Assorted content to start your week. – Charlie May writes that the inequality which is radically reshaping the American political scene receives short shrift compared to other stories. And Thomas Piketty studies (PDF) the political realignment which is seeing relatively well-defined class politics replaced with “multiple-elite” models. – Meanwhile, Tom
Continue readingTag: NAFTA
Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Vanessa Brcic offers some observations on the connection between poverty and health, including the importance of ensuring marginalized people are treated with respect: The economic argument for poverty reduction is clear, but we see in health care what is more plainly obvious
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Day Justin Trudeau Made Donald Trump Look Like A Loser
For months our ratty Con media has tried to damage Justin Trudeau, and diminish his status abroad.And of course some like the miserable Andrew Scheer have gone even further… But luckily that treasonous Trumpling is only negotiating with others in his own mind.And it's just been revealed that when Justin met
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Rochelle Toplensky reports that ten years after a financial meltdown based on the instability of top-down economic structures, multinational corporations are paying substantially lower effective tax rates than they did before. And Jim Tankersley and Alan Rappaport follow up on how the Trump
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Ann Pettifor rightly questions the supposed gains from austerity in belatedly balancing budgets only at the expense of avoidable social devastation. And the CCPA documents the billions of dollars in lost assets and thousands of jobs slashed in Saskatchewan even when Brad Wall
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Bully Pulpit of Donald Trump.
President Theodore Roosevelt said, more than 100 years ago, that the White House is a bully pulpit. It means something very different to the bully in today’s White House. Roosevelt saw the bully pulpit as a position for good. Trump sees it as a position to abuse the less powerful.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The bravado of President Trump.
Every time we have needed a warming thought in these blah days of winter, we have pictured President Trump running into a school to rescue children from a mentally ill person with a gun. It is similar to the bravado of a 12-year old suggesting that teachers be armed: ludicrous.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Larry Elliott discusses how the stock market is reacting with disgust against rare good economic news for workers and the general public. Asher Schechter interviews Angus Deaton about the connection between monopolies, rent-seeking and burgeoning inequality. And Bill Kerry writes that we
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Thomas Walkom discusses Canada’s likely NAFTA decision between an even worse deal than exists now, and no deal at all – though it’s worth recognizing that the latter choice shouldn’t be seen as a problem. And Alex Panetta points out the Libs’ total
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Elizabeth Kolbert comments on the psychology of inequality, and particularly how the current trend in which a disproportionate share of gains goes to a small number of wealthy individuals produces no ultimate winners: As the relative-income model predicted, those who’d learned that they
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Walls of NAFTA.
There is more than one wall to consider when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiators meet in Montreal this week. The wall that the negotiations is creating between Canada and the United States of America is just as serious as the wall of ignorance President Trump wants to
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Is Andrew "Mr Baloney" Scheer Trying to Scuttle the NAFTA Negotiations Again?
I always thought it was too good to be true. Andrew Scheer offering to help the Liberal government defend NAFTA from Donald Trump and his Trumpkins.By going down to Washington next week and lobbying the Americans, to show them that when it comes to the important issues, we're all on
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Isn’t it supposed to get easier?
With two years in office behind him, you would expect Justin Trudeau to be getting more adept at his job. He is not. This has been a year for criticisms, errors, lectures, let-downs and too many apologies. Were he with us, Justin’s father would not be pleased with his son’s
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Beating off the NAFTA bogymen.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) might not make it to New Year’s. Who knows? Mr. Trump might just like to go out of this year with a clean slate. He has promised his ignorant and uncaring sycophants a pyrrhic victory and he might as well deliver the killing
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Writing Off NAFTA.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is still on the operating table. While it appears that the gurus at Canada’s banks are giving poor odds, that seems to be what banks always do. They do appear to like spreading doom and gloom. Despite their predictions, nobody is willing to
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Chuckles’ Canned Conservatism.
In discussing the ebbing strength of the democracy of Canada’s Conservative parties yesterday, we never got to the major problem faced by the federal Conservatives. Their problem is one of leadership. If there ever was a good example of the mediocrity produced by preferential voting, the Conservative party faces that
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A travesty of travellers.
The dynamic duo of Trump and Trudeau are meeting in south-east Asia this weekend. Neither has the other on their agenda. And neither has a similar agenda. They have different needs and different objectives. U.S. President Donald Trump has the shortest list to match his short memory. His top-of-mind concern
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Hair harasses NAFTA hopefuls.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is still on life support. The end of his first year in office and President Donald Trump has not yet ended the more than US$ one trillion in trade between the three countries. Maybe he was waiting for some help from critics of
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Canada’s international trade agreements should prioritize women’s rights
For the Trudeau government’s ambitious feminist international assistance policy to succeed, Canada’s trade agreements should champion women’s leadership, human rights, and gender equality. The post Canada’s international trade agreements should prioritize women’s rights appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Does Donald Trump even like America?
If President Donald Trump takes any pride in the United States of America, he has a funny way of showing it. Did he run for the presidency as a joke or to get even? Maybe he was tired of being considered a joke? In his ignorance, Trump is giving the
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