Edwin Burmeister (MIT PhD, 1965) took the advanced theory course that was devoted to capital theory and economic growth during the fall term 1962-63. The course that term was co-taught by Robert Solow (2 hour 37 minute oral history interview at this link) and Edmund Phelps. Burmeister’s notes for the course are available in the Burmeister Papers at Duke University Rubenstein Library’s Economists’ Papers Project. The reading list for the course has a Part I, but I could find no corresponding part II. However, Burmeister’s notes appear to be complete otherwise so that it seems likely that Solow and Phelps wanted to divide the course into positive and normative parts with the reading list for optimal saving not ready at the start of the term. I have inserted five titles between Parts D and E that were explicitly mentioned in the lectures but not included in the Part I reading list.
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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled thus far. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….
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ADVANCED ECONOMIC THEORY
14.123
Fall 1962
R. M. Solow and E. S. Phelps
Part I: INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
A. Capital and Production
Lutz, “Essentials of Capital Theory”, The Theory of Capital (International Economic Association).
Scitovsky, T., Welfare and Competition, Chapter 9.
Lutz and Lutz, The Theory of the Investment of the Firm, Chapters 5 and 6.
Kaldor, N., Essays on Value and Distribution, Part IV.
Lange, O., “The Place of Interest in the Theory of Production”, REStud, 1935-36.
Dorfman, R., “Waiting and the Period [of] Production”, QJE, August 1959.
Robinson, “The Production Function and the Theory of Capital”, REStud, 1953-54.
Comment and Reply:
Solow, R., “The Production Function…”, REStud, 1955-56.
Robinson, Ibid.
Swan, T., Appendix to “Economic Growth and Capital Accumulation,” Ec Record, November, 1956.
Solow, R., “Substitution and Fixed Proportions in the Theory of Capital,” REStud, June, 1962.
Phelps, E., “Substitution, Fixed Proportions, Growth and Distribution,” Parts 1-3 and Appendix B only. CFDP [Cowles Foundation Discussion Paper] 133, Feb. 1962.
Samuelson, P., “The Surrogate Production Function,” REStud, June 1962.
N. & N. Ruggles, “Concepts of Real Capital Stocks and Services,” Output, Input and Productivity Measurement, No. 25 in Studies in Income and Wealth (NBER).
[handwritten addition: Wicksell, LECTURES]
B. Technical Change
Dickinson, H., “A Note on Dynamic Economics”, REStud, 1954-55.
Uzawa, H., “Neutral Inventions and the Stability of Growth Equilibrium,” REStud, Feb. 1961.
Fellner, W., “Two Propositions in the Theory of Induced innovation,” Econ. Journ., June 1961.
C. Models of Investment, Technical Progress and Growth
Johnson, H., “A Simple Joan Robinson Model of Accumulation with One Technique,” Osaka Econ. Papers, Feb. 1962.
Swan, T., “Economic Growth and Capital Accumulation,” op. cit.
Solow, R., “A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth,” QJE, Nov. 1956.
Pitchford, J., “Growth and the Elasticity of Factor Substitution,” Ec. Record, Dec. 1960.
Phelps, E., “Substitution, Fixed Proportions, Growth and Distribution,” CFDP [Cowles Foundation Discussion Paper] 133, Feb. 1962, Parts 4-5.
Arrow, K., “The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing,” REStud, June, 1962.
Kaldor, N., and J. Mirlees, “Growth and Obsolescence,” Ibid.
D. The Quantitative Importance of Investment and Technical Change for Economic Growth
Solow, R., “Technological Change and the Aggregate Production Function,” REStat, August 1957.
Masslee, B., “A Dissaggregated View of Technical Change,” JPE, Dec. 1961.
Solow, R., “Investment and Technical Progress, “Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences, (Stanford, 1960).
Phelps, E., “The New View of Investment”, QJE, Nov. 1962.
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[Insert: Optimal problems in capital theory…beginning ca Dec. 14, 1962]
[Ramsey problem, optimal control à la Pontryagin]
von Weizsäcker, Carl Christian. Wachstum, Zins und optimale Investitionsquote. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Basel, 1961. Published in Veröffentlichungen der List Gesellschaft Bd. 26, Reiche B Studien zur Ökonomie der Gegenwart, Kyklos-Verlag, 1962
Phelps, Edmund. 1961. “The Golden Rule of Accumulation: A Fable for Growthmen”. The American Economic Review 51 (4): 638–43.
Robinson, Joan. 1962. “Comment”. The Review of Economic Studies 29 (3): 258–66.
Goodwin, R. M., 1961. “The Optimal Growth Path for an Underdeveloped Economy”. The Economic Journal,Vol. 71, No. 284: 756–74.
Chakravarty, S., 1962. “Optimal Savings with Finite Planning Horizon”. International Economic Review 3 (3): 338–55.
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E. Investment in Knowledge and Skills
Nelson, R., “The Simple Economics of Basic Scientific Research, JPE, June 1959.
Arrow, E., “The Allocation of Scientific Resources” in The Rate and Direction of Innovative Activity, (NBER).
Schultz, “Investment in Human Capital,” AER, March 1961.
Source: Duke University, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Edwin Burmeister papers, 1960-2008. Box 23.
Image Source: Robert Solow, MIT Web Museum.