economy ← Progressive Bloggers // Blogues progressistes

Susan on the Soapbox: Bill 17: A Unicorn or a Chimera?

May

28

2017

Last week the NDP government introduced the Fair and Family-Friendly Workplaces Act (Bill 17). It’s intended to update workplace legislation that became increasingly outdated under Progressive Conservative rule. Premier Notley describes Bill 17 as a balanced middle of the road approach. The Opposition is says it’s a “union-friendly omnibus bill” that should be split in ...

Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links

May

22

2017

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Paul Krugman criticizes the use of non-compete agreements to trap workers at low wage levels with no opportunity to pursue comparable employment – as well as the Republicans’ insistence on pushing employer-based health care which further limits workers’ options: At this point, in other words, noncompete clauses are ...

Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Disruption of Used Car Market And Transportation Norms

May

16

2017

All fossil-fuel vehicles will vanish in 8 years in twin ‘death spiral’ for big oil & big autos, says Stanford study https://t.co/uFcSdLAbFq — Tzeporah Berman (@Tzeporah) May 16, 2017 By 2025 we’ll see: “Cities will ban human drivers once the data confirms how dangerous they can be behind a wheel. This will spread to suburbs, ...

Susan on the Soapbox: The Conservative Ideology

May

14

2017

“ideology” \ˌī-dē-ˈä-lə-jē, -ˈa-, ˌi-\ a systematic body of concepts, especially those of a particular group or political party—Merriam-Webster The word “ideology” was coined by the French philosopher Destutt de Tracy. Originally it meant the science of ideas; but shrewd politicians like Napoleon Bonaparte corrupted it to mean something more pejorative, even sinister. This is ...

Accidental Deliberations: New column day

May

11

2017

Here, examining how Steve Keen’s warning about the UK’s excessive financialization and consumer debt applies even more strongly in Canada. For further reading…– Keen makes reference to the BIS’ international data as to the ratio of private debt to GDP: – Again, Erica Alini reported on Ipsos’ latest number as to the dire fiscal straits ...

Susan on the Soapbox: What Would the Romans Do?

May

7

2017

It’s a pity Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt hadn’t read Jane Jacobs’ Dark Age Ahead before he launched into his description of how the ancient Romans dealt with governments that were, in his words, “beyond redemption”. Fildebrandt said the NDP’s “scorched earth policy of hyperregulation, waste of tax dollars and blind ideology” destroyed the “great ...

Joe Fantauzzi: Desmond Cole, the Toronto Star and Another Existential Crisis for Professional Journalism

May

7

2017

DISCLOSURE: I worked as a mainstream news reporter between 2003 and 2012. I see this as a two-fold issue; firstly, actions and secondly, words. I’ll consider both briefly and then elaborate on my concerns. Actions There is no point in rehashing here the now well-known details of what lead to Desmond Cole’s departure from the Toronto ...

Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links

May

1

2017

Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Paul Campos compares the U.S.’ hourly wages to its GDP over the past few decades to show how workers have been left out of any economic growth. And Arindrajit Dube examines the effect of an increased minimum wage, and finds a direct impact on both income enhancement and ...

Dead Wild Roses: Making America Insecure Again – Rajan Menon

Apr

29

2017

The plan at the base of Trumerica is this. Blame all woes on the other and then feed the 1% and military industrial complex money to solve problems they have no business trying to solve. Menon summarizes the current administration quite succinctly: “Trump also seems determined to stay the course on America’s forever wars in ...

Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links

Apr

26

2017

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Christian Cooper discusses how poverty is like a disease in its effect on a person’s mental and physical well-being. And Andre Picard highlights the reality that in order to address the damage done by centuries of systematic discrimination against Canada’s indigenous people, we need to start making up ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Apr

25

2017

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Andre Picard talks to the Current about the need to start demanding more from our universal health care system, rather than being persuaded to put up with less. And Canadian Doctors for Medicare offers its support to the Ontario NDP’s pharmacare plan, while Chris Selley writes that ...

Susan on the Soapbox: Principles vs Politics

Apr

23

2017

The Wildrose Opposition spent the last three weeks berating the NDP government for not spending millions and millions of dollars fast enough. Wait, what? The Wildrose says farmers are being “held to ransom” because they’ve had to delay the 2017 planting season waiting around for AgriInsurance adjusters to declare their crops partially or completely destroyed. ...

