Assessing the Iran War's "structural damage" with Harvard economist Gita Gopinath

Rising energy prices, higher inflation, and growing economic uncertainty — a Harvard economist says the fallout from the Iran war is already being felt.

On the GZERO World Podcast, Ian Bremmer sits down with Harvard economist and former IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath to unpack how the conflict is rippling through the global economy. As oil and gas prices surge, inflation is climbing, adding new costs for households and businesses and putting pressure on growth worldwide.

Gopinath explains that while the immediate hit to global growth may seem modest, the bigger concern is longer-term “structural damage”—the slow-moving economic shifts caused by trade fragmentation, strained alliances, and geopolitical conflict. They also discuss why the US may be more insulated than other economies, how China is positioning itself for a more fragmented world, and whether the recent boom in AI investment can offset some of the economic drag.

As inflation rises and global economic ties continue to shift, what comes next may matter even more than the immediate shock.

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