Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Rebecca Leber highlights how drilling in the Arctic and other high-cost fossil fuel extraction plans are based on a sociopathic bet against any prospect of limiting the harm from a climate breakdown. Carl Meyer reports on new research showing that 90% of Saskatchewan's heavy oil sites aren't bothering to measure methane emissions, instead taking license to spew as much carbon pollution as they can get away with while launching vicious attacks on anybody who suggests they might have some responsibility to humanity at large. And Nina Lakhani discusses how private equity is seeking to extracts profits both from dirty energy, and from cleaning up the damage it causes. 

- Meanwhile, Martin Bush discusses why we need to be focused on renewable energy and power storage, rather than buying into the high cost and massive delay involved in nuclear power. 

- Tatiana Walk-Morris writes about the latest financial industry scam of "earned wage access", in which employers team up with corporations to force people to pay to receive the wages they've earned. 

- Martin Regg Cohn notes that the Greenbelt scandal represents a new low even for a Ford government steeped in corruption and cronyism.

- Finally, Jonathan Sas offers a warning about the politics of resentment and abandonment being pushed by Pierre Poilievre and his party. And Nick Seebruch points out how the Cons are taking a brief break from claiming to be free speech warriors to threaten journalists with jail time for daring to report on their convention. 

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Angela Stewart interviews Malgorzata Gasperowicz about the potential for Alberta to eradicate COVID-19 with a seven-week shutdown, rather than letting new and more dangerous variants run rampant in the months before vaccines can be widely distributed. Jillian Horton observes that premiers who have been unable to recognize the sunk cost fallacy as it applies to their past decision-making are endangering large numbers of lives in the process. Martin Regg Cohn writes that there aren't many easy answers in determining how to handle schools - though funding proper ventilation and reducing community spread would seem to be obvious means of reducing the risk that exists.

- Jeannie Stiglic, Jenny Cowley, Charlsie Agro expose how payday lenders are exploiting Canadians desperate for short-term loans due to a lack of ongoing public supports. And Richard Partington writes about the massive debt being taken on by UK businesses who have been told they need to try to stay open regardless of the harm to public health and their own sustainability.

- Stefanie Marotta points out how workers are caught in the middle of jurisdictional finger-pointing between the Ford PCs and Trudeau Libs when it comes to being able to avoid going to work while sick. And Jeremy Appel writes about the investigation into last year's uncontained outbreak at Cargill's High River meatpacking plant - while Joel Dryden and Sarah Rieger report that there's another one underway. 

- Dharna Noor examines the massive financial costs of putting off a just transition to decarbonized energy, while the Guardian notes that major oil companies are already dealing with the reality that their past windfall profits aren't materializing anymore. And Ben Geman reports on Ford's announcement of a massive investment in shifting to electric vehicles (as a response to GM's loud publicity campaign to the same effect).

- Finally, Gwladys Fouche reports that in addition to participating in the movement away from funding dirty fuels, Norway's sovereign wealth fund is also pulling any support from corporations engaged in tax evasion. And Ashley Cowburn reports that even the UK Cons are going further than federal Libs in examining the prospect of a windfall profit tax so that the world's largest companies don't further add to their wealth and power as a result of a pandemic.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Michael Orsini challenges the use of "resilience" as an excuse to neglect government choices and make individuals responsible for social failings:

The resilience industry is rooted in an individual model of change, one that leaves untouched the structures and systems that are responsible for the trauma in the first place. Children growing up in under-served communities would not have to “overcome” their environments if their schools and neighbourhoods had the resources they deserved. Indigenous people would not need to become resilient in the face of colonial dispossession had they not been forced into residential schools or had their land occupied. As disability studies scholar Eli Clare reminds us, the language of “overcoming” is deeply ableist, as well, implying that people can will things away if they just work more or try harder.

...

Resilience is even used to refer to structures that can withstand environmental catastrophe. Focusing on buildings that are tough enough to recover from weather-related calamities neatly sidesteps the real issue: climate change. Sustainable buildings are only as “sustainable” as the world in which they find themselves: a resilient building is no match for a world upended by the perils of climate change. Similarly, a resilient person is powerless in the face of structures that need to be dismantled, not reinforced.

