Crack-Up Capitalism, Quinn Slobodian: A Review

In this engrossing historical account, Quinn Slobodian lays out how a few very rich men—yes pretty much men—and the neoliberal intellectuals upon whose ideas they fed, imagined and sometimes built their versions of utopia: “zones” free from the grasping hands of the many who want to tax their riches or impose rules in the name … Continue reading →

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DEMOCRACY

Throughout the globe democracy seems under threat. For decades political scientists had assumed that “the arc of the universe” inevitably bent towards more democracy; they are now documenting its decline. Across the advanced economies trust in and commitment to democracy are in decline and people seem increasingly open to illiberal alternatives. A recent Pew research … Continue reading →

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How to kill a zombie or the strange persistence of neoliberalism

Here’s a recent piece I wrote on the many deaths of neoliberalism. https://monitormag.ca/articles/how-to-kill-a-zombie-or-the-strange-persistence-of-neoliberalism/

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What Does a Prudent Budget Look Like in these Uncertain Times?

I have been trying to sort out why I so dislike the recent federal budget. The loudest critics – the Conference Board, bank economists, much of the mainstream media – have complained about too much spending in this time of continuing inflation, about deficits and debt. How long will we have to wait to see … Continue reading →

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Fault Lines

I was honoured to chair the Council Of Canadian Academies panel on misinformation. How can we hope to agree on where we are going if we can’t even agree on where we are? How can we solve those problems we can only solve together if we cannot even agree on what the problem is? How … Continue reading →

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There are no economic laws

In just the last few months we have had a number of elections in which we reelected incumbents who had performed, at best, somewhere within the zone of mediocrity. We received a timid federal economic statement that makes gestures in the right directions – on inequality and climate and helping those already struggling to get … Continue reading →

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The Politics of Inflation

If democracy is always a battle for who decides, the powerful few or the many, inflation is the current battleground. And what we are getting is what we have always been getting at least since the 1970s: rapidly higher interest rates, pressures to cut back public spending, concerns about rising wages. In other words, another … Continue reading →

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Canada needs proportional representation

Here are both sides of the debate on electoral reform, the right one (written by me) and the one opposed. Electoral reform is not a side issue: it goes to the heart of who and what government is for, of who gets to shape the future, the many or a powerful few. We cannot be … Continue reading →

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Inflation: austerity is not the solution, it’s the problem

SURELY WE HAVE ENOUGH TO worry about without renewed warnings about runaway inflation. But even amid all our various crises, inflation continues to make its way into the headlines: “Canada’s inflation rate hits a three-decade high”; “Is Canada’s inflation rate out of control?”; “Trudeau must act to ease worsening inflation.” We don’t need economists to … Continue reading →

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