The latter is borne by a steady decline in unemployment and by job creation and also by the prospect of inflation coming down once more to a low level after the increase in the autumn. The oil price rise has not seriously disrupted growth prospects. We can call it a “mini oil crisis”.
First, the rise, though rapid (recovering from a position where prices had fallen excessively low) was not comparable with the price increases of the 1970s. Also, our economies have become less dependent on oil (by the exploitation of new energy sources, the energy-saving measures which were implemented for a time and the shift in economic activity towards the service sector).