Many people who had bought high cost items such as refrigerators on the reached a point where paying off their debts forced them to reduce other purchases

Installment Plan

Explanation: Many people who had bought high cost items such as refrigerators on the installment plan reached a point where paying off their debts forced them to reduce other purchases.

This is known as economic depression. Economically speaking, depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies.

Depression is characterized by the length, abnormally large increases in unemployment, falls in the availability of credit,  suppliers cut back on production and investment, significantly reduced amounts of trade and commerce, as well as highly volatile relative currency value fluctuations. Price deflation, financial crises and bank failures are also common elements of a depression