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Economists Fields Harvard

Harvard. Thirteen Economics Ph.D. Examinees, 1908-09.

 

 

This posting lists the five graduate students in economics who took their subject examinations for the Ph.D. at Harvard from March 12 through May 21, 1908. The examination committee members, academic history, general and specific subjects are provided along with the doctoral thesis subject, when declared. Lists for 1903-04, 1904-05, 1905-06, 1907-08, 1915-16, and 1926-27 were posted previously. In the same archival box one finds lists for the academic years 1902-03 through 1904-05, 1906-07 through 1913-14, 1915-16, 1917-18 through 1918-19, and finally 1926-27. I only include graduate students of economics (i.e. not included are the Ph.D. candidates in history and government).

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

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

1908-09

Edmund Thornton Miller.

General Examination in Economics, January 7, 1909.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Taussig, Gay, Sprague, and Mitchell.
Academic History: University of Texas, 1897-1901; Harvard Graduate School, 1902-03, 1907-09; A.B. (University of Texas) 1900; A.M. (ibid) 1901; A.M. (Harvard) 1903. Instructor in Political Science, University of Texas, 1904-; Austin Teaching Fellow (Harvard), 1908-09.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History to 1750. 3. Economic History since 1750. 4. Money, Banking and Transportation. 5. Public Finance and Financial History. 6. History of American Institutions.
Special Subject: Public Finance and the Financial History of the United States since 1789.
Thesis Subject: “The Financial History of Texas.” (With Professor Bullock.)

 

Charles Edward Persons.

General Examination in Economics, February 25, 1909.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Carver, Gay, MacDonald, and Ripley.
Academic History: Cornell College (Iowa), 1898-1903; Harvard Graduate School, 1904-05, 1906-09; A.B. (Cornell College) 1903; A.M. (Harvard) 1905. Instructor in Economics at Wellesley College, 1908-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History to 1750. 3. Economic History from 1750. 4. Sociology and Social Reform. 5. Transportation and Foreign Commerce. 6. History of American Institutions.
Special Subject: Industrial History of the United States.
Thesis Subject: “The History of the Ten-Hour Law in Massachusetts.” (With Professor Taussig.)

 

Frank Richardson Mason.

Special Examination in Economics, May 3, 1909.
General Examination passed May 8, 1907.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Bullock, Ripley, Mitchell, and Sprague.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1901-05; Harvard Graduate School, 1905-08; A.B. (Harvard) 1905; A.M. (ibid) 1906. Austin Teaching Fellow (Harvard), 1906-08.
Special Subject: Economic History of the United States.
Thesis Subject: “The Silk Industry in America.” (With Professor Taussig.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Taussig, Bullock, and Sprague.

 

Robert Franz Foerster.

Special Examination in Economics, May 12, 1909.
General Examination passed May 21, 1908.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Peabody, Carver, Ripley, and Bullock.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1902-05; University of Berlin, 1905-06 (Winter Semester); Harvard Graduate School, 1906-09; A.B. (Harvard) 1906. Assistant in Social Ethics (Harvard), 1908-09.
Special Subject: Labor Problems.
Thesis Subject: “Emigration from Italy, with special reference to the United States.” (With Professor Taussig.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Taussig, Ripley, and Gay.

 

David Frank Edwards.

General Examination in Economics, May 13, 1909.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Carver, Ripley, MacDonald, Mitchell, and Sprague.
Academic History: Ohio Wesleyan University, 1899-1903; Harvard Graduate School, 1905-06; A. B. (Ohio Wesleyan) 1903; A.M. (Harvard) 1906. Teacher, High School of Commerce (Boston), 1907-.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization (and Social Reform). 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. 4. Commercial Geography and Foreign Commerce. 5. Transportation and Foreign Commerce. 6. History of American Institutions.
Special Subject: International Trade and Tariff Problems.
Thesis Subject: “The Glass Industry in the United States.” (With Professor Taussig.)

 

Harley Leist Lutz.

