earning and employment in the business
A frequent assumption in studies of the business cycle is that at the beginning of an upswing employment rises slowly while wage rates rise very little if at all;
that, latter, employment rises rapidly while wage rates rise moderately fast; that, finally, as the upswing nears an
end employment once again rises slowly while wage rates rise rapidly; and that the converse holds true for the downswings.
In a study of the American economy for the years 1932-40, we have found that changes in employment occur roughly in
the manner postulated by that theory, although the longer the phases considered, the less pronounced the regularity.