Free Republic

1/10 The U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would cost Iran approximately $276M/day in lost exports and disrupt $159M/day in imports, a combined economic damage of ~$435M/day, or $13B/month.Over 90% of Iran's $109.7B in annual trade transits the Persian Gulf. Oil/gas accounts for 80% of government export earnings and 23.7% of GDP. Kharg Island alone generates ~$53B/year, or as I noted to @TIME, "$78 billion a year in energy

Hide the sharp objects—at least if you take Nicolle Wallace seriously. On Friday’s edition of Deadline White House, Wallace began by painting an apocalyptic picture of the situation in Iran. Grim enough to have Trump supporters reaching for the Lexapro—if they believed her. After laying out her bleak scenario, Wallace went a step further, warning of: “A full-scale global economic crisis that might actually be even worse than those headlines, and worse than we think.”Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

Inflation surged in March as consumer prices jumped amid the economic disruptions caused by the Iran war's impact on the energy market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday said that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – rose 0.9% from a month ago and is 3.3% higher than last year. The annual figure jumped from last month's 2.4% reading, while the monthly increase also rose markedly from last month's 0.3% reading Expectations vs. reality Both the 0.9% monthly increase and 3.3% annual rise were in...

RAINELLE, W.Va. (AP) — Every month, Rebecca Michalski takes a deep breath before opening her electric bill. She lives on a fixed income, and heating her small house this winter has been staggering: Her February charge was $940.08 — more than her check. It makes no sense. She turns the lights off during the day and only burns one lamp with an energy-efficient bulb in the living room at night, but she keeps falling further behind on payments. In desperation, she took out a loan after getting a cut-off notice during an extended arctic blast that kept the state’s heaters...

srael’s campaign in Iran has reached far beyond missile depots and military command. Over roughly a month, it has also hit the architecture of domestic repression: intelligence compounds, police stations, Basij bases, judicial buildings, and senior officials tied to crackdowns. That matters not only because of the damage done, but because of what these places meant. In Iran, repression has never depended on one institution alone. It has been built as a layered system, running from the top decision-making bodies in Tehran down to the neighborhood police station, the local Basij outpost and the courthouse where detainees are processed. A...

Based on the CPI, inflation is relatively cool. Don't be fooled. It's much higher than advertised, and you can see it clearly if you look at the right data. When talking heads on CNBC or Fox Business talk about inflation, they always reference the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This metric measures the price changes in a “basket of goods.” This gives a fair approximation of price inflation (although intentionally understated), but it doesn’t give us a good gauge on the trajectory of inflation as historically economically defined. Inflation isn’t just “rising prices.” Historically, inflation was defined as an increase in...

The March report on employment from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows non-farm payrolls increasing by 178,000 jobs. This exceeded expert predictions of a 60,000 increase. Since Trump's inauguration in January of 2025 the US private sector has added 609,000 jobs. Average hourly wages are 3.5% higher than a year ago. During the Biden Administration annual blue-collar wages declined by $1,703. In the past year these wages have risen by $1,186. The annual inflation rate that peaked at over 6% during the middle years of Biden's term have fallen to 2.5% in the first year of Trump's current term....

President Donald Trump is asking for an eye-popping $1.5 trillion to fund the Pentagon in the budget proposal the White House released Friday. With the war with Iran ongoing, Trump has pushed that more money is needing to fund the US military and less on social programs. 'We're fighting wars, we can't take care of daycare,' he muttered at Wednesday's Easter lunch, which was closed to press, but video was accidentally posted online.

Oil surged 10% Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump warned of further military aggression against Iran in the next two to three weeks, dampening hopes for an imminent de-escalation in the conflict. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May were up 10% at $110.21 a barrel as of 8:13 a.m. ET. June futures for international benchmark Brent crude rose 8% to $109.25 per barrel. Trump in his speech attributed the increase in oil prices to the “Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers and neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.” He said...

The MONTHLY Victory Garden Thread is a gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

Recent press reports and opinion poll results declare the U.S. economy is in worse shape than it was in 2021 through 2024. This impression prevails despite very high gross domestic product growth and falling inflation in the second and third quarters of last year, in the wake of slower growth and steady inflation numbers in the fourth quarter.An accurate gauge of the overall health of the economy is critically important considering the federal government’s assumption of authority and control over the nation’s economic well-being. A false diagnosis will lend credence to bad policy choices.Overall, the U.S. economy is not yet...

