How much of the United Conservative Party’s radical project to transform Alberta into a dystopic firewalled statelet, most of the details of which were revealed by Premier Jason Kenney for the first time at Preston Manning’s Red Deer clambake on Saturday, was predicated on a Conservative victory in last month’s
Continue readingTag: kevin milligan
Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Kathleen Harris reports on a federal budget update designed to have Canada borrow to shovel money into the pockets of big business. And PressProgress points out the absurdity of that plan when the corporate sector already has far too many loopholes and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Simon Wren-Lewis discusses how media negligence allowed austerian economics to be treated as credible long after any pretense of academic merit has been debunked. – Kevin Milligan and Tammy Schirle examine the relationship between income and life expectancy in Canada – featuring
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On unequal treatment
With the Trans Mountain pipeline dominating as much news coverage as it has, it’s inevitable that we’d see the usual debate as to the relative desirability of different types of economic paths come to the surface. And I’ll point out just a couple of the which look to signal a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – J.W. Mason reviews Yanis Varoufakis’ Adults in the Room with a focus on how damaging austerity was forced on Greece by other governments. And Jan Rovny comments on the need for Europe’s left-wing parties to adapt to the precarious economy and evolving social
Continue readingAlex's Blog: The Year Taxes Made a Comeback
A slightly shorter version of this piece written with Jordan Himelfarb appeared here in The Toronto Star. It’s just possible that 2014 will be seen as the year that taxes made a comeback in Canada. Not so long ago Stéphane Dion tried to put a green “tax shift” on the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – The New York Times editorial board points out that a higher minimum wage can produce clear economic benefits for businesses as well as for workers: One 2013 study by three economists — Arindrajit Dube, T. William Lester and Michael Reich — compared the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Paul Krugman highlights why inequality is indeed an issue which demands action – both for its own sake, and for its impact on other goals such as economic sustainability. And Bill Moyers discusses the difference between a government responsive to its people and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leading the evidence
Paul MacLeod’s post-mortem of Nova Scotia’s election campaign is well worth a read. But following up on Kevin Milligan’s astute point, I’ll point out how one of the main factors in the outcome looks to hint at partisan politics taking yet another turn for the worse – even as it
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Tim Harper writes about Tom Mulcair’s success in building the NDP up as the leading alternative to the Cons for Canadian voters: Two-thirds of his questions since becoming leader have dealt with the economy as he attempts to build the case that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Alice offers her own take on Ian Capstick’s leadership musings by questioning why a current candidate would see more prospect of influencing the race by dropping out now rather than staying in the field: * It is worthwhile being able to win
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On selective concerns
The past decade-plus in Canadian politics has seen a non-stop series of changes to tax rates and structures – with a particular focus on handing yet more money to those who already have the most. And I’ll challenge readers to find a single commentator suggesting that we hold off on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Room for progressivity
Yes, I know some commentators are treating the latest from Kevin Milligan et al. as somehow proving a point that raising high-income tax levels won’t accomplish anything. But I’d think one has to strain rather hard to draw such an interpretation from a column that includes the following: What might
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On optimal choices
It’s a plus that we’re seeing some discussion in Canada as to the optimal income tax rate to maximize revenue. But Paul Krugman goes a step further in pointing out why that revenue-maximizing rate (however calculated) is the optimal rate period: In the first part of the paper, (Peter Diamond
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Credit where due
I suspect there’s still going to be plenty of room for argument as to how much attention we ought to pay to inequality in the development of economic policy. But let’s give Kevin Milligan and other UBC economists full credit for their observations when…
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