Debunking Economics - the podcast

It seems common sense that we should keep a handle on the amount of money in circulation. Central banks, curiously, think they do. But, as Professor Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie in this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast there are lots of ways money is created. Unfortunately, all our not recognised by conventional economists, and until we realise where money is coming from we have no hope of controlling the supply of it, or ensuring its growth is applied in an equitable way. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

Do we need population growth to enjoy economic growth? Phil Dobbie puts the question to Professor Steve Keen, who argues it’s not necessary and it’s a misnomer that cannot be sustained. Yet many countries see immigration as the only way of sustaining growth, including Kevin Rudd’s pitch for a Big Australia back in 2010. As he saw, and recent politics demonstrates, high immigration is not a popular policy and most people don’t equate it with economic prosperity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s an argument that economics can never be science because it involves the behaviour of humans. You can’t apply empirical rules in the way you do with physical sciences. In this episode of the Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen whether this means economics should never be seen as a science. Steve says economics can be a science, if economists behaved like scientists – that means recognising anomalies and adjusting their theories accordingly. To date, this isn’t happening. The response to the global financial crisis being a significant case in point. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Australians talk of giving everyone a fair go. But it has different meanings for different people. For some, it implies freeing up the ability for people to get on with making a dollar without government interference. For others, it means the government offers the opportunity for all, presumably through subsidies and access to education. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen how seriously should we take the laissez fare approach in the twenty first century. The answer, it seems, is that maybe the big government approach has gone a little too far. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most of us tend to have a vague notion of what Keynes stood for. Why, even neo-classic economists seem to be using his theories to rescue the economy from the ravages of the global financial crisis. So, what is post-Keynesian economics, and how does it differ from the theories espoused in The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. In this podcast, Professor Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie what post-Keynesian thinking is and how it differs from the thoughts of Lord Keynes himself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Okay, this is a deliberately provocative title, but it relates to how the increase in two income households hasn’t necessarily made us better off. Hasn’t it simply reduced real wages and increased asset prices, particularly houses? How much different would the world be if only one member of the household went to work – man or woman. Phil Dobbie talks to Professor Steve Keen about the negative impact of a growing workforce – not just dual incomes, but also the rising number of hours worked. And how do we redress the balance? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Governments everywhere are preoccupied with keeping their spending under control. We are conditioned into thinking about the massive levels of interest being paid on the money that our governments owe. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Professor Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie why we should quit worrying – governments can create money through their central banks. He explains the process in detail. The only concern is when money is owed in a foreign currency – again, Steve explains why. The upshot is, we should be less concerned about government debt and more worried about our trade deficit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The G20 is meeting in Berlin right now. With expectations of any constructive outcomes set to low, maybe there’s a better way forward. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie and Prof Steve Keen work through four ideas that could change the way the economy works – for the better. Phil suggests ideas related to climate change tariffs and a global minimum wage, whilst Steve looks at trade imbalances and a new reserve currency. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this edition Prof Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie how tax levels are really more to do with the government controlling the level of inflation in the economy and less to do with raising revenue to pay for their own expenses. Yet, few people see it that way. Once you do, it makes sense to see tax as an instrument that manages the strength of the economy, in unison with interest rates. Look at it like that and you see that tax should be low when economic growth is slow, not higher to cover the subsequent shortfall in government revenue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world’s Central Bankers have been meeting up in Portugal this week and seem to have colluded on the idea of raising interest rates sometime soon. It looks like the UK, Europe and Canada are in on it but, Professor Steve Keen reckons, they’ll soon be eating humble pie. Any rise in rates right now will quickly be reversed, because the bankers are ignoring the role of credit. Find out why that is so important in this free edition of the Debunking Economics Podcasts with Phil Dobbie and Steve Keen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Automation, it seems, is taking its toll. For example, based on its turnover Amazon employs less than half the staff levels of the broader retail sector – and they are driving efficiency gains all the time. So, is the answer to tax robots – one of the ideas from failed French Presidency candidate Benoît Hamon. No, says Professor Steve Keen. He suggests to Phil Dobbie that the solution is a universal basic wage. But won’t that remove any incentive to work and innovate? