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Harvard. Mid-year and Final Exams for Economics courses, 1899-1900

 

With this post the Harvard economics exam collection of Economics in the Rear-view Mirror enters the 20th century. 

All the printed exams for the academic year 1899-1900 have been transcribed for the digitized record.

Economics 1. Outlines of Economics
Economics 2. Economic Theory of the 19th Century
Economics 3. Principles of Sociology
Economics 4. Statistics
Economics 5. Railways and Other Public Works
Economics 6. Economic History of the U.S.
Economics 7a. Financial Administration and Public Debts
Economics 7b. Theory and Methods of Taxation
Economics 8. Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects
Economics 9. [Labor Question in Europe and the U.S.]
Economics 10. [European Mediaeval Economic History]
Economics 11. Modern Economic History of Europe
Economics 12. [Banking and Leading Banking Systems]
Economics 12a. [International Payments and Gold/Silver Flows]
Economics 13. [Methods of Economic Investigation]
Economics 14. Socialism and Communism
Economics 15. The History of Economics to close of the 18th Century
Economics 16. Financial History of the U.S.
Economics 20a. Economics of Ancient World
Economics 20b. Commercial Crises
Economics 20c. Tariff History of the U.S.
Economics 20e. Ethnology Applied to Economics

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Economics 1.
Outlines of Economics

Course Announcement

[Economics] 1. Outlines of Economics. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor  [Frank William] Taussig, Asst. Professor Edward Cummings, Dr. John Cummings, Dr. [Guy Stevens] Callender, Dr. [Oliver Mitchell Wentworth] Sprague, Messrs. [Abram Piatt] Andrew and [Edward Henry] Warren.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 367.

Course Enrollment
1899-1900

Primarily for Undergraduates:—
[Economics] 1. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings, Dr. John Cummings, Dr. Callender, Dr. Sprague, Messrs. Andrew and Warren. — Outlines of Economics. Lectures and recitations (3 hours); prescribed reading. Recitations in 12 sections.

Total 461: 1 Graduate, 15 Seniors, 85 Juniors, 277 Sophomores, 23 Freshmen, 60 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 68.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 1
[Mid-year examination]

One question may be omitted from each of the two groups.
Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

I.

  1. Explain what is meant by

positive and preventive checks;
effective desire of accumulation;
margin of cultivation.

  1. In what manner the investment of capital is promoted

by the payment of interest;
by corporations or joint stock companies;
by private ownership of land.

Are there differences between the conclusions of Mill and Hadley on these subjects?

  1. Does Mill believe there is an “unearned increment”? does Hadley?
  2. “Profits are neither more nor less than the selling price of the products of industry above the amount advanced in wages.” Hadley
    “Profits do not depend on prices, nor on purchase and sale.” Mill
    Can you reconcile these two statements? and how is either of them to be reconciled with the expenditure incurred by capitalists for materials and machinery ?
  3. “The separation of interest from net profit and rent results in a separation of the reward for waiting from the rewards for rent and foresight.” Explain wherein this separation at the hands of Hadley is different from the treatment of the same subject by Mill.

II.

  1. Mention special circumstances which act on the remuneration of (take three),

domestic servants;
physicians;
artists of eminence;
business men.

  1. For each of the three groups into which Mill divides commodities according to the laws of value governing them, mention an example, giving your reasons for the classification.
  2. Suppose two kinds of shoes, one made chiefly by hand, the other made chiefly in factories where much machinery is used. How will a general rise in wages affect their relative value?
  3. Explain what is meant by commercial speculation; by industrial speculation; and set forth (as to one) the advantages and disadvantages.
  4. Wherein is Mill’s attitude toward socialism more or less sympathetic than Hadley’s?
  5. “Coöperation is often confounded with profit-sharing, but the two things are radically distinct in their nature.”
    Would Mill’s discussion of these subjects lead you to think him likely to accede to this statement of Hadley’s? What is your own opinion?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, containing the volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 1
[Year-end examination]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

I
Three questions from this group.

  1. Is rent a return different in kind from interest? Is interest a return different in kind from profits? Do Hadley and Mill differ as to these distinctions?
  2. Is the stock of money in a country, metallic and paper, part of its capital? Why, or why not?
  3. A large increase in population has taken place in most countries during this century; and the well-being of laborers has advanced. Are these facts inconsistent with the principles that there is a law of diminishing returns from land, and that a rapid increase of population causes wages to be low?
  4. If the efficiency of labor in a given community were suddenly doubled as to all commodities, how would their values be affected? their prices? How would international trade be affected?

II.
Three questions from this group.

  1. Explain what is meant by (a) index numbers, (b) tabular standard. Would the adoption of a tabular standard make the adjustment of relations between debtor and creditor more equitable? more convenient?
  2. What would you expect to be the effect of a great increase in the exports of a given country on the foreign exchanges, on the movement of specie, on the rate of discount, on prices?
  3. Is there any ground for the feeling of apprehension often expressed when gold is exported from a country?
  4. Can you reconcile the statement that a country’s exports tend usually to be equal in money value to its imports, with the statement that the country may gain more from the exchange than do the countries with which it trades?

III.
Four questions from this group.

  1. “The distinctive function of the banker begins as soon as he uses the money of others.”
    “Banks make the larger portion of their profits, not from their capital, but from the use of money furnished them by their customers.”
    Should you accede to these statements?
  2. To what peculiar expedients do banks resort in time of crisis in (a) England, (b) Germany, (c) the United States?
  3. The provisions of the acts of 1878 and 1892. Why did the one cause much embarassment, the other little?
  4. Points of resemblance, points of difference, between the Issue Department of the Bank of England, and the Division of Issue and Redemption established by the act of 1900 in the Treasury of the United States.
  5. In view of what you learned about credit and banking, do you believe that the general range of prices depends on the plentifulness of specie? If so, how? if not, why not?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, bound volume Examination Papers 1900-01, pp. 27-28.

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Economics 2
Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century

Course Announcement

[Economics] 2. Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Professor Taussig.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 367.

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 2. Professor Taussig. — Economic Theory in the Nineteenth Century. Lectures and discussions (3 hours); required reading.

Total 65: 8 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 27 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 9 Others.

Source:   Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900.
ECONOMICS 2.
[Mid-year examination]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.
One question may be omitted.

