"The forecast of economic impacts beyond November’s midterms contrast with the Trump administration’s optimistic messaging."
"The effects of the U.S.-led war on Iran are about to intensify in the form of huge jumps in the prices of gasoline and diesel, analysts predict. And despite the Trump administration’s assurances, a new and potentially even more economically damaging phase of the war may be about to begin.
The national average price for regular gasoline stood at $4.44 on Thursday, according to AAA, with a range of $6.09 in California to $3.92 in Indiana. That’s still below the all-time national record of $5.02 in June 2022. But diesel, which has a big influence on trucking and retail prices, has continued to hit records, with the national average at $6.40 on Thursday. In California, diesel is averaging $8.35.
The cost increases are landing particularly hard in several political battleground states in the Midwest, where prices jumped as much as 25 cents per gallon overnight, according to AAA.
Damage inflicted on Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline last week, along with continuing strikes on oil infrastructure and contested control over a key waterway, threaten to elevate what had been a shipping crisis into a broader disruption of oil. "
Evan Halper, Rachel Chason and Joyce Sohyun Lee report for the New York Times September 17, 2036.
