It is assumed that the reader is familiar with some, at least, of the various conceptions of the business cycle currently discussed by economists. Th… - Edgar Lawrence Smith

Labor seeking higher wages is, in part, attacking the value of the dollar; farmers seeking higher prices for their products and eager to pay off the mortgage on the farm are, in part, assailing the value of the dollar; tariff protected industries join in reducing the purchasing power of the dollar. All debtors favor a depreciating dollar.

The economists would say that it is the upward "Secular Trend" that favors common stocks as opposed to bonds, so long as the population and the business of the country are increasing. There is something more than growth of population that contributes to the rise in the "Secular Trend" and the increase in business from decade to decade. It is the constantly accelerating speed of modern life. All of our activities are on a much more rapid basis to-day than they were twenty years ago, due in part to the constant increase in the speed of communication and transportation and the countless major and minor time-saving devices that have been introduced into our business and private life.

The tests which are the subject of this discussion were devised to disclose how much reliance could be replaced upon an Index of the Price Level for Industrial Common Stocks compiled from the point of view of investment values rather than of price changes.