Rising oil prices, surging inflation: The Arab embargo 50 years ago weaponized oil to inflict economic trauma

Cars lined up for gasoline in New Jersey in 1973 as supplies ran low and prices shot upward. Frederic Lewis/Archive Photos/Getty ImagesFifty years ago, a secret deal among Arab governments triggered one of the most traumatic economic crises to afflict the United States and other big oil importers. Saudi King Faisal and other Arab leaders launched an oil embargo on Oct. 17, 1973, as payback for Washington siding with Israel in its war with neighboring Egypt and Syria. The oil market hostilities a