I’ve written a report for the Institute for Research on Public Policy about social assistance—specifically, about social assistance for employable single adults without dependants. A ‘top 10’ overview of the report can be found here.
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Accidental Deliberations: Juxtaposition
The Saskatchewan Party government’s public health expectations for the mid-pandemic jet set willing to shell out for private testing: “It’s been challenging to provide timely results for asymptomatic travelers, especially within the tight timelines required by airlines and international destinations,” Howey said in part. “[Quantum Genetix] have the technology to
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Money Cannot Buy Happiness But …
They say money cannot buy happiness but it certainly can buy food and shelter and education that can make the difference between misery and happiness, not to mention that health is directly related to economic status. Yet people still claim people are poor because they are lazy and all we
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Raj Chetty, John Friedman, Nathaniel Hendren and Michael Stepner study a myriad of issues about COVID-19 and its public reaction – with a focus on how social insurance relieving against the effect of closures has accomplished far more (both for well-being and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Lauren Dobson-Hughes discusses how we’re paying the price for the failure of governments to protect their citizens from the collective action problem of a pandemic. And Shawn Moen points out how COVID-19 has exposed many people to multiple underlying crises which need
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – The Economist examines how much of Europe has been put into a renewed lockdown due to the second wave of COVID-19. But PressProgress points out how Brian Pallister’s rush to reopen has resulted in Manitoba seeing soaring infection rates rather than a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman offer another look (PDF) at the growth of income and wealth inequality in the U.S. Andrew Jackson and Toby Sanger examine (PDF) the case for an annual net wealth tax to reduce its severity in Canada. And
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 readingViews from the Beltline: O’Toole says some good stuff
Watching the vicious political battle taking place south of the border, it is refreshing to see signs of a more civilized political culture up here. Such signs were illustrated last Friday in a speech by Conservative leader Erin O’Toole to a business audience at the Canadian Club of Toronto. He
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Justin McElroy writes about the fatigue and unfamiliarity we’re feeling in addressing a new wave of COVID-19 – along with the importance of working through those challenges in order to protect everybody’s health. Bruce Arther discusses how reopening unsafely in the name
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Gloria Dickie documents how the Arctic region may already be in a death spiral caused by climate change. Katharine Murphy reports on IMF research showing that current policies and plans are woefully inadequate to address the climate crisis. Joseph Winters notes that
Continue readingThings Are Good: Fleeing the City During This Pandemic? Do so Sustainably
Inequality has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we ought to be conscious about this. Wealthy individuals can work from home and afford to move, while others need to be physically at work and can’t move. As a result the prices of houses outside of cities have risen has
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Social assistance: Do higher benefit levels lead to higher caseloads?
As part of my PhD thesis, I did some statistical analysis in which I asked the question: “Do higher social assistance benefit levels lead to higher caseloads?” I have recently updated the data and had it published in a journal. Here’s a short summary of the journal article’s main findings.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Alisha Haridasani Gupta discusses why so many women have been excluded from the workforce during the course of the coronavirus pandemic. And Kathryn Marshall comments on the epidemic of violence against women – as well as the need to intervene before abuse reaches
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Joshua Schiffer highlights how the best response to COVID-19 for now involves the use of imperfect but easily-applied means of reducing its spread, rather than doing nothing until some perceived perfect answer is available. And Jessica Corbett reports on Oxfam’s new study showing
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Matt Gurney laments Ontario’s utter failure to use months of lead time and information from around the world to make any meaningful preparations for a foreseeable fall wave of the coronavirus, while Bruce Arthur notes that Doug Ford is too busy denying the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Alex Himelfarb, Andrew Jackson and Brian Topp write about the need for a tax system which collects a fair share from the wealthiest in order to fund the recovery and renewal we should be demanding. And Ben Steverman reports on Raj Chetty’s work
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Crawford Kilian writes about the $47 trillion heist of wealth from the U.S.’ working class to its wealthiest elites. And Umair Haque discusses how Donald Trump is a foreseeable consequence of the U.S.’ structural inequalities, rather than an anomaly within its political system.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Reviewing Rick Perlstein’s Reaganland, Martin Gelin writes that the U.S. is paying the price for allowing itself to be trapped in a corporate autocracy since the Reagan years – and that it will take a concerted push for systemic change to improve matters
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Tom Kibasi examines how the UK Cons’ mismanagement – both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic – has resulted in disastrous public health consequences. And Denna Berg and Karin Taylor find that right-wing governments in general have seen far worse outcomes than
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