Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Lauren Sommer discusses how 2024 is shattering all records and expectations as the hottest year in the recorded history of the Earth. Freddy Brewster, Helen Santoro and Katya Schwenk discuss how the vast majority of anticipated flood damage to U.S. homes is now uninsured - as insurers recognize the dangers of a climate catastrophe with far more clarity than homeowners (particularly in Republican-dominated areas). Ted Hsuan Yun Chen at al. find that the actual occurrence of an extreme weather event tends to overcome the partisan tendency toward denialism. And R Eric Lewandowski et al. examine the factors (including direct exposure to extreme events) which affect distress and anxiety in young people. 

- Andrew Nikiforuk reports on Danielle Smith's latest attempt to restart the extraction of dirty coal in Alberta. And the Star's editorial board calls out Doug Ford for subsidizing even more traffic and sprawl (and eliminating transportation alternatives) as a supposed solution to existing traffic problems. 

- Marcy Wheeler writes about the importance of an assault on truth to Donald Trump's authoritarian project. And Jeb Lund writes about the importance of community-building to resist the abuses of the next Trump regime. 

- Simon Jager, Suresh Naidu and Benjamin Schoefer study the consistent pattern of collective bargaining reducing wage inequality for everybody - even as the exact causal mechanisms remain to be confirmed. And Anne Baldwin discusses why she and other Canada Post workers are angry and demoralized by the Libs' decision to order them back to work rather than allowing them to exercise their right to strike. 

- Finally, Mariana Mazzucato is rightly skeptical of the UK's model of public-private partnerships which serves to funnel profits to the private sector and risks to the public - while noting that any productive collaboration would include requirements to ensure investment produces a range of social benefits. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- The University of Denver examines how prior infection with COVID-19 produces effects comparable to a traumatic brain injury in worsening the effects of long COVID. And Laise Conde reports on the efforts of Protect Out Province BC (among others) to keep people protected even as the motivation to normalize continued spread is used as an excuse to slash any public health measures, while Meg Duff reports that access to Paxlovid is being restricted even as its function in reducing the severity of long COVID becomes better known. 

- Meanwhile, Mariana Mazzucato discusses the need for our system of drug research and manufacturing to be oriented toward keeping people healthy rather than locking in corporate profit streams. 

- Adam King writes about British Columbia's example in showing how reducing employer interference in organizing can help workers to pursue their collective bargaining rights. 

- Luke Savage discusses how Elon Musk has become a test case in demonstrating that amassing money under a capitalist system has nothing to do with merit. And Nik Popli highlights how food companies have made groceries more expensive through blatant profiteering. 

- Finally, Alex Himelfarb writes that there's nothing prudent about budgetary choices which fall far short of meeting the needs of people and the planet. 

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Dyani Lewis writes that we know enough to ensure clean indoor air if we care enough to work on limiting the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses. 

- Jane Philpott and Danyaal Raza observe that the Libs are endangering both the short-term affordability of needed medication and the long-term development of a national pharmacare plan by giving in to lobbying from big pharma. And Euan Thomson writes about the need to fight against a right-wing model which treats puritanical and profit-driven "recovery" schemes as the only response to the crisis of drug poisonings. 

- Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington warn against relying on corporate consultancies as a substitute for a functional and well-resourced public service. 

- Steven Greenhouse points out that major businesses are engaged in old-school union-busting to prevent workers from having a voice in their pay and working conditions. And CBC News reports on a massive human trafficking ring which shows there's no limit to the depravity of employers seeking to trap and exploit workers. 

- Finally, Max Fawcett writes about the dangers of Pierre Poilievre's aggressive know-nothingism. And Marc Fawcett-Atkinson rightly calls out the spread of anti-science hokum among white males in particular. 

Tuesday Evening Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Henry Mance talks to Mariana Mazzucato about the big con by private consultants who have been treated as a substitute for a knowledgeable civil service without having any expertise in actually serving the public. And Cathy Taylor writes about the need to invest in non-profit rather than corporatized supports for people living in poverty. 

- Moira Welsh and Clare Pasieka each report on AdvantAge's report on exploitative practices by temp agencies who poach staff from the public sector, then charge exorbitant rates to now-desperate care homes. Joel Lexchin discusses how the pharmaceutical and insurance industries are standing in the way of universal prescription drug coverage in order to preserve their own profits off of people's need for medicine. And Sarah Rieger interviews Arshy Mann about Canada's grim status as three monopolies in a trenchcoat. 

