Tuesday Morning Links

This and that to end your year.

- Matthew Rosza examines how humanity as a whole is falling far short of its professed climate change commitments even though we have the technology to decarbonize rapidly. Tom Parkin and The Energy Mix each point out that the Trudeau Libs have both chosen to set weaker emission reduction targets than recommended by their own experts, and failed to produce a plan capable of even meeting those. David Vetter reports on the increased use of fossil carbon in infrastructure and consumer goods, creating yet another time bomb which will be released into the atmosphere. And Daryl Fairweather et al. find that homebuyers are eager to avoid floods and other climate-related risks - if they actually have information available to understand them. 

- Sammy Hudes discusses the need for a housing strategy to include more accessible accommodations. Larissa Kurz talks to frontline workers about the government choices which have exacerbated the homelessness crisis. And Andrew Boozary points out that homelessness comes at a steep economic cost in addition to its obvious damage to people's health and well-being. 

- Benjamin Mateus interviews Arijit Charkavarty about our failure to limit the foreseeable effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. And Shrabasta Bhattacharya points out new research showing that COVID substantially harms kidney function, while Aisulu Karkabayeva et al. discuss how it has given rise to widespread autoimmune diseases. 

- Meanwhile, Caitlin Rivers discusses the lessons we should be learning in advance of the next large pandemic. 

- Finally, AL Kennedy offers a year-end message on the need to maintain hope - and to act like citizens of the world we want to see.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Dianna Chang et al. examine the correlation between social and political factors and COVID-19 spread and mortality. And Crawford Kilian discusses how Canadian society has failed the basic test of looking out for each other's well-being, while Teresa Wright reports on the imminent prospect of a summer wave even as provinces continue to abandon what few public health protections were still in place.

- Yasmine Ghania reports on a new survey showing the precarious financial situations of Saskatchewan residents (even as the establishment shifts into austerity mode to make matters even worse). And Andrew Elrod discusses how the solution to any labour shortage needs to be giving people more control over their work, not starving them into putting up with employer abuses.

- And in case there was any doubt that there's plenty of room for overall good to come of limiting the arbitrary power of property owners, Jen St. Denis reports on a review showing that British Columbia's real estate speculation tax worked even better than expected in putting housing units back into service.

- Finally, Catherine Shoichet reports on the UNHCR's latest report showing that over 100 million people around the world are displaced by war, violence and human rights abuses - even as far too many countries are primarily focused on avoiding providing a place to go.

Thursday Morning Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Wency Leung talks to public health experts about what still needs to be done to rein in the COVID pandemic, while Aisha Dow discusses the importance of continuing to mask even when it's not required. And Justin Fox reports on the impact long COVID is now having on employment data - once again resulting in public health neglect having harmful economic consequences. 

- Meanwhile, Armine Yalnizyan writes about the burnout being experienced by Canadian health care workers - and the temptation of seeking out temporary assignments rather than public service roles in order to escape it. And Patrick Rail reports on Katharine Smart's warning that our health care system is collapsing even as governments operate in denial. 

- Jen Christensen discusses the dangerous effects of extreme heat on people's health and well-being. And Damian Carrington reports on particularly large warming effects in the Arctic. 

- Eric Gardner examines the price of diapers as another apparent example of profiteering by a few oligopolistic corporations. And Catherine Porter, Vjosa Isai and Tracy Sherlock report on the findings of the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in B.C. 

- Finally, Jack Monroe offers her account as to how poverty leaves scars which last even after one's financial circumstances improve. 

[Edit: added link.]

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Sheryl Gay Stoberg discusses how concerns about pharmaceutical profiteering and a lack of access in the developing world are developing for COVID-19 treatments just as they did for vaccines. And Cory Doctorow warns that the single positive-sounding story about stolen Ukrainian farm implements being disabled remotely shouldn't serve to excuse the glaring risks of allowing technology to be so easily disabled from afar.  

