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Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Aug

15

2017

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Asher Schechter examines new studies showing how massive markups are enriching corporations at the expense of workers: The two standard explanations for why labor’s share of output has fallen by 10 percent over the past 30 years are globalization (American workers are losing out to their counterparts ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Aug

3

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Charles Mathewes and Evan Sandsmark write that it’s long past time to start treating the excessive accumulation of wealth as something to be questioned – rather than accepted as an inevitability, or worse yet admired: The idea that wealth is morally perilous has an impressive philosophical and ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Aug

1

2017

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 money, at least according to ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Jul

30

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – David Sirota interviews Thomas Frank about the U.S. Democrats’ obsession with educational achievement as a cure-all – and their consequent loss of touch with the large numbers of citizens suffering from economic policies which left them behind: Sirota: What do you think that the Democrats didn’t do ...

A Puff of Absurdity: Arendt on Revolution and the Necessity of Eradicating Poverty

Jul

29

2017

Hannah Arendt’s essay, “Thoughts on Poverty, Misery, and the Great Revolutions of History,” written in the 1960s, was apparently just recently published for the first time. It continues to be relevant in our increasingly weird times with a tyrant who would rather dominate than excel in case after case: “For the will to power as ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Ten Things to Know About Social Assistance in Alberta

Jul

25

2017

I’ve just written a blog post about social assistance in Alberta. Points raised in the post include the following: -It’s very difficult to quality for social assistance in Alberta (this is also the case in all other provinces and territories). Reasons why are discussed in this previous blog post of mine. -In the 1990s, there ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links

Jul

18

2017

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Tom Parkin writes that the economic boost provided by an expanded child benefit offers another indication of how action to fight poverty ultimately helps everybody. And Dylan Matthews discusses how much more could be done through a well-designed basic income – while recognizing the pitfalls of pale ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Income transfers, means testing, and universality, oh, my!

Jul

17

2017

Overall, the NDP leadership race has provided a lot for progressive economists to be excited about. From progressive tax reform to fair wages and worker’s rights, poverty fighting income transfers to new universal social programs, the four leadership candidates have put substantive and laudable social democratic proposals on the table. Unfortunately, the last debate waded ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

Jul

16

2017

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 middle incomes had seen their ...

Accidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links

Jul

14

2017

Assorted content to end your week. – Josh Bivens notes that international trade deals have been structured to maximize the cost of globalization for the workers excluded from the bargaining table. And Jon Queally points out that a massive majority of Americans see power disproportionately hoarded by the rich at the expense of everybody else. ...

Accidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links

Jul

10

2017

Miscellaneous material to start your week. – The Courage Coalition discusses why economic justice is necessary for social equality. But Ed Finn writes that instead, Canada is pushing people into serfdom: Today’s big business executives are not so outspoken, at least not in public, but privately they could make the same boast. Their basic agenda ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Jul

6

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Darlene O’Leary sets out the results from public consultations for a national anti-poverty strategy. And Dennis Howlett writes that our tax system could (and should) be set up to build a far more fair and supportive society. – Meanwhile, Ryan Cooper makes the case for public services ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Second Annual Canadian Homelessness Data Sharing Initiative

Jul

5

2017

I’ve just blogged about the Second Annual Canadian Homelessness Data Sharing Initiative. This is now an annual event that takes place in Calgary. It’s co-sponsored by the Calgary Homeless Foundation and the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. A summary of the inaugural event (which took place in May 2016) can be found here, ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Afternoon Links

Jun

29

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Des Cohen discusses how economic inequality has developed – and how it’s now rewarding people for doing nothing more than worsening its effects. And Chase Burghgrave interviews Elizabeth Anderson about the employer-based power which is used to keep American workers in line: You describe the authority of ...

Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Evening Links

Jun

27

2017

This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Katie Allen reports on Kathleen O’Grady’s look at precarious work – and how a generation of young workers is being taught to expect nothing more. Gareth Hutchens discusses Sally McManus’ call for the labour movement to seek opportunities to disrupt an economic system set up to exploit ...

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links

Jun

24

2017

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Ryan Meili writes about the fundamental importance of trust in both politics and medicine – and the corrosive effects of corporate donations in both: When we talk about the problems with political donations, we’re not really talking about campaign financing. We’re talking about something much more fundamental. We’re ...

Accidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links

Jun

23

2017

Assorted content to end your week. – Patrick Gossage discusses the desperate need for Canadian governments at all levels to take meaningful action to eliminate poverty: The reality is that low-income Canadians are invisible and lack political clout. In Toronto, they are concentrated in downtown areas close to the gleaming bank towers, in huge clusters ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Fiscal situation of Canada’s ‘oil rich’ provinces

Jun

19

2017

I’ve just written a blog post about the fiscal situation of Canada’s ‘oil rich’ provinces (i.e., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador). It consists of a summary of key points raised at a PEF-sponsored panel at this year’s Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The ...

Accidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links

Jun

15

2017

This and that for your Thursday reading. – Sarah O’Connor examines the inconsistent relationship between job quantity and quality as another example of how it’s misleading to think of policy choices solely in terms of the number of jobs generated. Angela Monaghan discusses how wages continue to stagnate in the UK despite a low unemployment ...

The Progressive Economics Forum: Monitoring Program Performance in Calgary’s Homeless-Serving System of Care

Jun

13

2017

I’ve just written a blog post discussing how program performance is monitored in Calgary’s Homeless-Serving System of Care. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The Calgary Homeless Foundation (CHF) is the System Planner for Calgary’s Homeless-Serving System of Care (full disclosure: I work as CHF’s Director of Research and Data). As System ...

Accidental Deliberations: On comparative advantages

Jun

11

2017

In the federal NDP’s previous leadership campaign, Tom Mulcair managed to release numerous policy proposals without offering any hint of what he’d do as leader. Starting from the (correct) assumption that a frontrunner could likely find his way to victory simply by minimizing controversy, Mulcair released policy planks which were based almost entirely on the ...

Accidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links

Jun

3

2017

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Meagan Gilmore examines how an increased minimum wage is good for business. – Hannah Aldridge offers some suggestions to keep a poverty reduction strategy on target. And Make Poverty History notes that Brian Pallister is offering a textbook example of how not to do it by ignoring his ...

The Political Road Map: Don’t Be Afraid of Raising The Minimum Wage!

Jun

2

2017

I decided to write this post in response to the usual chatter that is generated, whenever the government decides to impose an increase on minimum wage. Usually, you will hear some form of Libertarian or Anarchist arguing that the increase in minimum wage will not only lead to higher prices, but also directly result in ...

Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links

May

28

2017

This and that for your Sunday reading. – Nick Saul reminds us of the need for strong and consistent public pressure to end poverty. And the Economist points out how punitive criminal justice policies coupled with a lack of rehabilitation strand people in poverty rather than allowing for a path toward contributing to society. – ...

Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links

May

24

2017

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Gary Younge examines how Jeremy Corbyn and an unabashedly progressive campaign platform are making massive gains in a UK general election cynically called to exploit Labour’s perceived weakness: Seeing the response to Labour’s election manifesto last week was a clear illustration of just how powerful the amnesiac qualities ...