- Meanwhile, Tim Redmond reports on draft plans indicating that San Francisco could afford to set up a public bank with as little as $20 million in startup capital - ensuring that all citizens have access to the financial services they need without being at the mercy of the corporate sector. 

- Finally, Madeleine de Trenquayle interviews Naomi Klein about the inextricable connection between economic inequality and climate injustice. Naveena Savidasam discusses how the East Palestine rail calamity underscores the needless dangers arising from our reliance on petrochemicals and plastics. And Carl Meyer highlights how the tar sands sector is engaged in another exercise in greenwashing - this time at the expense of tens of billions of public dollars - in order to run decades off the clock while avoiding any plan to build out cleaner energy alternatives. 

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Richard Denniss calls out Australia's government for its "nothing to see here" approach to an ongoing public health emergency. And Falko Tesch et al. study the connection between COVID-19 infection and subsequent autoimmune diseases, while Tim Requarth discusses the multiple effects COVID can have on a body's ability to fight all kinds of threats.  

- Judy Rebick contrasts the Ford PCs' austerity for publicly-provided health care against their willingness to throw money into corporate coffers. And Don McLean highlights how Doug Ford has left no doubt that he's serving only big-money donors rather than the general public. 

- Meanwhile, Brian Doucet points out that any government actually interested in ensuring people are able to find a home would be using publicly owned land to build its own affordable housing, not turning it into a windfall for private developers. And Mariana Mazzucato discusses the need to treat the common good as the core focus of policy development, not a special interest to be addressed only to the extent necessary to enable the continued enrichment of the wealthy. 

- Oliver Milman reports on a new analysis that continuing to operate coal plants in the U.S. is far more expensive than transitioning to clean energy. But Umair Irfan reports on the petropoliticians in Texas (and elsewhere) who are using state power to keep dirty energy in operation even where renewables are both more reliable and more affordable. 

- Finally, Justin Ling looks at the background to the decriminalization of drugs in Vancouver - including the hope that it will at least reduce the carnage from a drug poisoning crisis which has been exacerbated by prohibitionist policies. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Robert Reich rightly questions why trickle-down economics are still being pushed even after decades of consistent failure to accomplish any goal other than increased inequality. And James Galbraith and Mariana Mazzucato each offer an outline as to how to reshape economies to achieve social goals other than further engorging the obscenely-wealthy.

- Carina Marquez et al. study how the length of actual COVID infection has changed over the course of the pandemic, finding an increased length of infection in the Omicron phase even as isolation and leave policies have been weakened. And Kenyon Wallace and Andrew Bailey warn that Ontario is seeking another rise in the number of cases in long-term care homes just in time for increased indoor activity to drive even more transmission.

- Greta Thunberg highlights the need not to accept the word of governments and corporations claiming to be doing their part to avert a climate breakdown while in fact exacerbating the problem. Alastair Marsh reports on new research showing the need for a drastic transition in investment from dirty fossil fuels to clean energy in order to meet existing commitments. And Nina Lakhani reports on TC's cynical use of Black community leaders to create the pretense of community support for pipelines which in fact stand to impose environmental costs on people who can't afford to bear them.

- Oliver Moore discusses how many municipalities have learned valuable lessons about the merits of keeping space open for walking and pedestrian use rather than parking - while Regina stands out as one of the few Canadians cities actively going in the opposite direction.

- Isaac Chotiner examines the longstanding racism and neglect behind Alabama's widespread prison strike.

- Finally, Brodie Thomas reports on the organized ignorance which is on the verge of completely taking over the UCP's party structures. And Cara McKenna reports on the large amounts of money being dumped into municipal campaigns in Squamish, B.C. by the natural gas industry and its puppets to try to bulldoze over popular disapproval for gas projects.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Amativa Banerjee writes about the cognitive dissonance involved in living through the COVID-19 pandemic. And Ian Sample reports on scientists' recognition that the UK's deadly second COVID wave was the result of the repetition of mistakes and a failure to learn from the first wave. 

- Needless to say, that makes an especially dangerous and deadly fourth wave all the more preventable and inexcusable. On that front, Mickey Djuric reports on the continuing erosion of care for Saskatchewan residents in need of surgery, while Zak Vescera reports that the province is on the verge of needing to ship ICU patients to Ontario for lack of health care capacity. 

