Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Aditya Chakrabortty writes about the consequences of the UK's choice not to fund its or social infrastructure:

We are right in the middle of an infrastructure breakdown – we just haven’t named it yet. You’ll know what I mean when we list the component parts. More than 760 youth clubs have shut across the UK since 2012. A pub closes every 12 hours. Nearly 130 libraries were scrapped last year, and those that survive in England have lopped off 230,000 opening hours.

Each of the above is a news story. Each stings a different group: the books trade, the real-ale aficionados, the trade unions. But knit them together and a far darker picture emerges. Britain is being stripped of its social infrastructure: the institutions that make up its daily life, the buildings and spaces that host friends and gently push strangers together. Public parks are disappearing. Playgrounds are being sold off. High streets are fast turning to desert. These trends are national, but their greatest force is felt in the poorest towns and suburbs, the most remote parts of the countryside, where there isn’t the footfall to lure in the businesses or household wealth to save the local boozer.
...
When it comes to transport or energy or sewage, Britain has a National Infrastructure Commission that monitors the country’s needs and guides parliament on where to direct spending. After all, the quality of such hard infrastructure influences where multinationals set up shop: it is money-making. But parks and libraries don’t generate cash. Social infrastructure has no lobby, no registry of assets and certainly no government agency. No Whitehall official monitors how much of it has closed or withered away – that relies on civil society groups to file freedom of information requests or badger town halls with survey. Everyone knows we need it, yet just as our economic model prizes shareholder returns over investment in the National Grid, so our politics relies on drawing in the voters with unfeasibly low taxes. Until one day, something breaks and all hell breaks loose.

So here is a suggestion for Jeremy Corbyn or Nicola Sturgeon or Adam Price or whoever else fancies it. Talk about the importance of social infrastructure. Promise to set up a commission explicitly to audit what we have and help protect it. Commit public money to it, alongside gentle pressure on the private sector to do its bit. That way, we can publicly mark the public institutions we all know we need – and show the esteem due to the people who keep them going and use them. The spirit we need is that summed up by the librarian who rhapsodises to Klinenberg about his branch: “The library really is a palace. It bestows nobility on people who can’t otherwise afford a shred of it. People need to have nobility and dignity in their lives. And, you know, they need other people to recognise it in them too.”

- Chris Varcoe reports that the UCP's corporate tax giveaways are predictably leading to no economic benefit to anybody other than shareholders and executives. And Jessica Elgot reports on UK Labour's plans to give municipalities the power to restore abandoned shops to public use.

- Andrew Mitrovica highlights the significance of Justin Trudeau's ethical violations. The Globe and Mail's editorial board lists the many failings which went into the Libs' attempt to twist laws and constitutional principles to serve SNC-Lavalin. And Andrew Coyne zeroes in on the deception involved in Trudeau's interventions - including toward the Attorney General he'd appointed to uphold the rule of law.

- Ben Smee reports on a prime example on the contempt fossil fuel spokesflacks have for the lives of people affected by a climate breakdown. And Rick Salutin calls attention to Canada's appalling support for anti-democratic corporate repression in Honduras.

- Finally, Oliver Franklin-Wallis discusses the limited effectiveness of plastic recycling.

On selloffs and sellouts

So far, there hasn't been much follow-up since the revelation that the Saskatchewan Party set up (PDF) a committee, and arranged for sensitive operational details to be handed over to bidders in the process. But while there's plenty left to be investigated about how both the secret committee and the Crowns themselves tried to sell off public resources behind closed doors, we can already identify some glaring dishonesty from the Saskatchewan Party government.

