Geopolitical Economy Report

Ben Norton
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May 7, 2024 • 22min

US politicians threaten to invade Int'l Criminal Court if Israel faces war crimes charges

US Senators sent a letter to International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan, threatening to impose sanctions and even invade the Hague if he issues arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Biden administration is also pressuring the ICC not to charge Israeli officials over their war crimes in Gaza. Ben Norton discusses Washington's deep hypocrisy. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pM29iLpZMJU Sources and links: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/05/07/us-threat-icc-israel Topics 0:00 Intro 0:48 US politicians threaten ICC 2:26 Trump sanctioned ICC 3:17 Biden's hypocrisy 3:56 Republican senators' letter to ICC 6:47 Hague Invasion Act 8:44 Israel's gen0c1de in Gaza 9:48 Israel unleashed famine in Gaza 10:37 Israeli minister demands "total annihilation" of Gaza 11:26 Amalek 13:16 US hypocrisy on ICC warrant for Russia's Putin 14:51 Africa criticizes ICC 15:42 US/Israel lobbied for ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan 16:46 US & Israel refuse to join ICC 17:02 ICC vs ICJ 18:40 Save face, or save your empire? 21:13 Outro
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11 snips
May 4, 2024 • 20min

De-dollarization: China drops US Treasury bonds, instead buys gold, oil, metals

Guest Ben Norton discusses China's de-dollarization strategy by reducing US Treasury holdings, buying gold, oil, and metals. Topics include global impact, Belt & Road Initiative, China's influence on US deficits, and the shift in global financial dynamics. Japan emerges as a key player in US creditor status.
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13 snips
May 1, 2024 • 36min

Is Japan in crisis as yen crashes? Or is USA exporting its economic problems?

Geoeconomics expert Ben Norton discusses Japan's economic crisis amid the falling yen. Topics include US deficits driving GDP growth, Japan's debt, interest rates, inflation, US Treasurys, and China's de-dollarization. Analyzing complex economic dynamics, the podcast challenges crisis narratives and explores the global implications of currency movements.
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Apr 27, 2024 • 39min

How the dollar's 'exorbitant privilege' enriches the USA (and global elites)

How much does the US benefit from printing the global reserve currency? An economist calculated that US average daily income would fall by 27-57% if the dollar lost its "exorbitant privilege". Ben Norton explains how wealthy investors not only in North America but around the world hold much of their wealth in the dollar. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=jYkiMcR1Rj8 Link to Philip Pilkington's report and Twitter account: https://twitter.com/philippilk/status/1782409654519128497 Topics 0:00 US dollar dominance 2:00 Economics of exorbitant privilege 5:23 Current account 9:29 Balance of payments 12:31 Effects of dollar hegemony 14:45 Neoliberalism & financialization 17:41 Foreign capital funds US deficits 19:28 Global 1% invests in US assets 20:35 Super Imperialism 22:25 Fed inflates asset bubbles 25:22 De-industrialization in West 28:06 Industrialization in BRICS 28:57 Investment & FDI 33:08 Wages & manufacturing 35:00 Re-industrialization? 38:16 Outro
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Apr 25, 2024 • 20min

Biden signs law to ban TikTok: Latest attack in US economic war on China

US President Joe Biden signed a law that will force TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance to sell the app, or it will be banned in the US. Ben Norton explains how this is part of Washington's economic war, aimed at protecting Big Tech monopolies in Silicon Valley. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=_WFYov2kfLI Topics 0:00 Biden signs law to ban TikTok 1:39 US tech war on China 5:00 India banned Chinese apps, giving US Big Tech total control 6:38 Protectionism or economic war? 8:30 Silicon Valley lobbied against TikTok 9:37 Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok... before doing 180 12:15 Role of Israel/Palestine/Gaza? 13:42 US trade war with Japan in 1980s 15:38 "Free market" hypocrisy 18:25 US does not truly want "competition" with China 19:39 Outro
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Apr 23, 2024 • 18min

