Virtuous Circle And Vicious Circle
A virtuous circle and a vicious circle (also referred to as virtuous cycle and vicious cycle) are economic terms. They refer to a complex chain of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop. A virtuous circle has favorable results, while a vicious circle has detrimental results.
Both circles are complexes of events with no tendency towards equilibrium (at least in the short run). Both systems of events have feedback loops in which each iteration of the cycle reinforces the previous one (positive feedback). These cycles will continue in the direction of their momentum until an external factor intervenes and breaks the cycle. The prefix "hyper-" is sometimes used to describe these cycles if they are extreme. The best-known example of a vicious circle is hyperinflation.
Read more about Virtuous Circle And Vicious Circle: Vicious Circles in The Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Other Examples
Famous quotes containing the words virtuous, circle and/or vicious:
“I have no desire for riches. Honest poverty and a conscience torpid through virtuous inaction are more to me than corner lots and praise.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“we are the circle of the crazy ladies
who sit in the lounge of the mental house
and smile at the smiling woman
who passes us each a bell,”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Every day confirms my opinion on the superiority of a vicious life—and if Virtue is not its own reward I don’t know any other stipend annexed to it.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)