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The EU and IMF have just bailed out Greece again, so it can avoid defaulting on the interest payments for its 300 billion Euro debt. The lenders will receive their payments, whilst Greece continues to live through tough austerity measures in the vain hope of the economy recovering at some point. That seems unlikely – GDP per capita is sliding and the smarter folk are leaving the country. Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen how this particular Greek tragedy will end. Violently seems to the only logical conclusion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s the catch cry for those who like to spread fear – Corbyn in power would take Britain back to the 1970s, when Britain experienced runaway inflation, the three day week, class hatred and soviet style stagnation. Yet, as Prof Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie in this free edition of the Debunking Economics podcast, the downturn in the seventies was less to do with government policy and more to do with a turnaround in credit. Households that had been increasing their borrowing in the late sixties, started to pull back, taking money out of the economy. If you’re not convinced the seventies situation was the result of a Labour government and powerful unions, you have to ask, why was exactly the same thing happening in most of the western world? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the UK salaries are now rising slower than inflation – which means living standards are going backwards. Around the world salaries seem to have stagnated, even though unemployment is low. Conventional economic theory suggests that more competition for employees should push wages higher. Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen why that’s not happening. The cause, Steve suggests, is to do with the demise of union power and the rise of the financier. The answer is more to do with reducing debt.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professor Steve Keen has predicted a house price crash in Australia before, but this time he is more certain than ever. Even the Reserve Bank of Australia has been flagging concerns about the country’s rising household debt and inflated house prices. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie asks Steve why he is so certain this time, and what can be done about it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UKIP released its manifesto this week. It’s a glossy production with a range of arguments designed to appeal to the disenfranchised UK worker. But do they stack up economically? In this podcast Phil Dobbie talks with Professor Steve Keen about some of their plans, including zero net migration, changes to VAT, getting rid of inheritance tax, redirecting foreign aid to the NHS and ways of helping small business. It’s fair to say they get a mixed report card from Steve, but some of their ideas are worth considering. Major parties, take note. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conventional neoclassic economics assumes the economy will always arrive at an equilibrium, yet central banks spend an inordinate amount of time speculating on when they should next move interest rates, and in what direction. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen what interest rate decisions are intended to achieve and if they have their desired effect. We talk about this as the US Federal reserve prepares itself for one, possibly two, more interest rate rises this year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Debunking Economics listener asked for a podcast on the role of Shadow Banks. In particular, he wanted to know if shadow banks create money in the same way as conventional banks. The quick answer is, no, because they are not able to create deposits – but they do increase the ability for banks to extend more loans. Phil Dobbie talks to Prof Steve Keen about the role of shadow banks and asks, do they need to be curtailed? And, if so, how? It’s an issue that’s been flagged by Janet Yellen, Governor of the Federal Reserve in the US, who suggested that the influence of shadow banking on the financial system is hard to measure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Economists have always seen wealth as a function of capital and labour. In effect, people and machines create things which makes them money. But Steve Keen believes there’s a far more important consideration – energy. In this free edition of the Debunking Economics podcast he points out how the industrial revolution was founded on the availability of energy and ongoing wealth creation is being driven by the more efficient use of energy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Imagine if shares had a use by date. If you pass the shares issued by a company on to a secondary market, the clock starts ticking. What would that do to the valuation of shares – and why do we need to worry about it? Phil Dobbie discusses the concept with Professor Steve Keen, investigating what the impact would be on share markets and the companies that trade on them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A big chunk of the trades that happen in shares are sold short. In other words, the trader takes a punt that the price will go down. In effect you sell something that you don’t own yet – like shares in the company – and you sell it to some mug who buys it off you at today’s price. Then when the price has gone down, you buy it at the lower price and deliver on your promise. Phil Dobbie asks Steve Keen whether short selling is destructive, or is it a useful balance that keeps share trading in check? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

