course. Modern Economic Theory and its Critics.
1934-35. Ec17 Modern Economic Theory and its Critics. “This course may be taken as a half-course in either half-year.”
1935-36. Ec17 Modern Economic Theory and its Critics. “This course may be taken as a half-course in either half-year.”
1936-37. Ec105 (formerly 17) Modern Economic Theory and its Critics. “This course may be taken as a half-course in either half-year.”
1937-38. Ec105 (formerly 17) Modern Economic Theory and its Critics. “This course may be taken as a half-course in either half-year.”
1938-39. Ec105 Modern Economic Theory and its Critics. “This course may be taken as a half-course in either half-year.” [Note: James Tobin took the second semester of the course. His student notes are found with his papers at the Yale University archives].
1939-40. Ec105 Modern Economic Theory and its Critics. “This course may be taken as a half-course in either half-year.”
1940-41. Ec105 Half-course (first half-year). Modern Economic Theory and its Critics.
1941-42. Ec105 Half-course (first half-year). Modern Economic Theory and its Critics.
1942-43. Ec105 Half-course (first half-year). Modern Economic Theory and its Critics.
1943-44. Ec105a. Half-course (first half-year). Modern Economic Theory and its Critics. 12 students enrolled (9 Graduates, 3 Public Admin.)
1944-45. Ec105a. Half-course (first half-year). Modern Economic Theory and its Critics. 3 students enrolled (1 Graduate,1 Public Admin., 1 Radcliffe)
1945-46. Ec105a Half-course (first half-year). Modern Economic Theory and its Critics. 2 students enrolled (2 Graduate)
1946-47. Ec105a. Half-course (first half-year). 3 students enrolled (1 Graduate, 2 Radcliffe)
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Course Description, 1932-33
[Economics] 17 2hf. Modern Economic Theory and its Critics
Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 12. Dr. Taylor.
A critical study of conflicting views in regard to the proper aim and scope, method, and basic “premises” of economic theory. The views considered are those reflected, in recent English and American literature, in the work of relatively “orthodox” theorists on the one hand, and in the criticisms, programmes, and attempted innovations of various “insurgent” writers on the other hand. Reading, lectures, and discussions.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1932-33. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXIX, No. 32 (June 27, 1932), p. 77.
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Course Description, 1940-41
[Economics] 105a 1hf. Modern Economic Theory and its Critics
Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 12. Dr. O. H. Taylor.
A critical study of conflicting views in regard to the proper aim and scope, method, and basic “premises” of economic theory. The views considered are those reflected, in recent English and American literature, in the work of relatively “orthodox” theorists on the one hand, and in the criticisms, programs, and attempted innovations of various “insurgent” writers on the other hand. Reading, lectures, and discussions.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics 1940-41. Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. XXXVII, No. 51 (August 15, 1940), pp. 58-59.
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Course Enrollment, 1938-39
[Economics] 105. Dr. O. H. Taylor.—Modern Economic Theory and its Critics.
Total 13: 6 Graduates, 5 Seniors, 2 School of Public Administration
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1938-1939, p. 99.
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Reading Period Assignments, 1938-39
Mid-year: January 5-18, 1939
Economics 105: Read one of the following:
- Jevons, W. S., Theory of Political Economy.
- Von Wieser, F., Natural Value.
- Wicksteed, P. Common Sense of Political Economy. Vol. I.
End-year: May 8-31, 1939
Economics 105: Read one of the following:
T. Veblen, Instinct of Workmanship.
T. Veblen, Theory of Business Enterprise.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 2, Folder “Economics, 1938-1939”.
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1938-39
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 105
Final Examination, mid-year. 1939.
Answer one of the first three questions — four questions in all. Average time, 45 minutes per question — distribute your time at your own discretion.
- Write your own accounts, and critical discussions, of (a) realism and nominalism, (b) rationalism and empiricism, and (c) the ‘methods’ of the ‘classical’ and ‘historical schools’ in economics.
- Discuss the general ideas prevalent in the eighteenth century about (a) causal and (b) ethical “natural laws” pertaining to human activities and social life; and the contributions of these ideas to the outlook and beliefs of nineteenth century “orthodox” economists and economic liberals.”
- Write a summary and criticism of the main ideas or theses included in Bentham’s “utilitarianism”; and a discussion of the question whether, and how far, the same, or similar, ideas became “the basis” of economic theory, in the hands of Ricardo and of later writers.
- Explain the substance, and discuss the merits, of Ricardo’s arguments and “doctrines” about either(1)(a) labor and value, and (b) rent and value; or (2)(a) wages in the short run and in the long run and(b) profits.
- Discuss either (a) “romanticism,” and the views of Carlyle or of Ruskin about classical economics; or (b) “positivism,” and the views of Comte.
- Explain and discuss the main ideas and reasonings you’ve found in Jevons, von Wieser, or Wicksteed, on the topics of utility, cost, and value.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Mid-Year Examinations, 1852-1943. Box 13, Papers Printed for Mid-Year Examinations. History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. January-February, 1939.
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1938-39
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 105
Final Examination, year-end. 1939.
Write on SIX questions; omit either (3) or (4), and either (6) or (8).
- Describe and discuss, with reference to Marshall’s Principles, either (a) his ‘sociological’ and ‘economic’ ideas, his theory about ‘wants’ and ‘activities,’ his views about ‘free enterprise,’ his view on the direction of ‘social evolution,’ and his attitude to ‘hedonism’ and the ‘money measure’; or (b) his theories of diminishing and increasing returns, and of ‘lengths of time’ and ‘normal value.’
- Describe and discuss Veblen’s idea of the nature of ‘modern science’; his account and criticism of the preconceptions of classical economics; his view of what economic science should be and do; his general theory of the evolution of institutions; and his theory of the conflict of the ‘industrial’ and ‘pecuniary’ classes in modern society. Add your own appraisal of Veblen as ‘scientist,’ and your list of what seems to you his most valuable contributions to economics.
- Describe and discuss Mitchell’s account and criticism of the psychological basis of classical theory, and his proposals for a new approach through modern psychologies; and explain your own views on this problem.
- Do you think that economic theory should, in reference to social institutions, (a) only postulate various institutional set-ups as ‘given’ and study the solutions of ‘economic’ problems attainable under them, or (b) include the development of institutions in its own subject-matter, i.e. study the interactions of ‘economic’ and ‘institutional’ change? Take one position or the other, and develop your arguments for the position you take.
- How does Chamberlin describe and explain the main economic consequences for society of product-differentiation and oligopoly, as compared with those of pure competition? Discuss the assumptions involved in, and the significance of, this comparison. Do you think it has any implications for public policy?
- Describe and discuss the main features of Schumpeter’s theory of capitalist ‘development’ – his theories of the nature and rôle of entrepreneurial activity, of credit, of capital, of profits, and of the business cycle.
- Write anything you wish to write, on the reading you did under the May reading assignment.
- Write a half-hour essay on any topic of your own choice, in any way related to any of the subject-matter of the course not treated in your answers to the foregoing questions.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 4, Papers Printed for Final Examinations. History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science. June 1939.
Image Source: Harvard Class Album 1942.