Geopolitical Economy Report

In this episode of Geopolitical Economy Hour, economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson discuss inflation: what it is, what causes it, and what are the problems in how the Federal Reserve and other central banks respond to it. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZhZbB0jjDTM Transcript here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/27/inflation-economists-radhika-desai-michael-hudson

"We are fighting a war against Russia", Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told the Council of Europe. "We can fight this war only together" she said, calling to send tanks and more weapons to Ukraine. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=U0Ae6P0OVFs Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/26/german-foreign-minister-baerbock-war-russia CIA and NATO are waging sabotage attacks inside Russia: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/12/29/cia-nato-sabotage-attacks-russia

In a video address to a US corporate lobby group, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky thanked companies like Black Rock, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Starlink, insisting “everyone can become a big business by” investing in Ukraine, where “we are defending freedom and property”. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LYkQO5fOXH8 Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/25/ukraines-zelensky-thanks-us-corporations-big-business Zelensky is literally selling Ukraine to US corporations on Wall Street: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/09/09/zelensky-selling-ukraine-wall-street West prepares to plunder post-war Ukraine with neoliberal shock therapy: privatization, deregulation, slashing worker protections: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/07/28/west-neoliberal-recovery-conference

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published a jaw-droppingly misleading graph that portrays China as spending more on its military than the US. In reality, the Pentagon’s budget is roughly three times larger. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tD4P-vWWGLc Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/23/china-military-spending-st-louis-fed-graph

Brazil and Argentina are making plans for a Latin American currency called the Sur, to “boost regional trade and reduce reliance on the US dollar”. Lula had pledged it while running for president. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mudBO1iffOo Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/22/brazil-argentina-latin-american-currency-dollar Latin America’s plan to challenge US dollar with new currency and ‘regional financial architecture’: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/12/01/latin-america-us-dollar-currency

Historian Aaron Good discusses the CIA's coup against Guatemala's President to support United Fruit Company, US imperialism in Latin America, the CIA's assassination manual and techniques, US overthrowing Latin American governments, consequences of Guatemala's coup, and US involvement in third world operations.

BRICS challenge US dollar dominance, Saudi considers selling oil in other currencies; China counters US dollar hegemony with gold reserves; Economist Zoltan Pozsar declares the end of US unipolar era; China reshapes global financial system through de-dollarization and central bank digital currencies; Mainstream economist raises concerns about dollar's reserve currency status

Peru has large reserves of copper, gold, zinc, silver, lead, iron, and natural gas. After a coup overthrew left-wing President Pedro Castillo, the US ambassador, CIA veteran Lisa Kenna, met with mining and energy ministers to discuss “investments”. Europe is importing Peruvian LNG to replace Russian energy. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WNR_CI2U__w Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/19/peru-resources-mining-gas-investment Interview with Peruvian activist about the coup: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/12/10/peru-coup-president-pedro-castillo CIA agent turned US ambassador met with defense minister day before Peru coup: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/12/14/coup-us-ambassador-peru-cia US now world’s top LNG exporter, as Europe boycotts cheaper Russian gas: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/04/us-lng-exporter-europe-russia-gas

In 2020 and 2021, the wealthiest 1% of the world’s population took nearly two-thirds of all new wealth – six times greater than the wealth made by the poorest 90% of workers. Yet while billionaires get richer, global poverty is increasing, Oxfam warns. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=3YL_iAA06nY Sources and more information here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/01/17/rich-global-wealth-inequality-oxfam

The US claimed unelected coup leader Juan Guaidó was "interim president" of Venezuela from January 2019 to December 2022, when his former allies in the right-wing opposition removed him from the position. Washington however still refuses to recognize elected President Nicolás Maduro. Geopolitical Economy Report editor-in-chief Ben Norton discusses the end of the meme-worthy character with Venezuelan journalist Jesús Rodríguez Espinoza, who runs the independent news website Orinoco Tribune. VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=sTjKvZmY7w4 Support Orinoco Tribune at https://orinocotribune.com