Tag: Haberler

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. International Trade Theory and Policy. Haberler, 1952-1953

 

Gottfried Haberler was a teaching triple threat in the Harvard economics department in his heyday: he covered courses in theory, business cycles, and international trade. Here’s a list of posts at Economics in the Rear-view Mirror using the “haberler” tag.

This post provides the course outlines and final exams for Haberler’s two term graduate sequence in international trade (& finance) and policy from 1952-53.

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Course Announcement

Economics 243a. International Trade

Half-course (fall term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Professor Haberler.

Economics 243b. International Economic Policy

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 12. Professor Haberler.

 Properly qualified undergraduates will be admitted to this course.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Courses of Instruction, Box 6,  Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1952-53, p. 104.

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Course Enrollment

 Note: the 1952-1953 Report of the President of Harvard College does not provide course enrollment statistics.

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Syllabus, Fall 1952-53

Economics 243a
Professor Haberler, Fall Term, 1952-53
International Trade — Theory

The first semester of the course will be devoted to the Theory of International Trade. The first topic will be the balance of payments mechanism, the determinants of foreign exchange rates. Later the so-called “pure theory” of international trade will be discussed, including the welfare aspects (theory of international economic policy.)

The subject of the second term will be a brief historical sketch of the evolution of commercial policy from the late eighteenth century to the present time and selected topics in the field of international economic policy with greater emphasis than in the first term on historical, institutional, political, and administrative aspects of the various problems.

Outline for First Half-Year

  1. International Trade and National Income
    Various relations between the two
    The importance of trade for various countries and its measures
  2. International Trade in the National Accounts
    International transactions of the national economic budget
    The balance of payments, various forms of presentation and interpretation
    Balance of international indebtedness
  3. Foreign Exchanges and the Balance of Payments Mechanism
    The foreign exchange market
    Demand and supply for exports and imports and for foreign means of payments
    Changes in the exchange rate, the balance of payments and the terms of trade
    Price effects and income effects
    The foreign trade multiplier
    The transfer problem
  4. Theory of International Division of Labor
    The theory of comparative cost
    Modern developments of the theory of comparative cost
    Marshallian theory of reciprocal demand and supply curves
    Ohlin’s general equilibrium theory
  5. Welfare Implications of International Trade
    Factor prices and international trade
    Income distribution and international trade
    Theory of protection and tariffs
    Monopoly and monopolistic competition in international trade

Reading Assignments and Suggestions

  1. General

Every student should have worked through one of the existing general texts or monographs:

Brown, A. C., Industrialization and Trade, 1943.
Ellsworth, International Economics, 1938.
Ellsworth, The International Economy, 1950.
(The first book of Ellsworth is shorter and theoretical; the second much longer and historical.)
Enke and Salera, International Economics.
Haberler, Theory of International Trade.
Harrod, International Economics (3rd edition, 1939).
Meade and Hitch, Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy, (Part V).
Marsh, World Trade and Investment.
Taussig, International Trade.
Whale, International Trade.

A short discussion of recent developments will be found in Metzler, “The Theory of International Trade,” Chapter 6 in Survey of Contemporary Economics.

There are two very useful Reading Volumes:

Readings in the Theory of International Trade (edited by H. S. Ellis and Lloyd Metzler), 1949, and
Selected Readings in International Trade and Tariff Problems (ed. Taussig), 1921.

  1. Assignments and Suggestions to Subjects Listed Above (in addition to relevant chapters in general texts).
    1. There is hardly any specific reading on this subject. But every student should have some idea of basic facts and orders of magnitude.
      The Post-War Foreign Economic Policy of the United States. 6th Report of the House Special Committee on Post-War Economic Policy and Planning. House Report No. 541. Washington, 1945. (This report was written by Lloyd Metzler.)
      The United States in the World Economy, U. S. Department of Commerce, 1943.
      Buchanan, and Lutz, Rebuilding the World Economy, 1947.
      A. J. Brown, Applied Economics, 1948; Chapter VI:
      Readings, Chapters 21 and 22, by D. H. Robertson and J. Viner.
    2. Every student should study the U.S. balance of payments and that of one or two other countries in order to get a feeling of the magnitudes involved and to familiarize himself with the methods of presentation which vary not only from country to country but often also from one year to the other for the same country.
      Balance of Payments Yearbook (I.M.F.)
      The United States in the World Economy, 1943.
      The Balance of International Payments of the U.S., 1946-48 (1950).
      Hicks, The Social Framework of the American Economy, Chapter XII, “Foreign Payments and the National Income” (a theoretical discussion).
      Marsh, World Trade and Investment, Chapters 9, 10, 11, 12.
    3. In addition to relevant chapters in general texts, see the following:
      Haberler, “The Market for Foreign Exchange and the Stability of the Balance of Payments”, Kyklos, Vol. III, 1949.
      Harris (ed.), Foreign Economic Policy for the U.S., Part V, Chs. 20, 21 22.
      Harris (ed.), The New Economics, Part V, especially essays by Bloomfield and Nurkse.
      Iversen, International Capital Movements, 1935.
      Keynes and Ohlin on German Reparations in Economic Journal, 1929; and Readings, Chapters 6 and 7.
      Machlup, International Trade and the National Income Multiplier, 1943.
      Machlup, “The Theory of Foreign Exchanges,” Economica, 1939 (two articles), Readings, Chapter 5.
      Meade, J. E., The Balance of Payments, 1951.
      Metzler, op. cit.
      Nurkse, R., International Currency Experience (League of Nations, 1944).
      Pigou, “The Foreign Exchanges,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1922, reprinted in Essays in Applied Economics (1927).
      Robinson, J., “Beggar-My-Neighbor Remedies for Unemployment”, Readings, Chapter 17.
      Robinson, J., “Foreign Exchanges,” Essays on the Theory of Employment(1st ed., 1938; 2nd ed., 1947), Part III; reprinted in Readings, Ch. 4.
      Williams, Post-War Monetary Plans and Other Essays (3rd, 1947).
    4. and 5. In addition to general texts, see:
      Edgeworth, Papers Relating to Political economy, Vol. II, p. 3-60.
      Ellsworth, “A Comparison of International Trade Theories,”American Economic Review, June, 1940.
      Haberler, “Some Problems in the Pure Theory of International Trade”, Economic Journal, June, 1950.
      Leontief, “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1933; Readings, Ch. 10.
      Mill, Principles (relevant chapters reprinted in Selected Readings).
      Ohlin,  cit. Parts I, II, and possibly III.
      Readings, Chs. 12, 13, 15, by J. H. Williams, E. Heckscher, and W. Stolper and P. Samuelson.
      Ricardo,  Principles, (relevant chapters reprinted in Selected Readings).
      Robinson, J., “The Pure Theory of International Trade”, Review of Economic Studies, Vol. XIV, 1946-47.
      Taussig, International Trade.
      Viner, Studies in the Theory of International Trade (last two chapters).

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 5, Folder “Economics, 1952-1953 (2 of 2)”.

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1952-1953
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 243a
[Final exam. January 1953]

Answer 5 questions. Write legibly.

  1. Suppose the international transactions of a country are as follows (in hundred million dollars):
Commodity exports 18
Commodity imports 20
Net tourist receipts 1
Other services exported 1
Gold exports 1
Debt to IMF repaid 1
New long-term securities sold abroad 1
Long-term securities redeemed ½
Short-term balances accumulated abroad 1
Marshall aid received 1

Write down the balance of payments, inserting if necessary an “errors and omissions” item.

Discuss whether the balance of payments shows a deficit or surplus, giving reasons for your answer. If you like, state alternative criteria.

