A cartel set up in 1960 that wrought havoc in industrialized countries during the 1970s and early 1980s by forcing up oil prices (which quadrupled in a few weeks during 1973–74 alone), resulting in high inflation and slow growth. A lot of productive capital equipment that had been viable at lower oil prices proved to be unprofitable to run at the higher prices and was shut down. Some economists reckon that market forces would have driven up oil prices anyway and that OPEC merely capitalized on the opportunity. Since the early 1980s, OPEC's influence has waned. Many firms have switched to production methods that need less oil, or less energy altogether. Non-OPEC producers such as the UK have brought new oil fields on stream. And some individual members of the cartel have broken ranks by failing to restrict their oil production, resulting in lower oil prices.