Tag: Taussig

Harvard. Short Bibliography of Economic Theory for Serious-minded Students”, Taussig, 1910

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2021-09-19
2 Comments on Harvard. Short Bibliography of Economic Theory for Serious-minded Students”, Taussig, 1910

In 1910 Harvard published 43 short bibliographies covering “Social Ethics and Allied Subjects”, about half of which were dedicated to particular topics in economics and economic sociology. The project was apparently coordinated by Plummer Professor of Christian Morals, Francis G. Peabody.

Over the coming weeks, Economics in the Rear-view Mirror will be providing transcriptions to some of these bibliographies along with many links to digital copies of the items found at archive.org, hathitrust.org, as well as at other on-line archives.

We begin with Professor Frank Taussig’s list of eighteen items that he selected for the Economic Theory bibliography, along with his brief comments.

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From the Prefatory Note:

The present list represents an attempt to make this connection between the teaching of the University and a need of the modern world. Each compiler has had in mind, not a superficial reader, nor yet a learned scholar, but an intelligent and serious-minded student, who is willing to read substantial literature if it be commended to him as worth his while and is neither too voluminous nor too inaccessible. To such an inquirer each editor makes suggestions concerning the contents, spirit or doctrine of a book, not attempting a complete description or a final judgment, but as though answering the preliminary question of a student, “What kind of book is this?” The plan thus depends for its usefulness on the competency of the editors concerned, and each editor assumes responsibility for the section to which his name is prefixed.

Source: Prefatory Note by Francis G. Peabody. A Guide to Reading in Social Ethics and Allied Subjects, Lists of Books and Articles Selected and Described for the Use of General Readers. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1910, p. vi.

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2. ECONOMIC THEORY
F. W. TAUSSIG

Smith, Adam. An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. (1776.) Edited, with an introduction, notes, marginal summary and an enlarged index, by Edwin Cannan. 2 vols. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904; (Harvard Classics, edited by C. W. Eliot) edited by C. J. Bullock, with introductory notes and illustrations. New York: P. F. Collier & Son, 1909, pp. 590.

Adam Smith’s book is a landmark in the history of thought, and justly entitled a classic. But it is not to be read as the one book on economics, if one only can be read; nor is it usually the best book to begin with. Parts are antiquated, parts to be understood only with knowledge of Adam Smith’s times. Yet in attractiveness of style, wealth of matter, epoch-making significance, its equal has not been written.

Mill, John Stuart. Principles of political economy, with some of their applications to social philosophy. (1848.) Edited, with an introduction by W. J. Ashley. London, New York, etc.: Longmans, Green & Co., 1909, pp. liii, 1013.

A classic, like Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations”; like that, superseded in parts, yet a noble book, with dignity of style and large views, addressed to the mature, warm in its social sympathies, severe in its reasoning; a good book to begin with, though to be supplemented with others more modern.

Marshall, Alfred. Principles of economics. Vol. I. Fifth edition. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1907, pp. xxxvi, 807. [Eighth edition, 1920]

Probably the most important book on economic theory published in English since J. S. Mill’s “Principles”; able, penetrating, stimulating. It is not easy reading, but repays careful study. The whole subject of economics is not covered; chiefly Value and Distribution, the parts of economic theory having most bearing on social questions.

Clark, John Bates. The distribution of wealth; a theory of wages, interest and profit. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1899, pp. xxviii, 445.

A brilliant volume by an American scholar, abstract in character, setting forth in attractive style a theory of distribution according to the specific product of each of the factors in production. Its conclusions have been disputed, but the originality and interest of the reasoning are not to be denied.

Carver, Thomas Nixon. The distribution of wealth. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1904, pp. xvi, 290.

A compact, clear, able statement of modern doctrines, with an introductory chapter on the principles of value.

Böhm-Bawerk, Eugen von. The positive theory of capital. Translated with a preface and analysis by William Smart. London and New York: Macmillan & Co., 1891, pp. xi, 428.

A book of the first importance, the starting point for the modern discussion of capital and interest; covering also the so called “Austrian” theory of value. The exposition is deliberate and full; the reasoning not always easy to follow, but always deserving careful study.

Fisher, Irving. The nature of capital and income. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1906, pp. xxi, 427.

Fisher, Irving. The rate of interest; its nature, determination, and relation to economic phenomena. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1907, pp. xxii, 442.

These two volumes present theories in some respects novel, but consistently maintained throughout. The first gives the author’s conception of capital and income; the second, his analysis of the causes determining the rate of interest. They form a good supplement to Böhm-Bawerk’s “Positive Theory.” Like that, they test the reader’s attention and powers of reasoning.

Schmoller, Gustav. Grundriss der allgemeinen Volkswirtschaftslehre. 2 Teile. Leipzig, 1900–04 [Erster, größerer Teil, 1900; Zweiter Teil, 1904]; Fr. par G. Platon. 5 vols. Paris: Giard et Brière, 1905-08 [Tome 1; Tome 2; Tome 3; Tome 4; Tome 5].

A remarkable survey of economics from the historical point of view; encyclopedic in its range, with admirable sketches of the great lines of industrial development and of present conditions, and broad-minded discussion of current social and economic problems.

Landry, Adolphe. Manuel d’économique, à l’usage des facultés de droit. Paris: Giard et Brière, 1908, pp. 889.

A recent French manual, clearly written, ably thought out, a good representative of modern thought.

Philippovich, E. von. Grundriss der politischen Oekonomie. 2 Bde. Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1906; 1 Bd., 8 rev. Aufl., 1909; 2 Bde., 4 rev. Aufl., 1908. [2. Band, 1. Teil, 6. Rev. Aufl.]

A German treatise, much used, of the kind meant for university students, covering the whole subject, eclectic in its views and mode of treatment.

Seager, Henry Rogers. Introduction to economics. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1904, pp. xxi, 565.

Ely, Richard T. Outlines of economics. Revised and enlarged by the author and T. S. Adams, M. O. Lorenz and A. A. Young. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1908, pp. xii, 700.

Seligman, E. R. A. Principles of economics, with special reference to American conditions. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1905, pp. xlvi, 613.

These three are modern text-books, addressed to persons of the grade of college students, with special regard to American conditions. The two mentioned first are clearer and better reasoned than the third, which, however, contains a mass of information and has full and well-chosen lists of references.

Bullock, Charles J. Introduction to the study of economics. Third edition, revised and enlarged. New York, Boston, etc.: Silver, Burdett & Co., 1908, pp. 619.

Ely, Richard T., and Wicker, G. R. Elementary principles of economics, together with a short sketch of economic history. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1905, pp. xi, 338.

Johnson, A. S. Introduction to economics. Boston: D. C. Heath & Co., 1909, pp. xii, 404.

These are shorter text-books, of a somewhat more elementary character than the three mentioned before. They have the apparatus of questions expected in a high-school text-book, as well as references and brief bibliographies. The first two are more concrete and informational; the third (Johnson’s) is more abstract and general, but not less satisfactory in its mode of exposition.

Marshall, Alfred. Elements of economics of industry, being the first volume of elements of economics. London: Macmillan & Co., 1892; third edition, ibid., 1899.

This gives a condensed statement of the doctrines of the same author’s larger book (see above), arranged with a view to use by students. It does not cover the whole subject, but only the range of topics treated in the larger book.

Source: Teachers in Harvard University, A Guide to Reading in Social Ethics and Allied Subjects, Lists of Books and Articles Selected and Described for the Use of General Readers. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1910, pp. 6-9.

Image Source: Frank Taussig in Harvard Album 1915.

Tags Peabody, Taussig

Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Final examinations in Political Economy courses, 1891-1892

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2021-09-09

HARVARD. ECONOMICS EXAMINATIONS, 1891-1892

With the start of the 2021-22 academic year Economics in the Rear-view Mirror resumes the careful transcription of documents for the digital record of the development of economics education.

The Harvard archives are full of exam materials across time and fields so I pick up with where I left off in that series. Edward Cummings joined the teaching staff that in 1891-92 only consisted of two professors (Dunbar and Taussig) and a pair of instructors (Edward Cummings and William M. Cole).

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Note to self: Still Missing for 1891-92.

Political Economy 3. Edward Cummings. Mid-year examination, 1892
Political Economy 4. William M. Cole. Mid-year examination, 1892
Political Economy 7. Charles F. Dunbar. Mid-year examination, 1892

_______________________

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Course Description and Enrollment.

Primarily for Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 1. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig, Mr. [William M.] Cole, and Mr. [Edward] Cummings.

— First half-year: Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. 3 hours.

— Second half-year:

Division A (Theoretical): Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. 3 hours.

Division B (Descriptive): Lectures on Finance, Labor and Capital, Coöperation. — Hadley’s Railroad Transportation.—Dunbar’s Chapters on Banking. 3 hours.

Total 288: 1 Graduate, 47 Seniors, 102 Juniors, 91 Sophomores, 7 Freshmen, 40 Others.

Source: Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1891-92, p. 54.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Mid-Year Examination, 1892.

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Divide your time equally between the two parts of the paper.]

I.
[Omit one.]

Mill says that “the laws and conditions of the production of wealth partake of the character of physical truths. . . . Whatever mankind produces must be produced in the modes, and under the conditions, imposed by the constitution of external things, and by the inherent properties of their own bodily and mental structure.” Is this true of the laws and conditions of production from land? of the laws and conditions of the accumulation of capital?
Of things limited in quantity, it is said that “their value depends on the demand and the supply. . . . But the quantity demanded is not a ﬁxed quantity, even at the same time and place; it varies according to the value; if the thing is cheap, there is usually a demand for more of it than when it is dear. The demand therefore partly depends on the supply. But it was before laid down that the value depends on the demand. From this contradiction, how shall we extricate ourselves? How solve the paradox, of two things, each depending on the other?”
“Every fall in proﬁts lowers in some degree the value of things made with much or durable machinery, and raises that of things made by hand; and every rise in proﬁts does the reverse.” Explain.
Is there any inconsistency between the propositions that the value of money depends,
(1) on its cost of production at the mines;
(2) on its quantity;
(3) on the expansion and contraction of credit;
(4) on the terms on which a country gets its imported commodities.
Explain Mill’s reasoning (1) as to the manner in which an issue of inconvertible paper money drives specie out of circulation; (2) as to the manner in which, under a double standard, one metal [which one?] disappears from circulation. Are the results, in fact, brought about in the manner described by Mill?
Explain carefully how a decrease in the foreign demand for a country’s exports causes loss to those who consume its imports.

II.
[Answer all, briefly.]

Does nature give more aid to man in one kind of industry than in another?
Are there grounds for saying that the necessity of restraining population is conﬁned to a state of inequality of property?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a currency composed of specie, as compared with one of equal amount composed of inconvertible paper money?
What are the laws of value applicable to (1) silver bullion; (2) iron nails; (3) wool; (4) eighteenth century furniture?
Does the beneﬁt of foreign trade consist in its affording an outlet for the surplus produce of a country?
Mill says the superiority of reward in certain occupations may be the consequence of competition, and may be due to the absence of competition. Explain which explanation holds good of the high wages (1) of laborers in whom much conﬁdence is reposed; (2) of laborers in disagreeable employments; (3) of laborers whose education has been expensive.
What is the nature of the remuneration received by (1) a manufacturer on a large scale; (2) an independent artisan; (3) a farmer tilling land which he has leased at a ﬁxed rent; (4) the owner, of a building who receives rent from those using the building.

Source: J. L. Laughlin, Economics 1: A Synopsis of John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy (Cambridge, MA: W.H. Wheeler, 1892), pp. 101-103.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division A.
Final Examination, 1892.

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]

I.
[Omit one.]

“It will be remembered that in a former portion of this work I criticized at some length the received doctrine of Cost of Production, which, as expounded by Mr. Mill and others, is represented as consisting in, and varying with, the wages and profits of producers. I stated then that this conception of cost was not reconcilable with the doctrine of international values upheld by the same authorities, which refers these phenomena, not to cost of production, but to the reciprocal demand of exchanging nations.” Why not reconcilable?
[John Elliott Cairnes, Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1874), p. 343. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t85h88k6k?urlappend=%3Bseq=351]
“The actual price, therefore, of any given commodity will, it is evident, be the composite result of the combined action of these several agencies”—namely, reciprocal international demand, reciprocal domestic demand, and cost of production. Explain.
[John Elliott Cairnes, Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1874), p. 94. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t85h88k6k?urlappend=%3Bseq=102]
“Assuming a certain field for investment, and the prospect of profit in this such as to attract a certain aggregate of capital, and assuming the national industries to be of a certain kind, the proportion of this aggregate capital which shall be invested in wages is not a matter within the discretion of capitalists, always supposing they desire to obtain the largest practical return upon their outlay.” Why?
[John Elliott Cairnes, Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1874), p. 186. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t85h88k6k?urlappend=%3Bseq=194]
“We see, then, within what very narrow limits the possibilities of the laborer’s lot are confined, so long as he depends for his well-being upon the produce of his day’s work. Against these barriers Trades-unions must dash themselves in vain.” What, according to Cairnes, are the barriers?
[John Elliott Cairnes, Some Leading Principles of Political Economy Newly Expounded (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1874), p. 283. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/loc.ark:/13960/t85h88k6k?urlappend=%3Bseq=291]
“Saving (for productive investment), and spending, coincide very closely in the first stage of their operations.” Explain Mill’s meaning.

II.
[Answer all.]

Why is there a tendency of profits to a minimum?
What is the effect of a rise in the value of money on debtors and on creditors?
“Though laborers in certain departments of industry are practically cut off from competition with laborers in other departments, the competition of capitalists, as I have already pointed out, is effective over the whole ﬁeld.” How is this consistent with the existence of large amounts of Fixed Capital?
“And here this remark may at once be made: that as the course of price in the ﬁeld of raw products is, on the whole, upward, so in that of manufactured goods the course is, not less strikingly, in the opposite direction. The reasons of this are exceedingly plain.” (Cairnes.) What are they?
What would be the effect on wages and proﬁts of the universal adoption of coöperative production? of proﬁt-sharing ?
How far did the premium on gold during the civil war measure the real depreciation of the paper?
Compare Mill’s attitude on coöperation with Cairnes’s.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1892) in the bound volume: Examination Papers 1890-92.

Also J. L. Laughlin, Economics 1: A Synopsis of John Stuart Mill’s Principles of Political Economy (Cambridge, MA: W.H. Wheeler, 1892), pp. 106-108.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division B.
Final Examination, 1892.

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions]

What is the fundamental objection to the issue of inconvertible paper money? What light is thrown on it by the experience of the United States during the civil war?
Is a rise in the value of money advantageous to debtors or to creditors, or to neither? Why?
What is the cause of the tendency of the rate of interest to fall?
What would be the effect upon the price of food, and upon rent, of a tax of a fixed sum per acre upon agricultural land?
Taking the two following accounts as representing the condition of a bank at different dates, state (1) what operations are most likely to have given rise to the changed condition, and (2) whether the bank is American or foreign, city or country, with your reasons for thinking so:—

I.
Capital	100,000	Government securities	5,000
Surplus	10,000	Other securities	50,000
Profits	3,000	Loans	255,000
Notes	20,000	Expenses	2,000
Deposits	250,000	Cash	71,000
	383,000		383,000

II.
Capital	100,000	Government securities	5,000
Surplus	12,000	Other securities	50,000
Profits	2,000	Loans	260,000
Notes	20,000	Expenses	1,000
Deposits	270,000	Cash	88,000
	404,000		404,000

What is the sliding scale of discount? Name two countries in which it is used.
Point out wherein there are differences, wherein similarities, in the legal provisions of the United States, England, and France, for the security, immediate and ultimate, of bank notes.
Give a brief history of the small change (under one dollar) in the United States since 1850.
What would be the effect upon the price of silver bullion of an act for free coinage of silver?
What was the nature and purpose of the original restriction upon the amount of national bank notes in the United States? When and why was it repealed?
Compare the main features of the silver acts of 1878 and 1890.
How are profits divided in schemes for distributive coöperation? For credit coöperation? What is the important difference?

_______________________

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Course Description and Enrollment

For Graduates and Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 2. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig. — Economic Theory. — Examination of selections from leading writers. 3 hours.

Total 38: 9 Graduates, 17 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 1 Freshman, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1891-92, p. 54.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Mid-Year Examination, 1892.

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions]

Are laborers paid out of the product of their own labor in cases where the employer sells the product before pay-day and pays the laborers out of the proceeds?
“Whether wages are advanced out of capital in whole, or in part, or not at all, it still remains true that it is the product to which the employer looks to ascertain the amount which he can afford to pay: the value of the product furnishes the measure of wages. . . .
It is the prospect of a profit in production which determines the employer to hire laborers; it is the anticipated value of the product which determines how much he can pay them.”
Is this consistent with the wages-fund theory?
Consider the following: —

“Given machinery, raw materials, and a year’s subsistence, does it make no difference with the annual product whether the laborers are Englishmen or East-Indians? Certainly if one quarter part of what has been adduced under the head of the efficiency of labor be valid, the difference in the product of industry arising out of differences in the industrial quality of distinct communities of laborers are so great as to prohibit us from making use of capital to determine the amount that can be expended in any year or series of years in the purchase of labor.”

How does President Walker prove the existence of a no-profits class of business men?
Wherein does President Walker’s theory of distribution differ from Professor Sidgwick’s?
What grounds are there for saying that Political Economy is distinctly a modern science?
“Let us suppose, for example, that in the greater part of employments the productive powers of labour had been improved to ten-fold, or that a day’s labour could produce ten times the quantity of work which it had done originally; but that in a particular employment they had been improved only to double, or that a day’s labour could produce only twice the quantity of work it had done before. In exchanging the produce of a day’s labour in the greater part of employments for that of a day’s labour in this particular one, ten times the original quantity of work in them would purchase only twice the original quantity in it. Any particular quantity in it, therefore, a pound weight, for example, would appear to be five times dearer than before. In reality, however, it would be twice as cheap.” — Wealth of Nations, Book I. ch. viii.
Explain what Adam Smith meant; and what Ricardo would have said as to this passage.
Explain Adam Smith’s conclusions as to the effect on wages, profits, and rent, of the progress of society; noting briefly the reasoning which lead to the conclusion in each case.
Examine the following criticisms on Malthus: —
1. that there is no such difference of law between the increase of man and of the organic beings which form his food, as is implied in the proposition that man increases in a geometrical, food in arithmetical ratio;
2. that the adaptation of numbers to the means available for their support is effected by the felt or anticipated pressure of circumstances and the fear of social degradation, within a tolerable degree of approximation to what is desirable.
Explain carefully Ricardo’s doctrine as to the effect of profits on value.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Frank Taussig’s Scrapbook of his examinations. Posted earlier in Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Final Examination, 1892.

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions]

Does the example of a laborer hired by a farmer, and paid by him at the close of the season, after the crop has been harvested and disposed of, present a case of labor paid, not out of capital, but out of the product of current industry?
What do you conceive the relation of political economy to laissez faire to have been with Adam Smith? with Ricardo and his contemporaries? How would you state the relation yourself?
“Ricardo never fairly appreciated that his notion of the laborer’s ‘necessaries’ stood for something subject to wide variation in different stages of civilization. It is true that in one passage he says with emphasis that the necessaries, which determine the natural rate of wages, depend on habits which vary with time and place; but elsewhere he sets up a distinction between gross and net income, which is tenable only if we put the laborer’s necessaries side by side with other elements of cost of production. The distinction loses its practical harshness, when he admits that the laborer may at times receive, over and above natural wages, some part of the community’s net income; but its theoretic shortcomings then become the more obvious.” (Cohn, National-oekonomie.)
Explain Ricardo’s conception of natural wages and net income, here referred to; and examine the justice of this criticism.
“The average rate of profits is the real barometer, the true and infallible criterion of national prosperity. A high rate of profit is the effect of industry having become more productive, and it shows that the power of society to amass capital, and to add to its wealth and population, has been increased.” (M’Culloch’s Political Economy.) What led to the adoption of this test by M’Culloch? Should you accept it?
What were Ricardo’s views as to the effect of foreign trade on profits?
“In the actual period of production, on a wages system, the existing supplies for laborers are distributed to laborers in wages, while they, with the help of fixed capital, till the ground and work up the raw materials, transforming the old capital into a new product. . . . The product is divided at the end of the period of production into the replacement of capital (support of laborers, raw material, and wear of fixed capital), profits, and rent. . . . Hence it is clear that wages and profits are not parts of the same whole. Wages were in capital at the beginning of the period of production; profits are in product at its close.” (W. G. Sumner.)“We may suppose that share of the National Dividend which goes as rent to be set on one side; and then there remains what would be produced by labour and capital if they were all applied under conditions no more favourable than those under which they were applied at the margin of profitable employment; and a proposal was made by the present writer, in the Economics of Industry, that this should be called the Wages-and-Profits Fund, or the Earnings-and-Interest Fund. These terms were suggested in order to emphasize the opinion that the so-called Wages-Fund theory, however it might be purified from the vulgar errors which had grown around it, still erred in suggesting that earnings and interest, or wages and profits, do not stand in the same relation to the National Dividend.” (Marshall.)
Which of these seems to you the sounder view?
Explain what is meant by Consumer’s Rent; and examine the effect on Consumer’s Rent and on the aggregate satisfaction of the community, of a tax on a community subject to the law of Diminishing Returns.
Explain the grounds which lead Professor Marshall to believe that the forces by which the wages of different grades of laborers are determined, work by a process similar to that by which the expenses of production determine the value of commodities.
Examine carefully Professor Marshall’s view of the part played by rent of natural ability in determining manager’s earnings.
Wherein is there similarity, wherein difference, in the positions of Carey and Bastiat in the history of economic theory?

Also found in Frank Taussig’s Scrapbook of his examinations. Posted earlier in Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

_______________________

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Course Description and Enrollment

For Graduates and Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 3. Mr. [Edward] Cummings. — The Principles of Sociology. — Development of the Modern State, and of its Social Functions. 3 hours.

Total 25: 8 Graduates, 9 Seniors, 6 Juniors, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1891-92, p. 54.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Mid-year Examination, 1892.

[Not yet found]

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Final Examination, 1892.

[Arrange your answers in the order of the questions. Omit one.]

“The liberty of the subject is only a means towards an end; hence, when it fails to produce the desired end, it may be set aside, and other means employed.”
What do you conceive to be this “desired end”? On what is the prerogative in question founded?
“When everything has been done to deter from crime or reform the criminal there will still remain a certain class whom it is hopeless to influence, and who must be dealt with in course of law, not for much result on themselves, but to carry out the principle of justice, and mainly to deter others.”
Discuss the theoretical and practical validity of the principles of penal legislation here affirmed.
“There are still two more weaknesses, which are peculiar to all states, not only to the modern elective State. From the strictly professional point of view, in the technical works which they direct; public functionaries have neither the stimulus nor the restraint of personal interest.”
“Nearly every present acknowledged function of government has once been intrusted to private enterprise….Now, of all the enterprises which the state has thus appropriated to itself, there is not one which is not managed better and more wisely than it had been managed before by private parties. Most of them are such that the world has entirely forgotten that they were ever private enterprises.”
What light is thrown on this controversy by the experience of continental governments in the management of railroads? Do the same arguments apply to railroads as to the telegraph, and the post? Why?
State an criticize the theory of “surplus value.”
“Let us suppose the whole field of industry covered by syndicates….Competition complained of by the Socialists would be largely gone, being merged within the syndicate; useless middlemen displaced; the employing capitalist with his too high wages replaced by a manager: all steps towards the Socialist goal. What is wanting chiefly?”
Give a general outline of the Collectivist scheme, from the point of view of production, distribution and value.
“But the bare labor-cost value, as it has been formulated up to now, invests the whole economy of socialism for the present with the character of a Utopia….It is remarkable, and even comforting, that all which is required to make socialism so much a matter of practical discussion, urges it to preserve, and even to intensify, the brighter elements of the liberal economic system.”
“Moreover it is not difficult to deduce the necessity of State interference from Mr. Spencer’s own fundamental principles….The inspector is himself in fact, as Prof. Jevons says, a necessary product of social evolution and the division of labor.”
Does expansion of public and municipal industry necessarily indicate the “gradual triumph of socialism”?
Compare briefly the political and economic tendencies in Glasgow, London, and New York.
What ground do you find for De Laveleye’s assertion that Socialism is pessimistic, while Political Economy is optimistic?
State the arguments for and against municipal manufacture of gas in the United States.
The systems of state education in the United States have been devised by the several states of the Union, and are exceedingly heterogeneous and defective. In certain States scarcely anything worthy of the name of education exists, while in others the systems have attained a high degree of perfection.”
How in this respect does the United States compare with European countries.

_______________________

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Course Description and Enrollment

Primarily for Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 4. Mr. [William M.] Cole. — Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. — Lectures and written work. 3 hours.

Total 132: 35 Seniors, 40 Juniors, 40 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 16 Others.

Source: Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1891-92, p. 54.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Mid-year Examination, 1892.

[Not yet found]

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Final Examination, 1892.

[Answer both the questions in Roman numerals, and eight of the nine in Arabic numerals.]

Compare the facilities for transportation by land as they existed in 1700 with those of 1830 and those of 1890.
Do the same, for the same periods, for water transportation, for cotton manufacturing, and for banking.
Compare the growth in the numbers of population in the United States since 1790 with the growth in the density of population per square mile. If you find any discrepancies, explain them.

How far has England’s policy regarding free trade been affected by the policy of other nations?
What, in your opinion, would have been the status in the United States of slavery, as a system of producing wealth, if emancipation had not taken place? State your reasons.
Explain the change in the position of the American merchant marine at about the time of the Civil War.
What influence has the extensive investment of capital in foreign countries upon the need, for the world’s commerce, of specie?
By what process, and in what way, did the payment of the German indemnity by France affect the Crisis of 1873?
How was the United States able to accumulate enough gold for Resumption in 1879?
Was the indemnity demanded of France by Germany in 1871 just? Give your reasons.
By what sort of processes has the United States reduced the annual burden of its debt faster than the principal?
Why has England become the natural clearing-house for the world?

_______________________

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 5.
Course Description and Enrollment

For Graduates and Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 5. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig. — Railway Transportation. — Lectures and written work. 3 hours. 2d half-year.

Total 42: 3 Graduates, 22 Seniors, 10 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 6 Others.

Source: Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1891-92, p. 54.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 5.
Final Examination, 1892.

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]

Compare the modes in which New York and Pennsylvania tried to secure communications with the West in 1825-1840.
Sketch the salient events in the history of the New York Central Railway to the present time.
Sketch the important provisions of the Thurman Act of 1878 in regard to the Pacific railroads, and the results which have ensued.
Why was the railway mileage constructed in the United States in 1887 the largest yet reached?
Why has the railway beaten the canal?
Does the practice of charging what the traffic will bear result from the fact that railways present a case of industrial monopoly? Would it cease if competition were fully effective in railway operations?
Discuss separately or together,
(a) Whether the prohibition of railway pools is wise;
(b) Whether there are grounds for permitting or prohibiting such combinations, which do not apply to attempts to bring about combination and monopoly in other industries.
Point out wherein the schedules of maximum rates fixed by the State of Iowa resemble the German Reform Tariff, and wherein they differ from it.
Explain what is the state of legislation as to long and short haul rates in the United States, England, France, and Germany; and state your opinion as to the desirability of preventing lower charges on the longer haul.
Sketch the history of railway policy in Belgium.
Why are railway pools and traffic agreements more stable in England than in the United States?
Point out wherein the Railway Commission under the English Act of 1888 differs from the Interstate Commerce Commission.