  1. “That high wages make high prices, is a popular and widely-spread opinion. The whole amount of error involved in this proposition can only be seen thoroughly when we come to the theory of money.”“It is another common notion that high prices make high wages; because the producers or dealers, being better off, can afford to pay more to their labourers.”What would Cairnes say was the “amount of error” in the opinions here stated by Mill?
  2. “What was Cairnes’s answer to the question put by him: “Are these grounds for a separate theory of international trade?”
  3. Suppose country A to have to remit regularly a tribute to country B: trace the effects on imports and exports, on the usual rates of foreign exchange, on the level of prices in the two countries.
  4. Is Cairnes’s reasoning as to the effect which trade unions may exercise on wages consistent with his reasoning as to “a certain proportion of the sums invested, which must go to the payment of wages”?
  5. (a) “The tiller of the soil must abide in faith of a harvest, through months of ploughing, sowing, and cultivating; and his industry is only possible as food has been stored up from the crop of the previous year . . . To the extent of a year’s subsistence, then, it is necessary that some one should stand ready to make advances to the wage-laborer out of the products of past industry. All sums so advanced came out of capital.”(b) ”But how largely, in fact, are wages advanced out of capital?. . . In some exceptional industries [e.g. transportation companies] it happens that the employer realizes on his product in a shorter time than once a week, so that the labourer is not only paid out of the product of his industry, but actually advances to the employer a portion of the capital on which he operates.”(c) “In new countries . . . the wages of labor are paid only partially out of capital . . . A collection of accounts from the books of farmers in different sections before 1851 shows the hands charged with advances of the most miscellaneous character. Yet in general the amount of such advances does not exceed one third, and it rarely reaches one half, of the stipulated wages of the year. Now it is idle to speak of wages thus paid as coming out of capital. At the time these contracts were made the wealth which was to pay those wages was not in existence.”Consider whether an advance from capital, or the absence of an advance, is made out in the cases here described by Walker.
  6. How far you regard wages and other incomes as predetermined, — i.e. determined by causes that have operated in the past; and how far your conclusion is affected by the saving and investment of a part of current money income.
  7. Your conclusion as to what share in distribution is “residual” (a) over short periods, (b) over long periods.
  8. Is the doctrine of a rigid and predetermined wages-fund set forth by Ricardo? By Mill?
  9. The “laissez-faire” and “natural rights” theory at the hands of Adam Smith, of Bastiat, of John Stuart Mill.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Prof. F. W. Taussig, Examination Papers in Economics 1882-1935 (Scrapbook). Also in Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, containing the volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900.
ECONOMICS 2.
[Year-end examination]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

  1. a) “The analysis of consumer’s surplus, or rent, gives definite expression to familiar notions, but introduces to new subtlety.”Explain.b) Consider qualifications to be borne in mind in measuring consumer’s surplus; and give your conclusion as to helpfulness of the doctrine thus qualified.
  2. “When we speak of the national dividend, or distributable net income of the whole nation, as divided into the shares of land, labour, capital, we must be clear as to what things we are including, and what things we are excluding . . . The labour and capital of the country, acting on its natural resources, produce annually a certain net aggregate of commodities, material and immaterial, including services of all kinds. This is the true net annual income, or revenue, of the country; or, the national dividend.”“It is to be understood that the share of the national dividend, which any particular class receives during the year, consists either of things that were made during the year, or the equivalents of those things. For many of the things made, or partly made, during the year are likely to remain in the possession of capitalists and undertakers of industry and to be added to the stock of capital; while in return they, directly or indirectly, hand over to the working classes some things that had been made in previous years.“Consider as to these passages, (1) their relation to the doctrine of total utility and consumer’s rent, (2) whether you would accede to either statement, or to both.
  3. Define monopoly revenue; and consider the effect on monopoly and on the prices of the monopolized article of (1) a tax proportional to monopoly revenue, (2) a tax fixed in total amount, (3) a tax proportional to quantity produced.
  4. “We might reasonably dispute whether it is the upper blade of a pair of scissors or the lower that cuts a piece of paper, as whether value is governed by utility or cost of production. It is true that when one blade is held still, and the cutting is effected by moving the other, we may say with careless brevity that the cutting is done by the second; but the statement is not strictly accurate, and is to be excused only so long as it claims to be merely a popular and not a strictly scientific account of what actually happens.” Explain; and consider whether Mill or Cairnes would have accepted this conclusion.

5, 6, 7 (answer separately, or as one question, at your pleasure).

Rent and quasi-rent;
Producer’s rent and saver’s rent;
Producer’s rent and business profits, —

wherein like, wherein unlike; with a consideration of the helpfulness of the distinctions for the solution of economic problems.

  1. Compare the conclusions of Mill, Cairnes, Marshall, as to the causes of the differences in remuneration in different social strata.
  2. Suppose France, Germany, and the United States had not legislated as they did in 1873-75, what would have been, in your opinion, the course of the price of silver?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Prof. F. W. Taussig, Examination Papers in Economics 1882-1935 (Scrapbook). Also in Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, bound volume Examination Papers 1900-01, pp. 28-29.

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Economics 3
Principles of Sociology

Course Announcement

[Economics] 3. The Principles of Sociology. — Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 367.

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 3. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings. — The Principles of Sociology. — Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. Lectures (3 hours); excursions; 6 reports or theses.

Total 105: 7 Graduates, 35 Seniors, 37 Juniors, 10 Sophomores, 16 Others.

Source:   Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 3
[Mid-year examination]

In discussing these topics, indicate so far as you can in each case the views held by the several authors read and discussed during the half-year; and state clearly your own conclusions.

  1. The peculiar relations of man to his environment:—
    1. The relative importance of human, or non-human elements of environment at different stages of progress.
    2. The ideal adjustment of man to the several elements of his environment.
  2. a) The Biological conditions of progress; b) the Economic conditions; c) the Ethical conditions.How related; and how reconcilable?
  3. The family and progress
  4. Reason and progress.
  5. Religion and progress.
  6. Imitation and “consciousness of kind.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, containing the volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 3
[Year-end examination]
  1. State the subject of your final report, and the amount of reading or other work done in preparation of it.
  2. The Social Contract:(a) Origin and successive phases of the theory; comparing the views of its chief expounders and critics.(b) Bearing of the Social Contract theory upon recent speculations in regard to the nature and origin of social and political institutions.
  3. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” Explain carefully your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with these statements.
  4. (a) Spencer’s theory as to the origin and development of political forms and forces;(b) The value of his practical conclusions in regard to the legitimate function of the modern State;(c) Laissez-faire and the survival of the unfit.
  5. The conditions making for race progress and for race deterioration:(a) Analyse Haycraft’s Evidence and his conclusions;(b) Analyse Kelly’s evidence and his conclusions.
  6. Tarde’s laws of Repetition, Opposition, Adaptation: explain and illustrate their sociological significance.
  7. The curve of social progress.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, bound volume Examination Papers 1900-01, p. 30.

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Biographical information for John Cummings has been posted earlier:

https://www.irwincollier.com/harvard-semester-exams-for-statistics-john-cummings-1896-1900/

Economics 4.
Statistics

Course Announcement

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 4. Statistics. — Theory, method, and practice. — Studies in Demography. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 11. Dr. John Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 368.

