The record price of diesel threatens to stoke inflation at a time when consumers are already price-sensitive and businesses are reeling from higher costs due to trade tensions. Why it matters: Diesel is a key cost throughout the supply chain, meaning soaring prices could eventually show up in what consumers pay for everything from groceries to household goods. Driving the news: The national average price of a gallon of diesel topped $6 for the first time ever, AAA said Friday, Axios' Ben Berkowitz reports . - That's up 60% from a year earlier. Between the lines: Food prices could be among the first places consumers feel the ripple effects, executives said this week. - At grocery chain Kroger, which has been trying to keep a lid on…
Americans desperately want day-to-day life to be more affordable . Right now, they aren't getting it. The big picture: The pinch of high prices for food, energy, housing and more has driven seismic shifts in public opinion over the last four years. Since the onset of the Iran war, the cost of living looks likely to get worse, not better, at least in the near term. - Energy prices are surging, interest rates are on the rise, and the stock market is looking wobbly — a triple whammy for U.S. households. By the numbers: The national average for a gallon of gasoline is poised to surpass $4, up from about $3 a month ago — and is set to rise further the longer the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked. - Even before the latest energy shock,…
Countries across South Asia are imposing emergency measures like rationing energy, closing universities, cutting short workweeks and even changing the way crematoriums work to deal with the fallout from the Iran war . Why it matters: Yes, the war is raising gas prices for Americans and causing a political headache for President Trump — but it's also creating a deeper crisis abroad that governments and businesses are scrambling to manage. The big picture: It's the latest global economic shock in a turbulent decade. - The 2020s have seen a pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting inflation, and, more recently, Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, which rocked markets and panicked some countries. Between the lines: The laws of…