_______________________

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.
Course Description and Enrollment

For Graduates and Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 6. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig. — History of Tariff Legislation in the United States. 3 hours. 1^st half-year.

Total 64: 7 Graduates, 32 Seniors, 13 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 10 Others.

Source: Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1891-92, p. 54.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.
Mid-year Examination, 1892.

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Be concise. Answer all questions.]

Criticize the arguments by which Hamilton endeavored to show (1) that agriculture was not more productive than manufactures; (2) that the greater division of labor and use of machinery in manufactures made the introduction of manufacturing industries peculiarly advantageous to a country.
How do you explain the change, between 1820 and 1840, in the arguments as to the bearing of high wages on the protective system?
Sketch the growth of the international trade of the United States from 1820 to 1860.
Are there good grounds for saying that the tariff act of 1846 led to a period of general prosperity?
In what way have the duties on fine woolens been higher in recent years than those on cheap woollens? Does the difference explain the fact that the domestic production is confined mainly to the cheaper goods? Give your reasons carefully.
Explain the difference (1) in character, (2) in probable effects, between the Continental sugar bounties and the present United States bounty.
Wherein would there probably be differences between the effects of reciprocity treaties (1) with Great Britain, admitting iron free; (2) with Great Britain, admitting wool from Australia free; (3) with Germany, admitting refined sugar free?
How far is it true that the high level of wages in the United States is an effective obstacle to the successful prosecution of manufacturing industries?
What were the duties on coffee, cotton goods, pig-iron, and wool, in 1799, 1819, 1839, 1859, 1879? (Use tabular form, if you wish.)
How far did the South secure what it aimed at from the tariff act of 1833?
Sketch the tariff legislation of 1872.
Is it true that the adoption of a policy of free trade in England dates from the abolition of the corn-laws?

_______________________

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Course Description and Enrollment.

For Graduates and Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 7. Professor [Charles F.] Dunbar.

— First half-year:—

The Theory and Methods of Taxation, with special references to local taxation in the United States. 3 hours.

Total 30: 2 Graduates, 20 Seniors, 8 Juniors.

— Second half-year —

Banking, and the History of the leading Banking Systems. 3 hours.

Total 38: 2 Graduates, 22 Seniors, 10 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1891-92, p. 54.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Mid-year examination (first half-year), 1892.

[not yet found]

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Final examination (second half-year), 1892.

A.
Of these five questions one may be omitted.

Which of the three great banks, the Bank of England, the Bank of France, and the Reichsbank, appears to you to present the best model for a great national bank, — and why?
What peculiarities in the Scotch banking system account for the high credit and extended usefulness of the Scotch banks, and make their issue of £1 notes both necessary and safe?
The value of a currency is said to depend on (a) its quantity, rapidity of circulation, and the amount of transactions to be effected, and (b) on the cost of the precious metals. How is this reasoning to be made applicable to deposits, considered as a part of the currency?
A recent pamphlet contains the following:—
“The ‘Currency Principle’ was advocated by Lord Overstone and others, and held that, under a system of free banking, over-issue [of convertible notes] is possible and likely to occur, inflating the currency. In England, the principle of limiting the issues was adopted in the Bank Act of 1844. A different application of the same principle obtains in this country under the National Bank system.”
Discuss the closing statement in the above extract.
As saving banks and banks of deposit and discount are alike bound to pay their depositors on demand, on what ground can investments be treated as safe or suitable for one of these classes of banks and not for the other? This may be illustrated by reference to investments in mortgages, in bank stock, and in commercial paper.

B.
Of these five questions one may be omitted.

Describe Mr. Goschen’s proposals for increasing the stock of gold in the Bank of England and issuing £1 notes, and state the objects to be gained by the plan and the objections to it.
Discuss the propositions, laid down by Mr. Buckner, in his speech of April, 1882, in opposition to the Bank Charters Extension Bill,—
1. That the currency ought to be issued by the government;
2. That an elastic currency is mischievous, as introducing an element of uncertainty, and that the government should therefore issue a fixed amount of convertible notes.
It is urged that the characteristics which insure the high credit and universal currency of the national bank circulation,—
“are qualities which help to make its movements unnatural, artificial, and impart to it a roaming character, helping to force it away from the issuer, away from the country districts where it is needed, and consequently to induce its accumulation when out of active commercial employment in the great financial centres, and while there to foster and become more or less fixed in speculative ventures—that is, unresponsive to commercial influences when needed for commercial work.”
Discuss the question whether issues having only local credit would remedy the difficulties suggested above?
Discuss the following proposition for the issue of bank-notes under State authority:—
1. Take off the present 10 per cent. tax from the notes of any bank complying with the following regulations:—
2. Permit any State to tax circulation, in order to accumulate a fund to redeem notes of such of its own banks a may fail.
3. Forbid any bank to issue notes in excess of two-thirds of its capital.
4. Make notes a first lien on all assets of the issuing bank.
5. Require coin redemption by the banks and a coin reserve of 25 per cent. of outstanding notes.
6. Leave any State free to forbid or permit the issue of notes under the above regulations by banks within its jurisdiction.
  [Commercial and Financial Chronicle, May 14.]
Discuss the following propositions for completely free banking, made by Courcelle-Seneuil (Traité des Opérations de Banque, Book IV., ch. ix., §3):—
“Il vaudrait mieux donner au premier venu le droit d’émettre des billets à vue et au porteur sous certaines conditions définies par la loi….On doit supposer que le banquier sait mieux son métier que le législateur; celui-ci ne doit point réglementer ce qui est du métier; il doit se borner à prévenir la fraude, et il ne peut mieux y parvenir qu’en imposant au banquier un fort cautionnement envers le public, c’est-à-dire un fort capital….Les vérifications officielles de portefeuille ne peuvent présenter au public aucune garantie.”

_______________________

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
Course Description and Enrollment.

For Graduates and Undergraduates:—

[Political Economy] 8. Professor [Charles F.] Dunbar. — History of Financial Legislation in the United States. 3 hours. 2d half-year

Total 50: 7 Graduates, 22 Seniors, 11 Juniors, 2 Sophomores, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University, Annual Reports of the President and Treasurer of Harvard College, 1891-92, p. 54.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
Final Examination, 1892.

Two questions may be omitted.

What were the terms on which the different portions of the revolutionary debt were made redeemable by the act of August 4, 1790, and when and how was their redemption actually undertaken?
What are the leading cases of suspension of specie payments in the United States since 1789, and what were the general causes in each case?
What was the method by which specie payments were resumed in 1817?
Von Holst says (II., p. 32), “Jackson did not come to Washington resolved to wipe out the bank.” What is probably the truth as to Jackson’s attitude towards the bank when he was inaugurated, and as to the breaking out of the bank war?
What were the “branch drafts” issued by the branches of the second United States Bank, the reasons for their issue, and the objections thereto?
What is the history of the following item in the general account of the Treasurer of the United States:—
“Unavailable amount on deposit with the States, $28, 101,645.”
What were Mr. Chase’s reasons for urging the establishment of the national banking system?
How does the legal tender decision in Juillard vs. Greenman differ in principle from that in the earlier case of Knox vs. Lee?
What were Mr. McCulloch’s reasons for wishing to establish the policy of contracting the currency without delay in 1865?
What influences led Congress to restrict, and finally annul, Secretary McCulloch’s authority for retiring United States notes? Give approximate dates of the Acts.
President Grant wrote, in 1874:—
“I would like to see a provision that…the currency issued by the United States should be redeemed in coin…and that all currency so redeemed should be cancelled and never be re-issued.” [ To Jones.]
How does this compare with the redemption actually practiced under the Resumption Act, and how came the present practice to be adopted?
Sherman, speaking of the first Legal Tender Act, said:—
“We agreed in that act that we would apply one per cent. of the principal of the debt to the payment of the debt. The debt is now $2,5000,000,000. One per cent. is $25,000,000, and that must not only be applied every year, but it must be applied in the nature of a sinking fund.” [Speeches p. 264.]
How far has the government followed this interpretation of the act?

Tags ColeWM, CummingsEdward, Dunbar, Taussig

Economists Harvard

Harvard. Schumpeter opines on Germany’s future under Hitler, 1933

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2021-07-15

If memory serves me correctly, Larry Summers once commented on a paper by Bob Hall to the effect that the biggest home-run hitters also strike out the most (or did Hall say that about Summers? … whatever). In any event Joseph Schumpeter certainly went down swinging as a political pundit before setting sail to Europe in 1933 with Frank Taussig and his daughter.

__________________________

SAYS NAZI GERMANY TO “SETTLE DOWN”
Prof Schumpeter, Harvard, Sails With Prof Taussig

Germany, under Hitler, “looks much worse than she actually is; in a few months the Nazi Government will settle down to a more rational, conservative routine—and then Germany will become a power not only to respect but also, possibly, to fear,” asserted Prof Joseph A. Schumpeter, economics professor at Harvard and Minister of Finance in Austria in 1919, last night before he sailed for two months in Europe.
Boarding the Cunarder Scythia, in company with his superior in the Harvard economics department, Prof Frank W. Taussig, Dr Schumpeter declared that Hitler can conduct the Government on a sounder financial basis than would be possible under a parliamentary setup.
The two professors will spend the Summer visiting scholars and universities on the Continent. Prof Taussig is accompanied by his daughter, Dr Helen B. Taussig.

Source: The Boston Globe, May 27, 1933, p. 13.

Image Source: Harvard University Archives, from Schumpeter’s 1932 German passport.

Tags Schumpeter, Taussig

Economists Gender Harvard

Radcliffe. Economics Ph.D. alumna, Elizabeth Boody, 1934

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2021-07-09

Joseph Schumpeter’s third wife, Romaine Elizabeth Firuski née Boody (1898-1953), was the first Radcliffe woman to be awarded the distinction of receiving a summa cum laude A.B. in economics. This post provides a few items from her undergraduate years as well as a brief biography that the Find-A-Grave website clearly copied from somewhere else, but which for our purpose here is still a useful summary. The wedding announcement “Mrs. E.B. Firuski Wed to Educator” from the New York Times (August 17, 1937) provides a wonderful detail regarding the location of the wedding luncheon–the Viennese Roof Garden of the St. Regis in Manhattan.

For much more detail about Elizabeth Boody Schumpeter’s life, career, and her personal and professional partnership with Joseph Schumpeter, see:

Robert Loring Allen, Opening Doors: The Life and Work of Joseph Schumpeter. Volume 2: America. London and New York: Routledge, 1991.

Richard A. Lobdell, “Elizabeth Boody Schumpeter (1898-1953)” in A Biographical Dictionary of Women Economists, Edited by Robert W. Dimand, Mary Ann Dimand, and Evelyn L. Forget. London: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2000, pp. 382-385.

Richard Swedberg, Joseph A. Schumpeter: His Life and Work. Polity Press, 1991.

Elizabeth Boody received her Ph.D. in economics from Radcliffe in 1934. Her doctoral dissertation had the title “Trade Statistics and Cycles in England, 1697-1825”.

___________________________

Radcliffe College Yearbook, 1920

Source: Elizabeth Boody’s senior picture from the Radcliffe Yearbook 1920, p. 36

___________________________

Brief biography from the Find-a-Grave Website

Elizabeth Boody Schumpeter was an economist and expert on East Asia.

Born Romaine Elizabeth Boody on 16 August 1898 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, she was the daughter of Maurice and Hulda (Hokansen) Boody. She lived there with her family until she enrolled at Radcliffe College in the Fall of 1916.

At Radcliffe, Boody majored in economics, pursuing a special interest in labour problems. In the spring of 1920, she was awarded the college’s ﬁrst summa cum laude AB degree in economics. After graduation, Boody worked as an assistant labour manager for a clothing ﬁrm in Rochester, New York. She returned to Radcliffe for graduate studies in economics, including coursework in statistics as well as economics, reflecting the field’s increasing interest in quantitative data and statistical techniques. Boody published her first scholarly article in 1924 in the Review of Economic Statistics, eventually becoming the ﬁrst woman to serve as a contributing editor of that journal. She earned an M.A. in 1925 and joined the Harvard University Committee on Economic Research, where she was particularly interested in the statistical analysis of time series data and their use in forecasting business cycles. Resuming doctoral studies at Radcliffe, Boody spent 1926 and 1927 collecting English trade statistics for her thesis in London, where she was strongly inﬂuenced by Harold Laski and others at the London School of Economics.

Boody was appointed an Assistant Professor of Economics at Radcliffe. She also taught at Vassar (1927-1928) and at Wheaton College (1938-1939, 1948-1949). As a lecturer and author of articles on East Asian economics and politics, she advocated a “moderate isolationist” policy in the Pacific during the years preceding World War II. She was an assistant editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

Boody completed her Ph.D. in 1934. From 1935 to 1940 she worked for the Bureau of International Research at Harvard University. There she directed two studies: one of English trade during the 18th century, and one on the industrialization of Japan and Manchukuo. These resulted in the publication of two books, one of them posthumous: The Industrialization of Japan and Manchukuo (1940) and English Overseas Trade Statistics, 1697-1808 (1960).

In 1937 she married fellow Harvard economist Joseph Alois Schumpeter. He died 08 January 1950 at their residence in the hamlet of Taconic, Town of Salisbury, Litchfield County, CT, where she ran a small nursery. She edited their posthumously published magnum opus, History of Economic Analysis (1954), based on his research.

Elizabeth Boody Schumpeter died of cancer 17 July 1953.

Her personal and professional papers, dating from 1938-1953, are archived at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

___________________________

THE THIRD DIVISION

Sarah Wambaugh, A.B. 1902, A.M. 1917
Romaine Elizabeth Boody, A.B. 1920

Sarah Wambaugh, author of “A Monograph on Plebiscites” and temporary member of the Administration Commission and Minority Section of the Secretariat of the League of Nations, is now an instructor in Political Science at Wellesley College. Romaine Elizabeth Boody graduated summa cum laude in Economics, and became Assistant Employment Manager for the Hickey-Freeman Company of Rochester, New York.

[High likely that Elizabeth Boody is one of the Radcliffe women in the picture below.]

A VISITOR in Cambridge having supper at the Cock Horse, once the home of Longfellow’s “Village Blacksmith,” may occasionally encounter a group of girls in deep discussion. They may be eagerly arguing some point with a man, whom one instantly labels a Harvard professor. The visitor is probably privileged to gaze upon an evening meeting of the Third Division Club of Radcliffe College. The issue may be the League of Nations, the tariff, a decision of the disarmament conference, or any other topic of the day.

The Third Division from which the Club takes its name includes the Departments of History, Government, and Economics. Students concentrating in these departments formed the club some three years ago with a double purpose — to increase the pleasant social intercourse of students and professors interested in the division and to prepare members to pass their final General Examination. When this examination was uppermost in mind, the Club was often unofficially known as the “Third Degree Club.”

Both to Harvard and to Radcliffe large numbers of students have always been drawn from far and wide by the authority and record for public service of the men who give instruction in these departments. But at Radcliffe, interest in these courses has increased greatly during the last few years, until in 1920 approximately one fourth of the Senior class chose this field of concentration. This impetus is traceable in part to the war and to the larger place women are occupying in industrial and social life, but especially to the stimulus of the chance to work under the guidance of men whose names are always in the public print, whose opinions have been anxiously sought at every juncture of the Great War and of the readjustment period.

Regardless of the actual quality of the instruction, is it not human nature to listen the more eagerly to the well-known expert who may come to class occasionally directly from the train from Washington where he has been acting as adviser to a congressional committee? The privilege of hearing and questioning a Thomas Nixon Carver robs the name “sociology” of any impractical flavor it may have had in pre-college days. The labor situation seems to require immediate attention when a Ripley stands ready to interpret it. The newspaper-reading undergraduate who finds Radcliffe her natural habitat is pulled with equal urgency to International Law with George Grafton Wilson, and Municipal Government with William Bennett Munro.

When making up the courses of study for the year it is evident that the fare provided by the Third Division is tantalizing to say the least. How hard it is to choose. How can failure to study under Albert Bushnell Hart, Professor Holcombe, or Professor Day be explained to parents, old teachers, or the neighbors at home? Will one regret the rest of one’s days the omission of Professor Taussig’s course? Most likely. Certain alluring pages in the catalogue must be hurried over. The world seems nothing but one renunciation after another.

In addition to Harvard instruction, Radcliffe students of History, Government, and Economics have the use of the great Harvard Library. They have access to the Boston Public Library and its splendid Americana, to the Boston Athenaeum, famous for its Washingtonia, the Massachusetts State Library, strong on foreign law, and the Library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, rich in local history and manuscript material.

These departments were the first to adopt the tutorial system and the general final examination. Useful as the new plan has proved in other departments, it is especially suited to the study of these subjects. In a literal sense these are living subjects, changing their aspect with each day’s news — news which cannot be correctly interpreted by isolated study but only by discussion. The wide reading necessary must be judiciously assimilated in order to develop the student’s appreciation and critical faculties. This can be done only with the help of some one who had already mastered the subject.

Under the new plan tutors guide and assist the students in preparing for the final examination, meeting those in their charge individually every week. The tutor is in no sense a coach, rather a friendly counselor whose aid is an enormous encouragement to the student in learning how to learn.

It would be interesting to know what these women concentrating in Division Three do after leaving college. After discussing the problems of our present political and industrial structure in the Liberal Club, the Debating Club, and the Third Division Club, do they ever apply their conclusions in practical work? After studying under men of ripe scholarship and wisdom, are they better qualified to take upon themselves the duties of citizenship? These questions are best answered by telling of the work of a few Radcliffe women.

The courses in International Law at Radcliffe have attracted a considerable number of those holding fellowships in the subject from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Two of these graduate students, Bernice V. Brown and Eleanor W. Allen, have subsequently held the Commission for Relief in Belgium Fellowship which means a year’s study in Brussels. A third, Alice Holden, is this year a member of the Department of Government at Smith College, and is giving the course in International Law at that institution.

Many students of economics are engaged in various forms of educational and service work in factories and other industrial establishments, and in administering philanthropies. Elizabeth Brandeis, 1918, is secretary of the Minimum Wage Board of the District of Columbia. Nathalie Matthews, 1907, is the Director of the Industrial Division of the Children’s Bureau at Washington.

The strength of the Third Division lies not alone in the unrivaled quality of the instruction and the stimulus of being in touch with the tide of current history, but also in the type of student it brings to Radcliffe.

Source: What We Found at Radcliffe. Boston, McGrath-Sherrill Press, ca. 1921, pp. 7-10.

___________________________

Wedding Announcement

Mrs. E.B. Firuski Wed to Educator

Radcliffe College Research Fellow Married here to Joseph A. Schumpeter

Mrs. Elizabeth Boody Firuski of Windy Hill, Taconic, Conn., was married yesterday at noon to Dr. Joseph A. Schumpeter of Cambridge, Mass., Professor of Economics at Harvard University, in the Community Church of New York by the associate minister, the Rev. Leon Rosser Land.

The ceremony was followed by a luncheon in the Viennese Roof Garden of the St. Regis.

The bride, formerly Assistant Professor of Economics at Vassar College is a research fellow at Radcliffe College, working under the auspices of the Bureau of international Research of Harvard University. Her marriage [1929] to Maurice Firuski was terminated by divorce in Reno in 1933.

Dr. Schumpeter, a widower, was born in Austria, where he was Finance Minister in 1919. He formerly was a professor at the University of Bonn.

Dr. and Mrs. Schumpeter will make their home at Windy Hill until the reopening of the Fall session at Harvard.

Source: The New York Times, August 17, 1937, p. 22.

Image Sources: Elizabeth Boody’s senior picture from the Radcliffe Yearbook 1920, p. 36; Portrait of Elizabeth Boody Schumpeter, November 18, 1941. Harvard University Archives.

Tags Boody, Carver, Day, Ripley, Schumpeter, Taussig

Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Exams for Political Economy Courses and Ethics of Social Questions, 1890-1891

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2021-06-24

With the academic year 1890-91, a new instructor joined the Harvard political economy team, William Morse Cole who co-taught Political Economy 1 with Frank Taussig and Political Economy 8, History of Financial Legislation in the United States. Cole went on to have a successful career as professor of accounting at Harvard Business School.

The previous year’s exams have been transcribed and posted earlier:

Harvard. Final exams in political economy and ethics of social reform, 1889-1890

_________________________

1890-1891. Philosophy 14.

Enrollment

[Philosophy] 11. Professor F. G. Peabody. — The Ethics of Social Questions. — The questions of Charity, Divorce, the Indians, Temperance, and the various phases of the Labor Question (Socialism, Communism, Arbitration, Cooperation, etc.), as questions of practical Ethics. — Lectures, essays, and practical observations. 3 hours.

Total 103: 4 Graduates, 53 Senior, 28 Juniors, 4 Sophomores, 3 Freshmen, 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1890-1891, p. 57.

PHILOSOPHY 14.
THE ETHICS OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS.
Mid-year examination (1890-91)

[Omit one question.]

The attitude of political economy toward the questions of social reform.
Consider the possible relations in which your own life may stand to the life of society, and their ethical significance.
Examine a special case of moral heroism and state what, in your opinion, was its motive.
What, according to Professor Sumner, are the duties toward others of “a free man in a free democracy”? Why? And with what result, in your opinion, to society?
Enumerate and illustrate some of the practical rules of good charity which issue from the philosophy of charity.
The relation of the labor question in France and England to the political history of those countries.
Compare the conditions of wealth and the possibilities of revolution in England and in this country.
Consider Carlyle’s doctrine of the “Captain of Industry” as a solution of the modern labor question.
What does Ruskin mean by: Roots of honor; veins of purple; non-competitive just exchange; ad valorem?
What is there in religion which encourages the Socialist and what is there which repels him, and what relation between socialism and religion is, in your judgment, likely to be the result?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. From bound volume Examination Papers, 1890-91.

PHILOSOPHY 14.
THE ETHICS OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

[Omit one question.]

“All wealth is due to labor; therefore to labor all wealth is due.” What, in your opinion, is the economic importance, and the justice, of this proposition?
Compare the views of the Socialist, the Individualist and the “Opportunist” as to the tendency toward State interference. What is your own view of the merits of this kind of legislation?
“Well may Prince Bismarck display leanings toward State Socialism.” Why does Mr. Spencer make this remark, and with what justice?
On what principle would a Professor be paid, under the Socialist programme?
Consider the commercial advantages and hindrances of an establishment like the Hebden Bridge Fustian Mill.
Compare the principle of profit-sharing formerly used in the American Fisheries with that represented by the firm of Billon et Isaac.
Describe the general features and the main intention of the Dawes Indian Bill; and the supplementary legislation now proposed.
What is meant by the “Philosophy of the Family,” and what is its relation to the modern Divorce Question?
If you should enter the retail liquor business in Boston, what legal restrictions would you find hampering the freedom of your trade?
Apply the doctrine of the “Social Organism” to the question of Temperance.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Papers Set for Final examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1891) in bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1890-91.

_____________________________

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 1. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig and Mr. [William Morse] Cole. —

First half-year: —

Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. 3 hours

Second half-year: —

Division A (Theoretical): Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. 3 hours.

Division B (Descriptive): Lectures on Finance, Labor and Capital, Coöperation. — Hadley’s Railroad Transportation. — Laughlin’s Bimetallism. 3 hours.

Total 201:

A: 10 Seniors, 53 Juniors, 50 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 19 Others.
B: 12 Seniors, 31 Juniors, 15 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 7 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1890-1891, p. 58.

Student notes available at the Harvard Archives

Kennedy, Frank Lowell, Notes on lectures by Frank W. Taussig and William M. Cole on Political Economy 1, 1890-1891. Harvard University Archives HUC 8890.371.1

1890-91.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Mid-year examination.

[Divide your time equally between the two parts of the paper.]

I.
[Omit two.]

“Whether men like it or not, the unproductive expenditure of individuals will pro tanto tend to impoverish the community, and only their productive expenditure will enrich it.”
“It would be a great error to regret the large proportion of the annual produce which in an opulent country goes to supply unproductive consumption.”
Can you reconcile these two statements of Mill’s?
“Hardly any two dealers in the same trade, even if their commodities are equally good and equally cheap, carry on their business at the same expense, or turn over their capital in the same time. That equal capitals give equal profits, as a general maxim of trade, would be as false as that equal age or size give equal bodily strength, or that equal reading or experience give equal knowledge.” Can you reconcile this statement of Mill’s with the doctrine of the tendency of profits to an equality?
How far is it true that a general rise or fall in wages would not affect values?
Suppose a country having a metallic currency to issue inconvertible paper to one-half the amount of the coin, and trace the effects on prices and on the circulating medium (1) in an isolated country, having no international trade; (2) in a country having international trade.
On the same supposition, trace the effects, in the country having international trade, on the foreign exchanges, on the course of international trade, and on the terms of international exchange.
“If consumers were to save and covert into capital more than a limited portion of their income, and were not to devote to unproductive consumption an amount of means bearing a certain ratio to the capital of the country, the extra accumulation would be merely so much waste, since there would be no market for the commodities which the capital so created would produce.” Is this true?

II.
[Answer all.]

“Capital is not the result of saving; it is not an accumulation. Its nature is that it should be consumed almost as fast as it is produced. … Saving or accumulation would necessarily defeat the end of its existence. How can materials or tools be saved?” Answer the question.
Explain why rent is not an element in the cost of production of the commodity which yields it.
Connect the law of the increase of labor with the law of production from land.
What is the effect of gratuitous education for a profession on the wages of those engaged in it?
Why does the durability of the precious metals give stability to their value?
What are the laws of value applicable to (1) iron ore, (2) watch-springs, (3) wool and mutton, (4) patented bicycles?
How does the rate of interest bear on the price of land and of securities?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. From bound volume Examination Papers, 1890-91.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Year-end examination (June 1891)
Division A.

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

Wherein is the effect of a change in the demand for commodities on the wages-fund different (1) if competition among laborers is effective? (2) if it is not effective?
On what grounds does Cairnes reach the same conclusions, as to the possible effects of Trades Unions on general wages, for England and for the United States?
Examine Cairnes’s reasoning as to the possibility of maintaining the accumulation of capital in a socialist community.
Why are the wages of women, according to Mill, lower than the wages of men? Accepting Mill’s explanation, what would Cairnes say as to the laws of value applicable to the exchange of the products of women’s labor with the products of men’s labor?
What is the error in saying that high wages make high prices?
“Gold may be cheap, and prices at the same time be low.” Explain.
Is it true that the benefit of foreign trade lies in its affording an outlet for the surplus produce of the community?
Suppose the people of the United States to borrow annually large sums from Europe; and suppose them also to have large interest payments to make on loans contracted in previous years; would you expect our foreign trade to show an excess of imports or of exports?
Mill says that an emission of inconvertible paper money, equal in amount to the specie previously circulating, will drive out the whole of the metallic money; “that is, if paper be issued of as low a denomination as the lowest coin; if not, as much will remain as convenience requires for the smaller payments.” What light is thrown on this statement by the experience of the United States in 1862?
Why did the circumstance that an exceptionally large part of the country’s business was done for cash in the period immediately after the civil war make the time favorable for a speedy contraction of the currency?
Is payment for capital sunk in the soil, rent, or profit?

Division B.

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]
[One question may be omitted.]

