Tag: Taussig

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Economists Fields Harvard

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

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

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

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

 

Charles Beardsley.

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

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

 

William Hyde Price.

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

 

George Randall Lewis.

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

 

David Hutton Webster.

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

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

 

Albert Benedict Wolfe.

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

 

Vanderveer Custis.

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

 

Chester Whitney Wright.

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

 

 

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

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

Categories
Agricultural Economics Economists Harvard

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

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

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

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

18. EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, PUBLICATIONS, ETC.

18(a). Chronological Record.

Education

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

 

Foreign Travel

Summer, 1931         Travel in 12 countries of Europe.

 

Employment (Part-time= *)

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

 

 

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

Graduate Courses at Harvard University

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The procedure was divided into four parts:

(1) Conditions in the livestock and meat markets.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

            (3) The RESULTS of these policies.

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

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

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

 

18(c). List of Publications

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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Hall of Distinguished Alumni
[University of Kentucky]

William Hord Nicholls

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Vanderbilt University Memorial

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

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

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

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

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

Categories
Courses Curriculum Harvard

Harvard. Expansion of Economics Course Offerings. 1883.

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The tripling of regular economics course offerings at Harvard in the early 1880’s attracted medium (they only had newspapers then, so I suppose the singular form is appropriate) attention as seen in the following story from the New York Evening Post (October 11, 1883) that was picked up by the Chicago Tribune (October 15, 1883).  The expansion in course offerings in political economy was announced in the Harvard Crimson on May 24, 1883.

Here are links to five earlier Harvard-related posts from this period at Economics in the Rear-View Mirror:

1874-77.
Three Economics Courses. Texts and exams
Courses in Political Economy

1881.
Economics. Two Course Reviews

1886.
Account of Graduate Department

1888-89.
Political Economy Courses

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POLITICAL ECONOMY AT HARVARD [1883].

Sketch of the Reorganized Department – Seven Courses of Study – Their Scope and Aim.
[Correspondence of the Evening Post.]

Cambridge, Mass., October 5. – The Department of Political Economy in Harvard College has undergone an enlargement and organization this year which marks a growing interest in the subject on the part of the students and a readiness on the part of the authorities to give encouragement and increased opportunity for its pursuit. For some years political economy was taught practically in two courses, an introductory one, which developed the principles of the English school, Mill being the author used, and an advanced course, which took up Cairnes’ Leading Principles of Political Economy, and discussed also banking and finance. Some years there were two introductory courses instead of one, but in that case they were alternative, and not supplementary. Last year the field treated was broadened by the addition of course, given by Dr. Laughlin, on the economic effects of land tenures in England, Ireland, France, Germany, and Russia; and this year the return of Professor Dunbar from his vacation in Europe, and the retention of both Dr. Laughlin, now assistant professor, and Mr. Taussig, has resulted in the expansion of the whole treatment into seven courses of study. A brief account of the scope and character of these courses is as follows:

First, there is one course intended to give familiarity with the leading principles of the science. Mill’s book is here used as a basis, but there are also lectures on banking and the critical review of the public finance of the United States, chiefly during and since the last war. The course aims to give that general knowledge which every educated man ought to have. For those, however, wish to attain a thorough mastery of the principles of economics, one course is not deemed sufficient. Consequently course 2 – a history of economic theory and a critical examination of leading writers – is given by Professor Dunbar. He will take up all the principal writers in England, France, Germany, and Italy, and will review other recent literature, including the work of Henry George. He intends us to develop a grasp upon the fundamental principles that will enable the student to do practical work of real value.

The other five subjects are designed to turn the attention of students to the historical and practical side, affording training in the use of books and sources, the collection of statistics, and the investigation of such public questions as constantly arise from year to year. They are as follows:

Course 3. Discussion of Practical Economic Questions. – The work will here be done in discussion of live questions of the day, and in written monographs upon subjects which most concern the economic interests of the United States, for example: The navigation laws and American shipping; bimetallism; reciprocity with Canada; advantages of Government issues of notes compared with those of national banks.

Course 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. This is in the form of lectures by Professor Dunbar, and will trace the economic effects of the great events in the history of the last 125 years.

