Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andrew Nikiforuk highlights where we stand in responding to the coronavirus – including the dangers of declaring victory at a point where there’s still every risk of waves of death. – Janice Braden writes that the Saskatchewan Party’s idea of reopening the province
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Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Rochelle Baker interviews David Suzuki about the lessons from the coronavirus pandemic which we should apply equally to the threat of a climate breakdown. And Mike Layton writes that we need a Green New Deal as our recovery program once the pause on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Lauren Leatherby and David Gelles examine how people are spending money differently in the midst of a pandemic, while Lucia Mutikani reports on a massive drop in prices as declining consumer spending outweights any disruption to supply chains. And Armine Yalnizyan comments
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content for your long weekend reading. – Andrej Markovcic discusses how the pursuit of profit above all else has contributed to the coronavirus pandemic and its devastating effects on people – while warning that we’ll only make matters worse by keeping the same warped priorities now. And Ian Welsh
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Duncan Cameron writes that while the COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic, we shouldn’t pretend that it’s at all surprising – or that the necessary responses are in doubt: Though it has taken the world by surprise, the COVID-19 pandemic is a white
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about CMHC’s Insured Mortgage Purchase Program
In March 2020, the Trudeau government launched a new version of the Insured Mortgage Purchase Program (IMPP). According to CMHC’s website: “Under this program, the government will purchase up to $50 billion of insured mortgage pools through CMHC.” Here are 10 things to know: 1. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Grace Blakeley points out the importance of putting our relief and recovery funding toward public investments, rather than the further enrichment of people with already-appalling concentrations of wealth: We cannot rely on this crisis to undermine the ideology of shareholder value, which has
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jeet Heer writes about the class war already emerging in competing responses to the coronavirus epidemic. Ricardo Tranjan makes the case for rent forgiveness as part of COVID-19 relief based on the reality as to who owns the bulk of Canada’s private
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Michael Valpy and Frank Graves take a look at public opinion in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, and conclude that Canadians are rightly eager to see our leaders do whatever is necessary to ensure our survival and health. And Laila Yuile notes
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Anton Jager and Steven Klein discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a particularly strong clash in rhetoric between people advocating for human lives and capital interests, while Siva Vaidhyanathan notes that the choice is a false one in any event
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Derek Thompson reports on Denmark’s wage subsidies which are finally being mimicked by other countries including Canada. And Duncan Cameron points out how the Libs’ early response fell far short of the mark. – Rachel Giese points out how the coronavirus response shows
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Brendan Kennedy reports on the massive job losses being caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Andrew Jackson offers his suggestions to provide immediate help to workers facing that urgent crisis today, while also laying the groundwork for a transition to a clean economy once
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On spin over substance
PressProgress is right to point out how many landlords are using the loud announcement of coronavirus relief – which, if you read the small print, won’t be available for months – as an excuse to keep charging rent as of April 1. (Not to mention to attempt to pressure tenants
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Adam Tooze writes that the coronavirus pandemic has offered a reminder that the economy (particularly defined in terms of shareholders’ interests) can’t be given priority over human survival and well-being. – John Daley discusses three possible options in responding to the coronavirus –
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Mike Konczal offers (PDF) a framework for responding to the coronavirus pandemic from a U.S. perspective. And the CCPA is providing ample analysis of the economic and social impacts of COVID-19. – Dakshana Bascaramurty discusses how the pandemic is revealing and exacerbating Canada’s
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Affordable housing, homelessness and the upcoming federal budget
I’ve written a ‘top 10’ overview of things to know about affordable housing and homelessness, as they relate to Canada’s upcoming federal budget. The overview is based on the affordable housing and homelessness chapter in the just-released Alternative Federal Budget. A link to the ‘top 10’ overview is here.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Nick Falvo points out the massive cost savings that come from investing in Housing First programming. And Keith Gerein writes that if it wanted to help people rather than merely looking to vilify those in need, the UCP would be investing in
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: the 2020-21 Alberta budget
I’ve written a ‘top 10’ overview of the 2020-21 Alberta budget, tabled on February 27. The link to the overview is here.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Owen Jones asks why we’re not treating the existential threat of a climate breakdown with anything close to the urgency applied to the coronavirus response. And Niklas Höhne, Michel den Elzen, Joeri Rogelj, Bert Metz, Taryn Fransen, Takeshi Kuramochi, Anne Olhoff, Joseph Alcamo,
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Cost savings associated with Housing First
I’ve written a summary of a recent study I co-authored on savings to the health and justice sectors associated with Housing First (i.e., the immediate provision of subsidized housing, along with social work support, to persons experiencing long-term homelessness). The study, based on a large sample size from Calgary, finds
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