President Donald Trump dismissed concerns about rising gas prices, insisting they’ll be dropping “very soon” once the Iran war wraps up. Trump spoke to reporters at the White House on Tuesday after signing an executive order cracking down on mail-in voting, and when confronted about the sharp rise in gas prices since the strikes against Iran were launched, the president insisted the U.S. will be leaving Iran “very soon.” According to AAA, the national average for gas is around $4. One month ago, it was below $3. The country hasn’t faced a $4 average for gas since 2022, when Russia...

White House officials have privately discussed their concerns about recent internal and public polling on the economy and President Trump and have been trying to drum up new strategies to prevent GOP losses in the midterm elections, sources briefed on the conversations told CBS News. Senior aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff James Blair, regularly brief the president on the latest polling on voter sentiment. A central focus is the dissatisfaction of independent voters, whose economic angst has risen since the president's tariffs triggered global economic uncertainty and gas prices began to spike as...

The global energy shock triggered by the ongoing Iran war is rippling through the United States farm sector, where soaring input costs are placing US farmers under severe financial strain and raising concerns about future food prices... The closure and instability around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil and fertilizer shipments, have pushed fuel prices sharply higher and tightened supplies of key agricultural inputs. The result is a double blow for US farmers already dealing with tight margins. Higher input costs reduce profitability, while uncertainty about supply availability complicates planting decisions. In some cases, farmers are...

Serious disagreements have arisen between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, head of the political echelon in the Islamic Republic, and Ahmad Vahidi, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), regarding the management of the war and its destructive consequences for the people and the country’s economy, opposition-linked Iran International reports. Pezeshkian has criticized the Revolutionary Guards’ approach to the conflict by escalating tensions, continuing attacks on neighboring countries, and refusing to negotiate with the U.S., warning of drastic economic consequences from this approach. Iran International cited “informed sources” who said that Pezeshkian has claimed that without a ceasefire, the Iranian...

The price of coffee is increasing faster than any other household grocery, and it’s not just tariffs driving the surge — bad weather, war and a frenzy of market traders are also to blame for the rise. Coffee prices have spiked by a stunning 18.4% in the last year, according to federal data from February. Most other household spending items — from groceries to cars to haircuts — don’t close to that increase rate, figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show. Those increases have affected both producers and consumers, and reflect a trend that has been running wild since...

On March 17, the U.S. national debt slipped past $39 trillion. If you're thinking, 'Wow, it seems like we just crossed the $38 trillion threshold,' you are correct. It was a mere 150 days ago on October 21. As of March 17, the national debt stood at $39,016,762,910,245.14. This happened despite a 294 percent increase in tariff revenue and the media relations program known as DOGE.The pace of debt accumulation is staggering, and it’s accelerating. In 2020, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected that the debt wouldn’t hit $37 trillion until 2030. Oops. Just how fast is Uncle Sam shoveling...

Spring planting season is starting across the northern hemisphere. But before seeds go into the ground, nutrients go into the soil. Typically nitrogen fertilizer. "Right now, we're kind of ... we'll be in the thick of it," farmer Matt Ubel said from the cab of his huge green fertilizer spreader near Wheaton, Kansas. "Lot of nitrogen gets put on in the spring." The high cost of fertilizer and other farming necessities pushed many row crop farmers into the red last year. Ubel says some were holding out for lower prices this spring, only to see the price of the most...

@RepNancyMace Washington’s war machine has spent decades sending our sons and daughters into endless conflicts in the Middle East, with no clear exit strategy, all to serve the interests of powerful politicians. We will not stand for it. We will not sacrifice American lives for the same failed foreign policies. The war machine may be willing to give the lives of your sons and daughters for the price of oil, but we are not.

Low-cost alternatives to the multimillion-dollar missiles the U.S. is using in its war against Iran are still years away, key Pentagon officials said Tuesday, leaving the military reliant on high-cost munitions that are increasingly in short supply. The U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran has burned through complex weapons that cannot be replaced quickly or affordably enough to maintain the Pentagon’s usual stockpiles. Military officials said at a Senate Armed Services Committee briefing that cheaper munitions are on the long-term horizon, but the U.S. industrial base still needs time to scale up to the Defense Department’s increasing needs. Expanding the American industrial...