From BusinessMemo.org:
Oil prices have more than doubled in the past two years and nearly tripled in the past five. Conflict in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan have escalated tensions, and with it, the price of oil. Consumer confidence is shaken by unprecedented prices at the pump. What year do we find ourselves in? 1982.
Yet the remainder of the 1980s proved to be a boon for consumers at the pump. Without output increases by OPEC, and the conflict still raging across the Middle East, oil prices still returned to reasonable levels. Starting in 1982, oil prices began a steady decline culminating in a 46 percent price drop in 1986. “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history,” said British writer Aldous Huxley. Huxley was not off the mark.
There is no denying that the 21st century has had its own set of challenges, constraints, uncertainties, and opportunities that sets it apart from the 80s. China and India are fast-rising global economic leaders with their own set of energy needs and agendas. Russia is reemerging from the ashes with its own penchant for cunning energy diplomacy and maneuvering. The US dollar is in a tailspin. Yet for all the differences, there are similarities. History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Here are a few verses to consider.
