Debunking Economics - the podcast

House prices in Australia continue to rise. According to Domain’s House Price Index, prices in Sydney have risen by a third in the last year, to a median value of $1.6 million. Housing affordability has never been a bigger issue, but how do you bring prices down when two thirds of the population are owner occupiers. That’s a question Phil Dobbie puts to Steve Keen, as he explains his two-pronged approach to containing house prices – first, limiting the value of loans to a multiple of the rental value of a property and, secondly, a big reset, which sees debt repaid and bonds issued to those who don’t currently own a property. Would it work, and could it be explained in a way that the voting population will understand? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Central banks control the interest rate through the decisions of their various monetary committees. Almost all of them are set to raise rates multiple times this year. But what do they basis this decision on? These days it is related to the rate of inflation, but to what extent is that driven by the amount of money in circulation. Can the central bank control both? And what about the velocity of money? All questions Phil Dobbie puts to Steve Keen in this week’s Debunking Economics podcast, along with the question, what if we didn’t change interest rates at all? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the surprises as we emerge from the worst of COVID (hopefully) is what’s being called the Great Resignation. Even though employment levels in most countries remain below pre-pandemic levels, that’s not stopping those who hung onto their jobs through the crisis from leaving in their droves. So, what’s driving this trend. Prof Steve Keen suggests it’s a “kick in the balls to the gig economy”. But what happens next? Already central banks are lifting interest rates, fearful of rising wages pushing inflation higher. How is that going to work out. Tune in to this free half-hour podcast as Phil Dobbie talks to Steve about what’s driving this dramatic shift in the labour market.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even the most ardent supporters of small government will agree there are times when governments need to offer subsidies to companies and industries. Paying for the furloughing of workers during the pandemic was one unavoidable example. But are their times when subsidies can distort the economy in unforeseen ways. The support for the food industry that promotes livestock over plant-based diets is a prime example. This week Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen whether there a better way of supporting industries without complex subsidies?   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Around the world we have seen the size of the money supply increasing considerably over recent decades, but none more so than the last couple of years, as governments spend like crazy to support people during lockdowns and illness. In the UK the amount of money in circulation has increased by almost £200 billion. Phil Dobbie asks Steve Keen if there are consequences of growing the monetary base so quickly, and what’s the role of the central banks in controlling this supply?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are a lot of people questioning the direction of conventional economics, yet, even after the biggest spending splurges ever made by governments outside wartime, there is still a lot of talk about fiscal conservatism, paying back the debt and balancing the budget. But contrarian voices question whether that is the best way forward, whilst others are seeing an end to fiat money and are buying into alternatives, like Bitcoin. In this free half hour podcast Phil Dobbie and Steve Keen look at those questioning the way our economies run and the contrarians who believe there’s a better way; contrarians who don’t agree with each other. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is a negative trade balance such a bad thing? Some countries with a bit deficit seem to be doing okay, like American, even the UK to an extent, whereas others, like Japan have a trade surplus and a economy on the road to nowhere. This week Phil Dobbie and Steve Keen discuss how important is a trade balance for the overall good of an economy. And what about jobs? Donald Trump was concerned his trade deficit was giving away jobs to China. Was he right about that? And what about the strange suggestion from Modern Monetary Theorists that exports are bad, imports are good for an economy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Economics works so well because we al have perfect information about everything, all the time. Right? We choose products at the best price because we know all about all products and their prices, so we can make the best choice. That means we can all pursue our own self-interests to provide the most efficient outcome for any situation. Huh? This week Phil Dobbie talks to Steve Keen about the myth of perfect information and the equally as convoluted theories around asymmetric information. But are we getting closer to this supposed information utopia, thanks to the internet? Or is it the supplier who is gathering perfect information, about us? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If capitalism is driving everyone to make a profit – and we all save a bit of that profit and therefore accumulate more wealth, does that mean everyone can be better off, if we all run profitable businesses? Does that mean Boris Johnson’s idea of levelling up is a good one? Or is there a constraint on how much wealth there is. Today on the Debunking Economics podcast Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie the difference between stocks and flows. Profits are flows, whereas accumulated wealth is a stock. He shows how everyone cold theoretically create a profit, but if you increase your wealth you are doing so at the expense of someone else. Once again, it’s easier to explain if you understand double entry bookkeeping. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During his Tory Party conference speech, Boris Johnson said that he remembers something about Wilfredo Pareto, in the “cobwedded attic of (his) memories”. In his mind, Pareto was all about levelling up – that you can improve the lot of some of society without anyone else losing out. But Pareto is most famous for the 80:20 rule – at the time he observed that 80 percent of land in Italy was owned by 20 percent of the population. It’d be worse than that today. For example, in England half of all land is owned by less than one percent of the population. So, can you really expect to be able to improve the wealth of everyone? If the poor suddenly get rich, won’t they demand the swathes of land that is the domain of the uber-wealthy? Plus, doesn’t climate change place a ceiling on growth that puts paid to Jonson’s ambitions. Phil Dobbie talks to Prof Steve Keen, and asks whether levelling up is a vain hope, and whether Pareto ever argued the case in the first place. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.