Sweden—a model economy
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welfare state
How neoliberalism brought down Russia … and nearly us
The economic collapse of the 1930s brought down democracies across Europe unleashing fascism across the continent. Other countries, including Canada and the United States, introduced drastic measures to protect the…
The welfare state and the American dream
The American founding fathers had a vision of a roughly equal society. At least for white people—others didn’t count in either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. Equality was…
Leashing the corporations with the Biden tax
There was a period following WWII when we approached utopia. Well, OK, maybe that’s overstating it, but we had created probably the finest society, in terms of the economic welfare…
On breaking solidarity
After nearly a year of a declared pandemic (and several months of inaction before that), far too little has changed in Saskatchewan’s political discussion of our response to COVID-19. In…
Beware of basic income
Wouldn’t it be great to get a cheque every month just for being you? This is the sweet, fuzzy vision the Ontario and federal Liberals, are counting on to sell…
Podcast: Defending Bernie-nomics and debunking the housing market
This week, I interview two guests on fairly different topics linked by the fact that they both give very effective debunkings of some mainstream economic thinking. First, I speak…
The economics of the possible and beyond
Last week, I wrote a short piece for Ricochet on the kind of simple but serious economic thinking missing from the Canadian election debate so far. Here, I want to…
This election, let’s really talk about the economy
Here’s a short, “populist” piece on going beyond the very limited economic debate in the election campaign so far. It was published on Ricochet: The word ‘austerity’ is finally in…
Podcast: The challenge of Sanders and Corbyn to the extreme centre
http://rozworski.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Podcast150814-Sanders-Corbyn.mp3 Over the past year, unlikely challengers have emerged to the dominant politics of the center-left in both the US and the UK. Jeremy Corbyn is looking increasingly poised to…
Austerity and economy in Quebec (transcript)
On last week’s podcast, I interviewed two researchers from Montreal’s IRIS, or the Insitut de recherché et d’informations socio-economiques, which has now been producing important progressive research for 15 years.…
Podcast: Austerity and economy in Quebec
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/podcast150525-iris.mp3 Many in English Canada recognize the CCPA, but relatively few know of IRIS. Tucked away in an old Montreal school that has been repurposed as a home for a…
Calling capital’s bluff in Alberta
The votes had barely been counted in Alberta when stories purporting to herald capital flight, particularly from the oil sands, were already appearing in venues like the Financial Post. As…
Beyond social democracy: new institutions, new subjects
So many of the debates on the contemporary left come back to the legacy of social democracy. The Swedish experience came closest to fulfilling social democratic ideals in the post-war…
Canadian WW2 Veteran: “At 91, I am history, and I fear its repetition” [VIDEO]
Smith, 91, one of the last remaining Canadian World War 2 veterans, fears that unrestrained capitalism is killing collective rights and western democracy. The post Canadian WW2 Veteran: “At 91,…
Political Eh-conomy Radio: Doug Henwood on US economics and politics
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/podcast-141114-doug-henwood.mp3 This week, it’s my great pleasure to present a feature interview with Doug Henwood — economic analyst, author of books including Wall Street and host of the wonderful Behind…
On childcare in Ricochet
I forgot to post the piece I wrote on the NDP’s universal childcare proposal for Ricochet. Here it is belatedly. It was published last weekend and tries to situate the…
Political Eh-conomy Radio: Looking towards childcare in Canada, with lessons from Sweden
https://politicalehconomy.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/podcast-141016-childcare.mp3 This week, the federal NDP reignited a national debate over childcare by proposing a universal $15 per day childcare program. This is the focus of today’s episode, which features…
Capitalism—an irrational system in an age of climate change
Capitalism is generally recognized as having one great strength. That, of course, is as a creator of wealth. Aided by the remarkable advance of technology (some would say inspired and…
Thatcherism: A grand, failed economic experiment
By: Andrew Jackson | Broadbent Institute Admirers and detractors of Margaret Thatcher can agree that she will be remembered as one of the key political architects of our times. Along…