Americanized Labor Policy Is Spreading in Europe – NYTimes.com. While most of the debate over Europe’s response to the financial crisis has focused on the budget austerity enveloping the Continent, the comparatively unheralded erosion of worker protection is likely to have at least as big and lasting an impact on
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Political Eh-conomy: Austerity and the profitability puzzle: government gives profits a helping hand
This is the third and final post in what has become a three-part series on the puzzle of high profitability and low investment in the Canadian economy. In the first part, I looked at some data that shows the existence of the puzzle and explored a few of the factors
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Austerity and Human Rights
The Council of Europe Commission for Human Rights has published a report documenting the various ways in which austerity is negatively impacting on human rights across Europe. I have copied the summary of the report below: Europeans are living through the deepest economic recession since the Second World War. What
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: People at risk of poverty or social exclusion – Statistics Explained
People at risk of poverty or social exclusion – Statistics Explained. A recent Eurostat report has reported the following, disturbing figure in Europe: In 2012, 124.5 million people, or 24.8 % (Figure 1) of the population, in the EU-28 were at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE), compared with 24.3 %
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – David Simon laments the division of the U.S. into the few who are rewarded by market forces and the many who are constantly under siege – while also pointing out that concentration of wealth may prevent democratic forces from offering a counterweight: The
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: George Osborne’s Economic Policy: More Poverty, Worse Public Servies
Check out @chakrabortty’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/chakrabortty/status/409810696763760640 Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Austerity, Conservatism, neoliberalism
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: The Lang-Jimbo Reality Show? CBC may be missing its moment
Somebody suggested that the CBC would be a far more interesting place if the Lang-O’Leary Exchange morphed into the Lang-Jimbo Reality Show. Now that’s a CBC we might be inclined to fight a little harder to protect. There are not … Continue reading →
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Canada’s (not so incredible) shrinking federal government
Buried in the federal government’s recent Update of Economic and Fiscal Projections are figures showing the Harper government is set to squeeze federal government’s role to the smallest it has been in seventy years. (Bill Curry at the Globe also just wrote about this, but without figures further back than 1958). Total federal
Continue readingRedBedHead: Norm Kelly v Rob Ford: The Right Wing Mayor Is Dead. Long Live The Right Wing Mayor!
Happier days for the populist right Well, it was indeed a circus at city hall yesterday. I wasn’t able to attend the performance live but did have the pleasure of watching some of it unfold via the miracle of the interwebs. Those Ford brothers sure know how to do a
Continue readingRedBedHead: Norm Kelly v Rob Ford: The Right Wing Mayor Is Dead. Long Live The Right Wing Mayor!
Happier days for the populist right
Well, it was indeed a circus at city hall yesterday. I wasn’t able to attend the performance live but did have the pleasure of watching some of it unfold via the miracle of the interwebs. Those Ford brothers sure know how to do a great imitation of The Sopranos – belligerent, bullying, pulling faces like a couple of 12-year old school yard pricks. Better
RedBedHead: Norm Kelly v Rob Ford: The Right Wing Mayor Is Dead. Long Live The Right Wing Mayor!
Happier days for the populist right Well, it was indeed a circus at city hall yesterday. I wasn’t able to attend the performance live but did have the pleasure of watching some of it unfold via the miracle of the interwebs. Those Ford brothers sure know how to do a
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Ponzi Austerity: A Definition And An Example – Social Europe Journal
Ponzi Austerity: A Definition And An Example – Social Europe Journal. For a while now I have been arguing that Europe’s policies for reducing the public debts of fiscally stressed member-states can be described as a Ponzi austerity scheme. In this post I attempt precisely to define ‘Ponzi austerity’. Ponzi
Continue readingRedBedHead: Three Reasons Why Ford Should Stay
Everyone’s clamouring for Ford to resign: he lied, he smoked crack, he was wasted on the job, the city needs a competent administration. Balls, I say. I’ve seen competent administrations and I can say for certain in the present climate that a “competent administration” will focus its attention on further
Continue readingRedBedHead: Three Reasons Why Ford Should Stay
Everyone’s clamouring for Ford to resign: he lied, he smoked crack, he was wasted on the job, the city needs a competent administration. Balls, I say. I’ve seen competent administrations and I can say for certain in the present climate that a “competent administration” will focus its attention on further austerity and attacking those who resist austerity. Need I remind that the entire left wing
RedBedHead: Three Reasons Why Ford Should Stay
Everyone’s clamouring for Ford to resign: he lied, he smoked crack, he was wasted on the job, the city needs a competent administration. Balls, I say. I’ve seen competent administrations and I can say for certain in the present climate that a “competent administration” will focus its attention on further
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Crash! A brief history of modern global capitalism – audio slideshow | Comment is free | theguardian.com
Crash! A brief history of modern global capitalism – audio slideshow | Comment is free | theguardian.com. An amazing slideshow of a century of capitalist development and economic crisis narrated by one of my former professors, Leo Panitch, author of The Making of Global Capitalism. Filed under: Capitalism Tagged: Austerity, Capitalism,
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Debt and Deficit as Shock Therapy » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
Debt and Deficit as Shock Therapy » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names. When Naomi Klein published her ground-breaking book The Shock Doctrine (2007), which compellingly demonstrated how neoliberal policy makers take advantage of overwhelming crisis times to privatize public property and carry out austerity programs, most economists and media pundits
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Belgium: Class Trade Unionism Seeks Political Expression | The Bullet No. 893
Belgium: Class Trade Unionism Seeks Political Expression | The Bullet No. 893. In the social and political history of Belgium, May 1, 2012, could mark a milestone. On that day the leaders of the Charleroi regional branch of the socialist trade union General Federation of Belgian Labour (Fédération Générale du
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Austerity protests draw tens of thousands in Italy, Portugal | News | DW.DE | 19.10.2013
Austerity protests draw tens of thousands in Italy, Portugal | News | DW.DE | 19.10.2013. Police detained several people during the protest in Rome after about 100 people threw rocks, bottles and eggs at officers guarding the finance ministry (pictured). The police then charged and chased the demonstrators into side
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: A bit of wisdom from Adam Smith
In light of yesterday’s post, particularly regarding the bleak outlook for the children of the middle class (which takes for granted the bleak present of the children of the working class), I thought I’d share some of the wisdom of Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations) that seems to have
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