Here's what was revealed as a result of SaskTel's submissions to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner about information never before revealed to the public. See para. 97:

In its submission, SaskTel indicated the following:

• the Cabinet Committee on Crown Structure had been set up to oversee the potential sale of up to 50% of crown corporations. It was created by the Premier at the March 1, 2017 Cabinet meeting.
• the Vice-Chairperson of the Cabinet Committee on Crown Structure (Vice-Chairperson), who was also the Minister Responsible for SaskTel and SaskTel Holding Corporation (SaskTel Minister), verbally asked SaskTel’s President and CEO to prepare the slide decks (records 10 and 11).
• SaskTel’s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) prepared the slide deck to allow the Vice-Chairperson/SaskTel Minister to review the progress that had been made and to ultimately make decisions and determine next steps, if any, to achieve a partial sale of SaskTel.
• SaskTel’s President and CEO was advised that the slide deck would be shared with the Cabinet Committee on Crown Structure where further decisions would be made.
• The content of records 10 and 11 would clearly be so important that Cabinet and its committees would had to have been involved in a decision.

So how forthcoming was the Saskatchewan Party about its having taken the time which could have been spent consulting on tragic budget decisions to work on handing over equity stakes in the Crowns? For the answer, let's go to the March 6, 2017 Hansard (PDF) - in the first question period after Brad Wall secretly set up his selloff committee:

Mr. McCall: — Mr. Speaker, it’s cold comfort to the 40,000 Saskatchewan people that are out of work on this government’s watch. The Sask Party’s callous cuts are putting thousands of jobs at risk, more jobs, Mr. Speaker. And their plan to sell off up to 49 per cent of our Crowns without a referendum puts even more jobs at risk along with hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends that help to pay for health care and education.

The Sask Party’s plan to sell our Crowns to pay for their mismanagement was given a resounding no in the Meewasin by-election, Mr. Speaker, and the Sask Party should listen to that message. Will the Premier honour his promise from the last election? Will he stop the attempted sell-off? Will he scrap Bill 40 today?

Hon. Mr. Wall: With respect to the Crown corporations, Mr. Speaker, let me say this: what we said in the wake of the MTS [Manitoba Telephone System] takeover, Mr. Speaker, is that were we, as the representatives of the shareholder, to get an offer with respect to SaskTel to buy SaskTel in its entirety, were we to get an offer that checked off a number of boxes including better coverage and jobs here in Regina and across the province and a good price, that we would take that deal to the people in a referendum.

What has become abundantly clear to members on this side of the House, what has become abundantly clear to me — yes, and including what we heard in the Meewasin by-election but not limited to that — is that the people of the province aren’t interested in it. They’re not interested in a referendum. They oppose the sale of SaskTel, Mr. Speaker. That is what we campaigned on.

So, Mr. Speaker, I will just confirm for members of the House that notwithstanding if there ever is an offer to purchase SaskTel, we’re not going to take it forward. It’s not for sale.

Of course, it took two and a half years and a change in the Premier's office for the public to find out that only five days before providing his assurance - in a forum where it constitutes contempt to make misleading statements - that SaskTel was "not for sale", Wall had himself put a process in motion to sell it. And the OIPC's report confirms that the process continued long after the above answer.

So when Moe - who was of course in Cabinet at the time - now tries to claim there's no reason to doubt any assurances about the future of the Crowns even as SaskTel explicitly argues that it's leaving the door open for future takeovers, he needs to be met with some sharp questioning as to when he'll disavow his predecessor for misleading the province. And if Moe actually expects voters to trust him no matter how often his government lies and gaslights about its intentions, then the only reasonable response is to prove him wrong.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Nicholas Kristof writes about Donald Trump's choice to put the most virulent anti-worker cronies imaginable in charge of U.S. labour policy. David Climenhaga weighs in on the UPC's laughably biased committee charged with the task of driving down wages for service workers. And Joel French comments on the need to be wary of the panel intended to provide political cover for public-sector austerity.

- Sarath Pereis discusses how Scott Moe is treating Saskatchewan's citizens as pawns in an effort to influence the federal election.

- Jacquie Miller writes about the effect of private money in creating inequality within Ottawa's education system. And Jennifer Francis reports on one teacher's attempt to coordinate wholesale fundraising to patch over the holes in Saskatchewan's funding for schools.

- Meanwhile, Paul Willcocks points out the desperately reality-averse response of Lib mouthpieces to the finding that Justin Trudeau's efforts to put the thumb on the scales of justice on behalf of SNC Lavalin breached his ethical obligations.

