Mangelwirtschaft
German
Etymology
Mangel (“deficiency/shortage”) + Wirtschaft (“economy”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈmaŋəlˌvɪʁtʃaft]
- Hyphenation: Man‧gel‧wirt‧schaft
Noun
Mangelwirtschaft f (genitive Mangelwirtschaft, plural Mangelwirtschaften)
- (economics, politics) economy of scarcity, shortage economy (an economic system, often centrally planned, characterized by chronic shortages of goods and services)
- Die Mangelwirtschaft in der DDR führte zu jahrzehntelangen Wartezeiten auf Konsumgüter wie Automobile.
- The shortage economy in the GDR led to decades-long waiting times for consumer goods such as automobiles.
- In einer Mangelwirtschaft blüht häufig der Schwarzmarkt als informeller Ausgleichsmechanismus.
- In a shortage economy, the black market often flourishes as an informal compensation mechanism.
Declension
Declension of Mangelwirtschaft [feminine]
Synonyms
- Mangelgesellschaft
- Defizitwirtschaft
Antonyms
- Überflussgesellschaft (affluent society)
- Marktwirtschaft (market economy; specifically when functioning efficiently)
Coordinate terms
- Zentralverwaltungswirtschaft (planned economy)
- Versorgungssicherheit (security of supply; the absent goal)
- Jahresüberschuss (net income; often irrelevant or purely nominal in such systems)
- Zahlungskraft (solvency; often secondary to the availability of physical goods)
- Rationierung (rationing)
Related terms
- Mangelerscheinung (deficiency symptom)
- Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle; the historical opposite)
References
- “Mangelwirtschaft” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Mangelwirtschaft” in Duden online