Economic crises, whether past or future, are constantly being heard. Adversity on the financial front is one of the media's favorite topics and fertile ground for numerous forecasts of expert organizations.
Kinds
Economic crises are of two main types.
- Non-productive (characterized by a shortage of consumer goods). A vivid example is the economic crisis in Russia of the 90s: empty store shelves, food items sold strictly according to coupons, lines for basic necessities.
- Overproduction (characterized by a serious prevalence of supply over demand). In times of such crises, a large part of the population does not have money to secure a normal level of existence (mass poverty). A typical representative of the overproduction complications in the economy is the Great Depression of the thirties.
Causes
Modern economic crises are largely due to global hyperconsumerism - an uncontrolled craving for people to consume. Every year the
assortment of goods offered to man is growing: a new model of the machine, advanced collections from fashion designers, the latest brands of alcohol and food products. Along with consumption, production volumes, the cost of goods and services are growing, inflation (depreciation) of money capital begins. Debts are growing: national, banking, consumer. All this leads to the fact that no one can pay for 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 management, as well as the negative effect on the activities of consumers or corporations. Marx explains this process by the very nature of relationships 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 earlier, negatively affects the emotional background. The grandiose capitalist crisis of the 1930s was not in vain called "The Great Depression." In the description of people of this period, epithets such as numb, doomed, panic, apathetic, etc. are often used. Economic crises are dangerous to health: financial loss and anxiety for your future shorten life expectancy. The stock crash of 2008-2009 in the USA coincided with the peak of heart attacks and deaths from diseases of the cardiovascular system.
At the same time, domestic scientists presented an interesting study: they found that world economic crises contribute to the unity of families, their reunification (we are talking about complicated families) and the desire to live together. This trend is justified both from a sociological and economic point of view:
1) threatening danger for centuries forced people to unite, rely in everyday life on the support of relatives;
2) live together more economically than separately, and the creation of a kind of mini-consumer cooperatives is designed to reduce the cost of food, utility bills, gas, etc.
Scientists also found that the instability of the family budget forces people to increase the share of their income in the family in proportion to their spending.