contagion

  1. Noun.  A disease spread by contact.
  2. Noun.  The spread or transmission of such a disease.
  3. Noun.  The spread of anything harmful, as if it were such a disease.
  4. Noun.  (finance) A situation in which small shocks, which initially affect only a few financial institutions or a particular region of an economy, spread to the rest of financial sectors and other countries whose economies were previously healthy.
  5. Noun.  (finance) A resulting recession or crisis developed in such manner.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.