Many economists believe that the extremely high inflation rates of 1973-74 were driven primarily by A) The Vietnam war

B) The OPEC - directed oil embargo

C) Richard Nixon re-election campaign

D) The Yom Kippur War in the Middle East

The correct answer is the second (B).

Petroleum is one of the most important inputs for the development of economies, involving a relation of increasing dependence.

In 1973 the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries made a decision to cut off oil exports to the United States and other nations that provided military aid to Israel. This was a political and ideological decision, since most oil producing countries are from the Middle East region.

When an essential good such as oil is affected, the production cost of all activities of the economy increases, since oil is part of the industry's production chain and indirectly of the trade, since it increases the transport costs.

In this scenario, economic theory explains that a supply shock, such as oil, causes harmful impacts on the economy, including inflation, as the production and distribution of goods and services becomes more expensive.

the answer is b) opec