Professor Steve Keen is best known to US neoclassical economists as that deviant who resisted the charm of Paul Krugman, and to Australian neoclassical economists as that bloke who lost a bet. To some punters, he’s a better bet than most. Keen, whose economics school at the University of Western Sydney closed its doors when glossier universities opened theirs, relies on the panic of strangers. The economic meltdown of 2007-2008 -- predicted by Keen, Ann Pettifor and a handful of heterodox others -- moved some to doubt the dominant economic wisdom and trust this 60-something brat with their money.

Keen still works part time at a Kingston University London, but his research is largely funded by the crowd.

Don’t ask me to describe the maths of Hyman Minsky, which provide something of a foundation for Keen’s. I have now enjoyed (most of) several Skype chats with Keen, and I’m at least one postdoctoral thesis away from grasping his several explanations.