A contraction is the phase of the business cycle when the economy declines, often with falling real GDP and rising unemployment, moving from peak toward trough (expansion, peak, contraction, trough).

Hyperinflation is the rapid and untrollable acceleration of prices over a period. Economists tend to focus on a nation’s consumer prices rather than wholesale prices, and the typical measure of ...

Carla Tardi is a technical editor and digital content producer with 25+ years of experience at top-tier investment banks and money-management firms. Photo by Fanatic Studio/Getty Images Economic ...