Why have pools and traffic agreements been more stable in England than in the United States?
Why does a railroad charge more per ton per mile on cotton goods than on coal?
“A government enterprise may be managed on any one of four principles: 1. as a tax; 2. for business profits; 3. to pay expenses; 4. for public service, without much regard to the question of expenses.” Explain, giving an example under each head.
Wherein is there a resemblance between the legislation of France as to railways and as to banking?
Arrange in proper order the following items of a bank account: Capital, 300; Loans, 1150; Bonds and Stocks, 50; Surplus, 85; Undivided Profits, 10; Cash, 110; Cash items, 90; Notes, 90; Real Estate, 25; Other Assets, 20; Deposits, 960.
Do you see any reason for believing this bank to be or not to be a national bank of the United States? To be a city or a country bank?
Suppose the national banks of the United States ceased to issue notes, their other operations remaining as now; how great would be the effect of the change on the circulating medium of the community? Compare the effect with that which would ensue in Germany if the note issue of the German banks were to cease.
Under the national bank act, how does the action of our banks, when their reserves are suddenly lowered, differ from that of the Bank of England in like case?
Wherein is the mode of dividing profits among members of the coöperative stores in England different from that of the coöperative building associations of the United States?
Wherein does bimetallism as now practiced in France differ from bimetallism as it was in France in 1850? Wherein does it differ from bimetallism as it is in the United States now?
Compare the legislation of Germany on coinage in 1873 with that of the United States in 1853.
Mill divides commodities into three classes, according to the laws of value applicable to them. In which class would you put silver bullion?
Describe carefully the act for the resumption of specie payments, stating when it was passed, when it went into effect, and how far it was successful in accomplishing the desired object.
Will a general rise in wages affect values? prices? profits?

_____________________________

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 2. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig and Mr. [John Graham] Brooks. — History of Economic Theory. — Examination of selections from Leading Writers. — Socialism. 3 hours.

Total 23: 4 Graduates, 10 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1890-1891, p. 58.

Previously Posted

https://www.irwincollier.com/harvard-history-of-economic-theory-final-exam-questions-taussig-1891-94/

Fun fact: W.E.B. Dubois was enrolled in Economics 2 in 1890/91 as a graduate student and was awarded a grade of A (one of six awarded to the twenty-two who received grades, as recorded in Taussig’s scrapbook).

1890-91.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Mid-year examination.

[Divide your time equally between the two parts of the paper.]
[Omit one question.]

It has been suggested that the real source from which wages are paid is not the product of the laborer, nor the capital of the employer, but the income of the consumer. What should you say?
To which of the following cases, if to any, is the reasoning of the wages fund theory applicable? (1) The farmer tilling his own land with his own capital; (2) the fisherman working for a share of the catch; (3) the independent artisan working on his own account with borrowed capital; (4) the employer who habitually sells his product before pay-day, and pays his laborers with the proceeds.
Wherein does President Walker’s view of the source from which wages are paid differ from George’s?
“The extra gains which any producer or dealer obtains through superior talent in business, or superior business arrangements, are very much of a similar kind [to rent.] If all his competitors had the same advantages, and used them, the benefit would be transferred to the consumers, through the diminished value of the article; he only retains it for himself because he is able to bring his commodity to market at a lower cost, while its value is determined by a higher…. Wages and profits represent the universal elements in production, while rent may be taken to represent the differential and peculiar; any difference in favor of certain producers, or in favor of production in certain circumstances, being the source of a gain, which, though not called rent, unless paid periodically by one person to another, is governed by laws entirely the same with it.”—Mill, Political Economy, book iii., ch. v., §4.
What has President Walker added to this in his discussion of business profits?
“It is true that money does not beget money; but capital does manifestly beget capital. If a man borrows a thousand ducats and ties them up in a bag, he will not find any little ducats in the bag at the end of the year; but if he purchases with the ducats a flock of sheep, he will, with proper attention, have lambs enough at the end of the year to make a handsome interest on the loan, and make a handsome profit for himself. If the turns the ducats into corn, he will find it bringing forth, some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred fold…Very seldom does a man borrow money to use it, as money, through the term of his loan. When he does so, as brokers for example sometimes do, he may to Antonio’s question, ‘Is your gold and silver rams and ewes?’ return Shylock’s answer, ‘I cannot tell; I make it breed as fast.’”
Discuss this explanation of interest. Whom do you suppose to be the writer of the extract?
“The natural history of the notion on which it [the wages-fund doctrine] rests, is not obscure. It grew out of the conditions which existed in England during and immediately subsequent to the Napoleonic wars. Two things were then noted. First, capital had become accumulated in the island to such an extent that employers found no (financial) difficulty in paying their laborers by the month, week, or day, instead of requiring them to await the fruition of their labor in the harvested or marketed product. Second, the wages were, in fact, generally so low that they furnished no more than a bare subsistence, while the employment offered was so restricted that an increase in the number of laborers had the effect to throw some out of employment or to reduce the wages for all. Out of these things the wages-fund theory was put together.”
Examine this account of the rise of the wages-fund doctrine.
Discuss the method of reasoning followed by Adam Smith, and illustrate by his treatment of two of the following topics: (1) the causes which bring about high wages; (2) the effects on domestic industry of restraints on importation; (3) the origin and effects of the division of labor.
Explain how Ricardo’s conception of wages bears on his conclusions as to the effects of taxes on wages, and as to the net income of society.
What can be said in justification of the views of the writers of the mercantile school?

Source: Harvard University Archives. In Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. From bound volume Examination Papers, 1890-91.

Second semester taught by John Graham Brooks.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

From Rousseau to the Fabians, what have been the chief historic changes in the Philosophy of Socialism?
In detail, state the differences between the Marx type of Socialism and that of the Fabians.
With reference to the “three rents” what are the most important objections to Socialism?
What reasons can you give to show that Socialism is likely to have much further development in our society?

_____________________________

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 3. Mr. [John Graham] Brooks. Investigation and Discussion of Practical Economic Questions. — Social Questions. — Short theses. 1^st half-year. 3 hours.

Total 10: 1 Graduate, 7 Seniors, 1 Junior, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1890-1891, p. 58.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Mid-year examination

State the general objects of the German State Insurance, with reasons why it is likely, or not likely, to reach its objects.
State in detail the strong points and the weak points of Trades Unions.
What is the effect of Trades Unions upon their own wages, as distinguished from wages in general?
What advantages has Profit Sharing over the present forms of the wages system?
Are there reasons to believe that Profit Sharing will have much larger influence in the future?
With special reference to the work of the half year, what “social remedies” appear to you most promising?

Source: Harvard University Archives. In Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. From bound volume Examination Papers, 1890-91.

_____________________________

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 4. Professor [Charles Franklin] Dunbar. — Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. —Lectures and written work. 3 hours.

Total 103: 29 Seniors, 28 Juniors, 25 Sophomores, 4 Freshmen, 17 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1890-1891, p. 58.

Other course material available at the Harvard Archives

Topics and references in political economy IV [1891?]. Student’s copy belonging to C. King Morrison, ’91. with manuscript notes. Harvard University Archives HUC 8890.371

Larrabee, Ralph Clinton (A.B. 1893). Notes in Political Economy 4: lectures by Prof. Dunbar, 1890-1891. Harvard University Archives HUC 8890.371.4.48

Principle text for Political Economy 4

From the prefatory note to Benjamin Rand’s (ed.) Selections illustrating economic history since the Seven Years’ War (Cambridge, MA: Waterman and Amee, 1889):

These selections have been made for use as a text-book of required reading to accompany a course of lectures on economic history given at Harvard College.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Mid-year examination

Lay out your time carefully, reserving 15 minutes for review and correction.

A.
Give half of your time (say 80 minutes) to A, omitting one question.

Make a careful statement of the leading provisions of the English navigation and colonial system.
Adam Smith’s reasons for saying that the policy of Great Britain towards her colonies had, upon the whole, been less illiberal and oppressive than that of other countries towards theirs. [Rand, pp. 12-26.]
Contrast the effects of the French revolutionary period upon the holding and distribution of land, in France and Germany respectively.
Describe the current of opinion and the industrial conditions which made free trade inevitably the policy for England.
State the reasons for the logical and political importance of the corn laws in the English free trade movement.
The essential differences between the French and the Anglo-American methods of managing railway construction and ownership, and the effect and advantages of each.

B.
Give 80 minutes to B, omitting two questions.

The trade between the United States and the British West Indies, before our revolution, and after.
The inventions or improvements which made the development of the cotton States possible.
The condition of commerce and manufactures in the United States in the two periods, 1794-1808, and 1808-1815.
The successive enterprises for opening communication with the territory north of the Ohio, and their importance.
The English legislation respecting cotton goods in the last century and the reasons for it.
What was the effect of the Napoleonic wars upon the introduction of manufactures on the continent of Europe?
The comparative state of preparation of England, France, Germany, and the United States for undertaking the modern industries when the peace of 1815 came.
Give what account you can of the career and opinions of Turgot, with dates.
The contributions of Stein and Hardenberg respectively to the reform in the Prussian system of land-holding.
On what plan was the Zollverein organized?
What are the differences in industrial characteristics which make it natural for England and France to adopt different policies as to protection and free trade?

Source: Harvard University Archives. In Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. From bound volume Examination Papers, 1890-91.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

Lay out your time carefully, reserving 15 minutes for review and correction

A.
Give half of your time to A. omitting one question.

The establishment of the Zollverein is spoken of [Rand, page 138] as “the first step towards what is called the Germanization of the people” and to have “prepared the way for a political nationality.” Show how it had this effect.
Cairnes, in his discussion of the new gold, [Rand, page 197] shows that “a given addition to the metallic stock of Great Britain and the United States … will cause a greater expansion of the total circulation, and therefore will support a greater advance in general prices, that the same addition to the currency of … France … and that again, the effect in countries like France will be greater than in countries like India or China.” Why is this, and how much effect did this difference in sensitiveness produce in the years after 1850?
Cairnes lays down [Rand, page 209] that “every country is interested in raising as rapidly as possible the prices of its productions,–in other words, in the most rapid possible depreciation in the local value of its gold.” What are the grounds for this proposition?
The writer in Blackwood’s, [Rand, page 228] says that the most important point in the payment of the French indemnity is “How came it that £170,000,000 [4,250,000,000 francs] of bills could be got at all”? What is the explanation of this fact?
What are the reasons for looking upon Italy as a possible serious competitor in ocean navigation, and what are her great drawbacks in such competition?

What are the marked differences between the great change in the production and value of the precious metals in the sixteenth century, and that in the nineteenth?
Why was an additional supply of gold especially important to the world in the years 1850-60?
How does the mere saving of time in transportation, or in the transmission of intelligence, produce an effect upon commerce?
How far was the civil war the cause of the decline of American shipping after 1860?
What reasons made the breaking out of a financial crisis in the United States in 1873 easier than usual?
Why did the payment of the French indemnity disturb the financial quiet of other countries than France and Germany?
What are the great cases of resumption of specie payment in the years 1875-85, and how were they brought about respectively?
Why is the trade between countries so often “triangular,” and why is England so generally one of the parties concerned?
How does the modern theory of the utility of colonies differ from that of a century or two ago?

_____________________________

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 6. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig. — History of Tariff Legislation in the United States. 2 hours. 2d half-year

Total 43: 1 Graduate, 28 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1890-1891, p. 58.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions. Answer all questions.]

Explain wherein France and the United States were in similar positions, as regards customs policy, in 1814-15; and state briefly the legislation to which these situations led in the two countries.
What was the argument, discussed in Hamilton’s Report on Manufactures, which rested on the supposed exceptions productiveness of agriculture? What was Hamilton’s answer? What is the sound view?
How did Gallatin propose in 1831 to fix customs duties without regard to their protective effect? Walker in 1845?
Was there any ground in 1832 for saying that the duties on imports were equivalent to duties on exports? Is there now?
How did the general fall in prices after 1819 affect the growth of manufactures in the United States?
“The climate, soil, and conditions generally in the Northwest, are very favorable to the cultivation of flax fibre as well as of the seed. After a short experience as to the primary manipulation and handling of the flax fibre, our farmers would produce flax which would compare favorably with the best varieties of the fibre. It seems strange that a practical people like ourselves should for years have been satisfied to cultivate seed for flax at a value of about $15 per acre, and at the same time allow 600 pounds of flax fibre per acre to rot on the ground, this fibre having a value, after being manipulated, of $186 per ton.”
Can you explain the anomaly?
Describe the process by which the duties on woollen cloths, as they stand in the act of 1890, were arrived at.
What ground is there for saying that the protective movement in the United States is part of a general reaction towards protection which has appeared in most civilized countries in recent years?
It has been said that the tariff act of 1789 began the protective policy of the United States; that the act of 1816 was the first giving serious protection; that the act of 1824 was the first strictly protective act. Which statement, if any, do you think true?
Which of the important tariff acts between 1835 and 1859 were passed quite without regard to financial considerations?
What does the continued importation of clothing wool indicate as to the effect of the duty on the domestic price? of pig iron? of silks?

_____________________________

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 7. Professor [Charles Franklin] Dunbar. — Public Finance and Taxation. — Cohn’s Finanzwissenschaft. 3 hours.

Total 7: 2 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 1 Junior.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1890-1891, p. 58.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

It is recommended that at least a third of the time be given to B.

Accepting the usual reasoning that a tax under some circumstances, by diminishing the income from property, diminishes its selling value, and so ceases to be felt by subsequent purchasers, should you say,—
1. That the French impôt foncier is a tax on present landholders?
2. That the English income-tax under Schedule A. is a tax on present landholders?
  The reason for the difference, if any exists.
What is your final conclusion as to the sale of bonds or annuities at a discount, — is it defensible or not, and on what grounds?
Explain the English method of using terminable annuities for the reduction of the public debt, as in 1867 and 1883, and discuss its advantages and drawbacks.
“The administrator of local finances is permitted to found a sinking-fund at the time of issuing bonds, a permission, it will be remembered, contrary to sound rules of national financiering.”
Does the distinction here made between local and national finances give solid ground for difference of treatment? Are the propositions as to the propriety of establishing sinking-funds in the two cases respectively tenable?
Say remarks that the French government, in providing for the indemnity, bought any kind of foreign bills of exchange, “prenant tous les changes qu’elle pouvait acquérir sur quelque pay que ce fût.” How did this purchase of a bill, say upon Russia, facilitate the payment of the indemnity any more than the purchase of a bill upon Marseilles would have done, seeing that in either case the government had to collect the proceeds in order to use them?

In 1872 Herr Bamberger, in his pamphlet die Fünf Milliarden, regretted that Germany had not been allowed more time to absorb the indemnity, so as to avoid the risk of over-stimulated enterprise, rise of prices, and speculation.
Discuss the probably effects, in Germany or elsewhere, (1) of longer time allowed to France; (2) of more cautious introduction of the wealth into Germany, effected
1. By longer deposit (say) in London,
2. By payment in securities, to be sold by Germany by degrees.

_____________________________

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 8. Mr. [William Morse] Cole. — History of Financial Legislation in the United States. 2 hours. 1^st half-year.

Total 46: 1 Graduate, 29 Seniors, 13 Juniors, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1890-1891, p. 58.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
Mid-year examination

“That the public credit was much better during the Civil War than during the War of 1812 is proved by the fact that during the former war the bulk of the loans were sold at par, whereas during the latter the larger part were sold below par.”
Comment on this statement.
Under what authority does the Secretary of the Treasury purchase bonds in the market? Why does he not redeem them at par?
Explain: “Five-twenties”; “Seven-thirties”; and tell why they were made seven-thirties; “Deferred sixes,” “5% redemption fund.”
When were the first legal tenders under the present constitution authorized?
What have been the express legal exemptions of government obligations from taxation since the outbrake of the Civil War?
In what different capacities was each of the following men connected with the finances of the nation: Hugh McCulloch, Levi Woodbury, William Pitt Fessenden, John Tyler?

II.
(Omit two.)

1, 2. [Counts as two questions.] Compare the causes of the suspensions of 1814, 1837, and 1861.

3, 4. [Counts as two.] Mention the different systems which have been in vogue since 1789 for caring for public funds, and tell why each change was made.

1. It was said that the bill which finally became the act for resumption in 1875 really provided for nothing in particular, and therefore ought not to be put upon the statute book. Did the provisions of the bill warrant the remark? Did subsequent history justify the remark?
2. In what way were the French Spoliation Claims connected with the Second-Bank Struggle?
3. Hamilton wished to have a system of internal taxation in working order as a resource in case of emergency. Does history throw any light upon the wisdom or folly of such a policy?
4. What were the causes of Gallatin’s retirement from the Treasury?
5. What history would you cite as an argument upon a proposition to replace bonds exempt from all taxation by bonds taxed to a moderate extent, and to distribute the receipts from the tax among the States according to the federal ratio?
6. In a speech on the refunding bill it was said that the government made no threat, but merely promised certain privileges to those who presented bonds to be refunded at a lower rate. “No one proposes…the alternative adopted by our own Government under Hamilton’s plan of reducing the interest.”
  Is this implication regarding Hamilton’s funding justified by the facts?

11, 12. [Counts as two.] Mention as many as possible of the kinds of obligations which have been contracted by the government; i.e. character of obligation (bond or what), length of time to run, and rate of interest. Give one example under each kind,—giving period of issue, but not necessarily the exact date.

Source: Harvard University Archives. In Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. From bound volume Examination Papers, 1890-91.

_____________________________

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 9.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 9. Professor [Frank W.] Taussig. — Railway Transportation. —Lectures and written work. 3 hours. 2d half-year

Total 20: 14 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1890-1891, p. 58.

1890-91.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 9.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

[Answer all the questions, and arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]

Can it be fairly said that the early experience of the States of the Union supplies strong arguments against State ownership of railways? Can it be fairly said of the experience of France since 1878?
State the salient events in the history of the federal land grants to railways.
How do you explain the rapidity with which the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads were completed?
Wherein did the so-called Granger legislation on railway rates resemble the “natural” system advocated in Germany after 1871? Wherein did it differ from it?
Sketch the history and machinery of the Southern Railway and Steamship Association.
Explain the difference in the working of the Trunk Line Association before and after the passage of the Interstate Commerce Act.
What ground is there for saying that the prohibition of pooling in the Interstate Commerce Act is inconsistent with its prohibition of discrimination between individuals?
Suppose a railway to be built and used exclusively for coal traffic; would its rates be arranged on a plan essentially different from that in use with ordinary railways, having a varied traffic?
It has been said that the principle of tolls, or rates based on cost of service, makes it necessary that each item of business should pay its share of the fixed charges. Why, or why not?
Sketch the history of government management of railways in Italy.
“Property has reached an ideal perfection. It is felt and treated as the national lifeblood. The rights of property nothing but felony and treason can override. The house is a castle which the King cannot enter. The Bank is a strong box to which the King has no key. Whatever surly sweetness possession can give is tasted in England to the dregs. Vested rights are awful things, and absolute possession gives the smallest freeholder identity of interest with the duke.”—Emerson, English Traits.
Wherein does the trait here described make the railroad situation in England different from that in the United States?

Tags BrooksJG, ColeWM, Dunbar, Peabody, Taussig

Economic History Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Final exams in political economy and ethics of social reform, 1889-1890

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2021-05-09

The Harvard University Archives provide a fairly complete collection of final examinations for all Harvard courses. Slowly but surely Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is adding transcriptions of economics exam questions, sometimes for individual courses together with syllabi where available and sometimes as annual collections along with course enrollments. In this post we get one year closer to the turn of the twentieth century. Stay tuned or, better yet, subscribe to the blog below!

______________________

1889-90
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM.

Enrollment.

[Philosophy] 11. Prof. [Francis Greenwood] Peabody. The Ethics of Social Reform. — The modern social questions: Charity, Divorce, the Indians, Temperance, and the various phases of the Labor Question, as questions of practical Ethics. — Lectures, essays, and practical observations. — Students in this course made personal study of movements in charity and reform. They inspected hospitals, asylums, and industrial schools in the neighborhood, and the various labor organizations, cooperative and profit-sharing enterprises and movements of socialism, temperance, etc., within their reach. Four special reports were presented by each student, based so far as possible upon these special researches. Hours per week: 2 or 3.

Total 112: 1 Graduate, 53 Seniors, 34 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 15 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1889-1890, p. 79.

1889-90
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

Omit one question.

“This Course of study has a twofold purpose, — an immediate and practical purpose, and an indirect and philosophical purpose.” — Lecture I. Illustrate both of these intentions of the Course in the case of either Social Question thus far treated.
Compare the “Social Organism” of Hobbes or of Rousseau with the modern conception of society.
“Here is a tenant-farmer whose principles prompt him to vote in opposition to his landlord…May he then take a course which will eject him from his farm and so cause inability to feed his children?…No one can decide by which course the least wrong is likely to be done.” — Spencer, Data of Ethics, p. 267.

“Thou love repine and reason chafe,
There came a voice without reply —
‘Tis man’s perdition to be safe
When for the truth he ought to die.’”

Emerson, Poems, p. 253. Sacrifice.

Define and compare the principles of conduct proposed in these two passages.

The doctrine of the “Forgotten Man,” — its meaning and its effect on charity and on the stability of the State. Interpret, under this principle of conduct, the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The history of the English Poor Law as illustrating the progress and the dangers of modern charity.
The Law of Marriage in the United States, — its two chief forms, its effect on divorce, and the changes proposed in the interest of Divorce Reform.
The Patriarchal Theory, — its definition, its evidence, and its place in the Philosophy of the Family.
Exogamy, — its meaning, its suppose causes, and its effect on the development of society.
The relation of the stable family type to —
1. The Philosophy of Individualism.
2. The Philosophy of Socialism.
Illustrate the dependence of the question of the home on the industrial and economic tendencies of the time.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. Bound volume. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1889-90.

1889-90
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM
[Year-end Examination. 1890.]

[Omit one question.]

State, briefly, any general results which you may have seemed to yourself to gain from this course of study.
The facts, so far as investigated, as to the distribution of wealth in England and in this country, and the lessons to be derived from these facts in either case.
The economic doctrine of Carlyle’s “Past and Present,” and its value in the modern “Social Question.”
Distinguish Anarchism, Communism, and Socialism in their relation to: —
1. The philosophy of Individualism
2. The present industrial order.
The tendency in modern legislation which encourages the Socialist. How far, in your opinion, is his inference from this tendency justifiable?
Distinguish the logical and the practical relationships of Socialism to: (a) Religion. (b) Co-operation.
The business principles which give a commercial advantage to an English co-operative store.
State the issue between Federalism and Individualism in Co-operation.
Describe the four prevailing methods of liquor legislation, their relation to each other, and the arguments which encourage each.
Illustrate the “correlation” of the temperance question with other social questions of the time.
How far does such a study of the Social Questions as we have pursued go to establish a theory of Ethics? Illustrate this philosophical contribution in the case of any one of the questions of this Course.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Bound Volume: Examination Papers, 1890-92. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1890), pp. 8-9.

______________________

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 1. Profs. [Frank William] Taussig and [Silas Marcus] Macvane, and Mr. [Edward Campbell] Mason. Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. — Lectures on Social Questions (Coöperation, Profit-Sharing, Trades-Unions, Socialism). Banking, and the financial legislation of the United States. Hours per week: 3.

Total 179: 2 Graduates, 29 Seniors, 65 Juniors, 60 Sophomores, 23 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1889-1890, p. 80.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

Define wealth; define capital; and explain which of the following are wealth or capital: pig iron, gold bullion, water, woolen cloth, bank-notes.
Is there any inconsistency between the propositions (1) that capital is the result of saving, (2) that it is perpetually consumed, (3) that the amount of capital in civilized communities is steadily increasing?
On what grounds does Mill conclude that the increase of fixed capital at the expense of circulating is seldom injurious to the laborers? On what grounds does he conclude that, when government expenditures for wars are defrayed from loans, the laborers usually suffer no detriment?
Explain the proposition that even though all the land in cultivation paid rent, there would always be some agricultural capital paying no rent.
Trace the connections between the law of population and the law of rent.
What is the effect on values, if any, of (1) a rise of profits in a particular occupation, (2) a general rise in profits?
“The preceding are cases in which inequality of remuneration is necessary to produce equality of attractiveness, and are examples of the equalizing effect of competition. The following are cases of real inequality, and arise from a different principle.” Give examples of differences of wages illustrating each of these two sets of cases; and explain what is the principle from which the second set arise.
“Retail price, the price paid by the actual consumer, seems to feel very slowly and imperfectly the effect of competition; and when competition does exist, it often, instead of lowering prices, merely divides the gains of the high price among a greater number of dealers.” Explain.
What are the laws of value applying to (1) land, (2) raw cotton, (3) cotton cloth, (4) gold?
How does the legislation of the United States on National Banks provide for the safety of notes and of deposits?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. Bound volume. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1889-90.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Year-end Examination. 1890.]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.
One question may be omitted.

How does Mill explain the fact that the wages of women are lower than the wages of men? Wherein is his explanation analogous to certain propositions on which Cairnes laid stress?
“Wages, then, depend mainly upon the proportion between population and capital. By population is here meant the number only of the laboring class, or rather of those who work for hire; and by capital, only circulating capital, and not even the whole of that, but the part which is expended in the direct purchase of labor.” — Mill.
What has Cairnes added to this statement of the wages-fund doctrine?
On what grounds does Cairnes conclude that trades unions cannot raise general wages?
Explain how it may happen that a thing can be sold cheapest by being produced in some other place that that at which it can be produced with the greatest amount of labor and abstinence.
What effect does the growth of a country have on the relative values of hides and beef? How far would improvements enabling beef to be transported for great distances affect Cairnes’s conclusions on this subject?
Mill lays it down that an emission of paper money beyond the quantity of specie previously in circulation will cause the disappearance of the whole of the metallic money; but observes that if paper be not issued of as low a denomination as the lowest coin, such coin will remain as convenience requires for the smaller payments. What light does experience of the United States during the Civil War throw on the main proposition, and on the qualification?
“No nation can continue to pay its foreign debts by the process of incurring new debts to meet a balance yearly accruing against it; yet this, in truth, is the nature of the financial operation by which of late years the United States has contrived to settle accounts with the rest of the world…These considerations lead me to the conclusion that the present condition [1873] of the external trade of the United States is essentially abnormal and temporary. If that country is to continue to discharge her liabilities to foreigners, the relation which at present obtains between exports and imports in her external trade must be inverted.”
State the reasoning by which Cairnes was led to this prediction; and explain how far it was verified by the events of the years after succeeding 1873. Point out the bearing of those events on the resumption of specie payments by the United States.
“Suppose that, under a double standard, gold rises in value relatively to silver, so that the quantity of gold in a sovereign is now worth more than the quantity of silver in twenty shillings. The consequence will be that, unless a sovereign can be sold for more than twenty shillings, all the sovereigns will be melted, since as bullion they will purchase a greater number of shillings than they exchange for as coin.” — Mill.
Explain (1) the conditions assumed in regard to international trade in this reasoning; (2) the mode in which, under the double standard, the metal whose value rises in fact goes out of circulation; (3) the reasons why the coinage of silver in the United States since 1878 has not driven gold out of the currency.
Are general high prices an advantage to a country?
What were Mill’s expectations as to the future of coöperative production? Cairnes’s? What does experience lead you to expect?

______________________

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 2. Prof. [Frank William] Taussig and Mr. [John Graham] Brooks. First half-year: Lectures on the History of Economic Theory. — Discussion of selections from Adam Smith and Ricardo. — Topics in distribution, with special reference to wages and managers’ returns. — Second half-year: Modern Socialism in France, Germany, and England. — An extended thesis from each student. Hours per week: 3. *Consent of instructor required.

