page_title: Economic depression
section_title: The General Crisis of 1640
hierarchical_section_title: Economic depression / Notable depressions / The General Crisis of 1640
caption_attribution_description: English: Mature Capitalisms occur every 60-years and are recorded forty-times in records dating back 4,000 years
context_page_description: Economic depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe economic downturn than a recession, which is a slowdown in economic activity over the course of a normal business cycle.
  Economic depressions are characterized by their length, by abnormally large increases in unemployment, falls in the availability of credit, shrinking output as buyers dry up and suppliers cut back on production and investment, more bankruptcies including sovereign debt defaults, significantly reduced amounts of trade and commerce, as well as highly volatile relative currency value fluctuations. Price deflation, financial crises, stock market crash, and bank failures are also common elements of a depression that do not normally occur during a recession.
context_section_description: The largest Great Depression of all time occurred during the General Crisis. The Ming Province of China went bankrupt and the Stuart Monarchy was in the civil war on three fronts in Ireland, Scotland, and England. Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher, created the first recorded explanation of the need for a universal Social Contract in his 1652 book Leviathan based on the general misery within society during this period.
caption: Great Depressions (Mature Capitalisms) and Results ...
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