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Chicago Economics Programs Faculty Regulations

Chicago. Economics A.M. requirements amended to become “Consolation Prize”. Lewis and Schultz, 1950

 

In 1950 the Chicago economics department voted to convert its master’s degree into an award for the successful partial completion of its Ph.D. program. It was to serve as a “consolation prize” for good graduate students but those found not to have the right “Ph.D. stuff” (H. Gregg Lewis’ words in his memo of Sept. 29, 1950 to chairman T. W. Schultz, transcribed below). I have also included the relevant portion of the distributional and examination requirements for the Ph.D. that had already formed part of the so-called “alternate departmental master’s degree”. H. Gregg Lewis’ proposal was largely accepted by the department (minutes from the meeting of November 2, 1950 transcribed below), thereby eliminating distinct tracks for its A.M. and Ph.D. degree programs, respectively.

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ALTERNATIVE DEPARTMENTAL MASTER’S DEGREE
[1950-51 regulations]

Upon request the Department will consider recommending for the Master’s degree candidates who have satisfied the distribution requirement for the Ph.D. degree and have passed with satisfactory standing the three written field examinations for the Ph.D. degree. One modern foreign language is required. In place of a thesis such candidates may present an acceptable paper or report on a problem approved by the Department.

[…]

Distributional requirement [Ph.D.]. The candidate is expected to have familiarity with the subject matter equivalent to that covered in at least one course (200 or 300 level of reasonable comprehensivenss in each of ten fields (five required and five elected), satisfactory evidence of which can be provided by course credit or by passing a special examination. The required fields are: (a) economic theory, (b) accounting, (c) statistics, (d) economic history, and (e) money, banking, and monetary policy. The fields from which five may be elected are: (f) consumption economics, (g) industrial relations, (h) monopoly and public utilities, (i) agricultural economics, (j) government finance, (k) international economic relations, and (l) substitute fields, but not in excess of two, proposed by the candidate and approved by the Departmental counselor or the Department. One or both of these substitute fields may be outside the Department of Economics, and in general some work outside the Department is recommended with a view to rounding out a program appropriate for the individual student. In case of students transferring from other institutions, adequate training in general history may be substituted for economic history upon the written recommendation of the Departmental counselor.

Preliminary written field examinations [Ph.D.]. In each of three fields of specialization, in addition to presenting course credit or special examinations to show satisfactory preparation, the candidate will be required to pass a written examination.

The candidate is expected to select the three fields of specialization—a primary field and two secondary fields—for intensive graduate work. The primary field is that in which the [Ph.D.] thesis will be written. One of the three fields (primary or secondary) must be that of economic theory, including monetary theory. The fields from which selection is to be made are listed above under the heading “Distributional Requirement,” except that accounting may not be chosen as a field without approval of the Department. One secondary field of specialization may be a field named by the candidate outside the list above, and this may be in a department other than Economics. A secondary field may also be developed under one of the interdepartmental committees of specialization International Relations, Human Development, Planning or Social Thought. The program of work proposed, which ordinarily will include four to five courses, must be approved by the Department. No other secondary field may replace the required field in economic theory.* Students should consult with the Departmental counselor with respect to appropriate programs of work in preparation for the field examinations. The field examinations are given by the Department in the sixth and seventh weeks of the Winter and summer quarters. Application for any field examination should be made not later than the end of the first week of the quarter in which the examination is to be taken.

*Students who take the field examination in money, banking, and monetary policy will not be required to write the monetary theory part of the economic theory examination.

 

Source: University of Chicago, Announcements. The Division of the Social Sciences, Sessions of 1950-1951, Vol. L, Number 9 (July 20, 1950), pp. 25-26.

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ECONOMIC COURSES LISTED IN THE LEWIS MEMO (29 Sept 1950) AND INCLUDED IN THE DEPARTMENTAL MINUTES (2 Nov 1950)

209. Intermediate Economic Theory. (Procter Thomson/Harold Gregg Lewis) Designed for students majoring in economics. Deals with factors controlling production, value and relative prices, and distribution.

211. Introduction to Statistics. (Harold Gregg Lewis) Elementary principles of statistics. Main topics: frequency distributions, averages, dispersion, index numbers, elements of the theory of statistical inference.

220. Economic History of the United States. (Earl J. Hamilton) Facts and factors in American’s economic growth from the Colonial period to World War II, including the development of agriculture, industry, commerce, finance, and transportation; economic effects of wars; role of the entrepreneur; rise in living standards; unrest and utopias in periods of stagnation; commercial crises and economic basis of cultural progress.

222. The Rise of Industrial Civilization in Europe. (John Ulrich Nef) Economic development in its relation to religious, political, intellectual and artistic history since the seventeenth century.

230. Introduction to Money and Banking. (Milton Friedman/Lloyd Wynn Mints) Factors which determine the value of money in the short and in the long run; and operation of the commercial banking system and in relation to the price level and general business activity.

240. Introduction to Industrial Relations. (Albert E. Rees) The nature of the labor market; government regulation of wages; social security; the history, structure, and functions of American labor unions; and collective bargaining. Special attention is given to current problems of public policy.

255. Introduction to Agricultural Economics. (D. Gale Johnson). Nature of resources used in agriculture. Prices, production, resource allocation, and income distribution. Analysis of government programs, subsidies, storages, crop control, soil conservation, food-stamp plan.

260. Introduction to Government Finance. (Richard B. Goode) Survey of institutions and theories of government finance. Effects of public expenditures; functions of public revenue; forms of taxation; tax criteria; determination of tax policy; public borrowing; debt management; fiscal policy.

270. International Economics. (Bert F. Hoselitz) The nature of international payments and receipts; foreign trade and banking system. The gold standard in the interwar period. The breakdown of the gold standard and the period of fluctuating exchange rates. Exchange controls, clearing agreements and payments agreements. The second world war and the foreign exchange markets. The position of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the present world economy.

271. Economic Aspects of International Politics. (Bert F. Hoselitz) An introductory survey, with particular reference to the United States, of the economic policies and activities of governments. Topics: international specialization of production and the distribution of world resources, structure of international exchanges and the mechanism of international transfer of goods and services; tariffs and other regulatory measures; trade agreements and the most-favored nation clause; international flow of capital and investment; the position of the ITO, the IMF, the ECA and other official agencies in international trade and exchange.

300A, 300B. Price Theory. (W. Allen Wallis 300A/Lloyd A. Metzler 300B/Milton Friedman 300B) A systematic study of the pricing of final products and factors of production under essentially stationary conditions. Covers both perfect competition and such imperfectly competitive conditions as monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. 300A deals primarily with the pricing of final products; 300B, with the pricing of factors of production.

Source: University of Chicago, Announcements. The Division of the Social Sciences, Sessions of 1950-1951, Vol. L, Number 9 (July 20, 1950), pp. 27-28.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

September 29, 1950

To        T. W. Schultz

From   H.G. Lewis

In Re: Requirements for the Master’s Degree

This is an elaboration of comments made to you this summer concerning the Master’s degree.

I should like to recommend the following changes in our requirements for the A.M. degree:

  1. That the distinction between the “regular” A.M. and the “alternative” A.M. be abolished.
  2. That the departmental requirements for the A.M degree consist of the following alteration of the present alternative A.M. requirements:
    1. A distribution requirement covering five (rather than the present eight) fields of economics of which theory, statistics, and money and banking shall be mandatory. Students who do not hold the traditional A.B. degree must meet the requirement by passing satisfactorily a qualifying examination coving the subject matter of Economics 209, 211 (unless the student has passed the Divisional qualifying examination), 230, and two courses chose from 220, 222, 240, 255, 260, 270, 271.1/ Students holding the traditional A.B. may meet the requirement by showing equivalent course credit.
    2. The passing of two Ph.D. field examinations (with Part I of the Theory exam counting as a full exam) at a satisfactory level (that is, at either the Ph.D. level or at a level somewhat lower but not so low as not to warrant blessing the candidate with a Master’s degree).2/
    3. A showing of competence in economic principles; made either by passing (at the A.M. level or higher) Part I of the Theory examination, by course credits or course examinations in Economics 300A and 300B, or by equivalent course credit.

I would recommend that the changes in requirements become effective as of the beginning of the Summer Quarter, 1951 for students entering the Department in that and later quarters.

1/ This qualifying examination is now offered every quarter. This is an extravagant use of faculty. I should like to see the exam offered only once a year. Furthermore, I should like to permit students to substitute course grades for all or part of the exam provided the course grades are for courses taken here and provided they are not at a level lower than B.

2/ There would be therefore no special examinations for A.M.’s, but the examinations would be graded into three levels: passing for the Ph.D. and A.M. degrees, passing for the A.M. degree but not for the Ph.D., failing for both.

I would urge students to give requirement (b) high priority in preparing their programs of study.

Since the ends sought by these changes can be reached in other ways, I specify below what these ends are.

I view our principal instructional purpose as that of training high-level (Ph.D. and beyond) professional economists. I think we ought to view our training of “junior” economists and the awarding of the A.M. degree only as an incident arising from the fact that at the time a student applies for admission to the department, we cannot predict accurately either his calibre as a student or his academic goals.

It seems to me that the requirements for the Master’s degree should meet these tests:

  1. They should include no requirements which the Department would not make for the Ph.D. degree. Otherwise both student and faculty time will be spent in activities extraneous to the training of high-level economists. The present alternative A.M. meets this test but the regular A.M. does not.
  2. The requirements should be at a level high enough to be respected by the academic world. Both present degrees meet this test, I believe.
  3. But the standards for the degree should not be so high that potentially able Ph.D. candidates will be deterred from entering because of the considerable risk that if they fail to meet Ph.D. standards they will also fail to meet A.M. standards. If we set standards for the A.M. that are almost as likely not to be met as the Ph.D. standards we hold out no “consolation prize” to those good students who are fearful of not being able to meet Ph.D. standards. The present alternative A.M. requirements do not meet this test.

One of the ways by which we can raise the calibre of our Ph.D. candidates without reducing our enrollment is to increase the number of students who are given an opportunity to show at close hand their potentialities to us and to screen out at an earlier date those who are not of Ph.D. stuff. I am confident that quite accurate screening can take place ordinarily by the end of the first year of graduate residence. I contemplate our using the A.M. requirements as a screening device; the present alternative A.M. is not satisfactory from that point of view since it postpones too long the screening decision.

Source: University of Chicago Archives. Department of Economics Records. Box 41, Folder “41.8”.

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MINUTES
Meeting of the Department

Time and Place: Thursday, November 2, 1950, at 1:00 p.m. in Room 424, Social Science Research Building.

Present: T. W. Schultz (chairman), H. G. Lewis, A. Rees, R. Goode, G. Tolley, D. G. Johnson, F. H. Harbison, J. Marschak, C. Hildreth, F. Knight, L. Metzler.

