On November 17, the working group of the Alberta Alternative Budget (AAB) sponsored a one-day workshop at the University of Alberta. The event’s main purpose was to discuss recent developments in Alberta public policy, as well as expectations for the upcoming Alberta budget. Twenty speakers presented in total. In light
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Accidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andrew Jackson writes that widespread precarity in work is keeping wages down even as unemployment stays relatively low: (W)age pressures and inflation might remain persistently low even with a low unemployment rate due to the seemingly inexorable rise of precarious work. Marx’s reserve
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Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Dennis Howlett highlights how the Libs are only making our tax system even less fair by overreacting to trumped-up criticism of a plan to close minor loopholes: As the dust settles on the Trudeau government’s private corporation tax reforms, Canada seems to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Richard Hill wonders whether neoliberalism is approaching its end, while noting the dangers of allowing progressive themes to be used to prop up elitist power structures. And Heather Boushey interviews Kimberly Clausing about the opportunity to raise revenue and reduce inequality by
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Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Karl Russell and Peter Goodman note that lower unemployment rates in the U.S aren’t translating into higher wages. Alena Semuels points out the barriers preventing people from moving in order to pursue a higher income. And Kevin Brice-Lall interviews Jonathan Rosenblum about the
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Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Stephanie Levitz reports on new polling showing an increasing number of Canadians self-identifying as part of the working class or poor, while also seeing little room for optimism about their futures. And Jared Bernstein offers his analysis as to why wages are remaining
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Asad Abbasi reviews a new book following up on Thomas Piketty’s work on the causes of inequality. – Peter Goodman and Jonathan Soble point out that the combination of tight job markets and stagnant wages has become a consistent reality in the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Trish Garner offers some suggestions for evidence-based poverty reduction – with a strong emphasis on the need for employers to pay a living wage. And Jim Stanford challenges critics of a $15 minimum wage to put their money where their mouth is
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Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Joseph Parilla examines how entrenched inequality serves as a barrier to economic development for everybody. – Heather Long highlights how the U.S.’ last round of corporate tax cuts led to lower wages for all but the lucky few. And Stuart Bailey writes about
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Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Stephanie Blankenburg and Richard Kozul-Wright comment on the rise of rent-seeking as a driver of stagnation and inequality. And George Monbiot argues that we shouldn’t let our common wealth be used for the sole benefit of a privileged few: A true commons is
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Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Matthew Yglesias offers his take on how to strengthen the U.S.’ economy through full employment and improved wage and family benefits. And Richard Florida discusses how everybody can benefit if an increasingly important service sector starts to provide higher wages and better work:
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Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Ben Chu reports on a new study showing that the UK’s economy is broken in failing to translate GDP gains into any help for workers whose wages are falling. And the Canadian Press reports on the latest survey showing how many Canadians are
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Miscellaneous material for your Labour Day reading. – Ed Finn offers a reminder of the rights and benefits we now take for granted which were won only through labour organization: Look back at Canada’s 150-year history, and you’ll find that many of the basic rights and benefits we all enjoy
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Stefan Stern writes that our current corporate culture needs to be changed in ways going far beyond reining in excessive executive compensation: Wage inequality is also a symbol of something more fundamentally wrong in the business world. Too many corporations are competing to
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Abigail McKnight and Richard Reeves write about the gilded floor that prevents the wealthy from facing the realities lived by most people. Eric Levitz discusses how the Trump economy is producing plenty for the ultra-rich, but little but mediocrity for everybody else. And
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Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Melanie Schmitz writes that Donald Trump’s plan to hand giant tax goodies to the rich is opposed by nearly three quarters of Americans. – CNBC reports on the skepticism among U.S. workers as to their future opportunities. And Jim Stanford offers a historical
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Karri Munn-Venn argues for a federal budget focused on social well-being – not merely on economic productivity. And Tom Hale discusses the harm done by social isolation. – The BBC reports on new research showing that the UK’s public support for parents
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Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson write that equality of opportunity is an illusion if people don’t have the necessary equality of income to make meaningful plans: British social mobility is damaged by the UK’s high income inequality. Economists have argued that young people
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Leo Gerard calls for an end to trade deals designed to favour the wealthy at the expense of everybody else. And Rick Salutin writes that NAFTA can’t reasonably be seen as anything but: (N)o matter how many numbers Freeland plucks to show the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Bill Kerry discusses the role of inequality in causing a global financial meltdown Leaving aside the greed and stupidity of so many of the world’s financial institutions and, particularly, their leaders, it is easy to see why poor Americans jumped at what they
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