Course Enrollment 1899-1900
(Year-course)

[Economics] 4. Dr. John Cummings. — Statistics. — Theory, method, and practice. — Studies in Demography. Lectures (3 hours) and conferences; 2 reports; theses.

Total 10: 1 Graduate, 2 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900.
ECONOMICS 4.
[Mid-year examination]

Devote one hour to A and the remainder of your time to B.

A.

  1. Urban growth and migration. Consider the sex and age distribution of migrants, the natural increase of urban and rural populations, and the causes of migration into urban centres. Illustrate by considering the actual conditions and movement in some one country or important urban centre.
  2. The data of criminal statistics as an index of amount of criminality. Consider the tables relating to crime in the United States census; the several statistical methods of dealing with crime and with the criminal classes; age, sex, and civil status as a factor in criminality; and the law of criminal saturation.

B.
Elect ten, and answer concisely.

1 and 2. [counts as two questions]. Statistical measurements of agglomeration. Consider statistical methods of determining degree of concentration, also definition of the urban unit.

2 and 4. [counts as two questions]. Causes tending to make the rate of mortality lower for urban than for rural populations? Causes tending to make it higher? The rate of natality?

5. Methods of estimating population for intercensal years.

6. Statistical laws and freedom of the will

7. Define “life-table population.”

8. Define carefully the following terms: “birth rate,” “rate of natality”; “rate of mortality”; death rate”; “rate of nuptialité”; “marriage rate”; index of mortality.”

9. What do you understand by normal distribution of population by sex? By age? By civil status?

10. Economic value of a population as effected by its age and sex distribution? By movement? by immigration?

11. Of what statistical significance is the doubling period for any population?

12. Can you account for the retardation in the rate of movement of population during this century?

13. Tell when, if ever, the following terms are identical:—

(a) mean age at death.
(b) mean age of living.
(c) mean duration of life.
(d) expectation of life.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examination papers, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers. Mid-years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900.
ECONOMICS 4.
[Year-end examination]

Divide your time equally between A and B.

A.

  1. Statistical methods of estimating wealth accumulated.Comment critically upon the census statistics of wealth accumulated in the United States.
  2. Statistical evidences of the progress of the working classes in the last half-century. Discuss the movement of wages and prices.What do you understand by “index figures,” “average wages,” “average prices,” “weighted averages”? Explain methods of weighting.
  3. The growth of cities and social election.

B.
Two questions may be omitted.

  1. How far are social conditions in a community revealed in the birth rate? the death rate? by the “index of mortality”? What do you understand by “movement of population”?
  2. In constructing a life table what correction must be made for abnormal age and sex distribution? Define “mortality,” “natality,” “expectation of life.” How should you calculate the “mean duration of life” from the census returns?
  3. The limit to the increase of population in the food supply? In other forms of wealth?
  4. Can you formulate any laws which will be true in general of the migrations of population?
  5. Methods of estimating population for intercensal years.
  6. Statistics of manufacturers in the United States census.
  7. How should you calculate the economic value of a population?
  8. Take one:—The rate of suicide as evidence of degeneration.The tables relating to crime in the Federal census of the United States.
  9. How far is it possible to give to moral and social facts a quantitative statement?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. June 1900, p. 31.

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Economics 5
Railways and other Public Works

Course Announcement

[Economics] 5. Railways and other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management. Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 1.30. Mr. Meyer.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 368.

Course Enrollment
(Year-course)

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 5. Mr. Meyer. Railways and other Public Works, under Public and Corporate Management. Lectures (2 or 3 hours); prescribed reading.

Total 62: 3 Graduates, 27 Seniors, 19 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 7 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 5
[Mid-year examination]
  1. Illustrate by means of such leading facts as you have at your command the statement that the railway problem is the problem of the adjustment of
    1. The claims of rival railways occupying the same territory;
    2. The claims of railways occupying widely separated sections of the country but competing for a “common market”;
    3. The claims of rival producing and distributing centres.
  1. “Had [railroad] building been checked by the censorship of a board of commissioners, and charters granted by the State only upon a showing of necessity, to be determined by the population, density of traffic, and like warrantable reasons, a large percentage of the roads which today constitute the disturbing element of interstate commerce, would never have been built.” — Clark: State Railroad Commissions.Give your reasons for accepting or rejecting the statement that the control here suggested could not have been exercised.
    Alternative:
    The working in Massachusetts of the practice of incorporating railway companies by special charter only.
    The working of the New York legislation of 1892 and 1895 enacting that no new railroad or street railway shall be built in New York State unless the Board of Railroad Commissioners shall certify that public convenience and necessity require the construction.
  2. The analysis of the expense account of railways upon which is based the “joint cost of production” theory of railway rates.
  3. The nature of the statistics used in illustrating in a general way the statement that railway charges are based upon what the traffic will bear: in discussing the bearing of stock-watering upon railway rates.
  4. Pools under the common law: in England; in the United States.
    Alternative:
    The effect upon the railway rate situation at the north-west of the railroad building of 1886 to 1888, and the federal prohibition of pooling, together with the enactment of the “long and short haul” principle.
  5. The decision of the court in Munn v. Illinois; Brass v. North Dakota; Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul v. Minnesota; and Smythe, Attorney-general. v. Ames.
  6. What were the causes of the so-called granger agitation of 1871-74; of the reappearance of this agitation in 1886-88?
  7. The two currents of thought in the Interstate Commerce Act.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year Examination papers, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers. Mid-years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 5
[Year-end examination]

Discuss questions 1 and 2 as thoroughly as you can, and give to question 3 whatever time remains.

  1. Transportation by rail and by water in Prussia and the Prussian Provinces. — A critical account of the working of the Prussian scheme of railway charges.
  2. Should the Interstate Commerce Commission have power to fix railway rates; or should the adjustment of railway rates be left to pools?
  3. The history of electric street railway traction in the United States, and of electric street railway traction and electric lighting in Great Britain. — A critical discussion of the American policy of little or no restriction upon the industries in question, and the British policy of severe restriction coupled with a tendency to municipal ownership and municipal operation.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. June 1900, p. 32.

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Economics 6.
Economic History
of the United States

Biographical Note for Guy Stevens Callender: https://www.irwincollier.com/harvard-final-examination-u-s-economic-history-callender-1899-1900/

Course Description
1897-98

[Economics] 6. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructors. Mr. Callender.

Course 6 gives a general survey of the economic history of the United States from the formation of the Union to the present time, and considers also the mode in which economic principles are illustrated by the experience so surveyed. A review is made of the financial history of the United States, including Hamilton’s financial system, the second bank of the United States and the banking systems of the period preceding the Civil War, coinage history, the finances of the Civil War, and the banking and currency history of the period since the Civil War. The history of manufacturing industries is taken up in connection with the course of international trade and of tariff legislation, the successive tariffs being followed and their economic effects considered. The land policy of the United States is examined partly in its relation to the growth of population and the inflow of immigrants, and partly in its relation to the history of transportation, including the movement for internal improvements, the beginnings of the railway system, the land grants and subsidies, and the successive bursts of activity in railway building. Comparison will be made from time to time with the contemporary economic history of European countries.

