In 1938 the U.S. Government took under its wing an infant airline industry. Government agencies assumed responsibility not only for airline safety but for setting fares and determining how individual markets would be served. Forty years later, the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 set in motion the economic deregulation of the industry and opened it to market competition. This study by Steven Morrison and Clifford Winston analyzes the effects of deregulation on both travelers and the airline industry. The authors find that lower fares and better service have netted travelers some $6 billion in annual benefits, while airline earnings have increased by $2.5 billion a year. Morrison and Winston expect still greater benefits once the industry has had time to adjust its capital structure to the unregulated marketplace, and they recommend specific public polices to ensure healthy competition.

"The story of how American banks helped disenfranchise nonwhite urbanities and condemn to blight the very neighborhoods that needed the most investment is infuriating. And yet, by digging into the history of urban finance, Rebecca Marchiel here illuminates how urban activists changed some banks' behavior to support investment in communities that they had once abandoned. These developments, in turn, affected federal urban policy and reshaped banks' understanding of the role that urban communities play in the financial system. The legacy of reinvestment activism is clouded, but Marchiel's detailing of it transforms our understanding of the history and significance of community/bank relations"--Provided by publisher.

Several of the papers in this volume are concerned with assessing both the timing and the impacts of deregulation and regulatory reform in the US transportation sector. Of increasing interest is the importance of productivity growth and the role played by new technologies in a more competitive market environment. Four of the papers in this volume deal directly with these issues in the context of motor carriers and railroads, two sectors which have been operating under substantially reduced regulatory constraints for the past twenty years in the US. Although the financial condition of US railroads has improved since 1980, there is still some concern regarding their long run viability as private enterprises. Accordingly, one of the papers considers the potential for further reductions in railroad costs through transcontinental mergers, a controversial issue due to the small number of railroads that remain in the industry.

Several of the papers in this volume are concerned with assessing both the timing and the impacts of deregulation and regulatory reform in the US transportation sector. Of increasing interest is the importance of productivity growth and the role played by new technologies in a more competitive market environment. Four of the papers in this volume deal directly with these issues in the context of motor carriers and railroads, two sectors which have been operating under substantially reduced regulatory constraints for the past twenty years in the US. Although the financial condition of US railroads has improved since 1980, there is still some concern regarding their long run viability as private enterprises. Accordingly, one of the papers considers the potential for further reductions in railroad costs through transcontinental mergers, a controversial issue due to the small number of railroads that remain in the industry.

The authors discuss deregulation in contemporary politics and government.

Originally published in 1983, Broadman and Montgomery present an agenda for further research into deregulated natural gas markets by relating natural gas production, transmission and distribution with the economic function of contracts and local distribution companies. This work raises fundamental issues that could arise with the deregulation of the natural gas industry and outlines analytical methods that could be used to predict any problems that might arise and possible changes to policy. This title is of interest to students of Environmental Studies and professionals.

For close to 100 years, America's surface freight industries, primarily rail and trucking, operated under the protective wing of the U.S. government. In 1980 Congress, finding vast inefficiencies in the two industries, substantially deregulated both, opening them at last to market competition. Deregulation has brought with it many changes—for firms within the industries, for their labor force, and for shippers and their customers. Clifford Winston, Thomas M. Corsi, Curtis M. Grimm, and Carol A Evans provide a comprehensive evaluation of the effect of the deregulation legislation on the rail and trucking industries. According to the authors, deregulation has made substantial progress in solving the two most vexing problems of the surface freight transportation industry—excessive rates in the trucking industry and insufficient returns on investment in the rail industry. Competition and efficiency have returned to both industries, and although the labor force in each has suffered wage and job losses, shippers and their customers have gained roughly $20 billion a year in benefits. The authors recommend policies that would continue to promote competition and the efficient use of highway and railway infrastructure.

Over the last several years, the value of stocks in both the airline and the telecommunications industries have dropped catastrophically. Since these industries were among the most important—and most visible—to have been unleashed from regulation in recent decades (albeit in widely differing degree), their difficulties have raised the question of whether their deregulation should be reconsidered or even reversed. Alfred E. Kahn, one of the foremost authorities on deregulation, argues in this book that every passing year demonstrates the superiority of the road chosen for the airlines. He contrasts the financial meltdowns of both the airline and telecommunications industries with others taking place at the same time, particularly in technology-related stocks and "dot.coms," pointing out that these sectors were also relatively free of direct economic regulation. Their experience provides a useful counter to the natural tendency to blame all the woes of aviation and telecommunications on government policy. This book provides a valuable and accessible guide to unraveling the complex world of network deregulation. It will serve as a reference point for practioners and policymakers, as well as an important introduction for the general public.

First Published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Deregulating the Airlines narrates and analyzes the decisions taken by the Civil Aeronautics Board during the transition to deregulation and the reasoning behind the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978.