Recent monetary policy decisions by key central banks signal a rapidly changing outlookTehran, Iran on Mar 22. PHOTO: NYTIMESON THE eve of the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran just under four weeks ago, the outlook for the global economy was relatively benign. Today, recession risks are rising in what the International Energy Agency (IEA) calls the greatest ever shock to the vast global energy sector. The rapidly deteriorating outlook is even being called an “armageddon scenario” for the energy landscape. While this is alarming enough for the global economy, Iran has determined that it faces an existential threat and seems to have decided that its best course of action is to inflict as much pain as possible on global financial markets.

Source: International New York Times March 23, 2026 12:18 UTC