Seoul Survivor
My thoughts on the Seoul G20 – from the Mark.
Read moreConfusion Over Monetary Policy
It’s always been my understanding that left-of-centre economists, on the whole, like it when real interest rates are low (but not negative). Among other things, this encourages more companies to borrow (and hire more workers), reduces unemployment, reduces debt-servicing costs for government, and increases the power of labour. In July of this year, I blogged over my concern that “important voices among Canada’s […]
Read moreAusterity Canadian-Style, Now in Britain? Pity
This appeared in the Globe and Mail yesterday. You can add your comments to the discussion here http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/the-economists/austerity-canadian-style-now-in-britain-pity/article1796379/ Budget plans in the UK drove 50,000 students into the streets this week. They were protesting proposed public spending cuts that could double or triple university tuitions. We’ve seen this movie, and it does not end well for students.
Read moreThe Bicycle Metaphor
A propos of the launch of the Canada – India trade talks, Bill Robson resorted to the tired old bicycle metaphor on CBCs Power and Politics. He is not alone. This cliche gets voiced all the time. Like a cyclist who will topple if she or he slows down, the momentum of trade liberalization must be maintained, we are told,  or we […]
Read moreAnother EI Absurdity
Well under one half of Canada’s 1.5 million unemployed workers are collecting EI benefits today, even though the national unemployment rate is still almost 8%. Special EI measures introduced as part of the 2009 Budget, notably an extra 5 weeks of benefits for all claimants, expired this fall, long before a real labour market recovery has taken place. The additional […]
Read moreQE2
The Economist  judges that it is working . Long term interest rates have fallen since Bernanke announced the Fed was going to restart the printing press, usefully making the US government deficit a tad easier to finance. The stock market has been juiced, which may have a wealth effect on aggregate demand. And the US dollar has fallen against currencies that […]
Read moreSilencing Student Dissent
Across Canada, university student associations–at both the undergraduate and graduate level–provide democratic representation to their members. When students register for a term, memberhip fees are automatically collected by the university’s business office, much like an employer automatically collects union dues in a unionized workplace. The university’s business office temporarily holds student membership fees “in trust,” and then remits them to […]
Read moreIs Social Democracy Dying? – Part 2
I would venture there are three reasons why social democracy is pretty much kaput: 1) a flawed ideology 2) the power of capital and 3) a propensity for selling out and drifting to the right. 1) Flawed ideology Ever since people have exploited other people’s labour for their personal gain, it’s long been the dream of the slave, serf, peasant […]
Read morePeter Van Loan’s Made-Up Trade Statistics
Here’s an amusing epilogue to my recent CCPA report on the possible economic and employment impacts of a free trade agreement between Canada and the EU. (Here is the report; here is my blog on it.) The day after the report came out, reporters asked Trade Minister Peter Van Loan to comment on its predictions that Canadian industries (mostly in […]
Read morePervasive market failures
Most people reading this blog already get it that neoclassical economics is deeply flawed. But I’m still amazed at its persistence in the classroom and in the blogosphere. My blood boils when I see the standard neoclassical workhorse brought out of the stable when really it ought to be put to pasture. In a nutshell, neoclassical modeling ignores market failures, […]
Read moreTrade Union Statement to the G20 Summit
http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/01-tuacG8G20-Seoul_English.pdf Employment has fallen off the agenda with the turn to co-ordinated austerity in the struggling developed economies. What remains to be seen is if they can engineer some kind of coherent program to stop everyone from counting on export led growth via devaluation.
Read morePotash and the Renaissance of Economic Nationalism
Who would have thought it. More than twenty years after the Canada-US FTA all but buried the economic nationalist legacy of the Trudeau era, a major foreign take-over seems to have been blocked. That’s twice under the Conservatives, after years of Liberal rubber stamping of foreign acquisitions under the Investment Canada Act. This is certainly worthy of some celebration. I […]
Read moreEvery bite counts
Our latest Climate Justice Project report, Every Bite Counts: Climate Justice and BC’s Food System, has been unleashed on the province. I have to admit that this was one of the most challenging research projects I’ve ever been part of – the food system is complicated, and overlaying climate change and social justice issues added to that complexity. Thankfully, I […]
Read moreIs Social Democracy Dying? – Part 1
Rob Ford, a belligerent right-wing serial liar with a proclivity for infantile temper tantrums and drunkenness, was elected mayor of Toronto this past week. Handily. This was after seven years of competent and scandal-free leadership by an NDP mayor, David Miller. The man Miller endorsed to replace him was a long-time NDP councilor renowned for his decency and sterling public […]
Read moreP3 and Immigration Law in Arizona – “Both” Sides Win?