Written work will be required of all students, and a course of reading will be prescribed, and tested by examination. The course is taken advantageously with or after History 13. While an acquaintance with economic principles is not indispensable, students are strongly advised to take the course after having taken Economics 1, or, if this be not easy to arrange, at the same time with that course.

Source: Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics, 1897-98,  pp. 32-33.

Course Announcement

[Economics] 6. The Economic History of the United States. Tu., Th., at 2.30. Dr. Callender.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 367.

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 6. Dr. [Guy Stevens] Callender.—The Economic History of the United States. Lectures (2 hours); discussions of assigned topics (1 hour); 2 theses.

Total: 163.  11 Graduates, 64 Seniors, 58 Juniors, 19 Sophomores, 11 Others.

Source:  Harvard University. Annual report of the President of Harvard College 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 6
[Mid-Year Examination]

Answer ten questions, including 5, 6, 7, and 8.

  1. “The English commercial legislation; I conclude, did the colonies no harm prior to 1760; and the English connection did them much good.” — Ashley, in Quarterly Journal of Economies, November 1899.
    Do you agree with this conclusion? Be careful to explain why various features of English colonial policy were, or were not, burdensome to the colonies.
  2. Do you consider the following extract a sufficient explanation of the great prosperity of the colonies in the eighteenth century, or the new states of the West during the fifty years before the Civil War? If not point out the neglected factor.“The colony of a civilized nation which takes possession of a waste country … advances more rapidly to wealth and greatness than any other human society.The colonists carry with them a knowledge of agriculture and of other useful arts. … Every colonist gets more land than he can possibly cultivate. He has no rent and scarce any taxes to pay. No landlord shares with him in its produce, and the share of the sovereign is commonly but a trifle. He has every motive to render as great as possible a produce, which is thus to be almost entirely his own. … He is eager, therefore, to collect labourers from all quarters, and to reward them with the most liberal wares. … The liberal reward of labour encourages marriage. The children, during the tender age of infancy are well fed and properly taken care of, and when they are grown up, the value of their labour greatly overpays their maintenance. When arrived at maturity, the high price of labour and the low price of land, enables them to establish themselves in the same manner as their fathers did before them.”“Plenty of good land, and liberty to manage their own affairs their own way, seems to be the two great causes of the prosperity of all new colonies.” — Wealth of Nations.
  3. Briefly describe the experience of the American people with paper currency prior to the formation of the federal constitution, noting the different kinds of paper money used.
  4. In what respect did the revenue system of the United States in 1830 differ from that in operation in 1800? Do you think the change was a change for the better?
  5. “It is now proper to proceed a step further, and to enumerate the principal circumstances from which it may be inferred that manufacturing establishments not only occasion a positive augmentation of the produce and revenues of the society, but that they contribute essentially to render them greater than they could possibly be without such establishments.” — Hamilton, Report on Manufactures.
    Enumerate as many of these “circumstances” as you can and discuss the one which seems to you to furnish the strongest argument for the Protective policy.
  6. “…The Protective policy of the United States has had unexpected successes and surprising failures. By successes, here I mean that sometimes the duties have brought about a considerable development of the protected industry; while by failures, I would describe those cases in which there has been an absence of such development…” — Taussig, Tariff History.
    Mention several cases of each and point out the causes for success or failure in every case.
  7. What were the principal features of our tariff legislation from the close of the Civil War to 1883?
  8. “There seem, however, to be two cases in which it will generally be advantageous to lay some burden upon foreign, for the encouragement of domestic industry.” — Wealth of Nations.
    What are these two exceptions to Adam Smith’s free trade principles? Has either of them ever had any influence in determining American tariff policy?
  9. “It is not uncommon to meet with an opinion, that though the promoting of manufactures may be the interest of a part of the Union, it is contrary to that of another part. The northern and southern regions are sometimes represented as having adverse interests in this respect. These are called manufacturing; those agricultural states; and a species of opposition is imagined to subsist between the manufacturing and agricultural interests. …” — Hamilton, Report on Manufactures.
    How far had this supposed opposition of interest between the North and South respecting the tariff a real basis? Was there not the same opposition of interest between the East and West?
  10. “The material progress during 1850-60 was greater than that of any preceding decade. To excel it, we must look forward to the time intervening between the end of the Civil War and the present. …”— Rhodes, History of United States.
    What were the principal causes of this prosperity?
  11. Does the experience of the United States at any period of its history confirm or refute the following proposition?
    “…The inevitable consequence of free trade and constantly increasing commercial intercourse between the two countries (e. United States and Great Britain) must be, to establish among the inhabitants of both of them the same standard of material well being, the same measure and distribution of individual prosperity. Great Britain is now (1855) pouring upon us in a full tide both the surplus of her population and the products of her over-tasked manufacturing industry. … To expect that, in two countries thus situated, without any special direction of public policy toward maintaining some barrier between them, the pressure of population, the profits of capital. And the wages of labor can long remain very unequal, would be as idle as to believe that, without the erection of a dam. Water could be maintained at two different levels in the same pond ….” — Bowen, American Political Economy, p. 216.
  12. How would you explain the prevalence of public enterprises in transportation and banking in the United States between 1815 and 1850?
  13. In what respects should conclusions, drawn from the experiences of European countries, regarding the effects of a Protective Tariff, be modified, when applied to the United States?
  14. Compare the main features of the commercial policy of Europe and America at the present time with the mercantile system of the eighteenth century.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, containing the volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 6
[Final examination, 1900]
  1. Into what periods may the economic history of the United States be properly divided? Give your reasons for making such a division, pointing out the chief characteristic of each period.
  2. “A monopoly may be either legal, natural, or industrial.”—Distinguish each of these from the others by examples, and explain at length what is the character of an “industrial monopoly.”
  3. What legislation, if any, do you think is needed for the control of trusts? Give in full the reasons for your opinion.
  4. What features of American railway legislation do you consider open to criticism?
  5. “…As has been pointed out in the preceding chapter, cotton culture offered many and great advantages over other crops for the use of slave labor; but slavery had few, if any advantages over free labor for the cultivation of cotton….”—(a) Point out some of the advantages of cotton over other crops for the use of slave labor. (b) How do you reconcile the last part of the statement with the fact that cotton was produced chiefly by slave, instead of free, labor?
  6. Considering the conditions prevailing among the negroes in the South as well as in the West Indies since emancipation, what criticism, if any, would you make upon the policy of emancipation as actually carried out by the federal government during and after the war?
  7. What influences can you mention which have contributed to the recent depressed condition of cotton producers? (Do not confine your attention to the “credit system.”)
  8. What were the principal provisions of the resumption act? Explain the conditions under which it was carried into effect.
  9. Explain the conditions which led to the crisis or 1893.
  10. What reasons can you give to support the proposition that immigration has increased the population of the United States but little, if any?

