Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Robert Reich offers a reminder that the Trump administration is just the most glaring example of the utter breakdown of any pretense of meritocracy in the U.S. – Daniel Zamora interviews Niklas Olsen about the dangers of replacing the idea of government representing
Continue readingTag: Andrew Coyne
Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Jake Bittle writes about rural homelessness as a seldom-discussed issue which calls out for a strong policy response to ensure the right to housing is met regardless of whether one’s community is urban or rural: While the trigger events that cause homelessness
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Sandy Garossino offers a reminder of the large-scale corruption – including bribery supporting dictatorial regimes and multiple instances of illegal practices in Canada – at the root of the Libs’ SNC Lavalin scandal. Andrew Coyne comments on the parallels between SNC Lavalin’s lobbying
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Tim Wu writes that the U.S.’ political system is serving to allow a privileged few to ignore the policy preferences and interests of the vast majority of citizens: About 75 percent of Americans favor higher taxes for the ultrawealthy. The idea of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Chantal Hebert, Andrew Coyne and Paul Wells all weigh in on yesterday’s revelations by Jody Wilson-Raybould about the Trudeau PMO’s protection racket on behalf of SNC-Lavalin. And Andrew Nikiforuk examines the track record of corruption both from SNC-Lavalin in particular, and within
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Matthew Desmond writes about the large number of economic and social benefits from paying workers a living wage. And Stephanie Akin reports on the significance of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez walking the talk when it comes to her own staff. – Andrew MacLeod discusses the
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Con Media and the Shabby End of The Fake Scandal
Lordy. What a difference a day makes. One moment the press gallery hacks in Ottawa were in a feverish state of arousal.They thought the fake scandal, the one they had manufactured out of a flimsy anonymous sourced story in the Globe and Mail, and blown up like a balloon until they
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Con Media, The Fake Scandal, And the Zombie Apocalypse
By any known standards, the media coverage of the SNC-Lavalin affair has been a journalistic horror show.A freakish zombie apocalypse, where the walking dead in the Ottawa Press Gallery insist it's the BIGGEST story in the world.Give it saturation coverage, and try to force it down our throats. Read more
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Keith Stewart writes about the determination of the oil industry to push people to vote for environmental destruction. But as an alternative, Ann Pettifor highlights the important economic and environmental progress on offer through the Green New Deal: The Green New Deal
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Luke Savage comments on the need for progressive leaders to stand up to the interests of the uber-wealthy, rather than promising them that nothing will be done which could possible improve the position of the public. And Eric Levitz offers a reminder that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your weekend reading. – Chris Dillow discusses the connection between the failure to understand the role of luck in producing unequal outcomes, and the perpetuation of policies which exacerbate inequalities: As Ed Smith writes in his lovely book, Luck: “randomness is routinely misinterpreted as skill.” Why do
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Kathleen Harris reports on a federal budget update designed to have Canada borrow to shovel money into the pockets of big business. And PressProgress points out the absurdity of that plan when the corporate sector already has far too many loopholes and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brexit Redux: Looking back at Jason Kenney’s strange comments when the U.K. shot itself in both feet
Back in June 2016, hours after Britons had narrowly voted to leave the European Union, a lot of Albertans scratched their heads at Jason Kenney’s bizarre Brexit commentary on social media. At the time, Mr. Kenney was still drawing a paycheque as the Conservative MP for Calgary Midnapore. He was
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Andrew Jackson argues that Canada has nothing to gain in trying to race Donald Trump to the bottom when it comes to corporate taxes: While marginal effective corporate-tax rates are clearly a factor in business investment decisions, they are by no means
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Kate Aronoff interviews Mariana Mazzucato about The Value of Everything, including some important discussion about the relationship between governments and markets: Aronoff: You talk a lot about the power of the state in shaping markets. What does the idea that the government
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Yutaka Dirks reviews Lars Osberg’s The Age of Increasing Inequality, with a particular focus on how matters have been getting worse in recent decades. – Ryan Nunn, Jana Parsons and Jay Shambaugh study (PDF) the connection between geography and inequality, including the role
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Oliver Milman reports on new indications that we’re far beyond any reasonable pace in trying to rein in climate change. – The Star’s editorial board discusses why lower-income Ontarians are right to feel like they’re under attack from Doug Ford’s government. And Noah
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Evening Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Emily Atkin offers a reminder that the people with the least stand to face the most severe costs of climate change. But lest we take that as a signal that there’s an irreconcilable gap between countries, Eric Levitz writes that even in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Say hello to the hurtin’ Albertans, Mr. Trudeau: If the premier ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!
Welcome to Alberta where, as the prime minister of Canada no doubt discovered yesterday afternoon, if the premier ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy! And, right now, the premier ain’t happy! Old Alberta New Democrats have been familiar with this hurtin’ refrain for some time. Don’t jump to the conclusion that
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Justin Trudeau and the Man Who Didn’t Fall To Earth
Adam ScottiI think it's fair to say that Justin Trudeau has had a challenging month. The pipeline decision, the NAFTA negotiations with the maniac Trump, the crazed old racist screaming at him at that corn roast in Quebec.The creepy Andrew Scheer stoking the flames of racism.That's the kind of stuff that
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