  1. How does depreciation influence the balance of payments and the terms of trade? Discuss question in terms of relevant elasticities.
  2. Balance of payments adjustments in the pre-World War I era were often so rapid that they surprised the classical theorists. Show how “income effects” may help to explain these phenomena.
  3. List some arguments for protection and examine one of these in some detail. (Append a graphical analysis if possible).
  4. Compare the classical theory of comparative cost and Ohlin’s general equilibrium theory that is based on the relative scarcity of factors of production.
  5. Discuss J. H. Williams’ strictures against the classical theory and compare them with those of Ohlin.
  6. Is it possible, and if so under what conditions, that international trade changes the income distribution against a major factor of production, say, labor? Discuss policy implications.
  7. Show graphically how reciprocal demand curves can be used to analyze changes in the terms of trade that result from the imposition of tariffs on imports or exports.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001. (HUC 7000.28, vol. 96 [Social Sciences]). Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, Government, Economics,…” January 1953.

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Syllabus, Spring Term, 1952-53

Harvard University
Department of Economics
Economics 243b
International Economic Policy

  1. Historical Introduction
    Commercial Policy of the major countries from the beginning of the 19th century until 1914.

Great Britain
France
Germany
United States
Other Countries

The Inter-war period and postwar developments.

Modern methods of trade control
Quantitative controls

Quotas
Exchange control

Other methods and controls.

  1. Free Trade and Protection: Theoretical Economics and Practical Social Policies

The case for free trade and the free trade movement

Arguments for protection

“Non-economic” arguments
Unemployment
Balance of Payments

“Dollar shortage”

Infant industry argument and development of underdeveloped countries
Terms of Trade
International trade under planning

  1. Current Issues in Trade Policy
    Liberalization of trade

Universal vs. regional approach
Most-favored-nation principle and discrimination
Currency convertibility
Customs Union

READING SUGGESTIONS

  1. General

Most treatises on International Trade discuss policy questions.

Ellsworth: The International Economy
D. March: World Trade and Investment
Haberler: Theory of International Trade
J. Viner: International Economics
J. Viner: International Trade and Economic Development
Readings in the Theory of International Trade (Blakiston)
S. E. Harris (editor): Foreign Economic Policy of the U.S. (Harvard, 1946)
N. Buchanan and F. Lutz: Rebuilding the World Economy
H. S. Ellis: The Economics of Freedom. The Progress and Future of Aid to Europe (Harper 1950)
Selected Readings in International Trade and Tariff Problems, (ed. Taussig)
J. H. Williams: Economic Stability in a Changing World. 1953.
J. H. Williams: Stamp Lecture (Harvard University Press)

  1. Special Subjects
    1. History of Commercial Policy
      Condliffe: The Commerce of Nations
      Ellsworth: The International Economy [stresses the historical approach]
      F. W. Taussig: U.S. Tariff History
      F. W. Taussig: Some Aspects of the Tariff Question
      P. Ashley: Modern Tariff History. 1904
      R. F. Mikesell: United States Economic Policy and International Relations (Economic Handbook Series, 1952)
      Dictionary of Tariff Information (U. S. Tariff Commission, 1924)
      H. Heuser: Control of International Trade. 1939
      Margaret Gordon: Barriers to World Trade. 1941
    2. Free Trade and Protection
      [See General Treatises mentioned above]
      R. Triffin: “National Central Banking and the International Economy,” Review of Economic Studies, 1946-47. Also, in same issue, three comments by Balogh, Henderson, and Harrod
      J. R. Hicks: Free Trade and Modern Economics (Manchester Statistical Society, 1951)
      Selected Readings in International Trade and Tariff Problems (ed. Taussig, 1921) (contains useful excerpts from A. Smith, J. S. Mill, F. List, etc.)
      A. Henderson, “The Restriction of Foreign Trade,” in The Manchester School January 1949
    3. Reading will be announced later.

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 5, Folder “Economics, 1952-1953 (2 of 2)”.

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1952-1953
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 243b
[Final Exam. May 1953]

Answer five questions. Write legibly!

  1. Discuss the customs union issue and evaluate the chances of this approach to furthering the international division of labor.
  2. List at least four concepts of “terms of trade” and discuss whether or not these concepts are “operational” (statistically observable). Also discuss the concept of “terms of trade” implied in the Marshallian reciprocal demand curve analysis.
  3. Cite some methods of discrimination and examine the argument that discriminatory controls are less destructive of trade and therefore more desirable than non-discriminatory controls.
  4. Is the phrase “dollar shortage” absurd? Discuss possible causes and cures of “dollar shortage” consistent with your evaluation of why a “dollar shortage “may exist.
  5. How do payments unions or clearing unions operate? What are the main problems and difficulties? State arguments for and against such arrangements.
  6. What is meant by “convertibility” and why is it often held to be of paramount importance?
  7. Tariffs, Quotas, and Exchange Control are alternative methods of controlling imports. Compare their modes of operation and discuss their comparative advantages and disadvantages.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Final examinations 1853-2001. (HUC 7000.28, vol. 99 [Social Sciences]). Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, Government, Economics,…” June 1953.

Image: Radcliffe Archives. Portrait of Gottfried Haberler. (1965).

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Syllabus and Examination for International Trade. Haberler, 1949

 

The following course outline with readings and final examination for Gottfried Haberler’s 1949 (spring term) course in international trade can be compared to the following material transcribed earlier for the pair of semester courses he taught subsequently covering international trade, finance and policy.

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Course Announcement

Economics 243a (formerly Economics 143a). International Trade

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professor Haberler.

[Economics 243 b (formerly] Economics 143b). International Trade]

Half-course (spring term). Mon., Wed., and (at the pleasure of the instructor) Fri., at 10. Professors Haberler and Harris.

Omitted in 1948-49; to be given in 1949-50.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Courses of Instruction, Box 6, Final Announcement of the Courses of Instruction offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for the Academic Year 1948-49, p. 79.

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Course Enrollment

[Economics] 243 a (formerly Economics 143a). International Trade (Sp). Professor Haberler.

Total: 25: 15 Graduates, 1 Senior, 4 Public Administration, 1 M.I.T., 4 Radcliffe.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1948-1949, p. 78.

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Spring 1949
Economics 243a
Professor Haberler

Outline

First Four Weeks

  1. The Importance of International Trade for the Economy of Various Countries. Measures of Importance
  2. International Accounts and National Accounts.
    International Transactions in National Economic Budgets
  3. Balance of Payments and Foreign Exchange
    Demand and Supply for Exports and Imports
    Demand and Supply of Foreign Currency
  4. Balance of Payments Mechanism
    The Transfer Problem

Second Four Weeks

  1. International Division of Labor
    The Theory of Comparative Cost
  2. Ohlin’s Theory of “Interregional and International Trade”
  3. Various Criticisms and Objections to Classical and Neoclassical Theories
  4. Location Theory

Last Four Weeks

  1. The last four weeks will be devoted to a discussion of problems of trade policy. Evolution of trade policies; Modern methods of trade regulation; The Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization (I.T.O.).

 

Reading Assignments and Suggestions
General

The literature in the subject is so rich that students can acquire the knowledge necessary for the course in many different ways. Students are invited to make their own detailed choice from the suggestions below. Two extensive bibliographies have been prepared in former terms for other courses. One may be obtained from Ms. Buller, Littauer 322; the other from Professor Williams’ secretary, Littauer 231. Each student is expected to have read one or the other of the following general monographs or texts:

Ellsworth: International Economics
Haberler: Theory of International Trade
Whale: International Trade
Enke and Salera: International Economics
Meade and Hitch: Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy (Part III)
Harrod: International Economics (3rd edition, 1939)
Tinbergen: International Economic Cooperation (1945)
An excellent discussion of recent developments will be found in: Metzler: “The Theory of International Trade,” Chapter. 6, Survey of Contemporary Economics (1948)
It is hoped that the volume, Readings in the Theory of International Trade will appear in March or April.

