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
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The 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 readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Low taxes are nothing to brag about
I’ve written an opinion piece that appears in today’s Regina Leader-Post. The piece argues that the Saskatchewan government shouldn’t brag about the province’s low-tax climate (which it recently did). Rather, I argue that taxes serve important functions. The link to the opinion piece is here.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how the federal Liberals and provincial Saskatchewan Party are both unduly concerned with optics around “balance” rather than budgeting for the good of their constituents. For further reading…– Pamela Palmater writes that the Libs’ budget continues to neglect Indigenous women and children. Katherine Scott points out the absence
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Eric Holthaus writes that the Green New Deal which looks to be at the centre of Democratic policy development offers an important opportunity for the U.S. to make amends with a world bearing the brunt of its past pollution. But Rick Salutin discusses
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Supportive housing for persons with serious mental health challenges
I’ve recently written a ‘top 10’ review of a new book on supportive housing—i.e., subsidized housing with social work support—for persons with serious mental health challenges. The book’s an anthology that was edited by three Ontario-based researchers. A key questions that emerges in the book is: Should such housing be
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ten considerations for the next Alberta budget
Over at the Behind The Numbers website, I’ve written a blog post titled “Ten considerations for the next Alberta budget.” The blog post is a summary of a recent workshop organized by the Alberta Alternative Budget Working Group. The link to the blog post is here.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Evening Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Richard Waters and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson report that five large tech companies alone turned the Trump corporate tax cuts into tens of billions of dollars in share buybacks benefiting nobody other than those who already had the most. And Caroline Haskins writes about
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Bob Lord discusses how the concentration of wealth in the U.S. has pushed beyond even the obscene levels of the Gilded Age. Sunil Johal and Armine Yalnizyan examine (PDF) both Canada’s inequality and polarization of wealth, and a few of the options
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Christo Aivalis discusses the future of organized labour and the need for workplace democracy in an era of increased automation: New organizing models and shorter workdays are both viable solutions to address the struggles of encroaching automation, but neither strike to the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On public interests
Plenty of others have pointed out the most direct lie in Jason Kenney’s attempt to blame Alberta’s NDP for the decisions of an Ontario court dealing with Carillion’s Canadian bankruptcy. But it’s worth taking a look at the much more fundamental lie at the core of Kenney’s complaint. As mentioned
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Hugh MacKenzie comments on the continued need for an adult conversation about public revenue, including the importance of bringing in enough in taxes to fund the services which serve everybody’s best interests: The disconnect between public services and the taxes we pay to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Joel French discusses the need to move beyond merely preserving the public institutions Alberta has now, and to start building the new ones which will be needed in the future. – But Eric Levitz observes that the U.S. is instead taking deliberate
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Brian Mason, who kept NDP flame alight in Alberta’s Legislature for a decade, to take his leave from politics
Brian Mason, who as party leader kept the NDP flame burning brightly in the Alberta Legislature from 2004 to 2014 even when the caucus was small enough to truly meet in a phone booth, announced yesterday he is about to pull the plug on a 29-year political career that has
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ford Plan for Ontario – Potential Employment Impacts
Ontario Conservative leader Doug Ford finally released a partially costed version of his election promises in his Plan for Ontario in the last week before the election. This includes approximately $7.6 billion in tax cuts and revenue reductions and a net $500 million reduction in annual spending.[I] At the same
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Dru Oja Jay points out the connections between improved public services, decreased inequality and meaningful action to fight climate change. – Adam Corlett challenges spin from the UK Conservatives intended to mislead voters about the relative tax contributions of the wealthy as opposed
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Tom Parkin discusses the distinction between giveaways to the rich which are perpetually seen as carrying no price, and the expansion of the commons which is treated as intolerably costly: (O)ffer something that is actually free and things get downright snarky. In
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Noah Smith writes that public resentment toward the U.S.’ wealthiest few is based on a genuine (and justified) concern about an economic system rigged to exacerbate inequality across generations, not mere envy toward the people who have more: (R)esentment of the super-rich is
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Newly-signed FPT housing framework agreement
I’ve just written a blog post about the newly-signed federal-provincial-territorial housing framework agreement. This agreement builds on (and helps move forward) Canada’s National Housing Strategy, which was released last fall. One of the points made in the blog post is that the federal government’s stated objective of removing approximately half-a-million
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Michael Savage discusses new projections showing that the luckiest 1% could control two-thirds of the world’s wealth in a little more than a decade: World leaders are being warned that the continued accumulation of wealth at the top will fuel growing distrust
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