NORMS AND TRENDS IN EARNING ASSETS 29 
districts, in the matter of the proportion of their earning assets 
represented by investments, is illustrated. 
A graphic summary of the ratios of investments to earning as- 
sets showing (1) the rates of change from year to year, (2) the 
percentage deviations of the yearly averages from the seven-year 
average for each district, and (3) the percentage differences of 
the yearly district averages from the yearly averages of the 
twelve districts combined is given in Chart 4. This chart is con- 
structed in the same way, and should be interpreted in the same 
manner,® as Chart 2. 
The direction of change in ratios of investments to earning 
assets for the twelve districts combined was generally downward 
from 1919 to 1921, and generally upward from 1921 to 1923, al- 
though there was a decline between 1923 and 1924. The greatest 
percentage fall was between 1919 and 1920, and the greatest per- 
centage rise between 1921 and 1922. The level in 1925 was al- 
most exactly the same as in 1919. 
The districts with rates of change closely corresponding to the 
average for the twelve districts combined are as follows: Boston, 
New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas 
City, and San Francisco; those with markedly different rates are 
Richmond and Atlanta. Dallas and Minneapolis follow the general 
direction of the country as a whole, but differ noticeably in certain 
years. All of the twelve districts had a downward trend between 
1919 and 1921, and all of them (except Richmond) an upward 
trend between 1921 and 1925. The district having the smallest 
year-to-year percentage changes and the most uniform ratios over 
the whole period is Philadelphia; the one having the most violent 
year-to-year changes and the most varied history is Minneapolis. 
Between 1919 and 1925, the direction was upward for Boston, 
New York, Minneapolis, Kansas City; for the others it was down- 
ward, the fall being relatively large in Richmond, Atlanta, and 
Dallas—southern agricultural districts. 
Districts with ratios closely corresponding in size to those for 
the country as a whole are Boston, New York, Chicago, St. Louis, 
and San Francisco; those with ratios markedly different for the 
seven years from those for the country are Philadelphia, Cleve- 
land, Kansas City, and Dallas. In Richmond and Atlanta the 
ratios in 1919 and 1920 closely agree with those for the coun- 
% See page 21 for discussion of both points.