Assignments and Suggestions to Subjects Listed Above in Addition to Relevant Chapters in General Texts

  1. There is hardly any specific reading on this subject. See, however, The Post-War Foreign Economic Policy of the United States. 6th Report of the House Special Committee on Post-War Economic Policy and Planning. House Report No. 541. Washington, 1945. (This report was written by Lloyd Metzler.)
    The United States in the World Economy, U. S. Department of Commerce, 1943.
    Buchanan, N.S., and Lutz, E.A.: Rebuilding the World Economy, 1947)
  2. Hicks: The Social Framework of the American Economy, Ch. XII, “Foreign and National Income.”
    The United States in the World Economy (U.S. Department. of Commerce, 1943).
    The Survey of Current Business (Monthly publication of Department of Commerce) has frequent articles on trade and balance of payments statistics.
  3. R. Nurkse: International Currency Experience (League of Nations, 1944).
    J. Robinson: “Foreign Exchanges,” Essays on the Theory of Employment (1st ed., 1938; 2nd ed., 1947), Part III.
    Machlup: “The Theory of Foreign Exchanges,” Economica, 1939 (two articles).
    Pigou: “The Foreign Exchanges,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November, 1922, Reprinted in Essays in Applied Economics, 1927.
    Metzler: op. cit.
  4. Williams: Post-War Monetary Plans and Other Essays, 3rd edition, 1947.
    The New Economics (ed. S. E. Harris), Part V, especially the essays by Bloomfield and Nurkse.
    Machlup: International Trade and the National Income Multiplier (1943).
    Keynes and Ohlin on German Reparations in Economic Journal, 1929 (to be reprinted in Readings in the Theory of International Trade).
  5. In addition to general texts, see: Ricardo: Principles; J. S. Mill, Principles
    Marshall: Money, Credit and Commerce
    Taussig: International Trade
    J. Viner: Studies in the Theory of International Trade
    Leontief: “The Use of Indifference Curves in the Analysis of Foreign Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May, 1933 (to be reprinted in Readings).
  6. Ohlin: op. cit. Parts I, II, and possibly III.
    Ellsworth: “A Comparison of International Trade Theories,” American Economic Review, June, 1940.
  7. J. Viner: Studies (last two chapters).
    F. D. Graham: Theory of International Values (Princeton 1948).
    Williams: Postwar Monetary Plans, 3rd ed., 1937, Ch. 12.
  8. E. Hoover: Location of Economic Activity (Economic Handbook, ed., S.E. Harris, 1948).
    Relevant chapters in Ohlin, op. cit.
  9. Buchanan and Lutz: op. cit.
    Foreign Economic Policy for the United States (ed., S.E. Harris, 1948).
    M. Gordon: Barriers to World Trade (description of trading methods).
    Clair Wilcox: A Charter for World Trade, 1949.
    Text of I.T.O. Charter

Further assignments for 9 to be made later.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003 (HUC 8522.2.1). Box 5, Folder “Economics 1949-1950, 3 of 3”.

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1948-49
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 243a
[Final Examination]

Answer 4 questions

(Please write legibly!)

  1. Analyze the probably effect of a currency depreciation of a particular country upon (a) the balance of payments and (b) the terms of trade. List the main factors on which the outcome depends and give attention to income as well as to price effects.
  2. List and discuss the main theoretically tenable arguments for protection. Indicate their order of importance (a) from the scientific point of view and (b) from the point of view of practical politics.
  3. Describe Ohlin’s theory of International Trade and compare it with the classical and neo-classical theory.
  4. “The existence of a large home market in the U.S. protected by taste, connections, and a high tariff, which enables the development of mass-production methods, secures advantages which cannot be challenged except by countries having complete state monopoly of their foreign trade. This makes it impossible for Western Europe to adopt a policy of nondiscriminatory trade using no protective devices except tariffs.” (Th. Balogh) Discuss and analyze.
  5. Discuss the probable influence of international trade upon the distribution of income, say, between labor and non-labor income. Pay attention to the theories of Heckscher-Ohlin, Stolper-Samuelson and L. Metzler.
  6. After World War I, Germany had to pay reparations and the Western allies had to pay debts to the United States. After World War II, the corresponding problem for Europe is to get along without American aid.
    Analyze the possible mechanisms of adjustment, indicating the similarities and differences of the two cases.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Final examinations, 1853-2001. Box 16, Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …, Military Science, Naval Science, June, 1949.

Image Source: Gottfried Haberler in Harvard Class Album, 1950.

 

 

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. Final exam for Economic Trends and Fluctuations. Haberler, 1932.

Portr‰t des Haberler, Gottfried [1900-1995]

 

Gottfried Haberler taught two courses as a visiting lecturer at Harvard in 1931-32. His mid-year exam for Economics 15 Problems in Economic Theory was transcribed and posted earlier.

I have not (yet) found a syllabus for his one-semester business cycle course, but judging from the titles assigned for the reading period, he was clearly serving a Viennese melange of business cycle theories. 

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Course Enrollment

Primarily for Graduates:—

III. Applied Economics

[Economics] 37 1hf. Dr. Haberler. — Economic Trends and Fluctuations.

Total 7: Graduates 7.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1931-1932, p. 72.

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Reading Period
Jan 4-20, 1932

Economics 37.

Schumpeter, J.: The Explanation of the Business Cycle, in “Economica”, Vol. 7, 1927.

Hayek, F.A.: Prices and Production, London, 1931.

Robertson, D.H.: Banking Policy and the Price Level.

Suggestions for further reading:

Hayek, F.A.: Geldtheorie u. Konjunkturtheorie, Vienna, 1929. [1932 translation by N. Kaldor and H.M. Croome]

Mises, L.: Theorie des Geldes u. der Umlaufmittel, Pt. III, Ch. 5, “Geld, Umlaufmittel u. Zins”.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 2. Folder: “Economics, 1931-32”.

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1931-32
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 37

Students may use any books or notes they wish.

Answer FIVE of these six questions.

  1. The relation of the rate of interest and prices according to (a) Irving Fisher, (b) Knut Wicksell, and (c) R. G. Hawtrey. State whether these different views are compatible with each other in your opinion.
  2. What is the influence of a credit expansion on the structure of production?
  3. Criticize the “monetary” theory of the business cycle as developed by R. G. Hawtrey.
  4. A. Hayek and J. Schumpeter have the notion that the upward swing of the business cycle is characterized by an increase of the “roundaboutness” of production. What is the difference between their theories and why do they reach different conclusions as to the essence of depression?
  5. What is the difference between D. H. Robertson’s and F. A. Hayek’s theory of the business cycle?
  6. It is frequently said that an individual can use up his capital, but that this is impossible—excepting physical destruction by a war or an earthquake—for a closed economy because, if one person sells a piece of his capital equipment, it necessarily accrues to somebody else. What do you think of this?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 12, Bound volume: Examination Papers, Mid-years, 1931-32.

Image Source: Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

 

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. Readings, exams for business cycles. Hansen and Haberler, 1942-44

Materials from the 1941-42 course in business cycles co-taught by Gottfried Haberler and Alvin Hansen have been posted earlier. This post adds material for the same courses offered in the next two years.

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Enrollment, 1942-43

45a. [and 145a] (winter term) Professors Hansen and Haberler.—Business Cycles.

