Oil rise: Trump gets the jitters
Economist Podcasts
The Economist
4.3 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 10 March 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After oil prices climbed to nearly $120 a barrel yesterday, Donald Trump signalled a possible abrupt end to the conflict in Iran. Markets calmed, but the course of the war remains unclear. Why China’s government has said little about Iran. And how a hippy grocery store became America’s swankiest supermarket.
Guests and host:
- Edward Carr, deputy editor of “The Economist”
- Simon Rabinovitch, Beijing bureau chief
- Avantika Chilkoti, global business correspondent
- Rosie Blau, host of “The Intelligence”
Topics covered:
- Iran, Donald Trump, Brent Crude, financial markets, Asia, oil shock
- Chinese foreign policy, Wang Yi
- Erewhon, food prices, supermarkets
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Economist. |
| 0:10.3 | Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist. |
| 0:13.9 | I'm your host, Rosie Bloor. |
| 0:15.9 | Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:25.0 | Thank you. we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. The war in Iran continues to dominate the headlines. |
| 0:28.5 | Strange thing is, one of the world's most important countries has said little about it. |
| 0:33.1 | Our correspondent asks why China stays mute on the Middle East. |
| 0:39.0 | And it started life as a humble hippie grocery store in L.A. |
| 0:43.5 | Now it's America's trendiest and priciest supermarket, frequented by celebrities and Instagrammers. |
| 0:50.4 | Not a place to go for peas and quiet? |
| 1:09.9 | Yeah. Not a place to go for peace and quiet? But first... |
| 1:10.0 | When America launched its joint operation on Iran, the White House said the conflict could last |
| 1:15.3 | for four to six weeks. Yesterday, Donald Trump suggested the end may in fact come very soon. |
| 1:21.4 | We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective. |
| 1:30.8 | And some people could say they're pretty well complete. |
| 1:35.2 | Shortly after that, though, he insisted America was going to go further, |
| 1:40.7 | threatening Tehran with death, fire, and fury if it continued to block oil supplies. |
| 1:46.6 | Nevertheless, Trump's comments did calm stock markets. And the price of a barrel of Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, which hit nearly $120 yesterday at its peak, fell to $90. |
| 1:55.5 | So is there now clarity on the course of events or confusion? |
| 2:05.1 | Yesterday was a really remarkable day in the oil markets, Rosie, with Brent crude going up to almost double its pre-war price. Edward |
| 2:11.8 | Carr is the economist deputy editor. And that was beginning to infect markets more generally. I saw yesterday's remarks by Trump |
| 2:20.5 | as a signal to reassure investors that he will not wreck the economy for the sake of this war. |
... |
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