General Examination in Economics, May 14, 1909.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Carver, Gay, MacDonald, and Sprague.
Academic History: Oberlin College, 1904-07; Harvard Graduate School, 1907-09; A. B. (Oberlin) 1907; A.M. (Harvard) 1908. Assistant (Oberlin), 1906-07; Austin Teaching Fellow (Harvard), 1908-09.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History to 1750, with especial reference to England. 3. Sociology and Social Reform. 4. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. 5. Public Finance and Financial History. 6. History of American Institutions.
Special Subject: Public Finance and Financial History of the United States.
Thesis Subject: “State Control over the Assessment of Property for Local Taxation.” (With Professor Bullock.)

 

Joseph Stancliffe Davis.

General Examination in Economics, May 17, 1909.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Carver, Bullock, Ripley, Mitchell, and Dr. Tozzer.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1904-08; Harvard Graduate School, 1908-09; A. B. (Harvard) 1908; Assistant in Economics (Harvard) 1908-09.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Sociology and Social Progress. 4. Money, Banking, and Industrial Organization. 5. History of American Institutions, especially since 1783. 6. Anthropology, especially Ethnology.
Special Subject: Corporations (Industrial Organization).
Thesis Subject: “The Policy of New Jersey toward Business Corporations.” (With Professor Bullock.)

 

James Ford.

Special Examination in Economics, May 19, 1909.
General Examination passed May 16, 1906.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Peabody, Ripley, Taussig, and Bullock.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1901-04; Harvard Graduate School, 1904-06, 1907-09; A.B. (Harvard) 1905; A.M. (ibid) 1906. Robert Treat Paine Travelling Fellow, 1906-07; Assistant, Social Ethics (Harvard), 1907-09.
Special Subject: Social Reform (Socialism, Communism, Anarchism).
Thesis Subject: “Distributive and Productive Coöperative Societies in New England.” (With Professor Carver.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Carver, Peabody, and Taussig.

 

Edmund Ezra Day.

Special Examination in Economics, May 20, 1909.
General Examination passed May 23, 1907.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Taussig, Ripley, Munro, and Mr. Parker.
Academic History: Dartmouth College, 1901-06; Harvard Graduate School, 1906-07, 1908-09; S.B. (Dartmouth) 1905; A.M. (ibid) 1906. Instructor in Economics, Dartmouth College, 1907-.
Special Subject: Public Finance and Financial History of the United States since 1789.
Thesis Subject: “The History of the General Property Tax in Massachusetts.” (With Professor Bullock.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock, Taussig, and Ripley.

 

Clyde Orval Ruggles.

General Examination in Economics, May 20, 1909.
Committee: Professors Ripley (chairman), Carver, Taussig, Gay, and MacDonald.
Academic History: Hedrick Normal School, 1895-96; Iowa State Normal School and Teachers’ College of Iowa, 1901-06; State University of Iowa, 1906-07; Harvard Graduate School, 1907-09; A. B. (Teachers’ College) 1906; A.M. (State Univ.) 1907.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Sociology and Social Reform. 3. Statistics. 4. Economic History to 1750, with especial reference to England. 5. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. 6. History of American Institutions.
Special Subject: Money and Banking.
Thesis Subject: “The Greenback Movement with especial Reference to Wisconsin and Iowa.” (With Professors Andrew and Mitchell.)

 

Edmund Thornton Miller.

Special Examination in Economics, May 21, 1909.
General Examination passed January 7, 1909.
Committee: Professors Bullock (chairman), Taussig, Mitchell, and Sprague.
Committee on Thesis: Professors Bullock, Taussig, and Mitchell.
(See first item for Academic History etc.)

 

Emil Sauer.

General Examination in Economics, May 21, 1909.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Carver, Gay, Mitchell, Munro, and Ripley.
Academic History: University of Texas, 1900-03, 1904-05; Harvard Graduate School, 1907-09; Litt.B. (University of Texas) 1903; A.M. (Harvard) 1908.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Statistics. 4. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. 5. Transportation and Industrial Organization. 6. History of American Institutions.
Special Subject: Economic History of the United States.
Thesis Subject: “The Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 and the Relations between the United States and Hawaii, 1875-1900.” (With Professor Taussig.)

