Assorted material to end your weekend. – Chrystia Freeland comments on the self-destructive nature of elite protectionism: (E)ven as the winner-take-all economy has enriched those at the very top, their tax burden has lightened. Tolerance for high executive compensation has increased, even as the legal powers of unions have been
Continue readingTag: inequality
The Deadly Myths of Globalisation
What follows is the introduction to a talk I gave at the 3rd Innis Christie Lecture & Symposium in Labour and Employment Law. My sister was educated at the Dalhousie School of Law and I was Lucky enough when visiting her to attend a lecture by Innis Christie. I am
Continue readingAlex's Blog: Bargain Basement Citizenship and the Decline of Democracy
We ought to be outraged. Just about every day our media provides a new account of the decline of our democracy: the inadequacies of our electoral system and allegations of electoral fraud; the high-handed treatment of our Parliament through inappropriate prorogations and overuse of omnibus legislation; a government ever more authoritarian and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – No, the aftershocks of an e. coli outbreak which has unfortunately given both Canadians and export markets reason for concern about the safety of some of our major food sources aren’t about to end simply because the Cons are again pretending everything’s fine.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Time to Rethink The Way We Fund Higher Education
This September, like every year, a new group of high school graduates headed to college or university to pursue higher education. But today’s generation of students is in for a very different experience from the ones their parents had. On campuses across the country shiny new buildings are popping up,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ed Broadbent and the Broadbent Institute are putting together a strong public push on the problem of growing inequality – featuring a video, op-ed and research paper (PDF). For more, see coverage from Rachel Mendleson, Natalie Stechyson, and CBC News. – Today’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Michelle Ervin discusses Ed Broadbent’s ideas to start closing Canada’s yawning income gap: Broadbent outlined four broad prescriptions for bridging this gap, and ultimately, for creating a fairer society: investing in good jobs, strengthening income supports, increasing access to public services and reforming
Continue readingCanadian ProgressiveCanadian Progressive: Council of Canadians: We need a “Great Free Trade Debate” on Canada-EU trade deal
On the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, the Council of Canadians is calling on provinces to follow the Quebec government’s lead by holding immediate public consultations on this generation’s big deal – the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). “The Great Free Trade
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Michael Harris follows up on the previous activism to save the Experimental Lakes Area by noting that efforts to work with the Harper Cons are providing both divisive and disastrous: (J)ust a few months after the Death of Evidence rally, another event is
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Income Inequality & twitter
Armine Yalnizyan had a great twitter debate with Andrew Coyne on poverty and inequality, that Trish Hennessey storified here: http://bit.ly/QwHGJB I think it bears repeating that GDP growth has far outpaced any growth in median and average incomes for Canadians, as you can see in the graph below. (2010 dollars, average
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Thomas Walkom discusses how the McGuinty Libs are going beyond imposing immediate pay freezes on the public sector, and instead passing what’s better seen as the War on Workers Measures Act – giving Ontario’s government the power to dictate labour outcomes by decree
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how Mitt Romney’s attacks on 47% of American voters is an all-too-natural consequence of rhetoric about taking citizens “off the tax rolls”. For further reading…– Chuck Marr and Chye-Ching Huang discuss the real tax rate faced by people who bring in less than the income-tax threshold here.– For
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Chris Hayes notes that Mitt Romney’s $50,000-a-plate dinner caught on video represents a rare glimpse inside the U.S.’ plutocracy – as well as a strong argument as to why we shouldn’t allow that group to decide policy affecting the public at large:
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
This and that to end your Saturday. – As pointed out by Paul Krugman, Kathleen Geier recognizes an obvious possible cause of a declining life expectancy for some less-wealthy Americans: I will offer an alternative hypothesis, one which is not explicitly identified in the Times article: inequality. In the U.S.,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Business Insider reports on a new study from the U.S.’ Congressional Research Service showing that in addition to exacerbating inequality, top-heavy tax cuts rank somewhere between useless and downright harmful when it comes to overall economic growth: According to a new study by
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Evening Links
Assorted content to end your day. – Common Dreams discusses the prevalence of inherited wealth among the U.S.’ richest individuals (as pointed out by a report by United for a Fair Economy): Forbes claims that their list of the 400 richest people is ‘the definitive scorecard of wealth’ in the
Continue readingCanadian Progressive: Occupy Wall Street 1 Year Later: A Roundtable Discussion
Democracy Now host Amy Goodman hosts a roundtable discussion of Occupy Wall Street movement on its 1 year anniversary with the following experts: Frances Fox Piven, an author and professor at City University of New York who has studied social movements for decades; Nathan Schneider, editor of the blog Waging
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jon Wisman and Aaron Pacitti put a price tag on the upward redistribution of wealth in the U.S.: Between 1983 and 2007, total inflation-adjusted wealth in the U.S. increased by $27 trillion. If divided equally, every man woman and child would be almost
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Generation Lost
Since Ronald Reagan ushered in government of the rich, by the rich, for the rich, American blue and white-collar wage earners have seen their incomes stagnate – at least the lucky ones that is. Despite massive increases in per worker productivity, the wealth associated with that has not been shared
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Don Lenihan responds to Allan Gregg’s recent critique of Canadian politics, featuring this on the connection that ought to exist between ideology and policy: First, the fact that a policy is based on ideological conviction does not mean it is opposed to
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