  1. Handling of Student Business
    It was agreed that all bona fide applications for admission to candidacy filed this quarter would be considered as falling under present degree requirements even though Departmental action does not take place until Winter quarter.
  2. Ford Foundation
    Schultz stated that as a Department we have an obligation to ourselves, to the University, and to the community more largely to think through carefully the problem of making the best use of the Ford Foundation’s present grant of $300,000 to the University as well as possible later grants. There was a brief general discussion of the problem.
  3. Departmental Rules Governing Residence and Availability to Students
    Schultz pointed out that in the current year we have been able for the first time to reduce direct teaching loads for most of our members to four courses per year or less. This reduction, he pointed out, makes it desirable that the Department impose upon itself rules governing residence and availability to students and others in the university community lest they be imposed upon us from outside. The problem of rules for residence involves not only a rule stipulating in some way minimum residence, but also the question of whether “free” quarters out of residence should be considered a matter of a right accruing to an individual from his residence or a privilege dependent upon ad hoc decisions made by the Department chairman and the Dean. Schultz expressed himself as being in favor of a rule somewhat similar to the rules for accumulating sabbatical leave under a 3Q contract. In addition there is the problem of insuring, perhaps by rule, “availability” when in residence. The formulation of appropriate rules is to come before the Department for its consideration in the Winter quarter.
  4. The Department considered Lewis’ recommendations for changes in the A.M. requirements. (See attached memo. [above]) the following amendment of Lewis’ recommendation was passed:
    1. That the distinction between the regular A.M. and the “alternative” A.M. degrees be abolished.
    2. That the Departmental requirements for the A.M. degree consist of the following:
      1. A distribution requirement to be met by passing a “Qualifying” examination covering the subject matter of Economics 209, 211 (unless the student has passed the Divisional qualifying examination) 220 or 222, 230 and two courses chosen from 240, 255, 260, 270, and 271. Students holding the traditional A.B. may satisfy the requirement by equivalent course credit.
      2. The passing of two Ph.D. field examinations (with Part I of the Theory examination counting as an examination) at a satisfactory level of A.M. candidates.
      3. A showing of competence in economic principles; made either by (at the A.M. level or higher) Part I of the Theory examination, by course credits or examinations in Economics 300A and 300B, or by equivalent course credit.
      4. An acceptable paper or report on a problem approved by the Department. The paper will be read by two members of the Department of which the course instructor will be one in the event the student submits a term paper prepared for a course.

The above changes in requirements are to become effective as of the beginning of the Summer quarter, 1951 for students entering the Department in that and later quarters.

It was understood that the above motion in no way changes present preliminary examinations or other requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Professor Knight asked the minutes to show his objection to dropping Economics 210 (Accounting) from the requirements for the A.M. degree.

  1. Student Business
    1. Petitions

Lawrence Bostow’s petition for approval of French and Russian as languages for the Ph.D. was approved.

Mr. H. M. Herlihy’s petition for the field of “Social Organization” (Sociology Department) as his third field for the Ph.D. degree was approved.

Mr. John Holsen’s petition for a third Ph.D. field in Planning (Planning Department) was approved. Mr. Johnson, his counselor, was asked to inform Mr. Holsen, however, that this approval does not entitle Holsen to shorten his total program in Economics for the Ph.D.

Mr. Edward Mishan’s petition for approval of Spanish as a Ph.D. language was denied.

    1. Admission to Candidacy

Mr. Howard Ammerman’s application for admission and for approval of a thesis topic was moved to the bottom of the list of applications.

Mr. Rondo E. Cameron’s application for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree was recommended to the Division for approval, contingent upon his passing the Theory examination (written Summer, 1950) and his proposed thesis topic, “French Foreign Investment, 1815-1870,” was approved. Thesis committee: E. J. Hamilton, chairman, L. Metzler, P. Thomson.

After some discussion, Mr. Clifford Clark’s application was moved down the list. Lewis was instructed to advise Clark to consult with Hamilton concerning the latter’s misgivings about the proposed thesis topic, and in addition to confer with Hayek, Knight, and other members of the Department concerning the thesis topic.

Mr. George P. Coutsoumaris’ application for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree was recommended to the Division for approval, contingent on his passing the Theory examination (written Summer, 1950), and his proposed thesis topic, “Possibilities of Increasing Economic Efficiency in Greek Agriculture,” was given qualified approval, the Department suggesting that he limit the topic somewhat preferably to a topic approximately the same as that covered in the sections (VII and VIII) of his outline dealing with capital in Greek agriculture. Thesis committee: D. G. Johnson, chairman, C. Harris, J. Margolis (planning).

Mr. David Fand’s proposed thesis topic, “Monetary Theory of the Federal Reserve Board,” was discussed. It was agreed to come back to it at the next meeting after several more of the members of the Department had an opportunity to discuss the topic with Fand.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 p.m.

Source: University of Chicago Archives. Department of Economics Records. Box 41, Folder “41.8”.

Images:  University of Chicago Photographic Archive, H. Gregg Lewis [apf1-03861] and T. W. Schultz [apf1-07479], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

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Harvard. Economics Ph.D. Alumnus, Merton Kirk Cameron, 1921

 

After graduating from Princeton, Merton K. Cameron taught high-school Latin, Greek and History before going on for graduate work in economic history at Harvard University where he co-taught courses in the economics of transportation and the economics corporations with Professor William Z. Ripley in 1915-16.

From his obituary in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin (23 May 1952, p. 5) we learn that he retired from the University of Hawaii in August, 1949 because of ill health and then moved with his family to California. It was reported that Cameron was “a member of the Honolulu Chamber of Commerce, Phi Gamma Delta, American Association of University Professors, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Gamma Mu, National Association of Cost Accountanats and the American Economics Association.”

Merton Kirk Cameron was born 7 January 1886 in Cecil County, Maryland and died 22 May 1952 in San Gabriel, California.

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Harvard Economics Ph.D., 1921

Merton Kirk Cameron, A.B. (Princeton Univ.) 1908, A.M. (Harvard Univ.) 1914.

Subject, Economics. Special Field, Economic History. Thesis, “The History of Tobacco-Growing in the Ohio Valley.”
Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Oregon.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1920-21, p. 60.

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Summer School, Berkeley 1932

Merton Kirk Cameron, Ph.D., Professor of Economics and Head of the Department of Economics and Business, University of Hawaii.

A.B., Princeton University, 1908; M.A., 1914, Ph.D., 1921, Harvard University. Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Oregon, 1920-23, Associate Professor, 1923-28; Professor of Economics, University of Hawaii, since 1928.
Author: Experience of Oregon with Popular Election and Recall of Public Service Commissioners; Some Neglected Aspects of the Problem of Poverty; The Political Pressure on the State Commissioners; Some Economic Causes of the Backward Condition in the Ante-Bellum Ohio Valley Tobacco District.

Source: University of California, Intersession and Summer Session, 1932 at Berkeley. (Officers of Administration and Instruction, Visiting Instructors), p. 4.

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From the Princeton Alumni Weekly (1952)
Memorial

Merton Cameron, Ph.D., educator and author of many scientific books and articles on sociological and economic studies, died on May 22, 1952 at his home in San Gabriel, Calif. For the past 30 years prior to his retirement in 1950 he was professor of Economics and chairman of the Dept. of Economics and Business at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu. During World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor he was active in defense work in Honolulu, both in directing the construction of bomb shelters and as an expert on finger prints. At that time his wife, Margaret, served in the Honolulu Office of Censorship.

Froggy, as he was affectionately known in college, elected teaching as a career, having served on the faculties of several U.S. schools including the Lanier High School in Maryland, the Donald Fraser School of Decatur, Ga. [ca. 1908], and the Riverside Military Academy at Gainesville, Ga. [ca. 1911], before accepting an offer from the University of Hawaii. He was one of those rare teachers who was not only a master of his subject but able to arouse enthusiastic response and admiration from his pupils.

Surviving in addition to his wife, Mrs. Margaret Elizabeth Sullivan Cameron, are a son, Merton K. Jr.; a daughter Edith, wife of Col. Kenneth R. Kenerick and two grandchildren, Karen J. Kenerick and Kaye Elizabeth Kenerick.

To the members of his family who survive the Class extends its sincere sympathy.

For the Class of 1908
Robert C. Clothier, President
Courtland N. Smith, Secretary

Source: Princeton Alumni Weekly, July 4, 1952, p. 34.

Image Source: University of Hawaii Yearbook, 1936.

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Minnesota. Interview about banking/financial historians. Heaton, 1955

In an earlier post we are provided with a glimpse of Minnesota professor Herbert Heaton’s wit in his answer to the question “What are economic historians made of?“. In preparing that post, I came across the following 1955 interview that provided some background assessments of economic historians who he judged might have been interesting for a Brookings project on the history of the Federal Reserve System.

A 2007 tribute from the Newsletter of the Economic History Association has been appended to this post for further biographical/career information.

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Backstory to Heaton Interview

In 1954, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded a grant to the Brookings Institution to undertake “a comprehensive history of the Federal Reserve System.” The collection consists of documents gathered or generated between 1954 and 1958, during the course of the Committee’s work.

MA (the interviewer below) was Mildred Adams “a New York journalist specializing in economic affairs”.

“Deputy Treasurer of the United States W. Randolph Burgess expressed his interest in writing a “definitive” history of the Federal Reserve System when he retired from federal service….”

“On January 21, 1954, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded a grant of $10,000 to the committee for an ‘exploratory study of the historical materials relating to the Federal Reserve System.’ The grant was to be administered by Brookings.”

“From January 1954 to June 1956, Mildred Adams served as research director of the project….Meanwhile, however, Burgess had been appointed under secretary of the Treasury and decided that he would not be able to start the planned comprehensive history any time soon. The committee spent the next two years searching for an able economic historian to assume direction of this major study.”

“By the spring of 1956, the committee’s failure to find a qualified scholar and Allan Sproul’s retirement from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and subsequent resignation as chairman of the committee caused problems. With no historian, the committee redefined its goals and requested the Rockefeller Foundation to relieve the committee of its obligation to write a ‘definitive’ major study and instead allow it to encourage smaller, topical studies of the Federal Reserve System.”

Source:  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. FRASER. Committee on the History of the Federal Reserve System: Guide to the Brookings Institution Archives.

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Notes from interview with Herbert Heaton

June 11, 1955

Internal Memorandum

Interview with Dr. Herbert Heaton, Professor of Economic History at the University of Minnesota

I went out to see Dr. Heaton on a Saturday morning at his home in Minneapolis and found him a charming Yorkshireman with a delightful sense of humor and a wide knowledge of both economics and history. Were he a little younger, he might prove to be the ideal person to do this work, although I have not yet read his books. I discussed the whole project with him in detail and then asked for any suggestions of people he might have for our purposes.

