On this episode, we meet with Economist, Author, and Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategy, Resilience, and Security at University College in London, Steve Keen.
Keen discusses how mainstream economics misses the centrality of energy to our economy and to our futures, the naive treatment to the risks of money and debt creation, and the disconnect economic theory has to climate change risks.
About Steve Keen:
Steve Keen is an economist, author of Debunking Economics and The New Economics: A Manifesto, a Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategy, Resilience, and Security at University College in London.
Show Notes & Links to Learn More
03:30 – Frank Stilwell
03:50 – Theory of the Second Best
05:17 – Paul Samuelson and paper (1966)
07:30 – Neoclassical economics
07:40 – Alfred Marshall
09:45 – Basic assumptions of economics
09:30 – Contemporary macroeconomics is applied microeconomics
11:12 – We are deeply social creatures, and this isn’t accounted for in economics
11:40 – Theory of supply (rising marginal costs)
12:15 – In reality, supply has a falling marginal cost (pg 102)
12:35 – Alan Blinder + survey on marginal falling costs (pg 22) and vs his textbook
18:30 – Energy is not included as an input (factor of production)
18:44 – Computable general equilibrium models
19:02 – Rational Expectation Revolution
19:20 – Intertemporal equilibrium models
19:21 – Cobb-Douglas Function
19:24 – Constant elasticity of production function
20:26 – When energy is included it is to a very minimized extent
20:41 – Working paper by Rudy Backmann looking at energy fall implications in Germany
21:57 – Change in energy and change in GDP is 1:1 (or .99)
22:11 – Reiner Kümmel and paper factoring energy into CD Production Function
23:10 – CO2 at 420 ppm
23:48 – Energy consumption/output in roman slaves (pg 558)
24:44 – A barrel of oil is equivalent to 5 years of human labor (Section 4.3)
25:59 – Adam Smith
26:03 – Physiocrats
26:59 – Evolution of Labor Theory of Value
28:40 – Robert Solow
29:30 – The assumption is that technology is responsible for our massive growth
30:12 – Bob Ayres
31:10 – James Watt – Steam Engine
31:00 – Energy is the true driver of growth, not technology
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