Source:  Harvard University Archives.  Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 2, Folder “Final examinations, 1899-1900”.

Also: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. June 1900, pp. 32-33.

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Economics 7a
Financial Administration and Public Debts

Course Announcement

[Economics] 7a1 hf. Financial Administration and Public Debts. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) at 11. Professor Dunbar.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 368.

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 7a1 hf. Professor Dunbar. — Financial Administration and Public Debts. Lectures (2 or 3 hours); prescribed reading; report.

Total 36: 7 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 7 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 7a
[Mid-year examination]

Divide your time equally between A and B.

A.
Question A.2 may be omitted and your time devoted to Question A.1; or A.1 and A.2 may be treated together as forming one question.

  1. Give some account of English sinking fund provisions enacted since 1860, and of operations looking toward reduction of the English debt during that period. If you prefer, take instead the period 1790-1820.
  2. What determines the present worth of government securities in general? and in particular, of the following sorts of securities at the date of their issue:—
    1. a terminable annuity?
    2. a perpetual annuity?
    3. a life or a tontine annuity?
    4. a five-twenty bond? an English consol? of the French rentes?
    5. of paper currency?

What effect upon the present worth of a public security has lengthening the term for which it is to run? Consider inconvertible paper currency

B.
Take six.

  1. What do you understand by “floating debt”? by “funded debt”? “unliquidated debt”? “credit supplementaire”?
  2. Discuss the “use and disuse of ‘relishes,’ gambling risks which are added in order to commend a public loan to the taste of creditors,” as a factor in the development of public credit
  3. Compare the development of public credit in Prussia with that in Great Britain at the beginning of this century.
  4. and 5. [counts as two questions] Compare the manner of making up estimates of public income and expenditures, and the responsibility of the finance minister in England, France and the United States. The manner of appropriating funds out of the treasury in these several countries.
  1. How far, if at all, is a government justified in pledging itself to any fixed policy of debt payment? How may a policy of conversion conflict with a policy of payment?
  2. Give an account of any important refunding operation with which you are familiar.
  3. Examine and criticise the following selection: “As regards the relation of public control to public credit, there is obviously a long step taken in advance when the public control comes to be so employed as to not discriminate in its own favor.”
  4. Criticise the opinions set forth in the following selections:—“A large national debt is a ‘canker which consumes the political energy and the wealth of a nation’ and will sooner or later destroy it.”“Public debt is debt only in form; in point of substantial fact every loan is an independent method of taxing the future for all those government expenses which go to build up permanent government establishments for the benefit of the future by means of advances furnished by the present.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, containing the volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.
Also: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. June 1900, p. 34.

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Economics 7b
The Theory and
Methods of Taxation

Course Announcement

[Economics] 7b2 hf. The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special reference to local taxation in the United States. Half-course(second half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) at 8. Professor Taussig.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 368.

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 7b2 hf. Professor Taussig. — The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special reference to local taxation in the United States. Lectures and discussions (hours); required reading.

Total 73: 6 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 27 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 10 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 7b
[Year-end examination]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.
Give your reasons in all cases.

  1. How far something analogous to the end which is proposed by the “single tax” is attained by (1) the French impôt foncier, (2) the English Land Tax, (3) local taxes on urban realty in the United States.
  2. “(1) It is maintained by some economists that the taxes on rented real estate are shifted entirely to the tenants, and result by just so much in an increase of rents. (2) It is maintained by others that, when land has a considerable value, the taxes are shifted to tenants only in part, and in part have the effect of lessening the selling price of site on which the buildings stand. … (3) But in either case the investment price of the property has long since been adjusted to the tax.”Explain which among these three statements, if any, you think accurate, giving your reasons.
  3. The relation of local taxes on real property to central taxes thereon, in France, in England, in American states?
  4. Are there features in the Prussian tax reforms of 1891-93 which may be commended for imitation in American states?
  5. The nature of the advantages secured by the combination of local with central administration in the income tax legislation of England and of Prussia.
  6. “Is it quite honest for a government to keep back part of what it has promised to pay a pensioner, an annuitant, or the holder of public obligations? Is it reasonable to tax public salaries when the result of such a tax is to increase the expense of administration without increasing by one penny the clear income to the government? Can a man who knows how contracts are drawn between debtors and creditors be convinced that equity is the result of attempting to tax a money-lender through the agency of the borrower? Can it be denied that the application of the principle of “tapping” at their source the incomes which, unfortunately for the recipients, are recorded, while permitting other incomes to pay on the basis of self- assessment by the individual, is to perpetuate one of the worst features of the general property tax, namely, inequality of assessments as between individuals?”
    Answer these questions, separately or as a whole, with regard to the tax system which is referred to by the writer.
  7. Is the Massachusetts system of taxing corporations and corporate securities open to the charge of leading to double taxation?
  8. The reasons for and against the establishment of an income tax by the United States.
  9. Do you believe the principle of progression in taxation to be sound?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. June 1900, pp. 35-36.

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Economics 82
Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects

Course Announcement

82 hf. Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects. (Mediaeval and Modern.) Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12.Dr. Cunningham (Trinity College, Cambridge, England).

Source:   Harvard University, Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1898-1899.Cambridge, Massachusetts: 1898, p. 41.

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 82 hf. Dr. Cunnningham.— Western Civilization, mediaeval and modern, in its Economic Aspects. Lectures (3 hours). 4 reports.

Total 105:  13 Graduates, 41 Seniors, 15 Juniors, 23 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 12 Others

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1898-99, p. 72.

Reading List transcribed at: Harvard. Economic Aspects of Western Civilization. Cunningham, 1899

Note: no examinations found.

_______________________

Economics 9
[Omitted in 1899-1900]

[The Labor Question in Europe and the United States. The Social And Economic Condiditon of Workingmen. Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.]

_______________________

Economics 10
[Omitted in 1899-1900]

[The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe. Tu., Thu., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat. at 12. Professor Ashley.]

_______________________

Economics 11
Modern European and American Economic History

Course Description (from 1897-98)

[Economics] 11. The Modern Economic History of Europe and America (from 1500). Tu., Th., (and at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 12. Professor Ashley.

This course, — which will usually alternate with Course 10 [The Mediaeval Economic History of Europe] in successive years, — while intended to form a sequel to Course 10, will nevertheless be independent, and may usefully be taken by those who have not followed the history of the earlier period. The main thread of connection will be found in the history of trade; but the outlines of the history of agriculture and industry will also be set forth, and the forms of social organization dependent upon them. England, as the first home of the “great industry,” will demand a large share of attention; but the parallel or divergent economic history of the United States, and of the great countries of western Europe, will be considered side by side with it.

