Geopolitical Economy Report

Iran has become a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, along with China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Central Asian nations. The SCO represents 40% of the global population and one-third of the world economy. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called for challenging "Western hegemony" and de-dollarizing trade in the region, instead using local currencies for international settlements...

US President Joe Biden appointed notorious neoconservative war criminal Elliott Abrams as an advisor for "public diplomacy". Abrams previously served under Donald Trump, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan, and he oversaw genocide in Guatemala, massacres in Nicaragua and El Salvador, and coup attempts in Venezuela. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=k2MUS0xRCTo

Neoliberalism is often misunderstood, but it is very important to understand this ideology that has dominated global economics and politics for decades. Ben Norton discusses the history of the neoliberal "Washington consensus", and how it was imposed on the world. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=oUwLB4xUk0s How China became the world's industrial superpower - and why the US is desperate to stop...

China has gone from one of the poorest countries on Earth to building the world's largest economy, responsible for nearly one-third of global manufacturing. Meanwhile, the US de-industrialized and financialized its economy. Journalist Ben Norton explains how. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BT7Th2aV0wM

Rising corporate profits have caused 45% of inflation in Europe, compared to 40% for rising import prices and just 15% for wages, according to research by IMF economists. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qdZbq1iw-ho Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/06/26/corporate-profits-inflation-europe-imf US Federal Reserve says its goal is ‘to get wages down’: https://...

The elite European Council on Foreign Relations, which is funded by many Western governments, warned that the EU is becoming a "vassal" of the United States, losing its independence. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=-xcVy-Fta1I Read the original report here: https://ecfr.eu/publication/the-art-of-vassalisation-how-russias-war-on-ukraine-has-transformed-transatlantic-relations

Political economists Radhika Desai, Michael Hudson, and Ann Pettifor discuss the growing debt crisis in the Global South and the need for forgiveness and system change. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=-uxyjIFqi4o&feature=youtu.be Transcript: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/06/22/third-world-debt-crisis-ann-pettifor You can watch other episodes of their program Geopolitical Economy Hour her...

The US Congress held a hearing titled "Dollar Dominance: Preserving the U.S. Dollar’s Status as the Global Reserve Currency", while countries around the world are joining the de-dollarization rebellion against Washington's exorbitant privilege. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=94YZ9TKFOac

Economists Radhika Desai and Michael Roberts discuss the US debt ceiling deal reached by President Joe Biden and the Republican opposition, and what it means for the future of the economy. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=fwZWYqcFvCY You can watch other episodes of their program Geopolitical Economy Hour here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

Ben Norton discusses the rise and fall of US-led neocolonial financial order, from the 1944 Bretton Woods conference that established the US dollar as the global reserve currency; to the 1971 Nixon Shock that ended the gold standard, Volcker Shock, Third World debt crisis, and emergence of neoliberalism; and finally to the historic growth of China and consolidation of the Global South-led BRICS bl...

Former US President Donald Trump boasted at a campaign rally, "When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse. We would have taken it over; we would have gotten to all that oil; it would have been right next door". This confirms the ulterior motives behind Washington's 2019 coup attempt with Juan Guaidó. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=uqE-WqxfT1E Trump advisor John Bolton admits planning US coup...

Major media outlets have claimed China is building a secret station in Cuba to spy on the US, citing anonymous intelligence officials. But the Pentagon admitted this story is false. It is part of a larger information warfare campaign against Beijing, and could sabotage any attempts at diplomacy. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mtrprreJvoU

The BRICS bloc’s New Development Bank (NDB), an alternative to the US-dominated World Bank, is de-dollarizing its loans, promoting local currencies, and growing with new members from across the Global South. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ltteCyO366o Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/06/06/brics-new-development-bank-dollar-adding-members Check out our rela...

Foreign ministers from BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) met to discuss expanding the Global South-led bloc and creating a new global reserve currency to challenge the US dollar. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=PfXyNqg8NDI Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/06/03/brics-adding-members-currency-us-dollar

Political economist Radhika Desai discusses how capitalism is inherently imperialist, what the class struggle looks like at the international level, and how "the dominant ideas are the ideas of the ruling classes of the dominant nations". This is a discussion of chapter 3, "The geopolitical economy of capitalism and socialism", from Radhika's book "Capitalism, Coronavirus and War: A Geopolitical E...

US politicians from both parties agree: the deficit doesn't really matter. In their bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling, Biden and Republicans agreed to boost military spending to $885 billion, while making it more difficult for the poor to receive food stamps and welfare. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=QUygZa2Eyx4 Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/0...

Argentina is trapped in unpayable odious debt owed to US vulture funds like BlackRock and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This is fueling extreme inflation and far-right demagogues such as Javier Milei, who are calling for dollarization, adopting the dollar as the country's currency. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1BRx90DhYWM Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconom...

To analyze how China is building a global alternative as the US-led neoliberal financial order decays, political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson are joined by economic geographer Mick Dunford. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=nP_o-Hk8KmM Transcript (with all graphs) here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/27/china-economic-alternative-us-led-financial-order You can watch other...

Economist Michael Hudson discusses his book "The Collapse of Antiquity: Greece and Rome as Civilization’s Oligarchic Turning Point", and how this history from 2000 years ago is still so relevant to understand our debt-based societies today. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Hqe3IQQo_t4 You can find links to all of Michael's books at his website https://Michael-Hudson.com You can support Michael o...

Wars the US waged in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan following September 11, 2001 caused at least 4.5 million deaths and displaced 38 to 60 million people, with 7.6 million children starving today, according to studies by Brown University. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=owjYEjib23M Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/18/us-911-wars-million-d...

Ecuador's right-wing President Guillermo Lasso, a multimillionaire banker notorious for blatant corruption, dissolved the National Assembly to prevent it from impeaching him for embezzling public funds. The US government is strongly supporting the dictator as he rams through extreme anti-worker laws. He also has the backing of Peru's coup regime, which imprisoned leftist Pedro Castillo on false ac...

The US military arms and trains foreign fighters as "proxies" to wage "irregular warfare" against adversaries, and the Pentagon does not vet them to see if they have committed atrocities, according to documents obtained by the New York Times. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=NwO6lVykGDs Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/16/us-recruits-proxies-irregular-wa...

To analyze the conflict in Ukraine, political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson are joined by economic geographer Mick Dunford. They discuss the aggressive neoliberal reforms being imposed by the Ukrainian government and Europe's suicidal policies. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=6bF3QkHIB7I Transcript: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/15/ukraine-neoliberalism-europe-economic-s...

Historian Aaron Good discusses Operation Mongoose, the CIA's terror campaign against Cuba; how it led to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis; and the response of US President John F. Kennedy (JFK). VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mR_skuR6910 This is from the Empire and the Deep State series that we are co-hosting with historian Aaron Good and producer Seamus McGuinness of the American Exception podca...

Economist Michael Hudson responds to the misleading arguments against de-dollarization that New York Times columnist Paul Krugman made, as part of an attempt to defend US hegemony and the dollar system. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=g9qjnl6jcx0 Transcript: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/10/ny-times-dedollarization-michael-hudson-paul-krugman-dollar Here you can find episodes of Micha...