In finance, leverage (or gearing) is using given resources in such a way that the potential positive or negative outcome is magnified and/or enhanced. It generally refers to using borrowed funds, or debt, so as to attempt to increase the returns to equity.

The reversal of the leveraging process, or deleveraging, may be partly to blame for the 2008 credit crisis and stock market decline. Keynesian view:[1] Austrian view: [2]

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