Tag: Bullock

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Bibliography Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. Readings list for Commercial Crises Course by Persons, 1923

 

 

Warren M. Persons was an index number cruncher in the tradition of Irving Fisher and Wesley Clair Mitchell. As a guest professor at Harvard from Colorado College, he taught a course on the theory of business cycles (Economics 35) during the Winter term of the academic year 1916-17. Later as a member of the Harvard economics faulty and researcher with the Harvard Economic Service, he taught the course “Commercial Crises” (Economics 37) 1919-20, through 1926-27 that was attended primarily by graduate students.

Following an item from the Harvard Catalogue of its Officers and Graduates and a clipping from the Harvard Crimson about the Harvard Economic Service, I provide enrollment data for the course from 1923-24 when Frank Whitson Fetter (see his papers at Rubenstein Library, Duke University) attended. From Fetter’s handwritten course notes I have assembled a bibliography of items (with links to almost all references!) mentioned or assigned by Warren Persons. The final examination questions for the course have been transcribed in a later posting.

Note: The following three published items by (or edited by) Persons are relevant to the course content.

Persons, Warren M. “Books on Business Cycles: Mitchell, Aftalion, Bilgram.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 28, no. 4 (1914): 795-810. .

The Problem of Business Forecasting, ed. by Warren M. Persons, William Trufant Foster and Albert J. Hettinger, Jr. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1924.

Persons, Warren M. “Theories of Business Fluctuations.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 41, no. 1 (1926): 94-128. .

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Warren Milton Persons; S.B. Univ. Wis. 1899; Ph.D. Colorado Coll. 1912, Univ. Wis. 1915; Dean (Dept. of Business Administration and Banking) and Prof. of Economics and Finance, Colorado Coll. 1913-1918; Lectr. on Economics 1917; Prof. of Economics 1919—; Statistician of the Committee on Economic Research 1917-1919.

Source: Harvard University. Quinquennial Catalogue of the Officers and Graduates, 1636-1920, p. 100.

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REPLACES GUESS WORK BY ACCURATE FORECASTS

Harvard Economic Service Has Been of Great Value to Business, Experts Declare at Fifth Annual Conference

Harvard Crimson, October 22, 1923

The application of a scientific review of economic statistics to business concerns of the United States during the past five years, and its possible application to national and international affairs in the future, were the chief topics discussed on Saturday night at the fifth annual conference of the Harvard University Commitee on Economic Research, at a dinner held in the Harvard Club of Boston. After the dinner a group of speakers prominent in business and in economic research addressed the 200 subscribers to the Harvard Economic Service who were present.

After a brief introductory address by President Lowell, in which he commended the members of the committee for their service in developing economics from an inexact to an exact science. Professors Warren M. Persons and Charles J. Bullock, both of the committee, spoke, describing the growth and development of the Bureau of Economic Research at Harvard.

Persons Discusses Business Cycles

Professor Persons first described the theory of recurring business cycles, on which the Harvard Economic Service is based. Perpetual change, he showed, is an inherent feature of modern industrial enterprise. Prices rise and fall; markets expand and contract; production increases and decreases; orders accumulate beyond capacity and then seem to vanish altogether.

And yet, he said, the course of business is not purely fortuitous or haphazard. By studying the price movements in the United States for the past 20 years, an index of trade for the United States has been obtained. This chart reveals a well defined ebb and flow of prosperity and depression. First comes a period of business depression, then a recovery; this is followed by a period of prosperity followed by financial strain, which ultimately brings about a financial crisis. These five phases, each leading into the other, are known as the business cycle.

“In 1915,” he said, “the Harvard Economics Department started to investigate statistical data concerning past business cycles. From this data we were able to make accurate generalizations concerning past business cycles and inferences for the future.”

Discusses Development of Service

Professor Bullock showed how the Harvard Economic Service has developed during the past five years, and cited the increase in its number of subscribers to show its increasing value to the business houses of the United States.

“The old haphazard methods of business belong to the prehistoric ages of five years ago when we were in the business wilderness,” next declared Mr. Howard Coonley ’98, president of the Boston Chamber of Commerce, and of the Walworth Manufacturing Company. He said that since he had discovered that the sales of the Walworth Company followed almost precisely the sales graphs prepared by the Harvard Economic Service, his company had been able to discard the old uncertain method of irregular production. By following the Harvard forecast, they had been able to estimate sales for each phase of the business cycle, and plan their production and financial programs accordingly.”

“The Economic Service,” he said, “gives a perspective to business. It is an executive airplane that enables a man to see his business from afar in relation to other businesses, and deal with it accordingly.”

Turning from the past accomplishments of the Economic Service, the remaining speakers developed the further possibilities of a Bureau of Economic Research.

Mr. Jesse Isidor Straus ’93, president of R. H. Macy and Company, urged the application of the economic study of statistics to legislative problems of the country. A study he said of the economic effects of tariff and taxation on commerce might produce results that would cause even Congress to give heed to the findings of the Harvard Research Bureau in preparing its legislation.

Professor Thomas N. Carver, chairman of the Department of Economics at the University also spoke of the need of conducting national affairs by cientific economic principles.

“Already,” he said, “two great countries of the world are on the rocks largely because the men in control were illiterates in economics.

Professor Bullock, the concluding speaker, emphasized the importance of the international study of economic statistics. He said that a research bureau similar to that at Harvard had already been established by London and Cambridge Universities, and that one would soon be started at the Institute of Statistics of the University of Paris. By the cooperation of these three bureaus, he said he hoped that long strides would be taken towards a better understanding of economics and business conditions throughout the world.

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Enrollment in Economics 37, Commercial Crises 1923-24

[Economics] 37 1hf. Professor Persons.—Commercial Crises.

Total 22: 16 graduates, 2 Seniors, 1 Junior, 2 Radcliffe, 1 Graduate School of Business

 

Harvard University. Report of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1923-24. p. 107.

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Course Bibliography for Economics 37
Harvard University, First Term, 1923-24

Persons
Business Cycles (37)
1923-1924

Oct. 2

**Business Cycles and Unemployment. Report and Recommendations of a Committee of the President’s Conference on Unemployment, including an Investigation made under the Auspices of the National Bureau of Economic Research. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1923. Includes Wesley Clair Mitchell (ed.), “The Relation of Business Cycles to Unemployment” with articles by many economists.

*Mitchell, Wesley Clair—Business Cycles. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1913.

Burton, Theodore E.—Financial Crises and Periods of Industrial and Commercial Depression. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1920.

Hull, George H.—Industrial Depressions, their Causes Analysed and Classified with a Practical Remedy for such as Result from Industrial Derangements, or Iron the Barometer of Trade. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1911.

Hawtrey, Ralph George—Good and Bad Trade: An Inquiry into the Causes of Trade Fluctuations. London: Constable & Company Limited, 1913.

*Robertson, Dennis Holme—A Study of Industrial Fluctuation: An Enquiry into the Character and Causes of the so-called Cyclical Movements of Trade. London: P.S. King & Son, Ltd., 1915.

*Moore, Henry Ludwell—Economic Cycles: Their Law and Cause. New York: Macmillan, 1914.

Review of Economic Cycles: their Law and Cause by Henry Ludwell Moore.
Persons, Warren M. The American Economic Review 5, no. 3 (1915): 645-48.

Review of Economic Cycles: their Law and Cause by Henry Ludwell Moore.
Persons, Warren M. Publications of the American Statistical Association 14, no. 111 (1915): 695-98.

*Aftalion, Albert (2 vol.)—Les Crises Périodiques de Surproduction. Paris: Livrairie des Sciences Politiques et Sociales, Marcel Rivière et Companie, 1913. Volume I; Volume II.

*Veblen, Thorstein—The Theory of Business Enterprise. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1904.

Bilgram, Hugo and Louis Edward Levy—The Cause of Business Depressions as Disclosed by an Analysis of the Basic Principles of Economics. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1914.

King, Willford Isbell—Employment, Hours, and Earnings in Prosperity and Depression, United States, 1920-1922. New York: NBER, 1923.

Foster, William T. and Waddill Catchings—Money. Publications of the Pollak Foundation for Economic Research, No. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1923.

H.B. Hastings—Costs and Profits: their Relations to Business Cycles. Publications of the Pollak Foundation for Economic Research, No. 3. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1923.

*Lavington, F.—The Trade Cycle. An Account of the Causes Producing Rhythmical Changes in the Activity of Business. London: P. S. King & Son, 1922.

Edie, Lionel D. (ed.)—The Stabilization of Business. New York, Macmillan, 1923.

Jordan, David F.—Business Forecasting. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1921.

Pell, Charles Edward—The Riddle of Unemployment and its Solution. London: Cecil Palmer, 1922.

Klein, Philip—The Burden of Unemployment. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1923.

Moore, Henry Ludwell. “Generating Cycles of Products and Prices.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 35, no. 2 (1921): 215-39.

Moore, Henry Ludwell. “Generating Cycles Reflected in a Century of Prices.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 35, no. 4 (1921): 503-26.

Moore, Henry Ludwell. “The Origin of the Eight-Year Generating Cycle.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 36, no. 1 (1921): 1-29.

Ingraham, Mark H. “On Professor H. L. Moore’s Mathematical Analysis of the Business Cycle.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 18, no. 142 (1923): 759-65.

Frank, Lawrence K. “A Theory of Business Cycles.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 37, no. 4 (1923): 625-42.

Oct. 4

Bullock, Charles J. “Prefatory Statement.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 1, no. 1 (1919).
“General Considerations and Assumptions.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 1, no. 1 (1919): 6-8.
“Measurement of Secular Trend.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 1, no. 1 (1919): 8-18.

Oct. 9

Moore, Henry Ludwell. Generating Economic Cycles. New York, 1923.

Oct. 11

Persons, Warren M. “The Revised Index of General Business Conditions.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 5, no. 3 (1923): 187-95.

Oct. 16

Persons, Warren M., and Eunice S. Coyle. “A Commodity Price Index of Business Cycles.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 3, no. 11 (1921): 353-69.

Oct. 18

Frickey, Edwin. “An Index of Industrial Stock Prices.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 3, no. 8 (1921): 264-77.

Maxwell, W. Floyd, and Ada M. Matthews. “A Monthly Index of Bond Yields, 1919-23.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 5, no. 3 (1923): 212-17.

Oct. 23

Persons, Warren M. “An Index of Trade for the United States.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 5, no. 2 (1923): 71-78.

Day, Edmund E. “Cyclical Fluctuations of the Volume of Manufacture.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 5, no. 1 (1923): 30-60.

Day, Edmund E. “The Physical Volume of Production in the United States for 1922.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 5, no. 3 (1923): 196-211.

Day, Edmund E. “An Index of the Physical Volume of Production: I. Agriculture, 1879-1920.” The Review of Economics and Statistics2, no. 9 (1920): 246-59.

Day, Edmund E. “An Index of the Physical Volume of Production: II. Mining, 1879-1919.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 2, no. 10 (1920): 287-99.

Day, Edmund E., and Warren M. Persons. “An Index of the Physical Volume of Production: III. Manufacture, 1899-1919.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 2, no. 11 (1920): 309-37.

Day, Edmund E. “An Index of the Physical Volume of Production: III. Manufacture, 1889-1912 (concluded).” The Review of Economics and Statistics 2, no. 12 (1920): 361-67.

Day, Edmund E. “An Index of the Physical Volume of Production: IV. Agriculture, Mining, and Manufacturing Combined, 1899-1919.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 3, no. 1 (1921): 19-22.

Oct. 30

Persons, Warren M. “II. The Method Used.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 1, no. 2 (1919): 117-39.

Nov. 20
Bibliography for reports:

Dewey, Davis Rich—Financial History of The United States (5th ed.). New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1915.

Lincoln, Edmond E. List of References in Economics 2. Economic History of Europe since 1800, and of the United States (Revised, Enlarged, and Rearranged). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1920.

Sumner, William Sumner—A History of Banking in the United States. Vol. I in A History of Banking in All the Leading Nations. New York: Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, 1896.

Davis, Joseph Stancliffe—Essays in Earlier History of American Corporations. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1917. Volume I;  Volume II.

Holdsworth, John Thom—The First Bank of the United States. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1910.

Callender, G. S. “The Early Transportation and Banking Enterprises of the States in Relation to the Growth of Corporations.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 17, no. 1 (1902): 111-62.

Dec. 11

1923 Harvard Ph.D. Thesis by Joseph L. Snider directed by Warren M. Persons.

Snider, Joseph L. “Wholesale Prices in the United States, 1866-91.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 6, no. 2 (1924): 93-118.

THEORIES OF BUSINESS CYCLES

Oral reports were presented on the theories of the following authors:

Dec. 18

Veblen, Thorstein. The Theory of Business Enterprise. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1904.

  1. Alford
  2. Allen
  3. Fetter

Dec. 20

See Veblen’s new book:

Veblen, Thorstein. Absentee Ownership and Business Enterprise in Recent Times: The Case of America. New York: B. W. Huebsch, 1923.

Jan. 3

Hobson, John A. Economics of Unemployment. London: George Allen & Unwin. 1922.
ch 5, pp. 73-83; ch 10, pp. 146-151.

Commons, John R. “Hobson’s “Economics of Unemployment” The American Economic Review 13, no. 4 (1923): 638-47.

  1. Gilbert, D.W.
  2. Maxwell
  3. Nakakawagu [Tseng]

Jan. 5

*Aftalion, Albert (2 vol.). Les Crises Périodiques de Surproduction. Paris: Livrairie des Sciences Politiques et Sociales, Marcel Rivière et Companie, 1913. Volume I; Volume II.

  1. Gilbert, R. V.
  2. Stern [Sherrin?]
  3. Silbert

Jan. 8

Bouniatian, Mentor. Les Crises Économiques: Essai de Morphologie et Théorie des Crises Économiques Périodiques et de Théorie de la Conjuncture Économique. Paris. Marcel Giard, 1922.

  1. Smith, W.B.
  2. Taber
  3. Woolfson

Jan.10

Hawtrey, Ralph George. Good and Bad Trade: An Inquiry into the Causes of Trade Fluctuations. London: Constable & Company Limited, 1913.

Hawtrey, Ralph George. Monetary Reconstruction. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1923.

Keynes, J. M. “Review of Currency and Credit by R. G. Hawtrey.” The Economic Journal 30, no. 119 (1920): 362-65.

Article by Mitchell reviewing business in 1923 in annual number of N.Y. Evening Post.

  1. Opie
  2. Smith, D.B.

Jan. 12

Hawtrey, Ralph George. Currency and Credit. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1919.  ch 9 + 10.

Young, Allyn A. “Hawtrey, Currency and Credit; Fisher, Stabilizing the Dollar.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 34, no. 3 (1920): 520-32.

Report by Taber on:

Foster, William T. and Waddill Catchings—Money. Publications of the Pollak Foundation for Economic Research, No. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1923.

Jan. 15

Robertson, Dennis Holme. A Study of Industrial Fluctuation: An Enquiry into the Character and Causes of the so-called Cyclical Movements of Trade. London: P.S. King & Son, Ltd., 1915.

  1. Silbert
  2. Stern
  3. Smith, W.B.

Jan. 15

Mitchell, Wesley Clair. Business Cycles. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1913: ch. 14.

  1. Taber
  2. Miss Bacon
  3. Miss Freudenthal

Jan. 17, 19, 22

The Methods of Stabilization of Industry as outlined in:
Business Cycles and Unemployment. Report and Recommendations of a Committee of the President’s Conference on Unemployment, including an Investigation made under the Auspices of the National Bureau of Economic Research. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1923.

 

Jan. 22
[appears to be suggestions for final examination preparation]

See Day’s article in Jan. 1923 Review [1].

Know statistical analysis used in Harvard method; lag, sequence of movements, correlation between different indices, etc. etc.

British business conditions, June 1922 [2] and Oct 1923 Supplement [3]. Index of Physical Production of Manufactures. Articles for Feb. 1921 [4], Dec. 1921 [5] and Oct. 1923 [6] for relation between production and price fluctuations.

It here typical business cycle, do crises and financial panics always occur; international nature.

Extended knowledge of author treated and general knowledge of all authors.—Present status of subject and its probably developments, a philosophy of the subject of business cycles.

Methods of forecasting. The three curves and their relations.— [7] Mitchell’s book. Ch. 6 by King is important contribution P. says.

Index of Trade—April, 1923  [8].

 

[1] Day, Edmund E. “Cyclical Fluctuations of the Volume of Manufacture.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 5, no. 1 (1923): 30-60.

[2a] Bowley, Arthur L. “An Index of British Economic Conditions: 1919-22.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 4 (1922): 145-56.

[2b] Persons, Warren M., Norman J. Silberling, and William A. Berridge. “An Index of British Economic Conditions: 1903-14.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 4 (1922): 157-75.

 [3]  “[An Index of British Economic Conditions: 1903-14]: Appendix.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 4 (1922): 176-89.

 [4] “Physical Production in 1920.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 3, no. 2 (1921): 37-39.

 [5] Persons, Warren M. “The Iron and Steel Industry During Business Cycles.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 3, no. 12 (1921): 378-83.

 [6] Blackett, O. W. “Pig Iron and Scrap Prices during Business Cycles.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 5, no. 4 (1923): 272-78.

 [7] Business Cycles and Unemployment. Report and Recommendations of a Committee of the President’s Conference on Unemployment, including an Investigation made under the Auspices of the National Bureau of Economic Research. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1923. Includes Wesley Clair Mitchell (ed.), “The Relation of Business Cycles to Unemployment” with articles by many economists.

 [8] Persons, Warren M. “An Index of Trade for the United States.” The Review of Economics and Statistics 5, no. 2 (1923): 71-78.

 

Source: Duke University, Rubenstein Library. Frank Whitson Fetter Papers, Box 49, Folder “Student Papers, Graduate Courses (Harvard University) Ec 37—Corporation Finance Notes, Report 1923-24.”

Image Source: Harvard Class Album, 1920.

Categories
Economists Fields Harvard

Harvard. Subjects Chosen by Economics Ph.D. Candidates for Examination.1904

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This posting lists the seven graduate students in economics who took their subject examinations for the Ph.D. at Harvard in 1904.  The examination committee members, academic history, general and specific subjects are provided along with the doctoral thesis subject, when declared. Lists for 1915-16 and 1926-27 were posted previously. In the same archival box one finds lists for the academic years 1902-03 through 1904-05, 1906-07 through 1913-14, 1915-16, 1917-18 through 1918-19, and finally 1926-27. I only include graduate students of economics (i.e. not included are the Ph.D. candidates in history and government).

Titles and dates of the economic dissertations for the period 1875-1926 can be found here.

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DIVISION OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D.
1903-04

 

Charles Beardsley.

General Examination in Political Science, Wednesday, February 24, 1904.
Committee: Professors Ripley, Lowell, Haskins, Carver, Bullock, Gay and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1888-92; Graduate School, 1893-94, 1896-97, 1902-03; Harvard, 1897[sic, he received his A.B. in 1892] (A.B.); Harvard, 1902 [sic, he received his A.M. in 1897] (A.M.)
General Subjects: 1. Constitutional History of England since the beginning of the Tudor Period. 2. Modern Government and Comparative Constitutional Law. 3. Economic Theory and its History. 4. Applied Economics: Money and Banking, International Trade, Taxation and Finance. 5. Economic History of the United States, with special reference to the Tariff, Financial Legislation, and Industrial Combinations. 6. Sociology, including the Labor Question. 7. (Special subject.).
Special Subject: Tariff Legislation and Controversy in England since the time of Adam Smith.
Thesis Subject: “Huskisson’s Tariff Reforms in England.” (With Professors Taussig and Gay.)

[Note: Charles Beardsley, Jr. was never awarded a Ph.D. from Harvard. More about Charles Beardsley’s life is found in my earlier posting taken from the Secretary’s Report of the Harvard Class of 1892 (1912).

 

William Hyde Price.

General Examination in Political Science, Wednesday, April 13, 1904.
Committee: Professors Carver, Macvane, Taussig, Ripley, Bullock, Gay, and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Tufts College, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1901-04; Tufts, 1901(A.B.); Harvard, 1902 (A.M.).
General Subjects: 1. Constitutional History of England since 1500. 2. Modern Government and Comparative Constitutional Law. 3.(a) History of Economic Theories; (b) Statistics. 4.(a) Public Finance; (b) Transportation; (c) Labor and Industrial Organization. 5. European Economic History. 6. American Economic History. 7. Sociology.
Special Subject: English Economic History since the Sixteenth Century.
Thesis Subject: “Elizabethan Patents of Monopoly.” (With Professor Gay.)

