A 1970s crisis warning

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Iran's economy cratering, but the United States is facing what some are concerned about a recession, even depression. Oil prices surging once again. How concerned are governments and businesses about the risk of another global energy crisis on the scale of what we saw back in the '70s? Will Trump react to world pressure urging him to find a way out?

[00:00:20]Well, that's a good question. I think you're right to invoke the 1970s. I think this is potentially going to be of that magnitude and it already is in some parts of the world, as you know, for oil, for gas, for fertilizer, for helium. There are a lot of things in the world economy that depend on the Persian Gulf. And certainly countries that don't think there was any need for this war are going to be particularly upset. But leave aside the political pressure, as you say, the economic pressure is getting intense. And as oil reserves start to run out in various places, it's going to get much worse. So, yeah, we could be on the verge of a global recession. I think there's really no doubt that that's a possibility. I don't know how to predict the likelihood. And so, I think President Trump is well aware of that. He's well aware of the linkage between economic fortunes and the midterm elections. And he wants a way out, but he's also not prepared to blink on the uranium enrichment issue.

[00:01:10]And so, I think, you know, we're going to have to see the two sides rethink a little bit where they come down on that matter. Iran's saying, as you know, we're not going to talk about uranium and nukes until we have an agreement on the economics. I think President Trump is is probably correct to reject that, but he may be being too hardline to think that he can stop all Iranian enrichment forever. We can allow a certain minimal amount under inspection, and I think that's what we should do.