business cycle

American  

noun

1. a recurrent fluctuation in the total business activity of a country.

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business cycle British  

noun

1. Also called: trade cycle.  the recurrent fluctuation between boom and depression in the economic activity of a capitalist country

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business cycle Cultural  

1. A period during which business activity reaches a low point, recovers, expands, reaches a high point, decreases to a new low point, and so on.

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Etymology

Origin of business cycle

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

The version popularized by Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller looks back at 10 years of earnings and adjusts them for inflation to cover an entire business cycle.

From The Wall Street Journal

Equities, by contrast, still have pockets of structural upside thanks to AI and productivity themes that are not directly tied to the business cycle.

From MarketWatch

Swedish economist Knut Wicksell introduced the concept in the early 20th century to explain the business cycle.

From Barron's

The federal government runs a persistent deficit and that's OK, especially over the business cycle, since running large deficits during recessions is a way to shorten them.

From Salon

Mark says that businesses like his can be loyal to workers and take long-term decisions, riding through the peaks and troughs of the business cycle.

From BBC