Total 45: 10 Graduates, 15 Seniors, 13 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 1 Public Administration, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1942-43, pp. 47.

___________________

SPECIFIC READING ASSIGNMENTS IN ECONOMICS 45a
1943

  1. Types of Cycles and Statistical Materials(about 3 weeks)
    1. Haberler: Prosperity and Depression, Chapters 1, 9, 10,11
    2. Hansen: Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Chapters 1,2
    3. Schumpeter: Business Cycles, pp. 325-351
    4. Schumpeter: “Analysis of Economic Change,” Review of Economic Statistics, May, 1935
    5. Kondratieff: “The Long Waves in Economic Life,” Review of Economic Statistics, November 1935
    6. Federal Reserve Chart Book (Available at the Coop. 50¢)
  2. General Theoretical Analysis
    1. Hansen: Full Recovery or Stagnation?, Chapters 1-2
    2. Haberler: Prosperity and Depression, Chapters 2-4: 7-8; 13
    3. Hansen: Business Cycle Theory, Chapter 4
    4. Hansen: Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Chapters 11,12
    5. Wilson, T., Fluctuations in Income and Employment, (Pitman) 1942.
    6. Hansen: Full Recovery or Stagnation?, Chapters 16-20
  3. Reading Period (Choose A or B):
    1. 1. Mitchell: “Business Cycles,Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 3, pp. 92-106.
      2. Hansen: Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Chs. 3-5; 16-17; 23-24.
    2. Clark, J.M.: Strategic Factors in Business Cycles (entire book).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 3, Folder “Economics, 1942-1943 (2 of 2)”.

___________________

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
Reading Period
April 26-May 8, 1943

Economics 45a: Choose A or B:

A.

(1) Mitchell, “Business Cycles, Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 3, pp. 92-106.
(2) Hansen, Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Chs. 3-5; 16-17; 23-24.

B. Clark, J.M., Strategic Factors in Business Cycles(entire book).

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in Economics, 1895-2003, Box 3, Folder “Economics, 1942-1943 (1 of 2)”.

___________________

1942-43
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 45a
[Final examination, May 1943]

I
(Answer any four questions in Part I)

  1. If the downward movement is cumulative why should it ever come to an end short of zero employment?
  2. Discuss cycles of different length and their possible interrelation and causation. Say something about the literature and state your own opinion.
  3. How is the business cycle as a whole, or particular phases of it, likely to be influenced by the widespread existence of monopolies? State your own opinion and give your reasons for it and, if you like, report about other people’s views.
  4. Is it circular reasoning to say that consumption depends on investment as explained by the multiplier and that investment depends on consumption as stated by the acceleration principle?
  5. “The kind of wave-like movement, which we call the business cycle, is incident to industrial change and would be impossible in an economic world in which there are no industrial innovations and discoveries.” Discuss.
  6. Why is it that the production of durable goods shows wider percentage fluctuations than that of perishable goods? Is this a cause or consequence of the cycle? Suppose by social security payments or otherwise, consumer spending were kept on an even keel (constant or steadily rising), could fluctuations in output and employment then arise?

II
(Answer either A or B)

  1. Discuss the relation of population growth to the business cycle.
  2. What are Clark’s findings about the amplitude of fluctuation in various series? Are these useful in explaining the business cycle?

Source:Harvard University Archives. Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 7. Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions,…, Economic,…, Military Science, Naval Science. May, 1943.

______________________

Enrollment, 1943-44

45a. (winter term) Professor Hansen.—Business Cycles.

Total 34: 4 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen 3 Public Administration, 6 Radcliffe, 9 Navy V-12, 2 ROTC.

145a. (winter term) Professor Hansen.—Business Cycles and Economic Forecasting.

Total 8: 4 Graduates, 3 Public Administration, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1943-44, pp. 56, 58.

______________________

1943-44
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS 45 and 145
[Final examination, February 1944]

  1. Discuss and compare the explanations of the cycle as developed by the following writers:
    1. Schumpeter
    2. Spiethoff
    3. Keynes
  2. Give a full discussion of the factors that bring about a termination of the boom—in short, an explanation of the upper turning point in the cycle. In this connection introduce the views of different cycle theorists, and consider the role of the acceleration principle.
  3. (Undergraduates should choose one of the following; graduates must write on )
    1. What are the strategic factors in business cycles according to Clark?
    2. With respect to Mitchell, discuss:
      1. “specific cycles” and “business cycles”
      2. The various phases of the business cycle.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Final Examinations, 1853-2001. Box 8. Papers Printed for Final Examinations: History, History of Religions,…, Economic,…, Military Science, Naval Science. February, 1944.

Image Source:  Alvin Hansen and Gottfried Haberler in the Harvard Class Album, 1942.

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Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Readings and Final Exam for Business Cycles. Hansen and Haberler, 1942

 

Reading assignments and the final exam for the business cycles course taught at Harvard in 1938 by Alvin Hansen and Gottfried Haberler were posted earlier.

Also posted earlier are the Course outline and exam for 1949 and the course outline for 1950. that were taught by Alvin Hansen.

For 1955-56 we have the course outline and reading assignments again jointly taught by Hansen and Haberler.

_____________________

Course Enrollment

Economics 45a 2hf. Professors Hansen and Haberler. — Business Cycles.

Total 59: 2 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 30 Juniors, 11 Sophomores, 1 School of Public Administration, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1941-42, p. 63.

_____________________

SPECIFIC READING ASSIGNMENTS
IN ECONOMICS 45a
1941-42

  1. First four weeks:
    1. Haberler: Prosperity and Depression, Chapters 1, 9, 10, 11
    2. Hansen: Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Chapters 1, 2
    3. Schumpeter: Business Cycles, pp. 325-351
    4. Schumpeter: “Analysis of Economic Change,” Review of Economic Statistics, May 1935
    5. Kondratieff: “The Long Waves in Economic Life,” Review of Economic Statistics, November 1935
    6. Mitchell: Business Cycles, Chapter 3
    7. Federal Reserve Chart Book (Available at the Coop. 60¢)
  2. Six weeks:
    1. Hansen: Full Recovery or Stagnation? Chapters 1-5
    2. Haberler: Prosperity and Depression, Chapters 2-8; 13
    3. Hansen: Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Chapters 11, 12
  3. Last two weeks:
    1. Hansen: Business Cycle Theory, Chapters 4 and 8
    2. Hansen: Full Recovery or Stagnation?, Chapters 16-20
  4. Reading Period (Choose A or B):
    1. 1. Mitchell: “Business Cycles,” Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, Vol. 3, pp. 92-106
      2. Hansen: Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles, Chapters 3-5: 16-17; 23-24
    2. Clark, J.M.: Strategic Factors in Business Cycles (entire book)

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 3, Folder “Economics, 1941-1942”.

_____________________

1941-42
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
ECONOMICS 45a
BUSINESS CYCLES
Final Examination

I

(Answer any THREE of the four questions in Part I.)

  1. Enumerate, describe and compare waves of different length suggested in the literature on business cycles. Discuss especially Schumpeter, Kondratieff, and Hansen with respect to the schema they suggest and the analysis they make of these different wave movements.
  2. Discuss the typical behavior of interest rates in the cycle and the role attributed to interest rates in the explanation of the cycle by different theorists.
  3. Compare the downturn in 1929 with that in 1937. How do they differ, and what are the differences in the explanations suggested thereby?
  4. Discuss briefly the essential features of (a) the multiplier principle and (b) the acceleration principle. Discuss their interaction and indicate the various types of movement which may result from their interaction.

II

(Answer EITHER A or B)

A.