 

George Randall Lewis.

General Examination in Political Science, Thursday, April 14, 1904.
Committee: Professors Ripley, Macvane, Turner, Taussig, Carver, Gay, and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1898-1902; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; Harvard, 1902 (A.B.).
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Applied Economics; Labor and Railroads. 3. Economic History of the United States and Europe. 4. Economic History of the United States, with special reference to the Tariff, Financial Legislation, and Railroads. 5. Sociology. 6. History of American Institutions. 7. International law and Diplomatic History.
Special Subject: Economic History of Europe.
Thesis Subject: “Mines and Mining in Mediaeval England.” (With Professor Gay.)

 

David Hutton Webster.

General Examination in Political Science, Monday, May 2, 1904.
Committee: Professors Ripley, Lowell, G.F. Moore, Carver, Andrew, Bullock and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Stanford University, 1893-97; Assistant in Economics, Stanford University, 1899-1900; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; Stanford University, 1896 (A.B.); Stanford University, 1897 (A.M.); Harvard University, 1903 (A.M.).
General Subjects: 1. History of Religion. 2. Theory of the State. 3. Economic Theory and its History. 4. Applied Economics: Money and Banking, International Trade, Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization. 5. Economic History of the United States, with special reference to the Tariff, Financial Legislation, and Transportation. 6 and 7 Sociology (double subject).
Special Subject: Sociology.
Thesis Subject: “Primitive Social Control: A Study of Tribal initiation Ceremonies and Secret Societies.”

Special Examination in Political Science, Friday, May 27, 1904.
Committee: Professors Carver, Wright, Peabody, Ripley, Gay and Dr. Dixon.

 

Albert Benedict Wolfe.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 11, 1904.
Committee: Professors Ripley, Carver, Bullock, Gay, Hart, Andrew, and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1899-1902; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; 1902 (A.B.); 1903 (A.M.); South End House Fellow, 1902-04; Final Honors at graduation in 1902.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Sociology and Social Reform. 3. Statistics. 4. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization. 5. United States History and International Law. 6. Economic History of Mediaeval Europe and of the United States.
Special Subject: Not yet announced.
Thesis Subject: “The Lodging House Problem in Boston, with some Reference to other Cities.”

 

Vanderveer Custis.

General Examination in Political Science, Friday, May 20, 1904.
Committee: Professors Carver, Macvane, Taussig, Ripley, Andrew, Gay, and Dr. Sprague.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; Harvard, 1901 (A.B.); Harvard, 1902 (A.M.).
General Subjects: 1. Constitutional History of England since the beginning of the Tudor Period. 2. Modern Government and International Law. 3. Economic Theory and Statistics. 4. Applied Economics: Money and Banking, Industrial Organization, Taxation, and Finance. 5. Economic History of Europe and the United States. 6. Economic History of the United States, with special reference to the Tariff, Financial Legislation, and Transportation. 7. Sociology.
Special Subject: Industrial Organization.
Thesis Subject: “The Theory of Industrial Consolidation.”

 

Chester Whitney Wright.

General Examination in Political Science, Thursday, May 26, 1904.
Committee: Professors Carver, Haskins, Turner, Ripley, Andrew, and Bullock.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-04; Harvard, 1901 (A.B.); Harvard, 1902 (A.M.).
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistics. 3. Money, Banking, Commercial Crises. 4. Transportation and Foreign Commerce. 5. The Economic History of the United States and Industrial Organization. 6. United States History since 1789.
Special Subject: The Economic History of the United States.
Thesis Subject: Not yet announced.

 

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1903-04”.

Image Source: John Harvard Statue (1904). Library of Congress. Photos, Prints and Drawings.

Categories
Agricultural Economics Economists Harvard

Harvard. Economics Ph.D. William H. Nicholls, 1941

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In his file at the President’s Office of the University of Chicago one finds a carbon copy of William H. Nicholls’ section 18 “Education, Employment, Publications” from what looks to be his U.S. Federal Civil Service application, perhaps required for his consultancy for the Office of Price Administration, Meats Section Washington in 1941-42. We have here a very complete accounting of his activities covering his graduate school years 1934-1940, both coursework and employment.

This post also includes a biographical sketch at his Kentucky alma mater’s Hall of Fame together with a memorial piece in his honor at the department of economics of Vanderbilt University where he was on the faculty for thirty years.

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[Carbon Copy from Federal Civil Service Application(?) ca. January 1941]

18. EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, PUBLICATIONS, ETC.

18(a). Chronological Record.

Education

1930-34
(School-years)		 University of Kentucky A.B., 1934 Graduated “with high distinction”, Phi Beta Kappa.
1934-37
(School-years)		 Harvard University A.M. in Economics, 1937 Also part-time assistantships (see “Employment” below[)].
Feb., 1941 Harvard University Ph.D. in Economics, 1941 Thesis completed in absentia.

 

Foreign Travel

Summer, 1931         Travel in 12 countries of Europe.

 

Employment (Part-time= *)

Place of Employment Dates Institution Immediate Employer Title Salary
Washington, D.C. June-Sep. 1934 Tobacco Section, AAA Dr. J. B. Hutson
Chief		 Statistical Clerk $1800.
Cambridge, Mass. Sep.1934-June 1935 Harvard Univ. Dr.John D. Black Research Assistant $600.*
Harrodsburg, Ky. June-Sep. 1935 Farm H.F. Parker Farm hand Room & board
Cambridge, Mass. Sep.1935-June, 1936 Harvard Univ. Dr. John D. Black Research Assistant $720.*
New England (Boston) June-Sep.1936 Bureau of Agri. Econ., U.S.Dept. of Agriculture Mr. R.L. Mighell Field Agent $2000.
Cambridge, Mass. Sep.1936-June 1937 Harvard Univ. Dr.John D. Black Research Assistant $500.*
New England (Boston) June-Oct., 1937 Bureau of Agri. Econ., U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Mr. R.L. Mighell Field Agent $2000.
Cambridge, Mass. Oct.1937-Jan.1938 (Independent Research at Harvard University)
Ames, Iowa Feb. 1938-July 1939 Iowa State College Dr. T.W. Schultz Research Assistant & Instructor $2430.
Ames, Iowa July, 1939-July, 1940 Iowa State College Dr. T.W. Schultz Research Assistant & Instructor $3000.
Ames, Iowa Iowa State College Dr. T.W. Schultz Assistant Professor $3300.

 

 

18(b). Graduate Courses at Harvard University and Research

Graduate Courses at Harvard University

Professor Title of Course Grade
F. W. Taussig Economic Theory A-
Joseph Schumpeter Economic Theory
W. L. Crum Theory of Statistics B, A
C. J. Bullock History of Economic Thought Audit
John H. Williams Theory of Money and Banking A-
E. F. Gay Economic History B plus
John D. Black Economics of Agriculture A-
O. H. Taylor Scope and Method of Economics A
John D. Black Interregional Competition A
John D. Black Commodity Prices and Distribution A-

 

  1. Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Field Agent, June-September, 1936.

Supervisors– Ronald L. Mighell, Senior Agricultural Economist, and Dr. John D. Black, Harvard University.

Nature of Work– The project concerned Interregional Competition in Dairying, and was a cooperative endeavor of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics and Harvard University. The work consisted of taking farm-survey records on dairy farms in Vermont and Connecticut. The applicant was also responsible for collecting background material on milk marketing problems, including local hauling, operation of milk plants, milk prices and price plans, rail and truck transportation, governmental programs, and cooperative organization.

  1. Bureau of Agricultural Economics, Field Agent, June-October, 1937.

Supervisors– Ronald L. Mighell Dr. John D. Black, Harvard University.

Nature of Work– This was a continuation of the project outline above. The applicant was in charge of the marketing phases of the study in New England. This work consisted primarily of a study of milk distribution and milk control problems in Hartford, Worcester, and Boston, involving contacts with distributors, cooperative officials, administrators of milk control boards, and health officials in those milk markets, as well as research workers in milk marketing at the state colleges of Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. A manuscript of 189 pages was prepared, bringing together and analyzing the data gathered. Although this was to be used primarily as service material to the larger study of which it was only a part, it will later be published in some form.

  1. Research Assistant to Dr. John D. Black, Harvard University, September 1934-June, 1935: September, 1935-June, 1936; September, 1936-June, 1937.

Supervisors– Dr. John D. Black, Dr. John M. Cassels, and Dr. J. K. Galbraith, all of Harvard University.

Nature of Work- The duties of these part-time assistantships required some 20-27 hours a week, while the applicant carried a ¾ time graduate study program concurrently.

During the school-year 1934-35, he was responsible for a considerable part of the statistical work on Dr. Black’s book, “The Dairy Industry and the AAA”, as well as two articles in the Quarterly Journal of Economics by J. K. Galbraith and John M. Cassels, respectively.

During the school-year 1935-36 he assisted Dr. Black in the construction of index numbers and the study of farmers’ supply response to price, and made a brief study of tobacco marketing for use in Dr. Black’s course in Prices and Distribution.

During the school-year 1936-37 the applicant made an intensive study and analysis of the dairy-farm records and marketing data collected during the summer of 1936 on the Bureau of Agricultural Economics project. This work was supervised by Dr. Black.

  1. Independent Research, Cambridge, Mass., Oct. 1937-Jan. 1938.

Advisors– Dr. John D. Black and Dr. John M. Cassels of Harvard University.

Nature of Work-During this period, the applicant was working independently on a proposed Ph.D. thesis tracing the historical development of the marketing of manufactured dairy products. This period was one of an extremely intensive survey of the literature on dairy marketing since 1870 in libraries at Harvard and Washington, D. C. It also included several weeks of consulting with the staff of the Dairy Section of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration. This project was dropped as a thesis subject in January, 1938, in order that the applicant might accept a position at Iowa State College. This work served as the foundation for several Iowa Experiment Station research publications at a later date (see next item).

  1. Member of Staff, Department of Economics, Iowa State College, Feb. 1938 to date.

In February, 1938, the applicant became a member of the staff of the Department of Economics, Iowa State College, of which Dr. T. W. Schultz is department head. His initial rank was “Research Assistant” at a salary of $2430. His duties involved full responsibility for initiating and carrying out a aresearch study of the price and production policies in the meat-packing industry. During the following year, largely outside of office hours, the applicant produced manuscripts on the butter and cheese industries, based on data collected just previous to his employment at Iowa State College, which were deemed worthy of publication as research bulletins (see “list of publications”).

The objective of the study of the eat-packing industry was to make a comprehensive survey of the industry, with intensive study of those phases which would shed light on the nature of competition and monopoly elements in the industry.

The procedure was divided into four parts:

(1) Conditions in the livestock and meat markets.

The purpose of this phase of the work was to compile background descriptive material such as was necessary as a foundation for the later, more important phases of the project. This general survey was completed, covering such things as the nature of supply of livestock, demand for meats, the marketing mechanism for livestock and for meats, the composition and degree of concentration in the industry, accounting methods in the industry, and the economics of large-scale plant and firm in the industry.

            (2) Price and production policies followed in the meat-packing industry.

The procedure here was to survey past attempts at control of monopoly in the industry, covering a period of some 50 years. The status of individual packers was examined, as well as the effects on competition of such policies as market sharing, price leadership, price discrimination, advertising and branding, handling of by-products and produce, storage, and trade associations. This program necessitated two important steps: (a) the examination of leading agricultural processing-distributing industries better to determine the true nature of competition in such industries, and the applicability to problems faced by the worker in agricultural marketing research of recent developments in the economic theory of monopolistic competition. The studies of the butter and cheese industries contributed a great deal in this direction, in addition to a full year’s empirical work on the packing industry. (b) the adaptation and extension of the existing theory of monopolistic competition to the somewhat peculiar requirements of the agricultural processing-distributing industries as opposed to the strictly “manufacturing” industries, which have been the main interest of the general economist. It should be realized that the applicant is working in an entirely new field—imperfect competition in agricultural processing and distribution and has, therefore, constantly had to develop or adapt new research techniques and tools.

As a result, under the encouragement of Dr. T. W. Schultz and Dr. John D. Black, the applicant devoted the year 1939-40 primarily to developing the pure theory of imperfect competition, with special application to the agricultural processing-distributing industries. In order to make this theory of as general application as possible, not only were problems of immediate concern in the meat-packing project covered, but the theoretical considerations were broadened to include the theoretical aspects of competition in fluid milk among local country-buying units, and under short-run dynamic conditions as well. Particular emphasis was given to the theory of market-sharing, price leadership, and price discrimination, with major attention to the markets between the farm and the processing-distributing “bottleneck”.

A 460-page manuscript, “A Theoretical Analysis of Imperfect Competition, with Special Application to the Agricultural Industries” resulted. This manuscript represented four times redrafting after critical reading by Professors Black and Mason of Harvard; Professor Stigler of Minnesota; Professors Schultz, Hart, Shepherd, Reid, Lynch and Tintner of Iowa State College; Dr. Frederick V. Waugh and Dr. A. C. Hoffman of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics; and Dr. Harold B. Howe, of the Brookings Institution. All of these critics are highly qualified general or agricultural economists, and their reactions have been generally favorable.

In September, 1940, the manuscript was submitted as a Ph.D. thesis at Harvard University, and has since been accepted by Professors Black and Chamberlin. Professor Chamberlin, the leader in this phase of economic theory, states in a letter of December 23, 1940, that it is “a very fine piece of analysis and a very much worthwhile one…….an chievement of first order ……I can honestly say that I have spent more time in going over and working through some of the complex arguments that I have ever spent on any preceding doctor’s theses. This was partly because I was naturally interested in the subject and also because the thesis itself merited. it.” The plan is to push the manuscript toward publication during the next few months. The applicant expects formally to receive his Ph.D. degree before February 15, 1941.

Beginning July 1, 1939, the applicant’s salary was advanced to $3000 per annum. During the school-year 1939-40, he taught elementary Principles of Economics one-quarter time. On July 1, 1940, he was promoted to the rank of Assistant Professor at a salary of $3300, continuing to teach one-quarter time and pursue research three-quarters time. In the spring of 1941, he is scheduled to initiate a course for graduate students on Imperfect Competition in Agricultural Processing and Distribution.

Concurrently with other work previously outlined, the applicant prepared and presented a paper (unpublished) before a round-table of the American Farm Economic Association on December 28, 1938, entitled “A Suggested Approach to a Research Study in Price and Production Policies of an Agricultural Processing Industry”. Through the combination of theoretical hypotheses and empirical support, as based on the previously described work, he presented a second paper before the American Farm Economic Association in December, 1939. This paper, “Market-Sharing in the Packing industry”, presents statistical data for 1931-37 showing that the four dominant packers still buy relatively fixed proportions of hogs and cattle on the terminal markets as they did in 1913-17. It indicates how this may be evidence of oligopsonistic behavior in buying, the possible limitations of “market-sharing” as a monopolistic device, and how it may affect producer and consumer. This paper, the first published results of the meat-packing project, represents that balanced combination of empirical and theoretical analysis which the applicant considers the ideal research method.

In the December, 1940, issue of the Journal of Political Economy, another article (“Price Flexibility and Concentration in the Agricultural Processing Industries”, pp. 883-88) was published, growing out of previous empirical and theoretical work. This paper discusses the terminology concerning price “Flexibility” and alleged relationships between price flexibility and concentration of control in a given industry. It is argues that, in the agricultural processing industries (where short-run control of the supply of the food product is impossible), unlike the manufacturing industries, flexibility of margins is the important consideration, not flexibility of prices. Previous work of Means, Backman, and others in this field have failed to recognize the necessity for making this important distinction.

The great bulk of the descriptive phases of the price and production policies in the meat-packing industry has been completed. The basis no exists, in the applicant’s opinion, for a much clearer understanding of the nature of competition in the industry. Two important steps yet remain, however:

            (3) The RESULTS of these policies.

This will involve the financial analysis of the leading firms (partially completed), the examination of the relationship of such monopolistic practices as do exist to market price differentials, costs and margins, the method of buying of livestock, and the results in terms of the effects on farmer and consumer. In other words, how far do actual results as to prices, profits, employment, and investment—depart from “ideal” results under more nearly perfect competitive conditions?

(4) Practicable solutions to eliminate any ill-effects on farmer and consumer which are found to exist.

This will involve the consideration as to whether or not reform is necessary. If it is, such alternatives as government regulation, distribution as a public utility, dissolution of large firms, cooperation, government competition, etc., will have to be considered.

 

18(c). List of Publications

“Marketing Phases of Interregional Competition in Dairying”, 189-page manuscript, 1937, to be published.

*Post-War Developments in the Marketing of Butter, Iowa Agr. Exp. Sta., Res. Bul. 250, Feb. 1939, 64 pages.

*”Some Economic Aspects of University Patents”, Journal of Farm Economics, May, 1939, pp. 494-98.

“Short-Circuiting the Butter Middlemen”, Iowa Farm Economist, Jan., 1939, pp. 13-14.

*Post-War Developments in the Marketing of Cheese, Iowa Agr. Exp. Sta., Res. Bul. 261, July, 1939, 100 pages.

“Concentration in Cheese Marketing”, Iowa Farm Econmist, April, 1939, pp. 5[?]-6.

*”Post-War Concentration in the Cheese Industry”, Journal of Political Economy, Dec. 1939, pp. 823-45.

“Suggested Approach to a Research Study in the Price and Production Policies of an Agricultural Processing Industry”, paper read at Round-table on Marketing Research, American Farm Economic Association, Detroit, Dec., 1938, 14 pages, to be published.

*”Market-Sharing in the Packing Industry”, paper read at Annual Meeting, American Farm Economic Association, Philadelphia, Dec., 1939. Published in Proceedings, Journal of Farm Economics, Feb., 1940, pp. 225-40.

Review of Malott and Martin, “The Agricultural Industries”, in American Economic Review, March 1940, pp. 147-48.

*”Price Flexibility and Concentration in the Agricultural Processing Industries2, Journal of Political Economy, Dec., 1940, pp. 883-88.

** A Theoretical Analysis of Imperfect Competition, with Special Application to the Agricultural Industries, Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard University, accepted in December, 1940; 460 pages. To be published on Iowa State College Press by summer of 1941.

 

* Copy available for submission upon request.
**Topical table of contents or summary available upon request.

Source: University of Chicago Archives. Office of the President. Hutchins Administration. Records. Box 284. Folder “Economics 1943-47”.

___________________

Hall of Distinguished Alumni
[University of Kentucky]

William Hord Nicholls

Born in Lexington, Ky., on July 19, 1914. Died, August 3, 1978. University Professor and Administrator. University of Kentucky, A.B., magna cum laude, 1934.

Serving as President of the Southern Economic Association (1958-59) and the American Farm Economic Association (1960-61), his expertise in the area of farm economics has been recognized also by governmental agencies and by a number of professional journals and societies.

After graduating magna cum laude (A.B., 1934) from the University, he then earned an M.A. degree at Harvard University (1938), the Ph.D., (1941) also at Harvard, and did post-doctoral work as a Fellow at University of Chicago (1941-42).

He was instructor, assistant professor and associate professor of economics, Iowa State College, 1938-44; assistant professor of economics, University of Chicago, 1945-48, and went to Vanderbilt University as a professor of economics in 1948. He became Chairman of the Department of Economics and Business Administration there in 1958, serving until 1961, serving the following year as visiting professor of economics at Harvard University. From 1965-77, he was Director of the Graduate Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt, and was Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt, 1973-74.

He served briefly in 1934 as a statistical clerk for the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, Tobacco Section, Washington, D.C. During the summers of 1936 and 1937, he was field agent for the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, New England. He was research fellow and research assistant to Prof. John D. Black at Harvard, 1934-37, and a consultant, Office of Price Administration, Meats Section Washington, 1941-42. He was managing editor of “Journal of Political Economy,” 1946-48, and a visiting lecturer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, summer of 1947.

