The world’s leaders are getting together in the UK at the end of this month to discuss how to tackle climate change. Meanwhile, fuel prices are rising higher and higher, and increasing talk of inflation. Prices are rising because, quite simply, demand is rising but supply is still constrained. Gas supplies in Europe are dependent on Russia and renewable energy has been held back by low winds and other weather-related influences. Now, to meet demand, countries are stepping up their use of fossil fuels. Energy supplies “at any costs” has been the approach in China. Phil Dobbie asks Steve Keen whether we’ll ever reach renewable targets whilst the energy industry is in private hands. In the UK how much of the problem we now face is the result of Thatcher-era philosophies that believed competition would yield greater amounts of lower priced energy?

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Governments have been spending their way through the pandemic, so what happens to that money? Regular listeners will understand how this spending gets added to the money supply, but then what? Steve Keen looks at the impact of government spending on the private sector, and Phil Dobbie asks if this is a prime example of modern monetary theory in action? Could the COVID years be used as the case study of how MMT works? There’s also some discussion on whether government handouts, like furlough payments, were the best approach. Would tax cuts have had the same impact? And what’s the relationship between an increase in the supply of money and the velocity of that money? If the government is injecting cash but we’re not spending it, is it really having the impact governments had hoped for?

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Steve Keen is a man of many surprises. His latest is that he is going to stand for the Senate in New South Wales. He’s packing his bags and heading back to Australia, for an election that will be held early next year. He’ll be one of six senate candidates in NSW for the New Liberals. So, is this a good move? From an academic to a politician, from developing and challenging theories to creating soundbites for TV? Phil Dobbie asks why he is making the move, what are his chances and what does the New Liberal party stand for. And could this spell the end of our weekly podcasts?

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COVID is causing supply disruptions the world over, evidenced by disruptions to supply chains and rising producer prices and consumer prices. Central banks are quick to suggest this is a temporary measure, and inflation will start to fall as quickly as it rose. And yet, they are also making noises about raising interest rates, as a way of controlling inflation. Last week the Bank of England was hinting that could happen sooner, rather than later, even as they implement quantitative easing. Phil Dobbie asks Prof Steve Keen whether there’s any merit in lifting rates in an economy struggling to recover. And what if inflation is here to stay? What policy can work for an economy where supply falls well short of demand and prices rise beyond the means of many lower paid workers?

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Central banks around the world are at different stages of how they supposedly deal with the COVId-19 crisis. Most are implementing some form of QE, but many are now reducing their purchases, and some are even lifting interest rates. How can they all have a different monetary approach to dealing with the same crisis? And can any claim to have been operating independently, buying up the increasing amount of debt issued by their respective governments? With the big four central banks (the BoE, the ECB, the Fed and the BoJ) having amassed $24.5 trillion in government bonds, does anybody really expect they will ever get their balance sheets back down to zero? If not, have they really embarked on MMT but are afraid to admit it? Phil Dobbie talks to Prof Steve Keen.

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Whilst the UK still lumbers under high COVID infection rates, and the economic recovery stalls, with GDP growth now at a trickle, the government wants to raise taxes. Even if you believed it was a fair tax, is next April – when the rise kicks in – the time to be taking spending money out of people’s pockets. But, as Phil Dobbie discusses with Prof Steve Keen, this is far from a fair tax. Those earning over £50,000 per year will pay disproportionately less than those on lower incomes. The money will help to fund the health care sector which is predominantly serviced by for-profit companies, some of whom are paying their senior staff very handsome salaries. We’re told we can expect more tax rises soon as the Tory government scrambles to reduce its debt burden. All of this ignores, of course, the ideas of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) that suggests governments can overspend if the excess money is used to create jobs. Even if you ignored MMT, doesn’t the issue of caring for the elderly, raise the obvious question about inheritance tax. Isn’t it time to tackle Britain’s problem of hereditary wealth?

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There’s a lot happening with China right now. First, they are extending their social and commercial controls, which is adding uncertainty to foreign investors looking to get involved with Chinese firms. Maybe the Communist Party likes it that way. There’s also the risk that a more cocooned China could play a stronger military role in the Asia Pacific region. Then there’s the ever-expanding debt – private and government. Hilliard MacBeth, a Debunking Economics listener asks whether private sector debt, in particular, will create a problem.

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Following on from a fortnight ago, what happens as resources start to become scarce? We’re already seeing the short-term impact of supply chain disruption because of COVID, but what when this becomes more common, and we have to get used to the idea of not always getting what we want? Prof Steve Keen suggests that rationing of goods might be the only way forward, but Phil Dobbie asks whether a shift to a more localised service-oriented economy might cut our demand for resources, particularly if the prices become prohibitively expensive.

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More students than ever are off to university next month because of the A level grade inflation, accentuated by teacher assessments replacing exam results because of COVID. How useful is it to society to have more and more people studying at university? Is it adding to the GDP of the country? In today’s podcast Steve Keen suggests that we are devaluing a university education, which helps nobody. He explains why. And Phil Dobbie suggests, for those who don’t reach university standards – or who simply don’t want to go – could another two years of A levels be the answer?

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We’ve talked about the climate change crisis on the Debunking Economics podcast, but there’s a broader issue we all face, highlighted in the Club of Rome back in 1972. We are chewing up resources faster than they can be renewed or sourced. It’s not just oil, but iron ore for steel production and previous metals used in microprocessors. Simon Michaux, associate professor at the Geological Survey of Finland, joins Phil Dobbie and Steve Keen to talk through the scale of the issue and how it’s already impacting the economy.

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