This devastating information from Erik Andersen, an economist and widely recognized expert on government and Crown Corporation financing:You will note the unbelievable increase in BC Hydro’s debt since Christy Clark took over, due largely to payoffs to…
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Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week.- Miles Corak argues for a “second-chance” society to make up for the damaging effects of inequality – though I’d argue that while he has the principle exactly right, it’s worth defining it as “no person left b…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Karl Nerenberg weighs in on the Libs’ choice to direct billions of dollars toward higher-income individuals, rather than working to help Canadians who need it:The Liberals are now in power, and have ju…
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Going Off-Grid
Off-grid, self-reliant living is a rapidly growing phenomenon and popular movement – so popular that there is now a cable TV show devoted to it, called something like, Off-Grid House Hunters, on HGTV. It only makes sense. Cut your expenses and improve your quality of life, while lowering stress and
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Give a thought to Alberta’s approaching budget day: there’s little to gain and plenty to lose from ‘debt free’ government
PHOTOS: Former premier Ralph Klein, now elevated to sainthood by the neoliberal cargo cult, celebrating the retirement of Alberta’s debt in 2004, never mind the mess the infrastructure was in. Below: Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci, Canadian economist Jim Stanford and Wildrose Finance Critic Derek Fildebrandt, with, bottom, his old
Continue readingIn-Sights: Farrell with Jessop, CFAX1070 August 13, 2015
The audio file below is a recording of my time with Ian Jessop August 13. We talk about bcIMC, provincial debt and other matters. Your browser does not support this audio
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Asorted content for your weekend reading. – Ezra Klein talks to Bernie Sanders about how to build a more fair economy in the U.S. and around the globe. And Lynn Parramore interviews Tony Atkinson about the options available to rein in economic inequality – and why we should be working
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: IMF Demands Debt Relief for Greece
In a rather surprising turn of events today, the IMF has released a statement demanding debt relief for Greece. This vindicates Varoufakis’ position that Greek debt was unsustainable, positions the IMF against Germany and its allies, and finally brings the IMF into line with its own research – research that
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: A Soft Coup in Greece
Filed under: Eurozone crisis Tagged: Austerity, debt, Eurozone Crisis, Greece, Syriza
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: How Europe Played Greece
How Europe Played Greece. Filed under: Greece Tagged: Austerity, debt, Eurozone Crisis, Greece
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: Illegal, Illegitimate, Odious and Unsustainable Debt – Transform Network
Illegal, Illegitimate, Odious and Unsustainable Debt – Transform Network. Given the resounding victory for the ‘No’ campaign in the Greek referendum, it is of interest to take a look at the Syriza led debt audit published a few weeks ago. Filed under: Debt, Greece Tagged: debt, Eurozone Crisis, Greece, Syriza
Continue readingIn-Sights: Horgan speaks to the Premier
Hansard, May 28, 2015 The notion of a Debt-free British Columbia — hard to imagine when you’ve seen $135-billion increase in debt and contractual obligations under the B.C. Liberal watch. But somehow, in the fantasy world of the B.C. Liberals, you can make the assertion that we will be debt-free;
Continue readingIn-Sights: Farrell and Jessop on CFAX1070
The audio file below is a recording of my time with Ian Jessop May 26. We talk about credit rating agencies, provincial debt, contractual obligations, resource taxation and transit funding but we don’t deliver BC Liberal talking points like many others in media. Your browser does not support this audio
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Toby Sanger takes a look at Canada’s balance sheets and finds that both households and governments are piling up debt while the corporate sector hoards cash: (A)ll the recent handwringing over rising household and debt levels ignores one critical point: any one person’s
Continue readingNorthern Insight / Perceptivity: "You cain’t pray a lie" – H. Finn
Canadian Press, April 7, 2013: [Premier Christy] Clark told a Vancouver Island economic summit her government’s highly touted September 2011 jobs plan — with its focus on increased trade with China and Asia and promoting liquefied natural gas exports, new mines and exploring innovations in technology and agri-foods — was
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Lonnie Golden studies the harm done to workers by irregular schedules. And Matt Bruening comments on how Missouri, Kansas and other states are passing draconian restrictions on benefits by trying to get the middle class to envy the poor. – Meanwhile, Scott Santens
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Deficit Déjà Voodoo again in New Brunswick
The Fredericton Daily Gleaner published an op-ed I wrote about how the province doesn’t have a structural deficit, despite the government claiming it does. The commentary piece is behind a pay wall so I’ve copied it below. Last month, CUPE New Brunswick also published a paper I wrote on this issue,
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: ROCHON: Greece, Syriza and the Euro
This is a guest blog post from Louis-Philippe Rochon. Follow him on Twitter @Lprochon. — What a tumultuous few weeks we witnessed in Greece. Though the victory of Syriza was ill-received in particular in Germany and the European Central Bank, it was nonetheless a resounding victory for democracy. This victory
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Seccareccia on Greece, Austerity and the Eurozone
Over at the blog of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Ottawa U professor Mario Seccareccia has given an interview titled “Greece Shows the Limits of Austerity in the Eurozone. What Now?” The interview can be read here.
Continue readingPolitical Eh-conomy: Three planks for a possible anti-austerity
What would anti-austerity in Canada look like? There are really two types of questions here. There are those of analysis: what has Canada’s austerity looked like, what makes it distinctive and how does it appear in people’s everyday experience? The others are those of political strategy. These are questions that will have to wait for a social, political
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