It’s not surprising that many, including elected officials, take solace in narratives of resilience and recovery. They lift us out of the pit of despondency. But we need to collectively challenge some of these policy responses that are grounded in notions of resilience. These feel-good stories of “building back better” or “overcoming adversity” provide only temporary comfort. They mask problematic assumptions about the relative capacity of individuals to confront structures and conditions that are not of their own making.

 And it's worth offering a reminder in that context of the Saskatchewan Party's attempt to get around meaningful action to combat a climate breakdown.

- Emily Peck examines how the security of paid sick leave reduces the spread of the coronavirus. And Martin Regg Cohn writes about COVID-19's disproportionate impact on the homeless and powerless.

- Meanwhile, Trish Greenhalgh, Martin McKee and Michelle Kelly-Irving examine the funding behind COVID-19 disinformation.

- Finally, Nicolas Rivero discusses how the heat generated by data centres can be put to good use - rather than being countered by wasteful cooling systems. But Nat Herz reports that the oil sector instead wants to use large amounts of energy trying to cool thawing permafrost just long enough to allow for fossil fuel extraction.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Eric Doherty, and Eric Galbraith and Ross Otto, respectively write that the response to the coronavirus shows how it's possible to imagine and implement needed changes along the lines of a Green New Deal. And Heather Mallick theorizes that it can also be a first step toward living more intelligently.

- The Star's editorial board points out how the pandemic has shown gaping holes in our existing social safety net, while Martin Regg Cohn writes that many people are just now learning how precarious much work has become. And Justin Ling rightly criticizes how marginalized people including prisoners and asylum seekers are being endangered by the Libs' choices.

- Jim Stanford writes that what's needed for the future goes far beyond mere stimulus:

There is enormous need for urgent rebuilding required in our economy and our communities. Repairing and strengthening health care infrastructure comes first, but other priorities, too, are urgent: like sustainable transit, green energy, non-market housing, aged care and early child education.

The case for mobilising resources under the leadership of governments and public institutions, and employing millions of Australians to do that work, is compelling. We can repair the damage of this crisis (and better prepare for the next one), deliver valuable services, and create millions of jobs. All we need is the willingness to imagine a different model of organizing and leading economic activity.
...
The failure of financialized, neoliberal capitalism will be laid bare more clearly than ever in coming months. The private sector will definitely be unable to get the economy back on its feet after this crisis. So we need to look elsewhere for economic leadership.

Just as World War II ‘solved’ the Great Depression by mobilizing enormous resources in an urgent attempt to meet a huge threat (global fascism), we now need another, peaceful war – a war on poverty, on epidemics, and on pollution.

And by organizing ourselves as society to fight that war, we will actually make ourselves better off right now: creating jobs and incomes, providing needed care and services, generating taxes. And we will benefit in the long-run by winning those ‘wars,’ and building a safer, sustainable world.

- Finally, Anna Stansbury and Lawrence Summers examine the connection between a decline in worker bargaining power and the erosion of the U.S.' economic performance. And Thomas Piketty highlights how Bernie Sanders' campaign is making a desperately-needed attempt to give the U.S.' democracy a boost.

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.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Tom Parkin talks to Toby Sanger about the utter failure of corporate tax cuts to produce anything other than concentrated wealth and increased inequality.

- Steven Greenhouse offers suggestions both as to how governments can level the playing field between workers and employers to reduce inequality, and how workers can have a voice even before those structural fixes are made.

- Alan Freeman examines the dangers associated with the Boeing 737 Max as a prime example of the consequences of deregulation.

- Robert Benzie reports that groups helping people with disabilities in Ontario are the latest to find out that Doug Ford isn't prepared to provide the funding needed to perform their work. And the Canadian Press reports that the same municipal cuts which were hastily reversed due to their devastating effect on communities are now set to be imposed again beginning in 2020.

- Martin Regg Cohn points out the absurdity of Ford ordering gas stations to display political propaganda.

- Finally, James Cairns writes about the selective nature of right-wing "free speech" messaging - which is in fact designed to do nothing but silence anybody other than their own reactionary movement.

