Debunking Economics - the podcast

• Is there a ceiling to economic supremacy?

  Donald Trump is doing everything he can think off to improve the US economy. Tariffs, cutting government spending, bringing manufacturing back home, accessing more resources and lowering the cost of energy. Will it work? And, if it does, Phil wonders whether there’s a ceiling to how far the US economy can grow. Or does it grow at the expense of other countries/ In other words, Phil wants Steve Keen to explain what happens as the US, the world’s leading economy, tries to heighten its supremacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Bringing manufacturing home, the Japanese Way

  In a recent podcast Phil suggested that bringing manufacturing home to America won’t necessarily create jobs, because most factories will be automated. They just need one man and a dog, he said. The man to turn the machine on, and the dog to make sure he doesn’t touch anything else.That touched a nerve with Brian Hanley has spent his life refining manufacturing processes. The key ingredient suggests, is people. Elon Musk was the latest to try the lights out approach and realised it didn’t work.Instead, if the US wants to succeed with a competitive manufacturing sector, it needs to look to post-war Japan. Workers were an integral part of the refinement and adaptive nature of manufacturing processes, in part because of the company-based (rather than industry-speciifc) union structure. Listen in to find out how Japan’s adaptive approach is what’s needed if the US is to develop a successful manufacturing sector.Two books related to this, that Brian says should be required reading or every economist:- Kanban Just-in Time at Toyota by Japan Management Association- The Sayings of Shigeo Shingo by Shigeo Shingo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Are we giving up on climate change?

  Donald Trump, as the world’s highest profile climate change denier, has famously said, repeatedly, that he wants to drill baby drill, to make US energy even cheaper. It’s already half the price of Europe, and all the productivity benefits that provides. Phil and Steve talk about whether this the final nail in the coffin in a world which is paying lip service to the changes required. Is nuclear our only way to fast track a workable solution? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• The trade war has begun

  Reciprocal tariffs could be coming to every OECD country if we believe everything Donald Trump says. He sees VAT as a tariff imposed on US imports, which means he wants to impose the same amount on those countries for goods they export to America. That would apply to every OECD country and, supposedly, the President has said there will be no exceptions. Does this mean a global trade war is just about to happen? Steve has been a supporter of protectionism as a way to aid growth, and understands the need for America to bring jobs back home, but not with the “bull in the China shop approach” that Trump is taking. But Phil asks whether the horse has already bolted. The web of international supply chains is well established and difficult to break. Haven’t we all benefited from lower cost goods? And even if you brought back production functions would automation mean few new jobs would be produced? In short, is Trump too late to make a difference. Will he just create chaos? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Do we need a reserve currency?

  The new US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently re-iterated the US desire to remain as the world’s reserve currency, because they like a strong dollar that’s in demand worldwide. Burt he also says he doesn’t want other currencies weak, because that gives thema trade advantage. That sounds like a “cake and eat it” philosophy. This week Phil asks Steve whether the US would be better off if it wasn’t the reserve currency, and whether, in these days of electric transfers, do we actually need a reserve currency? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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