Course 5. Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, and Germany; is the course which was introduced by Professor Laughlin last year, and which he gives again; the work is mostly in the form of written theses.

Course 6. History of Tariff Legislation in the United States, by Mr. Taussig; is a study of the tariff laws which the country has tried, and of the reasons for their passage or repeal. The scope of the course is best seen in the following useful syllabus:

I. 1789-1816: Tariff system adopted after the formation of the Constitution; Hamilton’s report; the state of the protective controversy before 1816; the beginnings of manufacturing industry.
II. 1816-1840: The American System; Henry Clay; the tariffs of 1824, 1828, 1832; the Compromise Tariff of 1833; the growth of manufactures; the economic effects of protection.
III. 1840-1860: The political tariffs of 1842 (protectionist); 1846 (free trade); the industrial progress of the country from 1846 to 1860.
IV. 1860-1883: The Civil War; the development of the existing tariff system; the revenue act of 1864; the tax-reducing acts of later years; the tariff revision of 1883.

Course 7. Comparison of the Financial Systems of France, England, Germany, and the United States; is conducted by Professor Dunbar. He will compare the systems adopted by these nations to provide themselves with revenues, and will direct the study to the economic principles underlying public finance and closely connected with the science of government.

 

Source: New York Evening Post, October 11, 1883, p. 2. Scan of the page at Historical Newspapers From The United States and Canada, Archives of the New York Evening Post Newspaper, pdf-page 0360.

Image Source: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. “Sever Hall, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, Mass.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1898 – 1931.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Economists Harvard Michigan

Harvard Alumnus. Zenas Clark Dickinson, Ph.D.1920.

The David A. Wells Prize for 1919-20 was awarded to Zenas Clark Dickinson (Harvard Ph.D., 1920) for his dissertation Economic Motives: A Study in the Psychological Foundations of Economic Theory, with some Reference to Other Social Sciences (Harvard University Press, 1922). In this posting we have the Ph.D. General Examination subjects for Dickinson along with biographical material from memorial minutes at the University of Michigan, where Dickinson had a long and distinguished career. 

__________________________

ZENAS CLARK DICKINSON
Ph.D. Examinations, Harvard

General Examination in Economics, Monday, May 15, 1916.

Committee: Professors Taussig (chairman), Gay, Yerkes, Day, and Dr. Burbank.

Academic History: University of Nebraska, 1910-14; Harvard Graduate School, 1914-. A.B., Nebraska, 1914.

General Subjects: 1. Economic Theory and its History. 2. Economic History since 1750. 3. Statistical Method and its Application. 4. Public Finance. 5. Psychology. 6. Suitable Field in Economic Theory and its History, with special reference to Psychology.

Special Subject: Suitable Field in Economic Theory.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Box: “Examinations for the Ph.D.” (HUC 7000.70). Division of History, Government, and Economics. Examinations for the Degree of Ph.D., 1915-16.

__________________________

Memorial

Zenas Clark Dickinson
LSA Minutes
Clark Dickinson (1889-1966)

Zenas Clark Dickinson, Professor Emeritus of Economics, died on March 22, 1966, in his seventy-seventh year. His had been a rounded career of varied and notably faithful service to the University, of recognized research and publication, and of considerable public activity. He retired in 1958.

He was born August 9, 1889, on a farm near Atkinson, Nebraska, the eldest son of Zenas and Nellie Bungor Dickinson. After a schooling interrupted by four years of job-holding in Lincoln, he finished high school in that city in 1910, and in 1914 received his A. B. from the University of Nebraska, with Phi Beta Kappa key. Fellowships at Harvard, with service as assistant in Economics and tutor in the Division of History, Government, and Economics, together with wartime connections in Massachusetts, carried him through his graduate years, with a doctorate in 1920. He had already joined the Economics staff at the University of Minnesota as assistant professor in 1919, and he came to Michigan as associate professor in 1923. His professorship followed in 1929.

He had married Jean Sullivan of Broken Bow, Nebraska, in 1916, and two sons were born to this union, Philip Clark, now of Groose Pointe Farms, and Thomas Lynn of Ann Arbor. There are six grandchildren. Mrs Dickinson died in 1946, and in 1949 he married Dr. Eleanor Smith of Ann Arbor, who survives.

