Western Economic Decline as BRICS Strengthens
Western Economic Decline as BRICS Strengthens
WTFinance: 12-3-2025
In a recent, highly insightful episode of the “WTFinance Podcast,” host Anthony engaged in a deep dive with Warrick Powell, an adjunct professor at Queensland University of Technology renowned for his expertise in China, supply chains, and the global political economy.
The conversation was not about minor market fluctuations; it was about the structural earthquake currently reshaping global power, trade, and financial flows.
Powell argues that the shift away from a Western-centric, unipolar world is inevitable, profound, and accelerating—driven less by external threats and more by internal structural decay.
Warrick Powell’s analysis of the Western decline in manufacturing is sobering because it frames the issue not as a recent political failure, but as a deep, structural problem decades in the making.
While recent energy price shocks have exacerbated the situation, the core issue lies in the redirection of capital.
Powell highlights that the massive expansion of the financial sector in the West effectively starved productive industries. Capital was diverted into financial engineering and speculation, leading to deindustrialization and a failure to modernize infrastructure and labor skills.
Meanwhile, the US economy, though currently robust in parts, faces severe structural headwinds. Powell points specifically to bottlenecks in energy supply, a problem compounded by the rapidly increasing energy demands of the AI and digital sectors.
This rising energy cost acts as an invisible tax on both consumers and businesses, fueling inflation and social pressure.
One of the central arguments of the episode is that the multipolar world isn’t coming—it’s already here, and its center of gravity is shifting away from the Atlantic.
China is positioned at the nucleus of new economic networks, building alternative institutions and supply chains that actively challenge the post-WWII US-dominated order. Powell notes that the US share of global imports has significantly declined, severely weakening its leverage in global trade.
Crucially, he argues that the Western geopolitical response—defined by tariffs, sanctions, and alliance-building—is fundamentally “defensive and nostalgic.” These attempts seek to preserve an outdated unipolar reality, and they are largely futile.
Tariffs, for example, have demonstrably harmed American industries and consumers far more than they have protected domestic manufacturing jobs or deterred Chinese growth.
Multipolarity is messy. It doesn’t mean a simple replacement of one power with another; it means a complex, layered reality where numerous regional institutions coexist alongside legacy global bodies, with national sovereignty demands rising across the board.
One of the most consequential shifts discussed is the rapid evolution of currency dynamics. The US dollar’s role as the undisputed global reserve currency is under pressure, driven primarily by the weaponization of the dollar for geopolitical ends.
When nations see their assets frozen or their access to the SWIFT system threatened due to political disputes, the incentive to find alternative payment and settlement mechanisms becomes overwhelming.
Powell points to the rising use of non-US-dollar currencies, particularly the Chinese Renminbi (RMB) and the Russian Ruble, in trade settlements and bond issuances. These efforts are practical: they reduce transactional risk and lower compliance costs for nations seeking to insulate themselves from geopolitical pressure.
While some commentators anticipate a return to commodity-backed currencies, Powell dismisses the idea of a gold standard revival.
He emphasizes that the value of modern fiat money is anchored not by metal, but by a productive and stable economic system—which is precisely what the rising powers are currently focused on building.
Looking ahead, the conversation addressed the inevitable impact of AI and automation on jobs. Powell offers a balanced perspective: neither wholly pessimistic nor wildly optimistic.
He stresses that the jobs most vulnerable to automation are those requiring predictable routine skills. These roles will undoubtedly be replaced. However, this disruption clears the path for new forms of work demanding creativity, complex cognitive skills, and non-routine problem-solving.
The unprecedented speed of this technological change means that social policy and education systems must adapt with equal velocity to mitigate social disruption and ensure labor forces are equipped for the future economy.
Warrick Powell’s core message is a challenge to established powers: change is not optional; it is constant and inevitable.
The attempts by transatlantic powers to cling to a bygone era through confrontational foreign policy and protectionism will only lead to further conflict and decline. The necessary path forward involves moving beyond defensive posturing and embracing nonviolent, dialogical approaches to managing global transformation.
Building a truly inclusive multipolar world—one that offers sustainable prosperity beyond the traditional Western sphere—requires acknowledging the new economic realities and engaging with them constructively.
The conversation with Warrick Powell paints a clear picture: the global economy is in the throes of a historical transition. Those who recognize the structural nature of Western decline and proactively engage with the complexity of the new multipolar architecture will be best positioned for the decades ahead.