Fueling Inflation: How Global Conflict and Policy Drive Gas Prices
Fueling Inflation: How Global Conflict and Policy Drive Gas Prices
Sam Kelly
Not only have gas prices increased in Flagstaff, Arizona, but nationwide. Gas prices are constantly fluctuating so much so it can 
sometimes even be within the same day. As of now the national average price of gas is nearly four dollars a gallon. Some places, such as one gas station in Los Angeles, California are charging nearly double that.
Gas prices are dictated by things such as supply and demand, shipping, etc. As of now, one of the largest reasons as to why gas is so high is due to the current war in Iran.
Iran right now is in control of the strait of Hormuz. Nearly 20% of the world's oil passes through this strait because it is a much quicker (cheaper) route of transport. Iran has threatened to attack vessels passing through this strait.
The Trump Administration has gone to say they are trying to fix this, and while several ideas have been stated by them there is no actual plan in place as of now. President Donald J Trump went on to post a statement online saying that the rising oil prices are temporary and that they are a “very small price to pay.”
In the same post he stated that these are “short term oil prices, which will drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over.” There is an economic phenomenon called “rockets and feathers” which shows that when prices increase rapidly due to lack of supply or panic, the prices typically decrease slower because when the panic is over consumers have already become accustomed to these higher prices. During President Trump’s first term in office the Ukrainian political crisis caused gas to skyrocket then too. As the conflict cooled, gas prices took a while to decrease because markets wanted to maintain high profits. While Trump is able to make promises that gas prices will decrease, and hopefully they will, the effects of these high prices will likely last much longer than he’d like to admit.
Implementing temporary fixes to much larger issues is a trend that has followed President Donald Trump and his administration over the course of his second term.
During President Trump's campaign for re-election in 2024 he promised many things. Some of the most appealing things promised to voters was to lower prices with tariffs early on. With these tariffs being heavily debated they were put in place to encourage domestic production. Despite these intentions they have been shown to cause widespread economic instability, with roughly 98,000 jobs surrounding production having been lost over the course of 2025.
These tariffs have led to an increase in many consumer costs over the past year. As these tariffs tax businesses on imports from places outside of the U.S., which that cost is often passed onto the consumer instead of promoting internal production. Inflation is already on the rise with these, and the increase in oil prices is not helping.
Gasoline prices are an immediate and noticeable problem for many, but oil affects nearly every aspect of our lives. Oil is a key factor in the manufacturing of many goods, and if the cost of creating and transporting these goods increases, so will the value of these items. This is not only affecting consumer goods we don’t classify as necessities, but also the transportation of food, water, and electricity can be affected too.