284 - Steve Keen: The Economics of Global Warfare
Summary
The guest critiques mainstream economics for ignoring energy’s role in production, warning that Strait of Hormuz disruptions could trigger severe global shortages of oil, fertilizer, and helium. He argues this will cause a production collapse, food insecurity, and deflationary debt crises, contradicting standard inflation models. Additionally, he debunks the theory of comparative advantage, claiming it ignores capital immobility, and asserts that US trade deficits and reserve currency status undermine American manufacturing and long-term imperial power.
Topics discussed
Toyota National Sales Event advertisement
Mainstream economics' ignorance of energy's role in production
Energy shocks, GDP correlation, and the host's economic philosophy
Engineering approach to economics: inflation, debt, and food shortages
Global food security, resource scarcity, and the Iran conflict
Critique of comparative advantage and Ricardo's trade theory
Trade deficits, US manufacturing decline, and industrial policy
Marx's theory of profit, Hegel, and the labor theory of value
Geopolitics: Ukraine, NATO expansion, and Trump's personality
Trump's narcissism, Middle East wars, and Venezuela
China's engineering-led governance and economic rise
China's green energy transition and AI competition with the US
Listen ad-free on Castria