Dr. Heaton confirmed what we have already found, namely that the field is a rather arid one in the realm where history and economics meet. He himself had been on the committee which set up the economic history group with which Professor Arthur Cole of Harvard works. He agreed with Dr. [Walter W.] Stewart that that had rather worked itself out, though he said that the Hidys [Ralph Willard Hidy and Muriel E. (Wagenhauser) Hidy] were doing good work in their chosen field. They are to spend this summer in Minneapolis working on the Weyerhauser Lumber business.

Dr. Heaton said that John [K.] Langum was a brilliant student in the Harvard Business School. He had a minor in economic history and a fine historical sense.

He suggested that we talk to [Charles] Ray Whittlesey of the Wharton School who is interested in banking history. He thought that Whittlesey might have useful recommendations and called him one of the best insofar as historical interests in economic matters are concerned.

He spoke of Herman Kruse [sic, Herman E. Krooss] of New York University as someone who wrote well on financial history. He said that Mr. Kruse had energy, capacity and ability to handle material, but he seemed to think that he was lacking in tact, and he was not quite sure what he might do with an assignment in this project.

A young man named Robert Jost, now at Minnesota doing a doctor’s thesis on the Chatfield Bank, may be a possibility later on in the project, depending on what he makes of the Chatfield Bank. It is a small bank in Minnesota which, for some fortunate reason, has kept all its records and is making a very interesting study.

At the University of Wisconsin Dr. Heaton said that Rondo Cameron was working on the Credit Mobilier in Paris was worth watching. This again is a matter of seeing what he turns out.

He said that [Walter] Rostow at M.I.T., who has been devoting himself to business cycles, would ask the right questions of the material. Rostow has a quick mind and the right range of interests for this project. Oxford and Cambridge had both invited him for next year. His research expert is Mrs. [Anna] Schwartz. His brother [Eugene Rostow] is Dean of the Law School at Yale. In Dr. Heaton’s opinion, Mr. Rostow ought certainly to be explored.

Dr. Heaton says that Arthur Marget is someone he has known in the past as being brilliant on history or theory. He did not know that Mr. Marget had now gone to the Board and wondered if this might rule him out so far as the international sphere is concerned.

He also spoke of Frank A. Knox, who got his Ph.D at the University of Chicago and now writes reviews in the Canadian Journal of Economic and Political Science. Mr. Knox has not published much, but he is worth watching in Dr. Heaton’s opinion.

Dr. Heaton promised to keep the project in mind. He will talk with his associates about it and will send us any other suggestions which come up in the course of his work at the University of Minnesota.

We explored the things which he himself was doing, and he said that he had just turned 65 and did not believe that one should take on these big projects after that age. I had the feeling that he might, however, be interested in the project sufficiently so that he would take a piece of it. I had no authority to discuss it with him at that time, but I think this is worth considering. As a beginning, it might be worthwhile to read his “Economic History of Europe.”

MA:IB

Source:  Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. FRASER. Committee on the History of the Federal Reserve System.

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Past Presidents of the EHA:
Herbert Heaton

Herbert Heaton was one of the founding members of the Economic History Association, serving as one of its two inaugural vice presidents, ascending to the presidency in 1949, and remaining active in the association until his death. Along with E.A.J. Johnson and Arthur Cole, he drafted a grant application to the Rockefeller Foundation, which resulted in a $300,000 award in December of 1940. The grant financed research in economic history over the next four years. Heaton was a member of the original board of trustees of the EHA. Each of the five original members went on to serve as president of the association: Edwin F. Gay (1941-42), Heaton (1949-50), Earl J. Hamilton (1951-52), E.A.J. Johnson (1961-62), and Shepard B. Clough (1969).

Heaton was active in the formation of the EHA and was personally responsible for the recruitment of most of the members from the Midwest. He was an enthusiastic scholar of the evolution and applications of economic history, authoring several articles on the history of the discipline and a biography of Edwin Gay, the first president of the EHA. In an article entitled “Clio’s New Overalls,” published in The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science(November, 1954), Heaton was one of the first authors to discuss the marriage of clio and its metric partner in regard to the study of economic history. His discussion of the metric side of the equation was anything but enthusiastic however. Instead, he criticized the tendency of young scholars to use technical tools to make precise measurements of what he considered to be inaccurate data.

Heaton was born in England on June 6, 1890, the son of a blacksmith. He studied history and economics at the University of Leeds, earning his B.A. in 1911. He earned his M.A. in 1912 from the London School of Economics before accepting a position as assistant lecturer in economics under (Sir) William Ashley at the University of Birmingham. While there, he earned another Masters degree in 1914. He then moved to Australia and began a post as lecturer in history and economics at the University of Tasmania.

While in Tasmania Heaton developed the study of economics and encouraged research into Australian economic history. His controversial comments on the war provoked the censure of the more conservative elements of the Tasmanian press and public. In 1917 he moved to the University of Adelaide where he expanded the economics discipline and developed the diploma of commerce. Once again his liberal opinions aroused the ire of the conservative business class. Heaton argued that capitalism was the root of all the evils of individual and corporate life. He subscribed to the Marxist belief that capitalism would eventually give way to socialism. Consequently, the university refused to establish a degree in economics while Heaton led the discipline. As a means of preserving his academic career, he accepted a chair of economic and political science at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario in 1925. He stayed in Canada for two years before moving to the University of Minnesota, where he remained until he retired in 1958.

In 1936, Heaton compiled his research on Europe and published the Economic History of Europe, which was for a long time the standard text on the subject. Heaton said that he wrote the book especially for students with no background in economic history. He summed up economic history as the story of how man has worked to satisfy his material wants, in an environment provided by nature, but capable of improvement, in an organization made up of his relations with his fellows, and in a political unit whose head enjoys far-reaching power to aid, control, and appropriate. Such lofty views of the discipline were what made Heaton such a dedicated and valuable member of the Economic History Association.

Herbert Heaton died on January 24, 1973 in Minneapolis, survived by his three Australian-born children and his wife Marjorie Edith Ronson. He was an active scholar to the end of his life, publishing his ninth and final article in the JEH in June of 1969, nearly 28 years after his first JEH appearance.

Sources

Archives of the Economic History Association, Hagley Museum, Wilmington, DE.

Blaug, Mark, ed., Who’ s who in economics: a biographical dictionary of major economists, 1700-1986, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986, 2nd ed.

Bourke, Helen, “Heaton, Herbert (1890-1973),” Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 9, Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp. 250-251.

Cole, Arthur H., “Economic History in the United States: Formative Years of a Discipline,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Dec., 1968), pp. 556-589.

de Rouvray, Cristel, “‘Old’ Economic History in the United States: 1939- 1954,” Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Vol. 26, No. 2 (June, 2004), pp. 221-39.

Harte, N.B., “Herbert Heaton, 1890-1973: A Biographical Note and a Bibliography [Obituary],” Textile History Vol. 5 (1974), p. 7.

Payne, Elizabeth, “Herbert Heaton,” term paper for Professor Robert Whaples, Wake Forest University, 2006.

Selected writings of Herbert Heaton

“Heckscher on Mercantilism,” The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 45, No. 3 (June, 1937), pp. 370-93.

“Rigidity in Business Since the Industrial Revolution,” The American Economic Review, Vol. 30, No. 1, Part 2, Supplement, Papers and Proceedings of the Fifty-second Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (Mar., 1940), pp. 306-313.

“Non-Importation, 1806-1812,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Nov., 1941), pp. 178-98.

“The Early History of the Economic History Association,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 1, Supplement: The Tasks of Economic History (Dec., 1941), pp. 107-09.

“Recent Developments in Economic History,” The American Historical Review, Vol. 47, No. 4 (July, 1942) pp. 727- 46.

“The Making of an Economic Historian,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 9, Supplement: The Tasks of Economic History (1949), pp. 1-18.

“Clio’ s New Overalls,” The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Nov., 1954), pp. 467-77.

“Twenty-Five Years of the Economic History Association: A Reflective Evaluation,” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Dec., 1965), pp. 465-79.

Modern economic history, with special reference to Australia, Melbourne: Macmillan & Co., 1925.

A history of trade and commerce, with special reference to Canada, Toronto: T. Nelson & Sons, 1928.

The British Way to Recovery: Plans and Policies in Great Britain, Australia, and Canada, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1934.

Economic History of Europe, New York: Harper, 1948.

A Scholar in Action, Edwin F. Gay, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1952.

 

Source: Past Presidents of the EHA: Herbert Heaton, The Newsletter of the Economic History Association (ed. Michael Haupert), No. 31 (December 2007), pp. 16-18.

Image Source: Newsletter of the Economic History Association, No. 31 (December 2007), p. 16.

Categories
Courses Economic History Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Economics course descriptions, enrollments, final exams. 1915-16.

 

In this post I have assembled all the Harvard economics examinations I could find for the academic year 1915-16 and then supplement these with the annual enrollment data published in the President’s annual report which incidentally identifies the course instructors. Next I thought it would be even nicer to add course descriptions, but unfortunately I did not have access to the published 1915-16 announcement for the Division of History, Government, and Economics so I have added the course descriptions from 1914-15 or 1916-17 where the course titles and instructors exactly match.

For year-long courses, only the year-end final examination was included in the Harvard publication of examination papers, i.e. the mid-year final exams from January are missing for those courses. However, for the principles course and Taussig’s graduate theory course I have been able to find copies of those exams filed elsewhere in the Harvard archives (see notes).

Primarily for undergraduates:

Principles of Economics (Day with selected topics by Taussig)

For undergraduates and graduates
Statistics (Day)
Accounting (Davis)
European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century (Gay)
Economic and Financial History of the United States (Gay)
Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises (Anderson)
Economics of Transportation (Ripley)
Economics of Corporations (Ripley
Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation (Bullock)
Trade Unionism and Allied Problems (Ripley)
Economic Theory (Taussig)
Principles of Sociology (Carver)
Economics of Agriculture (Carver)

Primarily for graduates
Economic Theory (Taussig)
The Distribution of Wealth (Carver)
Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice (Day)
History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 (Bullock)
Analytical Sociology (Anderson)
Public Finance (Bullock)

 

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Principles of Economics (Day with selected topics by Taussig)

ECONOMICS A: Course announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] A. (formerly 1). Principles of Economics. Tu., Th., Sat., at 11.
Professor TAUSSIG and Asst. Professor DAY and five assistants.

Course A gives a general introduction to economic study, and a general view of Economics for those who have not further time to give to the subject. It undertakes a consideration of the principles of production, distribution, exchange, money, banking, international trade, and taxation. The relations of labor and capital, the present organization of industry, and the recent currency legislation of the United States will be treated in outline.

The course will be conducted partly by lectures, partly by oral discussion in sections. A course of reading will be laid down, and weekly written exercises will test the work of students in following systematically and continuously the lectures and the prescribed reading. Course A may not be taken by Freshmen without the consent of the instructor.

ECONOMICS A: Enrollment [1915-16]

 [Economics] A. Asst. Professor Day; and Dr. J. S. Davis and Mr. P. G. Wright, Dr. Burbank, and Messrs. Monroe, Lincoln, R.E. Richter, and Van Sickle. With Lectures on selected topics by Professor Taussig. — Principles of Economics.

