Geopolitical Economy Report Ben Norton

While BlackRock veterans run Joe Biden's Treasury, Donald Trump's presidential campaign is financed by Wall Street's highest-paid CEO, of Blackstone, the world's largest commercial landlord. Ben Norton explains how Wall Street investment companies, asset managers, and banks essentially buy US elections.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZJaJ4BST6Nc

Check out our related video - "How the dollar's 'exorbitant privilege' enriches the USA (and global elites)": https://youtube.com/watch?v=jYkiMcR1Rj8

TOPICS
0:00 Wall Street always wins US elections
0:57 Blackstone CEO funds Trump
2:58 BlackRock backs Biden
3:48 BlackRock vs Blackstone - What's the difference?
7:30 Wall Street's highest paid CEO, Stephen Schwarzman
10:15 Oil & gas industry moguls fund Trump
10:53 Fossil fuel profits tripled under Biden
13:15 Oligarchs back fellow billionaire Trump
15:14 Biden promised: "Nothing would fundamentally change"
15:54 10% of Americans own 93% of stocks & 67% of all wealth
17:23 USA is not a democracy; it's an oligarchy
18:43 Wall Street funded Barack Obama
19:20 Wall Street funded Mitt Romney
20:07 US government represents Wall Street
21:54 BlackRock veterans run Biden's Treasury
25:08 Goldman Sachs veterans ran Trump's Treasury
27:16 Blackstone: the largest landlord in the US (& on Earth)
30:53 De-industrialization & financialization
32:25 Private equity destroyed Toys“R”Us
33:11 Private equity firms buy up retirement homes, hospitals, vets
34:53 2008 crisis & subprime mortgages
37:22 Financial parasites
38:39 Outro

As Israel bombs Rafah with US support, both are blatantly defying the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC). Ben Norton documents the hypocrisy of the Biden administration's claims to uphold the "rules-based international order" as it sponsors Netanyahu's crimes against humanity in Gaza.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q2B6wkbO6vw

Check out our related video - "US threatens ICC, warning 'If they [prosecute] Israel, we're next!'": https://youtube.com/watch?v=ChZZ3GKiNE0

Topics
0:00 Intro
1:30 ICJ orders Israel to stop attacking Rafah
2:38 Israel bombs tent camp in Rafah
3:51 US & UK help Israel violate ICJ rulings
4:34 UN expert calls for sanctions on Israel
6:28 Netanyahu: "Nobody will stop us - not the Hague"
7:19 US threatens to sanction ICC
8:19 Israeli spy chief threatened ICC
9:23 Trump & Biden attack ICC
9:50 Hypocrisy of "rules-based order"
13:02 US House Speaker Mike Johnson threatens ICC
13:48 US "rules-based order" vs. international law-based order
14:40 UK PM Rishi Sunak praises "rules-based order"
15:00 Germany's hypocrisy on Israel
17:55 Western neocolonialism
23:58 China defends international law
26:16 Outro

Putin met with Xi Jinping in Beijing, where China and Russia released a joint statement blasting Western "colonialism and hegemonism", supporting a multipolar world and more representation for the Global South, and calling for de-dollarization and expansion of BRICS. Ben Norton analyzes the historic document.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ufjxmDLQyBU

Full text of the joint statement with links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/05/24/china-russia-joint-statement-new-era-75th-anniversary/

Topics
0:00 Intro
0:49 Putin's visit to China
1:42 Summary of the joint statement
4:58 Russia deepens economic integration with China
7:18 China expands trade with anti-hegemonic nations
8:50 Note on translation of joint statement
11:20 75th anniversary of China-Russia relations
13:46 Supporting Global South & multipolar world
17:58 Condemning Western neocolonialism & hegemony
20:49 Expanding cooperation
23:03 "True multilateralism"
25:14 Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter
27:35 Shanghai Cooperation Organization
28:33 Expanding BRICS
30:10 Nuclear weapons
30:33 Condemning US militarism
34:26 Climate change & pollution
36:01 Ukraine war
38:58 Non-interference
40:29 ASEAN
40:46 East Asia
41:33 North Korea
42:36 West Asia (Middle East) & Palestine
44:07 Afghanistan
45:18 Africa
46:25 Latin America
48:17 Outro

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has applied for an arrest warrant for Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu over crimes against humanity in Gaza. The Biden administration is threatening sanctions on Prosecutor Karim Khan. US Senator Lindsey Graham warned, "if they'll do this to Israel, we’re next!" Ben Norton discusses Washington's extreme hypocrisy and shows the real face of the so-called "rules-based international order".

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ChZZ3GKiNE0

US politicians threaten to invade Int'l Criminal Court if Israel faces war crimes charges: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/05/07/us-threat-icc-israel/

US senator says Israel should drop nuclear bombs on Gaza: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/05/12/senator-lindsey-graham-israel-nuclear-weapons-gaza/

Intro
0:00 "We're next!"
0:15 ICC seeks to arrest Israeli officials
1:50 US gov't threatens ICC
4:08 Lindsey Graham quote: "if they'll do this to Israel, we’re next!"
5:01 Protest
5:27 Bipartisan barbarism
6:57 Karim Khan dropped previous investigation into US/NATO war crimes
8:26 Both sides-ism
9:35 ICC charges against PM Netanyahu & DM Yoav Gallant
10:38 ICJ or ICC?
11:59 Western officials says ICC "was built for Africa"
12:39 Netanyahu responds: "No one will stop us"
13:16 20,000 US citizens in IDF
14:04 Israel is an outpost of the US empire
15:29 Biden, Blinken, & Republicans agree
16:54 Trump imposed sanctions on ICC
18:53 US hypocritically backs ICC charges against Putin
20:15 US & Israel: rogue states
22:57 Outro

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, sought to unite the Global South against Western imperialism. He joined BRICS, advocated de-dollarization, supported Palestine, promoted a "Look East" strategy toward China and Russia, and allied with Africa and Latin America. Ben Norton analyzes the late Iranian leader's anti-colonial foreign policy.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pzPKOhHcnvc

Topics
0:00 Raisi's death & Iran's future
2:51 Raisi's anti-colonial foreign policy
4:54 Palestine
6:10 Anti-imperialism
8:42 BRICS
10:53 Dedollarization
11:45 Shanghai Cooperation Organization
12:46 "Look East" strategy
13:19 China
18:11 Russia
20:02 Indonesia
20:42 Africa
23:32 Latin America
28:40 Nicaragua & Iran: sister revolutions
33:08 Outro

Political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson are joined by Professor C.P. Chandrasekhar to discuss what is really happening in India's economy, if its government growth statistics and other official data are accurate, the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party BJP, and the country's 2024 elections.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=3zt1ZYzWP7k

You can watch other episodes of their program Geopolitical Economy Hour here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP