An essential but perhaps overlooked way of looking at the economy is a sector financial balance approach. Pioneered by the late UK economist Wynne Godley, this approach starts with National Accounts data (called Financial Flow Accounts) for four broad sectors of the economy: households, corporations, government and non-residents. Here’s how
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The Progressive Economics Forum: Rethinking the economics of extreme events
Review of Worst-Case Economics: Extreme Events in Climate and Finance by Frank Ackerman *** Long ago economics was termed “the dismal science,” but in recent years that title has arguably been passed on to climate science, with its regular and dire warnings that humanity needs to rapidly transition off of
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Rethinking the economics of extreme events
I was asked to review Frank Ackerman’s Worst-Case Economics: Extreme Events in Climate and Finance. I’ve learned a lot from his writing over the years so it was a pleasure to say yes. *** Long ago economics was termed “the dismal science,” but in recent years that title has arguably been
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Gimme shelter: is Core Housing Need a useful measure?
For a new CCPA blog post on housing (un)affordability, I dove into the latest Census data for Metro Vancouver. I used two series on shelter cost and shelter-to-income ratio, and found that 32% of households were paying more than 30% of income on shelter (all households, owners and renters) and
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Lessons from the Reagan Era on Managing Twin Deficits
Below is a guest post from Norman Mogil and Arthur Donner. Lessons from the Reagan Era on Managing Twin Deficits Many in the U.S. are harking back to the Reagan era for guidance on how to implement the pro-growth policies advocated by President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress. When Ronald
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Extracted Carbon: Re-examining Canada’s contribution to climate change through fossil fuel exports
We just published a new report, Extracted Carbon: Re-examining Canada’s contribution to climate change through fossil fuel exports, by yours truly. It is part of the Corporate Mapping Project, a new mega research partnership led by CCPA’s Shannon Daub and UVic’s William Carroll. The new report tallies up all of
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: House price inflation and what to do about it
I have a new report out today on affordable housing in Metro Vancouver. While it’s mostly of regional interest, I think the analysis and framework for housing solutions could have a much wider audience. The report looks at what’s driving the spectacular rise in housing prices in Vancouver, summarizing what we know from a wide range […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: PEF Summer School 2016
If you are in Ottawa or close by, and are interested in the ideas and debates that are shaping today’s economy, then we have a summer school for you. PEF Summer School 2016: Expanding Economic Thinking University of Ottawa, Ottawa Thursday June 2, 2016 8:00am-5:15pm Learn in a day what you may have missed from […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: 2016 PEF Student Essay Contest is Open!
Please see the essay contest rules (bilingual) and use this submission form. You can download a poster (English, French) here — please help us out and post one in your department. Deadline for submissions is May 2, 2016.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Real test of Paris climate agreement will be how markets and regulators react
So did we save the planet? From the outset, this was never about “saving the planet.” Our spinning hunk of rock has been around billions of years and will continue to support diverse life forms long past the time humans roam it. The question is whether we have a planet that can support human life […]
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Is your pension in climate denial?
Fossil fuel divestment campaigns have become a focus for climate change organizing, targeting university endowments, churches, foundations and pension funds. While the motivations are primarily moral—if it is wrong to wreck the climate, it is wrong to profit from that wreckage—there are important economic arguments for divestment. If we are
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Taking credit where it’s not due
On the election’s climate file, Prime Minister Harper has claimed that his is the “first government in Canadian history that has actually been able to see a reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time seeing the economy grow.” This is very much a case of claiming credit where
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Memo from Washington: The Pope’s Call for Climate Action
To start his US tour, the Pope stated that “climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation. When it comes to the care of our ‘common home,’ we are living at a critical moment of history.” Speaking on behalf the poorest people – those who
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Pot: Decriminalize or Legalize?
On the campaign trail, Prime Minister Harper repeated assertions that relaxing pot laws will lead to terrible, horrible things: ““When you go down that route, marijuana becomes more readily available to children, more people become addicted to it and the health outcomes become worse.” The Conservative response is to escalate
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Bribing people with their own money: the home reno tax credit
The first major election promise from the federal Conservatives: a permanent home renovation tax credit. On the surface this looks like an astute manoeuvre, given that home renovation has been booming in recent years. Canadian Press called the proposed credit a “big budget campaign promise,” but on closer inspection it is pretty
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Energy and climate in the Harper decade
The costs of climate change are piling up, and can no longer be ignored. 2015 is poised to be a landmark year, with a new global treaty on climate to be signed in Paris. In contrast, the Harper decade succeeded in stalling any meaningful climate action. The PM’s record is
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Climate Justice and the Good Life, for Everyone
In our Climate Justice Project, our research has stressed structural changes and collective action to lower carbon footprints rather than individual behavioural change. The ability of many actors to respond to incentives like a carbon tax is constrained by their circumstances. Suburban households often have no realistic option but to keep driving.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: BC’s Carbon Emissions on the Rise
It was a good story while it lasted. Over the past few years, the BC government and many in the policy community have spun a tale about the remarkable success of BC’s climate action policies, with a big spotlight on the carbon tax as a driver of lower emissions while
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Low-carbon urban infrastructure: a view from Vancouver
I have a new case study (full pdf; summary article from the publishers) out as part of the Economists for Equity and Environment‘s Future Economy Initiative. I look at the City of Vancouver’s Neighbourhood Energy Utility (NEU), a low-carbon district energy system that hits a sweet spot of clean energy, local control, and
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: PEF 2015 Student Essay Competition
The 2015 competition is now open for submissions. Deadline 04 May 2015. Please help us get the word out! Download a poster here. 2015 PEF ESSAY CONTEST RULES ELIGIBILE ENTRANTS ➢ Open to all Canadian students, studying in Canada and abroad, as well as international students presently studying in Canada.
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