EdwardsCD Archives - Economics in the Rear-View Mirror

Harvard Crimson
March 18, 1942

This is the sixth in a series of articles to appear during the coming weeks discussing the effects of the present war on the departments of concentration, their courses, enrollment, and Faculties.

Pointing directly at the preparation of undergraduates for war work in Washington and in the quartermaster corps of the armed services, the Economics Department has developed broad plans to orient its program to the nation’s wartime needs. Although in the blueprint stage now, concrete advancements will be made this summer and next fall.

Economics, of all the non-scientific fields, has organized most fully to adapt its students to the emergency. Upon receiving their bachelor degree, students will be ready to take Civil Service examinations for such positions as junior economist, which pays $2,000 annually, or to complete further graduate work and then enter the supply division of the armed services. There is a large demand for college trained men in both these fields.

Prepared for Peace

Students in the war preparation course for government jobs, the department insists, will not be unfit for peacetime work. They will receive the usual foundation in economics but on a more concentrated and demanding scale with added emphasis on techniques. All students studying for government work, for example, will probably be required to take Math A and courses in Statistics and Accounting. At the present time, these courses are entirely voluntary.

Under the proposed plan, concentrators who wish to prepare along pre-war lines will find the field little altered and a full opportunity to study as in the past. The demands of the current crisis, however, have thrown business as usual into the background and opened the way for the development of an objective service branch in Economics.

Students in this latter portion of the field will also be required to take more economics courses. Now they must have History I, Government I, and four Economics courses including Ec A. While retention of the History and Government requisites is being debated, this minimum will surely be raised.

Two New Courses Planned

Two new courses, bearing directly on war problems, are already scheduled for next fall under the direction of Professor Abbott P. Usher. Bracketing Economic History 1750-1914, 36, Professor Usher will offer two half courses in successive semesters: Location of Economic Activity, General Principles and Current Problems, 65a, and Economic Imperialism and Allied Problems, 44b. Moreover, the contents of current courses will be supplemented to answer questions arising from the war.

The 12-week summer program presents the department with a more complicated situation. Under serious consideration both here and in Washington is a plan to extend instruction in Economics to government workers during the summer term. Courses for these men will be open to undergraduates and in fact will be very often the usual department subjects. The program will probably feature such courses as Money and Banking, Economics of War, and a new course in Commodity Consumption, Distribution and Prices.

Changes Few So Far

But all the planning is still “on order.” While the Economics Department has developed a more revolutionary and extensive war program than many others, its adjustments already in effect are much less extensive.

In the past three years there has been a violent reduction in the number of concentrators in Economics with the 372 of November 1939 down to 267 last November. The department attributes the drop, in the main, to the parallel decline of long terms for younger staff members. This rapid turnover has made for a less experienced Faculty and a slackening of student interest.

This year the department has suffered the loss of two important professors to the war effort. Professor William L. Crum is now working for the Navy and the Treasury and Professor Edward S. Mason is in the Office of the Coordinator of Information in Washington. To replace Mason, who has been absent the entire year, Corwin D. Edwards of the Department of Justice and now visiting lecturer on Economics is giving graduate Instruction in Industrial Organization and Price Policies.

Neither graduate nor undergraduate Instruction has as yet been radically affected by the war, but drastic reductions in graduate enrollment are predicted by the department. Among undergraduate courses, Economics of Agriculture, 71, has been dropped from the roster because Visiting Instructor Albert A. Thornbrough was called to Washington last September. Instructor Lloyd A. Metzler is replacing Professor Mason in Industrial Organization and Control, 62b, while Economic Aspects of War and Defense, 18b, offered in the first half year, has been extended to this semester as 18c and made available to men whether or not they have completed the previous half year’s work.

Image Source.“Harvard goes to war, University’s key role in World War II helped the Allies to triumph” Harvard University Archives, Harvard’s 1943 Commencement. Included in: Corydon Ireland, Harvard Gazette, November 10, 2011.

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On April 10, 1945, the chairman of the University of Chicago’s economics department, Professor Simeon E. Leland, submitted a 77 page (!) memorandum to President Robert M. Hutchins entitled “Postwar Plans of the Department of Economics–A Wide Variety of Observations and Suggestions All Intended To Be Helpful in Improving the State of the University”.

In his cover letter Leland wrote “…in the preparation of the memorandum, I learned much that was new about the past history of the Department. Some of this, incorporated in the memorandum, looks like filler stuck in, but I thought it ought to be included for historical reasons and to furnish some background for a few of the suggestions.”

In recent posts I have provided a list of visiting professors who taught economics at the University of Chicago up through 1944 (excluding those visitors who were to receive permanent appointments) and supporting tables with enrollment trends and faculty data (ages and educational backgrounds).

