Is America Losing Control?

The David McWilliams Podcast

David McWilliams

News & Politics

4.5 • 692 Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2026

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The global economy runs on one thing: the US dollar. What happens when trust in that system starts to crack? In this episode, we go deep into the mechanics of global finance, from dollar “swap lines” to shadow banking, to explain how the United States became the financial centre of the world, and why that dominance may now be under threat. At the heart of it all is a simple but unsettling reality: America doesn’t just produce goods, it produces money. The rest of the world needs dollars to trade, invest, and survive financial shocks. That gives the US enormous power, but also creates dangerous imbalances. We explore how decades of financialisation have concentrated wealth and influence in a small group of investors, reshaping both the American economy and global politics. Meanwhile, rising geopolitical tensions, particularly around Iran, raise a bigger question: could a single strategic misstep do to the US what the Suez Crisis did to Britain, quietly ending its era of dominance?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	How you doing there? Just a quick heads up on what is coming up on today's podcast.
0:04.3	We are going global.
0:06.4	We're talking about the dollar.
0:07.7	We're talking about swaps, American swaps of dollars.
0:11.5	We're talking about the insatiable demand for American dollars.
0:16.5	And we're talking about the over-concentration of money in the United States.
0:21.4	All of that is a risk factor.
0:23.0	And the question is, will the war in Iran be seen like the Suez crisis in the 1950s for Britain,
0:32.4	where Britain's credibility plummeted after that?
0:35.4	Will America's credibility plummet after Iran? That is all
0:39.8	coming up in a couple of minutes.
0:42.9	To understand the economy, you have to understand human nature.
0:49.1	This podcast is powered by ACAST.
1:01.4	How are you doing there? It is time for the podcast. The podcast is going to be all about international economics. The reason being I was in London the last couple of days speaking to a
1:08.1	whole bunch of Irish professionals involved John in the world of private
1:13.6	equity.
1:14.3	Okay.
1:14.8	And that is always important to actually go to the belly of the beast, so to speak, and actually
1:20.3	talk to the people who are laying the bets, who are actually looking at companies all
1:25.2	around the world.
1:25.5	Are they a bit nervy at the moment?
1:27.2	Well, one or two fascinating aspect comes out of it.
	...

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