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Rates of Interest and the Prices of Investment Securities: 1890-1909

Journal of Political Economy 1911 19(4), 269-308 open access
MENT SECURITIES: I890-I909 The following tables of,the prices of bonds and of the interest yielded by investment securities, commercial paper, and call loans have been made in connection with an investigation into business cycles since I890. They are companion pieces to the tables of relative prices of common and preferred stocks, published in the issues of this Journal for May and July, I9I0. The text of the present paper is limited to a description of the tables, a brief analysis of the results, and a comparison between the course of interest rates and bond prices in America and Europe. While certain special problems suggested by the statistics are discussed, no systematic effort is made to account for the fluctuations in the rates of interest; for that general problem canlnot be treated adequately without thorough analysis of the whole business situation.

The Teaching of Economics in the United States

Journal of Political Economy 1911 19(9), 760-789 open access
At the i909 conference on the teaching of elementary economics, a committee of three was appointed "to undertake a comprehensive statistical investigation of the present status of the teaching of economics in the United States." The discussion at the time the committee was appointed showed that the conference hoped this committee not only would secure a comprehensive view of the methods now in use in the teaching of the elementary course, but also would throw some light upon the extent to which the entire subject of economics is taught in this country; upon the extent to which economics has become a required subject in the modern college curriculum; and particularly upon the extent to which the presentation of this subject secures financial support, student registrations, etc. The committee has made an attempt to carry out the wishes of the conference and it now submits a report-although it recognizes it to be tentative and subject to corrections. The difficulties under which the committee has been forced to labor have been neither few nor insignificant. To begin with, it was impossible to frame a comprehensive questionnaire which would meet the varying conditions of the many colleges which teach economics. The committee sought to get a questionnaire which would cover as many cases as possible by sending out proof sheets and securing the advice of over a score of instructors before a final form was adopted. Nevertheless, in filling out the questionnaire finally adopted, several instructors were forced to report that it fitted conditions at their institutions so poorly that it was difficult o give replies of much value. The attempt to secure data which would make possible comparisons with other departments in the matter of student registrations, number of instructors, financial support, etc., was a particularly difficult undertaking. As stated above, it was impos-