Can You Sanction a Country That's Already Cut Off? | The Professor Is In

In this episode of the Professor Is In, Justin answers your questions about "Operation Economic Outcast," the White House plan to squeeze Iran by threatening its trading partners with sanctions and loss of dollar access. The catch: the US already has roughly 6,000 sanctions on Iran and a naval blockade, so most of the country is severed already. New pressure only bites if third countries actually fall in line — and the biggest one, China, buys most of Iran's oil. Justin calls China the Andre the Giant of this fight: to move it, the US would have to start a trade war with a third party country like China, Russia, or Turkey. That would inflict real pain on Americans. If Washington isn't willing to do that, the threat is bravado, not policy. Diving In on "Economic D-Day": https://youtu.be/tOu7yQD9lAI?si=qtV0qp2FN8wD6i0v Chapters: 1:19 Is today’s threat to Iran more powerful than the 1960’s threat to Cuba? 6:49 What happens if China doesn’t go along with it? 10:33 What are the economic benefits to countries that go along with this plan? 13:21 How seriously should we take the risk of dollar dominance ending? This is an episode of The Professor Is In, where producer Augusta brings Justin your questions. Want your question answered next time? Subscribe and comment: on YouTube 👉 https://youtube.com/platypuseconomics on Substack 👉 https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com Follow on Social Media @PlatypusEconomics and @JustinWolfers