Monday Morning Links

Assorted content to start your week.

- Martin Regg Cohn discusses how workers are bearing the brunt of Doug Ford's budget. Joe Light offers a reminder that Donald Trump's populist rhetoric predictably gave way to a tax scheme designed to further enrich CEOs at the expense of everybody else. And Matt Bruenig points out that U.S. workers actually pay relatively high taxes and mandatory payments while receiving paltry benefits compared to other developed countries.

- Meanwhile, Marshall Appelbaum makes the case for public disclosure of the taxes paid by each citizen.

- Noah Smith notes that a growing body of evidence is showing how government intervention is key to economic development - even if that reality never gets acknowledged by laissez-faire zealots.

- Jeff Daniels reports on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' observation that climate delay and denial are the product of privilege and removal from the immediate consequences of neglect.

- Finally, Jerry Dias discusses the choice Alberta voters have between hope and fear. Sharon Riley offers a reminder of the province's continued reliance on one-time resource revenues. And Emily Leedham and Chloe Rockarts write about the future of worker power in Alberta.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Linda McQuaig writes that Canada's federal government should look at buying the soon-to-be-vacated GM plant in Oshawa to begin production of electric vehicles. But Nav Persaud notes that even when the Trudeau Libs make promises about using government power and resources for the public good, they ultimately end up going along with the wishes of the corporate sector.

- E. Tammy Kim writes that instead of relying on corporations to address housing shortages, cities should ensure the actors who cause and profit from rising rents are taxed to cover the cost.

- Ivana Kottasova reports on a new study showing how the global environment can't handle the damage caused by the U.S.' increase in fossil fuel production and consumption. And Fatima Syed reports on Doug Ford's extension of anti-government dogma to the treatment of endangered species in Ontario.

- Meanwhile, Erika Shaker examines the predictable effects of Ford's plan to undermine student newspapers and organizations as part of a more general attack on post-secondary education, while Nora Loreto points out that it particularly stands to weaken students' voices in the general public. And Martin Regg Cohn views the false promise of tuition cuts as following in the PCs' buck-a-beer tradition of counterproductive, faux-populist policies.

- Claire Clancy reports on recent findings of Alberta's Elections Commissioner concluding that Rebel Media and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation have broken election laws. And Elizabeth Thompson reports that a single guilty plea and small fine looks like it may close the door on any public knowledge of SNC Lavalin's system of illegal federal political donations to the Libs and Cons.

- Finally, Trish Hennessy discusses some trends to watch for - and positive change to pursue - in the year ahead.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Joe Pinsker offers a reminder that the wealthiest individuals are primarily concerned with positional rather than absolute gains - meaning that nothing useful is accomplished by diverting wealth toward them other than to drive up the price of status symbols. And Thomas Piketty thoroughly debunks Emmanuel Macron's excuses for abolishing France's wealth tax and otherwise governing solely for the benefit of the wealthiest few.

- Abby Olena discusses the Great Dying to be expected when oceans warm up to levels intolerable for the species which live there. The Canadian Press reports on the obstacle Canada's oil and gas industry presents in any attempt to meaningfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Carl Meyer reports that the existing TransMountain pipeline bought by the federal government may be a money sink even before a nickel is spent on any expansion.

- PressProgress exposes how Jason Kenney arranged for a sham candidate to enter the UCP's leadership race for the sole purpose of attacking Brian Jean.

- Mike Crawley reports on the dark corporate money behind Ontario Proud's bigoted anti-refugee advertising in that province's most recent election campaign. And Martin Regg Cohn examines the first proceedings of Doug Ford's kangaroo court, while Robyn Urback takes note of the high cost of Ford's false efficiencies.

