Rejecting the idea of an equilibrium business cycle, this book, originally published in 1927, studies those industrial fluctuations which extend over short spans of years: cyclical fluctuations. The causes of these cycles are discussed and the consequences which result and the way in which to mitigate these consequences are examined.

Rejecting the idea of an equilibrium business cycle, this book, originally published in 1927, studies those industrial fluctuations which extend over short spans of years: cyclical fluctuations. The causes of these cycles are discussed and the consequences which result and way in which to mitigate these consequences with regard to social well-being are examined. Although Pigou's approach went out of fashion following Keynes, it is similar in spirit to much of the late twentieth-century work stimulated by real business cycle theory.