Professor Dickinson’s first main scholarly interest was in the application of psychology to economics, and he pioneered in this area. His doctoral thesis, which won the David A. Wells prize at Harvard, was published in 1922 under the title Economic Motives, which he described as “a study in the psychological foundations of economics, with some reference to the other social sciences.” In negotiating with Chairman Edmund E. Day respecting his Michigan appointment, he wrote that he was interested in teaching economic theory, with attention to its psychological facets, and labor economics, with emphasis on the “psychological problems of work.” Somewhat later, in responding to an inquiry about him from a manufacturer who was seeking an industrial psychologist, Professor Day described him as “one of the very ablest men in the field of his specialization. I know of no one,” he wrote, “who brings such a combination of interests to our subject.” Articles and pamphlets in this area dealt variously with psychological developments in economics, educational guidance and vocational placement, suggestion systems in industry, quantitative research methods, and industrial research in general. His substantial volume Compensating Industrial Effort appeared in 1937.

Even before his graduate studies he had written on the Nebraska scheme of guaranteeing bank deposits, and one article appeared as early as 1914 in the Quarterly Journal of Economics. His work during his graduate years with the Massachusetts Commission on Public Safety and the United States Food Administration involved considerable writing and editing. At a later stage his interest turned to the evolving labor movement of the 1930’s and to related problems and policies, and in 1941 he completed his large study Collective Wage Determination, written “with special reference to American collective bargaining, arbitration, and legislation.” His other writing at this time dealt particularly with wage theory and policy.

In substantial degree he became a practitioner also in this area. In 1939 and 1943, under the Wages and Hours Administration, he carried out assignments in setting standards in various industries. During 1943-45 he was active under the War Labor Board in the settlement of industrial disputes in the Detroit district, and he continued in mediation and arbitration work for a number of years. Later he estimated that he had written the reports in forty to fifty cases in which he had acted.

In the Department’s teaching program Professor Dickinson’s activity reflected his range of interests. At the outset he handled the large undergraduate course in labor problems, but he turned shortly to teaching of a more specialized and advanced character, He taught courses in economic theory and, over a long period, in the history of economic doctrine; in the development of economic institutions and in economic reform and the features of different systems, an early interest of his; likewise in consumer economics, with parallel participation in a local cooperative enterprise. He turned easily to a variety of fields, and he did so willingly as need arose, even adding courses to a normal program. He was at his best with small groups; and a number of graduate students were privileged to work closely with him in his research, With his students his relationship was personal and close.

In unusual degree he was interested in the Economics Department and its people, and his devotion to it was manifest in many ways. When a history of the Department was needed for Wilfred Shaw’s The University of Michigan, An Encyclopedic Survey (1941), he was naturally the one to do it; and his great admiration during his early years here for Professor F. M. Taylor, the Department’s distinguished economic theorist, led him much later to undertake an extensive study of Taylor’s life and work, chapters of which appeared in the Michigan Alumnus’s Quarterly Review. The I. L. Sharfman Fellowship Fund might almost be viewed as a memorial to his promotional effort, and contributions to it at his death were generous.

Within the University but outside the Department, Professor Dickinson had his share of assignments. He served on the Administrative Board of the College, on the Executive Board of the Graduate School, on the University Council, on the Committee on Scholarly Publications, on the Lecture Committee, His notable erudition gave him special value in library matters; and, beside his long handling of Department acquisitions, he served on committees both for the General and the Clements libraries. In 1944 he prepared a report for the Senate Advisory Committee on “Living Costs in Relation to Faculty Salaries,” He was active in the Michigan Academy and the AAUP, He belonged to the University’s Research Club.

Repeated coronary illness slowed his effort after 1950, and few will now remember how active he had been. But that effort was seldom conspicuous, and never directed toward applause. Always he was a gentle man, and even his firmness, which was considerable, was manifest in gentle ways. He was kindly and warm, and these qualities in him were infectious. Family menat much to him, and he made it his role to tend the ties of a scattered clan. His manner in approaching situations or ideas often seemed casual, reflecting perhaps his liberal, undogmatic outlook and a not-too-solemn view of human affairs. Humor pervaded his attitude, and recurrent chuckles followed each amusing encounter, of which, for him, there were many. His wide outlook and reading, his sharp memory, his gift for anecdote made him a fine companion, as he was for many a gracious host. As was fitting, death came gently, with brief warning of its approach.