- Finally, Rachel Langford discusses the risks of Ford's lowering of standards for child care in the name of profit. And Alex Hemingway comments on the importance of taking health and safety into account in establishing policy for ride-sharing services.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Crawford Kilian reviews Christo Aivalis' The Constant Liberal, and discusses how Justin Trudeau is continuing a family tradition of betraying progressive voters:

[Pierre Trudeau] wanted to strengthen unions and workers in general — up to a point. It wasn’t to help the workers; it was to use them “instrumentally,” to rescue liberalism from the dead end of the Duplessistes and right-wing Liberals and Progressive Conservatives in the rest of Canada. Otherwise, labour would move left again, back to its 1930s socialism.
...
Trudeau mocked Tory leader Robert Stanfield’s promise of wage and price controls in a time of soaring inflation, won the election with working-class votes, and promptly brought in wage and price controls. Labour and the NDP were furious because they’d been led to hope for “tripartism,” whereby workers, corporations, and the government would be equal partners. Instead, Trudeau cast unions as the greedy drivers of inflation and locked down their wages while the corporations found loopholes. Worse yet, the Charter was adopted without any guarantees of social or labour rights. 
...
Aivalis finds Justin Trudeau very much like his father: politically able to “hamstring” the NDP by attracting left-wing voters and then disappointing them by reneging on his promises (proportional voting) and taking labour-hostile measures (legislating an end to the postal workers’ strike).

“Ultimately,” he concludes, if it truly is ‘like father, like son,’ Canadians on the left might be wise to prepare for years, if not a generation, of deep disappointment.”

- Kerensa Cadenas points out how the U.S.' National Climate Assessment confirms that climate denialism only stands to be a drag on economic development in the long run. Jeff Lewis, Jeffrey Jones, Chen Wang and Renata D'Alesio report on the financial and environmental mess being made of Alberta's oil patch as the oil industry tries to simultaneously extract short-term profits and offload long-term responsibility. And Regan Boychuk comments on the massive cleanup costs likely to be left for the province after the oil barons have cleared any liabilities off their books.

- Meanwhile, Martin Regg Cohn discusses how Ontario's environment stands to suffer from the Ford Cons' plans to place any watchdog function in the hands of an auditor general's office which both isn't equipped for the job, and has been inexplicably cavalier toward environmental actions in the past. And Christen Shepherd comments on the elimination of Ontario's child advocate who served as a desperately-needed source of hope for vulnerable children.

- And in case there was any doubt how little interest Ford's government has in ensuring that any oversight is effective or unbiased, Rob Ferguson reports on directions from Ford's chief of staff to use law enforcement to raid cannabis stores in order to generate photo ops.

- Finally, Lori Culbert and Dan Fumano report on the failure of one of the B.C. Libs' private housing projects. And the Canadian Press reports that rather than following the same model, the Horgan government is providing direct funding for 1,100 homes for Indigenous residents.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Campbell Robb laments the persistence of in-work poverty in the UK - though it's of course worth noting the reality that poverty of all kinds is worth combating. Pat Thane points out that increasing poverty can be traced directly to deliberate and avoidable austerity, while the Real News talks to Matt Gardner about the U.S.' exacerbation of inequality through tax giveaways to the rich. And Susan Delacourt wonders what happened to Justin Trudeau's supposed interest in alleviating inequality in Canada.

- Jesse McLaren points out how Doug Ford's attacks on workers will only make the hallway medicine problem worse by foisting more social problems onto the health care system. And Martin Regg Cohn writes about Ford's choice to target younger Ontarians.

- David Climenhaga comments on Jason Kenney's used-car-salesman brand of politics. And Murray Mandryk discusses how the Saskatchewan Party is refusing to cut the province's losses on the Global Transportation Hub by throwing busing subsidies at Loblaws even after cutting off transportation for Saskatchewan's citizens.

- Finally, James Wilt interviews Bruce Campbell about his new book on the Lac-Mégantic explosion - and the real danger to the public posed by continued regulatory capture.

Saturday Morning Links

This and that for your weekend reading.

- Kate Aronoff interviews Mariana Mazzucato about The Value of Everything, including some important discussion about the relationship between governments and markets:

Aronoff: You talk a lot about the power of the state in shaping markets. What does the idea that the government should only intervene to tweak markets get wrong?

