The few references and critical notes given are intended as a help to teachers and advanced students desirous of following some of the more recent contributions to controverted points in economic theory. No attempt has been made to furnish a list of books for the beginner or the regular reader. Among accessible books containing helpful lists of that kind may be mentioned:.

The Reader's Guide in Economic, Social, and Political Science, by Bowker and Iles.

Outlines of Economics, by R. T. Ely (published by Macmillan, New York, 2d ed., 1900). Contains both questions and bibliographies.

Introduction to the Study of Economics, by C. J. Bullock (published by Silver, Burdett & Co., 2d ed., 1900). The references to the literature are given by pages or sections at the end of each chapter, and at the back is a list (about twenty pages) of the most useful texts, documents, and materials.

Financial History of the United States, by D. R. Dewey (published by Longmans, Green & Co., 1903). Contains excellent references on public finances, tariff, banking, and taxation of the United States.

Introduction to Economics, by H. R. Seager (published by Holt & Co., New York, 1903). Each of the first twenty-six chapters is followed by fresh and well-selected references varying from one line to nearly a page in length. A good general bibliographical note is given on pp. 61-2.

The Questions

These questions are not intended to be used merely as tests of knowledge of the text. They leave untouched many of the most important questions in the reading, and they raise other inquiries hardly hinted at in it. The list began ten years ago with one or two questions on each topic, assigned in advance of lectures and recitations, with the object of arousing the student's thought, quickening his observation, and stimulating his interest in the subjects. The possibilities of helpful questions of this kind are hardly more than suggested by the examples given, and every teacher will find peculiar opportunities in his own neighborhood for other similar inquiries.

Other questions are more of the nature of those in Problems in Political Economy, by W. G. Sumner (published by Holt & Co., New York, 1884), which are intended to be reasoned out in the light of principles given in the class-room. Many teachers and students have found much help in that little book, which in turn acknowledges large obligations to earlier lists of questions. The changed point of view in economic theory has, however, made most of the older problems of this nature unusable except after reformulation. Fertile in suggestions of both of the kinds of questions mentioned are two books by H. J. Davenport, Outlines of Economic Theory and Outlines of Elementary Economics (The Macmillan Co., New York, 1896 and 1897), though some of the questions imply theoretical views differing from those of this book. Excellent lists of questions with references to reading have been prepared by W. G. L. Taylor, in his Exercises in Economics (The University Publishing Co., Lincoln, Neb., 1900). The list of problems of this kind can easily be extended to meet the special conditions of each community.