284 - Steve Keen: The Economics of Global Warfare

Steve Keen is an economist and was most recently Head of the School of Economics, History and Politics at Kingston University in London. He has done research on a wide variety of topics, including Marxist economics, debt, complexity theory, and systems dynamics. In this episode, Steve and Robinson discuss his economic framework in relation to wars around the globe. More particularly, the discuss the importance of oil in the Iran War, the cold war with China, the war in Ukraine, and more.

OUTLINE
00:00 The Crucial Importance of Oil in the Iran War
08:54 Systems Dynamics and Economics
14:22 How Much Inflation Will the Iran War Cause?
18:17 Will the Iran War Cause Famine?
28:56 Conspiracy and the Iran War
30:48 Tariffs and Trade Deficits
46:03 Will Trump’s Tariffs Bring Manufacturing Back to the United States
52:49 Steve’s Motivation
59:25 The Crucial Flaw in Marxism
01:12:43 Understanding the War in Ukraine’s Impact on Europe
01:16:38 On Putin’s Motivations in Ukraine
01:26:32 Understanding Trump through Narcissistic Personality Disorder
01:32:52 Trump and the Takeover of Venezuela
01:38:11 Economists Misunderstand Everything About China
01:53:01 Why Will China Survive Global Warming?
01:57:18 AI and the Future Economics of the World

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.