He also was a member of the faculty, Salsburg (Austria) Seminar in American Studies, summer of 1949; economist and co-editor of “Mission Report,” “Turkish Mission,” “International Bank of Reconstruction and Development,” Turkey and Washington, in 1950; economist, Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisers, Washington, 1953-54; technical director, Seventh American Assembly on U.S. Agriculture, Columbia University, 1954-56; consultant on Latin America,, Ford Foundation, Brazil and New York, 1960-64; agricultural economist, Fundacao Getulio Vargas, Rio de Janeiro, during the summers of 1965, 1968 and 1970, and for a period in 1963 and early 1964, and guest consultant, Instituto de Planejamento Economics e Social, Ministry of Planning, Rio de Janeiro, 1972-73.

He has served on the board of editors of three professional journals, on a number of national committees and advisory boards, and has won a number of additional honors given by agencies he served in various ways.

His book, “Imperfect Competition Within Agricultural Industries,” (1941) went into a second printing in 1947. He also wrote numerous articles for professional publications, as chapters to books, as papers to be delivered at various professional meetings and as policy reports to various agencies.

William Hord Nicholls was named to the Hall of Distinguished Alumni in February 1965.

Source: Hall of Distinguished Alumni, University of Kentucky website.

___________________

Vanderbilt University Memorial

William H. Nicholls was born in Lexington, Kentucky on July 19, 1914, and died in Nashville on August 4, 1978. Professor Nicholls did his undergraduate work at the University of Kentucky and his graduate work at Harvard University, where he received the Ph.D. in 1941. His doctoral dissertation, published that same year, on Imperfect Competition Within Agricultural Industries, established his reputation as one of the country’s leading agricultural economists. He began his teaching career at Iowa State University in 1938 and moved to the University of Chicago in 1945. While serving as assistant professor at the University of Chicago, he edited one of the major professional journals in economics, the Journal of Political Economy. Nicholls came to Vanderbilt as a full professor in 1948, where he continued his prodigious output of books and articles. He was president of the Southern Economic Association in 1958-59 and presidentof the American Farm Economic Association in 1960-61. He received the Centennial Distinguished Alumnus Award of the University of Kentucky in 1966 and was Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt in 1973. He chaired the Department of Economics and Business Administration from 1958 to 1961 and directed the Graduate Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt from 1965 to 1977.

Distinguished Professor Nicholas Gerogescu-Roegen, writing in support of Professor Nicholls’ nomination for the Harvie Branscomb Distinguished Professorship, said of him, “He is the originator of the field of regional development. One would be justified in speaking of a Nicholls’ school, which has attracted numerous doctoral students to our Economics Department, and has enhanced the prestige of the University. His works in the area of agricultural economics have no equal. They reflect a unique combination of theoretical power with a keen insight of the relevant aspects of actuality. The best example is supplied by his (now a classic) volume Imperfect Competition Within Agricultural Industries, in which Bill has created some new and efficient tools for the analysis of monopolistic structure.

“His scholarly interest in agricultural economics and its relation to economic development brought him in contact with the problems of Latin America, with Brazil in particular. Here, again, Bill showed his imaginative approach and his scholarly grip of difficult problems. The excellent name our own department (and implicitly the University) has in Latin America and among the specialists on Latin American Economics, is due in the greatest part to Bill’s contributions”.

Source: Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University, full biography link from the In Memorium webpage.

Image Source: Department of Economics, Vanderbilt University, in Memorium webpage.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. 24 Ph.D. candidates examined 1926-27

In one box at the Harvard Archives (Harvard University/Examinations for the Ph.D. [HUC7000.70]), I found an incomplete run of published Ph.D. examination announcements for the Division of History and Political Science [later Division of History, Government, and Economics] from 1903-04 through 1926-27. Earlier I transcribed the announcement for 1915-16. Today’s posting gives us (1) the date of the scheduled general or special Ph.D. examinations (2) the names of the examination committee (3) the subjects of the general examination, and (4) the academic history of the examinees for two dozen economics Ph.D. candidates examined during the academic year 1926-27.

The largest shadows cast by members of this cohort belong to the (later) Harvard economics professor Edward H. Chamberlin and the co-author of The Modern Corporation and Private Property, Gardiner C. Means. Laughlin Currie and Harry Dexter White also belonged to this cohort of examinees.

Fun fact: Richard Vincent Gilbert was the father of Walter Myron Gilbert, Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1980.

________________________________________

 

DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D.
1926-27

Notice of hour and place will be sent out three days in advance of each examination.
The hour will ordinarily be 4 p.m.

James Ackley Maxwell.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, October 25, 1926.
General Examination passed, October 30, 1923.
Academic History: Dalhousie University, 1919-21; Harvard College, 1921-23; Harvard Graduate School, 1923-27. B.A., Dalhousie, 1921; A.M., Harvard, 1923. Assistant Professor of Economics, Clark University, 1925-.
General Subjects: 1. Money and Banking. 2. Economic Theory and its History. 3. Economic History to 1750. 4. Statistics. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Burbank, A. H. Cole, and Usher.
Thesis Subject: A Financial History of Nova Scotia, 1848-99. (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock, Burbank, and Usher.

Kan Lee.

Special Examination in Economics, Thursday, October 28, 1926.
General Examination passed, January 6, 1926.
Academic History: Tsing Hua College, China, 1917-20; University of Missouri, 1920-22; University of Chicago, summer of 1921; Harvard Graduate School, 1922-27. B.J., Missouri, 1922; A.B., ibid., 1922; A.M., Harvard, 1924
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. Public Finance. 4. International Trade and Tariff Problems. 5. History of the Far East. 6. Socialism and Social Reconstruction.
Special Subject: Socialism and Social Reconstruction.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), James Ford, Mason, and Young.
Thesis Subject: British Socialists: Their Concept of Capital. (With Professor Carver.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Carver, Mason, and Young.

Donald Wood Gilbert.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, October 29, 1926.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Crum, Gay, McIlwain, and Williams.
Academic History: University of Rochester, 1917-21; Harvard Graduate School, 1923-25. A.B., Rochester, 1921; M.A., ibid., 1923. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1924-25; Instructor in Economics, Rochester, 1925-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Statistical Method and its Application. 4. History of Political Theory. 5. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 6. Commercial Crises.
Special Subject: Commercial Crises.
Thesis Subject: Undecided.

Arthur William Marget.

Special Examination in Economics, Thursday, January 20, 1927.
General Examination passed, May 24, 1923..
Academic History: Harvard College, 1916-20; Cambridge University, England, fall term, 1920; London School of Economics, winter term 1920-21, University of Berlin, summer term 1921; Harvard Graduate School, 1921-27 A.B., Harvard, 1920; A.M., ibid., 1921. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1923-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Socialism and Social Reform. 3. Public Finance. 4. Statistical Method and its Application. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money and Banking.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), A.H. Cole, Taussig, and Williams.
Thesis Subject: The Loan Fund: A pecuniary approach to the problem of the determination of the rate of interest.. (With Professor Young.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Young, Taussig, and Williams.

Richard Vincent Gilbert.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, February 9, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Crum, Monroe, Usher, and Woods.
Academic History: University of Pennsylvania, 1919-20; Harvard College, 1920-23; Harvard Graduate School, 1923-. B.S., Harvard, 1923; M.A., Harvard, 1925. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1923-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Money and Banking. 3. Statistics. 4. Economic History since 1776. 5. History of Ancient Philosophy. 6. Theory of International Trade.
Special Subject: Theory of International Trade.
Thesis Subject: Theory of International Trade. (With Professor Taussig.)

Melvin Gardner deChazeau.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, February 21, 1927.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), A.H. Cole, Crum, Demos, and Young.
Academic History: University of Washington, 1921-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. A.B., Washington, 1924; M.A., ibid., 1925. Instructor and Tutor, Harvard, 1926-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Statistics. 4. Money and Banking. 5. Ethics. 6. Regulation of Public Utilities.
Special Subject: Regulation of Public Utilities.
Thesis Subject: Undecided.

Donald Milton Erb.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, February 25, 1927.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Burbank, Gay, Morison, and Williams.
Academic History: University of Illinois, 1918-22, 1923-25; Harvard Graduate School. 1925-. S.B., Illinois, 1922; S.M., ibid., 1924. Assistant in Economics, Illinois, 1923-25.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Sociology. 4. Public Finance. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Transportation.
Special Subject: Transportation.
Thesis Subject: Railroad Abandonments and Additions in the United States since 1920. (With Professor Ripley.)

Douglass Vincent Brown.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, March 2, 1927.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, Ford, Persons and Schlesinger.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1921-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. A.B., Harvard, 1925; A.M., ibid., 1926.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistics. 3. Sociology. 4. Money, Banking, and Crises. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Labor Problems.
Special Subject: Labor Problems.
Thesis Subject: Restriction of Output. (With Professors Taussig and Ripley.)

Mark Anson Smith.

Special Examination in Economics, Friday, April 8, 1927.
General Examination passed, May 11, 1916.
Academic History: Dartmouth College, 1906-10; University of Wisconsin, 1911-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1915-17. A.B., Dartmouth, 1910; A.M., Wisconsin, 1913. Instructor in Economics at Simmons College, 1916-17.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Money, Banking, and Crises. 4. Economics of Corporations. 5. American Government and Constitutional Law.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, Usher, and Williams.
Thesis Subject: Economic Aspects of the Duties on Wool, with special reference to the period, 1912-1924. (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Taussig, A. H. Cole, and Usher.

Lauchlin Bernard Currie.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, April 11, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Burbank, A.H. Cole, Usher, and Wright.
Academic History: St. Francis Zavier College, 1921-22; London School of Economics, 1922-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. B.Sc., London, 1925.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking, and Crises.
Thesis Subject: Monetary History of Canada, 1914-26. (With Professor Young.)

Harry Dexter White.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, April 14, 1927.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Dewing, Elliott, Monroe, and Usher.
Academic History: Columbia University, 1921-23; Stanford University, 1924-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. A.B., Stanford, 1924; A.M., ibid., 1925. Instructor in Economics, Harvard, 1926-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. Economic History since 1750. 4. Economics of Corporations. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. International Trade .
Special Subject: International Trade.
Thesis Subject: Foreign Trade of France. (With Professor Taussig.)

Margaret Randolph Gay.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, April 15, 1927.
Committee: Professors Usher (chairman), A.H. Cole, McIlwain, Taussig, and Young.
Academic History: Radcliffe College, 1918-22, 1922-23, 1925-. A.B., Radcliffe, 1922; A.M., ibid., 1923.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. International Trade. 4. Economic History after 1750. 5. Political Theory. 6. English Economic History before 1750.
Special Subject: English Economic History, 1485-1750.
Thesis Subject: The Statute of Artificers, 1563-1811. (With Professor Gay.)

(Mary) Gertrude Brown.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, April 28, 1927.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Elliott, Taussig, Williams, and Young.
Academic History: Mount Holyoke College, 1920-24; Columbia University, summer of 1924; Radcliffe College, 1924-. A.B., Mount Holyoke, 1924; A.M., Radcliffe, 1926. Assistant in Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1924-26. Tutor, Bryn Mawr Summer School, 1926.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 3. Money, Banking, and Crises. 4. Comparative Modern Government. 5. Labor Problems. 6. Economic History since 1750.
Special Subject: Economic History since 1750.
Thesis Subject: The History of the American Silk Industry. (With Professor Gay.)

Eric Englund.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, May 2, 1927.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Black, Dickinson, Usher, and Young.
Academic History: Oregon Agricultural College, 1914-18; University of Oregon, summers of 1915, 1916, and 1917; University of Wisconsin, 1919-21; University of Chicago, summer of 1920; Harvard Graduate School, 1926-. B.S., Oregon Agricultural College, 1918; A.B., University of Oregon, 1919; M.S., Wisconsin, 1920. Professor of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State Agricultural College, 1921-26.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Money, Banking, and Crises. 3. Economics of Agriculture. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Thesis Subject: Studies in Taxation in Kansas. (With Professor Bullock.)

Walter Edwards Beach.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 4, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Baxter, A.H. Cole, Dewing, and Williams.
Academic History: State College of Washington, 1919-20; Stanford University, 1920-22; 1923-24, Harvard Graduate School, 1925-26. A.B., Stanford, 1922; A.M., Harvard, 1926. Instructor in Economics, Bowdoin, 1926-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economics of Corporations. 3. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking, and Crises.
Thesis Subject: International Gold Movements in Relation to Business Cycles. (With Professor Young.)

Ram Ganesh Deshmukh.

Special Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 5, 1927.
General Examination passed, May 13, 1926.
Academic History: Wilson College, India, 1912-17; Bombay University Law School, 1917-20; Harvard Graduate School, 1922-27. B.A., Bombay University, 1917; LL.B., ibid., 1920; A.M., Harvard, 1924.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Economics of Agriculture. 4. Sociology. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Burbank, A.H. Cole, and Williams.
Thesis Subject: State Highways in Massachusetts. (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock (chairman), Burbank, and A.H. Cole.

Charles Donald Jackson.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 5, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Black, Crum, Merk, and Taussig.
Academic History: Leland Stanford Junior University, 1915-16; Northwestern University, 1916-17, 1919-21; University of Wisconsin, summer of 1920 and 1921; Harvard Graduate School, 1921-22, 1924-. S.B., Northwestern, 1920; M.B.A., ibid., 1921; A.M., Harvard, 1925.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Agricultural Economics. 3. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 4. Statistics. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking, and Crises.
Thesis Subject: Agricultural Credit. (With Professor Young.)

Elmer Joseph Working.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 6, 1927.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Crum, Morison, Williams, and Young.
Academic History: University of Denver, 1916-17, 1918-19; George Washington University, 1917-18; University of Arizona, 1919-21; Iowa State College, 1921-23; University of Minnesota, 1922-23, second half-year; Brookings Graduate School, 1924-25; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-26. B.S., Arizona, 1921; M.S., Iowa, 1922. Assistant professor of Economics, University of Minnesota, 1926-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistical Method and its Application. 3. Money, Banking, and Crises. 4. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Economics of Agriculture.
Special Subject: Economics of Agriculture.
Thesis Subject: The Orderly Marketing of Grain. (With Professor Taussig.)

Gardiner Coit Means.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 12, 1927.
Committee: Professors Williams (chairman), Baxter, A.H. Cole, Dewing, and Gay.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1914-18; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-. A.B., Harvard, 1918.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. International Trade and Tariff Policy. 3. Economics of Corporations. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Money, Banking, and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking, and Crises.
Thesis Subject: Fluctuations in New England’s Balance of Trade. (With Professor Williams.)

Bishop Carleton Hunt.

Special Examination in Economics, Friday, May 13, 1927.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), W.M. Cole, Gay, McIlwain, and Williams.
Academic History: Boston University, 1916-20; Harvard Graduate School, 1925-27, summers of 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1925. B.B.A., Boston University, 1920; A.M., Harvard, 1926. Professor of Commerce, Dalhousie University, 1920-; Lecturer in Economics, Nova Scotia Technical College, 1920-23.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. International Trade. 4. Accounting. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Money and Banking.
Special Subject: Money and Banking.
Thesis Subject: Underwriting Syndicates and the Supply of Capital. (With Professor Young.)

Edward Hastings Chamberlin.

Special Examination in Economics, Friday, May 20, 1927.
General Examination passed, May 22, 1924.
Academic History: State University of Iowa, 1916-20; University of Michigan, 1920-22; Harvard Graduate School, 1922-27. B.S., Iowa, 1920; M.A., Michigan, 1922. Instructor in Economics, Iowa, summer of 1921. Assistant in economics, Harvard, 1922-. Tutor in Economics, ibid., 1924-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Statistics. 3. Accounting. 4. Economic History. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Modern Theories of Value and Distribution.
Special Subject: Modern Theories of Value and Distribution.
Committee: Professors Young (chairman), Monroe, Taussig, and Williams.
Thesis Subject: The Theory of Monopolistic Competition. (With Professor Young.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Young, Carver, and Taussig.

Christopher Roberts.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, May 23, 1927.
General Examination passed, April 3, 1925.
Academic History: Haverford College, 1916-18, 1919-21; Harvard Graduate School, 1921-27. S.B., Haverford, 1921; A.M., Harvard, 1922. Assistant in Economics, Harvard 1922-25; Tutor in Economics, ibid., 1925-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. International Trade and Finance. 3. Statistics. 4. International Law. 5. Public Finance. 6. Economic History since 1750.
Special Subject: Economic History since 1750.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Burbank, A.H. Cole, and Usher.
Thesis Subject: The History of the Middlesex Canal. (With Professor Gay.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Gay, A.H. Cole, and Cunningham.

Clayton Crowell Bayard.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 25, 1927.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), James Ford, Hanford, Taussig, and Usher.
Academic History: University of Maine, 1918-22; Harvard Graduate School, 1924-. A.B., Maine, 1922; A.M., Harvard, 1925. Assistant in Social Ethics, Harvard, 1925-26; Tutor in Social Ethics, ibid., 1926-27.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History before 1750. 3. Socialism and Social Reform. 4. American Labor Problems. 5. Municipal Government. 6. Sociology.
Special Subject: Sociology and Social Problems.
Thesis Subject: Undecided.

Dorothy Carolin Bacon.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 26, 1927.
Committee: Professors Persons (chairman), Carver, Crum, Gay and Holcombe.
Academic History: Simmons College, 1918-19; Radcliffe College, 1919-22, 1923-24, 1926-. A.B., Radcliffe, 1922; A.M., ibid., 1924. Assistant in Economics, Vassar College, 1924-25. Instructor in Economics, ibid., 1925-26.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory. 2. Sociology. 3. History of Political Theory. 4. Statistics. 5. Economic History. 6., Money, Banking and Crises.
Special Subject: Money, Banking and Crises.
Thesis Subject: A Study of the Dispersion of Wholesale Commodity Prices, 1890-1896.  (With Professor Persons.)

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1926-1927”.

Image Source:  Photo of Emerson Hall (1905). Harvard Album, 1920. 

Categories
Bibliography Wisconsin

Citizen’s Library of Economics, Politics and Sociology. Richard T. Ely, ed. 1900…

The University of Wisconsin economist, Richard T. Ely, served as the general editor for the social science series entitled “The Citizen’s Library of Economics, Politics and Sociology.” He actually disliked the title “Citizen’s Library” that had been given by Macmillan.  He thought it would give an unintended popular stigma to the scientific works he intended to include (Benjamin G. Radar [1966], The Academic Mind and Reform: The Influence of Richard T. Ely in American Life, p. 156). 

Links are provided to all the individual items but one (I couldn’t find an online copy of Blackmar’s Elements of Sociology).

_____________________

THE CITIZEN’S LIBRARY
OF ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND SOCIOLOGY.

Edited by Richard T. Ely, Ph.D., LL.D.
Professor of Economics in the University of Wisconsin

Published by The Macmillan Company, New York

EDITOR’S PREFACE

The present volume is the first in a Library having the above title. It is hoped eventually to cover the three fields of knowledge indicated by the title in such way that the various series included in the Library will afford such complete information concerning the theory and facts of these sciences that the volumes will have some of the advantages of an encyclopedic work combined with those of separate and distinct treatises. To aid in the accomplishment of this purpose, it is planned to issue from time to time an index volume or supplement, binding together a series on closely related subjects. [Note: not aware this ever happened] This Library thus includes new and valuable features, for it will give to the public a set of works affording information on topics of importance to every citizen which must now be sought in a great multiplicity of sources, and often sought in vain.

The character of the writers and the management of the Library will be such as to inspire confidence. The utmost pains will be taken to secure the greatest possible accuracy in all statistical tables and statements of fact and theory, and no partisan bias will disturb the conclusions. It is the conviction of the Editor that scientific work in the field of the humanities may generally be made interesting to intelligent citizens through cultivation of clearness in statement and literary style. There are masterpieces even in Economics, for example, which rank as literature, as Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and John Stuart Mill’s Political Economy bear witness. It is desired to lay emphasis on the fact that while the sciences of Economics, Politics, and Sociology are of concern to the citizen, and make appropriate the title ” Citizen’s Library,” in no case will the interests of science be sacrificed to popularity. The aim will be to bring every volume in the Library up to the present standard of science, and it is hoped that the Library will in more than one instance push forward the boundaries of knowledge.

