A period of economic instability in the Soviet Union from 1922–4 in which industrial and agricultural prices diverged drastically, resulting in a reluctance on the part of agricultural workers to sell their produce; (in extended use) any period of economic instability caused by a disparity in prices.
Origin
1920s.
Definition of scissors crisis in US English:
scissors crisis
noun
A period of economic instability in the Soviet Union from 1922–4 in which industrial and agricultural prices diverged drastically, resulting in a reluctance on the part of agricultural workers to sell their produce; (in extended use) any period of economic instability caused by a disparity in prices.