* This volume,1 which contains ten articles on the economics of regulated industries, has been eagerly awaited by many in the field. The book does not disappoint us: there is not a dull piece between its covers, and each article is sufficiently thought-provoking that a review of this length cannot begin to discuss all the issues raised in the book. The theme of the volume (as the title implies) is that in every industry studied, public policies encouraging competition would improve market performance relative to current regulatory policies which tend to suppress the forces of competition. The first essay, by George Eads, deals with the amount and dimensions of competition which ought to be permitted in the domestic trunk-airline industry. Eads starts by examining a point made by some observers of the industry that the low load factors occurring on many routes served by two or more cariiers are the result of excessive competition among airlines, and that the appropriate solution is to cut down on competition, through mergers, mutual flight cutbacks, or some similar arrangement. To determine the validity of this view, Eads attempts to assess the extent to which existing load factors are optimal. For evidence on optimal load factors on various route lengths and densities, Eads relies on the work of Douglas.2 Along side this evidence, he presents econometric estimates showing that, indeed, load factors go down quite significantly with the number of competitors on a route, all other things equal. Furthermore, Eads finds that as of the late 1960s, load factors were very likely below optimal on all but short-haul monopoly routes. Does it follow that a lessening of competition is necessary to eliminate inefficiently low load factors on routes with two or more carriers? Eads asserts that quite to the contrary, the low load factors are the result not of too much competition, but of too little: excessively high fares, set by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), induce service rivalry on multicarrier routes, and the higher the actual fares relative to optimal ones, the lower the actual load factors relative to