402 episodes

Economist Steve Keen talks to Phil Dobbie about the failings of the neoclassical economics and how it reflects on society.
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Debunking Economics - the podcast Steve Keen & Phil Dobbie

    • Education
    • 3.9 • 33 Ratings

Economist Steve Keen talks to Phil Dobbie about the failings of the neoclassical economics and how it reflects on society.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    UK Labour’s Half-Baked Nationalisation Plans

    UK Labour’s Half-Baked Nationalisation Plans

    UK Labour leader Keir Starmer has said if he wins the next general election, within 5 years he will have re-nationalised Britain’s railways. Phil asks Steve whether it naturally follows that this will lead to an improvement in services and lower fares? Steve reckons you any need to look at government run services elsewhere in Europe to answer that question – but Britain’s trains weren’t so great even in the days of British Rail, when they were in government hands. This time there’s a chance one of the key areas of investment will remain in private hands, negating the advantage of public ownership.
    Railways are also an easy choice. Many franchise operators have fallen by the wayside, forcing the government to step in. Renationalisation was starting t happen by default. Ut what about water?  Nd, more significantly, what about the power industry. How can an industry that relies on making more money from customers operate in an environment where climate change is demanding we use less?
    Phil and Steve discuss how Labour’s plans only seem to scratch the surface.  Th direction of travel is right, but they don’t seem to be heading very far down the line.

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    • 44 min
    Cheap news is bad news

    Cheap news is bad news

    The new industry is struggling to survive, with far reaching consequences on public accountability and democracy. Steve says part of the problem could have been fixed with a suitable micropayments system, so readers could consume articles without subscribing to papers in full. Phil’s not so sure, pointing to the fact that an increasingly large proportion of the population is not consuming news at all and what they do read or watch is on their feeds in social media. News media is having to resort to click bate on low-rent stories that will drive traffic and help drive advertising revenue. There’s little or no scope for investigative journalism unless it is funded by the public purse – but governments and reticent to fund such activities if they fear they will be caught out by it. So how do we fix the journalism deficit?
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    • 47 min
    Fool’s Gold

    Fool’s Gold

    There are two types of people who buy gold. Speculators who see it as a risk-adverse asset class to buy when other investments look a little shaky. There are also those who hold onto gold because they believe paper money has no intrinsic value and is therefore susceptible to collapse. Zimbabwe, who’s paper currency has been undergoing decades of increasing worthlessness, is now being replaced by a new form of blockchain currency – the ZiG, completely backed by gold and foreign currencies. Phil and Steve discuss whether it’s a smart move for Zimbabwe, before looking at the broader global preoccupation with the stuff. 
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    • 38 min
    Will America ever be great again?

    Will America ever be great again?

    Sadly for Donald Trump, America seems to have been doing quite well in his absence. It has weathered the pandemic and inflation better than most. GDP pr capita is rising faster than most places and consumer spending is on the up. In fact, the main reason the Federal Reserve isn’t cutting rates is because the economy is doing so well they don’t see the need for a sudden change. But there are lots of warts in the US too. Industrial production plateaued decades ago, crime is rampant, despite the high predisposition for putting people in prison, the rich-poor gap is as wide as ever and, even though America spends more than anyone on health, they have a comparatively low life expectancy. Has America lost its way, with China beating it on EVs and, possibly AI, with Boeing outstripping Boeing because their planes are less prone to falling apart? This week Phil and Steve talk about what needs to change, and what happens if more of the world decides not to conduct international trade in US dollars.
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    • 45 min
    Feige’s automated transaction tax – the simple answer?

    Feige’s automated transaction tax – the simple answer?

    For a while now Dr Edgar Feige has been a proponent of an automated transactional tax. The idea is that we get rid of all taxes – income tax, sales tax, corporate tax, excise, capital gains, import and export duties, inheritance – and replace it all with a tax on all transactions Every transaction, which can be easily identified through bank accounts, has a very small tax on it. Phil and Steve discuss the pros and cons this week. It’s certain broad in its reach, but is there a danger that it could penalise those on lower incomes. There’s certainly a question mark on how it addresses the hoarding of money or long-term investment in asset classes that show strong capital gains. Perhaps it needs to work in conjunction with some means of taxing wealth – but that means, already, the simplicity of a transaction-only tax disappears.
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    • 41 min
    Does immigration slow inflation?

    Does immigration slow inflation?

    There’s been a lot of speculation lately about the role of immigration and its impact on inflation. Does a flood of foreign workers push down wages, which contains cost and keeps prices down? Conversely, did the low immigration levels post-COVID add to the wage pressures because, combined with sickness from COVID, there were a lot less people for every job vacancy. It sounds sensible, but Steve believes it’s only a small part of the issue. And if did have the potential to increase labour supply governments are often negating the benefits by failing to invest money into the economy, putting pressure on services and creating another inflation dynamic.
    We also hear from Ben, who has a few words to say on the recent Elon Musk episode and all the talk of emigrating to Mars. Apparently we ignored the sex angle. Ad Ben set the task for next week’s podcast. Feel free to add your own contribution by clicking on the mic logo at debunkingeconomics.com

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    • 40 min

Customer Reviews

3.9 out of 5
33 Ratings

33 Ratings

paulsplanet ,

Steve seems knowledgeable but a little bitter

Not sure I’d ever catch-up on all episodes. In the 6 months I’ve had the pod with me, they cover a lot of stuff but Steve seems obsessed to play the shot rather than the rally.

Cindy YA ,

great insights

just started listening to this podcast and the real life examples from around the world have been fascinating! thanks

TimewastedbyVirginspam ,

Mixed

Steve Keen has an interesting take that runs refreshingly counter to the economics establishment. Phil Dobbie, however, has a very mainstream establishment blob take on the politics though which wears thin after a bit e.g. anyone who disagrees with him is a ‘right wing nut job’ by which he appears to mean centre right.

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