William B. Palmer
I. L. Sharfman
Shorey Peterson, Chm.

Source: University of Michigan, Faculty History Project.

 

__________________________

Zenas Clark Dickinson
The Michigan Alumnus, June 4, 1932

Nebraska Alumnus Is Economics Professor

Although ranking as Professor of Economics, Zenas Clark
 Dickinson, A.B. (Nebraska) ’14, Ph.D. (Harvard) ’20, might
 as correctly be classified as economist-psychologist-sociologist. During his nine years on the faculty, he has specialized in the study of 
certain labor problems and the psychological phases of general economic theory. At present he also is concerned with the assembling
 of materials on the progress and publications of the Department of 
Economics.

After completing the tenth grade, he was forced to abandon his schooling for four years, during which he became so profici
ent at secretarial work that later it aided in financing his college education. He held an Edward Austin Fellowship at Harvard in 1916-17 
and in 1919, serving also on the newly created tutorial staff in the 
Division of History, Government and Economics.

During the War
 he served with the Massachusetts Food Administration. Some years
 ago he succeeded to Professor-Emeritus Fred M. Taylor’s place on 
the Administrative Board of the Literary College. Not a hobbyist, in
 the ordinary sense of the word, he enjoys greatly the occasional chats
 with former students who visit the Campus.

Source: University of Michigan, The Michigan Alumnus, vol. 38 (June 4, 1932), p. 631.

 

Image Source: Senior Year photo of Zenas Clark Dickinson from University of Nebraska yearbook The Cornhusker (1914), p. 61.

Categories
Economists Harvard

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

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

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

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

________________________________________

 

DIVISION OF HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND ECONOMICS

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

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

James Ackley Maxwell.

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

Kan Lee.

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

Donald Wood Gilbert.

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

Arthur William Marget.

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

Richard Vincent Gilbert.

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

Melvin Gardner deChazeau.

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

Donald Milton Erb.

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

Douglass Vincent Brown.

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

Mark Anson Smith.

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

Lauchlin Bernard Currie.

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

Harry Dexter White.

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

Margaret Randolph Gay.

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

(Mary) Gertrude Brown.

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

Eric Englund.

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

Walter Edwards Beach.

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

Ram Ganesh Deshmukh.

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

Charles Donald Jackson.

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

Elmer Joseph Working.

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

Gardiner Coit Means.

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

Bishop Carleton Hunt.

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

Edward Hastings Chamberlin.

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

Christopher Roberts.

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

Clayton Crowell Bayard.

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

Dorothy Carolin Bacon.

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

 

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

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

Categories
Courses Harvard

Harvard. Course with a “snapper” problem, 1910

We have below a random letter from the President of Harvard, Abbott Lawrence Lowell, to Professor Frank Taussig of the Economics Department that struck my fancy because 1) the President of the University appears to be aware of the grade distribution of a particular faculty member (he was not amused at the low frequency of bad grades) and 2) his choice of words “However good a course may be, that kind of marking is certain to drift into it many snappers.” In my day, it was the course that received the opprobrious label of being a “gut”, though here in Germany we do refer to students attracted to the “gut” courses as “Tiefflieger” (low-flying aircraft). 

Economics 21 is apparently the course referred to by President Lowell. The title of the course appears to change without the course description changing over time. The content of the course, taught by the law professor, Bruce Wyman, appears to have focused on “competition; combination; association; consolidation”.

___________________________

[Copy of letter from Harvard President Lowell to Professor Frank Taussig]

December 21, 1910.

Dear Frank:-

I was told, the other day, that the Visiting Committee in Economics had promised the Department quite a sum of money for additional assistants. Is that available this year? If so, I should much rather have you use a part of that, than ask the Corporation for more money. I suspect that one great reason for the large size of Wyman’s course is its softness. I notice that he gave last year only 1% of E’s and 4% of D’s. However good a course may be, that kind of marking is certain to drift into it many snappers. By the way, I should like to have a talk with you about him sometime.

Very truly yours,

A. L. Lowell

 

Professor F. W. Taussig.

