Debunking Economics - the podcast

Can centralised monetary policy work in federated states? The grand plan for the EU was to create a United States of Europe – a phrase coined by Sir Winston Churchill directly after the Second World War. In today’s podcast Phil Dobbie talks to Prof. Steve Keen about how central bank’s monetary policies might muddy Churchill’s vision. Is it possible to run a single policy across multiple countries – or federated states like in the US and Australia? Should monetary policy be centralised, even if it cuts across states and countries with their own economic policies and employment conditions? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At their party conference last week the Tories were united on one thing – a Corbyn government would lead to Venezuelan style socialism. Free market thinking is the right and proper way to prosper. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast we look at how socialism has become a swear word and there’s no acknowledgement of the middle ground from either side of politics. As Phil Dobbie discusses with Professor Steve Keen, both extremes fail. But where is the middle ground of politics? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earlier this year President Trump was complaining that China was guilty of currency manipulation. Cheap prices were giving the Chinese a competitive advantage, evidenced by a trade balance between the two nations that, last year, was $347 billion in favour of China. So what’s the best way of dealing with the strength of the Chinese economy. Prof Steve Keen suggests that the President was right at the onset – reindustrialise and wait for China’s main advantage, cheap labour, to diminish in importance. Sadly, his plans have gone by the wayside, so they’re stuck with Chinese imports for a long while yet. But could other nations follow China’s lead? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UK inflation is now at 2.9% - the highest it’s been in five years – and well above the 2% target that the Bank of England has set for itself. It means we can expect an interest rate rise in the very near future. In the US the Federal Reserve is also looking to raise interest rates even though inflation has subsided lately. In this edition of The Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen if inflation is on the way back, how should central banks react and can we still have economic growth without it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The US Federal Reserve is getting rid of it, the European Central Bank has talked about it and could go next. Quantitative Easing, it seems, is falling out of favour. But was it doing any good any way? In this podcast Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen whether QE helps the broader economy or just the financial elites? Vitor Constancio, the Vice President of the European Central Bank has said that QE reduces inequality because it creates jobs for low income workers. Is he right? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s 10 years since the start of the global financial crisis, when the UK saw a run on the Northern Rock Building Society. A year letter the contagion spread, with banks falling like flies on both sides of the Atlantic. So what went wrong and are we repeating the mistakes. Phil Dobbie talks to Professor Steve Keen, one of a handful of people who predicted the crisis the first-time round. In this podcast he suggests that, this time, we might not see banks collapsing, but the economic impact will be just as spectacular.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK Prime Minister has made noises about reining-in executive pay. Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen whether high executive salaries are really such a problem. If somebody can demand such a high salary shouldn’t we congratulate them and aspire to do the same ourselves. Isn’t it the politics of envy to think otherwise? Or are they distorting the economy – and perhaps the biggest influence on the value they add to the company doesn’t come from their expertise, but from elsewhere. These factors are all discussed in this half hour Debunking Economics podcast, that also examines ways of fixing the problem. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Funding retirement seems to be a global issue. Individual pensions often fall short of the required amount and governments struggle so much with the liability of future pension costs that they keep pushing back the age at which we can retire. Professor Steve Keen believes we have got the whole approach to retirement wrong in so many ways. For a start, by encouraging savings we are pulling money out of the economy. Secondly, pension funds are placing their money in the share market, pushing up the price of equities. In this podcast, with Phil Dobbie, he suggests we return to the idea of state pensions – or a universal basic income – with money created by the government. The problem is, we can’t use that money to buy imported goods to meet the demands of our ageing population. In short, we need to reindustrialise if we are to fix our retirement crisis.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bitcoin was an interesting development in the history of money – a currency created from an algorithm. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Professor Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie how Bitcoin works. They also discuss how other new currencies could be used to manage online transactions and the threat that could create for the banking sector. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In previous podcasts Professor Steve Keen has said the availability of energy is the key driver of growth. It fuelled the industrial revolution and inhibits growth in societies without sufficient access to it. In this podcast Phil Dobbie asks whether that justifies President Trump’s approach to energy policy – to make it cheaper, local and more readily available, with less controls on its production. Will lower cost fuel make America more productive? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.