Iran War | US Debt Spiral | $2.5M Treasury Fraud | UAE OPEC Exit | ft. Kusum Wijetilleke

In this episode, I sit down with Kusum Wijetilika—political commentator and SJB working committee member—to dissect the systemic rot inside the global financial architecture. From the "spoofing" of the Sri Lankan Treasury to the geopolitical earthquake of the UAE leaving OPEC, we use Ray Dalio’s "Big Cycle" framework to explain why the world feels so volatile in 2026. All Links → https://linkin.bio/vipulesh Topics covered in this episode: ✅ 00:00 – Intro: The intersection of Finance, Media, and Politics. ✅ 05:22 – Treasury Fraud: Was it a hack or just pure incompetence? ✅ 11:00 – The NDB Scandal: How 13 billion rupees went missing for 18 months. ✅ 29:17 – Real Estate Crisis: Why Colombo is now the hardest city to buy a home in globally. ✅ 52:19 – Ray Dalio’s Big Cycle: Are we in the "Debt Death Spiral"? ✅ 01:00:19 – Tariffs & Inflation: Is the U.S. restructuring or just desperate? ✅ 01:28:10 – The Iran War: Oil at $117 and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. ✅ 01:43:00 – Resource Nationalism: What the UAE’s exit from OPEC means for you. All Links → https://linkin.bio/vipulesh— new episode every Tuesday. 🎙️ **Listen to Circa Z**Youtube → https://www.youtube.com/@CircaPod Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/lk/podcast/circa/id1552622208 Spotify → https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/circa-z/ 📖 **Read**Substack (P.E.S.T.) → https://vipuleshthiyagarajah.substack.comMedium → https://medium.com/@vipulesh123Website & Blog → https://vipuleshthiyagarajah.com 📚 **My Book — Sonder: An Existential Manifesto** Amazon → https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DB2RQYNL All Links → https://linkin.bio/vipulesh ---*© Vipulesh Thiyagarajah. All rights reserved.*