Hassett says consumer pain over Iran war 'the last of our concerns right now' [View all]

Source: The Hill

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Tuesday said that the economic toll that American consumers are feeling as a result of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran is “the last of our concerns right now.”

“The fact is that the U.S. economy is fundamentally sound and that if it were to be extended, it wouldn’t really disrupt the U.S. economy very much at all,” Hassett told CNBC’s Becky Quick on “Squawk Box.”

“It would hurt consumers and we’d have to think about if that continued what we would have to do about that,” he continued. “But that’s the like, really the last of our concerns right now because we’re very confident that this thing is going ahead of schedule.”

Hassett’s remarks come amid a spike in prices on goods ranging from oil and gas to fertilizer following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The national average for gas prices in the U.S. reached $3.79 as of Tuesday morning, an 11-cent hike from Saturday morning, according to data from AAA.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5787473-kevin-hassett-iran-war-consumer-pain/