Equilibrium. You know an economy is slipping perilously close to a recession when market after a market begins to blow up. And you can recognize which markets are in trouble by the prices. A market-based economy, like ours, always seeks equilibrium. If not enough of a good or service exists, the price rises. Ideally, more producers or suppliers enter the market, and the price falls.

Copyright 2015 Bloomberg. Ben Sharples (Bloomberg) — Oil traded above $50 a barrel after the biggest slide in four days as investors weighed forecasts for slowing U.S. crude output against signs that the market is oversupplied. Futures gained as much as 2.2 percent in New York, compared with a 5.4