Ironically, Trump and Netanyahu’s War on the World is hurting global economies far worse than any damage inflicted on Iran.

British households are facing renewed pressure on living standards as fuel costs surge, the organization has warned.

The UK is facing one of the largest economic shocks of any country from the Middle East conflict, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

The international body says Europe’s largest offshore island is ’especially exposed’ to surging energy prices due to its heavy reliance on gas-fired power.

Energy Stricken

Energy importers across Europe are taking the hardest hit after prices surged in the wake of the ongoing US- Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

IMF officials, including chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, say the Fund said heavily indebted governments like the UK would have little room to cushion the blow. This frailty would leave households and businesses more exposed.

Trump’s War

It added that the Middle East war’s impact would be ’both global and highly uneven,’ with some countries, including the UK, facing a renewed squeeze on living standards.

The UK and Italy are among the most exposed, with rising energy bills set to drive up living costs, the IMF said, while France and Spain are relatively shielded due to greater reliance on nuclear and renewable energy.

Don’t Panic

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday urged the public to act as normal, insisting that fuel supplies remain secure.

Economists warn that the British economy is now in a far weaker position than it was four years ago, when the EU and the UK began phasing out affordable Russian gas and oil amid the Ukraine conflict.

Former Bank of England deputy governor Howard Davies said this week the UK could be heading towards an energy crisis comparable to the turmoil of the 1970s.

Back then, oil prices quadrupled after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war as Arab producers imposed an embargo on Western nations.

$150 a barrel

He warned that Middle East supply could remain constrained, keeping prices elevated, if not as high as $150 a barrel, then well above the roughly $60 seen before the current crisis.

UK natural gas prices have more than doubled since December, while Brent crude, near $60 before the conflict, briefly topped $116 earlier this week before easing to about $100 a barrel on Wednesday.

QUOTE: The Law of Unintended Consequences is an adage stating that foolish interventions in complex systems, particularly in government policies, almost always produce unanticipated, often undesirable outcomes alongside or instead of intended results. The saying highlights the limitations of human foresight and control.

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