"A Rude Awakening for the Entire United States"

"For the first generation after World War II, American life was defined by one word: 'more.' Not just bigger cars and bigger houses, but two cars and two houses. The nation’s standard of living increased dramatically—on a pace to double every 33 years—with much of it generated by the auto industry. In 1949, America’s automobile fleet stood at 45 million. By 1972, it was 116 million—more cars than we could fill up from our own wells. The alpine graph of American prosperity had reached a plateau, and cutting off our supply of foreign oil was all it took to push it downhill."


In Salon, Edward McClelland argues that October 1973 "was a watershed month for the American middle class."