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. President Lowell’s Papers, 1909-1914. Nos. 405-436. Box 15, Folder 413 “1909-1914”.

___________________________

 

[Course Enrollment, Economics 21]

Courses Preparing for a Business Career

[…]

[Economics] 21 1hf. Professor Wyman, assisted by Messrs. Brannan and Lyeth.—Principles of Law governing Industrial Relations.

Total, 183:
3 Graduates, 2 Business School, 113 Seniors, 56 Juniors, 5 Sophomores, 4 Others.

 

Source: Harvard University. Reports of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College, 1909-1910, p. 45.

___________________________

 

[Course Description, Economics 21]

 

[Economics] *211hf. The Law of Competition and Combination. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 12. Professor Wyman, assisted by Mr. —— . (V)

Course 21 is not open to students before their last year of undergraduate work, and is only open to those who have passed in Economics 1.

The course considers certain rules of the law governing the course of modern trade and the organization of modern industry. As the course deals with adjudication and legislation on questions of first importance in the economic development of modern times, it is of advantage to all those who wish to equip themselves for the intelligent discussion of issues having both legal and economic aspects. In 1911-12 four principal topics will be discussed: competition; combination; association; consolidation, — some very briefly, some with more detail. The conduct of the course will be by the reading and discussion of cases from the law reports, which are contained in an edited series of case books.

 

Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 68.

___________________________

[CV data for Law Professor Bruce Wyman]

Bruce Wyman, A.B. summa cum laude, 1896; A. M. 1897; LL.B. 1900; Lectr. (Law S.) 1900-1903; Asst. Prof. of Law 1903-1908; Prof. of Law 1908-1914.

Source: Quinquennial catalogue of the officers and graduates of Harvard University, 1636-1915 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1915), pp. 111 and 355.

___________________________

[Scandal: a case of regulatory capture]

Bruce Wyman resigned his professorship of law in December 1913 when it came out that he was drawing $833 per month from the New Haven and the Boston & Maine (railroads) “for delivering lectures favorable to the roads without the fact being known that he was a paid employe. He admitted that, while employed as their consulting counsel he helped Gov. Foss to frame the Public Utilities bill, which was designed to give the State better control of the railroad situation.”

 

Source: New York Times, December 21, 1913, p. 30.

Image Source: Frank Taussig from the Harvard Album 1915.

Categories
Columbia Economists Harvard

Harvard. Invitations for guest lectures by Schumpeter and Rathgen, 1913

This exchange of letters between Frank Taussig and President Lowell of Harvard involves two pieces of business. The first is Taussig’s request for approval to use department lecture funds to invite Joseph Schumpeter and Karl Rathgen, who were both visiting Columbia University, to give lectures at Harvard. The second piece of business concerns a recommendation of two men to be considered for the presidency of the University of Washington, one of whom (L. C. Marshall who was the Dean of the University of Chicago Business School) the other, James Rowland Angell who would go on to become President of Yale and who also happened to be the father of the Columbia University economist James Waterhouse Angell.

__________________________________

 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
October 22, 1913.

F. W. Taussig
T. N. Carver
W. Z. Ripley
C. J. Bullock
E.F. Gay
W. M. Cole
O. M. W. Sprague
Q. E. Rappard
E. E. Day
B. M. Anderson, Jr.
H. L. Gray
Dear Lawrence:

Two Germans are in this country, both at the present moment lecturing at Columbia, to whom we might appropriately show a little attention. One is J. Schumpeter, an Austrian with whom I have had correspondence, and a very well-known and highly respected scholar; the other is K. Rathgen of Hamburg, also well-known in the profession. Our friends at Columbia write that these men would be glad to look at this institution, and we are more than willing to show them a little civility. Would you authorize us to ask each of them to give a lecture, possibly more than one, the fee to be charged to the fund for lectures on Political Economy? Schumpeter speaks excellent English, and could certainly give an acceptable lecture. Rathgen might possibly have to speak in German, in which case we should ask him simply to talk to our Seminary.