In conclusion, it only remains to add that the various authors assume responsibility for expressions of opinion, and that publication in the Library does not necessarily mean an endorsement either by publishers or Editor of views found in the several volumes.

The Editor.

Source: Ely, Richard T. Monopolies and Trusts , New York: Macmillan, 1900, pp. ix-xi.

_____________________

BOOKS IN THE CITIZEN’S LIBRARY
OF ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND SOCIOLOGY.

Addams, Jane. (1902). Democracy and Social Ethics.

Addams, Jane. (1907). Newer Ideals of Peace.

Baker, M. N. (1902). Municipal Engineering and Sanitation.

Blackmar, Frank Wilson. (1908). The Elements of Sociology.

Bradford, Ernest S. (1911). Commission Government in American Cities.

Bullock, Charles J. (1900). Essays on the Monetary History of the United States.

Carlton, Frank Tracy. (1908). Education and Industrial Evolution.

Ely, Richard T. (1893).  Outlines of Economics.

Ely, Richard T. (1893, reprinted 1900). Outlines of Economics.

Ely, Richard T., Thomas S. Adams, Max O. Lorenz, and Allyn A. Young. (1908, revised and enlarged). Outlines of Economics.

Ely, Richard T. (1900). Monopolies and Trusts.

Ely, Richard T. (1903). Studies in the Evolution of Industrial Society.

Ely, Richard T. (1905 reprint of 1886). Labor Movement in America.

Fisk, George Mygatt. (1907). International Commercial Policies with Special Reference to the United States, a Text Book.

Hobson, John A. (1900). The Economics of Distribution.

Jones, Edward D. (1900). Economic Crises.

Kelley, Florence. (1905). Some Ethical Gains Through Legislation.

Kinley, David. (1904). Money.

MacLean, Annie Marion. (1910). Wage-Earning Women.

Macy, Jesse. (1900). Political Parties in the United States, 1846-1861.

Mangold, George B. (1910). Child Problems.

Mead, Elwood. (1903) Irrigation Institutions. A Discussion of the Economic and Legal Questions Created by the Growth of Irrigated Agriculture in the West.

Meyer, Balthasar Henry (1909). Railway Legislation in the United States.

Parmelee, Maurice. (1908). The Principles of Anthropology and Sociology in Their Relations To Criminal Procedure.

Reinsch, Paul S. (1900). World Politics at the End of the Nineteenth Century as Influenced by the Oriental Situation.

Reinsch, Paul S. (1902). Colonial Government.

Reinsch, Paul S. (1905). Colonial Administration.

Ross, E. A. and Aleworth, E. (1901). Social control, a survey of the foundations of order.

Ross, Edward A. (1905). The Foundations of Sociology.

Smith, J. Allen. (1907). The Spirit of American Government; A Study of the Constitution: its Origin, Influence and Relation to Democracy.

Sparling, Samuel E. (1906). Introduction to Business Organization.

Taylor, Henry C. (1905). An Introduction to the Study of Agricultural Economics.

Vincent, John Martin. (1900). Government in Switzerland.

Wilcox, Delos F. (1904). The American City; A Problem in Democracy.

Wilcox, Delos F. (1910). Great Cities in America, their Problems and their Government.

Zueblin Charles (Revised edition, 1916). American Municipal Progress.

 

Image Source: Universities and their sons; history, influence and characteristics of American universities, with biographical sketches and portraits of alumni and recipients of honorary degrees, Vol. IV (1900), p. 505.

 

Categories
Columbia Fields Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. Reading List in Public Finance. Bullock and Burbank, 1934.

In an earlier posting I posted the public finance reading list for the Ph.D. field exam in public finance prepared some time during the fall semester 1933-34 which was in a Harvard economics department folder along with reading lists for other fields (railroads, corporations, and banking). In this posting we find the identical reading list along with a cover letter from Professor Charles Bullock of Harvard to Prof. Haig, the public finance expert, at Columbia asking for comments. I have added Haig’s suggestions for deletions and additions in blue-boldface.

___________________________________

[Bullock to Haig, 15 January 1934]

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
January 15, 1934

Prof. R. M. Haig
Columbia University
New York City

My dear Haig:

Burbank and I have been conferring recently about the reading that ought to be done by our graduate students who offer public finance as their special field for the doctorate. After considering books and the results students apparently get from reading them, we have got up the enclosed list. If you would be interested in reading it and commented commenting upon it, I should be greatly indebted to you.

In particular I would be glad to have you note any books which you have found useful for your students but which we have omitted.

Some of the books we list, like Miss Comstock’s “Taxation in the Modern State”, are pretty light-weight affairs; but they have some information in them which students can’t readily get elsewhere; also, of course, some misinformation.

If there are any books listed here that you would strike out, I should be very glad if you would indicate deletions.

Another question is that of the division of the books into the three groups. The first group mostly is intended to give the general approach, though the last thing in it, the Colwyn Report, is put there because Burbank has found it extremely useful with his students. Mine have not found it so useful; and I would have preferred to put that title in Group II.

I would be glad to have your comments also on the amount of reading. I am inclined to think the requirement of all the books in Group I, six or eight books in Group II, and three or four books in Group III is excessive; but the first two titles in Group I are really read in class. Do you think the total amount of reading excessive?

For your convenience I am sending along two copies, so that you can jot down in lead pencil on one of them additions, deletions, criticisms, and any other comment, and then mail the damned thing back to me without even going to the trouble of dictating a letter. In the present state of the literature in public finance, I have found it very difficult to know what to do; and so has Burbank. Perhaps you may be sufficiently in the same frame of mind so that you will not find this polite request I make too much of an imposition!

Yours sincerely,

[signed]

Charles J. Bullock

 

CJB/AMB

___________________________________

Readings in Public Finance for General and Special Examinations

Students preparing for the special examination in public finance should read all the references listed under I. In II the student should read a substantial portion of six or eight books, selecting topics which he considers of most interest and value to him. In III the student should read a substantial portion of three or four of the books listed, again following his own requirements or interests.

 

I. Required Reading

A. Smith Wealth of Nations, Book 5
J. S. Mill Principles of Political Economy, Book 5, ch. 1-8
C. F. Bastable Public Finance (3rd edition). Read pages: 1-149; 153-257; 261-421; 425-442; 443-464; 465-468; 469-494; 504-573; 611-711.
H. L. Lutz Public Finance
C. J. Bullock Selected Readings in Public Finance (3rd edition). Read pages: 1-51; 76-147; 156-268; 278-379; 445-490; 533-607; 755-902; 921-982
A. Wagner Finanzwissenschaft, Vol. II. Read all the coarse print; use judgment on the fine print.
P. Leroy-Beaulieu Traité des Finances, Vol. I (8th edition, 1912). Read pages: 1-10; 28-92; 92-133; 134-143; 172-249; 367-387; 394-437; 439-482; 483-517; 539-626; 626-703
[Haig note: Substitute Allix]
D. R. Dewey Financial History of the United States
The Colwyn Report Great Britain: Report of the Committee on National Debt and Taxation, 1927. Read pages: 73-244. (Cmd. 2800; Econ. 5389.27)

[Haig note: Add.—H. Dalton—Principles of Public Finance]

 

 

II. Reading Recommended

Mills and Starr Readings in Public Finance and Taxation. Read Pages: 41-150; 168-195; 205-264; 369-453; 482-607; 763-808
A. C. Pigou A Study in Public Finance
B. Moll Lehrbuch der Finanzwissenschaft (1930)
[Haig note: I was surprised by the low rating given Moll’s Lehrbuch by his German colleagues]
E. Allix

 

 Traité élementaire de Science des Finances (6th edition, 1931). Read pages: 1-81; 151-204; 216-256; 285-312; 341-382; 437-573; 870-902; 910-958; 1011-1050;1091-1134.
L. Suret Théorie de l’Impôt progressif
[Haig note: Subsitute Seligman]
J. Stamp Fundamental Principles of Taxation
T. G. Shearman Natural Taxation
[Haig note: “?” (a question mark)]
H. L. Lutz State Tax Commissions
S. Leland The Classified Property Tax
A. L. Harding Double Taxation of Property and Income
E. Cannan History of Local Rates
A. F. Macdonald Federal Aid
J. W. Grice National and Local Finance
A. E. Buck Municipal Finance
The May Report Great Britain: Report of the Committee on National Expenditure, 1931 (Cmd. 3290; Econ. 5389.31)
National Tax Association Proceedings, 1933, Report of Committee on Model System of State and Local Taxation

 

 

III. Other Reading

G. F. Shirras Science of Public Finance
[Haig note: Elim. in view of incl. of Bastable]
E. R. A. Seligman Progressive Taxation
——————— Essays in Taxation
——————— Income Tax (chapters on Great Britain, Germany, France, U.S.A.)
——————— Shifting and Incidence of Taxation
H. A. Silverman Taxation, Its Incidence and Effects
A. Comstock Taxation in the Modern State
J. P. Jensen Property Taxation in the United States
W. G. Schultz Taxation of Inheritances
R. G. Blakey Taxation in Minnesota
[Haig note: Eliminate]
R. M. Haig The Taxation of Excess Profits in Great Britain
National Industrial Conference Board General Sales or Turnover Taxation
National Industrial Conference Board Sales Tax
A. G. Buehler General Sales Taxes
[Haig note: Substitute C. Shoup: Sales Tax in France]
R. Magill, editor Lectures on Taxation
R. Stourm The Budget
W. F. Willoughby The National Budget System
H. S. Adams
[Haig note: “C” (i.e. not S.)]		 Public Debts
M. L. Walker Municipal Expenditure
Britain’s Industrial Future, pp. 426-447.
H.U. Library, Econ 6069.28.5
Joseph Sykes British Public Expenditures, 1921-1931
Report of New York Commission for Revision of the Tax Laws, 1932, Part III.

[Haig note:  Add.

W. F. Willoughby. The Financial Condition and Operations of the National Government.
H. C. Adams, Science of Finance.
H. Higgs. The Financial System of the UK.
Taxation of Foreign and National Enterprises. Fiscal Commission, League of Nations.]

 

Source:   Columbia University Libraries, Manuscript Collections. R. M. Haig Collection, Box 15, “Lecture Notes”; Folder, “Reading—Suggestions—Econ.101”.

Image Source:  Harvard Album 1932.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Graduates’ Magazine reports on Economics Dept. 1892-1904.

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 1, October, 1892, pp. 116-117.

ECONOMICS.

Ten years ago, the Department of Political Economy had one professor and one instructor, neither giving all of his time to the subject. At present, the Department of Economics has three professors and two instructors. The change in name, from Political Economy to Economics, indicates of itself an enlargement of the range of subjects. The number of courses offered has grown from two to a dozen, with a corresponding development in the variety of topics treated. The increase in the number of students is indicated by the fact that the first course, introductory to the rest, which was taken ten years ago by perhaps fifty students, now has over three hundred. This striking development is significant of the rapid increase in the attention given to economic problems by the public and by our institutions of learning. The staff now consists of Professors Dunbar, Taussig, and Ashley, and Messrs. Cummings and Cole. Professor Ashley enters upon his duties for the first time this autumn, his chair being a newly created one of Economic History. Professor Dunbar continues to edit the Quarterly Journal of Economics, which was established by the University in 1886 with the aid of a fund contributed by John Eliot Thayer, ’85, and which has an established position among the important periodicals on economic subjects. The Department has recently done service to economic students by a reprint, under Professor Dunbar’s care, of Cantillon’s Essai sur le Commerce, a rare volume of importance in the history of economic theory; and it has now in press a volume of State Papers and Speeches on the Tariff, meant to aid students of the tariff history of the United States. For its growth in the past the Department has depended wholly on the expenditure by the Corporation of unpledged resources. No doubt the increasing sense of the importance of economic study will in time change the situation in this regard, and will make this department as attractive for benefactors as those which are older and more familiar.

F. W. Taussig, 79.

 

 _____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 1, July, 1893, p. 576.

[Birth of a semester system, emphasis added]

The elective pamphlet announcing the courses to be offered in 1893-94 by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences contains few striking changes. There is a tendency manifested in it to increase the number of half-courses beginning or ending in February, at the time of the mid-year examinations. Thus History 12 is split into two halves, the first half being on the recent history of Continental Europe, and the second half on the recent constitutional history of England; Economics 7 is cut in two, and Economics 12 is established as two half-courses, one on International Payments and the Flow of Precious Metals, and the other on Banking and the History of the Banking Systems. Other examples might be given to emphasize the drift towards something akin to a division of the year into two semesters, particularly for the convenience of graduate students. 

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 1, July, 1893, p. 590.

ECONOMICS.

In the department of Economics several new courses are offered for 1893-94. Professor Dunbar offers two half-courses, one on international payments and the flow of the precious metals from country to country, the other on banks and the leading banking systems. The two half-courses come at the same hours in the first and second half-years, and, when taken together, form a convenient full course running through the year. This new course will alternate with Course 7, on taxation and finance, which is to be omitted in 1893-94, and will be resumed in 1894-95. — Professor Ashley offers a course on Economic History, from the Middle Ages to modern times, which will take the place of the former Course 4, on the economic history of Europe and America since the middle of the eighteenth century. The new course covers a longer period than was covered in Course 4, and will supplement effectively the instruction in history as well as in economics. Professor Ashley also offers a new half-course, intended mainly for advanced and graduate students, on land tenure and agrarian conditions in Europe. — Professor Cummings offers a half-course, also intended for advanced students, on schemes for social reconstruction from Plato’s Republic to the present time, including the proposals of Bellamy and Hertzka. The course is meant to give opportunity for the discussion of social and political institutions and of socialist theories. — Economics 1, the introductory course in the department, will be remodeled in part in the coming year. A somewhat larger proportion of the exercises will take the form of lectures to all members of the course. Professor Taussig will lecture on distribution and on financial subjects, Professor Ashley on economic development, Professor Cummings on social questions.

F. W. Taussig, ’79.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 3, March, 1895, pp. 383-384.

ECONOMICS.

The matter that has of late most engaged the attention of the Department has been the welcome and yet embarrassing growth in the number of students taking the introductory course known as Economics 1. This has risen from 179 in 1889-90 to 201 in ’90-91, 288 in ’91-92, 322 in ’92-93, 340 in ’93-94, until in the present year it is 398. Such an increase necessarily raises grave questions both of educational method and of academic discipline. Those professors to whose labors in past years the success of the course has been due are still of opinion that the recitation method, in its best form, — the discussion day after day and chapter by chapter of some great treatise like the work of John Stuart Mill, — furnishes a mental training such as no other plan can provide. But for its successful practice it is necessary either that the class should be quite small, or that, if divided, the sections should be few and small. Accordingly it became evident that some modification of plan was necessary; and last year the arrangement was hit upon of retaining the section work for the greater part of the year, but diversifying it with three months of set lectures at different periods by Professors Taussig, Ashley, and Cummings. The experiment was so satisfactory that it has been repeated this year; and, in the absence of Professor Taussig, Professors Ashley and Cummings have each lectured for six weeks. If the numbers continue to grow, it may seem advisable in the future to take further steps in the same direction. But Upper Massachusetts, in spite of its historical associations, has abominable acoustic properties; the room in Boylston, which was suggested as an alternative, is redolent of Chemistry; and it may ultimately become necessary to invade the sacred precincts of Sanders Theatre. — In the absence of Professor Taussig upon his sabbatical, before referred to, his course on Economic Theory (Econ. 2) has been divided into two half-courses, and undertaken by Professor Ashley and Professor Macvane. Professor Macvane’s action will do something to break down that middle wall of partition between departments which is sometimes so curiously high and strong in this University of free electives. It need scarcely be added that to those who know how considerable have been Professor Macvane’s contributions to economic theory, and how great his reputation is with foreign economists, he seems altogether in place when he takes part in the economic instruction of Harvard University. — Professor Taussig’s course on Railway Transportation (Econ. 5) has been assigned for the present year to Mr. G. O. Virtue, ’92; his other courses have been suspended. — Mr. John Cummings, ’91, has returned, with a year’s experience as instructor and his doctorate, from the University of Chicago, and is now an Assistant in Econ. 1; he is also offering a new course on Comparative Poor Law and Administration. — The instructors in this, as in other Departments, find themselves increasingly hampered by the difficulty of providing the necessary books for the use of students. Oxford and Cambridge Universities, with hardly more students than Harvard, have libraries in every college, together with the Union libraries and the University libraries; here in Harvard, if an instructor in class mentions any but the best known of books, the chances are that there is only one copy in the place,— that in the University Library; and unless he has been provident enough to have that book “reserved,” some undergraduate promptly takes it out, and nobody else can see it. It is true that undergraduates ought to buy more books; but frequently there is not a copy to be had even in the Boston bookstores. It would certainly be a great relief if the societies could see their way to create, each for itself, a modest working library of a few hundred books. Meanwhile something may be done by strengthening the Departmental Library in University Hall. This, which owes its creation to the generosity of some of the members of the Class of 1879, is in urgent need of enlargement; and the professors in the Department will be glad to hear from any graduate whose eye this happens to catch. — Finally, it may be advisable to mention that, as the result of careful deliberation on the part of the members of the Division Committee, a detailed statement of requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science was drawn up last spring, and will now be found at the end of the Division pamphlet This Statement is noteworthy in that it defines for the first time the “general” examination, and the examination on “a special field;” and also for the stress it lays upon “a broad basis of general culture ” as the foundation of specialist work. “A command of good English, spoken and written, the ability to make free use of French and German books, and a fair acquaintance with general history ” are mentioned as “of special importance.”

W. J. Ashley.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 4, December, 1895, pp. 242-243.

ECONOMICS.

The Department of Economics began its work for the year under unfortunate circumstances. Professor Dunbar, its honored head, was compelled by ill-health to withdraw from academic work for the year, and was given leave of absence by the Corporation. His withdrawal rendered necessary changes in the courses of instruction. Of those announced to be given by Professor Dunbar, course 7, on Financial Administration and Public Debts, was undertaken by Dr. John Cummings, and course 12, on Banking and the History of the Leading Banking Systems, by Professor Taussig. The additional work thus assumed by Professor Taussig was made possible through the aid of Professor Macvane, who will conduct during the second half-year that part of Economics 2 which had been announced to be given by Professor Taussig. Course 8, on the History of Financial Legislation in the United States, has been shifted to the second half-year, and will then be given by Dr. Joseph A. Hill, A. B. ’86, Ph. D. ’92. By this rearrangement all the courses originally announced will be given, and no diminution in the Department’s offering results from Professor Dunbar’s absence. — Another change has taken place, affecting course 1. The numbers in this introductory course have grown steadily of late years, and it is now taken annually by about 400 men. It had been the policy of the Department to conduct it not by lectures, but mainly by face to face discussion, in rooms of moderate size, the men being divided into sections for this purpose. As the numbers grew, however, it became more and more difficult to keep the sections at a manageable size, to find convenient rooms for them, and to secure efficient instructors. The alternative of lecturing to the men in one large room had long presented itself, but the probable educational advantages of instruction in smaller rooms by sections caused this alternative to be avoided. For the present year, however, the withdrawal of Professor Dunbar rendered some economizing of the force of the Department necessary, and it has been accordingly determined to try the lecture plan for the current year. All the members of the course meet in Upper Massachusetts, — a room which, by the way, proves reasonably well adapted for this use, — and there are given lectures by the various instructors who take part in the course. By way of testing their reading and securing for the instructors some evidence as to their attainments, a system of weekly written papers has been introduced. On a given day of each week the students write answers to questions bearing upon the work of that week and of previous weeks. These answers are examined and corrected, and serve as a means of estimating the diligence and attainments of the students. Whether this radical change of plan will prove to be advantageous remains to be decided by the year’s experience; but it indicates a change in the methods of college work which is making its way in all directions, and which presents new and difficult problems to instructors. — The Seminary in Economics opens the year with sixteen advanced students of good quality, and promises well. Two are Seniors in Harvard College; the remainder are members of the Graduate School. Four are candidates for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the close of the current year. The growth of the Seminary in numbers and the better organization of its work are part of the general advance of the Graduate School, which is now reaping the fruits of the marked gains it has made in recent years.

F. W. Taussig, 79.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 7, March, 1899, pp. 427-8.

ECONOMICS.

