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Agricultural Economics Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Syllabus, readings, exams for agricultural economics. Galbraith, 1938-39

John Kenneth Galbraith, not quite 25 years of age

The first association made in one’s mind upon hearing the name John Kenneth Galbraith is certainly not “agricultural economics”, but that was the field in which his academic career began and indeed it was what got his foot into the door at Harvard. In his papers at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library one can find some material for his courses that is not to be found in the Harvard archives, such as the course outline and reading assignments for his year-long course taught in 1938-39 to undergraduates and graduate students, “Economics of Agriculture”. 

Economics in the Rear-View Mirror tops off Galbraith’s syllabus and reading list with enrollment figures and semester exams transcribed from material in the Harvard Archives.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 72. Dr. Galbraith—Economics of Agriculture.

Total 41: 2 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1938-1939, p. 98.

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Outline of the Course.
Three objectives.

  1. Some idea of the agriculture of the United States and Western Europe—that which one is likely to encounter. Two aspects:
    1. Type of production
    2. Kind of agricultural organization. Meaning.
  2. An understanding of the economics of the agricultural industry.
    Previous experience with economic theory
    Parts of a course such as this to see if it can be clothed with factual material and made useful.
    Peculiar advantages of agriculture.
  3. Building on the previous two stages, we turn to agricultural policy. What is agricultural policy? The farm problem.
    —we examine the factors underlying economic difficulties of agriculture in recent years, the causes of distress. The way the United States has attempted to meet is farm problem and the various policies which may be contemplated in the future.
    —we will attempt to compare this with the policy of other countries.

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Economics 71
(First half year)
Reading List

Persia Campbell, American Agricultural Policy, pp. 1-55.

President’s Report on Farm Tenancy in the U.S., pp. 35-49, 3-20. [cf. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924074241344 ]

C.O. Brannen. Relation of Land Tenure to Plantation Organization. U.S.D.A. Bulletin 1269, 1924-25, p. 3, 8-38, 60-67.

The Future of the Great Plains. Report of the Great Plains Committee, pp. 1-89.

Chamberlin, Theory of Monopolistic Competition. Pp. 1-116.

Dennison and Galbraith. Modern Competition and Business Policy, pp. 1 to 109.

Garver and Hanson. Principles of Economics, Chapter V.

Black and Black. Production Organization, pp. 109-145, 255-260 inc.

Cassels, J. M. On the Law of Variable Proportions in Explorations in Economics, p. 223.

Galbraith and Black, Maintenance of Agricultural Production, Journal of Political Economy, June, 1938.

ECONOMICS 71
Syllabus – 1938-39

Chapter I.
A General Survey of Agricultural Production

    1. The agriculture of the United States. The livestock and crop production of the different regions of the United States. The classification of American agriculture by “type-of-farming”. A review of the type-of-farming map of the United States.
    2. The agricultural systems of the United States. The family farm. Ownership und tenancy. Part-time agriculture in the East. Large-scale and corporation forms in the Great Plains and West. Plantation and cropper agriculture in the South. Retrograde and decayed agricultural production in in the southern Appalachians.[Hand-written marks on the carbon copy indicate that (c) and (d) were not covered.]
    3. English agriculture. Character of agricultural production in England. The large land-owners and tenant farming. Independent ownership in England.
    4. Western Europe and the Danube Basin. (i) a survey of the agricultural map and agricultural production of Western Europe. (ii) The agricultural systems of the Continent. Peasant agriculture and types of peasant culture and organization. The distinction between peasant and farmer. Estate or Junker agriculture.

Chapter II
The Competitive Structure of Agricultural Enterprise as a Whole

    1. Monopoly, monopolistic — and pure competition. Review of the theoretical categories of competitive organization. Comparison of competitive organization in agriculture with that in industry. Comparisons of competitive structure in agricultural production with that in the supply of agricultural production goods.
    2. the significance of “pure” competition in agriculture

— in relation to agricultural price behavior
— in relation to behavior of agricultural production
— in relation to the variability of agricultural income.

Chapter III
The Organization of the Individual Farm Enterprise

    1. Theoretical differences between the adjustment of industry and agriculture to economic change. the significance of the coincidence of marginal with average revenue in agriculture.
    2. The combination of the factors of production. Diminishing returns. The highest profit combination in agriculture.
    3. Practical considerations in achieving optimum returns. The combination of enterprises. Budgeting technique. the effect of the period of production and the problem of price forecasting.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Economics 71
Outline and Reading List
Second Half-Year, 1938-39

Chapter IV.
The Financing of Agriculture

    1. the nature of the financial requirements of the farmer. Land purchase credit; credit for durable capital; production credit.
    2. Recent trends in the development of agricultural credit institutions. The transition from private to public institutions.
    3. The riddle of public credit policy.

Readings:

Farm Credit Administration. Annual Report 1937. Pp. 15-83.

