Is It Back to the 70s?

摘要

The market buzz in America evokes the age of gas lines, stagflation, and the woebegone misery index. AS IF THE SURVIVAL OF LEI-sure suits and Lava lamps weren't bad enough, the '70s retro theme is now the talk of the financial markets, too. American economists are warning that stagflation—the high-inflation, low-growth scourge of the '70s—may be threatening a comeback. Inflation is rising because of record energy costs—gas prices have reached 3 dollar a gallon in some U.S. states—which is chilling consumers. Add to that the nagging concerns over Washington's debt habit, a weak dollar, slowing growth and the future of flagship automakers, and it is perhaps inevitable that Americans who can remember the '70s would start to note the similarities. So traumatic were the effects of stagflation that historian Theodore White included it as one of three "fundamental ideas" that define modern America, alongside Johnson's Great Society and the rise of television.