Back at home, doomsayers are virtually blaming Israel for higher oil prices, slumping stocks, and a potential recession. But there will be no recession. The jittery oil-price jump is a short-term event, and when military actions are completed in the Middle East, prices will plummet. If need be, the U.S. can tap into 688 million barrels of strategic oil reserves, at least two months of import protection. And if Iran attempts to stop the oil flow in the Strait of Hormuz, it will take the U.S. and Israel about 35 minutes to knock out the entire Iranian navy and air force.
Recession? American businesses have never been healthier or more profitable. Lower tax rates have spurred a tremendous boom in private investment, while new job hires continue to lift family incomes. Todays wartime uncertainty and geopolitical risk will not turn these fundamentals around. Indeed, strong world economic growth will continue, spurred by the spread of the very-American-style free-market capitalism that the Axis of Evil and its terrorist divisions are unsuccessfully trying to overthrow.
