Word: lulled
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Final Crunch. The lull in the energy crisis has been the result of two developments for which governments can take no credit: a succession of mild winters and the global recession of 1974-75. Both held down fuel consumption and tended to obscure a frightening fact: in the long run, the world is going to run out of oil. Known reserves may well be nearing depletion before the end of the century, sending crude production on an irreversible decline-and before that point is reached, demand pressures will push petroleum prices to confiscatory levels, threatening economic chaos. So current consumption...
...actions indicate that Burns, like Carter, is worried by the persistence of the lull in the business recovery and strengthen hopes that the two can avoid an outright clash over economic policy. Speculation that they might be on a collision course arose shortly after the election, when Burns warned Congress that stimulation of the economy risked speeding up inflation. But Burns was careful not to come out flatly against the tax cut that many of Carter's economic advisers want. Lately he has been passing the word that he might eventually back a cut if the economy continues...
...deepening business lull. The Government reported last week that real gross national product-total output, adjusted for inflation-rose only 3.8% in the third quarter, rather than 4% as was first estimated. Industrial production fell .5% in October, the second straight monthly decline, and housing starts also dipped. Carter in January is likely to propose a $10 billion to $15 billion tax cut to pep up demand; his chief economic adviser, Lawrence R. Klein, has said that the country may need an annual growth rate of 7% to reduce unemployment significantly...
Government statisticians were quick to note that despite the lull, the economy is still expanding, if slowly. They note that the index was undoubtedly distorted by the four-week strike against Ford Motor Co., and also that its record as a measure of future business trends is uneven. Three times since 1948 the index fell for two months in a row but no economic downturn followed. On six other occasions, however, two or more consecutive months of decline in the index did signal an overall drop in economic activity...
...recession conferred any small compensatory blessing on the industrialized world, it was a respite from the energy crisis. Shortages of oil gave way to a worldwide glut, and prices stabilized. But consuming countries failed to use the lull to start any significant oil-conservation programs, or to develop alternative sources of energy rapidly enough. Indeed, they have grown even more dependent on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries; the U.S., for example, now imports about 40% of its oil, v. 29% before the time of the Arab embargo in 1973. Now, the consuming countries are about to pay the OPEC...