Deja Vu

A common theme among the pundit class these days is that our current national situation is somewhat reminiscent of the 1970s. That resonates with me quite a bit. The similarities are hard to ignore, but there are also differences.

I am old enough to remember the energy crises of the 1970s. The first time it happened in 1973, I was still a kid in the passenger seat of my mom’s car, but I recall the long gas lines. By the time the second embargo came around in 1979, I was driving, but parked for long periods, in long lines behind the wheel. It was a complicated issue, and rather than find a fix for the problem, our president told us to wear a sweater, adjust our thermostats and lowered speed limits.

Jimmy Carter is a very nice man, but he had one of the most hapless presidencies since Millard Fillmore. We had skyrocketing, double-digit interest rates combined with low economic growth. Granted, he did pull off the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, but Anwar Sadat got whacked for it. Then we lost our embassy in Iran and 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days.

The most notable comparison to that period is the nationwide increase in fuel prices and the return of gas lines along the east coast. Some of that equation is self-inflicted with Mr. Biden’s cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline on his first day in office. That affects us all, but the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline has particularly affected 16 states From Texas to New Jersey. That problem is being rectified, but Keystone is not.

It would be nice if the administration’s two trillion-dollar infrastructure bill included incentives for cybersecurity; not only for the fuel lines but more importantly, for our electrical grid. We are not only subject to cyber hacks from foreign actors, but are also susceptible to electromagnetic pulse and solar flares. Bridges and potholes are important, but we need to harden the systems that keep the country functioning.

We are also still having troubles in the Mideast. Last Saturday, an old high school buddy of mine who is stationed at Al Asad Airbase in Iraq (just west of Baghdad) was attacked for the third time in the last several months. In the prior two attacks, they were simply being shelled from Syria. Now they are being attacked by drones, which are most likely being supplied by Iran.

We also have Hamas sending hundreds of rockets and mortars into Israel right now, and Israel is responding with air assaults. Experts say that there is a chance of war, but it already looks like war to me. It’s nothing new. Friction between Israel and Palestine has been with us since the Eisenhower administration, and 70 years later, I’m not seeing much improvement.

Closer to home, the April Consumer Price Index was up 4.2% over last April, so friends, the extra printing of money does indeed cause inflation. That’s the highest we have had since 2008. It’s also driven by increases in fuel prices, supply-chain issues associated with the pandemic and anticipation of minimum wage increases. Interestingly, skyrocketing lumber prices have also affected new housing construction.

In addition to all of that, we also have soaring crime rates in our cities and increased unemployment while unskilled jobs go unfilled. Our southern border invites a host of asylum seekers and a general state of humanitarian crisis ranging from trafficking drugs, to humans, to a cottage industry for the cartels.

The gas lines do indeed remind me of the 1970s, but I hope that is being fixed. Fortunately, we don’t have the interest rates (we can thank the fed for that), but the rest is a hot mess. I’m just waiting for the malaise speech.