Geopolitical Economy Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Washington accuses China of producing too many goods and demands "free market" policies. But the US government is spending trillions on industrial policy to protect its own manufacturing sector. Ben Norton details the hypocrisy of the allegations, the latest strategy in the US economic war on China. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=GUpWxNcdnYU Topics 0:00 Intro 1:00 Chinese 'overcapacity' allegations 3:38 Janet Yellen 5:21 US vows to 'slow down China's rate of innovation' 8:02 Elon Musk begs for tariffs on Chinese EVs 10:40 US wants China to be economically subordinated 12:27 US tech war on China 14:39 Western industrial policy 16:31 Protectionism 18:38 US Inflation Reduction Act 20:12 US Chips Act 22:03 US undercapacity is the real problem 25:11 BYD has just 1.5% of EU EV market share 27:04 China's car exports vs Japan & South Korea 30:37 Is overcapacity a problem? 32:39 Outro

Political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson discuss how the US is waging an economic war on China, covering topics like US strategic moves in key industries, decline in shipbuilding, evolving naval threats, US-China economic disputes, and challenges in implementing industrial policies.

In the United Nations Human Rights Council, the West voted against the rest of the world, supporting illegal sanctions (known as unilateral coercive measures). Ben Norton analyzes how the 14% of the population in the Global North constantly opposes the Global South, representing the Global Majority. VIDEO with maps and graphics here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=VHBIfmxkHh4 Links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/04/06/west-vote-rest-un-human-rights-council-sanctions/