House prices are crashing down in Australia, with forecasts for Sydney that they’ll have fallen by 20% from their peak by the end of this year, with the possibility that they will fall much further beyond that. So how did it get this bad and will this “correction” mean houses will become affordable again, or is more government involvement needed? Pieter Verhoeven, a Debunking Economics listener, asked, “rent control, a good idea?” Phil Dobbie puts the question to Steve Keen. Plus, Carl Gianarakis asked "How much harder is it for young Australian first home buyers today than it was for buyers who bought prior to the introduction of negative gearing?" Listen in for an update on the Aussie housing crisis and what we can learn from it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a recent podcast Phil Dobbie suggested that Australia suffers for its relatively small population size, which restricted competition and meant people were paying higher prices. Peter Y, a listener, wrote in saying Phil needs to get out of his rut on thinking about competition – Steve Keen needs to explain to him how competition really works. He does, in this edition of the podcast, but Steve still agrees a lack of competition does mean Australians are still suffering from a lack of competition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Interest rates have been low in most parts of the world for some time now – in many places they are actually negative. So, what do central banks do next time there’s a global economic downturn which, as we discussed last time, isn’t very far away now. Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen whether interest rates are now so low, with little opportunity for them to grow, that they are no longer a useful instrument for central banks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seems like we’re due another recession. If you include the dot-com bust then we’ve had significant downturns every 78-9 years since the 1970s. So, even though it feels like we haven’t recovered from the last one, we appear to be hurtling to another one soon. Phil Dobbie talks to Prof Steve Keen about what will be the trigger this time, how far it will spread and what, if anything, can Central Banks do to prevent it? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Modern Monetary Theory supports the idea that governments, rather than creating debt, can create as much money as they see fit to invest in the economy and create jobs. Thar works just fine in a closed economy, where the debt is all in your own currency. But, Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen, whether the idea falls apart once you introduce the pesky idea of a global economy with international trade and foreign currencies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Austrian School of Economics has been around since the 1870s but was given a new lease of life in the 1970s by Frederich Hayek. In this week’s podcast Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen about some of the fundamental principles of the Austrian school, including the theory of marginal utility, opportunity cost and the often-touted principle that humans always act with purpose. They are also big proponents of less government intervention. Steve accepts some of the principles of the Austrian School – Phil asks if he could take away two, what would they be?   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Milton Friedman influenced a generation of politicians, turning them from Keynesian economics to a more free-market way of doing things. Margaret Thatcher described him an intellectual freedom fighter. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Steve Keen debunks the Friedman approach to capitalism and Phil Dobbie suggests one politician who has abandoned the approach, because he has increased tariffs, something Milton would be very opposed to. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world’s population is growing – and we seem to be feeling it a bit in almost every part of the world – some more than most. But could the population in some countries, like Australia for example, actually be too small … would the economy work better if there were more people in it. Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen if a small population hinders competition and economic efficiency? Notwithstanding the broader argument that the planet’s population cannot keep on growing at the same rate forever … or even very long. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did your mum and dad teach you to save money rather than borrow? It was better to have cash than be in debt. Yet the whole approach to money has turned on its head. We don’t save as much as we used to. In fact, we borrow to invest. It’s a generational change. In this week’s podcast Phil Dobbie asks Steve Keen whether it’s something we should worry about. And is it any surprise we don’t save, when we’re slugged with bank fees and offered a very low interest rate? More to the point, why would we save when it’s easier to borrow? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.