London and the southeast accounts for a third of the UK’s gross disposable household income. The rest of the country somehow scrapes by. But it’s clear to see why. The proximity to other businesses means investment in London creates a greater return than any other region. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen whether the government should be involved more in regional investment, or will the laws of economics sort it out for itself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Modern Monetary Theory states that’s, because the government of a country is the monopoly supplier of money, it has an unlimited capacity to pay for things and provide funds for other sectors. If the theory is right, why not provide enough money to ensure there is full employment, so full use is made of available labour? Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen whether he is a supporter of MMT. It seems he is, in part, but departs from the ideology when it comes to the theory relating to exports and imports. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Figures out in the US last week showed the unemployment rate had dropped to just 4.5 percent, a long way from the 10% rate back in 2009. Yet Donald Trump won an election, in part, because he was there to protect jobs for Americans. Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen What’s the problem when so many seem to be gainfully employed? The answer, it seems, is that you can do anything you want with statistics. Take a look at this graph to see his point: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=djl1 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Perry, Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Michigan, believes that raising the minimum wage will push costs up so high companies won’t be able to afford them. He wrote in his blog, “a $15 minimum wage maximizes the probability that an unskilled worker will be unemployed at $0.00 an hour instead of being gainfully employed”. So, is that the case? Prof Steve Keen argues he is making the mistake of many economists, applying a micro-economic argument to macro-economics. Find out how the Michigan professor got it so wrong. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Latest UK employment statistics show that more than half of the jobs added in the last year went to the self-employed. Part of this will be entrepreneurs forging their own path, but many will be people forced to establish themselves as sole traders and work for companies on a more casual basis. In this podcast Phil Dobbie talks to Prof Steve Keen about the benefits and problems with the gig economy. On issue, of course, is the amount of money people make. Could the gig economy force a universal basic income? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It seems there’s a relentless desire to try and apply free market principles to public goods, like health, education, defence and research. Even though they usually operate in a monopolistic environment, bureaucrats are always finding ways to apply measures – fiscal or performance based – that distort the way these goods operate. So, in this podcast Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen if there are occasions when marketized principles can be applied to public goods, in the interests of improving performance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Karl Marx argued that the bourgeoisie got rich by creaming their wealth off the proletariat who did all the work. But in this podcast Prof Steve Keen tells Phil Dobbie that it’s not the capitalists who are getting rich from the workers – it’s the often ignored “third class” of citizen, who make up a large part of the wealthiest people on the planet. And they’ve been increasing their influence over recently decades. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Traders buy and sell based, often, on hearsay. Mum and dad investors can take a punt based on advice from ‘experts’ or from the lies they see in a company prospectus. Whatever the level of investor, you always base decisions on imperfect information. Like with anything, the person doing the selling knows more about the state of the product than the one doing the buying. So, what if we had more information? Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen what would happen if the information imbalance didn’t exist. Could we avoid market crashes, for example? Can financial markets survive without cashed up gamblers? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the seventies US government debt was less than 40 percent of GDP. Now, it’s over 100 percent. And the US is still to pass a change to the debt ceiling, which inhibits the government’s ability to spend more money. In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast, Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen when government debt becomes a significant issue. Conventional economics suggests too much spending can raise inflation, which reduces the attractiveness of government bonds, making it more difficult to raise money. And what about a reduction in a country’s credit rating? Steve suggests we think in too linear fashion on the issue. But there is a simple fix if the problem ever gets insurmountable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Which comes first, demand or supply? If you want to grow an economy should you offer money or tax cuts to increase demand, or should you fund jobs to create supply and wages. Donald Trump, like many politicians before him, believes cutting taxes will make more spending power available to create more jobs. Is he right, when many classical economists have argued the opposite – that job creation is the key to spending power. It’s the timeless chicken and egg question except, in this case, Prof Steve Keen believes there’s a very clear answer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this edition of the Debunking Economics podcast we test Donald Trump’s accusations that China, Japan and Germany are manipulating their currencies – something he hates, of course, because it makes it harder for him to achieve his aim, of returning the US to a positive balance of trade. It’s a big undertaking. Is he right that these countries have an unfair advantage over the US and, if so, will a tariff barrier really rectify the problem, or just start a trade war? