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Dartmouth Pedagogy Popular Economics

Dartmouth A.M. John Gilbert Thompson. Long-lag for interest rate effect, 1929

The reasons for this post are the fact that “John G. Thompson” is not a unique identifier for economic authorship and my desire to distinguish John G. Thompson from John G. Thompson without using subscripts. Today we meet Mr. John Gilbert Thompson (1862-1940), an educational administrator turned business economist/forecaster. He spent over thirty years in the field of education, achieving some distinction as the first principal of the State Normal School in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. In the dozen or so years before his retirement in ca. 1932 he worked at the Simonds Saw and Steel Company in Fitchburg, where he was employed, according to press accounts, as “assistant to the treasurer”, “efficiency director”, “economist”, and finally “assistant to the president”.

Particularly worthy of note for Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is Thompson’s contribution to the panel “Appraisal of Economic Forecasts” chaired by Wesley C. Mitchell at the December 1929 meeting of the American Statistical Association ( see below ). His principal empirical finding was contained in a single chart ( included below ) showing the long lag between a change in the commercial paper rate and an inverse movement in the level of economic activity, as proxied by the Federal Reserve’s index of industrial production. It might come as something of a surprise to readers here that a former teaching-college principal turned economic forecaster [anyone out there ever heard of his financial newsletter Looking Ahead?] was seeing long-lags some thirty years before Milton Friedman was to make “long and variable lags” fashionable.

Of lesser interest is discovering a Simonds Saw and Steel Company’s essay competition in economics for high school and normal school students that later evolved into a prize competition for established academic and business economists. Here we encountered the name of Dr. John L. Tildsley, once a teacher of economics in the New York City High School of Commerce and then District Superintendent for High Schools in New York City. Like Thompson, Tildsley was a strong advocate for the inclusion of economics in the high school curriculum. Economics in the Rear-view Mirror is mildly proud to offer content regarding these two leaders in American education.

Note: The other John G. Thompson’s full name was John Giffin Thompson.  He was a University of Wisconsin Ph.D. (1907), career-long economic researcher, and the subject of an earlier post as well.

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Life, Career and Publications
of John Gilbert Thompson

1862. Born June 23 in New Bedford, MA.

1886. Dartmouth A.M., Phi Beta Kappa

1886. December 27. Married Helen Susan Titus (1863-1938) in Hancock N.H. She was a direct descendant of Peregrin White of the Mayflower. They had seven sons (from The Boston Globe, Nov. 6, 1940, p. 19), five were still alive at the time of his death in 1940.

1886-1893. Principal of schools in Winchester, N.H., Sandwich [Mass], Southboro [Mass]; Superintendent of schools in Northboro [Mass] and Leominster [Mass]. Fitchburg Sentinel, Nov. 1, 1940, p.9.

1894. Together with Thomas E. Thompson (a younger brother), Master of John R. Rollins School, Lawrence, Mass. Fables and Rhymes for Beginners. The First Two Hundred Words. Boston: Ginn & Company.

1895-1920. Principal of State Normal School (Fitchburg, Massachusetts)

1895. Together with Thomas E. Thompson, Superintendent of Schools, Leominster, Mass. Fairy Tale and Fable, Second Year: An Introduction to Literature and Art. New York: The Morse Company. (Revised Seventh edition, 1902)

1899. Together with Thomas E. Thompson, Superintendent of Schools, Leominster, Mass. For Childhood Days, First Year. New York: The Morse Company. (3rd ed. 1901)

1902. Together with Thomas E. Thompson, Superintendent of Schools, Leominster, Mass. New Century Readers: Nature, Myth and Story. Third Year. New York: Silver, Burdett and Company. (Second edition)

1916. Word from Word Readers: Book One. Boston: Silver, Burdett and Company.

1916. Word from Word Readers: Book Three. Boston: Silver, Burdett and Company.

1917. Together with Inez Bigwood, The Thompson Readers: Manual for Teachers. Boston: Silver, Burdett and Company.

1917. Together with Inez Bigwood, The Thompson Readers: Book One. Boston: Silver, Burdett and Company.

1917. Together with Inez Bigwood, The Thompson Readers: Book Two. Boston: Silver, Burdett and Company.

1917. Together with Inez Bigwood, The Thompson Readers: Book Four. Boston: Silver, Burdett and Company.

1918. Together with Inez Bigwood, The Thompson Readers: Word Building for Recitation and Seat Work. Boston: Silver, Burdett and Company.

1918. Together with Inez Bigwood, Lest We Forget: World War Stories. Boston: Silver, Burdett and Company.

1919. Together with Inez Bigwood, Winning a Cause: World War Stories. Boston: Silver, Burdett and Company.

1920. A Quarter of a Century of Years and Poems. Edition limited to one thousand copies, numbered and signed by the author. Includes photograph of John G. Thompson.

Library of Congress copy Number 12 was dedicated “To His Excellency Calvin Coolidge”.

1919-1932. “Assistant to the treasurer”, “efficiency director”, “economist”, “assistant to the president” at Simonds Saw and Steel Company.

1928. Together with Gifford K. Simonds, The American Way to Prosperity, 1928.

After retirement continued to publish the financial paper/newsletter Looking Ahead with Alvan T. Simonds.

