Stephanie Flanders

Economic and geopolitical analyst, likely for Bloomberg, focused on the intersection of policy, technology, and global markets.

Claims

As speaker

Mentioned in

Key positions and views

Trump's tariff policies have largely failed in their goal of reviving U.S. manufacturing, with job losses continuing, and have not been sufficient to lower the federal deficit despite raising significant revenue.

The U.S. possesses a critical, but potentially fragile, lead over China in foundational AI technologies, which serves as a key point of leverage in their strategic competition.

China's near-monopoly on certain rare earth minerals represents a significant, non-substitutable vulnerability for the U.S. economy, implicating over a trillion dollars of GDP.

The Trump administration's conflict with Iran has profound secondary effects, most notably by exacerbating U.S.-China tensions as it directly threatens China's energy security.

Advanced AI models like Anthropic's Mythos represent a new class of systemic risk to the global financial system, prompting unprecedented warnings from the highest levels of the U.S. government.

Podcast consensus on Flanders

Points of consensus

▶Multiple claims across different episodes affirm that the US holds a technological lead over China in the development of the most powerful AI models, citing Anthropic's Mythos as a key example.May 2026

▶Flanders consistently reports, citing Bloomberg Economics research, that 4% of U.S. GDP ($1.2 trillion) is dependent on rare earth minerals, with 1.5% of that being unsubstitutable and solely sourced from China.May 2026

▶The conflict with Iran under the Trump administration is repeatedly identified as a major disruptor of China's energy supply, prompting China to take the 'unprecedented step' of ordering companies to ignore U.S. sanctions.May 2026

▶The U.S. status as a net energy exporter, bolstered by a significant drop in domestic natural gas prices, is presented as a major competitive advantage for its manufacturing sector.

Points of debate

▶Regarding Trump's tariffs, Flanders presents a nuanced view: she reports the mainstream economic consensus that they have failed to revive U.S. manufacturing, while also acknowledging they have raised 'hundreds of billions' in federal revenue.

▶On the subject of the AI model Mythos, Flanders highlights the U.S. Treasury's dual position: it is a grave threat capable of 'cataclysmic cyber attacks' but also a tool that banks are being encouraged to use for their own defense.May 2026

▶Flanders reports on the debate around U.S. economic policy's global impact, noting international concern that the U.S. won't 'feel enough short-term economic pain' to resolve crises, while she speculates that global financial leaders might be privately relieved by the Trump administration's disengagement.

▶While reporting that the U.S. manufacturing sector has lost 80,000 jobs, Flanders also points to countervailing forces, such as the country's significant competitive advantage from being a net energy exporter, creating a complex picture of the sector's health.

Key themes

▶US-China Strategic CompetitionMay 2026

Flanders' analysis frequently centers on the multifaceted rivalry between the U.S. and China. This is explored through the lens of economic warfare via tariffs, technological dominance in AI, and control over critical resources like rare earth minerals.

Investors should monitor not just headline trade figures but also chokepoints in technology and resource supply chains, as these are the arenas where true strategic leverage is being contested.

▶The Geopolitics of EnergyMay 2026

Flanders highlights how energy dynamics shape international relations and economic competitiveness. She contrasts the U.S.'s advantage as a net energy exporter with falling domestic gas prices against China's vulnerability to disruptions in its energy supply, particularly from Iran.

The divergence in energy security between the U.S. and China is a fundamental factor that could dictate the outcome of future economic and geopolitical conflicts, favoring U.S. resilience.

▶Technology as a Systemic Risk and Asset

The reporting on Anthropic's Mythos AI model illustrates a core theme of advanced technology's dual nature. Flanders details how U.S. officials view it as both a potential catalyst for 'cataclysmic' financial cyberattacks and a necessary tool for identifying systemic vulnerabilities.

Analysts must assess leading technology firms not just on their commercial potential but also on their capacity to introduce systemic risks, as governments are now treating their most powerful products as matters of national security.

▶Evaluating 'Trumponomics'

Flanders provides a critical assessment of the Trump administration's economic policies, particularly tariffs. She juxtaposes the policy's stated goals, like reviving manufacturing, with data showing continued job losses and minimal impact on the federal deficit, reflecting the mainstream economic consensus.

The narrative that tariffs directly translate to domestic manufacturing revival is not supported by the data Flanders presents, suggesting that other factors, like energy costs and tariff evasion, are more impactful variables.

Source episodes

Timeline

2017

Reports that the last U.S. presidential visit to China was by Donald Trump, setting a baseline for high-level diplomatic engagement prior to recent escalations.

Beginning of 'last year'

Notes the start of a trend where the U.S. manufacturing sector lost 80,000 jobs, a key data point used to critique the effectiveness of tariff policies.

Recent Past

Details the Trump administration's initiation of a conflict with Iran, which 'choked off a major source of energy for China' and created 'fresh trains' in the U.S.-China relationship.

Recent Weeks

Reports on a pivotal meeting where the U.S. Treasury Secretary warned Wall Street leaders about the systemic risks posed by Anthropic's Mythos AI model.

Recent Days

Highlights an escalation in geopolitical tensions as China orders its companies to defy U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil and Indonesia's finance minister floats the idea of a tax on the Malacca Strait.

Forthcoming (in two weeks)

Anticipates a high-stakes summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in China, framing it as a critical juncture in the bilateral relationship.

Suggested prompts

How does Stephanie Flanders use specific data points, like the $112 billion trade discrepancy or the 80,000 manufacturing job losses, to challenge or substantiate official policy narratives? &nearr;Based on her reporting, what are the primary economic and security vulnerabilities that the U.S. faces from its technological and resource interdependence with China? &nearr;How does Flanders connect domestic U.S. economic factors, such as low natural gas prices, to America's broader geopolitical standing and competitive advantage? &nearr;Analyze the dual-use nature of advanced AI as presented by Flanders: how is the Mythos model framed as both a critical national security threat and an essential defensive tool for the financial industry? &nearr;

Key concepts

US-China Geopolitics 4 ep Tariffs & Trumponomics 3 ep Energy Markets (Iran & US Gas) 3 ep Artificial Intelligence (Mythos) 3 ep Rare Earth Minerals 3 ep US Manufacturing 2 ep Global Financial System 2 ep Federal Reserve Policy 1 ep

Notable quotes

“But the mainstream take of economists would be tariffs have not done much to revive domestic manufacturing and that if the economy showed unexpected resilience last year, well, that was despite the tariffs, not because of them.”

Stephanie Flanders · How Trump’s Tariffs Plus Iran War May Help US Manufacturing | Trumponomics

“[0:01:14 -> 0:01:28] to warn about Mythos, the latest AI model from Anthropic, that it was so powerful that it could herald a new era of cataclysmic cyber attacks carried out autonomously by bots.”

Stephanie Flanders · Will Mythos Ruin or Save the Global Financial System? | Trumponomics

“But they find that 4% of US GDP is implicated. That's $1.2 trillion.”

Stephanie Flanders · Will the Xi-Trump Summit Be Over Before It Starts? | Trumponomics

“the US being a net exporter of energy, which is driving a lot of manufacturing and gives the country an enormous competitive advantage at this point.”

Stephanie Flanders · Iran and Global Debt Cloud IMF-World Bank Meetings | Big Take

Report last updated: May 10, 2026

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