Europe Scrambles to Contain the Energy Shock

The European Union and the Eurozone are feeling the energy shock as the Iran war enters its fourth month. The spike in oil and gas prices amid the Middle East crisis is raising inflation and moderating economic growth expectations in the EU and the Euro area, which are grappling with the second energy crisis in four years. Comparisons with the 2022 inflation and gas supply shock in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine are flawed as circumstances are different and the likelihood of runaway inflation is low, analysts and economists say. Nevertheless,…