- Meanwhile, Marlene Leung reports that many of the experts trying to help save lives in the midst of a pandemic have themselves faced threats of violence for daring to do so. 

- Norm Farrell writes that David Card's Nobel prize helps to signal how empirical reality is on the side of progressive policy - even as the wealthiest few set up self-serving default assumptions to the contrary. 

- Jacob Lorinc reports on the CCPA's research into the hundreds of thousands of workers who have left thankless and abusive service-sector jobs for ones which offer greater pay and security - and the employers trying to spin that as reflecting a "labour shortage" rather than a need to do better themselves. Robert Reich characterizes the newfound willingness of U.S. workers to reject unacceptable work as an unofficial (and entirely necessary) general strike. And Shannon Waters documents the lobbying by B.C. employers against a basic standard of paid sick leave. 

- Finally, Mariana Mazzucato highlights the need for a new international consensus in which governments plan, and deploy public resources toward, a new economic structure which serves the common good rather than the rich. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Doug Cuthand discusses how everybody is worse off as a result of the combination of government negligence and individual vaccine hesitancy. And Liam Harrap tells the story of a cancer patient struggling to get access to needed care due to the pandemic which has been allowed to burn out of control. 

- Meanwhile, Amanda Sealy reports on the prospect of vaccines being available for ages 5-11 within a matter of weeks - making it all the more galling that conservative governments have facilitated a fourth wave by eliminating public health rules too soon then taking too long to revisit their talking points.  

- Jonathan Tirone discusses how the "locked-in" emissions even from existing refineries will lead to climate catastrophe if they're spewed out as planned.

- Rosie Collington and Mariana Mazzucato comment on the disastrous results of replacing knowledgeable and effective government with reliance on expensive and self-interested corporate consultants. 

- Finally, Owen Jones comments on the widespread dissatisfaction with capitalism among young adults who see their futures being mortgaged for the sake of making the obscenely rich even wealthier. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Canadian Press reports on new Leger polling showing that over two-thirds of Canadians want to see COVID-19 protections remain in place - even as Scott Moe and Jason Kenney barge ahead in slashing public health measures. Mark Lautens warns against treating vaccinations as a matter of consumer choice rather than social importance. And Christopher Whaley, Jonathan Cantor and Megan Pera study the effect of small household gatherings on the spread of COVID-19. 

- Members of the Alberta Nurses Coalition for Harm Reduction highlight how shutting down harm reduction sites is an utterly counterproductive response to the opioid crisis. 

- Joshua Posaner reports on the EU's draft policy which figures to presage a complete shift away from the use of combustion engines in vehicles. Rebecca Leber writes about the self-serving attempts of fossil fuel producers to hype miniscule differences in production emissions as an excuse to keep pushing consumers to pollute. And Robert Tuttle reports on CCPA research showing that Canada's managed forests are actually a major source of greenhouse gas emissions rather than a sink.  

- David Sirota duly questions the assumption that whatever billionaires do to avoid paying taxes must be legal. And Christopher Reynolds reports on the CRA's failure to manage a single prosecution or conviction after auditing 44 ultra-wealthy individuals. 

- Finally, Mariana Mazzucato examines how to build a political economy which facilitates sustainable and public-focused development rather than short-term profit-seeking. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Mariana Mazzucato responds to Boris Johnson by recognizing that capitalism has no viable answers for collective action problems such as the ones posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

- Scott Schmidt discusses how the familiar right-wing attempt to squeeze the wages and working conditions of public servants does nothing but harm to both the services we need, and the economy as a whole. And Fife Ogunde argues that the people providing services that we treat as essential deserve to be paid accordingly. 

- Owen Jones warns that our living environment can't survive the single-minded pursuit of immediate profit over the well-being of its inhabitants. Tariq Fancy discusses how sustainable investing in its current form falls far short of the mark in averting a climate breakdown. And Andrew Leach wonders whether the Supreme Court's decision upholding federal carbon pricing in Canada will represent the end of a loud and scientifically-illiterate resistance to climate policy.

- Adam Morton reports on a new study showing how Australia could reach net-zero emissions by 2040 with a transition to wind and solar power. And Dirk Meissner reports on British Columbia's steps to set emissions targets for industries and communities.

- Angus Reid's latest polling finds large numbers of Canadians facing financial insecurity both in general, and particularly in light of the coronavirus pandemic. 

