On finance, real estate and the powers of neoliberalism
The US-Israeli war on Iran has triggered the largest oil shock in history, disrupting global supply chains, driving inflation, and threatening a worldwide recession. Michael Hudson explains how control of oil, currency systems, and trade routes now defines the future of the global economy, with Iran challenging US dominance and accelerating a shift toward a multipolar order.
Michael Hudson and Steve Keen explain how war, energy shocks and debt overload could trigger inflation in essentials, deflation across the wider economy and a deep global slump.
Hudson & Wolff argue the Iran conflict is reversing decades of US strategy, forcing reliance on sanctioned oil, destabilising petrodollar flows, and exposing financial fragility as energy shocks ripple through the global economy.
Michael Hudson explains how Iran is using oil, trade routes and currency shifts to challenge US dominance, arguing the conflict is less about military action and more about control of global energy, finance and the future of the US dollar system.
Hudson & Wolff examine the war on Iran as more than a regional conflict, arguing that it marks a turning point in the decline of American empire, the breakdown of the old order, and the emergence of a wider struggle over oil, power and global realignment. A WW3?
March 13, 2026 Robinson Erhardt You've been on the show and joined me a number of times now, but we've rarely spoken about the contemporary situation in the United States in our foreign policy. We tend to talk more about history, I'd say. So, I wanted to ask — just to begin — why it is that you're more interested in talking about the present today. Michael Hudson Well, I'd originally planned when you suggested talking about US foreign policy. I was going to go through my usual approach, which we've discussed, starting in the Bronze Age for, debt and debt financial policy and say, well, here's how American foreign policy has evolved. And here is why we don't have the world that we helped create in nineteen forty five. But I ...
Michael Hudson and Richard Wolff examine the economic and geopolitical logic behind the war on Iran. They discuss oil control, the dollar system, imperial decline and rising military spending, arguing the conflict reflects a desperate attempt to preserve US global power amid deep economic strain.
Iran’s strategy in the escalating Middle East conflict goes far beyond battlefield tactics. The deeper objective is to dismantle the foundations of U.S. power in the region: expel American military bases, sever economic ties with Washington, and end the petrodollar system underpinning global oil trade.
Why does the US debt machine keep running despite $38 trillion in liabilities? Michael Hudson explains how military spending, dollar dominance, financial engineering, and the lack of alternatives keep global capital tied to US Treasury markets even as the system grows more unstable.
A sweeping analysis of the U.S.–Israel strike on Iran and the economic chain reaction now in motion. The discussion tracks oil chokepoints, insurance and shipping risk, global balance-of-payments stress, and the pressure this creates for de-dollarisation and alternative institutions. It frames the conflict as a turning point for the U.S.-led order, testing whether the Global South, Europe, and major powers accept continued sanctions leverage over energy, or move towards a new settlement architecture.