Total 24: 7 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 1 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1889-1890, p. 80.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

Sidgwick supposes that, in a country where the ratio of auxiliary to remuneratory capital is 5 to 1, 120 millions are saved and added to the existing capital, and asks, “in what proportion are we to suppose this to be divided?” Answer the question.
On the same supposition Cairnes’s answer is expected to be that the whole of the 120 millions would be added to the wages fund. “But then, unless the laborers became personally more efficient in consequence — which Cairnes does not assume — there would be no increase in the annual produce, and therefore the whole increase in the wages fund would be taken out of the profits within the year after the rise. Now, though I do not consider saving to depend so entirely on the prospect of profit as Mill and other economists, still I cannot doubt that a reduction in profits by an amount equivalent to the whole amount saved would very soon bring accumulation to a stop; hence the conclusion from Cairnes’s assumptions would seem to be that under no circumstances can capital increase to any considerable extent unless the number of laborers increases also.”
What would Cairnes say to this?
Explain what is Sidgwick’s conclusion as to the effect of profits on accumulation; and point out wherein his treatment of this topic differs from Cairnes’s and from Ricardo’s.
In what sense does George use the term “wages”? Ricardo? Mill? Cairnes?
Explain wherein Sidgwick’s general theory of distribution differs from Walker’s.
Compare the treatment of rent by the Physiocratic writers and by Adam Smith.
What was Adam Smith’s doctrine as to labor as a means of value? What was Ricardo’s criticism on that doctrine?
What did Adam Smith say to the argument that taxes on the necessaries of life raise the price of labor, and therefore give good ground for import duties on the commodities produced at home by the high-priced labor? What would Ricardo have said to the same argument?
How does Ricardo show that the application of labor and capital to worse soil brings a decline of profits not only in agriculture, but in all industries?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination papers in economics 1882-1935 of Professor F. W. Taussig (HUC 7882). Scrapbook.
Also included in Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. Bound volume. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1889-90.

Political Economy 2.
[Year-end Examination, June 1890.]

Characterize French Socialism, chiefly with reference to St. Simon and Louis Blanc.
What general differences do you note between French and German Socialism?
Summarize Lasalle’s theory of history development.
State and criticize in detail Marx’s theory of surplus value. What follows as to Socialism, if this theory fails?
Is Schaeffle a Socialist? If so, why? If not, why not?
State the present attitude of English Socialism, with special reference to the Fabian Society. Note the most important changes from the Marx type.
In what definite ways would Socialism modify the system of private property?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Vol. Examination Papers, 1890-92. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1890), pp. 11-12. Previously posted in Economics in the Rear-view Mirror.

______________________

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 3. Prof. [Frank William] Taussig and Mr. [John Graham] Brooks. Investigation and Discussion of Practical Economic Questions. — Subjects for 1889-90: Profit-Sharing; the Silver Situation in the United States; Prices since 1850; the Regulation of Railways by the Interstate Commerce Act. — Lectures and discussion of theses. Hours per week: 2. *Consent of instructor required.

Total 19: 15 Seniors, 4 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1889-1890, p. 80.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

Define Profit-sharing, distinguishing it from Coöperation and from existing forms of the wages system.
What in your opinion are the four most successful experiments, with specific reasons for the choice?
State as definitely as possible the conditions under which Profit-sharing is most likely to succeed.
What are the advantages of immediate as against deferred participation?
How serious is the current objection that the laborer cannot or ought not to bear the losses incident to business?
What of the objection that secrecy is impossible?
What specific evidence is there that an extraordinary person is not permanently necessary to successful Profit-sharing?
State briefly the actual advantages and disadvantages of Profit-sharing as they have appeared in history.
What would be the probably effects of competition upon a larger application of Profit-sharing to our industrial system?
What is the best method of dividing the bonus? Add any criticism upon the actual division as seen in history.
Will self-interest alone insure successful Profit-sharing? If not, how can the difficulty be met without violating “business principles”?

Supplementary Questions.

What, if any, is the nature of the antagonism in Profit-sharing among capitalist, manager, and workman?
What of the objection that Profit-sharing is inconsistent with the nature of a legal contract?
Would a wider application of Profit-sharing modify any given theory (as that of Cairnes or Walker) as to the wage fund?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. Bound volume. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1889-90.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Year-end Examination. 1890.]

In 1887 the Secretary of the Treasury suggested that the purchase by the government of silver for coinage into standard dollars should be subject only to one limitation: that whenever the silver dollars held by the Treasury, over and above those held against outstanding certificates, exceeded $5,000,000, the purchase and coinage should cease.
Explain (1) how the effects of this plan, in the years from 1887 to 1889, would have differed from those of the actual coinage and issue; (2) whether the silver currency so issued could, under any circumstances, be at a discount as compared with gold.
Give the same explanations in regard to a plan by which the government should purchase every month $4,500,000 worth of silver bullion and issue therefor certificates, redeemable, at the government’s option, in gold or silver coin; or, at the holder’s option, in silver bullion at its market value on the day of their presentation for redemption.
What are India Council Bills? How does their issue affect the price of silver?
Point out what bearing you think improvements in production have on the existence and effects of an appreciation of gold.
Explain the following terms, giving examples: (a) group rate; (b) differential; (c) relatively reasonable rates; (d) arbitraries, (e) commodity rate.
Is it unjust discrimination, under the Interstate Commerce Act, (1) to offer a discount to any consignee who receives more than a specified quantity of freight a year; (2) to give a lower rate to regular shippers than to occasional shippers; (3) to refuse to pay mileage for the use of cars furnished by a shipper of cattle, when mileage is paid for the use of cars furnished by a shipper of oil; (4) to charge more per mile on long hauls than on short hauls.
Comment on the following: “The value of service is generally regarded as the most important factor in fixing rates…The value of service to a shipper in a general sense is the ability to reach a market and make his commodity a subject of commerce. In this sense, the service is more valuable to a man who transports a thousand miles than to a man who transports a hundred miles, so that distance is an element in value of service. In a more definite and accurate sense, it consists in reaching a market at a profit, being in effect what the traffic will bear, to be remunerative to the producer or trader.”
Explain how the penalties for violating the Interstate Commerce Act can be enforced, and how they have been enforced.

______________________

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 4. Mr. [Adolph Caspar] Miller. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. — Lectures and written work. Hours per week: 3.

Total 106: 25 Seniors, 27 Juniors, 35 Sophomores, 3 Freshmen, 16 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1889-1890, p. 80.

* * * * * *

From the prefatory note to Benjamin Rand’s (ed.) Selections illustrating economic history since the Seven Years’ War (Cambridge, MA: Waterman and Amee, 1889):

These selections have been made for use as a text-book of required reading to accompany a course of lectures on economic history given at Harvard College.

* * * * * *

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

[Take all of A, and seven questions from B.]

A.

“It has often been imagined that the property of these great masses of land was almost entirely in the hands of the church, the monasteries, the nobility, and the financiers; and that before 1789 only large estates existed, while the class of small proprietors was created by the Revolution. Some consider this supposed change as the highest glory, and others as the greatest calamity of modern times; but all are agreed as to the fact. — Von Sybel, [Economic Causes of the French Revolution] in Selections, p. 52.
(a) What do you consider to be the fact?
(b) Granting the fact, how do you regard the change?
Speaking of the fall of wages in England during the French wars, Mr. Porter [The Finances of England, 1793-1815, Selections, p. 114] says: “Nor could it well be otherwise, since the demand for labor can only increase with the increase of the capital destined for the payment of wages.” Why was there no increase of the capital destined for the payment of wages when, according to J. S. Mill, “the wealth and resources of the country, instead of diminishing, gave every sign of rapid increase”?
Porter [Selections, p. 121] says: “There never could have existed any doubt of the fact that, whenever the necessity for borrowing should cease, the market value of the public funds would advance greatly…. The knowledge of this fact should have led the ministers, by whom successive additions were made to the public debt, to the adoption of a course which would have enabled them to turn this rise of prices to the advantage of the public, instead of its being, as it has proved, productive of loss.”
What was the course adopted and how was it productive of loss? Was this “loss” at all offset by any advantages?
Mention briefly the events associated in your mind with six of the following names: Sheffield; Slater; Coalbrookdale; Young; Dud Dudley; Coxe; Killingworth; Clarkson; “Rocket.”

B.

How was England commercially affected by the loss of her American colonies in 1783?
(a) Compare the French debt and taxation in 1789 with those of England at about the same date.
(b) Point out the significance of England’s debt in 1783 as compared with 1889.
(a) What method would you pursue in investigating the question as to the depreciation of bank notes during the Restriction?
(b) Tooke’s explanation of the high price of bullion during the Restriction. Wherein did it differ from the opinion of the Bullion Committee?
(c) How do you account for the high profits of the Bank of England during the Restriction?
(a) Describe the French assignats and point out wherein they differed from the territorial mandates.
(b) What was the tiers consolidé?
(a) In what particular ways were England and the United States peculiarly benefited by the introduction of steam navigation?
(b) What changes were introduced into the French railway system under Napoleon III.?
(a) Napoleon’s Continental System. Its effects upon England and France respectively.
(b) Point out the chief factors determining the commercial development of the United States from 1789 to 1816.
(a) General commercial and industrial nature of the period 1815 to 1830.
(b) Were the progressive changes of prices a cause or an effect of the disturbances of this period?
(c) How did the increase of pauperism affect the distribution of wealth in England during and following the Napoleonic wars?
(a) Why has the current of liberal commercial opinions been successful in influencing legislation in England, but ineffective in France?
(b) Describe the Merchants’ Petition, and point out its importance.
(a) Formation and constitution of the Zoll Verein.
(b) In what manner were the duties of the Zoll Verein levied?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. Bound volume. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1889-90.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Year-end Examination. 1890.]

[Take all of A and eight questions from B.]

A.

Cairnes [From Cairnes’ Essays in Political Economy, “The New Gold”, in Selections, p. 211] says that “as a general conclusion we may say, that in proportion as in any country the local depreciation of gold is more or less rapid than the average rate elsewhere, the effect of the monetary disturbance will be for that country beneficial or injurious.”
1. By what process of reasoning does Mr. Cairnes reach this conclusion?
2. To what extent was it verified by the history of the new gold movement?
3. What would determine the rapidity of the local depreciation in any country?
The writer in Blackwood’s [“The French Indemnity: The Payment of the Five Milliards” in Selections, p. 250], speaking of the origin of the indemnity bills, quotes M. Say as being of the opinion “that scarcely any part of the indemnity bills was furnished by the current commercial trade of the country.” How were they furnished?
The same writer [Selections, p. 246] says that “the quantities of bills, of each kind, that were bought by the French Government as vehicles of transmission, in no way indicate the form in which the money was handed over to the German Treasury.” Why?
Wells [Recent Economic Changes, p. 218] says “the changes in recent years in the world’s economic condition have essentially changed the relative importance of the two functions which gold, as the leading monetary metal, discharges; namely, that of an instrumentality for facilitating exchanges and as a measure of value.” Describe some of the agencies and evidences of this change in the functions of gold, and point out what influence has thus been exerted upon the value of gold.

B.

Why was an additional supply of gold especially important, 1850-69?
What part did India play in the gold movement, 1851-67? How has her ability in this respect been modified?
To what extent can the decline of our tonnage be ascribed to the effects of the Civil War?
How do you account for the increase of the trading classes during the Civil War?
American wheat and its effect upon English agriculture. How were the results modified by the lord and tenant system?
German coinage and the crisis of 1873. To what extent did it contribute to the fall of prices after 1873?
How did the crisis of 1873 simplify the problem of specie resumption for the United States? Did it do the same for France?
Why did France recover so rapidly after the war of 1870-71?
The Suez Canal and Oriental trade.
Compare the period 1873-89 with the period 1815-30.

______________________

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 6. Prof. [Frank William] Taussig. History of Tariff Legislation in the United States. — Lectures on the History of Tariff Legislation. — Discussion of brief theses (two from each student). — Lectures on the Tariff History of France and England. Hours per week: 2 or 3. 2d half-year. *Consent of instructor required.

Total 29: 19 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1889-1890, p. 80.

1889-90.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6
[End-Year]

What grounds are there for believing that the restrictive policy of Great Britain did or did not have a considerable effect on the industrial development of the American colonies?
What was the effect of the political situation in 1824 on the tariff act of that year? in 1842 on the act of 1842?
“The tariff of 1846 was passed by a party vote. It followed the strict constructionist theory in aiming at a list of duties sufficient only to provide revenue for the government, without regard to protection.”—Johnston’s American Politics.
Was the act passed by a party vote? Did it disregard protection? Did it succeed in fixing duties sufficient only to provide revenue?
What basis is there for the assertion that the gold premium, in the years after the civil war, increased the protection given by the import duties?
Under what circumstances was the tariff act of 1864 passed? How long did it remain in force?
Is there any analogy between the effects of the duties on cotton goods after 1816 and those on steel rails after 1870?
Wherein would there probably be differences in the effects of reciprocity treaties (1) with Canada, admitting coal free; (2) with Great Britain, admitting iron free; (3) with Brazil, admitting sugar free?
Apply Gallatin’s test as to the effect of duties on the price of the protected articles, to the present facts in regard to (1) clothing wool, (2) silks.
On what grounds is the removal of the duty on pig iron more or less desirable than that of the duty on sugar?
Is it a strong objection to ad valorem duties that they depend on foreign prices and that therefore the duties are fixed by foreigners? Is it a strong objection to specific duties that they operate unequally?

______________________

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Public Finance and Banking.

[Omitted in 1889-90]

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1889-1890, p. 80.

______________________

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.

Enrollment.

[Political Economy] 8. Mr. [Adolph Caspar] Miller. History of Financial Legislation in the United States. — Lectures and brief theses. Hours per week: 2 or 3. 1^st half-year.

Total 25: 13 Seniors, 10 Juniors, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1889-1890, p. 81.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
[Mid-year examination]

[Take two questions from A, and eight from B.]

The questions under A are supposed to require half an hour each for careful treatment, and those under B fifteen minutes each.

A.

Commenting on those provisions of the Funding Act of August 4, 1790, by which the six-per-cent stock was made “subject to redemption by payments not exceeding in one year, on account of both principal and interest, the proportion of eight dollars upon each hundred, Professor Adams remarks: —
“In our previous study of annuities it was discovered that long-time annuities did not meet the requirements of good financiering, because they unnecessarily embarrassed the policy of debt payment. The same objection attaches to this plan of Mr. Hamilton. The record of subsequent treasury operations renders it reasonably certain that a simple six-per-cent bond, guaranteed to run for twenty years, would have proved satisfactory to public creditors, and have induced them to comply with the other conditions which the Government imposed. This would have brought the larger part of the six-per-cent bonds under the control of Congress in the years 1811 and 1813, and permitted either their redemption or their conversion into stock bearing a reduced rate of interest. But since the right of redemption except at a stated rate, had been signed away, it was found necessary to continue the higher rate of interest upon the common stock till 1818, and upon the ‘deferred stock’ until 1824. As the matter turned out, the war of 1812 would have rendered such an operation upon the common stock impossible, had it been permitted by the contract; but this does not excuse the Federalists for having adopted a bad theory of funding.”
Do you consider this a sound criticism of Hamilton’s plan of funding? By what means do you determine whether or not it met the “requirements of good financiering”?
“Our sinking fund, however, differed materially from that which was adopted in the early financial history of Great Britain, as it was not exclusively applied to the liquidation of a particular debt in existence. It was also unlike that of Mr. Pitt, as the amount of the capital appropriated was not fixed before 1802….Properly speaking, the essential character of a sinking fund was not to be found in the operations of that of the United States.” — Jonathan Elliot, Funding System of the United States and of Great Britain, p. 406, note.
Discuss the above with particular reference to the alleged difference of principle between Pitt’s sinking-fund policy and Hamilton’s. In this connection, also point out carefully what changes were introduced into the sinking-fund policy of the United States in 1802. Do those changes represent any real departure from the principle of Hamilton’s sinking-fund?
“The most generally received opinion is, that, by direct taxes in the Constitution, those are meant which are raised on the capital or revenue of the people….As that opinion is in itself rational,… it will not be improper to corroborate it by quoting the author from whom the idea seems to have been borrowed. Dr. Smith Wealth of Nations, book V. chap. 2) says, ‘The private revenue of individuals arises ultimately from three different sources: Rent, Profit, and Wages. Every tax must finally be paid from some one or other of those three different sorts of revenue, or from all of them indifferently.’ After having treated separately of those taxes which, it is intended, should fall upon some one or other of the different sorts of revenue, he continues, ‘The taxes which, it is intended, should fall indifferently upon every different species of revenue, are capitation taxes, and taxes upon consumable commodities.’ And, after having treated of capitation taxes, he finally says, ‘The impossibility of taxing the people, in proportion to their revenue, by any capitation, seems to have given occasion to the invention of taxes upon consumable commodities. The State, not knowing how to tax directly and proportionably the revenue of its subjects, endeavours to tax it indirectly.’ The remarkable coincidence of the clause of the Constitution, with this passage, in using the word ‘capitation’ as a generic expression, including the different species of direct taxes, — an acceptation of the word peculiar, it is believed, to Dr. Smith, — leaves little doubt that the framers of the one had the other in view at the time, and that they, as well as he, by direct taxes, meant those paid directly from, and falling immediately on, the revenue.” — Albert Gallatin, Sketch of the Finances, p. 12.
Discuss the above with particular reference to the source and meaning of the phrase “direct taxes” in the Constitution of the United States.

B.

“The Act provided, that, if the total amount subscribed by any state exceeded the sum specified therein, a similar percentage should be deducted from the claims of all subscribers. Four ninths of the stock issued by the government for this loan bore interest at six per cent, beginning with the year 1792; on third bore three per cent interest, beginning at the same time, and the balance, two ninths, bore six per cent interest after the year 1800. The latter kind of stock was to be redeemed whenever provision was made for that purpose. And, with respect to seven ninths of the stock, the government was at liberty to pay two per cent annually, if it desired; but no imperative obligation was created to pay it.” — A. S. Boles, Financial History of the United States, vol. II. p. 28.
Is this an accurate statement, so far as it goes, of the provisions of the Act of August 4, 1790, for assuming the State debts?
How is President Madison’s approval of the Bank Act of April 10, 1816, to be reconciled with his bank veto of January 30, 1815?
“During the winter of 1833-34 there was a stringent money market and commercial distress. The State banks were in no condition to take the public deposits. They were trying to strengthen themselves, and put themselves on the level of the Treasury requirements in the hope of getting a share of the deposits. It was they who operated a bank contraction during that winter…The administration, however, charged everything to Biddle and the bank.” — W. G. Sumner, Andrew Jackson, p. 316.
Where do you consider that the real responsibility for the pressure of 1833-34 rested?
What criticism would you make on the financial management of the war of 1812? Was it a fair test of the policy of relying upon public credit for defraying the extraordinary expenses of war?
What kind of currency did the government use and where did it keep its moneys, and under what authority of law, from 1811 to 1864?
How is the extension of accommodations by the Bank of the United States from 1830 to the middle of 1832 to be explained?
What were the terms of the one hundred and fifty million bank loan of 1861, and how was it financially important?
Point out the steps by which the legal-tender notes have become a fixed and permanent part of the currency.
What is the essence of the national bank system, so far as concerns note-circulation, and what bearing does this have upon the future of the system?
Is Mr. Chase entitled to take rank in American history as a great finance minister? State carefully and concisely the grounds of your opinion.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2. Bound volume. Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1889-90.

______________________

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 9.
Management and Ownership of Railways.

[Omitted in 1889-90]

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1889-1890, p. 81.

Image Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard Square, 1885.

Tags BrooksJG, Macvane, Mason, MillerAC, Peabody, Taussig

Exam Questions Harvard Socialism

Harvard. Final exams in political economy and ethics of social reform, 1888-1889

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2021-04-12

J. Laurence Laughlin left the Harvard faculty in 1888. The hole he left in the department of political economy’s teaching program was filled by two junior hires whose names were noted in the enrollment statistics published in the annual report of the president of Harvard College for 1888-89: Francis Cleaveland Huntington (A.B. 1887, LL.B. 1891) and John Henry Gray (A.B., 1887).

Huntington ultimately went on to become a New York City lawyer. Judging from the reports of his 1904 marriage, he must have been fairly successful (and/or married into a very well-to-do family). His high-water market in political economy was achieved with this short stint as an instructor, one could say he was Frank Taussig’s wingman for the principles course.

John Henry Gray was another matter altogether, having left Harvard to do graduate work in Europe as a Rogers fellow that culminated in his 1892 doctorate under Johannes Conrad at the University of Halle. His thesis was published in German, Die Stellung der privaten Beleuchtungsgesellschaften zu Stadt und Staat. Die Erfahrungen in Wien, Paris und Massachusetts. Jena, 1893. A fuller c.v. will be the subject of a later post (Besides professorships at Northwestern, Minnesota and Carleton College, Gray served as the AEA president in 1914).

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Philosophy 11. The Ethics of Social Reform.

Enrollment 1888-89.
Philosophy 11.

Prof. Peabody. 11. The Ethics of Social Reform. — The questions of Charity, Divorce, the Indians, Labor, Prisons, Temperance, etc., as problems of practical Ethics. — Lectures, essays, and practical observations. Hours per week: 2.

Total 84: 3 Graduates, 51 Seniors, 23 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 71.

1888-89.
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM.
[Mid-year Examination, 1889]

[Omit one question].

“Estimating life by multiplying its length into its breadth, we must say that the augmentation of it results from increase of both factors.” — (Spencer, Data of Ethics, p. 14.)
Explain and criticise.
“I am one of those who believe that the Real will never find an irremovable basis till it rests on the Idea.” — (J. R. Lowell, Address on Democracy.)
Illustrate this in the conduct of Charity.
“To lift one man up we push another down” … ”A drunkard in the gutter is just where he ought to be. If a policeman picks him up, the industrious and sober workman bears the penalty.” — (Sumner, Social Classes, pp. 128, 131.)
Comment on the ethics of this view.
Plato’s view of the duty of the State to the diseased and helpless (Republic, III., 407), compared with the view of Christian civilization. What is the philosophical basis of each view?
What do you regard as the most immediately practicable remedy for existing evils in the divorce question? And why?
The practical significance of a study of the evolution of the family as a contribution to the divorce question.
Explain the reaction of “marriage by capture” into polyandry, in primitive society.
“Only the group could weather the first ages.” What picture does this give of primitive society, and what transition has ethnology seen in this respect?
The natural status of woman as suggested by biology.
The place of the family in the Socialist programme. Criticise this view of the end of social evolution.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year, 1888-89.

1888-89.
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM.
[Final Examination, 1889]

Describe the present system of administering Indian Affairs, including education; its machinery, its relation to religious bodies, and the changes now proposed.
In dealing with the Indian Question, by what other social questions of our time are you confronted and what answers to them are suggested to you?
Ruskin’s doctrine of: (a) Exchange, (b) Value, with your own comments and criticisms.
The attitude of the Anarchist toward the social institutions of the United States.
The Socialist’s criticism of the Anarchist, and the Anarchist’s criticism of the Socialist.
“It is right and necessary that all men should have work to do:
“First, Work worth doing;
“Second, Work of itself pleasant to do;
“Third, Work done under such conditions as would make it neither over wearisome nor over anxious.” W. Morris, Art and Socialism, p. 45. — Under what social conditions does the author suppose that work will be thus done? Describe and criticize these conditions.
Why have the attempts to “Christianize” Socialism so often begun with hope and ended in failure?
Consider the objection to Profit-Sharing, that the Employed cannot share losses.
The conditions of success in Productive Coöperation.
How far does a judicious self-interest carry one towards abstinence from intoxicating drink?

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 1, First half-year.

Prof. Taussig and Mr. Huntington. 1. First half-year: Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Lectures on Social Questions. Hours per week: 3.

Total 232 (Four sections): 1 Graduate, 19 Seniors, 83 Juniors, 95 Sophomores, 4 Freshmen, 30 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Mid-year Examination, 1889]

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]

How is the rapid recovery of countries devastated by war to be explained?
Is it for the advantage of the laborers that the rich should spend largely for unproductive consumption?
Is it desirable that a large proportion of the annual produce of a country should be consumed unproductively?
If all land were of equal fertility, equally distant from the market, and all were required for cultivation, would it pay rent?
Explain under which head, — wages, profit, rents, — you would classify the gains of (1) a shop-keeper; (2) a farmer tilling his own land; (3) a manufacturer; (4) a stock-holder; (5) a bond-holder; (6) a house-owner receiving rent for houses.
Can capitalists recoup themselves for a general rise in the cost of labor by raising the prices of their goods?
“Since cost of production fails us in explaining the value of commodities having a joint cost, we must revert to a law of value anterior to cost of production, and more fundamental.” What is this more fundamental law, and what is its application in the case referred to by Mill?
Suppose that
in England one day’s labor produces 25 yards of linens,
in England one day’s labor produces 30 yards of cottons,
in Germany one day’s labor produces 15 yards of linens,
in Germany one day’s labor produces 20 yards of cottons.
Would international trade arise between Germany and England?
If a day’s labor in Germany produced 25 yards of linens, would trade arise?
Suppose a new article of export to appear in the international trade of the United States; what would be the effect on the price in New York of sight bills on London? How long would that effect continue?
What causes the tendency of profits to a minimum (1) in a country whose population is stationary; (2) in a country whose population is advancing? What forces counteract the tendency, and how do they act in each of these cases?
If productive cooperation were universally adopted, how would rent, interest, wages, and “profits” (i.e. wages of superintendence) be affected? How, if socialism were adopted?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year, 1888-89.

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 1, Second half-year, Division A.

Prof. Taussig and Mr. Huntington. 1. Division A (theoretical). Second half-year: Cairnes’s Leading Principles of Political Economy. — Lectures on Banking and Finance. Hours per week: 3.

Total 127 (Two sections): 1 Graduate, 8 Seniors, 39 Juniors, 60 Sophomores, 4 Freshmen, 15 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Final Examination, 1889]
Division A.

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]

“The price of mutton on an average exceeds that of beef in the ratio of 9 to 8; we must conclude that people generally esteem mutton more than beef in this proportion, otherwise they would not buy the dearer meat.”
(a) Give your reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with the above conclusion.
(b) On Jevons’s theory of value, what conclusion should you draw from the given hypothesis?
If you suppose free competition, does Cairnes’s theory of normal value differ essentially from that of Mill? If so, wherein? If not, why not?
Longe “puts the case of a capitalist who, by taking advantage of the necessities of his workmen, effects a reduction in their wages, and succeeds in withdrawing so much, call it £1000, from the wages fund; and asks, how is the sum thus withdrawn to be restored to the fund? On Mr. Longe’s principles the answer is simple — ‘by being spent on commodities’; for it may be assumed that the sum so withdrawn will in any case not be hoarded….The answer, therefore, to the case put by Mr. Longe is easy on his own principles; and I am disposed to flatter myself that the reader who has gone with me in the foregoing discussion will not have much difficulty in replying to it upon mine.”
What is the answer, on Cairnes’s principles, to the case put by Mr. Longe?
What bearing, if any, has the wages-fund theory as expounded by Cairnes upon the question of the ability of trades unions to raise permanently (a) general wages, (b) wages in particular occupations?
“If labor will only be employed where work is to be done, and will be employed more largely in any given work in proportion as there is more of that work to do; and if, again, as the work becomes more urgent the laborer is more sought; why is it wrong to say that it is the interest of the laborer that the quantity of work to be done should be as large and the need for it as urgent as possible?”
Would a general fall of wages in the United States cause an expansion of the country’s international trade? Would a fall of wages in a particular industry?
Did Mill think there were grounds for a separate theory of international trade? Did Cairnes?
How much truth is there in the common opinion that the value of gold is the same the world over?
Mill lays down certain propositions as to the connection between the quantity of money and the general range of prices. How are they modified by what you have learned of deposit banking?
What general causes affected the market price of gold, or in other words the premium on gold, during the civil war? How far did the premium at a given moment indicate depreciation of the paper currency, and what would be a more exact test of such depreciation?