Total 477: 1 Graduate, 28 Seniors, 111 Juniors, 278 Sophomores, 13 Freshmen, 46 Other.

ECONOMICS A: Mid-Year Examination [1915-16]

Plan your answers carefully before writing. Write concisely. Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions, beginning each on a new page.

  1. What are the characteristic features of each of the following: (a) horizontal combination; (b) a bill of exchange; (c) bimetallism; (d) marginal cost; (e) subsidiary coinage?
  2. Give four important economic advantages of (a) the complex division of labor; (b) large-scale production; (c) the corporate form of organization.
  3. Indicate any important connections existing between (a) the corporation and large-scale production; (b) large-scale production and dumping; (c) dumping and a protective tariff; (d) a protective tariff and the geographical division of labor.
  4. What conditions of demand and supply tend to promote, what to impede, organized speculation? What are the functions, and what the chief consequences of, organized speculation in agricultural products?
  5. In what ways, if at all, is monopoly price affected by (a) cost of production per unit? (b) an elastic demand for the product? Illustrate by diagrams, assuming conditions of (1) constant cost, (2) decreasing cost.
  6. Briefly describe the Panic of 1907 in New York. What provisions of the Federal Reserve Act do you consider most likely to be effective in preventing or allaying future financial panics in the United States? Give your reasons in detail.
  7. What has been the general course of the sterling exchange rate since the beginning of 1914? What factors have been influential in causing changes in the rate? How has each factor operated?

Source note:  This mid-year examination was found at Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Course reading lists, syllabi, and exams 1913-1992. (UA V 349.295.6) Box 1, Folder “Economics I, Final Exams 1913-1939”.

ECONOMICS A: Final Examination [1915-16]

Plan your answers carefully before writing. Write concisely. Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions, beginning each on a new page.

  1. What is meant by (a) marginal cost; (b) the representative firm? How, if at all, is marginal cost connected with the short- and long-time values of (a)fresh vegetables; (b) wheat; (c)a railroad rate; (d) a gold dollar?
  2. Explain: (a) free coinage; (b) undervalued metal; (c) overissue; (d) “creation of deposits”; (e) bank reserve; (f) currency premium.
  3. “Think of it! British ships are bringing in foreign tires; British money is going abroad to pay for them1; and British motorists are using them. The available supplies of British-made tires are ample for all needs. Imported tires are inessentials; they hurt British credit2, they lower the exchange of the English pound3, they increase freights4, they make necessities dearer5, and increase our national indebtedness6.” To what extent is the reasoning valid at the several points indicated?
  4. Explain what is meant by (a) the unearned increment of land; (b) “the unearned increment of railways”; (c) increment taxes; (d)the incidence of taxes on land; (e) the Single Tax.
  5. What effects upon wages, if any, should you expect to result from (a) free industrial education; (b) collective bargaining; (c) limitation of output by organized labor; (d) introduction of labor-saving machinery?
  6. What should you expect to be the effect of immigration into the United States on (a) the increase of population here; (b) wages in the United States; (c) American urban rents; (d) profits of American business men?
  7. What is to be said for and against (a) unemployment insurance; (b) compulsory arbitration for public service industries; (c) profit-sharing as an agency for industrial peace?
  8. Explain: (a) restraint of trade at common law; (b) restraint of trade under United States statute law; (c) “rule of reason”; (d) “unfair competition”; (e) Kartel.

 

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Statistics (Day)

ECONOMICS 1a1: Course announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 1a 1hf. Statistics. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 11. Asst. Professor DAY, assisted by Mr. F. E. RICHTER.

This course will deal primarily with the elements of statistical method. The following subjects will be considered: methods of collecting and tabulating data; the construction and use of diagrams; the use and value of the various types and averages; index-numbers; dispersion; interpolation; correlation. Special attention will be given to the accuracy of statistical material. In the course of this study of statistical method, examples of the best statistical information will be presented, and the best sources will be indicated. Population and vital statistics will be examined in some measure, but economic statistics will predominate.

Laboratory work in the solution of problems and the preparation of charts and diagrams will be required.

ECONOMICS 1a1: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 1a 1hf. Asst. Professor Day, assisted by Mr. Cox. — Statistics.

Total 44: 2 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 18 Juniors, 7 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 1a1: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. What is meant by “the statistical method”? What is the scientific importance of the method? What are its limitations?
  2. Describe concisely the essential steps in the preparation for a population census.
  3. Sketch briefly the history of wage statistics in the United States.
  4. Describe in detail, and criticize, the Babson method of forecasting business conditions.
  5. Explain briefly: (a) law of statistical regularity; (b) probable error; (c) series; (d) mode; (e) the normal frequency curve; (f) skewness.
  6. Formulate a set of rules for the construction of frequency tables and graphs.
  7. By what different statistical devices may the structure — or distribution — of two different groups of data be compared?
  8. Explain briefly: correlation; ratio of variation.
    Criticise fully the following statement: “A very large degree of regression — that is, a large deviation of the line of regression from the line of equal proportional variation — indicates a slight degree of correlation.”

 

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Accounting (Davis)

ECONOMICS 1b2: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 1b 2hf. Accounting. Half-course (second half-year). Lectures, Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 1.30; problems and laboratory practice, two hours a week. Dr. J. S. Davis, assisted by Mr. F. E. RICHTER and—.

This course will deal with the construction and the interpretation of accounts of various types of business units, designed to show the financial status at a particular time, the financial results obtained during a period of time, and the relation between the results and the contributing factors. In other words, it will be concerned with the measurement, in terms of value, of economic instruments, forces, products, and surpluses.

Some attention will necessarily be given to the fundamentals of book-keeping, but emphasis will be placed chiefly upon the accounting principles underlying valuation and the determination of profits and costs. Problem work will be regularly assigned, and published reports of corporations will serve as material for laboratory work.

ECONOMICS 1b2: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 1b2 hf. Dr. J. S. Davis, assisted by Mr. Cox. — Accounting.

Total 116: 49 Seniors, 62 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 2 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 1b2: Final Examination [1915-16]

Be concise. Reserve at least 45 minutes for Question 8. If desired, one of the first five questions may be omitted.

  1. What purposes are served by a Journal? a Ledger? Is it possible to keep complete and accurate accounts with these books alone?
    b. Name five other account books commonly found, and indicate briefly the nature and special function of each.
  2. Explain briefly: posting, contingent liability, corporate surplus, amortization table, secret reserve.
  3. With respect to each of the following, indicate (preferably in tabular form) (a) whether it would normally show a debit or credit balance, (b) whether it would appear on balance sheet or income statement, and (c) what kindof account it represents.

Rentals of Properties Owned
Sinking Fund Securities
Insurance Unexpired
Reserve for Accrued Depreciation
Depreciation on Equipment
Premium on Stock Issued
Advances to Subsidiary Companies
Extraordinary Flood Damages

  1. Draft journal entries (omiting explanations) for the following transactions of the General Utility Company:
    1. Sale of six desks to Jackson & Jackson, @ $15, 30 days, receiving in part payment their 30-day note for $50.
    2. Declaring dividends of $200,000, setting aside out of current income a fire insurance reserve of $100,000, and adding the balance of the year’s income ($60,000) to the surplus.
    3. Making the semi-annual interest payment on a million-dollar 6 per cent bond issue, the bond premium being simultaneously amortised to the extent of $2000.
    4. Loss by fire of a building which cost $60,000, and upon which depreciation of $10,000 had accrued and been allowed for.
  2. What is the purpose of a balance sheet? What are its essential elements? What are the main items or groups of items on the balance sheet of a railroad company? At what points are balance sheets frequently defective, inaccurate, or misleading?
  3. Do the following, in a railroad report, ordinarily signify improvement or retrogression? Under what circumstances, if any, might each signify the opposite? How could you ascertain which was actually signified?
    1. Decline in operating ratio.
    2. Increase in maintenance of freight cars per freight car.
    3. Decrease in freight train miles.
  4. Explain the purpose of the “funding accounts peculiar” to governmental accounting, and illustrate their use.
    b. What accounting distinctions are of especial importance in municipal accounting?
  5. Below are comparative figures (in thousands of dollars) of a company manufacturing railway equipment. Summarize what they reveal of its history, condition, and policy, commending or criticising the statements or policy as occasion requires.

 

Income Account, Years ended December 31
1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913
Gross Earnings Not reported 5,920 7,843 10,035 6,160 9,041 7,688
Operating and Mfg. Expenses, etc. “ 4,775 5,782 7,734 4,793 6,600 6,216
Depreciation and Maintenance “ 170 194 350 150 360 *
Net Earnings 2,320 975 1,866 1,951 1,217 2,081 1,472
Bond Interest 217 209 203 196 232 357 350
Dividends 1,485 1,350 945 945 945 945 945
Surplus for the Year 618 **584 718 810 40 779 177

*Included in “operating expenses.”  **Deficit.

 

General Balance Sheet, December 31
Assets 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913
Plants, Properties, etc. 30,291 30,536 30,568 30,267 33,746 33,373 33,320
Inventories 2,341 1,914 1,927 2,210 1,622 1,927 1,593
Stocks, Bonds, etc. 185 217 222 242 400 704 686
Accounts Receivable 2,349 1,212 1,667 1,464 1,148 1,986 1,411
Other Items 84 75 38 32 28 41 48
Cash 264 344 382 871 1,484 1,225 1,814
Total 35,514 34,298 34,804 35,086 38,428 39,256 38,872
Liabilities
Common Stock 13,500 13,500 13,500 13,500 13,500 13,500 13,500
Preferred Stock (7% cumulative) 13,500 13,500 13,500 13,500 13,500 13,500 13,500
Bonded Debt 4,223 4,083 3,945 3,808 7,172 7,037 6,901
Accounts Payable 1,239 588 672 212 148 350 186
Bills Payable 50 200 … … … … …
Reserves for Dividends, Interest, Taxes, etc. 147 156 197 266 268 251 260
Surplus 2,855 2,271 2,990 3,800 3,840 4,618 4,525
Total 35,514 34,298 34,804 35,086 38,428 39,256 38,872

 

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European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century (Gay)

ECONOMICS 2a1: Course announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 2a1hf. European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century. Half-course(first half-year).Tu., Th., Sat., at 9. Professor GAY, assisted by—.

Course 2a undertakes to present the general outlines of the economic history of western Europe since the Industrial Revolution. Such topics as the following will be discussed: the economic aspects of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic régime, the Stein-Hardenberg reforms, the Zoll-Verein, Cobden and free trade in England, labor legislation and social reform, nationalism and the recrudescence of protectionism, railways and waterways, the effects of transoceanic competition, the rise of industrial Germany.

Since attention will be directed in this course to those phases of the subject which are related to the economic history of the United States, it may be taken usefully before Economics 2b.