(1) Discuss the technique used by Mitchell in the article in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences for the analysis of business cycles.

(2) Compare the role of (a) monetary policy, and (b) fiscal policy in the United States in the recovery from 1933 to 1936.

B. Sketch the theoretical skeleton of J.M. Clark’s Strategic Factors in Business Cycles.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Final Examinations, 1853-2001, Box 6, Papers Printed for Final Examinations [in] History, History of Religions, …, Economics, …,Military Science, Naval Science. June, 1942.

Image Source:  Alvin Hansen and Gottfried Haberler in the Harvard Class Album, 1942.

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Exam Questions Harvard Suggested Reading

Harvard. Mid-year exam for economic theory course. Haberler, 1931-32.

Portr‰t des Haberler, Gottfried [1900-1995]

 

 

In 1931-32 thirty-one year old Gottfried Haberler taught as a visiting lecturer at Harvard. Later he was to return to Harvard where he was appointed to a professorship in 1936. He was a member of the Harvard faculty until his move to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. in 1971.

This post provides three items from his 1931-32 course “Problems in Economic Theory”.

(1) Enrollment data. From the annual presidential report we see that only six students (half of whom were Radcliffe women) were registered for the course.
(2)  Assignments for both semesters’ reading periods. Note that Frank Knight accounts for a good half of that required reading.
(3) The final examination questions for the first semester. 

____________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 15. Dr. Haberler.—Problems in Economic Theory.

Total 6: 3 Seniors, 3 Radcliffe.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1931-32. Page 72.

____________________

Reading Period
Jan 4-20, 1932

Economics 15

Knight, F.H.: Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit, Chs. III, IV.

Wicksteed, P.H.: Common Sense of Political Economy, Pt. I, Chs. II, VI, XI; P. II, Ch. On Rent.

Knight, F.H.: A Suggestion for Simplifying the Statement of The General Theory of Price, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 36, No. 3, June, 1928.

Suggestions for further reading:

Böhm-Bawerk, E.V.: Positive Theorie des Kapitals, 3rd or 4th edition (not translated), Exkurs VII, “Zurechnung”.

Mayer, Hans: Artikel “Bedürfnis”, “Produktion”, “Zurechnung” in Handwörterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, 4. Auflage.

Reading Period
May 9-June 1, 1932

Economics 15

Benham: “Economic Welfare”, in the Economica, June 1930.

Pigou: Economics of Welfare, Part I, Chs. 1,2,3,4,5; Part II, Ch. VIII, Secs. 1 and 2, Ch. X.

Knight: “Some Fallacies in the Interpretation of Social Cost”,Quarterly Journal of Economics for August 1924.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 2. Folder: “Economics, 1931-32”

____________________

1931-32
HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Economics 15
[Mid-year Examination]

Students may use any books or notes they wish.
Answer SIX of these questions.

  1. The problem of imputation and its relation to the theory of marginal productivity.
  2. Is it true that, if every factor is remunerated according to its marginal productivity, the whole product is exhausted? Under what conditions?
  3. Discuss the major differences between the (a) Marshallian, (b) Austrian, and (c) Walrasian theory of value and price.
  4. Discuss the mutual relation of utility, value and price and especially the proposition that there is a conformity of subjective value and the market price. Is it not circular reasoning to say that marginal utility determines the market prices because marginal utility itself depends partly, at last, on the price?
  5. Discuss the proposition that orthodox economics is individualistic and overlooks the fact that every individual is the product of social forces.
  6. What is the meaning of the “law of variation” of the factors of production? How or under what assumptions is it possible to derive from it a universal law of diminishing returns?
  7. What is the function of the concept of “want” or “need” in pure economic theory? State your opinion as to whether it can or should be eliminated and how it could be done.
  8. What do you think of Institutionalism and its criticism of orthodox economic theory?

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943 (HUC 7000.55). Box 12. Examination Papers, Mid-Years. 1931-32.

Image Source: Link to Österreichische Nationalbibliothek record.

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Harvard/Chicago. Gottfried Haberler and Milton Friedman on Samuel Bowles, 1970

 

The following exchange between Gottfried Haberler and Milton Friedman is really quite remarkable. It is the second observation by Economics in the Rear-view Mirror of Gottfried Haberler trashing a liberal/radical economist on the q.t. The first instance involved John Kenneth Galbraith in 1948 (though I cannot say that I would personally fault Haberler for his having ranked Paul Samuelson above John Kenneth Galbraith as an economist). It will come as a surprise to some people that Milton Friedman defended the scholarly honor of one of the leading, if not the leading, radical economists in 1970. As we see below Friedman in no uncertain terms let Haberler know that he still considered his earlier support of Samuel Bowles for an untenured appointment at the University of Chicago to have been based solely on the analytical merits displayed by Bowles. 

You do not want to miss the Harvard anecdote relayed by Roy Weintraub that is posted below as a comment!

__________________

PERSONAL

May 14, 1970

Professor Milton Friedman
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois 60637

Dear Milton:

I was told that Chicago has made an offer to Sam Bowles and that you supported it warmly. Frankly, I am somewhat surprised. He has certainly some analytic abilities but in general he is very radical, almost as wild as Arthur MacEwan, and thoroughly demagogic in his interventions in faculty meetings and talks to students. I would really like to know whether it is true that Chicago offered him a job.

Sincerely yours,

Gottfried Haberler

H:w

__________________

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
1126 EAST 59THSTREET
CHICAGO—ILLINOIS 60637

May 19, 1970

Professor Gottfried Haberler
Department of Economics
Harvard University
326 Littauer Center
Cambridge, Masachusetts 02138

Dear Gottfried:

Some years back I had occasion to read some of the work which Bowles had done in connection with our consideration of him at that time. I was very favorably impressed indeed by the intellectual quality of the work and the command that it displayed of analytical economics. At that time I was very much in accord with our decision to make him an offer of a position. He turned us down to stay at Harvard.

I have very vague recollections about what has happened this year. I do not know for certain whether or not we did make an offer to him this year. We may have done so; and if so, I would not have objected since the only consideration I would have considered relevant would have been his intellectual qualities.

I will try to find out more definitely and let you know.

Sincerely yours,
[signed, “Milton”]
Milton Friedman

ah

[Handwritten addition: P.S. I have checked. No offer was made to him this year. We made an offer some years ago at the Ass’t Prof level when he first went to Harvard. We made a later offer a couple of years ago again on a term basis. There is no offer outstanding now.]

Source:  Hoover Institution Archives. Gottfried Haberler Papers. Box 12, Folder “GH—Milton Friedman”.

Image Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst . Police Department, “Board of Trustees fee increase demonstration: Economics professor Samuel Bowles speaking to protesters, April 15, 1976“, University Photograph Collection (RG 110-176). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

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Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Advanced Economic Theory. Outline and readings. Haberler, 1947

 

 

In 1947-48 the advanced economic theory sequence of two semester courses featured the pairing of Gottfried Haberler and Joseph Schumpeter in the Winter and Spring terms, respectively. In this post you will find course enrollment data along with the course outline and assigned readings for the Winter term taught by Haberler. Alas I could not find the final examination questions for this course in the otherwise fairly complete collection of course examinations in the Harvard Archives.

Materials from the Spring Term course 1947-48 taught by Joseph Schumpeter.

__________________

Course Enrollment

[Economics] 103a. Professor Haberler.—Advanced Economic Theory (F).

Total 20:  15 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 2 Public Administration, 1 Radcliffe.

Source:Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1947-48, p. 90.

__________________

Advanced Economic Theory
Gottfried Haberler

Economics 103a
Fall Term, 1947

This course will be devoted to a discussion of some selected topics centering around the theory of capital and interest. An attempt will be made to conduct the course in a seminar-like fashion.