Accidental Deliberations: Leadership 2017 Links

Apr

22

2017

The latest from the NDP’s federal leadership campaign. – The Canadian Press reports on Pat Stogran’s official campaign launch. And Alex Ballingall highlights Stogran’s criticism of Justin Trudeau’s empty-suit governance, while Jeremy Nuttall focuses on his message about challenging politics as usual. – Charlie Smith interviews Peter Julian about his “just transition” energy policy and ...

Accidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links

Apr

21

2017

Assorted content to end your week. – Andrew Jackson discusses the problems with increased corporate concentration of wealth and power – including the need for a response that goes beyond competition policies. In the 1960s, institutional economists like John Kenneth Galbraith described a world of oligopoly in which a few firms, such as the big ...

The Canadian Progressive: Canadian Conservatives still support the TPP, which died after Trump’s withdrawal

Apr

20

2017

The Conservative Party of Canada maintains its support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which is now doomed following the United States’s withdrawal earlier this year. The post Canadian Conservatives still support the TPP, which died after Trump’s withdrawal appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Apr

16

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Neil Irwin writes that many progressive policies – including child care and income tax credits – serve the goal of facilitating economic participation far better than their right-wing “supply side” counterparts. – Ann Pettifor examines the future of globalization, and warns that a failure to properly regulate ...

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links

Apr

15

2017

Assorted content for your long weekend reading. – Cole Stangler interviews Raquel Garrido about the political critique behind Jean-Luc Melenchon’s emerging presidential campaign – and it sounds equally applicable in Canada: One of the reasons why the current regime is lacking consent in French society is because the process for electing officials allows them to ...

Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links

Apr

3

2017

Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Ed Finn reminds us how the economy as a whole – including the private sector – suffers when austerity is inflicted on public services: The public and private sectors have become so interdependent that one cannot be attacked or diminished without hurting the other. Public expenditures often stimulate ...

Dead Wild Roses: El Salvador – Bans Mining!

Apr

3

2017

“Oxfam hailed today’s passing of a law banning metallic mining by the Salvadoran government. The law comes after years of violence and social tensions around mining in the country and strong opposition to mining from local communities, civil society organizations, the Catholic Church and more than 77% of the country’s population, according to a recent ...

Susan on the Soapbox: A Pollster Finally Gets It Right

Apr

2

2017

We see chaos, Nik Nanos sees trends. Mr Nanos heads up Nanos Research, a leading Canadian research company and official pollster for CTV News, the Globe and Mail, and Bloomberg News. Last week he spoke at the Merv Leitch Lectures Series sponsored by the University of Calgary. His topic—politics in the age of voter rage ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Apr

2

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Andrew Jackson writes about the opportunities missed when governments restrict their economic policy to propping up the corporate sector, rather than seeking to innovate directly in the public interest: The received wisdom among economists used to be that governments should just set broad “framework” policies such as ...

The Political Road Map: The Middle Class Illusion

Mar

31

2017

Are you middle class? Do you know where the middle class falls within society? Is it someone who earns up to $120,000 or someone averaging around $50,000 annually? Surprisingly, many people do not really know, they believe they fall within the middle class, when in reality they may either be on the fringe of the ...

Accidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links

Mar

31

2017

Assorted content to end your week. – Rutger Bregman writes that the most extreme wealth in our economy is based on rents rather than productivity: In reality, it is the waste collectors, the nurses, and the cleaners whose shoulders are supporting the apex of the pyramid. They are the true mechanism of social solidarity. Meanwhile, ...

Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff: The SaskParty’s Deaf Ears & Dumb Cuts

Mar

30

2017

It’s staggering that the province is willing to spend multitudes more money on redundant highway so people can avoid going to Regina, than they are to improve literacy. Don Morgan is out of touch, and wrong. The Saskatchewan Library Trustees’ Association said in a news release after the budget that Morgan has said the province ...

Dead Wild Roses: Brazil Having it Own ‘The Jungle’ Moment – Capitalist Meatpacking Woes

Mar

30

2017

“They use everything about the hog except the squeal.” ― Upton Sinclair, The Jungle Driving into work today I listened to a story about how many large countries of the world had recently banned imports of Brazilian beef and chicken into their countries. Reports from a whistle-blower about cardboard being ground up with raw chicken, ...