First it was a financial crisis. Then a decade of slow growth that bred political anger. After that came a pandemic. Just as the threat of Covid-19 appeared to be receding, along came a European war. Welcome to the era of incessant crises.
Comparisons are often made between today and the 1970s, and in some respects they are appropriate. A global economy already exhibiting plenty of inflationary pressure has been hit by an oil price shock, just as it was in late 1973.
Almost half a century ago, the Opec oil cartel ratcheted up the price of crude during the Yom Kippur war. The sanctions imposed on Russia’s energy exports are having a similar – albeit so far less dramatic – impact. The cost of crude climbed to almost $140 (£107) a barrel at one point last week but it would need to rise a lot further – to $180 a barrel – to beat the 2008 record, once allowance is made for inflation.
Even so, higher energy prices are something…
