Summary [July 1975]

Since late 1973 the international economy has been dominated by the oil crisis and by parallel rises in the prices of other primary commodities. Most industrialised countries have reacted to these changes in the terms of trade by domestic deflation; unemployment has risen sharply in the OECD countries, while gross product declined and world trade levelled off. All countries have suffered substantial inflation, though with varying degrees of severity. This brief paper summarises world, UK and Scottish economic conditions in the quarter to July 1975.