In late 1990 and early 1991, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the price of petroleum increased on world markets, as traders anticipated possible sup- ply interruptions. Noticeably absent during that crisis were waiting lines for gasoline and other petroleum products, unlike the experience of 1973-74. The whole price episode in 1990 is now largely forgotten, whereas the earlier episode lives on in people's memories and in new bureaucracies. What accounts for these different outcomes?