There’s a great article in today’s Vancouver Sun hammering on the fact that all major mainstream economists failed to anticipate the economic crisis. Provocatively titled Economics 101: Everything you know is wrong, the article quotes James Galbraith’s indictment on the mainstream of the profession that originally appeared in a New York Times Magazine article: “There are thousands of economists. Most […]
Read moreThere’s been a fair bit of coverage recently about the big hit to defined benefit pension plans as a result of collapsing equity markets. That’s not a pretty sight, and many plan sponsors face serious short to medium term difficulties in financing their plans as funding deficits increase. But, most pension plan members can still count on getting the pension […]
Read moreInternational labour leaders including CLC President Ken Georgetti met with the heads of the IMF and World Bank, President Lula of Brazil and several other G-20 leaders before the summit to speak to the major trade union statement which called for immediate, co-ordinated action to avert a global jobs crisis, and fundamental reform of the de-regulated global financial system which got […]
Read moreThis statement is well worth reading, and may have some modest influence on the meetings. Brussels, 13 November (ITUC OnLine): Trade union leaders from the G20 countries will put forward a comprehensive plan to turn around the global economy, in meetings with world leaders in Washington DC on the eve of the financial crisis summit hosted by the US government […]
Read moreEric Helleiner and Stefano Pagliari have written an excellent briefing note on the politics of regulatory reform heading into the summit. In a nutshell, they argue that Franco-German initiatives to regulate some key elements of global finance – executive compensation rewarding extreme short termist, risky behaviour; off balance sheet activities; the fringe banking sector; over the counter derivatives – have […]
Read moreHere is a particularly gloomy but I think realistic assessment from the Financial Times economics editor Martin Wolf who has become just as gloomy as Roubini. I fear outright deflation beckons if the G-20 leaders don’t get their act together in just two weeks. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e23cdc8-a517-11dd-b4f5-000077b07658.html Preventing a global slump must be the priority By Martin Wolf Published: October 28 2008 […]
Read moreI debated Bill Watson from McGill on the economic crisis and the need for a “Bretton Woods II” for a half hour or so on the Sunday Edition, on CBC Radio. I found him more than a tad complacent myself – markets will bottom out and it would be a mistake to re-regulate neo liberal global capitalism and imperil all […]
Read moreHere’s the full version of the summary posted earlier – a much longer analytical section, and more detail on our suggested policy response. http://canadianlabour.ca/en/clc-response-economic-crisis-full-version CLC Response to the Economic Crisis Global capitalism: on the edge of the abyss Dramatic recent events have thrown into sharp relief some chronic and long-standing problems of our global and national economic system: an over-developed […]
Read morehttp://canadianlabour.ca/en/clc-response-economic-crisis-summary This call for government action was the result of deliberations at yesterday’s meeting of the CLC Executive Council, and reflects prior discussions among union economists. This is the summary. I’ll post the long version after it has bene translated and posted to the CLC web site. CLC Response to the Economic Crisis (SUMMARY) Global capitalism: on the edge of […]
Read moreI was intrigued by what is happening in Iceland, so the following is a piece I’ve written on it. It has some introductory macro-economics in it, which I think it is good to keep in perspective as we consider the frantic attempts being made to prevent an economic depression. The economic and financial collapse of 2008 is shaping up to be […]
Read moreDeficits. There. I said it. Are you afraid? You shouldn’t be. If, as I suggested in my previous post, monetary policy is proving ineffective and if fiscal policy needs to be a big part of the solution, then we must consider what for many has become the unthinkable. We must revisit our fear of deficits, that word — that state […]
Read morehttp://canadianlabour.ca/en/working-families-demand-a-fundamental-change Working Families Demand a Fundamental Change 2008-10-06 15:59 A Statement on the Economic Crisis by Canadian Labour Congress President Ken Georgetti OTTAWA – Canadian working families will bear the brunt of a deep economic crisis caused by self-serving and arrogant corporate bosses, aided and abetted by complacent, and do-nothing governments. Our jobs and our pensions are at risk. Today, […]
Read moreI’m pasting in below a listserv note from Frank Hoffer with the Bureau of Workers Activities at the International Labour Organization, followed by a piece from Walden Bello. In these days of fianncial meltdown I do think we need to remind ourselves that this crisis is indeed rooted in the fact that “financialization” temporarily bridged the gap between the need […]
Read moreWell. Finally. Some clarity. Sort of. Earlier this month, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney made appearances before the House of Commons Finance Committee and the Senate Banking, Trade and Commerce committee to discuss the Bank’s latest monetary policy report . Transcripts are now available and with a little reading-between-the-lines, they tell us a lot, I think, about the true […]
Read moreThe annual trade union statement to the G-8 was posted today at-Â Â http://www.tuac.org/e-docs/00/00/02/3F/document_news.phtml I think its a pretty good analysis of the economic conjuncture, and the needed policy response. The Executive Summary is pasted below: 1. The crucial issues on the G8 Summit agenda — climate change, development and Africa — remain central for the Global Labour movement which […]
Read moreWhat follows are my speaking notes for a recent McMaster Labour Studies/CAW educational event – a fair bit of it condensed from some of my earlier pieces but this update may be of interest…. I will talk about our two economies in two senses, growing class divisions, the growing gap between workers and the corporate elite and growing regional/sectoral divisions […]
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