Source: Harvard University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. [Announcement of the] Division of History and Political Science Comprising the Departments of History and Government and Economics 1897-98, pp. 31-32.

Course Announcement

[Economics] 11. The Modern Economic History of Europe and America (from 1500). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor)Sat., at 12. Professor Ashley.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 367.

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 11. Professor Ashley.—The Modern Economic History of Europe. Lectures (2 or 3 hours).

Total 76: 15 Graduates, 21 Seniors, 26 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1899-1900, p. 69.

Course Readings

Harvard. Readings for Modern Economic History. Ashley, 1899-1900

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 11.
[Mid-year examination]

N.B. — Not more than eight questions should be attempted,
of which the first must be one.

  1. Comment upon, and (where the text is not English) translate,the following passages:—
    1. Exemplar bullae seu donationis auctoritate cujus episcopus Romanus Alexander, ejus nominis sextus, concessit et donavit Castellae recibus et suis successoribus regiones et insulas novi orbis in Oceano occidentali Hispanorum navigationibus repertas.
    2. Ibi enim tanta copia navigantium est cum mercimoniis ut in toto reliquo orbe non sint sicuti in uno portu nobilissimo vocato Zaitun. Asserunt enim centum naves pipis magnae in eo portu singulis annis deferri, sine aliis navibus portantibus alia aromata.
    3. The Flemings there sometimes had a house of merchandise, but by reason that they used the like ill-dealing there which they did with us, they lost their privileges.
    4. There is good hope that the same law being duly executed should yield unto the hired person both in the time of scarcity and in the time of plenty a convenient proportion of wages.
    5. Wo jetzt eine grosse Gesellschaft ist, da nährten sich sonst wohl 20 oder mehr.
  1. Give some account of the Portuguese policy in Asia during the sixteenth century.
  2. Trace the origin and development of the class of English farmers up to the middle of the seventeenth century.
  3. Compare the industrial conditions indicated by the craft ordinances of the later Middle Ages with those described in Defoe’s Tour.
  4. Explain the importance of the statute of 1536 in the history of the English Poor Law.
  5. Give some account, and explain the significance, of the statutes of Edward VI and of Mary touching the manufacture of cloth.
  6. “The popular fears of engrossing and forestalling may be compared to the popular terror of witchcraft.” Criticise this dictum of Adam Smith in relation to (a) the Middle Ages; (b) the Age of Elizabeth; (c) our own time.
  7. What is meant by a national economy, as contrasted with a town economy? Illustrate from European conditions in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
  8. Indicate the points of contact between the life of Sir Thomas Gresham and the economic movements of his time.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, containing the volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 11
[Year-end examination]

Not more than eight questions should be attempted,
of which the first must be one.

  1. Explain briefly the significance of the following passages:—
      1. No sugars, tobacco, cotton wool, indigoes, ginger, fustic or other dyeing wood, of the growth, production or manufacture of any English plantations in America, Asia or Africa shall be shipped, carried, conveyed or transported from any of the said English plantations to any land . . . or place whatsoever, other than to such English plantations as do belong to His Majesty or to the Kingdom of England or Ireland or principality of Wales, &c.
      2. The churchwardens of every parish and four substantial householders there … shall take order from time to time … for setting to work of the children whose parents … shall not be able to keep and maintain their children, and also all such persons as, having no means to maintain them, use no ordinary and daily trade of life to get their living by.
  2. Compare the industrial and political life of one of the larger cities of the 15th century — say London or Norwich — with that of a great American city to-day.
  3. State and criticise Seeler’s view of the meaning of English history in the 17th and 18th centuries.
  4. What were the features common to the South Sea Company and the Mississippi Scheme, and wherein did they differ?
  5. Discuss the question as to the practical effect of the Justices’ Assessment of Wages.
  6. What suggestions or warnings for the U. S. in their treatment of the Philippine Islands may be derived them the history of English or Dutch experience in the East?
  7. “It is in the highest degree improbable that the industrial system, which has been gradually superseded in the last 150 years, over had those pleasing characteristics which have been attributed to it.” Consider this.
  8. “The historical method not always conservative — Changes commonly attributed to natural law are sometimes shown by it to be due to human injustice — The decay of the Yeomanry a case in point.” Is it a case in point or no? Explain your judgment, in either event.
  9. Consider either Sir Josiah Child or the first Sir Robert Peel as typical merchants of their times.
  10. Describe briefly the agrarian measures of Stein, and compare them with any other agrarian legislation in other countries and other times that may be familiar to you.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. June 1900, pp. 35-36.

_______________________

Economics 121
[Omitted in 1899-1900]

[Banking and the history of the leading Banking Systems. Half-course (first half-year) Tu., Thu., Sat. at 11.Professor Dunbar.]

Economics 122
[Omitted in 1899-1900]

[International payments and the Flow of the Precious Metals. Half-course (second half-year) Tu., Thu., Sat. at 11. Professor Dunbar.]

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 368.

_______________________

Economics 13
[Omitted in 1899-1900]

[Methods of Economic Investigations. — English Writers. — German Writers. Tu., Th., at 1.30. Professor Taussig.]

Courses 15 and 13 are usually given in alternate years.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 368.

_______________________

Economics 14
Communism and Socialism.
History and Literature.

Course Announcement

[Economics] 14. Socialism and Communism. — History and Literature. Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9.Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 367.

Course Enrollment

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 14. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.—Communism and Socialism.—History and Literature. Lectures (3 hours); 6 reports or theses.

Total 22: 2 Graduates, 11 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 14
[Mid-year examination]
  1. How, according to Plato, are economic organization, and the problems of production and distribution related (a) to social development; (b) to social and political degeneration?
  2. What do you conceive to be his most permanent contribution to social philosophy? What his chief defect?
  3. How far do the teachings of the Christian church and the Canon Law throw light on the gradual development of our fundamental economic ideas in regard to wealth, capital, trade, commerce?
  4. How far is there ground for the contention that the writings of Rousseau have been the chief arsenal of social and political revolutionists?
  5. “The right to the whole produce of labor—to subsistence—to labor:”What, according to Menger, have been the most important contributions to the successive phases of this discussion?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, containing the volume Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 14
[Year-end examination]
  1. The subject of your last report, and the authors read in preparation; summarize briefly your conclusions.
  2. Socialistic and communistic experiments in America:
    1. Character and chronological sequence of the several groups, and their relation to special phases of socialistic thought in other countries;
    2. Name and location of typical communities;
    3. The practical and the theoretical significance of such experiments.
  3. Recent American socialism:
    1. Successive phases and present aspects;
    2. Impressions derived from the propagandist press.
  4. Recent English socialism:
    1. Attitude toward Trade Unionism; toward “ unearned increment”;
    2. Toward the doctrines of the classic economists;
    3. Toward the doctrines of Karl Marx.
  5. The psychology of socialism:
    1. Summarize the main conclusions of Le Bon;
    2. Discuss critically the evidence on which these conclusions rest.
  6. The economic lessons of socialism: Analyze Sidgwick’s conclusions; state your own opinions.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers 1900-01. June 1900, p. 37.

