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Book Review Mariana Mazzucato. The Value of Everything: Making and Taking in the Global Economy. Allen Lane. 2018. The playwright Oscar Wilde quipped that a cynic is a person who “knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” As Mariana Mazzucato argues in her important and stimulating new book, “The Value of Everything,” […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic thought, Financialization, heterodox economics, history of economic thought.
July 31st, 2018
Comments: none
The political economist Karl Polanyi, author of the 1944 volume The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, is arguably better known today than during his lifetime. The time has come for a major biography of Polanyi, Karl Polanyi: A Life on the Left by Gareth Dale. It is thoroughly excellent and […]
Posted by Mel Watkins under economic thought, Polanyi.
April 13th, 2018
Comments: 1
Just published is Volume I of an exhaustive – occasionally exhausting – biography of Paul Samuelson. It’s titled?Founder of Modern Economics: Paul A Samuelson Vol I:?Becoming Samuelson,?1915-1948 and authored by Roger E Backhouse. The two books of my blog title are?Foundations of Economic Analysis,?published in 1947, a revision of Samuelson’s Harvard doctoral dissertation, in which […]
Posted by Mel Watkins under economic thought, Uncategorized.
March 28th, 2018
Comments: none
I’ve written a blog post about this year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB). Points raised in the blog post include the following: -This year’s AFB would create 470,000 (full-time equivalent) jobs in its first year alone. By year 2 of the plan, 600,000 new (full-time equivalent) jobs will exist. -This year’s AFB will also bring in […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Canada, carbon pricing, Child Care, climate change, corporate income tax, CPP, deficits, economic thought, employment, Employment Insurance, environment, federal budget, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, health care, housing, income support, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, macroeconomics, political economic thought, post-secondary education, poverty, progressive economic strategies, public services, Role of government, seniors, social policy, taxation, unemployment, user fees, women, working time.
February 24th, 2018
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Yesterday I spoke on a panel discussion on economic inequality, along with Andrew Jackson and Armine Yalnizyan. We were guests at the federal NDP’s policy convention in Ottawa. The panel was moderated by Guy Caron. Topics covered included the minimum wage, basic income, affordable housing, the future of jobs, gender budgeting, poverty among seniors, Canadian […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, budgets, Canada, Child Care, debt, deficits, demographics, economic thought, education, federal budget, feminist economics, fiscal policy, free markets, gender critique, guaranteed annual income, health care, homeless, housing, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, minimum wage, NDP, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, Nordics, OECD, part time work, political economic thought, population aging, poverty, privatization, progressive economic strategies, public infrastructure, public services, Role of government, seniors, social policy, taxation, unemployment, unions, women, working time.
February 18th, 2018
Comments: none
Stephen Clarkson: Political Economist with a Global Vision (1937 – 2016) Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Daniel Drache Stephen Clarkson died early in 2016 in Freiburg, Germany and Canada lost someone very special. Stephen was a Professor in Political Science at the University of Toronto and engaged in teaching, research and writing until his death. He […]
Posted by Marjorie Griffin Cohen under Canada, Clarkson, economic thought, Europe, NAFTA.
October 6th, 2017
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I’ve just written a blog post about social assistance in Alberta. Points raised in the post include the following: -It’s very difficult to quality for social assistance in Alberta (this is also the case in all other provinces and territories). Reasons why are discussed in this previous blog post of mine. -In the 1990s, there […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Alberta, economic thought, fiscal federalism, homeless, income, income support, labour market, poverty, social policy.
July 25th, 2017
Comments: none
I’ve just written a blog post about the fiscal situation of Canada’s ‘oil rich’ provinces (i.e., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador). It consists of a summary of key points raised at a PEF-sponsored panel at this year’s Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -The […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, Balanced budgets, budgets, corporate income tax, corporate profits, debt, deficits, economic growth, economic thought, employment, energy, fiscal policy, heterodox economics, homeless, housing, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, industrial policy, inequality, labour adjustment, labour market, Newfoundland and Labrador, oil and gas, PEF, poverty, progressive economic strategies, public services, Role of government, Saskatchewan, social policy, taxation, transportation, unemployment.
June 19th, 2017
Comments: 1
I’ve just written a blog post about social assistance in Canada. Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Social assistance has two contradictory objectives: 1) to give people enough money to live on; and 2) to not give people enough money to live on. -Very few immigrants receive social assistance (relative to the […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, Austerity, BC, economic history, economic thought, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, immigration, income, income distribution, income support, Indigenous people, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, Ontario, poverty, public services, Role of government, social indicators, social policy, unemployment.
May 9th, 2017
Comments: none
Allan Moscovitch and I have co-authored a blog post that looks at the history of child benefits in Canada. Points made in the blog post include the following: -Child benefits can reduce both poverty and homelessness. -When child benefits began in Canada after World War II, one major motivating factor for the federal government was […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Austerity, child benefits, Conservative government, demographics, economic history, economic thought, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, Harper, Harper economics, history of economic thought, homeless, income, income distribution, income support, Indigenous people, labour market, poverty, Role of government, social policy, women.