You remember our talk about the presidency of the University of Washington. I enclose a letter from L. C. Marshall of Chicago about young Angell, the psychologist, who deserves to be considered among the possibilities. I enclose also a memorandum of my own about Marshall himself, who seems to me at least the equal of Angell. Make such use of these papers as you can, either for this opening or for others that may appear in the future. When inquiring of Marshall about Angell, I gave no intimation of the reason for asking him.

Sincerely yours,
[signed]
F. W. Taussig

President A. Lawrence Lowell.

 

__________________________________

October 23, 1913.

Dear Professor Taussig:—

We should certainly be very glad to have either Schumpeter or Rathgen, or both, speak to the students in economics, at the expense of the fund for lectures in political economy. I do not know whether you want an appointment by the Corporation for this purpose, or merely an invitation by the department.

Thank you for the suggestions of presidents of Washington University. I am transmitting them.

Very truly yours,
[stamped]
A. Lawrence Lowell

Professor F. W. Taussig
2 Scott Street,
Cambridge, Mass.

__________________________________

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. President Lowell’s Papers, 1909-1914 (UAI.5.160), Box 15, Folder 413 “1909-14”.

Image Source: Karl Rathgen: Fotosammlung des Geographischen Institutes der Humboldt-Universität Berlin.    Schumpeter: Ulrich Hedtke, Joseph Alois Schumpeter. Archive.

 

 

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

___________________________________________

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.

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

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.

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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.

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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
Courses Curriculum Harvard

Harvard. Mathematical Economics, 1933-37

In the Spring of 1933 Joseph Schumpeter got the ball rolling for a project to introduce an introductory course in mathematical economics at Harvard. I include here first a memo from statistics professor W. L. Crum to the economics department chair, Professor H. H. Burbank. This is followed by the subsequent proposal signed by six professors (Burbank, Chamberlin, Crum, Mason, Schumpeter and Taussig), presumably sent to some university level curriculum approval committee. From the enrollment records included below we see that 23 people attended that class in the first term of 1933-34. Starting the following academic year the course was taught by Leontief and a new course “primarily for Graduates”, “Mathematical Economics”, was introduced by Professor E. B. Wilson. Course descriptions and enrollments through 1936-37 are included in this posting. Here is an interesting 1936 letter from E. B. Wilson to Columbia’s W. C. Mitchell about what Schumpeter has wrought with economics in the curriculum.

An update with additional material for this course has been included in a later post.

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If you find this posting interesting, here is the complete list of “artifacts” from the history of economics I have assembled. You can subscribe to Economics in the Rear-View Mirror below. There is also an opportunity for comment following each posting….

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Memorandum for Professor Burbank

4 April 1933

  1. I discussed, at his request, the mathematical economics project with Professor Schumpeter last Friday. I will give further consideration to his suggestions, and to the conversations I have had with you on the same subject; and then I will write out, for discussion with you, an outline of my thoughts on the matter.
  1. In the meantime, I am making a specific suggestion with reference to one of the points you raised earlier. You indicated that it might be desirable for those officers interested in mathematical economics to get together as a group and discuss prospects. As things are developing rapidly it seems to me that such a committee (perhaps informal) could well be set up promptly. I hope you will feel that you can meet with the group and act as its chairman. If you cannot, I suggest Professor Schumpeter be asked to head the group. I suggest that its members include also: Professor Black (I think it very desirable that he be brought in early), Professor Wilson, and me. I think it well that this original group be empowered to add shortly the following: Professor Frickey, Dr. Leontief, and Professor Chamberlin (or one of the other interested younger men).

[Signed]
WLC

 

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers, 1902-1950. (UAV.349.10) Box 23, Folder “Course Administration: 1932-37-40”.

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Tentative Proposals for a Course on the Elements of Mathematical Economics to be Given during the Winter Term

The advanced student who is interested in the mathematical aspects of our subject has had in most cases some mathematical training and can be taken care of individually. But something should be done to acquaint a wider circle of less advanced students, or even of beginners, with those fundamental concepts of mathematics which are necessary to understand, say, Marshall’s Appendix and the more important and more accessible parts of the literature of mathematical economics, such as the works of Cournot, Walras, Edgeworth, and a few others. Since the necessary minimum of mathematics can be procured with little expenditure of time and energy, the experiment is proposed of importing this modicum of information to such graduate and undergraduate students as may wish to have it–subject to the approval of tutors in the case of undergraduates.

