How much is the war hitting American's bottom line?
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
President Trump says the economy is “roaring.”
That as Americans are paying an average price of $4.48 a gallon for gas on Tuesday.
A year ago it was $3.17.
The reason for that increase — the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, which resulted in the closing of the Strait of Hormuz.
Gas prices are just one measure of the cost of living in the United States. But they’re a significant one.
Martha Gimbel, executive director at the Budget Lab at Yale, weighs in on how the war with Iran is affecting American's bottom line.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's considered this where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, living in a war economy. |
| 0:08.8 | Our country's booming now, despite the fact that we're in a, I call it a mini war, because that's all they are. |
| 0:14.8 | A mini war. That's what President Trump is calling the war with Iran. And on Monday, at a White House event for Small Business |
| 0:21.3 | Week, he seemed to downplay how that war is affecting the U.S. economy. |
| 0:26.5 | Thanks to these pro-growth policies, our economy is roaring. And factory construction is way up. |
| 0:32.7 | Consumer confidence is way up. Business investment is more than triple compared to that of just a short time ago. |
| 0:40.9 | The data does not reflect consumer confidence being way up. American families are feeling the pinch. |
| 0:47.6 | Mortgage rates are climbing. Gas prices are the highest they've been in nearly four years, |
| 0:52.0 | and that is driving up the cost of food. |
| 0:54.8 | Consider this. |
| 0:55.8 | We already had an affordability crisis in the U.S. |
| 0:59.5 | Now the war with Iran is making life more expensive. |
| 1:08.4 | From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly. |
| 1:17.7 | Music From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly. It's consider this from NPR. |
| 1:20.9 | President Trump says the economy is roaring, that as Americans are paying an average price |
| 1:26.3 | $4.48 a gallon for gas on Tuesday, a year ago, it was $3.17. |
| 1:33.3 | The reason for that increase is the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, which resulted in the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. |
| 1:41.3 | Gas prices are just one measure of the cost of living in the United States, |
| 1:45.7 | but they're a significant one. We wanted to take a few minutes to measure how the war is affecting |
| 1:51.6 | Americans' bottom line. So we have called Martha Gimbel. She's co-founder and executive director |
| 1:57.6 | of the Budget Lab at Yale. We check in with her from time to time about the |
| 2:01.8 | economy. Martha Gimple, welcome back. Thank you so much for having me. I feel like you only |
... |
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