Western European investment change over select periods between 1960-1990

Investment rates in Western Europe* in the 1960s were considerably higher than in the decades that followed. Between 1960 and 1973, during a period referred to as the "Golden Age of Capitalism" in Western Europe, overall investment grew by 5.6 percent. This period of prosperity came to an end, however, with the Recession of 1973-1975, as the Arab-Israeli War of 1973 saw oil prices soar for the U.S. and its allies; investment rates grew by just 0.3 percent over the remainder of the decade. Sporadic recessions resulting from further conflicts in the Middle East saw additional economic recessions in the early-1980s, however, the second half of the 1980s saw a significant growth in investment once more, surpassing the rates seen between 1960 and 1973