-->Analysis: It's 1973, not 1929
By Martin Hutchinson
UPI Business and Economics Editor
Published 12/10/2003 5:53 PM

.....There is another period in U.S. history when retail sales dropped sharply, while commodity prices soared, and the dollar weakened; it is not 1929 but 1973. In the years following 1973, the U.S. went through quite a severe recession, accompanied by very substantial inflation, a sharp decline in productivity, a collapse in inflation-adjusted terms in the stock market, a rise in unemployment that did not begin to reverse for a decade and a sharp retraction in U.S. power and influence worldwide.

If 2003 looked like 1973, then 2004 must have every likelihood of looking like 1974. Adjust your strategies accordingly