Not only were the Princeton University graduate economic course offerings in 1910/11 relatively slim, it is also interesting to note that five of the ten courses listed covered history of economics and economic history. Undergraduate courses could also be taken by graduate students in the department of history, politics, and economics. Links to the textbooks used are included in the following transcription of the economics portion of the course announcements.
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UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
The following are the undergraduate [economics] courses in the Department of History, Politics, and Economics, and, though not listed or counted as graduate courses, they are open to graduate students of the Department:
45, 46. Elements of Economics. This course will comprise the essential elements of the abstract theory of economics and some of the more essential applications and exemplifications of the theory, such as money, banking, transportation, international trade, and monopoly problems. There will be one lecture a week, and two recitations in small groups to test the student’s apprehension of the subject matter covered in the reading. [Frank A.] Fetter: Principles of Economics; [Jeremiah Whipple] Jenks: The Trust Problem; and [Frank W.] Taussig: The Tariff History of the United States. Junior course, both terms, 3 hours a week. Prerequisite course: History 22 [Mediaeval History; 400 A.D.-1494 A.D. Sophomore elective, second term, 3 hours a week.]. Prerequisite to Public Finance and Money and Banking. Professor Daniels [Winthrop More Daniels, A.M.] and [Assistant] Professor Meeker [Royal Meeker, Ph.D.].
79. Economics. Public Finance. This course will cover the theory of public finance. Lectures with weekly conferences. [Winthrop More] Daniels: Public Finance; and [David MacGregor] Means: The Methods of Taxation. Senior course, first term, 3 hours a week. Prerequisite courses: History 22 and Economics 45, 46. Professor Daniels [Winthrop More Daniels, A.M.].
80. Economics. Money and Banking. This course is designed to outline briefly the problems touching money and banking. [Joseph French] Johnson: Money and Banking; [Edwin Walter] Kemmerer: Money and Prices [Money and Credit Instruments in their Relation to General Prices]; [Amos Kidder] Fiske: Modern Bank. Senior course, second term, 3 hours a week. Prerequisite courses: History 22 and Economics 45 and 46. [Assistant] Professor Meeker [Royal Meeker, Ph.D.].
THE PRO-SEMINARY. In the Department of History, Politics, and Economics there will be a pro-seminary both terms; the pro-seminary to be divided into sections, one for history, one for politics, and one for economics. Admission to the pro-Seminary will be conditioned upon a student’s obtaining in the Junior year courses in the Department the standing prescribed for entrance upon pro-seminary work….Professor Meeker will have charge of the economics section; and Industrial Organizations of Capital and of Labor will be the subjects of study, first and second term respectively.
GRADUATE COURSES
ECONOMICS
133. History of Economic Theory. Early economic theory through Adam Smith. A study of Mercantilist and Physiocratic thought, and the work of Adam Smith, preceded by a brief resumé of ancient and mediaeval economic ideas. Three hours a week, first term. Given 1909-10. Professor [sic] Adriance [Walter Maxwell Adriance, A.M., Preceptor in History, Politics and Economics].
134. History of Economic Theory. The classical economists through J. S. Mill and Cairnes. Beginning with Malthus, the concrete problems in which the classical English political economy arose are taken up for study. The theory of Distribution in particular is traced in the Ricardian economics and down through the Wage-Fund theory. Three hours a week, second term. Given 1909-10. Professor Daniels [Winthrop More Daniels, A.M.].
135. History of Economic Theory. The modern movement in Economics, beginning with Jevons and the Austrian school, down through the modern critical analysis of the nature of capital, interest, and the process of Distribution. Three hours a week, first term. Given 1910-11. Professor Daniels [Winthrop More Daniels, A.M.].
136. Statistics. Modern methods of statistical investigation and their results; with problems in practical statistical work. Three hours a week, second term. Give 1910-11. Professor Adriance [Walter Maxwell Adriance, A.M., Preceptor in History, Politics and Economics].
137, 138. Economic History. This course is designed to give a general account of the economic development of the United States. Beginning with the explorations and settlements that led to the colonization of the continent, will be traced the growth of industry, agriculture, commerce, transportation, population, and labor, from the simple, isolated agricultural communities of the colonies to the complex industrial and commercial society of today. The principal topics discussed will be the land policy, the westward movement, internal improvements, the factory system, slavery, the tariff, immigration, the national finances, etc. A brief survey of the economic history of the industrially most developed European nations will also be given in so far as it is necessary to a complete understanding of the economic development of the United States. The lectures will be supplemented by assigned reading, and a thesis will be prepared by each student during the year on at least one subject. Three hours a week, both terms.
139. Modern Industrial Organization. Organization of Labor. A study of the development of labor organizations, the changes in the legal concepts of labor combinations, conspiracy, strikes, monopoly, boycott, etc., and the aims and methods of trades-unions today. Three hours a week, first term. Given 1909-10. Professor Meeker [Royal Meeker, Ph.D.].
140. Modern Industrial Organization. Organization of Capital. A study of modern industrial methods, the growth of large-scale industry, culminating in the recent Trust development and the effects of this movement industrial, political, and social. Three hours a week, second term. Given 1909-10. Professor Meeker [Royal Meeker, Ph.D.].
141, 142. History and Theory of Transportation. A survey of the improvements in methods and instruments of transportation and the consequent changes in the legal and economic theories relating thereto. A reading knowledge of French and German will be desirable. Three hours a week, both terms, alternating with Courses 139, 140. Given 1910-11. Professor Meeker [Royal Meeker, Ph.D.].
Source: Department of History, Politics and Economics. Announcements for 1910-11. Official Register of Princeton University, Vol. I, No. 8 (March 15, 1910).
Image Source: Princeton University (ca. 1909 photo). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.