ABSTRACT
The Persian Gulf crisis and the resulting surge in the price of oil again raised the question of how energydependent developed economies are, especially at a time when a slowdown in economic activity (in some instances a recession) is being recorded. Indicators such as consumption of energy per unit of GDP show a general tendency for the energy intensity of output to be lower today than it was ten or fifteen years ago. Moreover, other sources of energy have helped to reduce the share of energy use met by oil as well as industrial countries’ reliance on energy imports, allowing their production systems to adjust more flexibly in periods of crisis. None the less, an increase in the price of oil still represents a deterioration in the terms of trade for most countries and risks sparking off a price-wage spiral unless appropriate policies are introduced.