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 1, Second half-year, Division B.

Prof. Taussig and Mr. Huntington. 1. Division B (descriptive). Second half-year: Hadley’s Railroad Transportation. — Laughlin’s History of Bimetallism in the United States. — Lectures on Banking and Finance. Hours per week: 3.

Total 105 (Two sections): 11 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 35 Sophomores, 15 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division B.
[Final Examination, 1889]

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]

State the principles upon which the system of subsidiary coinage rests. When were these principles first applied by the United States?
State the causes assigned by Mr. Laughlin for the fall in the gold price of silver since 1873.
In what way, if any, was the change which took place in the value of gold after the gold discoveries in Australia and California different from what it would have been if, at the time, the mint of France had not been open for the free coinage of gold and silver into full legal tender money at a fixed ratio?
In the United States also there was at the same time free coinage of gold and silver into full legal tender money at a fixed ratio. Was the influence exerted by bi-metallism on the value of gold different in these two cases? If so, why?
How did the trade dollar differ in value from the standard dollar (a) in the United States, (b) in foreign countries?
Mill lays down certain propositions as to the effect of an increase or decrease in the quantity of money on general prices. How far are they modified by what you have learned of deposit banking?
Mill divides commodities into three classes, and lays down certain principles of value applying to the three classes, respectively.
In which class would you put the commodity of transportation by railroad, and by what principle is its value determined?
What is meant when it is said that “an effective pooling of through business leaves the hands of railroads free to serve local interests”?
What is meant by “charging repairs to construction”? Why should it ever be done?
In what countries does government ownership of railroads now exist, and how long has it existed in them?
Explain briefly the following terms: differential; long and short haul principle; “dollar of our fathers”; demonetization of silver.
What descriptions of paper, intended to serve as currency, did the United States issue during the civil war?

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 2

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 2.

Prof. Taussig. 2. — Examination of selections from leading writers. — Lectures and discussions; one extended thesis from each student. Hours per week: 3. *Consent of instructor required.

Total 24: 13 Seniors, 9 Juniors, 2 Sophomores.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Mid-year and Final Examination, 1889]

Point out wherein the teachings of the mercantile writers on population and on the balance of trade were connected with the political and economic history of their time.
Under what conditions did Adam Smith believe that wages could long remain high? What reasoning led him to his conclusion? Do you think the reasoning sound?
Wherein did Adam Smith’s doctrines as to foreign trade differ from those of Hume and of the Physiocrats?
Ricardo’s chapter on value has been criticized on the following grounds: —
(1) Ricardo asserts, but in no way proves, that value depends on quantity of labor.
(2) He does not state whether he means labor expended on the production of goods, or labor needed for their reproduction.
(3) His principle holds good only of goods of which the production can be increased indefinitely, and as to which competition is free.
(4) The principle is at once modified by the statement that the general rate of profits affects values.
Discuss briefly each objection.
Malthus laid it down that (1) marriages and deaths bear a constant proportion in an old country; (2) with a rise in the standard of living, marriages become less in proportion to population; (3) births, like marriages, bear a constant proportion to deaths, in an old country.
What led Malthus to these conclusions? Does experience bear him out?
By what mode of proof did Malthus show that the wars of the French Revolution had not diminished the population of France? Point out wherein his discussion of this subject is characteristic of the Essay on Population.
Malthus, Ricardo, J. S. Mill, Cairnes, — note briefly how they are related in the history of economic theory.
What would be the movement of wages and prices in case of a general improvement in industrial processes?
What does Cairnes conclude as to the results which Trade Unions can permanently bring about (1) in England; (2) in the United States?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year, 1888-89.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Final Examination, 1889]

On what grounds can you reason that the stock of consumable commodities is likely to be sufficient, or more than sufficient, to last, at the present rate of consumption, till a new stock can be produced? What bearing has the answer on the wages-fund controversy?
Discuss President F. A. Walker’s explanation of business profits in its bearing on the general theory of distribution.
By what reasoning does Cairnes reach the conclusion that, in the present state of society, “the rich will be growing richer, and the poor, at least relatively, poorer.”
Could Cairnes, consistently with his conclusions as to coöperation, oppose measures such as were urged by Lasalle?
Point out wherein Sidgwick’s exposition of the causes determining the rate of interest differs from Mill’s.
What was the attitude toward laissez-faire of Adam Smith? Of Ricardo? Of Cairnes?
What reasons are there why the term “socialist” should or should not be applied to (1) the Christian socialists; (2) advocates of German legislation on workmen’s insurance; (3) followers of Mr. Henry George.
Point out wherein Marx’s discussion of wages is similar to that of Rodbertus.
“From the history of the double standard we reach Gresham’s law, that where two currencies exist side by side the baser will drive the good out; from the prosperity of England we can reason to the principle of free trade, at least for industrially developed nations.” — R. M. Smith. What would Cairnes say to this mode of investigation for the specific questions mentioned?
Comment on the following extracts, separately or in connection with each other:—

“The value of most of the theorems of the classic economists is a good deal attenuated by the habitual assumption…that there is a definite universal rate of profits and wages in a community; this last postulate implying (1) that the capital embarked in any undertaking will pass at once to another in which larger profits are for the time to be made; (2) that a laborer, whatever his ties and feelings, family, habit, or other engagements, will transfer himself immediately to any place where, or employment in which, larger wages are to be earned; (3) that both capitalists and laborers have a perfect knowledge of the condition and prospects of industry throughout the country, both in their own and in other occupations.” — J. K. Ingram.

“In proof of the equalization of profits, Mr. Cairnes urges that capital deserts or avoids occupations which are known to be comparatively unremunerative; while if large profits are known to be realized in any investment there is a flow of capital toward it. Hence it is inferred that capital finds its level like water. But surely the movement of capital from losing to highly profitable trades proves only a great inequality of profits.” — Cliffe Leslie.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 3

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 3.
Omitted in 1888-89.

[3. Investigation and Discussion of Practical Economic Questions. *Consent of instructor required.]

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 4

Enrollment 1888-89.
Political Economy 4.

Mr. Gray. 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. — Lectures and written work. Hours per week: 3.

Total 95: 1 Graduate, 16 Seniors, 46 Juniors, 27 Sophomores, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Mid-year Examination, 1889]

[Give one hour to A. Under B omit any two questions except number 5.]

Make a concise statement of the English Navigation and Colonial system.
Give a careful sketch of the English Corn Laws. Discuss the wisdom of these laws and their relation to the general question of Protection.
The Emancipating Edict of Stein. Give the provisions in it; the reasons for it, and the results of it.

“It has been a generally received notion among political arithmeticians that we (the English nation) may increase our debt to £100,000,000, but they acknowledge that it must then close by the debtor becoming bankrupt” [Samuel Hannay, 1756].
Compare the English and Belgian Railway System in their origin, methods, and results.
Give a sketch of the introduction of Steam Navigation. What country felt the beneficial effects first? Why?
Say what you can about the geographical distribution of the Iron, Cotton, and Woolen industries of to-day, both as regards the different countries and also within each country. How did the new inventions and discoveries affect the location of these industries respectively?
Make a clear statement of our Commercial Relations with the West Indies since the independence of the United States. Pay particular attention to the laws under which that trade has been carried on, and the character and importance of that trade to the United States.
What was the attitude of the United States towards a Protective tariff in 1816? How do you account for that attitude?
Say what you can of the Economic effects of Slavery on the South.
The chief arguments used against the abolition of the Slave Trade in England. Were they sound? Why was the abolition postponed to so late a day?
Looking at the history of England since the adoption of Free Trade, what fact can you cite to show that Free Trade has been the best policy for her?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year, 1888-89.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Final Examination, 1889]

[Take all of A, all of B, and two questions from C.]

Pitt’s “perfectly new and solid system of finance,” 1797.
At what actual rate could England borrow in 1797? What methods were used? What provision made for repayment? — [“The Finances of England, 1793-1815.” — Selections.]
Say what you can of the extent, the methods, the importance, and the prospects of the cotton manufacture in the United States. The possibility of successful competition with England in this industry. — [“The Cotton Manufacture.” — — Selections.]
What would have been the effect upon the United States, Australia, and India, respectively, of introducing a gold currency into India when the “new gold” came in? — [“The New Gold.” — — International Results. — Selections.]

The history, present extent, character, benefits, evils, and prospects of immigration to the United States.
At what general periods in this century have the exports largely exceeded the imports of the United States? The imports the exports? The medium by which balances were settled for the time being in each case. The chief commodities exported or imported by the United States in each period.
Describe the plans of Napoleon III. for aiding industry.
Sketch the English factory and workshop legislation. Its economic and political significance. Which political party has been most prominent in securing this legislation?
The coal supply as the basis of England’s industrial and commercial supremacy. The possibility of England’s decline because of the exhaustion of her coal supply.
State the chief provisions of the Resumption Act of 1875. How much cash did the Treasury collect for the purposes of this act before 1879? How was the cash obtained? How much of it was used? What was done with the balance?

The demands for gold, 1871-1883? How was it possible to meet them?
Explain the causes of the variation in the number of failures, and the peculiar local distribution of the failures in the United States, 1873-1879.
T-he causes of the fall in the price of silver in 1876.
The causes of the decline of American navigation since 1860.
What were the internal revenue taxes laid during the civil war, 1861-1865? The relation of those taxes to our customs revenue.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 5

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 5.
Omitted in 1888-89.

[5. Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, and the United States. *Consent of instructor required.]

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 6

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 6, Second half-year.

Prof. Taussig. 6. History of Tariff Legislation in the United States.—Lectures and reports on special topics. Hours per week: 2, 2^ndhalf-year. *Consent of instructor required.

Total 34: 18 Seniors, 14 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6
[End-Year]

[Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.]

State the duties on cotton cloths, woolen cloths, pig iron, and coffee, in 1790, 1840, 1850, 1885, noting whether the duties were specific or ad valorem, and what tariff acts were in force at these dates, respectively [Use tabular form if you wish.]
“Beside the protection thrown over the manufacturing interest by Congress during this period (1789-1812), the war which raged in Europe produced a favorable effect. As the United States was a neutral nation, she fattened on the miseries of the European nations, and her commerce increased with astonishing rapidity. Our manufactures flourished from the same cause, though not to a corresponding degree with our commerce”
Did Congress protect manufactures during this period? Did the wars in Europe have the effect described on our commerce and manufactures?
Wherein were the duties on rolled iron in France, in the first half of this century, similar to those in the United States at the same period? How do you account for the similarity, and what was the effect of the duties in either country?
Why was a compound duty imposed on wool in 1828? Why in 1867? Is such a duty now imposed on wool?
Wherein does the present duty on worsted goods differ from that imposed on woolen goods in 1828? wherein from the present duty on woolens? What has been the effect of the difference between the present rates on woolens and worsteds?
Point out some general features in the tariff act of 1846 which were recommended in Secretary Walker’s Report of the year preceding.
What would be the effect of a treaty with Spain admitting free of duty sugar from Cuba?
Wherein has the effect of the duties of the last twenty-five years been different as to cottons, linens, woolens? Why the differences?
[Omit one of the following:—]
Mill says that certain conclusions which he reaches as to the effect on foreign countries of import duties, do not hold good as to protective duties. Is there good ground for distinguishing as he does between revenue and protective duties.
“The only case indeed in which personal aptitudes go for much in the commerce of nations is where the nations concerned occupy different grades in the scale of civilization…In the main it would seem that this cause does not go for very much in international commerce. The principal condition, to which all others are subordinate, must be looked for in that other form of adaptation founded on the special advantages, positive or comparative, offered by particular localities for the prosecution of particular industries.”—Cairnes, Leading Principles.
Discuss, with reference to the general line of reasoning in this passage, the international trade of the United States in (1) glassware, (2) hardware and cutlery, (3) hemp and flax [take any two].
Comment on the following:—
“The manufacture of silk goods in the United States at the present time [1882] probably supplies an example of an industry which, though comparatively new, can hardly be said to deserve protection as a young industry. The methods and machinery in use are not essentially different from those of other branches of textile manufactures. No great departure from the usual track of production is necessary in order to make silks….Those artificial obstacles which might temporarily prevent the rise of the industry do not exist; and it may be inferred that, if there are no permanent causes which prevent silks from being made as cheaply in the United States as in foreign countries, the manufacture will be undertaken and carried on without needing any stimulus from protecting duties.”— Taussig, Protection to Young Industries.

Political Economy 6. Grade Distribution 1888-89, 2d half-year.

Total (32)	Senior (16)	Junior (14)	Other (2)
A	2	2
A-	1
B+	3	2
B	4	4
B-	1	1
C	1	3	2
D	4
E		2

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College, June, 1889. Grade distribution source: Harvard University Archives. Examination papers in economics, 1882-1935. Prof. F. W. Taussig.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 7

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 7.

Prof. Dunbar. 7. Taxation, Public Debts, and Banking. Hours per week: 3. *Consent of instructor required.

Total 7: 3 Graduates, 3 Seniors, 1 Junior.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
[Mid-year Examination, 1889]

Commenting upon taxes on commodities, Mill remarks that “the necessity of advancing the tax obliges producers and dealers to carry on their business with larger capitals than would otherwise be necessary,” the excess being “employed in advances to the state, repaid in the price of the goods,” for which “the consumers must give an indemnity to the sellers.”
Compare in this respect the several methods of taxing tobacco.
Everything considered, which method appears to you the best, and why?
How much difference is there in theory between a tax of repartition like the French land tax and tax levied by a general rate, or tax of quotité?
Discuss the importance of the familiar proposition that taxation should not encroach upon capital or hinder its increase, with special reference to these three cases: —
(a) The taxation of business profits at the same rate as incomes from invested property, as g. in the English Schedules D and A;
(b) Succession duties, which Ricardo regards as in practice a deduction from capital;
(c) Graduated taxation, which lays a heavier percentage on the larger properties or incomes than on the smaller.
Supposing all difficulty in the way of obtaining a full disclosure to be removed and the returns to be complete, would it be better to tax the assessed value of property or the actual income derived from it?
In the following cases, which may serve for illustration, the assessment is supposed to fairly represent the selling value: —

	Assessed.	Income.
Improved real estate	$20,000	$1,200
Vacant land	$10,000	nil
Railroad stock, 50 sh.	$10,000	$400
Railroad stock, 50 sh.	$5,500	$200
Railroad stock, 50 sh.	$4,500	nil
Railroad bonds, $5,000	$3,000	nil
Railroad bonds, $5,000	$3,500	$200

Cossa, discussing the taxation of public debts, (1) favors it “on principles of justice and equity, which are opposed to fiscal privileges in favor of the creditors of the state, who should not be released from the fulfilment of the duties of citizens”; and (2) suggests in answer to the argument that public credit would be thereby injured, “that a moderate impost does not produce the anticipated evils, because the tendency towards a decline of the public credit may be balanced by a tendency to rise owing to financial improvement, partly due to the impost itself.”
Examine these two points.
In answering the proposition that

Every man ought to be taxed [solely] on all that property which he consumes or appropriates to his exclusive use,

President Walker says among other things that,

If wealth not devoted to personal expenditure is to be exempt from taxation on the ground that it is to be used for the public good, it unmistakably is the right, and it might even become the duty of the state, to see to it that such wealth is, in fact, in all respects and at all times put to the best possible use. Indeed, if any citizen protests against taxation on the ground that his tools “are working the business of the state,” — how can the state, without injustice to all other citizens, excuse him from contribution without requiring that he shall exhibit satisfactory evidence, not only that his tools are really working its business, but that they are doing this in the most thorough, efficient and economical manner? If this is not socialism of the rankest sort, I should be troubled to define socialism.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year, 1888-89.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
[Final Examination, 1889]

State the conditions under which loans will sell higher or lower by reason of
(a) annual drawings by lot for payment;
(b) reserved right to pay at pleasure;
(c) agreement to pay at or after some distant date;
(d) arrangement like that of the “Five-twenties.”
When the United States issued the 5-20 bonds (principal and interest payable in gold) they had the choice between three courses, viz.:—
(a) to sell the bonds for par in gold and make the rate of interest high enough to attract buyers;
(b) to sell the bonds for gold at such discount as might be necessary, their interest being at six per cent.;
(c) to sell the bonds at their nominal par in depreciated paper.
Which course now seems to you the best of the three, and why?
In discussing the Aldrich plan for converting the 4 per cents. into 2½ per cents. by paying the creditors the present worth of 1½ per cent. interest for the period 1889-1907, Mr. Adams says:—

“It will be noticed that there is one essential difference between the anticipation of interest-payments, and the anticipation of the payment of the principal of a debt by purchases on the market. This latter procedure, as has been shown, is expensive, because it requires a larger sum of money to extinguish a given debt than will be required after the debt comes to be redeemable; but no such result follows the anticipation of interest-payments. These are determined by the terms of the contract, and may be calculated with accuracy. The interest does not, like the market value of a debt, fall as the bonds approach the period of their redemption, and it is but the application of sound business rules to use any surplus moneys on hand in making advanced payments of interest.”— Public Debts, p. 278.
What do you say to this reasoning?

Explain the English method of using terminable annuities as a sinking fund, and its advantages or disadvantages.
As an ultimate arrangement of the right of issuing bank notes, should you give your preference (a) to a system which gives the right to a single bank or to few banks, as in the English and Continental practice, or (b) to a system of free banking like that contemplated by the law of the United States; and why?
Bonamy Price says “the Bank of England has become a non-issuing bank.”
How is this remark to be justified and yet reconciled with the course of events on those occasions when, as in November, 1857, it has been necessary to suspend the provisions of the act of 1844?
Give an outline of the German system of banks of issue.
Considering deposits as a part of the currency, how do you extend to them the usual reasoning as to the dependence of the value of currency on (a) its quantity, rapidity of circulation, and the quantity of transactions to be effected, and (b) the cost of the precious metals?

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 8

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 8, First half-year.

Prof. Dunbar. 8. History of Financial Legislation in the United States. Hours per week: 2. 1^sthalf-year. *Consent of instructor required.

Total 44: 28 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
[Final Examination, Mid-year, 1889]

In what manner is it probable that the first Bank of the United States effected what Hamilton declared to be one of the principal objects of a bank, viz. “the augmentation of the active or productive capital of a country”?
The act of 1790, providing for the assumption of State debts, fixed the maximum which could be assumed for every State, as e.g. for Connecticut $1,600,000. What effect would it have on the fairness of the settlement of accounts with any State, if its outstanding revolutionary debt were found to be more or less than the amount thus to be assumed for it?
Comment on the following extract:—
“It is sometimes said that Mr. Hamilton believed in a perpetual debt, and when one notices the form into which he threw the obligations of the United States, the only escape from this conclusion is to say that he was ignorant of the true meaning of the contracts which he created.” — [H.C. Adams, Public Debts, p. 161]
How did Hamilton’s financial system tend to increase the political strength of the Government, and in what features of the system is this tendency most marked?
Describe the general condition of the public finances just before the news of peace arrived in 1815.
Inasmuch as Jackson’s general prepossessions were unfavorable to all banks, how are we to explain his resort to the plan of depositing Government funds in State banks after the removal of the deposits in 1833?
How did the specie circular of 1836 and the deposit of surplus revenue with the States affect the banks and help to produce the revulsion of May, 1837?
What law, if any, regulated the deposit of public funds by the Treasury in 1837, and what changes of system were made down to the passage of the Independent Treasury act of 1846?
What is to be inferred from the provisions of the Legal Tender act of February, 1862, as to the intention of Congress with respect to the payment of the principal of the five-twenty bonds in paper?
Several rulings made in the Treasury Department [House Exec. Doc. 1885-86, No. 158, p. 15] have declared a State’s unpaid quota of the direct tax of 1861 to be a debt due by the State as a body corporate, and so to be properly chargeable against any money which the General Government may chance to owe the State. What is to be inferred on this point from the provisions made for the collection of previous direct taxes?
What were the circumstances which gave such peculiar importance to Grant’s veto of the inflation bill of 1874?
What were the forms in which the question as to the power of Congress to make a paper legal tender presented itself, in the three cases,

Hepburn v. Griswold (1869),
Knox v. Lee (1872), and
Juillard v. Greenman (1884),

respectively?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound Volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year, 1888-89. Also, Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College, June, 1889.

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 9, Second half-year.

Mr. Gray. 9. Management and Ownership of Railways. — Lectures and written work. Hours per week: 2. 2^ndhalf-year. *Consent of instructor required.

Total 13: 5 Seniors, 8 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Annual Report of the President of Harvard College 1888-1889, p. 72.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 9.
[Final Examination, 1889]

Take all in Group A; two in Group B.

Explain briefly any five:
1. Cost of Service.
2. Value of Service.
3. Differential rate.
4. Grouping (of rates).
5. Pooling.
6. Fixed Charges.
7. Operating Expenses.
8. Common Carrier.
9. Cumulative Voting.
10. “Railroad” (as used in the Act to Regulate Commerce).
State clearly under what conditions Competition “may make out the dissimilar circumstances entitling the carrier to charge less for the longer than for the shorter haul, etc.”, under the Interstate Commerce Act.
Discuss one of the following cases decided by the Interstate Commerce Commission:
(1) Boston Export Rates. Boston Chamb. Com. v. Lake Shore, etc., R.R. Co. — I.I.C.C.R. 436.
(2) Providence Coal Co. v. Providence & Worcester R.R. Co. — I.I.C.C.R. 107.
(3) Boards of Trade Union of Farmington, etc. v Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul R’y. Co. — I.I.C.C.R. 215.
State the principles which, in your opinion, ought to govern railroad rates.
Take either (a) or (b).
(a) The benefits and the evils of general railroad incorporation laws. The extent to which special charters can be obtained in the United States.
(b) Compare the security of railway investments in France, England and the United States.
Take either (a) or (b).
(a) Give a careful account of the powers and the work of the Massachusetts Railroad Commission.
(b) Compare the English Railway Commission of 1873-88 with the Interstate Commerce Commission.
History of the English Railway Clearing House. The Desirability and the possibility of such an organization in the United States.

Competition as a regulator of rates. Particulars in which Competition among railroads differs from ordinary business Competition.
Relation of the French Government to the Railroads compared with the Relation of the German Government to the Railroads.
What do you consider the “Railroad Problem” of to-day? What indications do you see of a reasonable solution of that problem?
Discuss the statement that whatever partakes of the nature of a monopoly can be better managed by the Government than by a private Corporation.

Image Source: Harvard University, Memorial Hall, 1923. Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection.

Tags Dunbar, GrayJH, Huntington, Peabody, Taussig

Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Semester examinations in all political economy courses, 1887-1888

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2021-02-14

In this post we have a complete collection of the semester examinations for the eight courses in political economy taught at Harvard during the 1887-88 academic year. As an extra bonus we have the examinations for the Philosophy course “Ethics of Social Reform” that clearly included a good chunk of the normative political economy of its time.

Fun facts: Mr. Gray, who taught the less theoretical sections of the second half of the principles course, was John Henry Gray (1859-1946) who had received his A.B. from Harvard in 1887 and who went on to receive a Ph.D. in 1892 at the University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany under Johannes Conrad. In addition to having professorships at Northwestern, Carleton College and the University of Minnesota, Gray was president of the AEA in 1914.

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Political Economy 1. Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 1. First half-year: Mill’s Principles of Political Economy.—Lectures on Banking. Profs. Laughlin and Taussig.

Total 210: 2 Graduates, 29 Seniors, 83 Juniors, 69 Sophomores, 5 Freshmen, 22 Others. (Four sections).

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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Political Economy 1
1887-1888.
[Mid-year examination]

Is productive consumption necessarily consumption of capital? Can there be unproductive consumption of capital?
Distinguish which of the following commodities are capital, and, as to those that are capital, distinguish which you would call fixed capital and which circulating.
A ton of pig iron; a plough; a package of tobacco; a loaf of bread; a dwelling-house.
Can you reconcile the statement that one or other of these commodities is or is not capital with the proposition that the intention of the owner determines whether an article shall or shall not be capital?
Suppose an inconvertible paper money to be issued, of half the amount of specie previously in circulation. Trace the effects (1) in a country carrying on trade with other countries, (2) in a country shut off from trade with other countries.
Explain in what manner the proposition that the value of commodities is governed by their cost of production applies to wheat, to iron nails, and to gold bullion.
Explain the proposition that rent does not enter into the cost of production. Does it hold good of the rent paid for a factory building? Of the rent paid for agricultural land?
It has been said that wages depend (a) on the price of food, (b) on the standard of living of the laborers, (c) on the ratio between capital and population. Are these propositions consistent with each other? Are they sound?
Suppose that
One day’s labor in the United States produces 10 pounds of copper,
One day’s labor England produces 8 pounds of copper,
One day’s labor in the United States produces 5 pounds of tin,
One day’s labor England produces 5 pounds of tin,
Would trade arise between England and the United States, and if so, how?
Suppose that, other things remaining as above, one day’s labor in England produced 12 pounds of copper, would trade arise, and if so, how?
Explain what is meant when it is said that “there are two senses in which a country obtains commodities more cheaply by foreign trade: in the sense of value, and in the sense of cost.”
Arrange in proper order the following items of a bank account: Capital, $300,00; Bonds and Stocks, $35,000; Real estate and fixtures, $20,000; Other assets, $20,000; Surplus, $80,000; Undivided Profits, $10,500; Notes, $90,000; Cash, $110,000; Cash items, $90,000; Deposits, $850,000; Loans, $1,050,000; Expenses, $5,500. ,
Suppose loans are repaid to this bank to the amount of $100,000. One half by cancelling deposits, one quarter in its own notes, and one quarter in cash; how will the account then stand?
What is the effect of the use of credit on the value of money? Wherein does credit in the form of bank deposits exercise an effect on the value of money different from that of credit in the form of bank notes?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1887-88.

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Political Economy 1A.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 1. Second half-year: Division A. Mill’s Principles.—Cairnes’s Leading Principles.—Bagehot’s Postulates of Political Economy.—Lectures on Financial Legislation. Mr. [John Henry] Gray.

Total 90: 4 Seniors, 33 Juniors, 44 Sophomores, 1 Freshman, 8 Others. (Two sections).