NPR has just published a very nice piece of investigative journalism about the role of the private prisons industry in influencing immigration law in Arizona. The new law, passed last spring, extends the power (and responsibilities) of police officers to scrutinize immigrants, essentially allowing policemen to stop anybody they deem suspicious and ask them for immigration documents. People found without […]
Read moreOut of Equilibrium: Why EU-Canada Free Trade Won’t Work in the REAL World
The Canadian and EU governments are working toward a free trade agreement that would comprehensively liberalize trade in goods and services, government procurement, foreign investment, and other important economic interactions between the two parties. Canada enters these negotiations with a notable disadvantage in terms of both quantitative trade flows, and the qualitative composition of trade. Canada currently incurs large bilateral […]
Read moreUpset about offsets
A recent story on offsets reported in the Tyee caught my eye. In a nutshell, a residential subdivision development on Denman Island was prevented from going ahead in part because of the magic of carbon offsets. First of all, more conservation by preventing this type of development is a good thing. But in what way is this an offset? To […]
Read moreGetting Over Brad’s Wall of Potash
On Thursday, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall said “No†to BHP: Do we want to add PotashCorp to that list of once-proud Canadian companies that are now under foreign control? . . . It’s our government’s belief that the people of Saskatchewan deserve nothing less than a potash industry unequivocally managed, operated and marketed for the benefit of Canada and Saskatchewan. […]
Read moreHow to Lower Poverty Without Really Trying
Followers of statistical entrails have known for some time that the incidence of poverty (sorry, low income) varies between surveys. The Census – which covers 20% of the population – captures significantly more low income persons than does the annual Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics which is based on a much smaller sample which is followed for a period […]
Read moreWhy Is The French Labour Movement So Powerful?
From time to time, I check out the The Real News Network. I’ve just finished watching a video clip they’ve featured on labour protests in France over the government’s attempt to raise the “pension age” from 60 to 62. The coverage includes a brief look at the impact of the blockades of French oil refineries. I’m struck by how powerful the French […]
Read moreWorthwhile Canadian Inspiration?
An Irish economist working for the European Trade Union Institute (in the same building as me) recently drew my attention to the following team blog, which appears to have started in February 2009: www.progressive-economy.ie
Read moreTaxes and Economic Growth
The term “Austrian economists†usually refers to the likes of Hayek, Menger and von Mises. But I recently met some rather different economists from the Austrian Chamber of Labour. Austrian law requires that union members pay dues to the Chamber of Labour, so it is very well-funded for a progressive think tank. Similarly, all Austrian businesses are members of the […]
Read moreThe Sell-Off of Corporate Canada
The announcement this week that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is not going to intervene in the sale of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan to the Australian conglomerate, BHP Billiton Ltd., speaks volumes about how Bay Street  and its servants in Ottawa are so willing and eager to sell off Canada’s corporate assets to foreign corporations. It’s a phenomenon that has been […]
Read moreThe Travails of Toronto
TD Economics have released an interesting if rather thin report on the Toronto recovery. I say thin because, while there is not a wealth of current data, we do get labour market data for the huge Toronto Census Metropolitan Area. As they show, there has been a huge loss of manufacturing jobs in the region, offset to a degree by […]
Read moreThe Currency Wars and Global Trade Imbalances
In the run up to the Seoul Summit, the issue du jour has become “the currency wars.” I certainly side with those who think that the under-valuation of the Chinese currency and its fix to the US dollar at that low level constitutes a huge subsidy to Chinese exports which has played a major role in the creation of large […]
Read moreThe Myth of Expansionary Fiscal Austerity
This looks like a good contribution from Dean Baker. http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/austerity-myth-2010-10.pdf
Read moreThe trouble with flying
I just got back from a conference in Geneva where I was asked to speak to trade unionists from around the world about our BC climate justice project. In addition to this great opportunity to share information about green jobs and climate policy with a friendly audience, it was also an eye-opener to be in Europe for a little while. […]
Read more3D Policy
There is a new economics blog in town. http://www.3dpolicy.ca It is put together by former Finance Deputy Minister Scott Clark and former Director of Fiscal Policy, Peter Devries. I disagree with their fiscally very cautious line, but this is highly informed commentary on the numbers – with a major piece on the recent Economic and Fiscal Update – so do […]
Read moreNow is Not the Time for Spending Cuts
The CCPA today released a paper I wrote (“Big Train Coming” )as a framing piece for the Alternative Federal Budget and the upcoming federal and provincial debate over the turn to austerity at a time of high unemployment. Here is the media release: “Given the fragile economic recovery and the weak job market, now is not the time for a […]
Read moreStephen Gordon on Manufacturing
Over at Economy Lab, Stephen Gordon writes: The fundamental problem facing manufacturing firms is that the [industrial] prices have been growing more slowly than consumer prices. CPI inflation has averaged 1.85 per cent a year since 2002, but the Industrial Price Index for all manufactures has only increased at a rate of 1 per cent. His argument is that Canadian […]
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