Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Jeff Spross discusses the effectiveness of a wealth tax both in generating revenue, and in reducing inequality. David Leonhardt notes that a wealth tax will actually boost the economy by putting to use assets which are otherwise idle (if not being used for
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Accidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – The L.A. Times’ editorial board comments on the need for everybody to pitch in toward a just transition which preserves a habitable planet – including by moving away from reliance on fossil fuels. But Natalie Hanman interviews Naomi Klein about what instead looks
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Richard Partington discusses the rise of inequality and some of the options to combat it. And PressProgress points out the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s conclusion that the NDP’s plan for a wealth tax can turn money currently being hoarded by the ultra-rich into tens
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – John Nichols interviews Bernie Sanders about the importance of resurrecting the principle of economic rights. Gallup examines how the American public is again recognizing the value of unions. And Simon Goodley writes about the positive effects of shortening the work week to 4
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Alberta UCP Associate Minister Grant Hunter Quotes Nazi Scientist in Media Release
“MLA Grant Hunter, the province’s associate minister of red tape reduction, wrote, “Wernher von Braun said, ‘To conquer the universe you’d have to solve two problems: gravity and red tape.’ We’ve made it clear that we are committed to reducing red tape in Alberta. Lots more to come…” The quote
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Aditya Chakrabortty writes about the consequences of the UK’s choice not to fund its or social infrastructure: We are right in the middle of an infrastructure breakdown – we just haven’t named it yet. You’ll know what I mean when we list
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Nicholas Kristof writes about Donald Trump’s choice to put the most virulent anti-worker cronies imaginable in charge of U.S. labour policy. David Climenhaga weighs in on the UPC’s laughably biased committee charged with the task of driving down wages for service workers. And
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Ernest Canning writes about the importance of treating corporatism as a specific and extreme position, rather than allowing it to define the political centre. And Norm McKee rightly argues that Canada’s federal election campaign needs to include a focus on ensuring the rich
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – The Washington Post reports that July 2019 set new records as the hottest month ever measured on Earth. David Suzuki offers a reminder of the catastrophic consequences of failing to put and end to our climate breakdown. And Roger Harrabin warns against
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Bob Rivett highlights the fact that climate protesters are motivated by the desire to save our world from the reckless corporations and politicians who are prepared to sacrifice it for short-term gain. The Associated Press reports that Chile’s coast is the site of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Cédric Durand and Razmig Keucheyan highlight the return of economic planning as a widely-recognized public policy option – while pointing out the need for our democratic systems to allow for public direction of the planning process. And Lauren Townsend writes about the importance
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Alberta merchants maintain $15 minimum wage
One of the first things the new UCP government in Alberta has done is lower the minimum wage for young workers from $15 to $13. Some Alberta merchants are having none of it. A growing group of companies has committed to paying their employees at least $15 an hour regardless
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Alberta should learn from the Trump tax cuts
The new Alberta government has promised to reduce the corporate tax rate from twelve to eight per cent over four years. This may seem arbitrary considering the conservatives have complained loudly about the province’s debt. Nonetheless, the UCP insists the cut is necessary to promote investment and create jobs. This
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Lawrence Mishel points out that Donald Trump’s giveaways to the rich actually resulted in a sharp decline in bonuses paid to workers. – Robert Plummer reports on the precarity facing lower-income workers in the UK. And John Clapp writes from experience about the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Thanks UCP Voters #5
So the UCP just passed Bill 9, better known as the we’re too scared to negotiate so we’re going to legislate new wages for our public sector employees. This, of course, is a clear violation of charter rights to collective bargaining and flies in the very face of good faith
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: I’ll Trade You a Jason for a Greta
I am a democrat and therefor I must accept the election of Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party as government of my province. The UCP won convincingly, after all, with 53 per cent of the popular vote. But it ain’t easy. This is one of those times when accepting
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Evening Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Jonathan Aldred calls out the combination of handouts to the rich, cultivated attitudes of self-reliance and antisocial assumptions which have exacerbated inequality over the past few decades: European countries have, on average, more redistributive tax systems and more welfare benefits for the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Joseph Stiglitz points out the need to move beyond neoliberalism and offers a useful policy framework to do so – though framing an alternative as “progressive capitalism” cedes far more ground than necessary in continuing to prioritize capital over social well-being. – The
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Thanks UCP Voters
So the NDP lost the last election and the UCP has formed the new government in Alberta with Jason Kenney at the helm. Old news. So I’ve been pretty demoralized about this because I see a lot of bad shit coming. So I’ve decided to share it with everyone, here,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On self-serving claims
Others have pointed out a few of the problems with Stuart Thomson’s hagiography of Jason Kenney. But let’s take a look at one part of Kenney’s spin which can be tested against other available evidence – and which highlights just how implausible his claims are. Here’s Kenney on the UCP’s
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