I’ve previously discussed the telling social budget which saw Scott Moe prioritize golf and pedicures over human well-being. But even if we look only at the Saskatchewan Party’s pre-election fiscal budget, that too speaks volumes about a painfully warped set of priorities – even before Moe goes into slash-and-burn mode
Continue readingTag: infrastructure
Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Robert Reich highlights how the long-term costs of failing to invest in a just transition and a healthy society far outweigh the short-term price of providing for basic needs, while Duncan Cameron calls out the deception behind claims that we can’t afford
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Heather Scoffield points out that the Trudeau Libs’ definition of poverty (for the purposes of claiming credit for having reduced it) excludes many people facing extremely precarious financial circumstances. Sarah Boseley discusses how the UK Cons’ gratuitous austerity has led to declining
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the Saskatchewan Party’s dangerous focus on privatization and photo-ops rather than the public infrastructure the province needs. For further reading…– Alex MacPherson reported on both the Moe government’s advance notice of the flaws in the roof of the new North Battleford hospital, and the continued use of panels
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Dion Rabouin offers a reminder that corporate tax giveaways don’t do anything to help the economy beyond the interests of wealthy shareholders. And Nicole Aschoff discusses the importance of building a model for progressive globalism to counter the reach of international capital. –
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Simon Holmes a Court challenges the argument that any country or industry can opt out of being part of the response to our climate crisis. And Emily Holden comments on the oil industry’s control over public discussions about climate change, while Christopher Knaus
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Towards a Green Social Democratic Economy
Background/Context Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.[1][2][3][4] Characteristics central to capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labor, voluntary exchange, a price system and competitive markets.[5][6] In a capitalist market economy, decision-making and investments are
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee discuss the utter failure of corporate-driven “market” incentives to produce fair outcomes: If it is not financial incentives, what else might people care about? The answer is something we know in our guts: status, dignity, social connections. Chief
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Paul Krugman writes that complaints by the U.S.’ wealthiest few about Elizabeth Warren reflect their insistence that extreme wealth be coupled with absolute and unquestioned power: The point is that many of the superrich aren’t satisfied with living like kings, which they will
Continue readingPostArctica: Recycling in Montreal
What actually happens to recycling in Montreal? Post the same question in reference to where you live!! Let’s find out what everyone believes and if that differs from what actually happens. ( incongruously gratuitous photo follows )
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how right-wing provincial governments across Canada are deliberately denying benefits to their constituents solely to try to avoid any credit going to the federal level in advance of this fall’s election. For further reading…– Murray Mandryk, Sarath Peiris and plenty of letter writers have already pointed out the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Aditya Chakrabortty writes about the consequences of the UK’s choice not to fund its or social infrastructure: We are right in the middle of an infrastructure breakdown – we just haven’t named it yet. You’ll know what I mean when we list
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Norm Farrell examines some of the root causes of a political system which lavishes benefits on the wealthy while neglecting people who actually need help. – Natalie Kitroeff, David Gelles and Jack Nicas examine the role of deregulation in the multiple crashes of
Continue readingDefend Public Healthcare: 3000 more hospital beds? Rhetoric falls short of realty with Doug Ford’s government
Soon after the Budget, the government announced they would spend $27 billion on hospital infrastructure over ten years and create 3,000 more hospital beds. For a moment, it may have seemed that we had prized a small victory from the Ford government. The movement did, after all, force them to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted material to end your week. – Nick Falvo writes that artificially low taxes at the expense of Saskatchewan’s well-being are nothing to brag about: (T)axes can help finance important social spending, such as poverty in First Nations’ communities, affordable housing and child care. The province’s on-reserve rate of child
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Paul Krugman duly mocks Donald Trump’s attempt to turn any discussion of social investment into a threat of “socialism”: Some progressive U.S. politicians now describe themselves as socialists, and a significant number of voters, including a majority of voters under 30, say
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Bandy Lee discusses the need to treat inequality as a social disease which calls for immediate treatment: Residents of countries with higher income inequality have worse health, not just of the poor but of the rich (Subramanian and Kawachi, 2006). Greater income inequality
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Arno Kopecky points out that new highs in nominal standards of living around the globe are being paired with unprecedented environmental damage which puts our future at risk. And Laila Yuile responds to John Horgan’s version of the line that any smaller jurisdiction
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Lisa Gennetian discusses how behavioural economics can inform the development of programs to end child poverty – including by ensuring a guaranteed income to help parents avoid needless financial stress. And Annie Lowrey makes the case for a basic income as a matter
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – David Callahan writes about the U.S.’ billionaire-dominated political system – and why nobody should be satisfied merely with having an ideologically-agreeable set of tycoons buying elections: Depending on your politics, you may either cheer or fear the influence spending of specific top
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