Debunking Economics - the podcast

Governments have been using the terms ‘fiscal conservatism’ and ‘austerity’ to bring down government spending. Often it’s meant transferring government commitments (like on education) to private or individual spending (like student loans). Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen if this a sensible way to encourage growth. If we accept that more spending by government increases the availability of money f...

There was a time when universities embraced a diversity of thought – something that’s critical in a discipline as embryonic as economics. With so many neo-classic economists caught by surprise with the 2008 financial crisis, many would welcome alternatives to the models that served them so badly. Yet, in this podcast, Prof Steve Keen suggests to Phil Dobbie that the crisis seems to have made the u...

In this podcast Prof Steve Keen and Phil Dobbie revisit the velocity of money, with a focus on how increasing credit is a major determinant in why the speed of money transfers has been slowing markedly since the eighties. But, it’s not just that. As Steve observes, its part of a complex system. Far more complex than Friedman’s MV=PY equation. We also include comments from listeners who listened to...

There’s the theory that the supply of money is a major contributor to the rate of inflation. Prof Steve Keen says the central banks have spent the last ten years unsuccessfully trying to demonstrate as much. The need for money to be issued to cover government debt has often been levelled as a cause of inflation and a reason for the austerity measures that have been so prevalent in the last de...

We’re seeing an increase in the rate of ice loss in Antartica – another sign that global warming is worsening, whilst the world’s leader do little to mitigate the problem. In fact, one of those leaders has said it’s all a hoax. But if we had a unified impetus to do something about it could we device economic systems to change our behaviour and resolve the problem? That’s a question Phil Dobbie put...

The speed of growth in an economy and the rate of inflation is driven by how much money is in circulation and how quickly its changing hands. Steve Keen says we need to add the change in debt to Milton Friedman’s formula. As he discusses with Phil Dobbie, that would explain why the velocity of money has decreased since the eighties, even though the supply has been up and down, along with economic...

Sweden is quickly moving towards a cashless economy. According to their central bank cash payments are now less than 2 percent of GDP and less than 15 percent of retail transactions. Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen whether we could eventually go cashless? He’s very sceptical. His fear is that the people who would control the monetary system probably wouldn’t understand how money works. And what i...

They’re having the best of times. They’re having the worst of times. The US economy seems to be going gangbusters whilst Europe’s growth has stalled and, possibly, is starting to wane. So why the disparity between the two? Prof Steve Keen says it is al to do with the contrasting economic policies – the expansionary approach of President Trump versus the austerity measures of Europe. Phil Dobbie as...

Ask a conventional economist about household debt and they’ll say it’s not an issue. The money you spend on repayments won’t be spent on shopping, but whoever gets that money will spend it and keep it circulating. Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen whether, in that case, debt matters. Listen in to hear Steve’s explanation on why it does matter, and why high mortgage debt slows down the economy. Host...

Western economies are struggling to see growth anywhere near the levels before the global financial crisis. Japan has been struggling with zero growth, or worse, for years. So, what’s the cause of the slowdown and will we ever see high growth ever again? More to the point, why the growth obsession. Are there better ways of measuring the health of an economy? And what’s the downside of being too fo...

A meltdown seems to be happening in the Italian economy. Steve Keen tells Phil Dobbie that it’s the failings of the Maastricht Treaty coming home to roost. Does this mean that Italy could be on the verge of pulling out of the Euro, if not the EU completely? Wouldn’t it make their country bankrupt? And what can the ECB do to try and resolve the situation. In this podcast we look through the potenti...

Joh Madden sent us a message saying he wants to understand, in simple terms, why the interest payments on public debt are not a problem. He points out how it is used to justify austerity because it intuitively makes sense to waste less money on paying interest. He wants to know why this interest is not a problem, and what if the money which the public owes keeps rising? Hosted on Acast. See acast....

Economic theory is based on the blatantly false assumption that perfect competition can be achieved when everyone has access to perfect information. So, if we strive to get closer to that ideal can we assume that the economy will function better? That’s a question Phil Dobbie puts to Prof Steve Keen – and, without wishing to give away the entire answer – it would be correct if we were striving for...

Karl Marx got a lot right, but he was wrong about the need to a revolution. In this podcast Prof Steve Keen explains how, if Marx had followed his own theories, he would have realised that there wasn’t a need for a shift to socialism. In this free 36 minute podcast Phil Dobbie talks with Steve about the basis of Marx’s theory, from the Labour Theory of Value through to Use Value and Exchange Value...

Central banks like to control inflation using monetary theory (managing the cost of borrowing) as their way to control inflation and unemployment and avoid recessions. Whereas Keynes argues that government spending is the way to avoid recessions – pump prime the economy and “she’ll be right mate”. In this week’s podcast Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen if monetary policies ever worked – and isn’t...

With Mark Zuckerberg being probed by the US government recently, and similar hearings being held in the UK, there’s been a lot of discussion lately about whether the Internet giants wield too much power. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen why we don’t treat them as monopolies, and force their break-up into smaller, competing operators. Steve doesn’t...

Land, is of course, heavily constrained. In this podcast Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen whether enough value is placed on it and the influence it has on the broader economy. Housing speculation is an obvious example of how land values distort the economy. If it was left to pure market forces what are the damaging impacts on broader society and just how far should the government intervene? H...

It’s hard to support everything Vladamir Putin does – he probably was involved in the attack in Salisbury. If not, there are lots of other violations of human rights we can point to. But he does have a lot support in Russia. To understand why, you need to understand the recent past, what Russia is trying to achieve and the role of foreign powers in distracting them from their path. Today on the De...

In this podcast series Prof Steve Keen has repeatedly argued the importance of keeping an economy in surplus. But, Alex Howlett, a regular listener and Patreon supporter, asks why this might be. He suggests a trade deficit is a good thing, because it suggests companies overseas are willing to accept your currency. The more currency you generate, the more you can buy. To a point. Phil Dobbie a...

One of our podcast listeners, Arjen, asks the question, “Why don't you recommend a full-reserve banking system instead of fractional reserve? There would be much less debt in such a system and a smaller role for the central banks.” Phil Dobbie puts the question to Prof Steve Keen, and struggles to understand why the text book explanation of fractional reserve banking is wrong, wrong, wrong. Hosted...

We’ve talked a lot on the Debunking Economics podcast about how energy is the only real driver of an economy, so the performance of an economy is driven by the availability of the resource and how efficiently it is captured. Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen if that means countries with the most energy resources should be the most effective producers of goods, with a healthy trade surplus. If...

Britain’s productivity levels are 17 percent lower than the rest of the G7. A French worker could take Friday off and still beat the output of a British worker. So, does that mean we mean a more educated workforce? Could we improve the productivity of the UK if everyone was just that little bit smarter? Phil Dobbie puts that question to Professor Steve Keen in a discussion that goes full circle –...

Many people it seems have turned to cryptocurrencies as a way of side stepping banks – a technology that will challenge their dominance and democratise the supply of money. Others look to fintech as a means of cutting out the established finance sector, putting investors and borrowers together, cutting out the middleman. But are they kidding themselves? In this edition of the Debunking Economics p...

We know there is growing discontent around the world about the distribution of wealth and, it seems, financial crises can make the problem worse. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie asks Prof. Steve Keen why the boom bust nature of capitalism accentuates the wealth divide and what can be done to remedy the problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...

Just how much control does a country have over its own economy? We’ve seen wage growth stifled by international competition and the decimation of manufacturing in the West. Yet Trump and Brexit voters are pushing an agenda to take control of their economies – will they win? Phil Dobbie asks Steve Keen what actually has to happen if we are to have control of our economic destiny – and our regulatio...