Economic crises: types, causes, impact on the family

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

Economic crises, whether past or future, are constantly being heard. Adversity on the financial front is one of the favorite topics of the media and fertile ground for numerous forecasts of expert organizations.

Views

Economic crises are of two main types.

• Underproduction (characterized by a shortage of consumer goods). A vivid example is the economic crisis in Russia in the 1990s: empty store shelves, food sold strictly on coupons, lines for essentials.
• Overproduction (characterized by a serious prevalence of supply over demand). In times of such crises, most of the population does not have the money to secure a normal level of existence (mass poverty). A typical representative of overproduction complications in the economy is the Great Depression of the thirties.

Reasons

Modern economic crises are largely due to global hyperconsumerism - the uncontrollable craving of people forconsumption. Every year the assortment of goods offered to a person is growing: a new car model, advanced collections from fashion designers, the latest brands of alcoholic and food products. Along with consumption, production volumes, the cost of goods and services grow, inflation (depreciation) of money capital begins. Debts are growing: national, banking, consumer. All this leads to the fact that no one can pay for the purchased liabilities (things that do not bring benefits: cars, clothes, furniture).

According to the teachings of Karl Marx, crises are the inevitable companions of capitalism. Their occurrence does not depend on the miscalculations of the management, as well as the negative effect of the activities of consumers or corporations. Marx explains this process by the very nature of the relationship, aimed at making a profit.

Impact on the family

Of course, a sharp decrease in the purchasing power of the family, the inability to have what was available before, negatively affects the emotional background. The great capitalist crisis of the 1930s was called the Great Depression for a reason. In describing people of this period, such epithets as numb, doomed, panicky, apathetic, etc. are often used. Economic crises are dangerous to he alth: financial losses and anxiety about one's future shorten life expectancy. The stock market crash of 2008-2009 in the US coincided with the peak of heart attacks and deaths from diseases of the cardiovascular system.

At the same time, an interesting study was presented by domesticscientists: they found that the global economic crises contribute to the rallying of families, their reunification (we are talking about complicated families) and the desire for cohabitation. This trend is justified from both sociological and economic points of view:

1) for centuries, the threatening danger forced people to unite, rely in everyday life on the support of relatives;

2) living together is more economical than apart, and the creation of a kind of mini-consumer cooperatives is designed to reduce the cost of food, utility bills, gasoline, etc.

Scientists also found that the instability of the family budget makes people increase the share of their income in the family in proportion to their spending.