US-Iran War Costs Billions, Fuels Inflation

Key News on the US-Iran War

(Taipei, June 22, 2024, Central News Agency, Washington, Reuters) -- The Iran war has cost the U.S. Department of Defense approximately $40 billion, according to an analysis by the think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) set to be released soon.

Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at CSIS, told CNN that the estimate includes the cost of ammunition consumed, equipment damaged, and bases hit, but excludes operational expenditures as those funds are already allocated within the Department of Defense's budget of over $1 trillion for fiscal year 2026.

According to CSIS's preliminary statistics, while the majority of the expenses were borne by the Department of Defense, the conflict also led to an additional expenditure of about $1 billion by other federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Meanwhile, American consumers have also paid a price. Gas prices across the United States rose from an average of less than $3 per gallon to over $4 for most of the war period.

According to energy cost tracking data from Brown University, the average U.S. household expenditure has increased by over $253 (approximately NT$8,000) compared to pre-war levels.

With oil supplies in the Middle East significantly impacted for nearly four months, the war has resulted in a loss of approximately 1.15 billion barrels of crude oil supply globally, according to statistics from shipping data firm Kpler.

Furthermore, the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that driven by rising energy prices, U.S. annual inflation has surpassed 4% for the first time in three years.

The current pace of price increases has outstripped the salary growth of Americans over the past year. In other words, between April and May, U.S. wage growth has not kept up with inflation, the first time this has occurred since 2023. (Translator: Shih Shih) 1150622

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