1940. October 31. Died in Westborough, MA. Buried in Hancock, N.H.

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Adam Smith Essay for High School and Normal School Students
Sponsored by
Simonds Saw Mfg. Company, 1920

                  Very few high schools give any instructions to help pupils understand economic laws that affect their daily living, and very few normal schools in the United States give those who are to become teachers any instruction that will enable them to judge intelligently in regard to their own status, their own wages, or to talk over with their pupils the conditions of industry and business which are affecting their welfare and their lives. Even the junior high school pupil would be interested to know how prosperity and adversity move in waves and how one is brought about by prudence, thrift and industry and the other by carelessness, shiftlessness and extravagance. Any boy or girl twelve years or over can be made to see that everyone in the world is paying for the destruction caused by the World War and that “no one liveth to himself alone.” Much of the unrest among the working classes and of the misunderstanding between labor and capital is due to ignorance. It is a gross neglect, almost a criminal one, that those directing our public schools have failed to see the danger and to do something about remedying the lack. It is a sad comment when one can say that the children of working parents are given a careful study of the Punic Wars and never hear anything about economics in their high school course. It is even worse that those who are to become teachers are graduated as ready to teach without ever having studied the subject, either in high school or normal school.

                  Mr. Alvan T. Simonds, President of the Simonds Saw Manufacturing Company of Fitchburg; Mass., Chicago, Ill., Montreal, Que., Lockport, N. Y., a life-long student of economics and interested in bringing about a better understanding on the part of the laborer, the capitalist, and the public, realized this deficiency in our public school and normal school education. To discover to what an extent the subject of economics was studied, he offered in September, 1920, two prizes of $1,000 and $500 for the best two essays on an economic subject. The contest was open to pupils in high schools and normal schools in the United States and Canada and the prizes were made large enough to make the competition worth while to anyone who was fitted to enter it. The subject chosen was “Present Economic Conditions and the Teachings of Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations.” It was selected because it gave contestants a definite book to study and the opportunity to connect the study of that book with the life of which they were a part. It was not indefinite and distant from them, but definite and concerned today.

                  The contest was advertised in the Saturday Evening Post, in the Journal of Education, and the School Review and in many other publications. Personal letters were sent to state superintendents and principals of normal schools.

                  The results are what might have been expected by one who knew the status of economic teaching in the United States. It is left almost entirely for the college and even there it is elective. This is not true, however, in New York City, due to the foresight and the efforts of Dr. John L. Tildsley, formerly teacher of economics in the New York City High School of Commerce, and now District Superintendent for High Schools in New York City. The study of economics is required of all pupils in the senior year of the New York City high schools. Over 125 pupils entered the contest in the city of New York, but only twenty-five finished their essays and submitted them to the judges.

                  In Fitchburg, Massachusetts, at the State Normal School each member of the graduating class as a requirement for graduation has to submit a thesis and the supervision of the theses is divided among the different instructors. Those who worked under the direction of Miss Inez Bigwood were allowed to submit their essays both for the Simonds contest and as a graduating thesis. Beside one essay submitted by a convict in California, twenty-seven were received from normal pupils and sixty-five from high school pupils. Almost every section in the United States was represented, as well as Canada with essays from Vancouver and Montreal. There were few essays from the South, although Texas, Tennessee and South Carolina were represented. The Pacific Coast was represented by California, Oregon and Washington, while there were one or two from nearly every state in the Middle West.

                  The first prize of $1,000 was awarded to David Koch, High School of Commerce, New York City. The second prize of $500 was awarded to Aloysius Thiemann, Reedsburg High School, Reedsburg, Wis.

                  It is interesting to notice that both prizes were won by high school pupils, one from the largest city in the United States and one from a small town in Wisconsin.

                  The judges were Wallace B. Donham, Dean of the Harvard School of Business Administration, Cambridge, Mass., and John G. Thompson, Principal of the State Normal School (On leave), Fitchburg, Mass.

                  It is hoped that this contest and the lessons taught by it will awaken school officials to the necessity of requiring the study of economics in high schools and normal schools and of teachers who are to teach in junior high schools and grades above.

                  In order that those who are already saying that economics is a subject too difficult for high school pupils and certainly beyond the mental ability of junior high school pupils, let me add that the first prize of $1,000 was won by a boy only seventeen years of age, who began to be interested in economics when he was in the last year of the elementary school and read books upon the subject outside his regular school work. His essay was of such understanding and power that the judges, who worked independently, both questioned whether it could possibly be the work of a high school pupil. Investigation by Dr. Tildsley established beyond doubt that it was the boy’s own work and just about what his teacher of economics in the High School of Commerce declared could be expected from him.

David Koch, who won the first prize of $1,000, is seventeen years of age. His father came from Russia to the United States in 1897. He is a button-hole maker by trade. Dr. John L. Tildsley, district superintendent of high schools in New York City, reports that David Koch began to study economics in the last year of the elementary school and has been interested in it ever since, that is for about four years. He was a student at the New York High School of Commerce and studied economics there. His economic teacher reports “He was head and shoulders above the other pupils in the economics class and knew more economics than some of the teachers.” Mr. Tildsley writes further as follows:—

“You will be interested to know that when Koch entered the high school he had the reputation of being quite radical but as the result of his school work and especially his study of economics he has lost most of his radicalism. I believe that a great stimulus has been given to the teaching of economics in this country through the offer of these prizes.”