- Jeremy Klaszus discusses the inexplicable privatization of sanitation work in Calgary in the absence of even a plausible argument about either cost or service effectiveness. And Nancy Olivieri writes about the dangers of privatizing health care even as Doug Ford and other right-wing premiers push to make that the response to the impossible demands they've put on the public system through their gross negligence in the midst of a pandemic. 

- Mike Crawley notes that the cost of living is becoming the main issue in Ontario's election campaign. And Matt Gurney discusses how the Libs have chosen not to offer any meaningful policy on that or any other issue (though they do seem to be hastily copying the NDP's work in a few areas now). 

- Better Dwelling highlights how the Canadian real estate has become infused with money laundering and fraud. And Mike Hager points out that British Columbia's beneficial ownership registry is providing information useful for far more than real estate enforcement alone. 

- Finally, Jeff Shantz writes about the role of police in suppressing and even killing people living in poverty. 

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The Globe and Mail's editorial board asks whether Doug Ford will again fall painfully short in responding to the public health threat posed by COVID-19 - though at this point the questions appears to be entirely rhetorical. Murray Mandryk discusses the lives put at risk by the Saskatchewan Party's selective interest in following experts' recommendations. And Paul Willcocks points out how Erin O'Toole's posturing to dehumanize incarcerated people represents a crucial unmasking for a leader mostly trying to keep his party's misanthropy hidden.

- Alex Crozier offers a reminder that lockdown orders are useless if they aren't accompanied by the means for people to survive in the meantime. And if we needed a reminder of the dangers of hoping employers will keep workers and their families safe, Dave Seglins, Sarah Rieger and Inayat Singh report on the RCMP's investigation into Cargill's role in the avoidable spread of COVID-19 which caused at least one death among hundreds of cases. 

- The Canadian Press reports on the effects of British Columbia's real estate speculation tax - which is raising tens of millions of dollars while also ensuring that more affordable housing is available for people who need it. And Rebecca Shapiro studies the positive effect rental assistance has on recipients in multiple areas.

- Finally, the CP reports on the Libs' continued delays in taking even first steps toward reducing prescription drug costs through pricing regulations. Kenyon Wallace discusses the need to substantially ramp up vaccinations even to meet a target of this fall. And Geoffrey York reports on the Libs' choice not to make any effort to donate COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries - which means that the people in the most need around the world will share in the price of the Libs' choice not to order available doses.

Thursday Evening Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Harold Varmus and Rajiv Shah write that the CDC's willingness to parrot the Trump administration's desire for less COVID-19 testing is forcing states and other actors to take up the job of providing appropriate public health advice. And David Climenhaga points out the rightful frustration of Alberta parents and education workers who have been told that the social distancing rules applicable to every other building in the province will be ignored in schools - even as the U.S. sees soaring rates of infection among children.

- Leilani Farha and Kaitlin Schwan offer a reminder that homelessness is a matter of life and death in the midst of a pandemic. Victoria Gibson discusses the Toronto families being torn apart by inadequate housing. And Dan Darrah highlights the problems with a real estate market administered primarily to build stores of wealth, rather than to ensure that people of all income levels have a reasonable place to live. 

- The Economic Policy Institute studies the advantages in wages, sick days and health benefits held by union workers compared to unorganized labour. But Bob Hennelly writes that with corporate wealth getting more concentrated and unions losing ground, workers in general are being treated as perpetually more expendable.

- Finally, Philip Oltermann highlights how Germany is significantly better off for having welcomed far more refugees than other wealthy countries.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- David Leonhardt discusses how the U.S.' tax system has become definitively regressive, featuring this chart as to how the wealthiest few now pay a smaller share of their income than anybody else.

- Ann Pettifor highlights how society suffers when rentier capitalism is allowed to dictate our policy options. And Matthew Goodwin writes that in the UK - as here - voters are eager to see alternatives which result in a more democratic distribution of wealth and power.

- David Macdonald reminds us of the continued blight of child poverty in Canada three decades after Parliament voted unanimously to eradicate it. Laurie Monsebraaten reports on Campaign 2000's update on the state of poverty and inequality. And Yolande Cole takes note of new research showing that half of Calgarians are struggling to pay for basic needs such as food and shelter.

