The Next Portuguese Revolution | Jacobin. By Mark Bergfeld The poster for this year’s official celebrations of the Portuguese Revolution features a large question mark against a red background. It’s a fitting symbol for an event open to many interpretations. Does Portugal again stand at a crossroads? Or has the
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Parchment in the Fire: Thousands across Europe rally against EU policies (VIDEOS) — RT News
Thousands across Europe rally against EU policies (VIDEOS) — RT News. Filed under: Austerity Tagged: Austerity, Eurozone Crisis, Protest
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Europe’s Brutal Discipline » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
Europe’s Brutal Discipline » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names. The European utopia is turning into a system for delivering punishment. As Europe’s regime gets tougher, there is a growing sense that interchangeable elites are taking advantage of each crisis to tighten their austerity policies and impose their federal fantasy
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Why The European Commission Is Wrong: The Case Of Spain – Social Europe Journal
Why The European Commission Is Wrong: The Case Of Spain – Social Europe Journal. The Vice President of the European Commission, Olli Rehn, in charge of Economic and Monetary Affairs is becoming the most unpopular EU Commissioner in Spain. He emphasizes over and over again that labor market rigidities are
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: EU officials plotted IMF attack to bring rebellious Italy to its knees – Telegraph Blogs
EU officials plotted IMF attack to bring rebellious Italy to its knees – Telegraph Blogs. The revelations about EMU skulduggery are coming thick and fast. Tim Geithner recounts in his book Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises just how far the EU elites are willing to go to save the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Alyssa Battistoni writes that a universal basic income could go a long way toward solving environmental and economic problems alike by placing a focus on sustainable quality of life rather than increasing consumer consumption: If overconsumption is actually the problem, we can’t fix
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Tim Hudak, job-killer
It’s a bit of a headscratcher. First, Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak builds his whole campaign around a promise to create one million new jobs in Ontario over eight years, then one of his first campaign commitments threats is to reduce the number of Ontario government employees by 100,000, together with
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: The left needs a progressive Euroscepticism to counter the EU’s ills | Costas Lapavitsas | Comment is free | theguardian.com
The left needs a progressive Euroscepticism to counter the EU’s ills | Costas Lapavitsas | Comment is free | theguardian.com. Frustration is currently sweeping Europe and for good reason: persistent unemployment, inequality, weak growth and a pervasive sense of powerlessness, to name a few. Unfortunately, the main political beneficiary is
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Tax Is More Than A Four Letter Word
“Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society”, a quote from Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes on the IRS headquarter in Washington Ontario Budget 2014: watch my interview with Steve Paikin at The Agenda HERE
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Tax Is More Than A Four Letter Word
http://castroller.com/podcasts/TheAgendaVideo/4043959 The Agenda – Steve Paikin interview before the Ontario Budget May 30, 2014
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) – Benchmarking Working Europe 2014 / Books / Publications / Home
European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) – Benchmarking Working Europe 2014 / Books / Publications / Home. The report Benchmarking Working Europe 2014 reviews the crisis and EU austerity policies in the last five years from the point of view of Europe’s social agenda. Filed under: Austerity, Europe Tagged: Austerity, crisis,
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Wage Development in the European Union
Wage Development in the European Union Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Austerity, Europe, Eurozone Crisis, inequality, Labour
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Thousands in Paris and Rome protest austerity measures
Thousands in Paris and Rome protest austerity measures Anti-austerity protests took over parts of Paris and Rome on Saturday, with one demonstration in Rome spurring violence when protesters threw rocks, eggs and firecrackers at police, with at least one person injured. Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Austerity, Eurozone Crisis, Protest
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Neoliberalism in Canada: 3 moments, 3 indicators
The current edition of Canadian Dimension magazine has a fascinating series of articles on episodes of economic transition around the world (more of them bad than good in recent times, of course). It’s a very thoughtful & informative collection, and I highly recommend it (and every progressive economist should subscribe
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: 10 Things to Know About the At Home/Chez Soi Study
On Tuesday, April 8, results of the Mental Health Commission of Canada‘s At Home/Chez Soi homelessness study will be released at an Ottawa press conference. The study followed more than 2,000 participants in five Canadian cities. All were homeless when the study began. Half of them received the Housing First intervention,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – David Macdonald studies Canada’s massive (and growing) wealth gap, and proposes some thoughtful solutions to ensure that growth in wealth results in at least some shared benefits: Attempting to limit inequality through traditional measures like restricting RRSP contributions or introducing new tax
Continue readingMelissa Fong: PHS Social enterprises are ESSENTIAL to poverty elimination in DTES
… social enterprises by PHS provide job/skills/alternative livelihoods to those in a tangle with poverty/addiction/unrealized-skills. These social economy opportunities can’t be taken away from people who face job discrimination in almost any other employment situation. ….
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Edward Robinson laments the willingness of European centre-left parties to abandon any attempt to argue against austerity even when the evidence shows that’s the right position to take: Centre-left parties in Europe appear to have completely lost the argument for pragmatic fiscal
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Published elsewhere: Ontario is no California when it comes to debt
The Toronto Star just published an article I wrote in response to claims made by the Fraser Institute and the Toronto Sun that Ontario has a runaway debt problem worse than California’s. The short version: I call BS. The slightly longer version: California has constraints, such as limits on the
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Britain’s five richest families worth more than poorest 20% | Business | The Guardian
Britain’s five richest families worth more than poorest 20% | Business | The Guardian. The scale of Britain’s growing inequality is revealed by a report from a leading charity showing that the country’s five richest families now own more wealth than the poorest 20% of the population. Oxfam urged the
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