- Finally, Robert Skidelsky makes the case for a guaranteed job program - though it's worth questioning his focus on "want of work" as a matter of greater urgency than the ability to afford the necessities of life.

Musical interlude

Glass Animals - Gooey

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Richard Cannings comments on the need for governments to collect a fair share of revenue from wealthy individuals and corporations. And Erin Weir argues that Canada's federal government shouldn't subsidize Jason Kenney's corporate tax giveaway with abatements on federal taxes.

- Meanwhile, Paul Krugman discusses the damage being done by the U.S.' plutocrats who are happily accepting the destruction of their country's social and economic infrastructure in exchange for short-term tax handouts.

- Jennifer Szalai reviews Christopher Leonard's Kochland, including a look at how the Koch brothers have manipulated governments and employees alike to wring out every possible dollar with no regard for any community interests. And David Olive notes that a reckoning is coming for the pharmaceutical corporations which have created North America's opioid crisis - while also observing that government acquiescence has played a role in an issue which hasn't similarly taken hold elsewhere. 

- Karl Nerenberg discusses the role Canada's successful but incomplete public health care system is playing in elections on both sides of the border. And A Montgomery et al study the consequences of widespread burnout among health care workers facing increasing demands and decreasing resources to fund them.

- Finally, Mary O'Hara writes about the connections between poverty and mental health - and the need for public policy which properly invests in ameliorating both. 

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Ben Parfitt comments on the dangers of captured regulators such as B.C.'s Oil and Gas Commission who end up serving corporate "clients" rather than the public interest. And Bryan Walsh discusses the discounting effect which makes it all too frequent for people to avoid seriously considering the long-term effects of a climate breakdown (among other policy choices).

- But if we needed an example as to how pollution affects people every day, Allison Aubrey discusses new research showing that smog and other air pollution can be as harmful to a person's lungs as being a heavy smoker. Pheobe Weston reports on the spread of microplastics to the most remote areas of the globe. And Jillian Ambrose reports on new research showing how fracking results in the emission of large quantities of methane with severe climate consequences.

- Meanwhile, Michael Salmato points out that plenty of coal workers (among other people currently tied to fossil fuels) recognize the need for a just transition to more sustainable energy sources.

- In the wake of the Ethics Commissioner's report finding Justin Trudeau to have broken the law by pressuring Jody Wilson-Raybould in SNC Lavalin's interests, Paul Wells highlights the reminder that a government's decisions and actions have consequences beyond immediate public relations effects. And Andrew Coyne notes that the problems with Trudeau's actions also extend beyond a conflict of interest alone.

- Finally, Paul Karp and Ben Butler take note of the attempt by Australian corporate giants to avoid any use of the Panama Papers which revealed their tax evasion - along with the rejection of that argument by the courts.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Andrew Jackson writes that bland centrism is no response to right-wing populism:

Right-wing populism is a complex phenomenon which varies a lot by country. But most analysts agree that it is deeply rooted in material circumstances: rising economic inequality to often obscene levels, the stagnation of middle and lower class incomes both before and after the global economic crisis, increased low wage and precarious employment, rising economic insecurity and, in much of Europe, continued very high unemployment. Many working-class voters feel, with good reason, that the system is rigged against them, and that centrist politicians have done nothing to help them weather tough economic times.
...
(E)mbracing discredited liberal centrist politics is the worst possible way to fight right-wing populism. Far better, argue US political voices like Robert Kuttner, Robert Frank, Jacobin magazine and the newly invigorated Democratic Socialists of America, to combat right-wing populism not just by identifying the enemy in class terms, but to identify the enemy correctly as the top 0.1% of the billionaire class who have pocketed almost all of the gains of economic expansion and wield the levers of political power in their own interests. Far better to speak to the need to rebuild a mass labour movement, including both white and racialized workers who have far more in common than what divides them. Far better to put forward a strong social democratic agenda to increase security and rebuild equality through vital public programs like health care and education, paid for from fair tax reforms, and tough labour standards.
 
