Boom and Bust

Socialists have indicted capitalism on many counts; but none of these charges has been more clearly documented, none of the alleged shortcomings has proven more universally prevalent, and none has been less responsive to alterations in the system than the recurrence of business cycles. Throughout their histories, all capitalist countries without exception have been plagued by the continuous succession of periods of recession, depression, recovery, prosperity, recession, depression—and so on in perpetual, unending economic cycles.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website

Archaeology · Boom · Business cycle · Bust · Capitalism · Depression (economics) · Economic growth · Economic history · Economics · Great Depression · Keynesian economics · Political economy · Political science · Prosperity · Recession · Sociology · Economic Theory and Policy · Engineering · History · Law · Political Economy and Marxism