Conditioned to borrow, not save

Conditioned to borrow, not save

From Debunking Economics - the podcast by Steve Keen & Phil Dobbie

May 13, 2026 · 46 min · Season 1 · Episode 506

About this episode

Phil and Steve discuss the global economy's shift towards debt dependence and critique policies incentivizing borrowing over saving.

This week Phil and Steve dismantle the structural shift of the global economy toward a permanent state of debt dependence. Following a critique of Steve’s recent debate on the Piers Morgan show and a revisit to last week’s discussion on th link between energy and productivity, they look at how policy since the 1980s aggressively incentivizes borrowing over saving. Steve argues that the banking sector now functions primarily to inflate asset bubbles—particularly in housing—rather than funding productive industry, effectively conditioning entire generations to rely on debt-fueled asset growth for wealth. By debunking the neoclassical "savings myth," they show how the broader economy is dangerously fragile to any slowdown in the relentless creation of new debt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Phil Dobbie, Steve Keen

Topics covered

  • debt dependence
  • borrowing vs saving
  • banking sector
  • asset bubbles
  • economic policy
  • savings myth

Keywords

  • debt
  • savings
  • banking
  • asset bubbles
  • economic policy
  • productivity
  • energy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Acast

More episodes of Debunking Economics - the podcast

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Debunking Economics - the podcast podcast page.