x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Debunking Economics - the podcast

Steve Keen & Phil Dobbie

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.

education social sciences

All Episodes

26:57

Does the UK economy need the royals?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2020/01/15

Who’d have thought it – Steve Keen and Phil Dobbie turn out to be a couple of royalists. As Harry and Megan prepare to chuff off to Canada, and royal-watchers have been decrying the whole thing as one massive constitutional crisis, we use it all as an opportunity to ask whether the royal family is worth keeping at all. The expectation was that one or other of our podcasters would have it in for the royals, but after looking at the numbers they both agree it’s better to stick with what we know. After

en

34:36

Steve Keen’s Predictions for 2020

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2020/01/06

2019 was quite a year. We had the ongoing Brexit saga, the US China trade war, Europe close to recession and a big housing downturn in Australia. It was capped off with some of the worst bushfires ever seen. Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve what this year has in store for us? if austerity has gone will we see a bright future for Britain, or will it be dragged down by Brexit? Is this the year that Donald Trump gets re-elected, or will the US economy take a turn for the worst and drag him down with it? And

en

38:47

Five Big Myths of Classical Economics

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/12/23

It’s taken us a few years to tackle the obvious topic for the Debunking Economics podcast, what are the biggest failings of neoclassical economics. Prof Steve Keen tells Phil Dobbie that it starts on page one of rudimentary economics textbooks, which the idea of the demand curve.Having debunked that, he moves on to the capital market line, used to determine investment decisions. Then it’s the models being used to determine the impact of climate change. Then the concept of diminishing marginal

en

27:24

The Opportunity Cost Fallacy

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/12/16

It’s one of the basic constructs of classical economics – the concept of the opportunity cost. Steve Keen admits it works at the individual level – you are listening to this podcast at the expense of doing something else, for example. But does the theory work when applied to broader economic thinking? No, says Steve – it’s a case of false equivalences, that renders it meaningless. Does that mean it’s useless as a tool for economists? And is there a way Phil Dobbie can use it as a way of getting out

en

32:59

Business cycles – what causes them?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/12/11

In this edition of the Debunking Economics Podcast Phil Dobbie and Steve Keen discuss business cycles. What causes them and how can we reduce their impact. As Steve explains, neo-classical economics teaches us that the turns in a cycle are caused by exogenous shocks when, in reality, it is the economies own internal cycle that is the root cause. Listen in to find out why business cycles really occur and what we can do to lessen their impact. Plus, Phil asks, why has the cycle stalled all of a

en

31:22

Economic Growth – it’s complicated

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/12/03

Economists predict GDP growth by looking at business investment, government and consumer spending, plus the net level of exports. In the long term, of course, growth only comes from the products and services you sell and for that the Atlas of Economic Complexity, developed by Harvard University, is a powerful tool. It demonstrates how growth comes to countries with a highly complex mix of products for export – the less complex, the less the growth potential. As Prof Steve Keen says to Phil Dobbie in

en

29:10

Should we do more to price-in externalities?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/11/24

Economists love the concept of externalities - factors that cost you or benefit you, for which you made no contribution, or for which you bare no blame. In this week’s podcast Phil Dobbie describe show his new neighbour said he hopes he does his house up, because gentrification benefits everyone in the street because everyone’s house goes up in value. He asks Steve Keen whether, if that’s the case, he should charge his neighbour for some of the work, given he will benefit financially. Increasingly

en

42:15

Free broadband – Corbyn’s bad connection

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/11/18

Jeremy Corbyn pledged over the weekend that, if he was to become Prime Minister, he would deliver free high-speed full-fibre broadband to everyone by 2030. To do it he would renationalise Open Reach, the network arm of BT. Is any of this a good idea? Phil Dobbie asks Steve Keen whether the government can deliver a solution any faster than the private sector. Surely subsidies are a better approach. And can’t something be learnt from the experience in Australia, where politicking has destroyed the

en

39:43

What can we do about pay gaps?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/11/12

For all the best efforts we have seen over recent years, the gender pay gap in most countries remains an issue. There are lots of other factors determining how much you get paid, of course – your age, your education, where you live. Can these gaps ever be resolved? Probably not, says Steve Keen, who says the issue is one of hierarchy. Society needs hierarchy to organise itself, so we will always see some getting paid more than others, even if, on the face of it, they don’t deserve it. The question

en

41:32

Brexit - a good idea or not?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/11/03