The same broad principles apply in Canada. The populist right, which is growing in influence, similarly feeds off the growth in inequality and insecurity and the lack of an attractive and compelling vision of our collective future. 
...

The best antidote to right-wing populism is not centrist liberal policies which make little difference in people's lives, but a bold and self-confident social democratic party which embraces the need to seriously deal with climate change, precarious jobs and rising inequality.

- David Sessions highlights how plutocrats try to set up other groups of "elites" for abuse in order to be allowed to plunder the populace without objection. Aaron Saad comments on the campaign by the oil industry and its political puppets to dehumanize anybody who dares to point out the need to transition away from fossil fuels. And Jim Bronskill reports that the RCMP is apparently delaying the release of a report into its spying on environmental protesters by refusing to provide a response.
  
- Frances Bula notes that the Libs' election-year housing announcements fall far short of both their promises, and the steps needed to make a meaningful dent in the shortage of affordable homes.

- Finally, Jenna Price writes that workplaces in Australia are falling far short of accounting for the needs of employees (and primarily women) trying to fit in both work and caregiving responsibilities.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Napping cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Seth Klein summarizes new polling showing that Canadians are eager for far stronger action to fight climate change than the Libs or Cons will even consider. And Andrew Leach points out that the Cons' excuse for a climate plan is a study in vagueness whose few discernable elements are contrary to Andrew Scheer's apparent goals.

- Meanwhile, Jason Warick reports on the potential for severe water shortages caused by a climate breakdown - including in much of Saskatchewan.

- Ann Carlson discusses why oil companies are trying desperately to avoid answering for their deception about the dangers of carbon emissions. And Sam Levin exposes how Monsanto has tried to attack and smear anybody who dares to share factual information about the connections between its products and health risks including cancer.

- Alex Drummond reports on the safety risks of Ontario's underresourced emergency rooms.

- Finally, Will Hutton is optimistic that the exclusionary right-wing world order is approaching its expiry date. But Stephen Maher writes about Quebec's Bill 21 as a vivid example of the cost of bigotry as long as it's allowed to reign supreme.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Larry Elliott writes that a corporate-centred model of globalization is unlikely to survive the Trump regime. And Jeff Spross proposes an alternative which allows for people to be free and capital to be controlled, rather than the other way around.

- But Jo Becker notes that large amounts of money and disinformation are pushing for nationalism and xenophobia around the globe, rather than any recognition of our shared interests in a fair and connected system of international relations.

- Benjamin Fearnow reports on the FBI's insistence on treating peaceful activists for minority rights as a larger threat than violent white supremacists. And Robin Ttess discusses how Canada's security state has been used at the behest of the oil industry to spy on and stifle Indigenous peoples and environmental activists.

- Andy Blatchford reports on the Trudeau Libs' delays and obfuscations about supplying armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia.

- Finally, Alan Freeman debunks the Fraser Institute's regularly-scheduled attempt to gaslight Canadians about taxes by refusing to acknowledge what individuals actually pay as well as what public revenue funds.

Musical interlude

Tame Impala - Borderline

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Ernest Canning writes about the importance of treating corporatism as a specific and extreme position, rather than allowing it to define the political centre. And Norm McKee rightly argues that Canada's federal election campaign needs to include a focus on ensuring the rich pay their fair share - though he inexplicably fails to mention the NDP's plan to do just that.

- Christopher Leonard reports on Koch Industries' alarming track record of worker injuries and deaths at Georgia Pacific as it has sought to wring ever more production out of fewer and fewer exhausted employees - and the Koch brothers' determination to keep extracting immediate and unsustainable profits at the expense of workers.

- Julie Lalonde discusses the importance of working on improving our health care system to ensure Canadians receive the care we need, rather than merely being satisfied with it being less costly and dysfunctional than the U.S.'. And Eric Topal highlights the role organizing within the medical profession can play in pushing for policies which improve social health.