Aloysius Thiemann, winner of the second prize, is sixteen years of age and graduates from the Reedsburg, Wisconsin, High School this year. Mr. A. B. Olson, superintendent of the Reedsburg public schools, writes as follows: —

“Aloysius Thiemann was promoted to high school from the seventh grade, he having proven through educational tests that it would be unnecessary, for him to do the eighth grade work. His work in high school has been uniformly strong. Last year Aloysius Thiemann won the State of Wisconsin Civil Service Essay Contest and the school was presented the State Loving Cup to be kept for one year. In regard To future plans, I find that Aloysius Thiemann plans to attend Notre Dame University and will probably take up the course in Journalism.”

 

John G. Thompson,
Assistant to the President,
Simonds Manufacturing Company

Source: Thompson, John G. “EDUCATIONAL FORUM.” The Journal of Education, vol. 93, no. 24 (2334), 16 June 1921, pp. 672–73.
JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42830956

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Award of 8th Simonds Prize (1930)

Walter Earl Spahr, a professor of New York university, was awarded the first prize of $1000 in the eighth annual Alvan T. Simonds annual economic contest last year. The subject was “The Federal Reserve System and the Control of Credit.”

Dr. Spahr is professor of economics and chairman of the department of economics, school of commerce, accounts and finance, New York university. Dr. Spahr received his A.B. from Tarlham college, Ind., in 1914; A.M. from the University of Wisconsin in 1917, and Ph.D. from Columbia university in 1925. He taught economics at Datmouth college and Columbia university before going to New York university in 1923.

He has published several notable magazine articles as well as the article in the New Encyclopedia Brittanica on “The Stockbroker in the United States.” He is joint author with R. J. Swenson of “Methods and Staus of Scientific Research with Particular Application to the Social Sciences.” His home address is 8 Michigan road, Bellerose, Long Island, N.Y.

The second prize of $500 was awarded to Ivan W. Elder, managing editor of the North Pacific Banker, Portland, Ore. He is a graduate of Reed College, Ore.

Honorable mention was awarde to Helen Elizabeth Ham, 333 E. 43d street, New York city.

The judges were Dr. Davis R. Dewey, professor of economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and John G. Thompson, assistant to the president, Simonds Saw & Steel Co.

The largest number of essays came from the United States, yet excellent ones were received from Hawaii, Japan, India, South Africa, England and Scotland, thus circling the world.

Source: The Fitchburg Sentinel (August 26, 1930), p. 9.

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Long lag between changes in the interest rate and (inverse) changes in economic activity

Ninety-First Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association Held at Hotel Washington, Washington, D. C. December 27-30, 1929.

Friday, December 27, 1929
2:30 P. M.

Appraisal of Economic Forecasts

Chairman:
Wesley C. Mitchell, Columbia University

Papers:

Garfield V. Cox, University of Chicago
Seymour L. Andrew and Harold M. Flinn, American Telephone and Telegraph Company

Discussion:

Donald Tucker, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Arthur W. Marget, University of Minnesota
J. G. Thompson, Simonds Saw and Steel Company

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

John G. Thompson, Discussion
[emphasis added]

“Since 1919 I have been working with Alvan T. Simonds, President of the Simonds Saw and Steel Company, trying to convince business executives and others interested that major movements in money rates, reversed, forecast major swings in business…we have used the volume of manufacture, as reported by the Harvard Economic Society, or the volume of industrial production, as reported by the Federal Reserve Board. We have found that major movements in these are forecast by major swings of money rates, reversed. The particular series of money rates selected, however, must be as free as possible from the influences of speculation. Therefore we have selected commercial paper rates, New York. The accompanying chart shows that each major swing in commercial paper rates, reversed, is followed some months later by a major swing in industrial production. The major swings are represented as straight lines connecting the peaks and the valleys of the three-year cycle, which has been repeated now four times since the War. Minor swings, including seasonal swings, have been neglected, but in each case the extreme high point has been connected with the next extreme low point, or the extreme low point with the next extreme high point…The light dotted line beginning in the spring of 1929 and running down to the middle of 1930 is the estimated course of industrial production, as made in December, 1928. The chart represents the movements as falling in three-year cycles and shows each cycle separated from the others….

…In attempting to convince those interested that (as this chart shows) money rates, reversed, do forecast major swings in business, the chief difficulty seems to be the long lag between the corresponding movements. The general belief seems to have been, and to be, that when money rates ease off, business immediately or almost at once turns upward. As a matter of fact and as the chart shows, this upward turn does not begin until several months later.”

Source: “Ninety-First Annual Meeting of the American Statistical Association Held at Hotel Washington, Washington, D. C. Friday, December 27, to Monday, December 30, 1929.” Journal of the American Statistical Association, vol. 25, no. 169, 1930, pp. 48-49. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2277188

Image Source: Fitchburg State University website. Home/About/History of Fitchburg State/Hall of Presidents/John G. Thompson (1895-1920).