- Colin McClelland reports on BDO Dunwoody's latest survey showing the spread of precarity and personal debt. And Kevin Camichael notes that the Libs' and Cons' focus on targeting first-time homebuyers at the expense of everybody else will only stand to make matters worse.

- Finally, Kathy Tomlinson points out how the trucking industry is exploiting immigrants and endangering the public by charging fees to hire drivers with no regard for safety.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- The New York Times' editorial board highlights how many of the people looking to defend a habitable planet from environmental destruction are being met with state-assisted violence in response. And Oxfam examines how Australian mining companies are exploiting west Africa to the tune of billions of dollars of resources without any benefit going to citizens.

- AnnaMaria Andriotis, Ken Brown and Shane Shifflett discuss the plight of families borrowing more and more to give the appearance of keeping up a middle-class lifestyle which can't be supported by their income. And Raina Delisle examines the practical difficulties facing parents trying to get by at the poverty line.

- Margot Roosevelt reviews Steven Greenhouse's Beaten Down, Worked Up as highlighting the accomplishments of unions in checking corporate abuses - and the need for a strengthened labour movement to continue that role. 

- Simon Enoch comments on the long-term cost of P3s which is all too eagerly foisted on future generations by short-sighted and self-serving politicians. Dan Planeto takes note of the Sask Party's constant privatization of Saskatchewan's public services. And Vaughn Palmer writes about the need for far more investigation into the B.C. Libs' giveaway of public lands to developers who haven't even bothered to pay the cut-rate sticker price.

- Finally, James MacLeod writes that Canada's grossly inefficient enforcement mechanisms make it far too easy for businesses to avoid compensating citizens for severe privacy breaches.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Stewart Elgie and Nathalie Chalifour write about the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal's recognition of the importance of action on our climate crisis. Alexis Wright comments on the need for global action to address the common global problem of impending climate breakdown. Brian Eckhouse points out how China is making a massive investment in electric buses. Rob Nikolewski reports on a first federal push toward zero-emission vehicles in the U.S., while Liam Denning points out the important effect of more ambitious state-level initiatives (particularly in California) on the viability of dirty fuel producers. And Zoya Teirstein points out the carbon emissions spewed out by the plastics industry.

- Percy Downe discusses Canada's absolute failure to crack down on offshore tax evasion, both in terms of recovering money and in charging individual scofflaws. And Public Interest Alberta highlights how Jason Kenney plans to collect even less than that province's already-insufficient amount of revenue from wealthy corporations and individuals.

- Christina Howorun reports on the $16 billion maintenance backlog facing Ontario schools who are seeing their funding attacked further in the name of corporate tax handouts. And Creeden Martell reports on Saskatchewan's emergency room wait times - which are only getting worse contrary to the Saskatchewan Party's long-lost promise to address them.

- Finally, CBC News notes that British Columbia's property speculation tax has worked out exactly as planned, recovering substantial revenue from non-residents who can easily afford it while avoiding any effect on 99 per cent of residents beyond the need to file a form.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Daniel Drenzer reviews Joseph Stiglitz' People, Power and Profits, while noting the importance of pairing progressive policy ideas with a plan for implementation. And Laura Davison points out how Donald Trump's massive tax losses which kept him from contributing to the U.S.' public coffers involved some of the same loopholes now being exploited by the likes of Amazon.

- Melanie Marquis reports on the NDP's plans to ensure that tech giants pay their fair share. And the Canadian Press points out the reality that online monopolists are currently thumbing their noses at Canadian laws intended to protect privacy and election integrity.

- Robin Levinson-King weighs in on the use of Vancouver's real estate market for large-scale money-laundering, while Mike Smyth writes about the need for a public inquiry. And Mike Crawley reports that Doug Ford's war on facts includes concealing information about foreign buyers which would enable the public to know about similar issues in Ontario. 

- Meanwhile, Heather Boushey argues that we need to better measure income and wealth across a full population, rather than counting on top-heavy GDP and stock market indicators as a full answer to how an economy is performing.

