Meaning of scissors crisis | Babel Free

Definitions

An economic crisis caused by price scissors, that is, an unfavourable divergence in the prices paid by a particular group or country for products that it needs as against the prices of the products that it produces.

Examples

“Meanwhile, real commodity prices were falling sharply for most non-oil products as the world economy moved into its deepest recession since the 1930s. With the debtor countries also facing a strong and ever-strengthening US dollar in the early-mid 1980s, it is perhaps not surprising that Brazil and Venezuela (in 1983) followed Mexico (August 1982) into default on their debt repayments. All of these countries were caught in a scissors crisis not apparently of their own making.”

CEFR level