ECONOMICS 2a1: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 2a1hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Messrs. A. H. Cole and Ryder.— European Industry and Commerce in the Nineteenth Century.

Total 94: 23 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 33 Juniors, 16 Sophomores, 5 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 2a1: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. Speaking of the industrial revolution in England, a writer says: “It is to a revolution in three industries, — agriculture, cotton and iron, — that this transformation is principally due.” Do you agree? Give your reasons.
  2. Account historically for the present condition of the agricultural laborer in England, in East Prussia. What have been the social consequences in both cases?
  3. Hadley says of railway construction: “The Englishman built for the present and future both; the American chiefly for the future.” Account for this difference, and show its effect on capitalization, on service and on inter-railway relations.
  4. Trace the influence of the agrarian and industrial interests on tariff legislation in Germany and France since 1880.
  5. Give an account of the development of the iron and steel industry in England and Germany in the last half of the nineteenth century. Account for the later development in the latter country, and trace the competition between the Ruhr and Lorraine districts.

(Take one of the following two questions)

  1. Comment on Ashley’s statement regarding English exports:

“We shall more and more exhaust our resources of coal, and we shall devote ourselves more and more to those industries which flourish on cheap labor.”

  1. How have the laboring people of England by voluntary collective action tried to meet the exigencies of the modern industrial system? Compare with Germany.

 

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Economic and Financial History of the United States (Gay)

ECONOMICS 2b2: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 2b 2hf. Economic and Financial History of the United States. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 9. Professor GAY, assisted by —.

The following are among the subjects considered: aspects of the Revolution and commercial relations during the Confederation and the European wars; the history of the protective tariff policy and the growth of manufacturing industries; the settlement of the West and the history of transportation, including the early canal and turnpike enterprises of the states, the various phases of railway building and the establishment of public regulation of railways; banking and currency experiences; various aspects of agrarian history, such as the public land policy, the growth of foreign demand for American produce and the subsequent competition of other sources of supply; certain social topics, such as slavery and its economic basis, and the effects of immigration.

ECONOMICS 2b2: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 2b 2hf. Professor Gay, assisted by Messrs. A. H. Cole and Ryder. — Economic and Financial History of the United States.

Total 94: 23 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 33 Juniors, 16 Sophomores, 5 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 2b2: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. “The expulsion of the French from Canada made it possible (for the American colonies) to dispense with English protection. The commercial restrictions made it to their interest to do so.” Do you agree? Give your reasons for or against.
  2. “As to the strength of slavery as an institution in Southern society after it had been thoroughly established, its basis was partly economic and partly social.” Explain. Which do you think the more fundamental? Why?
  3. (a) Give the reasons for the turn in our favor of the balance of trade in the seventies. (b) Into what periods would you divide the history of our export trade since that time? Characterize each period. What do you think are the probabilities for the future? Give your reasons.
  4. Compare the marketing of grain with the marketing of wool. Why the difference?
  5. In how far were the policies of the national government responsible for the panics of 1837 and 1893? Give your reasons.
  6. (a) Describe briefly the development of the iron industry in the United States. (b) What effect has this development had upon American shipping before and after 1870?

The following questions are for graduates who did not take the tests:

  1. Take one of the following subjects: (a) the history of American agriculture since 1860; or (b) Manufacturing development in the United States before 1860; or (c) the history of American transportation since 1860. Outline the periods and topics you would discuss in lecturing on it. Give also a short list of the chief books or papers you would consult, with critical estimates.
  2. What criteria would you hold most significant in determining the successful application of protection to young industries. Draw your evidence from the manufactures we have considered.

 

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Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises (Anderson)

ECONOMICS 3: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Asst. Professor ANDERSON, assisted by —.

This course undertakes a theoretical, descriptive, and historical study of the main problems of money and banking. Historical and descriptive materials, drawn from the principal systems of the world, will be extensively used, but will be selected primarily with reference to their significance in the development of principles, and with reference to contemporary practical problems. Foreign exchange will be studied in detail. Attention will be given to those problems of money and credit which appear
most prominently in connection with economic crises. Though emphasis will be thrown upon the financial aspects of crises, the investigation will cover also the more fundamental factors causing commercial and industrial cycles.

ECONOMICS 3: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 3. Asst. Professor Anderson, assisted by Mr. Silberling. — Money, Banking and Commercial Crises.

Total 69: 2 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 31 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 8 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 3: Final Examination [1915-16]

Omit either question 6 or 7.

  1. State and discuss Fisher’s version of the quantity theory of money.
  2. Discuss the relations of the banks and the stock exchange.
  3. Contrast the Bank of England with the Banque de France:
    (a) with reference to reserves;
    (b) with reference to the discount rate;
    (c) with reference to specie payments;
    (d) with reference to relations with the government;
    (e) with reference to foreign exchange policy.
  4. In precisely what ways does our Federal Reserve system seek to remedy the defects in our banking system?
  5. Discuss the development of State banking since the Civil War. Compare it with the development of the National Bank system. Explain the tendencies.
  6. Give an account of the main movements in the prices of the war stocks since Oct. 1, 1915, and explain these movements as far as you can: (a) by reference to general causes; (b) by reference to factors affecting particular securities as far as you know them.
  7. Explain the movements in demand sterling since the outbreak of the War. Give figures and dates as accurately as you can.
  8. Summarize Wesley Mitchell’s theory of business cycles.
  9. For what purposes does the farmer need credit? What is the extent of agricultural indebtedness in different sections in the United States? What agencies supply credit to the farmer? What rates of interest does the farmer pay in different parts of the country?
  10. Contrast the Panic of 1893 with the Panic of 1914.

 

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Economics of Transportation (Ripley)

ECONOMICS 4a1: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 4a 1hf. Economics of Transportation. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor RIPLEY, assisted by —.

A brief outline of the historical development of rail and water transportation in the United States will be followed by a description of the condition of transportation systems at the present time. The four main subdivisions of rates and rate-making, finance, traffic operation, and legislation will be considered in turn. The first deals with the relation of the railroad to shippers, comprehending an analysis of the theory and practice of rate-making. An outline will be given of the nature of railroad securities, the principles of capitalization, and the interpretation of railroad accounts. Railroad operation will deal with the practical problems of the traffic department, such as the collection and interpretation of statistics of operation, pro-rating, the apportionment of cost, depreciation and maintenance, etc. Under legislation, the course of state regulation and control in the United States and Europe will be traced.

ECONOMICS 4a1: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 4a 1hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Cameron. — Economics of Transportation.

Total 121: 3 Graduates, 47 Seniors, 54 Juniors, 7 Sophomores, 10 Other.

ECONOMICS 4a1: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. Discuss the propriety of the capitalization by a railroad of a surplus which had gradually accumulated during a period of twenty or more years. Would the recency of the surplus make any difference? How about the geographical location of the road?
  2. Describe the existing situation as concerns the relation of American railroads to their employees.
  3. What are the prime essentials of a railroad reorganization, necessary to insure its success?
  4. In case of the creation of a Congressional commission on railway legislature, what are the topics which it would probably consider?
  5. Outline the means which have been employed to bring about unity of action among the hard coal roads as to prices.
  6. State briefly for the leading countries which have taken over their railways as government enterprises, the peculiar circumstances which have no counterpart in the American situation.
  7. What is the trouble with the so-called basing point system?
  8. What is the present condition of affairs concerning the relation of railroads to water lines, coastwise or lake?
  9. When and how did the conflict of Federal and state powers over regulation of common carriers first become acute?
  10. Why was the United States Commerce Court ‘abolished’ judging by the tenor of its decisions?

 

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Economics of Corporations (Ripley)

ECONOMICS 4b2: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 4b 2hf. Economics of Corporations. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 11. Professor RIPLEY, assisted by —.

This course will treat of the fiscal and industrial organization of capital, especially in the corporate form. The principal topic considered will be industrial combination and the so-called trust problem. This will be broadly discussed, with comparative study of conditions in the United States and Europe. The development of corporate enterprise, promotion, and financing, accounting, liability of directors and underwriters, will be described, not in their legal but in their economic aspects; and the effects of industrial combination upon efficiency, profits, wages, prices, the development of export trade, and international competition will be considered in turn.

ECONOMICS 4b2: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 4b 2 hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Cameron. — Economics of Corporations.

Total 115: 9 Graduates, 39 Seniors, 49 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 8 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 4b2: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. Discuss critically the “economics of Industrial Combination.”
  2. What peculiarity of the American situation has given especial prominence to the holding company, in contrast with European countries?
  3. What principle of corporate finance, not of commercial practice, is illustrated by the experience of the following companies? Limit each answer to five words.
    1. U.S. Leather Co.
    2. International Mercantile Marine Co.
    3. American Ice Co.
    4. U.S. Steel Corporation.
    5. American Tobacco Co.
    6. The Glucose combination.
    7. The Asphalt combination.
  4. What is the most insistent feature in an industrial reorganization? How is the desired result commonly brought about?
  5. Outline the relation of organized labor to the amendment of the Sherman Act in 1914.
  6. “Competitors must not be oppressed or coerced. Fraudulent or unfair, or oppressive rivalry must not be pursued….Then, too, prices must not be arbitrarily fixed or maintained … an artificial scarcity must not be produced….The public is also injured if quality be impaired….Other injuries are done, if the wages of the laborer be arbitrarily reduced, and if the price of raw material be artificially depressed.”
    Associate each of the foregoing practices named in a recent judicial opinion with some particular industrial combination.
  7. How successful has the Department of Justice been in effecting the corporate dissolution of combinations? Outline the experience.
  8. Describe those factors of British corporate financial practise which are essentially different from our own.
  9. Compare the organization of the American and German combinations in the iron and steel industries; briefly, point by point.
  10. If high prices constitute a grievance of the public against industrial combination, what are the objections to an attempt to regulate these prices directly by law? Discuss the proposition from as many points of view as possible.

 

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Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation (Bullock)

ECONOMICS 5: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 5. Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor BULLOCK.

This course covers the entire field of public finance, but emphasizes the subject of taxation. After a brief survey of the history of finance, attention is given to public expenditures, commercial revenues, administrative revenues, and taxation, with consideration both of theory and of the practice of various countries. Public credit is then studied, and financial legislation and administration are briefly treated.

Systematic reading is prescribed, and most of the exercises are conducted by the method of informal discussion. Candidates for distinction will be given an opportunity to write theses.

Graduate students are advised to elect Economics 31.

ECONOMICS 5: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 5. Professor Bullock. — Public Finance, including the Theory and Methods of Taxation.