Like other departments, that of Economics finds itself confronted with the problem of the best mode of dealing with large numbers of students in the courses much sought for, and especially in the general introductory course. Economics 1 is now regularly chosen by from 450 to 500 students. Well-nigh every undergraduate takes it at some stage of his college career, and the question of its numbers seems to be simply a question of the number of students in the College and Scientific School. This great demand for general training in the subject has imposed on the Department an obligation to make its instruction as stimulating and efficient as may be, and yet has made this task more difficult than ever before. Inevitably, the old method of dividing the course into sections for all of the instruction has been abandoned. Its place has been taken by a mixed method of lectures and oral exercises. Twice a week, lectures are given to the whole course in one large room. Upper Massachusetts, remodeled, reheated, and reseated, serves for these lectures, — not well, but not unendurably ill; there is great need, for the use of the large courses, of a new and well-equipped building. The lectures are largely in the nature of comment on assigned reading. The third hour in the week is then given to meetings in sections of moderate size, in which the lectures and the reading are subject to test and discussion. The course is divided into some fifteen sections, each of which meets its instructor once a week. At these exercises, a question is first answered in writing by each student, twenty minutes being allowed for this test; the remainder of the hour is used in oral discussion. Some continuous oversight of the work of students is thus secured, and opportunity is given for questions to them and from them. A not inconsiderable staff of instructors is necessary for the conduct of the sections, and a not inconsiderable expenditure by the Corporation for salaries; but some such counter-weight on the lecture system pure and simple is felt to be necessary. The Department has been fortunate in securing trained and competent instructors for this part of the work; and the new method, if not definitively adopted, is at least in the stage of promising experiment. — During the second half year of 1898-99, the place of Professor Ashley, who is absent on leave, is taken by Dr. Wm. Cunningham, of Trinity College (Cambridge, England). Dr. Cunningham and Professor Ashley are easily the leaders among English-speaking scholars on their subject, economic history; and the Department has cordially welcomed the arrangement by which the scholar from the Cambridge of England fills the place, for the time being, of the scholar of the American Cambridge. Dr. Cunningham gives two courses in the current half year, — one on Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects, Mediaeval and Modern, the other on the Industrial Revolution in England.

F. W. Taussig, ‘79.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 8, December, 1899, p. 223.

ECONOMICS.

The Department finds, as usual, large numbers of students to deal with during the current year. In the introductory course, Economics 1, nearly 500 students are enrolled, and once again it appears that the University has no good lecture room adequate for the accommodation of such numbers. The system of instruction which has been in use in this course for several years is continued. For part of the time, lectures are given to all members of the course; for the remainder of the time, it is split into small sections for question and discussion. So long as lectures are given at all, there is little gain from splitting the course into two or more parallel courses, as has sometimes been proposed; but the absence of a good lecture room for the whole number makes the present situation trying. In its advanced courses, the Department has again the services of Prof. Ashley, who returns after a year’s leave of absence, and finds large numbers enrolled in his course on modern economic history. His advanced course, on the history and literature of economics to the close of the 18th century, also attracts a satisfactory number of mature students. Prof. Cummings omits for the year his course on the labor question; but compensation for this is found in Philosophy 5, a course having a similar range of subjects, which is again given by Prof. Peabody, who has returned from his year’s leave of absence. Professors Dunbar and Taussig give, without material change, the courses usually assigned to them. — The Department assumes some additional burden through a change in its plans for the publication of the Quarterly Journal of Economics. That journal, whose 14th volume begins with the opening issue of this year, is hereafter to appear in more ambitious form. Its size will be somewhat increased, the departments varied, and the elaborate bibliography of current publication will be strengthened. At the same time the price goes up from $2 to $3 a year, — a change which, it is hoped, can be carried out without a loss of subscribers.

F. W. Taussig, 79.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 10, December, 1901, pp. 261-2.

ECONOMICS.

An unusual number of changes have to be noted in this Department. Prof. Taussig’s leave of absence, and Prof. Ashley’s recent resignation, have made it necessary to call in several men from the outside to give instruction during the present year. Prof. Taussig’s work is provided for in part by Prof. C. J. Bullock, of Williams College, who is giving the courses on finance and taxation, — and in part by a redistribution of the work among the members of the regular teaching staff. Dr. Andrew has charge of Economics 1, and Dr. Sprague of Economics 6, on the Economic History of the United States. Prof. Ashley’s courses, as announced for the year, have been provided for as follows: Prof. Wm. Z. Ripley, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is giving course 5 on Statistics, and is to give the latter half of course 17 on the Economic Organization and Resources of European Countries, Mr. Meyer having charge of it during the first half year. Dr. C. W. Mixter is giving course 15 on the History and Literature of Economics to the opening of the 19th century. In addition, Prof. Ripley is giving course 5a on Railway Economics. In the second half year, Mr. W. F. Willoughby is to give courses 9 and 9a on Problems of Labor. — The courses preparing for a business career have been extended somewhat. Mr. W. M. Cole continues his course on the Principles of Accounting, and Prof. Wambaugh his course on Insurance. In addition to these, Mr. Bruce Wyman is conducting a new course on the Principles of Law in their Application to Industrial Problems, using the case method as it has been developed in the Law School. The popularity of these courses, in spite of the unusual severity of the examinations, is some indication of their success, and suggests, at least, the practicability of still further extensions. While there is a tendency in some quarters to carry the idea of commercial education to extremes, it is to be noted that these courses neither pretend to take the place of business experience, nor to teach those things which can be learned better in a business office than in any institution of learning. Moreover the work is confined to a mastery of principles and not to the gaining of general information. — The number of students in the Department continues large, there being upward of 480 in course 1, and about 1100 in the Department as a whole, not excluding those counted more than once. The housing of Economics 1 continues to be a problem, as Upper Massachusetts is uncomfortably packed at each meeting. More difficult, however, is the problem of finding small rooms for the 11 sections into which this class is divided for discussion and consultation once each week. — The Board of Overseers have confirmed the appointment of Dr. A. P. Andrew, Dr. O. M. W. Sprague, and Mr. H. R. Meyer as instructors without limit of time. — The change from two dollars to three dollars per year in the subscription price of the Quarterly Journal of Economics has been followed by no diminution in the number of subscribers, and the hope of the editors that the Journal might be conducted on a somewhat more ambitious scale is being realized.

T. N. Carver.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 11, December, 1902, pp. 247-248.

ECONOMICS.

Prof. Taussig’s continued absence has occasioned some readjustment of work within the Department during the present year. Dr. A. P. Andrew has full charge of Course I, Dr. O. M. W. Sprague of Course 6, and Prof. T. N. Carver of Course 2, while Prof. Taussig’s course on Adam Smith and Ricardo has been combined with Dr. C. W. Mixter’s course on Selected Topics in the History of Economic Thought since Adam Smith. Prof. W. Z. Ripley, formerly of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has accepted a professorship in our Department, and is giving Course 9 on Problems of Labor and Industrial Organization, the first half of Course 3, on the Principles of Sociology, the second half of Course 17, on the Economic Organization and Resources of European Countries, and Course 4, on the Theory and Method of Statistics. Dr. E. F. Gay, who has spent several years in Europe investigating in the field of economic history, has accepted an instructorship here, and is giving Courses 10 and 11, on the Economic History of Mediaeval and Modern Europe.

The interest in the work of the Department continues to grow. Economics I has 542 students, as compared with about 480 at this time last year. Mr. Wyman’s course (21), on The Principles of Law in their Application to Economic Problems, now contains over 60 students, as compared with 38 last year. Other courses show no great variation one way or the other, except Prof. Ripley’s course in Statistics. The interest which is being revived in this too much neglected field promises well for the future of economic studies in Harvard.

The change in the hour of Economics I from Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 9, to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, at 11, was necessary in order to find a suitable room. This makes it possible for a larger number of Freshmen to elect the course, since it no longer conflicts with History I. Whether this is going to prove advantageous or not remains to be seen. At present the policy is to discourage Freshmen from electing this course. If there should be a considerable increase in the number of men who complete the college course in three years, it may be advisable to allow some of the more mature members of the Freshman Class to take Economics I. In that case it will be necessary to increase the number of courses which are somewhat general in their scope. Thus the course on Economic Theory (2) might be made somewhat less special than it now is, and a new course covering the general field of Practical Economics might be started. In this way the evils of too early specialization might be avoided. However, no definite policy has as yet been decided upon.

The Department has secured the use of Room 24, University Hall, as headquarters. In this room the mail of the Department and of the Quarterly Journal of Economics will be received, and the exchanges will be available for immediate inspection. This room has also been fitted up with drawing tables and other apparatus necessary for practical work in statistics. It is the purpose to make it a statistical laboratory.

The accounts of the Quarterly Journal of Economics are satisfactory, and the subscription list is making slow but substantial gains.

T. N. Carver.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 11, June, 1903, pp. 560-562.

ECONOMICS.

An interesting comparison between the allied departments of History and Economics is shown below on the basis of the number of students electing such courses. Some of the novel problems entailed by the rapid growth of the very large courses are now being considered by both departments. This rapid growth in large courses, coupled with the increase in the number of highly specialized courses, is bound to make necessary a constant increase in the instructing staff, if full justice to the work is to be done. Among the new courses offered for next year are the following: Economics of Agriculture, by Prof. Carver; Corporation Finance, by Prof. Ripley; Outlines of Agrarian History, by Prof. Gay; and American Competition in Europe since 1873 and The Indirect Activities of the State in Australasia and in Europe, by Mr. Meyer. A general revision of the methods of the Seminary is also under consideration, although plans in that direction are not as yet completed,

 

1902-3. STUDENTS IN ECONOMICS.

ECONOMICS.

HISTORY.
1st half year 1st half year

Econ.

 5 60 Hist. 12a 93

“

 7b 21 “ 16a 151 244
“ 8a

100

 2d half year

“

 12a 10 Hist. 12b 79

“

 10 16 “ 16b

148
“ 18 45 252 “ 29 86

313
2d half year ½ course thro yr.

Econ.

 8b 152 Hist. 17 4

4

“

 11b

19

 Whole courses.

“

 12b 43 Hist. 1

506
“ 16 29 243 “ 3

6
½ course thro yr.

“

 4

7

Econ.

 4 15 15 “ 6

19
Whole courses.

“

 8

8

Econ.

 1 519 “ 9 36

“

 2 26 “ 10 188

“

 3 45 “ 11 67
“ 6 122 “ 13

214
“ 9 111 “ 15 13
“ 14 15 “ 20d

3

“

 17 9 “ 20e 12
“ 20 11 “ 21

1

“

 20a 5   “ 25

3

“

 21 60 “ 26 11

“

 22 6(?) Hist. of Relig. 2 50

1144
Deduct 50 given by another Faculty

1705

1655
________________________________________
Whole courses

11

 Whole courses

16
Half-courses

11

5 ½

 Half-courses

6

3
16 ½

19
Including 5 courses of over 100 students, of which 2 are half courses. Including 5 courses of over 100 students, of which 2 are half courses.

A prompt response to suggestions made to the committee on instruction in economics of the Board of Overseers, as to the needs of the Department, has been made by Mr. Arthur T. Lyman in the shape of a gift of $500, to be expended in the preparation of charts, maps, and other illustrative material. The courses in general descriptive economics, it was felt, can be very greatly improved by the use of such material. Chart cases had already been installed in the new department headquarters, but this will enable the services of an expert draftsman for commencing the preparation of a suitable collection.

Among the other needs of the Department expressed at this meeting was that of an adding and computing machine for use in connection with the courses in Finance and Statistics. It was felt that the so-called “Burroughs Adder,” so generally in use in banking houses and statistical offices, could be utilized to great advantage in the prosecution of original work. The cost of such a machine is approximately $350. It is also to be hoped in the course of time that a collection of illustrative material other than maps may be commenced. This would include, for example, samples of the leading raw materials whose classification enters into tariff discussions and debates, photographs of social and industrial establishments, and other material of this sort. Such a collection, within moderate limits, along the lines of the Philadelphia Commercial Museums, has already been begun at Dartmouth, Ann Arbor, and other places. It should be kept in mind as a possible department at Cambridge.

 

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 12, December, 1903, p. 246.

ECONOMICS.

Prof. Taussig has returned after an absence of two years, entirely restored in health. His resumption of work completes the working corps in the department, enabling it to offer its full list of announced courses. The number of graduate students is considerably increased over the preceding years, and there is every prospect of a successful resumption of the regular work in all lines.

The November number of The World’s Work contains the first of a noteworthy series of articles by Prof. Carver upon agricultural conditions in the West. Prof. Carver made a tour of some hundreds of miles on horseback during the summer, principally in the corn belt. It is his intention to supplement this tour by similar observations in other parts of the country in the coming years. This issue of The World’s Work forms distinctively a Harvard number, containing also an article on The Progress of Labor Organizations, by Prof. Ripley.

Among the new courses announced for this year are several by Prof. Bullock, one upon “The History and Literature of Economics,” with an additional research course entitled “Studies in American Finance.” Prof. Gay’s course upon ” The German Economists” last year met with so cordial a response that it has been expanded to a full course, covering the French as well as the German authorities. Mr. H. R. Meyer, having re- signed as an instructor, will continue as a lecturer, giving two courses upon “American Competition in Europe since 1873” and “The Industrial Activities of the State in Australasia and in Europe.”

W. Z. Ripley.

_____________________________

The Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Vol. 13, December, 1904, p. 278.

ECONOMICS.

Economics 1 opens with an enrolment of 491 students, and is again the largest elective course in College. Government 1 is a close second, with 481 students; History 1 has 436. The numbers in Economics 1 are distinctly less than last year, which doubtless reflects the decline in attendance in the College at large. More than half of the total are Sophomores (255) ; the Juniors number 102, and the Freshmen 73. The resort to these three courses shows how strong is the trend to ward instruction in subjects connected with political life, and how great is the need for careful teaching and careful organization. Economics 1 continues to be conducted on the system which has been in use for some years past, and has been followed also in Government 1 and History 1. Two hours of lectures are given each week; for the third hour the course is divided into sections, in which there is a weekly examination, coupled with oral discussion of the subjects taken up during the week. Five assistant instructors conduct these sections, and the system seems to solve the problem of large courses satisfactorily.

In line with the policy adopted last year in the Department of paralleling the various undergraduate courses with advanced courses for graduate students, involving more or less research in each special field, Prof. Andrew is this year giving an advanced course upon the theories of crises, as a continuation of his larger course upon crises and cycles of trade.

An experiment intended to deal with the increasing difficulty of giving required reading to constantly enlarging classes will be tried in Economics 9b, through the publication of a casebook in economics similar to those in use in the Law School. The plan is to reprint official documents and detailed descriptions of particular phases of corporate economics, leaving to the lectures the task of supplying the connecting links and of tracing the development of the subject as an organic whole.

A valuable collection of charts of railway mortgages has recently been acquired through the generosity of graduates. These charts, prepared for the different railway systems, illustrate the exact character and situs of the securities. The collection of other charts and diagrams, made possible through the generosity of Mr. Arthur T. Lyman, is also making progress.

Source:  See the listings for the Harvard Graduates’ Magazine at Hathitrust. These are some of the items found using the index for the first twenty volumes.

Categories
Harvard

Harvard. Economics Seminary Schedules. 1929-32.

An earlier posting provides lists of presenters for the Economic Seminary for the years 1891-1908.  This posting provides the lists of announced presenters for the final three years of the seminary.

____________________________

Seminary Meetings in 1929-30
Professor Bullock

Sept. 30          Harvard Union

Oct. 14            S.E. Harris, “Monetary Policy of the British Dominions since 1914.”

Oct. 28            W. E. Beach, “Bank Policy and Gold Movements in England from 1880 to 1914.”

Nov. 4              J. P. Wernette, “Fiscal Reorganization in the United States of Colombia.”

Nov. 25           F. W. Taussig, “German Economic Periodicals and Works of Reference.”

Dec. 9            H. D. White, “International Balance of Payments of France.”

Feb. 3             W. Z. Ripley, “Railroad Consolidation.”

Feb. 17           C. S. Joslyn, “A Proposed Statistical Measurement of Vertical Occupational Mobility.”

March 8          T. J. Kreps, “The Chemical Phase of the Industrial Revolution.”

March 31       D. V. Brown, “Family Allowances.”

April 28          J. H. Williams, “Reparations and the International Flow of Capital.”

______________________________

Seminary Meetings in 1930-31
Professor Gay

Sept. 29         Harvard Union

Oct. 15           University Film Foundation, “The Availability of Motion Pictures for Instruction in Economic History and Economic Resources”.

Oct. 29            O. H. Taylor, “The Present Position and Prospects of Economic Theory”.

Nov. 5            Professors Bullock, Ripley, and Black, “Graduate Study and Research in Economics”.

Nov. 19          H. D. White, “The American Rayon Industry, a Product of Protection”.

Dec.   3           Professor Schumpeter, “Financial Policy of Germany since 1919″.

Dec. 17           Professor W. E. Eckblaw, Professor of Economic Geography, Clark University, “Russia To-day”.

Jan. 7             A. E. Monroe, “Land as a Consumers’ Good”.

Jan. 21            (Reading period)

Feb. 4              (Exam. period)

Feb. 18           D. H. Wallace, “The Aluminum Monopoly in the U.S.”

March 4         W. C. Mitchell, “Cyclical Behavior of Factors in Business”.

March 11       L. B. Currie, “The Commercial Loan Theory of Banking”.

March 25       Dr. B. M. Squires, “The Administration of Public Employment Offices”.

April 1             Dr. J. J. de Stoop, “The Merger Movement in Belgium”.

April 8             Dr. Mabel C. Buer, Lecturer in Economics at the University of Reading, England, “The Relation between Industrial Development and Vital Statistics in England”.

April 22          Major Lyndall Urwick, Director of the International Management Institute at Geneva, “The International Organization of Economic Study”.

April 29          Professor T. S. Adams, Yale University, “The Treatment of Capital Gains and Losses under the Federal Income Tax”.

May 6            Professor J. D. Black, “Interregional Competition in Production”.

May 20          (Reading period)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV 349.10), Box 25. Folder “Economics Seminary 1925-33”.

______________________________

Seminary Meetings in 1931-32
Professor Carver

Second and fourth Monday of month

Oct. 5          Members of teaching staff

Oct. 19        Dr. E. Dana Durand, United States Tariff Commission, “The Business Depression”.

Oct. 26        Mr. J. P. Wernette, “Politics and Finance in Peru”.

Nov. 9          Mr. J. B. Crane, “Aviation”.

Nov. 23       Professor W. Z. Ripley, “National Economic Planning.”

Dec. 14        Dr. J. F. Normano, “South America Today: An Attempt at an Economic ‘Characteristique’.

Jan.  11        Dr. L. B. Currie, “The Nature of Credit”.

Feb.  8         Dr. B. C. Hunt, “The English Joint Stock Company 1800-1862”.

Feb. 15        Dr. Mordecai Ezekiel, Assistant Chief Economist of the Federal Farm Board, “Stability vs. Flexibility as Means to Economic Adjustment”.

Feb. 29       Dr. C. J. Ratzlaff, “The Theory and Practice of the International Labor Organization of the League of Nations”

Mar  14       Dr. Leontief, “Postive and Normative Approaches in Economic Theory”

Mar  28       Mr. K. L. Anderson, “Thornstein Veblen’s Economics”.

Apr.  11       Mr. Ejnar Jensen, “International Monetary and Technological Influences on European Agricultural Development since 1870”.

Apr.  18       Dr. Wilhelm Kromphardt, A. O. Professor of Economics, University of Münster, “The Relation of Economic Evolution to Economic Theory and Its Application”.

Apr. 25       Mr. N. R. Danielian, “Recent Developments in the Electric Light and Power Industry in the U.S.”

May 9          Professor Charles S. Collier, Professor of Law in George Washington University, “Public Utility Valuation.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV 349.10), Box 25. Folder “Economics Seminary 1925-33”.

Categories
Economists Harvard

Harvard. Seminary in Economics. Topics and Speakers, 1891/2-1907/8

 The inspiration for the research workshop goes back to the German tradition of the research seminar for which the English word “seminary” was used. A sole economics seminary was announced at Harvard for the period 1892-1933 according to the annual Announcement of Courses of Instructions. One presumes the division of workshops is limited by the extent of the graduate program and that, by the early 1930s, the scale and scope of the Harvard department supported greater differentiation of its research seminars. The later Hansen-Williams Fiscal Seminar is an example of the kind of specialized workshop that was to develop. 

