“…if you don’t mind my sayin’ I can see you’re out of aces. For a taste of your whiskey, I’ll give you some advice”—Kenney Rogers, The Gambler If there is one thing we should take away from Finance Minister Toews’ budget presentation last Thursday it’s this: the Kenney government has
Continue readingTag: economy
Things Are Good: Evidence is in: Green Policies Improve Economic Performance
Short-term thinkers who put quarterly profits above all else consistently argue that caring for the environment destroys business. They are wrong. The evidence keeps growing that planet (and people) friendly policies encourage economic growth while also forcing companies to increase their efficiency. It’s a win-win for businesses and the planet.
Continue readingThings Are Good: UK: Uber Drivers are Employees not Individual Entrepreneurs
Uber drivers in the UK will now get better treatment from Uber thanks to the courts ruling the company can’t as robustly exploit their drivers. The way drivers get gigs and subsequently paid by the company structurally mean the company has control all aspects of the process, which means the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Understanding Inflation – Yanis Varoufakis
I think I’ve looked up and had explained to me what the term “inflation” is. The concept has remained a bit of a mystery. Mark Blyth the Scottish-American (Austerity – The History of a Dangerous Idea) economist parsed down the meaning of inflation to this – “too much money chasing
Continue readingThings Are Good: The Argument to Shrink the Economy Keeps Getting Stronger
The idea that we can eventually decarbonize our economy to keep it growing has been talked about for decades; sadly we’re far away from a carbon neutral economy and even it we did achieve such an economic system we still need to shrink it. What makes a “good” economy is
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Powder Keg USA – Part II
Most of the world is in crisis, in a number of ways. The US in particular is in bad shape, and set to either explode in civil war, or implode by economic collapse – and most likely it will be the latter followed by the former, though anything is possible
Continue readingThings Are Good: Accelerating the Circular Economy
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected economies from the local to the global and we can rebuild our economy using old destructive methods or rebuild it in a way that future generations can benefit. Everyday there are more calls to reshape our economic systems to respect the environment more while
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Time to start paying Mother Nature back
I’ve long thought that the sensible approach to the global economy is obvious, if complex. We calculate what the Earth can sustainably provide in terms of natural resources, then we set our economic demands at something less including a substantial safety factor. The total demand is then equitably shared by
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Andrew Nikiforuk takes a look at two proposals to get to COVID Zero – including one from Canada and one from Germany. – Mickey Djuric reports on Saskatchewan’s deceptive COVID-19 reporting – which results in a public announcement that people have “recovered” no
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Kenney’s Coal Facts and Myths
The Economist considered a number of cover illustrations for its Making Coal History edition before settling on a lump of coal on display under a bell jar like an artifact in a museum. While The Economist was chronicling the demise of coal the Kenney government was busy cancelling Lougheed’s Coal
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Stonks Game Stops At This Stop
Hedge funds that bet against Game Stop are crying foul as they lose a fortune, because the crowd noticed their weakness and exploited it. Sounds very Wall Street. Is it against the rules? How could it be in a market that has too few rules. The difference now is that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Andre Picard warns not to expect the end of the COVID-19 pandemic (however distant that may be) to result in any particular triumph. And Reuters reports on the looming possibility that the vaccines developed to date may not protect against the coronavirus
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Noah Smith examines how even leaving aside such trifling considerations as human welfare, it’s a better economic proposition to provide money to people with less money than those with more. And Matt McGrath highlights how any hope of averting a climate breakdown requires
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your Boxing Day reading. – Kyle Hanniman and Trevor Tombe examine the relative fiscal positions of Canada’s federal and provincial governments – concluding that while there isn’t a need for austerity anywhere, there’s a lot more room to maneuver at the federal level than in most provinces
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Luke Savage weighs in on the false promise of tax giveaways to the rich as an economic strategy for anybody else. – Nichole Dusyk argues that it’s past time to bridge the gap between Canada’s climate change promises and our actual policies.
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Covid-19 and Jason Kenney is MIA
Remember Nov 13, 2020 when Jason Kenney said “Covid is starting to win and we cannot let that happen…This two-week push is, I believe our last chance to avoid more restrictive measures.” Just for context that same day Dr Rosenblum, an Edmonton ER doc, said the healthcare system was within
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On missed opportunities
There has been plenty of commentary and analysis about the results of Saskatchewan’s provincial election – including some discussion on the theme of an overly risk-averse NDP campaign. But I’ll follow up with one specific example of what may have been missing from the party’s message. One of the key
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: Plague Update: Sociopathy Of Contemporary Conservativism
A certainly level of sociopathy has become endemic to the conservative movements throughout North America and I think it is based on a lot of pent up anger that their individualist views conflict with the neoliberal reality. https://t.co/TjO5xiApLf — Kon Stolz (@Cdn_Dissident) November 14, 2020 Take away my pants, but
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Andre Picard writes about the cost of complacency in dealing with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Matt Lundy examines Canada’s highly unequal recovery, with a stark dividing line between people making more than $22 per hour who have mostly been barely affected by
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Armine Yalnizyan discusses the prospect of a shift in how we approach our economy as our usual monetary and fiscal policy assumptions have proven to fall short of meeting social needs. And Taylor Scollon writes that while there’s some value to be found
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