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An analysis of the US economy by Robert Reich
I would encourage you to download this speech by Robert Reich. [Right-click on the link and choose “Save Link As” or “Save Target as”.] Reich’s key argument is that inequality is bad for business, and unless America can address this fundamental challenge, all of the secondary problems will be insoluble. The irony is that, in […]
The Neo-Liberal Agenda: The Effects in BC, Part 2
In my last entry, I wrote about the pernicious attempts by the BC Liberals (and other neo-liberals) to promote tax cuts on the basis of improvements in productivity. I explained that these productivity increases simply haven’t happened. This, in turn, suggests that Campbell’s tax cut agenda is bogus and self-serving. The question, then, is what […]
The Neo-Liberal Agenda in BC: Reduce, Just Don’t Shift
Aside from shifting taxation from the business sector to the middle class (like in the HST), the neo-liberal agenda seeks to reduce the overall size of government, particularly in relation to GDP. A classic example of this reduction in government can be found right here in BC. Below is a chart from the BC government’s […]
The Georgia Straight on Post-Secondary Spending in the Valley
The Georgia Straight, and its online version, the straight.com, are useful sources for news, investigative journalism and media criticism. Amid its pop culture pap and racy personal ads, the Straight can deliver articles of surprising quality on topics rarely seen in BC’s corporate media. Here’s a recent article on the imbalance of spending on post-secondary […]
Notes from Michael Oakeshott’s “Political Education”
One of the most thoughtful and engaging conservative philosophers of the 20th century is Michael Oakeshott. I’m re-reading some of the essays from his famous work Rationalism in Politics. Here are my quote notes on the first essay I’ve read: Oakeshott, Michael. “Political Education,” Rationalism in Politics and other essays, Expanded Edition (Liberty Press, Indianapolis), […]
A Choice of Words
Here’s an interesting exercise. Replace one word in the Vancouver Sun headline below, and ask how the meaning of the headline has changed. Let’s replace “admits” with “argues”. Such a change makes the revealed “truth” more a matter of debate and interpretation. Yet I’d argue that this is a reasonable change in wording, given that […]
Recognition of a Keynesian Moment
I rarely take a lead editorial from the Vancouver Sun seriously. This Canwest/Postmedia corporate entity is at the center of right-wing propaganda in BC, and is representative of the very conservative outlook from Canada’s media generally. Nevertheless, today’s editorial provides a sobering analysis of the American economy and its implications for Canada. It’s also a […]
More on the Liberal budget update
Below is an interesting page (p. 144) from the BC Liberal government’s 2009 budget update. If the “devil is in the details”, then this is a great place to start. As I discussed in my September 29th entry, the Liberals are anticipating receiving less revenue from corporate income tax than post-secondary tuition. The former has […]
Bloodied But Onbowed
Growing up in suburbia during the late 70’s and early 80’s, I became a big fan of Vancouver’s punk scene. I was never able to attend their concerts at the time – how could a good suburban boy ever get to (or into) the Smilin’ Buddha? – but I bought as many records and cassettes […]
More on the neo-liberal agenda
One of the truisms of neo-classical economics is that tax cuts for those already wealthy and powerful will “trickle down” to the middle and lower class. In other words, making rich people richer will eventually make everyone richer. One of the most popular versions of this theory is the corporate income tax cut, which supposedly […]