CONTRACTION: A phase of the business cycle characterized by a general period of declining economic activity. A contraction is one of two basic business cycle phases. The other is expansion. The transition from contraction to expansion is termed a trough and the transition from expansion to contraction is termed a peak. The popular term for contraction, one that frequent shows up in the media, is recession. Should you check out the entry recession, you will see information that is essentially identical to that presented here, because they are two terms for the same phenomenon.

     See also | business cycle | recession | expansion | peak | trough | recovery | real gross domestic product | unemployment rate | unemployment | full employment | inflation | aggregate expenditures | National Income and Product Accounts | Great Depression |

CONTRACTION, AmosWEB GLOSS*arama, http://www.AmosWEB.com, AmosWEB LLC, 2000-2023. [Accessed: March 25, 2023].

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Changes in the aggregate demand determinants cause the aggregate demand curve to shift. The mechanism is comparable to that for market demand determinants and market demand. There are two alternatives--an increase in aggregate demand and a decrease in aggregate demand. An increase in spending by any of the four sectors--household, business, government, and foreign--shifts the aggregate demand curve to right. A decrease in spending by these four sectors shifts the aggregate demand curve to left.

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