The IMF’s latest delivery of the World Economic outlook contains an interesting analysis of the current “non” recovery in terms of a divergence between fiscal and monetary policy, the first between restrictive and procyclical in nature and the second being accommodating and reinforcing a financial expansion. As argued here by
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The Progressive Economics Forum: Happy Crashiversary! Are you better off now than you were four years ago?
Four years after Lehman Brothers collapsed, it’s time to take stock of things by asking a stock political question: Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Where you stand on the answer depends on where you sit. Many people, businesses and communities are still struggling to
Continue readingShould Ontario Become an Independent Country?
Ok just forget how crazy the questions sounds. The recent wrangling between Ontario and Alberta over the value of the Canadian dollar, oil output and the decline of manufacturing in Ontario (and other provinces east of Ontario) raises some reasonable … Continue reading →
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to end your week. – Sure, it’s a plus to know that Canada’s military is ready and willing to leap into action to protect what matters most to the government of the day. Now if only that meant something other than serving as political operatives to protect the
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The old cabinet documents ploy #nlpoli #cdnpoli
Premier Kathy Dunderdale and her ministers refuse to hand over documents on more than $5.0 billion in public works spending by the Conservatives since 2004. The documents are cabinet secrets, as their argument goes, and under the access to information law cabinet cannot release that information to him. like her
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Canada Goose Egg
This morning, Statistics Canada reported zero economic growth in October. While growth had been driven by strong mining and fossil-fuel exports during the third quarter, Canadians got a lump of coal in October. This Christmas goose egg should come as a wake-up call to economic policymakers. It follows Labour Force Surveys
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Jim Stanford points out that when it comes to manufacturing, any talk of an “invisible hand” doing much for productivity is based purely on faith rather than evidence: When it comes to Canada’s lousy record in productivity and innovation, the standard prescription of
Continue readingCuriosityCat: America will benefit if the Supercommittee deadlocks and November 23 passes
Unable to reach agreement on what to cut and by how much, the American governmental Troika (the House, the Senate and the President) struck a Supercommittee consisting of 12 members of Congress (half from each party).The Supercommittee’s mandate is to …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: September 29, 2011
As Parliament heads into a week off, let’s get caught up on what happened in the last couple of weeks before its break – starting with a day that focused on the NDP’s choice of opposition day motions.The Big IssueWhile the Cons have spent nearly all of…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Evening Links
Miscellaneous material for your midweek reading.- Erin compares the stimulative effects of Ontario’s election platforms:A multiplier is the amount by which a dollar of budgetary outlay increases Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The federal Department of F…
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Ontario’s Stimulating Election Platforms
A common refrain among political pundits has been that all of Ontario’s election platforms are unrealistic given a deteriorating economic outlook. Rather than bemoaning this alleged lack of realism, we should evaluate how each party’s platform would fare in a downturn. The NDP platform is built on the fiscal framework set out in the 2011 […]
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading.- David Olive weighs in on the disastrous results of the all-too-prevalent obsession with austerity when economic conditions are still fragile around the globe:From London to Berlin, and Ottawa to Washington, the w…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week.- Erin catches a typically-partisan response from the Cons to the prospect that a new U.S. stimulus package might contain Buy American provisions once again:What strikes me is that corporate Canada and Conservatives ar…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Obama joins other leaders who have lost their way
Governments of developed countries have lost their way. They do not understand the problems facing their economies, and have allowed right wing economic ideologues to stampede them into premature and potentially catastrophic deficit slashing when the a…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Our plastic history revisited
One of the earliest posts among these e-scribbles dealt with a proposal – in 2005 – to rework the Colonial Building. The plan was to fix the place up, set up some displays to “interpret” some parts of the province’s political history …
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: For All Our Sakes, Get It Right This Time Jimbo
Federal FinMin Tiny Jim Flaherty seems to be breaking ranks with his American and European cousins and says that the federal government would consider another round of stimulus spending if Canada slips back into recession. Give credit where…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Aquaculture centre opened three years behind schedule, more than 100% over budget
Premier Kathy Dunderdale opened an aquaculture centre in the south coast community of St. Alban’s on Thursday three years after it was supposed to be finished and at more than twice the original forecast price. Former fisheries minister Tom Rideout …
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: Navigating challenging economic waters
Down south, the Obama administration is in a dangerous game of chicken with Republican congressional leaders, who are cynically holding the US economy hostage in order to impose a radical agenda of spending cuts. Obama has seemingly bought into the rhetoric of cutting debt, rather than focusing on the real US problem of unemployment. Yet, […]
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: A tisket, a tasket
You gotta love subtle minds, especially subtle political ones able to see nuances of meaning or the possibility you could rub your tummy and pat your head simultaneously. That would be most definitely not like the political geniuses of the last decade…
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