Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
All the warning lights are flashing. With the US and Israel relentlessly bombing Iran for nearly a month and the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, the economic consequences of the Iran war are spelling serious trouble for economies worldwide. Stagflation, factory shutdowns, falling crop yields, and rising interest rates are no longer hypotheticals – they are unfolding in real time, and growing more severe by the day.
Who will be hardest hit by the fallout from this US-Israeli aggression? As with any imperialist war, it is the working class who are made to pay the price. An estimated 45 million people are already projected to fall into severe poverty, pushing the figures to record highs.
In the advanced capitalist economies, any gains made by ordinary people since the end of the pandemic are being wiped out in an instant. Serious bourgeois economists and commentators are growing anxious – not because their own fortunes are at stake, but because of the revolutionary implications of a new global slump.
In this week's episode of Against the Stream, Hamid and Jorge examine the enormous economic fallout of the Iran war, and take on a viewer's question about whether socialism can be achieved through parliament.
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
International Debt Report 2025: When relief isn’t enough — LMICs face their largest external debt outflows in 50 years | World Bank
🔗blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/international-debt-report-2025--when-relief-isn-t-enough---lmics
Why the Middle East conflict threatens record levels of hunger | World Food Programme
🔗wfp.org/stories/why-middle-east-conflict-threatens-record-levels-hunger
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 – Intro
01:10 – Developments in the war
18:05 – Impact on world economy
33:15 – The impending food catastrophe
43:54 – The crisis of debt
53:57 – Poor countries are hit hardest
01:01:52 – Q: Revolution through parliament?
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: marxist.com/join-us.htm
🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/revcomintern
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
All the warning lights are flashing. With the US and Israel relentlessly bombing Iran for nearly a month and the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, the economic consequences of the Iran war are spelling serious trouble for economies worldwide. Stagflation, factory shutdowns, falling crop yields, and rising interest rates are no longer hypotheticals – they are unfolding in real time, and growing more severe by the day.
Who will be hardest hit by the fallout from this US-Israeli aggression? As with any imperialist war, it is the working class who are made to pay the price. An estimated 45 million people are already projected to fall into severe poverty, pushing the figures to record highs.
In the advanced capitalist economies, any gains made by ordinary people since the end of the pandemic are being wiped out in an instant. Serious bourgeois economists and commentators are growing anxious – not because their own fortunes are at stake, but because of the revolutionary implications of a new global slump.
In this week's episode of Against the Stream, Hamid and Jorge examine the enormous economic fallout of the Iran war, and take on a viewer's question about whether socialism can be achieved through parliament.
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
International Debt Report 2025: When relief isn’t enough — LMICs face their largest external debt outflows in 50 years | World Bank
🔗blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/international-debt-report-2025--when-relief-isn-t-enough---lmics
Why the Middle East conflict threatens record levels of hunger | World Food Programme
🔗wfp.org/stories/why-middle-east-conflict-threatens-record-levels-hunger
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 – Intro
01:10 – Developments in the war
18:05 – Impact on world economy
33:15 – The impending food catastrophe
43:54 – The crisis of debt
53:57 – Poor countries are hit hardest
01:01:52 – Q: Revolution through parliament?
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: marxist.com/join-us.htm
🎧 Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/revcomintern
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
