Business cycles affect all individuals within the population. Be it the general public, made up of customers and consumers, or the business world, from small local businesses to large multinational organisations. Obviously all governments aim for economic growth within societies, to achieve national progression goals. This can include various factors such as high levels of employment, investment and general business confidence. However, things don't always go as planned. For example, if economic growth slows, this can have serious consequences, such as increased levels of unemployment, decreased consumer spending, and ultimately the bankruptcy of expendable businesses. In this assignment I will explain the nature, causes and implications of the business cycle, addressing the four phases individually. The theory of business cycles actually began a long time ago with the idea of ​​“long waves” (Reijnders, 1990), and Kondratieff was one of the first economists to reinforce this principle. He believed that "the duration of the long wave is 48-60 years." Another economist, Kuznet, believed that in addition to the long waves, there were smaller cycles within this long period of time that were intermediaries between the extended long wave that lasted from 6 to 70 years. These intermediate periods were known as short-term business cycles. Finally, it was obvious that the system based on short-term business cycles was more accurate and efficient than other theories. They allowed for a more reliable prediction of future trends from previous data. These cyclical movements were based on the economic position of the population at certain periods of time or up to a specific periodic period...... middle of paper...... 5) William Anderson (November 24, 2004), Why Business Cycle TheoryMatters [Online], available at: http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=16646) Lakshman Chuthan and Anirvan Banerji (2004), Beating the Business Cycle [Online], available at: http:// www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/currency/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385509534&view=excerpt7) Worthington, I. and Britton, C. (2003), The Business Environment: The Fourth Edition, Pearson Education Ltd., Great Britain .8) Zanny Minton Bedoes, The Great Thrift Shift, 22 September 2005, accessed: Monday 6 March 2006, [Online] Available from: http://www.economist .com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=44183289 ) Samuel Brittan, Financial Times: Britain's delusion of Prosperity, 31/01/02 Accessed: Monday 6 March 2006, [Online] Available from: http://www.samuelbrittan .co.uk/text105_p.html