Categories
Curriculum M.I.T.

M.I.T. Course Descriptions for Economics and Statistics, 1930-31

 

Before the dawn of the Samuelson era at M.I.T., the department had definitely a different look and feel. Davis R. Dewey was a reasonably known scholar of public finance in his day. But the mixture of business and economics is the most striking impression one takes away from the course offerings. Look at the program 30 years later!   The group portrait of the M.I.T. economics department in 1976 reveals the addition of one woman!     

Back row:  Foster, Fiske, Thresher, Underwood, Elder
Middle row: Ingraham, Raymond, Fernstrom, Doten, Silverman
Front row: Schell, Dewey, Tucker, Porter

Source: The M.I.T. Yeaarbook, Technique 1930, p.

________________________

Faculty of Economics, Statistics [and Business]

Davis Rich Dewey, A.B., University of Vermont’79, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins ’86, L.L.D., University of Vermont ’10.
Professor of Political Economy and Statistics; in charge of the Department of Economics and Statistics: in charge of the course in Engineering Administrations.

Floyd Elmer Armstrong, B.A., ’14,  M.A., ’15 University of Michigan.
Professor of Political Economy

Carroll Warren Doten, Ph.B., ’95, A.M. ’99, University of Vermont; A.M., Harvard University ’02.
Professor of Political Economy.

Erwin Haskell Schell, S.B. ’12, M.I.T.
Professor of Business Management.

Donald S. Tucker, A.B., Colorado College ’06; A.M., Williams College ’12; Ph.D., Columbia University ’23.
Professor of Political Economy.

Charles H. Porter, A.B., Brown University ’00; S.B. ’03.
Associate Professor of Accounting.

Karl Dickson Fernstrom, S.B. ’10.
Associate Professor of Business Management.

Fairfield Eager Raymond, A.B., Harvard University ’18; S.B. ’21.
Assistant Professor of Industrial Research.

Wyman Parkhurst Fiske, A.B. ’20, M.A.B. ’23, Harvard University; LL.B., Suffolk Law School ’27.
Assistant Professor of Accounting.

Robert Fairchild Elder, A.B., Harvard University ’22.
Non-Member of the Faculty, Instructor.

F. Leroy Foster, S.B. ’25.
Non-Member of the Faculty, Instructor.

Olin Ingraham, Ph.B., A.M.
Instructor.

Abraham George Silverman, S.B., Harvard University ’21; M.A., Stanford University ’23; A.M., Harvard University ’24.
Non-Member of the Faculty, Instructor.

Brainerd Alden Thresher, S.B. ’20; A.M., Harvard University ’28.
Non-Member of the Faculty, Instructor.

Raymond Underwood, S.B. ’29
Non-Member of the Faculty, Assistant.

Oscar W. Hausserman, A.B. ’12, LL.B., ’16, Harvard University.
Special Lecturer for Business Law

Joseph Chrisman MacKinnon, S.B. [?]
Registrar of Business Administration, M.I.T.

________________________

DESCRIPTION OF SUBJECTS
ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
M.I.T., 1930-31

In this Department is grouped the instruction given in general economics to students all courses, and also the more specialized subjects provided for the course in Business and Engineering Administration (XV).

Subjects Ec1 to Ec99

Ec21. Political Economy. [Prerequisite: E12] Less extensive in its scope than Political Economy Ec31, Ec32. More emphasis is placed upon fundamental principles, and less time devoted to such subjects as money, banking, trusts, labor problems, etc., which are covered by special subjects in Course XV. [Doten]

Ec31, Ec32. Political Economy. [Prerequisite: E12] Elementary but comprehensive. Consists of an analysis and description of the existing economic structure of society, a brief study of economic theory and the application of that theory to some of the more important economic questions. Special attention is given in Ec32 to fundamental business processes including principles of accounting, corporate organization and finance, credit and banking, labor problems and business management. [Dewey and D. S. Tucker]

Ec35. Political Economy. [Prerequisite: E31] Given for students in Course XIII-A. Covers Ec31 and part of Ec32. [Armstrong]

Ec37. Banking. [Prerequisite: E21, Ec65] Credit instruments, credit documents, national banks, state banks, trust companies, savings banks, different kinds of loans, securities for loans, credit statements, the bank statement, the money market, relation of the treasury and crop movement to money market, clearing house, domestic and foreign exchange. [Dewey]

Ec45. Industrial Relations. Covers in general the same field as G21, though in somewhat abbreviated form. Special consideration is given to the history of the railroad brotherhoods and to the federal laws applicable to disputes in that industry as well as to its personnel problems. [Doten]

Ec46. Industrial Relations. [Prerequisite: E21 or Ec31] Intended to familiarize the student with the more important problems which arise out of the relation of employer and employee under present conditions of industry. In addition to a consideration of the organizations and policies of the parties to the contract of employment, it deals with the principles and to some extent the technique of employment management or personnel work. [Doten]

