Credit
Short-term cycles depend on credit. Credit can:
- Increase spending without increasing incomes
- Be used to increase income
The availability of credit is influenced by:
- Interest rates – lower interest rates increase credit in the market
- Credit-worthiness – determined by income and collateral assets
The short-term debt cycle is determined by credit and controlled by central banks through interest rates.


Debt

Debt is a cycle because you spend more than your income now and in future will have to spend less than your income to repay it.
- When the slope of the credit curve is increasing, income > debt repayments
- When the slope of the curve is decreasing, debt repayments > income