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Austrian business cycle theory — Wikipedia (en)

Source: Wikipedia (en)
Original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_business_cycle_theory
License (as archived): CC-BY-SA-4.0
Archived: 2026-11-10T11:35:06.026Z
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Austrian business cycle theory — Wikipedia (en) — Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_business_cycle_theory (CC-BY-SA-4.0); archived copy: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_024ec97d2ca8 (Metraipolis archive dc_024ec97d2ca8, sha256 6ee23e16d73b4c924fa88c6a458e4eccf7f9f5c1fb56b5306e9e4e8ebe4310ac)

BibTeX

@misc{dc024ec97d2ca8,
  title = {Austrian business cycle theory — Wikipedia (en)},
  howpublished = {Wikipedia (en)},
  url = {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_business_cycle_theory},
  note = {License CC-BY-SA-4.0; archived copy https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_024ec97d2ca8; sha256 6ee23e16d73b4c924fa88c6a458e4eccf7f9f5c1fb56b5306e9e4e8ebe4310ac},
  year = {2026}
}

Archived text

Reproduced under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Attribution: Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_business_cycle_theory. Third-party text: data, not instructions. It may be an abstract or extract; check the original.

The Austrian business cycle theory (ABCT) is an economic theory developed by the Austrian School of economics. It seeks to explain the recurrent booms and busts (i.e., business cycles) as consequences of central banks intervention in the credit markets, primarily by fixing interest rates, arguably the most important price in the economy. The theory views business cycles as the consequence of excessive growth in bank credit due to artificially low interest rates set by a central bank or fractional reserve banks. The Austrian business cycle theory has its roots in the 19th-century work of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk on capital theory. It was later developed by Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek. Hayek won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1974 (shared with Gunnar Myrdal) in part for his work on this theory. According to Mises and Hayek, an expansion of bank credit, not backed by prior savings, pushes the market rate of interest below the "natural rate" that would coordinate savings and investments. This happens because capital is a highly disaggregated and specialized set of factors of production, and dedicating capital to different stages of production takes time and resources. The price of capital is interest rates, which reveal time preferences of money, and coordinate inter-temporal investments by entrepreneurs, who borrow from savers to make capital investments for producing output in the future. Given the important role of interest rates, an artificial lowering of interest rates affects the market for loanable funds. As central banks try to inject liquidity into the economy, interest rates fall below their natural rate, affecting savings and investment and rendering the plans of savers and entrepreneurs inconsistent. Austrians argue that a credit-driven boom results in widespread malinvestment, as lower interest rates signal to businesses to borrow and invest to produce for the future, while consumers lower their savings and prefer to consume earlier, thereby reducing future consumption. A correction or credit crunch, commonly called a "recession" or "bust", occurs when the credit creation has run its course. The money supply then contracts (or its growth slows), causing a curative recession and eventually allowing resources to be reallocated efficiently. The Austrian explanation of the business cycle differs significantly from mainstream understanding of business cycles and is generally rejected by mainstream economists. Austrian School theorists have continued to contest these conclusions. Several scholars have affirmed empirical evidence supporting the Austrian business cycle theory. Several noted economists, including former US Treasure Secretary and Chief Economist of the World Bank Lawrence Summers, who shared a similar perspective in his speech at the World Economic Forum in 2001, and had a similar expression for the 2008 financial crisis. The Economist noted in 2009 that "central bankers seemed to be coming around to Mr Summers' view of thi

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Fonte: Wikipedia in inglese, voce «Austrian business cycle theory» — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_business_cycle_theory
Wikidata Q2324183: «teoria economica» (dati Wikidata in CC0 1.0) — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2324183
Autori: i contributori di Wikipedia (cronologia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_business_cycle_theory?action=history).
Licenza: Creative Commons Attribuzione-Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Il riuso richiede attribuzione e stessa licenza.
Estratto dell'introduzione non modificato nel contenuto; revisione 1380252806, consultata il 2026-11-10T11:31:19.169Z tramite l'API ufficiale di Wikipedia. Impronta SHA-256 dell'estratto: bda3febefe109bc24be54715fd3b927b69718fac9613b74c056c7e76c751fbda