The“cycle“ofexaltation,crisis,anddepressionhasfrequentlybeendescribe。PerhapsaseffectiveadescriptionandanalysisasanyisthatofTugan-Baranowsky,Handelskrisen,chap。
Cf。,however,Cassel,“OmKriserochDaligaTider,“EkonomiskTidskrift,vol。vi,no。2,pp。69-78。
As,e。g。,theeraofprosperity1897-1902tookitsstartfromthedemandforsuppliescausedbytheSpanish-AmericanWar,thoughotherfavorablecircumstancesactedtogiveitvolume。MrCarver,possiblyfollowingsuggestionsgivenbySpiethoff’sdiscussion,hassuggestedthatthelinesofbusinessinwhichthefavorableinitialdisturbancearisesarenecessarilythoseengagedintheproductionof“producer’sgoods“;thereasonforthisbeingthat,inthenatureofthecase,“thevalueofproducer’sgoodstendstofluctuatemoreviolentlythanthevalueofconsumer’sgoods,“inasmuchasthevalueofproducer’sgoodsvariessomewhatasthemagnitudeofthemarginofprofits,whilethatoftheconsumer’sgoodsvariessomewhatasthemagnitudeoftheentiredemandonwhichthismarginofprofitsrestsasanincrement。Thevalueofproducer’sgoods=fdelta,thatofconsumer’sgoods=fdemanddelta。Fromthelikelineofargumentitshouldfollowthattheinitialbreakintimeofcrisismustcomeinsomelineofbusinessoccupiedwithproducer’sgoods。Cf。QuarterlyJournalofEconomics,Mayl903,pp。497-500。Seealsofoot-noteonp。181above。
9。Cf。Sombart,Kapitalismus,volII,ch。I,onthemotiveforcesatworkinadvancingbusinessenterprise。
10。The“intitialdisturbance“herespokenofmayofcoursebeofaprogressiveorrecurringcharacter,andsomaykeepthedifferentialadvantagegoinginaprogressivemanner,as,e。g。,inthecaseofaprogressivedemandforsuppliesduetoaprotractedwarortoaperiodofcontinuedpreparationforwar,suchashasoccurredinAmericaduringthelastfewyears。
11。Thereisapointortwooffurtherdetailinwhatmaybecalledthemethodofprosperityandcrisis,whicharebestdiscussedinconnectionwiththephenomenaofdepression。Thesewill,therefore,betakenuppresently。Theabovecharacterizationofaneraofprosperityandthemannerofitsexhaustingitselfwillserveasadescriptionofthecoursewhichsuchaneratakesundertheregimeofthemorehighlydevelopedbusinessmethodsofthehightideofthenineteenthcentury。Fortheearlier,lessfullydeveloped,businesssituationoftheearlynineteenthcenturythecorrespondingcourseofeventsrunssomewhatdifferent,owing,chieflyatleast,1toaslowerrateoftransmissionofanypricedisturbance,and2tothegreaterrangeandvalueof“outlying“industrieswhichareverytardilyifatalldrawnintotheexuberantmovementofprosperity。Inthisconnectionitisworthnotingthatduringthisearlierperiodofthenineteenthcenturytheproductionofspecificallyproductivegoodshadnotbeencarriedtothepointafterwardattained,eitherinthedifferentiationandspecializationofindustriesoccupiedwiththisclassofgoodsorintherelativevolumeofthisclassofindustries。
12。Theseveralphasesofthissequenceofexaltationanddepressionforanygivenbusinessconcern,maybestatedasfollows:-
Letea=earnings;pr=salepriceofoutput;exp=expensesofproductionofoutput;mar=marginofgainonoutput=pr-
exp;cap=intitialeffectivecapitalization;yp=year’spurchaseatcurrentrates=int=1/int,disregardingrisk;cr=normalcreditextensionongivencap=cap/n=fcap/int。
Thenattheinitialphase,ea=mar=pr-expoutp,cap=eaxyp=ea/int,cr=cap/n,Atthesubsequentphase,ofexaltation,ea’=eadeltaea=mar’xoutp=[pr’=prdeltapr-exp]outp=mardeltamaroutp>ea,cap’=ea’/int=eadeltaea/int>cap,cr’=cap’/n=capdeltacap/n>cr。
Attheconcludingphase,ofdepression,ea’’=ea’-deltaea’=mar’’xoutp=[pr’-exp’=expdeltaexp]outp