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Economics 15
History of Economics to the Close of the 18th Century

Course Announcement

[Economics] 15. The History and Literature of Economics to the close of the Eighteenth Century. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Professor Ashley.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 368.

Course Enrollment

Primarily for Graduates:—
[Economics] 15. Professor Ashley. — The History and Literature of Economics to the close of the Eighteenth Century. Lectures (2 or 3 hours).

Total 11: 6 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 15
[Mid-year examination]

Not more than eight questions should be attempted,
of which the first must be one.

  1. Explain the significance and context of the following passages:
    1. “If you were making a city of pigs, this is the way you would feed them.”
      [Plato, The Republic, Book II]
    2. “If a child be born in their class with an alloy of copper or iron, they are to have no manner of pity upon it.”
      [Plato, The Republic, Book III]
    3. “Each of them is very many cities, – in any case there are two.”
      [Plato, The Republic, Book IV]
    4. “A slave is an animate instrument.”
      [Aristotle. The Politics. Book I, Chapter IV.]
    5. “Every article admits of two uses.”
      [Aristotle. The Politics. Book I, Chapter IX.]
    6. “Mutuum date, nihil inde sperantes.”

[“Lend hoping nothing thereby.” Luke 6:35. Originally from the Vulgate, Latin version of the Bible prepared mainly by St. Jerome in the late 4th century.
“35 verumtamen diligite inimicos vestros et benefacite et mutuum date nihil inde sperantes et erit merces vestra multa et eritis filii Altissimi quia ipse benignus est super ingratos et malos”
“35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”]
cf. Aquinas’ Summa Theologica. Second Division of the Second Part of Question LXXVIII. Of the Sin of Usury That is Committed in Loans.
Also, Théodore Reinach, Mutuum date nihil inde sperantes. Revue des Ètudes Grecques, 1849, pp. 52-48.]

  1. Compare Plato’s conception of the division of labor with that of Adam Smith.
  2. Explain and illustrate the attitude of Aristotle towards the working classes.
  3. It has been remarked that after all Aristotle’s ideal polity is half communistic.
    Criticize this opinion.
  4. Describe the economic organization of the Spartan state. What do you gather from Plato and Aristotle as to the effects of the system?
  5. In one sense, if at all, can the early Christian Church be called communistic? Set forth briefly the nature of the evidence.
  6. Explain what you suppose to be the doctrine of Aquinas as tojust price, and then consider whether the idea is in any way practically applicable under modern circumstances.
    [From the Second Division of the Second Part of Summa Theologica. Question LXXVII. Of Fraudulent Dealing in Buying and Selling.]
  7. Wherein did the medieval contract of partnership approach and wherein did it differ from usury?
  8. Distinguish between the various senses attached to the word “Mercantilism”.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 15
[Year-end examination]

Not more than eight questions should be attempted.

  1. Distinguish between the several lines of thought concerning the causes determining Value to be found in the various writings of John Locke.
  2. The place in economic literature of either Sir Josiah Child or Sir William Petty.
  3. Estimate the influence upon Adam Smith of the economic writings of Hume.
  4. “Es lässt sich ja auch nicht leugnen, dass gerade das Beste an der physiocratischen Theorie: die Darstellung des Wirtschaftlichen Kreislaufs, die Lehre von der Reproduktion der Urstoffe, ihre Formung, Cirkulation und Verteilung, die Berechnung des Kapitalzinses, welchen die Pächter haben muss, und anderes auf einer Beobachtung des wirtschaftlichen Lebens beruhte; kurz sich als eine Beschreibung der französischen Wirtschaft des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts darstellte.”—Hasbach. Translate and comment
    [Wilhelm Hasbach. Die allgemeinen philosophischen grundlagen der von François Quesnay und Adam Smith begründeten politischen ökonomie, 1890, p. 138]
  5. “La division du travail rend de si grands et si évidents services qu’on les a remarqués dès l’antiquité….Mais personne n’en a tiré parti au point de vue économique avant Adam Smith; aussi le considère-t-on en quelque sort comme l’inventeur de la division du travail.” — Block. Translate and comment
    [Maurice Block, Les Progrès de la Science Économique depuis Adam Smith. Tome Premier, Chapitre XVII, La Division du Travail, p. 433.]
  6. A rapid sketch of the literary history of the doctrine of the Balance of Trade.
  7. “The Component Parts of Price.” The significance of the phrase.
  8. Compare Adam Smith’s doctrine of Wages with that of Ricardo.
  9. State and criticise Adam Smith’s Canons of Taxation.
  10. “Un autre progrès doctrinal réalisé depuis Ad. Smith…c’est la part faite aux entrepreneurs.” Translate and comment
    [Maurice Block, Les Progrès de la Science Économique depuis Adam Smith. Revue des Deux Mondes (1890, Vol. 97), p. 940.]
  11. The Historical School: its merits and defects.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1900-01, p. 38.

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Economics 16
Financial History
of the United States

Course Announcement

[Economics] 16. Financial History of the United States. First half-year: from 1789 to the Civil War. Second half-year: from 1860 to the present time.  Tu., Th., at 2.30, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructor. Professor Dunbar.

Course 16 may be taken as a half-course during either half-year.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 368.

Course Enrollment
(First half-year)

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 161 hf. Professor Dunbar. Financial History of the United States from 1789 to the Civil War. Lectures (2 hours); prescribed reading; thesis.

Total 22: 7 Graduates, 7 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

Course Enrollment 1899-1900
(Second half-year)

For Undergraduates and Graduates:—
[Economics] 162 hf. Mr. E. H. Warren. Financial History of the United States from 1860 to the present time.Lectures; prescribed reading; thesis.

Total 25: 5 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 16.
[Mid-year examination]

Divide your time equally between the two parts of the paper.

I.

Omit at least one question; and omit others in addition if your essay under Part II gives the answers.

  1. Wherein Hamilton and Gallatin differed as to the principles on which federal taxes should be levied; and how far legislation during their respective terms in the Treasury differed.
  2. At what time before 1860 did the United States most nearly approach the issue of Treasury Notes designed to circulate money? Give the grounds of your opinion.
  3. The changes introduced in the sinking fund policy of the United States in 1802.
  4. The causes of the suspension of specie payments in 1814.
  5. When and how the removal of the deposits by Jackson was brought about; and its effect on the Bank.
  6. What do you find noteworthy in the relation of the United States to the banking system of the country in 1837? in 1847? in 1857?

