This and that for your Thursday reading. – Annie Lowrey writes about the long-term effects of the millennial generation facing a second economic shock in the years which would normally serve as the base for personal stability and growth. – Polly Toynbee weighs in on the holes exposed in social
Continue readingTag: austerity
Dead Wild Roses: Austerity Is The Enforcement Mechanism designed to keep the Rich in Control of the American Political Economy – Rob Urie
Counterpunch columnist Rob Urie tackles some of the political consequences of the neoliberal choices we have made as a society. “The question of bailouts is fundamentally different from that of taking care of people. An adequate response to the pandemic will require years of dedicated effort, not tossing a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Adam Tooze writes that the coronavirus pandemic has offered a reminder that the economy (particularly defined in terms of shareholders’ interests) can’t be given priority over human survival and well-being. – John Daley discusses three possible options in responding to the coronavirus –
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The coronavirus pandemic: Not good news for anyone, but probably worse news for the West than China
The novel coronavirus hit China first. Today was the first day China reported no new local infections since the global pandemic officially began in Hubei province in the fall of 2019. No new local infections means that while there were 34 cases reported in China in the previous 24 hours,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Robert Reich highlights how the long-term costs of failing to invest in a just transition and a healthy society far outweigh the short-term price of providing for basic needs, while Duncan Cameron calls out the deception behind claims that we can’t afford
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Polly Toynbee and David Walker write about the brutal social consequences of a decade of austerity in the UK. – Andrew Jackson reviews James Crotty’s Keynes Against Capitalism with a strong emphasis on Keynes’ recognition of the need for a democratically-planned economy. –
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Heather Scoffield points out that the Trudeau Libs’ definition of poverty (for the purposes of claiming credit for having reduced it) excludes many people facing extremely precarious financial circumstances. Sarah Boseley discusses how the UK Cons’ gratuitous austerity has led to declining
Continue readingAlberta Politics: It wasn’t supposed to be like this! Alberta sheds jobs while the rest of the country creates them
In January, as the Globe and Mail put it in a colourful old-timey headline last week, Canada’s job market blew past the forecasts for the month. Unemployment also fell. In Alberta, not so much. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney (Photo: David J. Climenhaga). Indeed, Alberta was the only province in Canada
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – John Clarke writes about the war on people living in poverty arising out of needless austerity: The OCAP years have seen the abandonment of social housing by governments, the elimination of the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP), Tory cutbacks that compare to those of
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Alberta Politics – The Populist Dismantling of Alberta
I, for one, am not looking forward to the social fabric of our province being torn asunder by the austerity crazed UCP government in 2020. “Speaking of blaming others for Alberta’s ills, 2020 will see the UCP government maintain its pugilistic approach to issues via its Fight Back Strategy that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Scott Gilmore writes about the glaring need for Canada’s politicians to show more capacity for shame – through it’s worth noting both a global pattern to the same effect, and the dangers of trying to draw “both-sides” equivalency (as Gilmore does) in
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Guest Post by Abdul Malik: Let’s not go all NIMBY on public transit — it’s just what Edmonton needs!
Abdul Malik is a photographer and writer based in Edmonton who covers climate justice, decolonization, and worker organizing in the era of extreme climate change. In this post he argues Edmonton doesn’t just need more public transit, it needs free public transit. By Abdul Malik Alberta’s already got a reputation
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Chris Hatch discusses the glaring contradictions between Canada’s lip service to the fight against climate change, and its actions in pushing to expand dirty energy production for decades to come. The Globe and Mail’s editorial board rightly recognizes that increasing the production and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Joseph Stiglitz discusses how the failure of neoliberalism to provide gains for any but the wealthiest few has led to risks to the democratic systems which have been treated as tied to laissez-faire economics. And Armine Yalnizyan challenges the false assumption that increased
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Andrew MacLeod discusses how an anti-worker campaign at the Mountain Equipment Co-op demonstrates the need for employees to be able to bargain collectively without being subject to employer interference. – Linda McQuaig writes about Doug Ford’s plans to slash what’s already Canada’s lowest
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – PressProgress examines the damage Doug Ford wants to inflict on children in Ontario’s education system. Fareed Khan calls out the right-wing politicians acting like spoiled children rather than responsible decision-makers. And Rick Smith discusses how to develop public policy to withstand the vandalism
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Austerity – The History of A Dangerous Idea – Mark Blyth
A thick meaty discussion of the western political economy and the checkered history that has led us to the current financial mess we happen to be in. Great viewing, get some popcorn!
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Arwa Mahdawi writes that the outsized influence wielded by billionaires makes them something beyond merely wealthy people. Tom Whyman challenges the worship of the excessively wealthy as a particularly destructive religion. Robert Reich points out that the means of accumulating a billion
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about the 2019-20 Alberta budget
I’ve just written a ‘top 10’ overview of the recent Alberta budget. Points raised in the post include the following: -The budget lays out a four-year strategy of spending cuts, letting population growth and inflation do much of the heavy lifting. -After one accounts for both population growth and inflation,
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