[Alberta's Child]

The biggest economic/social shift in the 1970s was that the rest of the world caught up to us.

The U.S. was the only industrial power to emerge from World War II with its infrastructure and industrial capacity unscathed. We were able to enjoy a very high standard of living because nobody else could compete with us in most industries.

There is this misconception among a lot of people that these were the "good old days," and we could just go back to that if we wanted to. The reality is that those years were an anomaly in history, not the norm.

By the 1970s, Europe and Japan were back on their feet and new emerging countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia were starting to become major global competitors.

[PghBaldy]

Excellent point.

[yesthatjallen]

Yes, forgot about that.

It was also the end of cheap oil with the rise of OPEC.

Old, energy inefficient US manufacturing plants couldn't compete with new plants. Look at what happened to US steel during the 'energy crisis'.

[Teacher317]

Thank you for that reminder.

[newzjunkey]

Good points!

[central_va]

So are so FOS your eyes are brown.