Content

  1. Introduction

Types of economics

Theoretical vs. non-theoretical approach.

Logical types of economic theory

Individualistic—collectivistic economics
Microscopic—Macroscopic (aggregative) theories
Psychological—behavioristic approach
Static—dynamic analysis
Equilibrium—disequilibrium
General—Partial equilibrium
Price theory—welfare theory
Pure—monetary economics

Some major schools

Classical and neo-classical economics
Marxian economics
Keynesian economics
Others

  1. Brief recapitulation of modern time-less theory

Theory of household
Theory of firm
Theory of distribution

  1. Theory of capital and interest

“Pure” vs. “Monetary” theories of capital and interest
Time preference
“Productivity” of capital
Liquidity preference theory of interest
Dynamic theory of interest
Profits and interest
Uncertainty and time

  1. Topics in the theory of capital and interest

Substitutability of “capital” and “labor”
Influence of changes in wage and interest rates or the substitution of capital for labor
The “Ricardo” effect
“Capital intensity” and the trade cycle
Theoretical problems of capital accumulation

*  *  *  *  *  *

Reading

  1. [Introduction] No definite assignments. Suggestions:

Joan Robinson: An Essay on Marxian Economics
P. M. Sweezy: “Orthodox and Marxian Economics,” Science and Society, Summer 1947.
L. R. Klein: The Keynesian Revolution
L. R. Klein: “Theory of Effective Demand and Employment,” Journal of Political Economy, April 1947.

  1. [Brief recapitulation of modern time-less theory]

Hicks: Theory of Wages, Part I.
Hicks: Value and Capital, Parts I and II.
Readings in the Theory of Income Distribution, Chs. 5, 7, 8, 12.
P. H. Douglas: The Theory of Wages, Chs. I, II, III.

  1. [Theory of capital and interest]

I. Fisher: Theory of Interest, mainly Part II and first two chapters of Part III.
F. H. Knight: Articles on Capitaland Interest in Ethics of Competitionor in Readings.
F. A. Hayek: “Mythology of Capital,” in Readings
Schumpeter: Theory of Economic Development, Chs. IV and V.
D. H. Robertson: “Mr. Keynes and the Rate of Interest,” in Readings
K. Wicksell: Lectures, Vol. I, Chs. on interest.
F. Lutz: “The Criterion of Maximum Profits in the Theory of Investment,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, November 1945.

  1. [Topics in the theory of capital and interest]

Hayek: Profit, Interest and Investment, first essay.
Hayek: “The Ricardo Effect,” Economica, May 1942.
Haberler: Prosperity and Depression, 1941, pp. 481-491.
N. Kaldor: “Capital Intensity and the Trade Cycle,” Economica, 1939.
N. Kaldor: “Professor Hayek and the Concertina-effect,” Economica, 1942.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 4. Folder “Economics, 1947-48 (2 of 2)”.

Image Source: Gottfried Haberler, Harvard Class Album 1946.

 

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Bibliography Harvard Suggested Reading Syllabus

Harvard. Course outlines and reading lists. Business Cycles and Economic Forecasting, Haberler & Hansen, 1955-56

 

The pairing of Gottfried Haberler and Alvin Hansen at Harvard for business cycle teaching spanned decades.

For comparison, the reading list and final exam for the course 17 years earlier:   Haberler and Hansen, 1938.

________________

Economics 245a
Business Cycles

Professor Haberler — Fall Term, 1955

Part I. Basic Facts and Concepts.

Types of economic changes and fluctuations

Definition of business cycles

Constant and varying characteristics

Income, production, employment, unemployment
Prices, wages, interest rates, etc.

Cyclical phases

Amplitude, length

Short cycles, intermediate cycles, long waves

Cycles and crises

Cycle history

Approaches to the study of business fluctuations

Descriptive and historical
Statistical and econometric
Theoretical

Part II. Explanation of Business Cycles

Theory of business cycles and theory of employment

Economic fluctuations and long-term growth

Formal characteristics of cycle theories

Statics-dynamics
Exogenous-endogenous theories

Older Cycle Theories

“Monetary” theories vs. “real” theories
Savings — investment
Inventions, innovations; Schumpeter’s theory
Psychological factors: Pigou, Keynes
Agriculture and the business cycle

Modern Cycle Theories

Keynesian contribution
Multiplier — acceleration models
Harrod, Hansen, Samuelson, Kaldor, Kalecki, Metzler
Hicks’ “Contribution to the Theory of the Trade Cycle”
Inventory cycles
The role of wage and price rigidity in the cycle
Competition and monopoly and the business cycle
Many-cycle hypothesis
Is there still a business cycle?

Part III. Economic Growth

Part IV. Business Cycle Policy

Cycle Policy and Employment Policy

Can and should the Cycle be suppressed?

Have depressions a useful function?

Should business booms be prevented?

Preventive and curative depression policy?

Instruments of Policy

Monetary and credit policies
Fiscal policies
Price and wage policies
The role of business forecasting
Other measures

International aspects of business cycles and business cycle policy

Business cycles in planned economies

 

General Texts and Comprehensive Monographs

A. F. Burns, The Frontiers of Economic Knowledge (National Bureau of Economic Research, 1954)

Hansen, Business Cycles and National Income

Schumpeter, Business Cycles

Achinstein, Introduction to Business Cycles

Mitchell, Business Cycles

Bratt, Business Cycles and Forecasting

Pigou, Industrial Fluctuations (2ndedition, 1929)

Tinbergen and Polak, Dynamics of Business Cycles

Haberler, Prosperity and Depression

Gordon, Business Fluctuations

Readings in Business Cycle Theory (Blakiston)

Hansen-Clemence, Readings in Business Cycles and National Income

Readings in Monetary Theory (Blakiston)

N.B.E.R., Conference on Business Cycles

Speithoff, in International Economic Papers, III

Post Keynesian Economics. Kurihara, editor, Rutgers University Press, 1955.

 

Specific Readings

Part I.

Blakiston, Readings in Business Cycle Theory, Chs. 1, 2, 3.

Haberler, Prosperity and Depression, Ch. 9

Hansen, Business Cycles and National Income, Part I

Hansen-Clemence, Readings, Chs. 2, 3, 4 (for Part II: Chs. 11, 12, 16; for Part III: Chs. 28, 33, 36)

Mitchell, What Happens During Business Cycles? Chs. 2, 3, 4, 8, 10

N.B.E.R., Conference on Business Cycles, Gordon, Klein

Tinbergen-Polak, Dynamics of Business Cycles, Part I

H. L. Beales, “The Great Depression,” Economic History Review, October 1934

Slichter, “The Period 1919-1936….,” RES, 1937

Gordon, R. A., “Investment Behavior and Business Cycles,” RES, (to be published)

Ames, “A Theoretical and Statistical Dilemma—the Contributions of Burns, Mitchell, and Frickey to Business Cycle Theory, Econometrica, October 1948

K. D. Roose, “The Empirical Status of Business Cycle Theory,” Journal of Political Economy, October 1952

K. D. Roose, The Economics of Recession and Revival, New Haven, 1954

Part II.

