Inbrisktimestheuseofcreditislarge；itmaybeasacauseoraneffectoftheaccelerationofbusiness；mostcommonlyitseemstobebothacauseandaneffect。Noappreciablebusinessaccelerationtakesplacewithoutanextensionofcredit，atleastintheformofcontractsofpurchaseandsaleforfutureperformance，ifnotalsointheformofloans。Intimesofprotracteddepressiontheuseofcreditseemsonthewholetobesomewhatrestricted，atleastsuchisthecurrentapprehensionofthecaseamongbusinessmen。Still，itcannotconfidentlybesaidthatseasonsofprotracteddepressionareduesolelytoanabsenceofcreditrelationsortoanunwillingnesstoenterintocreditrelations。Acomparisonofthecourseofinterestrates，e。g。，doesnotwarrantthegeneralizationthatthereadinesswithwhichloanscanbenegotiatedneedbeappreciablydifferentinbriskandindulltimes。6*Thereadinesswithwhichcontractsofpurchaseandsalearenegotiatedisappreciablygreaterinbrisktimesthanintimesofdepression；that，indeed，istheobviousdifferencebetweenthetwo。
Ofthethreephasesofbusinessactivity，depression，exaltation，andcrisis，thelastnamedhasclaimedthelargerandlivelierattentionfromstudents，asitisalsothemorepicturesquephenomenon。Anindustrialcrisisisaperiodofliquidation，cancelmentofcredits，highdiscountrates，fallingpricesand“forcedsales，“andshrinkageofvalues。Ithasasasequel，bothsevereandlasting，ashrinkageofcapitalizationthroughoutthefieldaffectedbyit。Itleavesthebusinessmencollectivelypoorer，intermsofmoneyvalue；butthepropertywhichtheyholdbetweenthemmaynotbeappreciablysmallerinpointofphysicalmagnitudeorofmechanicalefficiencythanitwasbeforetheliquidationsetin。Itcommonlyalsoinvolvesanappreciablecurtailmentofindustry，moreseverethanlasting；
buttheeffectswhichacrisishasinindustryproperarecommonlynotcommensuratewithitsconsequencesinbusinessorwiththeimportanceattachedtoacrisisbythebusinesscommunity。Itdoesnotcommonlyinvolveanappreciabledestructionofpropertyoralargewasteofthematerialarticlesofwealth。Itleavesthecommunityatlargepoorerinpointofmarketvalues，butnotnecessarilyintermsofthematerialmeansoflife。Theshrinkageincidenttoacrisisischieflyapecuniary，notamaterial，shrinkage；ittakesplaceprimarilyintheintangibleitemsofwealth，secondarilyinthepriceratingofthetangibleitems。Apartfromsuchreratingofwealth，themostsubstantialimmediateeffectofacrisisisanextensiveredistributionoftheownershipoftheindustrialequipment，asnotedinspeakingoftheuseofcredit。
Theplayofbusinessexigencieswhichleadtosuchaperiodofliquidationseemstorunsomewhatasfollows:Manyfirmshavelargebillspayablefallingdueatneardates，atthesametimethattheyholdbillsreceivablealsoinlargeamounts。Tomeetthedemandoftheircreditorstheycallupontheirdebtors，whomayintheirturnhavebillsreceivableormayholdloansoncollateral。Theinitialmoveinthesequenceofliquidationmaybethecallinginofacallloan，oracallforadditionalcollateralonacallloan。Atsomepoint，earlierorlater，inthesequenceofliabilitiesthedemandfallsupontheholderofaloanoncollateralwhichis，intheapprehensionofhiscreditor，insufficienttosecurereadyliquidation，eitherbyashiftingoftheloanorbyasaleofthecollateral。Thecollateraliscommonlyablockofsecuritiesrepresentingcapitalizedwealth，andtheapprehensionofthecreatormaybeformulatedasadoubtoftheconservativecharacteroftheeffectivecapitalizationonwhichitrests。Inotherwords，thereisanapprehensionthatthepropertyrepresentedbythecollateralisover-capitalized，astestedbythecurrentquotations，orbytheapprehendedfuturequotations，ofthesecuritiesinquestion。Themarketcapitalizationofthecollateralhastakenplaceonthebasisofhighpricesandbrisktradewhichprevailinsuchaperiodofbusinessexaltationasalwaysprecedesanacutecrisis。Whensuchacallcomesuponagivendebtor，thecallispassedalongtothedebtorsfartheralonginthesequenceofliabilities，andthesequenceofliquidationstherebygetsunderway，withtheeffect，notoriousthroughunbrokenexperience，thatthecollateralallalongthelinedeclinesinthemarket。Thecrisisistherebyinaction，andthefurtherconsequencesfollowasawellknownmatterofcourse。Allthisisfamiliarmatter，knowntobusinessmenandstudentsbycommonnotoriety。
Theimmediateoccasionofsuchacrisis，then，isthattherearisesapracticaldiscrepancybetweentheearliereffectivecapitalizationonwhichthecollateralhasbeenacceptedbythecreditors，andthesubsequenteffectivecapitalizationofthesamecollateralshownbyquotationsandsalesofthesecuritiesonthemarket。Butsincetheearliercapitalizationcommonly，inthenormalcase，comesoutofaperiodofbusinessprosperity，thepointofinquiryisastothegroundandmethodofthiseffectivecapitalizationofcollateralduringtheperiodofprosperitythatgoesbeforeacrisis，andthis，inturn，involvesthequestionofthenatureandcausesofaperiodofprosperity。