Last week, $1.4 trillion in assets of Credit Suisse were transferred to another huge Swiss bank, UBS, in a fire sale orchestrated by the Swiss government and central bank. Photo from Flickr. One consequence of the unprecedented tightening of monetary policy imposed by central banks in most countries (including Canada)
Continue readingTag: economic crisis
Canadian Dimension: SVB: From the valley to the chasm
Last Friday, Californian bank Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) became the largest bank to fail since the 2008 financial crisis. In a sudden collapse that shocked financial markets, it left billions of dollars belonging to companies and investors stranded. SVB took deposits from and made loans to companies in the heartland
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The progressive case for MMT
Image by Piotr Pawinski/123RF Stock Photo Compared to the mainstream attention that Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is receiving in the United States, it has been met with a more muted reception north of the border, particularly on the left. This is partially due to the perception that MMT is mostly
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: A critique of obscene wealth
The obscenely rich have driven economies and societies further from anything remotely resembling a “level playing field,” writes Richard Wolff. Photo by aisletwentytwo/Flickr. Wherever and whenever obscenely rich people existed, they always protected their wealth and the privileges that come with it from the majority of non-wealthy people working for
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: More fibs from the Fraser Institute
Fraser’s typical line is to depict Canada’s economic order as some sort of progressive spending frenzy which needs to be countermanded by severe austerity. This is not true. Image by Canadian Dimension. In Canada, there are several major right wing think tanks, which generally enjoy favourable coverage from the mainstream
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The 0.01% vs. the rest of us
Protestors in the Occupy movement in Manchester, United Kingdom, 2011. Photo by Plashing Vole/Flickr. While the one percent are obviously much richer than the average person, the disparity is even more stark when we look at the ultra-elite 0.01 percent.[1] A growing share of ultra-elite income is from capital gains.
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Navigating the housing crisis with poverty wages: What hope for young Canadians?
We need to change course and start thinking of housing as a human right. Photo by Louis Tricot/Unsplash. For the last fifteen years, young people in Canada have been struggling to meet basic needs amidst a growing housing crisis and a stagnant minimum wage. Now they are trying to navigate
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Over 25 years, world’s wealthiest 5% behind over one-third of global emissions growth: Study
The wealthiest one percent of the world’s population is responsible for emitting more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorest 50 percent of humanity combined. Photo by Chalo Garcia/Pexels. As world leaders prepare for this November’s United Nations Climate Conference in Scotland, a new report from the Cambridge
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: the recession’s likely long-term impact on homelessness
I’ve just written a report for Employment and Social Development Canada on the current recession’s likely long-term impact on homelessness in Canada. An overview of the report can be found here.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Homelessness in canada could rise due to recession
I am currently writing a report for Employment and Social Development Canada looking at the long-term impact of the current recession on homelessness. It should be ready by early November. In the meantime, a teaser blog post I’ve just written on the same topic is available here.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Time to work less?
In times of economic crisis, an old but good idea to maintain employment is revived. COVID has brought just such a revival. With unemployment in the UK expected to rise rapidly in the coming months as the British furlough scheme winds down, a think tank has reported that a four-day
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The Fiscal Deficit, Modern Monetary Theory and Progressive Economic Policy
Image from Wikimedia Commons Modern Monetary Theory or MMT has crept in from the academic margins to become an influential doctrine in progressive policy circles in the United States. Both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders drew on the ideas of MMT to shape their ambitious public spending platforms. MMT has
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The City Dispossessed of Its Commons
Demonstrators march in Paris to protest against the head of the National Front (FN), Marine Le Pen. The city as a way of dwelling in the world has not always existed—quite the contrary. In fact, most of the long history of our species has taken place outside of any urban
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Toward a More Caring Society: Practicing Empathy During a Pandemic
It is very difficult for vulnerable people to practise social distancing in the crowded Downtown Eastside in Vancouver, advocates say. Photo by Nick Procaylo. As COVID-19 continues to take its toll around the world, millions are grappling with hardships and challenges. Whether it is the loss of a loved one,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Prioritizing Collective Responsibilities in the Response to COVID-19
Ryoji Ikeda’s installation, test pattern [N°12]. Photo by Liz Hingley. At the same time as the climate crisis movement was gaining momentum in the wake of youth voices such as Greta Thunberg, Autumn Peltier, Mari Copeny, Alexandria Villaseñor, Vanessa Nakate, and notably in Canada the protests by Wet’suet’en people, we
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: COVID-19 and the Failures of Capitalism
The desperate policies of panic-driven governments involve throwing huge amounts of money at the economies collapsed in response to the coronavirus threat. Monetary authorities create money and lend it at extremely low interest rates to the major corporations and especially big banks “to get them through the crisis.” Government treasuries
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about CMHC’s Insured Mortgage Purchase Program
In March 2020, the Trudeau government launched a new version of the Insured Mortgage Purchase Program (IMPP). According to CMHC’s website: “Under this program, the government will purchase up to $50 billion of insured mortgage pools through CMHC.” Here are 10 things to know: 1. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: After the Pandemic
A face mask adorns a statue of St. Francis of Assisi in the town of San Fiorano in Italy. Photo by Marzio Toniolo. When people emerge from their homes after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (those, that is, who have homes and the option to stay in them)
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The Two Viruses: COVID-19 and Capitalism
We are living in a pandemic. These are unprecedented times. Not to worry: our political leadership is taking this all very seriously. They will do everything necessary, we are told, to protect us. Take the Ford government in Ontario, for example. It has suspended the application of collective agreements in
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Global Financial Asset Deflation: Prelude to Next ‘Great Recession’?
Traders and floor officials at the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, March 9. The Dow closed down by 2,000 points for the first time ever. Yesterday morning, on March 9, financial asset markets imploded. US stocks are now further collapsing by 7 percent. The same can be said for
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