Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol to heighten awareness of the rich poor gap in Victorian London. Professor Steve Keen suggests his lavish ways described in the last few pages of the book would almost certainly end in bankruptcy. Yet, his original penny-pinching lifestyle was destructive for the economy and almost certainly reduced his profit potential. In this Christmas special edition of The Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie asks what the message should have been from the Ghost of Christmas Future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Italian banks are on the verge of collapse. Former PM Matteo Renzi failed in his bid to centralise power and, supposedly, tackle the country’s dire economic circumstances. In reality, though, what could he have done? In this edition of The Debunking Economics podcast we look at the state of banks around the world and economies teetering on the edge. If we are to face another global financial crisis, driven by bank collapses, how do the circumstances compare with 2007-8? And which countries will be hit the hardest? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Obviously we want to ensure that we are doing the most with the resources we have, but are we placing too much importance on productivity as a key measure of how well an economy is performing. In this episode of The Debunking Economics podcast Prof. Steve Keen suggests that the figure is misleading, and hides the growing inequality in society. There are better measures, he believes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prof Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie why economists have got their theories wrong because they have misunderstood the role of double entry book-keeping. That means, argues Steve, this episode will be particularly exciting for accountants – perhaps the most fun they’ll ever have. And we discover why government debt is generally a good thing, but too much private debt can be destructive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The media, governments and mainstream economists are obsessed with concerns over government debt. Yet in the UK and most other developed nations private debt is a bigger issue. Why is it that we expect our governments to operate without borrowing, whilst many of us are mortgaged to the hilt? In this edition of The Debunking Economics podcast we examine the two types of debt and the consequences of each rising to high levels. Also, why does one tend to rise while the other falls? What can we learn from the 1920s? And why is the trade balance a related, but more important, issue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Back in 1817, in his catchy titled book ‘On the principle of political economy and taxation’, David Ricardo gave the mathematical argument for free trade based on comparative advantage. The argument goes that we’d all be better off if countries focused on what they’re best at producing, even if someone else might do a better. In this episode Prof Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie why the theory doesn’t hold – we only need to look at the industrialisation of Japan as an example. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Milton Friedman had a theory that the wealth of a nation was determined by the amount of money and the velocity of that money. In other words, if we exchanged money more quickly we’d all be better off. Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen if Friedman’s theory is correct and, if so, why doesn’t government policy focus on speeding up money? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast Phil Dobbie talks with Steve Keen about the rationale behind government austerity measures, the thinking being that government debt is holding back the prospects for economic growth. Steve argues that this assumes the economy behaves like chipmunks, hording nuts for the winter. In effect, the approach takes money out of the economy, doing the opposite of helping the economy grow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Steve Keen argues that monopolies commissions have got it wrong, believing the consumer wins when all firms in an industry are of similar size. He argues that the best outcomes occur when businesses form a "power law" structure. And control of monopolies, he reckons, should be handed over to evolutionary biologists. Find out why in this edition of The Debunking Economics podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trump’s unexpected win reflects the dissatisfaction of huge swathes of disenfranchised voters across America. They are upset because they are not seeing their lifestyle improve, yet the rich elite seem to be accumulating the wealth with little or none of it trickling down to the rest of the population. In this episode of The Debunking Economics podcast Steve Keen says money needs to be forced to circulate rather than accumulate. But how do you do that? Phil Dobbie asks Steve whether higher taxes are part of the solution, which would be ironic given the US President elect has done a good job of evading them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.