Total 60: 27 Seniors, 28 Juniors, 5 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 5: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. Trace historically the position occupied by the customs revenue in the finances of the United States. What principles should be observed in establishing a system of customs duties? Discuss the incidence of these duties.
  2. To what extent and for what reasons has the working of the general property tax in Switzerland been different from the working of the same tax in the United States?
  3. Discuss briefly and concisely the characteristic features of three of the following: (a) The impôt-personnel mobilier; (b) The French business tax; (c) The Prussian business tax; (d) inheritance taxes in the United States.
  4. Explain and discuss critically the methods employed in the taxation of incomes in England and in Prussia.
  5. (a) What are the different theories regarding the best method of apportioning taxes?
    (b) Distinguish between “funded” and “unfunded” incomes. On what grounds can the heavier taxation of funded incomes be urged?
  6. What principles should govern the prices charged for the services of public commercial undertakings?
  7. Enumerate and discuss critically all the maxims, or canons, of taxation, with which you are familiar.
  8. State either the case for or the case against the single tax.

 

________________________

Trade Unionism and Allied Problems (Ripley)

ECONOMICS 6a1: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 6a 1hf. Trade Unionism and Allied Problems. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Professor RIPLEY, assisted by —.

This course will deal mainly with the economic and social relations of employer and employed. Among the topics included will be: the history of unionism; the policies of trade unions respecting wages, machinery, output, etc.; collective bargaining; strikes; employers’ liability and workmen’s compensation; efficiency management; unemployment, etc., in the relation to unionism, will be considered.

Each student will make at least one report upon a labor union or an important strike, from the original documents. Two lectures a week, with one recitation, will be the usual practice.

ECONOMICS 6a1: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 6a 1 hf. Professor Ripley, assisted by Mr. Weisman. — Trade-Unionism and Allied Problems.

Total 61: 24 Seniors, 29 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 7 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 6a1: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. Illustrate by a sketch the interrelation between the constituent parts of the American Federation of Labor.
  2. Criticise the following premium wage plans for mounting “gem” electric lamp bulbs.
Daily Output Wage per thousand
Under 900 $1.03
900-1000 $1.07
1000-1100 $1.12
Over 1100 $1.17
  1. Have you any impression whether Webb favors craft or industrial unionism? What instances does he cite?
  2. Define (a) Federal union; (b) Device of the Common Rule? (c) Jurisdiction dispute.
  3. Is there any real difference between an “irritation strike ” of the I. W. W.and the British “strike in detail”?
  4. Contrast the British and American policies of trade union finance, showing causes and results.
  5. Describe the Hart, Schaffner and Marx plan of dealing with its employees.
  6. Is the Standard Wage merely the minimum for a given trade or not? Discuss the contention that it penalizes enterprise or ability.
  7. Is there any relation logically between the attitude of labor toward piece work and the relative utilization of machinery?
  8. What is the nature of the business transacted at the annual convention of the American Federation of Labor?

 

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Economic Theory (Taussig)

ECONOMICS 7a1: Course Announcement [1916-17]

[Economics] 7a1 hf. Economic Theory. Half-course(first half-year). Tu., Th., at 2.30, and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 11. Professor TAUSSIG.

Course 7a undertakes a survey of economic thought from Adam Smith to the present time. Considerable parts of the Wealth of Nations and of J. S. Mill’s Principles of Political Economy will be read, as well as selected passages from the writings of contemporary economists. No theses or other set written work will be required. The course will be conducted chiefly by discussion. It forms an advantageous introduction to Economics 7b.

Students who have attained in Economics A a grade sufficient for distinction (A or B) are admitted without further inquiry. Others must secure the consent of the instructor.

ECONOMICS 7a1: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 7a 1hf. Professor Taussig. — Economic Theory.

Total 27: 12 Graduates, 5 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 4 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 7a1: Final Examination [1915-16]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

  1. “The wages of the inferior classes of workmen, I have endeavored to show in the first book, are everywhere necessarily regulated by two different circumstances: the demand for labor, and the ordinary or average price for provisions. The demand for labor, according as it happens to be either increasing, stationary, or declining, or to require an increasing, stationary or declining population, regulates the subsistence of the laborer and determines in what degree it shall be either liberal, moderate, or scanty.”
    Explain (1) in what way Adam Smith analyzed the “demand for labor”; (2) the nature of the reasoning which led to his conclusions regarding the influence on wages of increasing or declining national wealth.
  2. Explain in what way J. S. Mill analyzed the demand for labor, and wherein his analysis resembled Adam Smith’s, wherein it differed; and consider whether Mill’s conclusions regarding the influence of increasing national wealth on wages were similar to Adam Smith’s.
  3. Explain:
    (a) The Physiocratic notion concerning productive labor;
    (b) Adam Smith’s distinction between productive and unproductive labor;
    (c) Adam Smith’s doctrine as to the way in which equal capitals employed in agriculture, in manufactures, in wholesale or retail trade, put in motion different quantities of productive labor.
    What reasoning led Adam Smith to arrange industries in the order of productiveness indicated in (c) and what have you to say in comment on it
  4. Why, according to Adam Smith, is there rent from land used for growing grain? from land used for pasture? from mines? What would a writer like Mill say of these doctrines of Adam Smith’s?
  5. How does Mill (following Chalmers) explain the rapid recovery of countries devastated by war? Do you think the explanation sound?
  6. Wherein is Mill’s analysis of the causes of differences in wages similar to Adam Smith’s, wherein different?
  7. What, according to Mill, is the foundation of private property? What corollaries does he draw as regards inheritance and bequest? What is your instructor’s view on the justification of inheritance and bequest?
  8. Explain wherein there are or are not ” uman costs” in the savings of the rich, of the middle classes, and of the poor; and wherein there are or are not “economic costs” in these several savings.
  9. Hobson says: (a) that” the traditional habits of ostentatious waste and conspicuous leisure . . . induce futile extravagance in expenditure”; (b) that “the very type of this expenditure is a display of fireworks; futility is of its essence”; (c) that “the glory of the successful sportsman is due to the fact that his deeds are futile. And this conspicuous futility is at the root of the matter. The fact that he can give time, energy, and money to sport testifies to his possession of independent means.” Consider what is meant by “futility” in these passages; and give your own opinion on the significance of “sport.”
  10. Explain the grounds on which Hobson finds little promise for the future in (a) consumers’ cooperation; (b) producers’ cooperation; (c) syndicalism.

 

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Principles of Sociology (Carver)

ECONOMICS 8: Course Announcement [1916-1917]

[Economics] 8. Principles of Sociology. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Professor CARVER, assisted by Mr. —.

A study in social adaptation, both passive and active. Problems of race improvement, moral adjustment, industrial organization, and social control are considered in detail.  [Note: in 1916-17 this became a two-term course]

ECONOMICS 81: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 8 1hf. Professor Carver, assisted by Mr. Bovingdon.— Principles of Sociology.

Total 130: 14 Graduates, 51 Seniors, 45 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 15 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 81: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. How would you distinguish between progress and change?
  2. Just what is meant by self-centered appreciation? Should the range of the average individual’s appreciations be widened? Give reasons for your answer.
  3. What do you think of the economic test of the individual’s fitness for survival?
  4. What is the function of religion? To what extent do you think that it is performing its function in the United States?
  5. What is the function of an educational institution? To what extent do you think that Harvard University is performing its function?
  6. What effect do you think that the increase of government ownership and operation of industrial capital in the United States will have upon the “open road to talent”?

 

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Economics of Agriculture (Carver)

ECONOMICS 91: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 9 1hf. Economics of Agriculture. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor CARVER.

A study of the relation of agriculture to the whole industrial system, the relative importance of rural and urban economics, the conditions of rural life in different parts of the United States, the forms of land tenure and methods of rent payment, the comparative merits of large and small holdings, the status and wages of farm labor, the influence of farm machinery, farmers’ organizations, the marketing and distribution of farm products, agricultural credit, the policy of the government toward agriculture, and the probable future of American agriculture.

ECONOMICS 91: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 9 1hf. Professor Carver, assisted by Mr. Shaulis.— Economics of Agriculture.

Total 58: 4 Graduates, 32 Seniors, 16 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 3 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 91: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. What are the factors which determine the migration of rural people; of urban people?
  2. What are the chief periods in the development of American Agriculture, and how would you characterize each period?
  3. In what ways could a citizen acquire title to a piece of the public land of the United States at the following dates, 1850, 1870, 1900?
  4. What do you regard as the necessary steps to the solution of the problem of rural credit in the United States? Explain your reasons.
  5. What are the essentials to be achieved in the building up of a market for agricultural products?
  6. Discuss the place of animal husbandry in the economy of the farm and also in the economy of food production from the standpoint of society in general.
  7. Summarize the effects of modern farm machinery. Discuss the degree of its utilization in different sections of the United States.
  8. Outline briefly a scheme for the organization of a rural community, and give your reasons for the main features of your scheme.
  9. Outline the chief areas of production in the United States of the following crops: Potatoes, wheat, oats, hay and forage.
  10. What are the chief forms of tenancy in the United States, and where is each form most common?

 

________________________

Economic Theory (Taussig)

ECONOMICS 11: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 11. Economic Theory. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 2.30. Professor TAUSSIG.

Course 11 is intended to acquaint the student with some of the later developments of economic thought, and at the same time to train him in the critical consideration of economic principles and the analysis of economic conditions. The exercises are accordingly conducted mainly by the discussion of selected passages from the leading writers; and in this discussion the students are expected to take an active part. The writings of J. S. Mill, Cairnes, F. A. Walker, Clark, Marshall, Böhm-Bawerk, and other recent authors, will be taken up. Attention will be given chiefly to the theory of exchange and distribution.

ECONOMICS 11: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 11. Professor Taussig. — Economic Theory.

Total 29: 18 Graduates, 1 Grad.Bus., 6 Seniors, 3 Radcliffe, 1 Other.

 

ECONOMICS 11: Mid-year Examination [1915-16]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

  1. On what grounds is it contended that there is a circle in Walker’s reasoning on the relation between wages and business profits? What is your opinion on this rejoinder: that Walker, in speaking of the causes determining wages, has in mind the general rate of wages, whereas in speaking of profits he has in mind the wages of a particular grade of labor?
  2. According to Ricardo, neither profits of capital nor rent of land are contained in the price of exchangeable commodities, but labor only.” — Thünen.
    Is there justification for this interpretation of Ricardo?
  3. “Instead of saying that profits depend on wages, let us say (what Ricardo really meant) that they depend on the cost of labour. . . . The cost of labour is, in the language of mathematics, a function of three variables: the efficiency of labor; the wages of labour (meaning thereby the real reward of the labourer); and the greater or less cost at which the articles composing that real reward can be produced or procured.”   — J. S. Mill.
    Is this what Ricardo really meant? Why the different form of statement by Mill? What comment have you to make on Mill’s statement?
  4. State resemblances and differences in the methods of analysis, and in the conclusions reached, between (a) the temporary equilibrium of supply and demand (e.g. in a grain market), as explained by Marshall; (b) “two-sided competition,” as explained by Böhm-Bawerk; (c) equilibrium under barter, as explained by Marshall.
  5. Explain concisely what is meant in the Austrian terminology by “value,” “subjective value,” “subjective exchange value,” “objective exchange value.”
    Does the introduction of “subjective exchange value” into the analysis of two-sided competition lead to reasoning in a circle?
  6. “Suppose a poor man receives every day two pieces of bread, while one is enough to allay the pangs of positive hunger, what value will one of the two pieces of bread have for him? The answer is easy enough. If he gives away the piece of bread, he will lose, and if he keeps it he will secure, provision for that degree of want which makes itself felt whenever positive hunger has been allayed. We may call this the second degree of utility. One of two entirely similar goods is, therefore, equal in value to the second degree in the scale of utility of that particular class of goods. . . . Not only has one of two goods the value of the second degree of utility, but either of them has it, whichever one may choose. And three pieces have together three times the value of the third degree of utility, and four pieces have four times the value of the fourth degree. In a word, the value of a supply of similar goods is equal to the sum of the items multiplied by the marginal utility.” — Wieser.
    Do you think this analysis tenable? and do you think it inconsistent with the doctrine of total utility and consumer’s surplus?
  7. “If the modern theory of value, as it is commonly stated, were literally true, most articles of high quality would sell for three times as much as they actually bring.” What leads Clark to this conclusion? and do you accept it?

