Day: January 4, 2009

disaster capitalism financial crisis The Corporation US economy
January 4, 2009

Labour Costs and the Auto Bailouts

One of the central issues that materialize when people talk about the bailouts for the auto industry is the high cost of labour.  Apparently, the Big 3 pay the average worker $73 per hour, but we should all know this is only kind of true. (Of course, when brokerages, banks and insurance companies are bailed out, no one asks why certain traders and executives continue […]

disaster capitalism economics financial crisis Politics tax issues The Corporation Uncategorized US economy
January 4, 2009

Don’t fix the economy: Change it

This story from the Toronto Star was inspirational in that the real story – change – is making it to mainstream media. Here are some highlights: Neither the Conservative minority nor the opposition has proposed anything that will set Canada on a long-term path toward the kind of economy that will both provide for the well-being of Canadians and enhance and preserve the ecological community […]

disaster capitalism economics Politics shock
January 4, 2009

Iceland: More from the economic ‘canary in the coalmine’

A couple of days ago, the traditional meeting of Iceland’s prime minister and other leaders was interrupted by protesters to the point where the PM cancelled the annual review on TV. Full AP story here . For me, Iceland feels like it’s the economic canary in a coalmine.  They have experienced a crushing economic defeat and will likely have to cave to a broad range […]

economics environment oil tar sands tax issues
January 4, 2009

The Green Shift was the right thing to do

According to James Hensen of NASA, a ‘green shift’ was the right thing for Canadians to do. This article reminds us that we blew an opportunity to institute a new system for penalizing polluters.  Instead, we blew it because some of us were wooed by a blue sweater vest and the rest of us were too busy bickering amongst ourselves to get a majority for […]

economics financial crisis The Corporation the future US economy
January 4, 2009

US in Depression

The Economist magazine has diagnosed that the US economy is in a depression , not a recession. While the throngs of journalists, publicists, politicians and other folks are loathe to confess that North America has entered the greatest recession on record, I commend the Economist for having the balls to finally show it like it is, even if they’re still very indirect about it. Now […]