Mazzucato: How we talk about governments and markets is very problematic. In traditional economic theory, governments are just fixing market failures. And I talk about governments—if they’re actually well organized—as different types of public institutions in society. I see them as co-creators of wealth. They co-create and co-shape markets, not just fix them. Regulation is even a problematic phrase, because it sounds like the market is just there and created by others, and the government is just there to regulate it and make it a bit more stable. Redefining markets is central to what I believe we should be doing, and that leads to very different types of policy.

Aronoff: Are there any places where you think the private sector simply shouldn’t play a role? What’s the balance?

Mazzucato: There are two issues. Whether it’s public or private ownership, a key problem is how public and private meet, right? So in the UK—take the railways. Forget for a minute whether they should be public or privately owned. If you are going to privatize them, you better get the contract right. In exchange for what he got in the contract to buy the public railway system, [Virgin CEO] Richard Branson—who bought the rails—should have been forced to promise that he would invest in the rail system and make it more efficient and more green. Whether it’s water or energy, companies should be made to invest profits in, for example, renewable energy, but also in methods that will improve the product itself and the value to the consumer. In the drive for outsourcing and privatization, these contracts have been written problematically.

Then the question is, should some areas be fully public? Well sure, those areas which are absolutely fundamental. I believe medicine is one of them. Essential medicine like vaccines are a human right. It’s very hard to apply the profit model there. Instead of companies just trying to charge a lot of money in order to recoup their cost, you could have the government set a prize for any company that wants to come in and produce this drug that will solve a certain disease, and lay out the metrics for evaluating whether that drug is what we’re looking for.

- Don Lenihan writes that climate change represents the ultimate example of an issue where obvious long-term needs are being ignored due to short-term political motivations on the part of voters and politicians alike.

- Chuka Ejeckam highlights how British Columbia's electoral reform referendum could be a first step toward change across Canada, while Andrew Coyne notes that London, ON's municipal election will offer a first example of ranked ballots in action. And Seth Klein offers his take on the three more proportional systems on the ballot.

- And finally, Martin Regg Cohn's criticism of Doug Ford's patronage highlights one of the main problems with first-past-the-post: when elections are seen primarily as a means of saying "no" to incumbents, it's all too easy to get stuck with an even worse alternative.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Ed Finn offers a reminder that Canada's social safety net is leading to the perpetuation of poverty despite ample resources to end it. And Niall McCarthy discusses the worsening state of financial inequality across the developed world.

- Hadrian Metrins-Kirkwood points out that enhanced sick leave under Employment Insurance would result in an affordable benefit to people who need it.

- Robert Reich reviews new books by Annie Lowrey and Andrew Yang on the value of a basic income, but recognizes the importance of dealing with inequality all along the income spectrum:

A U.B.I. might give recipients a bit more time to pursue socially beneficial activities, like helping the elderly or attending to kids with special needs or perhaps even starting a new business. Yang suggests it would spur a system of “social credits” in which people trade their spare time by performing various helpful tasks for one another. (I.R.S. be warned.) Surely a U.B.I. would help compensate many people — especially women — for the unpaid labor they already contribute. As Lowrey points out, some 40 million family caregivers in America provide half a trillion dollars of unpaid adult care annually. Child care has become so expensive that one of every three stay-at-home mothers today lives below the poverty line (compared with 14 percent in 1970).
...
Whatever the source of funds, it seems a safe bet that increased automation will allow the economy to continue to grow, making a U.B.I. more affordable. A U.B.I. would itself generate more consumer spending, stimulating additional economic activity. And less poverty would mean less crime, incarceration and other social costs associated with deprivation. “You know what’s really expensive?” Yang asks. “Dysfunction. Revolution.”
...
A core challenge in the future will be how to redistribute money from the ever richer owners of the robots and related technologies to the rest of us, who are otherwise likely to become poorer and less secure. This is not just an economic challenge but also a political one. As we know from recent history, vast fortunes translate directly into political power, and such power effectively resists redistribution.

- Lucas Laursen reports that in contrast to the consistent failure of Canada as a whole or any of its provinces to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets (or even develop a plausible plan to do so), California is now ahead of schedule in reducing its emissions while thriving economically.

- Finally, Martin Regg Cohn writes about the price Ontario stands to pay for Doug Ford's anti-tax dogma.