This posting provides the names and topics of presenters at the seminary in economics as published in the Harvard University Catalogues up through the academic year 1907/08 after which time we need to draw on other sources, e.g. announcements of individual seminars published in the Harvard University Gazette or the Harvard Crimson. Where invited guest lecturers for the public were announced, e.g. John Commons and Thorstein Veblen, I have included the information for the corresponding year.

________________________________

[First announcement of the Seminary in Economics, 1892-93]

Economics 20. Seminary in Political Economy.

Professors Dunbar and Taussig, and Mr. Cummings, will guide competent students in research on topics assigned after consolation. The Seminary will hold weekly meetings; and in addition each student will confer individually, once a week, with the instructor under whose guidance he carries on his investigations.

Source:  Harvard University, Announcement of Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1892-93, p. 32.

________________________________

[Last announcement of the Seminary in Economics, 1932-33]

The Seminary in Economics. Mon., at 7.45 P.M.

Meetings are held by instructors and advanced students for the presentation of the results of investigation.

Source: Harvard University, Announcement of Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1932-33 (second edition), p. 130.

_________________________________________

1891-92

At the Seminaries of Political Economy and American History (Joint Meetings):

Colonial Tariffs. Mr. William Hill.
Periodical Literature and Collections. Professor Taussig.
Suppression of the African Slave Trade. Mr. W. E. B. DuBois.
The Episcopal Church and Slavery. Mr. W. L. Tenney.
The Pacific Railways. Mr. H. K. White.
The Central Pacific Railway. Mr. W. Olney.
Impeachment Trials. Mr. Melville E. Ingals, Jr.
Some Early Anti-Immigration Laws. Mr. E. E. Proper.
Reconstruction in South Carolina. Mr. D. F. Houston.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1892-93, p. 122.

_________________________________________

1892-93

At the Seminary in Economics:

The economic periodicals of France and England. Prof. C. F. Dunbar.
The economic periodicals of Germany and the United States. Professor F. W. Taussig.
Georgia’s experiment in state railway management. Mr. G. Walcott.
The theory of gluts, with special reference to earlier discussions. Mr. C. W. Mister.
Public works in Pennsylvania. Mr. A. M. Day.
Postal subsidies in Great Britain. Mr. H. C. Emery.
Internal improvement in Indiana. Mr. H. H. Cook.
Railway Pools in the United States. Mr. G. L. Sheldon.
The earlier history of the anthracite coal industry. Mr. G. O. Virtue.
The construction of the Union Pacific Railway. Mr. H. K. White.
The organization of Poor Relief in Massachusetts. Mr. H. K. White.

At the Seminaries of American History and Institutions and of Economics. (Joint Meetings):

Study of History and Economics in English Universities. Professor W. J. Ashley.
The Mark theory. President E. A. Bryan.
Tariff legislation in the United States from 1783-1789. Mr. William Hill.
The federal import and the tariff act of 1879. Mr. William Hill.
The currency situation in the United States. Professor F. W. Taussig.
Legislation by the states on the issue of bank notes. Mr. D. F. Houston.

 

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1893-94, pp. 129-130.

_________________________________________

1893-94

At the Seminary of Economics:

The economic congresses and meetings at Chicago. Professors Cummings and Taussig.
The economic and statistical meetings at Chicago. Professor Taussig.
Combinations among anthracite coal producers since 1873. Mr. Virtue.
Results of recent investigations on prices in the United States. Professor Taussig.
Some phases of public management of railways in Victoria (Australia). Mr. H. R. Meyer.
Local rivalry in the earlier development of internal improvements in the United States. Mr. A. M. Day.
Forestry legislation in the United States. Mr. C. C. Closson.
The Trunk Line Pool, and its effects on railway rates. Mr. G. L. Sheldon.
Sismondi and the theory of gluts. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
The earlier stages of the operation of the Erie canal. Mr. W. R. Buckminster.
The income tax of the civil war. Mr. J. A. Hill.
Internal improvements in Illinois. Mr. G. S. Callender.
Changes in the factory population of the United States. Mr. E. H. Vickers.
The Canadian Pacific Railway. Mr. G. W. Cox.
Public railway management in New South Wales. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The development of the theory of gluts and over-accumulation. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
Compulsory insurance in Germany. Mr. J. G. Brooks.
The Erie canal. Mr. W. R. Buckminster.
The factory system in the United States. Mr. E. H. Vickers.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1894-95, p. 136.

_________________________________________

1894-95

At the Seminary of Economics:

Wilhelm Roscher. Professor Ashley.
The factory operatives in the United States. Mr. E. H. Vickers.
The classification of the Political Sciences. Professor Ashley.
The English Budget of 1894. Mr. F. R. Clow.
The antecedents of J. S. Mill’s “Principles.” Messrs. Aldrich, Estabrook, and Harper.
The theory of “House-Industry.” Mr. O. M. W. Sprague.
Definition and history of statistics. Mr. H. H. Cook.
The distribution of mediaeval fairs. Mr. J. Sullivan.
The United States and its mineral lands Mr. G. O. Virtue.
Child labor in the early factories. Mr. Hisa.
The economic condition of the South. Dr. E. von Halle.
The Chicago strike. Professor Ashley.
Legislation on arbitration in the United States. Rev. T. P. Berle.
The taxation of sugar in Germany. Mr. G. E. Chipman.
State railroads in New South Wales. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
Economic teaching in Germany. Rev. W. L. Bevan.
English industrial organization in the 17th and 18th centuries. Mr. O. M. W. Sprague.
Mediaeval fairs and the law merchant. Mr. J. Sullivan.
The antecedents of Mill’s “Doctrine of Value.” Mr. E. H. Harper.
The financing of internal improvements in the Northwest. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The antecedents of Mill’s chapters on Property and Land-Tenure. Mr. H. K. Estabrook.
Technical education in England. Mr. G. W. Cox.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue, 1895-96, p. 139.

_________________________________________

1895-96

Eight lectures by Francis A. Walker, LL.D., on Bimetallism since the Discovery of America.

Lecture. The Present Condition of the Currency of the United States. Professor F. W. Taussig.

At the Seminary of Economics: —

Economics in Italy. Professor Taussig.
The study of economics in German universities. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
The theory of the standard of living, from Adam Smith to J. S. Mill. Mr. R. Ware.
Financial operations by the loyal states during the Civil War (1861-1865). Mr. H. H. Cook.
International borrowing in its early stages, with special reference to England and the United States, 1820-1840. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The workman in the textile industries of England and the United States. Mr. S. N. D. North.
Attainment of the income tax in England. Mr. A. M. Chase.
Public management of railways in Victoria. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The organization and regulation of certain domestic industries in England in the 18th century. Mr. O. M. W. Sprague.
The taxation of personal property in Massachusetts. Mr. E. W. Hooper.
The annual appropriation bill of the city of Boston. Mr. W. H. King.
The legal tender acts of 1862. Mr. D. C Barrett.
Fundamental errors in sociology. Dr. Frederick H. Wines.
International borrowing before 1850. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The tonnage laws and the shipping policy of the United States. Mr. P. D. Phair.
The internal revenue act of 1862. Mr. G. Thomas.
The beginning of liquor legislation. Mr. A. P. Andrew.
The international trade of the United States in its relation to recent currency legislation. Mr. A. Sweezey.
Beginnings of trade and industry in Scotland, with some account of the early Guilds. Mr. T. Allison.
The bimetallic situation. President Francis A. Walker.
The Intercolonial Railway of Canada. Mr. C. E. Seaman.
The railway situation in California. Mr. H. C. Marshall and Dr. F. E. Haynes.
The taxation of sugar in the United States since 1860. Mr. C. S. Griffin.
The economic basis of Irish emigration 1650-1850. Mr. H. H. Cook.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1896-97, pp. 138-9, 141-42.

_________________________________________

1896-97

Eight lectures on the Income Taxes in Germany, Switzerland, and England, by Dr. J. A. Hill. Subjects as follows: —

Income Taxes in Germany: Historical Development. The Taxpayers, the Taxable Income, and the Rates.
The Methods of Assessment. Income and Property Taxes in Switzerland: Their Development. The Rate and Exemptions. The Methods of Assessment.
The English Income Tax: Its History. The Assessment.

At the joint meetings of the Seminary of American History and Institutions and the Seminary of Economics: 

Methods and experience of historical investigation. Mr. J. F. Rhodes.
The financial procedure of a state legislature. Mr. F. C. Lowell.

At the Seminary of Economics:

French economic periodicals and other aids to economic study. Professor Dunbar.
Periodicals and other aids to economic study, in France. Professor Dunbar.
Periodicals and other aids to economic study, in England and the United States. Professor Ashley.
John Rae: A neglected economist. Mr. C. W. Mixter.
Some impressions of reformatories. Mr. W. H. Gratwick.
Sir Robert Giffen on prices in relation to material progress in England. Mr. F. Atherton.
The woolen manufacturer and the tariff. Mr. A. T. Lyman.
British capital and American resources, 1815-1850. Mr. G. S. Callender.
The taxation of sugar in the United States, 1789-1861. Mr. C. S. Griffin.
Recent immigration into the United States. Mr. E. H. Warren.
Apportionments of national bank currency. Mr. T. Cooke.
Some phases of the history of the Union Pacific Railway. Mr. S. P. West.
Some recent phases of economic thought in the United States. Mr. J. A. Tirrell.
The condition of coal-miners in the bituminous districts. Mr. H. E. George.
Certain phases of the history and literature of industrial depression from 1873 to 1886. Mr. C. Beardsley, Jr.
The financial history of the Pennsylvania Railway. Mr. R. D. Jenks.
Some aspects of the financial history of the Union Pacific Railway. Mr. S. P. West.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1897-98, p. 387-388, 391-392.

 

_________________________________________

1897-98

At the joint meetings of the Seminary of American History and Institutions and the Seminary of Economics:

Some results of an inquiry on taxation in Massachusetts. Professor F. W. Taussig.
The Making of a Tariff. Mr. S. N. D. North.
The currency reform plan of the Indianapolis convention. Professor Dunbar.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Trade-unions in Australia. Dr. M. A. Aldrich.
The coal miners’ strike of 1897. Mr. J. E. George.
An analysis of the law of diminishing returns. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
The Secretary of the Treasury and the currency, 1865-1879. Mr. H. C. Marshall.
An inquiry on government contract work in Canada. Mr. W. L. M. King.
The sugar industry in Europe as affected by taxes and bounties. Mr. C. S. Griffin.
The security of bank notes based on general assets, as indicated by experience under the national bank system. Mr. A. O. Eliason.
The inter-colonial railway. Mr. C. E. Seaman.
Some results of the new method of assessing the income tax in Prussia. Dr. J. A. Hill.
Antonio Serra and the beginnings of political economy in Italy. Mr. D. F. Grass.
The American Federation of Labor. Dr. M. A. Aldrich.
The earlier stages of the silver movement in the United States. Mr. Randolph Paine.
The land grant to the Union Pacific Railroad. Mr. R. W. Cone.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1898-99, pp. 400-1.

_________________________________________

1898-99

Fifteen lectures on Life Insurance by Charlton T. Lewis, of New York City.

At the Seminary of Economics: 

Aids in economic investigation. Professor Taussig.
Economic study in England. Dr. O. M. W. Sprague.
The growth and the constituent elements of the population of Boston. Mr. F. A. Bushée (2).
Some operations of the United States Treasury in 1894-96. Professor Taussig.
The Interstate Commerce Act as interpreted by the courts. Mr. F. Hendrick.
The English industrial crisis of 1622. Dr. O. M. W. Sprague.
The earlier history of the English income tax. Dr. J. A. Hill.
The theory of savers’ rent and some of its applications. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
The working of the French Railway Conventions of 1883. Mr. F. Hendrick.
The adoption of the gold standard by England in 1816. Mr. D. F. Grass.

 

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1899-1900, pp. 412, 417.

_________________________________________

1899-1900

Lecture. The United States census. Professor W. F. Willcox, of the Census Office.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Aids in Economic study: (1) Specialized publications in Germany. Professor F. W. Taussig.
(2) English and American literature. Professor Ashley.
(3) American publications. Professor Taussig.
The conference on trusts at Chicago. Mr. John Graham Brooks.
Legislation on combinations and trusts in the United States. Mr. R. C. Davis.
Judicial decisions on statutes relating to combinations and trusts. Mr. R. C. Davis.
The tenement house exhibition, and tenement conditions in Boston. Mr. F. A. Bushée.
The influence of the tariff on the iron and steel industry. Mr. D. S. Bobb.
The duties on wool and their effects, 1870-1899. Mr. F. W. Wose.
The duty on copper and its effects. Mr. W. D. Shue.
The duties on sugar and their effects. Mr. G. H. Johnston.
The economic aspects of close commercial relations with Hawaii. Mr. U. S. Parker.
The discussion of value at the hands of English writers before Adam Smith. Mr. C. Bowker.
The silk manufacture and the tariff. Mr. S. S. Fitzgerald.
The commercial crisis of 1857. Mr. C. Hobbs.
The economic significance of the Hebrew year of jubilee. Mr. R. J. Sprague.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1900-1, pp. 429, 432.

_________________________________________

1900-01

Six lectures on Statistics of Wages, by the Hon. Carroll D. Wright:—

Methods and Difficulties in Collecting Statistics of Wages.
Difficulties and Fallacies in Presentations of Wages.
Chief Sources of Statistical Information on Wages.
Value of the Various Collections of Wages Statistics.
Money Wages as shown by Statistics during last Half Century.
Real Wages for the same period.

At the Seminary of Economics:

The trusts and the tariff. Mr. Charles Beardsley.
Civil service reform in Australia: its successes and its failures. I. Victoria; II. New South Wales. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The early history of the Standard Oil Combination. Mr. G. H. Montague.
Manufacturing industries in the South End of Boston. Mr. R. F. Phelps .
Notes on a transcontinental journey. Professor Taussig.
Relations of employers and workmen in the Boston building trades. Mr. W. H. Sayward.
Changes in the geographical distribution of the Southern negroes since the Civil War. Mr. R. J. Sprague.
Changes in the tenure and ownership of land in the South since the Civil War. Mr. R. J. Sprague.
The early history of the Erie Railway. Mr. A. J. Boynton.
The early history of banking in Massachusetts. Mr. F. L. Bugbee.
The work of the United States Industrial Commission. Professor E. D. Durand, of Stanford University.
The cotton-seed oil industry. Mr. W. D. Shue.
Combinations in the German iron trade. Mr. E. B. Stackpole.
Are the English payments to mail steamships subsidies? Mr. W. E. Stilwell.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1901-02, pp. 414, 419-420.

 

_________________________________________

1901-02

Seminary in Economics. Mon., at 4.30. Professor Ashley and Asst. Professor Carver.

In the Seminary, the instructors undertake the guidance of students in independent investigation, and give opportunity for the presentation and discussion of the result of investigation. Members of the Graduate School who propose to conduct inquiries having in view the preparation of theses to be presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, may select subjects agreed upon after conference with the instructors, and may carry on investigations on such subjects, as part of the work in the Seminary.
The general meetings of the Seminary are held on the first and third Mondays of each month. The members of the Seminary confer individually, at stated times arranged after consultation, with the instructors under whose special guidance they are conducting their researches.
At the regular meetings, the results of the investigations of members are presented and discussed. The instructors also at times present the results of their own work, and give accounts of the specialized literature of Economics. At intervals, other persons are invited to address the Seminary on subjects of theoretic or practical interest, giving opportunity for contact and discussion with the non-academic world.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Official Register of Harvard University 1901-1902. Box 1. Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Division of History and Political Science (June 21, 1901), University Publications, New Series, No. 16, p. 48.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Four lectures by Professor Edward A. Ross, on “The Growth and present Stage of the Literature of Sociology”:—

The Building of Sociology.
The Recent Tendencies of Sociology.
The Moot Points of Sociology.
The Desiderata of Sociology.

At the Seminary of Economics:

The Rise of the Oil Monopoly. Mr. G. H. Montague.
The Conditions of Employment and Housing of South End (Boston) Factory Operatives. Mr. R. Morris.
Principles Underlying the Demarcation between Public and Private Industries. Mr. R. Morris.
Restriction of Municipal Gas and Electric Plants in Massachusetts. Mr. A. D. Adams.
Economic Conditions in Nicaragua. Dr. C. W. Mixter.
Some Theoretical Possibilities of Protective Tariffs. Professor Carver.
A Study of some Records of the Associated Charities of Boston. Mr. H. R. Meyer.
The Rise and Regulation of Municipal Gas and Electric Plants in Massachusetts. Mr. A. D. Adams.
Le Solidarisme social de M. Leon Bourgeois. Professor Léopold Mabilleau.
A Review of the French and Italian Economic Journals. Professor Ripley, Dr. A. P. Andrew, Mr. C. W. Doten, and Mr. R. F. Phelps.
National Corporation Laws for Industrial Organizations. Mr. James B. Dill.
The Budgetary System of Canada. Mr. R. C. Matthews.
The Elements of Labor and Relief Departments in Railway Expenditure. Mr. A. L. Horst.
The Economics of Colonization. Professor E. A. Ross.
Elizabethan Mercantilism as seen in the Corn Trade. Mr. R. G. Usher.
The Present Position of Economics in Japan. Mr. Nobushiro Sakurai.
The Economic Theories of Josiah Tucker. Mr. Robert Morris.
Urban and Suburban Residence of South End (Boston)
Factory Employés. Mr. R. F. Phelps.
The Recent History of the Standard Oil Monopoly. Mr. G. H. Montague.
State v. Local Control of the Boston Police. Mr. F. R. Cope.
The Laws regulating Muncipal Gas and Electric Plants in Massachusetts. Mr. A. D. Adams.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1902-03, pp. 431, 434-435.

_________________________________________

1902-03

Eight lectures on “Some Leading Principles of Political Economy and Statistics,” by Professor F. Y. Edgeworth, of Oxford University, as follows: —

The Theory of Value applied to International Trade.
The Exceptions to the Rule of Free Trade.
Value in a Regime of Monopoly.
The Value of Land and other Factors of Production.
The Taxation of Urban Site Values.
The Higher Theory of Statistics.
Index Numbers.
Supplementary.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Reports on Current American and English Economic Periodicals, respectively by Messrs. R. W. Magrane and H. M. Kallen.
Gas Profits in Massachusetts. Mr. Alton D. Adams.
Economic Problems and Conditions in the Far Northwest. Professor C. Beardsley.
Report on Economics in Italy. Mr. D. H. Webster.
Reforms in Economic Teaching in the English Universities. Professor F. Y. Edgeworth.
Reports on Current German Periodicals and Literature. Messrs. W. H. Price and G. R. Lewis.
Recent Changes in the Rate of Wages. Dr. E. D. Durand.
Classification of Occupations in Relation to the Tariff. Mr. Edward Atkinson.
A Study of the Boston Ghetto. Mr. H. M. Kallen.
Report on Current French Literature. Mr. A. B. Wolfe.
The Anatomy of a Tenement Street. Mr. H. M. Kallen.
Railroad Reorganization in the United States. Mr. S. Daggett.
The Inclosure Movement and the English Rebellions of the Sixteenth Century. Dr. E. F. Gay.
A Stock Exchange Day. Mr. Sumner B. Pearmain.
The Lodging House Problem in Boston. Mr. A. B. Wolfe.
Jewish Trade Unions in Boston. Mr. Philip Davis.
Economics of the American Corn Belt. Mr. A. J. Boynton.
Movement of Real Estate Values in American Cities. Mr. Henry Whitmore.
Report on Labor Journals and Trades Union Publications. Mr. V. Custis.
Some Phases of the American Copper Mining Industry. Mr. G. R. Lewis.
The Determination of Franchise Values. Mr. C. W. Wright.
Initiation Ceremonies among Primitive Peoples. Mr. D. H. Webster.
The Indebtedness of English Mercantilism to Holland. Mr. E. T. Miller.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1903-04, pp. 466, 469.

