The year everything changed

[Sydney – ]The stormclouds are gathering. Our market has plunged below 5000 for the first time in two years, oil prices are soaring, America is in (unofficial) recession and the Reserve Bank is clearly worried about the home front.

After years of partying, many believe it’s time for the inevitable hangover when gloom and doom replace the exuberant optimism that just a few months ago seemed as though it would never end.

In years to come, it’s quite probable we will look back at 2008 as the year in which everything changed. And most of the changes being wrought upon us relate to energy, our use of it and its cost.

There are several powerful forces at work at the moment; some cyclical and some far more fundamental.

Sydney Morning Herald