In this post we have three lists of names for economists who in 1945 could be taken into consideration for either permanent economics, joint appointments with other department or visiting appointments at the University of Chicago. Many names are immediately recognisable, others less so, and other known names left unnamed. Instead of observing the actual choices of the department, we have, so to speak, an observation of the “choice set” as perceived by the department.

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The following list of possible additions to the staff of the Department of Economics represents an enumeration of suggestions made by various members of the Department. It, of course, does not include all of those whom the Department would like to invite as permanent members of the University staff. Many of those whom we would most like to have, it is well-known, are not available; nor can the Department be sure that those listed below would favorably consider an invitation to join our staff. Likewise, this list must not be construed as nominations for membership in the Department. Some members of the staff are known to object to the inclusion of some of the names listed below. But if unanimous consent were required before suggestions could be made, little progress in building a Department would be possible. In its present state, the list is only an enumeration of suggestions warranting further inquiry. The fields of interest of many of the potential candidates overlap and the appointment of some individuals would make it undesirable, or at least uneconomic, to appoint others. Nevertheless, the list does given an idea of some persons who might be considered for future appointments. This list, like any other enumeration, is subject to constant revision, both in the addition or subtraction of names.

Name	Present Location	Field of Interest or Specialization
Abraham (sic) Bergson	University of Texas	Wages and Wage Theory
Robert Bryce	Ottawa, Canada
Norman Buchanan	University of California	Public Utilities, Corporation Finance, Business Cycles (also possible interest in United States Economic History)
Earl Hamilton	Northwestern University	Economic History
Albert G. Hart	C.E.D., Chicago	Theory, Finance, etc.
J. R. Hicks	University of Manchester, England	Economic Theory
Harold A. Innis	University of Toronto	Economic History
Maurice Kelso	University of Wisconsin	Land Economics
Tjalling Koopmans	Cowles Commission	Statistics; Mathematical Economics; Business Cycles; Shipping
Simon Kuznets	University of Pennsylvania	National Income; Historical Statistics
Sanford Mosk	University of California	Economic History
Charles A. Myers	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Labor; Industrial Relations
Walter Rostow	Columbia University	Economic History (XIX Century)
Leonard Salter	University of Wisconsin	Land Economics
T. Scitovszky	London School of Economics; U.S. Army	Theory of Capital and Interest; Theory of Tariffs
Arthur Smithies	University of Michigan; Bureau of the Budget, Washington, D. C.	Fiscal Policy; Theory; Money and Banking
Eugene Staley	School of Advanced International Studies (Washington, D.C.)	International Economics; Foreign Trade
George Stigler	University of Minnesota	Theory and Foreign Trade
R. H. Tawney	London School of Economics	Economic History
Allen Wallis	Stanford University	Statistics

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Joint Appointments

The Department of Economics shares an interest in many fields with other departments, schools and divisions of the University. It recognizes that most problems of the Social Sciences have economic aspects, and other aspects as well. Many of the fields embraced within particular disciplines are explained by accident or tradition, not always by logic. No one department can, therefore, assert a valid claim for the exclusive staffing of fields of interest held in common with other branches of knowledge. It seems wisest to develop these common grounds through joint appointments. Not only does this enable us to attract to the University more outstanding scholars than the fellowship of one department might provide, but it should also place at the disposition of those interested in promoting joint fields, perhaps, larger resources than either acting alone could command.

Joint appointments, too, will tend to integrate the Social Sciences with the other schools and departments affected, as well as contribute to the unity of the University as a whole. The Department of Economics, therefore, ventures to suggest joint appointments in the following fields:

Fields	Units Affected
Trusts and Monopolies	Business, Law, Economics
Railroads and Transportation	Business, Economics
Public Utilities	Economics, Political Science, Law
Social Control of Business	Business, Law, Political Science, Economics
Advanced Applied Mathematics and Statistics	Economics, Mathematics, Business, Institute of Statistics, other departments interested in statistics
Urban Planning (or the Utilization of Land)	Geography, Political Science, Economics, Law, Business, Sociology
Social Legislation, particularly affecting Labor	Business, Sociology, Social Service Administration, Law, Political Science, Economics

[…]

Among those who might be proposed for joint appointments are the following:

Name	Present Location	Field of Interest	Appropriate Appointment
Charles L. Dearing	Brookings Institution and U.S. Government	Transportation	Economics, Business
Corwin D. Edwards	Northwestern University	Trusts, Monopolies, Control of Business	Political Science, Law, Economics
Milton Friedman	Columbia University	Economic Theory, Public Finance, Monetary Policy	Economics, Institute of Statistics
Homer Hoyt	Regional Plan Association, Inc., New York, N.Y.	Land Planning	Economic Geography, Political Science
David E. Lilienthal	T. V. A.	Public Utilities	Political Science, Law, Economics
Abraham Wald	Columbia University	Applied Mathematics, Statistics	Mathematics, Economics
Allen Wallis	Columbia University	Applied Mathematics, Statistics	Mathematics, Economics
Samuel S. Wilks	Princeton University	Applied Mathematics, Statistics	Mathematics, Economics

Visiting Professorships

Each department needs to diversify its courses. Too frequently the attempt at diversification is made by adding permanent members to the regular staff. The need can best be met by the appointment of visiting professors.

