Geopolitical Economy Report

Why are executives of AI companies, like Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, suddenly warning that artificial intelligence poses an "existential risk" to humanity? And why did Donald Trump invite Big Tech billionaire oligarchs to the White House for a "morally binding" agreement to "self-regulate"?

There are more and more signs that the AI bubble is getting dangerously large, and could pop soon. Corporate insiders want to cash out before it's too late -- and the US government is helping them. Ben Norton explains.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsFHQ81nMHk

Topics
0:00 Does AI pose existential risk?
1:42 Trump meeting with Big Tech CEOs
3:19 AI is in biggest bubble in history
4:09 IPOs of Anthropic and OpenAI
5:28 China is now leading in AI
6:53 Silicon Valley wants to ban Chinese AI
8:30 Trump warns of AI race with China
9:09 Data centers push up electricity price
10:01 Anthropic is losing tons of money
10:57 OpenAI has huge losses
11:34 Only 2% of US households pay for AI
12:34 AI industry delusion: 9% of GDP
13:45 AI bubble is largest ever
14:29 US economy in recession, excluding AI
15:16 Circular financing of AI companies
16:27 Hyperscaler capex exceeds $1 trillion
17:25 Debt of AI companies is growing
17:59 US bond yields rise rapidly
19:00 AI companies taking on more debt
20:29 Michael Burry warns bubble may pop
21:38 US stock market concentration
24:13 Buffett Indicator: 235% of GDP
25:07 Anthropic's cynical marketing
26:06 Largest IPOs in history
27:47 SpaceX stock crashed after IPO
28:31 US government denies bubble

The CIA has organized coups d'etat in countries around the world. But this is not just history; it still happens today. US ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top ally of Donald Trump (and former fiancée of his son), threatened a Greek minister by pointing to the collapse of Romania's government and saying, “We can do that to any country we want. We can do that here”. Her remarks recalled a comment from oligarch Elon Musk, who declared, "We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it". Ben Norton analyzes US imperialism.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW24Pp__UTA

Topics
0:00 US interventions and coups
1:39 US ambassador threatens Greece
4:56 Collapse of Romanian government
5:52 US-backed coup in Greece in 1967
6:48 Europe becomes US vassal
7:43 EU surrenders to Trump on trade
9:10 Trump demands EU buy US gas
10:26 Vertical gas corridor to Ukraine
11:48 EU imports of US LNG
12:40 Corruption and imperialism
14:13 Elon Musk vows more coups
15:43 US-backed coup in Bolivia in 2019
16:36 CIA coup in Chile in 1973
17:05 CIA coup in Guatemala in 1954
17:47 US coups in Brazil and Argentina
18:48 US coups in Venezuela
20:05 (CLIP) John Bolton boasts of coups
21:14 US coup in Honduras
22:13 Coup against Pakistan's Imran Khan
22:52 US blockade of Cuba
23:39 Global imperialist dictatorship

Donald Trump has been a China hawk for years, and he waged a brutal trade war against the country. So why did the US leader invite Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington, DC for a summit? The White House dinner, featuring the CEOs of top corporations, helps explain why. Ben Norton analyzes the complex state of US-China relations following Trump's failed trade war.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueqdJ8vjInE

Topics
0:00 Xi Jinping visits USA
1:20 Cold War Two
2:07 Cold War One history
3:16 USA sees China as threat
4:48 Trump's trade war backfired
6:02 US-China economic integration
7:10 Trump's tariffs hurt manufacturing
8:05 Rare earths and critical minerals
9:52 Strategic stability meaning
11:26 Trump-Xi summit in Washington
12:16 Corporate CEOs attend dinner
15:53 Scott Bessent met at JPMorgan
16:33 China: largest consumer market
17:47 Trump's trip to Beijing
19:26 US corporations want market access
19:51 Windows loses market share
20:34 Apple faces restrictions in China
21:44 Tesla makes most cars in Shanghai
22:12 Google kicked out of China
22:43 Meta wants access to Chinese market
23:54 AI arms race
25:17 Trump: "Whoever wins AI, wins!"
26:31 Silicon Valley demonizes China
27:08 China's open-source AI models
28:26 Chip war
30:35 US attacks blow back
31:57 New cold war continues

Gasoline prices are skyrocketing, breaking records, after the US war against Iran caused the biggest oil supply disruption in history. Ben Norton explains the geopolitical and economic reasons for the energy crisis, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and disruption of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, sabotage of the Saudi East-West Pipeline, Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries and diesel storage depots, China's reduction of crude imports and renewable energy policies, and falling global oil reserves.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTSgA8qwIZ8

Topics
0:00 Largest oil crisis in history
1:30 Price of gasoline skyrockets
2:03 Diesel prices break records
3:07 US midterm election approaches
3:59 Inflation and Donald Trump
5:09 Fed raises interest rates
5:49 US bond market problems
7:13 Trump is unpopular, and desperate
8:19 Saudi oil pipeline attacked
10:59 Bab al-Mandab Strait
11:34 US-Saudi war on Yemen backfires
13:59 US deal with Houthis (Ansarallah)
14:45 Crisis in Saudi Arabia
16:11 Ukraine hits Russian oil facilities
17:37 China reduces crude oil imports
18:56 Chinese electric vehicles (EVs)
19:41 China's solar and wind power
20:33 China increases oil imports
21:39 Global oil reserves running low
22:27 US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)
23:23 Energy crisis will get worse
25:09 Outro

The USA uses the dollar as a weapon to control countries, by imposing sanctions; cutting governments, banks, and companies out of the US-dominated financial system; and taking over the oil revenue of nations like Iraq and Venezuela. Ben Norton explains how US financial colonialism works.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkza5cRBuG4

Topics
0:00 US empire
1:16 CIA-backed coups
1:42 US sanctions one-third of world
2:23 Why sanctions are so destructive
4:23 US financial attacks blow back
4:49 BRICS seeks alternatives
5:56 Petrodollar system in crisis
7:02 How USA controls Iraq's oil revenue
10:26 USA threatens Iraq over Iran
12:12 Economic difficulties for Iraqis
13:34 US colonial scheme in Venezuela
14:39 China, world's biggest oil importer
15:18 Iraqi plans to sell oil in yuan
17:07 US attacks China-built schools
18:34 Trump attack on Iraq in 2020
20:08 US military occupation of Iraq
21:00 Iran attacks US military bases
21:49 Petrodollar system is breaking
25:30 US bond market problems
27:15 Iran war fuels inflation
27:50 US aggression is backfiring
29:16 Outro