Robert L. Bishop was called by his alma mater to render service to cover the undergraduate course on industrial organization and public policy in 1955-56. He still taught that year at M.I.T. according to the course staffing records, so the cross-Cambridge commute was a convenient (for all parties) gig. The previous year the same course was co-taught by Carl Kaysen and Merton Peck. Comparing the Spring term syllabus, items I, III, and V were the taken over “as is” by Bishop. The only question is now how much of the Fall term reading list was in common.
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Course Enrollment
[Economics] 161. Industrial Organization and Public Policy. Associate Professor Bishop. (M.I.T.). Full course.
(Fall) Total 130: 2 Freshmen, 15 Sophomores, 74 Juniors 36 Seniors, 3 Radcliffe.
(Spring) Total 123: 2 Freshmen, 8 Sophomores, 73 Juniors 37 Seniors, 3 Radcliffe.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1955-56, pp. 77-78.
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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 161
Fall Term 1955-56
Professor Bishop
- The Modern Business Unit (Sept. 26 – Oct. 7; 4 lectures, 2 sections)
N. S. Buchanan: The Economics of Corporate Enterprise, Ch. 3
H.G. Guthman and H.E. Dougall, Corporate Financial Policy, Ch. 2
A.A. Berle and G.C. Means: The Modern Corporation and Private Property, Bk. II, Ch. 1
R.A. Gordon: Business Leadership in the Large Corporation, Ch. 1-3, 12-14
National Bur. of Ec. Research: Cost Behavior and Price Policy, Ch. X
H.L. Purdy, M.L. Lindahl and W.A. Carter: Corporate Concentration and Public Policy, (2nd ed.) Ch. 7
J.K. Butters and J.V. Lintner: The Effects of Taxation on Corporate Mergers, Chs. IX, X
- The Functioning of Markets and the Economic Norms of Public Policy (Oct. 10-Nov. 4; 7 lectures, 4 sections)
J. S. Bain: Price Theory (or Pricing, Distribution, and Employment, Rev. Ed.) Ch. 1-7 (Ch. 3 is useful chiefly as review)
- Monopolistic and Oligopolistic Markets (Nov. 7 – Nov. 30; 8 lectures, 2 sections, hour exam)
Donaldson Brown, “Pricing Policy in Relation to Financial Control” (reprints)
TNEC Monograph No. 21; Monopoly and Competition in American Industry, Ch. IV
W. Nutter: “The Extent and Growth of Enterprise Monopoly” (pp. 141-153) in Gramp and Weiler, eds., Economic Policy: Readings in Political Economy
W.A. Adams, ed.: The Structure of American Industry (rev. ed.) Ch. V-XI
F. Machlup: The Basing-Point System, Ch. 1, 3, 6, 7
“Big Business in a Competitive Society,” Fortune, Supplement, Feb. 1953
- Anti-Trust Policy (Dec. 5- Dec. 21; 6 lectures, 2 sections)
S. C. Oppenheim: Cases on Federal Anti-Trust Laws, pp. 57-69; App. A, B, C (pp. 963-85) pp. 106-127, 164-182, 250-265, (monopoly cases); pp. 281-286, 291-301, 310-330 (combination cases)
S.C. Oppenheim: 1951 Supplement, pp. 203-289 (Alcoa remedy)
U.S. v. United Shoe Machinery Corp., Fed. Supp.
E.S. Mason: “The Current Status of the Monopoly Problems in U.S.,” Harvard Law Review, June 1949
C.E. Griffin: An Economic Approach to Anti-Trust Problems
J.B. Dirlam and A.E.Kahn: Fair Competition: The Law and Economics of Anti-Trust Policy, Ch. 1, 2, 5, 9
Reading Period Assignment
Markham: Competition in the Rayon Industry
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HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Department of Economics
Economics 161
Spring Term 1956
Professor Bishop
- Markets of Large Numbers (Feb. 1 – Mar. 2; 8 lectures, 5 sections)
Agriculture
Cotton Textiles
Women’s clothing
Crude Oil
R. Schickele, Agricultural Policy, Ch. 9-11, 13-17.
K. Brandt, Farm Price Supports, Rigid or Flexible?
J.K. Galbraith, “Farm Policy: The Current Position,” Journal of Farm Economics, May, 1955, pp. 292-304.
A.M. McIsaac, “The Cotton Textile Industry,” in Adams, The Structure of American Industry, 2nd ed.
“Adam Smith on 7th Avenue,” Fortune [handwritten note: Jan. 1949?]
N. Ely, “The Conservation of Oil,” Ch. 11 in Readings in the Social Control of Industry.
E.V. Rostow, A National Policy for the Oil Industry, Part II.
- The Plane of Competition—The Securities Markets (Mar. 5-Mar. 9; 2 lectures, 1 section)
Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Beane, How to Read a Balance Sheet.
W. E. Atkins, G.W. Edwards, and H.G. Moulton, The Regulation of the Securities Markets, Chs. 2-6.
- The Regulated Industries (Mar. 12 – Apr. 13; 8 lectures, 3 sections; hour exam, Apr. 13)
Electric Power
Transportation
Twentieth Century Fund: Electric Power and Government Policy, Ch. I-IV, X.
M. L. Fair and E.W. Williams, Jr., Economics of Transportation, Ch. 18-23, 25, 30, 32.
- The Patent System (Apr. 16 – Apr. 20; 2 lectures, 1 section)
Symposium, Law and Contemporary Problems, Vols. 12 and 13 (1947-48)—articles by:
Hamilton and Till, Vol. 13, pp. 245-59,
Abramson, Vol. 13, pp. 339-53,
Stedman, Vol. 12, pp. 649-79,
Davis, Vol. 12, pp. 796-806.
R. L. Bishop, “The Glass Container Industry,” in Adams, The Structure of American Industry, 1st ed.
- Nationalization and Planning (Apr. 23 – Apr. 30; 3 lectures, 1 section)
J. E. Meade, Planning and the Price Mechanism, pp. 1-104.
B.W. Lewis, British Planning and Nationalization, Ch. 1-3.
H.A. Clegg and F.E. Chester, The Future of Nationalization, Ch. 1, 3.
Reading Period Assignment
To be announced.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003. (HUC 8522.2.1) Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1955, 1956, (2 of 2)”.
Image Source: Robert Lyle Bishop. MIT Museum.