Now, I've been saying this for just about two years. For those old enough to remember, do these times remind anyone of the 1970s (sans hippies, of course)?We've got an increasingly unpopular war, that seems increasingly like it's going to last longer and longer, consuming more and more money. A war that started in a fervor of patriotism, increasingly questioned by the populace at large.
We've got foreign companies nipping at the heels of American companies - in the 70s, the re-emergence of post-war Germany and Japan; today, the rise of China and India.
A flood of liquidity into the market, that seems to be fuelling inflation beyond that recognized by "the powers that be".
A real estate market in ascendancy.
Gold on the rise. A large federal deficit.
Fuel costs spiraling ever upwards, it seems.
Now, I remember how it all ended ...
Is it just me, or is this the 1970s redux?
JW
The Confused Capitalist
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4 comments:
JW
You are correct to a degree. Our tax structure is better than it was in the 70's (thank RR and GWB for that). We have no cold war mentality resticting international trade and investment. We having partners willing to take our paper (read Japan and China) and the low labor cost goods mitigate some of the higher costs of materials and energy. We need those trading partners as much as they need us. Best of all, we don't have Carter running the Executive branch. Stagflation sucked and was the result of raising interest rates, rising land and commodity prices and too much Government sucking the taxpayers dry. We are still paying for the entitlement attitude it instilled into a generation. Tom in Indy
We are still trying to fix the mess Carter made of Iran.
Quints - unions yes, but the Mexican's crossing the border, were still a major dynamic then and now, I believe.
Not sure of the relative or absolute numbers, but I remember it being a complaint then too.
JW
Quints,
by the way, I like your analogy that history rhymes, rather than repeats.
I agree that does seem to be the way that things (re)occur - not exactly the same, but similar.
JW
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