- The Rocky Mountain Outlook writes that the UCP's reckless combination of immediate corporate slashing and calculated uncertainty for all public services is only making life worse for Alberta's most vulnerable residents. And Tahirih Foroozan and Sarah Rieger examine Jason Kenney's choice to leave libraries in particular with doubts about their ability to operate.

- Finally, Brian Feldman observes that the apparent death of the headphone jack represents another worrisome step toward technology being proprietary rather than connected.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Robinson Meyer writes about the latest IPCC report on how our climate crisis endangers the land we rely on. And George Monbiot responds by noting that it understates the need for changes in how we produce and consume food, while the Canadian Press notes that it already identifies serious risks to our food supply.

- Meanwhile, Joe Romm reports on BNP Paribas' research suggesting that the rise of affordable renewable energy will make all but the cheapest oil unusable even without taking into account the social costs of carbon pollution. And Peter McCartney points out that plenty of Albertans are already well aware that a transition away from fossil fuels is coming, meaning that the only question is whether we cause undue harm by delaying the inevitable.

- Megan Stacey and Randy Richmond write that London is losing the war against poverty due to addictions and a lack of affordable housing. And Jason Antonio reports on the harm inflicted by Scott Moe's self-serving policies on the people of Moose Jaw and across Saskatchewan.

- Jim Stanford comments on Australia's disastrous shift toward privatized and unequal education as Andrew Scheer tries to impose the same types of educational disparities in Canada.

- Finally, Zak Vescera discusses how Canada is failing to keep up with the threat of right-wing extremism.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Joel Connelly reports on a new B.C. study showing the breadth and depth of the effects of a climate breakdown. Reuters examines the threat of water bankruptcy looming over a quarter of the Earth's population - including a substantial part of the Canadian Prairies. David Suzuki writes that climate deniers are having a perpetually more difficult time avoiding reality. And Charlie Smith discusses the impact the Extinction Rebellion has had around the world as it looks to make its mark in Canada.

- But Sarah Cox notes that reckless forestry and natural gas approvals are essentially choosing to facilitate environmental destruction and potentially species extinction. And Steven Hsieh reports on the Koch brothers' spending to shout down even the most modest of local transit plans in the name of maximizing the burning of fossil fuels (and the resulting damage to our planet).

- Arthur White-Crummey reports on Scott Moe's choice to turn away federal funding for major projects in Regina and Saskatoon solely for the sake of picking a political fight. And Mia Rabson discusses how Manitoba school boards have had to go around their provincial government due to Brian Pallister's similar decision to prioritize naked partisanship over the public good.

- Finally, Aditya Chakrabortty writes that economic policies designed to serve the super-rich have turned most of the UK's population into losers. Labor411 notes that Lowe's has joined the ranks of the corporations who have responded to Donald Trump's tax giveaways by slashing jobs. And Leslie Josephs and Michael Wayland write that workers are still trying to find some way to win a share of the windfall handed to the U.S.' wealthiest few.

New column day

Here, on how a public drug manufacturer could both secure Canada's supply of needed medications in the face of threats from both corporate greed and U.S. policy threats.

For further reading:
- Adam Houston and Amir Attaran have been warning about the dangers of a U.S. importation scheme for some time now. And Amina Zafar reports on the call from Canadian oncologists to ensure that needed cancer drugs are available, even as their suppliers have chosen to limit or discontinue them.
- Lauren Gambino reported on Bernie Sanders' caravan to highlight the availability of insulin in Canada which is entirely unaffordable in the U.S. And Hannah Frishberg reports on a particularly vivid example of the human cost of people scrimping on needed medications.
- Finally, both Andre Picard and Tom Koch point out the problems with allowing drug exports to the U.S. under the current, corporate-controlled system.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- George Monbiot writes that the fossil fuel companies most responsible for endangering our living environment are also polluting our politics:

...What counts, in seeking to prevent runaway global heating, is not the good things we start to do, but the bad things we cease to do. Shutting down fossil infrastructure requires government intervention.