- Finally, Lizzy Buchan reports that a strong majority of UK voters want to see sharp decreases in greenhouse gas emissions to reach zero net emissions by 2050. And Shawn McCarthy points out that two-thirds of Canadians are opposed to the right-wing provincial governments who are both refusing to implement any substantial climate policies in their provinces, and trying to prevent any action to pick up the slack at the federal level.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Astra Taylor points out that we should be far more concerned about a planetary carbon budget which actually involves inflexible limits, rather than delaying action in the name of avoiding spending on government balance sheets. J. David Hughes highlights how choices which subsidize and lock in fossil fuel production are incompatible with responsible climate policy. Mike Moffatt makes the case for an entrepreneurial mindset as a response to delay tactics. And Matt Gurney confirms that we shouldn't expect Andrew Scheer or any of his denialist cronies to start offering any viable plans to avert climate breakdown anytime soon.

- Don Pittis discusses how Canada has allowed itself to become a magnet for money laundering. And Richard Zussman reports on British Columbia's conclusion (based only on a partial assessment of the effect of foreign money) that its real estate market lone is being used to launder upwards of $5 billion per year.

- Steve Morgan argues that we shouldn't accept the spin of the pharmaceutical industry claiming that we have no choice but to pay inflated prices for essential medications.

- CBC News reports on the Canadian Paediatric Society's call for free birth control to be available to young Canadians. And Marie-Danielle Smith reports on the federal government's preliminary steps toward making menstrual products freely available in federally-regulated workplaces.

- Finally, David Macdonald writes that a basic income on its own won't fix the issues raised by precarious and poorly-regulated work.

[Edit: fixed typo.]

Say No to Bubble Boy

There are already more than enough galling stories circulating in Alberta's political scene to emphasize why Jason Kenney and his party are grossly unfit to exercise any power. But it's worth pointing out one more problem which matches the combination of deeply-rooted corruption and austerian disregard for the public good as a disqualifying factor.

Let's start with this story - which has mostly been discussed for the back-and-forth between Kenney and Rachel Notley on the issue of public service cuts, but which also contains this nugget:

In his speech Saturday, Kenney said that oil and gas had been a major driver of innovation in the Alberta. He argued that the province's economy has diversified in part because of, not in spite of, the energy industry.
...He said the energy industry could help bring cryptocurrency technology to Alberta. The computers used in the large-scale mining of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, require vast amounts of energy.

"Cryptocurrency could well be the backbone of the future digital economy. It depends on low-cost energy and we can provide that with our abundant hydrocarbon energy," he said.

And that's been followed up in turn with Kenney's call to eliminate any viability tests for Alberta real estate purchases as part of a general insistence on slashing public protections.

Which is to say that in a province too long defined by a dependence on resource bubbles as a substitute for any sustainable economic strategy, Kenney is bent on inflating more and worse if he gets the chance.
 
Even as Alberta wrestles with the long-term costs arising out of an oil industry which has refused to clean up its own messes, Kenney is pushing an industry whose sole purpose is to convert environmental destruction into captured wealth - and whose reliance on speculation in the absence of any substantive product makes regular busts an inevitable result.

And even after playing a role in government in the midst of the damage wrought by reckless mortgage lending which inflated both house prices and the risks assumed by people who ultimately couldn't afford them, Kenney wants to inflict exactly the same harm on Alberta.

So in addition to combining the worst elements of the PCs' entitlement and Wildrose's reactionary exclusion, Kenney also intends to tie the well-being of Alberta's citizens to the most reckless available forms of casino capitalism. And if voters choose to take such a foolish bet, the repercussions look to be felt far outside Alberta's borders.

