Poilievre’s Wacky, Quacky Economics
Pierre Poilievre — aka Skippy — loves cryptocurrency and wants to make Canada the world’s crypto capital. Crypto is a computing process, not a product, it’s well outside the capabilities…
Economics
A good read and MMT
Occasionally I will read a book and experience an epiphany. I now see the topic from a completely new perspective. Perhaps the most memorable of these was reading Richard Dawkins’…
Climate poison could be an asset
Methane, which the BC government has supported with billions of dollars in subsidies and tax relief, is a risk to public health. Methane emissions escaping from northeast BC gas fields…
Malevolence, lies, and broken promises
As repugnant as protesting blockaders are, there is a connection between that behaviour and the lies and broken promises political operatives think unimportant.
Plague Update: Clearly Political
There’s a wind blowing in Canada, and it’s blowing away from public health measures that have kept most Canadians healthy and safe from the pandemic’s primary driver, the SARS-CoV2 virus.…
Existential topics
English journalist George Monbiot published a Twitter thread on January 28 that resonates powerfully with me. The contents are reproduced…
Businesses received $26 billion more in pandemic relief money than individuals
The influence of the private sector paid off for business owners, as they received more pandemic relief money collectively than individuals did. Justin Trudeau’s federal government came out with a…
How capitalism made the pandemic worse, every step of the way
The internal logic of capitalism has tainted our government’s response to the pandemic. Corporate profits were preserved, while the interests of the working class were disregarded. Pandemic austerity and vaccine…
Plague Update: Sports Canary
CBC reported this morning there are 5 fewer NHL teams, yet the league is trying to soldier on instead of responding to the writing on the wall. What's up with…
Pension pain pending
Many people think of Canada as one of the more socially advanced countries of the world. That is only partly true.
Humanity’s slow-motion suicide
When I think about infinite growth on a finite planet, overpopulation, inequality, climate breakdown, and the ever-present risk of nuclear annihilation, I recall my science teacher son’s reminder, “Earth will…
The Communist Family
From each according to his abilityTo each according to his needs* If you did not know the source of this you could easily mistake it for a description of the…
High CEO Pay Reduces Customer Satisfaction
The more a CEO is paid the worst customers are treated. Everyone knows inequality is bad for our society, but now shareholders might start caring because inequality within companies produces…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Amativa Banerjee writes about the cognitive dissonance involved in living through the COVID-19 pandemic. And Ian Sample reports on scientists’ recognition that…
Kudos to David Card and the minimum wage
Good news from the world of the dismal science. A Canadian boy, David Card, has won a share of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics. Nice to see one of…
Facts seem to support a progressive agenda
David Card’s Nobel Prize carries with it a cash prize of more than C$700,000 but the economist may experience greater satisfaction from credibility the award lends to his findings. Those…
Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Lauren Pelley examines the impact of the Delta variant in Canada. And Marieke Walsh notes that we’re facing an increasingly tight time…
Kendi’s How to be an Antiracist
Nearing the end of my two-week long prep period at the END of a year that slayed me with back-to-back senior courses, and I’m finally getting caught up on my…
Covid Journal, May 5, 2021
The debate is over. Let’s get moving forward – get vaccinated.
Top Banking CEO blames workers’ wages for causing inflation
In the end, workers are attacked on two fronts via inflation rhetoric. First, by banking CEO’s who claim workers make too much money, and second, by the Conservatives who claim…