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You would be forgiven for thinking that inflation, interest rates, GDP and tariffs drive the global economy.

But there are a whole set of interconnected underlying systems that work quietly in the background to keep economies running smoothly. It's not just countries that rely on them, but individuals as well. These systems allow workers to get paid, banks to make transfers, and the free-flow of information on the internet.

These immaterial systems have a presence in the physical world, from fibre optic cables to the servers that host our data. Building and maintaining this infrastructure, and everything else that makes up modern civilisation requires a constant and reliable supply of raw materials.

But in this globalised world, both the underlying systems online and the supply chains in the material world have pinch points - places where if just one thing gets squeezed, then there are immediate and dramatic effects on the economy.

And whoever controls those pinch points wields a vast amount of power.

In this episode of Rethink, Ben Ansell explores those pinch points, how the USA and China are realising their power, and what this means for the UK.

Presenter: Ben Ansell
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Clare Fordham

Contributors:
Henry Farrell, SNF Agora Professor of International Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and co-author of Underground Empire.
Abe Newman, professor in the School of Foreign Service and Government Departments at Georgetown University, and co-author of Underground Empire.
Ed Conway, economics and data editor of Sky News and author of Material World.