[…]

A list of some who might be invited to the University as Visiting Professors is as follows:

Name	Present Location	Fields of Interest
John D. Black	Harvard	Agricultural Economics
(J.) Roy Blough	U. S. Treasury	Public Finance
Kenneth Boulding	Iowa State College	Economic Analysis; Theory of Capital
Karl Brandt	Food Institute, Stanford U.	Agricultural Economics
Harry G. Brown	University of Missouri	Economic Theory, Public Finance
J. Douglas Brown	Princeton University	Industrial Relations
Edward H. Chamberlain(sic)	Harvard	Economic Theory; Monopolistic Competition
J. M. Clark	Columbia University	Economic theory
J. B. Condliffe	California	International Trade; International Commercial Policy
Joseph S. Davis	Food Institute, Stanford U.	Agricultural Economics
Milton Gilbert	Office of Price Administration, Washington, D.C.	Economic Theory; Price Control
T. Haavelmo	Norwegian Shipping Administration, New York, N.Y.	Econometrics
Alvin Hansen	Harvard	Economic Theory; Fiscal Policy
F. A. Hayek	London School of Economics and Political Science	History of Social Thought; Economic Theory; Monetary Policy
J. R. Hicks	University of Manchester	Economic Theory
George Jaszy	U. S. Dept. of Commerce	National Income; Business Analysis
O. B. Jesness	University of Minnesota	Agricultural Economics
Nicholas Kaldor	London School of Economics	Theory of the Firm; Imperfect Competition; Money; Business Cycles
M. Kalecki	Institute of Statistics of University of Oxford, England	Economic Fluctuations; Expenditure Rationing
M. Slade Kendrick	Cornell University	Public Finance; Farm Taxation
Arthur Kent	San Francisco Attorney-at-Law	Taxation
J. M. Keynes	Cambridge University	Fiscal and Monetary Policy
Simon S. Kuznets	National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Pennsylvania	Statistics; National Income and Its Problem
A. P. Lerner	New School for Social Research	Economic Theory; Fiscal Policy; Public Finance
Edward S. Mason	Harvard University	Economic Theory; International Trade and Trade Practices
Wesley C. Mitchell	Columbia University	Money and Prices
Jacob Mosak	Office of Price Administration, Washington, D.C.	Economic Theory; Statistics; Control of Prices
R. A. Musgrave	Federal Reserve Board, Washington, D. C.	Public Finance
Randolph Paul	Lord, Day and Lord, Attorneys-at-Law	Taxation
Paul A. Samuelson	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Economic Theory; Money and Banking; Fiscal Policy
Lawrence H. Seltzer	Wayne University	Money and Banking; Public Debts; Fiscal Policy
Carl S. Shoup	Columbia University	Public Finance
Sumner H. Slichter	Harvard University	Business Economics
Richard Stone	England	Statistics; National Income
R. H. Tawney	London School of Economics	Economic History
Abraham Wald	Columbia University	Mathematics and Statistics
John H. Williams	Harvard University	Money and Banking

In the past, the Department has supplemented its staff by the appointment of visiting professors, but the invitations have ordinarily been restricted to the Summer Quarter in order (1) to relieve the regular staff from summer teaching and (2) to provide “window-dressing” to make the Summer Quarters more attractive to new students. The potentialities of the visiting professorship can hardly be realized when the practice is applied only to the Summer Quarter. That it has made that Quarter more attractive would seem to be indicated by the outstanding economists who have been guests of the University of Chicago.

[…]

The practice of inviting outstanding men to the University of Chicago seems to have been more prevalent in the early years of the University than it is today. Visiting appointments also declined with the strained finances of the University during the late depression. The Department is anxious to develop a program of instruction and research based upon the policy of the regular employment of visitors. A sum, equal to the stipend of a full professor, if used to finance a program of regular visitors, would add greater content and prestige to the Department than could be secured in any other way.

Source: University of Chicago Library, Department of Special Collections. Office of the President. Hutchins Administration Records. Box 73, Folder “Economics Dept., “Post-War Plans” Simeon E. Leland, 1945″.

Harvard Crimson March 18, 1942

Training for War Work Offered by Economics By J. ROBERT MOSKIN

Joint Appointments

Visiting Professorships

Harvard Crimson
March 18, 1942

Training for War Work Offered by Economics
By J. ROBERT MOSKIN