Harvard’s Principles of Economics Course (Ec 10) has been historically taught as weekly lectures by some big faculty gun with parlour tricks pedagogy conducted in smaller sections run by graduate students or even junior faculty, especially in earlier years. The lecture part of the course has evolved to include more guest lecturers for specific fields but the grand-lecture/small recitation section format has been robust and apparently quite popular.
I thought it would only involve a few short dives into the internet archive, The Wayback Machine, to reconstruct the course around the year 2000. This turned out to be an over-optimistic plan. Still, I did not re-surface empty-handed and I provide links below to the materials I was able to salvage from that time. Perhaps some still young economist from the period, can provide us copies of problem sets and teaching-handouts to complete our collection. But hey, econometricians have to worry about measurement error, so historians of economics are really not allowed to complain about missing observations. Just as long as we are doing the best we can with what we’ve got. And what you see is what I got.
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Registrar Identifies Biggest Classes
By Catherine E. Shoichet
Harvard Crimson. October 2, 2000
When it comes to picking Core classes, Harvard students tend to be risk averse.
Preliminary figures show that last fall’s two most popular courses, Social Analysis 10, “Principles of Economics” and Moral Reasoning 22, “Justice,” have taken the top slots again this year.
Social Analysis 10, usually called Ec 10, has 805 students this year, according to preliminary course enrollment numbers released by the Office of the Registrar last week. Justice is a close second with 754.
Judith A. Li, an assistant professor of economics who teaches Ec 10 along with Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein ’61, says that despite the class’s large lecture size, most of the basic skills introduced in Ec 10 are taught in smaller sections of about 20 students.
“Our goal for the course is to provide students with a solid and comprehensive foundation in economics,” Li wrote in an e-mail message. “By taking a course like Ec 10, they will be better able to evaluate government policies and political proposals on their own.”
The course is particularly popular among first-year students, many of whom are considering economics as a potential concentration.
“I really enjoy the lectures,” Leah E. Wahba ’04 said. “It’s an honor to be in Marty Feldstein’s class because he has so much extensive experience in the field of economics.” […]
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From the Ec 10 home page (2000-2001)
Social Analysis 10
Faculty
Martin Feldstein
Judith Li
Ec 10 is the introductory course for both economics concentrators and those who plan no further work in the field. This course provides an introduction to economic issues and basic economic principles and methods. Fall term focuses on “microeconomics”: supply and demand, labor and financial markets, taxation, and social economic issues of health care, poverty, the environment, and income distribution. Spring term focuses on “macroeconomics”: the impact of both monetary and fiscal policy on inflation, unemployment, interest rates, investment, the exchange rate, and international trade. We study the role of government in the economy, including Social Security, the tax system, and economic change in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and China. By the end of the year, you should be able to use the analysis practiced in the course to form your own judgments about the major economic problems faced by the United States and other countries.
Note: Must be taken as a full course, although in special situations students are permitted to take the second term in a later year. Taught in a mixture of lectures and sections. No calculus is used, and there is no mathematics background requirement. Designed for both potential economics concentrators, and those who plan no further work in the field. The Department of Economics strongly encourages students considering concentration to take this course in their freshman year.
Source: Webpage capture from the Wayback Machine.
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Course Syllabi (.pdf files)
Spring 2000, Fall 2000/01
Syllabus Spring 1999-2000 (Macroeconomics)
Syllabus Fall 2000-2001 (Microeconomics)
Course Syllabi (.html files)
Syllabus Spring 1996-1997 (Macroeconomics)
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Miscellaneous Course Materials
Spring 1997 (Macroeconomics)
Spring 2000 (Macroeconomics)
Introductory Lecture for Macroeconomics and Growth by Martin Feldstein (Feb.2, 2000)
Future of Social Security by Martin Feldstein by Martin Feldstein (Feb. 9, 2000)
Problem Set 3, Answers (March 14, 2000)
Spring 2001 (Macroeconomics)
July 23, 2001 capture of Social Analysis 10 (Ec 10) homepage
[October 4, 2002 FAQ about unit tests in Ec 10]
Unit 1, Economic Growth: Test 1A solutions
Unit 2, Financial Markets: Test 2A questions
Unit 2, Financial Markets: Test 2A solutions
Unit 2, Financial Markets: Test 2B questions
Unit 2, Financial Markets: Test 2B solutions
Unit 3, Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand: Test A questions
Unit 4, Monetary Policy: Test 1A questions
Unit 4, Monetary Policy: Test 1A solutions
Unit 4, Monetary Policy: Test 1B solutions
Unit 5, Fiscal Policy: Test 1A questions
Unit 5, Fiscal Policy: Test 1A solutions
Unit 5, Fiscal Policy: Test 1B solutions
Fall Semester 2002 (Microeconomics)
From the Fall 2002/03 home page
Social Analysis 10
Principles of Economics
Martin Feldstein
Introduction to economic issues and basic economic principles and methods. Fall term focuses on supply and demand, labor and financial markets, taxation, and social economic issues of health care, poverty, the environment, and income distribution. Spring term focuses on the impact of both monetary and fiscal policy on inflation, unemployment, interest rates, investment, the exchange rate, and international trade. Studies role of government in the economy, including Social Security, the tax system, and economic change in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Covers international trade and financial markets.
Source: Webpage capture from the Wayback Machine.
Syllabus Fall 2002-2003 (Microeconomics)
Lecture on Unions by Richard B. Freeman (October 28, 2002)
Lecture on the Economics of Health Care by Martin Feldstein (Nov. 20, 2002)
Ec 10 Hourly Exam Questions (December 11, 2002)
Spring Semester 2003 (Macroeconomics)
Introductory Lecture by Martin Feldstein (January 29, 2003)
What Should the Fed do Now? lecture by Martin Feldstein (April 18, 2003)
The Dollar and the Trade Deficit lecture by Martin Feldstein (April 21, 2003)
Image Source: “Das Feldstein-Horioka-Paradoxon” in Finanz und Wirtschaft (November 18, 2014).