> >> It wouldn't matter to us much if they didn't control a commodity that > >> the whole world has developed a dependence on. > >> Oil When OPEC decided to flex their muscle in the mid 70's, it sent shock > >> waves through out the entire world economically speaking. Double > >> digit inflation, double digit unemployment and the deepest economic
> >> problems that the U.S. had faced since the great depression. > > > > > > Yup, that really sucked. > > > > > You seem to forget that was due to the fact that USA broke > the Bretton Woods agreement which stated that dollar was to > be tied to gold reserves in USA. The dollar stopped being > backed by gold, it started devaluating and the OPEC took action. The 1973 oil crisis first began on October 17, 1973 when the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), consisting of the Arab members of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) plus Egypt and Syria, announced as a result of the ongoing Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations that had supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt. This included the United States and its allies in Western Europe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis But on October 17, OPEC struck back against the West by imposing an oil embargo on the U.S., while increasing prices by 70% to America's Western European allies. Overnight, the price of a barrel of oil to these nations rose from $3 to $5.11. [In January 1974, they raised it further to $11.65.] The U.S. and the Netherlands, in particular, were singled out for their support of Israel in the war. http://www.buyandhold.com/bh/en/education/history/2002/arab.html The embargo was applied to oil-importing countries on a sliding scale depending on each country's relationship with Israel. The United States, the Netherlands, and South Africa were Israel's strongest supporters and thus bore the brunt of the embargo-a total ban on the shipment of Arab oil. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Oli-Per/Organization-of -Petroleum-Exporting-Countries-OPEC.html Bill _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