Ec471, Ec472. [Prerequisite: E21 or Ec31, G21] Personnel Management (A). Principles and technique of personnel work, sometimes called human engineering. Problems that arise in practice in recruiting, training and maintaining a labor force. Comparative studies of the methods and practices in selection, including mental and trade tests; placement, promotion and transfer; education and training; job analysis and specifications; the measurement and control of turnover; regularization of employment; absenteeism and tardiness, and other specific problems. Other topics for investigation will include methods of wage payment; benefit plans, including pensions and insurance; health and welfare work; housing; labor legislation, including safety supervision and workmen’s compensation. [Doten]

Ec50. Accounting. [Prerequisite: E12] Systematic recording of financial data is a requisite of business; its basis double entry bookkeeping. But more important for management, stockholders and the general public is analysis directed toward useful conclusions. Instruction therefore, deals with balance sheets, profit and loss statements, surplus, depreciation reserves, methods of report analyses, etc. Actual corporation reports and records are studied. [C. H. Porter, W.P. Fiske]

Ec51. Cost Accounting (B). [Prerequisite: E50, Ec70] Methods of determining costs of materials, processes of labor and machines; the distribution of direct costs and overhead expenses; cost data to test management and to show the particular sources of profits or losses; shipping orders; inventories; recording and payment of wages. The development of standard costs as a basis for management and industrial control is emphasized. [C. H. Porter, W.P. Fiske]

Ec521. Analysis of Business Statements (A). [Prerequisite: E51] Aims to develop analytical ability in the interpretation of business statements and reports. Will include analysis of actual statements, study of type and information needed for complete analysis, adequacy of accounting methods used, structure and content of statements. Points of view of the creditor, the investor and the manager will be considered. Will include study of statements of financial condition, statements of earnings, operating and cost reports, both published statements and internal reports. Methods will include ratios, trends, standards of comparison, and absolute change. [Fiske]

Ec522. Control Through Business Records (A). [Prerequisite: E51] Control of any but the smallest business depends upon an adequate system for the gathering of information needed by executives. Will examine the fundamental principles behind records systems and the extent to which various actual systems meet the requirements for which they were set up. Periodic reports, budgets, costs, cash control, internal check, inter-company and branch office control, voucher procedure, inventory records, payroll procedure, expense control, sales records, machine accounting and special problems of control in various industries will be considered. A general study of some complete record system or a detailed study of some special problem of control will be required of each student. [Fiske]

Ec53. Building Finance (B). [Prerequisite: E21] Describes the financing of new building projects as well as the financing of the building constructor. The topics studied include the valuation of real estate, method appraisal, depreciation, financing by first and second mortgages, mortgage companies, building and loan associations, construction loans, bank credit and the administration of finance. Special attention will be devoted to those aspects of building finance which are connected with the problem of securing new business for the building constructor. [D. S. Tucker]

Ec542. Public Utility Accounting and Analysis (A). [Prerequisite: E21, E50, E57] The special accounting problems of gas and electric companies; a study of the figures needed by the operating management of the companies; the reaction of cost and sales analysis on rates and rate forms; both problems and discussion will be based very largely on actual cases. [C. H. Porter]

Ec551. Public Utility Finance (A). [Prerequisite: E21, E50, E57] Lectures, readings and reports on the financial organization and operation of public utilities, with an analysis of their security issues. Attention is given to government control of financing, the analysis of public utility reports, and the market position of utility stocks and bonds. The operations of holding companies and finance companies and their relation to operating companies constitute an important part of the work. [Armstrong]

Ec552. Public Utility Regulation and Rates (A). [Prerequisite: Ec551] The development and evolution of public utility regulation; the various methods of regulation contrasted and compared; the legal foundations of regulation, the legal duties imposed upon pubic utilities and their legal rights; rates, rate structures and rate control, with much attention to important rate cases; valuation of utility properties and a comparisons of the different methods proposed for determining the rate base. Students will devote some time to actual attendance at hearings before the Public Utility Commission. [Armstrong]

Ec56. Corporate Organization. [Prerequisite: E21, E50] The organization and control of corporations with some attention to other forms of business. Consideration is given to procedure and problems of incorporation, relationships of the parties in the corporation, and combinations of corporations in our large industrials. Public utility corporations are studied briefly with the purpose of presenting the relations of public service corporations and the public. [Armstrong]

Ec57. Corporate Finance and Investments. [Prerequisite: E56] Covers fundamental principles of financial organization and management. The various types of corporate securities are examined, the financial problems of the promoter, the incorporators and the later financial management are studied and illustrations are drawn from concrete cases. The latter part of this subject considers more specifically the different kinds of investment securities with exercises in investment analysis, and a discussion of the methods of the exchanges, brokerage and speculation. Lecturers from investment houses assist in this branch of the subject. [Armstrong]

Ec591. Public Utility Management and Finance (A). [Prerequisite: E21 or Ec31] Deals with the theoretical and practical phases of public utility management. The subject matter will include a brief study of corporate organization and management in general, followed by the application of the general principles of finance and management to public utility enterprises. Emphasis will be placed upon problems of capitalization, holding company organization and certain phases of accounting which bear upon the financial policies of these companies. [Armstrong]