II.

Write an essay on one of the following subjects:

(a) The history of the debt of the United States from 1789 to 1836.

(b) The advantages and disadvantages which experience shown to inhere in the establishment of has a great Bank of the United States; with a final statement of your opinion as to expediency of such an institution.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 16
[Year-end examination]
  1. In what were duties on imports into the U. S. payable in 1860? 1862? 1878? 1880? 1891? What were the people of the northern states using as currency in 1860? 1865? 1879? 1893?
  2. What caused the suspension of specie payments by the banks of New York in December 1861?
  3. State seven different ways in which the U. S. borrowed during the Civil War, and the effect of each upon the currency.
  4. Why was the Civil War indebtedness rapidly reduced down to 1891? For what purposes since 1865 has the U. S. incurred additional indebtedness?
  5. Trace briefly the changes in the volume of U. S. Notes outstanding from 1865 to the present day. What do you think would have been the fate of the U. S. Notes if the act of May 31, 1878, had not been passed?
  6. How do you account for the fact that silver certificates are at a par with gold?
  7. What are the provisions of the act of March 14, 1900, as to the Treasury Notes of 1890? What will eventually be the effect upon the currency of the issue of these Notes?
  8. Which notes are better protected, those issued by the U. S. or those issued by national banks?
  9. Does the act of March 14, 1900, “break the endless chain”?
  10. What effect will this act probably have upon the bonded indebtedness of the U. S.?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1900-01, p. 38.

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Note: “Competent students will be guided in independent investigation, and the results of work done in Courses 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, 20e, will be presented for discussion [in Economics 20 Seminary in Economics, meeting Mondays at 4.30]

Economics 20a
The Economic Life and Thought of the Ancient World

Course Announcement

[Economics] 20a hf. The Economic Life and Thought of the Ancient World. Half-course. Once a week. Professor Ashley.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 368.

Course Enrollment

Primarily for Graduates:—
[Economics] 20a hf. Professor Ashley. — The Economic Life and Thought of the Ancient World. Lectures (1 hour) and conferences (monthly).

Total 2: 2 Graduates.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

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Economics 20b
Commercial Crises

Course Announcement

[Economics] 20b hf. Commercial Crises. Half-course. Once a week. Professor Dunbar.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 369.

Course Enrollment

Primarily for Graduates:—
[Economics] 20b hf. Professor Dunbar. — Commercial Crises. Thesis.

Total 1: 2 Graduate.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 69.

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Economics 20c
The Tariff History
of the United States

Course Announcement

[Economics] 20c1 hf. The Tariff History of the United States. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Th., at 1.30. Professor Taussig.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 369.

Course Enrollment

Primarily for Graduates:—
[Economics] 20c hf. Professor Taussig. — The Tariff History of the United States. Lectures (1 hour); required reading; thesis

Total 8: 4 Graduates, 1 Senior, 1 Junior, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 70.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 20c.
[Mid-year examination]

I.
Two questions from this group.

  1. “The difference between the price at which a manufacturer can afford to sell the whole amount of the commodities produced by him in one year, and that at which the same quantity of the same articles may be, or might have been, purchased from others [abroad], is therefore equal to the annual profit or loss resulting from his application of capital and labor to that instead of another branch of industry.” — Gallatin.The reasoning on which this conclusion rests; and your own opinion.
  2. Mill’s reasoning as to the effects of import duties, for revenue or for protection, on the terms of international exchange; your own opinion thereon; and Mill’s probable opinion on Gallatin’s conclusion as quoted in question l.
  3. The export-tax theory; the soundness of the reasoning on which it rested; how far it held good under the conditions of 1830; how far such reasoning would hold good in 1900.

II.
Three questions from this group.

  1. The arguments for (a) protection to young industries (b) the creation of a home market; how far tenable in theory, how far applicable to the conditions of the United States in 1820-30.
  2. The tariff act of 1833; the wisdom of its general plan (assume that a reduction of duties was called for); whether well framed in its details; how far it achieved the results aimed at.
  3. The duties on wool and woolens since 1867; the theory on which they are framed, and the degree of success with which that theory is carried out.
  4. “The phenomena described in the preceding pages [as to flax, silks, glassware…] reduce themselves, in the last analysis, to illustrations of the doctrine of comparative costs.” — Taussig. Why?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years, 1899-1900.

1899-1900
ECONOMICS 20c
[Year-end examination]

I.
Two questions from this group.

  1. “The difference between the price at which a manufacturer can afford to sell the whole amount of the commodities produced by him in one year, and that at which the same quantity of the same articles may be, or might have been, purchased from others [abroad], is therefore equal to the annual profit or loss resulting from his application of capital and labor to that instead of another branch of industry.” — Gallatin.The reasoning on which this conclusion rests; and your own opinion.
  2. Mill’s reasoning as to the effects of import duties, for revenue or for protection, on the terms of international exchange; your own opinion thereon: and Mill’s probable opinion on Gallatin’s conclusion as quoted in question 1.
  3. The export-tax theory; the soundness of the reasoning on which it rested; how far it held good under the conditions of 1830; how far such reasoning would hold good in 1900.

II.
Three questions from this group.

  1. The arguments for (a) protection to young industries (b) the creation of a home market; how far tenable in theory, how far applicable to the conditions of the United States in 1820-30.
  2. The tariff act of 1833; the wisdom of its general plan (assume that a reduction of duties was called for); whether well framed in its details; how far it achieved the results aimed at.
  3. The duties on wool and woolens since 1867; the theory on which they are framed, and the degree of success with which that theory is carried out.
  4. “The phenomena described in the preceding pages [as to flax, silks, glassware …] reduce themselves, in the last analysis, to illustrations of the doctrine of comparative costs.” —Taussig. Why?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 5, Bound volume: Examination Papers, 1900-01, pp. 39-40.

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Economics 20d
Workingmen’s Organizations
in the United States

Course Announcement

Primarily for Graduates:
[Economics] 20d hf. Workingmen’s Organizations in the United States. Half-course. Once a week. Asst. Professor Edward Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 369.

[Apparently zero student enrollment in 1899-1900: see Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 70.]

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Economics 20e
Ethnology in its Applications
to Economic and
Social Problems

Course Announcement

Primarily for Graduates:—
[Economics] 20e2 hf. Ethnology in its Applications to Economic and Social Problems. Half-course (second half-year) Tu., Th., at 9. Dr. John Cummings.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1899-1900, p. 369.

Course Enrollment

Primarily for Graduates:—
[Economics] 20e2. Dr. John Cummings. — Ethnology in its applications to Economic and Social Problems.

Total 5: 1 Graduate, 3 Seniors, 1 Sophomore.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College, 1899-1900, p. 70.

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Image Source: Harvard University Archives. Hollis Images. College Yard, ca. 1900.