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
DIVISION A.
[Year-end examination, 1888]

From the causes now enumerated, unless counteracted by others, the progress of things (society) enables a country to obtain at less and less of real cost, not only its own productions, but those of foreign countries.”—Mill, Bk. IV, c.1.
Explain what is meant by the “causes now enumerated,” and also what the counteracting influences are. Do the counteracting influences affect all commodities equally and at the same time?
Mill says, “…if there are human beings capable of work and food to feed them they may always be employed in producing something.” Wakefield says, “Production is limited not solely by the quantity of capital and labor, but also by the extent of the field of employment.”
Explain what is meant by the “field of employment,” and reconcile the two statements, if possible.
One of the objects of the Land Tenure Association, of which Mill was President, was “To claim for the benefit of the State the interception by Taxation of the Future Unearned increase of the Rent of Land.”
Discuss the justice of such a plan, compare it with Henry George’s proposal on the same subject, and show the difficulties in administering it.
Characterize each of Adam Smith’s Canons of Taxation by a word or phrase. Explain the meaning of each, and discuss them briefly in relation to our present system of national taxation.
Discuss the justice and desirability of an Income Tax. Should there be any exemptions from such a tax? If so, why? If not, why not? Are the practical difficulties in the way of an Income Tax greater now than they would have been a century ago?
On what circumstances does industrial competition depend? Does the development of Industry increase or does it decrease the extent of the field over which such competition is effective?
Point out any mistakes of the English School of Political Economy as to the importance and extent of competition.
(a) “Let the price of labor in Victoria only fall to the same level as in the countries from which it imports its wheat…and it will at once become profitable to raise wheat in Victoria from soils from which it cannot now be raised with profit.”
What would be Ricardo’s reply to this proposition? Would it be adequate?
(b) Suppose that England could by some mechanical intervention, unknown to the rest of the world, reduce by three fourths the present cost of producing woollens, what would be the effect on her foreign trade, and on the remuneration of her labor?
Suppose the United States and Great Britain in Commercial Equilibrium. Then a very large number of American citizens go to Great Britain to reside. What effect does this have on the equilibrium? How does it affect International Values as between the United States and Great Britain?
How did depreciation of the currency facilitate the sale of five-twenty bonds in 1863-64?
State the provisions of the Resumption Act.
By what reasoning was Cairnes led to predict the occurrence of the conditions which favored resumption?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Bound Volume: Examination Papers, 1887-89. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College. June, 1888.

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Political Economy 1B.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 1. Second half-year: Division B. Mill’s Principles (selections).—Jevons’s The State in Relation to Labor.—Taussig’s Present Tariff.—Hadley’s Railroad Transportation.—Lectures on Social Questions and on Financial Legislation. Prof. Taussig.

Total 117: 2 Graduates, 25 Seniors, 49 Juniors, 25 Sophomores, 4 Freshmen, 12 Others. (Two sections).

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
DIVISION B.
[Year-end examination, 1888]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.

Explain what was Mill’s proposal in regard to a tax on rents, and state the reasons urged by him in its support. Point out wherein the tax proposed by him differs from a special tax on all rents from real estate.
Wherein is the effect of an import duty on coffee different from that of an import duty on woolen goods? Would your conclusion be different if coffee were a monopolized article abroad? If woollen goods were a monopolized article at home?
What are the present duties on these articles?
It is said that if present duties on manufactured articles were repealed, the labor and capital engaged in producing them would turn to agriculture, and that more agricultural commodities would then be produced than there was a market for. What should you say?
Give the main provisions of present English legislation on factories.
A certain cooperative society in England pays (1) interest on loans, (2) a dividend to share holders, (3) a dividend to purchasers and (4) a bonus to workmen. What kind of coöperation is typified by its operations?
At [sic, “As”?] common law combinations to raise or maintain prices are invalid. Explain wherein the Interstate Commerce Act makes a similar provision as to pooling by railroads, and wherein a different provision. What reasons are there why the law in regard to railroads should be different from the law in regard to other industries?
Why are cheap bulky goods charged with lower freight rates on railroads than compact expensive goods? Mention an analogous case in another industry.
It is said that the large fixed capital invested in railroads makes it possible for railroad charges to be so low as not to repay cost. Is this possible? Suppose it to be so; would such a state of things be inconsistent with the principle that the value of commodities is fixed by their cost of production?
State the causes which affected the gold premium in 1863-64, and explain how the depreciation of the currency facilitated the sale of the five-twenty bonds in those years.
State the provisions of the Resumption Act, and the circumstances which made it easy to resume specie payments at the date fixed upon.

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Political Economy 2.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 2. History of Economic Theory.—Distribution.—The Scope and Method of Political Economy.—Socialism. Lectures, preparation of theses, and discussion of selections from leading writers. Prof. Taussig.

Total 29: 4 Graduates, 14 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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1887-88.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Mid-year examination. 1888.]

Compare the treatment of the theory of money by Boisguillebert, Law, and Hume.
What was Adam Smith’s doctrine as to rent, and wherein does it differ from that of the Physiocrats, and from that of Ricardo?
Make a brief comparison between the general characteristics of the economic writings of Adam Smith and of J. S. Mill.
Explain how Malthus illustrated and applied his general principles in his discussion of the movement of population in (a) Sweden and Norway, (b) Switzerland, (c) France during the Revolutionary wars. [Take one of these three.)
“Mr. Malthus thinks that a low money price of corn would not be favourable to the lower classes of society, because the real exchangeable value of labour, that is, its power of commanding the necessaries, conveniencies, and luxuries of life, would not be augmented, but diminished, by a low money price. Some of his observations on this subject are certainly of great weight, but he does not sufficiently allow for the effect of a better distribution of the national capital on the situation of the lower classes. It would be beneficial to them, because the same capital would employ more hands; besides, the greater profits would lead to more accumulation; and thus a stimulus would be given to population by really high wages, which could not fail for a long time to ameliorate the condition of the laboring classes.”— Ricardo, Essay on the Influence of a Low Price of Corn.
Explain (a) whether this states fairly Malthus’s opinion as to the effect of cheap food; (b) what Ricardo meant by “a better distribution of the national capital”; (c) what light the concluding sentence throws on Ricardo’s view of the effect on wages and profits of cheap food.
“The notion that any portion of the wealth of the country should be ‘determined’ to the payment of wages seems to shock Mr. Longe’s sense of economic propriety; which is strange, seeing that his own doctrine — that it is ‘the demand for commodities which determines the quantity of wealth spent in the payment of wages’ — plainly involves this consequence. He puts the case of a capitalist who, taking advantage of the necessities of his workmen, effects a reduction of wages and succeeds in withdrawing so much, say £1000, from the Wages-Fund; and asks how is the sum thus withdrawn to be restored to the fund? On Mr. Longe’s principles the answer is simple,—‘by being spent in commodities’; for it may be assumed that the sum so withdrawn will, in any case, not be hoarded. * * * The answer, therefore, to the case put by Mr. Longe is easy on his own principles; and I am disposed to flatter myself that the reader who has gone with me in the foregoing discussion will not have much difficulty in replying to it on my own.”— Cairnes, Leading Principles.
What is the answer on Cairnes’s principles?
Would the explanation which the Wages-Fund theory gives of the causes regulating the rate of wages apply to a society in which a system of profit-sharing had been universally adopted?
Wherein does Ricardo’s treatment of the manner in which profits affect value differ from Cairnes’s treatment of the same subject?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1887-88.

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1887-88
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Year-end examination. 1888.]

“Cairnes, who earnestly maintained that capital is divided into wages, raw material, and fixed capital, argued that trades-unions could not increase wages in the several trades, because, if they did so, they would reduce profits below the rate which would make investment worth while. On his own doctrine, increased wages could not trench on profits. He should have argued that wages, if increased by a trades-union, could only be increased at the expense of raw material and fixed capital, which would be far more difficult than to increase them at the expense of profits. Indeed, if the trades-union movement did not coincide with a new distribution of capital into its three parts (a new distribution which would produce a rise in wages), the trades-union could not possibly force an advance at the expense of raw materials or fixed capital.” — W. G. Sumner, Collected Essays.
Can you reconcile Cairnes’s reasoning on trades-unions with his doctrine as to the wages fund?
“The railroads of the United States receive annually two hundred and ten millions of dollars for transporting passengers. Those receipts came in day by day, yet the railroad company habitually pays its employees at the close of the week or at the close of the month. Here we have a very large class of services where the employer receives the price of his product before he pays for the labor concerned in its production. The railroads of the United States also receive annually for freights five hundred and fifty millions. The greater portion of this amount is collected before the track hands and the station hands have received the remuneration for their share of the service. . . . To descend to the other end of the scale of dignity, hotel keepers and, in less degrees, boarding-house keepers collect their bills before they pay their cooks, chambermaids, and scullions. Nearly all receipts of theatre, opera, and concert companies are obtained day by day, although their staffs and troupes are borne on monthly or weekly pay-rolls.” — F. A. Walker, in the Journal of Economics, April, 1888.
Are these facts inconsistent with the proposition that wages are paid out of capital?
What should you say to the doctrine that the real source of wages is in the incomes of the consumers of the articles made by the laborers?
It has been said that “Mr. Walker’s theory is, in reality, not a theory of manager’s earnings at all, but a theory of difference in manager’s earnings.” Do you think this is a sound criticism?
Explain what was Bastiat’s doctrine as to value; point out wherein it was like or unlike Carey’s doctrine on the same subject; and state briefly Cairnes’s criticism on Bastiat.
“There are two kinds of sociological inquiry. In the first kind, the question proposed is, what effect will follow from a given cause, a certain general condition of social circumstances being presupposed. As, for example, what would be the effect of abolishing or repealing corn laws in the present conditions of society or civilization in any European country, or under any other given supposition with regard to the circumstances of society in general; without reference to the changes which might take place, or which may be already in progress, in those circumstances. But there is also a second inquiry, namely, what are the laws which determine those general circumstances themselves. In this last the question is, not what will be the effect of a given cause in a certain state of society, but what are the causes which produce, and the phenomena which characterize, states of society generally.” — Mill’s Logic.
What reasons are there for saying that different methods should be applied to these two kinds of inquiry? and what are the differences in method?
Can the legislation of Germany on workmen’s insurance be said to be socialistic in a sense in which (a) the Christian socialist movement in England, and (b) the regulation or ownership by the state, are not socialistic?
Suppose production coöperation were universally adopted; wherein would the organization of society differ from that which socialism proposes?

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Political Economy 3.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 3. First half-year. Investigation and Discussion of Practical Economic Questions.—Short theses. Prof. Laughlin.

Total 23: 1 Graduate, 12 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 1 Sophomore, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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1887-88.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3
[Mid-year examination]

In what way, in your opinion, is the discussion of a “standard of value” related to the questions involved in Bimetallism?
How far can the figures of coinage be used to show the operation of Gresham’s Law? Illustrate by reference to the history of our coinage. Are all coins intended for circulation?
Compare the production of silver in 1780-1820 with that for the period since 1872. Were the results of production the same?
Distinguish between “Free coinage” and gratuitous coinage. What is “seigniorage”? Has the theory of seigniorage any connection with the circulation of our subsidiary coinage, or the silver dollar?
Discuss the results of the recent legislation permitting the issue of small silver certificates.
How far can legislation regulate the value of metallic money?
Compare the impelling causes for the passage of the English Navigation Laws in 1651 and the American Navigation Laws of 1789 and 1817.
Enumerate briefly any provisions of existing laws which operate to prevent the increase of our ocean tonnage.
Distinguish between the conditions affecting our shipping before 1856, and since. If our shipping flourished in the former period, are there the same reasons to suppose it should be as prosperous in the later period?
How far have the customs-duties imposed during the Civil War affected ship-building? Have they influenced ship-sailing?
In what way may foreigners procure a ship built in the United States cheaper than citizens of this country can procure them? Does this affect our tonnage?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1887-88.

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Political Economy 4.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 4. Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War.—Selections for required reading. Prof. Dunbar.

Total 102: 3 Graduates, 38 Seniors, 29 Juniors, 25 Sophomores, 7 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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1887-88.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4
[Mid-year examination]

[Answer all of A, and eight questions from B]

A.

Why did the period of the wars 1793-1815, when England was making enormous unproductive expenditures and subjecting herself to severe taxation, nevertheless present many of the appearances of high prosperity? [See the extract from Porter, 113-115.]
What was Napoleon’s Milan decree, and the occasion for its issue? [See the extract from Levi.]
“The general feeling in Germany towards the Zoll-Verein is, that it is the first step towards what is called the Germanization of the people.”—[Extract from Bowring, 138.]
Why was the Zoll-Verein more effective for this purpose than the Confederation?

B.

In what way was the English colonial system less injurious to the colonies than that of any other important power of the time?
English legislation on Indian cotton goods: dates, purpose, and effects, good or bad.
The school of writers known as the French Economistes.
How did the American Revolution tend to prepare the way for that in France?
The date and cause of the English Bank Restriction and its duration.
What was the pressure which compelled Prussia to adopt the emancipating edict of 1807?
American manufactures before 1808 and after.
Why were the years 1815-30 a period of general commercial embarrassment and irregularity?
What special advantages for the cotton, woolen, and iron manufactures respectively did England exhibit prior to the great inventions?
How did free trade become a commercial necessity for England?
The system on which railway building was undertaken in the United States, England, Belgium, France, and Prussia respectively.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1887-88.

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1887-88.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4
[Year-end examination]

[Answer all of A, and ten questions from B]

A.

The writer in Blackwood’s [Selections, p. 248], speaking of the use of bills of exchange in the payment of the French Indemnity, says: “How came it that £170,000,000 of bills could be got at all’ [e. in what transactions were bills created so much in excess of the usual supply]?
Cairnes [Selections, p. 218], says that “as the final result of the above movement [of the new gold] we find that while the metallic systems of England and the United States are receiving but small permanent accessions, those of India and China are absorbing enormous supplies.” Why?
Of the two pairs of countries above named which pair gained most from the movement, and why?

B.

Is it probable that England would have adopted Free Trade, if the refusal of other countries to follow her example had been foreseen?
What caused the rapid growth of American navigation down to 1857-60?
How are the prices, usually taken as measuring the value of gold, affected by quick transportation and telegraphs?
England and the Suez Canal.
Banking in France and Germany is said to be in an undeveloped condition. Illustrate this by comparison with the development of banking methods in England and the United States.
Is England a gainer or a loser by the extension of our wheat area and the consequent cheapness of supply from this country?
How did the payment of the French Indemnity contribute to the financial crisis of 1873 in the United States?
How did the crisis of 1873 help to bring about the resumption of specie payment in this country?
Compare the three cases of resumption,— the United States, France, and Italy,–as regards the kinds of currency in use and the general method adopted.
Fawcett [God and Debt, p. 122] says of the public debts of the world, that “the actual liquidation of this vast sum, amounting to just about eight times the total of all the gold and silver used as money in Europe and America, is, of course, not to be contemplated — it is impossible.”
How does the revived colonial enterprise of our day differ from that of the last century as regards the purposes and expectations of the colonizing nations?
The great political consolidations in Europe have brought with them enormous military burdens. How should you say that this loss has been offset?

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1887-88
POLITICAL ECONOMY 5
Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, and Germany
[ Course Omitted in 1887-88]

_______________________

Political Economy 6.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 6. Second Half-year. History of Tariff Legislation in the United States.—Lectures, required reading, and investigation of special topics. Prof. Taussig.

Total 58: 5 Graduates, 31 Seniors, 17 Juniors, 5 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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

Topics and References in Political Economy VI.
Harvard College. Tariff Legislation in the United States. Cambridge, Mass., 1888.

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

1887-88.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6
[Year-end examination]

“I will not argue the question whether, looking to the policy indicated by the laws of 1789, 1817, 1824, 1828, 1832, and 1842, there has been ground for the industrious and enterprising people of the United States, engaged in home pursuits, to expect government protection for internal industry. The question is, do these laws, or do they not, from 1789 to the present time, constantly show and maintain a purpose, a policy, which might naturally induce men to invest property in manufactures, and to commit themselves to those pursuits in life? Without lengthened argument, I shall take this for granted.”—Webster, Speech of 1846.
Was Webster justified in taking so much for granted?
Compare the treatment of the bearing of protective duties on wages in Hamilton’s Report on Manufactures with the treatment of the same topic in Walker’s Report of 1846, and give an opinion on the value of the discussion at the hands of both statesmen.
What connection has been alleged to exist, and what connection in fact existed, between tariff legislation and general prosperity in 1837-39, in 1843, and in 1857?
Point out wherein the duties on wool and woolens under the act of 1828 resembled, and wherein they differed from, the duties on the same articles under the act of 1867.
Compare the effect of the duties on cotton goods between 1816 and 1824, with the effect of the duties on the same goods between 1864 and 1883.
Point out wherein Mill’s reasoning as to the effect of an import duty on the terms of an international exchange is different from the export tax theory of 1832.
Explain what conclusions you can draw as to the economic effect of the duties on pig iron between 1870 and 1888, from your knowledge of foreign and domestic prices, duties, domestic production, and imports.
Explain why the duty on imported sugar has not stimulated the production of beet sugar in the United States. Apply a similar explanation to some other industry, not connected with agriculture, in which high duties have had less effect than might have been expected.
Point out wherein the course of the tariff legislation of the United States between 1864 and 1883 was similar to the course of legislation in France between 1815 and 1860, and wherein it was not similar.
“First, there is no sufficient market for our surplus agricultural products except a foreign market, and, in default of this, such surplus will either not be raised, or, if raised, will rot on the ground. Second, the domestic demand for the products of existing furnaces and factories is very far short of the capacity of such furnaces and factories to supply; and, until larger and more extended markets are obtainable, domestic competition will inevitably continue, as now, to reduce profits to a minimum and greatly restrict the extension of the so-called manufacturing industries….Industrial depression, business stagnation, and social discontent in the United States, as a rule, are going to continue and increase until the nation adopts a fiscal and commercial policy more liberal and better suited to the new condition of affairs.”— D.A. Wells, in the North American Review.
Do you think the remedy of lower import duties will remove the difficulties said to arise from excessive production?

_______________________

Political Economy 7.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 7. Taxation, Public Debts, and Banking.—Lectures. Prof. Dunbar.

Total 15: 1 Graduate, 11 Seniors, 3 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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

1887-88.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7
[Mid-year examination]

[Discuss three of the following topics.]

What are the conditions necessary for the complete development and efficient working of a budget system?
Accepting Mill’s reasoning that a tax under some circumstances, by diminishing the income from property, diminishes its selling value, and so ceases to be felt by subsequent purchasers, should you say,—
1. That the French impôt foncier is a tax on present landholders?
2. That the English income-tax under Schedule A, is a tax on present landholders?
  The reason for the difference, if any exists.
Comparative advantages of the methods of local taxation used in the four leading countries.
“It is an error, to assume that [1] all descriptions of property should be subjected to taxation in order to insure equality and uniformity. On the contrary, all experience has shown—none better than that of the United States—that the more ‘concrete’ and the less diffused a system of taxation can be made, the better for the people and the better for the State; for, with the exception of direct taxes on income, and upon those articles, like spirits and tobacco, which are consumed solely for personal gratification, taxation distributes itself with a wonderful degree of uniformity. If placed upon land, it will constitute an element of the cost of that which the land produces; if upon manufacturing industry, then of the cost of the products of such industry; upon shipping, of the cost of that which the ship transports; upon capital, of the cost, price, or interest, which is paid for the use of such capital; and if upon buildings, it will be reflected upon the income of the occupier, or upon the cost of the goods, wares and merchandise stored, exchanged or produced therein….And so [2] a tax imposed upon an article or service of prime necessity to a community, like land or buildings, for example, becomes, in effect, a tax upon all, without the vexations of infinitesimal application.”
The same author has expressed this idea elsewhere by saying,—
“Proportional taxes on all things of any given class will be diffused and equalized on all other property.”
Discuss the two general principles of taxation, [1], [2], contrasted with each other in the above extracts.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1887-88.

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

1887-88.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7
[Year-end examination]

A.

A careful examination and discussion of these two topics is desired. Not less than one half of your time should be given to this division of the paper.

“In so far as bondholders live from the proceeds of their bonds, they form a class not immediately interested in current industries. At some time in the past they may have furnished the government with large sums of capital, thus averting the inconvenience of excessive taxation or of a sudden change in rates; and, in return for this service, they receive from the government the promise of an annuity until an equivalent of the original capital should be returned. Such persons are guaranteed a living without labor.
“There is but one way in which the government may escape the necessity of supporting in idleness this class, and that is by paying its members their respective claims. The bondholders would in this manner be deprived of their secured annuity, but they would in its stead hold a sum of free capital; and if they wish to continue in the enjoyment of an income from their property they must apply their funds to some productive purpose. In this manner the country gains by bringing to bear upon industrial affairs the interested attention of those who formerly were secured a living from the proceeds of public taxes. For another reason also is the payment of a debt advantageous. No people can long retain that hopefulness so essential to the vigorous prosecution of industries if the past lays heavy claims upon the present. As a rule, they only should partake of current product who are in some way connected with present production. Carelessness and jealousy are not characteristics of efficient labor, but they are sometimes naturally engendered by the payment of taxes for the support of a favored class. It is the permanency of this payment, rather than its amount, which exerts a depressing influence upon labor, and its extinction is a first step toward the establishment of confidence and contentment.”
“As the circulation of a bank is a source of profit, and as the managers are usually disposed to oblige their patrons by loans and accommodations, it can never be wise to allow banks or parties who have pecuniary interests at stake to increase or diminish the volume of currency in the country at their pleasure. Nor do I find in the condition of things a law or rule on which we can safely rely. Upon these views I form the conclusion that the circulation of the banks should be fixed and limited, and that the power to change the volume of paper in circulation, within limits established by law, should remain in the Treasury Department.
“A degree of flexibility in the volume of currency is essential for two reasons:
“First. The business of the Department cannot be transacted properly if a limit is fixed, and the power to raise the circulation above or reduce it below that limit is denied.
“A rule of this nature would compel the Secretary to accumulate a large currency balance and to hold it; as, otherwise, the credit of the government, in meeting the ordinary daily claims upon it, would be at the mercy of every serious business and political revulsion in the United States or Europe….
“Secondly. There is a necessity every autumn for moving the crops without delay from the South and West to the seaboard that they may be in hand for export and consumption as wanted. This work should be done in the main before the lakes, rivers, and canals are closed, and yet it cannot be done without the use of large amounts of currency.
“In the summer months funds accumulate at the centres, but the renewal of business in August and September gives employment for large sums, and leaves little or nothing for forwarding the crops in October and November….
“The crops cannot be moved generally by the aid of bank balances, checks, and letters of credit, but only by bank notes and United States notes paid at once to the producers…
“The problem is to find a way of increasing the currency for moving the crops and diminishing it at once when that work is done. This is a necessary work, and, inasmuch as it cannot be confined to the banks, where, but in the Treasury Department, can the power be reposed?”—[Finance Report, by Secretary Boutwell, 1872.]

B.

In the loan act of August 5, 1861, Congress, having previously authorized the issue of seven per cent twenty-year bonds at par, authorized the Secretary, if he thought best, to sell six per cent twenty-year bonds, “at any rate not less that the equivalent of par, for the bonds bearing seven per centum interest, authorized by said [previous] act.” What considerations should determine the choice of the Secretary in using this discretion?
What is your own estimate of the merits of the English system of operating on the national debt by means of terminable annuities, as proposed by Mr. Gladstone and extended by Mr. Childers?
Shadwell [System of Political Economy, 371] says:—
“The tendency of all legislation on the subject of notes is to sacrifice the interests of the depositors to those of the note-holders, and there are some people to whom such a course appears justifiable. Banks, it is said, are imprudently managed; therefore, when one fails, its notes should be paid in full before the claims of its depositors are dealt with. It would not be more arbitrary to say that because banks are imprudently managed, therefore the depositors should be paid in full before the claims of the note-holders are dealt with.”
What is your own conclusion of this question?
Which of the three great banks, the Bank of England, the Bank of France, and the Reichsbank, appears to you to present the best model for a great national bank,— and why?
It has been remarked that the expedient by which the New York banks associated themselves against a common danger, in 1860, 1873, and 1884, finds its nearest analogy in the occasional suspension of the limit which the act of 1844 places on the Bank of England. How close and real is the analogy?

_______________________

Political Economy 8.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 8. First half-year. Financial history of the United States.—Lectures. Prof. Dunbar.

Total 39: 3 Graduates, 26 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 2 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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

1887-88.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8
[Mid-year examination]

[Take one question from A and nine from B, or both from A and seven from B.]

The questions under A are supposed to require half an hour each for careful treatment, and those under B fifteen minutes each.

A.

There is disclosed in the administration of Mr. Gallatin the true policy of debt-payment. It consists in the establishment of a permanent appropriation for the service of the debt which shall be in excess of the demands of current interest. But such appropriation need not be “inviolable.” It need form no part of a “private contract,” nor be regarded as constituting “private property.” A government should always be at liberty in time of emergency to divert money held for the payment of debt to the support of new loans…The United States is indebted to Mr. Gallatin more than to any other man for the establishment of this policy. Under the guidance of his clear insight this country departed from the pernicious methods of English financiering.—H.C. Adams, Public Debts, 268.
Discuss the above with particular reference to the suggested difference of principle between Hamilton’s sinking-fund policy and Gallatin’s.
What does the experience of the United States government show as to the policy of relying upon duties on imports as the sole means of supplying the Treasury?

B.

How is the fact to be explained that the Bank of the United States was so much less able to resist attack than it appeared to be in 1829?
What kind of currency did the government use and where were its money kept, and under what authority of law, after the closing of the first Bank of the United States, 1811-17, and after the removal of the deposits from the second, 1833-36?
In what way would the renewal of the charter of the first Bank of the United States probably have affected the finances during the war, 1812-15?
What was the reason for the difference between Mr. Dallas’s proposition for a bank in 1814 and that which he made in 1815?
How did the second Bank of the United States aid in the resumption of specie payment in 1817?
What was the specie circular of 1836, and how was it financially important?
How would it have eased the finances of 1861, if the Secretary of the Treasury had made more free use of the Act of August 5, suspending for some purposes the provisions of the Independent Treasury Act?
What were the nearest approaches made to a government legal-tender paper before 1862?
Why was 1865 a favorable occasion for returning to specie payment, and what then prevented the return?
As a general question, apart from any special provision of law, who has authority to tax United States bonds or the income derived from them, and under what limitations, if any?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1887-88.

_______________________

Political Economy 9.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Political Economy 9. First half-year. Management and Ownership of Railways. Prof. Laughlin.

Total 19: 1 Graduate, 14 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 62.

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

1887-88.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 9
[Mid-year examination]

In what way is railway transportation related to the general principles of economic theory?
Wherein is there any opposition between the interests of the shareholders and the directors of railways?
How far are railway rates regulated by the competition of railways with each other?
Discuss the reasons for and against equal mileage rates.
What gave rise to pooling in the United States? What have been the practical effects of pooling on railway rates in this country?
Explain: Cost of service, differential rates, a “differential,” the evening system, preferred stock, the Joint Executive Committee, the Petroleum Pool.
Is classification the necessary consequence of any one theory of rates? How does classification in the United States compare with that of European railways?
Compare the Railway Commissions of Georgia and Massachusetts.
Do you regard the Granger legislation as having accomplished any permanent results?
Discuss the interpretation of the Fourth Section of the Inter-State Commerce Act by the National Commission.
What arguments in favor of State ownership of railways by the United States can be drawn from the experience of Germany and Italy?
Do you find any part of the railway system of England which would be worthy of adoption by the United States?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1887-88.

_______________________

Philosophy 11.
Course Description and Enrollment
1887-88

Philosophy 11. The Ethics of Social Reform. The questions of Charity, Divorce, the Indians, Labor, Prisons, temperance, etc., as problems of practical ethics.—Lectures, essays, and practical observations. Prof. Peabody.

Total 84: 3 Graduates, 51 Seniors, 23 Juniors, 3 Sophomores, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1887-1888, p. 71.

