Interview · moment 15 of 18
Postwar Economic Policy and America's Losing Streak in Foreign Wars
from The Great Francis James · #110
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minGuest
Francis lays out a theory of postwar industrialist profiteering, the end of the gold standard under Nixon, the petrodollar system, and argues the US has lost every major war/intervention since 1947, from Korea to Iran's Mossadegh coup.
- 45:35Post-WWII plan: industrialists given new tech while Europe and Japan got 19th-century equipment, but industrialists chose monopoly profits for 20 years instead.
- 46:38Nixon took the US off the gold standard in 1971, leading to a deficit economy funded by petrodollar debt and unending war bubble.
- 47:13America's worst foreign policy disaster began in 1947 when the US became the world's policeman—and we've lost every conflict since.
- 47:36List of American military losses: Korea, Vietnam, Congo, Lebanon, Iraq—the US does coups but only wins them for 48 hours.
- 47:58CIA destabilized democratically elected Mossadegh in Iran, installed the Shah, then got the Islamic Revolution anyway—proof the US should have kept hands off.
- 48:36Instead of adopting single-payer health insurance like Canada did in 1971, America got CBS medical dramas like 'Medical Center' starring Chad Everett for nine years.
- 49:04Media stabilizes the American disconnect by not pushing for honest, truthful voices from comics and social critics.
- 49:21Tim references just performing in Lexington, Kentucky, where audiences are looking for honest and true commentary.
Mohammad MossadeghRichard NixonMarshall PlanReza PahlaviFranklin D. RooseveltHarry TrumanPierre TrudeauMedical CentersKeynesianismEdmund Muskie