 

Charles Edward Persons.

Special Examination in Economics, May 24, 1909.
General Examination passed February 25, 1909.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Peabody, Bullock, Ripley, and Sprague.
Committee on Thesis: Professors Taussig, Bullock, and Ripley.
(See second item for Academic History etc.)

 

Carl William Thompson.

General Examination in Economics, June 2, 1909.
Committee: Professors Carver (chairman), Taussig, Sprague, Ripley, Cole, and MacDonald.
Academic History: Valparaiso College, 1899-1901; University of South Dakota, 1902-03; Harvard Graduate School, 1903-04; A.B. (Valparaiso) 1901; B.O. (ibid) 1901; A.B. (South Dakota) 1903; A.M. (ibid.) 1903; A.M. (Harvard) 1904. Professor of Economics and Sociology, University of South Dakota.
General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Sociology and Social Reform. 3. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises. 4. Transportation and Foreign Commerce. 5. Labor Problems and Industrial Organization.. 6. History of American Institutions.
Special Subject: (undecided).
Thesis Subject: (undecided.)

 

Arthur Norman Holcombe.

Special Examination in Economics, June 7, 1909.
General Examination passed April 8, 1907.
Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Ripley, Bullock, Cole, and Munro.
Academic History: Harvard College, 1902-06; Harvard Graduate School, 1906-09; A.B. (Harvard) 1906; Assistant in Economics (Harvard), 1906-07; Rogers Travelling Fellow, 1907-09
Special Subject: Public Service Industries.
Thesis Subject: ”The Telephone Situation.” (with Professor Taussig.)
Committee on Thesis: Professors Taussig, Ripley, and Munro.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examinations for the Ph.D. (HUC 7000.70), Folder “Examinations for the Ph.D. 1908-09”.

Image Source:  Harvard Gate, ca. 1899. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540.

Categories
Bibliography Harvard Suggested Reading

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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REPLACES GUESS WORK BY ACCURATE FORECASTS

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

Harvard Crimson, October 22, 1923

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

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

Persons Discusses Business Cycles

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

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

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

Discusses Development of Service

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Enrollment in Economics 37, Commercial Crises 1923-24

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

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

 

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

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

Persons
Business Cycles (37)
1923-1924

Oct. 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oct. 4

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

Oct. 9

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

Oct. 11

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

Oct. 16

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

Oct. 18

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

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

Oct. 23

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oct. 30

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

Nov. 20
Bibliography for reports:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dec. 11

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

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

THEORIES OF BUSINESS CYCLES

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

Dec. 18

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

  1. Alford
  2. Allen
  3. Fetter

Dec. 20

See Veblen’s new book:

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

Jan. 3

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

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

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

Jan. 5

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

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

Jan. 8

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

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

Jan.10

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

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

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

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

  1. Opie
  2. Smith, D.B.

Jan. 12

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

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

Report by Taber on:

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

Jan. 15

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

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

Jan. 15

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

  1. Taber
  2. Miss Bacon
  3. Miss Freudenthal

Jan. 17, 19, 22

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Index of Trade—April, 1923  [8].

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

Image Source: Harvard Class Album, 1920.

Categories
Economists Harvard

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

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

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

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

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DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

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

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

James Ackley Maxwell.

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

Kan Lee.

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

Donald Wood Gilbert.

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

Arthur William Marget.

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

Richard Vincent Gilbert.

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

Melvin Gardner deChazeau.

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

Donald Milton Erb.

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

Douglass Vincent Brown.

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

Mark Anson Smith.

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

Lauchlin Bernard Currie.

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

Harry Dexter White.

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

Margaret Randolph Gay.

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

(Mary) Gertrude Brown.

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

Eric Englund.

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

Walter Edwards Beach.

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

Ram Ganesh Deshmukh.

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

Charles Donald Jackson.

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

Elmer Joseph Working.

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

Gardiner Coit Means.

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

Bishop Carleton Hunt.

