Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- David Macdonald notes that the federal government's investments in the wake of COVID-19 have been necessary to keep intolerable burdens off of people who haven't been able to bear them. Scotiabank weighs in (PDF) on the reality that the costs of inaction would be far worse than those of supporting people through a public health crisis. And Heather Scoffield writes about the folly of obsessing over deficits and debt when we enjoy extremely low interest rates, while facing an urgent need to rebuild from the coronavirus pandemic:

(D)espite all the billions that have been spent on income support, wage subsidies, commercial rent and vulnerable people, the federal government can afford for now to keep borrowing if it chooses.

That’s a relief because even though the emergency part of the pandemic economy seems to have passed, we are still very far from anything resembling a recovery. Governments at all levels are under intense pressure to spend more in the name of that eventual recovery — on everything from help for hard-hit sectors for the economy to COVID-proof child care to job-creation schemes that would alleviate unemployment.

Plus, the last thing any government would want to do right now is to pull back on supportive spending because financial markets and investors believe we can’t handle the debt load. There’s a consensus around the world that a premature retrenchment would do more harm than good, nipping a fragile recovery in the bud. Since the public debt carrying charges on extra debt are so low, Canada doesn’t have to be too concerned about that.

- Dana Goldstein writes about the looming disaster if schools aren't provided with sufficient resources to reopen safely in the fall, while Amy Greer, Nisha Thampi and Ashleigh Tuite discuss how that can be done. Chandra Pasma discusses how to establish a safe post-secondary education sector in the wake of COVID-19. And Kerry Clare writes about the need for fathers to join the push for policies which ensure women don't bear the brunt of insufficient supports.

- Canadians for Tax Fairness highlights the need for a more fair tax system in light of Cameco's avoidance of a multi-billion-dollar contribution to our country by moving uranium through a Swiss subsidiary.

- Alec Connon discusses how the financial sector lies behind racial disparities and the climate crisis. And Amanda Marcotte points out that the same conspiracy theory underlying climate change denial has been repurposed to attack any public response to COVID-19.

- Finally, Dan Darrah and Ben Elvin write that now is the time for labour militancy to ensure that grocery workers (and other people working to provide our essentials of life) receive a living wage and fair benefits.