Crude awakening: Iran oil shock
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As America and Israel continue to bombard Iran, much of Iran’s retaliation is directed against energy infrastructure. With tankers blocked and oil prices rising, our correspondent discusses the impact on the global economy. Why do student debts weigh heavily on Britain’s graduates? And is line dancing really becoming sexy?
Guests and host:
- Rachana Shanbhogue, business affairs editor
- Josh Roberts, capital markets correspondent
- Hollie Berman, news editor, US bureau
- Rosie Blau, co-host of “The Intelligence”
- Jason Palmer, co-host of “The intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Iran, oil, gas, global economy, Dubai, Gulf, stockmarkets
- Britain, universities, student loans, tax
- Line dancing, New York, bar culture
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist |
| 0:02.0 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:14.0 | I'm Jason Palmer |
| 0:16.0 | And I'm Rosie Bloor. |
| 0:18.0 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:25.4 | As Britain has moved from a model of free university education to one that's reasonably |
| 0:30.3 | pricey, its student loans model hasn't changed quite so much. We look at what many think |
| 0:36.2 | has become a regressive tax on grads. |
| 0:39.3 | And it used to be the preserve of far-flung cowboys or provincial grannies. |
| 0:45.3 | Now the latest choreography craze is line dancing. |
| 0:49.3 | Our correspondent explains the step change. |
| 1:03.6 | First up, though. |
| 1:18.9 | America says it struck more than 2,000 targets in Iran since its joint campaign with Israel began on Saturday. |
| 1:26.3 | Iran has responded with a barrage of missiles on military and economic targets across the Middle East. |
| 1:32.3 | Until a few days ago, it seemed a remote idea that it would both lash out at its oil-rich neighbours and block the Strait of Hormuz. |
| 1:35.6 | But Iran knows that the region's strength is also its vulnerability. |
| 1:41.4 | Millions of barrels of oil travel through the Strait of Hormuz each day, prompting Donald Trump to say that, if necessary, U.S. Navy vessels would escort the tankers. |
| 1:51.6 | If we have a little high oil prices for a little while, but as soon as this ends, those prices are going to drop, I believe, lower than even before. |
| 2:02.2 | Yesterday, he sounded almost relaxed at the jump-in energy prices. |
| 2:06.6 | Markets have been less sanguine. |
| 2:09.3 | Trading in South Korea and Thailand was paused temporarily overnight to avoid panic selling. |
| 2:15.4 | The question now is what damage is being done to the global economy |
... |
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