Source note: Mid-term exam from Harvard University Archives, Prof. F. W. Taussig, Examination Papers in Economics 1882-1935 (Scrapbook).

ECONOMICS 11: Final Examination [1915-16]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Allow time for careful revision of your answers.

  1. “The productivity of capital is, like that of land and labor, subject to the principle of marginal productivity, which is, as we have seen, a part of the general law of diminishing returns. Increase the number of instruments of a given kind in any industrial establishment, leaving everything else in the establishment the same as before, and you will probably increase the total product of the establishment somewhat, but you will not increase the product as much as you have the instruments in question. Introduce a few more looms into a cotton factory without increasing the labor or the other forms of machinery, and you will add a certain small amount to the total output…. That which is true of looms in this particular is also true of ploughs on a farm, of locomotives on a railway, of floor space in a store, and of every other form of capital used in industry.” Is this in accord with Clark’s view? Böhm-Bawerk’s? Marshall’s? Your own?
  2. What is the significance of the principle of quasi-rent for
    (a) the “single tax” proposal;
    (b) Clark’s doctrine concerning the specific product of capital;
    (c) the theory of business profits.
  3. Explain what writers use the following terms and in what senses: Composite quasi-rent; usance; implicit interest; joint demand.
  4. On Cairnes’ reasoning, are high wages of a particular group of laborers the cause or the result of high value (price) of the commodities made by them? On the reasoning of the Austrian school, what is the relation between cost and value? Consider differences or resemblances between the two trains of reasoning.
  5. “This ‘exploitation theory of interest’ consists virtually of two propositions: first, that the value of any product usually exceeds its cost of production; and, secondly, that the value of any product ought to be exactly equal to its cost of production. The first of these propositions is true, but the second is false. Economists have usually pursued a wrong method in answering the socialists, for they have attacked the first proposition instead of the second. The socialist is quite right in his contention that the value of the product exceeds the cost. In fact, this proposition is fundamental in the whole theory of capital and interest. Ricardo here, as in many other places in economics, has been partly right and partly wrong. He was one of the first to fall into the fallacy that the value of the product was normally equal to its cost, but he also noted certain apparent ‘exceptions,’ as for instance, that wine increased in value with years.” Is this a just statement of Ricardo’s view? Of the views of economists generally? In what sense is it true, if in any, that value usually exceeds cost?
  6. Explain carefully what Böhm-Bawerk means by

(a) social capital;
(b) the general subsistence fund;
(c) the average production period;
(d) usurious interest.

In what way does he analyze the relation between (b) and (c)?

  1. Suppose ability of the highest kind in the organization and management of industry became as common as ability to do unskilled manual labor is now; what consequences would you expect as regards the national dividend? the remuneration of the business manager and of the unskilled laborer? Would you consider the readjusted scale of remuneration more or less equitable than that now obtaining?
  2. What grounds are there for maintaining or denying that “profits” are (a) essentially a differential gain, (b) ordinarily capitalized as “common stock,” (c) secured through “pecuniary,” not “industrial” activity? What method of investigation would you suggest as the best for answering these questions?

 

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The Distribution of Wealth (Carver)

ECONOMICS 121: Course Announcement [1916-17]

[Economics] 12. 1hf. The Distribution of Wealth. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 9. Professor CARVER.

An analytical study of the theory of value and its applications, the law of diminishing utility, the nature and meaning of cost, the significance of scarcity and its relation to the general problem of social adjustment, the law of variable proportions and its bearing upon the problem of a better distribution of wealth.

ECONOMICS 121: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 12 1hf. Professor Carver. — The Distribution of Wealth.

Total 6: 3 Graduates, 1 Senior, 2 Juniors.

 

ECONOMICS 121: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. Is there any close connection between economic value and moral value? Explain and justify your answer.
  2. How would you harmonize the Ricardian doctrine of rent with the doctrine that rent is determined by the specific or net productivity of land?
  3. What is cost and what are its leading forms at the present time? How is it related to wages, interest, and profits?
  4. What is meant by the intensive and by the extensive margins of cultivation and how are they related each to the other?
  5. Can you see any connection between the wage fund doctrine and the doctrine of non-competing groups? Explain and justify your answer.
  6. What would be the main items of your program for improving the present distribution of wealth? Give your reasons for each item.

 

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Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice (Day)

ECONOMICS 13: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 13. Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice. Mon., Wed., Fri., at 9. Asst. Professor DAY.

The first half of this course is intended thoroughly to acquaint the student with the best statistical methods. Such texts as Bowley’s Elements of Statistics, Yule’s Introduction to the Theory of Statistics, and Zizek’s Statistical Averages, are studied in detail. Problems are constantly assigned to assure actual practice in the methods examined.

The second half of the course endeavors to familiarize the student with the best sources of economic statistical data. Methods actually employed in different investigations are analyzed and criticized. The organization of the various agencies collecting data is examined. Questions of the interpretation, accuracy, and usefulness of the published data are especially considered.

ECONOMICS 13: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 13. Asst. Professor Day. — Statistics: Theory, Method, and Practice.

Total 10: 8 Graduates, 2 Radcliffe.

 

ECONOMICS 13: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. Explain and criticize the following statistical table:
PER CENT OF FAMILY INCOME CONTRIBUTED BY EACH CLASS OF WORKERS BY INDUSTRIES1
Per cent of family income contributed by each class of workers in—
Cotton industry Ready-made clothing indus-try Glass indus-try Silk indus-try
New England group South-ern group
Fathers 37.7 34.0 48.4 56.0 50.5
Mothers 32.4 27.9 26.8 25.1 33.0
Male children 16 years of age and over 31.1 27.3 36.5 37.8 37.0
Female children 16 years of age and over 42.6 35.2 39.7 26.7 35.1
Children 14 and 15 years of age 18.7 22.9 14.2 18.9 16.6
Children 12 and 13 years of age 14.3 17.6 10.0 15.7 13.3
Children under 12 years of age 2 3.6 13.5

1These per cents apply only to the incomes of families having wage earners of the specified class.
2Based on incomes of two families, each having one child under 12 at work.

  1. Enumerate the means by which a bureau, charged with the administration of a state registration law, may ascertain the completeness of birth registration in any registration district.
  2. Describe and illustrate the construction of a logarithmic curve. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a curve for the purpose of graphic presentation?
  3. What is the logical distinction, if there be any, between a weighted and a simple arithmetic mean? What are the reasons for and against weighting? Under what conditions may weighting safely be omitted?
  4. Retail price quotations for two articles are reported from fifty markets as follows:
Article A Article B
Price per dozen Number of markets reporting this price Price per bushel Number of markets reporting this price
21¢ 1 $1.00 8
22¢ 2 $1.05 12
23¢ 7 $1.10 15
24¢ 11 $1.15 10
25¢ 15 $1.25 5
26¢ 9 50
27¢ 4
28¢ 1
50

Measure by the standard deviation the relative variability in price of these two commodities. Employ the short-cut method.

  1. “Imagine an ideal republic, in some respects similar to that designed by Plato, where not only were all the children removed from their parents, but where they were all treated exactly alike. In these circumstances none of the differences between the adults could have anything to do with the differences of environments and all must be due to some differences in inherent factors. In fact, the environment correlation coefficient would be nil, whilst the heredity correlation coefficient might be high.”
    Comment upon the italicized statement.
  2. Outline a correlation study of two economic variables both of which tend to increase steadily with the growth of population, and both of which are sensitive to the fluctuations of the seasons and of the business cycle.
  3. What conditions are essential to simple sampling?
    The expected proportion of accidents per year in a certain industry is 150 per 1000 workers. A company employing 2500 workers reports 405 accidents during the year 1913. Assume that the conditions of simple sampling are met; analyze the returns to determine whether the difference between the actual and expected number of accidents is significant.

 

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History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848 (Bullock)

ECONOMICS 14: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 14. History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 11. Professor BULLOCK.

The purpose of this course is to trace the development of economic thought from classical antiquity to the middle of the nineteenth century. Emphasis is placed upon the relation of economics to philosophical and political theories, as well as to political and industrial conditions.

A considerable amount of reading of prominent writers will be assigned, and opportunity given for the preparation of theses. Much of the instruction is necessarily given by means of lectures.

ECONOMICS 14: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 14. Professor Bullock. — History and Literature of Economics to the year 1848.

Total 14: 13 Graduates, 1 Radcliffe.

 

ECONOMICS 14: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. What did the mercantilists teach concerning: (a) economic structure; (b) economic functions; (c) economic ideals; and (d) economic policies?
  2. At what important points does Adam Smith draw upon the works of earlier writers? What important original contributions does he make?
  3. At what points are Smith’s ideas inadequately developed or inconsistent?
  4. What important changes were made in English economic doctrines by Ricardo and Mill?
  5. Give the rest of the examination period to writing an essay upon the life, works, and economic doctrines of any economist prior to Adam Smith.

 

________________________

Analytical Sociology (Anderson)

ECONOMICS 18a1: Course Announcement [1916-17]

[Economics] 18a 1hf. Analytical Sociology. Half-course (first half-year). Tu., Th., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Sat., at 3.30. Asst. Professor ANDERSON.

The centre of this course will be in the problems of social psychology: the raw stuff of human nature, and its social transformations; imitation, suggestion and mob-mind; the individual and the social mind; social control and the theory of social forces; the relation of intellectual and emotional factors in social life. These problems will be studied in their relations to the whole field of social theory, which will be considered in outline, with some emphasis on the influence of physiographic factors and of heredity. Leading contemporary writers will be studied, and some attention will be given to the history of social theory. Instruction will be by lectures, discussion, and reports.

ECONOMICS 18a2: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 18a 2hf. Asst. Professor Anderson. — Analytical Sociology.

