| Sumario: | The assumption is commonly made that the behavior of prices and earnings during a depression is radically different in regulated and nonregulated industries. It is the purpose of this article to offer approximate measurements of the differences that have recently appeared and by a sampling process to examine the depression records of leading types of regulated and nonregulated industries. It is scarcely necessary to state that we claim no definitive accuracy for our results. By regulated industries we mean the principal local public utilities, especially electric light and power, telephonic communication, manufactured gas, and railroad transportation. Nonregulated industry will be represented by a selected group of manufacturing enterprises. These terms do not, of course, imply perfectly regulated monopolies on the one hand and perfectly uncontrolled competitive enterprises on the other. Important elements of "control," both governmental and non-governmental, exist in each group, although they assume much greater significance in the utilities.
|
|---|