With global oil supply under pressure from the U.S.-Iran war, governments may need to bring back tools many assume belong to the past: rationing and price controls.

Some countries are already moving in that direction. The Philippines has declared a national emergency in response to energy supply risks, while South Sudan has begun rationing electricity in its capital, Juba, and Mauritius has imposed restrictions aimed at reducing consumption and limiting waste.

These developments echo historical precedents. My research, recently published in Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, draws on the case of British clothing rationing during the Second World War to show that when essential goods become scarce, governments cannot rely on price alone to manage the crisis.

When left to market forces, access to basic goods becomes dependent on those who can pay most, meaning lower-income households are often hit hardest.

A global supply shock

Since U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran triggered a wider conflict and effectively shut down shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, global oil supply has fallen by about eight million barrels per day — roughly eight per cent of world demand.

Read more: What is the Strait of Hormuz, and why does its closure matter so much to the global economy?

The disruption of a route carrying about 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply is pushing prices up and availability down, creating conditions similar to those Britain faced before rationing.

In the face of such an oil shock, governments around the world should learn from the British clothing rationing system by implementing rationing and price controls.

That was the case during the oil shocks of the 1970s in........

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