- Finally, Lee Stevens examines the glaring gap between the social programs available in Alberta and the support needed to lift people out of poverty. And Jason Hickel highlights why there's reason to be skeptical of claims about the elimination of extreme poverty which depend on both questionable assumptions about past standards of living, and an an exceedingly low standard to define the term today.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Mariana Mazzucato offers her take as to how to set our economy onto a positive course in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. And Ed Broadbent and Brittany Andrew-Amofah discuss how to fund a full and just recovery.

- Erica Alini reports on the long-term job losses caused by COVID-19, and the need for public supports to address the needs of the affected workers. Armine Yalnizyan confirms that the pandemic has been particularly hard on women, while pointing out how child care is among the essential elements of the needed response. And Patrick Brethour notes that any surface reduction of the gender gap in wages is an illusion resulting from women being pushed out of the workforce.

- Matt Simon makes the case for the U.S. to revive the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps to provide needed jobs while also remediating environmental hazards which have been allowed to fester far too long. 

- Sara Hastings-Simon discusses how solar and wind power have emerged as the most effective energy sources - despite the best efforts of the fossil fuel cartel to prevent the development of cleaner alternatives. Andrew Nikiforuk writes about a new report showing liquid natural gas to be a bad bet. And Jasper Jolly reports on a new study showing that electric vehicles may be as affordable to manufacture as traditional ones as soon as 2024 - making additional publicly-funded research into oil and gas extraction look like an utter waste.

- Finally, Justin Parkinson writes about a growing push to ensure that electrical consumer goods come with repairability ratings to promote durability and reduce avoidable consumer waste.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Nicole Mortillaro notes that the reduction in pollution due to COVID-19-related shutdowns isn't keeping 2020 from being either the hottest or second-hottest year on record. Nina Chestney reports on new research showing that our current fossil fuel economy is utterly incompatible with any hope of limiting climate change even to 2 degrees. And Mariana Mazzucato discusses what we'll need to do in order to avoid climate lockdowns in the not-so-distant future:

(C)limate change will exacerbate the social and economic problems highlighted by the pandemic. These include governments’ diminishing capacity to address public-health crises, the private sector’s limited ability to withstand sustained economic disruption, and pervasive social inequality. 

These shortcomings reflect the distorted values underlying our priorities. For example, we demand the most from “essential workers” (including nurses, supermarket workers, and delivery drivers) while paying them the least. Without fundamental change, climate change will worsen such problems.

The climate crisis is also a public-health crisis. Global warming will cause drinking water to degrade and enable pollution-linked respiratory diseases to thrive. According to some projections, 3.5 billion people globally will live in unbearable heat by 2070.

Addressing this triple crisis requires reorienting corporate governance, finance, policy, and energy systems toward a green economic transformation. To achieve this, three obstacles must be removed: business that is shareholder-driven instead of stakeholder-driven, finance that is used in inadequate and inappropriate ways, and government that is based on outdated economic thinking and faulty assumptions.

- Caroline Evans points out how Alberta is seeing substantial expansion of wind and solar power despite the recalcitrance of the Kenney UCP. And CBC News reports on new polling showing strong support for a transition to green energy in Regina.

- Elizabeth Renzetti writes that we won't see a full recovery from the coronavirus pandemic until women are able to return to work. And Armine Yalnizyan and Kerry McCuaig take note of the opportunity to finally establish a national child care system.

- Jordan Press reports on the added stress and anxiety lower-income Canadians have faced due to the Libs' perpetual hemming and hawing over the continuation of coronavirus relief. And Alex MacPherson discusses how CERB recipients face the risk of being excluded from Saskatchewan's Legal Aid system due to a temporary shift to a slightly more liveable income level - highlighting just how many people are cut off from basic legal services. 

- But finally, on the bright side, John Paul Tasker reports on the federal government's plan to send out free automatic tax returns in order to ensure people receive the benefits available to them.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Patrick Brethour, Caroline Alphonso and Dave McGinn write about the no-win situation facing parents being pushed back to work by governments who haven't bothered to match that demand with any effort to ensure the availability of child care. And Denise Ryan discusses how women in particular are being pushed out of the work force.

- Hamdi Issawi offers an indication as to what a return to school may look like this fall based on British Columbia's early efforts. And Pam Belluck, Apoorva Mandavilli and Benedict Carey take a look at what has and hasn't worked internationally.

- Mariana Mazzucato discusses the importance of ensuring the public shares in the gains from the economy it fosters.