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

1887-88
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM.
[Mid-year examination]

[Omit one question]

Inductive ethics. Explain and illustrate this phrase, as applied to the study of the social questions.
The various possible relations between one’s own life and the life of society. Illustrate by the history of ethical theory.
“The whole question of the relation of ethics to political economy resolves itself into a bare question of classification. Shall our nomenclature be such as to make the term political economy include the ethical sphere or not?”—(C.F. Dunbar, Quarterly Journal of Economics, October, 1886, p. 25.)
What is your answer to this question of classification?
“No one doubts that a man who improves the current morality of his time must be something of an Idealist. He must have an idea which moves him to seek its realization. That idea cannot represent any experienced reality.”.-(T.H. Green, Prolegomena to Ethics, p. 325.)
Illustrate this in the conduct of a social reform.
“I fully believe that to-day the next most pernicious thing to vice is charity in its broad and popular sense.”—(W.G. Sumner, What Social Classes owe to each other, p. 157.)
What is there in modern charity which tends to justify this view and in what way can such a danger be met?
“Among the means toward a higher civilization I unhesitatingly assert that the deliberate cultivation of public amusement is a principal one.”—(W.S. Jevons, Methods of Social Reform, p. 7.) Why?
Consider the advantages and disadvantages of a Constitutional Amendment as a remedy for existing evils in the divorce question.
“Without the circumstances of infancy…the phenomena of social life would have been omitted from the history of the world and with them the phenomena of ethics.”—(John Fiske, Cosmic Philosophy, II. 363) Why?
“The most ancient system”—of family life—“was a system of kinship through females only.”—(McLennan,Studies in Ancient History, p. 85.)
What was the origin of this matriarchal type and why is it supposed to have preceded the patriarchal family?
“The movement of progressive societies has been uniform in one respect. Through all its course it has been distinguished by the gradual dissolution of family dependency and the growth of individual obligation. The individual is steadily substituted for the family as the unit of which civil laws take account.”—(Sir Henry Maine, Ancient Law, p. 163.)
Consider the history, the tendencies, and the risks of this evolution of the individual.
Illustrate the interdependence of the question of Marriage and Divorce with other social questions.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 2, Bound volume Examination Papers, Mid-Year 1887-88.

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

Philosophy 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM.
[Year-end examination]

[Omit two questions.]

Have you discovered any philosophical principles underlying this course of study, and can you suggest any change of method in the course which will make these underlying principles more clear?
Why has the Indian been hitherto so impervious to civilization?
Explain the “Dawes Bills.” What supplementary legislation is needed for their successful administration?
Contrast the economic doctrines of Carlyle and of Ruskin and consider modern illustrations of each.
Enumerate some of the ways in which an employer seems to have a natural advantage in a conflict with his employed.
On what principle would wages be paid if the “Democratic Federation” should carry out its programme?
“Socialists regard colossal corporations and the wealthy bosses that direct them as the greatest pioneers of their cause.”-Kirkup, An Inquiry into Socialism, p. 169.—Why?
“There are certain establishments nominally coöperative, which have little significance as bearing on the Labor Question. The chief of these is the Rochdale form of the cooperative store.”—J.B. Clark, The Philosophy of Wealth, p. 190.—Why is this, and what are some of the obstacles to more complete coöperation?
Illustrate by several instances the tendency of the State to infringe upon the liberty of the individual. How far do you think that this tendency can be wisely encouraged?
On what principle would you distinguish the various forms of liquor legislation, and what considerations would determine your vote in your own state or town?
“Society is not an aggregate of independent units, not a mechanical whole, but, in the true sense of the word, an organism.”—Prof. Edward Caird, The Moral Aspect of the Economical Problem, p. 16.—If this is true, how does it affect your duty as to temperance, and your understanding of the argument from “example”?

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

Tags Dunbar, GrayJH, Laughlin, Taussig

Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Examinations for Political Economy courses, Dunbar, Laughlin, and Taussig, 1886-87.

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2021-01-24

On January 5th, 2021 my 94 year old father passed away following a Covid-19 infection. On January 6th, 2021 a pro-Trump mob breached the United States Capitol, leading to the impeachment of President Donald Trump exactly one week later. With the exception of a single post that had been nearly completed before those two days, Economics in the Rear-view Mirror has had no new content added. With today’s post (January 24, 2021) your curator resumes his work of collecting, transcribing and presenting artifacts to provide a documentary record of the evolution of the economics curriculum.

This post adds to our collection brief course descriptions, enrollment figures and examinations from Harvard for the academic year 1886-87 when Charles Dunbar, J. Laurence Laughlin, and Frank W. Taussig constituted the entire department of political economy.

_______________________

Political Economy 1 (1886-87).

Class Enrollment.

Political Economy 1. First half year: Laughlin’s Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. —Dunbar’s Chapters on Banking. Profs. Laughlin and Taussig.

Total 207: 1 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 100 Juniors, 47 Sophomores, 7 Freshmen, 19 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.

1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[One-hour Examination. Nov. 17, 1886]

Point out, as to the following articles, whether they are or are not capital; and, as to those which you consider capital, whether they are fixed or circulating capital: a dwelling-house; a bale of cotton goods; a government bond; hewn granite; a plow; a stock of tobacco.
A keeps twenty saddle horses in Boston for hire. B keeps twenty horses which he uses in cultivating a farm in the country. Trace the respective economic effects of their expenditure in maintaining the horses.
State concisely the laws of production and distribution as to land, and explain the connexion between them.
Comment on the following proposition: “There should be annually appropriated by every city or town of 5000 or more inhabitants a sum of money sufficient to pay wages at the rate of one dollar a day for 300 days in the year to as many as 10 percent of the actual population. … Any person finding himself out of employment should have the privilege of making application to the Department of Labor, and should be given some useful work to do at the wages of one dollar per day of eight hours, so long as he might choose to work for that pay.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Scrapbook of Professor Frank W. Taussig, p. 10.

1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1887]

Compare the economic effects of defraying war expenditure by loans and by taxation.
Does the rent of a factory building affect the value of the goods made in it? Does the rent of a farm affect the value of the grain grown on it? Does the rent paid for a lot near a great city, from which gravel is taken, affect the value of the gravel?
It has been said that “the laws and conditions of the production of wealth partake of the character of physical truths. There is nothing optional or arbitrary in them.” State briefly the laws of the production of wealth here referred to, and whether the statement in regard to them is true.
It has been said that the law of population and the law of diminishing returns from land point inevitably to misery and want as the destiny of the mass of mankind. What influences affecting the operation of these laws are to be taken into account; and if they are taken into account, are the laws of population and diminishing returns from land thereby shown to be invalid?
Explain briefly the nature of the remuneration received by the following persons: a farmer tilling his own land; a merchant carrying on business with his own capital; a manufacturer carrying on business with borrowed capital; a holder of railway stocks; a holder of government bonds; a patentee.
Wherein is the value of metallic money governed by different principles from those that regulate the value of commodities in general? And wherein is the value of inconvertible paper money governed by different principles from those that regulate the value of coin?
Credit is said to be purchasing power. Explain what is meant by this proposition, and in what manner it bears on the theory of the value of money. Point out in what form credit, as purchasing power, is most likely to affect prices in the United States and in France.
(a) Suppose that:
In the U.S. one day’s labor produces 2 bushels of corn;
“ “       “     “      “         “            “          10 yards of cotton cloth;
“ England “ “ “ “          1 bushel of corn;
“      “ “      “         “            “          5 yards of cotton cloth.
Would trade arise between England and the United States? If so how?
(b) Suppose that in England one day’s labor produced 8 yards of cotton cloth, other conditions remaining the same as in (a). Would trade arise? If so, how?
(c) Suppose that in England one day’s labor produced 2 yards of cotton cloth, other conditions remaining the same as in (a) Would trade arise? If so, how?
Suppose a new article to appear among the exports of a given country. Trace the effects in that country on the course of the foreign exchanges; on the flow of specie; on the value of money; on the terms of international exchange. Would the results be the same if, instead of a new article of export, some article previously exported were to be sold abroad in larger quantity because of a lowering of its cost and price?
(a) Arrange in proper order the following items of a bank account: Loans, $538,000; Bonds and Stocks, $40,000; Capital, $200,000; Real Estate, $26,000; other assets, $26,000; Surplus, $65,100; Deposits, $440,000; Notes, $101,550; Cash, $124,000; Cash Items, $52,650.
(b) Suppose the bank to discount four months paper (at 6 per cent) to the amount of $10,000, of which it purchases one-half by promises to pay (the bearer) on demand, and one-half by cash. How would the account then stand?
(c) Suppose a borrower to have repaid a loan of $2000 by giving $1000 in cash, and $1000 in a cheque on the bank. How would the account then stand?
(d) Suppose the bank to be confronted, in a time of general embarrassment, with demands from depositors for cash, and from borrowers for discounts. What policy would be adopted if it were the Bank of England? If it were a United States national bank?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Scrapbook of Professor Frank W. Taussig, pp. 10-11.

Class Enrollment.

Political Economy 1. Second half year: Division A (Theoretical, introductory to Courses 2 and 3). Mill’s Principles (Books IV, and V.). — Cairnes’s Leading Principles (Part I., chaps. Iii. and v.; part III., chaps. i.-v.). — Thompson’s Lectures on Protection. — Sumner’s Protectionism. — Bimetallism. Prof. Laughlin.

Total 101: 6 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 38 Sophomores, 5 Freshmen, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.

1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division A.
[Year-end Examination. 1887]

If taxes levied on the rich cause a diminution in their unproductive expenditure, would that in any way affect the employment offered for labor? Discuss fully.
What principle does Mr. Mill furnish by which the respective shares of labor and capital are determined? Has his Wages-Fund Theory any connection with his exposition of the dependence of “profits” on Cost of Labor?
In discussing the distribution of the product, why is it that the relative shares of labor and capital can be discussed independently of rent? Would an increase of rent affect the share of labor or of capital?
Why is it that city banks make a greater use of the deposit liability than of the note liability? Why is the fact just the reverse with country banks?
State fully the difference between Cost of Labor and Cost of Production. Would a decrease in Cost of Production affect Cost of Labor in any way?
If the returns, and consequently wages, in our extractive industries were to decline, how would the course of our foreign trade probably be affected?
Explain carefully how, and under what conditions, Reciprocal Demand regulates Normal Value.
How do you reconcile the doctrine of comparative cost in international trade with the fact that a merchant regulates his conduct by a comparison of prices at home with prices abroad?
Explain how a tax on “profits” may fall either (1) on the laborer, or (2) on the landlord.
Discuss the argument that protection raises wages.
Is the customs-duty on sugar economically justifiable?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 5-6, in bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.

Class Enrollment.

Political Economy 1. Second half year: Division B (Descriptive). Mill’s Principles (selections). — Upton’s Money in Politics. —Jevons’s The State in Relation to Labor. — Lectures on Money, Bimetallism, Cooperation, and Trade-Unions. Prof. Taussig.

Total 106: 1 Graduate, 27 Seniors, 56 Juniors, 9 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 11 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.

1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division B.
[One-hour Examination. April. 4, 1887]

As society advances, what changes would you expect in the relative values of wheat of coal, of cotton cloth, and of watch-springs?
Suppose the coinage of silver under the act of 1878 had been 20 millions of dollars a month, what would now be the money in use in the country? Explain briefly what has been the actual coinage, and what effect it has had on our monetary system.
Make a comparison between the issues of paper money by the Continental Congress during the war of the Revolution, and by Congress during the civil war.
Explain briefly what is meant by the following phrases: five-twenties; ten-forties; seven-thirties; continued 3 ½ per cents.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Scrapbook of Professor Frank W. Taussig, p. 12.

1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division B.
[Year-end Examination. 1887]

Suppose the price of silver to rise to such a point that the ratio of silver to gold would be 15 to 1, what change would take place in the money at present in use in the United States?
Is such a change probable? If so, why? If not, why not?
State the essential differences between the coinage acts of 1792, 1834, and 1878.
“All experience has shown that there are periods when, under any system of paper money, however carefully guarded, it is impracticable to maintain actual coin redemption. Usually contracts will be based on current paper money, and it is just that, during a sudden panic or an unreasonable demand for coin, the creditor should not be allowed to demand payment in other than the currency in which the debt was contracted. To meet this contingency, it would seem to be right to maintain the legal tender quality of United States notes. If they are not at par with coin, it is the fault of the Government and not of the debtor, or rather it is the result of an unforeseen stringency not contemplated by the contracting parties.” From the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, dated December, 1877.
Under what circumstances was this passage written? Is the recommendation made by it a wise one? Has it been acted on?
Ten men club together to buy flour at wholesale, each taking a part and paying his share of the price. Ten others club together, borrow money jointly, and lend it out to themselves for aid in carrying on their trades. A third ten club together, set up a workshop on joint account and work in it, and periodically divide the net proceeds.
What kinds of cooperation are typified, respectively, by these proceedings? In what countries has each kind been most widely applied? Which seems to you to be of greatest intrinsic interest for the social question?
What is meant by the eight-hour law? Wherein does it resemble, and wherein differ from, factory legislation in England?
Compare the regulations of the Knights of Labor in regard to strikes with those of an English Trades-Union.
“The present doctrine is that the workmen’s interests are linked to those of other workmen, and the employer’s interests to those of other employers. Eventually it will be seen that industrial divisions should be perpendicular, not horizontal.” Explain what is meant by this passage; state by what devices it is endeavored to promote the “horizontal” and the “perpendicular” divisions, respectively; and given an opinion as to which line of division is likely to endure.
The declaration of principles of the Knights of Labor demand “the enactment of laws providing for arbitration between employer and employed, and to enforce the decision of the arbitrators.” Is it desirable to comply with that demand in whole, in part, or not at all?
Suppose a tax were levied of ten percent on the house-rent paid by every person, those who occupied their own houses being assessed for the letting value of their dwellings. Would such a tax be direct or indirect? Would it conform to the principle of equality of taxation? Give your reasons.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Scrapbook of Professor Frank W. Taussig, p. 12. Also, Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 5-6, in bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.

_______________________

Political Economy 2 (1886-87).

Class Enrollment.

Political Economy 2. Economic Theory; its history and present stage. — Lectures, preparation of papers, and discussion of selections from leading writers. Prof. Taussig.

Total 49: 2 Graduates, 33 Seniors, 14 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.

1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Mid-year Examination, 1887]

It has been said that the Mercantile writers built up the first system of political economy; again, that a system is first found in the writings of the Physiocrats; and again, that Ricardo created political economy as a science. What should you say as to these statements?
Say something as to the connection that may be traced between the personal history of Adam Smith and of Ricardo, and the characteristics of their writings.
Sketch the history of the doctrines as to the productiveness of different kinds of labor from the time of the Mercantile writers to that of J. S. Mill.
Comment on the following:—
“It remains a matter of some difficulty to discover what solid contribution Malthus has made to our knowledge, nor is it easy to ascertain precisely what practical precepts, not already familiar, he founded on his theoretic principles…. ‘Much,’ he thought, ‘remained to be done. The comparison between the increase of population and of food had not, perhaps, been stated with sufficient force and precision’ and ‘few inquiries had been made into the various modes by which the level’ between population and the means of subsistence ‘is effected.’ The first desideratum here mentioned—the want, namely, of an accurate statement of the relation between the population and the supply of food—Malthus doubtless supposed to have been supplied by the celebrated proposition that ‘population increases in a geometrical, food in an arithmetical, ratio.’ This proposition has been conclusively shown to be erroneous, there being no such difference of law between the increase of man and of the organic beings who form his food. When this formula is not used, other somewhat nebulous expressions are sometimes employed, as, for example, that ‘population has a tendency to increase faster than food’ a sentence in which both are treated as if they were spontaneous growths…It must always have been perfectly well known that population will probably (though not necessarily) increase with every augmentation of the supply of subsistence, and may, in some instances, inconveniently press upon or even for a certain time exceed the number properly corresponding to that supply. Nor could it have ever been doubted that war, disease, poverty — the last two often the consequences of vice — are causes which keep population down. Again, it is surely plain enough that the apprehension by individuals of the evils of poverty, or a sense of duty to their possible offspring, may retard the increase of population, and has in all civilized communities operated to a certain extent in that way. It is only when such obvious truths are clothed in the technical terminology of ‘positive’ and ‘preventive’ checks that they appear novel and profound; and yet they appear to contain the whole message of Malthus to mankind.”
State carefully Cairnes’s theory of value, and show wherein it differs from Ricardo’s exposition of that subject.
Explain the conclusions which George draws as to wages from an analysis of the simplest stage of society, and those which Ricardo draws as to values from a similar analysis. State whether the reasoning in the two cases differs and if so, wherein; and give an opinion as to the soundness of the conclusions reached.
State carefully the wage-fund doctrine as expounded by Cairnes, and show wherein his exposition is an advance on the previous treatment of the subject.
In a collection of examination questions, the following was asked:—
“Cairnes argues that we cannot apply the law of supply and demand to labor, because the supply of labor is produced by biological forces and not as commodities are produced.— What is the fallacy of this argument?
Comment on the question, and answer it; and refer briefly to the history of the line of argument that draws and analogy between the value of labor and of commodities.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 1, Folder “Mid-year Examinations, 1886-1887”.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Year-end examination]

Comment, separately or in a connected essay, on the following extracts:—
(a) “The first of these theories is known as the wage-fund theory of the books on Political Economy. It represents the rate of wages as depending on the amount of capital which employers think proper to disburse as wages. The wage rate was regarded as the dividend, found by dividing the wages-fund by the number of labourers. But though this division doubtless takes place, there is nothing in the theory to determine either the whole amount which is to be divided, or the proportional share which any particular labourer may obtain. Nobody can possibly suppose that workmen in different branches of production, or in different ranks in the same branch, receive the same wages. Nor can anybody imagine that the capitalist distributes his capital simply because it is capital, irrespective of the produce which he expects from the labour bought.” — W. S. Jevons.
(b) “Ricardo held that profits and wages are the leavings of each other. Later economists have generally rejected this doctrine; but even those of them who maintain that wages are paid out of capital, fall back on arguments which imply its truth. For instance, Cairnes, who earnestly maintained that capital is divided into wages, rent, material, and wage-fund, argued that trades-unions could not increase the rate of wages because, if they did so, they would reduce profits below the rate which would make investment worth while. On his own doctrine, increased wages could not trench on profits. … We shall see further on that wages and profits are not the leavings of each other, because they are not parts of the same whole.”
(c) “If we assume that upon a cultivated island are tools and carts and animals for draught, and other forms of capital, adequate for a thousand laborers, the production will vary within a very wide range according to the industrial quality of the laborers using that capital. If we suppose them to be East Indians, we shall have a certain annual product; if we suppose Russian peasants to be substituted for East Indians, we shall have twice or three times that product; if we suppose Englishmen to be substituted for Russians, we shall have the product again multiplied two or three fold. By the wage-fund theory, the rate of wages would remain the same through these changes, inasmuch as the aggregate capital of the island would remain the same through these changes and the number of laborers in the market would be unchanged, the only difference being found in the substitution of more efficient for less efficient laborers. According to the view here advanced, on the contrary, the amount to be paid in wages should and would rise with the increased production due to the higher industrial quality of the laboring population.”
(d) “The capital of the employer is by no means the real source of the wages even of the workmen employed by him. It is only the immediate reservoir through which wages are paid out, until the purchasers of the commodities produced by that labor make good the advance and thereby encourage the undertaker to purchase additional labor.” — W. Roscher.
Whom do you judge to be the writers of the extracts (b) and (c)?
State carefully Walker’s theory of business profits. Give an opinion as to its value (1) in explaining differences between the returns of different managers, and (2) in eliminating such returns, like rent, from the problem of distribution.
Compare Carey and Bastiat, and say something as to the manner and extent of their influence on the course of economic speculation.
Explain wherein the attitude of Wagner to economic study differs from that of Mill and Cairnes.
“Mr. Cairnes asks, ‘how far should religious and moral considerations be admitted as coming within the province of political economy?’ His answer is that ‘they are to be taken account of precisely in so far as they are found to affect the conduct of men in the pursuit of wealth;’ and one needs only to allude to the influence of mediaeval religion both on the forms and the distribution of the wealth of the community, the changes in both with the change in religion after the Reformation, in proof of the impotence of the a priori method in relation to this class of agencies. Yet a few pages after recognizing their title to investigation, Mr. Cairnes argues that induction, though indispensable in physical, is needless in economic science, on the ground that the economist starts with a knowledge of ultimate causes’ and ‘is already at the outset of his enterprise in the position which the physicist only attains after ages of laborious research.’ The followers of the deduction method are in fact on the horns of a dilemma. They must either follow Mr. Lowe’s narrow path, and reason strictly from the assumption that men are actuated by no motive save the desire of pecuniary gain, or they must contend that they have an intuitive knowledge of all the moral, religious, political, and other motives influencing human conduct, and of the changes they undergo in different countries and periods.”
Was Cairnes inconsistent in the manner here stated? Does his reasoning lead to the alleged dilemma?
Should you agree with the following:—
“If economic phenomena were the results of a single force or combination of forces, standing alone, then only would the assumption hold good that there is an identity of effects on the appearance of the same causes. But economic facts are so closely connected with the whole of life, the element of personal freedom comes in so constantly, that a causal connection like that of a law of nature cannot be shown. This is at bottom the sound point in the criticisms of Ricardo’s keen logic. Ricardo often begins with facts, carefully and nicely observed in real life, and makes them the first premises of his reasoning. Then he uses a method of reasoning which is common in philosophy, but inadmissible in political economy. By logical sequence of thought he leads the reader, who can see no flaw in the chain of conclusions, to a result which, notwithstanding the solidity of the premises and the steadfast reasoning, is yet by no means unquestionable. For in the end we are not concerned with the elaboration of a truthful train of thought, but with a truth of real life; hence the test of truth lies in the connection of cause and effect that exists in real life; and as to that, with its manifold and varied possibilities, no human insight can make the true combinations in advance by abstract reasoning. There may be an artistic truth, which yet, when compared with reality, is not a truth. Even if one sees no inconsistency with the facts of experience up to the very last step in the reasoning, yet that reasoning gets its final stamp of truth only from experience. Our thoughts on the facts of the world are often true only so long as we shape them according to those facts that we know; a new experience comes in to better this approximate truth.” — Knies, Die Politische Oekonomie vom Historischen Standpunkte.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 3, Papers Set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 7-9, in bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.

Note: Political Economy 2. Has been posted earlier.

_______________________

Political Economy 3 (1886-87).

Class Enrollment.

Political Economy 3. Investigation and Discussion of Practical Economic Questions (Bimetallism, Gold and Prices, American Shipping, Canadian Reciprocity, and Railway Transportation. — Each student presented ten theses, which were read and discussed in the class. Prof. Laughlin.

Total 35: 3 Graduates, 12 Seniors, 19 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.

1886-87.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Mid-year Examination, 1887]

Discuss the following statement: “I would venture to assert that the influence of gold in raising or reducing prices depends not so much on the quantity of it available for use, as on the circumstances attending its production, and the facilities offered for its employment. … The sudden acquisition of money by those who rushed into gold mining … could not do otherwise than raise the demand for the necessaries and luxuries of life beyond the supply, and thus enhance their cost.”
In considering the serious fall of prices since 1873 and its effects on existing contracts, compare the relative advantages to be derived from (1) a system of international Bimetallism, and (2) the Multiple Standard. What difficulties stand in the way of using the multiple standard?
Give the facts in regard to the Free Coinage of gold, or silver, to-day in England, France, Germany, and the United States.
Discuss the provisions of the U.S. Coinage Act of 1853, and its bearing on the success of the double standard in this country.
Could an agreement of the chief commercial countries of the world to coin gold and silver at a fixed ratio keep the value of silver from falling under all circumstances?
Name any Navigation Laws of the United States now in force, which had their origin in the retaliatory legislation of our early history.
What effect has the policy of reciprocity, taken together with the high cost of building iron ships in the United States, had upon the foreign carrying trade of the country?
Does the existing tariff work to diminish the United States foreign tonnage? How does the provision as to a drawback on articles manufactured wholly or in part of imported materials affect our foreign tonnage?
What remedies should you propose for the decline of American shipping?
Was the first experiment of issuing notes by a Bank, chartered by the United States, a successful one? Why?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Mid-year examinations, 1852-1943. Box 1, Folder “Mid-year Examinations, 1886-1887”.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Year-end examination]

How do you account for the additional fall in the value of silver since the close of 1885?
Are there sufficient grounds for believing that gold is scarce? What is the measure of scarcity? Is it the “needs of trade”?
Discuss the causes of the growth of American shipping to 1856. Why have these causes not produced the same results since 1856 as before?
Why were the issues of the Second United States Bank superior to those of the State banks of the same period?
Ought the United States notes to be retired?
In what way was the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 between Canada and the United States connected with the fishery question? Why was the Treaty given up?
What were the economic results of the Treaty? Do they furnish evidence as to the wisdom of reciprocity in the future?
Are there any reasons to suppose that competition operates to modify rates on the railways of the United States?
What are the objections against “pools”? Are these objections well founded?
Compare the railway systems of England and France. How are discriminations regarded in these countries?

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 9-10, in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.

_______________________

Political Economy 4 (1886-87).

Class Enrollment.

Political Economy 4. Financial history of England and America since the Seven Years’ War. — Lectures. Prof. Dunbar.

Total 157: 1 Graduate, 44 Seniors, 44 Juniors, 53 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 13 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 58.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Mid-year examination, 1887]

[Copy not (yet) located]

POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Year-end examination, 1887]

Omit two questions

Why did the repeal of the corn laws settle the question as to the adoption of free trade by England?
Describe the leading measures by which Napoleon III. sought to stimulate the material prosperity of France.
What were the reasons for granting public lands in aid of railway companies, as exhibited in the cases of the Illinois Central and the Pacific Railroads?
The effects of the civil war on the system of landholding in the South and its probable influence on the general industry of that section.
In what respects do quick transportation and telegraphs tend to produce analogous effects, and how are prices, as a measure of the value of gold, thereby affected?
Among the causes for the decline of American shipping, how important was the civil war?
What are the causes which make England the convenient centre for the “triangular” trade between nations?
Describe the effects of the civil war on the tariff system of the United States.
What form of wealth did France pay out in settlement of the indemnity of 1871, and what form did Germany actually receive?
The causes which prevented the disastrous fall of gold predicted by some writers after 1850.
The absorption of silver by India and reasons for its recent irregularity.
The heavy demands for gold, 1871-83, and the reasons why they failed to produce any financial disturbance.
The circumstances which enabled the United States to accumulate gold with special ease after the passage of the Resumption Act.
If the working of the English coal mines should tend to become more expensive, could England protect her industrial supremacy by the importation of cheap coal? Give the reasons carefully.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 10-11, in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.

_______________________

Political Economy 6 (1886-87).

Class Enrollment.

Political Economy 6. History of Tariff Legislation in the United States, and consideration of its economic effects. — Lectures, written exercises, and oral discussion. Prof. Taussig.
Second half-year.