Total 18: 16 Graduates, 2 Seniors.

 

ECONOMICS 18a2: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. What is the bearing of the Mendelian theory on social problems?
  2. What difference does it make for sociology whether or not we accept the doctrine of the inheritance of acquired characters? To what extent, if at all, and in what connections, does Giddings make use of this doctrine? How far, if at all, are his conclusions incompatible with Weismann’s doctrine?
  3. Explain what is meant by the “social mind.” By “social values.”
  4. Summarize the theory of McGee as to the origin of agriculture.
  5. Compare the views of Boas and W. B. Smith as to the comparative roles of race and environment in the case of the American negro. What is your own view?
  6. What did you get from your reading of Tarde? Of Le Bon? of Ross’ Social Psychology? Let your summaries be brief, but not vague! Differentiate the books.
  7. Summarize Giddings’ chapter on Demogenic Association.
  8. Illustrate the social transformation of the raw stuff of human nature by the case of either the instinct of workmanship, the sex instinct, or the instinct of flight and hiding.
  9. What reading have you done for this course?

 

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Public Finance (Bullock)

ECONOMICS 31: Course Announcement [1914-15]

[Economics] 31. Public Finance. Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor BULLOCK.

The course is devoted to the examination of the financial institutions of the principal modern countries, in the light of both theory and history. One or more reports calling for independent investigation will ordinarily be required. Special emphasis will be placed upon questions of American finance. Ability to read French or German is presupposed.

ECONOMICS 31: Enrollment [1915-16]

[Economics] 31. Professor Bullock. — Public Finance.

Total 16: 14 Graduates, 2 Seniors.

 

ECONOMICS 31: Final Examination [1915-16]

  1. If you were writing a treatise on public finance how far would you utilize Adam Smith’s chapter on taxation?
  2. What is Eheberg’s opinion concerning any two of the following taxes: the Ertragssteuern, the Wehrsteuer, and the property tax?
  3. What is Leroy-Beaulieu’s opinion concerning any two of the following taxes: octrois, increment taxes, and the French patente?
  4. With what different opinions concerning the incidence of the house tax are you familiar? State briefly your own opinion.
  5. Discuss the doctrine that consumption taxes tend to be “absorbed,” and state your opinion concerning the practical conclusions that follow from it.
  6. What is the incidence of the usual tax on mortgages in the United States?
  7. Compare French and British direct taxation.
  8. State the principles upon which a policy of public borrowing should be based. Should public debts be extinguished?

 

Sources:

Enrollment data: 

Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College 1915-1916, pp. 59-61.

Examinations (except where noted):

Harvard University. Papers Set for Final Examinations in History, History of Religions, History of Science, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Psychology, Social Ethics, Education, Fine Arts, Music in Harvard College (June, 1916), pp. 45-63.

Course Announcements: 

Division of History, Government, and Economics 1914-15 printed in Official Register of Harvard University, Volume XI, No. 1, Part 14 (May 19, 1914), pp. 62-70.

Division of History, Government, and Economics 1916-17 printed in Official Register of Harvard University, Volume XIII, No. 1, Part 11 (May 15, 1916), pp. 61-69.

Image Source:

Card catalog in Widener Library at Harvard University, ca. 1915. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

Categories
Economists Fields Harvard

Harvard. Thirteen Ph.D. Examinees, 1915-16

For thirteen Harvard economics Ph.D. candidates this posting provides information about their respective academic backgrounds, the six subjects of their general examinations along with the names of the examiners, the subject of their special subject, thesis subject and advisor(s) (where available). Of particular note are the records for Harvard historian of early economic thought, Arthur Eli Monroe, and the soon to become distinguished Chicago (later Princeton) economist, Jacob Viner.

________________________________________

 

DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS
EXAMINATIONS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH.D.
1915-16

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

 

Arthur Eli Monroe.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, October 13, 1915.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Taussig, Gay, Day, and Holcombe.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1904-08; Harvard Graduate School, 1913-February, 1916. A.B., Harvard, 1908; A. M., ibid., 1914. Teacher of Latin and German, Kent School, Connecticut, 1909-13; Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1914-February, 1916; Tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, 1915-February, 1916; Instructor I Economics, Williams College, February, 1916-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Statistical Method and its Application. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Topic in the History of Economic Thought.
Special Subject: Some topic in the History of American Economic Thought.

 

Merton Kirk Cameron.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, November 17, 1915.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Ripley, Taussig, Anderson, and Day.
Academic History: Princeton University, 1904-08; Harvard Graduate School, 1913-. A.B., Princeton, 1908; A. M., Harvard, 1914. Head of Department of History, Lanier High School, Montgomery, Alabama, 1911-13; Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1915-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Money, Banking, and Crises. 4. Transportation. 5. Economics of Corporations. 6. American History.
Special Subject: Economic History of the United States.
Thesis Subject: “The History of the Tobacco Growing Industry in the United States.” (With Professor E. F. Gay.)

 

Herbert Knight Dennis

General Examination in Economics, Tuesday, February 29, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Perry, Tozzer, Ford, Foerster, and Anderson.
Academic History: Allegheny College, 1907-08; Brown University, 1910-12; Princeton University, 1912-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. Ph.B., Brown, 1912; A. M., Princeton, 1914; A.M. Harvard, 1915.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Ethical Theory and its History. 3. Poor Relief. 4. Social Reforms. 5. Sociology. 6. Anthropology.
Special Subject: Social Psychology.Thesis Subject: “The French Canadians—A Study in Race Psychology.” (With Professor Foerster.)

 

James Washington Bell.

General Examination in Economics, Wednesday, May 3, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Ripley, Munro, Anderson, and Copeland.
Academic History: University of Colorado, 1908-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., Colorado, 1912; A.M., ibid., 1913. Assistant in Economics, University of Colorado, 1912-14.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Public Finance. 4. Labor Problems. 5. Sociology. 6. Municipal Government.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Thesis Subject: “Taxation of Railroads in New England.” (With Professor Bullock.)

 

William Burke Belknap.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 4, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Gay, Ripley, Anderson, and Dr. Morison.
Academic History: Yale College, 1904-08; University of Chicago, 1913-14 (two terms); Haverad Graduate School, 1914-. A.V., Yale, 1908; A.M. Harvard, 1915.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Labor Problems. 4. Money and Banking. 5. American History since 1789. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Thesis Subject: “History of the State Finances of Kentucky.” (With Professor Bullock.)

 

Henry Bass Hall.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 5, 1916.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Taussig, Turner, Day, and Anderson.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1904-05; Amherst College, 1906-07; Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1911-12; Harvard Graduate School, 1912-. S.B., Massachusetts Agricultural College, 1912.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Money and Banking. 3. International Trade. 4. Economic History since 1750. 5. Agricultural Economics. 6. American History since 1789.
Special Subject: Agricultural Economics.
Thesis Subject: “Economic History of Massachusetts Agriculture.” (With Professors Carver and Gay.)

 

Charles Cloyd Creekpaum.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, May 8, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Day, Anderson, Copeland, and Holcombe.
Academic History: University of Nebraska, 1908-12; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A. B., Nebraska, 1912. Principal of High School, Alvo, Nebraska, 1912-13; Principal of High School, McCool Junction, Nebraska, 1913-14.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Sociology. 4. Statistics. 5. History of Political Theory. 6. Public Finance.
Special Subject: Public Finance.
Thesis Subject: “the Financial Results of Public Ownership of Railways.” (With Professor Bullock.)

 

Mark Anson Smith.

General Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 11, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Hart, Gay, Ripley, and Dr. Davis.
Academic History: Dartmouth College, 1906-10; University of Wisconsin, 1911-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., Dartmouth, 1910; A.M., Wisconsin, 1913.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Money and Banking. 4. Economics of Corporations. 5. Public Finance. 6. American Government and Constitutional Law.
Special Subject: Public Finance.

 

John Emmett Kirshman.

General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 12, 1916.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Ripley, Gay, Munro, and Foerster.
Academic History: Central Wesleyan College, 1901-04; Syracuse University, 1907-08; University of Wisconsin, 1908-09; University of Illinois, 1914-15; Harvard Graduate School, 1915-. Ph.B., Central Wesleyan, 1904; Ph.M. Syracuse, 1908. Assistant Professor of History, North Dakota Agricultural College, 1909-14; Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Illinois, 1914-15.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Public Finance. 3. Economic History since 1750. 4. Comparative Modern Government. 5. Economics of Corporations. 6. Socialism and Social Reform.
Special Subject: Public Finance
Thesis Subject: “Taxation of Banking Institutions.” (With Professor Bullock)

 

Zenas Clark Dickinson.

General Examination in Economics, Monday, May 15, 1916.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Gay, Yerkes, Day, and Dr. Burbank
Academic History: University of Nebraska, 1910-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., Nebraska, 1914.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Statistical Method and its Application. 4. Public Finance. 5. Psychology. 6. Suitable Field in Economic Theory and its History, with special reference to Psychology.
Special Subject: Suitable Field in Economic Theory.

 

Arthur Harrison Cole.

Special Examination in Economics, Thursday, May 18, 1916.
Committee:
General Examination passed January 7, 1915.
Academic History: Bowdoin College, 1907-11; Harvard Graduate School, 1911-. A.B., Bowdoin, 1911; A.M., Harvard, 1913. Assistant in Economics, Harvard, 1913
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. 4. Public Finance and Financial History. 5. International Trade and Tariff History. 6. Political and Constitutional History of the United States.
Special Subject: Economic History of the United States.
Committee: Professors Gay (chairman), Taussig, Turner, and Sprague.
Thesis Subject: “History of the Wool Manufacturing Industry in the United States, to the year 1830.” (With Professors Gay and Taussig.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Gay, Taussig, and Sprague.

 

Jacob Viner

General Examination in Economics, Friday, May 19, 1916.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, R. B. Perry, Anderson, and Gras.
Academic History: McGill University, Montreal, 1911-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., McGill. 1914; A.M., Harvard, 1915.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. International Trade. 3. Public Finance. 4. Sociology. 5. Economic History since 1750. 6. Theory of Value (Philosophy).
Special Subject: International Trade.
Thesis Subject: “International Balance of Payments” (With Professor Taussig)

 

Percy Gamble Kammerer.

Special Examination in Economics, Monday, May 22, 1916.
General Examination passed May 14, 1914.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1904-06, 1910-12; Harvard Graduate School, 1912-. A. B., 1908 (1913).
General Subjects: : 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Ethical Theory. 3. Poor Relief. 4. Social Reforms. 5. Sociology. 6. The Labor Question.
Special Subject: The Family considered Historically and in its Relation to Social Institutions.
Committee: Professors Foerster (chairman), Ripley, Feguson, Tozzer, Ford, and Anderson.
Thesis Subject: “The Unmarried Mother: a Study of Case Histories.” (With Professor Foerster.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Foerster, Taussig, and Dearborn.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D., 1915-1916”.

Image Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Digital ID:  cph 3c14486