Suddenly Hormuz is less crucial... Paul Krugman

[BootinUp]

Is Russia burning?

Are we back at war with Iran? Did the war ever stop? The US is, once again, bombing Iran while Iranian drones strike shipping. Iran, giddy with its success in defying America, is demanding sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, while Donald Trump is saying no, he owns the Strait and will collect 20 percent tolls.

Folks, this is bad. U.S. national security policy is now entirely in the service of one man’s vanity. We got into this mess because Trump thought he could win an easy victory that would let him strut around feeling powerful. Now we can’t get out because he won’t admit that his war has been a humiliating failure.

The good news is that Trump’s temper tantrum will probably do less economic damage than one might have expected — because the cease-fire that is apparently over wasn’t doing as much good as one might have expected. The fact is that there is now a disconnect between events in the Strait of Hormuz and the energy prices that matter. This disconnect is coming from a surprising place, another war that was supposed to yield a quick, easy victory but didn’t: Vladimir Putin’s attempt to conquer Ukraine.

To see what I’m talking about, start with a question: Why was oil so cheap just before this latest confrontation?

Continued https://open.substack.com/pub/paulkrugman/p/suddenly-hormuz-is-less-crucial-than

[dweller]

1. wti crude futures are at

$79.44 up from ~$68 less than 2 weeks ago

$5/gal here we come

😐



✌🏻

[multigraincracker]

2. And our reserves are on empty.

[dem4decades]

3. I keep hearing that but it never gets there.

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. If things continue on the current path, with refining capacity significantly reduced

By fall we could see $7-8 gallon, and rationing.

[dweller]

8. Just in time

for the midterms

😐



✌🏻

[Fiendish Thingy]

10. Yup

Every cloud has a silver lining, and we’ve got plenty of clouds on the horizon.

[multigraincracker]

4. Iran has vowed revenge.

I would avoid being anywhere near any building with his name on it

[tanyev]

9. Good advice for so many reasons.

[MyOwnPeace]

5. When you read something.....

that was written by someone that actually knows what they’re talking about, doesn’t that make you wish you had someone “in charge” that knew how to get those people to help run our country?

“I’LL HIRE ONLY THE BEST….”

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. That's the trouble with TACO Tuesdays

Hot takes get out of date real fast.

I’m guessing the rest of Krugman’s column talks about the destruction of most of Russia’s refineries, dropping worldwide refining capacity by up to 20%.

It’s a BFD, especially since reserves are already dangerously low.

If you haven’t filled your tank, now would be the time.

If we see a return to the rationing and gas lines of the 70’s, there’s a good chance Dems will get a supermajority in the house, and will retake the senate easily.

[House of Roberts]

11. I'd like to go back to the gas lines of the 70s.

I was 17, and my parents paid me to go sit in gas lines with each car, odd tags on odd numbered days, even tags on even numbered days. You could only get ten gallons per trip, and I had the perfect station to use. It was on the downhill side of a hill, and you could coast down the shoulder, without having to crank the engine when the line moved. I'd sit there with a cooler full of cokes and play the radio, get my ten gallons, and come back the next day with the other car.