Would You Have Kids Today? Economist's Dark Warning About the Future | PBD Podcast #835

What you'll learn

• 1 (02:11) **Steve Keen's Core Critique of Economics** - Keen explains why he calls most economists "frauds" and distinguishes his own Post Keynesian school from ideologically-driven neoclassical, Marxist, and Austrian schools.
• 2 (03:35) **Marx vs. Friedman: Intellectual Judgment** - Keen compares Karl Marx and Milton Friedman, praising Marx's superior logic while accusing both of twisting their theories to reach desired conclusions.
• 3 (06:57) **Defining Success and Failure of Economic Systems** - Keen pushes back on the idea that Marxism "miserably failed," arguing that neoclassical economics has also failed logically, while offering a nuanced view of the Soviet Union and China.
• 4 (14:33) **Judging Economic Systems by Results** - The host challenges Keen to judge capitalism vs. communism by tangible outcomes, citing America's wealth vs. communism's perceived lack of production.
• 5 (19:50) **Taxes, Public Goods, and the Role of the State** - Keen defines economic systems by the proportion of services provided by the state vs. the market, rather than tax rates, and argues that the need for public goods (health, education, infrastructure) naturally grows with societal complexity.
• 6 (25:55) **Vaccines, Autism, and Trust in Data** - A heated exchange on the rise in autism rates and the role of vaccines, triggered by a discussion of RFK Jr.
• 7 (31:16) **Alan Greenspan, the Fed, and Monetary Policy** - Keen delivers a harsh critique of Alan Greenspan and all conventional Fed chairs, arguing they don't even understand how money is created.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app