Overheating (economics)

Overheating of an economy occurs when its productive capacity is unable to keep pace with growing aggregate demand. It is generally characterised by an above-trend rate of economic growth, where growth is occurring at an unsustainable rate. Boom periods are often characterised by overheating in the economy. An economy is said to be overheated when inflation increases due to prolonged good growth rate and the producers produce in excess thereby creating excess production capacity. The main reason behind overheating is insufficient supply allocation because of excess spending by the people due to increase in consumer wealth.