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

Edward Hastings Chamberlin.

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

Christopher Roberts.

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

Clayton Crowell Bayard.

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

Dorothy Carolin Bacon.

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

 

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

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

Categories
Courses Harvard

Harvard. Harvard Crimson Economics Course Guides, 1927-1938

The Harvard Crimson regularly published “Confidential Guides” to classes. The Crimson on-line archive is easy to search and I’ve selected some of the economics courses that were reviewed. I have added enrollment figures and staffing from the annual reports of the Presidents of Harvard. The coverage is spotty, but maybe I get lucky and find other course guides later.

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1926-27
 Harvard Crimson, December 6, 1927.

Economics 7b
Second semester, 1926-27
[Dr. Mason.—Programs of Social Reconstruction]

This course, originally intended as a small, intimate course on the socialist economists, when given for the first time last year, proved too popular to be labelled as small. Its intimate nature however was retained through Mr. Mason.

One of the youthful prodigies of the Economics department, with an Oxford education behind him, Mr. Mason conducts the course along lines that are wholly enjoyable. Informal lectures—you may interrupt any time you wish—are the backbone of the course, but there are also occasional sessions devoted to a general class room discussion, with the conservative students standing off their more radical colleagues and with Mr. Mason holding the scales.

Examinations are few and far between, and when given display a broadness not displeasing to the student who is taking the course as a study of history rather than as a study of economics.

Enrollment: Economics 7b
Second semester, 1926-27

Total 81: 4 Graduates, 44 Seniors, 23 Juniors, 6 Sophomores, 4 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1926-27, p. 75.

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1928-29
Harvard Crimson, December 11, 1929.

Economics 4b
Second semester, 1928-29
[Professor A. S. Dewing and Dr. Opie. Economics of Corporations]

Professor Dewing has written a book on the Financial Policy of Corporations which is so formidable that it may scare off the average undergraduate who does not know that Professor Dewing’s lecture delivery is one of the least puzzling in the College. Most undergraduates on the first day of the course look wildly around for the nearest exit, convinced that they have wandered into a philosophy lecture. Bailing his trap with a summary of the corporation from Rome to the present day. Professor Dewing has the class following him, at a distance of several sea leagues, by the third lecture. Then he hops briskly to the present time, and proceeds to probe into the motives of the business man. The wheels of the large corporation, the relative advantages of the various forms of business enterprise, the actions of the stock market and the types of securities, in rapid-fire succession. Even future professors of Sanskrit, now undergraduates, would do well to take this course in order to learn where their breakfast bacon comes from, and why Bacon, Preferred sells around 30 these days. Dr. Opie will alternate with Professor Dewing, and what Professor Dewing does for the corporation’s past, Dr. Opie may be expected to do for its future, showing how modern trends to consolidation have not yet run their course.

Enrollment: Economics 4b
Second semester, 1928-29

Total 187: 12 Graduates, 56 Seniors, 104 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 3 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1928-29, p. 72.

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Economics 6a
Second semester, 1928-29
[Dr. C. E. Persons. Trade Unionism and Allied Problems]

For those who are interested in the ever present problems arising from the conflict between capital and labor, Economics 6a presents an admirable summary of the most vital issues. This course, given by Professor Ripley for many years, was taken over by Professor Persons of Boston University last year. The latter instructor, however, was called to Washington this fall to take up a government position as an expert on the question of unemployment, and to date no successor has been announced for the course.

Regardless of whom the instructor may be, the subject matter of the course dealing with strikes, governmental control of labor policies, arbitration, unemployment, and other problems closely associated with the labor question should prove valuable to all who have any interest in current problems. For those who think courses in Economics too theoretical, Economics 6a is an excellent corrective, for throughout the half year, one is constantly finding instances in the daily newspapers with which the week’s work is directly concerned. For those concentrating in labor problems, the course is indispensable, since it takes in a wide field which would take many hours to cover in tutorial conferences.

Enrollment: Economics 6a
Second semester, 1928-29

Total 50: 1 Graduates, 22 Seniors, 21 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 3 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1928-29, p. 72.

