The world enters a new era: Bail-outs for everyone!

of 1973-74 was grim, and in similar ways to today. In response to geopolitical strife energy prices went through the roof. Across Europe the price of natural gas more than doubled, and in places there were even bigger increases in heating oil. The price of crude oil more than tripled. This fed an inflationary surge across the rich world, cutting real incomes. There was no end in sight.At the height of the crisis, Willy Brandt, West Germany’s chancellor, summed up the official response in many countries. “We’ll have to get dressed a little more warmly this winter,” he said, “and maybe the next two or three winters. But we aren’t going to starve.” His government, like others, focused on efforts to cut fuel consumption—by imposing speed limits, telling people not to drive on Sundays and asking factories to turn down furnaces. Sweden and the Netherlands introduced petrol rationing; Italy imposed a curfew in bars and restaurants. Few governments doled out money. In 1973 the real value of Britain’s benefits bill barely budged.