- But Matt Stoller examines how the U.S.' trend toward monopolistic businesses pushed by private equity have instead concentrated wealth while leaving people and governments to manage losses. And Jane Mayer writes that the Trump administration has used a pandemic as an opportunity to further enrich corporate tycoons by dumping costs and risks onto workers.

- Jamil Zaki and Mina Cikara discuss the value of virtue signalling in shaping the social norms and expectations which can actually lead to improvements in substance. And Amna Akbar writes about how the new demands arising out of this year's chaos - including defunding police and cancelling rent - signal the potential for revolutionary change.

- Finally, Billy Bragg writes that the backlash against what's manipulatively termed "cancel culture" reflects little more than entrenched privilege seeking to avoid being challenged by voices who have recently been shut out.

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.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Joseph Stiglitz highlights how investing in the green economy provides a viable economic and ecological path forward in recovering from the coronavirus crisis.

- Mariana Mazzucato discusses the importance of socializing successes to make sure that new industries don't exacerbate inequalities in wealth and power. And Matt Bruenig notes that the majority of the U.S.' wealth gap by race comes from the obscene concentration of riches among the wealthiest white households.

- Meanwhile, Paul Keil reports on yet another drop in the IRS' auditing of wealthy Americans as a service starved of funding to combat the tax-evading rich has limited itself to going after easier targets.

- The International Centre for Non-Profit Law is tracking the anti-protest laws being imposed in the U.S. Musa Al-Gharbi discusses how police departments punish whistleblowers to ensure their abuses can continue without accountability. And Royson James writes that the meager consequences for the deliberate assault on Dafonte Miller shows how the law isn't intended to protect far too many people. 

- Deb Perelman points out how a stubborn refusal to address the ongoing lack of child care is forcing parents (and predominantly women) to choose between work and parenting.

- Finally, Alissa Quart, Astra Taylor and Brittany Powell suggest that an appropriate act of recognition and gratitude for the workers on the front lines of COVID-19 would be to forgive outstanding student debt. But Bobby Hristova reports that the response of Maple Leaf Foods (among other corporate giants) has instead been to end "hero pay" in the midst of an ongoing pandemic - leaving workers angry about how symbolic support has given way to callous management. 

Monday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Mariana Mazzucato comments on the triple crisis facing our current economic system, and the importance of addressing health, environmental and economic disasters alike.

- Shannon Daub writes that it's entirely counterproductive to withhold coronavirus relief from charities and non-profits until their resources have already been depleted. And Nina Lakhani discusses the perfect storm facing both Americans now confronted with severe hunger, and the U.S. food banks trying to meet their needs.

- Jeremy Rigby points out how underlying inequalities make it impossible for a school division to provide equitable resources in the wake of the pandemic. Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Denise Lu and Gabriel Dance note that the physical distancing being painted as a form of self-sacrifice is itself a luxury beyond the means of far too many. And Ginia Bellafante reports on the efforts of Amazon workers to secure some measure of safety and dignity as they're simultaneously treated as essential to their society, and disposable to their employer.

- Finally, Neil Macdonald highlights how the Trump administration - and Republicans and their allies generally - have gone out of their way to make people worse informed and less safe. Gary Fineout and Marc Caputo examine the disastrous effect of Republicans' efforts to destroy Florida's income support system. And Yeganeh Torbati and Isaac Arnsdorf discuss how the Tea Party and other purveyors of austerity politics ensured the U.S. wasn't prepared to respond to a predictable calamity.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Frances Woolley points out how the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the effects of decades of austerity on Canada's health care system. Martin Regg Cohn discusses how the spread of the coronavirus is requiring us to seriously rethink how much of our society and economy are set up. And George Eaton highlights how COVID-19 has offered a reminder of the unique power of government to act in the social interest, while Mariana Mazzucato offers some suggestions as to how the coronavirus response can help us restore democratic governments to a lead role in shaping the economy.

- The ILO highlights the brutal impact of the pandemic on workers, while Jim Stanford points out how it has exposed the undervaluing of the people who are now ensuring the continued provision of the necessities of life even as much of our economy shuts down. Evelyn Kwong reports on the workers who are being forced to keep putting themselves and their loved ones at risk by employer demands. And both Reid Rusonik and Rebecca Long-Bailey discuss the need for a basic income to ensure personal security.

- Both Stanford and David Macdonald examine the response so far from Canada's federal government, including how it falls short both of covering all the people who need help and distributing benefits fast enough to deal with immediate needs.