April 30th, 2017
Comments: none
I have an opinion piece on Saskatchewan’s recent budget in the Regina Leader-Post. Points raised in the opinion piece include the following: -Reductions in personal and corporate income taxes help the rich more than the poor (and this budget cut both personal and corporate income taxes). -Increases in sales tax hurt the poor more than […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Austerity, budgets, Child Care, corporate income tax, debt, deficits, economic growth, economic models, economic thought, employment, fiscal policy, health care, income, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, population aging, post-secondary education, poverty, public infrastructure, public services, Saskatchewan, social policy, taxation, unemployment.
April 23rd, 2017
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This year’s Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) was released on March 9. I was proud to be the primary author of its housing chapter (that chapter is available in English here and in French here). The first AFB exercise began in 1994, with the first AFB being published in 1995. That involved a joint effort between […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Alberta, Austerity, Bank of Canada, banks, BC, budgets, debt, deficits, democracy, economic crisis, economic growth, economic history, economic literacy, economic models, economic thought, employment, federal budget, feminist economics, fiscal policy, gender critique, housing, income distribution, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, inflation, interest rates, labour market, macroeconomics, Manitoba, monetary policy, NDP, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, Nova Scotia, Ontario, party politics, poverty, progressive economic strategies, public infrastructure, public services, Quebec, Role of government, Saskatchewan, social policy, stimulus, taxation, unemployment, women.
March 20th, 2017
Comments: none
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’m co-author of a blog post titled “The Federal Role in Poverty Reduction.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Canada’s Minister of Families, Children and Social Development has been tasked to lead the development of a Canada Poverty Reduction Strategy. -Total public […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under aboriginal peoples, Balanced budgets, child benefits, Child Care, corporate income tax, CPP, debt, deficits, early learning, economic thought, federal budget, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income distribution, income support, income tax, Indigenous people, inequality, labour market, macroeconomics, OECD, Old Age Security, poverty, privatization, public infrastructure, public services, Role of government, social policy, taxation, women.
February 8th, 2017
Comments: 1
Over at the web site of the Calgary Homeless Foundation, I’ve written a blog post titled “How Housing Policy Benefits from a Socioeconomic Perspective.” Points raised in the blog post include the following: -Leaders in Canada’s non-profit housing sector should think beyond just housing, and think hard about the importance of economic and social factors […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under Australia, economic history, economic literacy, economic thought, fiscal policy, homeless, housing, income support, macroeconomics, NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES, poverty, progressive economic strategies, social policy, unemployment.
December 14th, 2016
Comments: 1
This week marks the official publication release of the second edition of Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism.?? In this blog I explain my motivations in writing the book, and promoting critical economic literacy more generally; the commentary was originally published by Pluto Books (the international publisher).?? The book is […]
Posted by Jim Stanford under economic literacy, economic thought.
June 25th, 2015
Comments: 1
Ali Kraushaar and ??Geoff Evamy Hill, co-founders of the Rethinking Economics Waterloo initiative, are organizing a conference to be held Feb 7. It looks good! ??See below. — We want to inform you about the??Rethinking Economics Waterloo Conference??happening at??St. Paul’s University College on Saturday, February 7. We invite you and all your members to be […]
Posted by David Pringle under economic thought, education, heterodox economics.
January 22nd, 2015
Comments: 2
Louis-Philippe Rochon has written a provocative blog post for the CBC titled “Top 10 Economic Predictions for 2015.” The post is available here. Enjoy and share:
Posted by Nick Falvo under Bank of Canada, banks, budgets, Conservative government, consumers, deficits, economic growth, economic models, economic thought, employment, Europe, exchange rates, federal budget, fiscal policy, household debt, housing, inflation, interest rates, monetary policy, oil and gas, prices, Role of government, social indicators, tar sands, US.
January 11th, 2015
Comments: 1
On December 2, Chris Ragan wrote a column for the Globe and Mail titled a€?Another (Macro) Defense of Econ 101.a€??? The link to his column is available here??. ??My brief reply??was??published in the Globe and Mail on December 13. ??The full version is below: Professor Ragan defends conventional (macro) Econ 101 as a pedagogical tool […]
Posted by David Pringle under economic crisis, economic history, economic literacy, economic models, economic thought, financial crisis, heterodox economics, history of economic thought, progressive economic strategies.
December 16th, 2014
Comments: 3
On October 21, Chris Ragan wrote a column for the Globe and Mail titled “In defence of Economics 101.”?? The link to his column is available here. On October 24, Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon and Mario Seccareccia replied to him.?? The link to their response is available here. Enjoy and share:
Posted by Nick Falvo under economic crisis, economic history, economic literacy, economic models, economic thought, financial crisis, heterodox economics, history of economic thought, progressive economic strategies.
