Archive for the ‘Debates’ Category
Traditional Economics Has Absolutely Screwed Us
Monday, May 13th, 2019
Conventional capitalism is failing because it considers the services provided by nature such as oxygen and food production as free and limitless. Only an economist could fail to see how a collapsing biosphere might be bad for business… The UN study found that $325 billion in subsides shoveled at the fossil fuel industry around the world actually result in $5 trillion in costs to degraded natural systems on which our survival depends.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living
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Ford’s deficit hype conceals Ontario’s dirty secret
Thursday, May 9th, 2019
… Ontario already has the lowest program spending (per capita) among Canada’s 10 provinces — before Ford’s spending cuts click in… While the provincial average for revenue (per capita) is $12,373, Ontario only collects $10,415 (per capita) — a significantly smaller amount… And Ford is making the problem worse by cutting taxes a further $3.6 billion a year… Ford’s measures — despite his claim to be acting “for the people” — redirect resources from ordinary people to corporations and the rich.
Tags: budget, featured, ideology, standard of living, tax
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If you don’t have a plan for the environment, you don’t have a plan for the economy
Tuesday, May 7th, 2019
Tackling climate change is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires transforming our economy, our workforce, and our communities though new thinking, smart technologies and an all-hands-on-deck effort led by youth, Indigenous peoples, farmers, entrepreneurs, investors, new Canadians and others… Our climate is changing. We can too.
Tags: economy, ideology, jurisdiction, participation
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Drug executives face charges, just like street dealers
Saturday, April 27th, 2019
The U.S. government sent a powerful wake up call to drug company executives this week. For the first time, it charged a distributor of opioids, Rochester Drug Cooperative, its former CEO and another former executive with the kind of drug felony charges normally brought against the likes of street dealers and cartel bosses… In 2017 alone, 47,600 individuals in the U.S. died in opioid-related deaths, while the number in Canada was almost 4,000.
Tags: crime prevention, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical
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The push is on to reinvent American capitalism
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2019
In today’s America, just 16,000 families account for US$6-trillion in assets. That is equal to the total wealth of two-thirds of all U.S. families. While so many go wanting, thousands have so much wealth they couldn’t spend it all if they lived to be 800. It’s irrational, and one of the many reasons rethinking capitalism is overdue… Mr. Trump triumphantly points to continued good growth and near record-low unemployment numbers… But … Republicans are vulnerable on the inequality issue. Their tax cut was a giveaway to the wealthy and to Corporate America.
Tags: economy, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
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The crushing impact of social media freeloaders
Monday, April 15th, 2019
Here are two breathtaking stats: 65 per cent share and 80 per cent margin. Those are market experts’ estimates of share of ad revenues and the profit margins of the social media duopoly in Canada. No other ad business in the world has that stranglehold, no other media business earns one quarter of those stratospheric profit margins. Unlike them, their Canadian television, newspaper and magazine competitors pay taxes.
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, participation, standard of living, tax
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A forensic accountant’s take on the Ontario budget
Saturday, April 13th, 2019
Ontario taxes more and spends more, per capita, than Ottawa… Before annual debt costs, both Ontario and Ottawa are just treading water… Ontario has a $4.1 billion operating surplus ($280 per person). Ottawa’s operating surplus is $9.4 billion ($252 per Canadian)… Ontario — spending cuts for many, more money for a few… Among the 19 losing ministries are: … Children and Community Services… Environment… Indigenous Affairs… Training, Colleges and Universities
Tags: budget, child care, corrections, crime prevention, disabilities, featured, Health, ideology, immigration, Indigenous, jurisdiction, youth
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Federal government moves to lift alcohol trade restrictions, urges provinces to do the same
Wednesday, April 10th, 2019
… the legislation, once passed, will remove the federal requirement that alcohol moving from one province to another go through a provincial liquor authority… The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled last April that provincial and territorial governments have the authority to restrict imports of goods from other jurisdictions and that Canadians do not have a constitutional right to buy and freely transport alcohol across provincial and territorial borders.
Tags: economy, Health, jurisdiction, tax
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Canada ignored its gigantic money laundering problem for years — and lawyers fanned the flames
Monday, April 8th, 2019
In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada made a huge mistake when it constitutionally exempted lawyers from a newly minted Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act and Regulation (the ‘Proceeds of Crime Regime’). This followed arguments by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada that laws violated solicitor-client privilege and that the legal profession alone had the responsibility for policing itself. This puts lawyers above the law compared to other self-regulating professionals… This is foolishness.
Tags: budget, crime prevention, economy, featured, globalization, ideology, jurisdiction
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Don’t believe a carbon tax can effect huge change? Just ask British Columbia
Friday, April 5th, 2019
B.C. strengthened its carbon tax on April 1, raising the rate by $5 per tonne to $40 per tonne… Since introducing pollution pricing in 2008, per capita emissions in B.C. are down by 14 per cent, while the economy has grown by 26 per cent… B.C.’s booming clean-tech industry is a prime example of the benefits of pricing pollution…
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, jurisdiction, standard of living
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