Friday Evening Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Martin Regg Cohn writes that reducing access to pharmacare is just the first item on Doug Ford's extensive hidden agenda. And Steve Morgan examines the effects of Ford's cuts to public prescription drug coverage and finds that the end result of relying more on the private sector will be added costs borne disproportionately by the middle class.

- David Climenhaga points out that the funding for Canada's anti-tax propaganda mills includes the donation-laundering mechanisms used by American billionaires.

- Corey Shefman recognizes that the disproportionate concentration of Indigenous people in jails should be considered a national crisis. And Max Fineday notes that the gap is only getting worse for the new generation of Indigenous youth.

- Lana Borenstein highlights why Scott Moe's crusade against greenhouse gas emission pricing is likely doomed to fail.  And Marc Lee offers a reminder of the massive public subsidies behind British Columbia's liquid natural gas industry (among other fossil fuel development).

- Finally, Claire Cain Miller explores the factors behind the choice of younger Americans to have fewer children, and finds that a lack of affordable child care is at the top of the list.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Martha Friendly, Susan Prentice and Morna Ballantyne discuss how universal child care is a necessary element of any serious push toward equality for women. Dennis Grunding notes that it will take a concerted public effort to secure the universal pharmacare program Canadians want and deserve - even though the blueprint was set out over half a century ago. And the Star's editorial board calls out the Libs for their stubborn and counterproductive refusal to consider universal social programs of any kind:

The research of Rothstein and others, drawing on numerous international examples, suggests universal programs have a number of advantages that should not be glibly dismissed by governments, especially ones concerned about the middle class and those aspiring to join it.

For instance, because everyone benefits from them and is therefore invested, universal programs have been shown to be more durable, less vulnerable to market fluctuations or political lurches. Commitment to medicare, for example, has not seriously wavered, even through major recessions and long stretches of austerity government.

Moreover, while the initial costs can seem politically prohibitive, universal programs often create significant long-term savings. A universal pharmacare program, for instance, would allow for the bulk-purchasing of drugs and the elimination of administrative bureaucracy, yielding billions of dollars in savings forgone by a more targeted approach.

Finally, and crucially for a government concerned about inequality, universal programs have been shown to promote solidarity and trust. Targeted or means-tested programs may stigmatize recipients, contributing to a sense that low-income people are apart from the rest of the community. “A welfare state built mainly on means-tested programs,” Rothstein writes, can actually “perpetuate feelings of inequality among both the poor and the more affluent.”

Such feelings should worry Trudeau. After all, the prime minister rightly observed that Donald Trump won the U.S. election in part because too many Americans felt they were not sharing in the country’s prosperity and that this was something Ottawa must also address. The evidence suggests universal programs, design depending, can be a powerful tool for doing just that.

- Meanwhile, Patrick DeRochie lists a few of the crucial social supports which are receiving substantially less federal money than the Libs are paying out in subsidies to oil and gas companies.

- Andrew Jackson points out the importance of measuring different types of poverty (including absolute and relative measures), and ensuring that public policy responds to all of them.

- Finally, Rick Salutin discusses the potentially valuable side of populism which genuinely reflects the interests of people excluded from decision-making. And commenting on the Ontario PCs' leadership campaign, Martin Regg Cohn recognizes the risks that arise when only anti-social candidates present populist messages.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Larry Elliott writes about the fragility of the political and economic structures which the world's most privileged people are seeking to entrench in Davos. And Branko Milanovic discusses the importance of intra-country inequality which is getting worse around the globe.

- Laurie Monsebraaten reports on new research in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showing that we can achieve better health outcomes by investing in social supports.

- Katherine McGilton and John Muscedere comment on the need to listen to people living with frailty. And Patrick Butler takes note of widespread but hidden malnutrition amount UK seniors.

- Linda McQuaig points out how the spread of the franchise model has made it difficult for workers to effectively organize. But Martin Regg Cohn theorizes that Tim Hortons' offensive response to a long-overdue minimum wage hike might help lay the ground work for a more union-friendly labour law environment.