But in many nations, governments intervene not to protect humanity from the existential threat of fossil fuels, but to protect the fossil fuel industry from the existential threat of public protest. In the US, legislators in 18 states have put forward bills criminalising protests against pipelines, seeking to crush democratic dissent on behalf of the oil industry. In June, Donald Trump’s administration proposed federal legislation that would jail people for up to 20 years for disrupting pipeline construction.

Global Witness reports that, in several nations, led by the Philippines, governments have incited the murder of environmental protesters. The process begins with rhetoric, demonising civil protest as extremism and terrorism, then shifts to legislation, criminalising attempts to protect the living planet. Criminalisation then helps legitimise physical assaults and murder. A similar demonisation has begun in Britain, with the publication by a dark money-funded lobby group, Policy Exchange, of a report smearing Extinction Rebellion. Like all such publications, it was given a series of major platforms by the BBC, which preserved its customary absence of curiosity about who funded it.
...
What we see here looks like the denouement of the Pollution Paradox. Because the dirtiest industries attract the least public support, they have the greatest incentive to spend money on politics, to get the results they want and we don’t. They fund political parties, lobby groups and thinktanks, fake grassroots organisations and dark ads on social media. As a result, politics comes to be dominated by the dirtiest industries.

We are told to fear the “extremists” who protest against ecocide and challenge dirty industry and the dirty governments it buys. But the extremists we should fear are those who hold office.

- Meanwhile, Michael Harris discusses the connections between Stephen Harper, the International Democratic Union, and right-wing vote suppression tactics in Canada and around the world.

- Noah Smith writes about the importance of equalizing the distribution of power as well as income and wealth, particularly by strengthening the voice of workers in economic decision-making.

- PressProgress highlights the Libs' plans to push the privatization of water services if communities want any federal support for essential infrastructure. 

- Finally, Nora Loreto calls out the myth of the "lone wolf" shooter by pointing out the structural factors which promote violence and hatred.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Flattened cats.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Washington Post reports that July 2019 set new records as the hottest month ever measured on Earth. David Suzuki offers a reminder of the catastrophic consequences of failing to put and end to our climate breakdown. And Roger Harrabin warns against exploiting and abusing the land we rely on.

- Meanwhile, Amnesty International announces that it has joined the fossil fuel divestment movement based on its recognition that dirty fuel dependence is antithetical to the preservation of human rights. And Damian Carrington reports that the public is more concerned about the environment in the UK than it's ever been before.

- Juliet O'Neil reports on the Kenney UCP's publicly-funded campaign to silence Tzeporah Berman and other advocates for a healthy planet.

- The Star's editorial board rightly slams the Ford PCs for going out of their way to make life worse for Ontario's poorest residents. And CBC News reports that as part of Jason Kenney's Summer of Concealment designed to avoid forcing Andrew Scheer to answer for his government's actions, the UCP has cut off access to scholarship applications until long after students' tuition comes due.

- Finally, Paul Krugman rightly points out that violence and terrorism are inevitable end results of politicians choosing to foment hatred in order to cover for their discriminatory policy choices.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Steven Greenhouse discusses how the U.S.' economy is rigged against workers. And Eric Levitz writes that Donald Trump's giveaway to the rich worked only as a scam against the rest of the country.

- Matthew Townsend and Scott Lanman point out that minimum wage increases - both through legislation and through public pressure on large employers - have resulted in some meaningful improvement in retail worker pay. But Sask Mojtehedzadeh reports on the continued delay in any federal report on precarious work in Canada.

- Ryan Cooper writes that Democrats are beginning to recognize the dangers of pursuing trade agreements designed to enrich businesses at the expense of the public - though sadly we can't say the same for Justin Trudeau and his corporate Libs.

- Canadians for Tax Fairness presents (PDF) a set of proposals for Canada's leaders and voters to discuss as the federal election approaches:

We have proposals in four different areas, with details provided below.

A. Ensure corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share by closing regressive tax loopholes and making taxes more progressive
B. Tackle international tax evasion, avoidance and tax havens
C. Improve corporate transparency
D. Combat climate change and support sustainable development

The fair tax plan...could generate over $40 billion annually in additional revenues for the federal government (as well as additional revenues for provincial governments where they would benefit from a broader federal tax base with fewer loopholes).

