A commentary discussed by Lawyers, Guns & Money says Paul Krugman sees the Trump administration’s war with Iran as both a military and economic quagmire. The central argument is that the damage cannot be measured simply by looking at crude oil near $100 a barrel.
According to the summary, Krugman argues that the price of oil is only the most visible sign of a broader economic shock. In that view, the conflict’s real cost spreads beyond fuel markets into wider financial and political risks, making the fallout look worse than headline commodity prices alone suggest.
The piece also frames the war as a "remarkable quagmire," suggesting that the conflict has become harder to sustain and justify than its backers expected. Even in the limited excerpt, the focus is on how a war marketed aggressively can still impose mounting costs that are not immediately obvious to the public.
Taken together, the argument is that the Iran war is creating deeper economic strain than many observers may recognize at first glance. For Krugman, the oil spike is not the whole story but an early warning of a larger and more damaging economic burden.