Wednesday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- In the wake of GM's abandonment of Oshawa, David Olive suggests that it's time for Canada to work on developing its own signature automaker. Sara Mohtehedzadeh writes that the Oshawa closure should serve as a warning for anybody who believes that big business will provide secure employment, while John Michael McGrath highlights the closure following massive public bailouts as a prime example of the futility of corporate welfare. Julia Conley examines the broader impact of GM's multiple plant shutdowns even in the face of multiple government concessions and giveaways. And Gerard Di Trolio, David Bush and Doug Nesbitt write that the labour movement needs to ensure that it's fighting for sustainable jobs and a just transition to clean energy, rather than hoping to preserve operations which have a limited shelf life. 

- Meanwhile, PressProgress points out why we shouldn't take the Libs' word for it that everything is hunky-dory for Canadian workers.

- Marco Chown Oved reports that Toronto's real estate market is vulnerable to the same type of money laundering that looks to have run rampant in Vancouver. And Abby Young-Powell offers a reminder of what we should want from our housing system - including building affordable communities and lives, not only bare accommodations.

- Finally, Ingrid Peretz reports on the first major Canadian climate change lawsuit challenging an avoidable climate breakdown as a violation of rights.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- PressProgress crunches the numbers on tax loopholes and finds that more and more revenue is being lost to the most glaring loopholes every year. And Andrew Jackson hopes for a sorely-needed response from the federal government to rein in tax avoidance by the wealthy.

- Sam Cooper reports on Vancouver's embarrassing status as a poster child for criminal money laundering.

- Wanda Wyporska highlights the importance of fighting for greater equality rather than allowing it to overtake social cohesion and individual well-being.

- Anna Patty reports on a new study showing how an improved minimum wage could create jobs in addition to boosting standards of living in Australia. And Scott Brown writes about the B.C. NDP's first steps toward including all workers in basic employment protections (including the right to a minimum wage).

- Mark Winfield warns of the risks of panicking about the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, though Mike De Souza reveals that the Libs have made a habit of leaping into reckless action at Kinder Morgan's behest. And Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood writes that we should be focusing on a just transition for both resource sector workers and their communities, while Mitchell Anderson discusses how the Trans Mountain expansion would only exacerbate a trend seeing refinery jobs leaked south of the border.

- Finally, CBC reports on Justin Trudeau's lack of interest in following the UK's ban on single-use plastics.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Peter Gowan and Ryan Cooper write about the need for much more affordable social housing across the income spectrum. Rhys Kesselman responds to a few of the more laughable attacks on British Columbia's more progressive property tax. And Stephen Punwasi discusses the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada's warning that Canadian mortgage lenders are pushing both brokers and borrowers toward risky products which may create systemic instability.

- Dean Beeby examines FINTRAC's internal report showing how Canadian banks have been facilitating money laundering - and discusses how a report for public consumption was reworded to give the opposite impression.

- Mitchell Anderson rightly calls out the nonsensical claim that building pipelines is anything but a negative for the cause of reducing the effects of climate change, while David Suzuki weighs in on the audit showing how governments at all levels are falling short of their commitments. And Richard Partington reports on Mark Carney's warning that fossil fuel dependence may be just as catastrophic for financial interests as for the planet, while Olaf Weber and Chelsie Hunt model the superior prospects for investments which avoid throwing money at dirty energy. 

- And David Climenhaga rebuts the theory that Alberta (or any other jurisdiction) would do itself any favours by choosing to be an environmental pariah - even as the likes of Scott Moe and Doug Ford push in that direction.

- Finally, Ronald Labonte discusses the nutrition and health consequences of corporate-driven trade deals, including any attempt to renegotiate NAFTA.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Cathy Crowe writes that there's no excuse for putting off action to provide housing to people who need it - not only because of the inhumanity of waiting, but because there's plenty of evidence as to what works:

Over the years big money, at least according to my standards, has gone to academics and health researchers who examine the social determinants of health. For 30 years, I’ve studied their work and quoted from their articles and reports. I believe them. Poverty, lack of housing or shelter, racism, unemployment or low wages negatively impact on health and increase the chance of an early death.
...
This week Toronto Public Health released a glimpse of the homeless death data they are collecting. The numbers are shocking: 46 people died while homeless between January and June of this year. That number now surpasses Toronto stats for death by homicide or in traffic accidents. The average age of a homeless person's death is 50. That’s 30 years younger than the Canadian average. Shocking, but it confirms all the social determinants of health research.