October 26th, 2014
Comments: 6
A guest blog post from Louis-Philippe Rochon: Dear friends and colleagues, The new issue of the Review of Keynesian Economics (ROKE) is now out, and you can find it here. It features an interesting symposium on ‘Steve Keen and his critics’, and contains not only a paper by Steve Keen, but replies by Marc Lavoie, […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under economic thought, heterodox economics, macroeconomics, progressive economic strategies.
July 28th, 2014
Comments: none
For the 15th consecutive year, the Progressive Economics Forum (PEF) will be sponsoring events at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Economics Association (which takes place this month in Vancouver).?? PEF events will take place this Friday and Saturday; details pertaining to all PEF events can be found at this link. Once again this year, […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under economic thought, PEF, progressive economic strategies.
May 27th, 2014
Comments: none
As economics students around the world demand change in the curriculum and challenge their professors to open classrooms to pluralism in perspectives and views, the interest in heterodox economics is growing here in Canada too. You can see in the tremendous interest to this year’s PEF Summer School in heterodox economics, which we titled Economics […]
Posted by Iglika Ivanova under economic thought, heterodox economics.
May 25th, 2014
Comments: 2
Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty (Belknap Press, 2014) is the economics publishing sensation of our times, especially in the United States. Currently the number one seller on the US Amazon web site and widely debated in the a€?blogospherea€?, this long book is being favourably compared to the seminal works of Adam Smith, […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic history, economic thought, inequality.
April 29th, 2014
Comments: 11
I have just finished Piketty’s magnum opus which is clearly one of the most important economic books of our time. I am still trying to digest the theoretical argument. Below I provide a link and intro to an important commentary by Tom Palley who argues that Pikkety is too close to the neo classical paradigm […]
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic history, economic thought, inequality.
April 24th, 2014
Comments: 2
The Progressive Economics Forum (PEF) will host a Summer School in Heterodox Economics in Vancouver on May 29, 2014, prior to Canadian Economics Association annual conference in Vancouver from May 30 to June 1, 2014. The Summer School is aimed at undergraduate and graduate students of economics or related fields, and working economists in academia, […]
Posted by Iglika Ivanova under economic thought, heterodox economics.
April 4th, 2014
Comments: 1
What follows are comments from a roundtable discussion held at the University of Ottawa on February 28, organized by Mario Seccareccia, and which featured participation from Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon, Mario Seccareccia, Slim Thabet and Bernard Vallageas. This is Part??4 of??5??sequential blog entries. – Bernard Vallageas Vice-pr??sident de l’Association pour le D??veloppement des Etudes Keyn??siennes […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under budgets, capitalism, consumers, deficits, economic crisis, economic history, economic models, economic thought, financial crisis, fiscal policy.
March 29th, 2014
Comments: none
What follows are comments from a roundtable discussion held at the University of Ottawa on February 28, organized by Mario Seccareccia, and which featured participation from Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon, Mario Seccareccia, Slim Thabet and Bernard Vallageas. This is Part 3 of??5??sequential blog entries. – Mario Seccareccia Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa Editor, International […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under budgets, capitalism, consumers, deficits, economic crisis, economic history, economic models, economic thought, financial crisis, fiscal policy.
March 25th, 2014
Comments: 8
What follows are comments from a roundtable discussion held at the University of Ottawa on February 28, organized by Mario Seccareccia, and which featured participation from Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon, Mario Seccareccia, Slim Thabet and Bernard Vallageas. This is Part 2 of??5??sequential blog entries. – Louis-Philippe Rochon Associate Professor of Economics, Laurentian University Founding co-editor, […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under budgets, capitalism, consumers, deficits, economic crisis, economic history, economic models, economic thought, financial crisis, fiscal policy.
March 25th, 2014
Comments: 1
What follows are comments from a roundtable discussion held at the University of Ottawa on February 28, organized by Mario Seccareccia, and which featured participation from Marc Lavoie, Louis-Philippe Rochon, Mario Seccareccia, Slim Thabet and Bernard Vallageas. Parts??2,??3, 4 and??5 will follow in subsequent blog posts. – Marc Lavoie Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa […]
Posted by Nick Falvo under budgets, capitalism, consumers, deficits, economic crisis, economic history, economic models, economic thought, financial crisis, fiscal policy.
March 25th, 2014
Comments: 2
Tom Palley has an interesting piece on his blog re differing approaches to the theme of secular stagnation, drawing a distinction between Marxist and structural Keynesian perspectives. As he notes, neo liberals such as Summers?? have got on the bandwagon without really exploring in depth the roots of the problem. Enjoy and share:
Posted by Andrew Jackson under economic growth, economic thought.
February 28th, 2014
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