economic crises

economic crises

periodic, or more irregularly occurring, phases in the working of the capitalist economy, in which economic accumulation is checked or halted, either as part of a regular cycle of alternating booms and depressions (see TRADE CYCLE), or as the outcome of exceptional circumstances, such as sudden restrictions on the supply of a vital commodity such as oil. In one view economic crises are functional for the capitalist system as a whole in that they promote a reshaping of production, restoring profitability and renewed accumulation. In MARXIAN ECONOMICS, there are suggestions that crises and depressions will tend to become more severe (see CRISES OF CAPITALISM), but no entirely convincing arguments have been given why this should be so. See also LONG-WAVE THEORY.