Ec592. Public Utility Management and Finance (A). [Prerequisite: E591] A continuation of Ec591 including public relations, rate making, valuation and regulation by commissions. Some attention will be given to analysis of territory served. In addition to instruction by members of the Institute Faculty, a broad range of topics of direct concern to pubic utilities and to users and refiners of fuels will be covered by lectures by men of special achievement in their several fields. [Armstrong]

Ec61, Ec62. Business Law. [Prerequisite: E37, Ec57] (1) General principles of contract law; and (2) special kinds of contracts, such as contracts for sale of real estate, contracts for sale of personal property, contracts of employment, and bills and notes; (3) agency; (4) forms of business enterprise from standpoint of legal structure, i.e., corporations, partnerships, business trusts, etc. [Hausserman]

Ec63. Business Law and Organization (A). [Prerequisite: E31] A graduate study of business organization from both a legal standpoint and a management standpoint. The subject of contracts and the personal relations of individuals within the organization are emphasized. The advantages and disadvantages of various types of organization are discussed. [Hausserman]

Ec65. Statistics. [Prerequisite: E12] Elementary instruction is given in the construction of statistical tables and charts, official sources of commercial and financial statistics of the United States, and the interpretation of such material. Some attention is given to the statistical methods of forecasting. [Dewey]

Ec661, 662. Statistical Methods (A). [Prerequisite: E65, M21] Study of the principles and methods used in more advanced statistical analysis. Some of the topics included are correlation of two variables, multiple and partial correlation, simple sampling and the basic theory of probability with special reference to business problems. Determination of historical trends and periodic fluctuations of economic time series will receive attention preparatory to the major problem of business forecasting. [MacKinnon]

Ec681, Ec682. Business Cycles (A). [Prerequisite: E37, Ec57, Ec65] A study of the fluctuations in the different phases of business. In this is involved statistical interpretation, theories of the business cycle, studies of the intercausation of the different types of business changes, the interpretation and experimental tests of forecasting methods. [Ingraham]

Ec70, Ec71, Ec72. Business Management Ec71, Ec72 (B). [Prerequisite: E56] Deals with problems of the production and distribution of manufactured goods. Among the more important topics considered are: Organization; plant location, layout and equipment; purchasing; intra-factory transportation; traffic; inspection; stores; design; time, motion and fatigue study; production control; office organization, layout and equipment; commercial research; marketing methods, sales promotion and advertising. As far as possible the practices of production and marketing are studied in parallel, thus emphasizing the development of similar principles of scientific management in both fields. [Schell]

Ec74. Contracting Management. Deals with the business aspects of the building industry. The following topics are considered from an administrative viewpoint: organization, estimating, purchasing, contracts, insurance, sales promotion, control of equipment, control of materials, office control, regularization of work, research coordination of sales, finance and construction programs, organization and management of small construction enterprises, cost accounting and the law of contracts. [Schell]

Ec751, Ec752. Manufacturing Analysis (A). [Prerequisite: E72] Deals with the conduct of professional engineering analyses of management methods in a manufacturing establishment. Schedules are prepared for the critical investigation of such functions as organization, arrangement and maintenance of buildings and equipment, product research and design, purchasing traffic control, storage of materials and product, intra-factory transportation, quality control, salvage, time study and production control. Library research, field interviews and inspections, and a brief thesis are requirements of the course which is conducted as a seminar. [Schell]

Ec761, Ec762. Marketing of Manufactured Products. [Prerequisite: E72 or equiv.] Advanced practice in the organization of the various marketing functions, such as market research, sales forecasting, quota setting, budgets, and sales incentives. Familiarity with current practice is a prerequisite. Trends in development of marketing functions are studied, with the aim of preparing a technique for analyzing the efficiency of any marketing organization. Special emphasis is given to the coordination of selling methods, and to the fundamentals underlying sales policies. The marketing of goods sold to the manufacturers and the marketing of goods sold to the ultimate consumer are handled separately. Readings in current sources, field investigations of specific problems, and a brief thesis are required. [Elder]

Ec781, Ec782. Standards of Measurement in Industrial Management (A). [Prerequisite: Ec70, Ec71, Ec72] Measurement in management is a new conception of the relation of executive responsibilities to the success of any industrial enterprise through the recognition of the principle that a qualitative unit of measure is essential to the scientific regulation of any activity. Weekly classroom discussions based on original investigations will be devoted to a study of practical standards employed in industry and the derivation of methods of measuring and evaluating accomplishment as typified by financial and management ratios, the kilo man-hour, productivity index, economic production and purchase quantities, economic processes, wages, time and motion study, office efficiency ratios, economic sales volume, etc. [Raymond]

Ec80. Ocean Shipping Administrations. [Prerequisite: E31] Deals with the types of ocean services and traffic agencies and their organizations; rate and traffic agreements; ocean shipping documents; ocean rates and regulation; marine insurance; and admiralty law. Its purpose is to acquaint the student with the more important aspects of the business administration of ocean shipping activities. [Fernstrom]

Ec90, Ec91. Investment Analysis (A). [Prerequisite: Ec50, Ec57, Ec65] Various methods of analyzing financial reports of companies whose securities are placed upon the market. Testing of ratios for appraising the value of the security. Risks versus yield of junior and senior obligations; yields and risk of common stock; problems raised by convertible securities; measurements of risks and yield of the securities of new industries; of the securities of stationary and dwindling industries; relation of price to earnings; risk and yield of securities of holding companies and investment trusts; railroad records and derivative ratios; tests of investment bank statements, of business ratios; tests of investment bank statements, of business ratios applicable to investments, and of systems of rating. [Ingraham]

