Geopolitical Economy Report Ben Norton

The Joe Biden White House imposed high tariffs on Chinese technological products, including electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels, batteries, and semiconductors. Ben Norton analyzes the hypocrisy of US government accusations that Beijing provides unfair subsidies to its industries, while Washington is spending trillions on industrial policy -- and how this exposes the "free trade" dogma spread by neoliberal economists as a myth.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=a7okuN2qJU8

Our related video: "Is China producing too much? US 'overcapacity' accusations: new tactic in economic war" - https://youtube.com/watch?v=GUpWxNcdnYU

Topics
0:00 Biden puts tariffs on China
1:05 Elon Musk demanded tariffs on Chinese EVs
1:55 US "overcapacity" allegations
2:40 Europe threatens tariffs too
3:19 Biden condemned tariffs in 2019
4:58 Climate change hypocrisy
6:13 "Free market" myth
8:47 "Forced" technology transfer myth
13:12 BYD outcompetes Tesla
13:56 Neoliberalism: de-industrialization & financialization
18:26 Subsidies: US gov't plans trillions in benefits
23:52 More tariffs on Chinese products
25:30 Washington Consensus
29:01 US destroys WTO (after creating it)
31:28 Protectionism: How US & UK really developed
39:39 Outro

US Senator Lindsey Graham insisted in a TV interview that Israel should drop nuclear bombs on Gaza, where more than 2 million Palestinian civilians, including 1 million children, are trapped under what the Israeli defense minister called a “complete siege”. Ben Norton discusses Washington's bipartisan complicity in crimes against humanity.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4jJpA11Z5N8

Atomic bombing of Japan was NOT necessary to end WWII. US gov't documents admit it: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/08/07/atomic-bombing-japan-not-necessary/

Links and sources here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/05/12/senator-lindsey-graham-israel-nuclear-weapons-gaza/

Topics
0:00 Intro
0:31 Lindsey Graham says Israel should nuke Gaza
1:11 Fact check
1:59 Israeli minister called to nuke Gaza
3:55 Crimes against humanity
4:47 US support is bipartisan
5:26 Israel's nuclear weapons
6:45 Israel offered nukes to apartheid South Africa
9:05 US atomic bombing of Japan was not necessary
13:10 Outro

143 countries, representing the vast majority of the world, voted at the UN General Assembly to support giving Palestine full membership. They were opposed by the US, Israel, and seven other small countries, representing just 5% of the global population. Ben Norton analyzes the geopolitics.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=JtHx7hhpFDY

Sources and links here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/05/11/us-israel-vote-palestine-un-member

Topics
0:00 Intro
0:56 Map of UN vote on Palestine membership
1:44 Countries that oppose Palestine
3:13 Europe is divided
3:35 Ukraine supports Israel & opposes Global South
5:11 Global South supports Palestine
5:44 Biden is allied with Hungary's Viktor Orbán
6:20 UNGA resolution
6:47 Venezuela's voting rights taken away
8:02 Read the UNGA resolution
9:02 Hypocrisy of US "two-state solution" rhetoric
10:29 Most Democrats condemn Israel; Republicans support it
11:11 Countries with bilateral relations with Palestine
11:47 Palestine's rights as UN observer state
13:04 China supports Palestine
13:46 Russia supports Palestine
14:11 Outro

While visiting Serbia, China's President Xi Jinping condemned the US and NATO for bombing Beijing's embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1999. Ben Norton discusses why Washington launched the attack, and lied about it. Then Ben analyzes China-Serbia relations and the Belt and Road Initiative.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=MILgSmiBLA8

Topics
0:00 Xi condemns US/NATO for bombing China's embassy
1:50 US attack was intentional
4:44 Protests in China
5:58 Civilian victims of NATO's war on Yugoslavia
7:34 China's relations with Yugoslavia
9:05 Belt and Road Initiative
10:21 Chinese investment in Serbian steel plant
17:38 Outro

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

China is reducing its holdings of US Treasury securities. Instead, the People's Bank of China is buying gold, and Beijing prioritizes imports of important commodities like oil and metals. Ben Norton discusses the geopolitical impact of de-dollarization in the world's largest economy.

VIDEO: https://youtube.com/watch?v=z-bnIrbZjaM

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 Why countries are de-dollarizing
1:05 Russia & China
1:41 Brazil & China
2:18 Persian Gulf oil & gas
3:29 Central bank reserves
4:54 China drops US Treasurys
6:15 Debate in Beijing
8:40 Gold
9:37 Charts: China buys metals & oil
11:21 Strategic petroleum reserve
11:53 Belt & Road Initiative
12:50 East Asia funds US deficits
14:25 Global South funds Global North
15:25 Japan replaces China as top US creditor
16:03 US inflation, interest rates, bond yields, & debt
18:48 Outro