PEF home page and weblog

Here is my take from today’s Economy Lab in the Globe. To expand a bit on alternatives, my take is that the neo liberal turn at the end of the 1970s was one possible response to the stagflation crisis, which found mainstream Keynesian economics wanting. Left Keynesians such as Kalecki had long recognized that full [...]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic crisis, economic thought, inflation.
April 16th, 2013
Comments: 3
For the 15th consecutive year, the Progressive Economics Forum (PEF) is sponsoring its own events at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association (CEA). This year’s Annual Conference of the CEA is taking place at HEC Montréal. PEF events will take place in the May 31 – June 2 period. All information pertaining to [...]
Posted by Nick Falvo under economic literacy, economic thought, PEF, Quebec.
April 1st, 2013
Comments: none
Albert Hirschman died in December of last year at the grand old age of 97. I never had the pleasure of meeting him but I was an avid reader of his writings and much influenced by them. In the 1950s and 1960s, as the field of economic development emerged within economics, there was a debate [...]
Posted by Mel Watkins under economic growth, economic history, economic thought.
January 27th, 2013
Comments: 1
Here are, in no particular order, my picks for the four best books of 2012 from a progressive economics perspective. Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin. The Making of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy of American Empire. (Verso). I suspect this book will become a classic. It is a rich and highly detailed account of how [...]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic thought.
December 30th, 2012
Comments: 1
It’s been amusing today to listen to the pundits discuss the economic implications of Hurricane Sandy.
Posted by Jim Stanford under economic growth, economic thought, environment.
October 30th, 2012
Comments: 5
In the spirit of “know thy enemy”, I recently read Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. (Note to the anxious – I survived the experience, and remain a convinced left Keynesian democratic socialist.) Hayek is, of course, the totemic figure of neo liberalism who fought Keynes and Keynesian economics in the 1930s and is the intellectual [...]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic thought, Uncategorized.
September 1st, 2012
Comments: 8
Tom Palley has published a new book – The Economic Crisis: Notes from the Underground. I recommend it unread, having learned a lot from his excellent recent book, From Financial Crisis to Stagnation. The back cover description follows. The book can be ordered – for just $9.99 – from https://www.createspace.com/3820028 This book provides a collection [...]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic literacy, economic thought.
August 16th, 2012
Comments: none
There is a very interesting interview with PEF’s own Marc Lavoie here on the Naked Capitalism site on his new book. Monetary Economics was co-authored by Marc with the late Wynne Godley. (Make sure to start by linking back to Part 1.)
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic thought, monetary policy.
June 20th, 2012
Comments: none
I am an enthusiastic reader of Krugman’s columns and, especially, his economic blog. And I certainly side strongly with him in the intellectual and political struggle against “the Austerians” and “Very Serious People” who are unnecessarily prolonging the Great Recession in America and in Europe. That said, Krugman’s latest book “End This Recession Now” (Norton, [...]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under deficits, economic crisis, economic thought.
May 20th, 2012
Comments: 10
I am enjoying Tom Palley’s new book – and would post an enthusiastic review except for the fact that I have been unable to find the time to finish it. Certainly a very clear-headed take on the fundamental economic – and political – transformations that will have to take place if we are to escape [...]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic crisis, economic thought, financial crisis, global crisis.
May 3rd, 2012
Comments: none
In the context of student protests over Quebec tuition fees, my friend Luan Ngo has just written a very informative blog post on Quebec’s fiscal situation. While I encourage readers to read his full post, I do want to use the present space to make mention of three important points he makes: -On a per [...]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Bank of Canada, budgets, Conservative government, corporate income tax, debt, deficits, economic crisis, economic growth, economic literacy, economic models, economic thought, education, equalization, financial crisis, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, heterodox economics, inflation, interest rates, macroeconomics, monetary policy, post-secondary education, progressive economic strategies, Quebec, social policy, student movement, user fees.
April 28th, 2012
Comments: 17
Take a look at the picture below. Take it in. Now scan your eyes to the far right…there, in faded blue you’ll see the initials MMT. Now zoom out. Take it in again. Notice: a few hundred people. Spending their time learning about an economic theory called Modern Monetary Theory or MMT and its application [...]
Posted by Arun DuBois under deficits, economic growth, economic thought, federal budget, financial crisis, fiscal policy, heterodox economics, macroeconomics.
February 26th, 2012
Comments: 7
Empires vary: of conquest, of settlement, of trade; contiguous and maritime. Empires abound: a long list, longer even than many books on empire admit to. Wikipedia lists over 200 empires from the Akkadian Empire of Sargon the Great in the 24th century BCE to today’s American Empire. In terms of territory the largest are the [...]
Posted by Mel Watkins under economic history, economic thought, international trade.
February 10th, 2012
Comments: 14
There is a special, free on line, issue of the Cambridge Journal of Economics with what look to be very interesting contributions from the progressive side of the spectrum.
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic crisis, economic thought, heterodox economics.
January 19th, 2012
Comments: 1
Here is the first newsletter of what promises to be a very worthwhile initiative.
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic thought, heterodox economics.
December 6th, 2011
Comments: 1
Starting today I will be on a regular weekly biz panel for the Lang and O’Leary show, every Thursday night. The panel will take on two six minute segments to discuss the big economic stories of the day. Today’s proposed topics – the Eurozone mess, whither Canada’s GDP, is Occupy a media invention/will it hold [...]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under economic crisis, economic models, economic thought, Occupy Movement, progressive economic strategies.
