Secretary of State Marco Rubio says at the Munich conference that deindustrialization was a deliberate, decades-long policy choice that stripped nations of wealth, productive capacity, and independence. Susan Kokinda connects Rubio’s claim to a 1977 Council on Foreign Relations report calling for the “Controlled Disintegration” of the world economy, arguing it targeted the Hamiltonian American System and helped drive the hollowing out of U.S. manufacturing and current European industrial decline. The episode highlights European reactions, including ECB head Christine Lagarde’s warning about geo-economic fragmentation and financial fragility, and Belgium’s prime minister citing a dramatic loss of chemical production capacity linked to decarbonization. It then argues the Trump administration is reversing the model through tariffs, industrial policy, large-scale investment, support for critical sectors, and a renewed focus on physical economy and household incomes, citing speeches by Trade Ambassador Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Examples include Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s announcement of deploying a next-generation nuclear reactor to Utah and White House advisor Peter Navarro attacking JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon amid a push to cut credit card rates from 20–30% to 10%
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