Manual of References and Exercises in Economics for Use with Volume II. Modern Economic Problems

1. In which year between 1890 and the present year would a fixed salary of $1,000 have gone farthest? In which year would its purchasing power have been least? If a sum of $1,00...

4. Explain the most important ways in which the deposits of commercial banks originate; and state which of these ways creates the greatest amount of demand liabilities of the ba...

1. In the last analysis is there anyone--retired capitalist or unskilled day-worker--whose title to the real income he receives is derived solely from the property he owns, or s...

12. The mint price of an ounce of gold, .900 fine, is alike at San Francisco and Philadelphia, $18.604. Why is gold ever shipped from California to New York?

3. Enumerate the advantages possessed by a "trust" over a small competitor, and indicate which of these are the results of large scale production and which are due to the posses...

_Johnson, E. R._, Probable changes in the foreign trade of the United States resulting from the European war. A. E. Rev., 6 (no. 1, supp.): 17-25. 1916. Round table discussion o...

1. When 5160 grains of standard gold (i.e., by weight nine-tenths fine, with the other tenth composed of the alloy used in gold coin of the United States) sell in New York for $...

5. An Englishman gave this argument for protection: "If an Englishman buys a frying pan from a German for a shilling (24 cents), then England gets the frying pan and Germany get...

8. What is the "long and short haul" clause of the Interstate Commerce Act? Explain why railroads make rates which contravene the terms of this clause, and why the government sh...

_Wright C. W._, The economics of governmental price regulation. A. E. Rev., 3 (no. 1, supp.): 126-131. 1913. Round table discussion of this paper and that of J. M. Clark, 132-142.

5. Are strikes becoming more or less frequent and important in your state? In answer to this question give figures from 1881 on if obtainable, showing number of strikes; establi...

3. State clearly and explain the movement of prices of stocks, bonds, mortgages, land, commodities generally, wages and interest rates on long time and short time loans, before,...

_Fetter, F. A._, Population or prosperity. A. E. Rev., 3 (no. 1, supp.): 5-19. 1913. (Presidential address before the American Economic Association, 1912, much of which is incor...

1. Cite any instances you have noted of local changes of population distribution as between country and city. What are the chief facts of interest in these cases? What forces ca...

1. Explain the method followed by national banks in issuing bank notes. Why did the banks often find it more profitable to use their money in other ways than by issuing bank not...

3. If on a given date the surplus reserve (i.e., the reserve in excess of the legal minimum reserve required by law to be held against deposits) of the New York Associated Banks...

4. Investors in Russian bonds are said to take out policies of insurance payable to themselves in the event of the Czar's death, their object being to guard themselves against l...

2. Discuss the following statement: Under the piece-work system the foreman looks out for the quality and the operative for the quantity of the work; under the time-wage system...

2. Discuss the following statements quoted from an article on the Federal Farm Loan Act of 1916. "There was no necessity for any kind of federal legislation affecting the land c...

7. If population became stationary, neither increasing nor decreasing in numbers, and if methods were discovered which would render possible the production of the same amount of...

1. In the light of American tariff history what would you say were (1) the principal advantages and (2) the principal disadvantages of a highly protective tariff as a primary so...

1. A recent newspaper item says: "This is the year real estate is assessed. Turn the cow loose in the front yard, tear down the fence, make things look generally dilapidated, fo...

_National Civic Federation_, Report on municipal and private operation of public utilities. 1907. 3 vols. (A monumental study by an American delegation, which visited many citie...

6. Name the two principal arguments in favor of progressive taxation. Which two arguments in favor of progressive taxation do you consider the strongest and why? Which two argum...

The literature of the field treated in "Modern Economic Problems" is now so vast that no more than a few of the titles could be included in the following lists. The references g...

*_Materials_, 58-61 (Extract from _Mason, O. T._, Technogeography, or the relation of the earth to the industries of mankind. American Anthropologist, 7: 135-158. 1905); 61-66 (...

2. Suggest advantages and disadvantages of a general system of compulsory industrial insurance for old age, sickness and accidents. What are the essential differences between th...

5. It is claimed by some that the use by the government of indirect taxes increases existing inequalities in the personal distribution of wealth. What reasons may be given for o...