Assorted content to end your week. – Giri Savaraman and Jim Stanford point out the importance of a more collaborative and inclusive economy, even as Australia’s right-wing government pushes in the opposite direction: The problem has not been an absence of productivity growth: our productivity can always be improved, but
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Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Alastair Campbell discusses how the latest group of right-wing demagogues has progressed from being post-truth to being post-shame. – IMFBlog examines how the perpetual slashing of corporate tax rates has eliminated needed public revenue – particularly in lower-income countries – without producing
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Alberta must find alternatives to cutting social spending
I have an opinion piece in today’s Edmonton Journal about Alberta’s current fiscal situation. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The Jason Kenney government will almost certainly announce cuts to social spending in the near future. -Yet, more than 80% of Alberta’s kindergarten through Grade 3 classes
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten things to know about this year’s Alberta Alternative Budget
The Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) is an annual exercise whose working group consists of researchers, economists, and members of civil society (full disclosure: I’m the Editor). Our general mandate is to create a progressive vision for Alberta to boost economic growth and reduce income inequality. This year’s document was released
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: MEDIA RELEASE: Alberta should increase social spending; cuts are not the way to go
(June 24, 2019-Calgary) With Alberta’s economy still facing challenges and vulnerabilities, the Alberta government should not be doling out tax cuts or cutting social spending, according to the Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) released today. “Alberta still has, by far, the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio of any province,” says Nick Falvo, editor
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – David Ball reports on the movement forming in support of a Canadian Green New Deal. Kyla Tienhaara discusses how it fits into the global push for a just transition away from dirty energy and carbon pollution. And Chris Packham points out the
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: What Impact will the 2019 Federal Budget have on Canada’s Housing Market?
I’ve written a blog post about what the recent federal budget means for Canada’s housing market. Points I make in the blog post include the following: -The budget contains several initiatives designed to make it easier for households of modest means to become homeowners. -Such initiatives are often framed as
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Andrew Phung highlights how important it is for younger voters to be heard in Alberta’s election. Travis Benson offers plenty of suggestions as to why even people who aren’t always NDP supporters should be happy to re-elect Rachel Notley. And PressProgress rounds
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Nathan Robinson discusses how the language of “meritocracy” is used to entrench structural inequality: The inequality goes so much deeper than that, though. It’s not just donations that put the wealthy ahead. Children of the top 1% (and the top 5%, and the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Both Eric Levitz and Brian Beutler write that U.S. Democrats need to highlight and fight the class war being waged by the rich, rather than shying away from the real and justified anger it provokes among insecure workers. And Robert Benzie reports on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Linda McQuaig writes that Canada’s federal government should look at buying the soon-to-be-vacated GM plant in Oshawa to begin production of electric vehicles. But Nav Persaud notes that even when the Trudeau Libs make promises about using government power and resources for the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Peter Gowan discusses UK Labour’s plans for a more democratic and participatory economy. And Alex Ballingall reports on Jagmeet Singh’s plan to prohibit the use of “bearer shares” which conceal the ownership of corporate wealth. – Linda McQuaig rightly criticizes Doug Ford’s moves
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Thom Hartmann writes about the billionaire-funded push toward outright fascism in the U.S. as a response to the growth of the middle class in the 20th century: (U)nregulated markets—particularly markets not regulated by significant taxation on predatory incomes—invariably lead to the opposite of
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Teaching macroeconomics as though Lehmans didn’t happen
September 15th marked the tenth anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers, destabilizing Western economies at levels not seen since the 1930s. It also marked the second week of fall classes, with many economics graduate students cranking through equations that define the discipline’s conventional macroeconomic models. With such names as
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Frank Rich writes that the lack of a meaningful response to the 2008 financial crisis has understandably undermined public confidence in the U.S.’ future: Everything in the country is broken. Not just Washington, which failed to prevent the financial catastrophe and has done
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Katie Dangerfield reports on new research showing that carbon pricing can be an economic benefit, while unrestrained climate change would be disastrous. Bill Curry and Shawn McCarthy report that Scott Moe has eagerly lumped himself in with Doug Ford as Canada’s most
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Shaun Richman reviews David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs – including the inevitable inference that there needs to be some means for people to be supported without having to seek out useless work: Much of the “bullshitization” of white-collar work is purely accidental, but Graeber
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Evening Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Ian Millhiser writes that the Republican majority on the U.S.’ Supreme Court is restoring the robber baron era: The conceit of Gorsuch’s Epic Systems opinion is that workers and their bosses sit down like equal bargaining partners to hash out their terms of employment.
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten proposals from the 2018 Alternative Federal Budget
I’ve written a blog post about this year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB). Points raised in the blog post include the following: -This year’s AFB would create 470,000 (full-time equivalent) jobs in its first year alone. By year 2 of the plan, 600,000 new (full-time equivalent) jobs will exist. -This year’s
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Harriet Agerholm comments on the connection between income inequality and a growing life expectancy gap between the rich and the rest of us. – May Bulman notes that after a generation of austerity, children of public sector workers are increasingly living in poverty
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