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Economic Commentary

The Sectoral and Regional Effects of Oil Shocks: Who's over a Barrel?

Once again the United States has been jolted by an oil price shock. Since Iraq’s August 2 invasion of Kuwait, the cost of crude has soared as high as $41 a barrel. And although prices have since moderated, they continue to exceed the preinvasion level. The U.S. economy has already begun to register adverse effects, as rising energy costs have contributed to the economic slowdown and a general increase in prices. Furthermore, heightened uncertainty about future oil prices and the prospects for war in the Persian Gulf could weaken the economy even more as some firms reduce, delay, or cancel projects in the face of these added risks.

The views authors express in Economic Commentary are theirs and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The series editor is Tasia Hane. This paper and its data are subject to revision; please visit clevelandfed.org for updates.

Suggested Citation

Bauer, Paul, and Susan M. Bryne. 1991. “The Sectoral and Regional Effects of Oil Shocks: Who's over a Barrel?” Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Economic Commentary 1/15/1991.

This work by Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International