The “business cycle” might just be one of the oldest ideas in economics. For more than 200 years, economists have been pointing to the tendency of economies to expand, then slow down, contract and ...

A business cycle demonstrates the fiscal activity of an economy over a period of time. While business cycles differ in various ways, including how long they last, each of them has four distinct stages ...

Making sense of the economy requires more than just tracking the latest data—it demands a framework for connecting the dots. The good news is that the economy doesn’t move in random spurts—it follows ...

Business cycles involve periodic fluctuations of economic activity, such as production and employment. The typical cycle involves a rise in activity that reaches a high point, or peak, followed by a ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I identify the pure investment merit of assets with a macro lens. Oct 01, 2025, 11:19am EDT Americans have always trusted the ...

The way this business cycle likely ends was finally visible in the corporate earnings reports released in the last few days. It’s not about a downturn in growth due to waning consumer demand, though ...

Understanding the depth, diffusion and duration of this downturn. This is a brutal recession, but may not be as bad in one respect. To understand why, we must assess the severity of this recession in ...

Q: I often hear people say "at this point in the cycle," but I'm not sure what that means. Where are we in the cycle? A: I think it's important to begin with a discussion of what the business cycle is ...

Over the past several months, we have seen turmoil in the markets as technology company stocks have been hit with significant price decreases. We have seen a large number of layoffs in high-tech ...

Norbert Michel studied and wrote about financial markets and monetary policy, including the reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Central banks … will do wisely to lay aside their inexpert ventures in ...

The economy is always in a state of flux, moving through periods of growth and recession, and after both, a full business cycle is complete. That cycle can be broken down further into four stages: ...