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Economics 7b
Second semester, 1928-29
[Asst. Professor Mason. Programs of Social Reconstruction]

This course on the various programs for social reconstruction limits itself to fairly modern times. No undergraduate alive, whether he was born a little Lib-e-ral or a little Conserve-a-tive, can afford to be ignorant of the social ferment which goes on in the world around him, and threatens to involve him as employer or employee, taxpayer or taxpayer in our time. This course will not introduce him to the manifestations of these doctrines now current in Harbin or in Gastonia, but it will enable him to learn something of the ideas held by anarchists, social-[incomplete]

Enrollment: Economics 7b
Second semester, 1928-29

Total 77: 6 Graduates, 38 Seniors, 27 Juniors, 1 Freshman, 5 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1928-29, p. 72.

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1929-30
Harvard Crimson, September 22, 1930.

Economics A
1929-30
[Prof. Burbank and Asst. Prof. Chamberlin, & Assistants. Principles of Economics]

The problem of how to introduce students to the subject of economics is admirably met in ec A. Of all the large survey courses in the undergraduate curriculum, ec A is perhaps the best organized and the most ably conducted.

Facts as such play a very small part in this course; it is much more a systematic method of thinking that the student must master; reasoning power, not memory, is necessary in order to understand and succeed in ec A. By this one should not understand that no work is required, that all one needs to do to get a good grade, is to go to quizzes once a month and exercise his reasoning power. Not at all; reasoning power and concentration are quite as necessary in studying the principles of economics as they are in answering questions on examinations.

The one really serious criticism of the course, in this reviewer’s opinion, lies in its failure to impress upon the student that Professor Taussig’s book which serves as the text book and foundation of all the work done, is not an economic bible. The general opinion of most students after taking ec A is that the last word on questions economic has been spoken, that the final truth is known and that Professor Taussig is the interpreter thereof. If they continue with the study of economics and learn that Taussig’s “Principles” is only a comparatively minor product of a particular school of though, they will probably be more than a little surprised and their view of economics as a study will undergo considerable revision.

Enrollment: Economics A
1929-30

Total 498: 2 Graduates, 41 Seniors, 123 Juniors, 270 Sophomores, 24 Freshmen, 38 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1929-30, p. 77.

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Economics 3
1929-30
[Professor Williams. Money, Banking, and Commercial Crises]

This is a course which will be taken sooner or later by practically all men concentrating in economics. Money, banking, and financial crises are all subjects which despite their complexity necessarily demand some consideration from all who aspire to have anything approaching a working knowledge of economics.

It may be gathered from what has been said above that (1) Economics 3 is a large course with students of all degrees of ability enrolled in it, and (2) that it deals with subjects which are far from satisfactorily solved and which are difficult even for advanced students of economics. Corrolary: Economics 3 is conducted in a very slow and deliberate fashion; it tends toward oversimplification; and the lectures remind one of one’s preparatory school days in their careful topical organization and their constant repetition.

Professor Williams, however, has chosen the only practicable method of getting the subjects over and is to be congratulated on the general success of his system.

A parting word to embryonic bankers might not be out of place here. Economics 3 deals with theory almost exclusively and will be of very little assistance in getting a job as a clerk next summer.

Enrollment: Economics 3
1929-30

Total 176: 2 Graduates, 67 Seniors, 88 Juniors, 12 Sophomores, 7 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1929-30, p. 77.

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1932-33
Harvard Crimson, April 18, 1933.

Economics A
1932-33
[Professor Burbank, Asst. Prof. Chamberlin, Frickey, and Ham & Assistants, Principles of Economics]

Economics A is the whole field of Economics in microcosm; it is a study of the economic problem. So much land, labor, and instruments are available. Men must eat. But they want to do more than that. How can they use the available tools to produce the largest amount of what they most want? The problem requires much thought and discussion, and there are many different solutions. Capitalism, Socialism, Communism are but attempts to solve it.