- Finally, Tom Parkin discusses how Justin Trudeau's insistence on signing onto the Trans-Pacific Partnership will hurt the auto sector among other key Canadian industries. And Kelly Steele reports on the Libs going into hiding after realizing they couldn't possibly defend their decision to the public.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Nathaniel Lewis and Matt Bruenig discuss the relationship between massive inheritances and ongoing wealth inequality. Nick Hanauer makes the case for much higher taxes on the wealthy as part of a plan for improved economic development, while a new Ipsos poll finds that three-quarters of Americans are in favour of that possibility. And Larry Elliott reports on a new IMF study which concludes that a more progressive tax system will reduce inequality without affecting growth:

The Washington-based IMF used its influential half-yearly fiscal monitor to demolish the argument that economic growth would suffer if governments in advanced Western countries forced the top 1% of earners to pay more tax.

The IMF said tax theory suggested there should be “significantly higher” tax rates for those on higher incomes but the argument against doing so was that hitting the rich would be bad for growth.

But the influential global institution said: “Empirical results do not support this argument, at least for levels of progressivity that are not excessive.” The IMF added that different types of wealth taxes might also be considered.
...
IMF research found that between 1985 and 1995, redistribution through the tax system had offset 60% of the increase in inequality caused by market forces. But between 1995 and 2010, income tax systems failed to respond to the continuing increase in inequality.

It also said inequality should be tackled by giving a more pro-poor slant to public spending.

“Despite progress, gaps in access to quality education and healthcare services between different income groups in the population remain in many countries,” Gaspar and Garcia-Escribano said, adding that in rich countries men with university education lived up to 14 years longer than those with secondary education or less.

“Better public spending can help, for instance, by reallocating education or health spending from the rich to the poor while keeping total public education or health spending unchanged,” they added.

- Michael Nienaber reports on a push by German trade unions to translate productivity gains into reduced hours of work. And Martin Regg Cohn argues that corporate fearmongering isn't a valid reason to avoid ensuring that workers make a living wage.

- Meanwhile, the Mowat Centre and Smart Prosperity Institute study (PDF) how decent work fits into a green economy. And George Monbiot theorizes that a combination of private sufficiency and public luxury could represent the economic model which allows us to reconcile higher standards of living with environmental sustainability.

- Finally, Geoff Leo reports that the Wall government has ordered public servants to use private e-mail accounts to deal with sensitive issues in order to avoid any public record of their actions. And Alex MacPherson notes that the Sask Party has refused (or neglected) to provide information to allow the Auditor General to even assess the effects of its destruction of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Linda McQuaig writes that it's long past time to review our tax system to make sure it isn't unfairly leaking money to the people who need it least:

These high rollers are able to avoid substantial amounts of tax by setting up private corporations and then funneling their incomes through these corporations.

The widespread use of this tax avoidance scheme only came to light because of a detailed 2014 study by public finance scholars Michael Wolfson, Michael Veall and Neil Brooks, who used previously unavailable data from tax returns to show that billions of dollars received by some of the richest Canadians had not been included in the calculation of their incomes.

Once this invisible income — amounting to an astonishing $48 billion in 2010 — is added to their reported personal incomes, Canada’s rich are considerably richer than we’ve been led to believe.

For instance, according to commonly used data (for 2011), the average income for those in Canada’s top 1 per cent was $359,000. But once the income they held in private corporations was added, the actual average annual income of these folks was a much heftier $500,200.

The higher up the income ladder, the more popular private corporations have become. Roughly 80 per cent of the richest .01 per cent of Canadians funnel income through private corporations and the amounts involved are substantial, the study found.

The average income for those in the top .01 per cent was $4.69 million a year — an enormous income. But once the income held in their private corporations was added, the average income in this privileged group actually jumped to a stunning $8 million a year.
...
The tax loophole for private corporations is, of course, just one of the loopholes benefiting the rich and we need a comprehensive examination of all of them, if we’re to begin addressing the growing inequality in our society.

