Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Joseph Stiglitz discusses how the U.S.’ extreme inequality is limiting its prospects for economic recovery: There are all kinds of excuses for inequality. Some say it’s beyond our control, pointing to market forces like globalization, trade liberalization, the technological revolution, the “rise of
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Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
This and that for your weekend reading. – Lana Payne sounds the alarm about the choice of the government of Newfoundland and Labrador to cry “deficit!” as an excuse to slash social spending when the actual deficit is virtually identical to the amount it’s spending on added resource development –
Continue readingPutting lipstick on the PIIGS: the health of modern macroeconomics
Ok, so some of the best economists, trained at elite institutions, working for the pinnacle of the of the financial world got it wrong, very wrong. How wrong? Just go ask a Greek citizen. But, of course, we all knew that just by reading the headlines coming out of Greece
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: It’s almost enough to make you think the game is rigged
Supreme Court rules feds don’t need to return $28 billion in pension funds In a unanimous 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an appeal from public service unions representing hundreds of thousands of employees, who wanted the government to pay back billions into the pension funds of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – John Cameron highlights the importance of liberal arts education – as well as the fact that only a few people (who happen to nicely coincide with the Wall government’s base) stand to benefit from a citizenry with less of a tendency toward
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: The Age of Austerity
RBC leads big bonus parade for Canadian banks Canada’s banks have set aside $10.3 billion for bonuses, a 7.5 per cent increase over last year, bucking the global trend toward pay cuts and even job losses on Wall Street and in London. From tellers to investment bankers, the individual payouts
Continue readingArt Threat: Carrot loophole saves theatre from tax hike
Austerity measures in Spain have increased taxes on nearly everything. Tax on theatre tickets was bumped from 8 to 21 percent, and in an already challenging economy, theatre companies were naturally worried about whether higher costs would keep the public away. In the town of Bescanó, two hours north of
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Atlantic Canada to suffer disproportionately from federal austerity: Report
by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives | November 27, 2012 A new CCPA-NS report released today makes projections for federal public sector job loss in Atlantic Canada and discusses the breadth and depth of its impact in the region. CCPA-NS pu…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Bill Curry reports on the Cons’ latest public-sector slashing. But there hasn’t yet been much discussion of the most alarming number: upwards of 30% of the Cons’ cuts are coming from the Canada Revenue Agency…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Future: Low Growth West; High Growth East
China risingMartin Kettle has an interesting and disturbing article in today’s The Guardian, headed Austerity is here to stay, and we’d better get used to it:But we are going to have to get used to austerity. Because relative scarcity, and the nee…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Stay the course
The Fall Economic Update was hosted this week by the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce. It seems Minister Flaherty wanted to be sure of friendly faces when he announced that the 2012-2013 budget deficit will likely be $5-$7 billion higher than forecast in March. The reason for the higher deficit is that nominal GDP will be […]
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Duncan Cameron highlights the choice between austerity and prosperity facing the governments of both Canada and the U.S.:The economic realities faced by working people in both Canada and the United St…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading.- Lawrence Martin’s take on Robocon doesn’t offer much by way of new information, but nicely sums up exactly what deliberate vote suppression and electoral fraud should mean for a governing party:At issue here is …
Continue readingdrive-by planet: November 14 ‘day of action’ against austerity: protests in Greece
Over the past months there have been protests in Spain, Portugal and Greece against government-imposed austerity measures.
This week an austerity bill was passed by the governing coalition in Greece despite strong political opposition and protests…
Continue readingRedBedHead: Why Are The Tories Pushing Canada Into Recession?
Remember how the Tories are the party you want to vote for in tough economic times because they’re great managers and willing to make the tough decisions? Remember all that stuff? Yeah, well, the Tories are poking holes in the Canadian economy faster than the rest of us can bail.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Frances Russell discusses how the Cons have corporatized Canadian politics: In fact, elevating corporate rights over the rights of citizens and their democractic institutions seems to be the Harper government’s core agenda. Its aggressive “free trade” stance has led to agreements with
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Austerity Trap
Below is a recent editorial from the New York Times that does an excellent job of summarizing the failures of austerity policies. The NYTimes also published a very good analysis of how austerity measures have actually increased debt loads in many countries, instead of reducing them: “Despite Push for Austerity, European
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: The Nobel Peace Prize is slipping into irrelevance
by Brian Lee Crowley | Troy Media | Macdonald Laurier Institute My mother could have told you why giving the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union would produce such a predictable and deserved outpouring of derision. An aspiring writer, she took a creative writing course. One of the assignments
Continue readingThe Deadly Myths of Globalisation
What follows is the introduction to a talk I gave at the 3rd Innis Christie Lecture & Symposium in Labour and Employment Law. My sister was educated at the Dalhousie School of Law and I was Lucky enough when visiting her to attend a lecture by Innis Christie. I am
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