If Ukraine loses war, it will be 'end of Western hegemony', warns UK's Boris Johnson

If Ukraine loses in the NATO proxy war with Russia, "it will be the end of Western hegemony", lamented former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Ben Norton explains the geopolitics of the conflict, and how most of the Global South has not joined the Global North in opposing Moscow. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=M8ZmkIhs8r0 Check out our related report - "‘Western dominance has ended’, EU foreign-policy chief admits, warning of ‘West against the Rest’": https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/02/26/western-dominance-ended-eu-josep-borrell
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Apr 20, 2024 • 1h 3min

Challenging the duopoly: Jill Stein on why she's running for US president as Green Party candidate

Jill Stein explains why she decided to run for US president on an anti-war, pro-worker platform, challenging the duopoly of the Democrats and Republicans as the candidate for the Green Party. She is interviewed by political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=oDUb7-MPH48 Read the transcript here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/04/20/jill-stein-president-green-party-candidate/ You can watch other episodes of their program Geopolitical Economy Hour here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP
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Apr 19, 2024 • 28min

US blocks UN from recognizing Palestine, while Israel attacks Iran

The US vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council that called to recognize Palestine as a member state, while Israel launched attacks on Iran. Ben Norton shows how Washington is opposing peace. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VndvgbR51D4 Topics 0:00 Intro 1:29 Israel attacks Iran 4:39 US vetoes Palestinian UN membership 7:31 What is Palestine's status at UN? 8:57 Which countries recognize Palestine? 10:18 "Two-state solution" hypocrisy 12:01 How USA prevents peace in Palestine 15:35 US defended South African apartheid at UN 18:30 South Africa's anti-apartheid leaders support Palestine 21:02 China supports Palestine 22:56 Russia supports Palestine 23:47 UNSC Gaza resolutions vetoed by US 25:53 US sponsors Israel's crimes against humanity 27:23 Outro
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Apr 18, 2024 • 30min

Cold War 2: US officials call to overthrow China's gov't, expand military budget to $1.4 trillion

A major Congress member and top former Trump administration official published an article calling to overthrow China's government. They boasted that the US is waging a new cold war and must win it, while proposing a military budget of $1.4 trillion per year. Ben Norton debunks the deceptions of the warmongers in Washington. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q3RMl33SqNE Check out our related report: CIA director threatens China & Russia, says Ukraine war benefits US economy - https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/02/07/cia-director-china-threat-russia-ukraine-war/ Topics 0:00 Topic 1:07 2024 election 1:59 Council on Foreign Relations & CIA 3:30 Matt Pottinger & Mike Gallagher 5:07 US new cold war on China 8:21 Deceptively distorting Xi Jinping's speeches 12:50 Information warfare 16:00 Colonialism 17:32 Misquoting Chinese officials 20:29 Militarization of Asia 21:49 $1.37 trillion military budget 22:44 US domination of Asia 24:51 Recruit "cold warriors" 26:44 Regime change: Rollback, not just containment 28:05 Manufacturing consent for war 29:21 Outro
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Apr 14, 2024 • 13min

Iran had legal right to counter-attack Israel in self-defense

Israel attacked Iran's embassy in Syria on April 1, in a blatant act of war. Iran had a legal right to respond in self-defense, according to article 51 of the UN Charter, which is exactly what it did by launching missiles and drone strikes on April 13. But Western governments are absurdly portraying Tehran as the aggressor. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=1p1-Psc0Un8 Topics 0:00 Intro 1:11 Israel attacked Iran first 2:50 Biden & Sunak erase history 3:57 US, UK, France blocked UN Security Council condemnation 5:14 Iran invoked article 51 of UN charter 7:02 UN chief Antonio Guterres' hypocrisy 8:32 West is destroying international law 10:46 World War III? 12:25 Outro

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