These additional revenues could, for example, easily fund:

• Affordable child care for all plan, with a $1 billion investment in 2020 and an additional $1 billion each year for ten years to 2030.
• A national universal pharmacare for all plan, estimated to cost $10 billion more than what federal and provincial governments now pay, providing average savings of $600 per household.
• Free university and college tuition for all Canadians. Total tuition fees amount to about $9 billion (including foreign students, net costs would be lower without the tuition tax credit).
• Elements of a “green new deal”, such as energy retrofitting of buildings and 40%of Canada’s homes, reducing homeowner energy use and bills by an average of 30% each, and improving the efficiency of other buildings by 50% at an estimated cost of $6 billion annually(and generating over 80,000 jobs annually).

- The Beaverton offers this year's definitive response to the Fraser Institute's ludicrous spin on public revenue.

- Finally, Tom Scocca discusses the violence which has resulted from the U.S.' acceptance of the spread of racism and bigotry. And Jonathan Montpetit calls out Francois Legault for endorsing attacks against minorities.

Sunday Morning Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Noah Smith comments that while we shouldn't necessarily try to adjust GDP for other necessary elements of individual and social well-being, we should avoid treating it as a catch-all measure in assessing policy choices:

GDP does have plenty of flaws, even as an economic indicator. First of all, it leaves out a lot of things that represent real value. When your dad washes the dishes, that represents value creation -- if the dishwashing took place in a restaurant, it would be compensated monetarily, but since it happens for free at home, it gets ignored. GDP also ignores the value of leisure -- if you pay $10 to see a movie in a theater, it gets counted in GDP, but if you have an equal amount of fun hanging out with your friends, that value isn't counted.

Beyond these deficiencies, there’s the broader fact that economic value isn’t the only kind of value. Japanese people, for instance, are on average poorer than Americans in purely material terms, but the very low crime, efficient urban design, and clean streets and buildings has real value that isn't counted in economic statistics. The U.S. and Canada, meanwhile, have an abundance of natural beauty and open space that adds little to GDP, while many European and Asian countries enjoy advantages in health and life expectancy that are also uncounted. These are the kind of things that Bhutan and New Zealand are trying to account for, some of which are also included in the United Nations’ Human Development Index. GDP also doesn’t account for inequality or other issues of distribution.

A third problem with GDP is that it’s not much more than a snapshot of the present. It represents the amount of economic value that’s produced this year, rather than the amount that can be produced sustainably during the coming decades or centuries. Chopping down rainforests, draining aquifers, exhausting topsoil and burning fossil-fuel that contributes to climate change all raise GDP, but don’t necessarily make humanity better off in the long run.
...
Instead of trying to update GDP to include sustainability, health, education, happiness, equality, leisure, and safety, leaders should monitor these things independently. Fortunately, there is every indication that most of them do this already.
...
So instead of trying to fix GDP, it's better to simply remember its limitations. It is not the one economic number to rule them all, but simply one of a broad set of indicators of a society’s success.

- Meanwhile, Andrew Simms highlights the damage done by neoclassicals economics built around unduly narrow standards for success together with grossly implausible assumptions about the relationship between people and corporate actors.

- Jeffrey Sachs writes that first-past-the-post voting systems represent one of the most important common denominators in the rise to power of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. And James Butler examines how Johnson looks to be handing unprecedented amounts of power to lobbyists looking to enrich their clients at the expense of the public.

- Dale Marshall rightly argues that Canada can't pass the buck when it comes to reining in greenhouse gas emissions. And Michael Segalov points out the need for governments to make public transit a more practical option if we want people to shift away from higher-emitting forms of transportation.

- Finally, Chuka Ejeckam argues that after decades of draconian drug policy which has placed disproportionate burdens on racial minorities, Canada's decriminalization process has been designed to ensure that the gains from a newly legal market are concentrated in already-privileged groups.