_________________________________________

1903-04

At the Seminary of Economics:

A Trip through the Corn Country of the West. Professor Carver.
Early History of Economic Studies in American Colleges. Professor Bullock.
The Growth of Labor Organization in the United States. Professor Ripley.
Industrial Combinations in Germany, with special reference to Coal. Dr. F. Walker.
Our Trade Relations with Canada. Mr. Osborne Howes.
Supervision of National Banks, solvent and insolvent, by the Comptroller of the Currency. Mr. William A. Lamson (H. U. ’81), National Bank Examiner.
The Effect of Trade Unions upon Industrial Efficiency. Mr. Henry White, Secretary of the United Garment Workers of America.
The Financing of Corporations. Hon. Charles S. Fairchild.
A Remedy for Some Industrial Troubles. Hon. William B. Rice.
The Elizabethan Patents of Monopoly. Mr. W. H. Price.
The English Miner in the Middle Ages. Mr. G. R. Lewis.
The Northern Securities Case and the Supreme Court Decision. Mr. E. B. Whitney.
Progress in Manufactures in the United States. Hon. S. N. D. North, Director United States Census Bureau.
The Expansion Periods of 1878-85 and 1897-02 compared. Mr. Sumner B. Pearmain, ’83.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1904-05, p. 457.

_________________________________________

1904-05

Under the auspices of the Department of Economics, Professor W. F. Willcox, of Cornell University, gave three lectures on some results of the United States census enumeration of 1900: —

1. The Population of the United States.
2. Some Statistical Aspects of the Negro Problem.
3. The Birth Rate and Death Rate of the United States.

Three lectures on the “Relations between Trade Unions and Employers’ Organizations,” by Professor John R. Commons, of the University of Wisconsin: —

1. The Teamsters’ Organizations in Chicago.
2. Industrial Organizations in the Window-glass Manufacture.
3. Industrial Organizations in the Stove Manufacture.

At the Seminary of Economics:

The Forces in Industrial Consolidation. Mr. V. Custis.
Railroad Reorganization. Mr. S. Daggett.
The Specialized Literature of Economics: Periodicals, Dictionaries, and the Like. I. German Publications. Professor Taussig.
II. English and American. Professor T. N. Carver.
The French Corn Laws from 1515 to 1660. Mr. A. P. Usher.
The Meeting of the American Economic Association at Chicago. Professor Taussig.
Trade Unionism and Politics. Mr. Ray Stannard Baker.
Social Problems of American Farmers. President Kenyon L. Butterfield, of Rhode Island College of Agriculture.
Wool-growing in the United States. Mr. C. W. Wright.
Public Opinion as a Factor in Industrial Consolidation. Mr. V. Custis.
Marx’s Theory of Value. Mr. F. W. Johnston.
The Atchison System. Mr. S. Daggett.
Wool-growing in the United States since 1860. Mr. C. W. Wright.
The Negro in Boston. Mr. J. Daniels.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1905-06, pp. 456-457, 460-1.

_________________________________________

1905-06

Lecture. Followers of Karl Marx. Professor T. B. Veblen, of the University of Chicago.

Lecture. The Diffusion of Economic Knowledge. Professor Simon Newcomb.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Railroad Reorganization, The Philadelphia and Reading R. R. Mr. Stuart Daggett.
The Railway Rate Situation. Mr. C. A. Legg.
Stages of Economic Growth. Professor E. F. Gay.
The Finances of Boston, 1820-1860. Mr. C. P. Huse.
The Intendants and the Organization of the Corn Trade in France, 1683-1715.
Mr. A. P. Usher. Collateral Bond Issues. Mr. Thomas Warner Mitchell.
The Earlier History of the English Post-office. Mr. J. C. Hemmeon.
The Meeting of the American Economic Association at Baltimore. Professor Taussig.
The Organization of a Cooperative Business. Mr. E. A. Filene.
The Development of English Trade to the Levant. Miss G. F. Ward.
The Telephone Situation in Great Britain. Mr. A. N. Holcombe.
Characteristics of Railroad Reorganizations. Mr. Stuart Daggett.
The Distribution of Socialistic Sentiment. Professor T. B. Veblen, of the University of Chicago.
Transportation in Modern England, to 1830. Mr. W. Jackman.
The Dutch-English Rivalry, with Special Reference to Fisheries. Mr. H. L. Drury.
Recent History of the Glass Manufacture in the United States. Mr. D. F. Edwards.
A Discussion of Distribution. Mr. F. W. Johnston.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1906-07, pp. 536-7, 540.

_________________________________________

1906-07

Lectures on Municipal Ownership. Major Leonard Darwin, of London, England, gave a series of lectures on Municipal Ownership: —

1. The Main Issues connected with Municipal Ownership. The Regulation of Private Trade. Municipal Ownership and Local Taxation.
2. English Municipal Statistics. The Probability of Profit-Making by Municipal Ownership. Municipal Management.
3. Municipal Corruption. Wages under Municipal Ownership. The Direct Employment of Labour by Municipalities.
4. Municipal Ownership without Direct Employment. Municipal Ownership and Socialistic Ideals.

Through the courtesy of the National Civic Federation, a series of five public lectures on Socialism and the Allied Social and Economic Questions was given by W. H. Mallock, A.M.

Lecture. The New Interstate Commerce Act. Professor F. H. Dixon.

At the Seminary of Economics:

Impressions of Sociological Study in Foreign Countries. Mr. J. A. Field.
Field Observations on the Tobacco Industry. Mr. S. O. Martin.
The Financial Policy of Massachusetts from 1780 to 1800. Professor Bullock.
The Financial Policy of Alabama from 1819 to 1860. Mr. W. O. Scroggs.
The Finances of Boston, 1820-1860. Mr. C. P. Huse.
Some Aspects of the History of the English Mining Classes. Dr. G. R. Lewis.
Some Aspects of the Early Railway Era in Great Britain. Mr. William Jackman.
Land and Capital. Professor Fetter.
The Theory of Interest. Professor Fetter.
The Beet-Sugar Industry in the United States. Mr. M. H. Salz.
The Recent Tariff History of Canada. Mr. W. W. McLaren.
Commercial Education in American Universities. Mr. F. V. Thompson.
The English Board of Trade during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, and its Records. Mr. J. R. H. Moore.
The Cotton Manufacture in the United States since 1860. Mr. M. T. Copeland.
Some Discoveries in Economic History. M. le vicomte Georges d’Avenel.
A Course of Instruction in Business Management. Mr. H. S. Person.
Bank Reserves in England, Canada, and the United States. Mr. F. S. Mead.
A Journey into the Tobacco-raising Districts of the West and South. Mr. S. O. Martin.
Sketch of the Legislative History of Massachusetts Business Corporations. Mr. W. E. Rappard.
The English Fisheries, 1500-1800. Mr. H. L. Drury.
Municipal Ownership of Telephones in Great Britain. Mr. A. N. Holcombe.
Researches in a Manufacturing Suburb. Mr. E. L. Sheldon.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1907-08, pp. 431, 437-438.

 

_________________________________________

1907-08

Under the auspices of the Department of Economics, Dr. Victor S. Clark gave two lectures on Australian Economic Problems: —

1. Railways: History and Administration.
2. Railways: Description and Statistics.

Dr. Clark also gave two public lectures: —

1. State and Federal Finance in Australia.
2. The Tariff Policy of Australia.

At the Seminary of Economics:

General Principles of Railroad Reorganization. Dr. Stuart Daggett.
The Silk Manufacture. Mr. F. R. Mason.
The Silk Manufacture and the Tariff. Mr. F. R. Mason.
Certain Phases of the Theory of Population since Malthus. Mr. J. A. Field.
The Commercial Use of Credit Instruments previous to 1724. Mr. A. P. Usher.
The Conduct of Public Works in English Towns in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Miss S. L. Hadley.
The Growth of the Knit Goods Industry. Mr. M. T. Copeland.
The Foreign Trade of England during the Thirteenth Century, especially with regard to the Italian. Miss G. F. Ward.
A Statistical Survey of Italian Emigration. Mr. R. F. Foerster.
The Meetings of the Economic and Sociological Associations at Madison. Professor Carver and Mr. J. A. Field.
The Canadian Reciprocity Treaty of 1854. Mr. W. W. McLaren.
Factory Labor in Massachusetts: Legislation and Economic Condition, 1810-1880. Mr. C. E. Persons.
Tax Administration in New York City. Mr. Lawson Purdy.
The Recent History of the Standard Oil Company. Mr. H. B. Platt.
The Wool and Woolens Act of 1867. Mr. P. W. Saxton.
The Causes of the Rise in Prices since 1898. Mr. H. L. Lutz.
The Corn Law Policy in England up to 1689. Mr. N. S. B. Gras.
Agrarian Conditions in Southwest Germany from the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Century. Mr. H. C. Dale.
The Land Policy of Australia. Dr. Victor S. Clark.
Proposed Old Age Pension Legislation in England. Mr. R. M. Davis.
The Anthracite Coal Roads and the Coal Companies. Mr. E. Jones.
The Greenback Movement, with Special Reference to Iowa and Wisconsin. Mr. C. O. Ruggles.
Fibres and Fibre Products. Mr. B. S. Foss.
A Study of the Population of Cambridgeport. Mr. A. J. Kennedy.

Source: Harvard University Catalogue 1908-09, pp. 450, 455-6.

 

 

Categories
Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final Examination Questions. Economics Courses, 1912-13

 

 

For the academic years 1912-13 through 1915-16 there are complete (or at least nearly complete) sets of examinations for many departments, including economics available at hathitrust.org. In this posting we have final examinations for all economics courses but three for the 1912-13 academic year. Since courses are only identified in these collections by number, I have provided the course titles, instructors’ names and course registration figures available in the annual Harvard Presidential Report for that academic year.

The three courses for which no final examination questions (perhaps the grade was not even determined by examination) were:

Economics 13. Statistics. Theory, method, and practice. Professor Ripley. (6 Graduates, 1 Senior, 3 Radcliffe: Total 10)

Economics 24. Topics in the Economic History of the Nineteenth Century. Professor Gay. (4 Graduates, 1 Senior: Total 5)

Economics 33 1hf. Tariff Problems in the United States. Professor Taussig. (5 Graduates, 3 Seniors: Total 8)

FINAL EXAMINATIONS
1912-13

Economics 1. Principles of Economics
Economics 2a lhf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century
Economics 2b 2hf. Economic and Financial History of the United States
Economics 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises
Economics 4a 1hf. Economics of Transportation
Economics 4b 2hf. Economics of Corporations
Economics 5. Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation
Economics 6a lhf. Trade-Unionism and Allied Problems
Economics 6b 2hf. The Labor Movement in Europe
Economics 7. Theories of Distribution and Distributive Justice
Economics 8. Principles of Sociology
Economics 9. Principles of Accounting.
Economics 11. Economic Theory
Economics 12 lhf. Scope and Methods of Economic Investigation
Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848
Economics 16. The History of Modern Socialism
Economics 23. Economic History of Europe to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century
Economics 31. Public Finance
Economics 32 2hf. Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions

 

________________________________________

Economics 1. Principles of Economics.

Professor Taussig and Dr. E. E. Day, assisted by Messrs. Heilman, Jones, Burbank, Crosgrave, and Eldred.
1 Graduate, 21 Seniors, 93 Juniors, 307 Sophomores, 21 Freshmen, 38 Other. Total 481.

 

[p. 38-39]

ECONOMICS 1

  1. To what extent and in what manner do the following contribute to the formation of capital: (a) a government loan; (b) the stock exchange; (c) commercial banks; (d) the corporate form of business organization?
  1. Explain “margin of cultivation.” Distinguish between the intensive margin of cultivation and the extensive margin of cultivation. What is the relation between (a) the margin of cultivation in agriculture and the price of a bushel of wheat; (b) the margin in gold mining and the value of an ounce of gold?
  1. Assume that a monopoly produces a commodity under conditions of constant cost. What determines the extent to which the monopoly price will be above the price which competition, if existent, would establish? Illustrate by diagram.
  1. The rentals from a New York office building amount to $50,000 a year. The building is worth $200,000. To provide for insurance, depreciation and such fixed items, $10,000 is expended annually. The current rate of interest upon investments of equal security is 5%. What is the value of the land?
  1. What is “dumping “? What induces it? To what extent is it dependent upon (a) monopoly conditions; (b) tariff barriers?
  1. Explain briefly why (a) the rates of wages are generally higher in the United States than in Germany; (b) higher for plumbers than for unskilled laborers; (c) for domestic servants than for women employed in shops and factories. Suppose a socialist community apportioning wages on the basis of equality of sacrifice: would these differences persist?
  1. How are the wages and the number employed within a particular industry affected, immediately and ultimately, by the invention of labor-saving devices in that industry?
  1. Explain: (a) railroad rebates; (b) over-capitalization; (c) public service industries; (d) “reasonable restraint of trade”; (e) stoppage at the source.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 2a lhf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.
Professor Gay, assisted by Dr. M. T. Copeland.
16 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 17 Sophomores, 3 Freshmen, 5 Other. Total 99.

 

[p. 39-40]

ECONOMICS 2a1

  1. “The effect of Peel’s measures of 1842-1845 was to demonstrate how much the trade and industry of the country might be encouraged by the readjustment of fiscal burdens.” Explain.
    Is a similar readjustment needed in England at the present time? Why or why not?
  1. (a) How was the capital for the construction of railroads prior to 1870 obtained in the different European countries? Why?
    (b) Why was the railroad policy of Prussia modified after 1870? With what results?
  1. Compare the organization of the wool manufacturing industries in England, Germany, and France at the present time, explaining to what the differences are due. How far are these differences typical?
  1. Compare the English and Belgian methods of relieving the recent agricultural depression.
  1. In which industries have Kartells been formed in Germany? Why? Compare with the movement for combination in England.
  1. Explain the statement in regard to English agriculture that “after the middle of the eighteenth century the two revolutions, the industrial and the agricultural, which are indeed only manifestations of the same scientific and commercial spirit, go hand in hand and supplement one another.” Does this statement apply also to Germany? Why or why not?
  1. Discuss briefly —

(a) English ” Friendly Societies.”
(b) Pitt’s Sinking Fund.
(c) Zollverein.
(d) French shipping subsidies.
(e) Charter and line traffic.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 2b 2hf. Economic and Financial History of the United States.
Professor Gay, assisted by Dr. M. T. Copeland.
18 Graduates, 22 Seniors, 50 Juniors, 27 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 6 Other. Total 124.

 

 

[p. 40-1]

ECONOMICS 2b

  1. “The most important feature of life in a newly settled community is its commercial connection with the rest of the world.” Why? How is this illustrated (a) by the history of the American colonies and (b) by the history of the West?
  1. What were the causes for the decline of the American merchant marine? What attempts have been made to assist its recovery? With what results?
  1. Compare in its main features the economic history of the decade 1830-40 with that of the decade 1880-90.
  1. Compare the conditions which stimulated industrial combinations in the ’90’s with those which resulted in railroad combinations in the ’70’s.
  1. Within the last twelve months the New England Cotton Yarn Company, the U. S. Finishing Company, and the International Cotton Mills Corporation have each undergone reorganization. What was the earlier history of these companies and how far did that history foreshadow the necessity for such reorganizations?
  1. If you were to establish a mill for manufacturing silk goods at the present time, how would the conditions which you would meet in that industry differ from those which confronted a silk manufacturer forty or forty-five years ago? Why have these changes taken place? How far are they typical of the general industrial development of the United States during this period?
  1. (a) Comment on the following statement, which was made in a speech in Congress in 1846. “It is a protective tariff which gives to American industry the only effectual guaranty that it will not be brought down to a level with the degraded labor of Europe. It furnishes the only security that our standard of wages is not to be measured by the cost of production in those countries where the life of the laborer is but an incessant struggle for bread.”
    (b) Judging from the history of the years 1893-1900, as well as from present conditions, is the present year more or less opportune than 1909 for a downward revision of the tariff? Why?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises.
Dr. E. E. Day, assisted by Messrs. Ise and F. E. Richter.
3 Graduates, 31 Seniors, 67 Juniors, 16 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 1 Other. Total 119.

 

[p. 41-42]

ECONOMICS 3

  1. What factors favored the monetary rehabilitation of silver in the United States during the 70’s? Which of these factors are still operative? Explain the disappearance of the others.
  1. What banking abuses were most common in the United States early in the nineteenth century? When and how, if at all, have these since been eliminated?
  1. What is the relation between the Bank of England rate and the London market rate of discount when (a) funds are abundant; (b) funds are relatively scarce? In what ways does varying the Bank rate accomplish the protection of the English banking reserves?
  1. What is meant by a free gold market? Are the following such: London; Paris; Berlin; New York? In each case, why or why not?
  1. How will the rate of sterling exchange in New York be affected by: (a) a crop failure in the United States; (b) hoarding of specie in Europe; (c) a slump on the New York Stock Exchange; (d) a banking panic in this country?
  1. “The call-loan market . . . furnishes to the banks of the country under the present organization of banking, their only means of mobilizing their reserves, of liquifying their assets, and of securing flexibility in their lending power.” Explain and criticize. How, if at all, should this feature of our system be changed?
  1. In the equation of exchange given by Professor Fisher, what is the relation of M, M’, V, and T (a) during a period of rising prices; (b) during a period of settled prices?
  1. Describe the crisis of 1873 with reference to: (a) its general antecedents; (b) its more important causes in the United States; (c) its final outbreak in this country; (d) the territorial extent of the reaction; (e) the severity and duration of the subsequent depression.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 4a 1hf. Economics of Transportation.
Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Crosgrave.
6 Graduates, 2 G.B., 36 Seniors, 85 Juniors, 24 Sophomores, 3 Other. Total 156.

 

[p. 42-3]

ECONOMICS 4a

  1. Compare the lease with stock ownership as a means of combination, stating the advantages and disadvantages of each.
  1. Show how recent interpretation of the Federal law may conceivably affect the status of railway traffic agreements.
  1. State very briefly the point raised in the following cases: —

(a) Portland Gateway.
(b) Illinois Central car supply.
(c) Alabama Midland (Troy).
(d) Orange Routing.

  1. Have any of the above points been since corrected by legislation; if so in what manner?
  1. Give reasons for the following differences in net capitalization per mile of line:

Union Pacific $65,000         Reading $170,000
Pennsylvania    86,000        Erie            170,000

  1. What particular circumstance materially affects the success of Government ownership and operation:

(a) In Germany?
(b) In Italy?
(c) In Switzerland?

  1. What is the present attitude of the Federal courts toward the proper basis to be used in the determination of reasonable rates?
  1. How effective practically has been the ” Commodity Clause” of the law of 1906?
  1. To whom properly belongs the surplus earnings of a railroad over and above a rate of return requisite to provide an adequate supply of new capital for future development? State your own view, but set forth your reasons fully.

 

________________________________________

 

 

Economics 4b 2hf. Economics of Corporations.
Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Crosgrave.
6 Graduates, 20 Seniors, 86 Juniors, 15 Sophomores, 3 Other. Total 130.

 

 

[p. 43-4]

ECONOMICS 4b

  1. Why was the dissolution of the “Tobacco Trust” more difficult than that of the Standard Oil Company? Explain fully.
  1. Indicate certain differences in the eye of the law between monopolization and restraint of trade.
  1. Herewith are two balance sheets of companies A and B respectively. Comment upon them, contrasting one with the other. Which apparently denotes the greater financial stability?
Co. A
Assets Liabilities
Plant $3,500,000 Preferred Stock $5,000,000
Merchandise 1,800,000 Common Stock 15,000,000
Bills Receivable 700,000 Accounts Payable 600,000
Cash 1,400,000
Good-will and Patents 13,200,000
$20,600,000 $20,600,000
 

Co. B
Assets Liabilities
Factories $15,000,000 Capital Stock $65,000,000
Securities owned 18,000,000 Debentures 15,000,000
Merchandise 20,000,000 Surplus 3,000,001
Accounts Receivable 30,000,000
Franchises and Good-will 1
$83,000,001 $83,000,001

 

  1. Name, with briefest possible description in each case, and in order of seriousness, at least five distinct forms of unfair competition in trade.
  1. Do all the foregoing forms of unfair competition affect thgeneral public as well as direct competitors? Does this factor apparently influence the attitude of the courts?
  1. What was the essence of the U. S. Steel Bond Conversion plan? What became of it?
  1. Contrast administrative and judicial forms of controlling monopoly, pointing out the merits of each.
  1. Outline the plan of reorganization of the National Cordage Company. Was it typical of industrial reorganizations in general?
  1. What are the three leading objections to the so-called “holding company “?
  1. Outline what most appeals to you as a feasible plan for dealing with the existing trust problem. State concisely in definite propositions covering all points at issue.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 5. Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation.
Professor Bullock.
6 Seniors, 14 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 1 Other. Total 25.

