Depressionandindustrialstagnationfollowonlyincasethepecuniaryexigenciesofthesituationareofsuchacharacterastoaffectthetrafficofthebusinesscommunityinaninhibitoryway。Butbusinessisthequestofprofits，andaninhibitionofthisquestmusttouchtheseatofitsvitalmotives。Industrialdepressionmeansthatthebusinessmenengageddonotseetheirwaytoderiveasatisfactorygainfromlettingtheindustrialprocessgoforwardonthelinesandinthevolumeforwhichthematerialequipmentofindustryisdesigned。Itisnotworththeirwhile，anditmightevenworkthempecuniaryharm。Commonlytheirapprehensionofthediscrepancywhichforbidsanaggressivepursuitofindustrialbusinessisexpressedbythephrase“overproduction。“Analternativephrase，intendedtocoverthesameconcept，butlessfrequentlyemployed，is“underconsumption。“15*
Thecontroversialquestionastothetenabilityofanygiven“overproduction“doctrinemay，forthepresentpurpose，beleftononeside；itliesoutsidethetheoryofbusinessandithasnomeritsordemeritsforthepurposesofatheoryofbusiness。Thepointofinteresthereisratherthegroundofitsacceptationamongbusinessmenandthemeaningwhichthisnotionhasforthem；thatistosay，itischieflyofinterestheretoinquireintothehabitsofthoughtwhichgivecogencyandeffecttothedogmaof“overproduction“aspracticallyheldbythebodyofbusinessmen，-whatitpracticallymeans，whythedogmaisheld，andwhatisitseffectonthecourseofbusinessenterprise。
“Overproduction，“or“underconsumption，“asitismetwithintheviewsofbusinessmen，isneitheravacantdogmanorashiftyapologywherewithtocovertheirowndelinquencies，butaveryconcretelyrealstateofaffairs。Itisastateofaffairsthatprevailswhenbusinessispersistentlydull；andtheconceptcoveredbythetermcomprisesthesufficientcauseofthedulness，intheapprehensionofthebusinesscommunity，eventhoughtheymaynotalwaysspeakofthedifficultybythatname。
Itmaybeworthwhile，evenattheriskoftedium，topointoutthatthisconceptof“overproduction“applies，nottothematerial，mechanicalbearingofthesituation，buttoitspecuniarybearing。Thenotionisneverseriouslyentertainedthatthereisormaybeanembarrassingexcessofgoods，oroftheappliancesfortheirproduction，abovewhatwouldbeofsomehumanuseifthebusinesssituationpermittedthemtobeturnedtouse。
1Thesupplyofconsumablegoodsis，practically，nevergreaterthanthecommunity’scapacityforconsumingthem。Anembarrassingexcessinanylineispracticallyaremotecontingencyatthemost。16*Therearemanyeloquentpassagesintheeconomicmanualswhichmaybecalledinwitnessofthistruism，wheremuchpainsistakentoshowthathumanwantsare，inthenatureofthecase，indefinitelyextensible。Nothingstandsintheway，wearetold，but“difficultyofattainment“ofthegoodswithwhichtosatisfythesewants。2Intimesofdepression，or“hardtimes，“thereis，underthemodernindustrialsystematleast，nooverproductioninthesenseofaproductionsolargeastoovertaxtheworkingcapacityoftheindustrialappliancesandprocessesemployed，norsolarge，even，astoovertaxthenormalpowersoftheforceofworkmenorrequirethemtoworkovertimeandholidays。Quitethecontrary。