The Guardian | Task for the week: limit the fallout from biggest oil shock in decades | Richard Partington by Richard Partington

As World Bank and IMF chiefs gather in Washington the Iran war is driving up energy prices, fuelling inflation and making voters impatient

The world’s finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Washington this week for the half-yearly meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, with the global economy in a perilous spot.

Not since the foundation of the Bretton Woods institutions late in the second world war have global conflicts triggered this much economic turbulence. The volatile 1970s come close. But the US-Israeli war on Iran, coming so soon after the Covid pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, take the prize.

Continue reading...

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/apr/12/iran-war-oil-energy-prices-inflation-washington-world-bank-imf

#economicpolicy #globaleconomy #internationalmonetaryfund(imf)

Ryan Cooper looking back on Bidenomics

'progressive economic policy, if designed well, works great. The government does not have to contort itself to serve the whims of the self-regulating market. Policymakers can reach elbow-deep into the guts of the economy and shove things around...progressive policy does not automatically produce political benefits even if it works. Full employment can easily be taken for granted'

#economics #usPol #bidenomics #labor #economicPolicy

https://prospect.org/2026/04/07/apr-2026-magazine-retrospective-on-bidenomics/