Total 38: 2 Graduates, 28 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 59.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.
[Year-end examination, 1887]

Comment on the historical statements, and on the reasoning from them, in the following extracts:—
“Such was the state of things [bankruptcy and ruin the most complete] at the date of the passage of the tariff act of 1842. Scarcely had it become a law, when confidence began to reappear and commerce to revive—the first steps toward the restoration of the whole country, in the briefest period, to a state of prosperity the like of which had never before been known. Seeing that these remarkable facts were totally opposed to the free-trade theory, the author was led to study the phenomena presented in the free-trade period from 1817 to 1824, and in the protective one which commenced in 1825 and ended in 1834, — the one terminating in bankruptcy and ruin similar to that which exhibited itself in 1842, and the other giving to the country a state of prosperity such as had again been realized in 1846. … The more he studied these facts, the more did he become satisfied that the free-trade theory embodied some great error.” H. C. Carey, Preface to the Principles of Social Science.
It has been said that protective duties cause the price of the protected articles to fall; and such an effect is said to have been produced on the prices of cotton cloth after 1816, of copper after 1869, and of steel rails after 1870. Comment on the principle, and on its application in these three cases.
“This ill-understood and much reviled principle [the minimum principle] appears to me to be a just, proper, effective, and strictly philosophical mode of laying protective duties. It is exactly conformable, as I think, to the soundest and most accurate principles of political economy. It is, in the most rigid sense, what all such enactments so far as practicable ought to be: that is to say, a mode of laying a specific duty. It lays the import exactly where it will do good and leaves the rest free. It is an intelligent, discerning, discriminating principle, not a blind, headlong, generalizing, uncalculating operation. … The minimum principle, however, was overthrown by the law of 1832, and that law, as it came from the House, and as it finally passed, substituted a general and universal ad valorem duty of fifty per cent.” Webster, Speech in the Senate, 1836.
What were the duties to which Webster refers in this passage? And what should you say to his comments on them?
Explain carefully what is the fundamental proposition in Walker’s Treasury Report of 1845, and discuss its soundness as a principle of tariff reform.
Explain the present system of duties on woollen cloths, stating briefly its history; and say something as to its effects.
It has been said that high duties should be levied on manufactured articles and low duties on raw materials, because raw materials, being more bulky, require much shipping to transport them, and their free admission would give increased employment to American vessels. Assuming that the materials would in fact be carried in American vessels, should you say the argument was a sound one?
How can you explain the fact that, while the manufacture of cotton cloths has been little, if at all, dependent on protection, the heavy duties on silk piece-goods have not prevented a continuous large importation?
It has been proposed to admit sugar from Cuba duty free, by a reciprocity treaty. Should you be in favor of such a measure?
Discuss one of the following subjects. (Those who have prepared special reports on any one of these subjects are not to select that one for discussion.)
1. The financial working of the tariff act of 1846.
2. Proposed tariff legislation since 1883.
3. The circumstances under which the tariff act of 1833 was passed.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 11-12, in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.

_______________________

Political Economy 7 (1886-87).

Class Enrollment.

Political Economy 7. Public Finance and Banking. — Leroy-Beaulieu’s Science des Finances. Prof. Dunbar.

Total 12: 3 Graduates, 6 Seniors, 3 Juniors.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 59.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
[Mid-year examination, 1887]

[Copy not (yet) located]

POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
[Year-end examination]

Divide your time equally between A and B.

[Two questions may be omitted.]

Discuss the suggestion, which has been made, that among the French taxes upon real estate we ought to reckon,—
1. The impôt des portes et fenêtres;
2. Of the contribution des patentes, the droit proportionnel [à la valeur locative des locaux occupés].
Weight the following reasons given by Leroy-Beaulieu for approving lottery loans:—
“Les emprunts à loterie peuvent être regardés comme une combinaison ingénieuse et inoffensive dans les cas suivants: quand le prêteur est toujours certain de retrouver un jour, même en ayant la chance la plus mauvaise, au moins le capital qu’il a versé; quand, en outre, un intérêt rémunérateur, quoique inférieur à celui qu’autoriserait le marché des capitaux, est accordé à toutes les obligations, sans exception, même à celles qui ne sortent pas au tirages (3 ou 4 p. 100 par exemple, au lieu de 5 ou 6 p. 100 qui seraient peut-être le taux habituel du marché); quand, en dernier lieu, les lots n’ont qu’une importance modique, 20,000, 30,000, 50,000, 100,000 ou 150,000 francs au plus, et qu’ils ne peuvent pas donner lieu à des fortunes énormes. Dans tous ces cas les emprunts à loterie sont inoffensifs: le prêteur est sûr de ne pas perdre son capital, ni la totalité de l’intérêt dû pour ce capital: il sacrifie seulement une faible portion de cet intérêt pour courir la chance d’un gain considérable, mais pas assez toutefois pour procurer d’énormes fortunes. Dans ces conditions on peut soutenir que l’emprunt à loterie provoque l’épargne, surtout dans les basses classes.”
Explain and discuss the system of reducing debt by means of terminable annuities, introduced by Mr. Gladstone.
Discuss the following summary of conclusions, arrived at by Leroy-Beaulieu:—
“Pour résumer cette épineuse matière, nous dirons que la partie de la dette d’un pays qui est entre les mains des nationaux peut légitimement être assujettie à tous les impôts généraux grevant dans le pays les valeurs analogues. Au contraire la partie de cette dette qui est entre les mains d’étrangers doit en être exempte. Mais jamais l’État ne peut s’arroger le droit de mettre un impôt spécial sur sa rente. Voilà ce que disent le bons sens et l’équité.”
Compare the experience of England and France in the conversion of their national debts, and give the reasons for the marked difference.
Discuss the propositions, laid down by Mr. Buckner, in his speech of April, 1882, in opposition to the Bank Charters Extension Bill,—
1. That the currency ought to be issued by the government;
2. That an elastic currency is mischievous, as introducing an element of uncertainty, and that the government should therefore issue a fixed amount of convertible notes.

Mr. Goschen’s Budget for 1887 rests upon the estimate that income and outlay, if existing arrangements should not be changed, would be as follows (000’s omitted):—

Revenue.			Expenditure.
Customs		£20,200	Consolidated Fund	£30,592
Excise		25,292	Army	18,394
Stamps		11,658	Navy	12,477
Land Tax		1,065	Civil Service	17,932
House Duty		1,920	Customs, Post, Teleg., &c.	10,786
Property and Income Tax		15,900
Post, Telegraph, &c.		15,120		______
		£91,155		£90,786
Surplus	974

Mr. Goschen then proposes, inter alia,—

To diminish sinking-fund payments by £2,000,000;
To take a penny off the income-tax, reducing it by £1,560,000;
To lower the duty on tobacco, and thus give up £600,000 more.

Discuss these propositions, giving all explanation needed for a clear understanding of the subject by an uninformed reader.

Mr. Goschen says of the sinking-fund payments, “I lay great stress upon the fact that unless we put the matter into an endurable form, you will risk far larger inroads upon the sinking-fund than I here propose;” and further that “practically the whole burden of paying off debt has to be borne by the payers of income-tax.” In confirmation of these views it is pointed out that when the fixed charge for public debt was settled the income-tax was only 2d., that it is now 8d., and that other branches of revenue have not been “elastic.”

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University, Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 3. Papers set for Final Examinations in Philosophy, Political Economy, History, roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College (June, 1887), pp. 13-14, in the bound volume Examination Papers, 1887-89.

_______________________

Political Economy 8 (1886-87).

Class Enrollment.

Political Economy 8. Financial history of the United States. — Lectures. Prof. Dunbar.
First half-year

Total 32: 1 Graduate, 25 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1886-87, p. 59.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
[Mid-year examination]

[Copy not (yet) located]

Image Source: Harvard Library, Hollis Images. Charles F. Dunbar (left) and James Laurence Laughlin (middle) and Frank W. Taussig (right).

Tags Dunbar, Laughlin, Taussig

Economics Programs Exam Questions Harvard

Harvard. Political Economy course enrollments and final exams, 1884-1885

Post author By Irwin Collier
Post date 2020-12-11

Six of eight courses listed in Political Economy were taught during the 1884-85 year at Harvard. This post provides the enrollment information as well as the June final examinations for all of those courses. Mid-year examinations are not included with one exception.

Note to self: only the mid-year examination for Taussig’s Political Economy 6 is included below, the others still need to be located.

_______________________

Political Economy 1. Profs. Dunbar and Laughlin. 3 hours per week.

Laughlin’s Mill’s Principles of Political Economy. — Lectures on the Financial Legislation of the United States

Total: 166: 18 Seniors, 75 Juniors, 61 Sophomores, 4 Law, 8 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1884-85, p. 86.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Final Examination, June 1885]

If a farmer had the alternative of spending a sum of money either for manures, or for the services of useless servants, in which way would he give the greater employment to the laboring class by his expenditure? Explain your answer.
(a) Discuss the causes affecting the efficiency of production; and (b) point out the relation of an increase in production to cost of labor.
Is it strictly true that high wages do not make high prices? What would be the effect on real wages of a considerable increase of money in the community?
Make it clear that, even if the state should take possession of all the land and charge no rent, bread would not be cheapened.
What is the usual relation of a low cost of production in the manufacturing industry to prices? What is the relation of a low cost of production to wages in the same industry? From your two conclusions what inference would you draw as to the effect of high wages in the United States on the ability of Americans to compete with foreigners in a common market?
Give an example illustrating the working of reciprocal demand and supply, and point out its relations to cost of production.
What made the coinage act of 1834 necessary?
On whom does a house-tax fall?
Explain the refunding operations in 1881, and state what has since been done with the bonds in question.
Give the reasons which obliged the banks to suspend specie payments in 1861. In doing so, point out the necessary relation between the items in their accounts which led them to this step.
Describe the two great financial successes of the war period, explain the character of the obligations offered by the Treasury, and state why success was gained.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University. Examination Papers, 1873-1915. Box 2. Papers Set for Final Examinations in Rhetoric, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, Roman Law, Fine Arts, and Music in Harvard College. June, 1885. In bound volume: Examination Papers, 1883-86, pp. 9-10.

_______________________

Political Economy 2. Prof. Dunbar. 3 hours per week.

History of Economic Theory. — Selections from Leading Writers

Total: 21: 10 Seniors, 8 Juniors, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1884-85, p. 86.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Final Examination, June 1885]

Comment on the following:—

“Do the facts of history bear out the theory [of Ricardo]? If they do we shall find (1) that in any given area the amount of the produce of the land obtained in earlier times is greater in proportion to the number of laborers; (2) that of two countries, or two districts in the same country, if other things be equal, the one that is poorest in people is the one in which the average degree of personal wealth and comfort is the highest; (3) that the share that falls to the landlord increases, and that which falls to the laborer diminishes, as more land is brought under cultivation.” (Thompson’s Social Science, p. 93.)

George says:—

“It is not necessary to the production [even] of things that cannot be used as subsistence, or cannot be immediately utilized, that there should have been a previous production of the wealth required for the maintenance of the laborers while the production is going on. It is only necessary that there should be, somewhere within the circle of exchange, a contemporaneous production of sufficient subsistence for the laborers, and a willingness to exchange this subsistence for the thing on which the labor is being bestowed.”
Is the necessity of previously produced subsistence avoided by the fact of “contemporaneous production,” etc.?

George presents the current statement of the laws of distribution in this form:—

“Rent depends on the margin of cultivation, rising as it falls and falling as it rises.
“Wages depend upon the ratio between the number of laborers and the amount of capital devoted to their employment.
“Interest depends upon the equation between the supply of and demand for capital; or, as is stated of profits, upon wages (or the cost of labor), rising as wages fall, and falling as wages rise.

“In the current statement the laws of distribution have no common centre, no mutual relation; they are not correlating divisions of a whole, but measures of different qualities.”
Can you rewrite this “current statement” so as to present the correlation which Mr. George misses?

Is there in rent any force of its own, enabling it to encroach upon wages and profits, or does it merely fill the space opened before it by other forces? What limit is there to this encroachment or expansion?
Criticise the following as a statement of the Wages Fund theory:—
“The means of purchase and the motives acting upon the minds of employers jointly determine the effective demand for labor, as the means of purchase and the play of motives determine the effective demand for a commodity.”
Crocker says, p. 7:—
“Our wealthy classes, wishing to accumulate still greater wealth, sought to use a large portion of their control or power over labor in creating profitable investments for themselves….Comparatively little harm would have been done if the new investments had simply turned out to be unprofitable, and the old ones had continued to supply the rich their accustomed dividends, and to the poor their accustomed wages. The mischief has been that the new investments have, by competition, ruined for the time being the old ones; dividends and wages have stopped, and the income of all, both rich and poor, being cut down, their demands upon labor have been greatly diminished, and the laborer has been left in idleness and without the means of procuring the necessaries of life.”
Aside from all questions of fact,— what is the flaw in the above if the reasoning is bad, and what is the remedy for the evil if the reasoning is good?
What is Mr. Carey’s theory as to the tendency (1) to decline in the value of commodities, and (2) to rise in the value of land; and how is this reconciled with his principle that the law of value is universal, embracing everything, “whether land, labor, or their products”?
“With every increase in the facility of reproduction, there is a decline in the value of all existing things of a similar kind, attended by a diminution in the price paid for their use. The charge for the use of the existing money tends, therefore, to decline as man acquires control over the great forces provided by the Creator for his service; as is shown by the gradual diminution of the rate of interest in every advancing country.”
What is the difficulty in this reasoning as to the rate of interest, and how would the reasoning apply in the case of a currency of inconvertible paper?
How far can apparent resulting harmonies in the general working of society (as g. in Carey’s and Bastiat’s law of distribution between capital and labor) be accepted as a test of the truth of an economic proposition?

_______________________

Political Economy 3. Prof. Laughlin. 2 hours per week. [Consent of instructor required]

Lectures and Discussion [of Practical Economic Questions]. Subjects: Money, Precious Metals, Bimetallism, American Shipping, History of Note-issues by Government and Banks. — One Thesis by each student on some practical question of the day, intended as an exercise in investigation

Total: 18: 10 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 1 Other.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1884-85, p. 86.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Final Examination, June 1885]

Explain the proper theory of a subsidiary coinage. How far was this followed by Congress in first establishing our coinage?
Discuss the bearing which by its advocates bimetallism is supposed to have on the stability of a standard of payments. What connection has the theory of a Multiple Standard to this discussion?
How far can you safely reason from comparative tables of prices as to changes in the value of gold or silver?
Discuss the efficacy of a bimetallic league of states in regulating the value of silver relatively to that of gold.
Explain the causes which led to the remarkable fall of silver in 1876.
State the causes which, in your opinion, led to the growth of American shipping to 1856.
How far do you regard it true that the decline in American shipping was due to the consequences arising from the use of steam and iron in ships engaged in the foreign trade?
What measures, if any, would you propose in order to reestablish our shipping?
What is meant by an “elastic currency”? Compare, in this respect, the notes of the National Banks with the legal tender notes of the United States.
Give (a) the reasons for the general adoption of the features of the New York Banking Act of 1838; and (b) the reasons which actually led to the establishment of the National Banking System in 1864.
Discuss carefully some measure for giving security to National Bank notes when United States bonds shall be no longer obtainable for that purpose.

_______________________

Political Economy 4. Prof. Dunbar. 3 hours per week.

Economic History of Europe and America since the Seven Years’ War. — Lectures

Total: 152: 61 Seniors, 43 Juniors, 37 Sophomores, 5 Freshmen, 2 Law, 4 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1884-85, p. 86.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Final Examination, June 1885]

Omit two questions

Why was the repeal of the corn laws decisive as to the adoption of free trade by England?
How did the French and Indian currencies tend to prevent the fall of gold after 1850 from being still heavier?
How important a place among the causes of the decline of American shipping belongs to the civil war?
The effects of the civil war on the system of landholding in the South and its probable ultimate effects on Southern industry.
The steps by which the war determined the subsequent tariff policy of the United States.
The causes of the suddenly increased importance of our trade in breadstuffs in the last ten years.
Why did the payment of the French indemnity of 1871 seriously affect England, Austria and the United States?
The real loss or gain of France and Germany respectively by the payment of the indemnity.
What were the heavy demands for gold from 1871 to 1883, and why did they fail to produce serious financial disturbance?
The difference in the development of city and of country banks respectively, in the United States and in England, and the inference to be drawn as to the future development of the banking systems.
Why is a “triangular trade” between nations convenient and why is England the great centre for such trade?
As the English government does not own nor tax the coal mines, why should fear of increasing cost of extracting coal lead Mr. Gladstone to favor an energetic reduction of the national debt.

_______________________

Political Economy 5. Prof. Laughlin. 1 hour per week. [Consent of instructor required]

Economic Effects of Land Tenures in England, Ireland, France, and Germany

Omitted in 1884-85.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1884-85, p. 86.

_______________________

Political Economy 6. Dr. Taussig. 1 hour per week. [Consent of instructor required]

History of Tariff Legislation in the United States, with discussion of principles. — Lectures

Total: 40: 1 Graduate, 26 Seniors, 10 Juniors, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1884-85, p. 86.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 6
[Mid-Year Examination, 1885]

(Omit either question 3 or question 4.)

Comment briefly on the following:—
“There is not a single great branch of domestic manufactures which had not been established in some form in this country long before a protective tariff had been or could have been imposed. The manufacture of iron is nearly as old as the history of every colony or territory in which there is any iron ore. The manufacture of woolens is as old as the country itself, and was more truly a domestic manufacture when our ancestors were clothed with homespun than now. The manufacture of cotton is almost as old as the production of the fibre on our territory.”
Compare the tariff act of 1816 with that of 1824, noting difference in (1) the general range of duties, (2) the circumstances under which they were passed, (3) the action taken in regard to them by the representatives of New England, the Middle States, and the South. It has been said that “the tariff of 1816 marks the beginning of protection in this country,” and that “the tariff of 1824 was our first tariff worthy of the name of protection.” Which of these statements is true, if either?
Comment on the following:—
“No protective duty was ever levied on a single article, the home manufacture of which grew to large proportions under that duty, without the price to the consumer growing cheaper, the duty thus being a boon instead of a tax.”
“A duty on an imported article is invariably added to its price, at the cost of the buyer, and added also to the price of like articles made here.”
State carefully the argument for the protection of young industries and mention the conditions, if any, which might justify the application of such protection.
Give a brief critical statement of the views expressed by Hamilton, Gallatin, Clay, and Webster on the protective controversy.

Source: Harvard University Archives. Examination papers in economics, 1882-1935. [Scrapbook of] Prof F. W. Taussig (HUC 7882).

POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.
[Final Examination, June 1885]

State as nearly as you can the duties on the following articles from 1846 to 1884: pig-iron, steel-rails, wool, woollen cloths, silks, coffee, copper.
Take any one of the following articles: pig-iron, wool, woollen cloths, silks, copper; and say something as to the economic effect of the duties on that one between 1860 and 1884.
Give an account of the tariff act of 1864. Compare the tariff policy adopted in the United States after the close of the civil war, and with the policy of France after 1815.
What has been the practice in our tariff acts since 1842 as regards the imposition of specific and ad valorem duties? Comment on the following: “It is an economic truth that the ad valorem system is the only equitable rule for assessing duties. With the whole power of a great government behind, there is no reason why the laws of the country should not be enforced. The outcry of undervaluation is simply a trick to blind the people, as it would be impossible to enact a law imposing duties of 80, 100, even 200 per cent. in the plain unvarnished form of ad valorem duties.”
Comment briefly on two of the following:—
(1)”The fairest and most satisfactory test of the effect of the tariff on prices is to compare prices of the same article under high and low tariffs. The average gold price of pig-iron before 1860 was $28.50 per ton; in recent years it has been $33.70. The average is higher by $5.20 under a high tariff than during the period of low duties.”
(2) “Nothing can be more false than the claim of free trade advocates than that a duty is a tax that comes out of the farmers and artisans of this country. By far the greater part of the revenue collected on importations is the toll paid by people of other countries for the admission of their goods…I was assured by a score of manufacturers in England that the recent increase in the French tariff came out of their pockets, and not from the consumers in France; that they were compelled to sell their goods in France at the same price as before the increase of duty.”
(3) “A conclusive answer to the assertion that the protective policy secures high wages to the laborers of this country, is found in the fact that wages are higher in the United States—absolutely and in comparison with the old world rates—in those industries which do not have, or confessedly do not need, protection.”
Compare the grounds on which a policy of protection has been advocated in recent years with the grounds put forward in 1820-30, and give any reasons that may occur to you for changes in the arguments.

_______________________

Political Economy 7. Prof. Dunbar. 1 hour per week. [Consent of instructor required]

Comparison of the Financial Systems of France, England, Germany, and the United States

Omitted in 1884-85.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1884-85, p. 86.

_______________________

Political Economy 8. Prof. Dunbar. 1 hour per week. [Consent of instructor required]

History of Financial Legislation in the United States.

Total: 39: 1 Graduate, 28 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 3 Others.

Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1884-85, p. 86.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 8
[Final Examination, June 1885]

[Omit two questions.]

State the circumstances which led to the adoption of the Independent Treasury and hard money as the policy of the Democratic party.
How close an approach had been made to the issue of a government currency, prior to the Act of July 17, 1861?
What has been the legislation since 1861 on the taxation of United States bonds,
(1) by national authority,
(2) by State authority,
and the reasons therefor?
The causes of the failure of the movements for resumption from 1865-70.
The reasons for and against the claim of authority, under which Mr. Richardson increased the outstanding legal tender notes from $356,000,000 to $382,000,000.
Trace the origin of the present three percents of the United States.
Criticise the following extract from Mr Boutwell’s Finance Report of 1872:—
“As the circulation of a bank is a source of profit, and as the managers are usually disposed to oblige their patrons by loans and accommodations, it can never be wise to allow banks or parties who have pecuniary interests at stake to increase or diminish the volume of currency in the country at their pleasure. Nor do I find in the condition of things a law or rule on which we can safely rely. Upon these views I form the conclusion that the circulation of the banks should be fixed and limited, and that the power to change the volume of paper in circulation, within limits established by law, should remain in the Treasury Department….
“The problem is to find a way of increasing the currency for moving the crops and diminishing it at once when that work is done. This is a necessary work, and, inasmuch as it cannot be confided to the banks, where, but in the Treasury Department, can the power be reposed?”

Images Source: Harvard Library, Hollis Images. Charles F. Dunbar (left) and James Laurence Laughlin (middle) and Frank W. Taussig (right).

Tags Dunbar, Laughlin, Taussig

From the Prefatory Note:

2. ECONOMIC THEORY F. W. TAUSSIG

HARVARD. ECONOMICS EXAMINATIONS, 1891-1892

Note to self: Still Missing for 1891-92.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 1. Course Description and Enrollment.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 1. Mid-Year Examination, 1892.

I. [Omit one.]

II. [Answer all, briefly.]

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 1. Division A. Final Examination, 1892.

I. [Omit one.]

II. [Answer all.]

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 1. Division B. Final Examination, 1892.

II.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 2. Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 2. Mid-Year Examination, 1892.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 2. Final Examination, 1892.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 3. Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 3. Mid-year Examination, 1892.

[Not yet found]

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 3. Final Examination, 1892.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 4. Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 4. Mid-year Examination, 1892.

[Not yet found]

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 4. Final Examination, 1892.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 5. Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 5. Final Examination, 1892.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 6. Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 6. Mid-year Examination, 1892.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 7. Course Description and Enrollment.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 7. Mid-year examination (first half-year), 1892.

[not yet found]

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 7. Final examination (second half-year), 1892.

A. Of these five questions one may be omitted.

B. Of these five questions one may be omitted.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 8. Course Description and Enrollment.

1891-92 POLITICAL ECONOMY 8. Final Examination, 1892.

SAYS NAZI GERMANY TO “SETTLE DOWN” Prof Schumpeter, Harvard, Sails With Prof Taussig

Radcliffe College Yearbook, 1920

THE THIRD DIVISION

Sarah Wambaugh, A.B. 1902, A.M. 1917 Romaine Elizabeth Boody, A.B. 1920

Wedding Announcement

Mrs. E.B. Firuski Wed to Educator

Radcliffe College Research Fellow Married here to Joseph A. Schumpeter

1890-1891. Philosophy 14.

Enrollment

PHILOSOPHY 14. THE ETHICS OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS. Mid-year examination (1890-91)

PHILOSOPHY 14. THE ETHICS OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS. Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.

Enrollment.

Student notes available at the Harvard Archives

1890-91. POLITICAL ECONOMY 1. Mid-year examination.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1. Year-end examination (June 1891) Division A.

Division B.

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.

Enrollment.

Previously Posted

1890-91. POLITICAL ECONOMY 2. Mid-year examination.

Second semester taught by John Graham Brooks.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2. Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.

Enrollment.

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 3. Mid-year examination

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.

Enrollment.

Other course material available at the Harvard Archives

Principle text for Political Economy 4

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 4. Mid-year examination

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 4. Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.

Enrollment.

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 6. Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.

Enrollment.

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 7. Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.

Enrollment.

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 8. Mid-year examination

1890-91 POLITICAL ECONOMY 9.

Enrollment.

1890-91. POLITICAL ECONOMY 9. Year-end examination (June 1891)

2. ECONOMIC THEORY
F. W. TAUSSIG

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Course Description and Enrollment.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Mid-Year Examination, 1892.

I.
[Omit one.]

II.
[Answer all, briefly.]

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division A.
Final Examination, 1892.

I.
[Omit one.]

II.
[Answer all.]

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Division B.
Final Examination, 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Mid-Year Examination, 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Final Examination, 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Mid-year Examination, 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Final Examination, 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Mid-year Examination, 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Final Examination, 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 5.
Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 5.
Final Examination, 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.
Course Description and Enrollment

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.
Mid-year Examination, 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Course Description and Enrollment.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Mid-year examination (first half-year), 1892.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Final examination (second half-year), 1892.

A.
Of these five questions one may be omitted.

B.
Of these five questions one may be omitted.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
Course Description and Enrollment.

1891-92
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
Final Examination, 1892.

SAYS NAZI GERMANY TO “SETTLE DOWN”
Prof Schumpeter, Harvard, Sails With Prof Taussig

Sarah Wambaugh, A.B. 1902, A.M. 1917
Romaine Elizabeth Boody, A.B. 1920

PHILOSOPHY 14.
THE ETHICS OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS.
Mid-year examination (1890-91)

PHILOSOPHY 14.
THE ETHICS OF THE SOCIAL QUESTIONS.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.

1890-91.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Mid-year examination.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
Year-end examination (June 1891)
Division A.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.

1890-91.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Mid-year examination.

POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
Mid-year examination

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Mid-year examination

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
Mid-year examination

1890-91
POLITICAL ECONOMY 9.

1890-91.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 9.
Year-end examination (June 1891)

1889-90
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM.

1889-90
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

1889-90
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM
[Year-end Examination. 1890.]

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Year-end Examination. 1890.]

Arrange your answers strictly in the order of the questions.
One question may be omitted.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 2.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

Political Economy 2.
[Year-end Examination, June 1890.]

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 3.
[Year-end Examination. 1890.]

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Mid-Year Examination. 1890.]

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 4.
[Year-end Examination. 1890.]

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6.

1889-90.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 6
[End-Year]

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 7.
Public Finance and Banking.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 8.
[Mid-year examination]

1889-90
POLITICAL ECONOMY 9.
Management and Ownership of Railways.

Enrollment 1888-89.
Philosophy 11.

1888-89.
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM.
[Mid-year Examination, 1889]

1888-89.
PHILOSOPHY 11.
THE ETHICS OF SOCIAL REFORM.
[Final Examination, 1889]

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 1, First half-year.

1888-89.
POLITICAL ECONOMY 1.
[Mid-year Examination, 1889]

Enrollment 1888-89
Political Economy 1, Second half-year, Division A.