Steve Keen’s surprise appearance yesterday turned out to be quite a harrowing experience for any homeowners in the audience. After laying out the importance of debt in the economy, Steve analysed the Australian housing market.

The sceptics are here in force. And we don’t mean the speakers lined up to give their take on the world ‘After America’ as the symposium is called. No, we mean the listeners – or delegates as their name badges call them. They want their money’s worth in investment ideas, recommendations and intrigue. But how much are the ideas really worth?

The countdown to Port Phillip Publishing’s first ever Symposium – After America has begun. The tickets are sold. The venue’s booked. Tomorrow the entire editorial team will be off to Sydney. Port Phillip’s four newsletter editors are all focusing on China – one with an optimistic bent, two with an opportunistic bent, and the last is rather pessimistic.

It’s pretty tough to invest in a world controlled by central bankers. They seem to be able to determine the price of anything. Their interventions stopped the stock market plunge of 2009 and ignited several rallies since then.

Ever since PM Paul Keating told voters about ‘the recession we had to have’, recessions became political footballs too. Political decisions even. Whether or not to attempt Keynesian stimulus is a political question, not an economic one. There is plenty of evidence that Keynesian stimulus does and doesn’t work. The same goes for austerity.

The Greek bailout saga continues to resemble a broken record this week (and a horrible, broken tune at that). Every solution so far has been about delaying the inevitable. Even Chinese support will hardly solve Greece’s problem.

Can Australia’s currency continue its rampage while exporters burn? The currency wars have been going on quietly here at home for some time now. And going by the state of our exporters, we’re losing.