Galbraith. The Farmer’s Banking System; Four Years of F.C.A. Operations. Harvard Business Review. Spring 1937.

Galbraith. The Federal Land Banks and Agricultural Stability. Journal of Farm Economics, February, 1937.

Chapter V.
Agricultural Land

    1. The development of American land policy; the transition from free land to private ownership and full utilization.
    2. The problem of optimum utilization. The margin of desirable use. The reasons for sub-marginal utilization. The alternative uses of sub-marginal farm lands and the techniques for controlling land use.
    3. The economic aspects of the erosion problem.

Readings:

Hibbard, B. H. A History of the Public Land Policy, Chapters I, XIII, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XXVII, XXVIII.

National Resources Board. Part II. Report of the Land Planning Committee. Pp. 108-134, 154-202. A general rather than a detailed examination of this report is expected. Attention is called to other sections of the report.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. To Hold This Soil. Misc. Publication 321. 1938. Copies may be obtained from U.S.D.A, or Congressman.

Chapter VI
Agricultural Labor.

    1. General character of agricultural labor force. Family labor, the individual worker, seasonal and spring labor. Trade union organization in agriculture. Ownership aspirations of the agricultural laborer and the so-called agricultural ladder.

Readings:

Social Problems in Agriculture. I.L.O., 1938. Pp. 23-38, 40-54, 57-71, 72-97.

[International Labour Office. Studies and Reports, Series K (Agriculture) Social Problems in Agriculture. Record of the Permanent Agricultural Committee of the I.L.O. (7-15 February 1938). Geneva]

Chapter VII
The Agricultural Policy of the United States

    1. Proposal and legislation for farm relief during the 1920’s.
    2. The Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the farm program of the New Deal.

Readings:

Nourse, Davise, Black. Three Years of the Agricultural Adjustment, pp. 1-245.

Report of the Secretary of Agriculture 1938. pp. 1-68. This may be obtained from Office of Information, U.S.D.A. or a Congressman.

[There is a bracket for Chapter VIII hand-marked on Galbraith’s personal copy, from this and the final exam it appears that these topics were likely not covered in the course.]

Chapter VIII.
Comparative Aspects of Foreign Agricultural Policy

    1. The agricultural policy of Great Britain.
    2. The agricultural policies of Sweden and Denmark.
    3. Autarchial agricultural policy in Germany and Italy.
    4. The determinants of agricultural policy in review.

Readings:

Bonow, M. Agricultural Policy: Lessons from Sweden.

Denmark. Agriculture. The Agricultural Council. Look over and cf. particularly pp. 9-26, 287-316.

Marquis Child. Farmer-Labor Relations in Scandinavia. Yale Review, Autumn, 1938.

Karl T. Schmidt. The Plough and the Sword, pp. 1-175.

R. A. Brady. Spirit and Structure of German Fascism. Pp. 213-291.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 71
Mid-year Examination
1938-39.

  1. (Reading period material.) Write for about three-quarters of an hour on one of the following topics:
    How the United States government has disposed of its land.
    Proposed measures for farm relief in the 1920’s.
    The objectives and methods of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration 1933-36.
  2. What do you understand by the phrase “a system of agriculture”? With reference to your statement, outline the major systems of agriculture in the United States.
  3. Discuss the competitive organization of the agricultural industry and indicate the economic possibilities and limitations upon collective action by farmers for increasing their income.
    Cite relevant examples where possible.
  4. What difficulties would you expect to encounter in endeavoring to determine the cost of producing milk in New England assuming that farmers are ready to furnish you all available data?
  5. How does agricultural output behavior differ from that of industry during depression and why? Enter fully upon the theoretical aspects of this question and discuss critically.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Bound volume Mid-Year Examinations—1939 in Harvard University, Mid-year examinations 1852-1943. Box 13.

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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 71
Final Examination
1938-39.

  1. (Reading period material.) Write for about three-quarters of an hour on the application of the ideas of either Henry George or Thorstein Veblen to the problems of present day agriculture.
  2. “The agricultural laborer is truly the forgotten man. Unorganized, isolated, ill-paid and over-worked his plight is not even sufficiently well-known so that it bothers the nation’s conscience.”
    Discuss fully and critically
  3. Discuss and contrast the effects of (a) a too generous and (b) a too niggardly supply of farm mortgage credit under various conditions of agricultural prosperity and depression. Do not present an historical material that is not relevant to your answer.
  4. Explain as you see it, the relationship between private ownership of land and the problems of conservation and soil erosion.
  5. Is production control by the Federal government necessary to the well-being of American agriculture? Justify your answer fully.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, … , Economics, … , Military Science, Naval Science (June, 1939) in Harvard University Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 4.

Image Source: Photo of John Kenneth Galbraith attached to his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States submitted on June 16, 1933 in Oakland California.
Fun fact: JKG weighed in at 180 pounds (81.65 kg) with a height of 6 ft 8 inches (2 m, 3 cm).  BMI = 19.8.