I can’t refute Krugman. Institutions matter. But just what is an institution anyway. A stop sign, Burger King, constitutional conventions the EMU? All of the above? Sadly yes including gold standard like thinking. But the EMU and the WTO come with rules ratified in international treaties and enshrined in national
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Shorter Waldmann on Yglesias and monteraism
The long version is here. Apparently Mr.. Waldmann was tricked into reading Matt Yglesias on monetary policy. Waldmann’s observation goes something like this in short from: Hey Matt you have been consistently wrong in your predictions on the power of monetary policy, if fact your predictions have been so wrong
Continue readingFlanagan’s flop reveals deeper truth about the nature of hypocrisy in Canada
I am not writing this blog post with the idea that the right to free speech, or expression is without limit. Tom Flanagan proves that in exercising that right, the social consequences can be swifter and less judicious than any of the hate speech crimes we have on the books
Continue readingFlanagan’s flop reveals deeper truth about the nature of hypocrisy in Canada
I am not writing this blog post with the idea that the right to free speech, or expression is without limit. Tom Flanagan proves that in exercising that right, the social consequences can be swifter and less judicious than any of the hate speech crimes we have on the books
Continue readingWhy I adore Bill Mitchell’s Billy Blog
Ratings firm plays the sucker card … again Posted on Monday, February 25, 2013 by bill Companies that sell shonky products under false pretenses are typically prosecuted by the authorities. Those that sell shonky products generally are typically run out of business. But there is one class of such products
Continue readingIs Heterodox Economic Pedagogy Flawed?
I won’t bury the lead. Yes I think heterodox pedagogy is critically flawed at least at the popular and undergraduate levels. Yesterday I had the fortune of bearing witness to a exchange between a sociologist and an economist. Both are well published and respected within their respective fields. Predictably,
Continue readingHow absurd has multinational corporate practice gotten? According to the OECD ridiculous
It is really hard being an honest analyst. You spend most of your time being ridiculed by your on-the-take (in one form or another) adversaries. But sometimes the data speaks so loud, and the right political climate evolves, that the stars align and the glaringly obvious dare speak its name.
Continue readingLooking for Dr. Goodpain? Check the Reflection in the Mirror Dr. Krugman
Far be it from me to cast a pox on what has been one of the only few bright lights in the last few years but premises matter. In Krugman’s recent Looking for Mr. Goodpain he presents a reasonable derision of those pushing austerity in the face of zero evidence
Continue readingThe Bad Taste and Big Waste of Public Private Partnerships
This is a guest post written by Eric Newstadt, the GM of the Ryerson Student Centre. This post highlights why P3s are a preordained and preplanned market failure. —————- For some years now, Ryerson University has been pouring millions of dollars into its food services program so as to support
Continue readingPutting lipstick on the PIIGS: the health of modern macroeconomics
Ok, so some of the best economists, trained at elite institutions, working for the pinnacle of the of the financial world got it wrong, very wrong. How wrong? Just go ask a Greek citizen. But, of course, we all knew that just by reading the headlines coming out of Greece
Continue readingA Little Shame on the Globe and Mail: Much Shame on Jill Mahoney
Well that is that. Still there is some unfinished business left. Jill Mahoney typed out one of those credible enough on the surface columns for the Globe that Failed titled: Is U.S. polling guru Nate Silver going to have egg … Continue reading →
The Deadly Myths of Globalisation
What follows is the introduction to a talk I gave at the 3rd Innis Christie Lecture & Symposium in Labour and Employment Law. My sister was educated at the Dalhousie School of Law and I was Lucky enough when visiting her to attend a lecture by Innis Christie. I am
Continue readingBullshit in absolutes: or how ‘liberal’* economists argue with themselves
We can perhaps amend an old Ethiopian saying to read “absolutes are for infants and kings”. It is catechism worth remembering when arguing with liberal economists. For theirs is not a just sport. In fact, one should never mix sport with justice. As Berlin said long ago (1958): Everything
Continue readingFrom an Anglo to the Anglophones in Quebec
It is odd being an Anglo in Quebec. But not because I feel apart from the Francophones. Indeed, it is Anglo community that I feel estranged from. I live in small village and there are maybe 3 other people who speak English. I moved to Quebec 5 years ago and
Continue readingQuebec election: the faux choix of the first two days
As everyone knows by now, Quebec is headed into a summer election. The Liberal party is trying to define the election as a choice between democracy or protest. As someone who has studied and taught political science at the highest levels this strikes me as a bizarre if not ignorant
Continue readingResuming the blog
I apologize that my posting rate has dropped to zero. It has been an incredibly hectic summer. I finally finished my book and have begun paying off my time debt to my partner. Now I just need to get the car fixed, maybe get the kitchen started and prepare for
Continue readingThe real Zombie that won’t die: The Myth of Crowding Out
Don’t get me wrong I am really encouraged that Mr. Moffatt took it upon himself to echo what we should all know by now: debt is not the story behind the Euro crisis. And as Mike rightly points out the real story is the rural idiocy of austerity and the
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Continue readingUnravelling Conservative Labour Market Policy: The Maximum Wage Law.
The OECD and the CATO institute have both consistently ranked Canadian labour markets as some of the most flexible in the advanced capitalist world. Indeed, Canada ranks only second to the US on most stingy when it comes to labour market protections. Odd then, that the Conservatives have chosen labour
Continue readingFrom Democracy to Imperial Government: The Conservative War on Raw Facts Continues
It is not really a secret that our conservative government feels a certain unease about facts. Be they those facts which relate to the F35 costs or those facts which relate to major military undertakings like Libya. None of this should be surprising given the degree of contempt the government
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