Part 5/16:
However, this golden era was heavily reliant on plentiful, cheap energy—mainly imported oil. The 1973 Yom Kippur War and Arab oil embargo abruptly quadrupled energy prices, plunging France into economic turmoil. Inflation soared to 14%, growth plummeted, and unemployment became a structural issue, rising from 2% to approximately 10%. These shocks exposed a critical vulnerability: the pension and healthcare system, financed mainly through payroll contributions, was unsustainable in a context of rising unemployment and demographic shifts.