Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy

Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman in Conversation with Paul Krugman

This event was recorded live on May 22, 2024.

Underground Empire, a real-life techno-thriller by Henry Farrell and Abraham Newman, reveals how the U.S. controls a global web of surveillance, in the form of networks of fiber optic cables and banking systems, giving it enormous economic power. Farrell and Newman show how these channels, weaponized after 9/11 but now used as a matter of course, have become realms of spying and coercion over foreign businesses and countries, allowing for U.S domination. Paul Krugman — Nobel laureate in economics, columnist for The New York Times, and distinguished professor at the CUNY Graduate Center — speaks with the authors about their investigation and the geopolitical implications of the power they uncover. Farrell is a professor at Johns Hopkins University and editor-in-chief of The Monkey Cage blog at The Washington Post; Newman is a professor at Georgetown University and also co-author of the book Of Privacy and Power: The Transatlantic Struggle Over Freedom and Security.

Presented with the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality.

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