A half-course two hours a week would meet the case. Since any teaching of mathematics must work with examples if it is to convey any meaning, these examples will be drawn from economic problems. The course, therefore, should not be simply one on “mathematics for economists” but rather on “mathematical theory of economics.” Discussion will cover a number of simple and fundamental problems of economic theory, the mathematical concepts being explained as they present themselves. In the first term the whole venture will be frankly experimental. Coöperation and critique from all members of the economic staff is cordially invited. The final shape of this addition to our offering should, through common effort, be evolved during the next term. The following list is suggested of mathematics subjects with which it is proposed to deal in which seem to be both necessary and sufficient. The economic problems from which, and in connection with which, these mathematical topics are to be developed are merely the time-honored problems of marginal analysis.

(1) The fundamental concepts of analytic geometry, coordinates, transformations, equations of straight-line and curves, tangents, and so forth.

(2) Some fundamental notions of algebra, the theory of equations, forms, matrices, determinants, vectors, and vectorial operations.

(3) The concept of the integral and some of its applications, definite integrals, multiple integrals, and multiple integrals in polar coordinates.

(4) Functions and limits, differential coefficients, the elementary differential operations, maxima and minima, partial differentiations, developments, Taylor series.

(5) Simplest elements of the theory of differential equations. Functional equations and here and there some simple and useful tools from other mathematical fields as occasions may arise.

The course should be open to all who are interested, and participation of those wishing to follow it as auditors will be welcomed. It is highly desirable that as many tutors as possible should be present at the sessions of the first experimental term in order to contribute their advice, so that in the future the course may embody those topics and methods of present presentation which are found to be useful.

 

April 1933

H. H. Burbank
E. H. Chamberlin
W. L. Crum
E. S. Mason
J. A. Schumpeter
F. W. Taussig

Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics, Correspondence & Papers, 1902-1950. (UAV.349.10) Box 23, Folder “Course offerings 1926-1937”.

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1933-1934

[Courses offered]

Economics 8a 1hf. Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory

Half-course (first half-year). Mon. 4 to 6, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructor. Professor Schumpeter, and other members of the Department.

Economics 8a is open to those who have passed Economics A and Mathematics A, or its equivalent. The aim of this course is to acquaint such students as may wish it with the elements of the mathematical technique necessary to understand the simpler contributions to the mathematical theory of Economics.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1933-34, 2n ed., p. 126.

 

[Course Enrollment]

[Economics] 8a 1hf. Professor Schumpeter and other members of the Department. — Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory.

15 Graduates, 3 Seniors, 5 Instructors. Total 23.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1933-1934, p. 85.

__________________________________

 

1934-35

[Courses offered]

Economics 8a 1hf. Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory

Half-course (first half-year). Mon. 4 to 6, and a third hour at the pleasure of the instructor. Professor Schumpeter.

Economics A and Mathematics A, or their equivalents, are prerequisites for this course.

Economics 13b 2hf. Mathematical Economics

Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., 3 to 4.30. Professor E. B. Wilson.

Arrangements for admission should be made with the Chairman of the Department
Omitted in 1935-36.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1934-35, 2n ed., p. 126-7.

 

[Course Enrollments]

[Economics] 8a 1hf. Professor Schumpeter. — Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory.

2 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Sophomore. Total 4.

[Economics] 13b 2hf. Professor E. B. Wilson. — Mathematical Economics.

2 Graduates, 1 Junior, Total 3.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1934-1935, p. 81.

__________________________________

 

1935-1936

[Course offered]

Economics 8a 2hf. Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory

Half-course (second half-year). Mon. 4 to 6. Assistant Professor Leontief.

Economics A and Mathematics A, or their equivalents, are prerequisites for this course.

 

[Economics 13b 2hf. Mathematical Economics]

Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 2. Professor E. B. Wilson.

Arrangements for admission should be made with the Chairman of the Department
Omitted in 1935-36.

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1935-36, 2nd ed., p. 138-9.

 

[Course Enrollment]

[Economics] 8a 2hf. Professor Leontief. — Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory.

4 Juniors, 2 Sophomores. Total 6.

 

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1935-1936, p. 82.

