Democrat President Joe Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has declared that American taxpayers can “absolutely” afford to fund another war.
Speaking during an interview with the UK’s Sky News, reporter Wilf Frost asked Yellen if “America can afford another war at this time.”
“I think the answer is: Absolutely,” Yellen declared.
Yellen continued by arguing that the United States can “certainly” afford wars on two fronts because “the American economy is doing extremely well.”
The Treasury secretary sat down for the interview as the conflict between Israel and Hamas threatens stability in the Middle East and the U.S. continues to endlessly support Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
Ahead of a meeting of finance ministers in Luxembourg, Yellen said it remained too early to understand the economic ramifications of the latest conflict.
Oil and natural gas prices remain volatile amid growing concerns of a wider war in the Middle East.
The surge in oil prices since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel threatens to disrupt the fight against inflation, analysts have warned.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, has risen 0.4pc today to tip above $91 a barrel, after surging by nearly 6pc on Friday.
U.S.-produced West Texas Intermediate has gained 0.6pc to rise above $88.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, the senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said that further gains to oil prices “threaten to disrupt the central banks’ war against inflation, and weigh on an already-bad-looking global economy.”