Regulation or Deregulation - Interstate Commerce Commission 720571

The financial difficulties of many of the Nation's railroads and some of the other surface carriers properly cannot be attributed to the regulatory scheme embodied in the Interstate Commerce Act and its administration by the Interstate Commerce Commission. If, as many observers seem to feel, the transportation enterprises' difficulties stem from a lack of managerial initiative and exploitation of competitive conditions, that inertia does not derive from the statute. Despite widespread misconceptions to the contrary, the Interstate Commerce Act from its inception has been structured to deal with conditions of competition and contemplates that the response be initiated and effectuated by the carriers managements with little or no interference by the regulatory agency - whether in the areas of their franchises, rates or finances. In short, the case for deregulation or the massive revision of the existing regulatory laws has not been made.