CAIRO — On Jan. 17, 1977, Egypt's then-Deputy Finance Minister Abdemonem al-Qaisony stood in front of the parliament to declare a number of economic policy changes. The changes were basically increasing the prices of fuel, bread and 25 other consumer goods. Those decisions were ordered by President Anwar Sadat. Back then, Sadat (who was to be assassinated four years later) was celebrated as the man who had defeated Israel and had brought Israelis to peace talks; he also believed he was invincible.

Egypt literally went ablaze in the two days following the irrational decisions of the Sadat regime. Sadat's presidential rest houses were the first to go. The luxurious mansions scattered in almost every governorate across the country were ransacked by hundreds of thousands of infuriated people who barely made a living before the proposed austerity measures. Police stations, government offices and state-owned businesses were attacked in every city. The world dubbed it "the bread riots," while Sadat mocked it as the "thieves' uprising."

A very similar action was taken by Egypt's government three days ago, on July 3, the anniversary of the toppling of President Mohammed Morsi that was orchestrated by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who became president of Egypt one month ago. Sisi now is in much the same position as Sadat in 1977 — Sisi is a military strongman who has recently won major battles against the Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition factions, with every sign indicating he very much believes he is also invincible.

The government's decisions, all publicly defended by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb, raised the prices of every form of fuel for both ordinary consumers and industrial facilities and the prices of electricity and natural gas supplies for household use. It shocked the market into raising the prices of everything from sandwiches to real estate.