Boom and bust

The business cycle or economic cycle is the downward and upward movement of gross domestic product (GDP) around its long-term growth trend. These fluctuations typically involve shifts over time between periods of relatively rapid economic growth (expansions or booms), and periods of relative stagnation or decline (contractions or recessions).

An economic bubble (sometimes referred to as a speculative bubble, a market bubble, a price bubble, a financial bubble, a speculative mania or a balloon) is trade in an asset at a price or price range that strongly deviates from the corresponding asset's intrinsic value. It could also be described as a situation in which asset prices appear to be based on implausible or inconsistent views about the future.