Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Gerald Caplan looks at the principled leadership which Stephen Harper embarrassingly made into an attack on the NDP as an example what Canada desperately needs now: Repeating that war settles nothing, Mr. Woodsworth declared: “I rejoice that it is possible to say these
Continue readingTag: economy
No, you can’t achieve anything you set your mind to
We all remember when we were kids or even adolescents how our parents used to tell us that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to, that we can conquer any obstacle society puts in front of us, that our achievements would only be limited by the amount of enthusiasm and
Continue readingCanadian Trends: Austerity or Growth? I thought it was Austerity and Growth?
Europe debate shifts to growth as austerity is failing. So what was the debate before? Well in September of 2011 it was ‘Developed nations struggle to restore growth‘, and here’s June 2011: ‘IMF: If UK Austerity Doesn’t Provide Growth, Cut Taxes‘. There’s obviously no shortage of “new ideas”. It’s generating
Continue readingCanadian Trends: Canada may be secretly preparing to decouple from the USD
Almost exactly one year ago I wrote a piece on my old blog about Canada’s economic situation. In it I concluded there were two possible outcomes in the medium term: So Canada, we have a big decision ahead of us. Do we decouple the CAD from the USD, effectively cutting
Continue readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: No Reply from SaskPower
SaskPower’s VP May failed to respond to my followup points, so I’ve included her entire initial reply at my earlier post. I wrote a letter months ago to ask why solar power information on the SaskPower website is out of date and now wrong. The response was underwhelming. The webpages
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: 14 economic advisors Flaherty consults on policy and budgets are all from the financial sector: Fiscal contraction doesn’t work
The 14 economic advisors Flaherty consults on policy and budgets are all from the financial sector, mostly banksters. Here’s what James K. Galbraith says about the implicit danger of such a stacked deck: “….economic policy should not be under the control of bankers, and any economic team which is dominated
Continue readingCANADIAN PROGRESSIVE WORLD: Study exposes secret Canadian bank bailout
The Harper Conservatives are fond of touting Canadian banks as more stable than other countries’ big banks. They claim all the credit for Canada’s stability during the 2008-10 global financial crisis. And, we’re often told that our banks needed no … Continue reading →
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – March 30, 2012
Friday, March 30 was the first day of Peter Julian’s budget filibuster. But while it accomplished its goal of avoiding several hours worth of Con talking points, was there much to take from Julian’s own comments? The Big Issue Well, let’s highlight a few of his more noteworthy observations. First,
Continue readingCanadian Trends: The great Canadian bank bailout (now in technicolor)
In case you didn’t notice the plenty of black and white evidence showing you our banks are no more sound and stable than our U.S. counterparts then you are in luck. Everyone knows that black and white is ancient and many people can not maintain their attention, so a new report has
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your weekend. – For much of the relatively recent past, one of the areas of relative consensus in economic theory is that productivity increases would find their way to workers. But Paul Krugman shows that hope to be utterly misplaced: Where did the productivity go? The
Continue readingbastard.logic: Breaking it Down: Industrial Capitalism vs. Financial Capitalism (or, Why We’re F*cked)
Michael Hudson asks: “In light of the enormous productivity gains since the end of World War II – and especially since 1980 – why isn’t everyone rich and enjoying the leisure economy that was promised?” The answer (per Hudson) is painfully obvious, but bears repeating (ad infinitum): What was applauded
Continue readingPolitics and Entertainment: James K. Galbraith: Inequality and Instability
More at The Real News More at The Real News More at The Real News More at The Real News
Continue readingCanadian Trends: The normalcy of abnormal
After the anger I felt yesterday, I have been thinking. Is it not strange that we equate today’s “wars” with real wars of the past? How has this happened? I champion democracy but not at the hand of an iron fist. What I find even stranger is that at the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Paul Krugman writes a long-overdue obituary for the confidence fairy who was supposed to turn needless austerity into growth contrary to all economic evidence: So, about that doctrine: appeals to the wonders of confidence are something Herbert Hoover would have found completely familiar
Continue readingCanadian Trends: The Great Canadian Divide: our road to failure
Canada is divided, perhaps more than the heyday of the Quebec separatist movement. There’s a divide between generations thanks to the budget and there’s a divide between eastern and western Canada and the economic differences and difficulties each is facing. In many ways Canada is itself a mini-Europe; we are
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Paul Wells had previously theorized that the size of environmental demonstrations in Montreal might hint at the NDP’s ability to establish a long-term base. So what ended up happening? What happened in Montreal was a great big rally for Earth Day whose
Continue readingTattered Sleeve: Québec Students: You’re Coming Along
After school is over you’re playing in the parkDon’t be out too late, don’t let it get too darkThey tell you not to hang around and learn what life’s aboutAnd grow up just like them, won’t you let it work it out As I type this, thousands of youth are
Continue readingTattered Sleeve: Québec Students: You’re Coming Along
After school is over you’re playing in the parkDon’t be out too late, don’t let it get too darkThey tell you not to hang around and learn what life’s aboutAnd grow up just like them, won’t you let it work it out As I type this, thousands of youth are
Continue readingTattered Sleeve: Québec Students: You’re Coming Along
After school is over you’re playing in the parkDon’t be out too late, don’t let it get too darkThey tell you not to hang around and learn what life’s aboutAnd grow up just like them, won’t you let it work it outAs I type this, thousands of youth are ou…
Continue readingCanadian Trends: Canada’s fantasy economic outlook is at odds with reality
I still haven’t had an opportunity to return to my budget analysis, it’s been a busy few weeks with the Alberta election and the ever-changing economic news and I just really haven’t had time to get to it. However, the most important part was Part 3 which covered what I determined
Continue reading