Steve Keen and Phil Dobbie had very different ideas about Brexit a few years ago. Now they both agree it’s a vote that should never have happened? So, is it the impact of tariffs?? Is it the impact on foreign investment? Is it impacts on the supply chain? No, many of those things, Steve believes, will be overcome. It’s the one unsurmountable thing that was never discussed ahead of the vote – the one thing that is likely to kill the whole idea. Now they agree on one thing, Brexit will never happen

en

33:08

Making an MMT Green New Deal Global

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/10/27

One of the constraints of MMT is that to create more government money you need to have a sovereign currency. That rules out countries in the Eurozone and developing nations heavily reliant on the US dollar. Yet the idea of a Green New Deal is to resolve the issue of climate change using MMT. How can you pursue a global issue with a protocol that only applies in certain parts of the world? And how do you apply it without going down the dangerous road of world government? Questions Phil Dobbie puts to

en

34:00

Can MMT pay for a Green New Deal?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/10/21

Larry Randall Wray has suggested Modern Monetary Theory should be applied to create a Green New Deal. This week and next, Phil Dobbie talks to Prof Steve Keen about the idea of creating government money to tackle the climate emergency. Would it work? Is there a danger that public sector spending will crowd out private investment in innovative approaches to renewable energy? And what can we learn from the original New Deal, from Roosevelt just after the Great Depression? Hosted on Acast. See

en

34:26

Will Trump ever win his trade war?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/10/12

There’s a glimmer of hope that the US China trade war will ease a little. In other words, it won’t get worse. But even so, the tariffs and other conditions are being felt in both countries. Steve Keen, who is not a fan of global trade, admits this one is having a destructive effect on the global economy. So how will it end? Could Trump achieve his aim of drawing manufacturing back to the United States? If he does, how long will it take? And what happens in the meantime? Hosted on Acast. See

en

30:54

Can We Afford McDonnell’s Four Day Week?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/10/07

At the Labour party conference recently, UK Shadow Chancellor outlined the policy aim of reducing the working week to 32 hours, with no loss in pay. It’s been lambasted by many, who see it as a way of reducing productivity and costing jobs as businesses fail against overseas competitors with a lower cost base. In this week’s podcast, Prof Steve Keen tells Phil Dobbie that the protagonists have got it wrong. The reason productivity has slowed is because companies are becoming too reliant on low cost

en

37:52

Can MMT work in countries with a trade deficit?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/09/30

Modern monetary theory tells us that we shouldn’t worry about government debt – that governments can create money to spend to projects that will create full employment. Even if that is the case, what happens when the money you need isn’t in your currency? It’s a question Phil Dobbie puts to Prof Steve Keen in this week’s Debunking Economics podcast. You can’t create foreign currency, but you might well need it to pay for your government expenditure. So how does Modern monetary theory work in

en

30:19

The insignificance of gold

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/09/23

There were times when men would leave their families to head for the hills and pan for gold. There were times when the value of currencies was tied to gold. These days, there aren’t so many discoveries and money is no long tied to the gold standard. Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen what is the use of gold today, and why do investors rush to it in times of uncertainty. And if it has nothing to do with monetary policy, why is most gold still locked up in the vaults of central banks? Hosted on Acast

en

29:54

The false economies of private health

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/09/16

According to the World Health Organisation, Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world. New resistance mechanisms are emerging and spreading globally, threatening our ability to treat common infectious diseases. Sadly, the ROI of antibiotic research is now too low for most pharmaceutical companies to consider. In this week’s free edition of the Debunking Economics podcast Phil Dobbie and Prof Steve Keen talk about the failings of the free-market system and

en

40:45

Should we have tighter controls on money supply?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/09/09

Regular listeners will know that most money in circulation is created, bot by central banks, but by commercial banks when they issue loans. In this week’s podcast Phil Dobbie asks Steve Keen how fundamental this is to the slow growth, low interest economy the world has found itself in. Isn’t there a danger that banks will limit the supply when times are bad when, in fact, what the economy needs at those times is more money? Just how much influence do central banks have on the activities of

en

35:20

Preparing for an entrepreneurial Britain

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/09/02

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

en

37:51

Are we on the verge of a global recession?

Debunking Economics - the podcast ·

2019/08/27

The markets are concerned that we are on the verge of a global recession. How do they know? Not from reading tea-leaves but by studying yield curves. An inverted yield curve has signalled every recession since the 1980s. So, Phil Dobbie asks Steve Keen, does that mean next year is going to be 2008 all over again. In short, no is the answer. 2008 was caused by a collapse in credit-based demand. We’re not seeing the same level of decline in that demand this time. So, the good news is, we might not be

en

483 results

Similar Podcasts

Science Talk

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

五分钟心理学

柠檬心理

Daily Facts

Amalia Dupray and Montgomery Jones.

Les dents et dodo

BFMTV

Veterinary Clinical Podcasts

The Royal Veterinary College