November 3rd, 2011
Comments: 12
Below is the text of the obituary for Gideon Rosenbluth, a renowned progressive economist and inspiration to us at the PEF, and a past president of the Canadian Economics Association. **** Gideon Rosenbluth January 23, 1921 August 8, 2011 Gideon Rosenbluth died suddenly in Vancouver while swimming with a friend on a sunny day. [...]
Posted by Marc Lee under economic thought.
August 18th, 2011
Comments: 2
Last week, Travis noted Terry Corcoran’s strained argument that over-regulation of banks is what ails the global economy. Terry’s next column went even further off the deep end, endorsing the hard-money libertarianism of gold bugs like Eric Sprott. Today’s column is a full-blown defence of the US Tea Party. I have the following response to [...]
Posted by Erin Weir under Blogroll, economic thought, financial crisis, media, Terry Corcoran.
August 10th, 2011
Comments: 2
For those of you out there who have not seen it, I recommend Social Europe Journal. There is a lot of good progressive economic commentary by leading European economists and policy types of a social democratic persuasion, as well as frequent commentary from Stiglitz, Reich and other US economists. Some good recent columns and blog [...]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic thought, Europe.
August 5th, 2011
Comments: none
The ubiquitous Ish Theilheimer of the left-wing on-line news site Straight Goods has written a very generous profile of the Progressive Economics Forum. He hung out at last weekend’s CEA meetings at the University of Ottawa for a while, and caught a few PEF members (including myself, David Robinson, and Brendan Haley) on the way [...]
Posted by Jim Stanford under economic thought, PEF.
June 8th, 2011
Comments: 4
“Exiting from the Crisis: Towards a Model of More Equitable and Sustainable Growth” is a new book (over 270 pages) now available on line. This volume of essays from global trade union leaders and economists is the product of the Global Unions Taskforce on a New Growth Model, a joint project of the Trade Union [...]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic crisis, economic models, economic thought, global crisis, unions.
May 24th, 2011
Comments: 1
Today marks the launch of a new global organization committed to plurality and ethics in the economics profession, the World Economics Association.
Posted by Jim Stanford under economic thought.
May 16th, 2011
Comments: 1
The Public Policy Forum is a centrist NGO based in Ottawa whose mandate is to promote dialogue and engagement among the major policy stakeholders in Canada. Its current President is David Mitchell, former leader of the B.C. Liberals, who is a very decent, sincere, bridge-building person. Every year the PPF hosts a big dinner in [...]
Posted by Jim Stanford under economic thought.
May 1st, 2011
Comments: 4
The following is the press release of a new initiative to examine the future of monetary policy, based on the core sentiment that growth is not enough. “Dynamic, stable and sustainable” is the goal, for the economy… and monetary policy. Full employment is featured as a key – and largely ignored – objective of central [...]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under economic growth, economic models, economic thought, employment, monetary policy, progressive economic strategies.
April 28th, 2011
Comments: none
The following appeared in the National Post today. We’re in the last week of a federal election campaign, and every party wants you to believe they’re there for the hardworking families of a middle class under enormous pressure. That’s you, right? The idea of the middle class resonates, because it is a notion we all [...]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under Conservative government, economic thought, financial literacy, fiscal policy, income distribution, income tax, inequality, liberals, NDP, pensions, poverty, TFSA.
April 26th, 2011
Comments: 1
It took me a long time to write my first blog. It was here, and it was in response to the global economic collapse as it was occurring in real time, in late September 2008. For economists, the blogosphere is a rapid response world, and speed can kill. I worried about getting caught undone in [...]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under development, economic growth, economic thought, education, history of economic thought, media.
April 22nd, 2011
Comments: 3
No politician is talking about it, but there is a growing debate about corporate tax cuts, and it’s not about whether they should go up or down 1.5 percentage points. It’s about getting rid of them. Zero corporate income taxes. It is fast becoming the legendary goal for tax reform in some opinion-makers’ minds, and [...]
Posted by Armine Yalnizyan under corporate income tax, corporate profits, economic thought.
April 16th, 2011
Comments: 38
Book Review of Humanizing the Economy: Cooperatives in the Age of Capital, by John Restakis, New Society Publishers, 2010. The economy is about business, right? Sure, we have a dynamic mixed economy, and most people support decent social programs and government intervention to protect the environment or to improve living conditions for the poorest. In [...]
Posted by Marc Lee under economic history, economic thought, heterodox economics, history of economic thought, progressive economic strategies.
April 13th, 2011
Comments: 8
Jack Layton unveiled the NDP’s policy platform today. Among other things, it promises to eliminate the deficit (i.e. balance the federal budget) within four years. I’m not sure it should. Several years back, I had the opportunity to take a directed reading course from John Smithin. In addition to being a long-time member of the [...]
Posted by Nick Falvo under budgets, debt, deficits, economic growth, economic thought, election 08, election 2011, federal budget, GDP, interest rates, macroeconomics, monetary policy, NDP, party politics, PEF, progressive economic strategies, recession.
April 10th, 2011
Comments: 7
Iglika reported to me that Kevin Milligan made the argument in favour of the HST that its presence was economically beneficial because it induces additional investment on the margin, as projects that previously did not meet a certain profit threshold would become real investments. This is a net gain (forget about who benefits from those [...]
Posted by Marc Lee under economic growth, economic thought, investment.
March 15th, 2011
Comments: 3