Shorter Stephen Poloz: Economic reality has a well-known anti-Conservative bias. So in the interest of neutrality, I refuse to apply common terminology to reality.
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Accidental Deliberations: On consistent preferences
Stephen Gordon (among others) took the time to point out that Jim Flaherty’s attacks on the Bank of Canada are both unwise in general, and wrong in terms of economic theory. But even setting aside those critiques, the mot important message to be taken from Flaherty is that he’s once
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – George Monbiot writes that corporate control over a political system may be a huge factor in limiting public participation – even as it makes a substantial counterweight all the more important: The political role of business corporations is generally interpreted as that of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.- Duncan Cameron highlights the choice between austerity and prosperity facing the governments of both Canada and the U.S.:The economic realities faced by working people in both Canada and the United St…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Juxtaposition
Ah, the memories of Stephen Harper and his bestest international buddy deciding what to do about the economic pain they’ve inflicted on the world: Mr. Cameron, hailing Canada as a model of fiscal probity and pointing to his own deep spending cuts, argued that debt cutting is the only way
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament in Review: November 22, 2011
Tuesday, November 22 saw the Cons’ refusal to debate their own government bills reach absurd levels, as Con MPs spent more time arguing against a single opposition private member’s bill than they did defending some of their supposed key priorities. The Big Issue But then, one can hardly blame the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Erin nicely challenges Brad Wall’s efforts to tilt the playing field against poorer provinces when it comes to Employment Insurance and equalization. – But I’m not sure we can expect much change to EI in any event. After all, as Dr. Dawg notes,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
Assorted content for your afternoon reading. – Alison Loat offers some suggestions to make political parties more responsive to Canadian voters: (H)ow can parties reorient spending to encourage a more balanced focus across their responsibilities? Political parties serve at least four critical functions: engaging citizens in politics, selecting candidates for
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to end your week. – If there’s a more accurate description of the Cons’ entire political strategy than “taking advantage of the prejudice that’s already there”, I haven’t heard it yet. And Chris Lawson is rightly frustrated that Canadian politics are being dominated by such cynical and destructive
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your weekend. – Bruce Anderson worries that the Cons might think they face no restriction on their ability to get away with dirty tricks. But Noah Richler suggests that the best way to fight back against the Cons’ disdain for democratic debate is to treat them
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Helpful Tip of the Day
Jim Flaherty, fresh off of five years of claiming that Canada’s recession, deficits and increased unemployment levels are all the result of international forces beyond his control as a mere finance minister, is now telling Canadians it’s utterly pointl…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Deep thought
I’m sure it’s utterly preposterous to even suggest that it’s theoretically possible that the Harper Cons might want to torch public money just for the sake of torching public money.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Afternoon Links
Assorted content to start your week.- Once again, the NDP’s popular support is holding up in the face of plenty of predictions to the contrary. But I’m sure we’ll hear all about how the leadership race will do what the scrutiny of an election campaign,…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week.
– Carol Goar asks whether the Harper Cons learned anything whatsoever from a recession which they first deemed impossible, then minimized before acting only under political duress:
We have less manoeuvring room today…
Accidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Selected text for your weekend reading.
– Edmund Pries points out how the right sees wasted public money and gratuitous tax slashing as tools to force cuts to programs which actually serve a valuable purpose:
During the Reagan era, a friend and former…
Accidental Deliberations: Juxtaposition
An unnamed person with some clue about economics:
Pundits, Very Serious Politicians, and more have spent the past two years plus doing everything they can to make the deficit the center of public discourse, to focus all our fears on the attack by bond …
Accidental Deliberations: On warning signs
Shorter Jim Flaherty:Of course economic trouble elsewhere in the world will have negative consequences for Canada. But we won’t let that stop us from pushing the same bad advice that’s done so much to cause it.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On innumeracy
Yes, we know that math isn’t Deficit Jim Flaherty’s forte. But could it be that he’s still less numerically challenged than the rest of his cabinet colleagues? Let’s check in with someone who’s supposed to be one of the Cons’ brightest lights…”We don…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Juxtaposition
Stephen Harper describes his party’s view of the type of environment needed for any industry to plan for the future and create jobs:“Protecting and creating jobs and ensuring economic growth in all regions remains our Government’s number one priority…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On downturns
Sure, it might seem like reason for concern that it’s only the type of government spending which the Cons are determined to slash that allowed Canadians in general to somewhat avoid a significant economic collapse over the past few years:In 2009, avera…
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