It has been a relatively low key federal election campaign so far, with a surprising amount of convergence on some key issues by the major parties. As a bit of blip, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau pledged on August 25 that a returning Liberal government would raise the corporate tax rate
Continue readingAuthor: Wenonah Bradshaw
The Progressive Economics Forum: Call for federal support of cancelled Ontario basic income project
Members of the Progressive Economists Forum noted with dismay the premature cancellation of Ontario’s basic income pilot and have penned an open letter to Federal Minister Jean-Yves Duclos (Families, Children and Social Development) calling for federal support for the project. So far, the letter has been signed by 50 Canadian
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Finance Minister Bill Morneau on the Dangers of Bank of Canada Funding
A guest blog post from Larry Kazdan, publisher of the “Modern Monetary Theory in Canada” blog: https://mmtincanada.jimdo.com/contact/. Under legislation that came into effect in December 2015, e-petitions that garner at least 500 on-line signatures and that are sponsored by an MP can be tabled in Parliament. The federal government is then
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Tommy Douglas was a “macroeconomist”, not a “provincialist”!
A guest blog post from Mario Seccareccia, Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa The NDP went through a roller coaster ride in 2015. It would seem that the party still hasn’t fully recovered from the outcome of that election, and it will probably remain so until it elects a new
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Election 2015: Congratulations, Erin Weir!
The massive change dealt by Canadian voters to the seating arrangement in the House of Commons last Monday has seen the 3rd party Liberals leap to a majority government, sending the incumbent Conservatives across the aisle to the Official Opposition bench and the once-hopeful NDP back to the 3rd party
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Election 2015: Liberals in a Hurry, Budget Policy and Time to Plan
Wow! What an upset! A Liberal majority! From 35 seats to what are they projecting … 185!? If the Liberals outflanked the NDP on progressive economic policy, it was on a single issue, that of budget policy. With the Liberals promising three years of budget deficits to finance infrastructure spending
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Election 2015: Trudeau’s Court of Economic Advisors
“I don’t read newspapers, I don’t watch the news. I figure, if something important happens, someone will tell me.” Justin Trudeau’s surprising confession in a 2001 Globe and Mail essay (“Something I’m Passionate About”, Feb.3) raises three questions: 1) does he read newspapers and watch the news now?; 2) if
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Election 2015: An Escape Hatch for the NDP?
In an earlier post, I sought to explain (not necessarily defend) the Mulcair team’s decision to run balanced budgets as an election campaign tactic to counter being branded by the Conservatives (and potentially the Liberals)as a profligate manager of the public purse. Whether or not this tactic is successful will
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Election 2015: The Political Economy of Balanced Budgets
First, disclosure. I wear several hats. In addition to being a progressive economist, I am a member of the NDP. I have been since 1988. I will be voting for the NDP candidate in my riding and I just donated $100 to the party,with more to follow. The recent promise
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Novel Observations of Jean Tirole?
French economist Jean Tirole has won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on industrial organization and regulation, in particular his insights into oligopolies. “Who is Jean Tirole?, many non-economists and some economists are asking today. The MIT-educated, Toulouse-based professor is a key figure in the New Industrial
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: GETTING YOUR ARTICLES PUBLISHED
A guest blog post from Louis-Philippe Rochon: GETTING YOUR ARTICLES PUBLISHED: JOURNAL EDITORS OFFER SOME ADVICE This short note is aimed at graduate students and faculty members alike who are looking to get their papers published in academic journals, a crucial exercise for the job market, but also in getting tenure
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: A Petition of Academics Against the CCPA Audit
A guest blog post from Mario Seccareccia and Louis-Philippe Rochon. After learning that the Canada Revenue Agency is auditing the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on the grounds that it allegedly engages in politically partisan, biased and one-sided research activity, a number of university professors have drawn up an open letter
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Ford Nation, Perils of Populism and Public Choice
Watching Rob Ford in the recent weeks reminds me of what John Ralston Saul once wrote of Benito Mussolini and his contemporary reincarnation in Silvio Berlusconi: “He was the nascent modern Heroic leader. Mussolini combined the interests of corporatism with public relations and sport, while replacing public debate and citizen
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