ABSTRACT

SOONER or later the student must come up against this crucial problem: which form of organization will be the most beneficial to the oil industry from the long- and short-term point of view? Here this general question can be particularized in two fundamental questions:—

Is it more likely that supply and demand can best be brought in line by free competition or by its restraint?

If some “planning” is deemed necessary, should it be left to the industry itself to devise ways and means, or is it definitely a public concern?