Despite the remarkably poor media coverage of the early days of the protests (especially in English Canada), it seems that the Quebec student protestors have finally succeeded in sparking a broader public discussion about civil liberties and the right to protest (even in the Globe here, here and in the
Continue readingTag: inequality
The Progressive Economics Forum: Implications of Inequality
I, Jason Clemens from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and David Macdonald from the CCPA discussed the social and economic implications of growing income inequality on an ipolitics panel yesterday. Jason was a bit outgunned so I won’t go after him here, except to say that he took the usual neo liberal
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Canada’s Age of Glum
Suddenly, Stephen Harper doesn’t seem all that out of place. The latest from pollster Nik Nanos is that many Canadians are pessimistic about the future that awaits our youth. “…the low expectations for the future are not confined to Quebec. Everywhere in the country, except for the prairies, people told
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Harald Bauder comments on the Cons’ continued efforts to provoke a race to the bottom when it comes to wages: (B)oth the planned EI reforms and the temporary foreign workers program are part of a wider strategy of lowering the bar on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – T.C. Norris points out that one of the most important developing themes in economic research is the recognition that reductions in employment insurance benefits only force job-seekers into damaging situations rather than creating economic benefits. But as we all know, mere facts won’t
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: May 2, 2012
A combination of the one-year anniversary of Canada’s 2011 federal election and a relatively short day in Parliament left little room for a lot of debate on Wednesday, May 2. But the day did see some serious questions raised about the Cons’ rush to pass their budget without debate. The
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Julian Beltrame reports on the Cons’ concerted efforts to add to corporate bottom lines by attacking working Canadians: One of the measures is so sneaky, says NDP MP Pat Martin, nobody seemed to notice the line buried deep in the 452-page Bill C-38
Continue readingCHAPTER 8: The Miserable Metrics of Neoliberalism
Conclusion to Chapter 8 Consistent with the main line of argument in this thesis then, is the proposition that labour market flexibilisation is the other side of the neoliberal policy coin; namely, price stability and conservative fiscal policy all locked in via the globalisation of production and finance. In this
Continue reading350 or bust: In A Capitalist Economy, the True Job Creators Are Middle Class
Nick Hanauer, entrepreneur and one percenter, exposes the fallacy that it’s the super rich who create jobs. He makes a strong case for taxing the rich to create benefits for the entire society, including growing the middle class. It’s good policy for everyone. Hanauer asserted that TED refused to post
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Dana Flavelle and Rachel Mendleson both cover Lars Osberg’s study on the harmful effects of inequality. But let’s highlight the key conclusion from the original source: (T)he continuation of a divergence in income growth trends necessarily creates changing flows of consumption and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review – April 25, 2012
Wednesday, April 25 saw one of the more noteworthy economic debates we’ve seen in the current session of Parliament, as a former-PC-turned-Liberal raised the issue of income inequality to a noteworthy response from the Harper Cons. The Big Issue Scott Brison presented what should have been a relatively non-controversial motion
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – No, there was never any doubt that any statement which could possibly be interpreted as insufficiently jingoistic in favour of the oil industry was going to give rise to a backlash from the Cons’ oilpatch base. But it’s well worth noting that Thomas
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Why Can’t We Afford What We Used to Have?
In this age of austerity, we are constantly told by governments that we have to tighten our belts. Tuition fees have to go up; public pensions, Unemployment Insurance and social assistance benefits have to be cut; universal public health care is no longer affordable, and so on ad nauseam. But,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Sunday reading. – Joan Bryden reports on the Cons’ latest abuses of majority government power, this time in allocating and shuffling around the few opposition days already available in Parliament for their own purposes. But it’s worth noting the difference between the responses of the affected
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Canada’s #1 Social Problem: There Aren’t Any More Social Problems
What’s worse than being a fat, polluting, racist, ignorant jerk? That’s easy, not knowing you are one. And what’s worse than even that? Being in a society full of people just like you, where no one is aware of immoral conduct, of greed, of sexism, and of the ignorance that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: A Healthy Society – Chapter 7 Discussion
Chapter 7 of Ryan Meili’s A Healthy Society focuses on health care – with a heavy emphasis on ideas such as improved rural access and a Crown pharmaceutical manufacturer which should sound familiar to those who have followed Meili’s previous political involvement. But I’ll highlight Meili’s link between health care
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Miles Corak comments on how inequality undercuts social mobility. And Joseph Stiglitz highlights the fact that the vast majority of people hold a strong interest in not having their path to a secure and successful life blocked by a wall of upper-class money.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Meilinomics II: Income from Within
The following is another excerpt from Dr. Ryan Meili’s new book, A Healthy Society: How a Focus on Health Can Revive Canadian Democracy, which fellow blogger Greg Fingas has been discussing. The road to Tevele is red sand and sloppy in the rainy season. The pick- up truck bounces in
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: “Differentiation:” The à-la-carte Way to Hire More Course Instructors
I’ve written before about attempts in Canada to create more separation between university teaching, on the one hand, and university research, on the other. In 2009, I wrote this opinion piece about an attempt by five university presidents to each acquire a larger share of university research dollars. And last
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