Podcast / American Prestige / Jul 8, 2025

The Human Cost of Economic Sanctions

On this episode of American Prestige, Mark Weisbrot talks about economic sanctions and how they affect people’s lives.

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Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

The Human Cost of Economic Sanctions | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

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Economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Mark Weisbrot joins the show to talk about economic sanctions and how they affect people’s lives. They discuss the effect of sanctions on migration flows, how the PR about them targeting governments and not civilians is false, how the international financial system and dollar hegemony allow the US to sanction so freely, whether sanctions on other countries actually benefit ordinary Americans, whether tariffs can be considered a form of sanctions, and more.

Check out CEPR’s work for much more material on sanctions.

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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks about US sanctions on Russia.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks about US sanctions on Russia.

(Victor J. Blue / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Economist and codirector of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Mark Weisbrot joins the show to talk about economic sanctions and how they affect people’s lives. They discuss the effect of sanctions on migration flows, how the PR about them targeting governments and not civilians is false, how the international financial system and dollar hegemony allow the US to sanction so freely, whether sanctions on other countries actually benefit ordinary Americans, whether tariffs can be considered a form of sanctions, and more.

Check out CEPR’s work for much more material on sanctions.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Israel’s War Consensus and Permanent Conflict w/ Udi Greenberg | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

Danny and Derek welcome back to the show historian Udi Greenberg to talk about Israeli public opinion, politics, and its strategy vis-à-vis the war with Iran. They discuss the overwhelming public support for military operations, the underlying strategic consensus across Israeli politics prioritizing military dominance over negotiation, the absence of meaningful debate over a two-state solution or Palestinian sovereignty, the stability of Israeli domestic political divisions despite the war, how media and military messaging shapes public perception, and the relationship between Israeli strategy and continued U.S. support.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for our series Marx Prestige, coming March 31.

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Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

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Daniel Bessner

Daniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.

Derek Davison

Derek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.

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