The U.S. economy has been on unsteady footing for a while now, but the catalyst to tip it over the edge could be an event playing out on the other side of the world.
The conflict in Iran is not even a week old, but observers are already seeing ways the war could cascade and contribute to a broader economic downturn on U.S. soil. If the war goes on for much longer, and if belligerents begin to target energy infrastructure important to the global oil and gas trade, the U.S. is likely to feel the economic pinch, according to Nobel Prize–winning economist Paul Krugman.