But the skirmish over this loophole is an important battle. And it won’t be easily won, given the reluctance of the powerful to give up their tax breaks. Lined up with them is Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and the high-powered world of Bay Street tax practitioners, who are churning out technical arguments aimed at obscuring what’s at stake and leaving ordinary citizens inclined to leave such complex matters to the professionals.

That’s unfortunate, because what’s at stake here is vital in a democracy — a tax system that’s fair, with the ability to raise sufficient revenue to fund key public programs that benefit us all.

- Gregory Beatty talks to Erin Weir about the real effect of the loopholes under review. And Lana Payne links closing tax loopholes to improved minimum wages as basic steps toward shared economic prosperity.

- Speaking of which, Michal Rozworski duly critiques the TD Bank's attempt to fearmonger about a $15 minimum wage. And Martin Regg Cohn discusses why we should be skeptical of corporate interests trying to prevent workers from sharing in economic growth.

- Noah Smith examines how a focus on short-term returns leads to worse results in the long run both for individual businesses and the economy as a whole. And Matt Egan notes that wealth inequality is worse in the U.S. than it's ever been.

- Finally, Shawn Micallef comments on the dangers of cities not designed for basic resident safety - with a lack of bike infrastructure which creates imminent risks for cyclists serving as a particularly vivid example.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Kevin McKean discusses how inequality undermines the goal of ensuring a healthy population. Matt Bruenig examines new data showing that the concentration of wealth in the U.S. is getting more extreme by the year. Steven Pearlstein writes about new polling showing that the U.S. public strongly favours higher taxes on corporations in the name of funding social supports - even as Donald Trump and the Republicans push for the exact opposite. And Robert Reich argues as to why the wealthy should be expected to pay more in the U.S.:

The rich aren’t overtaxed. The wealthiest 1 percent in the U.S. pay the lowest taxes as a percent of their income and total wealth of the top 1 percent in any major country – and far lower than they paid in the U.S. during the first three decades after World War II, when the American economy grew faster than it’s been growing since the Reagan tax cuts.

But we do have a deficit in public investment – especially in education and infrastructure. And we do have a national debt that topped $20 trillion this year and is expected to grow by an additional $10 trillion over the next decade.

What’s the answer? Raise taxes on big corporations and the wealthy. That’s what rational politicians would do if they weren’t in the pockets of big corporations and the wealthy.

- Meanwhile, Jerry Dias makes the case to close corporate tax loopholes so everybody pays their fair share for the public services Canadians value. But Nassim Khadem offers a warning from Australia about the use of public money to advertise a supposed crackdown which may have far less effect than promised.

- Sheila Block and Michal Rozworski refute some of the Ontario business lobby's fearmongering about a more fair minimum wage and other improved working conditions. And Martin Regg Cohn points out how the province has been complicit in allowing businesses to evade employment standards and put workers at risk.

- David Roberts discusses the effect of renewable energy mandates, and finds that they've proven effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions while more than paying for themselves.  

- Finally, Tom Parkin writes that Jason Kenney is offering Albertans nothing but snake oil in his bid to take over the province.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Tom Parkin writes that the economic boost provided by an expanded child benefit offers another indication of how action to fight poverty ultimately helps everybody. And Dylan Matthews discusses how much more could be done through a well-designed basic income - while recognizing the pitfalls of pale imitations.

- Ginella Massa reports on a rent strike among Toronto tenants which has brought landlords to the table to discuss rents as a clear demonstration that collective action can achieve substantive results.

- Annabelle Olivier reports on Quebec's deal with generic drug manufacturers to reduce drug costs by $300 million per year. But Martin Regg Cohn notes that Canada's provinces can do far more to make prescription drugs affordable by cooperating to make pharmacare a national priority - including by making sure the public interest in affordable medication is protected in any future NAFTA discussions.

- Meanwhile, Kelly Grant points out that Canada ranks poorly compared to other developed countries in health outcomes due largely to patchy access to dental care and needed medications.

- Debi Daviau notes that the public pays the price when essential support services for program delivery are put in corporate hands. 

- Finally, Thomas Woodley discusses how the Trudeau Libs have followed the Harper Cons' pattern of tacitly supporting the proliferation of nuclear weapons rather than pushing for disarmament.