I actually made money on what has been misleadingly called the ‘carbon tax’. Specifically, I received more money in carbon pricing rebates than I paid in carbon pricing for energy purchases. This reflects, unsurprisingly, my values: I drive a hybrid car, I use a high-efficiency furnace, and I keep plastics in my home to a…
From grantpotter @grantpotter Pro-democracy activists have shown that far-right demonstrations of power have six core goals: To legitimize their views, strengthen their self-image as part of the downtrodden, unite their squabbling factions, attract new people to the movement, control media coverage, and feel powerful and heroic. https://bad-faith-times.ghost.io/weird-and-the-breaking-of-the-fascist-fever/ And from Anne-Marie Scott @Ammienoot@social.ds106.us @grantpotter “Progressives should…
People are endlessly worried that AI will take jobs away from people. I don’t agree that jobs (librarians or others) are inherently good things. If I could do without a job, I would. What’s inherently good is the *income* we get from jobs. The ability to get the things we need and want to thrive…
With a little help from the Conference Board of Canada, the Financial Post is offering a self-defeating straw man on the issue of government funding for battery plants. Here’s what they write: Picking battery plants to solve Canada’s productivity crisis ‘dangerous road,’ report says. Better approach would be to cut taxes and let markets find…
The Globe and Mail, ever the watchful agent protecting corporate interests, published a column arguing that Canada’s supply management system for eggs and dairy should be ended (paywall, archive). I love how people think removing supply management will make dairy and eggs cheaper. They think prices are being artificially inflated, but that’s true only when…
In his newsletter Scott Galloway writes the following: The only thing that’s passed for bipartisanship over the past four decades is reckless spending. Democrats want more social spending, Republicans want lower taxes. OK, let’s compromise — do both and fuck over our grandkids. He also writes: Let’s dispense with one of the most tired false…
There has been a lot of talk about inflation, which I address in an other post, but for now I want to focus on gas prices. First, take a look at the illustration. Notice that even though oil prices are declining, gas prices are still rising. This is known as the ‘crack gap’ and exists…
One of the incessant ‘Trudeau must go’ posts includes this feature chart. It pegs Canada’s total debt as $1,163 billion, and each individual debt as $31K. These numbers are supposed to frighten us. But what struck me is how low they are. Compare this, say, with total Canadian consumer debt of $2,200 billion. Average consumer…
I heard a pernicious argument from a Conservative commentator on Rosemary Barton’s morning show yesterday. In between condescending remarks (“now look, Rosie”) the argument ran as follows: We are in a time of inflation so we should not pass measures that increase consumer spending. So we should oppose pharmacare and dental care. By contrast, though,…
I won’t deny the utility of macroeconomic theory. But it is also abundantly clear that tracking the flow of money, goods and services in an economy is only one small part of a much larger and more complex domain.