The immediate shock of the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran is felt most acutely in fuel prices. As the fighting drags into a third week, however, the ripples are spreading across a broader swath of the economy, threatening to affect everything from groceries and work schedules to stock markets and interest rates.
Even stagflation—the dreaded S-word that plagued American consumers during the 1970s Middle East oil crisis—is in the air again, as business leaders, analysts, and policymakers reassess the scope and duration of a conflict that the U.S. government seems to have underestimated.
