Like the good neoclassical economist he is, President Harper said on Friday that he and his bulldog want to indulge their pathological addiction to austerity and tackle that mean old junk yard federal budget when, in fact, we know that they should really be focusing on the job creation strategies
Continue readingAuthor: AppalledBC
Politics and Entertainment: The zombie-banker lives and roams the earth
Another follow-up; Craig Alexander, TD’s chief economist – it pains me to reference a classic neoclassical bank economist – noted on Lang and O’Leary last night that Canada’s debt to income ratio is high less because of increasing debt and more because real wages are falling. So the deleveraging I
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: We’re in an of economic whirlpool with no immediately conceivable way out
An addendum to yesterday’s post with some additional observations referenced from Tavia Grant’s report in The Globe and Mail today. I suggested yesterday that we’re in an economic whirlpool with no immediately conceivable way out, and Tavia suggests implicitly that what could suck us down to the bottom of that
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Neither Deleveraging nor Further Leveraging of Household Debt Works
Canadian household debt hits record high Okay, so Stats Can tells us today that Canadian household debt has reached a record high 152.98%, a level relative to income that surpasses that of the U.S. and Britain, but President Harper and his bulldog Flaherty continue to spin the “but we’re better off” sop.
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: A Simple Solution for the Deficit that Might Please Both Progressives and Neo-classical Economists
Given the record profits of and incentives paid out in Cdn banks recently, there is no credible argument that says they can’t afford a financial service transaction tax, and, as we know, it is the financial sector that is largely responsible for the economic mess in which we find ourselves.
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Well-educated Cardiologists Don’t Know Everything about the Occupy Movement
Had a debate with a well-educated cardiologist this morning who said the occupy movement is missing a political opportunity because it doesn’t have a single focused message. How many times have I heard that, and how many times have I answered that the occupy movement is not a conventional protest
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: descending down the pot-holed road of recession towards the sink hole of depression
These remarks of Paul Krugman could easily apply to Canada, for it is essentially homeowners with their massively extended debt load who have bumped our debt to GDP ratio up to 203%, and we too require expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to support the Canadian economy. We won’t be getting
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Jobs Waning, Debt Mounting, Wages Slipping: A Bleak Outlook
Here are some followup comments that supplement my last post. The emerging picture of the Canadian economy is bleak. Inscribed as every government in the Western world is in neoclassical economic policy that shapes the global economy, the blame can be easily spread around, but our own government could be
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Combined with Harper Regime’s Austerity Program, Continuous Deleveraging of Household Debt Could be a Serious Issue
House prices have been speculatively bid up to 29% over real value with all the low interest, easy credit banks have been only too willing to give us. They’re just sooo good to us. But a little recent fear has begun a deleveraging of household debt in Canada – which
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Steve Keen on BBC HARDtalk [good sync] – YouTube
Steve Keen on BBC HARDtalk [good sync] – YouTube: ““ ‘via Blog this’
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Stephen Keen "Progress Occurs one Funeral at a Time" – Capital Account (11/10/11) – YouTube
Stephen Keen "Progress Occurs one Funeral at a Time" – Capital Account (11/10/11) – YouTube: ““ ‘via Blog this’
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Occupy Economics – YouTube
Occupy Economics – YouTube: ““ ‘via Blog this’
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: We Do Have a Moral Licence to Resist the Dictates of Harper Regime
McQuaig: Occupy moves us into a new era – thestar.com Linda McQuaig says “Canada isn’t a dictatorship, and so protesters — like the group now ordered evicted from St. James Park — don’t have the same clear moral licence to ignore bylaws that their Egyptian counterparts had.” I’m not so
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Armine vs. Canada’s Poster Boy for Capitalism
On last night’s Lang and O’Leary Exchange, given that the odds were 3 to 1/2, Armine Yalnizyan held her own against Kevin O’Leary, Canada’s poster boy for capitalism, a bank economist, and a corporate CEO. Amanda Lang did her best to make sure that Armine was heard in the din
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Krugman and Summers: A Reading of the Munk Debate
What happens to the U.S. economy, as we all know, will affect Canada profoundly – which is no doubt why this Munk debate garnered so much attention here. The debate is repeated several times on BNN.
Krugman has the edge for me since he has always reco…
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Krugman on His Lucid Best on Euro Crisis and Its Implications
Legends of the Fail – NYTimes.com
Borrowing, if you must, in your own sovereign currency matters, and austerity never works. Here are the facts, though I coud add the caveat if I were a neoclassical economist that those high interest rates for Spain…
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Pathological Commitment to the Ideology of Austerity Brings Only Economic Stagnation
The curse of austerity – thestar.com
This is a very insightful analysis of our current situation. Here’s a bit of a gloss on it:
Neither the private sector nor consummer spending seems to be able to stimulate growth in the economy. This is the real …
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Cancelling the Greek Referendum and Angela Merkel’s Steely Focus
Two final thoughts today on the Greek crisis: 1) Under immense political pressure from within his own party, the opposition, and the EU – i.e., Germany – Papandreou was forced to cancel the referendum. But the basic idea was a good one: he knew Germany…
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Live chat: Should we worry about Europe’s financial crisis
Live chat: Should we worry about Europe's financial crisis
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: Steve Jobs was no technological visionary; he was a disturbed and disturing individual
Limits of Magical Thinking
Steve Jobs wasn’t a technology visionary, but he convinced the world that he was.
Steve Jobs was a disturbed and disturing individual, and he was no technological visionary but a crafty marketer who knew how to create a c…
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