Book Description

Excerpt from A Study of Industrial Fluctuation: An Enquiry Into the Character and Causes of the So-Called Cyclical Movements of Trade Let us consider then which criterion of depression to adopt. There seems no good reason to regard a mere decline in margins - still less in one constituent element of margins - as constituting depression, unless it is accom panied by a decline either in aggregate net receipts, aggre gate net profits, or the net rate of profits. Our choice then lies between these three. The fact that an inquiry of this character is obviously concerned with the welfare of all classes might suggest that the first alternative is alone admissible: but While this consideration establishes the advantage of the first over the second, it is not decisive against the advantage which the third derives from its insistence that the estimates which men make of their own prosperity do not depend solely upon their present enjoy ment, but upon how far that enjoyment corresponds with their anticipations. It seems hopeless to attempt a decision. When we are discussing individual trades, the ambiguity will not always arise when it does, attention will be drawn to it. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.