Iran War Upends Inflation Bets in $50 Trillion Debt Market

One inflation spike in the 2020s might be an accident, the world’s biggest bond markets seem to have decided, but two looks like an alarming new trend.

The US war on Iran is inflicting another wave of price hikes on a global economy that’s barely recovered from the last one. A material chunk of the world’s fuel and fertilizers is trapped inside the Strait of Hormuz, and the pain is spreading. European airlines canceled flights, Americans have spent an extra $20 billion at the gas pump, and Asian rice farmers wondered if they should skip planting. Pretty much every ...