 

[p. 44]

ECONOMICS 5

  1. Explain and discuss critically the methods employed in the taxation of land in Germany, France, Great Britain, Australia, and the United States.
  1. Compare the general property tax with the general income tax, considering both the theory and the practical operation of these taxes.
  1. Compare the French, Prussian, and British systems of direct taxation.
  1. Compare the British system of indirect taxation with those of France and the United States.
  1. Discuss the taxation of mortgages in the United States.
  1. What changes in the taxation of personal property have recently occurred in the United States?
  1. Compare the British, Prussian, and Italian income taxes. .
  1. Outline what you consider a satisfactory theory of the just apportionment of public charges.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 6a lhf. Trade-Unionism and Allied Problems.
Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Crosgrave.
3 Graduates, 44 Seniors, 19 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 2 Other. Total 72.

 

[p. 45]

ECONOMICS 6a

Answer the first five briefly

  1. What is sabotage?
  1. What is the ” extended ” closed shop?
  1. What is the principal practical difficulty in the “general strike”?
  1. Is it met by the adoption of any positive policy in France by the “syndicates”?
  1. In the syndicalist programme what is to be the unit in the reorganized state?
  1. Contrast collective bargaining under sanction of the law with its adoption by private arrangement; (a) from the point of view of advantage to the employer; (b) from that of the workman.
  1. What are the four main features of the New Zealand legislation. (Each in a sentence.)
  1. What is the principal demonstrated weakness in the above legislation?
  1. What are three disabilities of the individual workmen in negotiating a wage contract?
  1. Wages for women in domestic service and in manufactures seem out of line with one another. What main difference helps to explain this?
  1. What is the present condition of affairs respecting the closed shop in the United States? Outline the course of events for two decades.
  1. How does the law of conspiracy enter into the decision by courts in labor disputes? How has Great Britain settled it?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 6b 2hf. The Labor Movement in Europe.
Asst. Professor Rappard.
5 Graduates, 12 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 3 Other. Total 30.

 

[p. 45-6]

ECONOMICS 6b

Arrange answers in order of questions. Students who wrote theses will omit the first three questions.

  1. Enumerate five of the effects which Engels says the Industrial Revolution had on the manufacturing population of England. What were Engel’s chief sources of information?
  1. How does Sombart distinguish between (a) Rational Socialism (Utopian Socialism and Anarchism) and (b) Historical Socialism?
  1. What effect, according to Marx, does machinery have

(a) Upon real wages?
(b) Upon nominal wages?
(c) Upon “relative surplus-value”?
(d) Upon “absolute surplus-value”?

  1. Why is it customary to mention the English enclosure movement in dealing with the history of labor in Europe in the 19th century?
  1. What were the historical relations between the doctrines of Godwin, Malthus and Darwin?
  1. What was Chartism? Saint-Simonism? Which was more radical? More socialistic? Give reasons.
  1. Write a biography of Marx (300 to 500 words).
  1. Compare the views of Marx and Vaudervelde on ” Capitalist Concentration.”
  1. Give chapter headings of a thesis on “The Socialist Movement in Germany, 1860-1890” in six or more chapters.
  1. Distinguish between (a) Socialism (b) Anarchism (c) Syndicalism.
  1. “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs … To every laborer the entire product of his labor … At first sight, these two formulas are absolutely contradictory. We believe, however, that it is possible and necessary to reconcile them and to complete each by the other.” — Vaudewelde.
    How does the author do this? What practical suggestions does he make for arranging distribution in the socialist state?
  1. What difficulties does Skelton think a socialist state would encounter

(a) In administering the government?
(b) In determining what commodities should be produced?
(c) In distributing wealth?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 7. Theories of Distribution and Distributive Justice.
Professor Carver.
3 Graduates, 7 Seniors, 13 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 1 Other. Total 25.

 

[p. 47]

ECONOMICS 7

  1. Explain and illustrate the principle of marginal utility and its relation to the value of consumers’ goods.
  1. Explain and illustrate the law of variable proportions and its relation to the value of the factors of production.
  1. Discuss the various criteria of justice in the distribution of wealth.
  1. Explain and illustrate exactly what you understand by self-interest.
  1. How would the single tax probably affect the demand for labor? Would its effect probably be stronger on unskilled than on skilled labor? On skilled labor than on business talent?
  1. How do mechanical inventions affect the demand for capital and for different grades of labor?
  1. Describe one communistic society, giving some account of its origin, the causes of its success if it succeeded and of its failure if it failed.
  1. Outline a program for raising the wages of all the lower grades of labor.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 8. Principles of Sociology.
Professor Carver.
10 Graduates, 41 Seniors, 74 Juniors, 18 Sophomores, 4 Other. Total 147.

 

[p. 47-8]

ECONOMICS 8

  1. What, in your opinion, is the ultimate test of progress? Give your reasons.
  1. Compare the views of Buckle and Peschel as to the influence of geographical surroundings on religion.
  1. What is the relation between the institution of the family and the institution of property?
  1. What place has the genius in social progress? Give your own opinion and state the views on this question of authors whom you have read.
  1. Outline the leading forms of waste labor and of waste land, giving briefly the reasons why each form of waste exists at the present time.
  1. Compare the views of Mill and Ross as to the limits of social control.
  1. What, according to Ross, is the relation of resentment to social order?
  1. What are the reasons for the existence of the ballot? How far would these reasons justify the extension of the ballot?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 9. Principles of Accounting.
Asst. Professor Cole, assisted by Mr. Eliot Jones.
7 Graduates, 8 Graduates of Applied Sciences, 62 Graduates of Business School, 147 Seniors, 50 Juniors, 2 Sophomores. Total 276.

 

[p. 48-50]

ECONOMICS 9

Save one hour for the last question. It will count as one-third of the paper.

  1. Show by journal entries what should be debited and what credited for the following transactions:

(a) Granting a discount to a customer, for early payment of a bill, so that, though the amount of the bill was $100, he pays but $95.
(b) Paying a lawyer $50 for trying to collect a bill that proves uncollectible, and writing off the debt ($250) as bad.
(c) Collecting $75 as full payment, including interest to the amount of $17, for a debt previously written off as bad.
(d) Giving a friend whose credit at banks is not very good, because he is a new-comer in town, and for whom, therefore, you do not wish to endorse notes, your own note for $1000, with the understanding that he will discount it at a bank, and taking in exchange your friend’s note (for the same amount and time) which you intend to keep until maturity.
(e) Discounting at a bank your friend’s note mentioned in (d), because you find his credit has improved in the public mind and you need the money. [Discount $7.]
(f) Returning to the manufacturers, as unsatisfactory, goods billed at $500 and bought to be sold at $650.
(g) Delivering goods from the store as part payment of clerks’ wages, and allowing 5% discount to clerks. [Retail price $50, clerks’ price $47.50.]
(h) Issuing a stock dividend of $50,000.
(i) Selling a new $2,000,000 issue of stock for $2,100,000. [Corporation’s books.]

  1. A bond table gives the value of $10,000 of bonds for January 1 as $10,366.27, and for July 1 as $10,323.60. On the latter day you collect $250 interest. What entry shall you make for the interest?
    Assuming that the valuation of the bonds was determined on a 4% basis, how could you prove the correctness of the July 1 valuation if you knew that the valuation for January 1 was correct?
  1. Define and discuss the purpose of the following: —

(a) a machine rate,
(b) a life-insurance reserve,
(c) a national-bank redemption fund,
(d) a stores ledger,
(e) a machine ledger,
(f) a controlling account.

  1. Would expense burden enter into a plan of cost accounting for (a) a department store, (b) a hospital, (c) a college, (d) a gas company? Explain briefly how, or why not, in each case.

Remember in solving problems that time and confusion are often saved by the use of journal entries as guides in determining which accounts are affected.

  1. The balance sheet a year ago was as follows: —
Plant $125,000 Capital Stock $140,000
Accounts Receivable 33,000 Bills Payable 10,000
Merchandise 19,000 Accounts Payable 24,000
Cash 5,000 Surplus 8,000
$182,000 $182,000

An abbreviated tentative income sheet for the year just closing gave the following figures: —

Wages $85,000 Other Expenses $71,000
Materials 54,000 Gross Income 240,000

No items relating to the care of property were included in the “other expenses,” and they are now to be provided for. Such items are found on the debit side of the trial balance as follows:—

Depreciation $5,000 Replacement $4,000
Repairs 8,000 Additions 12,000

Supposing the only changes in the balance sheet are those caused by the items shown above (profit or loss and care of property) and that cash absorbs the net effect of changes not otherwise indicated, show the income sheet and the balance sheet for the new year.

  1. Prepare such a tabular statement or statements as an accountant should give to his employers or clients for a business yielding the following figures on three trial balances (of ledger balances) taken at the times indicated.
Trial balance at the opening of business, Jan. 1, 1912 Trial balance, Dec. 31, 1912, before the books are closed Trial balance at the opening of business, Jan. 1, 1913
Dr. Cr. Dr. Cr. Dr. Cr.
Capital Stock $200,000 $200,000 $200,000
Bills Payable 30,000 40,000 40,000
Accounts Payable 35,000 37,500 37,500
Surplus 7,000 7,000 9,000
Dividends declared 10,000 10,000
Real Estate and Plant $135,000 $137,500 $137,000
Accounts Receivable 88,200 80,200 80,200
Goods in process 17,000 17,000 20,000
Finished Goods 25,000 25,000 23,000
Raw Materials Inventory 15,000 15,000 35,000
Raw Materials 57,000
Wages 7,000 52,000 2,000
Taxes 200 2,300 200
Insurance 1,000 2,200 1,000
General Expenses 7,500
Sales 113,200
Cash 8,000 2,000 2,000
$289,200 $289,200 $397,700 $397,700 $298,700 $298,700

If you give more than one statement, prepare one at a time, and leave the reconciliation between statements until all are complete.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 11. Economic Theory.
Professor Taussig.
20 Graduates, 1 Graduate at Business School, 4 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 1 Other. Total 31.

 

[p. 50-3]

ECONOMICS 11

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions]

  1. Explain the connection between

(a) the rent of mines;
(b) Carey’s doctrine that the total rent received by land-owners is less than interest on the total investment for improving land;
(c) the earnings of barristers or opera-singers;
(d) the earnings of ” successful ” business men.

  1. “Men are not equal. . . . Those capable of organizing and leading industrial enterprise are in a minority, and are indeed few; hence they can put a price on their services which would be impossible if there were many. Their services are not worth more on this account, but they can get more for them. Because the community needs their services, and cannot perhaps get along without them, they can, if they like, put ” famine prices ” on the commodity (organizing and directing talent) which they have to sell; while, on the other hand, those who have only labor or physical skill, though they are just as necessary, are many, and hence can about as readily be taken advantage of as the others can take advantage.” What have you to say? Can the ” famine prices ” be justified?
  1. (a) “There are, in fact, few no-rent men in actual employment; and the reason for this is clear, since work involves a sacrifice, and it does not pay to incur the sacrifice unless the earnings be a positive quantity. In those times and places in which child labor has been employed, with little regard for the welfare of the victims, labor that was not at the no-rent point, but very near it, has been pressed into service. But, where the sacrifice entailed by labor is, in some way, neutralized by a benefit that work confers, labor which creates literally nothing may sometimes be employed. Lunatics or prisoners may be kept at work, in order that they may secure fresh air and exercise, even though the amount of capital that they use, if it were withdrawn from their hands and turned into marginal capital, would produce as much as it does when it is used by them. In such a case the product imputable to their labor is nil.
    The existence of any no-rent labor enables us to make the rent formula general and to apply it to every concrete agent of production.”
    (b) “The productivity of any capital, whether human or external, will differ with the capital. Men differ in quality, i. e., in productive power, as truly as lands or other instruments differ. Some men have a high degree of earning power and some have not.
    Some men can work twice as fast as others. Some men can do higher grades of work than others. The result is that we find men classified as common manual laborers, skilled manual laborers, common mental workers, superintending workers, and enterprisers.
    Just as we can measure the rent of any land by the difference in productivity between that and the low-rent, or no-rent, land, in exactly the same way we can measure the difference in productivity between men. There is no grade of workmen called the “no-wages men,” but there would be such a grade if it were customary for their employer to pay for their cost of support (as the employer of land pays for its cost), so that only the excess above this cost were to be called wages.”

Compare the two trains of reasoning; give your opinion; and state by what authors the passages were written.

  1. “If the proprietor of superior land were to say, ‘I will take no rent for it,’ this would not make wheat cheaper. The supply would not be changed; for the same quantity would be raised, the marginal amount raised on the no-rent land would be needed and would be bought at the former price, and all other parts of the supply would command the same rate. … It is a striking fact — but one hitherto much neglected — that similar conclusions apply to the product of every other agent ” [capital and labor]. Do similar conclusions apply? Who do you think is the author of this passage?
  1. What three grounds explain, according to Böhm-Bawerk, the preference for present goods over future? Which of them does he conclude to be the most important? State Fisher’s criticism; and give your own opinion on the controverted question.
  1. “In the present condition of industry, most sales are made by men who are producers and merchants by profession. . . .For them, the subjective use value of their own wares is, for the most part, very nearly nil. … In sales by them the limiting effect which, according to our theoretical formula, would be exerted by the valuation of the last seller, practically does not come into play.” — Böhm-Bawerk.
    What is the ” theoretical formula “? and what is the importance of the qualification here stated?
  1. In what sense are the terms “demand” and “increase of demand ” used in the following passages:

(a) “The democratization of society and the aping of the ways of the well-to-do by the lower classes have greatly increased the demand for silk fabrics.”
(b) “The lower price of sugar after 1890, when sugar was admitted free of duty, at once caused an increase of demand.”
(c) “The cheapening of a commodity may mean an increase of demand such that the total sum spent on it will be as great as before, even greater than before.”

  1. Explain the essentials of Veblen’s theory of crises, and state wherein you think it most tenable, wherein least so.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 12 lhf. Scope and Methods of Economic Investigation.
Professor Carver.
2 Graduates, 1 Radcliffe. Total 3.

 

[p. 53]

ECONOMICS 12

  1. Explain verbally, and show by means of an outline, the relation between private and public economics and the main subdivisions of each.
  2. Into what main departments would you subdivide the subject of economics if you were going to write a general text book for college classes. Give your reasons.
  1. What are the characteristic methods of reasoning, methods of collecting information, and methods of exposition in economics? Mention examples, or give illustrations of each. What are the special advantages of each? To what class of problems is each especially adapted?
  1. Comment upon the following: —

“The economist may thus be considered at the outset of his researches as already in possession of those ultimate principles governing the phenomena which form the subject of his study, the discovery of which in the case of physical investigation constitutes for the inquirer his most arduous task; but, on the other hand, he is excluded from the use of experiment.” (Cairnes, pp. 89-90.)

  1. What, according to Warner, are the characteristic methods of determining the causes of poverty? What are the merits and defects of each method? Give illustrations.
  1. Comment upon the statement that “political economy depends more upon reasoning than on observation.” Is this the same as saying that the greatest present need is for sound reasoners rather than for close observers? Would either statement apply to all possible conditions and to all classes of problems?
  1. Discuss Clark’s reasons for describing capital as a sum of money.

 

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Economics 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848.
Professor Bullock.
7 Graduates. Total 7.

 

[p. 54]

ECONOMICS 14

  1. What significant analyses of economic structure and functions were made by the mercantilists?
  1. Discuss the development of economic opinions as reflected in the writings of Hales, Bodin, Montchrétien, Mun, Petty, Boisguilbert, Cantillon, Vanderlint, and Hume.
  1. Explain the structure and purpose of the “Wealth of Nations,” and give a brief analysis of the doctrines of the first two books.
  1. Discuss the treatment of the subject of population by Aristotle, the Schoolmen, Cantillon, Smith, and Malthus.
  1. At what points did the economic theories of Ricardo differ from those of Adam Smith?

 

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Economics 16. The History of Modern Socialism.
Asst. Professor Rappard.
4 Graduates Total 4.

 

[p. 54-5]

ECONOMICS 16

  1. Fill out the blanks in the following table according to the Marxian phraseology and theory.
Con-stant capital Vari-able capital Rate of surplus value Capital con-sumed Indi-vidual rate of profit Value of commo-dities pro-duced Cost price of commodities prod-uced Average rate of profit Price of com-modities Deviation of price from value
90 10 50% 20
80 20 50% 10
70 30 50% —
  1. “The theory of value which Marx presents is a variation of the familiar labor-value doctrine.” Discuss.
  1. State the Marxian theory of rent.
  1. What is meant by the Bernstein-Kautsky controversy? State three of the principal points involved, with the arguments advanced on both sides.
  1. What, according to Skelton, are the distinctive features of Utopianism? How does Shelton classify the Utopian doctrines?
    What, according to Skelton, are the two “quite distinct interpretations” of which the Marxian materialist conception of history is susceptible?
  1. “In spite of himself, Marx was the last of the classical economists.” How does Shelton justify this assertion?
  1. “Had the third volume of ‘Capital’ appeared at the same time as the first, little would have been heard about ‘exploitation’ from socialist platforms.” Why not, according to Skelton?

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 23. Economic History of Europe to the Middle of the Eighteenth Century.
Dr. Gray.
4 Graduates, 1 Radcliffe. Total 5.

 

[p. 55]

ECONOMICS 23

  1. Discuss the origin and early expansion of capital in Italy, the Low Countries, Germany and England. (One hour.)
  1. Compare the development of copyhold in England with that of Meierrecht in Germany. In what way were agrarian conditions in southwestern Germany different from conditions in the north-west at the beginning of the sixteenth century.
  1. Trace the growth of the mercantile system in England. Has Cunningham’s treatment any bias? Explain.
  1. Describe fully four of the following documents: —

Notularium Johannis Scribae.
An English Pipe Roll.
Royal licenses to export English wool in 1273.
De institutis Lundonie.
Chrysobullium Alexii I.

 

________________________________________

 

Economics 31. Public Finance.
Professor Bullock.
6 Graduates, 1 Junior. Total 7.

 

[p. 55-6]

ECONOMICS 31

  1. How far does the present British system of taxation conform to the maxims of Adam Smith?
  1. How far does the present French system of taxation conform to Smith’s maxims?
  1. How far does the present Prussian system of taxation conform to Smith’s maxims?
  1. How far would the single tax on land values conform to Smith’s maxims?
  1. Compare the general property tax in Switzerland with the same tax in the United States.
  1. What changes in the general property tax have occurred in the United States in recent years?
  1. Discuss fully the opinions of Leroy-Beaulieu or Eheberg concerning the income tax.
  1. Discuss fully the opinions of Leroy-Beaulieu or Eheberg concerning the inheritance tax.

 

________________________________________

Economics 32 2hf. Economics of Agriculture, with special reference to American conditions.
Professor Carver.
8 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 1 Junior. Total 11.

 

[p. 56]

ECONOMICS 32

  1. What are some of the larger characteristics which distinguish rural from urban life?
  1. Where would you draw the line between large scale and medium scale, and between medium scale and small scale farming, and what are the principal advantages and disadvantages of each?
  1. Exactly what is the distinction between intensive and extensive farming, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
  1. To what system of culture does the horse as a draft animal belong, and what are some of the characteristics of that system?
  1. Where do we find the larger percentage of tenancy in this country, where land is highly productive or where its productivity is low? How would you explain the situation?
  1. Give your ideas as to the function of the middle-man, and to what extent and how that function may be performed by the farmers themselves.
  1. What are the advantages of diversified farming as compared with specialized farming?
  1. Give your ideas as to how country life may be made more attractive to men and women of education and culture.

________________________________________

Sources:

Harvard University Examinations. Papers set for final examinations in history, history of science, government, economics, philosophy, social ethics, education, fine arts, music in Harvard College. June, 1913. Cambridge, MA.

Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1912-13, pp. 57-58.