Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Stephen Metcalf discusses the meaning and effect of neoliberalism: “(N)eoliberalism” is more than a gratifyingly righteous jibe. It is also, in its way, a pair of eyeglasses. Peer through the lens of neoliberalism and you see more clearly how the political thinkers most
Continue readingTag: labour.
Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Owen Jones calls out the dogmatic centre for first laying the groundwork for the rise of the populist right, then trying to vilify anybody working on a progressive alternative. And Chris Dillow zeroes in on what’s wrong with the neoliberal view of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Angella MacEwen and Cole Eisen challenge Galen Weston’s laughable claim that he and his multi-billion-dollar empire can’t afford to pay something closer to a living wage. And Jared Bernstein and Ben Spielberg connect the U.S.’ growing inequality to policy choices which have facilitated
Continue readingwmtc: join the ndp and vote for niki ashton: deadline aug 17
The deadline to join the NDP and vote for Niki Ashton is August 17. Last night I saw something that shocked me, and today I did something I’ve never done before: I joined a political party. And I did it so I can cast my vote for Niki Ashton for
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Jerry Dias writes that corporate greed is the common thread in numerous stories about Canadian workers being left without jobs or support. And Yves Engler points out that trade agreements have ultimately served little purpose but to entrench corporate power. – Chris
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Bill Kerry discusses the role of inequality in causing a global financial meltdown Leaving aside the greed and stupidity of so many of the world’s financial institutions and, particularly, their leaders, it is easy to see why poor Americans jumped at what they
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Noah Smith offers a reminder that market principles don’t work for everything. And Amelie Quesnel-Vallee and Miles Taylor note that in the health sector in particular, the use of private providers to supplement an underfunded public system is leading to inequitable disparities in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Linda McQuaig makes the case as to why any NAFTA renegotiation needs to focus on workers’ rights: NAFTA has been key to the transformation of Canada over the last two decades, enabling corporations to become ever more dominant economically and politically, while rendering
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Paul Buchheit discusses the U.S.’ combination of increasing inequality, systematic tax evasion and false promises of social mobility. Michael Savage reports that even UK Cons are recognizing that a refusal to ensure that the rich pay their fair share makes for bad politics.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – The Center for Economic Performance finds (PDF) that increased inequality and concentration among firms in an industry exacerbates disparities in wealth while putting downward pressure on wages. And Frank Partnoy warns that we may be headed for another financial crisis as loan
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Cathy Crowe writes that there’s no excuse for putting off action to provide housing to people who need it – not only because of the inhumanity of waiting, but because there’s plenty of evidence as to what works: Over the years big
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Cole Eisen points out how Sears – like far too many other businesses – has deliberately depleted employees’ pension funds while extracting billions of dollars for executives and shareholders: Sears Canada’s woes stem from what appears to be a methodical process of value
Continue readingwmtc: an open letter to loblaw: greed is not good — especially for public relations
Loblaw Companies Limited1 President’s Choice CircleBrampton, Ontario, L6Y 5S5Attention: LCL Customer Relations Centre Dear Loblaw Ltd.: I am a Loblaw customer and I was extremely disappointed by recent public statements made by Loblaw CEO Galen Weston, Jr., regarding the proposed raise of the minimum wage in Ontario. Mr. Weston claimed
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2017 Links
The latest from the federal NDP’s leadership campaign. – Alex Ballingall reports on Guy Caron’s infrastructure and jobs plan which features both a large investment in public works, and substantial improvements in both wages and working conditions under federal jurisdiction. – Thomas Walkom criticizes Singh’s plan to roll Old Age
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on why we should be skeptical of Donald Trump’s NAFTA demands – and why it should be willing to walk away from the table if it’s not possible to push for dramatic improvements to what’s being offered. For further reading:– The U.S.’ list of negotiating objectives is here (PDF).
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Louis-Philippe Rochon discusses the need for monetary policy to be better coordinated with fiscal policy to ensure both sustainable economic growth and a more fair distribution of wealth: Monetary policy has been a failure. It has failed to encourage growth, as has been plainly
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week. – The Star’s editorial board calls for Canada to take its poor ranking among other developed countries as a prod to action in building a more secure and equitable health care system. And Abdullah Shihipar discusses the need for access to dental care in
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – George Monbiot examines the history of James McGill Buchanan, Charles Koch and others who have used massive amounts of time and money to ensure that wealth wins out over democracy in shaping U.S. policy – and how their influence will sounds familiar elsewhere
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Defending the rights of injured workers
Photo by IWW Environmental Unionist Caucus The Fight for $15 and Fairness campaign has swept across Ontario as a broad-based, worker-led movement that poses a powerful challenge to the austerity agenda. It boldly rejects attempts to drive down wages and working conditions. It presents an inspiring and achievable plan to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Larry Elliott reports on a Resolution Foundation study showing that while the UK’s 1% has fully recovered from the 2008 financial crash, the rest of the population hasn’t been so lucky and has faced extended stagnation at best: Families on low and
Continue reading