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Brad Setser on the War in Iran and the Future of the US Dollar

Joe Weisenthal, Tracy Alloway
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⚡ Quantum Brief
The Iran conflict threatens to disrupt global financial flows, with potential long-term shifts in trade routes and energy markets, particularly if the Strait of Hormuz becomes a contested chokepoint. Gulf states may face reduced business appeal amid instability, accelerating capital flight and diversifying financial hubs away from traditional oil-dependent economies. East Asia confronts a dual economic paradox: soaring energy import costs due to the conflict while profiting from AI-driven semiconductor exports, complicating reserve management strategies. The crisis echoes 1970s energy shocks but diverges in its geopolitical complexity, testing the dollar’s dominance as nations explore alternative payment systems and reserve currencies. Brad Setser warns of emerging financial imbalances, suggesting the war could hasten de-dollarization trends if sanctions and energy volatility persist.
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Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the worldAmericas+1 212 318 2000EMEA+44 20 7330 7500Asia Pacific+65 6212 1000Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the worldAmericas+1 212 318 2000EMEA+44 20 7330 7500Asia Pacific+65 6212 1000How This Shock Differs From the 1970s.Men walk past a damaged residential building in Tehran, Iran, on April 14.Listen to Odd Lots on Apple PodcastsListen to Odd Lots on SpotifyWatch Odd Lots on YouTubeSubscribe to the newsletterIt's possible that the war in Iran could reshape financial flows in significant ways. Perhaps the Gulf states will end up as less desirable places to do business. Perhaps Iran will have a tollbooth at the Strait of Hormuz. Perhaps this episode will accelerate the world's shift away from oil. It's impossible to say. But given the uncertainty, fresh questions are being raised about the existing financial world order, upon the top of which the US dollar sits. On this episode, we speak once again with Brad Setser, the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. We discuss how the war is already creating new global imbalances, and the degree to which this episode parallels past energy shocks. We also talk about broader trends in reserve management, other factors driving financial flows, and the unique situation facing East Asia, which is seeing a surge in its energy import bills at the same time its making making a fortune selling chips for the AI boom.

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Source: Bloomberg Markets

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