__________________________________

 

1936-1937

[Courses offered]

Economics 4a 2hf. (formerly 8a) Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory

Half-course (second half-year). Mon. 4 to 6. Assistant Professor Leontief.

Economics A and Mathematics A, or their equivalents, are prerequisites for this course.

Economics 104b 2hf. (formerly 13b). Mathematical Economics

Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 2. Professor E. B. Wilson.

Arrangements for admission should be made with the Chairman of the Department

Source: Harvard University. Announcement of the Courses of Instruction Offered by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences during 1936-7, 2nd ed., p. 140, 142.

 

[Course Enrollments]

[Economics] 4a 2hf. Professor Leontief. — Introduction to the Mathematical Treatment of Economic Theory.

1 Graduate, 2 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 1 Other. Total 9.

[Economics] 104b 2hf. (formerly 13b) Professor E. B. Wilson. — Mathematical Economics.

2 Graduates. Total 2.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College and Reports of Departments for 1936-1937, pp. 92,93.

Image Source: Schumpeter, Leontief, Wilson from Harvard Album, 1934, 1939.

 

 

Categories
Courses Harvard

Harvard. Political Economy Courses, 1888-89

We saw in an earlier posting that political economy was a one-professor affair with Charles Franklin Dunbar doing virtually all the economics teaching at Harvard in 1874-75.

Over a decade later in 1888-89, Dunbar is still at it with young Frank Taussig and two junior instructors expanding the Harvard economics course offerings. It is interesting to note that “Coöperation , Socialism” are included in a list of topics that include now standard fields Money, Finance (i.e. Banking), Taxation and “Labor and Capital” (i.e., labor economics, income distribution).

 

_______________________________

Political Economy.
[Harvard, 1888-1889]

  1. First half-year: Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.—Dunbar’s Chapters on Banking.
    Second half-year: Division A (Theoretical): Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.—Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. Division B (Descriptive): Topics in Money, Finance, Labor and Capital, Coöperation, Socialism and Taxation. , Wed., Fri., at 9. Asst. Professor Taussig, Messrs. Gray and F. C. Huntington.
    All students in Course 1 will have the same work during the first half-year, but will be required in January to make their election between divisions A and B for the second half-year. The work in division A is required for admission to Courses 2 and 3.
  2. History of Economic Theory.—Examination of selections from Leading Writers.—Lectures. , Wed., (at the pleasure of the Instructor), and Fri., at 2. Asst. Professor Taussig.
  3. [Omitted in 1888-89.] Investigation and Discussion of Practical Economic Questions.—Short theses. , Th., at 3, and a third hour to be appointed by the Instructor.
  4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War.—Lectures and written work. , Wed., Fri., at 11. Mr. Gray.
    Course 4 requires no previous study of Political Economy.
  5. [Omitted in 1888-89.] Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, and Germany.—Lectures and theses. Half-course. Once a week.
  6. History of Tariff Legislation in the United States. Half-course. Tu., Th., at 2, and a third hour at the pleasure of the Instructor (second half-year). Professor Taussig.
  7. Taxation, Public Debts, and Banking. , Wed., Fri., at 3. Professor Dunbar.
  8. History of Financial Legislation in the United States. Half-course. Tu., Th., at 2, and a third hour at the pleasure of the Instructor (first half-year). Professor Dunbar.
    It is recommended that Courses 6 and 8 be taken together.
  9. Management and Ownership of Railways. Half-course. Tu., Th., at 10, and a third hour at the pleasure of the Instructor (second half-year). Gray.

As a preparation for Courses 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 it is necessary to have passed satisfactorily in Course 1.

  1. Special Advanced Study and Research.—In 1888-89, competent students may pursue special investigations of selected topics under the guidance of any one of the Instructors.

Course 20 is open only to graduates, to candidates for Honors in Political Science, and to Seniors of high rank who are likely to obtain Honorable Mention in Political Economy. It may be taken either as a full course or as a half-course, as may be determined by the Instructor concerned.

 

Source: Harvard University. Announcements of Courses of Instruction provided by the Faculty of Harvard College for the Academic Year 1888-89. Cambridge, May 1888. pp. 18-19.

Image Source: Statue of John Harvard ca. 1891, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.