Risky bonds & crude oil

No single commodity, not even gold, has produced so many schizophrenic reactions in financial markets over the years as crude oil has. It was blamed for causing the inflation of the 1970s, even though Richard Nixon unwisely felt it necessary to impose wage and price controls in August 1971 and the first oil shock of the decade did not arrive until October 1973. It was blamed for contributing to recessions in 1973-1974, in 1979-1980 and again in 2001. We were told, solemnly, every time crude oil went over $30 per barrel, bad things would follow.



First published here: Risky bonds & crude oil

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