Companies and governments are racking up massive debts to cope with the impact of COVID-19. Apart from grants for a month or two of partial salaries, the approach has largely been to extend easy short-term credit to those people and businesses struggling to survive. We can expect, once an initial amnesty on repayments has passed, many of these companies will go to the wall, adding to the massive peak in unemployment. How can economies grow when individuals are piled high in debt and governments are forced to use austerity to repay their massive spending programs. Steve Keen has argued that debt needs to be written-off, even before the Corona crisis. Now seems like the right time for society to discuss the benefits of a debt jubilee. The only downside seems to be a significant reduction in the size of the finance sector. Can we live with that? Or, perhaps they can shift their emphasis to more productive investments.
Climate Crisis
Fadhel Kaboub – Decolonizing Our Minds
Listen HERE This week’s episode welcomes back Fadhel Kaboub, a valued friend of this podcast. He and Steve discuss the concept of just transition and the problems with carbon markets as a solution to climate change. They stress the […]
Economics
Paul Adler – “The 99 Percent Economy”
This talk presents the main themes from Paul Adler’s forthcoming book “The 99 Percent Economy”.
Climate Crisis
Steve Keen, Phil Dobbie: Will more realistic pricing of energy and pollution save the planet?
In a recent podcast Steve Keen claimed that the law of thermodynamics dictates that we can no longer extend economic growth whilst looking for efficiencies in our use of energy. This week Phil questions Steve […]
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