How New York Controls the World's Finances

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]For decades, if you were a central bank trying to settle a trade between, say, Brazil and China, two countries with no connection to the United States, you had one option: route it through New York, through dollar correspondent banking, through US-regulated infrastructure. So, every trade, every payment, and every settlement touched the American financial system. And not because anyone preferred it, just because there was nothing else. And this arrangement effectively turned the US financial system into the foundation of the entire global financial system. And with this came massive unfair advantages.

[00:00:36]Advantages economists call exorbitant privilege. Because when a trade between Brazil and China clears through New York, it doesn't just move money, it moves data. And it gives the US visibility into seeing who's buying and who's shipping what. It basically gives the United States a bird's-eye view over global trade.