The facts treated in Economics A are closely related to the business world. But while the business man is mainly concerned with particular costs, selling methods, and profits, the economist tries to put all the general facts in the proper sequence and order of importance. He talks about prices in general, the national income, and the distribution of that income among individuals. The student gains more than the ability to talk glibly about tariffs, money standards, and the business cycle. In seeking the essence of economic life he has developed a method of thought.

The textbook used in the course, Taussig’s Principles, is in many places out of date and seems unduly simple in the light of conflicting theories. Wherever possible, the Department is trying to supplement it with other reading. The course is conducted wholly in sections, probably the best method in a subject of this kind. Obviously everything depends on the instructors, and for the most part they are among the best in the University. Their task is made difficult by the necessity of trying to satisfy both those men who are content with the broad outlines of the work and those who desire a more detailed discussion. It has been suggested that more honor sections be formed; and that they be organized after November hours. If this were done and if more Freshmen were admitted to the course, men concentrating in Economics could get an early and thorough start in the subject, other men would be better satisfied, and tutors might start their work more effectively in the sophomore year.

In general it may be said that Economics. A is not a difficult course for the student endowed with ordinary intelligence. The value of the subject is undisputed. As an instructor in another course remarked during the Hoover administration, “The great trouble with Congress is that it is composed of men who have never taken History 1 or Economics A.”

Enrollment: Economics A
1932-33

Total 390: 18 Seniors, 109 Juniors, 224 Sophomores, 23 Freshmen, 16 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1932-33, p. 65.

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Economics 3
1932-33
[Prof. Williams and Schumpeter, and Dr. Currie. Money, Banking and Commercial Crises]

In Economics 3 the instructors are faced with the uniquely difficult task of explaining the intricacies of “Money and Banking” with not a few words on foreign trade. The course requires a thesis although certain Seniors are exempt.

Professor Williams is undoubtedly not only an authority of world reputation and an excellent lecturer, but a sympathetic teacher. There is, however, the chance that he may be called away next year. Although his absence would be a serious blow to the course, indication is that the course would still be in capable hands.

It is fortunate that, in such a difficult course, the sections conducted by Dr. Currie should be such as to clear up the problems of the individual student, add to the knowledge of the group as a whole, and attain timeliness and interest throughout.

Enrollment: Economics 3
1932-33

Total 151: 32 Seniors, 103 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 7 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1932-33, p. 65.

**********************

Economics 4
1932-33
[Assoc. Prof. Mason, Asst. Prof. Chamberlin, Dr. Wallace. Monopolistic Industries and their Regulation]

Economics 4, run on the plan of two lectures and one section a week, deals with railroads, corporations, and government control of industry. The course is conducted by Associate Professor E. S. Mason, Assistant Professor E. H. Chamberlin, and Mr. D. H. Wallace.

The subject matter of the course has a contemporary and living significance that has as much primary interest as it is possible to find in the Economics Department. This timeliness has been intelligently capitalized with out sacrificing scholarship.

The reading, while it seems extensive, has great variety and has been excellently chosen. The lectures are well coordinated with it and at the same time avoid repetition. The lectures themselves vary, but on the whole, are fair enough. They can be expected to show considerable improvement, as this is the first year they have been delivered by the men in charge. One gets the impression that Chamberlin and Mason are more interesting than some of their presentations would indicate.

Enrollment: Economics 4
1932-33

Total 155: 5 Graduates, 30 Seniors, 104 Juniors, 14 Sophomores, 2 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1932-33, p. 65.

**********************

Economics 50 [sic, Economics 38]
1932-33
[Prof. Williams and Schumpeter. Principles of Money and of Banking]

Very much the same general remarks apply to Economics 50 as to Economics 3, also reviewed in this Confidential Guide. The course is more advanced and goes considerably deeper into the fundamental aspects of money and business cycles as well as international trade. Professor Williams is always stimulating and clear-headed, while in this course he has opportunities for exercising his extraordinary critical ability to a far greater degree than in the elementary course.

