The Energy Shock Is Here
4/15/202619 min
Get your tickets to our L.A. live show here! The standoff in the Strait of Hormuz means millions of barrels of oil are still trapped in the Persian Gulf. As countries around the world begin to feel the impact of that energy shock, new inflation numbers are signalling that the U.S. economy is being impacted too. WSJ’s David Uberti explains how the stock market and consumers are processing what could be the worst oil crisis ever. Jessica Mendoza hosts. Further Listening:
- The Strait of Hormuz Showdown
- In Iran, an Uneasy Calm Amid a Cease-Fire
- Will the U.S.-Iran Cease-Fire Hold? Sign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJessica Mendoza· Host0:00
Hey everyone, it's Jess.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:01
And Ryan. We have a live event coming up that you do not want to miss.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:05
It's in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 28th at the El Rey Theater.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:10
We'll have Emmy winner and Oscar-nominated actor Riz Ahmed.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:13
Who was in the Star Wars movie Rogue One.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:15
And TV and film producer Franklin Leonard.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:17
We'll be talking about the future of Hollywood, and we'll have a few other surprises.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:21
Tickets are still available. Grab yours now via the link in our show notes. See you April 28th.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:27
See you April 28th. [dramatic music] So before the war in Iran started, how were things going with the US economy?
David Uberti· Guest0:37
So at the start of the year, if you looked at surveys about business or consumer confidence, they were actually quite high relative to recent history.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:46
Our colleague Dave Uberti covers markets and the economy.
David Uberti· Guest0:49
Inflation was coming down, and consumer spending was pretty robust. [upbeat music] You had an economy coming into the year where there was a lot of tailwinds. There was optimism that the uncertainty from the tariff turmoil of last year was dying down. There was optimism that President Trump's tax cuts would boost the economy in certain ways, and there was optimism that the US consumer was pretty resilient after the last several years or so.
Jessica Mendoza· Host1:14
Dave says back at the beginning of the year, there were some downward indicators. Stagnant job growth, for example. But overall inflation seemed to be mostly under control, higher than in years past, but moving in the right direction.