Michael Hudson: The West's Financial System on the Brink of Collapse

Ancient rulers in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China maintained prosperity by canceling personal debts to prevent debtors from falling into bondage, a regulatory role absent in Western history.

China avoids financial polarization by keeping credit creation under government control to fund tangible investment, unlike Western banks that lend for asset speculation and deindustrialization.

The Roman Church invented international banking to fund its political and military campaigns during the Crusades, overriding Christian prohibitions on usury to support warlords and kings.

City-states evolved into fiscal states that acted as collection agents for bankers, allowing them to run up debts far beyond royal autocracies and cementing banker control over government policy.

The U.S. political process is controlled by financial and corporate backers, resulting in deindustrialization as finance capitalism replaces the classical economic aim of industrial development and labor prosperity.

Trump's tariff and tribute demands are disrupting global oil trade and risking an international depression, as Middle Eastern countries resist U.S. military cost-shifting.

If the U.S. blocks Iranian oil exports, no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf, challenging consuming nations to stop U.S. actions.