Chart of the Freaking Day -- Oil Price Surge Then and Now

I found this chart on AngryBear.blogspot.com. It compares the run-up in crude oil recently with what happened in the 1970s.

Have some things changed since then? Yes!

1) We import much more of our oil now.

2) China and India are both growing rapidly, providing oil demand outside the U.S. In fact, this year is the first year that emerging markets will use more oil than the U.S.

3) That price shock was caused by OPEC turning off the tap. This time around, OPEC is pumping flat out.

4) The only new oil being discovered now is expensive oil.

Still, it's a pretty eerie similarity, eh?

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