Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 March 2020
The debt-deflation theory of Irving Fisher has received renewed attention recently as analysts have attempted to provide an explanation for the behaviour of the UK economy over the current business cycle.
Fisher (1933) asserted as part of his ‘creed’ on business cycle theory that ‘in the great booms and depressions, each of [a set of other factors] has played a subordinate rôle as compared with two dominant factors, namely over-indebtedness to start with and deflation following soon after … In short, the two big bad actors are debt disturbances and price level disturbances.’ (Italics in original.)