Such controversial subjects as the monetary and cycle theories of Hawtrey, Keynes, Hayes and Foster and Catchings are treated at length; while much light is also thrown on the mechanism and control of credit, and international trade in general. It would be rash to go further into the subject matter of the course for monetary theory and practice are in such a state of rapid development that next year may find a new set of problems which will call for new treatment. It can, however, be confidently concluded that if such changes do occur Professor Williams, to a greater degree than most economists, will not be restrained by dogma and tradition from treating the new conditions in a spirit both open-minded and critical [incomplete]

Enrollment: Economics 38
1932-33

Total 61: 36 Graduates, 16 Seniors, 1 Junior, 8 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1932-33, p. 66.

___________________________________________

1934-35
Harvard Crimson, April 23, 1934.

Economics A
1934-35
[Prof. Burbank, Asst. Profs. Chamberlin, Frickey, and Ham, and Assistants. Principles of Economics]

Since the purposes of Economics A is to teach the beginner the economic way of thinking, economic questions of the day are considered in a purely subsidiary light. It is the general outlines of economic theory, rather than the details of its structure, which are presented the student. Although he may develop during the year the desired line of attack, he is apt to feel that he has learned less about economics than he wished.

That Economics A is an introductory course, and a difficult one to administer, should be kept in mind. Nevertheless, it would seem that the economic way of thinking might be brought home more vividly by applying it directly to the questions facing the country today.

Long experiment has determined that the course shall consist of three section meetings a week. Since it is the section man who guides the discussions, a great deal depends on his calibre. The reading, though rather difficult for a beginner, is of reasonable length and easily handled.

Enrollment: Economics A
1934-35

Total 498: 38 Seniors, 174 Juniors, 262 Sophomores, 21 Freshmen, 3 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1934-35, p. 80.

___________________________________________

1937-38
Harvard Crimson, May 31, 1938

Economics [as Field of Concentration]

Economics is the center around which our present civilization revolves; some even claim that all human history has been determined fundamentally by economic forces. Almost every occupation fits into the economic structure, and for certain ones like government and business, a knowledge of the economic structure is essential. The field of Economics increased 20 per cent from 1935-36 to 1937-38 and is now the largest in College with 477 concentrators.

From the nature and aims of the field it is obvious that it might better be entitled Political Economy, for every course tends to emphasize the fact that economics cannot be separated from politics. Through full courses on various special subjects like Public Finance and Utilities a broad survey of the subject is attempted, and although each course is designed to include the major problems existent today, it is of course impossible for them to provide the answers. Thus, the field does not intend to offer practical value–in the narrow vocational sense, since it feels that practical training should be obtained after College in places like the Business School. Instead, it offers a thorough theoretical background of economics useful in any business career.

A student who does not want to concentrate in Economics but desires an auxiliary foothold in the subject would do best to combine the theory of Economics A [Principles of Economics] with the more specific material in Economics 41, on Money and Banking.

Concentrators in Economics will have to pass in the spring of their Junior year a general examination in the department of Economics, and in the spring of their Senior year an examination correlating Economics with either History or Government (this correlating exam may be abolished by 1942), and a third one on the student’s special field, which is chosen from a list of eleven, including economic theory, economic history, money and banking, industry, public utilities, public finance, labor problems, international economics, policies and agriculture.

Courses in allied fields, including Philosophy, Mathematics, History, Government, and Sociology, are suggested by the department for each of the special fields. In addition, Geography 1 is recommended in connection with international policies or agriculture.

According to members, there has not been enough organization of tutorial work. In preparing men for their Junior divisionals the tutors have each gone off on independent tacks, often haphazardly. A list of books drawn up by the Board of Tutors for each special field, large enough to allow the student a reasonable amount of choice and yet limited enough to assure both student and tutor that he is working in some prescribed direction, would remedy this situation. The tutors themselves are good, on the whole, and willing to give time to those students whose interest and ability warrant it.