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump has talked about a 20 percent tax on exports from Mexico to help pay for the wall, but has also spoken about a broader tax on all imports. Many fear it’s a form of protectionism that could spark a trade war, but perhaps they are misunderstanding the intent of Trump’s plan. It’s possible he is following the thinking of Oxford professor Michael Devereux who argues that corporate tax should be applied where consumption happens, rather than where profit is generated. That would mean, irrespective of where goods are made, if they are consumed in America, companies would be taxed. Companies that tried to manufacture elsewhere and sell to the US could end up being taxed in both countries, so it heightens the incentive to produce locally. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bank of England, like many central banks, has used Quantitative Easing as a tool to try and engender growth in the economy. It’s a tool they had to resort to when sustained low interest rates failed to achieve the desired outcome. In this podcast Phil Dobbie talks to Steve Keen about how QE is, why it’s failing and how to should be redesigned. Hopefully the Bank of England will listen, along with the Treasury. In fact, the UK’s Treasury Committee is running an inquiry into the Effectiveness and Impact of post-2008 UK Monetary Policy and we discuss Steve’s submission in the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve probably seen them – emails telling you now is the time to buy gold. When currencies collapse, gold is the safe-haven that speculators turn to. In this episode, Phil Dobbie explores the idea of stocking up with gold, with Professor Steve Keen. Is gold safer than keeping money in a bank? Is it premature to buy gold right now? What are the signs that an economic downturn and banking crisis is occurring? But buying gold isn’t the answer – reducing your level of debt is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s very easy to look at the big salaries in the city and compare it to the average wage and assume bankers are taking us for a ride. But, for time immemorial we have needed money as a more effective means of trade than bartering. Who wants a chicken egg in exchange for today’s paper? So, banks emerged as the intermediary that enables trade. But, as Prof Steve Keen explains to Phil Dobbie, banks don’t just act as an intermediary, they also create money, and focus on encouraging us all to build up debt. So, can we regulate banks to ensure they work in ways which are best for the community? Part of the answer, says Steve, is to see them focus more on equity than loans. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil Dobbie asks Professor Steve Keen about the role of public sector spending. We’ve learnt that the government can create money, through its central bank, and this is, in effect, pumping new money into the economy. The alternate approaches, tax increases or austerity, pull money out of the economy. So public sector spending is a good thing, particularly when the economy is experiencing hardship – but how do they determine what’s best to spend money on. Aren’t government’s notoriously bad at decided how and where to inject funds? Isn’t there a need to focus on productivity rather than pushing up wages? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The rich poor gap in modern society isn’t just related to income. In fact, recent statistics in the UK point to a narrowing of the income gap since the financial crisis. The bigger issue is the inheritance of wealth, giving some a head start and inflating house prices beyond the reach of many. In this edition Phil Dobbie asks Prof. Steve Keen whether a heftier inheritance tax is the answer. There’s discussion of the problems with that approach, how land tax is similarly distortionary, and a suggestion of a better way of narrowing the gap – but we’d better do something about it, before civil unrest reaches fever pitch. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trump’s Presidency created optimism for many – those looking for work and investors who expect his infrastructure program will create untold wealth for the entire population. He reinforced that promise in his inaugural address, talking of new roads and highways and bridges, and the wall of course. Professor Steve Keen is a big supporter of this plan, but believes it’ll fail for one simple reason. The plan is accompanied by a determination to return the budget to surplus, pulling money out of the US economy and countering any benefits from his infrastructure plans.He talks to Phil Dobbie about his change in attitude to Trump’s administration – and what he think will happen next, including a recession in 2018. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Journalist Phil Dobbie and economist Steve Keen agree on lots of things, but fall on either side of the Brexit camp. One believes Britain should have remained to fight EU bureaucracy from the inside, the other suggests the community is fundamentally flawed, along with the concept of free trade, and will collapse soon anyway.In this FREE podcast Phil questions Steve on whether, irrespective of the ideology, Brexit will inflict a lot of short term hurt on many of those who voted for it. There’s also discussion on Theresa May’s 12 point plan, which both agree seems to ignore the opportunity and focuses on making the mistakes of the European partnership in other parts of the world. In other words, will Theresa May just make things worse? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.