In the world of economic journalism, we often look back to historical parallels in order to understand the current moment. And in today\u2019s economy, there\u2019s a lot we can learn from the 1970s. <\/p>\n
Meg Jacobs, a history professor Princeton University, said the 1970s were \u201cperhaps the last most chaotic time in terms of uncertainty in global oil markets.\u201d She wrote the 2017 book \u201cPanic at the Pump: The Energy Crisis and the Transformation of American Politics in the 1970s.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were two oil shocks in the \u201870s: one caused by the Arab oil embargo in 1973<\/a> and another by the Iranian Revolution in 1979<\/a>. It was also a time of stagflation<\/a> \u2014 high inflation coupled with slow growth. And earlier in the 1970s, President Nixon had implemented a series of price and wage controls. <\/p>\n \u201cI have a point of view based on the past about today,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cI do not see any kind of price caps in our future.\u201d <\/p>\n During the 1973 oil shock, Jacobs said, the gas shortages facing the United States were actually not severe. <\/p>\n \u201cBut we made them more acute by our panic-like behavior, by lining up for hours and hours and traveling around with much of the country\u2019s gas supply in our tanks, rather than safely underground in oil storage,\u201d Jacobs said. <\/p>\n Today\u2019s oil shock is far worse<\/a> \u2014 the largest supply disruption in history according to<\/a> the International Energy Agency. And even though Americans are feeling the price increases at the pump, the effects are far more severe in other countries. <\/p>\n As a result, some are turning to price caps right now. <\/p>\n