Companies, inflation and taxation: comment

<p>The case which Mr Richardson makes for the general adoption of some effective form of inflation accounting for business purposes is unanswerable. Investment decisions, dividend policies, price fixing, wage bargaining-all of these can be very seriously distorted when the calculation of the return on capital takes no account of the need to maintain the real rather than the money value of the concern's productive assets. It is greatly to be welcomed that the Governor of the Bank of England should lend his great authority to the case for a speedy adoption of this reform of business accounting.</p>