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Can The Global South Get Out Of The US-Dominated Financial System?

April 13, 2025 Zoe Alexandra, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , ,
Is it possible to create systems of trade, finance, and funding outside the US-dominated system? Is the BRICS bloc able to build the necessary alternatives to challenge this system? Economists, academics, and political leaders participating in the IV Dilemmas of Humanity Conference in São Paulo tackled this pressing question that today the nations of the Global South confront. Nations, who find that their plans for poverty alleviation, economic sovereignty, and trade with their neighbors, are held back by restrictions imposed by the United States and their debt commitments, for which they need a reserve of dollars.

Trump Advisor Reveals Tariff Strategy

April 11, 2025 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , ,
The top economic advisor to President Donald Trump has revealed that Washington is using tariffs as leverage to try to force countries to pay the United States to help it maintain its global empire. The chair of the US Council of Economic Advisers, Stephen Miran, delivered a speech on April 7 in which he outlined the Trump administration’s tariff strategy. An official transcript of his remarks was published by the White House. Miran claimed that the United States provides two main “global public goods”: one, a “security umbrella” overseen by the US military; and two, the dollar and Treasury securities, which are used as the main reserve asset in the international financial system.

Trump Wants US To ‘Partner’ With Russia To Weaken China

February 24, 2025 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
The Donald Trump administration is holding talks between the United States and Russia, and he says he wants to end the war in Ukraine. Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio has even proposed that the US could “partner with the Russians, geopolitically”. What is happening here? The simple answer is that this is all about China. Trump is trying to divide Russia from China, in an attempt to isolate Beijing. The United States sees China as the number one threat to its global dominance. This has been stated clearly by top officials in both the Trump administration and the previous Joe Biden administration.

Trump’s Tariff Threats Could Destabilize The Global Economy

January 26, 2025 Michael Hudson, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , ,
Trump told the Davos Economic Forum January 23: “My message to every business in the world is very simple: Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth.” Otherwise, if they continue to try and produce at home or in other countries, their products will be charged tariff rates at Trump’s threatened 20%. To Germany this means (my paraphrase): “Sorry your energy prices have quadrupled. Come to America and get them at almost as low a price as you were paying Russia before your elected leaders let us cut Nord Stream off.”

How Trump’s Return Will Impact The World

November 11, 2024 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , ,
As he prepares to return to the White House, US President-elect Donald Trump has appointed neoconservative Iran hawk Brian Hook to lead his State Department transition team. This has excited pro-Israel groups. At a September event at the Israeli-American Council, Trump proudly declared, “I was the best friend Israel ever had”. All of the likely candidates for Trump’s secretary of state and national security advisor are China hawks. These include neocons Marco Rubio, Robert O’Brien, and Mike Waltz. Three other possible choices, Ric Grenell, Bill Hagerty, and Vivek Ramaswamy are so-called “MAGA” Republicans who have distanced themselves from neoconservatism, but still share the neocons’ vehement hatred of China and would escalate tensions with Beijing.

BRICS Plans ‘Multi-Currency System’ To Challenge US Dollar Dominance

October 20, 2024 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , ,
The Global South-oriented organization BRICS has released plans to transform the international monetary and financial system and challenge the dominance of the US dollar. As the chair of BRICS for 2024, Russia proposed the creation of a BRICS Cross-Border Payment Initiative (BCBPI), in which members of the organization will use their national currencies to trade. BRICS will likewise establish an alternative messaging infrastructure to circumvent the SWIFT system of interbank communication, which is overseen by the United States and subject to Western unilateral sanctions. This “multi-currency system” will also include new mechanisms not only to de-dollarize trade, but also to encourage investment in BRICS members and other emerging markets and developing economies, including a BRICS Clear platform, a “new system of securities accounting and settlement”, and financial instruments denominated in national currencies.

Trump Threatens To Punish De-Dollarization

September 14, 2024 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , , , ,
Countries across the planet are seeking alternatives to the US-dominated financial system. However, former President Donald Trump has pledged that, if he returns to the White House, he will punish nations that de-dollarize. “We will keep the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency”, Trump promised at a campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin on September 7, 2024. “It is currently under major siege. Many countries are leaving the dollar”, the Republican presidential candidate lamented. “They’re not going to leave the dollar with me”, Trump insisted. “I’ll say, ‘You leave the dollar, you’re not doing business with the United States, because we’re going to put 100% tariff on your goods'”.

Most Important Stories Of 2023: Gaza, Ukraine, China, BRICS, Dedollarization, Bank Crises, Inflation

December 31, 2023 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
These were the most important geopolitical and economic issues of 2023, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, US-China tensions, BRICS expansion, growing de-dollarization, inflation crisis, crypto fraud, bank crashes, European de-industrialization, and more.