Ec95. Industrial Traffic Management. [Prerequisite: Ec72] A detailed study of the organization and operation of a traffic management department of an industrial plant. The course deals with industry’s conception, interpretation and use of such matters as freight classifications, rate structures, routes, carrier-shipper relations, common carrier liabilities, general and special services, national and state common carrier regulations and protective insurance. Due consideration is given to the types of transportation agencies such as rail, water, air, motor truck, mail, parcel post and express. [Fernstrom]

 

The following subjects are offered as general studies. For description of G25 see Division of General Studies, page 231.

Ec46. Industrial Relations. G25. Investment Finance.

 

Source: Course Catalogue of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1930 – 1931, pp. 222-225; 281-282

Image Source: Davis R. Dewey in the M.I.T. Yearbook, Technique 1931, p. 47.

 

Categories
Economists M.I.T. Regulations

MIT. Graduate Economics Program and Fellowships. 1950-51

Already by the academic year 1950-51 the M.I.T. economics department could boast seven economics professors who would still be around over a quarter of a century later, including Samuelson, Solow and Kindleberger. The printed departmental brochure along with a one-page announcement of twelve graduate fellowships, presumably sent to be posted on college and university bulletin boards, have been transcribed for this posting. Minor changes in formatting have been used to enhance readability.

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Graduate Work in the Department of Economics and Social Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

 

THE PROGRAM

 

Our program in Economics is confined to students for the doctorate who are primarily interested in advanced study and research in

Economic Theory
Industrial Economics
Industrial Relations
International Economics
Statistics

We have an active program of continuing research in each of these fields and should like to invite a selected group of graduate students to participate with us in our explorations after they have completed their requirements for the general examinations here.

The work in Economic Theory is under the leadership of Professor Paul A. Samuelson. This includes, in addition to price analysis, the study of national income determination and business cycles. Research in these fields has been vigorous in recent years, and our objective is to train economists capable of understanding and appraising the results of this research and of adding to our empirical and theoretical understanding of these areas.

Industrial Economics, under the guidance of Professors W. Rupert Maclaurin and Max Millikan, is concerned primarily with the economic problems of the individual firm and of particular industries. The work should be enriched by the active research program now under way in the Department on “the economics of innovation,” “the process of business decisions,” and “the economics of the size of the firm.” We are anxious to have some advanced students who would like to participate in these research programs which are being worked out through “laboratory-type” collaboration of particular firms and industries.

Industrial Relations, under the leadership of Professors Charles A. Myers and Douglass V. Brown, is concerned with investigating the fundamentals of labor-management relations in modern industrial society. In addition to basic work in Economics, the program of study centers upon courses in Labor Economics, Collective Bargaining, Public Policy in Labor Relations, Personnel Administration, Social Psychology and Human Relations. A number of research projects are carried on by the Industrial Relations Section, which is a division of the Department.

Our work in International Economics is under the direction of Professors Charles P. Kindleberger and Richard M. Bissell, Jr. (who returns in June to M.I.T. from his position as Deputy Administrator of ECA). Emphasis in International economics is shared between the traditional fields of international trade and finance and that of national economic development. The training is designed to qualify the student for work in departments of government, including international institution., concerned with foreign and international economic problems. While no specialized courses are offered in the practical aspects of foreign trade, it is believed that the broad training will be regarded with increasing interest by American business concerns to aid them in the solution of their complex problems relating to foreign operations.

Instruction in Statistics, under Professor Harold Freeman, is largely centered in three areas: general theoretical statistics; probability and its foundations; modern theories of time series and prediction, particularly as applied in Economics. Some of the courses in these areas are given by the Departments of Economics and some by the Department of Mathematics. Courses are offered at elementary, intermediate, advanced and research seminar levels.

While there is ample opportunity at M.I.T. for the student interested in any one of these five fields to go as far as he wishes with his subject, there is also a common core of basic courses which the student will be expected to take in preparation for his general examinations.

We are also attempting to introduce greater realism into our program by operating a “practice school” in the summer between the first and second years of graduate study, in which we try to arrange internship experience in industry. This activity is under the guidance of Professor Paul Pigors.

For those who are going into university teaching, some pre-doctoral teaching experience will be encouraged and a considerable number of teaching fellowships will be available to students after they have completed their first year.

 

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO GRADUATE STUDENTS

For the year 1950-51 we will offer up to five fellowships of $2,500, available to outstanding students in the fields mentioned above. These include the Westinghouse Educational Fellowship and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Fellowship.

In addition, about eight fellowships and teaching scholarships will be available, ranging up to $1,600. This group includes the Clarence J. Hicks Memorial Fellowship in Industrial Relations, given by Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc., of New York.

 

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION

(a) General requirements: S.B. or A.B. degree with a good academic record from a university of recognized standing. Special emphasis will be placed on recommendations from professors or administrative officers of the college. Only students with high qualifications will be admitted.

