Consider, if you will, the following recent news items:

Saudi Arabia, leader of a resurgent OPEC, twice has rebuked President Bush’s plea for more output to cut oil prices.

A surge in inflation amid slow growth has flummoxed central bankers and stock market investors.

Paul Volker, the former Federal Reserve chairman and inflation slayer, has reappeared – this time as a critic of Central Bank policy.

Once again it’s cool to talk about gas mileage and the bargain you picked up in the sale rack or at the 99 Cent Store.

Nobody is calling for a revival of stone-washed jeans, leggings and “Flashdance,” but there are ominous signs that the 1980s are making a comeback.

Perhaps that is why two of the world’s best known billionaires – George Soros and Warren Buffet – were warning last week that the worst of the current banking crisis is not over.

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