The toll the war in Iran has on the U.S. economy

March 11, 2026·20 min·1 clip

The war in Iran has disrupted 20% of global oil flow, spiking gas prices by 60 cents a gallon in under two weeks.

A cherry-blossom promo comes first. Then Miles Parks, Domenico Montanaro, and Scott Horsley get into the war in Iran and the economic spillover at home. The first sign is gasoline. Horsley ties the quick price jump to disrupted global oil supplies, tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, and supply chains already under strain. One awkward part: prices tend to climb fast and drift down slowly, even when the immediate tension cools. The tankers matter because some ships are no longer making their usual passage. That forces countries such as Kuwait and Iraq to shut in production, which is not a light switch. Once production is shut in, Horsley says restarting it could take weeks or longer, so relief would not show up overnight. The politics get stickier from there. The panel asks what Americans get in return if they swallow higher pump prices without a clear long-term result. Iran's outcome is still open. They weigh whether a younger version of the same Iranian regime, with the Revolutionary Guard still calling the shots, would make people question the cost even more. Roger Marshall is the pressure point. His CNN comment about sacrifices gives the hosts a way to test how much strain people may accept after years of frustration. The episode keeps its claims modest: the costs are showing up now, while the administration's case and the payoff are still hazy. Then eggs make a late entrance. Horsley ends with a February inflation report showing egg prices down 42% over the last year after a less destructive avian-flu winter.

As heard by us

War, oil, and inflation get a steady read without pretending the outcome is settled.

The NPR Politics Podcast follows a hard chain of cause and effect: war in Iran, disrupted oil flows, and the price pressure that starts at the pump before spreading into the broader U.S. economy.

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You want the war-to-gas-pump story without getting lost in the broader economic ripple effects.

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