Economics A is required for admittance into every advanced course, although there are a few which allow it to be taken at the same time. It is by no means too difficult for Freshmen, may be taken by them with the consent of the instructor, and concentrators urge all Freshmen who think they may go into the field to take this course during their first year. This will enable them to begin taking advanced courses their Sophomore year, as History and Government concentrators do, and thereby allow a much wider range of study during their last two years, both in courses and in tutorial. History 1 and Government 1 are both required for concentration in Economics. The former should be taken Freshman year.

Of the two basic courses in theory Economics 1 [Economic Theory] is much better than the half year course 2a [Economic Theory (shorter course)], but it is open only to honors candidates. Professor Chamberlin lectures excellently in course 1, but there is still need for a half course such as 2a. Nearly all the advanced courses will be found worth while, but they cannot all be taken and must be chosen with the interests and the special field of the concentrator in mind. Course 21a [Introduction to Economic Statistics]was blamed for wasting the effort of Professor Frickey, for students claimed the material could be covered in less than a mouth. It is necessary for graduate work, and cannot be expected to be very interesting. Mason’s Economics 11a and b, on the history and economics of Socialism, while they are not well organized, represent–especially the history–a field which has been practically ignored in the social sciences, although it is listed as a special topic for the correlation exam–the History of Political and Economic Thought. A course on the History of Economic Theory is notably lacking, and the History of Socialism could well be matched with a History of Capitalism, Sociology 3 comes nearest to filling this gap now, but it leans less towards economics than towards social progress. Economics 36, on Economic History [1750-1914], is concerned with the material development of industry, railroads, etc. Hansen was liked in course 45a on Business Cycles, and the material covered in 43a and b [International Economic Relations] is valuable.

Expanding its labor instruction, the department will make Economics 81, on Labor Problems, a full course, to be given by Professor Slichter, Dr. Reynolds, and Mr. Pollard. Social security, as well as the economics of labor, will be taught.

 

 

 

Categories
Economists Harvard Transcript

Harvard. Coursework of Frank W. Fetter for A.M., 1923-24

Frank Whitson Fetter (born May 22, 1899 in San Francisco, CA; died July 7, 1991 in Hanover, NH). A.B. from Swarthmore College (1920), A.M. from Princeton (1922), also A.M. from Harvard (1924). Ph.D. from Princeton (1926). His father was Princeton economics professor Frank Albert Fetter.

During the course of his career Fetter taught at Princeton, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Dartmouth.

The 1942 copy of his A.M. course transcript below matches an undated transcript (or report card) from the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for the academic year 1923-24 found in the same folder at the Duke Economists’ Papers Project.

 

____________________________

[Course titles and instructors]

From Economics Group I, Economic Theory and Method

11 Professor Taussig — Economic Theory.

 

From Economics Group III: Applied Economics

37 1hf. Professor Persons — Commercial Crises

39 2hf. Asst. Professor Williams — International Finance

 

From Economics Group V: Course of Research in Economics

20 Professors Taussig, Carver, Ripley, Bullock, Young, and Persons — Economic Research

 

From History, Group IV. American History

17a 1hf. Professor Turner—The History of the West.

39 2hf. Professor Turner—History of the United States, 1880-1920.

Source: Harvard University Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College for 1923-24. History, p. 103; Economics, p. 107.

____________________________

Harvard University
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

24 University Hall, Cambridge, Massachusetts
November 30, 1942

Transcript of the record of Mr. Frank Whitson Fetter
1923-24

 

COURSE GRADE
Economics 11 (1 course)

A
Economics 20 (1 course)

A
Economics371 ( ½ course)

A
Economics 392( ½ course)

A minus
History 17a1 ( ½ course)

A minus
History 392 ( ½ course)

A

Mr. Fetter received the degree of Master of Arts in June, 1924.

The established grades are A, B, C, D, and E.

A grade of A, B, Credit, Satisfactory, or Excused indicates that the course was passed with distinction. Only courses passed with distinction may be counted toward a higher degree.

 

[signed] Lawrence S. Mayo
Associate Dean

 

Source: Duke University, Rubenstein Library. Frank Whitson Fetter Papers. Box 50, Folder “Student Papers, Transcripts, grades, Harvard University (1923-1924).

Image Source: (ca. 1937) John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.