A drone view of a pump jack and drilling rig south of Midland, Texas, June 11, 2025.(Eli Hartman/Reuters)
With gasoline prices still averaging over $4 per gallon and the rate of inflation rising to a three-year high on the back of rising energy costs, consumers do not want to hear that things could be a lot worse. They probably have no stomach for the argument that the economic landscape that prevails today, months into a full-scale war with Iran, is actually a marvel of engineering and policymaking over the last decade — one that allows the U.S. to pursue its interests abroad with vigor.
But that’s all true, and I’ve never been much for fashion.
As recently as 2019, the ...
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