An economic collapse is a devastating breakdown of a national, regional, or territorial economy. It is essentially a severe economic depression. In economics, a depression is a term commonly used for a sustained downturn in the economy. ...

A full or near-full economic collapse is often quickly followed by months, years, or even decades of economic depression, social chaos, and civil unrest. Usually this is eventually corrected at least in part by recovery measures implemented by the government, although some economists (i.e. the Austrian School, in particular Ludwig von Mises) believe that often government intervention and over-regulation of the economy can lead to the conditions for collapse. The most obvious of these examples is the 1929 Stock Market Crash, this caused by, according to John Maynard Keynes, a virtual absence of government involvement in the economy or not even creating clearly-defined regulations and enforce them accordingly. During the 1980s, the Eastern Bloc experienced a decade-long period of stagflation, and eventual collapse from which it did not recover, culminating with revolutions and the fall of communist regimes throughout Central and Eastern Europe and eventually in the Soviet Union. In economics, a depression is a term commonly used for a sustained downturn in the economy. ... For other uses, see Chaos (disambiguation). ... Civil disorder is a broad term that is typically used by law enforcement to describe one or more forms of disturbance. ... The Austrian School, also known as the “Vienna School” or the “Psychological School”, is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates adherence to strict methodological individualism. ... Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) (pronounced was a notable economist and a major influence on the modern libertarian movement. ... The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also called the Great Crash or the Crash of 29, is the stock-market crash that occurred in late October, 1929. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... A map of the Eastern Bloc 1948-1989. ... Stagflation, a portmanteau of the words stagnation and inflation, is a term in general use within modern macroeconomics used to describe a period of out-of-control price inflation combined with slow-to-no output growth, rising unemployment, and eventually recession. ... Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... Statistical regions of Europe as delineated by the United Nations (UN definition of Eastern Europe marked red):  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  Southern Europe Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current borders: Russia (dark orange), other countries formerly part of the USSR...

See also

• Long Depression (approximately 1873–1896)
• Great Depression (approximately 1928-1937)
• Stock market crash
• List of stock market crashes
• Unemployment
• Gold as an investment
• Survivalism
• Hindenburg omen