PODCAST:Slate Technology
TITLE:Slate Money: America’s Boring Superweapon
DATE:2023-12-30 00:00:00
URL:
MODEL:gpt-4-gizmo
The "Slate Money" podcast episode titled "America's Boring Superweapon" features guest Henry Farrell, a professor at Johns Hopkins and co-author of the book "Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy." The episode delves into the complex ways the United States has exercised power in the global economy, particularly through control over financial systems, the internet, and technology like semiconductors.
The discussion highlights the use of the SWIFT network and dollar clearing systems as tools for economic coercion. The U.S. government's ability to tap into these financial infrastructures for surveillance and control is a key theme. The episode also addresses how the post-9/11 shift in U.S. Treasury policies enabled greater intervention in the global economy.
The podcast explores the impact of the U.S. government's actions on companies like Huawei and Binance. The episode suggests that the U.S. could have shut down Binance but chose not to, likely to gain visibility and control over a significant part of the unregulated global economy. The case of Huawei illustrates the U.S. government's concern over losing control of the infrastructure that supports the internet to China, particularly in the realm of 5G technology.
The episode also touches on the impact of Edward Snowden's revelations and how they brought to light the U.S.'s extensive surveillance capabilities. This transparency has led to increased pushback from other countries against the U.S.'s use of economic and technological power.
In terms of future implications, the podcast suggests that we may see a more fragmented global financial system with increased messiness at the intersections of different networks. This could result from other countries developing mechanisms to protect themselves from U.S. economic coercion.
Overall, the episode provides a detailed exploration of how the U.S. has leveraged its control over global economic infrastructure for power and influence, and how this might evolve in the future.