What's more alarming is what we're not being told, what is being contemptibly held back by Toronto Public Health until the one year mark of the research in 2018. This includes: What was the gender breakdown of deaths, how many were youth, what were the medical causes of death, how many were suicides, how many were overdoses, how many were traumatic deaths such as hypothermia, how many occurred outside or in a shelter or hospital? So much information collected by the city that could guide solutions today but no, the gap between research and action just widens.

One has to wonder if it’s ethical to not release data when there is such widespread concern but perhaps more frightening, who is influencing the decision to stay silent and why?

- But sadly, the CP reports that the same Saskatchewan Party government which can't be bothered to fund housing programs which more than pay for themselves is looking to nickel-and-dime social assistance recipients to death.

- Matthew Yglesias notes that the U.S. Democrats are making a sorely-needed push for renewed antitrust enforcement.

- Andrew Nikiforuk examines how Christy Clark's plan for permanent high prices as the basis for liquefied natural gas development went so wrong in the face of entirely predictable market realities. And Jacqueline Hansen offers a warning about Canada's unsustainable reliance on real estate transaction fees.

- Alan Broadbent and Noah Zon offer some important perspective on Ontario's employment standards by asking which elements of the employer-biased status quo are actually defensible. And Morgan Lowrie reports on continued calls for needed protections in Canada's temporary foreign worker system - for the benefit of both immigrant workers and domestic ones alike.

- Finally, Valerie Wilson, Janelle Jones, Kayla Blado and Elise Gould discuss the persistent wage gap facing black women in the U.S.

Friday Morning Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Patrick Gossage discusses the desperate need for Canadian governments at all levels to take meaningful action to eliminate poverty:

The reality is that low-income Canadians are invisible and lack political clout. In Toronto, they are concentrated in downtown areas close to the gleaming bank towers, in huge clusters of dilapidated rental towers not far from the crosstown expressways, or in pockets of subsidized low-rise units near major intersections. Tens of thousands drive by these areas daily, ignorant of the lives led there. In the nation’s capital, where politicians cook up policies to relieve their plight, Canadians living under the poverty line are totally unseen.
...
At the very sharp end of the poverty issue are youth at risk: those who grew up in poor living conditions, often in single-parent families, who have dropped out of school and have little hope of employment. Governments are notably absent from programs to help them. The myriad of government training programs and assistance for students mean nothing to this cohort, because few graduate from secondary school. They are forgotten.

With no way to make money, many are lured into drug dealing at an early age and join gangs. They are the stuff of sad headlines. A young man who was in one of Dixon Hall’s youth programs went to jail for a minor offence. When he got out, he went home, where he was confronted by a gang member and shot through the screen door. These crimes are seldom solved.

Programs for youth in poor communities are woefully understaffed. Believe me, it’s hard to raise money for them. Society largely gives up on youth at risk, and they are dramatically detached from the much-vaunted programs to solve poverty that politicians brag about.

The volunteer and social service sector is often their only avenue of support and training. It was long ago, under Prime Minister Paul Martin, that Ottawa killed federal support for women’s and youth training programs run by these agencies. It is long past time for governments to take up this role again, and to get serious about relieving the crisis in affordable housing.

As citizens, we must leave our comfortable suburbs or downtown enclaves and find out about the reality of poverty through the agencies that work in poorer neighbourhoods. We must be outspoken advocates for disadvantaged Canadians and insist that our politicians learn first-hand how poor people struggle. Only then will governments stop planning, studying and promising and start acting.

- Solomon Israel reports on the Parliamentary Budget Office's new report showing how Canadian consumer debt is skyrocketing. And David MacDonald's study of the issue finds that in an unfortunately first, Canadian individuals and corporations are racking up debt faster than their peers anywhere else in the developed world. 

