Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Mariana Mazzucato and Robert Skidelsky propose a new economic framework in which our elected governments actually set priorities and ensure that development is carried out in the public interest.  Seema Jayachandran reminds us that social programs can more than pay for themselves, while also improving the well-being of people who would otherwise be left behind. And Seth Klein writes that the rapid and effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic should confirm that we can answer the climate crisis with a similarly positive transition to a law-carbon economy.

- Chris Varcoe highlights how Jason Kenney's large-scale bets on fossil fuels are already proving to be disastrous for Alberta. Mark Vandevelde discusses how much of our economy is built on an unsustainable foundation of corporate debt due to "financial engineering" designed to extract short-term value rather than create lasting prosperity. Richard Wolff writes about the dangers of obsessing over efficiency when it means failing to invest in preparation for foreseeable risks. And Ann Pettifor argues against Paul Wallace that our expectations in rebuilding from the coronavirus pandemic should involve a new and better system, not merely a return to business as usual.

- Alyse Kotyk reports on the effects of Vancouver's tax on empty homes - which has resulted in the construction of 269 affordable housing units for people who actually need them. 

- Jim Stanford calls out the corporate sector's laughable complaints about the availability of labour when any inability to hire is readily traceable to a refusal to offer reasonable wages and benefits.

- Finally, Jocelyn Solys-Moreira reports on new research showing how people mistake their own privilege for merit.