ABSTRACT
From the end of the eighteenth century up to the present time, it is possible to discern recurrent patterns of economic activity. These cyclical movements seem to have been particularly regular between 1815 and 1929, and were felt in turn in all the countries affected by the industrial revolutions. In fact, from the end of the eighteenth century up to 1848, depressions remained agricultural in origin, though their main effects were seen in the industrial sector. Only after 1860 do they appear as basically industrial depressions.