(1) Haberler, Chs. 3, 8, 13
Hansen, Part III

(2) Schumpeter, Theory of Economic Development, Ch. 6
Frisch, “Propagation Problems and Impulse Problems….,” in Economic Essays in Honor of G. Cassel
Goodwin, “Innovations and Irregularity…,” RES, 1946

(3) Harrod, Toward a Dynamic Economics
Baumol, Economic Dynamics, Ch. 4

(4) Hicks, Trade Cycle
Goodwin, “Secular and Cyclical Aspects of Multiplier and Accelerator” in Income, Employment and Public Policy
Goodwin, “A Nonlinear Theory of the Cycle,” RES, Nov. 1950
Alexander, “Issues of Business Cycle Theory,” AER, Dec. 1951
Duesenberry, “Hicks on the Trade Cycle,” QJE, August 1950
Chenery, “Overcapacity and the Acceleration Principle,” Econometrica, Jan. 1952
Alexander, “Accelerator as a Generator of Steady Growth,” QJE, May 1949
Matthews, “Capital Stock Adjustement—Theories of the Trade cycle and the Problem of Policy” in Post-Keynesian Economics, Kurihara, ed.
Kaldor, “Economic Growth and Cyclical Fluctuations,” Economic Journal, March 1954
Meyer and Kuh, “Acceleration and Related Theories: An Empirical Inquiry,” RES, August 1955

(5) Keynes, General Theory…, Ch. 22
New Economics, Harris, ed., Ch. 36 (Goodwin), Ch. 39 (Smithies), Ch. 40 (Tobin)
Readings, Ch. 5 (Ohlin), Ch. 12 (Samuelson)
Kaldor, “A Model of the Trade Cycle,” Economic Journal, 1940
Kalecki, Essays in Theory of Economic Fluctuations
Fellner, “Employment Theories and Business Cycles,” in Survey of Contemporary Economics, 1948, Vol. I, Ellis, editor.

(6) Metzler, “Nature and Stability of Inventory Cycles,” RES, 1941
Abramovitz, Inventories and Business Cycles (and in Conference, above)
Nurkse, “The Cyclical Pattern of Inventory Investment,” QJE, August 1952

(7) Readings, Part IV, Monetary Theory
Haberler, Ch. 2
Wicksell, Lectures, II, pp. 209 ff.
Fisher, “Debt-Deflation…,” Econometrica, 1933

Part III.

Domar, “Capital Expansion, Rate of Growth and Employment,” Econometrica, April 1946
Harrod, Dynamic Economics
Harrod, “An Essay in Dynamic Theory,” in Harrod, Economic Essays
N.B.E.R., Studies in Income and Wealth, No. 16, Long-Range Economic Projection
L. B Yeager, “Some Questions about Growth Economics,” AER, March 1954
Meier, “Some Questions about Growth Economics—Comment,” and Yeager, “Reply,” AER, December 1954

Part IV.

Bishop, “Alternative Expansionist Fiscal Policies…,” in Income, Employment and Public Policy
Readings in Monetary Theory (Friedman)
Hansen, Part IV
N.B.E.R., Conference on Regularization of Business Investment, 1951
N.B.E.R., Studies in Income and Wealth, No. 17, Short-term Economic Forecasting Readings in Fiscal Policy (Richard Irwin).

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

BUSINESS CYCLES AND ECONOMIC FORECASTING
Economics 245b
Spring 1956
Professor Hansen

  1. Archibald, G.C., “Inventory Investment and the Share of Wages”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, June, 1955.
  2. Brems and Ozga, “Economic Growth and the Price Level”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, March, 1955.
  3. Kaldor, N., “The Relation of Economic Growth and Cyclical Fluctuations”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, March, 1954.
  4. Blyth, C.A., “The 1948-49 American Recession”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, September, 1954.
  5. Marris, R.L., “The Position of Economics and Economists in the Government Machine”, THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL, December, 1954.
  6. Gordon, R.A., “Investment Behavior and Business Cycles”, REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS, February, 1955.
  7. Matthews, R.C.O., “The Saving Function and the Problem of Trend and Cycle”, REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES, Vol. XXII, 1954-55.
  8. Stigler, George J., “The Early History of Empirical Studies of Consumer Behavior”, THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, April, 1954.
  9. Brems, Hans, “Business Cycles and Economic Policy”, THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, June, 1954.
  10. Lewis, John P., “The Lull that Came to Stay”, THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, February, 1955.
  11. Brown, E. Cary, “The Static Theory of Automatic Fiscal Stabilization”, THE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, October, 1955.
  12. Nurkse, Ragnar, “Period Analysis and Inventory Cycles”, OXFORD ECONOMIC PAPERS, September, 1954.
  13. Mills, E.S., “Professor Nurkse on Inventory Cycles”, OXFORD ECONOMIC PAPERS, June, 1955.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

BUSINESS CYCLES AND ECONOMIC FORECASTING
Economics 245b
Spring 1956
Professor Hansen

  1. National Bureau of Economic Research, Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 16, LONG-RANGE ECONOMIC PROJECTIONS.
  2. Goldsmith, A STUDY OF SAVINGS IN THE U.S. 1955.
  3. Dewhurst, AMERICA’S NEEDS AND RESOURCES, 1955.
  4. Creamer, PERSONAL INCOME DURING BUSINESS CYCLES, (National Bureau of Economic Research), 1956.
  5. Fellner, TRENDS AND CYCLES IN ECONOMIC GROWTH, (Holt), 1956.
  6. Schumpeter, HISTORY OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.
  7. Klein, ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS IN THE U.S.
  8. Tinbergen, ECONOMETRICS.
  9. Abramovitz, INVENTORIES AND BUSINESS CYCLES.
  10. Baumol, ECONOMIC DYNAMICS.
  11. Harrod, TOWARDS A DYNAMIC ECONOMICS.
  12. Ricardo, Vol. II, NOTES ON MALTHUS, (ed. by Sraffa).
  13. Colean and Newcomb, STABILIZING CONSTRUCTION, (McGraw-Hill).
  14. Smithies, THE BUDGETARY PROCESS IN THE U.S.
  15. Smithies and Butters, READINGS IN FISCAL POLICY.
  16. Colm, ESSAYS IN PUBLIC FINANCE AND FISCAL POLICY.
  17. Burns, THE FRONTIERS OF ECONOMIC KNOWLEDGE.
  18. Hicks, THE TRADE CYCLE.
  19. Kurihara, POST-KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS.
  20. Lundberg, THE BUSINESS CYCLE IN THE POST-WAR WORLD.
  21. Wallich, MAINSPRINGS OF THE GERMAN REVIVAL.
  22. National Bureau of Economic Research, BUSINESS CONCENTRATION AND PRICE POLICY.
  23. Svenniloson, GROWTH AND STAGNATION IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY.
  24. Joint Committee on the Economic Report, (Nov. 9, 1955), FEDERAL TAX POLICY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH AND STABILITY.
  25. PRESIDENT’S ECONOMIC REPORT, 1956.
  26. Lane and Riemersma, ENTERPRISE AND SECULAR CHANGE.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Syllabi, course outlines and reading lists in economics, 1895-2003. Box 6, Folder “Economics, 1955-56 (2 of 2)”.

Image Source:  Hansen (left) and Haberler (right). Harvard Class Album, 1942.

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Harvard. Curriculum vitae submitted by Albert O. Hirschman, ca. 1942

 

One of those serendipitous finds in rummaging through a department’s correspondence in search of one thing (curricular material in my case) is the artifact transcribed for this post, a c.v. submitted to the Harvard department of economics by a 27 or 28 year old Rockefeller Foundation fellow,  O. Albert Hirschmann. It is written in a narrative, autobiographical style as was the custom in Europe of the time. Because I had the great pleasure of having worked as Albert O. Hirschman’s assistant at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton during the 1980-81 academic year, I photographed his early c.v. in an act of filial piety. Of course all this and more can be found in the prize-winning biography written by Jeremy Adelman: Worldly Philosopher: The Odyssey of Albert O. Hirschman. Princeton University Press, 2013. Nonetheless, the c.v. possesses the charm of being the original words chosen by Hirschman to market himself back when he was just one of dozens of European economist émigrés looking for steady work.

