Economics
With Duke Point incinerator, property values could go up in smoke
The following is a letter from Common Sense Canadian economic columnist and Gabriola Island resident Erik Andersen to Nanaimo city council, which is hearing arguments on a controversial, proposed waste…
What Yoko Ono Knows About Fracking
Today we are fresh off the tar soaked heels of Enbridge’s lie and spin machine in Kitimat, leading to a vote AGAINST their toxic future. In Kitimat, in a non-binding…
Canada at the bottom of barrel as oil negotiator
(Photo: Naija247 News) Read this March 31st op-ed piece in The Tyee about Canada’s poor oil negotiating skills compared Norway and the UK’s 2012 oil revenues: There is an old…
Petro-state economy costs Canada far more jobs than it creates
Canada’s economy – including its dollar – is too attached to fossil fuels, financial experts warn The current trajectories of Canada’s predominant political economies are increasingly dysfunctional, due in no…
Deconstructing the language of corporate power
Corporate power uses special nomenclature to deceive Canadians (image: Bloomberg Business Week). by Mark Taliano Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the best ones. Unfortunately, though, Canada’s extreme concentration of corporate…
Robert F. Kennedy Jr: Canada used to be our moral paradigm
“I wished were more like Canadians…until you elected Stephen Harper,” quipped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a recent Vancouver event. “You used to have this great law called the Fisheries…
Hemp Revolution
Hemp has enormous potential to help us build an ecologically sound society. It can replace most uses of tree-derived paper products and lumber, thus saving vast amounts of forests. It…
Economist: BC’s private waste, recycling plan is garbage
Money, money, money. Just like the ABBA song says; it makes the world go round. Our garbage is the newest target for those who love only money and lots of…
Canada’s Seeks the OECD Record for Income Inequality
America: Where the rich get richer faster than in so many other places! Yesterday I wrote about the rebooting of the Occupy Movement in 10 days. I’m very excited. And…
Yes, Your Parents’ Standard of Living Was Better
Ugh. We’re so much poorer than our parents! Yes, your parents’ standard of living was better, so what are you going to do about it? When I was growing up…
My life as the son of an Alberta oil man
Alex (right) and father (left) riding dirt bikes. (Photo: Matt Sutton’s Facebook) by Matt Sutton In November, 2013, I drove to Lacombe, Alberta, to visit my Dad and his family,…
Stop Listening to the Big Oil Spin!
Do the math. Please. For a great long time, I’ve been talking about how we must dump the oil, gas, fracking, tankers, pipelines, coal…all the carbon-based energy systems because of…
BC Budget a work of fiction: Economist
BC Liberal Finance Minister Mike de Jong tables a fairytale budget – Feb. 18, 2014 The crafting of a government budget is always fictional because it comes from the minds…
Measuring progress with GDP is a gross mistake
Governments, media and much of the public are preoccupied with the economy. That means demands such as those for recognition of First Nations treaty rights and environmental protection are often…
The Blustery Winds of Stupidity Hit Weyburn Hard #skpoli
At least 2 Weyburn City Councillors were not duped by anti-Wind propaganda that afflicts many municipalities. There’s probably no bylaw against this family running a noisy, polluting diesel generator in…
Bernie Madoff, Robin Hood and the present dark age
Why is Bernie Madoff the only Wall St. criminal to face jail time? Because he robbed the 1%, and not the 99%. Rob the rich, and you are attacked, reviled,…
Bitcoins – Where to Start?
Someone recently asked me (okay, multiple people did) where to start to learn about getting Bitcoins? You can start here at my blog, now. A better place to look will…
Because You’re Not As Dumb As They Think You Are!
Today is Friday. Let’s make it “think for ourselves Friday.” It’ll work: the government/corporations/1% won’t see it coming! Twitter / occupythemob: http://t.co/doHx1xWO4l. December 17, 2013 Fried Squirrels (0) December 20,…
Capitalism: Swing Your Sledgehammer
It’s all about vision and hope, in an effort to envision how economics and markets can exist after the toxicity of capitalism is gone, gone gone. Are you up for…