We're Getting '70s Flashbacks in Markets Too
The echoes of that decade are everywhere, but a shock to match Nixon's breaking of the dollar's link to gold are unlikely without an inflationary crisis first.
Another U.S. military adventure in Asia goes awry.
Photographer: Hulton Archive/Archive PhotosDiscomfiting memories of the 1970s are everywhere. The U.S. administration understandably bridles at comparisons of Kabul to the fall of Saigon in 1975, but the parallels are obvious and painful for Americans (and anyone who dislikes the philosophy for which the Taliban stands).
The symbolic significance of the flight of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, just like the images of helicopters airlifting people from the U.S. embassy in Saigon 46 years ago, is probably greater than the practical significance for the rest of the world. It’s been obvious for years that the American military adventure in Afghanistan hasn’t been a success. But symbols matter.