Thanks to Adelman’s book I learned (p. 203) that one of my Yale mentors, William Fellner, taught a general seminar on the principles of economics at Berkeley that Albert Hirschman took during his Rockefeller Foundation fellowship. Historically speaking, it’s a small world! 

__________________

O. Albert Hirschmann
1751 Highland Place
Berkeley, Calif.

CURRICULUM VITAE

I was born on April 7th, 1915, in Berlin. My nationality is Lithuanian. In 1932 I began to study law and economics at the University of Berlin. In April, 1933, I left for Paris, where I registered at the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (H.E.C.) and at the Institut de Statistiques de l’Université de Paris at the Sorbonne. In 1935 I had obtained the diplomas of both these institutions.

At the end of 1935, I went to England, in order to study for several months at the London School of Economics and Political Science under a scholarship granted to me by the International Student Service, which had already granted to me by the International Student Service, which had already helped me during my former studies. I had courses with Professors Robbins [1898-1984], T. E. Gregory [1890-1970] and B. A. Whale [Philip Barrett Whale, 1898-1950]. I worked in particular under Mr. Whale on French monetary policy since the stabilization of the Franc.

At the end of 1936, after a short stay at Paris, I applied for, and obtained a place as an assistant at the Institute of Statistics of the University of Trieste. I remained there until the middle of 1938, when I was compelled to return to Paris because of the anti-foreign and anti-semitic policy of the Fascist government. At Trieste, I worked under Professor P. Luzzatto-Fegiz [1900-1989]. I became much interested in Population Statistics and a part of my researches in this field was published in an article in the Giornale degli Economisti, January, 1938: “Nota su due recenti tavole di nuzialità della popolazione italiana.” (“A note on two recent nuptiality tables of the Italian population”.) I worked also on several problems of economic statistics and in particular on the statistics of the national income and of family budgets. At the same time I studied for my Doctor’s degree, which I obtained with the grade 120 points in a total of 120, in June, 1938. My thesis was a continuation and an expansion of the work on French monetary policy which I had begun at the London School of Economics. The thesis was to be printed in the Annals of the University, but this was rendered impossible by the subsequent political developments.

While still in Italy, during the first months of 1938, I tried to acquaint myself thoroughly with the Italian financial and economic situation. I finally sent an extensive report to Paris, which was published as a separate booklet, without naming the author, in June, 1938, by the Bulletin Quotidien de la Société d’Études et d’Informations Économiques, under the title: “Les Finances et l’Économie Italiennes – Situation actuelle et perspectives.” This report attracted some attention in Paris because by combining data from various sources I had thrown some light on the Italian economic and financial development which was surrounded by official secrecy. It was upon this report that Professor Charles Rist [1874-1955] offered me to collaborate in his Institut de Recherches Économiques et Sociales. Italy was my special field and from July, 1938, to April, 1940, I wrote regularly three-monthly reports on Italian economic development in L’Activité Économique, which was the publication of the Institute.

I also wrote a small booklet for the above named Bulletin Quotidian on the subject: “L’Industrie Textile Italienne et l’Autarcie.”

In November, 1938, Professor J. B. Condliffe [1891-1981], who was then acting as the director of studies for the International Studies Conference at Bergen, and in this capacity was organizing an international inquiry into the national systems of exchange control, entrusted me with the preparation of a report on the exchange control system of Italy. I also worked on other problems in connection with the Conference and, in particular, devised a new method of measuring the tendency toward bilateralism as completely distinct from the tendency towards equilibrium of foreign trade. Professor Condliffe encouraged me to write a small paper on this idea, and thus I presented two reports at the international Studies Conference at Bergen in 1939: (1) “Le Contrôle des Changes en Italie”—a report of ninety mimeographed pages by the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, which for various reasons was not signed, (2) “Étude Statistique de la Tendance du Commerce International [extérieur] Vers l’Équilibre et le Bilatéralisme”—a shorter paper also mimeographed and signed. A recent publication of the U.S. Tariff Commission on “Italian Commercial Policy (1922 – 1940)” has made an extensive use of my report on Italian Exchange Control, whereas Professor Condliffe has quoted my figures on bilateralism in his book “The Reconstruction of World Trade”.

I had registered as a volunteer for the French Army in case of war, in April, 1939. I was called as early as August, 1939. The stationary character of the war gave me the opportunity to prepare still two reports on the Italian economy, the necessary source-material being sent from Paris. After the armistice, in July, 1940, I was demobilized at Nîmes, in Southern France. From there I went to Marseilles, where I met Mr. Varian Fry [1907-1967], who had been sent to Marseilles by the Emergency Rescue Committee in order to evacuate political and intellectual refugees from France. I collaborated with him from August to December, 1940, when, upon the recommendation of Professor Condliffe, I obtained a Rockefeller fellowship, and thereupon the American visa. I arrived in this country on January 14, 1941.

After a short stay in the East, I went to the University of California at Berkeley to work in connection with a research project on Foreign Trade, directed by Professor Condliffe. Soon after my arrival at Berkeley, I met my wife and we were married in June 1941.

My original research plan was to give a statistical analysis of recent quantitative trends in world trade and my first months were spent in working out the specific problems which I intended to study. I wrote several papers on the measurement of concentration and related subjects in descriptive statistics which I hope to publish either as appendices to my main manuscript or as separate journal articles. The next step in my research was to apply the statistical methods which I had worked out to the foreign trade statistics. This required extensive calculations for which Professor Condliffe put an assistant at my disposal. I also participated in several graduate seminars and took a course in the theory of probability.

Upon the renewal of the Rockefeller fellowship for another year and after a two months illness during the winter of 1941-1942, I began to work at the theoretical and historical aspects of the problems which I had first studied from a purely quantitative point of view. The result of my research has now been embodied in a manuscript of 300 pages entitled “National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade”, of which only the concluding section remains to be written.

Professors Howard S. Ellis [1898-1992] and Condliffe have given me the assurance that the manuscript would be published by a series edited by the newly established Bureau of Economic and Business Research of the University of California. One chapter of the manuscript giving a new statistical analysis of the composition of world trade according to commodity groups, is somewhat loosely connected with the rest and it has been suggested to me to have it published as a separate article. The Rockefeller Foundation has granted me the expenses for a trip to the Middle West and East on which I have just had the opportunity to discuss my manuscript with Professor Viner [1892-1970] at Chicago, Professors Haberler [1900-1995] and Staley [Eugene Alvah Staley (1906-1989) was at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy] at Harvard, Professors Staudinger [1889-1980] and Lowe [1893-1995] at the New School of Social Research and with Professor Loveday [1888-1962] and Mr. [Folke] Hilgerdt [1894-1956] of the Economic Intelligence Service of the League at Princeton.

As a result of my training, I have acquired a certain specialization in statistical methods on the one hand and in the field of international economics on the other (theory and history of international trade, international monetary problems, exchange control, foreign trade statistics, etc.) Through my work in Europe I am well acquainted, in particular, with the economic problems of Italy and France.

Having studied for prolonged periods in Germany, France and Italy, I speak and write with complete fluency the languages of these countries. I also have a reading knowledge of Spanish.

 

Source:  Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950. Box 5, Folder “H”.

Image Source: Albert O. Hirschman before he was dispatched to North Africa, circa 1943. From Michele Alacevich’s Introduction to “Albert Hirschman and the Social Sciences: A Memorial Round-Table” posted July 25, 2015.