An incisive analysis of the financial crisis. I’m sure many of you will disagree, but this is not a perspective that can be easily dismissed.
Continue readingTag: capitalism
The minimum wage ad that’s full of B.S.
I’ve recently stumbled on an online video ad while waiting for one of my YouTube videos to load and decided to post it on this blog and criticize it a bit. First, the ad attempts to explain how setting a minimum wage is actually detrimental to the least employable workers (the workers that
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Quebec, the Con Media, and the Greek Obsession
It's funny eh? When I see pictures like this one I see people standing up for their rights, telling a corrupt government to take their fascist bill and shove it, or just joining others to demand a better world. But most of the Con media only seem to see a
Continue readingkirbycairo: Quebec, Protests, Activism, and Threats to Power. . .
So-called “radical” political protest and activism, from the great peasant revolts to the ‘velvet’ revolution, has always been, in the final analysis, about the big issues of justice, social and economic equality, and political representation. Sometimes activist movements have erupted into distinctly anti-capitalist efforts, more often such efforts are more modest and localized in
Continue reading350 or bust: In A Capitalist Economy, the True Job Creators Are Middle Class
Nick Hanauer, entrepreneur and one percenter, exposes the fallacy that it’s the super rich who create jobs. He makes a strong case for taxing the rich to create benefits for the entire society, including growing the middle class. It’s good policy for everyone. Hanauer asserted that TED refused to post
Continue readingcmkl: One thing no one seems to be considering about JP Morgan’s $2 billion oopsie
That investment is supposed to actually do something.
Continue readingNo, you can’t achieve anything you set your mind to
We all remember when we were kids or even adolescents how our parents used to tell us that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to, that we can conquer any obstacle society puts in front of us, that our achievements would only be limited by the amount of enthusiasm and
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The Big Banks’ Big Secret
The CCPA today released my report: “The Big Banks Big Secret” which provides the first public estimates of the emergency funds taken by Canadian banks. The report bases its estimates on publicly available data from CMHC, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, US Federal Reserve, the Bank of
Continue readingThe extremely illogical logic behind your credit rating and debt repayment
This is what I find excruciatingly bizarre about the way banks conduct their business on loans, credit cards, personal lines of credit and other lending vehicles: That you may have paid back your entire loan to them, but because you haven’t made the payments on time your credit rating suffers. Although
Continue readingCo-operatives—the proven alternative to capitalism
In this, the International Year of Co-operatives, we cannot remind ourselves too often of the tried and true alternative to conventional capitalism. Co-operatives have for generations offered a more humane approach to economic activity than competitive enterprise, even while competing successfully in a capitalist marketplace. They have provided a full
Continue readingOrange Blood II, the NDP Edition…
This is about the NDP Leadership Convention 2012, and why I think that democracy has failed. I became a member of the NDP for the BCNDP Leadership race. My partner and I both joined the Party to support our MLA, John Horgan. A man of principle, who listened to the
Continue reading(face)Plant
The former Attorney General, Geoff Plant has a blog! He has some advice today For Mr. Von DingDong(en). Dear John, (I know, Lol, that’s been done before, but bear with me!) I understand that one of the issues which caused you to leave the BC Liberal caucus and party is
Continue readingThe new capitalism—reward without risk
Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Peter Voser earned more than $15-million in pay and bonuses in 2011, more than double his remuneration for 2010. Last year also saw Shell increase its oil spills to 207, substantially more than the previous year. The two are not related of course, but the
Continue readingOccupy Ottawa: On International Women’s Day, A Focus on Canada’s Gender Deficit
As the world celebrates women’s achievements, Naomi Klein (pictured) stands out among the many gifts Canada has given to the world. Her work and passion around globalization, capitalism, human rights and, recently, the Keystone XL …Read More
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: On International Women’s Day, A Focus on Canada’s Gender Deficit
As the world celebrates women’s achievements, Naomi Klein stands out among the many gifts Canada has given to the world. Her work and passion around globalization, capitalism, human rights and, recently, the Keystone XL pipeline, …Read More
Continue readingkirbycairo: What is Capitalism?
The late, great Ernest Mandel who was banned from entering the US for much of his life, wrote what is probably the very best introduction to Marx’s Capital ever written. Though trained as an economist, Mandel had a knack for explaining things
Continue readingExploring Economics
Food for thought … [T]he economists’ tragedy: The ambition to create the ultimate model results in a theory of human behaviour which cannot hold unless the humans populating the model operate like inanimate algorithms following slavishly a particular script. The moment you introduce creativity and a capacity to subvert the
Continue readingArt Threat: Artist Profile: Interview with Michael D’Antuono – Artist challenges government’s monetary redistribution, and more
Michael D’Antuono’s work is striking. His background as an illustrator sets a foundation for a remarkable oil painting style – deep shadows all set among poignant messages. After years of being instructed what to draw, the contraction of severe tendonitis led him to lay down the pencils and pick up
Continue readingOccupy Ottawa: Occupy Ottawa re-occupies Confederation Park to warm hearts against cold capitalism
It was a different kind of protest today as Occupy Ottawa activists defiantly returned to Confederation Park for the movement’s first “Warm Up Your Heart Against Cold Capitalism” event. The activists set up shop on …Read More
Continue readingRedBedHead: Apple’s $98 Billion Is Blood Money
There’s a lot of hand-waving around Apple’s use of sweat shop labour in China. Apple CEO Tim Cook is offended and outraged by the mere suggestion that Apple engages in poor labour practices. And now they’ve sent the “Fair Labor Association” into Foxconn to perform an “audit” of labour practices
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