- Meanwhile, Geoff Dembicki highlights a few realities about the real estate sector which go a long way toward explaining the combination of soaring housing costs, rising debt and increasing paper wealth for a lucky few. And Conor Darcy discusses how increased nominal wealth in the UK is doing nothing at all for most citizens - while pointing out how a wealth tax could help to ensure a more fair distribution of gains.

- Don Pittis writes that Canadian wages aren't keeping up with what would be expected in light of a low unemployment rate - while also noting how economic policy aimed at favouring capital over labour has contributed to the gap.

- Finally, CUPE points out the many problems with the Libs' plan to turn large public infrastructure into a private profit centre. And Andrew Coyne writes that subjecting the infrastructure bank to sorely-needed scrutiny would have represented a useful role for the Senate - so naturally, it chose to amend the Libs' budget only on the far less significant issue of liquor tax inflation.

Tuesday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Aditya Chakrabortty describes the Grenfell Tower fire as nothing less than social murder of the UK's poor:

Austerity is at the heart of the Grenfell story. Think of the firefighters, who have seen stations closed and colleagues laid off by May, when she was home secretary. Consider the nurses treating the dying and the maimed, who will be on lower pay now than they were in 2009.

Most of all, remember this: the cuts made since 2010 were the poor picking up the tab for the venality of rich bankers. The two are jammed up next to each other in Kensington and Chelsea, one of the richest and most unequal patches of land in the world. Just minutes away from Grenfell, you can find a house for sale at £30m (albeit “in need of full modernisation”). The residents of the investment-starved Tower died last week did so partly because of the greed of their neighbours.

To judge by the nods and winks since the election, May’s government is preparing for the beginning of the end of austerity. I’ll believe it when I see teaching assistants getting a pay rise or benefits for the working-age poor going up. In any case, it will be too late to undo the damage already done. In their book, The Violence of Austerity, the academics Vickie Cooper and David Whyte collect the evidence. Together with their co-authors, they record how the disability assessment process in England is “associated” with an extra 590 suicides. How cuts to local government funding mean that Liverpool council no longer has a single dedicated health and safety officer. How austerity has meant more people dying sooner.

Spending cuts, deregulation, outsourcing: between them they have turned a state supposedly there to protect and support citizens into a machine to make money for the rich while punishing the poor. It’s never described like that, of course. Class warfare is passed off as book-keeping. Accountability is tossed aside for “commercial confidentiality”, while profiteering is dressed up as economic dynamism. One courtesy we should pay the victims of Grenfell is to drop the glossy-brochure euphemisms. Let’s get clear what happened to them: an act of social murder, straight out of Victorian times.

- Larry Elliott reports on the Resolution Foundation's research showing that higher property values are severely exacerbating inequality in the UK. And Kate Wilson examines the realities facing Vancouver's renter class - with even full-time professionals facing the threat of imminent homelessness as housing becomes less and less affordable.

- Which goes a long way toward explaining why large numbers of B.C. voters are now eager to see Christy Clark accept her expected defeat.

- Meanwhile, Alex Hemingway offers advance warning of the anti-social hysteria which is sure to accompany a new NDP government. And Simon Wren-Lewis discusses how austerity can't be justified in honest terms.

- Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood studies the fossil fuel dependency of Canada compared to its international peers, noting in particular that there's plenty of room for developed countries to reduce their dependency while maintaining a high standard of living.

- Finally, Duncan Cameron discusses how the Trudeau Libs' foreign policy is virtually indistinguishable from the Harper Cons'.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading.

- Paul Krugman criticizes the use of non-compete agreements to trap workers at low wage levels with no opportunity to pursue comparable employment - as well as the Republicans' insistence on pushing employer-based health care which further limits workers' options:

At this point, in other words, noncompete clauses are in many cases less about protecting trade secrets than they are about tying workers to their current employers, unable to bargain for better wages or quit to take better jobs.

This shouldn’t be happening in America, and to be fair some politicians in both parties have been speaking up about the need for change (although few expect the Trump administration to follow up on the Obama administration’s reform push). But there’s another aspect of declining worker freedom that is very much a partisan issue: health care.

