Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Robert Reich writes about the basic economic lessons the U.S. has forgotten since its postwar boom: First, America’s real job creators are consumers, whose rising wages generate jobs and growth. If average people don’t have decent wages there can be no real recovery
Continue readingTag: economy
Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Robert Reich comments on the concerted effort by the U.S.’ rich to exacerbate inequality – and points out how it’s warped their worldview. And Dean Baker criticizes the spread of inequality by design: And then there is the financial sector where Mankiw tells
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Alternative Federal Budget would lift 855,000 Canadians out of poverty: Think Tank
by: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives | Press Release CCPA Alternative Budget 2014 OTTAWA — The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) warns a so-called “do-nothing” federal budget is anything but, and is likely to worsen Canada’s slowing economy. The CCPA’s 2014 Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) shows what the federal government could do
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Bitcoins – Where to Start?
Someone recently asked me (okay, multiple people did) where to start to learn about getting Bitcoins? You can start here at my blog, now. A better place to look will be at one of the links below in my 15 minute introduction. Don’t put off learning, it’s the Napster of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Donovan Vincent reports on the Institute for Social Research’s study showing Canadians are highly concerned about income inequality: “People think the income gap has gotten worse. What was surprising to me was the universality of this belief. Younger people, older, higher levels
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: A Response To The Globe’s Jeffrey Simpson
A “dream palace,” The Globe and Mail’s Jeffrey Simpson calls it. Inside that dream palace, the First Nations allegedly live in a fairytale land of sovereignty, respect and healthy relations with the Canadian state. Well, in fairness, Simpson describes the perks of living inside his so-called dream palace a touch more
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: A Response To The Globe’s Jeffrey Simpson
A “dream palace,” The Globe and Mail’s Jeffrey Simpson calls it. Inside that dream palace, the First Nations allegedly live in a fairytale land of sovereignty, respect and healthy relations with the Canadian state. Well, in fairness, Simpson describes the perks of living inside his so-called dream palace a touch more
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Justin Fox questions whether traditional studies tracking the distribution of wealth by quintiles do much good when the most obvious economic faultline is between the (give or take) 1% and everybody else: Something really dramatic is going on up there in the top
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Ian Welsh discusses the nature of prosperity – and the illusion that it means nothing more than increased economic activity: All other things being equal more productive capacity is better. The more stuff we can make, in theory, the better off we’ll be.
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Valentine’s Day’s Dirty Chocolate Secret
While you’re stocking up on chocolate, as the stores fill with it for Easter and Valentine’s Day, consider only treating yourself and others if the candy is labeled Fair-Trade. Fair-Trade chocolates come where the supply chain has been verified to be ethically providing a living wage for the workers growing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – David MacDonald studies the effect of the Cons’ income-splitting scheme, and finds that it’s oriented purely toward funnelling money toward the top of the income scale: “Income splitting creates a tax loophole big enough to drive a Rolls Royce through. It’s pitched
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Pierre Brochu and David Green study the effect of minimum wage rates, and find a connection between a higher minimum wage and greater employment stability. But if there’s a choice between stable, well-paying work and precarious employment where job churn and wage
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: Why invest in the stock market?
After the dot bomb blow out of the early 2000s many people swore off ever investing in stocks. And despite history showing that the capital markets represent the best way to maximize returns over the long haul, its hard to blame them. In many cases people have unfortunately opted for
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Erika Shaker rightly questions why government policy toward business is based on a level of permissiveness which we’d recognize as utter madness in dealing with a child: Sure, all parents make mistakes, and all kids have meltdowns (some of which might have,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Graeme Wearden reports on Oxfam’s latest study on inequality and the outsized political influence of the wealthy few: The Oxfam report found that over the past few decades, the rich have successfully wielded political influence to skew policies in their favour on issues
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Leo Panitch reminds us that the term “reform” was once understood to represent efforts to bolster the public interest against unbridled market forces – and suggests it’s well past time to take the word back from the business interests who have turned
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Bill Kerry writes that extreme inequality serves to reinforce itself – and points out what needs to be done to counter the temptation to kick others down: One of the major difficulties in tackling inequality is the way it coerces many people into accepting
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Robert Reich (via GlenInCA) points out the connection between a strong middle class and curbs on corporate excesses – with may go a long way toward explaining why the business lobby is working so hard to eliminate the concept of a secure livelihood
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – The Star’s editorial board sees Canada’s woeful job numbers as a signal that it’s time for some economic management in the interests of people (rather than artificial manipulation of numbers): Economists used words like “dismal” and “ugly” for these results, and no wonder.
Continue readingCanadian Soapbox: 2014 The year of spending, saving or paying down debt?
Polling indicates that the number one issue for Canadians is paying down debt, (STORY HERE). While it was the choice of only 16% of respondents, if you add in the next top selections: building savings, managing day to day spending, getting current bills paid and retirement planning…well. Its pretty apparent,
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