Journalist and educator Simran Sethi discusses why and how we engage, and how we can listen to, and learn from, other points of view. Everyone concerned about climate change, and working for a better future for our children, should listen to her wisdom. * SimranSethi.com Baltimore Sun: Climate and conservatives
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Canadian Dimension Feed: The Rumpelstiltskin Effect
“Rumpelstiltskin,” 1957 Once upon a time in a distant land, a miller boasted to his king that his daughter could spin straw into gold. Intrigued, the king locked her up in a roomful of straw and told her, “If you can spin this straw into gold by morning, you shall
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: US family net worth crushed by financial crisis
The US Federal Reserve today released its triennial examination of incomes and net worth of American households in the Survey of Consumer Finances. It shows the crushing effects on net worth of a housing and financial bust unparalleled since the great depression. The shocking results of this study overviewed in
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Complete details of 2008-09 Bank Support
Readers of this blog will have hopefully read my report “The big banks big secret” which examines the $114 billion that Canada’s banks received during the 2008-09 financial crisis. Its major finding was that at some point three of Canada’s five big banks had received support worth more than their market capitalization,
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Krugman: End This Depression Now!
I am an enthusiastic reader of Krugman’s columns and, especially, his economic blog. And I certainly side strongly with him in the intellectual and political struggle against “the Austerians” and “Very Serious People” who are unnecessarily prolonging the Great Recession in America and in Europe. That said, Krugman’s latest book
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: From Financial Crisis to Stagnation
I am enjoying Tom Palley’s new book – and would post an enthusiastic review except for the fact that I have been unable to find the time to finish it. Certainly a very clear-headed take on the fundamental economic – and political – transformations that will have to take place
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Travels in Harperland
On my recent book tour to promote “Thieves of Bay Street” I have journeyed to Alberta, Montreal and Ottawa. In so doing, I have gotten a taste of the Canada which Stephen Harper and his merry band of Tories are trying to forge. In Calgary, I arrived in time for the
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 Progressive Economics Forum: Quebec Tuition: Between a Rock and Hard Place?
In the context of student protests over Quebec tuition fees, my friend Luan Ngo has just written a very informative blog post on Quebec’s fiscal situation. While I encourage readers to read his full post, I do want to use the present space to make mention of three important points
Continue readingShould Ontario Become an Independent Country?
Ok just forget how crazy the questions sounds. The recent wrangling between Ontario and Alberta over the value of the Canadian dollar, oil output and the decline of manufacturing in Ontario (and other provinces east of Ontario) raises some reasonable … Continue reading →
Continue readingGordon V Jackson: the corporate tax cut myth
Apparently Stephen Gordon is having a hard time figuring out where Andrew Jackson, the chief economist for the CLC, got the bizarre idea that: The argument for corporate income tax cuts has been that increased after-tax corporate profits would be … Continue reading →
Continue readingCanadian Dimension Feed: The Global Economic Crisis—Part 3
CD: The financial sector has been remarkably successful in shifting the debt burden into the public sector which also bears much of the cost of “recapitalizing” the banks. But what problems persist in the financial sector? Sam Gindin: Before answering any of the questions, it’s important to clarify the role
Continue readingRedBedHead: Republican Contest: Battle Of The Scumbags
Where do they dig up these cretins? I mean, is it really possible that in the 21st century these guys can be the front runners of one of America’s two mainstream parties to be the next president? Seriously? On the bright side, I can’t see how the Republicans can possibly
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Austerity: Making the Same Mistake Again?
There is a special, free on line, issue of the Cambridge Journal of Economics with what look to be very interesting contributions from the progressive side of the spectrum.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy
December marked the three-year anniversary of Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. While I believe there is much to celebrate, much remains to be done. The Strategy surprised a lot of observers, especially in light of the fact that it was announced in December 2008, just as Ontario was entering a recession.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Apocalypse Soon?
The OECD’s new assessment of the macro-economic situation makes for pretty grim reading. And their forecast of very sluggish global growth (just 1.6% for the OECD area in 2012) is based on an increasingly incredible view that the Eurozone will “muddle through”and experience only a mild recession. They do not
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Towards a Wage-Led Recovery
A new issue of the International Journal of Labour Research has been published “While a lot of attention has been deservedly given to the financial roots of the current economic crisis, the role of wages as a cause to the crisis as well as a solution to the current economic
Continue readingNGDP targeting: wither monetarism?
Monetarism is like a Zombie: it can be found theoretically wanting, empirically false and technically infeasible but in one form or another it just soldiers on. In some ways the hype surrounding the conversation about the possibility of moving from … Continue reading →
Continue readingStimulative austerity bearing fruit in Britain? Not. Nor globally
George Osborne was quick out of the gates with the austerity as stimulus gambit. Which as everybody from myself to Paul Krugman predicted was going to be a flop. Osborne has been trying to save face by arguing that his … Continue reading →
Continue readingGangster Capitalism: Same as it ever was?
If you are going to read one thing and just one thing on the financial crisis and how it is working itself out you need to read this blog post at naked capitalism: the one stop shop for understanding contemporary … Continue reading →
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