Until 2014, there was basically only one way Americans under 65 with pre-existing conditions could get health insurance: by finding an employer willing to offer coverage. Some employers were in fact willing to do so. Why? Because there were major tax advantages — premiums aren’t counted as taxable income — but to get those advantages employer plans must offer the same coverage to every employee, regardless of medical history.

But what if you wanted to change jobs, or start your own business? Too bad: you were basically stuck (and I knew quite a few people in that position).
...
You might say, with only a bit of hyperbole, that workers in America, supposedly the land of the free, are actually creeping along the road to serfdom, yoked to corporate employers the way Russian peasants were once tied to their masters’ land. And the people pushing them down that road are the very people who cry “freedom” the loudest.

- Jim Edwards highlights how in the wake of deliberate attacks on workers' bargaining power, low unemployment rates aren't producing the wage gains which would normally be expected. And Linda Gorman's look at global corporate savings makes it clear that the extra money kept in corporate hands is being hoarded rather than put to productive use.

- Geoff Dembicki points out how Canada's overheating real estate markets are more the result of domestic speculation than foreign investment - even if the political response has been oriented almost solely toward the latter. 

- Ashley Martin reports on the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour's call for employers to ensure that work requirements don't trap people suffering domestic violence. And L.E. Reimer points out how the Saskatchewan Party's shuttering of STC will be particularly hard on women with low incomes who will lose a needed means of transportation.

- Finally, the Star's editorial board calls for Ontario's provincial government to finally reverse a multi-decade trend of reduced access to music and arts education in public schools.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Josh Bivens explains why increased fairness would likely lead to improved overall growth for the U.S.' economy:

(O)ne key driver of slow productivity growth in recent years can be fixed: the remaining shortfall between aggregate demand and the economy’s productive potential. Running the economy far below potential for a long time has led to insufficient investment to sustain rapid productivity growth. One way to close this accumulated investment gap is, of course, to simply have fiscal policymakers boost public investment. And this should indeed be a response.

But another crucial response is to ensure that the labor market and wider economy run hot enough to force businesses to boost investment simply to meet growing demand. When this is done, policymakers also need to keep the recovery strong until real wages begin consistently rising. From a policy perspective this means keeping interest rates low and not prematurely raising them due to misguided fears of inflation. The inflationary impact of a pick-up in real wages is likely to be quite muffled by the faster investment and productivity growth that will follow.

As with all macroeconomic predictions, this one about productivity rising to meet wage growth could be wrong. But the downside risk of being wrong is relatively small; a couple of years of above-target price inflation as wages push up costs. Given the many years of below-target inflation, one hesitates to even call this a “downside” of a policy that has the economy going for growth. The downside risk of reining in demand before we even test the virtuous cycle of rising wages leading to rising productivity growth, however, is enormous. The decline in potential output for 2017 between what was forecast in 2007 and what is estimated now is almost $2 trillion. If half of this—$1 trillion—could be clawed back through a policy that runs the economy hot and leads to higher productivity growth, it will be an extraordinarily consequential policy choice.

- André Magnan and Annette Aurélie Desmarais examine farmland investment patterns in Saskatchewan and find that outside money is making land unaffordable for residents.

- Jason Warick discusses not only Saskatchewan's missed opportunity to build a sovereign wealth fund, but also the choices which have frittered away a boom - including $6.6 billion in tax cuts which have accomplished nothing useful. And CBC highlights the workers who are now paying the price for Brad Wall's bad governance, while also reporting that Regina is on the hook for millions more than planned to finish the stadium which Wall saw as more important than providing for Saskatchewan's people.

- Meanwhle, the CCPA studies Justin Trudeau's privatization plans while questioning why he's determined to double the price of infrastructure in order to enrich Bay Street. And Emma Gilchrist discusses the long-term costs of Christy Clark's Site C dam boondoggle.

- Finally, Sophia Harris reports on the stock option loophole left open by the Libs, while wondering whether this year's budget will see a sorely needed change toward collecting revenue from the people who can most afford to contribute it.