(b) Course requirements: Three full-year college courses in social science chosen from the fields of Economics, Psychology, Sociology and History. One full-year course in college mathematics (including at least a half-year of calculus) and a full-year course in college physics are required. However, students who have had no Physics can make up this deficiency by taking a special one-semester course at the Institute. In special cases a deficiency in calculus may also be satisfied in this manner.

At the end of the second year the candidate will normally take a general examination chosen from such fields as the following: Economic Theory, Industrial economics, Economics of Innovation, Labor Economics and Labor Relations, Human Relations, Personnel administration Statistical Methods and Theory, Economic Fluctuations and Fiscal Policy, and International Economics.

Following the Institute rules the candidate for the doctor’s degree will be required to take a minor in a related filed. Possibilities include: Business Administration, History, Regional Planning, Mathematics, or any of the technical fields of specialization at the Institute in which the student is qualified to participate. Exchange arrangements between M.I.T. and Harvard University also make it possible for graduate students at either institution to take advance work at the other without extra tuition.

In addition, the candidate for the Ph.D. degree must meet the usual language and thesis requirements.

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Those persons who are interested in learning more about the program or who wish to obtain application blanks for fellowships to aid in financing such graduate work may direct inquiries to Professor Robert L. Bishop, Department of Economics and Social Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

INSTRUCTING STAFF
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

Ralph Evans Freeman, M. A., B. Litt.
Professor of Economics; in charge of the Department

Donald Skeele Tucker, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics

William Rupert Maclaurin, D.C.S.
Professor of Economics

Norman Judson Padelford, Ph.D., LL.D.
Professor of International Relations

Paul Anthony Samuelson, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics

Richard Mervin Bissell, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of Economics

Charles Andrew Myers, Ph.D.
Professor of Industrial Relations

Paul Pigors, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Industrial Relations

Harold Adolph Freeman, S.B.
Associate Professor of Statistics

Charles Poor Kindleberger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Economics

Max Franklin Millikan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Economics

Alex Bavelas, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology

Robert Lyle Bishop, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Economics

Edgar Cary Brown, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Economics

Morris Albert Adelman, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Economics

George Pratt Shultz, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Industrial Relations

Robert Solow, M.A.
Assistant Professor of Statistics

Lecturer

Joseph Norbert Scanlon

Instructors

John Royston Coleman, M.A.
Stanley Martin Jacks, A.B., LL.B.
James Earnest Boyce, A.M.
Louis Cass Young, S.M.
John Lang Rawlinson, A.M.
Gilbert Koreb Krulee, S.B., M.Ed.
Roy Olton, M.A.
Herman Thomas Skofield, M.A.
Jesse Harris Proctor, Jr., M.A.

Research Associates

Robert Keen Lamb, Ph.D.
Kingman Brewster, Jr., LL.B.
Peter Robert Hofstaetter, Ph.D.

Research Assistants

William Theodore Bluhm, M.A.
Sidney Layton Smith, S.M.

Teaching Fellows

Hugh Gilbert Lovell, B.A.
Jack Dean Rogers, B.S., M.B.A.

Assistants

Ralph Haskel Bergmann, A.B.
Kenneth Alden Bohr, S.M.
Daniel Monroe Colyer, B.A.
Harold Emil Dreyer, B.S.
David Allen Eberly, S.B.
Herman Gadon, A.B.
Stuart Lee Knowlton, A.B.
Walter Sparks Measday, A.B.
Beatrice Allen Rogers, A.B., S.B.
George Joseph Strauss, B.A.

Librarian

Barbara Klingenhagen, A.B.

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MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Department of Economics and Social Science

Graduate Fellowship
1950 – 1951

 

In the year 1950-1951 M.I.T. will offer:

Up to five fellowships of $2,500 for students in the following fields:

Economic Theory
Industrial Economics
Industrial Relations
International Economics
Statistics

Up to seven fellowships with stipends up to $1,600 for specialization in these same fields.

Fellowships are available to students who wish to undertake a program of graduate work in Economics leading to the degree of doctor of philosophy. Applicants should have an A.B. or S. B. degree or anticipate the award of such a degree not later than July 1, 1950. Fellowships are awarded for one year, with possibility of renewal. They include the Westinghouse Educational Fellowship , the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Fellowship and the Clarence J. Hicks Memorial Fellowship in Industrial Relations, given by the Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc., of New York.

Fellowships are offered to those who seek career opportunities in university teaching and research, in industrial concerns in this country or abroad, in research departments of unions, and in government agencies concerned with the regulation of industry.

The Institute’s close contacts with industry, and the development within the Department of Economics and Social Science of specialized work in economic theory, the economics of innovation, industrial relations, statistics, and international economics have created a suitable environment for advanced study and research in these particular fields.

Teaching fellowships are also available; but these are normally reserved for second and third-year students.

Requests for further information or for application blanks should be addressed to Professor Robert L. Bishop, Department of Economics and Social Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Applications should be filed by March 15, 1950.

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Source: MIT Archives. Office of the President. Records, 1930-1959. Box 77 (AC4/77), Folder 10: Economics Department 1934-49.

Image Source: MIT, Technique, 1949.