This post adds an item to the course materials for Seymour Harris’ 1933-34 undergraduate Harvard course “Money, Banking and Cycles”.
Previously posted:
Syllabus and reading assignments for both semesters.
Course Final Examination from June 1934.
_____________________
1933-34
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 3
Mid-Year Examination
- Answer (a), (b) or (c)
- What banking weaknesses were revealed by the major crises in the U.S. in the fifty years preceding the War?
- Give the main outline of Bank of England policy during the Restriction Period (Napoleonic Wars) with critical comments.
- Discuss the principles of Central Banking embodied in the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Was England’s success in maintaining the gold standard before the War because of or in spite of the Act? Would you favor the adoption of the principles of the Bank Act of 1844 in this country at the present time?
- Spend one hour on this question.
The more important items on the balance-sheet of the Federal reserve authorities were as follows in the months designated:
| (Millions of dollars) | ||||||
| Bills Discounted | Bills Bought | U.S. Govt. Securities | Monetary Gold Stock | Money in Circulation | Member Bank Reserve Balances | |
| March ‘32 | 714 | 105 | 809 | 4372 | 5531 | 1899 |
| March ‘33 | 994 | 379 | 1875 | 4260 | 6998 | 1914 |
| Sept. ‘33 | 138 | 7 | 2202 | 4327 | 5632 | 2489 |
What inferences as to policies and developments in this period can be drawn from these figures? Elaborate.
- Answer two of the following three questions:
- Discuss the relation of the banks to the capital market.
- What concern should a central bank have with security speculation?
- What limits, if any, are there to the creation of deposits? What limits, if any, are there to the creation of deposits? Discuss in this connection the varying reserve requirements against time and demand deposits.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 12. Bound Volume: Examination Papers, Mid-Years 1933-34.
Image Source: Harvard Class Album 1934.