The US paper fleet: The Jones Act and the 2026 Iran war stress test

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian, Senior Research Fellow Jahara Matisek, and Fellows Alex Gilbert and Jamie Webster write about how the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20 percent of global oil supplies, and 30 percent of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies was precisely the kind of national security emergency the Jones Act was designed to weather.  Instead, the Iran crisis triggered a cascade of failures and forced the White House to admit that the Jones Act itself was a liability.  July 8, 2026.