Editing Vicious circle

{{Short description|Self-reinforcing sequence of events}}
{{Other uses||Vicious Circle (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2012}}
[[File:Cycle of depression.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Depression (mood)|Depression]] expressed as a vicious circle]]

A '''vicious circle''' (or '''cycle''') is a complex [[chain of events]] that reinforces itself through a [[feedback loop]], with detrimental results.<ref>{{cite book |author=Charles Webel, [[Johan Galtung]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hULHeXWxLLQC&pg=PA189 |title=Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies |date=19 March 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780203089163 |access-date=19 March 2012}}</ref> It is a system with no tendency toward [[List of types of equilibrium|equilibrium]] ([[social equilibrium|social]], [[Economic equilibrium|economic]], [[ecological equilibrium|ecological]], etc.), at least in the short run.  Each iteration of the cycle reinforces the previous one, in an example of [[positive feedback]]. A vicious circle will continue in the direction of its momentum until an external factor intervenes to break the cycle. A well-known example of a vicious circle in economics is [[hyperinflation]]. 

When the results are not detrimental but beneficial, the term '''virtuous cycle''' is used instead.

==Examples==
===Subprime mortgage crisis===
[[Image:Subprime crisis - Foreclosures & Bank Instability.png|thumb|Vicious cycles in the subprime mortgage crisis]]

The contemporary [[Subprime mortgage crisis#Understanding the causes and risks of the subprime crisis|subprime mortgage crisis]] is a complex group of vicious circles, both in its genesis and in its manifold outcomes, most notably the [[late 2000s recession]]. A specific example is the circle related to housing. As housing prices decline, more homeowners go "[[negative equity|underwater]]", when the market value of a home drops below that of the mortgage on it. This provides an incentive to walk away from the home, increasing defaults and foreclosures. This, in turn, lowers housing values further from over-supply, reinforcing the cycle.<ref>{{cite web |last=Feldstein |first=Martin |date=18 November 2008 |title=How to Help People Whose Home Values Are Underwater |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122697004441035727 |department=Opinion |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=2013-09-05}}</ref>

The foreclosures reduce the cash flowing into banks and the value of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) widely held by banks. Banks incur losses and require additional funds, also called "recapitalization". If banks are not capitalized sufficiently to lend, economic activity slows and [[unemployment]] increases, which further increase the number of foreclosures. Economist [[Nouriel Roubini]] discussed vicious circles in the housing and financial markets in interviews with [[Charlie Rose]] in September and October 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9248 |title=Roubini & Panel |publisher=Charlie Rose |access-date=2013-09-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9310 |title=Rose & Roubini Discussion |publisher=Charlierose.com |access-date=2013-09-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401130731/http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9310 |archive-date=2013-04-01 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.charlierose.com/view/clip/9416 |title=Rose & Roubini |publisher=Charlierose.com |access-date=2013-09-05}}</ref>

===Ecological areas===
By involving all stakeholders in managing ecological areas, a virtuous circle can be created where improved ecology encourages the actions that maintain and improve the area.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Designing virtuous socio-ecological cycles for biodiversity conservation | publisher = Elsevier | date = March 2016 | doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2015.12.022 | volume=195 | journal=Biological Conservation | pages=9–16 | author=Morrison Scott A| doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Other===
Other examples include the [[poverty cycle]], [[sharecropping]], and the intensification of [[drought]]. In 2021, Austrian Chancellor [[Alexander Schallenberg]] described the recurring need for lockdowns in the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] as a vicious circle that could only be broken by a legally-required vaccination program.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59358074|title=Covid: WHO says it is very worried about Europe surge|work=BBC News|date=November 20, 2021}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* {{annotated link|Catch-22 (logic)}}
* {{annotated link|Causal loop diagram}}
* {{annotated link|Chain reaction}}
* {{annotated link|Cycle of poverty}}
* {{annotated link|Cycle of violence}}
* {{annotated link|Closed timelike curve}}
* {{annotated link|Endogeneity (econometrics)}}				
* {{annotated link|Positive feedback}}
* {{annotated link|Rational addiction}}
* {{annotated link|Reflexivity (sociology)}}
* {{annotated link|Self-fulfilling prophecy}}
* {{annotated link|Spiral of silence}}
* {{annotated link|Unintended consequences}}
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== General and cited references ==
* {{cite journal|last1=Schlesinger|first1=L.|last2=Heskett|first2=J.|title=Breaking the cycle of failure in services|journal=Sloan Management Review|volume=31|year=1991|pages=17–28|url=http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/breaking-the-cycle-of-failure-in-services/}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060910062801/http://www.gordon.edu/ace/pdf/Yuengert_Choice.pdf Rational Choice with Passion:Virtue in a Model of Rational Addiction] – In this link the author uses Aristotelian virtue as a mediator between passion and reason in the construction of utility/consumption functions in an esoteric part of consumer behaviour theory related to decision making in addictive situations.
* [https://kingcenter.stanford.edu/publications/working-paper/china-stabilizing-or-deflationary-influence-east-asia-problem-conflicted China: A Stabilizing or Deflationary Influence in East Asia? The Problem of Conflicted Virtue] – In this paper the author is using virtue in the sense of a positive outcome (balance of payments surplus) that conflicts with long term regional growth and stability.

== External links ==
* {{Commons category inline|Vicious circles}}
* {{Commons category inline|Virtuous circles}}
* {{Wiktionary inline|vicious circle}}
* {{Wiktionary inline|virtuous circle}}

[[Category:Business cycle]]
[[Category:Economic crises]]
[[Category:Waste of resources|Vicious circle]]