This is where the 1973 oil shock comes in. Unemployment accelerated and Ireland didn’t recover from the 1973 oil shock and it was hit again by another oil shock in 1979 after the Iranian Revolution. In addition, every time there is a spike in oil prices, oil production in inaccessible and expensive oil fields such as the North Sea comes on stream, raising global supply, meaning the prices tend to fall quickly. As a general rule, factories that close when oil prices are high don’t tend to reopen when oil prices fall. Now that we are experiencing another oil shock, will there be a recession as has been the case four times in the past five decades?

Source: The Irish Times March 28, 2026 10:00 UTC