One of the iron statistical laws of scheduling classes is that the probability of finding a Pareto improvement to a scheduling conflict ex post semester-start rapidly tends to zero with the size of the class that needs to be rescheduled. Here is a case of one such rare Pareto-improvement.
For the second semester of the academic year 1934-35 at Harvard E. B. Wilson’s Mathematical Economics rescheduled to eliminate the conflict with Fritz Machlup’s Money and Banking course.
What happens to make this particular case interesting in the history of economics is the list of distinguished (ex post) names among the undersigned of three foreign visitors to Harvard, namely Oskar Lange, Nicholas Georgescu, and Gerhard Tintner along with the graduate student Wolfgang Stolper and the undergraduate Sidney S. Alexander.
Six of the undersigned went on to receive Harvard Ph.D.’s in economics, they were:
- Sidney Stuart Alexander.D. 1946. Financial structure of American corporations since 1900. (note: Harvard S.B. 1936, so undergraduate)
- James Pierce Cavin, 1938 Ph.D. The sugar quota system of the United States, 1933-1937.
- Wolfgang Stolper, 1938 Ph.D. British monetary policy and the housing boom, 1931-1935
- Albert Leonard Meyers, 1936 Ph.D. Future trading on organized commodity exchanges
- Chih-Yu Lo, 1937 Ph.D. A statistical study of prices and markets for electricity
- Wilfred Malenbaum, Ph.D. 1941. Equilibrating tendencies in the world wheat market.
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[Memo: Econ. Chair to Dean, Carbon copy]
February 7, 1935
Dear Dean Murdock,
Because of the conflict of Economics 13b (Mathematical Economics) and Economics 50 (Principles of Money and Banking), which are scheduled for 3:00 on Tuesday and Thursday, Professor Wilson has requested that the hour for Economics 13b be changed to 2:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. I understand from Miss Higgs that rooms are available at this hour. The students registered in the course agree to this change.
I shall appreciate it if the change can be arranged before the next meeting of the class on Tuesday.
Sincerely yours,
H. H. Burbank
Dean Kenneth B. Murdock
20 University Hall
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[Memo: Dept. Secretary to E. B. Wilson, Carbon copy]
February 5, 1935
Dear Professor Wilson,
Dr. Machlup tells me that because of the conflict of Economics 13b and 50 you are willing to change the hour of meeting Economics 13b to 2:00 on Tuesday and Thursday. Until I am sure that the students who are taking the course for credit are agreeable, I cannot notify Dean Murdock of this change.
The simplest way to do this, I think, is for you to ask the class at its meeting on Thursday. There will be no trouble, I am sure, about securing a room at that hour. If you will let me know the outcome as soon as possible, I will make the necessary arrangements at the office.
Sincerely yours,
Secretary
Professor E. B. Wilson
55 Shattuck Street
Boston, Massachusetts
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[Petition signed by students/auditors in Econ 13b]
[Penciled in upper right: “Econ 13b]
[typed] We should like to attend both, unfortunately conflicting, courses: Economics 13b (Mathematical Economics) and Economics 50 (Money and Banking). It would be much appreciated if a change in schedule could be arranged.
[signed] Oskar Lange
[signed] Nicholas Georgescu
[signed] Gerhard Tintner
[added in handwriting] We also, though not taking Ec. 50, would be willing to change hours.
[signed] S. S. Alexander
Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV.349.10). Box 23, Folder “Course Offerings 1932-37-40”.
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[Petition signed by students/auditors in Econ 50]
[Penciled in upper right: “Econ 50]
[typed] We should like to attend both, unfortunately conflicting, courses: Economics 13b (Mathematical Economics) and Economics 50 (Money and Banking). It would be much appreciated if a change in schedule could be arranged.
[signed] W. Stolper
[signed] J. P. Cavin
[signed] A. L. Meyers
[signed] C. Y. Lo
[signed] T. Y. Wu [?]
[signed] S. Bolts [?]
[signed] P. Chanten [?]
[signed] W. Malenbaum
Source: Harvard University Archives. Department of Economics. Correspondence & Papers 1902-1950 (UAV.349.10). Box 23, Folder “Course Offerings 1932-37-40”.
_______________________________________
[Economics 13b: Course enrollment]
[Economics] 13b 2hf. Professor E. B. Wilson.—Mathematical Economics.
2 Graduates, 1 Junior. Total 3
[Economics] 50. Professors Williams and Dr. Machlup-Wolf.—Principles of Money and Banking.
16 Graduates., 10 Seniors, 1 Junior, 8 Radcliffe. Total 35.
Source: Annual Report of the President and the Treasurer of Harvard College 1934-35, pp. 81-2.