Shockwave: The price of Putin’s war
Katrina Gaffney looks at Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis
16 September 2026
A miniseries from the New Economics Podcast which asks how have energy crises shaped our economy and what do we need to do to shockproof our energy system in an increasingly volatile world?
2024 was the biggest election year in human history. Half of humanity had the opportunity to go to the polls in 72 different countries. What was striking about these elections was the number of countries which voted against their incumbent leaders. From the UK to the US to South Korea, governments changed hands.
The reason for this? Political scientists pointed their fingers at the massive rise in inflation which followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The invasion disrupted global energy markets, prices spiked and countries around the world are still feeling the effects today.
In this episode of Shockwave we’re asking: Why did energy disruption lead to inflation across the board? How did the UK try and tackle the problem? And what does it all have to do with the increase in interest rates many of us are struggling with?
Katrina Gaffney was joined by New Economics Foundation economists Dr Alex Chapman and Jaya Sood, alongside writer and academic Gareth Fearn.
Music by Maarten Schellekens, Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org/music/maarten-…ike-clockwork/ used under Creative Commons licence: creativecommons.org/licenses/by— nc/4.0/.
