Big money earned through illegal activities might have a greater impact than we care to admit and economic stimulus from criminal enterprises may explain why the former government hesitated to enforce certain laws. Over a long time, BC has seen a reduction of jobs in goods producing sectors, particularly in manufacturing, and a significant increase in service sector jobs. I expect we will have to rely more on innovative small and medium sized enterprises for future job growth and that our new government ought to provide increased encouragement to SMEs.
What’s this "fat" and "gravy" they speak of anyway?
Are schools and hospitals fat? Are veterans’ pensions gravy? So what have we cut already? 32% of Veterans Affairs staff supporting disability, death and financial benefits for veterans. One-fifth of Canadian food […]
Wrong path, wrong time
Christy Clark, Rich Coleman and Liberal friends are like 1980 promoters excited to spend someone else’s money to open a giant disco club, despite unmistakable signs the dance craze was soon to […]
The price we pay
Trailer – THE PRICE WE PAY – a feature documentary by Harold Crooks from Filmoption International on Vimeo. Playing in Vancouver as part of the VIFF, International Village #9, October 4 – […]
Economics, by and for lay people
George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Second Lord of the Treasury of the United Kingdom, boasted recently about his nation’s modest economic growth. If expansion continues, Britain will soon have an […]
Democracy myth exposed
Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens, Prof. Martin Gilens, Princeton University and Prof. Benjamin I. Page, Northwestern University. Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups […]
Investment in society and in human beings?
A paper published in the journal International Political Science Review considered if the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was “Democracy’s Friend or Foe.” It noted that reforms required by the American based IMF, […]
Not told by Canada’s corporate media
Fiscal record of Canadian political parties, Toby Sanger, The Progressive Economics Forum: “With all the recent news stories — as well as alarm raised by other leaders — about the fiscal and […]
The smartest guys in the room got it wrong
According to The Guardian’s George Monbiot, after each of the richest 100 people gained an average of $2.4 billion in 2012, they now hold wealth near equivalent to the United Kingdom’s GDP. […]
Demand deficit
Fiscal Cliff Letter: Small Business Owners Urge End Of Bush Tax Cuts, Zach Carter, Huffington Post “As businesses owners, none of us hire more employees simply because someone gives us a tax […]
History’s mistakes repeated
A Manifesto for Economic Sense, Paul Krugman, Princeton University, and Richard Layard, LSE Centre for Economic Performance “More than four years after the financial crisis began, the world’s major advanced economies remain […]
Austerity and recession, invariably linked
UK is back in recession, OECD says, Phillip Inman, The Guardian, March 29, 2012: The UK is heading back into recession and will be among the slowest of the world’s largest economies […]
Premier Photo Op: Your rich friends mislead
Raise Taxes on Rich to Reward True Job Creators, Nick Hanauer, Bloomberg Businessweek “I’m a very rich person. As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, I’ve started or helped get off the ground […]
Down this road, no taxes for business
While getting refunds of every cent they pay, representatives of big business enthusiastically support you and I paying HST to fund safe streets and private schools. However, they aim to relieve themselves […]
The .01% wages war on the rest
From Robert Borosage, Campaign for America’s Future, March 29, 2012: In 2010, as the economy began its slow recovery from the Great Recession, a new study shows the richest 1 percent of […]
No comment needed
The Rich Get Even Richer, Steve Rattner, New York Times, March 25, 2012 Steven Rattner is a contributing writer for Op-Ed and a longtime Wall Street executive.
Canadians: too polite, too passive?
One more example of price gouging that faces Canadians every day. Live in Point Roberts WA, pay Amazon $76.39. Live two kilometres north in Tsawwassen BC, pay Amazon $149.99 for the same […]
Might makes right
Far right commentators tell us that government should remove itself from every possible sector of the country’s economy. For example, the Fraser Institute, an organization that cares for interests of Canada’s most […]
How much have Wall Street and banks changed?
Not much, according to Greg Smith, a London based Goldman Sachs’ executive director who is leaving with a loud message to the public. He contributed an Op-Ed to the New York Times, […]
BC Jobs Plan working, in China
In the last year, the Pacific Northwest (BC, WA, OR) exported well more than $1 billion worth of raw softwood logs to China. Shipments for 2011 were more than in the preceding […]
I hope Canada hurries up no tolerance based rules. I also hope this country has at least a clue of…