This time period reminds me of the mid-1970's...just when we elected Jimmy Carter...he "sounded" good, but he didn't know what the h*ll he was doing. Lord have mercy on us all.
Ah...no.
(Do you even understand the 1973 Oil Embargo? Do you realise the United States, up until 1970 was the Saudi Arabia of the world... the "swing" producer? Then after 1970, oil extraction has gone into relentless decline. In 1970 the United States extracted 10 million barrels per day, now it's about half that. By 1973, it was obvious that America would become an importing nation. Cut manufacturing, industry, exports, etc and you get a consumer Walmart bubble society, where everyone just takes out everyone else's laundry... when's the house of cards going to collapse, well it already has started.
(Used to be investments were made on business, not on investment...)
Jimmy Carter was the last sane President the United States had. He was the first and only to government fund alternative energy research, he even installed solar panels on the White House roof (you may remember this if you are old enough). He came on TV in a cardigan and told Americans the truth - their way of life was intrinsicly and completely dependant on oil. Turn down the thermostat, buy a smaller car, and invest in alternative energies so when the oil is gone we won't have a human die-off. If the United States had kept up that arrangement, since it takes about 30 years to change a societies energy infrastructure, we wouldn't be up shit creek now...
Americans got scared...what did they do, throw Carter out of office in a hurry.
What did Reagan do as soon as he got in office? Tore those solar panels right off the roof, cut all government funding into alternative energy research, and told Americans to stop worrying and keep on a' spending and gluttoning... how did he put it "sunrise on America" or some such nonsense...
Everyone says Clinton was a great President. I disagree, he was forunate enough to reign while America was having a free ride. The 1990s had the North Sea and Canterall discoveries (the last large discoveries we will have. In 2003 and 2004, not a single field of oil over 6 million barrels was found! To put that in perspective the world uses 85 million barrels a day. And discovery worldwide peaked in 1962) which allowed the 10 dollar a barrel oil we had at the time.