ABSTRACT

A typical feature of modern market economies is the business cycle. In Canada since Confederation these short cycles have lasted on average just over four years from one peak to the next, although there have been considerable variations in length. In this chapter we examine the domestic causes of the Canadian business cycle and whether it coincided with other countries’ cycles. In the final section one of the most dramatic cycles, that of the 1920s and 1930s, is given particular attention.