Ten things to know about social assistance in Canada
I’ve just written a blog post about social assistance in Canada. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Social assistance has two contradictory objectives: 1) to give people…
austerity
Monday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Dean Baker notes that a reduction in required work time could go a long way toward ensuring that workers share in productivity gains.…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Tim Bousquet writes that the push toward “social entrepreneurship” ultimately serves to undermine the importance of the public good: My real worry…
The introduction and evolution of child benefits in Canada
Allan Moscovitch and I have co-authored a blog post that looks at the history of child benefits in Canada. Points made in the blog post include the following: -Child benefits…
Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Christian Cooper discusses how poverty is like a disease in its effect on a person’s mental and physical well-being. And Andre Picard highlights…
A Response to the 2017 Saskatchewan Budget
I have an opinion piece on Saskatchewan’s recent budget in the Regina Leader-Post. Points raised in the opinion piece include the following: -Reductions in personal and corporate income taxes help…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Martin Patriquin takes Saskatchewan’s increasing recognition of the Wall government’s institutional corruption to the national stage: Politicians who navigate a corrupted political…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Neil Irwin writes that many progressive policies – including child care and income tax credits – serve the goal of facilitating economic…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Abi Wilkinson writes about the importance of making social benefits universal in order to reflect a sense of shared interests and purpose:…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – In advance of this year’s Progress Summit, Ed Broadbent writes that burgeoning inequality threatens our democracy: Inequality matters. Promises must be kept.…
Budgeting for the oil bust in Saskatchewan and Alberta
The resource price bust is already a few years old but it’s still hitting parts of Canada hard. Two guests talk about the impact of the downturn on fiscal policy…
Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Ed Finn reminds us how the economy as a whole – including the private sector – suffers when austerity is inflicted on public…
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Charles Smith and Andrew Stevens examine how Brad Wall’s slash-and-burn budget is intended to exploit a crisis for political ends – while…
New column day
Here, pointing out that Brad Wall’s deficit can be traced primarily (if not entirely) to his unproductive tax slashing – and that even an austerity-laden budget is being designed to…
The Alternative Federal Budget 2017
This year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) was released on March 9. I was proud to be the primary author of its housing chapter (that chapter is available in English here…
Friday Evening Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Linda McQuaig discusses the need to fight fake news about Canada’s health care system (and the corporate raiders trying to amplify it): (I)t…
Monday Evening Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Jordon Cooper rightly argues that Brad Wall’s plan to slash education will only doom Saskatchewan to be further trapped in boom-and-bust resource cycles.…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – François Côté-Vaillancourt suggests a greater focus on redistributing wealth and income to ensure a secure standard of living, rather than seeking primarily to…
Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – François Côté-Vaillancourt suggests a greater focus on redistributing wealth and income to ensure a secure standard of living, rather than seeking primarily to…
Saturday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson comment on the moral and practical harm done by continued inequality: Inequality matters because, as a robust and…