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This is coincides with my headcannon cause of the business cycle.

1. Firms compete

2. Firms either increase their efficiency or die

3. Efficient firms are more susceptible to shocks

4. Firm shutdown and closures are themselves shocks

5. Eventually the system reaches a critical point where the aggregate susceptibility is higher than the aggregate of shocks that will be generated by shutdowns and closures

6. Any external shock will cause a cascade

There's essentially a "commons" where firms trade susceptibility for efficiency. Or in other words, susceptibility is pooled while the rewards for efficiency are separate.




It sounds similar to how animal/plant species often work.

A species will specialise for a niche, and outcompete a generalist. But when conditions change, the generalist can adapt and the specialist suffers.


*head canon

Something you personally (in your head) believe to be a general law, or rule, or truth (canon). It's roughly synonymous with "mental model".

A cannon is a weapon.


But in practice we see that:

1. Firms compete

2. Some firms get ahead

3. Accrued advantages to being ahead amplify

4. A small number of firms dominate

5. New competition is bought or crushed

6. Dominate firms become less efficient in competition-free environment


They aren't mutually exclusive. And, not xor.


Good analysis, but one also needs to look at the definition of `efficiency`, what is your definition of efficiency in this context.


The ability to do more with fewer resources. Profit is a great starting point when answering, "What is efficiency to a firm?"


If only that weren't called a "cycle" as if it had a predictable periodicity.


It has inevitability, but you're right, not predictable periodicity. Is predictable periodicity a necessary part of a cycle? I feel like the rise and fall of nations is a cycle, but not necessarily one of predictable periodicity.


If not predictability, then regularity, and I believe that's a fundamental misunderstanding -- the system is chaotic.




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