Jeffrey Sachs Says U.S. Deliberately Creates Financial Crises

Overview

• The comments were made by Columbia economist Jeffrey Sachs at a CEPAS think‑tank meeting in Rio where he argued that U.S. economic policy treats the global economy as a tool of power and can deliberately trigger crises.
• Sachs cited Venezuela and Cuba as examples he said were driven into devastating crisis by U.S. measures and quoted President Trump’s Davos remark about using currency pressure and street protests against Iran to criticize that approach.
• As a policy response Sachs proposed stronger regional financial integration, including regionally managed currency swap lines and greater use of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) to provide liquidity without relying on the IMF.
• CEPAS participants including Cebri president José Pio Borges and former finance minister Felipe Larraín echoed calls for strategic regional coordination, and the network’s pro tempore presidency was handed to Argentina’s CARI under Francisco de Santibañes.
• Reports present Sachs’s statements as his assessments and policy proposals rather than independently verified facts, and his plan could shift debate toward new regional tools that aim to protect citizens from sudden external shocks and policy-driven financial turmoil.