- Andrew Nikiforuk offers his advice as to be an engaged citizen - rather than a selfish consumer - in a public health emergency.

- Finally, Craig Altemose examines how things would be different if we responded to the slower-moving but equally-dangerous climate crisis with the same urgency as the coronavirus. Jeff Sparrow discusses the irreconcilable conflict between growth and environmental limitations which can be seen in both crises. Kate Aronoff points out the value in making green jobs the focus of our rebuilding after the coronavirus recession. And Jason Hickel argues that a transition to a clean economy offers an opportunity to refocus on quality of life rather than GDP.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Joseph Stiglitz writes about the dangers of measuring economic and social progress solely in terms of GDP:

It is clear that something is fundamentally wrong with the way we assess economic performance and social progress. Even worse, our metrics frequently give the misleading impression that there is a trade-off between the two; that, for instance, changes that enhance people’s economic security, whether through improved pensions or a better welfare state, come at the expense of national economic performance.

Getting the measure right – or at least a lot better – is crucially important, especially in our metrics- and performance-oriented society. If we measure the wrong thing, we will do the wrong thing. If our measures tell us everything is fine when it really isn’t, we will be complacent.

And it should be clear that, in spite of the increases in GDP, in spite of the 2008 crisis being well behind us, everything is not fine. We see this in the political discontent rippling through so many advanced countries; we see it in the widespread support of demagogues, whose successes depend on exploiting economic discontent; and we see it in the environment around us, where fires rage and floods and droughts occur at ever-increasing intervals.

- Michael Roberts examines the need for economic transformation in the UK, while making the case that even Labour's election platform doesn't go far enough in addressing control over key sectors. And Joao Medeiros writes about Mariana Mazzucato's prescription for public involvement in - and benefits from - our future economic path.

- Joanne Seiff discusses the environmental damage done by a throw-away consumer culture. And Andrew Nikiforuk writes about the need for more sustainable economic practices - not only a conversion to new energy sources - in order to combat the climate crisis.

- Finally, Gregory Beatty highlights how the Wexit scam is being used to distract from the real and glaring failures of Scott Moe, Jason Kenney and other right-wing politicians.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Joao Medeiros writes about Mariana Mazzucato's push to have governments use collective wealth and power for the common good.

- Matt Elliott wonders why the Libs and Cons have nothing meaningful to say about housing or transit in an election where those loom as both key issues on their own, and vital parts of the solution to the climate crisis. And Aaron Saad offers a guide to the climate policies on offer from Canada's federal parties.

- Bruce Wilson writes that it's long past time to plan a just transition away from an economy dependent on fossil fuels. And Jillian Ambrose notes that renewable energy is set to replace dirtier legacy sources no matter how stubbornly any company or government tries to stay in denial.

- Sara Mohtehedzadeh and Melissa Renwick report on the many ways in which migrant agricultural workers are exploited.

- Finally, Jim Stanford discusses why we should aspire to far more than a system which allows a few people to hoard massive amounts of wealth. And Tax Justice Now allows anybody to model how the U.S.' economy can be made more inclusive and equal.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Heather Mallick discusses the pattern of right-wing governments obsessing over undoing the good done by their predecessors, rather than paying the slightest attention to the public interest. And Mariana Mazzucato and Josh Ryan-Collins examine (PDF) about the importance of having leaders who work on building public value, rather than reacting only to perceived market failures.

- Matthew Yglesias points out that a contrast in views over public policy which further enriches the wealthy represents one of the most promising wedge issues to split votes away from the U.S. Republicans (not to mention an issue worth pursuing in its own right). David Coletto observes that a similar trend applies in Canada. And Kate Aronoff writes that regardless of any philanthropic contributions, an economic system which generates isolated billionaires rather than widespread power and prosperity is absolutely ill-suited to address the threat of a climate breakdown.

- Joe Vipond and Kim Perrotta highlight how climate change denial is making Albertans sick. James Riley notes that Jason Kenney and Doug Ford are missing the point as to the value of energy efficiency. And Gordon Laxer discusses how the Libs' multi-billion-dollar pipeline purchase and trade sellouts fit into a general lack of serious action to transition toward clean energy.

- Finally, Paige Towers points out how to reduce harmful noise pollution at an individual level. And the Globe and Mail's editorial board suggests that Canadian cities take the lead in turning down the volume at a municipal level.