The Indicator from Planet Money The new economic arms race
37 snips
Apr 29, 2026 
Edward Fishman, director of the Center for Geoeconomics and author of Chokepoints, explains how economic choke points like the dollar, AI chip controls, and rare-earths trade have become tools of modern power. He traces the rise of financial and supply-chain leverage, explores mutual vulnerabilities between nations, and warns about the risks of uncoordinated economic weaponization.
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Economic Wars Moved Off The Seas
- Economic warfare has shifted from naval blockades to financial and supply chain choke points.
- Edward Fishman shows the U.S. dollar and globalized supply chains became non-physical chokepoints in the 1990s.
Dollar Access Is A Modern Chokepoint
- The U.S. dollar functions as a financial choke point because it underpins ~90% of forex transactions.
- Fishman compares losing dollar access to traveling without a passport, making global business nearly impossible without it.
China's Rare Earths Prompted Real Shutdowns
- China used rare earth export controls and forced quick industry reactions in the U.S. after Trump-era tariffs.
- Ford briefly shut a factory and Raytheon hunted global suppliers when China restricted rare earths, pushing Trump to back down.
