The Arab oil embargo of the 1973 might have ended in less than a year, but its repercussions hound us today. In fact, the embargo – coupled with the stock market crash of 1973-1974 – is regarded in some circles as being the first event since the Great Depression to have a persistent economic effect in the US. Overnight, we said goodbye to an era of cheap gas and perceived security, and hello to an era of justified paranoia and loss of control.
The government reaction was a knee-jerk response: a legislative flurry as lawmakers tried desperately to convince the American people that we still managed our own energy security.
