NORMS AND TRENDS IN EARNING ASSETS 31 
try; for the remainder of the period (except in 1925 for Atlanta) 
the ratios increasingly diverge. The ratios in Philadelphia and 
Cleveland are markedly above, and those in Richmond and At- 
lanta (except for 1919 and 1920), in Minneapolis (except in 
1925), in Kansas City, and in Dallas are markedly below, the 
averages for the combined districts. 
The norms and trends in the ratios of investments to earning 
assets in the several Federal Reserve districts for the years 1919 
to 1925 are as follows: 
Norms 
1. The modal or most common ratio is from 21% to 24%— 
69% of the district-year ratios falling between 18% and 30%. 
2. Ratios were generally low, relative to the average for the 
period 1919-1925, in 1920, 1921, and 1922; they were generally 
high, as determined in the same way, in 1919, 1923, and 1925. 
3. Ratios in certain districts are higher and in certain ones 
lower throughout the seven years than those of the country as a 
whole. 
Trends 
1. The trend in the various districts was generally downward 
from 1919 to 1921; from 1921 to 1925 it was predominantly 
upward. 
2. Ratios which are high, relative to the seven-year averages 
for the districts to which they apply, predominantly tend in the 
following year to decrease. Contrariwise, those which are low, 
tend generally to increase, the net percentage amounts of rise or 
fall varying directly with the percentage distances by which the 
ratios are removed from the averages for the seven years. 
3. Ratios in all districts fell between 1919 and 1920, and in all 
but one between 1920 and 1921. Between 1921 and 1922, and 
between 1922 and 1923, they predominantly rose, while between 
1923 and 1924 they generally fell. Between 1924 and 1925, the 
direction of change was upward in all districts except two.