Understanding railroad regulation through a sharp, early-20th-century critique of how value is measured.
This book presents Henry Fink’s reply to a regulatory commission, focusing on how railroads are valued and how rates should be set. It argues that a railroad’s earning capacity and service value, not the original cost or physical construction, determine its worth and the prices that can be charged.
- Why capitalization often fails as a predictor of fair rates and how earnings matter more than asset cost.
- Arguments against physical or cost-based valuation and toward valuing by earning power and market conditions.
- Ideas on how rates should reflect value to both shippers and the railroad, balancing profits and public service.
- Perspectives on how regulation, finances, and market values interact in rate decisions.
Ideal for readers of early regulatory debates, economic history of railroads, and the development of rate theory in the United States.